Bodhi Ocean: Talks on Self-Discovery, Authenticity, and Divinity as an Urgent Imperative in the Contemporary World

By Richard Harvey

Bodhi Ocean is the third of a trilogy of books, containing the annotated transcripts of online talks given by Richard Harvey, a psycho-spiritual psychotherapist and spiritual teacher, between 2014 and 2015. The three series of online lectures titled The Hsüan-Hsüeh Discourses; The Ternion Talks; and Substantia  compile fourteen talks on self-discovery, authenticity, and divinity as an urgent imperative in the contemporary world.

The Hsüan-Hsüeh Discourses are humbly and respectfully dedicated to the Hsüan-Hsüeh movement which discussed and mediated the traditional doctrine of withdrawal from the world and merged the philosophy of Confucius, a long-time imagined and sometimes perhaps real, opponent of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu, with Taoism or the Perfect Way. The Hsüan-Hsüeh Discourses are a delightful and illuminated stroll through five profound teachings on wisdom, separation, destiny, spiritual birth (or baptism), and stillness. Combined with Richard’s insights and teachings, The Hsüan-Hsüeh Discourses offer a rich blend of ancient wisdom teachings and modern-day, meta-psychology for the 21st century.

The Ternion Talks are a triad of sublime lectures (‘ternion’ meaning three). First, 'Being Born A Human Being' discusses our invitation to live in the Divine mystery through self-awareness and self-reflection. Second, 'Who Needs A Guru?' explores the question of whether the student benefits from, or needs, a spiritual teacher in their life. Who Needs A Guru? examines a student’s relationship to his/her spiritual teacher, the different ways we consciously and unconsciously reject a spiritual teacher, and the truth in the guru relationship. The message of the third lecture titled 'To Realize Consciousness' is that we must come to realize that the only thing that is real is love. Along the way, however, we must experience the passing of the delusion and the importance of assimilating great wisdom and making it our own. To Realize Consciousness echoes the great teachings about the importance of selecting a path, remaining true and committed to that path, and the reasons we need to do so.

Substantia ('Substantia' meaning essence) caps off Bodhi Ocean with a series of six lectures. The Substantia talks focus on a different aspect of the psycho-spiritual journey and extend the themes to Richard Harvey’s sacred-spiritual model of human growth and development for the modern era.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Richard Harvey
• Release date: Apr 19, 2019

Book preview

What people say

... about Richard's forty-two lectures in Dharma Sky, Moksha Dawn, and Bodhi Ocean

I recommend for you too; to allow yourself time to discover the spiritual education wisdom understandings that Richard is being inspired to share with mankind…. – Jansenius T. Lange Jnr., modern philosopher, author/writer, keynote public speaker, Founder/President of Self-Development Wisdom Institutes

It is rare in today’s world to have the opportunity to share in sacred and divine teachings. But the words that gracefully flow across the pages contained herein, and previously penned in Dharma Sky and Moksha Dawn, are of such a heightened level of consciousness that they do run the risk of being overlooked by the uninitiated. Our modern lives are rife with egoic distractions that turn us away from the sacred at every corner. It is the rare soul that rises above the chaff to reach transcendent levels of awareness. For those rare souls, this e-book, and the two that preceded it, will guide you the rest of the way on your journey. – Rev. Robert Meagher, Co-Founder, Vice-Principal, and Senior Tutor at Sacred Attention Therapy, Founder and Spiritual Director at Spiritual Guidance, Ottawa, ON, Canada

"Academia has difficulty birthing disciplines in the humanities as sciences, and psychology is a prime example of such a difficult delivery. Living is an art, and while research is clearly important, individual response to being alive can never be reduced to behavioural change based on conceptual manipulation and statistical outcomes. Mystique is unavoidable, and requires sane, clear and communicative exegesis.      Richard Harvey's book Bodhi Ocean reveals such a voice. He stitches together Eastern enlightenment, Western confusion, processes for spiritual growth, and provides a language of humility that is a passage to greatness. Among the many gifts that this work provides are the gentling of paradox, deconstruction of conceptual sophistication, possible paths to generic spirituality, and above all, catharsis of self-imposed imprisonment.

