Candice Wu 0:00

In this episode, I have a special guest, Andrew Shykofsky, and we talk about his experience and teachings as a Christian mystic, his path towards spirituality which included an initial negative impression of Christianity, the grand spiritual buffet that he has tried in his life, the desire for love and truth, the challenges with being human and a priest, how to manifest and create your reality with respect towards the global reality, and what is God, Christ consciousness, and consciousness itself.

Candice Wu 0:17

Hello, and welcome. You’re listening to the Embody Podcast, a show about remembering and embodying your true nature, inner wisdom, Embodied Healing, and self-love.

Candice Wu 0:24

My name is Candice Wu, and I’m a holistic healing facilitator, intuitive coach, and artist sharing my personal journey of vulnerability, offering meditations and guided healing support, and having co-creative conversations with healers and wellness practitioners from all over the world.

Candice Wu 0:36

A quick shout out to any of my clients listening and all of my clients out there. I love working with all of you. I facilitate holistic healing spirituality and a deeper knowing of the self. I offer experiential tools that support body wisdom for completing trauma and negative beliefs, spiritual crisis, self-love, and understanding the self while feeling deeply at ease and at home in the simplicity of being human, being yourself.

Candice Wu 0:52

It’s a little bit different than having a talk therapy session, because it engages the whole body, the energy, past life, also ancestry if those are interesting for you. So for people that want to feel more, not less, and experienced the depths and truth of themselves or if you want to shift beliefs, and what’s held in your body, anything that keeps you stuck or feeling negatively about yourself, shifting that towards joy and aliveness and greater freedom.

Candice Wu 1:08

Sometimes the journey of healing and wholeness can start with attention or disease or illness in the body, a pain, or it can start with a feeling that there’s something deeper that you desire in your life, something that you want for yourself, or that you truly want to love yourself and trust your intuition and body.

Candice Wu 1:21

My work is one on one, as well as with couples, and with those in relationships that are polyamorous or open. I also hold retreats that are on location as well as a monthly group healing call that is all embodied work as well. If you’re interested, intrigued or you have questions or somewhere you feel called to it, feel free to reach out to me to set up a 20-minute free consultation. There’s absolutely no pressure to continue on. It’s a time for us to explore what you desire, what your next steps are and I love supporting people in getting clear with that, seeing if it’s a right fit to work together or passing along any referrals that will really support them in the next step of their journey. You can find out more about me and set up a consultation at Candicewu.com.

Candice Wu 3:11

Hello, and welcome back, everyone. It’s great to have you here. Right now, I am in Ireland and I’ve been working with horses here. I’ll talk more about that next week in the podcast.

Candice Wu 3:23

And today I want to just jump right into connecting with Andrew.

Candice Wu 3:27

Andrew Shykofsky is a friend and a colleague. He had a center in Chicago called Meditate Yoga and Meditation Center. And they taught Yoga there for a couple of years and since then, we’ve been friends. Like me, Andrew has traveled a bit since he released his ties with the studio and branched out and now he’s in Charleston.

Candice Wu 3:58

Andrew is a priest and teacher of Christian Mysticism and he began his mystical path in 2004 while living in San Francisco. One thing I’ve really appreciated about Andrew is his ability to connect with people in such a genuine, grounded, real, and authentic way that really has opened up so much connection and ability to talk about real things in life that are going on without sugarcoating them or pretending things are just fine. So I’m excited to bring you this conversation today, and without further ado, here is Andrew.

Candice Wu 4:37

I’m quite curious about how our conversation is going to go today Andrew. I’m just delighted to welcome you.

Candice Wu 4:46

Yeah, you are a priest, a teacher and I’ve really enjoyed some of what you offer to the community. I met you in Chicago and you had Meditate Yoga and Meditation Center. And when I came to your visualization class, I felt like yeah, this is powerful and I remember you saying: “You know, when you do this, it’s quite powerful and all the resistance comes up and you get to work through that.”

Candice Wu 5:24

So I think from the very beginning, I enjoyed what you brought. I would love for you to share with all the people listening today who you are and your journey in getting to where you are today.

Andrew Shykofsky 5:37

Okay, yeah, sounds great. Of course, you know, thanks for thinking of me and inviting me for today’s chat.

