Mankind Project 'New Warrior Training' weekend - 1
ex...@yahoo.co.uk
to go by my boss who went and returned exclaiming "for once, I'm
making decisions with my heart, not my head!" After crying to me that
I had to go, I relented... this was my boss after all, and I felt that
to not go would seriously jeopardize my job. He demanded that several
of us from the office attend. One of the fellow attendees was a good
friend/co-worker of mine and thank goodness for both of us that we had
each other to rely upon during this BIZARRE weekend.
It started on Friday night, we were told to show up between 6 and 7
pm. As we arrived at the ranch it was being held, a man was guarding
the road, when we pulled up he stared at us for a few seconds as if he
was going to kick our ass (puh-leeze..) then asked in gruff yelling
voice, "Who are you? What are you here for?!" We had to answer him one
at a time as he repeated his yelling question to each of us... "okay",
we thought- "getting weird already..."
We drove up the road to the lodge where we were instructed to get in
line and wait until called into the main building. One at a time we
were called towards the building. Once there, two of the 'elders'
greeted me at the door, they were pleasant, asking if I was willing to
"push my boundaries this weekend" and "experience new things, etc..."
I told them, "yeah, sure..." "Great" they replied, "And do we have
permission to remind you of your agreement to push your boundaries,
etc...?" "Sure" I replied... whatever. "Welcome to MPK and see the man
inside the door" They then instructed me.
I walked through the door, and was greeted by a guy dressed from head
to toe in black, with black face paint and black bandanna, as I
glanced around the room, all of the guys were wearing similar
'commando' type attire.... He glared at me not saying a word.
Obviously trying to intimidate me - I was anticipating some sort of
"breaking down" technique, but COME ON! These guys looked SILLY!
Anyway, he just stared at me for around a minute- I jokingly tried to
make small talk with him, but obviously to no avail- he wanted to
INTIMIDATE me! Of Note: I'm a pretty big guy, in excellent athletic
shape, and I'm not easily intimidated... especially by some goof
trying to act tough... so I just started chuckling to myself... Like I
said, Silliness!
After the silent period he finally yelled at me to "SEE THE NEXT
MAN!'
The next man was only 2 feet away so I side-stepped to in front of him
and asked him how he was doing etc.. once again to no avail- he gave
me the silent treatment too..... until he finally told me to, "SEE THE
NEXT MAN"
The next man then asked for my personal effects, watch, phone, car-
keys, rings, etc--- He put these in a bag for safe keeping during the
weekend and then I was instructed to "SEE THE NEXT MAN"
The next man was actually men, in the next room- the room was dark and
empty except for a couple of tables with a spotlight over each one- at
each table were the guys who where in front of me in the original
line. The commando goof-balls were busy pouring out and searching
everything in everyone's overnight bags.. After each of us was
searched, frisked, etc we were screamed at (all communication at this
point was screaming- as I said, this was the beginning of the breaking
down process...) to go down this hall...
At the end of the hall, was one of the 'elders' again- he was calm and
peaceful again, asked a few questions and then instructed me to go to
the next room...
The next room was full of the other guys who were in line before me,
this was the 'holding-pen' for everyone until everyone showed up. We
had to sit on the floor while another 'elder', a fat old guy wearing
only a loin-cloth was beating a drum and doing these rhythmic
breathing exercises... once again, puh-leeze.....
After 45 min or so, when everyone was there, we were summoned up to
the main hall. All the instructors and elders were there, all still in
commando garb.... (you think that between 15 guys, one of them would
realize that they looked silly.... oh well...) We were welcomed and
then warned that this would be a weekend that will be difficult, but
one we'll never forget... boy, was he right!! He then broke into this
shpeal about, "how you could resist, but that's not why you came....
yes... you could resist, but that's not while you came." repeating
over and over, all dramatic like.... extreme silliness!
