Richard Harvey
connecting psychotherapy and spiritual growth for human awakening
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What's New and in the Pipeline?
Sacred Attention Online
A group for support and guidance for the psycho-spiritual journey
Begins on Sunday 17 March at 12.00 noon CET (Central European Time)
Led by psychotherapist and spiritual teacher RICHARD HARVEY
In response to requests for a gathering of likeminded souls to enhance, support and share the challenges, pitfalls and joys of inner work, I have decided to offer a, for now, monthly online group.
The individuals gathered will define the direction, themes and focus for the meeting. Each participant is invited to share how his personal and spiritual journey is appearing right now and to explore their experience of taking the next step toward unity, clarity and liberation.
Whether you are a therapist, a student of counseling/therapy, a psychological explorer or a spiritual practitioner you are welcome and accepted here without hierarchy, judgment or criticism.
To participate send an email to me at richard@therapyandspirituality.com with your name, your Skype username and, if we haven’t met yet, a short account of where you find yourself in your inner work (please no more than a paragraph or two), and confirm you have sent a payment of 55 euros to PayPal account "innerworkshops@hotmail.com". The meeting lasts between one hour and an hour and a half, according to need and enthusiasm.
I look forward to seeing you at Sacred Attention Online!
Richard Harvey, Psycho-Spiritual Psychotherapist, Spiritual Teacher, and Author
Your Essential Self For Sale On This Website
“One of the most important books I have ever read. If you are looking for open, honest information, inner healing and understanding why we are the way we are, look no further. I have read and re-read this book numerous times and every time I am amazed at how accurate and applicable his ideas are.” – C.C., USA, amazon review
Your Essential Self is proving hard to get and expensive when you can find it. You can now order copies of Your Essential Self for yourself or a friend for 12 euros plus postage and packing a copy. Signed copies can be sent on request. Contact us.
“[Your Essential Self] is beautifully written, and reads like the work of someone who has a deep experience of their subject matter, a voice of authority and understanding. Illustrated by numerous case studies that bring it to life, plus the author's own journey of discovery, the book presents a powerful argument and route for human awakening. Just brilliant!” – D.B., UK
The following is from the introduction: “The book charts the course of awakening to your essential self in three stages. The fulfillment of these three stages of human development is our innate capacity, and it is attained through a single, connected process of awakening.
The first stage, The Process of Self-Discovery, describes how we explore, understand, and finally transcend our small sense of self through identifying and shedding restrictive life conditioning, emotional and behavioral patterns, becoming whole, and fulfilling our personal potential.
The second stage, The Transformation into Authenticity, describes how we can reach the state of permanent change and personal authenticity by stabilizing in the personal changes we made in the first stage and empowering ourselves to relate authentically and compassionately to other people and the outer world. This stage is the flowering of personal inner work.
The third stage, The Source of Consciousness, describes the experience of living in the world when we have touched transcendent reality and understand who we really are. Through shedding illusion, living in the present, and re-centering in the True Self we at last live our divine nature.
Each stage includes abundant exercises and practices for your ongoing growth and development. You may simply wish to read Your Essential Self, but you will get far more out of it if you engage with the book as an interactive experience, because above all awakening is an experiential event. In short, you must practice. You cannot think your way to your essence.
A Little Encouragement to Students of Inner Work
“In times of uncertainty, doubt and negative reflection, those of us pursuing the way of self-awareness in psychological and spiritual realms feel like we are going to buckle under the weight and pressure of not knowing. Curious, since not knowing itself is the way! The expansion to possibility, openness and discovery afforded us by keeping the channels of knowing open reveal the way forward, the path of self-development and train our ear to wisdom.
In recent discussion with several clients and students of the SAT training the subject of the necessity to choose a single path has arisen. Alongside the credible reflection that since one’s psycho-spiritual path is inevitable singular and unique this appears by reflection in the outer world as adherence to a single way which is chosen and adhered to even when the going gets tough.
For those of you have experienced the Sacred Attention Therapy training and to those of you who have yet to follow up on your interest in it, the training aspires to a comprehensive picture of human development and is presented in three parts. First, the SAT training level 1, which leads you to and empowers you in choosing the personal transformation which is the goal of personal therapy -- to sever your primary orientation with the past and its inherent limitations and restrictions on your evolving life and development. Second, the SAT training level 2, which charts the experiences of life after personal transformation. Finally, I offer, through the Center for Human Awakening, the Sacred Attention Vision, a course which maps out and interprets the entire course of a human life dedicated to emotional, physical, energetic and mental well-being through the several levels of psychological and spiritual changes, breakthroughs, insights and profound development that bring us to fulfillment of a human life and to the satisfaction of a life well lived.
