WORKSHOP TITLE: “THE RELUCTANT MYSTIC”
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION: In 1980, Don Eaton had a life-changing, transformative experience, a mystical encounter in which he experienced what he describes as “Union with God.” Other people who have had similar experiences might use other language to describe it: the experience of being one with the Transcendent, a feeling of The Presence, a loss of the sense of self, merging with The One, an experience of one-ness with The All, becoming one with the Universe, an experience of unity with all things, a sudden awareness of Something larger than the self, or …. whatever words YOU are comfortable with.
Don’s experience is recorded and documented in the book, “Quantum Change: When Epiphanies and Sudden Insights Transform Ordinary Lives” by Dr. William R. Miller and Janet C’de Baca (See chapter 11: The Reluctant Mystic)
In the Afterword of the book, one of Don’s Friend’s, author Ernie Kurtz says:
“Faced with mystical experience, understanding and explanation both fall short and, if wise, stand mute. However, firsthand description by those who have had such experience must be attempted, because the experience of the good must be communicated — or at least witnessed to. This is, in a way, “the price” of mystical experience, for the mystic’s task is, as Alan Watts mischievously suggested, “to eff the ineffable.”
The workshop will include Don’s attempt to “eff the ineffeable” by sharing his story and the “knowings” that emerged from it, a question and answer time, an opportunity for workshop participants to share similar experiences in a safe, nurturing, supportive and confidential setting. MUSIC and POETRY will be an integral (and FUN!) part of the evening.