After the initial speech/orientation we were instructed to divide into
groups for our instruction/training. The first one was an attempt to
make us recognize that we are men. So we had to go around the group
and finish the sentence, "I am a man because _________." Some of the
instructors when first to demonstrate.. the first one: "I am a man
because I can pee standing up!" WHAT! Did I just somehow revert to 2nd
grade again?? The next instructor to demonstrate announced, "I am a
man because I've GOT A COCK!" I did somehow revert to 2nd grade....
"Geez, could these guys please be a little more infantile??" I thought
to myself. My buddy who was there and I were rolling our eyes at each
other from across the room at this point.... It was going to be a
loooooong weekend.
Next exercise: "Repeat after me, "I wimp out with women by _________."
The instructors demonstrated to begin. The first, "I wimp out with
women by putting the seat back down after peeing!" The next, "I wimp
out with women by letting HER choose the movie!". "Holy Shit! These
guys are ridiculous!" I was thinking!!
We went through a few more exercises like this, all equally silly,
until they called us all together again. I'm guessing it was probably
around 1:00 to 1:30 am at this point- they took our watches away so
nobody really knew. They announced that the night was over and we were
to retire to the cabins to sleep. They told us that we would be woken
in the morning and that when we were awoken, we would each have to get
naked and take a one-minute cold shower. And to make sure that nobody
cheated, each man would go one at time while the rest of the cabin
watched and counted to 60...... "WHAT! Who does that sort of thing? This
is going from silly to WEIRD," I thought to myself. But to be honest,
the real weirdness hadn't even started- just the homoeroticism.
SATURDAY MORNING
We were woken up at who knows what time.... But everyone was still very
tired- here again, my buddy and I had read up before the weekend and
so we were expecting a degree of sleep deprivation. We took our
showers... and watched and counted for each other... It's amazing what the
group dynamic can make a person do, huh?
Then we were escorted to the main hall for breakfast, which consisted
of dry cereal and cold water. This took place during the middle of
winter in upstate NY where it was COLD, so suffice to say, this meal
was less than fulfilling.... All morning we went through more silly
"educational" sessions like the previous night. And did a few
meditation exercises as well, and of course, what warrior training
would be complete without choosing your spirit animal? So we each did
that.... Lunch was the same, handfuls of dry cereal and cold water. But
after lunch, it started....
"It" started with all the instructors/elders yelling and beating drums
and making a huge ruckus- during which they brought in two sections of
carpet- This was going to be the "hero's journey" part of our warrior
training. We were split into two groups, one on each carpet.
These carpets, we were told, represented our universes. An important
part of any Warrior myth, is the "hero's journey." This is where the
hero has to go and face his demons, then harness those powers and come
away stronger because of it- pretty common theme- see Luke Skywalker,
Beowulf, Neo of the Matrix, et al.... But I digress...
So we were told that these carpets were our universes where our
'hero's journey' would play out. We were then warned that we might not
survive due to the difficulty of the journey, it would be perilous, we
would need all of our strength, etc... They asked who would go first-- I
volunteered. I figured I'd get it over with... One of the elders walked
up to me on the carpet, again asking if I was ready, it would be
dangerous, etc etc- "yeah, yeah, I'm fine" I replied.
Then about 5 instructors walked out onto the carpet and began drilling
me with questions. Sidenote: When we first showed up we had to fill
out a questionnaire, asking if we'd ever been molested, raped, were
gay, bisexual, if we'd had any traumatic experiences, problems growing
up...etc- Luckily for me, I haven't been molested, I haven't been raped,
and I haven't had any traumatic experiences that still plague me---
Believe it or not, I had a good childhood and I'm well adjusted now
(thanks mom and dad!) Well, they didn't believe it, so they started
really attacking me verbally, trying to get me to break down. But I
was kind of laughing at their attempts.
Somehow a bunch of old, out of shape men playing Indian warrior
doesn't really intimidate me. As this is playing out, I'm watching
what's going on the other carpet across the room from the corner of my
eye-the guy over there you stepped up first, all of a sudden got
tackled by several of the instructors----- "WHOA!" I thought to
myself, "if any of these guys try to pull some physical bulls$%t on me
I will f#%k them up!...." Let's just say I wasn't in the mood to
tolerate anything like that... They then instructed me to "close my
eyes!"
