ManKind Project of New England

Changing the World One Man at a Time

7 School Street
Shelburne Falls, MA 01370

Phone: 888-636-6734
www.mkpne.org

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The Mankind Project of New England, a part of ManKind Project International (www.mkp.org), is a committed, diverse and vital community empowering men and women to live in integrity, authenticity and service. We are creating a world of love, healing and growing consciousness.

We seek to empower men and women to live to their full potential, trusting that they will co-create the healthy solutions needed by society. We foster Loving Families, Strong Communities, and Productive Workplaces in a sustainable environment.

Our intention is twofold: 1) To enable men to live lives of integrity, accountability, and connection to feeling. 2) To be of service to the community at large, both as individual men with a renewed sense of passion and personal responsibility, and as communities of men working together to build sustainable relationships.

The New Warrior Training Adventure

The journey to becoming a New Warrior begins with an extraordinary weekend initiation/ workshop / training called the New Warrior Training Adventure.

What Is The New Warrior? Men have been warriors since the beginning of time and every man has his warrior side. But social forces pressure many to repress this part of themselves. They unconsciously substitute a distorted shadow for the healthy warrior energy so essential to sustaining individual and communal balance.

The New Warrior is a man who has confronted this destructive "shadow" form and has achieved hard-won ownership of the highly focused, aggressive energy that empowers and shapes the inner masculine self. Sustained by this new energy, the New Warrior is at once tough and loving, wild and gentle, fierce and tolerant. He lives passionately and compassionately, because he has learned to live his mission with integrity, and without apology.

The New Warrior Training Adventure is a process of initiation and self-examination that is crucial to the development of a healthy and mature male self. It is the "hero's journey" of classical literature and myth - the process of moving away from the comforting embrace of the mother's feminine energy and safely into the masculine kingdom. It is a journey of the soul during which men confront their dependence on women, their mistrust of other men and their need to be special.

"The only devils in the world are those running around in our own hearts. That is where the battle must be fought." -- Mahatma Ghandi

Who Runs the Training? The New Warrior Network, a national not-for-profit corporation, has assembled a highly-motivated, experienced staff to lead the training programs. Most staff members are volunteers, and because all have experienced the initiation process themselves, they have a compelling sense of male initiation and authentic self-examination.

In the final analysis, however, you run your own training through the responses and decisions you make along your journey. The staff serve as your guides and mentors, but you choose your own level of commitment, and you decide how far you will explore the inner terrain of your life, to discover the treasures, and obstacles buried within your self.

When are the next Training date in New England?

The training dates vary with each year. The next Training is:

* November 2 - 4, 2007

For information on other New Warrior Training Adventures held throughout the world go to www.mkp.org.

How Do I Register in New England?

Only you can decide if you are ready to participate in the New Warrior Training Adventure. Because training sessions are booked far in advance, it may take some time before you are admitted. Fill out this form to register and submit your information.

Who Comes to the Training?

During your training you will stand shoulder to shoulder with an immensely rich mix of masculinity, with occupations and ages as wide as masculinity itself. Whether they're corporate executives or high school students, all come to share a common understanding that their lives as men can be empowered with greater focus and direction, and that this personal initiation into manhood is crucial to their full development as men.

"Some people sleep until morning. Others know they have to bring the morning." -- Shlomo Carlbach

Am I Ready?

We do not recommend this training for every man. We urge you not to apply to this program without serious forethought, and not to enroll simply at the urging of a spouse or friend. To participate in this training, you must be in reasonably good physical condition, and willing to face the prospect of transformative change in your life. You must be highly committed to your life, and ready to participate fully in all training activities, many of which encourage you to take a hard look at yourself, your deepest fears, your wounds from the past, and the specific ways in which your life is not working for you. We choose to work only with men who are ready, and willing to do this initiatory work with us.

What Happens After the Training?

Several days after you have completed your initiation into manhood, you are welcomed back into the community of your families, friends and fellow Warriors at a graduation ceremony. There, you will join a small voluntary team called an Integration Group, which will help you integrate the training into your life. These Integration Groups have proven as valuable as the training itself, so we urge each graduate to join one.

Does this work make a real difference?

Like a stone dropping into a pond, the New Warrior training sends ripples through the lives of men, their families, and their communities. The growth and healing that men experience doesn't stop with them. New Warrior men and Centers are involved in mentoring disaffected youth, working with gangs and incarcerated young men, building shelters for the homeless, creating programs for Vietnam-era veterans, and other causes that cry out for healthy masculilne presence.

Is the NWTA for Every Man?

That's a little hard to answer. If you are living a life of total integrity, with a clear sense of your mission as a man in the world, in close contact with your emotional life, a committed and fully present member of your family, this training is not for you. It's for the rest of us: young and old, rich or poor or neither, isolated from other men and from our families. It's for those of us who secretly wonder whether the term "man" applies to us at all, for those who feel out of focus, for those who hide the holes in our integrity from others. Bottom line: Yep, If you're still reading this, it's probably for you.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate; our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.... As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." --Nelson Mandela quoting Marianne Williamson (author of "Return to Love") in his inaugural address

What Will I Get Out of This?

