Cougar Brenneman's blog

Stephen Dinan’s Amazing Gift to Me

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 17:20:31 -0800

The purpose of this blog is to both acknowledge Stephen Dinan for the coaching he gave me about the Global Wisdom System and to acknowledge Rachel Besserman’s coaching in helping me to interpret Stephen’s advice. Rachel is my Global Wisdom System co-mentor. (Click here for an index to blogs and other links about the Global Wisdom System.)

Based on Stephen’s and Rachel’s advice, I will be changing to the way I work with and advertise the Global Wisdom System at this early stage. More specifically, Stephen challenged me to overcome my poverty mentality about money, provided me with feedback about how some of my presentations to SIA have been interpreted, and suggested some specific things that I could do to address these interpretations. I’m announcing this today because I’m going to have some of these changes in place by the time of this Saturday’s Web cam group meeting.

The Problem—Why I Will Transform My Relationship with Money

The Make-Wrongs that Masquerade as Nonattachment

Tue, 09 Jan 2007 12:06:21 -0800

I've been avoiding the nonattachment chapter in the Global Wisdom System Handbook for some time. While meditating on what's stopping me, I was inspired to write the following section. Since it is so different from my normal style, I'm still uncertain about it. I would therefore especially like to request feedback about it. Thank you.

Many people who gravitate towards the practice of nonattachment do so for absolutely the wrong reasons. Perhaps, for instance, you’re pissed off that someone is depending on you, and you’d like to simply dismiss their neediness as an unhealthy attachment. You ask, “Who made me responsible for their problems, anyway? I’m not attached to them, and they shouldn’t be attached to me. There’s something wrong with them that they project such unhealthy expectations onto me.”

When you think this way—and I believe that we’ve all been like this at some point in our lives, it’s probably because at that moment, you’re being a jerk.

My New Year's Resolutions for 2007

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 00:44:59 -0800

My New Year’s Intention is a Resolution of Inner Conflict

Tana and I worked for twelve hours to prepare for our New Year’s ritual. By the time we were sitting in front of the fire, the clutter was gone from most of our home. We had set aside a few momentos to burn as we released energy from the past that no longer served our highest good.

I cast a circle of banishment with my athame (a ritual knife). A circle of banishment in the Northern hemisphere is cast counterclockwise (or widdershins), which is opposite to the spin of the earth.

Then Tana and I each invoked energies that we work with. Tana’s pantheon for this evening included Obatala, Oshun, Inanna, and Bridget. Mine included Bridget, Horus, and Helios. The reasons for my choices are that Bridget married us (Click to read.), I channeled Horus at our handfasting, and I’m a priest of Helios in a two-year Eleusinian Mysteries Cycle.

Being Congruent About My Multiple Sclerosis

Sat, 30 Dec 2006 09:30:57 -0800

I can’t really say that I feel blessed that I have multiple sclerosis. But even though I saw my mother quickly progress from diagnosis to wheelchair and eventually die from MS-related complications, my illness causes me far less anxiety than you might expect.

On occasion, I have been able to say to others—and mean it—that my illness has been a truly great teacher. I’ve never been able to stay in that grateful place for a very long time, but I have been there. When I’ve been there, I was close to praising the illness for its existence. I just wish that I could congruently stay in this grateful state for longer periods of time.

Will I ever be able to develop a congruent position in which I truly cherish my disease completely? Perhaps—if I can accomplish everything that I describe in this blog. Or perhaps I can truly cherish the path itself for what it is, no matter what I’m personally able to accomplish in my own heart.

We’ll see.

What I Learned About Getting Things Done from a Noetic Perspective

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 18:45:42 -0800

The first international Chrysalis Wisdom Council on December 9 felt historic to me, and the technical impediments and interruptions that occurred probably contributed to this historic feeling. We were on opposite sides of the globe, and yet we could all see each other and hear each other throughout——including myself from California, Jeff DeCelles of Colorado, Rachel Besserman and her husband Damon from Massachusetts, and Pete Adams from Turkey.

But in spite of the glitches, we kept at it, and I’m truly very grateful for the effort that we all made. As Rachel said near the end, “It’s all of our perseverance together that allowed this to actually happen, isn't it?”

A Noetic Experience: Why I Celebrate Three Anniversaries per Year

Sun, 03 Dec 2006 07:58:29 -0800

In early February 1999, I didn’t want to get married.

On February 21, 1999, I taught a class in telepathy at the home of Starwhite, a clergy woman of the Church of All Worlds (CAW). Tana was helping me manage the energy in the room by toning and channeling energy. We did two exercises: Tuning in telepathically on the consciousness of a plant while in trance, and tuning in on a human being while not in trance. Attendees were having powerful experiences, and we—like everyone else—left the meeting more psychically aware and psychically opened up wide.

What I'm Most Grateful for in My Life

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 22:32:18 -0800

My Dearest Tana,

I’m grateful to you for your commitment to us saving our marriage when it looked as if there was nothing we could do to work through our differences. Thank you for looking everywhere for finding the exact right relationship coaches that we needed to provide us with the perspectives and wisdom that we needed to get through that time.

Bringing Chakra Awareness into Daily Consciousness

Wed, 15 Nov 2006 09:46:02 -0800

At the November 11 Chrysalis Wisdom Council, I met with Rachel Besserman over the phone because her computer is currently in the shop. Earlier, Jeff DeCelles and I did our Wisdom Council by Webcam, but he still is having hardware problems, and he wanted to sit this one out to let Rachel experience the process.

