Intensive Archetypes

Described here is an Archetype for the Intensive as a whole. The three-day Enlightenment Intensive is built upon the dyad model basics. The dyad is a very flexible kernel that can be modified and used in a variety of ways. The archetype presented modifies the teaching of the dyad process within the three-day Enlightenment Intensive to minimize the need to individuate any participant. This archetype minimizes the need to separate any participant out from their fellow participants. In a sense this means minimize any attack on the persons indirect support structure which is their ego.

The rational for this archetype is as follows:

In the enlightenment experience we are asking people to experience life outside of their heads. Their heads in this context means those threads of logic which are indirect and gathered from other people through the process of trip laying. Trip laying is a complex social process which results in a "belief" being used as truth rather than personal experience. In other words we are asking people to experience directly what they currently "believe". It requires a level shift in consciousness and that requires more personal responsibility. To individuate a participant out from their group is to place a spin on them and that re-activates their ego structure and that keys in the mind. That makes it more difficult for them to have an enlightenment experience.

As an engineer in my outside life - I look for system cures rather than individual errors. I see the individual as part of an overall system. What are my options to minimize correcting errors on an individual level?

For my last (April 1998) Intensive I made only three individual corrections, one re-wording of the question, one time balance correction, and one back posture correction. As I understand how the Intensive can be fine tuned as a whole process - I find less need to single out individuals. That helps the group bind together and improve the dyad communication quality. Great love then bubbles up from their interactions.

The ideal archetype exposed:

The opening talk on Thursday night is very important. It sets the tone for the whole intensive. Our purpose together is Truth. That is why they have gathered together now. The facilitator must be ready and willing to deliver the real stuff and on queue. Now is that time for that truth. I can't talk from my head and expect other people to understand with their hearts. That would be a lie. Our intent together for the next three days follows then by my living example in this opening talk. Provide leadership or it flops and we go through motions for three days. I speak from my heart and I keep it as real as I can. I talk about my relationship to them and their relationship with the people around them. I talk about trip laying - or as I prefer to use the words - doing your own work and contamination. I talk about the truth that must come from within, and the need for safety when you open up your insides.

I call myself a window washer and minor cheerleader. It is their life and their experience which is the heart of the experience we are looking for. It is not about finding the right words, it is about direct experience. I talk about direct and indirect experience. I also cover the basics - where are the bathrooms, where are the showers, where the food is served, how they keep their dishes, etc. Everything is done from the point of allowing people to focus on their question. I tell them about each question and I tell them to sleep on it and pick a question by the end of the morning talk. My opening talk takes about 60 minutes including time for questions and answers. I give them my overview about the whole intensive. I talk about the "story" phase and how the mind gets emptied and we enter the void. How we will speak only truth, but later learn that we just took out the garbage. I talk about making a safe place for that information so it can come out and how we will all slowly fall in love. I talk about what can happen at an Enlightenment Intensive and I pass out the legal release forms. Everything is placed in a meaningful way to the participants with in a context of love and individual support.

For the first two days - before each dyad I always talk to the whole group for 2 or 3 minutes about how it is going. How to do the technique - how to keep from falling asleep - how to listen better - how to handle the energy that is growing - better posture - etc.

Day two: Now we focus on having pure intention. People are not trip laying and their listening skills have gone way up. Unfortunately, their intention is for all the wrong reasons. I keep all small talk to a minimum; people eat in silence and the grace and dignity seems to rise in the group as a whole. My 1:30 pm talk is about being open and having focused attention. I have found that I can not read from a book and stay present - so I pluck the words from the space between us. I stay in my heart and I stay in love while I speak. The words fall out of my mouth and there is no rush. I stop while people interact with questions. I only speak what has to be said to help others make their own progress. I try to stay out of their way.

Day Three: Now I focus on the quality of the communication. I ask for short cycles with no stories. Walk away from the tower of babble. Cycles naturally transfer from Osha's approach to Lawrence's approach. Cycles drop from 4-6 minutes to 1 minute or less. The "spot light" of the active partner is treated like a hot potato - people feel the interaction become more solid. Trust goes way up - words go way down - contemplation quality goes up. People see they are in a relationship. I tell people to let go of the first thing that comes up as a result of their contemplation - pass on popcorn and wait for steaks. Find something worthy. Find the precious.

