JERRY GRANELLI
1941-2021
It is with the greatest sense of loss that we announce our beloved teacher, friend and co-creator of Warrior Training, Jerry Granelli, died on July 20th. Jerry was 80 years old and had triumphed over 3.5 months in hospital where he refused to die. He kept choosing, in the midst of great pain and suffering, to regain his health so that he could continue to serve as a teacher of Warriors and musicians. He was doing remarkably well, teaching Warriors in June and July, and his music students just two days before he passed. But on July 20th, his heart stopped and he left the body. Through his long ordeal in the hospital, Jerry practiced meditation continually to stay present and aware; even when he lost it because of pain and fear, he said: “I could always find my mind.” It was his Bodhisattva vow to serve all beings until suffering ends that gave him the clarity and strength to refuse to die, even when death was an easier choice. But his great compassionate heart could not recover from the months of extreme physical challenges.
He lives on in thousands of his music students, in dozens of his albums, in his family and sangha friends. He continues to inspire and teach those of us committed to the Warrior path. The Warrior’s Songline, produced with Meg in January 2020, is a perfect expression of their work together in training Warriors for the Human Spirit for six years. And now it is a beautiful, soaring legacy.
The Power of Community–listen to “Aspen Grove” from The Warrior’s Songline:
In honor of the irreplaceable contribution Jerry Granelli made—teaching us how to pay attention, watch our minds, and perceive without filters—and experience joy in the process, we created:
THE JERRY GRANELLI SEEING CLEARLY SCHOLARSHIP FUND
If you wish to contribute, please click here: berkana.org/donate
The quote above is the last teaching I received from Jerry in a personal conversation when I asked him about how he felt about his music-performing days ending because of his health. —Meg
WARRIORS FOR THE HUMAN SPIRIT
Training to be the Presence of Insight and Compassion
We need leaders who recognize the harm being done
to people and planet through the dominant practices that
control, ignore, abuse, and oppress the human spirit.
We need leaders who put service over self,
stand steadfast in crises and failures, and
who display unshakable faith that
people can be generous, creative, and kind.
Margaret Wheatley
Warriors for the Human Spirit are leaders, activists, and citizens who want to make a meaningful contribution in this time of increasing assaults on the human spirit and all life. To serve well, to be effective with their energy and influence, they train to refrain from fear and aggression and to embody the best human qualities of generosity, insight, and compassion. They are leaders who have already developed many skills in community engagement, productive workplaces and systems thinking. Yet these hard-won skills and valuable experiences are not sufficient; a different category of skills and capacities is needed if they are to act wisely and well, persevere, and use their influence and power to offer sane, life-affirming responses as challenges to people and planet intensify.
Who is a Warrior?
Warriors are people who focus their lives and work on making a difference. They respond to a sense of service that gives meaning to their lives beyond petty definitions of happiness and self-satisfaction. They are of all ages, faiths, professions, and cultures. Depending on their age, they have contributed in many different ways or are aspiring to contribute.
The Warriors arise when the people need protection. We step into this role of contribution and service, learning to assess what is possible and what is not. We are broken-hearted in witnessing what is being lost. We are exhausted from efforts that can no longer bear fruit. Yet we have abiding faith in the human spirit, in the capacity of people to be generous, creative, kind and compassionate–no matter what. It is our faith in the human spirit that inspires us to undertake the discipline of training to be of service for this time.
While despair might permeate the greater part of the nation,
others achieved a new realization of the fact that
only readiness for self-sacrifice could enable a community to survive.
Some of the greatest saints in history
lived in times of national decadence,
raising the banner of duty and service
against the flood of depravity and despair.
Sir John Glubb, historian2
[2] I used Glubb’s six stages of a civilization’s rise and fall as a major frame in Who Do We Choose To Be?
What is the Work of Warriors?
Wherever we are, whatever our work, Warriors train to offer ourselves in two essential ways:
- We strive to embody the best human qualities of compassion, generosity, and clear seeing, Our presence serves as a reminder and role model for others for who they are.
- With our leadership, we bravely stand in contrast to the current practices and dynamics of this age. We know what must be created and preserved to create good human lives and societies, and we embody this wisdom in our work.
