LIVING THE QUESTIONS

2008 Yearlong Program Preview

In our workshops over the past years we've focused on presence, healing, and fulfillment. Participants have overcome lifelong blocks and begun to live their dreams like never before. Many of you have inquired about the next step, wanting not just to fulfill your desires but also to become all you were meant to be. You wonder if there's still something holding you back. You ask:

- How do I best serve the planet?

- How do I fully connect with Spirit?

- How do I experience the ecstasy of divine union?

- How do I make every moment absolutely sacred?

It's time for us to answer those questions together, in a year of unparalleled transformation. I'm really excited about this personally, and thrilled that I can offer the program. Here's an overview.

Group size: 12 people

Time required: Approximately 6 hours per month

Location: By phone and email monthly, with two in-person weekend retreats, the retreats take place at the ends of January and October, on breathtaking Mt. Hood, outside of Portland, Oregon.

Activities: Each month will include a group conference call, partner calls, journaling, and solo explorations. In addition, you'll email me regularly and receive personalized feedback and exercises.

Retreats: We'll gather on Friday evening and commune together till Sunday afternoon. These retreats will expand your capacity for community, compassion, ecstasy, depth, and wild fun.

Themes: Each month will focus on a different aspect of spiritual freedom. Here's a representative sample:

April Approval

Key question: How does the need for approval, and the avoidance of disapproval, keep you from living your deepest truth?

Topics for journaling: Whose approval is most important to you? What, if anything, have you sacrificed to get it? What does this particular need for approval tell you about yourself?

Meditation: On feeling complete as you are right now.

Exploration: Part 1: Do something important to you that you're pretty certain would arouse significant disapproval from a loved one. Stay present to all the feelings and sensations that arise in your body. Pay attention like an avid scientist. Cradle each and every sensation with compassion. Send in an email describing the experience.

Part 2: Have a conversation about this experience with the person whose disapproval you expected. During the conversation, notice the flow of contraction and expansion in your body. If you become reactive, pause and share what's happening. Resume only if and when you're truly present. Make the goal of the conversation to share, and listen, with a wide-open heart.

Partner Work: Call your partner once before, during and after the above Exploration. Let your partner's spacious and caring reflection help you perform the exercise in the most safe, beneficial and authentic way.

Yearlong Program Cost: $2600. Travel to the retreats is additional, but (amazingly) lodging and meals are included. Fees will be due throughout the year in small, manageable amounts.

TO REGISTER OR LEARN MORE: If you're really ready for something like this, it will either catch your attention right away, or you'll attempt to put it aside but it will just keep knocking on your inner door.

Either way, please reply right away by email rc@livingthequestions.org with a few sentences about how and why it speaks to you. In addition, please feel free to ask any and all questions.

"Unique among spiritual guides, Raphael rolls up his sleeves and dives with people into places their inner work may never have pierced. Attending his workshop was an unforgettable experience, a giant wake up call. His teaching is full of humor, humility, maturity, understanding and wisdom. Many of us emerged with new levels of hope and resolve. Personally, I have found no teacher or process that I trust more or that engages so many facets of my being." - Tanya Glazer, Tiburon, CA

Raphael Cushnir is a popular contributor to O, the Oprah magazine. He is the author of Unconditional Bliss, which was nominated for best Personal Growth title of 2000, Setting Your Heart on Fire, which is used as a teaching tool in spiritual centers nationwide, and How Now: 100 Ways to Celebrate the Present Moment, which Spirituality & Health magazine named one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2005. He came to his current path after years as a schoolteacher, activist and award-winning Hollywood filmmaker. His heart was opened through an experience of profound grief. For more info, visit livingthequestions.org; heartonfire.org; hownow100.com; innermanagement.biz

A. Johnson's Story

Raphael's guidance and facilitation of the P4 program has been amazing. His gifts of presence, deep listening, reflection, playful joy, and delight in each individual have been such a blessing. Those gifts, along with the gifts we each bring to the group, have created a safe, loving space for all of us to grow and explore.

For the rest of the story, click here.

Manuela's Story
I attended a workshop where one of the key messages was "Don't think you can go it alone. Surround yourself with supporters." I decided to stop trying to prove that I could do everything on my own. A yearlong program with a group of other supportive individuals seemed like a perfect way to help me in my journey.
For the rest of the story, click here.

Sharon's Story
“I read Raphael's book, 'Setting Your Heart On Fire' and loved it. Then I signed up for one of his three day Intensives. It put me in touch with my body and consequently with my emotions. When Raphael told us he was convening a yearlong program, I knew that I had to be included.
I never doubted my resolve to attend until just about 5 minutes before I walked into the retreat house where we would all meet, eat, sleep and share for the next 48 hours!"
For the rest of the story, click here.

Jill's Story
"What attracted me to the yearlong program was Raphael's book, “Unconditional Bliss”. I was looking for just that and didn’t know how to get it.
At times the P4 program is not easy. I have found myself resisting change of long-ingrained, destructive habits. But I’ve been able to open myself up more to accept my good and not-so-fabulous aspects, and in turn I’ve been better able to embrace other people in my life, especially those that I have had personal struggles with."
For the rest of the story, click here.

Linda's Story
"The P4 experience has been profoundly inspiring for me, opening a whole new area of spirituality I previously had not explored. This program provides a rich and nurturing environment for each member to explore their past, learn to fully appreciate the present, and expand their spiritual growth into the future.
The opportunity to participate in P4 has taught me to be more compassionate towards not only myself, but also towards others. I have developed friendships that I know will last a lifetime, and I have memories that I will always treasure."
For the rest of the story, click here.