Originaly Steven Noomen is a violinist, a yoga and meditation teacher, and a translator. Encouraged by Isaac Shapiro he started giving satsang in 2000. After a period of investigating other traditions, he now supports people with their process of integration of Self realisation.
Based on his knowledge and experience he can lead people to experiencing their own True Self directly , and teach them ‘how to give satsang to one self’. He can teach them how to recognise at any given moment what exactly it is that pulls them out of the perspective of being the Absolute. And that is how they will learn to nurture and further their own process of integration of Self realisation.
Expansive background
Spiritually he has a very expansive background, both in traditional and not at all so traditional approaches, from Zen Buddhism to home made ayahuasca and from Gnosticism to rememberances of other lifetimes in different densities. He has travelled all over the world to lear n about the different methods. His strength is his ability to put the differrent approaches in a larger perspective, thus showing they are related and do not contradict each other, at least if they are understood in the right way. Then they rather complete each other.
This applies to self realization, like presented here in the Adwaita Vedanta way, as well. It is true, he regards it as an important gateway to spirtituality, but it will soon be clear he won’t limit himself to it.
Experience
Steven: “In 1992 I had a very deep mystical experience in which ‘I’ was lifted above all dualistic realms of experience into Being the Infinite in a way that was overwhelming and literally not of this world. This happened in a meditation when thinking stopped totally. From there my consciousness was totally ‘turned inside out’ and was set free from all forms of experience that I was familiar with: physical, emotional, mental end energetic, time, space, dimensions – everything! In fact it was a deep experience of enlightement according to the texts of the old traditions. The bliss remained with me for weeks, and so did the effect I inadvertently had on others.
Passed
“Still, all that passed too. And later, when I realised what actually had happened (at first I had no idea), a number of things dawned upon to me. I realised it was inevitable I would keep trying to make this experience hppen again for the rest of my life, and that was doomed to fail, especiaaly because having that intention makes it already impossible. I would fail to muster the depth of surrender needed, because I liked the experience too much. And this liking and wanting would no doubt reoccur when I would be getting close to it. And yes, indeed, it tuned out to work like that…
Illusory
“I also knew that I had ‘Seen’ my true Being, or as I put it at that time: ‘I don’t think I have seen and know all of God now, but I absolutely Know for Sure that I have seen at least His Big Toe! The only thing that really exists is our Presence, and the only thing we really ‘do’ is being. All the rest, so all of our experiences are all totally illusory. Totally!’
Ordinary, at last!
“In the two, three weeks after the experience I felt how it is when each and every situation is not regarded as a problem that needs to be solved but as alright, no matter what. That felt enormously free and at the same time totally ordinary. And inwardly there was plenty of room to keep spontaneously responding in a loving way, regardless of what happened. Ordinary, at last! It showed how neurotic my habitual life actually had been.
Wealth and burden
“Of course the experience itself was an enormous riches, but at the same time it was a burden, for life sank back into the way it always had been and I didn’t know how to ‘apply’ the insights I had been given to every day life. If seemed so far below, above and outside o it that the gap felt unbridgeable. Integrating it all in ordinary life was one big riddle, because for that I was thrown back to my dualistic way of functioning which seemed abolutely hopeless and useless, because I just had seen so clearly there is nothing in duality that can do anything about, let alone integrate something that is beyond it.
Experimenting
“In spite of this I elt to experiment with all sorts of things that had directly or indirectly to do with it – from Zen Buddhism and yoga to shamanism and ayahusca; from psycho- and regression therapy to multidimensional cosmic memories, channeling and newage approaches; and from occult-esoteric teachings and gnosticism to adwaita-vedanta. In all of these things I always found something that helped me a bit further on my way, but the suffering didn’t stop. And that meant something still wasn’t right yet, because I had experienced clearly that it surely was possible!
Always available
“Adwaita-vedanta showed me that the intensity and depth of my mystical experience was not the most important aspect of it. Rather, it was recognising it was essentially available at any given moment and in any given situation. Any! Maybe not so overwhelmingly it makes you high for weeks, no, on the contrary, very subtly, but still very recognisable and within reach. It is actually so close we have this habit to overlook it. This proved to be an important key, because it meant I only needed to make it a habit to recognise it instead of overlooking it. This sounded simple, but proved to be more complex, because we have to deal with all of our subconscious mind, insluding all its convictions, interpretations, values, strategies, plans and unresolved stuff and conflicts. These all do play their role, for these determine largely what our mind focusses on and what our intention is.
Broad background
“At that point I felt very grateful for my, by then, quite broad background, because it had given me a profound understanding of how the subconscious mind works. By now I may say I have extensive experience with integrating the insight and direct experience of self realisation, and from my many sided background I am very well familiar with the pitfalls.
Giving yourself satsang
“Based on my own experience and understanding I can lead people to their own direct experience of their True Nature, and teach them ‘how to give satsang to themselves’. I can teach them how to recognise what it is that pulls them out of the realisation of being the Self, and then it turns into something that reminds them of it. This way they can consciously nurture and further the process of integration with themselves.
“I simply wish to help people leaving behind their suffering. I just hope with this I have something to offer for the people I meet.”