To: Shawn Nevins
From: Amir Freimann
Date: 08-Mar-2019
Subject: Requesting your input regarding Spiritual Exemplars
Dear Shawn,
Thank you for agreeing to participate in the study on the topic of Living Transcendence: Phenomenological Study of Spiritual Exemplars. The study is conducted as part of my doctoral thesis at the Faculty of Education at the University of Haifa, Israel, under the supervision of Prof. Ofra Mayseless.
I hope that you would be able to provide me with essential input, based on your experience as an expert in the field of religion and spirituality.
The pioneering study at the heart of my doctoral thesis will focus on individuals who are perceived as enlightened / self-transcendent / God-realized / spirit-medium / awakened or otherwise an inspiring exemplar of their religious / spiritual path, from different traditions and paths around the world. They will be referred to here as “spiritual exemplars”.
As an expert in the field of religion and spirituality, your input with regards to the selection and characterization of such exemplars would be invaluable. Specifically, I would like to ask you for the following:
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Please name 2-3 spiritual exemplars you know – people that impressed you as the most enlightened, awakened, God-realized, spiritually developed, etc., at least 1 of whom is alive.
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Please describe each of these spiritual exemplars in 1/3 to 2/3 page, specifically indicating what it is that makes them exemplary.
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For each spiritual exemplar please indicate your acquaintance with them and provide the following information (if you have it): (a) Gender; (b) Estimated age (if alive); (c) Country of residence; (d) Religious / spiritual background or affiliation (e.g., Zen, Catholic, Sufi, Taoist, Shaman, Multifaith, Transpersonal, Non-denominational, etc.)
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If, in the process of selecting those 2-3 spiritual exemplars, you considered someone that you would have liked to include in it but decided against it, please indicate what, in your view, disqualifies one from being a spiritual exemplar (without naming them).
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Finally, please let me know also your own: (a) religious, spiritual or philosophical background or affiliation; (b) years of engagement (study, practice, leadership, etc.) with that tradition, school, etc.; (c) whether you consider yourself a thinker, seeker, practitioner, researcher, teacher, etc. in that tradition, school, etc.
It would greatly help me if you send me your input to amirf@amirfreimann.com within 2-3 weeks of receiving this email.
As mentioned in my previous email, the data that you provide and excerpts from your replies may be included in the final dissertation and other publications or presentations. Under no circumstances, however, will your name or identifying characteristics appear in these publications or presentations.
If you have questions or concerns about this study, please contact me at this email or at +972 547302530 or the faculty member supervising this study, Prof. Ofra Mayseless, at ofram@edu.haifa.ac.il.
Sincerely,
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Amir Freimann
University of Haifa
Paul Hedderman, male, 60 (?) years old, non-denominational, United States, associated with recovery and non-duality organizations.
Service comes to mind first when I think of Paul Hedderman. For many years, he has held three meetings a week in the San Francisco Bay area. He charges nothing for his time – simply “passing the hat” at the end of the meeting for anyone who feels like donating. Paul gives of his time, whether through his weekly meetings, phone calls with those in need, or invitations to speak around the country. He freely admits his foibles, while embodying and exemplifying someone who “travels lighter” in the world.
Though he travels lighter, Paul is not a “lightweight.” He has a discerning eye for the ways people deceive themselves and points directly to it, often with humor. What Paul calls “downloads” are the spirit moving him to speak with both grace and authority on the predicament of the human situation, all while pointing a way forward.
As a channel for the depths of spirit and a servant, Paul is a spiritual exemplar.
Jerry Wennstrom, male, 69 years old, United States, non-denominational
Jerry exemplifies living at the crest of the wave and the “still point of the turning world” – bringing to life that both are the same. He is an artist who abandoned art until he could clear the channel between the source of creativity and his manifestation of that creativity. He did that through giving the entirety of his self-will to living in the moment.
This radical devotion to honesty left Jerry incredibly open and perceptive. Speaking with him is like speaking into a mirror that shows you, with love, your misperceptions. The first time we spoke, I felt at home, as if I had known him for years. He imbued the common platitudes of conversation with deep sincerity.
There is an essential goodness to Jerry that makes him an exemplar of the essential goodness in all things. Yet he is not simply a “good person.” His is a clear and deep pointing at one’s essence.
Douglas Harding, male, deceased, United Kingdom, non-denominational
When I first met him, Douglas was at ninety far more animated in his speech than I at thirty. Like Richard Rose, there was a deep presence about him. When he stared at you, as he often did after making a point, he eyes seemed to be infinitely deep and I felt he looked into my soul. I felt he’d had a deep experience that had given him everything he wanted. “Everything my heart could desire is to be found in the center,” he said.
I questioned him once about enlightenment and his answer was refreshingly confrontational. “So Shawn here is after enlightenment, which is way up here, while what Douglas is talking about is way down here. So Shawn will forget about what is right here and go after enlightenment. I wish you luck. Enlightenment is a loaded word which I think is best avoided.” Douglas found that people confused enlightenment with perfection of the personality. “Perfection of the human is not attainable.”
What would you do if you faced a physical confrontation? I once asked. “Let’s say someone comes at me with a sword and says, ‘Douglas, I’m going to cut off your no-head.’ What will I do? I don’t know. Perhaps I will say, ‘Go ahead, I’ve lived long enough.’ Perhaps I will punch them in the nose. I can’t say. This is not staged. There’s not a preconceived set of rules. There are no rules. I don’t know what will happen until I see what Douglas does. Why don’t you go ahead and try me, and we’ll see what happens?” I declined the invitation, satisfied that he was not posing as a saint.
Reasons for the exclusion of certain individuals from the ranks of “spiritual exemplar.”
I know several people with profound, earth-shattering, life-changing, paradigm-crushing spiritual awakenings, yet I call very few of them spiritual exemplars. The title “spiritual exemplar” carries with it a certain expectation of how one manifests their self in the world. Bernadette Roberts once said to me that enlightenment had nothing to do with this world, and that statement had a strong effect on my views. One may be deeply, profoundly spiritually awakened, yet have trouble with ordinary human interactions and be fit only for living in a cave. Even talented spiritual teachers may not be spiritual exemplars.
A spiritual exemplar has done work before or after their spiritual awakening that allows them to be the highest expression of their potential. This is not the “perfection of the personality” which Douglas Harding warned against. Rather, it is alignment of the personality with the divine, or the clearing of personality so that the flame of creation burns brightly before one’s sight. Such alignment is not the automatic result of enlightenment.
As for me…
My spiritual path began 28 years ago with the Self Knowledge Symposium, which was a group of college kids meeting once a week to hear August Turak challenge and inspire us to do something amazing with our lives. That led to Richard Rose, an enlightened teacher in rural West Virginia. Rose gave me two gifts: the undeniable depth of his presence and time on his farm to devote myself to the spiritual search. Suffice it to say I meditated for a long time, read a lot of books, experimented with celibacy, hypnosis, fasting, dream work and many other practices, until I hit a dead end. After four years, I left Rose’s farm and spent another three years delving into the intuition—particularly through writing poetry. Finally, Douglas Harding’s suggestion to look at the space I was looking out from challenged everything I thought I knew. At last, one evening in what I can only describe as a moment of complete honesty, I experienced something beyond experience—a place which is no place, where there is no flip side to the coin. That moment answered the gnawing questions in my bones about my identity, my reality and my place in the universe. Since then, I’ve been an ever-evolving thinker, teacher, and collaborator regarding all things “spiritual.”