Transformation, Authentic Power, Spiritual Partnerships and Joy: An interview with Gary Zukav and Linda Francis by Alissa Lukara

I recently sat down with Gary Zukav and Linda Francis, two renowned authors and wisdom teachers and listened as they shared with me their deep awareness and insights on transformation, authentic power, spiritual partnerships and joy versus happiness.  Zukav is the author of four consecutive New York Times bestsellers, probably the best known of which is The Seat of the Soul (Simon & Schuster, 1989) which emphasizes the alignment of the personality and the soul as the being the fulfillment of life. The book captured the imagination of millions, becoming the #1 New York Times bestseller thirty-one times and remained on the list almost three years. He is also appeared regularly on The Oprah Winfrey Show for 2 ½ years.  

Linda Francis meet Gary Zukav in 1993, and they created a spiritual partnership which is in its thirteenth year. During that time, she has co-authored with Gary two New York Times bestsellers: The Heart of the Soul: Emotional Awareness (Simon & Schuster, 2002) and The Mind of the Soul: Responsible Choice (The Free Press, 2003). She also co-founded the Seat of the Soul Institute, dedicated to assisting individuals in the alightment of the personality with the soul – the creation of authentic power. She has been in the healing profession for three decades, and at present, is involved fully in co-creating curricula and events with Gary.

Transformation

Alissa: Gary, I’ve heard you say that our world is currently in the midst of a major transformation. Would you describe some characteristics of this change?

Gary: A new species is being born inside each one of us—one that is more aware than the old species. This is happening as we begin to realize that we are more than we thought we were—that we’re more than the five senses can detect. We are coming to understand that we have eternal non-physical components which are really our soul. Whether people think of themselves as souls or not, they are realizing that their life has a meaning, and that the experiences they encounter are not random, but meaningful. In other words, there is an identifiable reason for their being.

Alissa: How is this transformation taking place?

Gary: All of our old ways of interacting and our social structures which are based upon the limited perceptions of the five senses—the perceptions of power as the ability to manipulate and control—are becoming less and less effective. Indeed some of them have already become, or are becoming, dysfunctional. So everyone knows that there is a big change in motion. We’re all expanding our perceptual abilities and participating in the emergence of a new species. Another way to say this is that we’re becoming highly intuitive. This is profoundly positive. For the first time, human evolution is becoming conscious.

 

Linda: But it’s not happening automatically. It requires emotional awareness and responsible choice. We all are co-creators and have to use our will.

 

Alissa: How do we go about doing this?

Gary: By seeking authentic power, rather than continuing to rely on external power which tries to dominate our world. Indeed, going after external power is the reason there is so much suffering and brutality in the world.

Authentic Power

Alissa: What is authentic power?

Gary: An authentically empowered person has four characteristics: Humbleness, Clarity, Forgiveness and Love. Authentic power aligns our personality with our soul. The more we experience authentic power, the more we will experience the universe as compassionate, wise and loving—supporting  and assisting each individual in every way in his or her spiritual growth in every moment. But you have to create authentic power. You can’t meditate, pray it or wish it into existence.

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Linda: You create it with your choices and you make choices that stretch you. What’s more you assume responsibility for the results of your choices rather than blaming others. This is not easy to do. It’s an ongoing evolutionary process. We make choices every day, almost moment by moment.

 

Gary: Authentic power also leads us to an expanding encounter with nonphysical reality, from which we come and to which we will return. That’s our home. As we become more aware, we see beyond our five senses and realize that we are more than our bodies and our minds. We also come into contact with non-physical intelligence, non-physical wisdom and non-nonphysical compassion.  Said in another way, it is an intelligence, wisdom and compassion that is real and not physical. These are our guides and teachers. In ancient Greece, they called these the muses. But we can speak of them in more accurate vocabulary now. Finally, we realize that we are not alone.

Spiritual Partnership 

Alissa: How does authentic power apply in relationships?

Linda: You’ll often hear the words “power struggle” when people talk about relationships. But the power that they are referring to is external power—the need to control the other person—rather than authentic power. The focus in relationships is not just on how do I create authentic power, but how do I actually create a relationship where the other person is also interested in creating authentic power. People are longing for this. They are longing for real relationships of integrity and honesty, where instead of looking outside of oneself for a savior and blaming someone else for why life is the way it is, they create what I would call a spiritual partnership. A spiritual partnership doesn’t mean a couples relationship necessarily, although Gary and I are in one. In a spiritual partnership, each person is committed to his or her own growth.

 

Gary: Each partner is healing the frightened parts of his or her personality by looking within their own self to find the sources for their pain, jealousy, and resentment. They want to change their painful experiences rather than change the other person. Together, they participate in the process of co-creativity (cooperating with each other.)

Joy Versus Happiness  

Alissa: You both make a big distinction between joy and happiness. Could you describe what it is?

Gary: Happiness happens when you get what you want. But if you lose what you want, you’re in pain. That’s not joy. Joy is recognizing that the universe really is wise and compassionate and that there really is purpose in your life and in the lives of all others. Joy is ignited inside of you. It’s not dependent on what occurs outside of you. Happiness is. Your joy shows you the loving parts of your personality and your pain, when you have the courage to experience it rather than exploding in anger or withdrawing emotionally or smoking or eating or watching TV or going shopping again, or engaging in any of the obsessive, compulsive, addictive behaviors that all of us are familiar with.

 

Linda: The frightened parts of us can come up in the blink of an eye. And we must challenge them as quickly as we can or we’ll take their perspective and feel like a victim. The strength of our commitment to spiritual growth is tested time and time again

 

Gary: This is where emotional awareness and responsible choice enter the picture. When the frightened parts do come up, you can experience their pain, recognize them, and still not be controlled by them.

 

Linda: Doing all this in a spiritual relationship has enabled Gary and me to create things in ways that I could have never imagined. In other words, I have creativity and Gary has creativity. But together we create something different that may be able to support people in a different way.

 

Gary: Hopefully, a lot more people can be supported in their own growth because we work together in our own spiritual partnership and invite others to do the same.

 

For more information about Gary and Linda’s books, programs, products, online courses and resources, go to www.seatofthesoul.org

 

Alissa Lukara is the author of the memoir Riding Grace: A Triumph of the Soul (Silver Light Publications, February 2007) and president and founder of this nonprofit website, Lifechallenges.org, which provides individuals in 97 countries worldwide with the self help tools they need to cope with and transcend adversity. Riding Grace chronicles Alissa's 12 year quest through the dark night of adult chronic fatigue syndrome and childhood sexual abuse to accept the unacceptable and find wholeness and healing. She offers inspiring workshops and presentations to groups, drawing on her personal healing experiences and the larger perspective she gained from them and empowering people to use challenges to transform their lives. Lukara’s work has appeared in numerous publications including Conscious Women, Conscious Lives, the secret of salt: an indigenous journal, and Ashland Magazine.  She can been seen hosting the Southern Oregon community television program, “Transcending Life Challenges.”  A Reiki Master, Lukara is currently studying to be a family constellation practitioner which is based on the work of psychotherapist Bert Hellinger. She now makes her home in Southern Oregon with her family. You can write to Alissa at info@lifechallenges.org  For information: www.ridinggrace.com.

 

 

 

 

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