Book Reviews
RECENT WORK
The Promise of Wholeness (formerly Henosis)
Cultivating Inner Peace, Mindfulness and Love in a Divided World
Henosis: (Ancient Greek: ἕνωσις) is the classical Greek word for mystical “oneness”, “union”, or “unity.” In Platonism, and especially Neoplatonism, the goal of henosis is union with what is fundamental in reality: the One (Τὸ Ἕν), the Source, or Monad.
In the East, the Chinese character for soul also meant breath and in ancient Greece, psyche similarly linked soul with breath. Today, the conscious and unconscious parts of our personality are said to lie within our psyche. The field of psychology can be likened to a three-legged stool where behavioral, emotional and cognitive interventions and their related theoretical orientations provide its core foundation. Each approach believes their approach stabilizes the other two legs and breathes life into our body, mind and soul. This book not only addresses the actions, passion and wisdom that stabilize psychological stools, but also provides eternal principles that lead to lasting peace and wellbeing.
Philosophers study the foundational nature of reality and look for universal patterns that lead to lasting peace and wellbeing. Eternal principles, values and ethics occupy philosophers. Literally translated, the Greek word philosophia means, “love of wisdom.” The pursuit of wisdom leads to accumulated knowledge and this book stands on the shoulders of many philosophers, who birthed civilizations. Examining what feels right, wrong or wise are as necessary today as it was in ancient times. Mistakes recycle, when we fail to learn from history. Henosis provides modern interpretations of eternal wisdom. Transformation and transcendence requires our body, heart and mind to embody eternal principles.
Our quantum physicists state that atoms are ninety-nine percent empty, all matter contains energy, observation impacts atoms and the universe is entangled and interconnected. Thinking ahead about first principles, forms and source, the Greeks created the word meta-physika (metaphysics) to describe, “what comes after physics.” We live during auspicious times, where theology, orthodoxy and what seemed certain is up for grabs. Henosis examines why soul and breath were considered the same thing to a metaphysician or a Greek/Chinese philosopher. Our scientists are now revealing what many of our philosophers and spiritual teachers have been saying for thousands of years. We are one people on one planet, interconnected and entangled in perpetuity.
Dreams are created by consistent actions, heartfelt passion and focused attention. Henosis provides many meditations and suggested techniques that lead to lasting peace and wellbeing. When we are mindful about our own needs and our actions, passion and mind is focused upon benefiting everyone within the collective, we gain access to the quantum field and possibly divine intervention. The personal stories and practical examples within Henosis provide paths through the entanglements of illusion. When philosophy, psychology and peace unify, love replaces illusion like the sun removes darkness. Read this book slowly and consider each concept carefully. Change occurs when love replaces illusion and becomes a daily practice.
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UPCOMING WORKSHOPS will be announced here – enjoy reading about past workshops for now!
Recent PAST Workshops Offered: May 9th and May 16th Meditation and Mind Body Solutions for Sensitive Teens
Meditation and Mind Body Solutions for Sensitive Teens
2 Part Workshop May 9th and May 16th
The iGen/Gen Z generation was born between the years 1995-2012. Researchers say you are more accepting of others, think for yourself and have less tolerance for authority figures. Who wasn’t moved by empowered response from the Parkland High School students after seventeen of their classmates were gunned down last year? More cautious and less naïve than previous generations, you will stand up and speak your mind. Unfortunately, state of the art smart phones and social media haven’t eradicated loneliness and depression.
This workshop will provide a variety of meditation and Mind Body solutions tailored to reduce stress. Brilliance, sensitivity and great empathy have great benefits but also have costs. I will present my Somatic Empathy Test and offer effective solutions from my experience running residential treatment programs for teens, as a faculty of a Mind Body Healing School and my book, The Promise of Wholeness: Cultivating Inner Peace, Mindfulness and Love in a Divided World.
Thursday, May 9 and Thursday, May 16th, 2019 (4:30 pm to 6:30pm)
Cost: $100 Before May 1st $120 May 2nd and After
Where: Ommani Center 1166 Quail Court Suite 210, Pewaukee, WI 53702
Register for the Course (includes BOTH dates) by calling the Ommani Center at: 262-695-5311
NOTE: Please remember to leave your email address with Ommani, so we may send an email confirmation of your registration for the workshop – thank you!
Eric Ehrke is a psychotherapist at the Ommani Center and the author of The Promise of Wholeness: Cultivating Inner Peace, Mindfulness and Love in a Divided World, Rowman & Littlefield publishers. Eric blends Western and Eastern wisdom traditions and has presented Body Mind workshops throughout his career. Having failed at traditional meditation he learned how to access the transcendent by combining modern tools with ancient wisdom.
May 17, 2019: Personal Guidance, Intuitive Wisdom and Meditation 101
Personal Guidance, Intuitive Wisdom and Meditation 101
How often have you failed to listen to your gut or an internal hunch and regretted it? Our intellect can override intuition and make any decision a fifty-fifty proposition. Inspiration relies on reason but gut reactions and intuition are also important. This workshop is designed to enhance your decision-making and meditation skills. Classical Buddhist Vispassana meditation relies on emptiness and not everyone can accomplish this skill initially. This workshop will provide productive methods to enhance personal guidance, intuitive wisdom and Higher Self communication from modern and additional ancient traditions.
Neuroscientists tell us that the left hemisphere of our brain categorizes, organizes and looks for logical patterns, while non-verbal communication, sensory experience and intuitive/spiritual sensations are located in our right hemisphere. Our corpus callosum inhibits each hemisphere from interrupting the task of the other. This allows mental surrender without simultaneous left-brain analysis. This workshop will blend current research with sixth sense imagery techniques to help you access your intuitive wisdom within to help you make more informed decisions.
