Practice is the guru – Integral Recovery at IEC
John Dupuy
We are excited to have John Dupuy as a Keynote Speaker at IEC2018. He will take a dynamic and enthusiastic presentation about The Practice of Life – The Life of Practice and how to take evolution personally, as this is the theme of his new book in progress.
The practice of life. The life of practice. Wake up. Grow up. Clean up. Show up.
What are we talking about and what is this book about? This is about integral practice: a proven path of daily transformational practice, an evolutionary journey that will guide, instruct, and inspire you to become the best version of yourself, one you never dreamed possible, and wake you up to remember who and what you really are, what your unique gifts are, and what your vision and purpose is.
And, not only that, but wake you up to what you have to do on a daily basis to transform your body, illuminate your mind, enlighten your soul, heal and transform your emotional life and emotional wounds, and embrace and transmute your shadow, your hurts, and your outdated and dysfunctional stories, both conscious and unconscious, about who you are, who others are, and the nature of reality.
What is required to begin this journey and stay on the journey? Courage; vision; inspiration; support; undying grittiness; heroic stick-to-it-ness.
Do you possess all of these virtues at the moment? Probably not. We are not born with language, but we are born with the capacity to learn language. In the same way we all have the capacity to virtually become superhuman versions of ourselves and achieve, perform, know, and experience our lives in ways that perhaps we have only dimly dreamed of.
We are going to do this together. Why? Because we must. The alternative is defeat and tragedy: the great tragedy of not becoming what we could have been. We owe this much to life, to ourselves, to those who came before us, to those who are present with us on Earth at this time, and to those who will come after us. It ain’t easy, but then again nothing that truly matters is. Does it become easier over time? Yes, it does. That which in the beginning seems awkward and difficult becomes natural to us—second nature—as natural as breathing and just as important.
So, what does this path require of us? Initially, and perhaps continually, it requires humility. We have to be willing to be beginners and really suck at each new skill and capacity we are trying to cultivate. If you have ever watched a child learning to walk, you will have noticed that in the beginning it involves a lot of falling down and often wailing in pain and frustration at not being able to get to where they want to go. The child does not give up, but keeps getting up, over and over, and with the aid of supportive adults will begin to walk in a very short time. Now the child laughs and squeals with delight as she holds onto your fingers and begins to put more sequences of steps together. Miraculously soon, the child is walking and running all over the place, and it’s all we can do to keep up with him/her.
So it is with us when we engage in and commit to this life of daily integral practice. We fall, we stumble, we wail, and we fuss at the impossibility of it all. But then very soon the transformation begins to happen; we feel it in our minds, our souls, our bodies, and in our relationships: the “I probably should do this” morphs into “I must do this” which morphs into “I truly want to do this!” which morphs into “I can do this!” which morphs into “I do this!” That which morphs into this is who I am—my practice, my gifts, my vocations and calling, the remembrance and the knowing of who and what I truly am, what I have always been, and what I’m here to do, to be, and to become.
Day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year, decade by decade, we live our lives from our deepest and best capacities and find and become the Holy Grail of our life’s quest. As we self-actualize and Self-realize, we discover our authentic happiness. In spite of and perhaps because of everything, we experience ongoing awe, increasing joy, and profound peace at the imperfect perfection and the glorious isness, in the diversity, infinite multiplicity, and the unity of all things.
John has a message that is universal in its challenges and implications, and has immediate applications in all fields in which humans endeavor. Taking small but concrete daily steps will make this book and John’s presentation not just a mere intellectual journey, but a personal journey of healing, inspiration, and transformation.
Because this is a work integral in its nature, using multiple perspectives: first-person accounts when John talks about his personal struggles, his practices, and what he learned on the journey; then shift to second person when writing about conversations with others, listening to their testimonials, and the living data bank of anecdotal accounts of other practitioners; and third person when review the science and the data about all these different aspects of practice talking about—physiological, neurological, emotional, and spiritual.
Body, mind, emotions, spirit: wake up, grow up, cleanup, and show up….
Again, is this easy? No it ain’t. It takes a great reordering of your life’s priorities. Practice first, and practice every day. Because it is through practice that the gifts we have to give ourselves and others will be made true, beautiful, and deeply relevant.
So let us walk this road together as we renew, reinvent, heal, remember who we are, and bring our best selves into a living, giving, wise, and compassionate reality.
As someone once asked Ken Wilber, “Isn’t this all a bit elitist?” To which Ken replied, “Oh yes, indeed it is, but it is an elitism to which we are all invited.”
Shall we? Let’s get started.
About John
John is a co-founder and the CEO of iAwake Technologies. He has been working personally and professionally with brainwave entrainment technology since 2004, and has developed a passion for the power and efficacy of Integral Practice, enhanced by brainwave entrainment technology, to support individual and collective evolution in deepening spiritual practice and growth, and to facilitate increased flow, creativity, intention, and focus in business, academics, athletics, and the arts.
He is the author of the award-winning book Integral Recovery: A Revolutionary Approach to the Treatment of Alcoholism and Addiction that is being used by individuals and programs around the world. He is currently writing his second book, The Practice of Life – The Life of Practice: Taking Evolution Personally, in which he takes the lessons garnered from working with recovering addicts and alcoholics and applies them to all of us. “We all have our issues, we all have our wounds, and we all need to wake up, grow up, clean up, and show up.”
John feels there is no more urgent and compelling task than to take the idea of Integral Practice from the drawing board and the academic realm into the daily heroic journey of conscious evolution. John is the host of the online series Spiritual Tech Talks 2.0, in which he converses with the leaders, pioneers, and inventors of the current wave of emerging spiritual technologies, and co-host of the popular Journey of Integral Recovery podcast. John is the also co-founder, along with his friend Bence Ganti, of The Ken Wilber Gratitude Fund, a fund that was created to support Ken and his work and to let Ken Wilber know our gratitude for all he has given us and continues to give.
With Love,
The IEC team
https://www.integraleuropeanconference.com
