About Saleem
Hello Friend,
For over three decades, I have served as a spiritual teacher and brother, psycho-spiritual guide, and mentor for teachers, leaders, therapists and healers. The basis for my work is both my own direct experience of non-dual realization and extensive training in a variety of spiritual, energetic, emotional, psychological, and somatic disciplines and teachings. My speciality has been to support an integrated approach to spiritual unfolding that recognizes both our prior wholeness and completeness, and the process of integration and maturation of the individual psyche.
In the Fall of 2015, a severe health crisis initiated a profoundly transformational multi-year retreat from which I have been slowly emerging over the last year.
I have been inspired to become more aware of who and what "I" am for most of my life. One form this has taken is a love for understanding and working at significant depth with the somatic, psychological, and energetic aspects of who I am as an individual. However, my core impulse has been to realize and embody the transcendent mystery at the heart of my existence. Some have called this Self-Realization. The "Self" referred to here, is not the person we think we are or seem to be. It is the presence of Being, without form or limitations. It is pure consciousness beyond conceptual understanding. It is the "I AM" that you are.
Like so many others, I have discovered that this is not a personal attainment, and while profound, it is nothing special. Instead, it is merely a revelation of the absolute, unchanging, unlimited, and impersonal dimension of our existence. Paradoxically, although impersonal, this discovery is unquestionably felt to be most intimate, most personal, and most fulfilling.
What if it were possible for everyone to experience this awareness of the Self directly, as the most real and most natural "thing" we can know?
I found the liberation I was seeking by recognizing what I have always been, not learning anything new. I did not have to change anything, improve anything, or remove anything. I discovered that real peace and happiness are unconditionally emanating from the central mystery of Being. Regardless of life's inevitable ups and downs, I found that fulfillment is already present at the center of every moment of experience. And, while life can be quite rough at times, the silent center is untouched and pristine, and remains available to be realized in easy times and hard.
My wish is that everyone may directly experience the simplicity of softening out of the reactivity of mind and relaxing into the pure magnificence of Beingness.
I have found that our most profound healing does not come from merely getting rid of unpleasant emotions or experiences, but in learning how to love them. In the earlier years of my journey into greater self-awareness, I reacted to my feelings and so-called "negative emotions" with fear, judgment, and unskillful attempts to "heal" them or "clear" them. My early attempts to engage my emotional body in a healing way was coming from reactivity. When I learned how first to recognize and let go of the reactivity to feelings and emotions, everything changed. Being with them lovingly, I began to see them as either a messenger bringing necessary guidance or as a child asking for love. Either way, relating to unpleasant emotions and feelings, when they arise, is now a satisfying and liberating experience.
What might be different if you saw your physical, psychological, or emotional distress as a source of valuable information - or responded to it as you would a young child who needed you?
What if you could stop perceiving your emotional pain as a threat and recognize it as an opportunity - a gateway to greater freedom and unconditional happiness.
I know the blessing of welcoming every experience and feeling as sacred ground. My heart now sings with the loving-kindness and the confidence to relate to painful sensations, emotions, and circumstances with compassionate skillfulness. As a result, I have become more capable of genuine kindness, more trustworthy with power, and more intimate with the sacred journey of being human.
What if it were possible to be genuinely okay-with and even happy-with unpleasant experiences and feelings?
This way of living has been my passion for nearly 40 years. As a result, some people find that my presence and words are a catalyst for deep acceptance of their previously unloved human experience. Others connect with me because they feel a shared resonance with how I express what I realize to be our timeless and limitless nature. Some people who join me in this shared journey of conscious awakening are drawn for the pure joy of being together in truth and love with a group of like-minded and like-hearted souls.
I am here to be a faithful witness to my personal experience and impersonal realization of Truth. I am not here to be an authority for you or anyone else. From my view, the True Teacher is within you and is the Self that you indeed are. I am here as a guide who may help you awaken to the source of wisdom and power within you and develop the skillfulness to bless yourself and others with the words you speak, the questions you ask, and the silence you keep.
Is it possible that all you need is within you, and all that you seek you are?
This attuned skillfulness has enhanced my ability to use these challenges well and improved my capacity to be a useful guide to others. My most demanding passages have not been tragic. On the contrary, they have been deeply transformational, as well as demonstrating beyond a shadow of a doubt that true love is always here, and it is possible to be unconditionally accepting of every facet of my human experience: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
What if what we think is too painful to bear isn't so bad after meeting it with real love?
Could it be that what we think is ugly and unlovable could open our hearts if we were to see it without fear and judgment?
From my perspective, we are all on this journey together. While we may sometimes seem to be at different stages at different times, in our soul's maturation and the awakening to Spirit, we remain equally inter-connected, inter-dependent, and incomparable expressions of One Heart. Every step I take, I also take for you. Every step you take, you also take for me. At one stage or moment, I may play the role of parent, at another, a child. At one moment, I may play the role of a teacher, in the next, a student. I surrender to the great circle of life, and its ever-present Source.
What if we were to embrace the wholeness of who we are: divine and human, perfect and imperfect, gift-giver, and receiver of blessings?
I am here to support your sacred return. I love creating opportunities to realize and meet in truth and love. I deeply enjoy providing a space for unveiling and addressing all that seems to be in the way of fulfillment on every level possible. If you can hear in my voice some affinity with the language of your own Heart, then perhaps we will meet someday, and in some way, enrich each other's journey home.
Peace be with you, always.
