Guest Profile: Jeff Brown

URL: http://www.SoulShaping.com

Born in Canada, Jeff Brown did all the things he was supposed to do to become successful in the eyes of the world. He was on the Dean’s Honor List as an undergraduate. He won the Law and Medicine prize in law school. He apprenticed with famous criminal lawyer, Eddie Greenspan. It had been Jeff’s lifelong dream to practice criminal law and search for the truth in the courtroom.

But then, on the verge of opening a law practice, he heard a little voice inside telling him to stop, just stop. With great difficulty, he honored this voice and began a heartfelt quest for the truth that lived within him. Although he didn’t realize it then, he was actually questing for his innate image, the essential being that he came into this lifetime to embody. He was searching for his authentic face.
As part of his journey, Jeff did some cool things. He studied Bioenergetics and did session work with co-founder Alexander Lowen. He practiced as a body-centered psychotherapist. He completed an M.A. in Psychology at Saybrook Graduate School in San Francisco. He also co-founded the Open Heart Gang, a benevolent gang with a heartfelt intention. Their first act of gratitude is the nearly completed production of a documentary about the life of Bhagavan Das (of Be Here Now fame). Called Karmageddon, this film includes wonderful dialogues with Jeff and spiritual teacher Ram Dass, yogis Seane Corn and David Newman, and chanters Deva Primal and Miten.

But the most important thing Jeff did was the inner work. By going inside and connecting his spirituality with his emotional life, he learned essential lessons. By learning to surrender to the School of Heart Knocks (the school of life), he found his authentic face. Through this more authentic lens, he was called to write Soulshaping, a grounded and magical inner travelogue that takes the reader along the paths he walked, paths we can all relate to in meaningful ways. Although he resisted it at first, it soon became obvious that honoring the call was his best defense against sleeplessness. If he wrote, he slept. If he didn’t, he lay awake all night. This is in the nature of a calling.