Whether or not you choose the Way of Sacred Attention, these three courses combined highlight and bring into focus the questions that must be addressed in self-exploration. If you have completed level 1 of the course, consider moving on to level 2. If you have finished level 2, consider moving on to the vision course. If you have completed any one of these courses, put what you have learned into practice… for life! These are by no means academic courses; rather inherent in them is lessons for life, practices for your development and paths to your freedom."
Richard’s Latest Article ‘The Meaning of Life’
“Life itself is its own meaning. There can be no tricks, seeing round corners, or philosophical search for the true meaning of life. But neither can there be some hidden gain, some extraneous reason for believing that life has some hidden gift or meaning… There is a deeper significance to the question of life’s meaning… and it is this. When we question, enquire, seek in an act of true faith that is based on the sense that there must be more… more to life than this we might say, we are delving into meaning in the sense of something profound, perhaps even a deeper meaning. What I have found is that people are unable to see beyond the self-imposed limitations of their life conditioning. In order to reach out to the more they seek they must expand themselves."
This is an excerpt from an article that answers one of the most perennial questions of our time. Read the article here.
A Psycho-Spiritual Response to Present World Events
“Responses to the present world situation, as to the past and future, will depend on a person’s destiny, capacity and potential. Activism may be your way. You may engage compassionately through giving donations or by enabling others. Your thoughts and feelings of wisdom and compassion also may count for more than you know. But if like me you perceive that the outer world will only change for the better at this time through a psycho-spiritual revolution, the emergence of a new sensibility, an intelligent and at the same time wise response to conditions, based on tolerance, cooperation and forgiveness, and ultimately through the recognition of our unity with each other and with all things arising in consciousness, then personal transformation through inner work is the way to individual awakening and global transformation."
This is an excerpt from an important new article reflecting on a wise intelligent response to the current unprecedented events unfolding in the world. Read the article at a psycho spiritual response to present world events.
Exciting New Video Series
An exciting series of videos is currently featured on the Center for Human Awakening YouTube channel. Richard Harvey speaks on such topics as anger, relationships, psycho-spiritual development, spiritual surrender, attachment and ego, spirituality in the world and much more.
The CHA YouTube channel also contains interviews, book trailers and meditations. To listen and/or subscribe to the channel visit The Center for Human Awakening - YouTube
Two Websites!
Visitors to this website have asked me about my two websites and what differentiates them. The website you are on right now is the Therapy and Spirituality website. Its focus is my private practice: my work with individuals and couples and my supervision practice for psychotherapists and counselors. It also houses scores of articles and full details of my books and how to purchase them, as well as a series of responses to questions from visitors to the website, several video presentations, details of workshops, online courses and retreats… and lots more.
My online courses, including the Sacred Attention Therapy training course, levels 1 and 2, are presented in full on the Center for Human Awakening (CHA) website, which also features pre-recorded lectures and seminars, CHA community links and details of the Sacred Attention Therapy research project.
This is merely a summary of what each website comprises. Take some time to explore the websites and I am sure you will find materials to stimulate and inspire you in your personal journey.
Here are the links:
Therapy and Spirituality website:
"Personal and Spiritual Growth: Connecting Therapy and Spirituality
Center for Human Awakening website: The Center for Human Awakening | Ottawa, Ontario K2P 2G2
Your Divine Opportunity: a New Book by Richard Harvey
how to awaken to your true self in the modern era
“Your Divine Opportunity is a fitting conclusion to the trilogy of spirited books that began with Your Essential Self and was followed by Your Sacred Calling. Your Divine Opportunity minces no words about the spiritual crisis in the modern era before showing the reader how to work with the present predicament to realize our full potential and fulfil our human nature. Your Divine Opportunity carefully and thoughtfully guides the reader inward toward a divine life and authentic spiritual practice. The result is an awakening of our true heart-nature and the birth of our soul.”
Reverend Richard Meagher
Published in October 2020 and available on my website.
Book Trilogy Published in e-book format
The trilogy of books – Dharma Sky, Moksha Dawn, and Bodhi Ocean – containing the annotated transcripts of forty-two psycho-spiritual lectures given by Richard Harvey are now available in e-book format. In order to read the e-book format you can use e.g. GoogleBooks, iBook (on your computer or smartphone) or any e-book reader (e.g. Kindle).
They can be easily purchased through major webshops including Amazon, Google Play, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Scribd etc.
Dharma Sky: Talks on Psychological and Spiritual Understanding and Renewal for the Modern Era. To purchase on Amazon.com.