Saleem
Here is my background and my story in a nutshell
For over three decades, I have served as a spiritual teacher and brother, psycho-spiritual guide, and mentor for teachers, leaders, therapists and healers. The basis for my work is both my own direct experience of non-dual realization and extensive training in a variety of spiritual, energetic, emotional, psychological, and somatic disciplines and teachings. My speciality has been to support an integrated approach to spiritual unfolding that recognizes both our prior wholeness and completeness, and the process of integration and maturation of the individual psyche.
In the Fall of 2015, a severe health crisis initiated a profoundly transformational multi-year retreat from which I have been slowly emerging over the last year.
I have been inspired to become more aware of who and what "I" am for most of my life. One form this has taken is a love for understanding and working at significant depth with the somatic, psychological, and energetic aspects of who I am as an individual. However, my core impulse has been to realize and embody the transcendent mystery at the heart of my existence. Some have called this Self-Realization. The "Self" referred to here, is not the person we think we are or seem to be. It is the presence of Being, without form or limitations. It is pure consciousness beyond conceptual understanding. It is the "I AM" that you are.
Like so many others, I have discovered that this is not a personal attainment, and while profound, it is nothing special. Instead, it is merely a revelation of the absolute, unchanging, unlimited, and impersonal dimension of our existence. Paradoxically, although impersonal, this discovery is unquestionably felt to be most intimate, most personal, and most fulfilling.
What if it were possible for everyone to experience this awareness of the Self directly, as the most real and most natural "thing" we can know?
I found the liberation I was seeking by recognizing what I have always been, not learning anything new. I did not have to change anything, improve anything, or remove anything. I discovered that real peace and happiness are unconditionally emanating from the central mystery of Being. Regardless of life's inevitable ups and downs, I found that fulfillment is already present at the center of every moment of experience. And, while life can be quite rough at times, the silent center is untouched and pristine, and remains available to be realized in easy times and hard.
My wish is that everyone may directly experience the simplicity of softening out of the reactivity of mind and relaxing into the pure magnificence of Beingness.
I have found that our most profound healing does not come from merely getting rid of unpleasant emotions or experiences, but in learning how to love them. In the earlier years of my journey into greater self-awareness, I reacted to my feelings and so-called "negative emotions" with fear, judgment, and unskillful attempts to "heal" them or "clear" them. My early attempts to engage my emotional body in a healing way was coming from reactivity. When I learned how first to recognize and let go of the reactivity to feelings and emotions, everything changed. Being with them lovingly, I began to see them as either a messenger bringing necessary guidance or as a child asking for love. Either way, relating to unpleasant emotions and feelings, when they arise, is now a satisfying and liberating experience.
What might be different if you saw your physical, psychological, or emotional distress as a source of valuable information - or responded to it as you would a young child who needed you?
What if you could stop perceiving your emotional pain as a threat and recognize it as an opportunity - a gateway to greater freedom and unconditional happiness.
I know the blessing of welcoming every experience and feeling as sacred ground. My heart now sings with the loving-kindness and the confidence to relate to painful sensations, emotions, and circumstances with compassionate skillfulness. As a result, I have become more capable of genuine kindness, more trustworthy with power, and more intimate with the sacred journey of being human.
What if it were possible to be genuinely okay-with and even happy-with unpleasant experiences and feelings?
This way of living has been my passion for nearly 40 years. As a result, some people find that my presence and words are a catalyst for deep acceptance of their previously unloved human experience. Others connect with me because they feel a shared resonance with how I express what I realize to be our timeless and limitless nature. Some people who join me in this shared journey of conscious awakening are drawn for the pure joy of being together in truth and love with a group of like-minded and like-hearted souls.
I am here to be a faithful witness to my personal experience and impersonal realization of Truth. I am not here to be an authority for you or anyone else. From my view, the True Teacher is within you and is the Self that you indeed are. I am here as a guide who may help you awaken to the source of wisdom and power within you and develop the skillfulness to bless yourself and others with the words you speak, the questions you ask, and the silence you keep.
Is it possible that all you need is within you, and all that you seek you are?
This attuned skillfulness has enhanced my ability to use these challenges well and improved my capacity to be a useful guide to others. My most demanding passages have not been tragic. On the contrary, they have been deeply transformational, as well as demonstrating beyond a shadow of a doubt that true love is always here, and it is possible to be unconditionally accepting of every facet of my human experience: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
What if what we think is too painful to bear isn't so bad after meeting it with real love?
Could it be that what we think is ugly and unlovable could open our hearts if we were to see it without fear and judgment?
From my perspective, we are all on this journey together. While we may sometimes seem to be at different stages at different times, in our soul's maturation and the awakening to Spirit, we remain equally inter-connected, inter-dependent, and incomparable expressions of One Heart. Every step I take, I also take for you. Every step you take, you also take for me. At one stage or moment, I may play the role of parent, at another, a child. At one moment, I may play the role of a teacher, in the next, a student. I surrender to the great circle of life, and its ever-present Source.
What if we were to embrace the wholeness of who we are: divine and human, perfect and imperfect, gift-giver, and receiver of blessings?
I am here to support your sacred return. I love creating opportunities to realize and meet in truth and love. I deeply enjoy providing a space for unveiling and addressing all that seems to be in the way of fulfillment on every level possible. If you can hear in my voice some affinity with the language of your own Heart, then perhaps we will meet someday, and in some way, enrich each other's journey home.
Peace be with you, always.
Saleem
Here is my background and my story in a nutshell