A prime message is that psychotherapy without spirituality misses the point, and while this is a courageous stance, it is also an emphatic call to create a cycle of completion. Leadership in academia, business, and politics is becoming more and more questionable in terms of exactly what the notion of leadership implies. Individual excellence, when viewed against the backdrop of Bodhi Ocean would surely go to where it belongs: not a mere drop but a necessarily contributing agent, the depth of which is mysterious yet real, because we all know that we breathe and move, and create. Richard Harvey has created a path, that one less travelled, and worth travelling. The blessing is that one has to do it alone, yet not hopelessly alone. The companionship is undeniably there." – Dr Walter Harry Willies, Educational, Health and Organisational Coach, creator of Biofocusing, Adjunct-Professor at the European American University, South Africa

... about Richard's teachings and approach

I am touched, moved and inspired by your motivating, life-transforming writing and work. A deep bow of appreciation from my heart and soul to you and your life changing work. A billion blessings to your Great work! God bless you! – Guruji Aruneshvar, Spiritual Master of the Param Shiva Adi Nath Sect, Blue Light Foundation for Shiva, Mumbai, India.

Richard, you have an insight that resonates on so many levels. You are able to articulate an awareness that would otherwise just remain an innate acknowledgement. I have a broad professional background but always searched for an understanding that never quite emerged through theory and postgraduate education; your work and insight seems to make sense of that missing link for me and feeds my yearning to escape the statutory demands that don't fit with my passion for offering psycho-spiritual compassion and support. Thank you for your wisdom – it's a privilege to know you and learn from you. – Kirsty Hodgson, Psychologist, Psychotherapist, Hypnotherapist, and Supervisor; Advisor on Mental Health Strategy to the House of Commons and the Scottish Parliament.

My faith in you and your work abounds. I see you and know what you are doing. Please take my love and faith in the deepest compassion that has always existed in humanity with you wherever you go because I believe. Thank you for your divine attention! Respect lives forever in my heart. – Kristen Allis Urffer, Director of SARPANA, Yoga/Meditation Instructor, Dance Instructor, Writer and Presenter, Pennsylvania, North America

... about the Sacred Attention Therapy Online Training

Richard’s teaching is a simple and direct pointing to the Truth. More importantly, Richard’s teaching is readily accessible, easily comprehended, and it produces results. Self-exploration is the only way a human being will awaken to their divine self, and Richard provides valuable, wise and loving, safe guidance to anyone serious wanting to discover, and self-realize. – Mark T. Filippo, Spiritual Counselor and writer/blogger 

I have done a lot of training and nothing has touched the thoroughness and depth of the SAT training. Richard’s writings and my personal experience of working with Richard to the Sacred Attention Therapy (SAT) model have provided me with an invaluable deepening and broadening of my inner work. Personally, professionally, spiritually, and psychologically Richard’s work has helped bring together and add to all of my prior therapeutic, theological, and healing training into a heart-based therapy that is both thorough and honouring. Richard’s original idea of the Central Character Dynamic (CCD) and the process of clarifying its structure is truly ground-breaking and has been one of the most frustrating, annoying (to my ego at any rate) and rewarding experiences to date. I have felt the benefits of SAT personally and have been privileged to witness them with clients. – Oliver Baum BA (Hons), M.Theol, MBACP, Lead Therapist and Practice Director, The Owl Practice, Guildford, Surrey, UK

... about working with Richard

Thank you dearest Richard, my life is more and more falling apart! But the deep fear that was scaring me when I came to therapy has completely ceased and been replaced by a deep inner feeling of love towards existence as it is and an ability to embrace and welcome whatever is experienced, even when life still does not present itself from the rosy/cosy side. I realise the choicelessness in life and am more able to flow with what is, as I dive deeply into the unknown. This is the first time in my life that I have experienced such a state of not knowing anything at all. My visions, dreams, desires and beliefs have disappeared almost totally. They have become so transparent that, as soon as I want to hold on to them, they explode like soap-bubbles. Sometimes the thought of being completely lost appears, but it’s just this unknown and new way of dealing with life that I am getting used to. While I feel I have no security at all in the outside, my inner security grows day by day. I found my new home, my heart, my inner Self, the only real Reality from where this whole outside world is merely a reflection. Once again, I love expressing my gratitude for your guidance. Thank you!!!! All love. – Bodhi Asta Fallschessel