Moksha Dawn: Talks on a Radical & Innovative Approach to Spirituality and the Sacred in the 21st Century. To purchase on Amazon.com.
Bodhi Ocean: Talks on Self-Discovery, Authenticity, and Divinity as an Urgent Imperative in the Contemporary World. To purchase on Amazon.com.
The new Online Personal Retreat
Many people have asked me if they could have a Personal Retreat online. At last I have found a way to make it possible—you can now experience a Personal Retreat online! If you are unable, for whatever reason, to come to Andalucia for your retreat experience and if you are able to set aside six or seven days to attend to your personal and spiritual growth and development then consider booking for the online retreat. For more information see Online Personal Retreats.
Sign Up for The Center for Human Awakening Newsletter
The Center for Human Awakening Newsletter is a bi-monthly online publication featuring original articles from Richard Harvey, Rev Robert Meagher, Sacred Attention Therapy therapists and students, and others. You can keep up to date on the center’s offerings and news
"Dear divine Richard Harvey, Moksha Anand Nath, I would love to acknowledge your amazing words on psychological development, spiritual teaching, and human awakening in the Center for Human Awakening newsletter. For your work for humanity and profound words of creation and inspiration I send you a billion divine blessings and a deep divine love. Richard, my Beloved Great Spiritual Soul is Gracing YOU!" – Shiva Guruji Aruneshvar, Enlightened Master at Wander Worldover Shiva Sutra Teaching to Humanity, previously of the Blue Light Foundation and the Shiva Spiritual Project, Mumbai, India
To sign up and receive the newsletter and to review the archive (currently of 15 issues) visit Newsletter on the Center for Human Awakening website
The Sacred Attention Therapy Group Work Manual Just Published!
The Sacred Attention Therapy Group Work Manual is a long-awaited response to people who have thought of setting up and running Human Awakening Groups and have not been sure quite how to do it. It is also intended for therapists, group leaders, SAT students, SAT therapists, and anyone who wants to try their hand at setting up and running a therapy group. The manual is the product of Richard Harvey’s 40 years of experience and it offers a unique approach and insights into therapeutic group work.
“Group work tacitly infers that the natural habitat for human beings is coming together in gatherings. It is primitive and innate. We are communal beings. Modern life has fostered our removal from the gathering, from the rituals of togetherness. Contemporary humans have been separated from each other unnaturally in houses, in families, in relationships, in employment, in furtive meetings, and secretive lonely occupations. Simply the act of gathering together may be viewed as effective and positive in itself. What transpires as a result of such gathering together can be spectacularly transformational and—bearing in mind I am not given to using this term lightly, if at all—life changing.” [a passage from the text]
The Sacred Attention Therapy Group Work Manual can be purchased at Books on The Center for Human Awakening website.
Visit Richard's Weekly Blog and Vlog
Richard’s weekly blog contains answers to reader’s questions and responses to themes that arise in psychological and spiritual settings—sessions, groups, and training workshops. We hope you enjoy this new series of blogs and that you may take the time to visit and read the latest blog as well as the blog archive at Blog on the Center for Human Awakening website.
You can also visit Richard’s vlog page at Video-Blog on the Center for Human Awakening website. If you want to leave a comment on a video BLOG, you can follow the YouTube link on the video (bottom-right-hand-corner of the video frame) and go to our YouTube channel and leave your comments below the respective video BLOG.
The Enlightened Moment
For details of Richard Harvey’s schedule for world travel in 2018 offering meetings with small groups, satsangs, and the event The Enlightened Moment see more information here.
Your Sacred Calling—Now Published!
Sacred truths and authentic spiritual rituals and practices are fading rapidly from our world. The contemporary explosion of interest in spirituality and religion has been exploited and commercialized in this era of individualism and rendered superficial with an emphasis on immediate rewards. The truly spiritual and sacred practices have atrophied to the point of being almost extinguished... unless we act.
Your Sacred Calling invites us to take this seriously and become custodians of the future, to re-discover and practice profoundly sacred rituals that will revive and renew sacred-spiritual wisdom.
The contemporary world is in need of our mature and wise intervention. In Your Sacred Calling, psychotherapist and spiritual teacher Richard Harvey explores:
- happiness, relationship, soulfulness, passion, and connection
- the authentic means to spiritual liberation
- awakening to freedom, authentic emotions, and Self-realization
- sacrifice, love, wisdom, peace, bliss, and compassion
- the wisdom that rekindles the fire of authentic spiritual insight
- the unlimited freedom that is our birthright
- the age of individualism
- the inner ecology of the human being
- becoming a custodian of the future... and of the sacred
This book encourages and empowers readers to create and refine their own sacred calling. At the end of each chapter is a short summary that reviews the contents of the chapter, followed by questions and exercises to help the reader assimilate the written content into a personal experience through insight and understanding. My intention is that, rather than merely read this book, the reader relates to it interactively, that it will elicit real emotions, insights, and understanding, and provoke a creative response.