Andrew Shykofsky 5:44

I have been really driven towards knowing true spiritual truth. Later on, it became a quest for love. Initially, I would say I was interested in spiritual experiences, that were, you know, really about the truth, because I had a feeling even when I was back in high school, like, I don’t think this is how the world supposed to be. I don’t feel like we’re being true. And in some cases, I didn’t feel like we’re being honest, you know, it’s like, is that people seem to have other agendas here that they’re not owning.

Andrew Shykofsky 6:14

And yeah, way back, even in high school that was really angering to me and so I think that has fueled a lot of my quest. It’s like, I want to know what’s actually going on. And through that journey, in my, probably 20s, mostly, you know, I was distracted because I wanted to be a musician, or I was a musician, and playing in bands and I was never a huge partier. But you know, I was a typical 20-year-old guy.

Andrew Shykofsky 6:38

And, but as I started to get older, this quest for truth, and eventually for like, some true love connection really became very prominent, my consciousness. And in 2004, the leading up to all that I did all sorts of unspiritual things, I mean, practice out of body experiences and lucid dreaming, and I would, I was meditating throughout all that. I would do long term fasts, trying to induce other states of consciousness so I could penetrate into the spiritual world. And I would, you know, pursue the I Ching for a while so we throw the coins and get all the wisdom.

Andrew Shykofsky 7:18

And, you know, there are so many different kinds of spiritual, I used to call this the grand spiritual buffet. Well, let me try this and let me try that, let me get crystals and work with crystals. Let me try, you know, I don’t know, I can’t remember all this stuff now. But the good thing was that meditation was always central, because pretty much all the spiritual teachers would say, meditation is the foundation for having these deeper experiences.

Andrew Shykofsky 7:44

And then in 2004, I had made a strong intent, I wouldn’t quite call it a prayer. Now, as you said, I’m a priest so my language has changed differently. My language has changed such that now I would have to say, I made a strong prayer. Because I was almost 40 years old, and I had wandered around the planet to a certain degree, and I hadn’t found people who had the same drive that I did. And so I was kind of lonely, in my quest for truth, and I thought, well, maybe I need to find a wife and just kind of live a more traditional life. And I think that the prayer that God end up hearing was you want love, you’ve always wanted love.

Andrew Shykofsky 8:21

So, I found myself in this Christian mystical school, or what they call a mystery school was operating in Oakland, California, and very Christian, but what they were teaching was stuff I had read about, I’d never met people who were not only teaching it but living it. So I became very enamored with that. I was very resistant to the Christian part, I’d never really wanted to be Christian. I had negative impressions of Christianity. But I couldn’t deny that the teachings and the energy of the place and the people were like, I just felt like, these are my peeps, I just feel good with them. We’re not weird. They were not proselytizing, they were not, you know, the language they use was kind of like when you and I talked. And so it was very kind of troubling in a way because part of me, you know, want it to be that, what I’d always been was this distant observe, I go to the spiritual things, I take it in. I wouldn’t really interact a lot that I go home and try to apply it. I lived in a very isolated way. This group really kind of broke through that.

Andrew Shykofsky 9:26

And so I decided to after a few months of going several times a week to classes and services, I decided to go, okay, well, what’s next. And I kind of never stopped saying that, what’s next?

Andrew Shykofsky 9:38

So here we are, we’re 14 and a half years later, in 2006, I was ordained a deacon, which was the first level of a minister, the second ordination was, let’s see, it was in May in 2013. So nine years after I had first met them, I was ordained a priest. And then, subsequently, five years later, which is this June, I was ordained a master teacher.

Andrew Shykofsky 10:03

I mean, we could spend a lot of time talking about what those ordinations are, but from my perspective, you know, an ordination into priesthood is a life-altering experience. It’s not about theology, and, you know, passing the academia of all those schools where you go, with other seminaries, it’s not really like that. Yeah, it’s a whole shift in consciousness. It’s, I mean, in the lineage of the mystic, you’re only ordained a priest after you’ve been tested in your true desire to love humans, love God, love yourself, and be consistent in that. And that was probably the hardest, “project” that I ever took on.

Candice Wu 10:44

Wow, this is incredibly fascinating to hear Andrew, I had no idea you’d move through the grand spiritual buffet as you said, like, to hear you talk about crystals, and out of body experiences and the I Ching, lucid dreaming. I just had no clue. It gives a lot of dimensionality to what I already know about you and it’s so interesting that you also felt from the beginning, some sort of resistance about Christianity, and I’m curious about that. What was it about? What was your impression of Christianity and what did you find here at this mystic school?

