Thoughts on Peter Ralston Enlightenment Intensives

[Ethan_05]

I'm looking into attending one of Peter Ralstons enlightenment intensives. Any thoughts from those who've done one?

[Ethan_05]

What's the standard? I think they do multiple hours of contemplation into the nwture of being, in both individual and group sessions with Peter leading and speaking.

Edited April 24, 2018 by Ethan_05

[Ethan_05]

Sounds kind of life self-inquiry, is that what type of questioning it was with a partner. From what I know, I'm not exactly sure, but I think that the peter ralston one isn't as simple as this. I think Peter Ralston gives a lecture kind of thing and then people contemplate different topics(the nature of self, reality, and understanding the mechanisms of the conceptual self) but with rigorous structure as well.

[Sev]

15 hours ago, Spacious said:

The one I did asked this question in a dyad: "Tell me, who is in?" for 10 hours a day with three hours of dynamic meditation for three days.

What kind of dynamic meditation you did? Didnt know Ralston does that kind of practice.

[Girzo]

@Sev He is not talking here about Ralston's intensive.

[Max_V]

Ah man I'd love to attend one of Ralston's intensives, don't have enough money to attend one of them sadly.

Enjoy and work hard for the both of us if you're going  

[Faceless]

47 minutes ago, Max_V said:

Ah man I'd love to attend one of Ralston's intensives, don't have enough money to attend one of them sadly.

Enjoy and work hard for the both of us if you're going  

You got everything you need already man?

[Maycol]

I've read Peter Ralston's The Book of Not Knowing along with many other highly recommended books on the lists. I find Ralston's materials considerably lacking and less direct compared to Leo's videos. I sincerely believe that with Leo's progression on his path, he will continue have more and more potent and effective pointers and insights to share. There are videos that I'm keep rewatching many times and still contemplating and getting benefits from them. Just my personal opinion of course.

Leo's teachings have spoiled me in a good way, because he is able to concisely address and give great pointers on really complex topics like no other I've come across. I still continue to read and explore on my own, but just coming across Leo's videos in these 2 months has caused a giant leap for my progress personally.

 

[Ethan_05]

@Maycol I'm interested in exactly why you think Peter Ralston's teaching are lacking and less direct. I also read the book of not knowing and found it to be very effective in communicating inner work to one with little experience with this topic. I guess I can see where you might think that Ralston's techniques are less direct because he focuses, at least for beginners doing his contemplation, on contemplating the motives of the conceptual self in order to better understand the workings of the ego/conceptual matrix. This might not be as direct as asking "Who am I?" but in my own opinion at the moment I think that this is an amazing way to ease oneself into the practice of self inquiry and inquiry into the nature of reality, by starting with understanding the ego on a very foundational level. I don't know exactly where they're lacking though, I'm curious.

 

In my own opinion, I find Leo's videos to be quite lacking. For example, the self inquiry videos go pretty deep into the practice itself but there's still much left uncovered that can be found elsewhere, in books often, about how to avoid some of the pitfalls of inner work. I perceive leo's videos to be more of just inspiration to learn and practice these techniques further than anything else. Also, I'm currently somewhat lacking in having direct experiences of these insights so I don't think all these videos about absolute infinity and everything really help me at all because I've yet to experience it. Although Ralston also mentions the nature of reality as absolute and infinite so that makes me slightly more comfortable that I don't have a one-sided viewpoint, but I also understand that I don't have a well-rounded understanding either. 

[Ethan_05]

@Max_V Hey Max. I'm not saying I have a ton of money lying around either to spend on a pretty expensive intensive, but I can justify this expense as investing in myself and in my future. I would much rather spend my money on this type of experience and learning process than on a new car or some new material possession. 

I see myself as a minimalist, and I really enjoy listening to and watching TheMinimalists and what they've taught me is that being a minimalist means spending money on the important things in life rather than the excess stuff that we don't really need in the long run. I think this is the important stuff in life, this work and learning pays dividends. 

[Leo Gura]

Enlightenment Intensives are very.... INTENSE. They will definitely push you hard and you will grow in more ways than one.

Ralston's teaching style is very advanced. He doesn't coddle you at all. Most people will not get the depth of what he has to offer because he doesn't present it in an easily accessible, mainstream-ized way.

But the Enlightenment Intensive is just dyads. You do not get any "teachings" or theory during an Intensive. It's just a week of pure self-inquiry in a very structured setting, with partners.

[Ethan_05]

@Leo Gura Oh thanks. I guess I didn't realize that. On his website he displays pictures of the dyad-style of self inquiry. He often posts videos of his lectures on his youtube channel, like this recent video about relative vs. absolute, so I thought that's the style of his intensives. I'm curious about what they dyad style of self-inquiry looks like, given the fact that self-inquiry is a very personal practice. 

Does is just involve asking questions and like speaking about what you're discovering as you're discovering it with a partner? Leo, would you recommend it to a teenager. From my point of view, age doesn't really make a difference as long as you're serious about the work. I read the BNK and am just starting up a habitual contemplation habit.