Dear Vinay,
Thanks for the input. It pains me to see so many harshly judge Bert and his
new work without taking part in it, to really judge for them elves that he's
a madman, crazy and the like. Thinking these postings capture the truth of
who many think Bert is. It is like trying to catch a butterfly with a big
hole in the net. If you spent time with him on whatever way you chose you'd
see that he is far from mad. Unless people were there I consider most of it
gossip.
Think of him as a Columbus when everyone else is saying the world is
Flat..so sure they were right.. Wrong. Columbus had the courage to follow
his dream even if he went off the edge. He didn't and neither is Bert or
Sophie. Maybe they are too sane, too honest and too caring for the human
condition. Humanity will do well to learn from these pioneers in
Consciousness. How do you think the Flat-worlder's reacted when Columbus
returned to Spain? Oops. "What were we thinking" At least they didn't kill
the messenger like most others paid for their wisdom with an untimely
death..Bert really wants us all to see the GOOD life has to offer and Accept
it ALL and let go of the (perceived) Bad to be truly present in the Spirit
of the LIVING MOMENT of the NOW! He has repeated invited everyone on his
ship and even to follow in a dingy.. Even the most seasoned facilitator
today hopefully isn't Too Big to still learn from him. I'm afraid our
Constellation family is just as dysfunctional as our biological family
systems. Holding it all with love is the key. Being humble and small in the
face of greatness wouldn't hurt any of us either.
Namaste Gary Stuart LA, CA Gary@xxxxxxxxxxxx
From: ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Steve Vinay Gunther
Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2008 11:49 AM
To: ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ConstellationTalk] Re: Bert & Sophie Hellinger
This is a painful topic to read about, to think about, and to experience.
I am a Gestalt therapist, and Friz Perls once very honestly described
himself as 'half son of God, half son of a bitch'
I think most of those in leadership positions have this mix of genius
and some kind of madness. The genius is a gift, going down the
generations. The madness needs to be identified and sifted through.
At the time Fritz worked, he (as with others in the field) slept with
clients, and chain smoked through sessions.
Bert is no different in the sense that I appreciate his genius, and
am very grateful for it. HIs own version of madness is no surprise,
though nevertheless of course disappointing.
Of course we are all miini versions of this - our own strengths and
contributions, and our crazyness.
I am also a part of a spiritual organisation, and the issues are the
same, especially visible after the death of my guru. In distress, at
one point I asked a very wise person in the organisation what to do
when I saw people I otherwise respected in the organisation acting in
what I considered to be bad ways. I liked his response - 'look to
that in others which inspires you, and emulate that; look to your own
defects, and rectify them'.
I do think it important to name what goes on. I do also appreciate
your sitting at the sidelines Chris, to see this stays an airing of
personal truths and views, rather than a descent into a particular
kind of collective madness which groups can go to when confronted by
the shadow of the leader. And I do apprecaite hearing people take
risks to share their inner thoughts and experiences, which may
otherwise be 'not okay' due to a prevailing group ethos to not
rubbish the leader.
Vinay Gunther
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Northern Rivers Gestalt Institute
15 Coleman St, Lismore,
NSW, 2480 Australia
Ph/Fax (02) 66 213 911
admin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:admin%40gestalt.org.au>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Perceive all conflicts as patterns of energy seeking a harmonious
balance in a whole."
Dhyani Ywhoo, Etoway Cherokee
* GESTALT training in the Northern Rivers:
http://www.gestalt.org.au
* GANZ (Gestalt Australia And New Zealand):
http://www.ganz.org.au
* Prout - an alternative socio-economic vision:
http://www.prout.org
* Follow your life-dream - excellent support from Barbara Sher:
http://www.barbarasher.com
* Health and Healing in Cebu:
http://www.amwellness.org
* Online Gestalt course:
http://www.zurinstitute.com/gestaltcourse.html
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