Previous cultures throughout history always intended authentic masculine initiation. But their vision and their cultural context of the world was necessarily limited. Since the first earthrise photograph from outer space, we have entered a new mythological era. For the first time in human history, we have before us the possibility of authentic masculine initiation - an initiation into the global brotherhood." --Dr. Robert Moore Coauthor of King, Warrior, Magician, Lover

"New Warrior Training is an authentic initiation into the cauldron of mature masculinity. I recommend it highly to deeply committed men. The NW staff are loving, generous, and deep-intentioned men who will evoke the very best within you." --Forrest Craver, Convener of the North American Confederation of Men's Councils

"The truth is, I was afraid of this training. Even though I've written about men and worked with men for many years, the fact is -- as I discovered on the Weekend -- I didn't really trust men. I'm glad I overcame my fear. This was the most powerful training I've ever done, and the changes it started in me have been both deep and positive." --Mark Gerzon, Author of A Choice of Heroes

"In 1983, I wrote The Secrets that Men Keep. After experiencing the New Warrior Training I'm rewriting that book. It's the most important men's work occurring in the U.S., and perhaps in the world, today." --Dr. Ken Druck, Psychologist, Consultant, Author The Dance

OK, now let's be honest about what happens next. Getting to one of the trainings is actually fairly easy. They're offered all over the U. S. and in many other countries-United Kingdom, Germany, South Africa, Australia. You can find out the dates online and begin the registration process in about 30 seconds. But what usually happens in the process of getting there is "The Dance." One step forward, two back.

You know you're dancing when you have one of these thoughts:

# "I'm too different (old, young, gay, straight, fat, thin, poor, rich, black, white) to go." There's no excuse that's too trivial to be used as the reason I can't change.

# "That's way too much money. I'd rather buy toys or pay the rent." That's right - it does cost some money-averaging - US$650. However, so that money is not the major obstacle, the New England Center has an innovative co-creative payment policy which allows the amount to slide, based on how much a man can afford & how much they get from it.

# "Wouldn't it be possible to read a book or magazine article and get to the same place?" No, actually the training is an experience, not a set of ideas. Sorry, you'll need to show up, and not just with your brain. You should pack your body, your passion, and your soul, too.

# "I'll do that someday - next year, next millennium. Only now I'm not quite ready. I need to. . . (return some library books, mow the lawn, de-fragment my hard drive)." One of the most common things men say after they go through the training is, "What was I doing for the last twenty years?" The best time to do the training adventure? Right now!

# "I'm in therapy, so I don't really need this." Or "I'm not in therapy, so I'm not prepared for this." Nice try, both of you.

# "All right -t his is some sort of pyramid scam with a lot of people getting rich, right?" The Mankind Project is a non-profit organization. The vast majority of those who staff a training actually pay money themselves for the privilege of staffing and devote huge chunks of time and energy to make the training happen. The training leaders get paid, but not much. If people get rich from the trainings, the enrichment has nothing to do with money.

# "I know how these workshops go: You get a little insight, a little warm-and-fuzzy bonding, then you go back to your life and do business as usual. Pretty soon you ask, remind me - what exactly did I get out of that?" Actually, that's probably right, if the training were the only thing a man did. The heart of the Mankind Project is the Integration Groups which start after the training, composed of those who have finished a weekend. These usually meet weekly, and (here's the good news) after 10 weeks of learning the ropes with a facilitator, they run on their own with no cost to the members.

# "This is a bunch of navel-gazing. Men who have a good experience together, gain some insight into themselves, then resume destroying the planet and terrorizing their families without making a real difference." A key part of MKP is action in the world - men define themselves as men of service. There are many areas of possible service - working with kids, building a more compassionate company, saving the planet, working in prisons. Even being more present with your family is a kind of service.

# "Hold it-this sounds like some sort of religious cult. I already have a religion, thank you." Or "I can't stand religion, so count me out." Men from all major religions are currently active in the MKP - Jesuits, orthodox Jews, Muslims, and Protestant Christians. Also, many are involved who see themselves as non-religious.

The point we're trying to make about "The Dance" is that it's normal, maybe even necessary. A man shouldn't enter the change process lightly. When we approach change of any kind, one part of us says optimistically, "Maybe I'll change," and another part freezes and says, "Oh, oh. . . Maybe I'll change." This is true whether it is a job change, moving in with a domestic partner, or buying a house. Change is serious business. If you're doing "The Dance," this means that you're taking the process seriously. It means that all parts of you have their eyes wide open.

Entering the weekend requires jumping into the unknown. You don't know what's going to happen. There's no syllabus, no schedule circulated in advance. So the dance you do when you're deciding about going to a weekend is the same dance you do when you're entering the dark future of any change in your life. You may or may not know a man who has gone through the weekend. If you do, he may be enthusiastic, but is generally vague about what happens.

One thing I guarantee, though: you will be challenged - physically, emotionally, socially, spiritually, and personally. (Yeah, ok, a lot of adverbs). So another unknown is this: How will you respond to the challenges? Will you isolate? Lie to yourself and everyone else? Blow up? Freeze up? Screw up? Open up?

Just Doing It

Doing the weekend is an adventure. No, you haven't done this before. After you're done dancing, if you decide to do it, you may have a hard time explaining to the significant people in your life what you're doing and why. You may have a hard time explaining it to yourself, like Edmund Hillary did when he made that feeble statement about Everest: "because it's there." But you know, as you stand at the foot of the mountain in your life, that there is something which demands that it be climbed - that there is something about that one peak that will orient things and won't let you rest. No, the weekend won't climb that mountain for you. That's your life and your job. But it may help you name that mountain, it may help you begin to hear its insistent whispering.

More About the New England Community

There are more than 770 New Warriors in the New England Community. New Warriors are men that have gone through a Warrior Adventure Training Weekend. Men who have completed the New Warrior Training Adventure are eligible to join a Integration-Group ("I-Group"). Each I-Group is entirely autonomous, and as such, their admission policies vary. Generally though, I-Groups invite men to join who are currently known to members, or who have completed the NWTA. I-Groups typically meet once a week in the evening and are a continuation of the process of doing personal work around life issues raised during the weekend, and which arise in one's own personal life journey. At this time there are about 37 Integration-Groups that meet weekly in New England.

In summary, Integration Groups create the opportunity for men to continue the work of the weekend through providing safe, yet strong containers for men to discover and live their deepest personal truths.

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