Andrew Shykofsky 11:26

Yeah. Well, I think like most, you know, I don’t know if I would call myself intellectual, I tended to do well in school and I was, you know, probably I’m more on the bookend of things. Christianity just seems, or at least the Christians that I met, there was a weird thing about them, you know, like, they would say things like, well, have you taken Jesus as your Lord and Savior? And I’m like, I don’t really know what that means. Well, you have to take Him as your Lord and Savior to be saved. Like, say, from what? Well, saved from your sins.

Candice Wu 11:54

Right.

Andrew Shykofsky 11:54

I mean, if you’re not saved from your sins, and you die in your sins, you’re going to burn in hell forever. I’m like, I’m going to need more than that.

Candice Wu 12:00

Right. That doesn’t quite register.

Andrew Shykofsky 12:03

Well, it was just, it felt fearful. It felt kind of panicky and also, the worst thing was, I didn’t feel people listen to me, you know, they were just a lot of these folks were so consumed with their message, that they didn’t stop and go, who are you? And where are you at? And what have you done in your journey? You know, when I found the mystical Christian school, they were more focused on, okay, so you know, what’s up with you? Where have you been? What have you done? What do you think? And that, to me, was the essence of the love that I was missing, you know, somebody actually caring enough about me to go, what’s your journey been like? And then just listened to it and not go, Okay, well, that’s all wrong here’s what you got to do, take Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Like, it was nothing like that.

Andrew Shykofsky 12:49

So finally, I was able to go, well, these people actually care and the other Christian folks, and not that they didn’t care but I mean, you, I’m sure, well, I want to ask you, if you experience this, I mean, a high degree of conversations that I have, involve me listening to people, and they’re very caught up in, you know, I’m not saying that in a negative way, though, it might sound that way. But people are, I find people very consumed with that, you know, the rhetoric in their minds about themselves and about their lives and about their situations. And so, I’m kind of, you know, for a long time, I was like, angry about that, it’s like, I’ll sit there and listen to somebody for 30 minutes, almost without saying anything. And there was part of me was like, okay, I think it would make sense, if you now would, you know, ask me maybe one thing, to sort of, you know, flip it around a little, even if it said, the last three minutes before we hang up. And I was really angry about that, you know, it’s like, what’s with people? Why don’t they care? Why don’t they listen?

Andrew Shykofsky 13:50

Can you relate to what I’m saying with that Candice? Because you’re a very good listener, and I have always felt that about you. But I wonder if you’ve had that same thing.

Candice Wu 13:58

You know, actually, I have. I’ve been trained, as you know, in clinical psychology, but way before that, I was quite a good listener. And I think a lot of that listening skill came from my desire to please people and to accommodate others, and growing up sort of as this wounded healer, in myself.

Candice Wu 14:23

And so, coming to the point of practicing in a more professional way, as a therapist, and also before that, as a teacher, I did find that quite a bit that it would drain me to just hear people being absorbed in their lives. And I am that way, sometimes. But the thing that I found for myself is that, and this is why I practice the way I do now, is that the experiencing through what’s going on, and what they’re talking about, and having a process around what they’re going through, like having a process through the emotions of what they’re experiencing, and the belief sets that actually transform something.

Candice Wu 15:09

And so if someone wants me to sit for 30 minutes, and only listen, it is challenging for me, because I’m interested in supporting them in transforming something internally and externally. So I do relate to that a lot, where it can be challenging to sit and listen, even though I do want to hear from someone and where they’re at in their journey. But there has to be, at least the best fit for me is that there’s a desire from that person to have a deeper awareness or create something else with that conversation.

Andrew Shykofsky 15:48

Yeah, I mean, I totally get it. And I mean, things have changed for me, because I, you know, I’m sort of midway through the point, which was, that used to really irritate me and anger me. And you know, it’s interesting what you refer to yourself, I don’t, I think you were referring to yourself as a wounded healer, who wanted to please people. And, I mean, I had my own version of that. I actually didn’t really have, I don’t think I am that much of a people pleaser. I mean, I do want to be useful and being a priest, it’s a commitment to be in service to humanity, to God. But I’ve worked with many people who have what I would call that more that people pleaser kind of thing so I think I understand it a little bit better, not quite as good as if I had it myself.