I figured it was to blindside me... a few of them had circled around to
behind me... I was halfway expecting one of them to clock me in the back
of the head or something. So I told them to essentially go to hell and
that I wasn't not going to close my eyes for them. They didn't like
that answer. So a few more instructors joined in with the others and
amount of screaming at me doubled.... Finally once they realized that
they weren't going to be able to "break" me they started chiding me
for "not being ready!" etc, and to "GET THE F%&K OFF THE CARPET!!!!"...
Whatever guys...
The next guy in our group stepped up, and they began drilling him with
questions. Remember that they had info from each man about his
personal traumas and the instructors were reading off of index cards
as each man stepped forward. So anyway the next guy steps up, they
start drilling him and all of a sudden he breaks down, crying, falling
to his knees.... "WHEN I WAS 9 I GOT RAPED IN MY ASS BY AN OLD MAN!!!!"
"BROTHERS!' the elders screamed, "this man has been abused, anyone who
has been abused like this, step forward and place a hand on this
brother to show your support!" All of a sudden EVERYONE there stepped
forward except for me! I was freaked! What kind of group was this? How
could there be such a large percentage of abused people in one group??
All sorts of questions were running through my head... This was getting
weirder and weirder...
So to "cure" this man, they set up a scenario: He was on one side of
the carpet, in front of him were two instructors, one represented the
man's "shame" the other represented his "loneliness" or something like
that-Behind them was a third man, he represented the old man that
caused the trauma. So the guy then had to connect with his inner-rage,
referred to as his "shadow" by the MKP and break through his "shame"
and "loneliness" and push the old man off the carpet and hence out of
his universe... sound kind of strange? It was!
This went on all day long, with these guys, using each man's
questionnaire to break him down- at one point one guy COMPLETELY broke
down. I mean this guy was BROKEN! Screaming hysterically, shaking
uncontrollably.. I figured they were going to have to sedate him and
take him away in a padded van. AND I'M NOT TRYING TO BE FUNNY OR KID
AROUND HERE!! This guy was broken! They tried to calm him down for
about 30 minutes but couldn't.. so they took him outside, away from
the groups to try to calm him down.
>From my spot on the carpet, I could see them trying to console him out
on the porch, but to no avail-this guy was broken! (I've read a few
mentions on this website of people committing suicide after MPK
weekends... I don't know if any of that's true, but this guy clearly
needed to be put under some kind of suicide watch at this point!! Once
again, I'm not kidding.) Finally after about an hour and half of him
being 100% hysterical, they instructors finally 'cured' him... How you
ask? THEY WALKED AROUND HIM 3 TIMES WITH BURNING SAGE!!!!!
At this point I was over it! This couldn't be legal, or ethical! F$
%CKING NEW AGE jerk-offs! Who the f%$k do they think they are!!!?
I'm getting so mad reliving this as I write this.... Relax... mellow....
Okay....
This went on all day until dinner. After dinner (cereal and water) we
did a few more exercises and then were told to retire to our cabins.
"But," they exclaimed, "the night wasn't over..."
Around an hour later, I'd guess it was around 9:00 pm by now, but once
again, who knew? The instructors started drumming again, summoning us
to the lodge. We were all led into a small room, the "holding-pen"
from the first night. Once there we were told to blindfold ourselves.
Once blindfolded, we were told to strip and throw our clothes in the
middle of the room... This was too MUCH! But once again, the group
dynamic... who's going to protest?
Blindfolded, we all stripped, we were then told to hold hands and we
were led in a long line towards the main hall. As we approached the
hall, we could hear drumming and yelling. As we entered the hall our
blindfolds were ripped from our heads- the hall was lighted by only
the large fireplace at one end of the room, in the middle of the room
was an alter comprised of candles, swords and animal pelts..