I did not understand the world. I did not find my place. I felt a strength that I could not reach. I met Richard on my way. Straight away I felt his Love and I could give myself up with confidence. Through Richard, I confessed to myself my dark thoughts, my fears, my weakness, my angers. I learned about this strength that I could not reach; it was divine Love. I learned about my fears, my anger. I learned to accept them, to understand where they came from and to love them. I learned that they were feelings that Love does not know. I learned that we all are Love. Richard has been my compass. I was wandering, he helped me to find the way of Love. Now, Richard is the wind which escorts me to grow up. – Agnès Bussière, MA, Lawyer

Dear Richard, Thank you from my heart for everything you have done to help and enlighten me. I take away with me so much, words cannot describe the gratitude I feel. I will never forget this experience. It has meant everything and more to me. – Natalie Roberts

"Dearest Richard, I want to thank you tremendously. The work I have done with you and your influence and wisdom as a teacher, mentor, therapist, and presence in my life have been hugely valuable – it's hard to even find the right words. I think of you very often, at least weekly and sometimes daily, as I navigate life and ask myself many questions. Either something you have said to me in the past comes back up, or I will ask myself what would Richard say about this? Reflecting on the several months of therapy with you, I realize what fortune – what blessing – I received to have had that. In many ways, I count it as one of my greatest blessings. – Julia Millar, Nursing Student, North Carolina, USA

RICHARD HARVEY

Talks on Self-Discovery, Authenticity, and Divinity

as an Urgent Imperative in the Contemporary World

BODHI OCEAN

Sacred Attention Publishing

Órgiva, Granada, Spain

Bodhi Ocean: Talks on Self-Discovery, Authenticity, and Divinity as an Urgent Imperative in the Contemporary World © 2016 by Richard Harvey. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Second Edition, 2019

Sacred Attention Publishing

Harvey, Richard, 1952–

Bodhi Ocean: Talks on Self-Discovery, Authenticity, and Divinity as an Urgent Imperative in the Contemporary World

Richard Harvey. — Second edition

Set in Times New Roman

Includes bibliographical references.

Editing: Robert Meagher

Any Internet references contained in this work are current at publication time, but the publisher cannot guarantee that a specific location will continue to be maintained.

First Edition was published in 2016, Sacred Attention Publishing

Photograph: Google Images

Cover design: Robert Meagher

Book design: Richard Harvey

Sacred Attention Publishing

Aptdo 183

18400 Orgiva

(Granada)

Spain

http://www.therapyandspirituality.com/

About the Author

Richard Harvey is a psycho-spiritual psychotherapist, a spiritual teacher, the Founder-Director of The Center for Human Awakening and the creator of Sacred Attention Therapy (SAT), a radical new approach to healing and personal growth for the 21st century.

Richard Harvey's work spans over 40 years. During that time he has worked with individuals, couples, groups and communities, psychologically and spiritually. He has helped thousands of people to find greater peace and fulfillment in their lives. Richard's approach is to encourage, empower, and enable people to clarify, heal, and liberate themselves from the restrictive conditioning that compromises their relationships, family, and working lives. 

He lives and work from his personal and spiritual growth center in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in southern Spain and has led groups, workshops, seminars, and training courses throughout Europe, as well as maintaining a private practice.

At the heart of Richard's work is the awakening of individual consciousness, within the wider context of collective spiritual awakening, through a threefold process of work on the personality, the transformation into authenticity, and the realization of our true nature.

