Dorothy – 27/8/99
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Leslie Kenton Photo source Leslie Kenton |
Leslie Kenton emigrates to New Zealand and presents workshops based on the
principles of shamanism.
Why has Leslie Kenton chosen to emigrate to New Zealand? "I fell in love with New Zealand twenty years ago. I remember the first day
that I arrived. I was at the old Auckland airport. I’d been asked to give
a series of workshop as part of International Green Month. I remember
very well having the extraordinary sense that this place was very special –
a benign and benevolent land. I am talking of the earth itself.
"This was extraordinary because airports are some of the most unpleasant
places in the world to be – soulless places where most people feel at their
worst."
So began my interview with Leslie Kenton, well-known American lecturer and
writer, when I asked her why after many visits she had chosen to emigrate
to New Zealand.
As part of the programme on that first visit Leslie travelled all over New
Zealand giving lectures and staying with all sorts of New Zealanders in
accommodation that ranged from lavish country homes to a gypsy caravan.
"I found a remarkable quality of life here that I had never seen any place
else." Leslie said. "I find New Zealanders very down-to-earth and practical – not theoretical people – solid and rather conservative, like
the people you would find in the American Mid West. They are friendly and
honourable and keep their promises. I like all that. I like the ordinariness of it."
Does New Zealanders’ apparent cheerfulness cover serious underlying problems? Leslie has found that New Zealanders are extraordinarily cheerful people –
very positive. She has found retail staff very helpful. However, since
learning of the suicide statistics for New Zealanders she has wondered whether this cheerfulness has a dark side to it. She believes that in the
effort to make everything always appear good on the surface New Zealanders
may be burying the real emotional issues without dealing with them. For
good health this is one of the major issues that needs to be addressed.
When I asked her if this was not equally a problem for British men who have
traditionally been trained to keep a stiff upper lip, Leslie replied that
they have an outlet in their sense of humour, The new film version of
"The Winslow Boy" with Nigel Hawthorne epitomises their ability to use wit
and irony to channel their aggression – their negative impulses – in a way
that is fundamentally harmless. "Fawlty Towers" is another example of this. The British sense of humour is very powerful. They laugh at themselves.
In Leslie’s view scepticism rather than irony is part of the New Zealanders’ view of reality. She does not see Kiwi men being able to laugh at themselves. This, she believes, is characteristic of young countries like New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, because men there
have difficulty with their sense of identity. This is much less of a problem in Europe.
New Zealanders’ health Leslie’s strongest observation about health in New Zealand does not relate
to physical health, but to spiritual, or possibly emotional health – that
in New Zealand people find it a real challenge to live out the truth of who
they really are in their day to day life, their behaviour and the way they
meet the world. People who succeed in that challenge have the energy and
the joy to go on living, stay really healthy, and be very creative in their lives.
She believes that being healthy is not simply being without disease. Health is a process of unfolding that each one of us is involved in from
the moment we are born until we die. It’s always a process by which the
soul that is the true nature of a human being is continually calling to
that human being to live its truth out.
Many of the things that go wrong in our lives, like an illness, can be a
call from the soul saying that something needs readjusting. In that sense
they can be great blessings if we heed the message to make change rather
than aiming to be rid of the symptoms and continue to live as before.
Leslie’s own ‘Journey to Health’ This is a basic principle in Leslie Kenton’s work. She experienced serious illness as a child and endogenous depression in her early twenties.
No one was able to help her until she met medical doctors who had forsaken
the use of drugs to treat symptoms and instead were committed to exploring
the true cause of ill health and clearing whatever was preventing the body
from healing itself.
Detoxification of body and mind This led her to understand the physical aspects of healing – the value of
detoxifiying the body and using raw food. With her daughter Susannah she
wrote a best seller called "Raw Energy".
Following that came the realisation that the mind and the body are not
separate and that the psyche too must be detoxified – cleared of the rubbish of damaging inherited ideas from childhood.
"My interest in health," Leslie says, "is supplying people with the information, techniques and tools that will enable them to connect up that
inner part of their being – their true nature or soul – with their personality so that the inner and the outer become authentic reflections of
each other.
"Each soul is a particular manifestation of universal power or divine energy. When that soul is able to live out as much as possible its unique
essential divine nature it naturally is aligned with what might be called
the will of the universe. When this happens a person’s energy is virtually
endless. Life becomes an adventure – a journey."
Natural aids to full health People now have access to natural helpers ranging from herbs and organic
foods to flower essences and antioxidants. Leslie particularly recommended
co-enzyme Q 10, lipoic acid, and the flavanoids – newly discovered plant-based substances, often called phytonutrients which are powerful in
their ability to protect the body and the mind from degeneration and maintain youthfulness.
Study of Shamanism For the past decade Leslie has been studying Shamanism. This is not a religion, but the world’s oldest methodology for being able at will and
with total control to expand consciousness and give access to realms of
creativity and healing to which most people have no access. It dates back
for thirty or forty thousand years pre-dating all world religions. The
practices for doing this vary very little all over the world – amongst the
Australian Aborigines, the Laplanders in northern Russia, the Inuit and
American Indians, or the native Shamans in the Amazon jungles.
After studying shamanism for several years Leslie was asked to teach in
Britain for the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, a charity whose home is in
America, making the world aware of what is possible with shamanism.
She believes that there is energy available now that has never been available before in the time of our history. This is making it easier for
people to use simple techniques to link up with their own soul power and
have genuine spiritual experiences rather than reading about those of others and following religious rules.
Leslie explains, "After working in health for many years I became aware
that each of us comes into the world like a tiny seed containing the unique
totality of everything that we become. I believe that the purpose for our
being on earth is not to do good, not to do anything except to incarnate as
fully as possible the nature of our seed power or soul.
"Why? Because each human being has a part to play in the universal wholeness of things. The more we live out the truth of who we are the more
that whole dichotomy between selfishness and selflessness disappears and
becomes irrelevant, because it is in the nature of human beings when they
are living their own truth to bring to others the very highest of the gifts
they have to offer."
Using her knowledge and techniques to bring "freedom" to others She feels that it is time now to do everything she can to make this soul-personality connection possible. Those who do this discover fulfilling
joy for themselves and create support for others to be who they truly are,
producing organic harmony between people.
As she became increasingly aware of how powerful this was for bringing about the deepest levels of healing in people she began "Journey to Freedom" workshops and wrote the book, "Journey to Freedom". This book was
published in hard back by Harper Collins in November 1998 and is coming out
in paperback in January 2000.
First "Journey to Freedom" workshops in the Southern Hemisphere This year Leslie is teaching the first "Journey to Freedom" workshops in
the Southern Hemisphere.
Journey to Freedom I Foundation Workshop: October 23/24, 1999 Christchurch October 30/31 Taupo November 13/14 Auckland
Journey to Freedom II – Seeds of the Soul November 27/28, 1999 Taupo
Journey to Freedom III – Power and Creativity January 8/9, 2000 Taupo
Cassettes "Journey to Freedom" cassettes have just been recorded to make the techniques available to people who cannot attend Leslie’s workshops.
The three step training makes participants autonomous. After the workshops people have no further need of Leslie’s help, no interest in rules, no interest in theories. They have gathered the tools
they need and are carving out their own unique life path. They are well on
their way to becoming truly autonomous, doing their own thing in living out
their own truth.