Sedona Method, Release Technique .. what's good and what's missing?

 

I've been continuing a deep dive into The Sedona Method (aka Release Technique) over the last month or so. There's a lot of good points related to learning and using this method, and also some things that are missing in this method that could become an issue for some, and hence why some people become road blocked at some point along their 'releasing' journey.

There has been an obvious evolution in the method from the 1950s when Lester Levenson first thought about and designed a way to release tendencies (vasanas) and allow for someone to rest in their own beingness/awareness/I AM. That evolution in itself has been both good and bad in different ways and I'll comment on that below.

The Good

- There's tonnes of information out there on the Internet about The Sedona Method. In fact, it's almost not even necessary in forking out the cash to purchase the entire course, since the whole method and aspects of the course are all out there (e.g. in YouTube, or other sites), and one can basically pick up the method and run with it. The later developments such as the 5th way (which is really a form of self-enquiry that is used with the intent to release emotions and recognise awareness) is also freely available. Hale in his graciousness has been good to open up the method and approach for free via podcasts, YT videos, books and other means, which makes it pretty much accessible for anyone.

- The method itself is fairly easy to learn. The proviso is that it is practices over and over again until it becomes a habit that is mastered. Just going through a few releases and the course (which has become more and more complex and informational now) will not cut it. This needs to be a constant practice (as mentioned in Lester's 6 points for success or imperturbability).

- There's various approaches now to the method, other than the original Questions / Queries approach. Larry Crane has a more direct releasing method based on the body sensations and also confronting the mind, whereas other newer teachers such as David Ellzey incorporate self-enquiry and some nondual practices into the mix. Any of these approaches could work better for someone. Hale also includes at least 5 ways to release now.

- The course does allow someone to be able to learn to categorise and identify emotions (on the AGFLAP-CAP chart) and identify them in the body and release on them. This is a real bonus as so many people come to the course with no idea about what an emotion is, where it can be experienced or how it could be classified and noted etc.

- The course can lead to deeper spiritual work, such as self-enquiry etc. In fact, Lester's original goal was for the course to be a tool to aid in the quest for self-realization and enlightenment, rather than an end in itself or a self-help tool, or a productivity tool-- which of course is much easier to market and have people sign up for vs a tool aiming at spiritual development.

What's missing or could be an issue?

+ The tool can get overly intellectual for some people. If someone is caught in a tendency state, zoned out or trance state, an addiction or purely physical - emotional loop, then asking these questions and releasing tends to become an intellectual exercise that doesn't really get to the core of the emotional issue. Just repeating the questions, and not connecting with the body or sensation or emotion itself doesn't produce any effect in most cases. There's no development of body mindfulness or sensation awareness etc., which for the most part needs to be done at some point to full access the body where emotions are stored and become part of our experience.

+ There's no use of meditation or contemplation in the course at all. The sorts of spiritual principles (along the lines of Advaita Vedanta) that Lester was emphasising in the 60s and later, really need to be contemplated and used in meditation. Just using the technique during daily activities and without the assistance of deep meditation and contemplate makes it hard to integrate fully into all states of being. 

+ The course is secular or purely psychological , self-help in delivery. One could theoretically become devoted to the method (or perhaps Lester), though the focus on the course is essentially still a self-help tool, rather than a psycho-spiritual path or approach that incorporates other areas as well such as ethics, meditation, contemplating principles etc. This makes a bit hard for some to commit to, and stay motivated for the long run.. few can remain motivated and constant or devoted to a tool or method or technique.

+ Integration. I found the earlier versions of the course, such as the 1992 Sedona Institute version, to be much easier to integrate and use during the day and throughout all waking hours.. ie. full integration.. due to the simplicity of the course and single way of releasing. The worksheets and drills in the earlier course versions were great as well. However, the later versions of the course just contain too much material, information, ways to release, and options. As such, it's a real challenge and becomes extremely difficult for the brain to integrate all of these items into one's daily activities or experience. Again, meditation and focused sitting sessions are missing, which means that the subconscious mind doesn't have an easy, ready to go approach within reach when emotions start flying or an unexpected issue or tendency arises.