You can visit him online at www.therapyandspirituality.com and www.centerforhumanawakening.com.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Rev Robert Meagher for his selfless service, dedication, and consistency, without whom none of these lectures, transcripts, and eBooks would have been so lovingly and easily born and realized. With thanks to all those who participtated in the live transmissions of these teachings, the seminars, and later discussions, and who ruminated on the truths contained here in order to awaken. To my wife Nicky for her endless devotion, daily sacrifice, and example of selflessness. To my clients, students, pupils, friends, relatives, and unknown persons who have helped, directly or indirectly, by providing examples and anecdotes that often provided a little entertainment amid the central and terrifying truths here. Lastly, a bow of enormous gratitude and reverence to those brave souls who held the Golden Thread through the turbulence of the ages and enabled us, even today, to see.

Men go abroad to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering.

– Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, X

Preface

Richard Harvey once asked me, What hoops do clients have to go through to get to Oliver Baum. The answer, Not many, contrasted nicely with the hoops the universe had sent my way before Richard and I ultimately met, and I have still yet to manage getting to Spain to visit him at Cortijo Llano de Manzano, his center for personal growth and spiritual development in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains in southern Spain.

I first came across Richard just as I was seriously setting about the task of developing my private practice and shortly after ending with the therapist I had been seeing. There was something about Richard’s eyes that kept bringing me back to investigate the wealth of material on his website. I slowly worked my way through the abundance of articles, while occasionally drifting to the retreat section and wistfully looking at the scenic pictures.

Signing up for the Novena Teachings, an earlier series of online lectures, I was immediately in awe at the size and scope of Richard's work. While many books had spoken to my mind and others had spoken to my will, this was the first time I had felt someone’s work speak to my heart... and my heart responded back.

I booked a retreat, now known as the non-retreat retreat, which started with the almost crushing disappointment of fourteen hours at Heathrow airport after a flock of birds decided to end their lives in the engine of a BA 737. Returning home to an empty house with no flight, I ended up working with Richard via Skype during what became a week of the deepest psychotherapeutic work I had ever done.

I finally met Richard at a workshop in Cambridge, England a year later. Having spent many years in trainings and group workshops, I’d often find a little part of me crumpling every time someone said, Psychotherapy is a life-long process, as if none of us get out of this alive. I never believed this to be true and had trained in numerous modalities trying to prove this to myself. The relief of finding Richard and Sacred Attention Therapy (SAT) which shared my belief that the psychological can be worked through and moved beyond has been palpable, although frustrating and infuriating at times. Just when I think I’m there, Bollocks, it’s my mother again,’ or, Oh great, another loop round the Central Character Dynamic (CCD).

The CCD is one of many original ideas in Richard’s work, the core of our personality structure, and once plotted out a constant and humbling reminder of the plethora of sub-personalities, cultural, societal and familial introjects, character strategies, life statements, and so on that pervade our life….that is, until they don’t.

The lectures in this book, Bodhi Ocean, make up the final installment of a series of forty-two online lectures given by Richard over the last three years. I have been moved, expanded, and privileged to witness these lectures and am hugely grateful for the opportunity to revisit them via these transcripts. Richard encourages the students of the SAT Online Training to go through the material three times: Once for the head, once for the will, and once, most importantly, for the heart.

Read Bodhi Ocean this way and let the words seep into your heart, to its very essence, because, well let's face it, the world could do with a lot more of that right now.

Oliver Baum

BA, MA, MBACP, Practice Director and Lead Therapist, The Owl Practice, Guildford, UK, Tutor at Sacred Attention Therapy

November 2015

Foreword

Bodhi Ocean is the third in a trilogy of e-books featuring a divine compilation of manuscripts from three series of psycho-spiritual lectures by Psycho-Spiritual Psychotherapist and Spiritual Teacher, Richard Harvey. Richard’s career spans more than 30 years of working with individuals, couples, groups and communities. Richard’s formal training includes study at the Devon Centre for Alternative Therapy and Education for four years with the American psychotherapist Richard Dror, the study of group dynamics at the Richmond Fellowship in London, neo-Reichian bodywork (biosynthesis) with David Boadella, and Gestalt theory study with Paul Rebillot. Richard has worked and studied with a host of other professionals including: Miriam Dror; Tony Crisp; Roberta de Long-Miller/Ma Sagarpriya; Clover Southwell; Guy Gladstone; Mike Wibberley; Maura Sills; John Crook; Jill Purce; and William Emerson. Balancing this traditional psychotherapy training has been Richard’s life and study at the Rajneesh Ashram, in Poona (India), Zen Buddhist meditation training at Throssel Hole Priory (a Zen training monastery), and a 3-year post-graduate diploma in Buddhist oriented psychotherapy.

