I have just returned from a presentation at the Semperviva yoga studio in Kitsalano, Vancouver, the speaker being Alan Clements. Now at the time of receiving the email notifying me of this presentation, I had no idea who Alan Clements was, but on brief inspection of his bio knew that I should attend.
I knew very little of ‘dharma’ and definitely nothing in regards to Clements’ writings. I was completely open and had no pre-conceptions. On arrival, the vibe was good, simple pleasantries exchanged, a donation made and the talk began.
Clements was a very interesting character and had many real stories that in no way glorified spirituality or placed spirituality as something to be achieved. He was focused on freedom. I don’t believe he was talking about freedom from moralistic restraints, but freedom from self set goals, set solely in an attempt to become someone you think you need to be. He continued to talk about how we all have our very own unique fingerprint, no two prints being the same.  This highlights our uniqueness and Clements communicated this very well in his stories.

The message I received; was to do what is right for you and to be wary of conforming to something simply because you are told it’s ‘what you should do’ or what society implies that you should do.  He expressed that for a person to be so sure of an answer; scared him and those that ask questions are better received.  Some people go blindly through life, conforming to society and holding their true selves back, without even realising. We are all guilty of this.
He spoke about Aung San Suu Kyi and expressed through personal life stories, that we all need the courage to speak up and openly about world issues, encouraging others to do what they truly feel is right for themselves.

In closing I would urge you to realise your own truth and to be true to yourself.  You know who you are and if you don’t, then you need to slow down and figure it out.  Don’t conform to this or that, or try to fit yourself into a pigeon-hole or category, just be you and be true.

You can check out Alan Clements work and bio at the site below.

http://www.worlddharma.com/
Please leave any comments below – I am genuinely interested to encourage a discussion about this.

Alan