Common Ground

Rachel and I quickly came to an agreement that bringing chakra awareness into daily consciousness would be a juicy topic to explore with this Wisdom Council. We have each found that the activities and concerns of daily life sometimes leave us too distracted for regular chakra practice. However, incorporating chakra awareness into daily life is even more important than regular chakra practice—and thus, although it’s more of a challenge, the rewards of succeeding are also greater.

If I Could Create One Shift in the World, What Would It Be?

Wed, 15 Nov 2006 01:02:27 -0800

I visualize a world in which all of the wisdom systems (including religions, training groups for healing and psychic development, transformational programs, and psychology departments) coordinate themselves together as a single spiritual force for good. Such a force could, for example, work together in an intentionally entangled manner to bring peace into regions of conflict through a coordinated global visualization of light in churches, synagogues, circles, temples, and other organizations, while simultaneously dispatching professional mediators into the region to find a way to agreement between the two sides, while simultaneously dispatching allopathic healers, psychological healers, and energy healers into the region to reduce suffering—and more.

An Online Jean Houston Study or Sharing Group Would Be Awesome!

Thu, 02 Nov 2006 23:19:05 -0800

In her post “Jean Houston Essential Shifts,” Angela Murphy wrote about how James O’Dea’s interview with “Jean Houston” had moved her, and she suggested an online group for sharing and discussion of Jean’s work. I think it’s a great idea; Jean Houston has been a hero of mine for many years. I would like to add to the proposal.

I am certainly interested in a traditional online study group using email posts. However, I would also be willing to facilitate creating an online study group that uses Jean’s work using Webcam technology, so that everyone in the group can see each other and talk to each other over the Internet in real time. I’m currently working with IONS member “Jeff DeCelles” to work out the technical aspects of doing this. (We’ve already done one “Chrysalis Wisdom Council” using Webcam technology.)

Eulogy for Brad Will

Tue, 31 Oct 2006 21:54:44 -0800

On Sunday, as my wife Tana and I were traveling home from a workshop, I was overwhelmed by a feeling of sadness that seemed to come from nowhere. I took out my pendulum to dowse where it was coming from. Tana and I asked about friend after friend, but the pendulum only swung in the circles that indicate a "No" response to me.

However, when Tana asked about “world pain,” the pendulum suddenly changed its swing to a straight, front-and-back line to indicate "Yes." This felt like it might be correct; however, the sadness did not seem precognitive, and I knew of nothing in the world that would trigger new sadness in me.

Harness Memories of Centered Inner Silence, and Reuse Them

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 12:15:45 -0700

[This is a follow-up to my post of September 08, 2006, which described the value and use of inner silence throughout the spiritual traditions on this planet. (See "You’re Invited to Participate in a Demonstration of Short-Term Inner Silence," 09.08.06, 11:49 PM.)]

For some people, the idea of inner silence may seem to be an unusual and unfamiliar state of mind. Our normal consciousness is continually swarming with internal dialog, fantasies, regrets, and other thoughts, and most of the time, these habits of consciousness express themselves automatically and without conscious volition. Being inwardly silent requires you to discard these subconscious habits that we all feel so comfortable with and learning strange, new ones.

You’re Invited to Participate in a Demonstration of Short-Term Inner Silence

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 23:49:56 -0700

Many spiritual traditions provide tools for achieving inner silence. One time-honored technique for achieving inner quietude that you can find in virtually every tradition on earth involves focusing your attention on a single object: a mantra that you repeat silently to yourself, your breath, points on your physical body, a mandala, or a candle flame. This technique has been used by mystics of most paths from around the world—not only from Eastern traditions, like Hinduism and Buddhism, but from Western traditions, including almost every denomination of Christianity.

Invocation of a Global Wisdom Society that Embraces the River

Sat, 26 Aug 2006 13:38:38 -0700

The Thich Nhat Hahn Room advertises a regular weekly gathering time on Saturday at noon Pacific Time. Once again, I decided to attend, and once again, I was both presiding member and the only attendee.

If anyone else decides to attend this meeting with me, the rules I’m following are as follows: First, after every time I--or someone else--speaks, I clear my mind and just be present and in the moment for four breaths or four images in the slide show. Second, after this inner silence, I formulate my new sharing. I put aside any formulations from before the inner silence.

The following transcript of the meeting has been edited for mostly typos and short forms (since the comments line only accepts 250 characters).

The Scent of a Practice

Sat, 19 Aug 2006 13:33:08 -0700

The Thich Nhat Hahn Room advertises a regular weekly gathering time on Saturday at noon Pacific time. I decided to attend, and I stayed a few minutes beyond the full hour of the meeting. In attendance was me. Since I was both presiding member and the only attendee, I created the following rules for myself. If someone else showed up, I would no longer follow them.

First, after every time I speak, I clear my mind and just be present and in the moment for four images in the slide show. Second, after this inner silence, I contemplate my new sharing for as long as it takes to clarify it before saying it. Third, if someone else shows up, I will suggest that we use a similar format for dialog, but I will accept whatever happens.

The following transcript of the meeting has been edited for typos and short forms (since the comments line only accepts 250 characters).