Richard is a prolific and passionate writer. Two of his books were self-published efforts: The Book of Being (1998) and Tao’s Gift (2005). The Flight of Consciousness was published by Ashgrove Publishing in 2002. His latest book Your Essential Self: The Inner Journey to Authenticity and Spiritual Enlightenment waspublished by Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd. in 2013. Richard’s latest book, Your Sacred Calling, will be published by Austin Macauley in 2016.

Richard’s lifetime of study, work and experiences have culminated in his independent psycho-spiritual psychotherapy practicefrom his mountain-top spiritual centre, Cortijo Llano de Manzano. The Centre is set in a beautiful and tranquil three acres on the southern slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Spain. From his Centre, Richard offers individual therapy, couples counseling, spiritual training and supervision, courses and retreats.

Richard Harvey’s work bridges personal therapy and inner work with spiritual growth. He believes in the potential for every person to grow into a whole human being and the great challenge of a human life is to discover all that is within the human heart. Richard believes that personal exploration is qualitatively different from spiritual development: the former requires self-absorption, the latter requires self-surrender. In the first we discover ourselves, in the second we liberate ourselves.

The difference between personal exploration and spiritual development has confused many seekers, in Richard’s view. To his knowledge no one has clearly explained how these two processes are really one single connected process. Richard believes that we can pass from one to the other through the bridge of authenticity, a bridge that is crossed when we experience personal transformation; and in personal work we change, but authenticity is only reached through transformation. Transformation, in Richard’s 3-stage model of human awakening, is the ultimate goal of personal inner work. On the spiritual level, Richard believes, our attainment is surrendered in service to our divine nature.

***

The first e-book in this trilogy, Dharma Sky, featured talks on psychological and spiritual understanding and renewal for the modern era. Dharma Sky contained manuscripts from lectures given as part of The SashtiPoorthi Lecture Seminars and The Panchavati Discourses.

The second e-book in this trilogy, Moksha Dawn, offered talks on a radical and innovative approach to spirituality and the sacred in the 21st century. Moksha Dawn contained manuscripts from lectures given as part of The Silent Thunder Online Discourses and The Novena Teachings.

This e-book, Bodhi Ocean, is the final and sacred compilation of lectures given as part of three lecture series: The Hsüan-Hsüeh Discourses; The Ternion Talks; and Substantia. Bodhi Ocean gifts the reader with talks on self-discovery, authenticity, and divinity as an urgent imperative in the contemporary world.

Each of the three e-books in the trilogy contains 14 lecture manuscripts, for a total of 42 lecture manuscripts. As a total set of 42 pyscho-spiritual lecture manuscripts, the reader is guided through Richard Harvey’s three stage, psycho-spiritual model of human awakening: journey of self-discovery; transformation into authenticity; and union with the Divine as the source of consciousness.

If you have not yet had the opportunity to read the first two e-books in this trilogy (Dharma Sky and Moksha Dawn), I encourage you to do so. While each e-book stands on its own, when read in their birthed sequence, the full majesty of their teachings will come to life.

***

The Hsüan-Hsüeh Discourses in this e-book are humbly and respectfully dedicated to the Hsüan-Hsüeh movement which discussed and mediated the traditional doctrine of withdrawal from the world and merged the philosophy of Confucius, a long-time imagined and sometimes perhaps real, opponent of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu, with Taoism or the Perfect Way. The Hsüan-Hsüeh Discourses take a Taoist story and relates it to a passage from another spiritual tradition before relating and extending the themes to Richard’s sacred-spiritual model of human growth and development for the modern era.

