Show Notes
In this walk and spontanous talk through a local neighborhood and nearby meadow in Rochester, NY, Henry and Joel discuss Henry's path and development in spirituality, syncretism, Indiginous teachings, studying shamanism, forces in Nature, Tibetan Buddhism, Sufism, and what called him to his path. While walking, rustling leaves, Henry and Joel explore synchronicities, his guides and teachers, lessons, and opening to deepening his human experience, beyond his life as a successful Psychiatrist. Also talked about were the development of Amber Light International and Alchemical Dialogues and the classes and impact they offer, how to manifest through study of desire, wish, and will, connecting to community and the connection to the Universal practices found in Sufism, including life's teachings and lessons personal to Henry. As a lifelong student of humanism and seeking the freedom many traditions and paths of spirituality offer, Henry and Joel explore the universal aspects of the different paths in our shared human experience.
Henry Cretella is a retired psychiatrist and an active spiritual guide and teacher. In addition to a traditional psychiatric practice, he also trained with James Gordon, M.D. in mind-body medicine and incorporated this into his psychiatric teaching. He spent close to 20 years intensively studying and teaching in the universal sufi tradition of the Indian mystic, Inayt Khan, becoming a senior teacher before deciding to pursue his interestsindependent of any organization. Henry feels it is important now to integrate what each person finds useful from whatever traditions to which they are exposed as long as this is done respectfully and holistically. Each of us is responsible for creating our own connection with a power greater than ourselves and with each other. We are now in an era of collaboration and mutual enrichment rather than exclusion, possessiveness, and top-down paternalistic approaches.
He and his partner Kathleen formed Amber Light International, a non-profit vehicle through which they teach, guide, offer retreats, workshops and classes revolving around mysticism and humanism. No membership is required. Though the mystical emphasis is primarily sufi, there are significant elements of other mystical traditions as well, integrated with explorations in psychology, philosophy, science, and medicine to help us understand and better direct our evolution. He hosts his own podcast, Alchemical Dialogues, through Amber Light. Check out their offerings at amberlightinternational.org.