(Sidenote: our group consisted of about 20 initiates and maybe 15 MPK
instructor/elders) But in the lodge were no fewer than 65 men (not
including us 20 initiates!) and every one of them was buck naked and
writhing to the drumming.... And I mean WRITHING, they were dancing,
shaking their asses at each other, seeing who could shake their
scrotoms the hardest to each other... it was the most bizarre thing I
have ever seen-and I hope to ever see. I was expecting it to devolve
into a huge gay orgy at any second. Once again, I'm not trying to be
crass or funny, this is the truth.
After about 10-15 minutes of the homoerotic dancing melee... we were
called to order. Us initiates were arranged in a semi-circle in front
of the fire while the elders were up front. The other 60-some men were
arranged throughout the room. One at time they introduced themselves
-"I'm Thundering Stallion, I've traveled from NY City to be here!"
"I'm Laughing Wildebeest, and I have traveled all the way from Boston
to be here with you.." And on and on.... Each man used only his 'animal'
name.. and they all traveled far to be with us.... Lucky us....
We then went through a silly drawn-out new age style ritual where we
were each greeted one at a time and declared "Warriors!!" After the
ceremony we given the choice, we could return to our cabins to
contemplate or we could stay at the lodge to dance the night away with
the other men. Naturally my buddy and myself opted VERY QUICKLY for
the return to the cabin option. As did most of the other initiates.
Once returning to the cabin, my buddy and I were PISSED. It was at
that time that we decided that at first light we were leaving.
The weekend was supposed to last until around 6 or 7 pm on Sunday, but
my buddy and I were packed and ready to go at first light- we went to
the instructors cabin and walked in- they told us to get out! We told
then we wanted our car keys etc, because we were leaving. Naturally,
they then got PISSED! We expected them to make a huge scene in front
of the other initiates but after about 20 minutes of a few of them
pressuring us to stay, "But we're not finished!" "We still have the
renaming exercise!," "But we still have to do the sweat lodge!" (I
read the post about them telling guys to touch each other's dicks
during the sweat, and while I can't speak to that, I wouldn't be
surprised) "Yeah, that's great guys, but as we said, we're outta here,
gimme my car keys!"
Finally they relented. Luckily, my buddy and I had carpooled together
so we weren't in that trap. And by the way, we felt that the carpool
request by MKP was exactly that, a trap so people couldn't leave
without a huge hassle...
All in all, it was the strangest weekend of my life. At this point, my
buddy and I feel that the primary goal of MPK is to create a safe spot
for gay men to come out in. Whether or not this is true is debatable,
but the weekend dripped homosexuality constantly, and the complete
lack of ethical guidelines, to this day, bothers the hell out of me.
Sorry this has been so long and rambling, but there was a lot to tell...
kath
>the weekend dripped homosexuality constantly, and the complete
> lack of ethical guidelines, to this day, bothers the hell out of me.
>
> Sorry this has been so long and rambling, but there was a lot to tell...
This group has been frequently said to resemble a cult and numerous
people have had experiences with it similar to yours.
http://forum.rickross.com/viewtopic.php?t=1881&highlight=mankind+project.
I wish you a swift healing journey from these tossers,
Love
Kath
Truth Man
not accurate. Or, it is taken completely out of context. 60,000 men have
experienced a New Warrior weekend. About 10 have posted negative comments
on the web. Hopefully, that speaks enough to the benefit of the weekend for
many. And, no, this weekend has nothing to do with homosexuality. It's
about healing and growing as men - to create more supportive fathers,
husbands, and people on the planet.
kiwi
Someone recently recommended the “New Warrior Training” weekend to me.
While trying to find out a little more about what such a weekend would entail (in order to make a well informed decision), I’ve been a little frustrated to find that MKP themselves do not provide a syllabus or outline.
The reason for this, according to their New Zealand website, is that “if everything about the weekend were explained beforehand, the mystery and beauty of the experience would be gone. You would not experience “your journey” as it is happening. Explaining the concept of personal transformation is far different from the experience of actually being in the cauldron of transformation.”
