What is Mastery?

It's great to see all your familiar names signing into the conversation list. And welcome to all you new folks too. This week I thought it would be interesting to open the conversation about Mastery.

But before I do, just want to share today what I wasnt ready to share last week. "I miss you sooo much Thomas". Last week, February 11, was the one year anniversary of the death of one of my most challenging and provocative teacher/mentors, Thomas J Leonard. Many of you know him and feel the same way. For those who dont, you can find some of his prolific writing at Coachville.com. It's free to be a member and on the member pages you'll find a lot of wonderful growth and development programs he created. Check out the 3 Step Trainings in particular.

Thomas had the rare gift of translating complicated spiritual concepts into the language of business so that businesses and entrepreneurs could thrive on experiences of generosity, harmony, creativity, flow, etc. and not need to do a 3 year retreat to get there. He was the kind of Master who was in your face if you weren't genuine or awake to what you were saying and doing. You loved him for it and hated the process. But under his tutoring, working for and with him for about 2 years, I grew more than in the previous 15 years of other spiritual trainings. He was a Master in the world of ego development AND transcendence. He always reminded me of what Carl Jung taught as well, that you need to develop your ego before you can transcend it. Programs like "Perfect Life", "Extreme Self-Care", "Tolerations Free" "Need-Less", and more, all indulged the ego to such a degree that after a while you were really ready for something bigger and better than ego. You were ripe to evolve. Teachings that urge you to surrender ego before you deeply know it and consciously indulge it simply take too long to master. There is always resistance...in my humble opinion. There is resistance when it's ripe too..but much less.

What I loved most about Thomas was he never used language from traditional spiritual teachings. He was a master at consistently using language that didnt get in the way of helping all levels of people evolve personally and professionally. If you truly want to know what mastery is...check out the life and teachings of Thomas J. Leonard at www.thomasleonard.com .

And for another slice of the mastery pie: Lee Coit writes this about mastery, in Listening...Still, "Too much emphasis placed on understanding instead of practicing can lead to frustration and denial because understanding is not accomplishment. If you cannot do it well consistently, you have not attained mastery". Coaches going for IAC certification take note! All of us who read and read and talk and talk but dont spend hours a day practicing, we're just kidding ourselves if we think we are mastering anything.

And why bother to go for mastery of anything? Because we can. Because humanity will evolve further if just one of us does. Because one person matters...a lot. Just one of us can raise the bar for others. And that is an amazing legacy.

So, who has another piece of this pie? And how do these pieces I offer you taste?
Thanks for being here.
anna

Comments

[Steve Davis]

Beautiful Tribute to Thomas Anna! I was just thinking about the fact that it's been a year since he passed the other day. His passing was such a tangible reminder of how truly ephemeral our existence really is.

Your comments also reminded me of the "Spiritual Bypass" many seekers undertake. I tried that one myself and it didn't work very well! This is basically about taking the spiritual route to avoid resolving and healing your ego wounds. Of course this is an ongoing debate in the spiritual arena I think. Some traditions say, bypass away, the ego is all thoughtform anyway. I won't go any further lest I get into an intellectual debate with myself. Perhaps a good subject for the future.

Great work with your site and Adv. Communication Theme. Look forward to being part of it and look forward to our continued work on the www.AuthenticMarketer.com. I think many are hungry to truly integrate these advanced communication and spiritual concepts into how we do business.

Love,
Steve

[Verna Wilder]

Hi Anna,
My model for "mastery" is what I learned when I took Aikido classes years ago. Every beginning class was made up of students and black belts. At first I thought this was the standard arrangement, that the beginners would learn and the black belts were there to help us learn. But I found out later that they were there because they beleive that we are all beginners, and when they stepped onto the mat in black gee and black belt, they were there to learn, too. The beginners did, in fact, learn much from the masters, but they felt that they learned from us, as well. So we all entered into practice together. And "practice" was the key word. I like to think that our gifts and our willingness to practice and share those gifts is what brings us to "mastery." I didn't know Thomas, but I've met people who knew him, and whether they knew him well or only slightly, they were profoundly touched by who he is--by his gift of being present and creative and sharing. Would he have called himself a master of anything? I'm curious.
Thank you for this opportunity to discuss ideas with others. I look forward to more.
-Verna

[anna]

Thanks Steve and Verna for your comments. Steve, you bring up a difficult issue in spiritual circles. In Wiber's One Taste we read how we can go to higher levels of consciousness without ever healing or resolving ego level traumas and constrictions. Any one know people like that? We see lots of meditators who seem to experience deep peace when they are meditating but then return to everyday life with the same neurosis. Integral Practice is the practice of working with ALL the levels of being in relationship to yourself, others and the world. One way to avoid this difficulty.

And Verna, what an interesting analogy of mastery and Aikido. I'm aware of a book on embracing conflict using the Aikido principles. Do you remember the title? I think you are right about Thomas, he would not say he was a master...i dont think. But anyone could see how consistently he coached at advanced levels of communicating and relating. Susan, what do you think about mastery?

[Sali Taylor]

I think the book relating martial arts strategy to resolving conflict is The Magic of Conflict by Thomas Crum.
He and John Denver were good friends. Think TC lives in Aspen.