Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.
― Mary Oliver
As podcasters, sometimes our interviews become rather personal.
Our guests are always people whom we admire, who have something powerful to share and whose message – we feel – deserves amplifying.
In the case of Chess Edwards, we have someone who recently found himself at the precise place we ourselves have come to – at a dramatic inflection point, where past patterns of physical and mental striving no longer serve us, and must be dropped to step forward fully and authentically as ourselves, surrendering to the powerful, infinite force within.
And, as he so gracefully reveals in this interview, life on the other side of this veil resounds with deep wisdom, peace and joy.
Chess has lived a life of adventure. For many years, he led small groups of people to some of the most epic and beautiful places on earth in order to shake them loose from their tiny and confining comfort zones and narrow views of the world. His hope was that people would return to their daily lives anew, and – hopefully – step out of any limiting patterns into the infinite potential around them.
Like some, these outward journeys eventually led Chess to probe deeply within. Feeling betrayed by the shallow promises made by mainstream voices of education, family, media and society in general, Chess needed to heal from the pain, confusion and despair that comes with living an inauthentic, conditioned life.
Pain, in other words, drove him to seek release from the sway of the “illusion” he had been taught by others. Propelled by this powerful motivation, Chess has since carved an inspired path towards awakening to the ultimate awareness that we are all connected, that we are all aspects of one eternal life force fueling us all. He now works individually with others to move beyond their own outer pains to the deep peace, joy and power within.
For us, the impact of this conversation comes both in Chess’s words and in the deliberate breaths, pauses and inner consulting he takes between them. As Chess explains how he lives his life, quoting the zen saying: “The way a person does one thing is the way they do everything”.
What emerges from this interview, then, is a man who boldly and thoughtfully lives, taking his pain as a cue to seek something greater beyond the surface, who is determined to help others see past the illusory promises of the world and to venture deep into the unknown of the Self to find the one real truth.
And then, from that inner source of wisdom, to reconsider the life in front of them and forge a path that is driven powerfully from that truth and its vast, infinite potential.
Sound good?
Enjoy!
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Selected Links from this Episode
- Learn more and work with Chess – his website
- Chess on Facebook (he regularly shares inspired messages here)
Books
- The Presence Process, Michael Brown
- Evolutionary Enlightenment, Andrew Cohen
- New and Selected Poems, Mary Oliver (this is our favorite book of her work)
- Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity, David Whyte (terrific compilation)