Margot Lynn Gedert kindly chats to MysticMag about her life purpose – to help others find wholeness and peace. Margot is a Clinical Hypnotherapist and is a Mentor at the Leela School of Awakening. She also works with intuitive art at the Firewood Art Studio.
Do you believe fear to be a driving force in most people’s lives, whether subconscious or not?
Yes, it does feel like fear is a driving force or the driving force in most people’s lives. As we take human form there seems to be an inherent fear of dying, of annihilation, and with that a drive to survive. This fear can serve well as we seek safety and connection, food and shelter. This level of fear drives the fight/flight/freeze reactions – really useful as we strive to keep this human form alive.
At the core is the profound vulnerability of being human – your form will die, my form will die, all form will disappear. This fear may be very palpable to some, right on the surface, and it may feel very uncomfortable. For some the fear may be buried beneath self-hatred or anger, or it may be buried under a counter-phobic drive to block out the uncomfortable feelings.
But for some, there is a call to meet this fear, to stop trying to make it go away by controlling, fighting, numbing, running away or even seducing. Instead there is a call to turn towards what we have been running from. There is an opportunity for awareness to fall in to discover the qualities of sensation that we call “fear”, to open and allow these sensations to be just as they are. The labels and stories can fall away, and waves of energy can have space to flow, and something new can be discovered.
Can you put into words your place of peace and silence within, that which was once found and has never left?
When I first met my teacher Gangaji, she said to me, “What you are looking for is what you already are.” Until that point I had been looking for the Truth of who I am outside of myself – seeking, realizing, doubting, reseeking. Her words were permission to stop – stop all movement away and fall into what is here right now.
In this, her words proved to be true – the wholeness, the love that I was searching for outside revealed itself in a moment of still presence as what I am. For years this was an experience that felt like it came and went, bliss in one moment, then agony as I felt I lost something, and striving to get it back.
By pure grace, one evening as I was eating in a restaurant, I got up to leave and all form disappeared. There were no tables or chairs, no other patrons, no restaurant, no me. There was nothing but pure silent light. A moment later form reappeared, but now the experience was pure silent light shining through all form. This moment changed everything about this life – the fear of surviving disappeared, a separate me and you could never be believed in the same way again. There is nothing to get, no one to be.
Life is still full of challenging circumstances, busy mind, uncomfortable sensations and emotions, but they all come and go. When they are met just as they are without fixing or avoiding, what doesn’t come and go – pure silent light – reveals itself.
Helping us to discover the truth of who we are is your soul purpose? How do you go about this
seemingly monumental task?
This is how I support others, by inviting you to stop and fall into what is here right now. To feel the ground beneath your feet in this moment. To rest and allow awareness to open and fall deeper than thoughts and stories you tell yourself, open and fall deeper than the intense waves of emotion, open and fall deeper even than the sensations of the body to discover what is quiet and untouched right now. And right now. Always right now. As experience is met and not resisted, it may reveal itself as something completely fresh and unknown.
Sometimes the nervous system may be highly reactive due to trauma & it is possible to support the nervous system to settle so that this inquiry can naturally unfold.
Is our ultimate goal to have a compassionate heart towards ourselves, so we can go forth and
embrace others with a compassionate heart?
I can’t say what our ultimate goal is, but I can say for myself that as this capacity to be fully present with whatever is showing up in me grows, there is a natural compassion that arises. In the Leela School of Awakening we call this being a True Friend to ourselves – meeting ourselves with a quiet mind, an open heart and not taking anything personally. As our capacity to be fully present, fully embodied in this moment grows, we can meet the world as a True Friend, full of compassion, no judgement, no agenda. Resting as the open heart.
Which aspects of your life journey do you feel would resonate most with our readers?
I am just a regular person with a desire to stop suffering – to stop my own suffering and the suffering of others. For most of my adult life I have worked as a school teacher in underserved communities. I currently work as a Health educator in a school that serves Native American children. I feel blessed to support young people to meet themselves with compassion and to discover the pure silent light that is untouched by all circumstances.
What can you tell us about The Leela School of Spiritual Awakening?
The Leela School of Awakening was founded by Eli Jaxon-Bear, the partner of my teacher Gangaji. The mission of the school is to serve world peace and freedom through universal self-realization. All of the teachings of the school support our capacity to be a True Friend to ourselves and a True Friend to the world.
The school is trauma-informed, resiliency focused and supports people on all levels of need – symptom removal, ego strengthening as well as ego transcendence. I serve as a Mentor with the school, and I am in love with supporting people to discover what they truly want, why they have taken form, what this life is for. In the school there is an abundance of support from a whole community of True Friends all over the world. It is beautiful to see how one person lights up in their capacity to be a True Friend to themselves, and this naturally passes on to others.
If you would like to find out more about Margot Lynn Gedert, visit www.margotlynngedert.com and the Leela School of Awakening, visit www.leela.org or www.leelaschool.org. Margot also works with intuitive art : https://www.firewoodartstudio.com/