Andrew Shykofsky 16:31

You know, the thing that kind of motivated me as I do find it incredibly interesting hearing people’s stories just like, I sit there with my mouth sort of half-open going like, wow, that’s stuff that other people go like, it’s not that interesting. I’m like, no, that’s super fascinating and I long for somebody to be that fascinated with my life, too. I thought that’s what people were. Aren’t you, like, dying to know about me?

Candice Wu 16:53

Yeah.

Andrew Shykofsky 16:55

But no, it turns out that most people aren’t and I’m a little exaggerating with that, you know, the great joke is well, enough about me, what do you think about me?

Candice Wu 17:06

Right.

Andrew Shykofsky 17:10

Since I’ve become a priest, and I don’t know, you know, it’s a difficult thing to talk about some of these shifts, because the last thing any of us, when I say us, like people who are on this journey of consciousness ever want to do is to promote ourselves, as you know, further ahead than other people. I mean, that’s an uncomfortable place for me. But I have to sort of also be true to myself and as a result of the 14 years, 14 and a half years that I’ve been on this Christian mystical path, my awareness, and consciousness of love, life, God, people, it has changed dramatically and some of the beautiful aspects of that is, I’m no longer angry the way I was, you know, about the fact that I can sit in conversations and people have very little interest in, you know, what I’m doing and stuff. I wouldn’t say that it doesn’t create some kind of response. I mean, it can be sad to me to sit and talk and be really interested in somebody and then, you know, recognize that they’re on to the next thing, and it never even crossed their mind to go, Oh, well, I’ve been talking for 20 minutes, 30 minutes, what’s going on with you?

Andrew Shykofsky 18:14

I mean, I think that has something to do with the state of consciousness on the planet and so my task has been to reach a place of acceptance with that and not, you know, seek to alter it through him because, as an Aries, I can be a little blunt, and sometimes a little direct in ways that, you know, jar people and I’ve had to learn at a temper that form of communication.

Candice Wu 18:37

I can relate to that, too.

Andrew Shykofsky 18:39

Yeah, I mean, that’s probably why you and I chat so easily. Because I don’t feel like I have to be that conscious because you’re an Aries, too, right?

Candice Wu 18:45

Yeah, exactly.

Candice Wu 18:47

I remember right in the beginning meeting you, you just right away, ask about where I’m at in my journey. And that just felt so real and comfortable, and uncomfortable in some ways, you know, I’m getting vulnerable in sharing and at that time, I barely knew you. But the way that you asked so directly was helpful.

Andrew Shykofsky 19:10

Well, I appreciate that feedback. I don’t, I can’t say I remember the exact conversation, maybe what you know, I remember meeting you and just having this sense of a kind of ease about it. You know, just remember you sitting in the class that you came to, and just sort of energy and enthusiasm and like you were present and you were into it, which when I sit at the front of the class, and I teach it’s very evident people that are not into it. And it’s, I mean, I definitely have feelings about that. I try to, I’m sure you can relate when you’re teaching people and some are totally into and others are, like, have fallen asleep, or they look like they’re just distracted. It’s kind of you know, I have an emotional response to it.

Andrew Shykofsky 19:46

I remember that. But you know, the thing is, this is probably a filter that I don’t necessarily have all that developed, which is I think we want that vulnerable connection as quickly as possible. So I’m just like, assuming, Hey, what’s going on with you? Like, tell me everything. I’m happy to share what’s going on with me also. But that’s not, I don’t think that’s realistic. I’ve sort of had to adjust to the fact that might be a little disconcerting for people.

Candice Wu 20:13

Yeah. And I think that relates to, as you referenced earlier, the consciousness of the world right now. And when you speak about consciousness, what do you mean?

Andrew Shykofsky 20:26

Well, I think it’s, I mean, for myself, I’m interested in knowing truth at the highest level that I’m capable. And so on one level, probably the easiest way that people probably can relate to is the energy of one’s intent. You know, I think that in, I mean, I live in the south now, right? I live in Charleston, South Carolina. So there’s an element the way that people relate in the south and you’ll often hear about this reference to the hospitality of the south or the politeness or something. And there’s an element to it, which I think there’s a nice element to it, because there is an element about it that’s about caring. But there’s another element to it that’s not authentic, it’s not actually how the person is. It’s a kind of a veneer of how we’re supposed to be, that is a little too much for me. And it’s uncomfortable, because I feel it is inauthentic. Because I feel like the way that somebody is acting, the level of politeness or the level of I don’t know, the way that people are phrasing things. It’s because it feels inauthentic. It makes me uncomfortable.