YOUR SACRED CALLING, published in April 2017 by Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd: London, is now available to order from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
International Journal of Indian Psychology
We are pleased to announce that Richard Harvey has joined the editorial board of the International Journal of Indian Psychology. The Editorial Board is comprised of nationally recognized scholars and researchers in the fields of Psychology, Education, Social Sciences, Home Sciences and related areas under its Editor-in-Chief, Professor Suresh M Makvana, PhD. The International Journal of Indian Psychology is a psychological peer-reviewed, academic electronic and print journal published quarterly (see http://www.ijip.in/).
Faculty and Advisors Named for SAT Online Training
Faculty and advisors/external consultant for the Sacred Attention Therapy (SAT) Online Training have come together to deliver this new and innovative psycho-spiritual training for healing professionals, laypeople, as well as for people serious about their own personal and spiritual growth and development.
The SAT Teaching Faculty
Director, Founder-Principal, and Head Tutor: Richard Harvey
Founder of Sacred Attention Therapy, Founder-Director at Therapy & Spirituality, Psychotherapist, Spiritual Teacher, SAT Therapist
Co-Founder, Vice-Principal, and Senior Tutor: Rev Robert Meagher
Founder and Spiritual Director at Spiritual Guidance, SAT Therapist
Applications to join the SAT teaching faculty are invited from students who have successfully completed the course. Effectively, this means to be a tutor for the Sacred Attention Online Training Course: Level One, you must have successfully completed Level One, and so on.
External Consultants to the SAT Online Training
Ram Das Batchelder
Professor of Hinduism at Universidad de los Andes, Merida, Venezuela; twenty-seven years as a devotee of Amma, "the Hugging Saint", author of six books, including the highly acclaimed Rising in Love, has given over 100 workshops and classes on spirituality around the world.
Kirsty Hodgson BPS, BACP, RIHP, RSM, ACMT
Psychologist, Psychotherapist, Hypnotherapist, and Supervisor
Jansenius "Tito" Lange
Founder/President of Self-Development Wisdom Institutes, Creator of Character-Development Wisdom Education, modern philosopher, author/writer, keynote public inspirational speaker.
SAT Project Update
Almost two years into the Sacred Attention Therapy (SAT) Project, we have a growing number of contributions from an increasingly global Project Team family. Contributions for most SAT core elements have been received and are in various stages of editing for the final manuscript. The Project is looking for multiple contributions for each SAT core element. So if you would like to contribute to this rare, unique and exciting project, please refer to Sacred Attention Therapy Project for more details and then contact the Coordinating Editor at info@sacredattentiontherapy.com.
Sacred Attention Therapy Online Training
Last month Richard launched the Sacred Attention Therapy (SAT) Online Training Course. SAT Online Training is a radical, innovative, psycho-spiritual therapy training for healing professionals, laypeople, as well as for people who are serious about their own personal and spiritual growth and development, consisting of four levels of teaching. See See Sacred Attention Therapy Training Course for all the details.
Each level of the course consists of twelve modules. Each module contains approximately 90 minutes of audiovisual presentation, split up into presentations lasting between 10-45 minutes each. Each module also includes a supporting document which contains the course contents and summary, notes and references, contemplative questions, a section on working with clients, exercises—both written and experiential—an extended case study covering the Seven Core Elements of Sacred Attention Therapy, and a bibliography with notes and guidance.
The recommended time to complete each level of the course is one year, although with enthusiasm and commitment it is possible to complete it sooner. On completion of levels 1-3 you may apply for formal certification or a certificate of course completion. On completion of level 4 students may apply for the Diploma in Sacred Attention Therapy.
A brief summary of each Level of training is provided below. After reviewing the material below, if you have any questions, please email us at info@sacredattentiontherapy.com for more information.
Level One:
Up to and including working with the later, more advanced stages of inner work on personality and character or the First Stage of Awakening, described in Richard Harvey's book Your Essential Self (YES) as the Process of Self-Discovery (see YES pp.19-114). Level One training includes a module on each of the Seven Core Elements of Sacred Attention Therapy. Go to http://www.sacredattentiontherapy.com/SAT-Online-Training-Level-1.html for a detailed description and outline of Level One training.
