Rick Pursell was born in the UK where he lived in the countryside
spending his free time wandering with his dog in the woods
along flower filled canal paths, feeding spring lambs, driving
tractors and playing in hay barns. In 1957 his family migrated
to Perth, Australia. Rick eagerly embraced the Aussie lifestyle:
surfing at Margaret River and engaging in all the outdoor
activities that go along with nine months of great weather.
Rick and his wife Lita currently run a spiritual retreat in
Payangan in the mountains of Bali.
Have you traveled much in your life?
I’ve been fortunate to have been able to travel to over
30 countries around the world where I’ve worked on many
interesting projects. In 1989, I moved from Australia to Asia
to work as a Health, Safety and Environmental specialist.
I stayed on to explore Cambodia, Burma, Vietnam and India.
My last trip was to Africa in 2005 where my wife and I were
stationed in Ghana for over a year. We helped the country
celebrate their extraordinary wins during the World Cup by
rubbing shoulders with our African brothers and sisters as
the entire nation erupted in ecstatic happiness!
What do you do now?
I would describe myself as a spiritual activist. I have a
passion and drive to see the human race evolve beyond the
destructive impulses emanating from the ego-mind into the
conscious, caring and compassionate nature that resides within
us all.
How did you get started on this path?
I was given my first taste of mortality in England when my
exploits as a pseudo “coyboy” came to an abrupt
halt one day on the back of an aggravated old horse who dived
under a low branch, knocked me out and left me writhing on
the ground in agony and gasping for air. Several other profound
events shaped my life and put my feet firmly on the path of
conscious evolution. The first occurred in 1969 during the
Vietnam War and the second alongside the mighty Ganges River
as a student of my enlightened master, Swami Kaivalianda.
What was it about these events that changed you?
I found myself engaged in a crazy war in Southeast Asia, complete
with all the atrocities of man’s inhumanity to man -
complete anathema to my core values. But it was in Vietnam
where I was introduced to Buddhism, which was to play an important
role in my life. Secondly, I was invited to Rishikesh in India
to become a student of Swami Kaivalianda, who rubbed my nose
into the depredations of the ego-mind and showed me my Authentic
Self.
How does that relate to what you are doing now in Bali?
I have chosen to dedicate the remainder of my life to sharing
the incredible gift passed on to me by Swami. We recently
opened a Centre for Self Awareness in Bali for just that purpose.
What will you teach at the centre?
Our primary purpose is to guide seekers towards their Authentic
Self, that consciousness which lies beyond the ego-mind, to
discover our inherent true nature which reveals itself though
love, compassion, and connectedness to All That Is. And that
is just the beginning.
Is enlightenment the end goal?
Sadly, many seekers are under the popular misconception that
the enlightened state is the end of the road, the elusive
Nirvana, and that having achieved this their lives will be
in a permanent state of bliss. Admittedly, one’s life
will change dramatically, be more stable and balanced, but
we are in a constant state of flux. We are awakening as a
species and we are at the leading edge of an evolving consciousness.
Who in your life has been your greatest influence and inspiration?
Wow! There have been so many for which I am most grateful.
Certainly the teachings of the Buddha and Swami have had a
profound influence on my life. Mahatma Gandhi with his non-violence
approach was another. More recently, the extraordinary body
of ground-breaking work by Andrew Cohen (Evolutionary Enlightenment)
and Ken Wilber (Integral Theory) have had a big effect on
me.
If you had any advice to pass on, what would it be?
Find and follow your passion. It is this yearning that will
lead you to what you want to be, do and have. Trust your intuition,
be guided by your heart and think positively.
To learn more about Rick’s work,
visit: www.spirituality-bali.com and www.heaveninbali.com
or email him at: spiritualitybali@gmail.com
For anyone interested in being considered for Siapa, please
contact : <pakbill2003@yahoo.com>
Copyright@2007 Al Hickey
You can read all past articles of Siapa
at www.BaliAdvertiser.biz