+ Complexity. As mentioned above, as the course evolves over time, it tends to have more information, ways to release, complexity and options added over time. This seems to be in the official channels as well as with other teachers. This is understandable because it gives more flexibility in ways to release, and is a larger offering in terms of marketing the course and getting it out there. However, being a double edged sword, more complexity, offerings, options and information also acts as an obstacle for people getting a handle on ONE preferred way to release and just getting the practice and time spent releasing clocked up over time. The old metaphor of 'digging many holes that are shallow being less effective that digging one deep hole in a preferred area that hits oil' can be true here.

+ Moving away from the original goals of the course and how Lester Levenson first gained his insights and realizations. Reading Lester's biographies and own notes on his awakening(s) around 1952, it's clear he was very focused on self-enquiry, Advaita in the style of Ramana Maharshi, and also seemed to have performed a variety of forgiveness and 'love'/metta type contemplations and practices at the time, which would have been beneficial on his health situation. He was greatly motivated due to his critical health issues at the time as well. His talks in the 60s where fully in line with Advaita teachings. Slowly over time, the method and focus shifted away from this, and moved into a psychological emotional self-help tool, but recently with the upswing in interest in nonduality and awareness teachings, this has been added back in via the "5th Way" releasing style etc. It's worth keeping this in mind, because TSM was really designed as an aid to release tendencies and obstructing emotions/thoughts as an aid to self-enquiry and self-realisation. There also seems to be a gap in the explanation of how Lester originally used his forgiveness/metta/loving-all type practices in regards to his health and his past grievances and relationship issues, and why this wasn't incorporated into the method as another facet. Lester was a bit of a pioneer, and tried his best to come up with a method that would suit the mainstream in releasing tendencies and obstacles so that they could live happier lives and possibly embody a more aware experience.

Takeaways

Sedona Method is a great little tool for introducing emotional release work, gaining some understanding of emotions, feelings, how they are experienced in the body, how they can be noted and labelled and released or allowed to pass through etc. It's also portable, and easy to learn. However, there's a few missing pieces if you're looking at it from a holistic point of view, and it seems a lot of long-term users have incorporated other teachings, approaches, and therapies (e.g. EFT, Mindfulness, nondual awareness approaches, bodywork etc.) into their practice to supplement those missing areas in TSM. 

Whether to dig up unconscious stuff to release on.. or release in the moment? (Lester Levenson, Advaita, and Sedona Method)

 

So I'm continuing a deep dive into Sedona Method, Release Technique, the teachings of Lester Levenson and related material. 

It's mostly centred around 2 main areas:

- Emotional release work

- Advaita, or nonduality based on the teaching model of contemporary Advaita Vedanta (most similar to Ramana Maharshi's teachings and model)

 

A question has come up after going through (again) several of the courses and reading some of Lesters original writings (as transcribed for example in 'Keys to the Ultimate Freedom', and 'Happiness is Free'). Lesters original talks recorded in the 1960 (1964 and 1966) are also available on YouTube pretty must for free now.. for example here : https://www.youtube.com/@lesterlevenson8168/videos)

 

That question is -- is it better to 'dig up' and trigger the emotional reactions and uncover where the 3 Wants are hiding (and thus emotional reactions on the AGFLAP chart), or is it better to just release what comes up in the moment (ie during the day or night or while involved in activities)?

 

Larry Crane and Hale Dwoskin put together the current two main commercial offerings that are now available with Lester's teachings and the Sedona Method style releasing system. I met Larry Crane in person when he visited Australia about 10 years back.. and unfortunately, he's gone now. Hale is still very active in the releasing community and has evolved the Sedona Method to be much larger and encompassing many approaches that Lester didn't originally use.

There are also a few ex-students of Lester around that have kept Lester's original simplified version the Sedona Method / Release technique. They tend to be very similar to how Lester approached the releasing, and just use the 2 Wants (Wanting Control and Wanting Approval) to release on.

