USA - Michael Lightweaver

What is your vision of a world that works for everyone?
It begins with everyone having the basic necessities of life: adequate food, shelter, clothing, security, personal freedom, opportunity and love. I consider these to be basic human rights that we all deserve, no matter who we are or where we live. This must become an unquestionable baseline from which we operate.

What do you see as the most pressing problems facing the world today?
Our relationship with one another and our relationship with the Earth. Currently we are a highly predatory species. While we are no longer cannibals, we still have a cannibal consciousness. We devour & destroy one another, other species and the Earth in order to meet our own selfish needs or desires. Our current path is one of self-destruction unless we change course.

How do you feel these problems could best be solved?
Ultimately we must change our consciousness. We must come to see the interrelatedness of all things and develop a holistic perspective to understand that all of our decisions and actions - even our thoughts - have consequences, both immediate and long term. When we become fully conscious of the consequences of our individual and collective thoughts, decisions and actions, we will be paving the road to a new day on planet Earth.

Profile:
Although I am the director of the Institute, I will always be a student, endeavoring to gain a deeper understanding of human consciousness and the nature of reality.

From the earliest times as a child, growing up in a small town in Kentucky, USA, I remember that I saw the world very differently than my family and friends. From the beginning I had a global perspective that was not limited by the national, religious or ethnic boundaries that others had created to define themselves and deny their Oneness. This made me different and even "strange" to small town thinking. It wasn't until college that I discovered others who shared my worldview, and it wasn't until much later that I also came to see how my thoughts and attitude created my reality. Along the way, I came to realize that these understandings were as ancient as they were profound.

I have a passion for sharing with others the ideas that have had such a profound affect on my own life. These ideas were survival tools for me when I had reached a very critical point much earlier in life. They became stepping stones that have brought me to where I am today and the sense of fulfillment and appreciation that I experience on a daily basis.

Having raised a large family, with whom I am still very close, I now live in the mountains, adjacent to the national forest near Asheville, North Carolina, USA. Here I operate a small retreat center called Mountain Light Sanctuary (www.mtnlightsanctuary.com) which offers guests an opportunity to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and reconnect with the sustaining power of nature.

I lead a simple life that is close to nature. In the winter I heat with wood from the forest, our my water comes from a spring on the mountainside. I don’t have a TV and cell phones don't work here. And, yet, with the internet, I am in daily contact with friends and students from all over the world.

It is a continual joy to share the Sanctuary & my deep love for nature with visiting guests and my passion for personal empowerment & planetary transformation with the students of the Institute.

Click Here to read Michael's Book Assessments

Books Completed:

As A Man Thinketh
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Awaken The Giant Within
The Magic Of Thinking Big
Change Your Mind, Change Your Life
Pulling Your Own Strings
Psycho-Cybernetics 2000
Your Sacred Self
Success Through Positive Mental Attitude
The Law Of Attraction
Goal Setting 101
What To Say When You Talk To Yourself
Goal Mapping
The Power Of Intention
Real Magic
Non-Violent Communication
Leadership For Dummies