I have learned alot from Will Johnson. I don't agree or follow everything he does but alot of it. I learned alot about posture (including relaxation and resiliance), breathing, but, most importantly, about gazing and about Rumi. I'm not big on the drugs (microdosage cannabis). He is like a god to me on the last two topics.
Water monkeys. Cocktypus. The Eight-legged creature. See me in private. Or ask him. He took some of that off his website. He’s wtitten more books.
www.embodiment.net
He’s put up a bunch on youtube. The latest, he calls hollow bamboo. He bases a lot of it on Tilopa's "Song of Mahamudra".
I have absorbed the meditation technique a good bit and am more integrated with it. I’m not using the rapid breathing part at this point.
some reviews off of amazon
“The Spiritual Practices of Rumi: Radical Techniques for Beholding the Divine”
“In these most troubled of times, Johnson makes available for any and all the secret of beholding the divine in sacred friendship. This makes for sensitive and intriguing reading that goes right to your heart.” (José Argüelles, author of Time and the Technosphere)
“A fascinating and quite plausible account of what may have transpired between Jalaluddin Rumi and Shams-i-Tabriz behind the closed door of their retreat room. It should be read by all serious students of Rumi.” (W. M. Thackston, Jr., Professor of the Persian Language, Harvard University, translator of Rumi&rsqu)
“Instead of recycling old information, Will Johnson brings new light to the understanding of Rumi with this book. This is how we can bring Rumi to our life rather than bury him in scholarly libraries.” (Nevit O. Ergin, translator of Rumi’s Divan-i Kebir)
"Since meditation is so often seen as a solitary practice, and since so many of our human interactions are superficial avoidance of genuine intimacy, I wholeheartedly recommend this book. Because of its meditative nature, and because of its promise of opening the heart and vision to the deeper nature of all around us, it seems especially appropriate for those engaged on the Ovate and Druid paths." (Karl Schlotterbeck, Henge of Keltria, May 2008)
“A fascinating account of what may have transpired between Jalaluddin Rumi and Shams-i Tabriz behind the closed door of their retreat room. It should be read by all serious students of Rumi.”
--W. M. Thackston Jr., professor of the Persian language, Harvard University
One of the most extraordinary events in the history of Sufism occurred in 1244 when the Sufi poet and mystic Jalaluddin Rumi met a wandering seeker named Shams-i Tabriz. Upon meeting, the two men immediately went into private retreat together, emerging ninety days later in a transformed condition.
In The Spiritual Practices of Rumi, Will Johnson reveals the radical spiritual practice that transpired between Rumi and Shams. To put it simply, they sat and gazed into each other’s eyes. Because the eyes are portals to the soul, their sustained gazing formed the basis of a devotional practice that opened the doors to a profoundly ecstatic state of divine union. Johnson draws on the poetry and prose of Rumi to unfold his story. He also explains how one may embark on the practice of intentional gazing to experience the state of ecstatic divine union shared by Rumi and Shams so many centuries ago.
WILL JOHNSON is the founder and director of the Institute for Embodiment training, which combines Western somatic psychotherapy with Eastern meditation techniques. He is the author of The Rubais of Rumi and Forbidden Rumi (with Nevit O. Ergin), The Sailfish and the Sacred Mountain, and Yoga of the Mahamudra. He lives in British Columbia.
Oh, goodness gracious this book can open up so many doors for you that it is worth ten times what you will pay for it. I am however not speaking from experience but just what I got out of the book. I haven't found anyone to try the practice with, but just the premise gives me goosebumps and I damned well better find someone to do it with real soon or I'll jump out of my skin.
Yogi Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh gave a technique to do it alone simply by sitting in front of a mirror in the dark with a candle illuminating your face so you can see your eyes in the mirror clearly and being able to not blink for thirty to forty minutes or look away even for a second. Don't know if I'm afraid to do it by myself or if I just want to wait to have someone to share the experience that Jaladin Rumi paints such a marvelous picture of but it is always floating around in my head that this is something I just have to try. This and so many other wonderful mystic things as well, I need to get busy. Laters
The most engaging book I ever read on creating and experiencing depth perception in relationships. Will Johnson gives Soul a context and direction for listening and relating profoundly to a beloved other .Really teaches what an I-Thou looks like and feels like. Excellent for spiritual perspective and spiritual health about the Eros and creativity in all of us. Most highly recommended
There is an ancient quandary in philosophy about how it is that we can truly know anything unless we already know it. How do we recognize something, and recognize it truly, when we first come upon it?
In this book by Will Johnson, the author briefly recounts the history of Rumi's interludes with his beloved friend Shams and then he describes the contemplative practice of gazing into the eyes of one's beloved, whether that person is a friend or lover. As he describes his own obviously deep familiarity with this contemplative technique, he draws from Rumi's poetry, highlighting when Rumi asserted the same point, or explained the same technique, or just wept in blissful joy at the results of beholding the divine in a beloved friend's eyes. The author is recognizing the presence of this practice in Rumi's life because of the author's own intimate familiarity with the technique. It's obvious that the author deeply understands both the technique itself and the greater Truth that it helps the practitioner find.
By the time I reached page 40 of this book, I was already buying more copies for my own beloved friends, so true did I find the author's words. I am writing this review as an afterthought for those of you who I haven't sent a copy of the book to!
Can we actually know, scientifically know, that Rumi and Shams spent their time alone together gazing into each other's eyes? Haha, there are bigger truths at stake here!
James Corrigan
Author of An Introduction to Awareness
An extraordinarily rich insight into the practice of "gaze," as exemplified by the relationship between Rumi and Shams of Tabriz. Johnson has a deep understanding of this practice (which I gather he incorporates into his own teachings), and writes beautifully about it.
I have read a lot of book about Rumi. This book makes some valuable additions to the literature about him. While we cannot absolutely know what transpired between Rumi and Shams, it is reasonable to imagine what the practice might have been, extrapolating from Rumi's writings. While the book's title say it addresses spiritual practices, it is fair to say that at least 90% of the book addresses only one practice: looking long and deeply into the eyes of a spiritual friend. Even if one does not have a spiritual friend to engage in this practice with, the author suggests you can use your own image in the mirror, or look long and lovingly at something in nature, like a tree.
The section of the book on stages of spiritual practice is useful. Also very useful and kindly written are the sections that address our tendency toward self castigation on the path: we are not enlightened enough, far enough along the path, find ourselves unworthy- etc. The author's heartfelt words about this reach right into the heart and comfort the weary traveler. The following Rumi poem, which I had not read before, is quoted:
You suppose that you're the trouble,
But you're really the cure.
You suppose that you're the lock in the door
But you're really the key that opens it.
It's too bad you want to be someone else.
You don't see your own face, your own beauty.
Yet, no one's face is more beautiful than yours.
I would like to hand that poem to every counseling client I see.
Overall I recommend this book highly. You can feel the author' compassionate spirit through his writing. Reading this book is like spending hours with a compassionate spiritual friend.