Andrew Shykofsky 21:33

I’m conscious of that, whereas certain people just oh, you know, that’s just how we are or people have kind of, I don’t know, like part of their identity is wrapped up in being away that’s not authentic to themselves and there’s no real reason to question it.

Andrew Shykofsky 21:48

I find people so fascinating when they’re their most authentic. Now, okay, we all have some rough edges, right. So, in this understanding of consciousness, to experience a person with their, you know, they’re beautiful, their virtues of love, their divine soul self, that’s freakin’ cool. That’s where I have my mouth hangs open, like, Wow, that’s so cool you think that way. Like, you see things that way, like, I had never thought to see it that way or perceive it that way. Okay, that part is like, super cool.

Andrew Shykofsky 22:19

And then there’s the other side, which is the parts of us that are wounded or angry, or we have bad habits, or we’ve developed a connection to trues that are not actually true. And I think as your consciousness opens, or, let’s see, approaches this, what they call Christ consciousness, Christ consciousness meaning the direct perception of reality as it is, you know, without any embellishments of my own emotional interpretation, and I do believe that exists, a lot of people will say, well, no reality is always going to be relative. But I find comfort in knowing that there is God’s truth, there is an absolute truth, and it’s love and understanding what that is, you know, it takes a lot of meditation and a lot of trial and error and a lot of teaching. But I’m interested in living in that bubble all the time.

Andrew Shykofsky 23:11

And so when I sense that people are living in ways that are protective, because they’re nervous, so that’s outside of that bubble of love, you know, it’s driven by fear, also, when people are truly in the love vibe, you know, we’re going to speak truth, and learning how to speak truth in a way that’s not, you know, upsetting to people, that’s a whole skill as well. I mean, you can’t, somebody says something, you can’t just go like, well, that’s not true, what you just said is a fabrication, that’s very jarring to people and you wouldn’t want to approach it that way.

Andrew Shykofsky 23:44

This has been a huge challenge for me, as we talked about, like Aries and having the desire to connect or communicate directly, is that there’s a certain tactfulness that I’ve had to learn from people who are better at it. I don’t know, the risk of going on and on. I mean, let me ask you this. So you must experience, what you experience consciousness as well, let’s see, how I want to phrase it, do you recognize, you know, the discrepancy between the intent of people and what they’re actually saying and doing?

Candice Wu 24:17

I do. This is one of the biggest things that I’m learning to sharpen in myself right now, is to feel into what the sense of something is behind the actions or words that someone’s saying, or how they’re being on the surface level, but to feel into the intent behind it, to help me make my own decisions in life or just a sense where someone’s at. And I’ve often found myself confused by the literal things that are happening on the surface level, on the physical level and that led me to feeling that interest in what’s going on behind it.

Candice Wu 25:05

And it is that one of the main parts of my work with people is, who are you behind this, and where are you coming from? And what state of being are you coming from, and where do you want to?

Candice Wu 25:19

So everything you’re saying feels so resonant to me. And you described Christ consciousness as a direct perception of reality as it is and I’ve never heard it described that way. Can you elaborate on the Christ consciousness in general? I’ll just start off with my first feeling of it.

Candice Wu 25:42

The first time I heard that there was a feeling of expansion and openness behind the energy of it, because I didn’t know what it meant and I also did have a bunch of perceptions of Christianity from my experiences growing up all the way to adulthood. But I was able to somehow let go of the words and feel into the energy of it and that energy has helped me in a lot of healing situations or times where I’ve heard someone say it, it just has given me something. So I’m curious to hear more about it.

Andrew Shykofsky 26:21

Yeah, okay.

Andrew Shykofsky 26:22

Well, so the word Christ can be interchange with God and can be interchange with love and what I really, probably one of the biggest messages I want to put out there to people is that, because somebody is Christian, does not necessarily mean they represent Christ.

