Freedom, Power & Effectiveness Workshop (Cheng Hsin) - REVIEW

[relativity]

Hey there,

In this post, I'd like to share my experiences with a one-week Cheng Hsin Workshop in Holland, facilitated by Brendan Lea. This was my first intensive Workshop. I stumbled on Peter's Work because Leo holds him in high regard. So I read his books and got more involved in existential contemplation. This was a big game-changer for me, and I could see how this is very fundamental to any serious work in any area. After attending a few one-day online workshops, hosted by Peter's students, I decided to get more involved and signed up for the workshop in Holland. I was not sure what to expect, but I somehow knew that it was mandatory to get more serious, and this was very accurate in retrospect. 

Content:

It was a practical consciousness workshop, and we tackled many everyday aspects of life, including the (in most people always present) feeling of incompleteness, investigating your general mental-emotional experience and a crash course in existential thinking. It was structured in 5 blocks a day (between 1 and 2 hours), with shorter breaks for taking a breath and longer breaks for dinner and lunch, together with the other participants. It contained dyad contemplations, explanations and motivation of the content, guided meditations/contemplations and discussions, where you could ask Brendan anything you want. 

Facilitation:

The point of this work is to get responsible for your experience. This endeavor is not easy, so the guidance of an experienced person is very valuable. Brenden lived for more than 2 decades with Peter and has done a huge amount of contemplation (over 10.000 hours, if we take him by his word), so he is aware of the many traps and pitfalls and how your mind finds excuses to deny its own impact on your experience. He was very straight and honest, which is very helpful and a good contrast to the everyday life with excuses, victimhood and blaming others. On the other hand, he created a judgment-free atmosphere in which you can make yourself vulnerable easily and feel safe to share anything.

 

Important Insight's:

- I'm way more responsible for my life experience than I want to admit to myself. It is often hidden behind conceptual overload and existential assumptions

- I carry a constant feeling of incompleteness, which I cover with personal development work, practices like meditation, or relationships with other people. There is the hidden assumption that this stuff is somehow going to fix me (someday, but surely not NOW). What I've missed all these years is that I created an incomplete feeling in the first place and this will not be solved by anything I add to it. We dived a lot into the dynamics of this. Especially the idea of getting it in the future by some external circumstance (notice that both of these are concepts and will never be the thing you desire). I realized that these strategies of fixing myself are like filling my cup with the water of a mirage. (Please understand that this was not an intellectual insight, but a real, authentic experience of the truth of the matter, which leads to an actual ending of suffering  - read "Ending Unnecessary Suffering" by Peter to get into the details)

- Being is not a "good" state. Being is being. It is just the ending of all pretending. The thing is, that you feel fulfilled, even if you feel "bad". I recognized how disconnected I am from being. I felt like a fish in the water, which just doesn't care about water, even though it is its essence.

- Self-love is essential for a complete life experience.

- My mind loves excuses for feeling bad!

 

Resume:

After more than a week after the workshop, I feel very usual again. But the peak experience was very helpful to see what is possible and I'm sure it will have a big impact on my contemplation. I still contemplate everyday and it will become a more fundamental "tool" in my self-actualization. The atmosphere was pleasant, honest but also demanding. The food was great and the people were (even though not in my age span) very kind and trustworthy.  In the future, I will attend more workshops and I even consider visiting Brendan and Peter in Texas (and also Leo's Workshops - because you can't substitute the power of a Live event). I don't have a comparison to other workshops, but I promise you, it is worth the money (around 1200€, including food and a place to sleep) and if you put in the work and stay on track, I'm sure it will have a great impact on your life.

Resources:

• The Skool Community: https://www.skool.com/not-knowing
  • Resources (for example, Leo's Interview with Peter)
  • Calendar of Live Events and Mini Zoom-Workshops
  • Asking Questions and getting answers by Brendan and other members 
• Cheng Hsin Website: https://chenghsin.com
• Brendan's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBrendanLea
  • Very helpful if you want to get started with contemplation
• Peter's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PeterRalston

 

Cheers

 

Edited 1 hour ago by Natasha Tori Maru

[Natasha Tori Maru]

Bumping this for a good review - Leo introduced me to Ralston also.

Few peeps around here have attended his workshops I believe