Have you ever felt a deep yearning to understand the true nature of existence? In this blog post, we’ll explore the fascinating story of Andrew Shykofsky, a seeker who embarked on a lifelong quest for spiritual truth.
This journey led Andrew to the teachings of Christian Mysticism, where he discovered a community and path that resonated deeply. We’ll delve into the transformative power of initiations and how they impacted his approach to meditation and teaching.
What led you to dedicate yourself fully to the Mystery School teachings in Oakland, and how did they resonate with your spiritual journey?
Throughout my life I have had an insatiable hunger to discover the highest truth about consciousness and human existence. As the years passed and I found knowledge and experiences through various spiritual modalities, the journey became more isolating. Very few people seemed to hunger for the truth the way I did.
When I found the Center of Light in Oakland, I was really excited as the Teachers there talked about consciousness at a level that really met my desire. Although it was a path of Christian Mysticism and I was not a Christian, what was taught felt so profound that I became hooked. All of a sudden, my life of seeking was becoming a life of finding!
The community of people involved felt very familiar and akin to me. I loved the people in the Center and quickly dedicated my life to learning everything they could teach me.
The resonance for me was all about the highest truth. The school taught that Christ Consciousness was the highest consciousness a human could obtain. It made sense so I settled in and started the work and study required.
How did your experiences with spiritual initiations like ‘Illumination’ and ‘Self Realization’ transform your approach to meditation and teaching?
This is a very personal question. I was presented a Mystical Path whereby diligent work and ongoing humility as a student would lead to receiving these initiations, thereby raising my consciousness. Following the initiations, I noticed a gradual settling into a higher awareness. In my subsequent meditations I was able to make easier observations, see aspects of myself that had been troubling with greater clarity and also begin to teach others in ways that were easier for them to hear and receive. Limiting concepts dissolved and the line to the truth was more direct, more apparent.
As an example, I was a victim of childhood sexual abuse. For much of my life, I felt scarred by these early traumas. As a result, I tended to see the world through a filter of suspicion, always a little weary of the true motivations of others. This was understandable because I had been manipulated and used sexually by people of authority.
As I grew on the path and was initiated, the fear and anger stored in my consciousness lifted and I was able to recognize much more accurately when in fact someone had a hypocritical intention or was actually sincere. To be clear, I did not all of a sudden trust everyone. That would’ve been foolish. However with my own past healed, I could much better sense who was sincere and who wasn’t. My own trauma was no longer clouding my sight and leading me to be vigilant for no reason.
What inspired you to combine yoga and meditation in your Meditate centers in Chicago and Charleston?
I wish the answer here was a spiritual one! LOL This was purely a business decision. I felt yoga would draw enough people to pay the bills more reliably.
There were no other meditation centers in Chicago, at least none that were free of religious/spiritual affiliations like Buddhist or Daoism. Nothing wrong with those doctrines but I felt offering something more independent would appeal to individuals with a curiosity towards meditation but who didn’t necessarily need or want any religious involvement.
I was surprised to find that the yoga aspect of the business struggled to bring people in while the meditation courses really flourished. After some time of trying different marketing approaches, I realized that first off, in Chicago there were a lot of quality studios offering yoga. The market was well covered, and in fact done better than I could do it. Successful yoga businesses were mostly about really good teachers and a lot of class times each week. To be frank, I could not afford to compete.
Once I grasped this, I really focused on building accessible meditation courses catering to the ‘average person’ who had a lot of anxiety and trouble focusing. It was very rewarding to create an accessible path for people to meditate and not cloud their progress with unwanted spiritual doctrines. At the same time, I also offered more spiritual teachings for the few who wanted that but I did so in a low key way, never alienating the people who had no draw towards spirituality.
When I relocated to Charleston, SC, I decided to proceed without yoga and just focused on meditation offerings.
Can you share a memorable experience from your volunteer work in prisons or assisted living facilities and its impact on your spiritual path?
I believe everyone has certain soft spots in their hearts, and for me, it was for prisoners. I feel it has to do with the idea that prisoners have limited freedom and living in any sort of confinement be it physical, mental or emotional distresses me.
Now to be clear, I have always felt that taking responsibility for one’s actions that led to negative consequences (like being sent to prison) is the cornerstone of right living. I did not feel sorry for prisoners who were locked up for committing crimes but rather felt empathy for their restricted freedom. It motivated me greatly to want to teach them how to adjust their attitudes to function in society in a productive way.
People who commit crimes tend to have obscured views of reality and a tendency to make really bad decisions when emotional. This is certainly true of most lower level offenders that I worked with. It’s another story for the hardcore violent criminals and I can’t offer an opinion of what drives these individuals. My work was generally with people up for release within 12 – 24 months so our programs set out to teach them life skills to reduce the probability of them getting sent back to prison.
As far as memorable experiences, one fellow comes to mind, Jose who was incarcerated in Stateville Correctional Facility about an hour drive from Chicago. Jose attended my classes and against his own better judgment found himself drawn by the mystical teachings. He was Catholic and that denomination tends to view mystical experiences as forays into the occult. Still, he approached me after class and asked if I could teach him meditation. On my next visit, I provided him with the written manual for my Level 1 Course.
As the weeks passed and he diligently applied himself, he shared his progress. He wrote me letters as it was not possible to communicate any other way if I was not assigned that prison for several weeks. He said it was nearly impossible to find 20 minutes of quiet in the prison but had to get up basically in the middle of the night to find it! I was really impressed by his dedication.
He was able to reign in his anger, manage his behavior and within a few months of meditating, got accepted into an early release work program. This was a huge breakthrough for him and increased his motivation as he was transferred to a more civilized facility and allowed out to work each day.
Eventually he got out and we met one day at Starbucks to have a reunion of sorts. He was incredibly grateful that I offered him the help and the continual communication I did. His life was far from perfect but he was out of prison and on track to stay out. This meant the world to me.
The impact working with Jose (and similar with other prisoners) was simply the validation that being useful to others was extremely meaningful. The spiritual path does offer expansion of consciousness but also relegates that we are to serve others with the gifts we acquire by our diligent efforts.
How has your meditation teaching evolved since creating your online courses and opening the Charleston center?
In time, I did drift from the pure Christian Mystical affiliation. I feel being a part of those teachings really worked for me for a long time. I was ordained a Master Teacher in 2018 which felt like a huge gift! However by 2021, my heart was leading me in different directions.
COVID unfortunately put an end to the Charleston Meditation Center as we all will recall, when it hit, people stopped going out. I had to surrender my business location. I had been working on a comprehensive online course for beginner and intermediate students. I got that up and running and have gotten excellent feedback on that course. That course can be found here; https://www.meditatecenter.com/online-meditation-course/
My personal focus is now about living as the best human I can be. I’m very grateful for how the journey unfolded for me and have settled into a way a being that is extremely accepting of the struggles and hardships of life on Earth. I find joy and connection where I can with friends and try to navigate aging by staying fit and healthy. But hey, we all know that life can be very difficult. I don’t sugar coat that in the least. I teach meditation privately when someone reaches out and has interest. And I quietly make my living as a real estate investor. That like everything has its risks, difficulties and rewards!