Andrew Shykofsky 26:40

I think one of the hardest things somebody can do is strive to reach this consciousness, this potential consciousness of the Christ consciousness. And I think we can touch into it for an hour, a minute, a day, a week, and then we can slip back out, it’s not, you’re not guaranteed to be once you reach it’s permanent. The idea is that, somewhere within every soul, human soul, there exists a place of perfection, a spark or cell of God that everyone must have been given.

Andrew Shykofsky 27:12

In the Christian tradition and the Christian mystical tradition, we call that the Christ, so that within myself exist, the Christ. It’s different than my soul. My soul is the unique expression of who I am based on lifetimes of different experiences and every one of us has had different experiences so our souls are different. But the Christ in all of us is the same, it is the pure cell of God. And one of the cool teachings is that, you know, the Christ is the masculine and the soul is the feminine. And this has nothing to do with whether you’re a man or a woman, whether you’re a man or a woman, your soul is the feminine component to the masculine Christ, or the masculine itself.

Andrew Shykofsky 27:49

And so we’re striving to have this marriage of the two, and then to express ourselves as this unique soul who I am connected, guided in love with the Christ within and there’s a great passage in when mother Mary is pregnant with the Messiah, and she says, “My soul magnifies the Lord.”

Andrew Shykofsky 28:12

And every time I hear it, it just makes me want to weep. It’s so beautiful, it’s that the Christ in me is this place of light and it’s being broadcast through my soul. So people experience me, hopefully, as somebody who’s broadcasting the presence of truth and love through the unique ways that I see things, the way I say things, the way I perceive, the way that I interact with people. And that’s my goal is to be as transparent on that particular relationship, Christ in me, married to the soul in me and me, living from that.

Andrew Shykofsky 28:46

The Christ Consciousness is the awareness of that, the awareness of the presence of the Christ as an experiential thing. I mean, many people will talk about Christ consciousness, but we don’t know if they have touched into it. That may sound arrogant, I don’t know, it’s just that, to me, if I’m in the presence of somebody who knows it, because I’ve been engaged in it for the last, I mean, I was brought into this initiation of it, 2008. So over those 10 years, my awareness of it has matured at least whatever 10 years gets you I mean, it’s not that long. But when you’re in the presence of somebody who is in that vicinity, it’s very evident, it’s evident in their energy. Now somebody could have a bad day, and they’re feeling depressed or feeling angry, and they kind of slipped a little bit.

Andrew Shykofsky 29:39

But to me, like when you’re in the presence of somebody who has done that work, who strives to know that truth and love, and there are some people who do it, they don’t call it Christ consciousness, it doesn’t really have to be called that. That’s a term that, I like the sound of it. I like the alliteration of it. I like the powerful sound of it. But I’ve been in the presence of Buddhist people who have that love, and you just, you’re with them and there’s not a lot to say, it’s just like, Hey, man, we’re there and it’s just, you know, you’re my brother, and you look a little different, but have a hug. And I mean, I have felt that and it’s very touching to me, and it’s like, those are the people I want to hang out with, because it’s easy, you know that the agenda is clean for the most part. Enough about Christ, what do you think about Christ?

Candice Wu 30:24

I’m marveling at how similar our ideas are about spirituality, truth, and the energy of love and truth. I usually don’t use the words God or Christ consciousness. I think, from what you’re saying, it sounds like the word I use is spirit or energy, like the source energy. I don’t mind the word God, or Christ Consciousness when it comes from that place and I think it’s been confused for me, you know, I just didn’t, I didn’t exactly know where you were coming from and so it’s marvelous to hear this now because I feel that we’re coming from a very similar place with it all. And the soul, being the part, the unique, individualized, presence of us that love or God or spirit comes through. But that spirit is the same in everyone or in Yoga and Ayurveda, its self, or Amman, which is God, which is Self with a big S, not a small S is how they differentiated and that self is the same self of everything that exists in the creative energy of the source. So everything you’re saying is just like, Oh, yeah, right, that’s yeah, another language set. But it gets us to the same, feels like the same experience, maybe there are differences, that’s why I’m landing at the moment.

Andrew Shykofsky 32:22

Yeah, well, the self capitalists, we use that term also, in the Christian mystical teachings. We talk about self-realization, to realize, to make real the self, you know, it’s one thing to talk about it, to read about it, to have heard about it, it’s a whole other realm when you actually do the work to come into the experience of it, and then have that experience validated by somebody who you know, has it. And that’s something that can tweak some people, because, I mean, people have been very wounded by the authority of their parents or their teachers and so to give somebody authority to say, Yes, your spiritual experience is valid and real, that’s hugely scary for a lot of people and I understand that, because I had, you know, my dad was quite authoritative, in not a good way.

