I grew up in South America at the foothills of the great Andes Mountains where I spent much of my childhood and adolescence on horseback, trekking and rock climbing. This unusual distance from a highly urban cultural roots gave me an observer’s perspective of the society and the enculturation I was growing up in. My early formal background was in Eastern Philosophy studies and Zen Martial Arts as a full time endeavor from 1973 to 1977.  I was also part of the political movements of that period. Because of a military dictatorship in Chile and thanks to scholarships, I moved to the U.S. to pursue other academics.

I was part of the Latin American version of the Theosophical Society and while living in New York City l joined the United Lodge of Theosophists for two years, investigating Giordano Bruno and the alchemists. I feel greatly indebted to the human warmth and legacy of that organization; they offered the first Western non-racist and experiential teachings in Eastern traditions: Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Sufism etc.

 

After college and graduate school, while engaged in a successful career as Urban Planner in New England, I had a series of premonitory dreams about war and environmental destruction caused by humans, which began to actually happen. Deeply moved by the unusual experience, I left my profession and chose a career in ecology and field research. I worked in applied ecology for a decade, starting with a season at the New Alchemy Institute in Rhode Island and then as Director of Planning for The Permaculture Institute of California where we tackled a number of small, medium and large legal, hands-on restoration and design projects.

 

As a result of early life and academic choices I have spent a large percentage  of my life in the wilderness from Patagonia to Alaska and the rain forests of Central America. I worked at the University of California for 11 years collaborating with the seasonal research on the Maya, which took me to the rainforests of Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. More recently I lived in one of the last ancient temperate rainforests on the planet in Patagonia, and am now in the mountains of the Sacred Valley of Peru.

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Applied Zen
My life-time Zen training and practice led me to develop and teach a meditative approach to mountaineering,  a technical rock-climbing "meditation-in-movement" style which I have also brought to my teaching of Vinyasa Yoga in three countries.

 

A second consequence of Zen practice has been my entering into the psychotherapy environment. The meeting of various psychologists and  psychiatric professionals at Zen monasteries opened a new avenue in my life apart from my seasonal professional background as a consultant. I have worked in psychiatric and therapeutic environments: from Boston’s Mclean Psychiatric Hospital in the 80ś, to the Santa Barbara  California School District Center for Therapeutic Education in 2017-18, generally with the most difficult and dangerous cases. I have also taught Zen at graduate psychology institutions in South America. I called it “Aroma Zen” so people would not think that they would learn Zen in a class environment, but that they would get a hint.

The Heart of Wisdom Work

Since all the premonitory dreams regarding our historical and evolutionary process that I had since the 1980's have come to pass,  in the last few years  I have taken the responsibility of creating a more coherent response to their insights.

Communicating with Victoire, learning from her neuroscience based work and seeing the world from the perspective of her beautiful being and rich life experience, I made a life-long decision to contribute to her work from my focus in Eastern practices and natural philosophy which we began to teach together in 2019. Our goal is to provide deep experiential trainings and certifications in proven meditation-based self-awareness practices and scientifically-based biological alignment which together constitute a very solid foundation for any spiritual path you may wish to pursue, or life challenge you may need to face.

 

Seeking a natural philosophy, free of dogmas, we find that the union of western science and eastern spirituality is one of the key works of our time as a base ground and integrating model for our modern views of spirituality, the cosmos and evolution.

This recent spark of knowledge we call "modern times" has come after two millennia of dogma and obscurantism, while our access to the cultures and ancient traditions of the world and to the cosmological discoveries of modern science are just a few decades old. In this sudden cacophony of information and possible alternative paths it would be useful and peace-giving to get in touch with our psychic and subconscious baggage which is mainly occupied by a past medieval worldview that is incompatible with any 21st Century enlightenment: the quantum universe, women's rights, ecology and the awareness of our risk of extinction because of the destruction of the biosphere.

How do we reframe our human identity for freedom, peace and the survival of our species?
With an open heart, we welcome you to this work.

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Contact:
Email: heartofwisdominstitute@gmail.com or aguirreadolfo.e@gmail.com
Cell, Whatsapp & TG: +51 929 519 356

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