Today we’d like to introduce you to Steve Hasenberg.
Steve, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I have always been intrigued about the meaning of life. Beginning at twelve years of age, I would lie awake at night imagining where I came from and what would happen to me after my death. I wanted to understand my unique place in the cosmos while living on a spinning planet, 93 million miles from the nearest star, our Sun. It was a topic that both fascinated and frightened me.
At about the same time, I had a direct experience of unbounded awareness that led me to question Who I really was. I was at a YMCA camp in Northern New Jersey and I was waiting my turn at bat when suddenly I was sitting on top of a tree near the outfield watching the game play out. As odd as this experience was, I had absolutely no fear because I was in a state of blissful awareness. From that vantage point I not only saw all of my friends playing baseball but I also saw myself standing anxiously waiting for my turn at bat. There was two of me, a drifting, unlimited awareness and a young twelve-year-old boy!
The next time this occurred was ten years later while sitting in meditation in Majorca, Spain. I had just started to meditate when I heard a deep rumbling sound emanating from my body. In the same moment, I was observing myself from the ceiling, sitting on my bed with eyes closed. In another instant, I was shooting out of my body, through the roof of the hotel and traveling through space. Just like my experience ten years previously, I had no fear but just a blissful, almost heavenly awareness. I remember being in awe of the brightness of the stars and blackness of the surrounding sky. I was traveling spellbound, at an enormous speed. I finally reached a barrier that was obviously the doorway between earth life and the afterlife and in a nanosecond, I was returning home. What’s odd is that I instinctively knew in that moment that this experience was an answer to my twelve- year old boys question about where I came from and where I would go after my body died. It was an astounding gift and as I thought about that, I traveled homeward, watching the same Imax movie but this time seeing the earth from heaven. It was a spectacular sight. This was similar to the view that we see from orbiting spacecraft shuttles. When I returned to my body, the ancient hum was still singing deep in my being and when I opened my eyes I knew with a certainty that that there was more than just me! I was a living, breathing human being but, more importantly, I was an eternal Soul with unlimited access to the universe.
My initial curiosity about my place in the universe and this spectacular, otherworldly experience created a hunger for spiritual knowledge. I devoured books on Zen Buddhism, listened, spellbound, to talks by Alan Watts, practiced Yoga with Swami Satchitananda and later became a teacher of Transcendental Meditation. This journey continued at Naropa Institute in Boulder where I studied Tibetan Buddhism and mindfulness and two decades later it culminated in a meeting with the Toltec Shaman, don Miguel Ruiz, who took me to Teotihuacan, Mexico, where I experienced the splendor of heaven through the portal of my own heart.
As I traveled down these highways of mystical experience, I continued to integrate the wisdom that I acquired into the framework of Western Psychology. My practice became a place where people learned meditation and mindfulness and tools for developing gratitude, compassion, generosity and loving-kindness. I combined these meditative techniques with Gestalt therapy, family systems work, heart science, cognitive behavioral therapy and compassionate, gentle listening.
By delicately moving back and forth between my human experience and my Eternal Self, my greatest desire has been fulfilled; to awaken to the Oneness within myself, and to experience the spaciousness of pure consciousness, infinite peace and unconditional love.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I don’t believe that there is a smooth road for any of us. Challenges abound, risks are everywhere, losses and failures are the little deaths that build our character. For a long time, I thought that if I meditated twice daily, treated everyone with reverence and respect and washed the dishes daily then I could avoid life’s pitfalls. It wasn’t until later in my life that I realized that Life’s adversities were nothing other than initiations. Whenever I was faced with a large adversity, instead of feeling that I was being cursed or punished by the higher powers, I understood that my Soul was giving me a new and rather fierce assignment for my curriculum on Earth School. I became aware that there are Soul desires and human desires. As humans we choose pleasure over pain, success over failure, but as eternal Souls we will create that which serves the highest good for our evolution. This could be cancer or losing a home to fire or suffering a business failure. When these things occur, they are unique to each individual’s growth and they prod us to dig deeper, and discover strength. patience, and resilience that we never thought we had, thus profoundly deepening who we really are as Human Beings and Cosmic Citizens.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Steve Hasenberg Spiritual Psychotherapy – what should we know?
I have been practicing spiritual psychotherapy for over 35 years. I have combined the best technologies of eastern philosophy and meditative practices with Western Psychology. Individuals come to me after they have traveled the normal route through psychological practices. I teach individuals to meditate, I guide them on shamanic journeys, and we look at their lives form a soulful and metaphysical perspective. Changes occur very rapidly because we tune in to their True selves, deep at the core of their Being and utilize that unlimited, eternal energy for healing.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
All of us stand on the shoulders of giants. We have all had mentors either in books or in real life. I have had the rare privilege to spend time with remarkable individuals over the course of my life. I had a personal relationship with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi the founder of the Transcendental Meditation program. I also spent three years with don Miguel Ruiz, the shaman and writer or the Four Agreements. I have had numerous spiritual teachers and ascended masters who have continued to aid me in my spiritual development. One of my greatest mentors was a professor of psychology at Princeton University named Harmon Ephron. I met Harmon when I was 23 and he was 83. We had a very close friendship until his death and he guided me into the field of psychology after I taught him to meditate!
Contact Info:
- Address: Steve Hasenberg, MA. MFT.
2730 Wilshire Blvd. suite 650
Santa Monica, Calif. 90403 - Website: stevehasenberg.com
- Phone: 310-459-5662
- Email: [email protected]
Image Credit:
Steve Hasenberg
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