Although I can appreciate that the element of surprise may have some positive merit, the resulting negative speculation that seems to abound isn’t very encouraging to those trying to establish the truth and suitability for themselves.
The account in this post is probably one of the most descriptive I’ve come across. Although the poster clearly did not appreciate his experience, to me he simply appears to be giving an account of his experience. There is nothing in his account that gives me the impression that this is just some ill-willed fabrication.
If it is true (as some on the net claim) that participants are required to sign some form of non-disclosure agreement, then that could account for the relatively few posts on this topic, either positive or negative.
I have no bias one way or the other, but I have to admit that the few accounts like this that I have come across are cause for some concern to me.
If, as you claim, much of what this poster has written isn’t accurate (at least based on your own experience), then I would very much appreciate you providing a little more detail to support your claim.
I won’t ask you to go into any detail, but would you be so kind as to at least clearly confirm or deny the following? (Just to be clear, I’m not condemning anything, just trying to establish the truth):
1.
Are participants requested to sign some form of non-disclosure agreement, and/or responsibility waiver for physical or mental damage?
2.
Does the New Warrior Training include shouting at and/or intimidating behavior toward participants in some way or form?
3.
During the New Warrior Training, are participants requested to remove their clothing and/or be naked in the presence of others, or be in the presence of others who are naked?
4. Besides some respectful encouragement to stick with the program even when it may be emotionally and/or physically demanding, are participants also clearly given the option to opt out of any activity at any time without fear of reproach or intimidation?
5. Assuming for a moment that the original concept and intended program, as prescribed by the New Warrior Training founders, does not include any of the above, is it still not conceivable that such practices may have occurred (whether condoned or not) in one or more New Warrior Training groups?
6. Assuming that a group of New Warrior Training facilitators were to conspire to such or any other non-condoned practices, what means are in place to prevent such rogue behavior?
I look forward to your reply.
kiwi
Someone recently recommended the “New Warrior Training” weekend to me.
While trying to find out a little more about what such a weekend entails (in order to make a well informed decision), I’ve been a little frustrated to find that MKP themselves do not provide a syllabus or outline. The reason for this, according to their New Zealand website, is that “if everything about the weekend were explained beforehand, the mystery and beauty of the experience would be gone. You would not experience “your journey” as it is happening. Explaining the concept of personal transformation is far different from the experience of actually being in the cauldron of transformation.”
Although I can appreciate that the element of surprise may have some positive merit, the resulting negative speculation that seems to abound isn’t very encouraging to those trying to establish the truth and suitability for themselves.
The account in this post is probably one of the most descriptive I’ve come across. Although the poster clearly did not appreciate his experience, he simply appears to be giving an account of his experience. There is nothing in his account that gives me the impression that this is just some ill willed fabrication. If it is true (as many on the net claim) that participants are required to sign some form of non-disclosure agreement, then that could account for the relatively few posts on this topic, either positive or negative.
rory
Just been reading up on MKP and curious to know
1. Did you ever get reply to your valid questions
2.Did you ever attend.
Cheers - hope this finds you well.
R
neal landsberg
better than anything else I have seen.
http://www.youtube.com/user/ManKindProject#p/a/f/1/NWgZ13s7kXo
neal landsberg
Fred Mowbray
because they are superficially compelling. But the problem is that they are
only one man's opinion, they are certainly not factual: for example, what
looks "silly" to one man may not to another. Indeed, the very fact that the
poster keeps using the word "silly" suggests there is some deep resonance
for him of which he is unaware and which he may be trying to avoid by
putting the men on the weekend down.
Secondly, there's a huge amount of exaggeration and distortion in his
account. This may not be due to him deliberately lying, because everyone
sees a challenging situation through the veneer of their own perception.
For example, have you ever read how unreliable witness reports of an
accident are? The same people who see the same event are convinced they are
right in their reporting, yet they may all have different images in their
minds of what happened.
