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- African Spirituality for Awakened Personal Experience: Nine Lessons on Turning Crisis into Evolution
African Spirituality for Awakened Personal Experience: Nine Lessons on Turning Crisis into Evolution
The soul rejoices for what the body has lost. In this FOUR WEEK class, you will learn to:
- Experience FEAR as a great teacher.
- Rediscover ISOLATION as a gateway to transformation.
- Embrace VULNERABILITY as a pathway to empowerment.
Destiny is the result of AWAKENED PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. It cannot be attained through products or isolated rituals designed to minimized discomfort. In fact, it is precisely by facing your fears, finding spirit in isolation and embracing your vulnerability that you will set the stage for attainment of destiny.
The primary concern of African Spirituality is DESTINY. When you know your destiny, you can overcome all human frailty and attain spiritual elevation. But what is destiny? Many talk about it but almost nobody can explain it. In this four week course, I will carefully introduce you to NINE DIMENSIONS OF HUMAN DESTINY, as defined by Orisa Lifestyle.
Destiny is the CRUCIBLE of Orisa Lifestyle. Past, present and future are fused into a unique reality that defines your ability to make a meaningful contribution to your life and the lives of those you're destined to serve. This course is part of your empowering journey. The 9 Dimensions of Human Destiny are:
- Ayanmo: That Which is Chosen & Remains. This dimension is fixed and unchangeable.
- Akunleyan: That Which One Kneels to Choose, which can be altered through lifestyle and sacrifice.
- Akunlegba: That Which is received from the divinities while kneeling.
- Akosile: That Which is Written Down. This is the sacred text that guides your destiny.
- Ori Baba/Ori Iya: The Paternal and Maternal Soul. They are bestowers of divine providence.
- Ori Isese: The Ancestral Memory. This is your sponsoring ancestor, who accompanies you always.
- Ori Ode: The intellectual, psychological and creative mind.
- Ori Inu: The Inner Head, which is synonymous with character, virtue and essence.
- Ori Apere: The Perfected Self. This is your greatest, spiritual aspiration and the optimization of your identity.
The course is presented in a fluid series of video lectures, spiritual exercises, notes and more, to assist your journey of self discovery. This course - which is derived from my year long, Personal Priesthood Certification program - has been thoroughly tested to ensure that you will be able to internalize each of the dimensions as they unfold, following a natural order. You have the option to progress as fast or as slow as you wish.
Please understand that Orisa Lifestyle is an ancient tradition, rooted in a time-tested methodology and I draw upon well-established traditions that have managed to thrive throughout the African diaspora. These are spiritually based practices of the Yoruba people of West Africa. They came to the West via Trans Atlantic Slavery and transformed spiritual consciousness wherever they arrived. In Jamaica, they became the Zionist Revival movement. In the USA, African spirituality is Hoodoo, Conjure and/or Root Work. In Cuba, many practice Espiritismo. Even in Nigeria, there is Aladura - Cherubim & Seraphim. In Trinidad, Grenada and Barbados, it is known as the Spiritual Baptist movement. Everywhere in the African diaspora, there is a SPIRITUALIST movement that reflects a fusion of African and Christian practices.
At the core of these spiritual practices, you will experience teachings that emphasize the principle of divine consciousness, through which humanity enjoys greater connection to the Greatest Good. It is precisely this quest for spiritual wisdom that informs African Spirituality for Awakened Personal Experience. This is a course that will change the way you approach adversity, enemies and feelings of betrayal, anger and fear. In fact, it will guide you towards transforming earthly adversity into spiritual elevation.
about your instructor
Obafemi Origunwa, MA is an acclaimed scholar of Yoruba culture and the spiritual traditions of West Africa. He is an Ifa Priest, initiated by Araba Fayemi Elebuibon in the year 2003. Baba Obafemi holds a bachelor's degree in Spanish Languages and Culture from the University of California at Berkeley and a master's degree in Education with an emphasis in Multicultural Counseling from San Diego State University. He has taught African American Health & Healing in the Ethnic Studies department at San Francisco State University. Baba Obafemi has authored six ground-breaking books on Yoruba spirituality. He is also the founder of the Orisa Lifestyle Academy, through which he leads educational tours of Yoruba spiritual communities and offers Personal Priesthood Certification.