As leaders, we train in the skillful means to:
- Refrain from using fear and aggression to accomplish our ends
- Maintain a stable mind even in situations of contention and conflict
- Use direct perception to see more clearly so we may act more wisely
- Stay aware of our biases, judgments, and triggers in order to diminish their influence on us
- Focus our efforts on the work that needs doing, not the work we want to do
- Endeavor to create Islands of Sanity wherever possible
- Maintain a keen sense of humor
- Rely on moments of grace and joy
- Offer and receive support from the community of Warriors
How the Warriors Train
We train in these key areas:
- IDENTITY FORMATION. We consciously take on the role of Warrior for the Human Spirit. In naming ourselves as Warriors, we take our place in the long history of those few people who always arise to stand against the tides of destruction, those few people who train themselves to protect, defend and exemplify what must be preserved. The Warrior identity supersedes prior roles and defines a path of service. Discipline, devotion, and community ground this identity and provide the skillful means to act wisely and to persevere through challenges that will only increase.
- STABLE MIND. Through meditation and contemplative practices, we learn to know and work with our minds. We develop heightened levels of awareness so that we can act consciously rather than compulsively, responsively rather than reactively. We develop the skill of being present in any situation, seeing it as it is, without our personal biases and needs.
- DIRECT PERCEPTION. Our actions are impeded by confused and clouded vision that springs from personal needs and biases. Blinded by our ‘self’ we can’t notice all the information that is so easily available in any situation. As we open to the world as it is, without trying to mold it to our liking, we recognize that the world is our ally, a source of information that gives us the capacity to see clearly and act skillfully.
- MIND-BODY INTEGRATION. We suffer from many disconnections, believing that heart and mind are separate, or that body and mind are not one integrated whole. With physical practices we discover capacities of balance, energy, presence, and letting go. We develop a reliable body-mind memory of what true presence and balance feel like.
- COMMUNITY. So many of our relationships contain our earnest attempts to help, fix, heal. Yet healthy relationships are hindered by these desires. One of the Warrior slogans is: “Don’t fix, don’t flee, just stay present.” As a community of people devoted to exploring what it means to be a Warrior for the Human Spirit, we learn to practice this as we encounter the very real challenges, fears, and joys of our communal exploration.
Training to be a Warrior for the Human Spirit 2021
I. Beginning your Warrior Journey
Walking The Songline With Meg: A Self-paced Journey Into Warriorship
The Warrior’s Songline is a journey guided by voice and sound that creates a penetrating, provocative and often mystical experience for the listener. It is an audio CD, (with accompanying book of the narrative). The Songline leads you on a deep exploratory journey at a slow and reflective pace, engaging dwelling mind rather than analytic mind. Journeying on the Songline, you learn what it means to be a Warrior for the Human Spirit and you begin to develop the understandings and skillful means to serve this troubled time.
Walking The Songline With Meg is a delightful and absorbing introduction to Warriorship. It is divided into ten segments that you listen to at your own pace. Each segment contains several audio tracks from the Songline CD followed by a video that takes you more deeply into your experience. The videos are filmed on location near Meg’s home in Utah; these stunning landscapes evoke places described in the Songline.
In her direct, warm and intimate style, Meg offers teachings and guidance for what you have just experienced. With time to pause and reflect–inspired by Meg and the beauty of nature—it becomes possible for you to discern how you might best serve this time.
The Warrior’s Journey: Walking The Songline With Meg includes: 
- The Warrior’s Songline CD (downloadable mp3)
- The Warrior’s Songline book (either in print or downloadable pdf)
- 10 videos filmed on Songline locations
- A simple study guide
- Suggested videos, podcasts and articles
Available {HERE}
Price: $179 USD. (If you already own the CD, $159. With the print version of the book, $199)
To learn about The Warrior’s Songline and listen to samples, click {HERE}
II. Continuing your Warrior Journey
We will begin Warrior Training in January 2022.
A description will be posted by September 20th, 2021.
Please check back then and sign up for our mailing list below to remain up to date on our latest news and offerings.
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