The chaos that we see around us (mental illness, child abuse, the war between men and women, crime, pollution, climate change, World War Three, etc.) is but a reflection of our collective chaotic minds.
At the Chiron Centre (Liverpool), we provide tools to recover from stress and exhaustion by reclaiming our human connection with the four seasons of Nature; to reconnect with our emotions, our bodies and the sanity we are born with.
Many men would like to be able to handle their stressful lives better, but they do not know how. So, many men tend to resort to quick-fix solutions that in the end cause more suffering.
Jonathon Lazear describes how our conditioning teaches men to prove themselves obsessively in the world of work.
“If we have come from a dysfunctional family, we are robbed of our childhood. In order to survive as we grow up, we become consumed in proving our self-worth. Many of us do that by immersing ourselves in our work, making ourselves our work, designing ourselves based on our work.”
Workaholism, like alcoholism, is a dis-ease that causes suffering, and potentially death. According to Diane Fassel, the path of workaholism is demonstrated in the following three stages:
However, it is possible to break free from the prison of our workaholic post-industrial time scale that rewards people for self-imposed slave labour twenty-four-seven, twelve months a year. This involves identifying workaholism as an illness, and taking the appropriate steps to create balance and sanity in one’s life.
We promote spiritual wellbeing by demonstrating the tools for contemplation, introspection and connection. We provide regular courses in meditation and retreats in order to teach people how to sit still, live mindfully, and to tame and train their bodies and minds.
When we learn how to simplify our lives, we create space and perspective. Meditation is an opportunity to sit down, shut up and pay attention. It acts as a daily moment of grace to care for the soul. As Chogyam Trungpa says,
“Meditation practice begins by sitting down and assuming your seat cross-legged on the ground. You begin to feel that by simply being on the spot, your life can become workable and even wonderful. You realise that you are capable of sitting like a king or queen on a throne. The regalness of that situation shows you the dignity that comes from being still and simple.”