About Mark Engebretson
Growing up gay in a small, rural, Midwest town, steeped in traditional family values, I have always understood the pain and isolation of “being different”. Caught between the ideology of my upbringing and the yearning of my heart, I did everything in my power to try to ”fit in” and be accepted. After countless years of achieving, conforming to social convention, and “people pleasing”, my life finally reached a point of un-workability, in-authenticity, and dis-illusion.
At a point of desperation, I began a search for deeper meaning and lasting fulfillment. It was during a series of group meditation sessions that I had an experience of all-encompassing love, so deep and profound, that it fundamentally shifted my perception of myself and the world forever. Since that time I have been sharing my story, insights and transformative energy with others, allowing them to tap into their own wellspring of inner-peace, joy and self-empowerment.
Returning to Our Essential Self
I have come to realize that transformation is not about improving the self, but rather, revealing the perfection that already exists within. All of my programs are about assisting participants in identifying the beliefs, patterns, and emotional blockages that are limiting one’s perception of that inherent perfection.
It is not about the adoption of some new ideology, doctrine or belief system. It is a natural process whereby the ego, in a desperate attempt to find fulfillment, has exhausted every option available to itself, and continues to come up short. In that moment of surrender, we are finally ready to relax into who we naturally are and begin to experience life from the purview of the essential self, or the soul.
Peace is Accessed & Bliss Arises
Through the power of self-acceptance and self-love, the fabricated or “created self” begins to dissolve and the Light within starts to shine forth brightly into the world. In the same way that a lantern, which has been covered with smudges obscures the light, so too, our personal and collective distortions obscure the light of our consciousness.
Through this alchemical process, harmony is restored, inner peace is accessed, and bliss naturally arises in one’s experience. By revealing the beauty of the soul, the individual can once again begin to live the “Dream of Life” with an open heart.