Level Two:
From forgiveness and wholeness, the penultimate and final stages of inner work on personality and character, crossing the Threshold of Transformation, and the initiatory preparations for the Second Stage of Awakening (see YES pp.114-156).
Level Three:
The Second Stage of Awakening and entering the Third Stage (see YES pp.157-197).
Level Four:
An inspired specialist manual in practicing as an advanced SAT therapist, capable of facilitating and guiding through the First and Second Stages of Awakening, including a detailed review and extension of levels one through three.
Certification and Diploma
On completion of the SAT Online Training Course: Level One, students will have the option of submitting written material, including a major essay, and participating in an experiential assessment (via Skype) to be evaluated for SAT Level One Certification. Alternatively, students may apply for a certificate of course completion or simply enjoy the training without either.
A similar process applies to levels two and three of the course.
Students who complete all four levels of the training can apply to be awarded the Diploma in Sacred Attention Therapy (Dip SAT). Our long-term vision is to have a recognized, accredited, degree-granting institution issue the SAT diploma.
Who is the SAT Online Training Course For?
The course is open to psychotherapists, counselors, complementary-alternative medicine practitioners, healers, mentors, and guides, as well as to people who are serious about their own personal and spiritual growth and development.
You may take the training in order to become a SAT therapist with formal certification or to add SAT to your existing skills and knowledge base if you are already a practicing therapist or counselor. Finally, you may take the course to further your own self-development and awareness.
Finding Your Essential Self: A Day Workshop in the UK
In April Richard will be traveling to the UK to present a workshop in Cambridge entitled Finding Your Essential Self. Thierry Clerc who is a collaborator in the Sacred Attention Therapy Project (see www.sacredattentiontherapy.com) will be hosting the event on 5 April, 10am to 6pm. The day workshop costs £75 and you can book your place soon at http://www.therapyandspirituality.com/courses.html.
If you would like to host an event for Richard in the UK during April or would like to attend an event in a different part of the country, please let us know or see our calendar of workshops and courses for further announcements of dates and venues.
The Hsuan-Hsueh Discourses—New Online Discourses in 2014
2014 begins with a very special event. To mark the beginning of the Hsüan-Hsüeh Discourses, which are presented before an international audience live and online, Richard has published a new article entitled “A Glimpse of the Divine.”
The Hsüan-Hsüeh Discourses mark a departure from the usual presentation of lectures. Each of the five talks takes as its starting point a Taoist story, relates it to a passage from a different spiritual tradition, and resolves the themes in highlighting an aspect of The Three Stages of Awakening. The titles (with dates) are Penetrating Wisdom 12 Feb, Transcending Separation 26 Feb, Locating Destiny 12 Mar, Spiritual Baptism 26 Mar, and The Ocean of Stillness 09 Apr.
For information and booking see the Hsüan-Hsüeh Discourses. For the background to the course read “A Glimpse of the Divine”.
Moksha Dawn and Dharma Sky
A new collection of talks in e-book form will be published in February 2014. Moksha Dawn includes the last two series of Richard’s online lectures—the “Silent Thunder Discourses” and the “Novena Teachings”—fourteen discourses in all. In addition there will be an introduction by Richard, a foreword by Rev Robert Meagher, notes and references, appendices and an index.
Moksha Dawn is a companion volume to Dharma Sky which was published in November 2013. The first in a series of three e-books, it features fourteen lectures and the full transcripts of Richard’s lecture series the “Sashti Poorthi Lectures” and the “Panchavati Discourses.” Richard has in preparation a trilogy of e-books based on his online lecture series 2012-2015. The title of the third book is The Ocean of Consciousness and it features transcripts of the forthcoming “Hsüan-Hsüeh Discourses” which begin in February 2014 (see above).
Before You Were Born and After You Die
“If men care for gold, they must dig for it. Otherwise they must be content with straw.” ~ Heraclitus
Richard’s latest article Before You Were Born and After You Die brings you bang-up-to-date with his thinking, work, and current and future projects. If after reading it you would like more information, direction, and references, please send a message via the contact form on this site for the annotated version.
“Brilliant! This is a great article...the truth of what you say is overwhelming for my human heart!” – Haris Tzortzis of “Happy Light Coaching”
“...This is a basic principle of the inner journey: when you embark on the psycho-spiritual path, don’t expect an easy ride. If you want an easy ride, stay home! Watch movies, have fun, get drunk, and go to parties. The psycho-spiritual inner journey is hard, harder than you imagine, excruciatingly hard, difficult, challenging beyond your wildest imaginings.” (Excerpted from Before You Were Born and After You Die.)