Apart from Hale, who has now fully incorporated the approach of Advaita Vedanta (in modern terms and without any technical terms or non-English terms) into his teachings with Sedona Method, not many of the other teachers or students of Lester make use of the teachings of Advaita Vedanta, or self-inquiry.. and not in the direct way that Lester himself references the "Eastern" teachings, for example in "Keys to the Ultimate Freedom" talks.

But back to the question about whether to release on stuff as it arises, or make an effort to dig into the unconscious via goals, worksheets, topics, journaling etc..

My view now is that it is likely better to just release directly on things arising in the moment, rather than spending large amounts of time digging up stuff and constantly filling out worksheets and goals and topics. The reason for this is that when just keeping the releasing on what is arising in the moment, it aligns much better as a tool or 'means to an end' practice for then moving on to self-inquiry or resting in the moment as beingness, suchness etc... which was always Lester's "Ultimate Goal". The ultimate goal was never to clear out all of the unconscious garbage.. which is more aligned with a Scientology type goal of clearing 'unconscious traumas' etc and getting to some "Clear" state. 

In contrast, any preparatory practice in the nondual approaches was always aimed at making way for the simples of situations in which things are able to rest and be seen exactly as they are in perfect peace, ananda, as suchness.. see for instance the preparations and end for Dzogchen, or the silent teachings of Ramana Maharshi, in which nothing needs to be done.. indeed, all conceptual designations are let stand but are known to be nothing other than the Absolute.

So if you have gone down the rabbit hole of Sedona Method, and wonder how far down you need to go, and when you need to stop releasing... then it's useful to keep these above things in mind, and veer towards an approach where you just release on things (emotional triggers, reactions, wants, craving etc.) in the moment, rather than try stir up unconscious stuff in an effort to clear it all. By doing this, you'll have a much better chance of being able to recognise and attain Lester's view of the "Ultimate Goal" which is to be that imperturbable peace and Happiness itself.

 

Establishing a 5 minute "emotional releasing" session - Sedona Method additions.

 

So I've been revisting The Sedona Method (and related teachings of Lester Levenson) over the last month or so. I've done it many times in the past, probably starting around the year 1998, 2000 or thereabouts. I had various levels of "success", but this time around has been excellent in terms of actually understanding where it is coming from, and what "releasing" (a subtle and often confusing topic) really is.

One way to use the method or approach is to establish a 5 minute (or more) quiet sitting meditation session, in which you just sit and do nothing for 5 minutes, apart from allowing issues, bodily sensations or other objects to arise and take hold of the attention (if it happens).

Then these objects and arisings can be tracked back to the feeling category (AGFLAP-CAP) or the 2 Basic Wants (Approval, Control) and released from there. If done correctly or to completion, this returns one's state back to just sitting (beingness, I-am-ness etc.)

One can notice the "I-thought" also attached to these basic wants and how they arise.

This is also a great little exercise that can be done to notice craving (tanha in Buddhism) and how craving arises and causes pressure (to escape it in either pleasure or aversion).

Getting success with the method really entails a LOT of repitition until releasing becomes automatic or second nature, as per how breathing happens (or burping etc.) and any other automatic bodily response.

Every arising, even unrelated, such as a thought, desire, bodily sensation etc. can be tracked back to the two basic wants (or prior to that the 6-9 basic feelings in the AGFLAP chart) and released from there.

Why must we pay for things on the spiritual path?

 

Why must we 'pay' for things on the spiritual path?

I will tell you an almost immutable law of human behaviour that is relatively simple to understand and that has far reaching consequences.

That law is:

People only value what they must pay for..

This can look like a number of different things, practically speaking..

- Having to pay money or financial consideration for a course or seminar or teaching

- Having to expend effort in receiving information, teachings, assistance, support etc.

- Having to use time and spend large amounts of time working with a teaching before any sort of understanding takes place.

A number of teachers used this law. It was fundamental in all of the Gurdjieff and Fourth Way teachings and groups last century. Freud makes mention of this during his writings, as a strongly conditioned response in people that is largely inherited. Lester Levenson mentions it in his talks and his experiences in teaching Sedona Method and Release work. 

Even the Bible seems to condition people (or make use of this law), in places like The Golden Rule of behaviour (New Testament), or in the ways of justice throughout may places in the Old Testament. 