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- There are daily rituals which are a way to nurture your inner growth through the dimensions.
- You have access to a comprehensive manual and notes gifted as a lasting reference for you.
- This course has an active Facebook group.
- I answer every question personally, I have put my heart and soul into bringing these teachings online.
- I work tirelessly to keep this course vivid and alive for you.
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT MY ONLINE COURSES:
My foundation on IFA worship was very weak. Although I have been "practicing" Orisa and Ancestor worship for 10 years with an elder, and had received initiation this summer, I felt as if I was lacking in the knowledge of concepts, access to IFA elders, teachers. [My city] has a strong Santero community, but I felt a little uncomfortable in that community, and wanted to find a means to IFA concepts. A friend on Face Book shared one of the links to your FB page. From there, I really enjoyed your video clippings, and ongoing posts. I wanted to build a stronger foundation of Orisa and Ancestor worship because they are the ones who I want as guides in my journey here on earth.
[What makes this class special and unique] is how open you are to questions. I've taken classes before, but the teachers didn't really invite the opportunity for discussion. Really appreciated that about this class. Not only that, but there was an egbe forming between the students of the class! were people had the opportunity to share their insights, and there was a sort of community that formed between students and you. [This is] the beginning blocks of a firm foundation, that can be applied to all aspects of my life! What i'm most exited about is how this class is connecting my writing to my spirituality! I've always known that my writing was spiritual, but through your teachings I was able to have a concrete understand on not only how it connected to my spirituality, but how important my owo is for my spiritual development!!! Thank you again!
E. Orisa Devotee
Once I decided to follow the "Way of the Orisa" learning the fundamentals on how to live the lifestyle was the next step. I took this particular class because of this phenomenal mentor and teacher. Obafemi starts with the basics. Personal Spiritual Development. What I have learned in this class I could not have learned on my own or from just reading a book or praying. Obafemi has shown us our fundamental purpose as human beings. We have been given the information to understand the core of our existence, tools to help us think critically as we grow in relationship and harmony with our heavenly ancestors and the Orisa to complete our earthly mission. I'm not just living I'm living with purpose and in principle. I will not return home with my work undone. Thank you Baba Obafemi for your service.
Mrs. G, Registered Nurse
I enjoy learning in a class format and desire a directed/structured study of Ifa Orisa with a teacher who can explain the tradition in plain language. [The Fundamentals of Orisa Lifestyle class] stimulated me to want to understand and to learn more. Reading the curriculum, hearing the lecture and observing the lecture discussion has been a rich experience. I love learning and value learning from Obafemi Origunwa. He inspires me to want to learn and grow to show up in the world fully conscious of who I am and why I am here. The format, the curriculum and the instructor are special and unique. The format permits students to engage the reading material individually and then collectively discuss it in person and online. The curriculum is providing the foundation for understanding the tradition as a lifestyle and not just a religion. The instructor is offering more than mere facts, but is feeding the students as he exhorts us to be clear about our relationships with ourselves, what our relationship with Orisa lifestyle consists of, and how our relationships are working for us. I have been blessed to receive some of the basic understandings of Ifa Orisa Lifestyle, which the continental leaders of the tradition expect me to possess prior to full initiation. I am being initiated in preparation for full initiation.
Avid Learner, California
African Spirituality for Awakened Personal Experience: Nine Lessons on Turning Crisis into Evolution
The soul rejoices for what the body has lost. In this FOUR WEEK class, you will learn to:
- Experience FEAR as a great teacher.
- Rediscover ISOLATION as a gateway to transformation.
- Embrace VULNERABILITY as a pathway to empowerment.
Destiny is the result of AWAKENED PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. It cannot be attained through products or isolated rituals designed to minimized discomfort. In fact, it is precisely by facing your fears, finding spirit in isolation and embracing your vulnerability that you will set the stage for attainment of destiny.