Initially, there was resistance to my suggestion to go for shorter cycle times. People were making progress. I told them that if they continued as they were all of them would be Enlightened in about 10 days - but this was our last day. They reluctantly started to speed things up - and wonders happened - the energy went right up - the love unfolded - it was like a rocket taking off. People in the old system had reached a point where they were doing one clean cycle - and then doing a cycle on what came up, and then doing a cycle on what come up - further and further away from their original question. They were doing clearing. I told them about clearing and Enlightenment and the difference between this work and psychotherapy. They liked psychotherapy, but they were willing to learn that there was really something better. It was wonderful. They stepped slowly out into a new dyad process. From something successful to something wonderful. It was very satisfying. The love just got thicker and thicker until it was solid. We were all together - only one person failed to have an Enlightenment Experience - and he will be back in November. Although he fell short of the full experience, he made lasting progress. This next will be his third Intensive and he now has the goal to prepare himself with practice before he returns - so that he can be ready.

I like the flexibility of the cycle change-over system. The bells get in the way and they slow the interaction down. Tape recorders make noise and are less natural. When people start to feel the other - they monitor their own times. I measured them - it was amazing how close the times were when there was love between the two dyad partners. Just a few seconds difference between listening and active phase of the dyad. Those few who were unconscious - who abuse the time, they are easy to fix - you just need a stop watch and some paper. It is a very stable and simple process with objective reality as a map. Gentle but tough love to reach these people and make them re-connect to the group with dignity and finally to the love that was always there. It is a powerful approach. To me it is the easiest way to manage an Intensive and it is a process that I can make work here in Alabama.

To do an Intensive as a facilitator - all I need is my wrist watch (and of course my staff support). I have a 40 minute time delay programmed in. It also allows me to measure time intervals while the time delay is counting down to dyad end. It is the only tool I need. I ask them to start - press the button, and I listen to as many people as I can. I can follow about 5 dyads at the same time. I don't hear every word, but I feel and follow the flow and I watch for technique errors. If I have to also measure cycle times - I drop off in quality of tracking - but it is just a chore I can manage with moderate effort. I find the use of a "sports" watch to be simple and convenient. The beep beep noise is loud enough to be heard by people who are listening but unobtrusive for those who are "in the middle of it." Perfect in every way. I let it ring until the noise quiets - I then turn it off - and make announcements. At the last dyad I held up my arm and said "I can't hear it" to a roar of giggles.

For the talks given each day it does me no good to bring any books, the minute I start to read - they fall asleep. I tried that last year. I must stay real above all and I must stay in love. If I do those two things they will do what I ask. Our connections are then real and vibrant. Quality is everything. The bottom line is repeat customers. Without them there would be no repeat Intensives in Alabama. Each one, so far, is bigger (more participants) and better (more enlightenment percentages) than the last.

I think the Enlightenment Intensive format - with cycle times moving gradually from 5 minutes to 50 seconds - is the way to go. It pops and it sparkles. It is like a fine piece of music - not too long and not too short. Like a symphony it requires a conductor or a window washer and it must focus on the participants with both tough and tender love. Errors in the process are naturally cured without intervention and that keeps the energy rising.

I am very happy with this approach to group dynamics. It is three separate Enlightenment Intensives - each one with a different stress - placed end to end - made to look seamless. It is good for teaching without the need to single out any individual - and it also works for repeat participants - they just go deeper and act as teachers.

In general the hardest day for the facilitator is the first. I had a participant arrive at 12:45 am, and I still had the job of getting up at 5:30 am. It was a small Intensive, with only 11 people. No chief monitor. It was nice to have a de-odder. We had a small Intensive with great focus. Teaching the technique on the first day is everything. Of course I was happy to do what ever had to be done - and to do it with love. It was a fantastic personal experience, If I were to die today I would have no complaints. I am complete.

To love and to make that love understood - that is why I create Intensives and why I make adjustments to the process.

Faithfully yours.. Bill Savoie