As to the specifics of your question, please bear in mind that this
organisation is fundamentally about helping men to get back in touch with
themselves, their family, and the planet. So much harm is done by this
disconnection from our world, and helping a man really feel what and who we
he is may be the first step in changing things for the better. From that
perspective, the creation of a weekend adventure like this one is done in a
"fiercely loving" way. It's not about converting men to a cult, or signing
them up to a belief system - indeed, nothing could be further from the truth.
It's really about men helping men to express their full potential and be
who they really are.
Now, as a lot of us know, men in our western world often have difficulty
expressing true masculinity - not the infantile, puerile, George W Bush
macho-style of masculinity, or the strutting, swaggering John Wayne
character - but true masculinity, as defined by strength of purpose,
compassion, loyalty, wisdom, integrity, honesty, support for the community,
love of family and - above all - taking responsibility for the consequences
of one's actions. The Mankind Project stands for those values.
To expose men to the reality of how they may be living, some tough-talking
is often helpful. But I never experienced on my own MKP weekend anything but
the concept of a "fiercely loving" body of staff men doing their best for
the men on the weeknd. Shouting and intimidation are the anthithesis of what
and how MKP works. And since I have staffed many weekends since, I really am
in a position to know what happens!
One of the things men are asked to do is sign a non-disclosure agreement.
This is an act of integrity. Let me explain: since all men can leave if they
wish to do so at any point, and are free to speak out if they wish to do so
(and indeed, are actively encouraged to do so), and have complete choice in
whether they take part in all processes on the weekend or not, it seems odd
that a man would choose to vent his (I assume) anger at what happened for
him on the weekend in this way. There are plenty of opportunities for
discussion, redress and - as I said - even for a man to leave if he wishes.
In this light, I wonder why a man would write a personal, misrepresentative
account of what happened for him? He signed an agreement - he has broken it.
But I guarantee that if you spoke to the other men on the weekend, they
would have a very different perspective to the original poster, ranging from
"It didn't work for me" to "The greatest experience of my life". That's how
it always is. Just because he didn't like what happened, this man has
absolved himself from the commitments he made to himself and his fellow men
and the organisation on the weekend.
There's also a basic lack of balance in his writing, a sense of greater and
greater anger as he writes more. The insults he pours out on the staff are
quite unjustifiable in the context of what I know about the weekend; I
seriously doubt that any staff man would speak in the way described. But
what if it did happen? Are there safeguards?
Yes, there are. One of the leaders is always from outside the community -
and many of the staff travel from other communities too. There are Elders on
the weekend (wise, older men) who are tasked with protecting the men coming
on the weekend from any kind of harm, and the organisation goes to great
lengths to support and honour men in every way.
The question of nudity has been around for a while. What's more interesting
to me is not whether or not men are "forced" to be naked on the weeknd (they
are not), but how other men react to the idea of male nudity - in this man's
case, with what seems to be a fear of or prejudice against homosexuality.
But MKP is not in any way a gay organization: it is a men's organization,
devoted to the exploration of masculinity.
We men have lived through times where male sexuality is seen as a threat, or
a danger, or shameful. In fact, some would say we get those messages from
birth onwards. And so, by implication, the male body is somehow shameful,
and any exposure of a man's body in a group of other men suggests potential
homosexuality. It's deeply worrying that we are so alienated from our own
bodies that men react like the original poster did: "...they were dancing,
shaking their asses at each other, seeing who could shake their scrotoms
[sic] the hardest to each other... it was the most bizarre thing I have ever
seen-and I hope to ever see. I was expecting it to devolve into a huge gay
orgy at any second. Once again, I'm not trying to be crass or funny, this is
the truth."
Well, the thing is, it clearly isn't the truth - or at least it isn't the
truth of any man other than the writer.
His writings about homosexuality are - as I suspect most of the men reading
this will realize - unfounded in every way, and his reaction to a group of
naked men seems quite extreme.
