The Subtle Activist Training by David Nicol

Subtle activism is really an ancient approach, adapted to the structures of contemporary society. From shamanic traditions to esoteric and mystical orders within the major world religions, practitioners have long dedicated their spiritual work to the well-being of all life. However, in our modern, hyper-individualized Western culture spirituality has become largely focused on personal liberation, often to the exclusion of sociopolitical and environmental concerns. Subtle activism is part of an emerging turn in the consciousness movement beyond personal development toward concern for the world as a whole.

During this session, you’ll discover:

• What subtle activism is, and how it’s being practiced today
• Fascinating historical examples of subtle activism
• How subtle activism differs from spiritual activism or engaged spirituality
• The historical reasons why spirituality became marginalized to the private realm and why it’s time for that to change
• How subtle activism can supercharge your spiritual practice with purpose and create a healthy energetic flow between inner and outer, self and the world

You will also participate in a guided meditation practice to help build our group heart and in a Gaiafield Attunement practice to come into deep resonance with each other and the Earth.

If you received a modern Western education, chances are that ideas about non-physical dimensions or nonlocal causality — which underlie the concept of subtle activism — will tend to provoke your inner skeptic. Is this real or is it just my imagination? In fact, there is a large body of scientific evidence that supports the existence of nonlocal connections between human minds and between mind and matter.

During this session, you’ll learn about:

• The fascinating research by scientists associated with the Transcendental Meditation organization into the Maharishi Effect, and their findings about how meditation groups can affect social harmony
• The Global Consciousness Project, which measures the effect of collective consciousness on a global network of random number generators
• Intriguing results from psi and distant healing research
• How to distinguish healthy skepticism from fear-based doubt
• Ways to go beyond the polarity of doubt and belief to transrational knowing

You will also take part in a guided meditation to help build our group higher mind and in a Gaiafield Attunement practice to elicit personal and collective wisdom on the phenomenon of doubt itself.

How might subtle activism work? How could our spiritual work possibly influence modern societies, with their vast size and complexity? The idea of subtle activism runs counter to our regular perception of the world as a collection of seemingly separate material objects and to the materialistic assumptions of orthodox science. But science itself has come to recognize not only the profound interrelatedness of all things at more basic levels of reality, but also the complex connection between consciousness and world. This week we’ll consider various leading-edge theories that have been developed to explain the nonlocal nature of consciousness.

During this session, you’ll discover:

• The significance of biochemist Rupert Sheldrake’s theory of morphogenetic fields and Carl Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious
• The fascinating psychedelic research of Christopher Bache, including his theory of how individuals in non-ordinary states can bring healing to the human species mind
• The theory behind the Maharishi Effect research
• Dion Fortune’s esoteric theory of magical activism

You will also participate in a guided meditation to help build our group will center and in a Gaiafield Attunement practice to connect with the essential quality of Basic Trust.

Subtle activism is an extension of our spiritual practice into the collective realm. Opening to these broader social fields can raise new questions about how to engage ethically and safely. How should we best approach our subtle activism practice? What is the right orientation to take? How can our engagement on collective levels be integrated seamlessly into the rest of our spiritual lives?

In this session, you will learn:

• The ethics of engaging on subtle dimensions for the collective
• How to participate safely in the practice of subtle activism
• The principle of non-attachment to outcome
• The principle of humility: owning the dark places inside ourselves
• The importance of engaging from wholeness

You will also participate in a guided meditation to connect our group heart, mind and will centers and in a Seeds of Peace Attunement focused on the Middle East.

We have reached an extraordinary threshold in the human and planetary story. Alongside the threat of the global ecological crisis and the potential collapse of current socio-economic systems, there are seeds all around us of an emerging planetary wisdom civilization. What can we do to nurture this nascent planetary awareness? How might the practice of subtle activism help catalyze the process of planetization?

In this session, you will learn about:

• The Noosphere: Teilhard de Chardin’s extraordinary vision
• The Integral Earth Community: David Berry’s notion of our transition to the Ecozoic Era
• The Reenchantment of the Cosmos: Could humanity be poised to re-awaken to the spiritual intelligence of the universe?
• How the practice of global meditation can serve as a collective initiation into planetary consciousness
• Why chaos theory suggests that a profound collective shift could happen far more quickly than we think

You will also participate in a guided meditation to purify our group will and in a Water Attunement to open to deep guidance about a pressing issue on the world stage (we will select the particular issue based on world events at the time).

Although we can practice subtle activism as individuals, our impact is radically amplified when we practice together as a highly coherent group field. The art of pooling our consciousness together to discover higher forms of collective wisdom in relation to the challenges facing our species is the leading-edge of subtle activism practice today. The group field can be developed and refined in such a way that it becomes a new entity in its own right, and an extraordinarily potent vehicle for personal and collective transformation. As Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh famously said, “The next Buddha may be the sangha.”

In this session, you’ll discover:

• The 3 keys to building collective intelligence in groups
• The evolutionary significance of moving beyond individualism to conscious collectivism
• Why practicing in group fields allows easier access to humanity’s collective unconscious and to higher dimensional energies
• An exciting and magical process that has emerged in David’s work to develop the subtle body of a group and to apply its spiritual capacities for collective healing

You will also participate in a guided meditation to purify our group heart and in a Gaiafield Attunement intended to consecrate the venue of the December Paris Climate Change Conference.

As Club Budapest President Ervin Laszlo recently said, “Subtle activism is an idea whose time has come.” Although the term subtle activism is still new, a movement is emerging worldwide to harness the power of our collective consciousness in service of a global shift. The movement is very young, fresh and open to creative ways of engaging with it. Are you feeling the call? If so, how might you take the next steps on your path as a subtle activist?

In our final session, you will:

• Learn how to create your own subtle activism circle
• Hear about exciting subtle activism initiatives from a number of leaders in the field
• Discover how you can become an anchor for subtle activism practice in your city or local area
• Learn how you can tap in on a regular basis to ongoing forms of subtle activism practice

You will also participate in a guided meditation to purify our group mind and in a Radiant Joy Attunement to bring light to the world’s capital buildings.