Personal Guidance, Intuitive Wisdom and Meditation 101
Friday, May 17, 2019 (9:00 am to 4:00 pm)
@ The Ommani Center, Pewaukee, WI
Cost: $100 Before May 10th, 2019; $120 May 11th and After
Please Bring a Bag Lunch!
Where: Ommani Center 1166 Quail Court Suite 210, Pewaukee, WI 53702
Register for the Course
by calling the Ommani Center at: 262-695-5311
NOTE: Please remember to leave your email address with Ommani, so we may send an email confirmation of your registration for the workshop – thank you!
January 2019: The Promise of Wholeness 2 Day Workshop
The Promise of Wholeness
A Two-Day Workshop about Cultivating Inner Peace, Mindfulness and Love
This two-day course offers practical strategies and self-realization tools to deepen the original concepts within my book Henosis: The Psychological Wisdom and Eternal Principles That Lead to Lasting Peace and Well-being. The name of this course is The Promise of Wholeness to reflect the new title of my book, courtesy of Roman & Littlefield Publishers who will publish my work in spring of 2019.
Cultivating inner peace, mindfulness and love can feel like three bridges too far. To most of us, the odds of becoming whole and realizing these three milestones seem as likely as winning the lottery. The following course will provide information and experiential exercises designed to address inner saboteurs and provide effective solutions.
The Promise of Wholeness Course: Two Fridays – January 25th and February 8th, 2019.
Please Feel free to attend for just one day – the first Saturday we’ll be working in the first half of the book, and the second Saturday we’ll explore the second half of the book.
Create inner peace, mindfulness and love in your life…
as we explore these topics from The Promise of Wholeness in this interactive and experiential workshop:
- Healing the victim-perpetrator paradigm to create peace within
- Re-writing primary love templates to create more love
- Inviting grace and forgiveness into your life
- Learning how to cherish yourself and your illusions
- Expanding your compassion, mindfulness and soulfulness
- Soothing our infantile, childish, adolescent stress responses
- Creating boundary awareness to address emotional contagions from others
- Developing incorruptibility in the midst of chronic challenges
- Becoming whole: how the forms of Illusion, Love, Grace, Cherish, Equanimity, Empathy, Incorruptibility and Wholeness work with the Camel Wave Meditation
Philosophers, mystics and compassionate healers have attempted to point humanity towards wholeness since time immemorial. After practicing psychotherapy for forty years and researching traditional Eastern and Western wisdom on these topics, I wrote my book to pass on what really works. I will provide the ancient philosophical foundation and effective strategies to develop inner peace, mindfulness and loving relationships.
Embodying immortal principles and developing effective practices to experience our divine origins in the midst the divisiveness of everyday life are worthy goals. Reconciling our daily challenges and merging into mystical union through meditation makes humans feel whole. The Promise of Wholeness is a course about love, mindfulness and reunification, and how to get there from wherever you are.
Cost: $220 For one day only: $110
Where: Ommani Center 1166 Quail Court Suite 210, Pewaukee, WI 53702
Register or RSVP for the Course (one or both dates)
by calling the Ommani Center at: 262-695-5311
NOTE: Please remember to leave your email address with Ommani, so we may send an email confirmation of your registration for the workshop – thank you!
Access anytime: Webinar Replay - Interview with Eric
On September 27, 2018, we had a lively Interview Webinar with the author, Eric Ehrke. Eric shared some of his discoveries from Eastern philosophies and the realm of mind/body/spirit, as well as newly emerging treasures from modern Western Psychology. The Promise of Wholeness, merges these into what his new publisher, Rowman and Littlefield, is calling “a handbook of consciousness.”
In many ways, this book is a road map, complete with tools and strategies, to create a happier, more meaningful life filled with passion and purpose. The webinar starts with an interview to learn more about what’s really inside this book, followed by some really good questions from those who attended live.
To access the replay of the Webinar (there is no charge), please click on the button below. There you’ll find a link to access the replay, and dial-in information if you prefer to listen by phone.
We hope you enjoy it! Let us know what you think, or add your own questions via email using the Contact Us form HERE.
March 3, 2018 - Engaging Men in Marriage and Family Therapy
Contemporary Issues Lecture Series
When: March 3, 2018 (Time TBD)
Where: TBD
Topic Summary: Men are taught to be independent and often see therapy as a form of failure. This workshop will focus on how to get men to feel comfortable with the process and eventually experience the benefit of consultation.
Happy Holidays and Crystalized Emotion
As the Winter Solstice approaches and Covid continues, daylight diminishes and darkness expands. Holidays provide loving stories, cherished songs and religious parables to remind us how to love in the midst of illusion. Love is a tiny word but a daunting...
Equanimity
Partisan politics, pandemic problems and personal post traumatic stress can get you down. We are living through trying times. The following meditation from my book, The Promise of Wholeness, Cultivating Inner Peace: Mindfulness and Love in a Divided World may...
Good Grief
In 1969 Elizabeth Kubler-Ross wrote her groundbreaking book, On Death and Dying, which provided five stages of the grieving process. I would venture a guess everyone reading this article has heard about her stages…denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance....
I’m pleased to announce that my book was recently acquired by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Hard cover and kindle editions of my book will be released in the spring of 2019. The title of the book will be changing to The Promise of Wholeness: Cultivating Inner Peace, Mindfulness and Love in a Divided World. The content will remain the same.
For a limited time, paperback copies of my original author’s edition of Henosis will remain available with free shipping.
~ Eric
Thank You For Your Interest!