Sacred Attention Therapy (SAT)—New Website Hosts the SAT Project
A new website has been built to showcase Sacred Attention Therapy (SAT). SAT is born from the life-long work of Richard Harvey, spiritual teacher and psycho-spiritual psychotherapist. Richard’s ground-breaking-approach to depth-psychotherapy is called SAT and is based on his 3-stage model of human awakening. On the SAT website you will find information about this new paradigm of psychological and spiritual growth and development. The website also will provide you with information about educational opportunities, books, articles and much more.
The SAT website is also home to the SAT Project. If you are interested in being part of an international team of therapists, counselors, and spiritual teachers for a rare, unique, and exciting project, you may wish to participate in the Project. The SAT Project is intended to produce a body of work that describes some of the essential, basic elements of the first stage awakening of Richard Harvey’s 3-stage model of human awakening. The resultant work will endeavor to guide readers through the stages listed below with practical exercises, examples, and theory. The work will almost certainly be illustrated by personal material that arises in the process of experientially learning about Richard Harvey’s SAT through this collaborative venture. The proposed core stages include, but may not be limited to:
- Family Beliefs
- Life Statements
- Emotional-Behavioral Patterns
- Emotional Suppression
- Sub-Personalities
- Character Strategies
- Central Character Dynamic
The resultant work will be indispensable for professional practitioners and lay counselors, and anyone else interested in inner work, counseling, therapy, or spiritual growth.
For more information about SAT and the SAT Project, including expressing your interest in the SAT Project, refer to www.sacredattentiontherapy.com or write to info@sacredattentiontherapy.com.
Your Sacred Calling—Richard’s Next Book is the second in a trilogy
Richard: “I am hot at work on my new book, which is a follow up to Your Essential Self. The title is Your Sacred Calling and it comprises the second in a trilogy of books that culminate with Your Divine Being. It is about saving and preserving the sacred principles for leading a truly spiritual life and the way to emotional and spiritual freedom. The book proposes that we are really custodians of the future, entrusted to guard, protect, and treasure the sacred spiritual truths in order to live from our heart, soul, and spirit.
The book dismisses, refutes, and argues against popularly conceived ideas about spirituality and proposes that people are in the dark about real spirituality and what it means and religious and spiritual “secrets” are on the brink of being entirely buried in the avalanche of “thin” spiritual ideas with mass appeal.
Innovative ideas—philosophy and practices—are offered in heartfelt response to the critical challenge that I believe we face today: the three stages of awakening, the need to work psychologically in preparation for spiritual discipline, grounded spirituality, the middle stage of authenticity, the Three Worlds, heart-centeredness, the Philozovo (love of the divine call), the relationship of eternity to time, the Free Individual, as well as others, either innovative/new or restated, in a relevant way for the modern era.
Your Sacred Calling empowers you to create and refine your own spiritual vision. As it says in the introduction: “Don’t accept what I say. Don’t accept what anyone says. If you find some of the ideas here please you, while others grate, use it to find your own way, your own awareness, and your own spiritual vision. One thing you can be sure about: your own vision is the only one for you. Because the distinguishing mark of contemporary spirituality in the present era is the way of the individual not the rejection of the individual. The human individual is intrinsically free!”
For further announcements about Your Sacred Calling see books on this site.
***
Thank you for all your wonderful support for Your Essential Self. Also for the messages I am receiving daily in appreciation of how the book has affected you and supported and inspired you on your journey. I think you will be inspired just as much by Your Sacred Calling. My hope is that I will place it with my present publisher, Llewellyn Worldwide. Your help is appreciated in enabling this. Buying a second (or third?) copy of Your Essential Self as a gift for a friend will ensure that Llewellyn take the publishing of the entire trilogy (Your Essential Self, Your Sacred Calling, and Your Divine Being) seriously. Please join me also on my social media and invite your friends too. There is currently a mass of articles, Q and A, and other writings and excerpts on the website to read absolutely free, which along with Dharma Sky or Your Essential Self serve as an introduction to my work.
The Annual Sacred Attention Training Week
In March and April 2014 the Annual Sacred Attention Training Week takes place at Cortijo Llano de Manzano Personal and Spiritual Growth Center, the home of Therapy & Spirituality. Full details are at sacred attention training course.
To those of you who have said you would dearly love to participate but are prevented through location, schedule, and responsibilities there is good news! This month Robert Meagher and myself have begun planning the structure of a SAT online training. Tentatively targeting the work for completion by the end of the year, we hope to have something up and running by winter 2014/2015. The SAT online training will consist of a curriculum of video lectures, seminar and group time, written assignments and tasks, one-on-one tutorials, a reading list, and experiential tasks and practices. It is not too soon to state your interest or even contribute your thoughts for the design of the training which is really cutting edge. While many courses may be available on the internet, a training of this kind which traditionally relies on interpersonal group dynamics and interaction is rare and quite possibly unique.
