It’s very curious how some people come to the path. Who would have known, indeed.

Okay, a bit off topic, but here is something to consider: I’ve been to any number of spiritual retreats, activities, etc, and USUALLY you find a slightly or even larger number of women at these types of things. And the men are typically (I’m badly generalizing) are often more alternative types, rarely the Wall St kind of guy. But at a Sedona Method retreat? Men, lots of men. Lots of businessmen. Why? Because Hale and Lester went straight to an issue that is foremost in the minds of lots of men: money. Earning a living. While money and finance are NOT just a man’s issue, in our society there is still a greater emphasis placed upon men to have a career and earn a nice salary. Hale is meeting a need of a segment of the population that is not going to show up at a Zen temple or meditation retreat. Ordinary folks hoping to have a better life and getting introduced to some profound spiritual teachings as a bonus. Interestingly, I’ve met a large number of women at retreats who have been business oriented, small business owners, etc. Coo, huh?

Perhaps I should have been clearer – I was not meaning you personally, just making the general point.

What I’ve found is that if it seems to be more about money, that is a flag to be careful of. But you also have to be considering your own relationship with money. Is money itself an issue that would be good to look into? Does it trigger an emotional response?

I’m from Sweden too. I think in general, people are more business oriented in the US than we are used to in Sweden. “Commercializing spirituality” is not as natural to us Swedes I think. I am OK with it though, I have released a lot on money so it doesn’t bother me as much as it used to do, and have got so much out of the method – I hope you will give the SM a try too (if you haven’t already)!

Per

You know, I understand your complaint. What you are referring to is an affiliate program, where you can earn a commission for selling someone’s products. There is always an issue as to whether someone like me is recommending the Sedona Method to make a buck, or because they are being paid to make sales. And, then there is the issue of why Hale has money tied up so thoroughly into the process.

Well, let me address Hale. Hale is a wonderful human being, very honest, very helpful, quite loving in fact. He really cares about people. I’ve been at so many retreats now, I can tell you that my BS meter has never gone off with Hale. He is the real deal.

And yet, even as we all journey along the path, we carry with us some of our unique personality. We can open tremendously, and still be a lot like what we were in the beginning. And thus we have Hale: a businessman and real estate broker from New York City. You can take the man out of New York, but you can’t take New York out of the man. A lot of Hale’s life has been focused on money. And so, he does his spiritual thing with a money bias to it.

I’m like you, Karin. I prefer my spirituality to be a little (or a lot) less commercial. But I have to say, the money aspect doesn’t invalidate the work. The Sedona Method is still an effective too. It’s just one you have to pay for.

I hope these thoughts help. And for the record, I do make a commission if you buy the Sedona Method via my website. In my mind, a few sales help pay for the cost of my website. In the end, you have to sense the integrity of the person doing the selling, whether it is me or Hale or anyone. Do they feel clean to you? If so, go with that. Don’t let the presence or absence of money persuade you that something or someone is coming from a high place or not.

I must say your photo shows you looking very authentic. I look at photos because often you can tell whether the person’s basically phony in approaching others or not. Your writing confirmed that you’re very open about yourself.

Parts of the Sedona Method sound a lot like good old-fashioned psychology — psychotherapy, in fact. Other parts of it I find difficult to fit into my life view. I’ll continue taking a look around, but I wanted to thank you for the clear description of the Sedona Method and your honesty about yourself.

@Raymond Glad you liked it. Yeah, I got to writing the review, and I kept writing and writing, and then I looked down at the word count: I was over 2000 words and still had more to say! Oh, well, some subjects require more words, don’t they?

I first heard about this method from Bob Doyle but I didn’t really dig deeper into it.

Thanks for sharing the about the sedona method in such a great detail.

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I’ve found for myself that anxiety and fatigue do indeed go hand in hand. Just yesterday I was highly agitated and anxious. (A lot going on). I was able to just let a lot of things go and just relax. I got the best sleep I’ve gotten in a long time. I credit you and some of your commenter’s with helping me get to that point where I could just “Let go”. Thanks.

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@Davidya I really have to say that even though Lester Levenson packaged the techniques and called it “The Sedona Method” it really isn’t a whole lot different from what a lot of people have invented on their own as they go about the journey. The nice thing about systems like this and Byron Katie’s The Work is that they are ready made and you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

I’m glad you noticed my comment about Hale being “clean.” So many gurus and wanna-be’s just don’t feel clean to me. Hale is Hale, with all his quirky character traits, but that honesty of spirit and heart is very present. Clean, in other words. He’s dived deep into his own stuff and seen through a lot of it. He talks the talk and walks the walk.

@Per Glad you like the method, too.

Like RJ, I’ve heard of Sedona for years but never really knew what it was. From my perspective, awakening is easier with a meditation but a process of emotional release is also something meditation alone doesn’t cover. The experience of allowing is learned but the habits of resistance may mean we need to make this process conscious.

I learned this process myself, through observation and others comments. The principles you outline are key. For me, it was a practice of gratitude. This cultured an emotional allowing that would occasionally create an opening in which huge forgiveness occurred. First the obvious things, like ex relationships and parents. In the end though, I found stuff with every relationship I’d ever had. And under all that, forgiveness of myself. And then you find there was nothing to forgive. (laughs)

As Adya concurs, the survive aspect is the core identity, the control aspect is the ego wanting to protect itself.

“In Depression is Anger, In Anger is Fear, In Fear is a Hurt.”
– Rev. Austin Hennessey
I have found that there are small expressions of anger that are not rooted in fear but invested anger is all rooted in fear.

I have also found that there is only fullness and resistance to fullness. Nothing else. So its a simple question to ask which anything is. (sometimes there’s a mixture, you have to filter out the resistance) All of life then comes down to a process of allowing. If we are opening or if we are releasing, both are a process of allowing.

You didn’t mention how Hawkins developed Power vs Force based on Levenson’s table of same.

Your comments about Hale being “clean” is interesting. We tend to think that awakening means some kind of individual perfection. Certainly, the ego passes, but the mind sticks around and the ego has planted so many stories, it takes time to clear them. Adya talks about this process. Ego shrapnel, I call it. What remains rather depends on the work we’ve done prior. The more of this stuff we’ve done, the easier and faster progress can be after.

I also wanted to congratulate your for finding purpose and doing it, even though the path is not known. That is so huge. Wholeness expresses in doing.

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