EjS:

Wolfgang Bernard's courage and willingness to go beyond NLP and to use what he learned to solve his own existential dilemma is inspirational and extraordinarily, spontaneously communicative. His unique expression of advaita is a breath of fresh air. When I came to Wolfgang I was wrapped raggedly in non-dual concepts and ideas (the emperor’s new clothes) that quite literally hid the mystery from me. After a short time working with "wb" I stood at the precipice of the naked truth. Wolfgang pushed me into the abyss in a way that made me feel like I had jumped myself. For this I am grateful beyond words.

 

Mary Wilson:

My journey with Wolfgang continues, but up to now, it has been short but very intensive. Since my time with Wolfgang of only a few months, I have moved from being at the bottom of an almost unassailable mountain, to seeing the mountain dissolve before my eyes. The journey has not been easy, I have not always liked what I came to see about myself, but with the gift of grace, I have been able to accept, and have grown because of it.

I have found it amazing how Wolfgang has been able to see beyond my written words, never correcting how I said something, but instead being able to see what I was trying to say, even though my words were often inadequate.

I have benefited greatly from his gentle pointing out of things until I could see them clearly for myself, which sometimes took a while. This is not a case of intellectual understanding but of a knowing with my whole being. This came about through his help and guidance.

I don’t know where I’m going but I no longer need to know. The windows of the train in which I am travelling have been cleaned sufficiently for me to see where they are still dirty. Only the seeing clearly where I am at this moment is of importance to me now.

I first found Wolfgang on the internet in May 1998. I was looking for information on NLP, when I found his website and the first half of his book which had just been translated into English. His words drew me immediately and I made contact with him. I wanted to know how I could be a part of his workshops. However, having just gone through a divorce, having no money and not speaking French, this was simply not an option at the time. I remember writing that if it was meant to be, I would join his workshop sometime in the future.

During this time of correspondence I was doing a short course in counselling. I was the subject in an exercise and was recounting a mildly upsetting experience that happened to me when I was five. I can’t remember exactly how it happened but while I was re-telling the situation, I was asked how I was feeling. I tried to get in touch with my emotions and suddenly I was overpowered with a feeling of desolation, I started to sob and found it difficult to voice what I was feeling but I described it as being nothing, being of no value. It was a terrible feeling. Later Wolfgang would tell me that this was an encounter with my ‘original belief’.

From that time I started trying to understand myself, my emotions, my actions. I read numerous books starting with ‘New Age’ type concepts and moving to spiritual. I had long since become disillusioned with formalized religions and when I found J Krishnamurti, his style of doing it for oneself appealed to me enormously. However I did find a lot of difficulty in understanding exactly what he was saying Then I found UG Krishnamurti and after reading his experiences, much fell into place. Then I found “I Am That” by Nisargadatta. This was bought and read from cover to cover with a great deal of excitement. But it became clear that I needed a teacher. I started to search for a physical teacher using the internet and again I found Wolfgang and I immediately felt he was the teacher for me but on contacting him in 2003, I found he wasn’t teaching at that time. His advice was to seek a living teacher and to follow his methods.

The internet search started again but it seemed that everyone who appeared to have substance was either dead, retired or not teaching. I read avidly what they had to say. I tried to sort the wheat from the chaff but there seemed to be very little wheat around. Some people in America or Europe seemed very knowledgeable but there was no-one I was drawn towards. When I did attend satsangs I always found them very disappointing. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for but I did know that this wasn’t it. I gave up on finding a teacher, perhaps I wasn’t ready. I was still reading and came across a book called ‘Trances People Live’ by Stephen Wolinsky. It touched home. I realized that this was what I did all the time, live in various trances. From this I bought ‘You Are Not’. Yes, yes, and yes. It was all clear, there was no point in reading anything else this said it all. Then a few weeks later (November 2004), I got an email from Wolfgang saying he had a new web page.

I contacted him immediately and he took me on as an email student. I was ecstatic. I knew I could go no further without a teacher. Reading only gave me an intellectual understanding which was not enough. I couldn’t break out of the egg without some help from the outside. And most importantly I felt a connection with Wolfgang. I felt an integrity from him that resounded within me. He is the living teacher he told me to find. I knew instinctively that I could trust him totally, and that he would not guide me wrong. My instincts were proved correct almost immediately. The initial wait had to be, when I was ready, my teacher appeared.