How can we make use of this conditioned behavioural response that goes fairly deep in the human psyche?

Some ways:

- Consider the effort required and what you're prepared to give in receiving and working with a teaching. How much earnestness and devotion can you commit?

- Money considerations, donations, supporting the teaching that you're receiving and working with.. or other ways to 'give back'

- How much time are you willing to spend sticking to a teaching or approach? Could you commit even a few months of honestly using and trying out the teaching and being faithful to it before moving on?

"But teachings and spirituality should be free!!!"

The teachings ARE already free.. there's nothing out there that is new, or hasn't been said already. Every method, approach, way, insight etc. is already out there, free and available in books, videos, on the Internet, in person with people who 'get it' etc. But again, we don't value those avenues, and we quickly consume them and move on, discarding it later like used packaging.

So be aware of this behavioural law in the coming days, and note how much effort you actually put into the path, which will determine how much you get out of the path that you've chosen or that resonates with you at this moment in time.

Progressive paths, preparations and nonduality meetings - nonduality speak.

 

Progressive paths, preparations and meetings - nonduality speak

I sometimes get asked-- 'why do you focus on preparatory actions, or topics and practices that aren't directly related to nonduality, awareness approaches, or nondual enquiry etc.?'

The reason that I bang on so much about preparations, inner work, emotional mastery, embodiment, and progressive pathways.. nowawadays, as opposed to in previous years where I seemed to aim only at approaches directly related to Nonduality, is because all these preps and progressive steps are necessary for 99% of spiritual seekers!

It's all well and good to pick up any number of common nondual teaching approaches or talks or pointers or enquiries etc. .. of which there's so many around these days, Youtube, Zoom sessions, one-to-one, meetings, teachers, etc., and then run with these in the hope of getting a glimpse. The issue is that these small glimpses are experiences only. Temporary changes in perception, or belief, or the unlocking of some new understanding. These experiences come and go, and aren't permanent or abiding. The temptation then is to latch on to some belief system that maintains that underlying our current experience (of suffering) there's some absolute, eternal, peaceful state etc.. after all, 'didn't we just experience that?' This then leads to the common flip-flop syndrome where seekers are in and out of 'the experience'.. or even worse, some pick up the teacher role (along with their ego) and then start proclaiming they're done and jump into the 'blind-leading-the-blind' game of nonduality teaching.

 ALL traditional approaches, from traditional Dzogchen, to traditional Advaita Vedanta, or traditional Buddhist schools, or traditional Kashmir Shaivism, or devotional yoga, or contemporary or pragmatic dharma teachers, etc. aways advise of a rather length preparatory or gradual approach that combines a number of different 'modules', usually including some development in ethics, bodywork, philosophical framework (even minimally), ritual, emotional maturity, and other practices or work areas that are normally under the 'progressive paths' framework. These gradual steps ensure that there's no rock left unturned when the penny finally drops, and things are seen just as they are.

So in summary, these prep practices are really important in the long for success in this 'nondual understanding' endeavour. Without them, the road is dangerous, and it becomes just too easy to veer off into distractions, false awakenings, calling off the search too early, burn out, or allowing the ego to take control of the journey.

This needs to be said sometimes, as a reminder (antidote to all the contemporary misinformation out there) that the path is a gradual one, although the paradox is that recognition is instantaneous and only happens now, with things being always as they have been, including the story.

Thanks for reading this and your patience. My blessings to you on the path that is no path, and which is well worth the effort (or non-effort) so to speak.

Dean.

Balancing the teachings and activity with periods of silence.

 

Balancing the teachings and activity with periods of silence

I was recently listening to an old audio tape of Lester Levenson giving a talk to one of his small groups of students around the 1960s in Sedona.

One of the themes that he identified was the idea of the power of silent teachings, or constantly transmitted teachings or 'the teaching' that is given and received in silence or stillness.

This idea was also promoted by a few schools, and Ramana Maharshi was particularly famous for his comments on the highest form of teaching being that given in silence, rather than any verbal pointers. He mentioned some cultural examples, or rather Tamil type myths, involving the legendary Dakshinamurti who gave his teachings under a tree to his 8 or so disciples entirely in silence.

