simple freedom: a free 3-week retreat 🍃❤️🔥
for those on the path of liberation, wholeness, inner rest, heart-opening, & the alleviation of suffering
dear family,
i am happy to share that i will be gifting the world a free 3-week online retreat called simple freedom starting on january 22nd
you can join now by hopping into the simple freedom telegram community, where all official communications for the retreat will take place:
🍃 the central theme of this retreat
this retreat is rooted in a simple message that can speak to both spiritual and secular people:
there is a simple freedom available now:
the freedom to be exactly as you are
the freedom to let life be precisely as it is
the freedom to blossom as you naturally blossom
the freedom to rest as mysterious ever-dancing wholeness without a need for fixed beliefs or final conclusions
in a profound sense your life already is this simple freedom
🥕 this retreat aims to undercut all ‘carrots on sticks’ & fantasies of a future spiritual destination
though i find words like ‘awakening’ and ‘enlightenment’ to be beautiful, i have also come to see them as often substantially misleading
one of the most liberating discoveries on my path—and one that is central to the inspiration for this retreat—has been the recognition that words like ‘awakening’ and ‘enlightenment’ point to nothing other than your present experience, just as it is
when wisely dispensed, the words ‘awakening’ and ‘enlightenment’ simply point to immediate all-inclusive reality itself — fully inclusive of all its modes and expressions, including those that are painful or messy or supposedly ‘non-spiritual’
of course, some people may use the words ‘awakening’ and ‘enlightenment’ in other ways — but the teachings i have found most heart-resonant & liberating simply repeatedly point back to right now, as it is
‘awakening’ and ‘enlightenment’ often unfortunately become spiritual ‘carrots-on-sticks’ — mythical prizes on an ever-receding horizon that play upon our feelings of shame and not-enough-ness, luring us into a never-ending hamster wheel of ‘spiritual self-improvement,’ in hopes that we might someday be ‘enough’ and discover ‘final liberation’
a key purpose of the simple freedom retreat will be to undercut this misleading conception — and to invite a direct feeling & noticing that NOW is already the miraculous fullness of the entire universe dancing itself forth as exquisite beauty, intimacy, lusciousness, completeness, & heartcracking relational poetry
in this way of seeing, we can notice that the whole universe is already fully free to be as it is in every moment — and that you are this simple freedom, being entirely non-separate from reality
in this approach, we are invited to play with re-framing ‘awakening’ as a natural never-ending unfoldment in which already-whole reality endlessly blossoms into more of itself, exploring & drifting through an endless array of modes & perspectives & experiences, all of which are valid expressions of actuality
through this seeing, we can discover that all of life is awakening. we can see that every moment of our lives has been a new revelation — an ever-fresh immersion in new modes, angles, flavors, & ways life can be with itself
this can allow us to deeply relax into unending unfurlment
we can discover an ever-deepening sense of innate wholeness, natural rest, organic thanksgiving, wild fun, heartful devotion, naked honesty, embodied trust, spontaneous intelligence, artful aliveness, & effulgent juiciness here and now — and a freedom to simply be as we are
instead of frantically seeking a spiritual destination as if we are ‘not there yet,’ we are invited to rest as already-wholeness now and to become sensitive appreciators & participants in life’s open-ended exploration of its own subtlety, grace, fierceness, poignancy, tragicomedy, & striking radiance
releasing fixation on ‘final answers,’ we are invited to discover that life’s unpindownability is its un-cage-ability. said another way, because we have ‘no place to land’ in terms of final absolute answers, we are actually vastly more free to enjoy the spontaneous unfoldment of life’s full range of flavors & modes — and to fluidly find our natural ‘center of gravity’ moment by moment, day by day — allowing any given context to call forth the version of our honest flowing expression that plays most artfully & auspiciously with that particular context
this whole dancing exploration can be resoundingly fun, freeing, enlivening, healing, & life-affirming! — not to mention heartbreaking, humbling, & tearful
you know, like life ❤️🔥
through this inquiry we can deeply notice that NOW is already the ‘finish line’ while also fully affirming our immediate individual-relational-universal incarnation as the knife’s edge of reality’s ever-evolving & ever-surprising adventure of discovering itself as a boundless fractaling infinite-dimensional kaleidoscopic jewel — abounding with numberless ‘pearls beyond price’
though these words may sound lofty, the crucial invitation — which i’ll repeatedly return to on retreat — is to notice that your ordinary everyday life right here and now is already the astounding treasure chest which inspires me to sing such soaring praises
Hallelujah! ❤️🔥
❤️🔥 how i see my role on this retreat
here is how i see my role on this retreat:
i meet you not as a ‘guru on a pedestal’ but as an equal-eye-level friend, fellow explorer, co-adventurer, & fellow sufferer
i meet you not as one who has ‘found the answers’ but as one who has discovered a freedom in knowing nothing while being wholeheartedly intimate with all of life