If you visit spiritual training group on this site you will get some of idea of the material we intend to cover in the training.
The Arhat Community Project
Three articles have recently been published on this website, containing either new or revised information about Richard’s model of sacred-spiritual community. They are “The Arhat Project—a Proposal for a Residential Spiritual Community and an Experiment in Sacred Living,” “The Arhat Interview with Richard Harvey,” and “Follow-Up on the Arhat Project Proposal: the Deepest Compassion that has Always Existed in Humanity.” Also one further related article, “Human Awakening Groups: a Proposal for a Workshop for Psycho-Spiritual Practice, Ongoing Development, and Support,” has been published.
For those of you who have been inspired by Arhat and expressed an interest in the Arhat initiative this information should be studied, understood and where appropriate responded to. I look forward to hearing from you via my contact form on this site.
Activating Compassion In The Midnight Hour—Essential Self
Richard appeared with Jessica Anne Nichols George on the Main Street Universe radio show on Blogtalkradio on 4th May 2013, hosted by Daniel Michael. You can hear the show by following this link on Blogtalkradio: essential self
Your Essential Self
My latest book Your Essential Self: The Inner Journey to Authenticity and Spiritual Enlightenment was published on 8th July 2013 by US publishers Llewellyn Worldwide. This book is now available from Amazon - see Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.
The competence and diligence of Llewellyn's editorial team helped me to produce a book on the Three Stages of Awakening that is at once complete and accessible. There are plentiful exercises and anecdotes to illustrate and vividly color the psychological and spiritual content.
This book presents the central core of my thoughts and innovations over the last few years. Please see Your Essential Self for more details.
Appearance on the Psychics Gone Wild - 2 Hour Tuesday
Richard appeared with Pamela Cummins on this radio show on Blogtalkradio on 23rd October 2012, hosted by Jethro Smith. You can hear the show by following this link on Blogtalkradio: psychicsgonewild
The Fountain of Paradise: The First Arhat Community Project
Plans are currently in preparation for the first Arhat community, situated near Berchules in Andalucia, southern Spain. People who are interested in contributing, participating or applying for residency in the community should consult the Arhat Proposal at www.servingyourjourney.com first, before writing to us at from our contact form at therapyandspirituality.com
The Arhat project is a Residential Spiritual Community Initiative and an Experiment in Sacred Living, based on my Three Stages of Awakening.
Well, Well, Well! : The Get (a) Well Project
“We need you. You need water… use your social media edifice to feast on humility and ask the universe for contributions towards a well.” – from a grateful friend.
Your generous contributions bring us to permissions and the digging stage; thank you. There's still a long way to go. We have 3,125 Euros with 16,635 Euros to find! So, I need to appeal again to see if we can reach our target. Your donations enable us to proceed a step at a time. My PayPal account, accessed using pay online on my site, is a convenient way to achieve this and I thank you in advance for your consideration. To request full details please use our contact form.
If you are interested in learning about how to support my work in other ways please see offer support.
Moksha Anand Nath
On 14 May 2012, Guruji’s Shiva Day, Guruji Aruneshvar, Spiritual Master of the Param Shiva Adi Nath Sect, Blue Light Foundation for Shiva, Mumbai, India gave me the name Moksha Anand Nath. Moksha Anand Nath means the liberation of the soul from suffering through spiritual initiation, bliss or happiness, and protector, refuge or lord. Thus the full meaning is “protector of blissful liberation.”
Guruji Aruneshvar had been extraordinarily forthcoming with endorsements and praise for my work (and suffering some wonderful criticism for it; one follower remarked in response to his accolades for me: “for sure he is a cow-eater!”) for which I am most grateful and fortunate. You can read Guruji’s testimonials here on the website in the right columns of Your Questions and The Location.
This is the second time I have received an Indian name. In 1978, at the Rajneesh Ashram in Poona, India, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (later Osho) initiated me into sannyas, giving me the Indian name Swami Anand Gitamo, which means “master of the song of bliss.”