There's an excellent website which answers many of these questions in an
honest and complete way: http://www.mkp.org
You can check out the FAQs for the answers to anything that may be bothering
you.
I wish you well if you decide to take the weekend.
Fred
Fred Mowbray
As it happens, I believe that the Mankind Project is a modern form of initiation, which helps men make the transition from a common kind of adolescent emotional state to full-grown masculine maturity. (And by that, let me add, I don't mean the kind of macho swaggering masculinity that leads people like Tony Blair and George blush to invade countries like Iraq just for the sense of their own grandiosity.)
I'm talking about true masculinity: the kind of masculinity that meets the world head on, giving you steadfastness and determination to stick to the principles that you believe in. Somebody asked me before I went on the Mankind Project Adventure Training Weekend, "what is the cause that you would die for?" And you know what? This struck me as a very powerful way of actually expressing what's missing in today's society for most men – they don't stand for anything.
One of the things the Mankind Project does is to teach men to speak for themselves, not for others, so let me do that: I know that I didn't stand for anything before I went on the Mankind Project weekend. Indeed, that was one of the reasons that I undertook it. Whether I could admit it or not, my life wasn't working. I was unhappy, I didn't have any purpose, and my relationship wasn't going well. Now I don't want you to think that I'm saying the Mankind Project will cure all those problems in one weekend. It obviously won't, but what it can do is get you really back in touch with who you are and what you want in life, and for men whose lives are not working it's a most invaluable experience.
Forget what else you've read on the Internet from dissatisfied men who're stuck in some kind of adolescent phase of emotional development (as in "Ooh, I was so frightened I would be made gay." I have contempt for that leevl of thinking.) The reality of the Mankind Project adventure training weekend is simply this: it helped me get you in touch with myself, or, in other words, it helped me understand what I needed to do in life, what I wanted to do and how I might do it, and what purporse I might have that I could call my life's mission. A purpose in tune with my deepest values. Now, let me ask you a question. What man wouldn't want to understand that?
Well okay, some men wouldn't because they are happy to live an adolescent emotional life which doesn't take them anywhere, doesn't help them in the relationship they have with their partners, friends or family. But for men who are ready to move into a more mature place, a place of full power and potential, or at least who are willing to start making the journey, the Mankind Project adventure weekend is unrivalled in its excellence. And let me also add something else: no matter what you've read elsewhere from disaffected men who didn't understand what they were doing and probably shouldn't even been on the weekend the first place, the Mankind Project is not a cult, and it's not abusive, destructive or compulsive in any way to its participants.
Indeed, I experienced it as more supportive than anything I had ever previously has in my life. One of the guiding principles of the organisation is the sense of integrity and honesty that pervades everything it does. So let me tell you some other things it did for me: it enabled me to meet with unwavering steadfastness my female partner in our relationship, and to stand like a rock against the tide of emotion that sometimes comes washing over me from her.... And you know what I found?
After a while, the tides of her emotion became less strong, and our relationship deeper and more harmonious. What I discovered through this experience was that women test men for their stability and steadfastness, they test men to make sure that they are reliable and dependable and that they have the strength of character that a woman needs from her male partner. I also discovered that I could bring a much needed sense of integrity and honesty to everything I did, and that I could say what I thought without fear or favour to almost everyone I met. What a change from cringing in fear and reacting with anger to those I loved! And finally it allowed me to deal with challenges from my children, from my family, my friends, my boss.
It allowed me to stand up to these challenges with firm boundaries, and in the process I discovered that what everybody actually wants is a firm boundary, so they know exactly where they stand, and they know exactly what their rights and responsibilities are. That's just about the nicest thing I got from the Mankind Project - I discovered my rights and responsibilities on Planet Earth as a man.
If you have any sense that what I've said in this posting might just be relevant to you, then you owe it to yourself, and you certainly owe it to those around you to look into the Mankind Project to find out whether it might just be right for you. Good luck, and hope to see you there.
Fred