Enlightenment Intensive 2024 Scotland

The benefits of taking an Enlightenment Intensive

Find meaning and joy in your life as a result of directly experiencing the truth of yourself.
People report finding peace, humour and clarity as well as an increased ability to listen and concentrate. For some, an Enlightenment Intensive (EI) feels like the most significant thing they have done in their lifetime. While not therapeutic by design, EIs have been likened to a year’s worth of therapy in three days. The results of your work can be a powerful aid in your life.

What is an Enlightenment Intensive?

It is a fully residential retreat designed to support you finding the absolute truth of who you are. A standard EI takes place over three days. Your work is supported by experienced staff in an environment dedicated to providing you with the best opportunity of success. The simple technique involves contemplation, communication and listening.

What is Enlightenment?

“Enlightenment” or a “direct experience”, is a change of state of consciousness. Like the state of sleep, it can only be described or pointed to from outside of the state. It’s not an insight, a realisation or an answer and yet is entirely satisfying. It gives you the potential to live from a place of permanent and irrefutable knowing rather than ideas or assumptions.

Who can benefit?

EIs are neither aligned with nor conflict with any religion or belief system, the emphasis being on you putting in your work to find your truth. If you have a sincere interest in exploring yourself, or seek more truth and clarity in your life and are willing to engage with the process, you will undoubtedly benefit.

The Technique:
Self Enquiry Dyads

The self-inquiry technique is simple, self-correcting and effective. The self-enquiry question “Who am I?” is common as a spiritual practice in several traditions including Zen Buddhism. Dyad exercises on the other hand, are based on more modern western communication methods. The combination, discovered by Charles Berner is now used world-wide in EI’s to help participants break through to a direct experience. It removes the need for participants to have any “meditation” experience. Participants sit in facing rows. The members of one row spend 5 minutes contemplating and communicating the consequence of their contemplation to their silent opposite partners. The roles are then reversed every 5 minutes until 40 minutes have passed. Each time you do the dyad exercise, it will be with a different partner.

Deep trust and openness tends to develop between participants as a result of this unique contemplation and communication cycle. Mental, physical and emotional challenges can confront anyone who seeks sincerely to know the truth and the profound contact that is achieved over the course of an EI can be of great support

The Schedule

The schedule consists of dyad exercises, daily walking, light exercise, light working contemplations and rest periods. You will be supported throughout by caring staff. For the duration of the retreat you are asked to comply with the following:: 
– no mobile phones
– no watches
– no jewellery, nor make-up, nor shaving
– eat only food provided for you at scheduled mealtimes
– remain in quiet contemplation at all times outside of the dyad exercises. 
You will be woken early with a bell to start contemplation and your schedule will continue into the evening for each of the 3 intensive days. The purpose is to remove as far as possible the usual social pressures, including the subtle cues and decisions, allowing you to put down your social mask and focus entirely on your own contemplation. 
As the EI progresses, this relative absence of distractions combined with the technique results in a steady increase in concentration, openness and energy. These help support a shift in consciousness into the state we refer to as a direct experience.
NOTE: Accommodation is generally in shared rooms. Solo occupancy rooms may be available for an additional fee, please enquire before booking.

Integration Day

After time for personal reflection, review and journaling, joint integration exercises commence, designed to both consolidate and ground insights and understandings gained during the EI, and to gently introduce more normal levels of social engagement following the extended period of deep contemplation.
It is not uncommon for direct experiences to occur during the integration day.

Food

Good quality, vegetarian, gluten-free and predominantly dairy-free food (there may be nuts, grains and eggs in small measure) is served over three main meal and two snack periods daily. If you have special dietary requirements please enquire before booking to check whether they can be accommodated: an additional fee may apply

Agreements & Rules

Participants are asked to adhere to a simple, practical set of rules designed to help minimise distractions, maximise opportunities for a direct experience, and help keep the space safe for themselves and others. They include, for example, agreeing to follow the schedule and refraining from using digital devices.

Staff

The Enlightenment Intensive staff consists of a Master, Cook and a Senior Monitor (sometimes more), all of whom are committed to helping and supporting each participant to the best of their ability. The Master is always an experienced participant and often each of the support staff will have participated on Enlightenment Intensives themselves.

EI Master

For the October 2024 Enlightenment Intensive your Master will be Sally Dearman-Cummings. She began participating on Enlightenment Intensives in 1999 and mastered her first Intensive in 2005. She is also a facilitator of The Work of Byron Katie, a Heart Intelligence small-group coach and a stress-counsellor. Before the birth of her children, she had careers in the RAF and with the Met Office