The Hsüan-Hsüeh Discourses are a delightful and illuminated stroll through five profound teachings on wisdom, separation, destiny, spiritual birth (or baptism), and stillness. Each of the stories in The Hsüan-Hsüeh Discourses offers profound windows on truth. Combined with Richard’s insights and teachings, The Hsüan-Hsüeh Discourses offer a rich blend of ancient wisdom teachings and modern-day, meta-psychology for the 21st century.

The Ternion Talks is a triad of sublime lectures (‘ternion’ meaning three): Being Born A Human Being: An Invitation to Live in the Divine Mystery; Who Needs A Guru?: The Discovery of the Divine in Your Life; and To Realize Consciousness: Merging with the Divine. Being Born A Human Being discusses our invitation to live in the Divine mystery through self-awareness and self-reflection. Who Needs A Guru? explores the question of whether the student benefits from, or needs, a spiritual teacher in their life. Who Needs A Guru? examines a student’s relationship to his/her spiritual teacher, the different ways we consciously and unconsciously reject a spiritual teacher, and the truth in the guru relationship. Richard also shares the levels of spiritual preparation required for relationship with your spiritual teacher. The message of To Realize Consciousness is that we must come to realize the only thing that is real is love. Along the way, however, we must experience the passing of the delusion and the importance of assimilating great wisdom and making it our own. To Realize Consciousness echoes the great teachings about the importance of selecting a path, remaining true and committed to that path, and the reasons we need to do so.

Substantia caps off Bodhi Ocean with a series of six lectures. The Substantia talks focus on a different aspect of the psycho-spiritual journey and extend the themes to Richard Harvey’s sacred-spiritual model of human growth and development for the modern era. Substantia means essence and this essence is at the very heart of the six lectures in the Substantia series and all 42 lectures that Richard Harvey has lovingly gifted us with over the past three years.

Richard Harvey writes that in western philosophy ‘substantia’ was a term adopted by Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza that came close to the meaning of Brahman. Substantia, then, is an apt title for this series of psycho-spiritual talks. If Brahman is intended to connote the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe, then the Substantia series of six lectures accomplish just that.

Bodhi, in Buddhism, referred to the understanding possessed by the Buddha in regard to the true nature of things. The modern-day, equivalent word for Bodhi may be ‘enlightenment’ or ‘awakening.’ Bodhi Ocean caps off a trilogy of manuscript compilations that not only offers the reader a journey through Richard Harvey’s three-stage model of human awakening, but offers the reader a pathway to experience Bodhi.

Dharma Sky, the first book in the trilogy, offered two sets of lecture manuscripts that guided the reader through a journey of self-discovery, the first stage in Richard Harvey’s three-stage model of human awakening. Moksha Dawn, with its two sets of lecture manuscripts explored the second stage of Richard Harvey’s model of human awakening, transformation into authenticity. Bodhi Ocean allows the reader to experience Richard Harvey’s third stage of human awakening, the union with the Divine as the source of consciousness.

To have been present for all 42 lectures and then work with Richard Harvey to manifest these e-books was a rare and precious gift. It is likely the full awareness of that gift will not be realized for some time. Given the spontaneous nature of the inspiration that gave birth to the talks contained in the e-books, there is no question that Richard Harvey’s lectures contained in Dharma Sky, Moksha Dawn, and Bodhi Ocean are a transcendent channeling of divine truth.

It is rare in today’s world to have the opportunity to share in sacred and divine teachings. But the words that gracefully flow across the pages contained herein, and previously penned in Dharma Sky and Moksha Dawn, are of such a heightened level of consciousness that they do run the risk of being overlooked by the uninitiated. Our modern lives are rife with egoic distractions that turn us away from the sacred at every corner. It is the rare soul that rises above the chaff to reach transcendent levels of awareness. For those rare souls, this e-book, and the two that preceded it, will guide you the rest of the way on your journey.

When the Philozovo—answering the call of the Divine—becomes your devotional path, your way of living in this world, these e-books will become your precious guides to self-realization, authenticity, and samadhi. May your Philozovo arrive with the grace and splendor deserving of a soul who longs to be set free.

In the blessed words of Richard Harvey…