23 Years of Psycho-Spiritual Writing
Over 120 articles in two listings – Psychotherapy and Spirituality and Parenting, Family and Society – are now available to read, download and share on my Articles page. These articles represent twenty-three years of psycho-spiritual writing and include such topics as:
Happiness · Spiritual Paths · Old Age · Woman’s Psyche · Sacred Living · Inner Work Practice · Impersonal Enlightenment · Awareness · Criticisms of Modern Day Spirituality · Time · Transformation and Consciousness · Joseph Campbell · Therapeutic Relationship · Exhaustion in Healing · Symbol and Myth · Dream Interpretation · Stages of Psycho-Spiritual Development · Meditation · Character Defense · Couples Relationships · Qualities of Psycho-Spiritual Practitioner · Anger · Personal Therapy · Spirituality- what is it? · Metaphysics · Authenticity · True Nature · Inner Journey · Forgiveness · History of Growth Movement · Humanistic Psychotherapy
Plans are in motion now to convert this body of work into a blog. So, for those of you who are interested in my writing, please review it in the present (old-fashioned) format of a group of articles before it is given the blog treatment and let me know if you find it an improvement.
Finally, some people who are new to my work have expressed the need for direction in studying my approach and thought through my writings and courses. So I have given this consideration and I recommend starting lightly with the many, many pieces of writing (long and short) on my LinkedIn page and on my Facebook page. I suggest you then go on to the Articles page on this site, initially choosing the topics that draw you; then onto the Books page. Finally, check on the latest online course on my Calendar of Workshops and Courses to see if the topic focus attracts you. Begin with workshops and courses and work your way up toward longer ongoing courses.
Worldwide Holistic Day 2nd October 2012
See: http://vimeo.com/19228246
I will be offering a free talk entitled Awareness, Compassion and Transcendence to an international audience via a Skype conference call as my contribution to this wonderful initiative—the Worldwide Holistic Day (WHD). My talk will include a guided exercise—The Consciousness Practice—which can be used at any time, as a regular practice, in times of stress, illlness, emergency, or as a lifetime practice for re-centering and connecting with the essential center of your being, the source of life and the divine love within.
Full details will are on my website, social media and newsletter. You may contact me if you would like to be added to my mailing or would like to participate on the day by sending a message to me from my contact form on this site.
Lucrezia Pierro’s inspired vow to develop a network of healers to teach, heal and ease suffering worldwide in response to “the cry for healing” shows just the kind of expanded vision—beyond the boundaries of partisanship, nationalism, and self-interest—that we need more of to expand and develop a worldwide consciousness and to usher in a spiritual revolution of heartfelt caring and spiritual awakening for humanity. I encourage you to support Lucrezia and WHD by offering a free event or participating in one on 02 Oct 2012 (see the WHD website: http://lupierro.wordpress.com/).
Let us join together as one family on the anniversary of Gandhi’s birthday, 2 Oct 2012, and give and receive for the benefit of all beings, all life and collective awakening.
WHD email: worldwideholisticday@gmail.com
Therapy and Spirituality Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/therapyandspirituality
Online Courses
I am now offering an ongoing program of specifically themed lecture-seminars online, with one-to-one tuition and optional written assignments, experiential tasks and psycho-spiritual practices. The training takes place in small groups via Skype conference calls, individual calls, and email. See our courses and workshop calendar, and courses for deepening spirituality - the online courses are clearly marked.
The next course that takes place is The Priorities of Transcendence - What is Absolutely Necessary for Human Awareness? This consists of three lecture seminars, the first on 1st August 2012.
Appearance on The Light Within Radio Show, America
I appeared on The Light Within—Awakening The Inner Healer radio show on Monday 30th January 2012 on VoiceAmerica Variety Channel, hosted by Joan Jacobs. The show presents holistic approaches and methods of healing with the intention to inform, support and inspire listeners to create true wellness. To hear Joan Jacob's interview with Richard Harvey, go to The Light Within—Podcasts, hover over the podcast title “Connecting Psychotherapy”, dated 30th January 2012, and click the play button.
The Alphabet of Awareness - Book in Preparation
In the meantime I have been in consultation with another top MBS publishing house and I am currently preparing a book entitled The Alphabet of Awareness for a new book proposal.
New Eco-Build Retreat Accommodation
If you have visited Cortijo Llano de Manzano for a personal retreat, you will know that the accommodation and facilities have been spread across the yurt and the main house up to now.
We have been building new accommodation to provide a double bedroom, shower and washroom, sitting room/kitchenette space with wood burner, as well as a private patio and garden for your personal retreat.
The new accommodation is in an eco building, made of sustainable materials, and the work is being carried out with great care and diligence. It is in the old goat shed, a 200-year old natural stone building attached to the casita.
The renovations include rendering the inner walls with lime and marble dust stained with natural earth pigments. The limecrete floor will be coated with Carnuba wax. Last year our local eco builders finished the natural hemp roof and a ceiling of chestnut wooden beams and caña.