Lester also made a point of the fact that any outer teaching or outer teacher is in fact a projection of the inner teacher and inner teaching, of which, the outer teacher should be aiming to direct and guide the disciple into. This idea is also present in the teachings of A Course in Miracles, where the student is meant to be left in the hands of his "Inner Teacher" by the end of the course, rather than continuing to mill around other "course" teachers and take on some new role or egoic identity.

A final point in the talk was that any teaching that we take on, or intellectually contemplate, as well as action related to that teaching- whether it be ethics, right view, mindfulness, awareness or whatever, should be balanced by periods of silent contemplation. Further, most people have a fair amount of 'ego deconstruction' work to engage in, and this breaking down of egoic identities, roles, norms, beliefs and constructs should be balanced by periods of silence and stillness, listening out Inner Guidance. Issues arise when this isn't done, such as taking the ego itself to be some sort of permanent and immovable structure, or engaging in massive circular efforts by the ego in trying to remove itself.. a cycle many enter into and never actually free themselves from. The other extreme where too much effort is given to silence and stillness without the necessary ego deconstruction can also happen. The issues on that side is that egoic beliefs, and hidden constructs remain in place, and remain operating on a hidden level in the form of spiritual bypassing, shady ethics, and egoic needs playing out in the form of people becoming fully fledged 'teachers' and enjoying that ego role for all its worth. People are shocked when some teachers suddenly and unexpectedly fall from grace or are involved in some scandal.. but this is simply the shadow that was never dealt with or deconstructed making an appearance and coming out from the dark where it always did remain intact.

It's my own personal observation that the 'teachings', or rather the constant silent teachings that are immanent at all times, tend to work in spite of any of our efforts, rather than due to the apparent efforts we seem to be making. Sometimes just sitting and letting go can be one of the best ways to actually receive 'The Teaching'. 

Balancing both ego-deconstruction and silent listening/contemplation can be helpful, if not essential, in making progress on both these fronts. 

Craving, desire, bodily impulses and management approach of various awakened "Nonduality" teachers.

 

12 February 2024.

I’ve been pondering a lot about craving, and dealing with craving. I noted that there’s a divide between mental type methods, and body methods or “embodied awakening” as SK calls it. I am moving towards the embodied practices at the moment such as Morrnah Simeona's Ho’oponopono 12 Step process and framework. This is much more on that embodied side than HL’s modernised form (which is a mix of both body and intellectual "tools", but for me in 2022 remained almost totally intellectual and mentally tiring vs now where it’s a breeze and effortless to work the practice and involves a strong connection with the Inner Child / Subconsious where arisings are mostly coming from).

Compared some advice today from NIS as well, which didn’t sit well about exteriorizing the craving or desire and watching it or observing it. Seems like the usual dislocated approach that I used to take, and most people take on encountering awareness teachings, and which works for a while, but not in the long-run. But on reading it later, it seems he was pointing to being aware of it first, and then somehow using it with the I AM.

This seems similar to the misunderstanding with Ramana, where people keep just ignoring arisings and emotions and going back to just awareness, when instead he MAY have been actually pointing to BEING the ego-I self and fully being present as the self, and then that gets subsumed into the I AM ness.. We don’t approach pure consciousness directly, since it’s not accessible for the intellectually identified mind, and will likely end up in spiritual bypassing and suppression of emotions, craving, etc.

A lot of teachers or teachings I've come across over the years, such as Shinzen Young, Scott Kiloby, Linda Clair, Eckhart Tolle, Barry Long, and many others, especially those of a more contemporary nature, are firmly in the embodied camp. Not to be confused with contemporary Nonduality teachers, such as Tony Parsons, Jim Newman, Ramesh Balsekar, Sailor Bob,  and all Neo-Advaitins who are firmly in the intellectual understanding only camp and don’t deal with the body at all except as some sort of aspect of consciousness.. And coincidentally are the most likely to be misunderstood and used for spiritual bypassing by the ego.