Last week, we celebrated Walter Bellin’s 84th Birthday! For those of you who have been on one of our retreats, or participated in one of our programs – there is no introduction required. For the rest, Walter is our wise elder. He’s our teacher, our coach, and our mentor. He’s our confidant, our advisor, and our business partner. But mostly, he’s the oldest kid we know, our inspiration and our best friend!
We were introduced to Walter through our other mentor, Robert Meredith, in early 2017. We still recall our first meeting with him – sitting in the studio, sipping on tea, chatting non-stop for hours as if we had been friends for years! It was then that we learned about his impressive history; how he had been incredibly moved in the presence of Martin Luther King Jnr. How he had worked tirelessly for the civil rights movement while studying a PhD in philosophy at Berkeley University until he was completely burned out. How everything changed when he learned Effortless Meditation in 1968 and discovered his purpose. How two years later he became a meditation teacher and has been teaching, coaching, and consulting individuals and companies in meditation, personal growth, leadership and culture for 50 years since!
Walter is an exemplary demonstration of a human being intrinsically connected and aligned to his purpose.
Often when we hear the term ‘purpose’, we think of corporations with an inauthentic mission statement attempting to convince us of an underlying motive beyond profit. Or who comes to mind is the very few in our society in the helping professions driven by an altruistic desire for humanity. Or the avid vegans inspired by an idealistic vision to change the world.
But we are not talking about that kind of purpose.
We’re talking about a deep seated, ever-present, intrinsic connection to an existential purpose. A striving for something greater than ourselves. Our reason for being. What gets us up in the morning. An ideal we believe in and care about deeply. One which brings an ultimate sense of meaning to our lives. Our own ‘why’ so to speak.
We know we’re connected to it when we find ourselves in a state of ‘flow’ – fully immersed in the present moment, content, happy, connected, alive, and fulfilled. It feels like a pulse bubbling up from our core and emanating through our veins. A subtle frequency pulsating behind all that we do. It underlies our thoughts, our words, our expressions, and our actions.
Being aware of our purpose and connected to it on a daily basis brings a new layer of richness to our lives.
How do you find your existential purpose?
You start by getting in touch with yourself. Your inner presence. By reducing the noise, de-exciting the body, de-cluttering the mind. Everyday. Aka: a regular practice of meditation.
You then begin to rid your subconscious mind of that stored junk which clouds your ability to see clearly. Awakening who you really are at your core, your full potential, and your willingness to express it. Aka: the inner growth work.
And then finally you embark on an exploration of your existential purpose. Wondering “what effect do I want to have on the people in my life, and what contribution do I want to make to the larger context in which I live and work”? Asking “what most moves me? When do I feel most excited, fulfilled, and alive”?
Discovering your purpose can be a lifelong journey in its own right. Your purpose may (and most likely will) evolve over time. But once you discover our purpose, you can align all aspects of your life (both professional and personal) to that purpose. And the greater the degree of this alignment, the more our life is imbued with passion and the more meaningful we experience our life to be. Because doing things that have meaning for us breeds passion. And the more passionate we are, the more productive we are in creating the outcomes that are meaningful to us. Aka. Walter Bellin.
If you are keen to connect deeply to your inner presence, to dump a whole lot of junk from your subconscious, and to start discovering your existential purpose, then we invite you to gift yourself three days of ME TIME at our Here & Now Retreat in three weeks time (bonus: you’ll also get to spend time with Walter)! 😌