 

Jeff Wises:

One day, when I was 19 years old, seemingly out of the blue, I had a breakthrough experience that changed my life forever. In one instant I was free. It was as if every moment of my whole life prior to that moment was orchestrated to lead to that moment of epiphany. After a while, the experience faded and the freedom, which I had no way of describing, was gone. Prior to that point I never read more than the back cover of a book. After the experience I was so desperate to find out what had happened that I read more than one book per week (self-development, self-esteem, meditation, psychology, philosophy, metaphysics, etc.)

In my search, the closest thing I found to what I had lived was in the Zen writings. Since I didn't want to live a monastic life I thought all was lost. It was as if I was waiting to begin my life once I became 'enlightened.' I thought that until that magical experience returned I was lost.

However, life kept going whether I was 'enlightened' or not. The bills had to get paid. It made sense to try to be happy while I was in my 'unenlightened' phase of life. After some time, the nagging drive to seek this 'enlightenment' thing was too much to avoid. One night in 1998 I discovered Wolfgang's website. I felt that this guy could somehow help me.

We began an e-mail correspondence that helped me eventually clean out all my notions about inner work, so called "enlightenment," and basically the notion of "the meaning of life."

We exchanged e-mails regularly, I think he felt how intense my desire for this kind of knowlege was. I remember coming home from work, and racing to check my inbox to see what would come next. At first I had a terrible time trying getting a handle on what he was getting at. It seemed to make no sense, yet there was a kind of solidity to the words he wrote. It was as if on one hand, there was a recognition of the truth of what he was saying, but on the other hand I couldn't see what it was that I was recognizing. It was a strange predicament that I was committed to seeing through till the end.

This went on for several years. During that time I learned some important tools for managing my mind and allowing things to happen of their own accord. We did this through questions and answers, assignments and feedback, and descriptions of my experiences with feedback. What I eventually found out was that it was my beliefs about myself, others and life that was clogging my perception of the purity of this very moment.

I continue to live the spirit of our dialogues everyday. So it can be said that his teaching became part of me. For the person who practices inner work, it is a very personal and tender opening up towards life. I'm grateful that I had a guide that was competent, respectful, and cared for my well being.



Ron Pelton:

My search for personal liberation started 30 years ago without me actually realizing it. You see I thought that I was interested in psychology, philosophy and religion. So I started to read everything I could get my hands on. Gurdjieff, Perls, Watts, Zen, Rajneesh, Sufism; you name it and I read and studied it.

Over the years, this became "my hobby", the reading, buying books, accumulating more and more knowledge, always "searching" for the answer. I was constantly shifting from one teaching to another, one tradition to another, or one modality to another. And then one day, I realized that what I was really searching for was Me. Who am I? Why am I here? What is my (and our collective) purpose?

Then about 3 or 4 years ago, I re-acquainted myself with the teachings of Advaita, Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj, and Stephen Wolinksy. So once again, I started reading and studying, devouring everything Advaita, in hopes of uncovering my true self, experiencing my liberation. Collectively these teachers, and their teachings provided the path that "felt" right, that "rang true" for me.

And through them (specifically Wolinsky), I found Wolfgang Bernard whom I e-mailed. After reading his book NLP & Beyond, I felt that this individual might be able to help me in my "quest" and I asked him if he would be able to somehow teach me via the internet. This was quite out of character for me, since I had never previously pursued a teacher/student relationship, preferring the "solitary" path.

Wolfgang was open to the idea, suggesting that we start up an e-mail dialogue and see where it took us.  This e-mail exchange has been ongoing now for 3 months and I find myself looking forward to each and every e-mail. Sometimes he asks questions, speaking directly to and from the heart; sometimes there are instructions (often similar in structure to the pointing-out instructions from the Dzogchen tradition) destined to awaken awareness. And there are the aha's, those moments when I think or feel that "I" get "it."

I look forward each day to whatever may unfold, but I hope that it continues to bring this teacher/student relationship with WB, at least until I wake up to what already is.