with that said, i intend to steward this space with loving grace to the fullest of my capacity — and to offer reflections & principles that have been preciously valuable on my journey
unlike many ‘nondual’ communicators i fully honor our journeys of individuality, relationality, participation, & humanity
as such i see myself not so much as a proponent of ‘nonduality’ — more so as a passionately curious explorer of the all-inclusive wholeness of life — a wholeness which naturally flowers as multiplicity
i share in a way that does not ask you to take on new beliefs or ‘realize no-self’ or ‘penetrate the absolute’ or attain some exalted state
nothing is required
my suggestion is that your life as it is now, is already the miracle
this retreat is a simple invitation to explore the wondrousness together, be ourselves, and discover rest here and now
🍃 more reflections on my story
in 2010, at age 19, i experienced a profound opening to oneness that altered the course of my life
i have spent the last 14 years passionately exploring reality — with a particular emphasis on the nature of freedom, love, grace, faith, truth, peace, suffering, beauty, sacredness, creativity, realness, play, blossoming, relationality, & artful aliveness
this exploration led me to 35 countries and to many wild, sublime, unexpected, entheogenic, & life-altering spaces both ‘internally’ & ‘externally’
it led me to quit my last ‘day job’ nearly ~10 years ago to explore unorthodox modes of life, vocation, & livelihood as a writer, artist, rapper, & space-holder
it led me to the sacraments of fatherhood & marriage — and to a space of heartcracking devotion to life itself
this exploration has led me to a space of immense awe & reverence for life’s mysteries
i am often moved to use words like God or Christ to speak of the suprapersonal Heart of reality, as for me such words resonate with my ancestral-religious-traditional ‘mother tongue’ and poetically evoke the spirit of many of my most treasured heart-revelations of the nature of life
with that said, i am not dogmatic in my approach to reality-exploration. i embrace interpath & interfaith dialogue, and i enjoy exploring & integrating lenses & tools from many areas of life, ranging from global wisdom traditions to psychosomatic healing modalities to secular-scientific approaches
❤️🔥 a few logistical pieces
the retreat will primarily consist of three live ~75-minute group sessions on three consecutive Wednesdays at 12pm US Eastern Time / 6pm Central European Time
i’ll also be sharing various insights & invitations for exploration within the simple freedom telegram community — as well as an invitation to share or ask any questions that may arise
even if you’re not able to make it to the live sessions, you’re still fully invited to join, as the sessions will likely be ~almost entirely recorded, and there will be plenty of uplifting tribe vibes flowing through the telegram community
this is an experiment in overlaying a context of retreat / sanctuary / co-adventuresome sangha / funky-fresh reality-exploration / kowabunga-flow-ness atop our daily lives as householders and ‘people in the world during a wild age of transition’
i’ll be sharing invitations for ways you can bring this exploration into your daily life — with the beauty being that you can literally explore reality or playfully practice ‘yoga’ (union) in any moment of life, no matter what is happening, if you feel inspired to do so
though you are encouraged to attend the live sessions and engage with the retreat, there are no requirements for how fully you choose to participate — it’s entirely up to you
please note as well that this retreat simultaneously serves as a self-contained gift and as a kind of prototyping of a potential longer-term journey into this exploration. after the retreat, i will most likely be offering an open invitation for you to continue the journey if you feel called to do so, on a sliding scale that meets you where you are — with no pressure whatsoever to continue
once more, you’re welcome to join the retreat by hopping into the simple freedom telegram community if you feel called to do so:
i recommend either turning on telegram notifications during the retreat (and exiting all ~spammy telegram channels) or being sure to check telegram every day or two for new instructions, shares, invitations, & updates
🍃 thank you for reading & for being you
you are beautiful as you are
i’m excited to share this retreat experience with those of you who feel called
feels kinda like a group of friends meeting up in the transdimensional treehouse for a 3-week slumber party where we get to compare notes on life and relax more fully into being the open-ended flowering of us-ness : )
i get a really auspicious feeling about it and believe it’s gonna be a lot of fun!
i am honored to be able to give this gift and to share my love for our miraculous, mysterious life-home
i pray this will be a freeing, chuckle-worthy, heartwarming experience for all of us
thank you, God
thank you, Jesus Christ
thank you, Peter Brown
thank you, Kumankaya
thank you, Life
i celebrate You!
Hallelujah!
Amen.
Heart Love,
Jordan ❤️🔥
p.s. if you feel inspired to make a donation in relation to this retreat or to support my art/work/play generally, you can became a paying supporter here on substack:
or make a one-time donation here:
jordan bates is a dad, husband, friend, author of 5 books, rapper, space-holder, and passionate explorer of what is. you can read kind words people have shared about his work here
a recent video on jb’s youtube channel that expands on some of the themes we’ll be exploring within the retreat:
a music vid jb made a few years ago expressing the astounding majesty of nature: