3 Essential Archetypes of Spiritual Development

The future of Orisa Lifestyle will be decided by those who can anticipate the real needs of its practitioners. And while many will default to reacting to the market forces - that is, whatever people are willing to pay for is what you provide - the true spiritual leaders will create the context for healthy choices.

Now, before I go into the ways in which we will have to create the context in question, let me explain why it is obligatory to do so. Context is an environment, like an ecosystem. An ecosystem is, by definition, the dynamic relationship between elements within a specified location. They balance and feed one another. Too much of one element and not enough of the other means immenent destruction: think birds and bees, pretators and prey. And so, if we fail to create a context for healthy choices, imbalance tesults and abuse becomes the norm because everyone is left to his own personal biases in making decisions.

If you want to amplify your short term personal gains exclusively, Orisa Lifestyle is certainly not the best pathway for you. Rather, there are other educational, professional and even religious traditions that are better suited to individualism and self aggrandizement. So, to practice Orisa Lifestyle requires a communal context, and a service-oriented orientation, which creates what we might safely call the antidote to alienation.

Now that we've looked at the reason why, let's examine what is necessary to create a context for healthy choices:

1. Preparation: Your body, heart and mind have to be conditioned towards healthy choices. Keeping a daily schedule, eating certain foods, avoiding certain foods, speaking a certain way, associating with particular kinds of people all reflect a pattern of thinking and a set of habits that have to be deliberarely cultivated.

2. Training: Supervised, guided practice is essential. Healthy choices are not the result of a do it yourself mentality. At various times, you need somebody to tell you what to do, how to do it and when to do it. Otherwise, you will never choose to do things that expose your vulnerabilities and fears. Training is a controlled way to expand your horizons.

3. Evaluation: You need standards in order to measure progress. I know, you probably don't want to quantify your spiritual development becuase of the anxiety that is associated with testing, auditing and the like.. But it is absolutely necessary to test and validate your growth. This is what will help elevate you beyond superstition.

The Leadership in Orisa Lifestyle Retreat will provide valuable experience in these three important practices. By strategically combining lecture, workshop and ceremony, we will make sure you have a dynamic and memorable experience. Our objective is to promote habits associated with personal leadership, making a meaningful contribution and spiritual development.

Registration deadline: July 2014

Retreat location: Oakland, Ca

Retreat date: November 1-3, 2014

Visit www.ObafemiO.com for details.