Transcending Self Workshop
(Fall Retreat, Week Three)
Created and facilitated by Peter Ralston
You’ll probe deeply into the genesis of pretty much everything that makes up your experience of your reality, and become conscious of how it all came to pass. From scratch you’ll be invited to personally grasp for yourself the very creation of self and other, language and mind, society and the formulation of your separate and private inner world. You’ll also learn to recognize the overwhelming and overlooked consequences this series of inventions and conclusions produces.
The TRANSCENDING SELF WORKSHOP is a great complement to Experiencing the Nature of Being, our central week-long workshop most related to The Book of Not Knowing. The TRANSCENDING SELF WORKSHOP is an even deeper probing of core aspects that have generated the very experiential dynamics presented in the Experiencing the Nature of Being workshop.
Exploring The Origins of Your Experience of Self and Life
Peter Ralston’s uniquely lucid communications about the nature of human consciousness expands in this workshop through deep contemplations on the unseen elements that create our world. In its way it is more difficult than most workshops, because it requires even more active participation in dialogues to grasp the presented assertions, taking us straight to the heart of the origins of our experience.
In a progression of illuminating assertions, Ralston shows us how human consciousness generates both self and reality from nothing, and imbues them with the quality of objective truth. From the time we first distinguish between self and not-self as infants, we begin making a sequence of existential assumptions that result in the illusion that a self is some ethereal “object” within. This universally accepted assumption persists despite the failure of exhaustive investigations to locate this inner self. Ignorance regarding these dynamics is responsible for much unnecessary suffering, but through grasping the assertions presented in the TRANSCENDING SELF WORKSHOP you are empowered to personally and experientially grasp what is rarely even glimpsed: a profound consciousness of the genesis of human experience.
It’s difficult to explain how deep and powerful this work really is. If you’ve grasped this already, nothing needs to be said. If you don’t have a clue, it can take some real courage to come to such a workshop for the first time. Most people who do the ontology workshops have worked with Ralston in another context. From this they just get a sense of the possibilities available, and, without actually knowing the details, they sign up to see what this work can do for them. Some people simply take the leap and decide to participate in such work without really knowing what it’s all about. If you are in the second category, it might help you to know that no one has ever expressed regret in taking on this work. Virtually everyone who participates communicates that they are grateful for having done so.
No previous experience is necessary, but the Experiencing the Nature of Being Workshop is highly recommended. Count on being over your head from time to time. This is fine. You will get all that you could possibly get otherwise, simply more will occur at a deeper level than you will be able to absorb at the time (it may make sense later on).
Schedule:
The TRANSCENDING SELF WORKSHOP is scheduled to be the middle workshop of the Fall Retreat, preceded by the Experiencing the Nature of Being Workshop and followed by the Contemplation Intensive.
This workshop is six plus days, and occurs within a eight day window, with the first for arrival and beginning the workshop on that evening, the eighth day is solely for departure. Generally, the workshop days will begin at 9AM and end around 9PM.
Cost:
Will depend on how early you send in your deposit. An early deposit secures a space at the least cost.
Location:
The TRANSCENDING SELF WORKSHOP will be held at the Cheng Hsin Center in Pipe Creek, Texas. (In the hills outside of San Antonio) The Center includes a 40×80 foot meditation hall with showers, sinks, and toilets. Bring a swimsuit for the pool and hot tub. What’s Included: The cost includes room and board, sitting cushions, and 8-10 hours of daily instruction a guided tour of your own consciousness.
Signing Up:
It is important for us to know in advance the number of people who intend to come. Please let us know as soon as possible that you are interested. To secure the most inexpensive fee available, a nonrefundable deposit is due far in advance. It is difficult to convey the real scope and depth of this kind of work. If you have any questions after reading this material, please feel free to Contact Us.