Andrew Shykofsky 33:09

But a teacher, a real teacher, who has the intent to bring a soul through the journey into self-realization, that is an individual that begins and puts a lot of energy into developing trust, spends a lot of time with the awareness that, you know, a lot of these really wounded souls are the ones who want God more than anything, because we’re looking for some hope that life is, you know, better than it had been. And so we really want to get there. But, I mean, if I could tell you how many people are sort of drawn to classes I’ve given and then, you know, you can feel and that energy when they’re there, that they’re just really nervous, and they’re protective, there’s a level of anger in there. There’s a level of heart brokenness in terms of how many times they felt misled, how many times they, some people have, you know, said I’m here to help you, but really, it’s about the money or it’s about sexual prowess. I mean, it’s really tragic, actually.

Andrew Shykofsky 34:07

And, I mean, that’s something that, for me, I’m really, really adamant about offering as clean of a presence as I can. And so that puts a tremendous amount of scrutiny back on myself to make sure every nuance of mine that is still, you know, potentially not transformed has to be examined pretty much on a daily basis, not all day, I look at myself and try to fix myself. But when I have emotions, and when my motivation you know, gets tempted to go in the wrong direction, I have to catch it immediately and I like that. I like that kind of level of accountability because I don’t know, I have this sense that this is what God wants me to do and I want to get to the end of my life and just feel like or turn to God or Jesus or whoever greets me on the other side and go, did I do okay? And they’re like, Yeah, you did okay. You know, I mean, I would be happy with that, enough to be balloons and confetti but just you know, you did a nice job. We saw you’re trying to do the right thing and yeah he slipped here and there, but we were watching you. We love you, you know. So —

Candice Wu 35:18

Yeah, well, what is your idea of the other side?

Andrew Shykofsky 35:22

Well, I always preface it by going, I’m, you know, I have certain kind of ideas based on past lives. But I don’t have direct experience to say, I know for sure this or that happens. But the things that I’ve heard, and the things that I’ve intuited through my own meditation makes sense to me.

Andrew Shykofsky 35:40

First is, it’s not necessary to think a lot about it. Because, you know, it’s more important to learn how to integrate soul and self and be on the earth and be a positive, you know, contributor. So, when I was younger, and these out of body experiences and all this stuff that I was pursuing, I was really enamored with trying to experience the spiritual world. Then at some point, I went like, well, actually, I probably should just learn how to live on the material plane, because that’s where I am basic. So my focus is much more about that.

Andrew Shykofsky 36:10

Now, I think that at the time of death, the soul and the self travel or enter into a different realm of the non-material realm. I think initially, we look like we do on Earth, because there’s a sense that it’s less jarring. And so like, you probably go like, well, where am I? And you look around, go, okay, well, I got a body so probably, you know, I think it’s a way that the whole system allows us to transition over there without it being too dramatic. I believe that we will be welcomed by loving beings to kind of explain to us, you know, what’s happened, fact that we no longer, you know, our life on the earth is not happening, we died, we were killed, whatever, something is ended and we’re now on the other side.

Andrew Shykofsky 37:01

And I think in time, and I don’t know how long this takes, I think when people adjust to where they’re at, there would be some kind of a loving review process by which we examine, okay, how do you feel your life went, you know, where are the areas that you felt you grew? What did you do? How did you help out? Where were you selfish? Where were you angry? And the idea is that in that spiritual realm, it’s sort of a period to get ready for the next incarnation.

Andrew Shykofsky 37:31

Unless, and this is, I think, a huge debating point. I mean, how many people I’ve met, spiritual people go like, yeah, this is my last life. I’m not coming back.

Candice Wu 37:39

Yeah.

Andrew Shykofsky 37:40

Well, why do you say that?

Candice Wu 37:43

Because I have some friends that say that. And I’m like, Well, how do you know that? And you don’t want to come back? Like, it’s just an interesting thing to hear from someone and I always get curious about what their idea of that is. So — yeah.

Andrew Shykofsky 38:00

Yeah.

Andrew Shykofsky 38:00

Well, I mean, to me, it makes sense. I mean, the more that you develop spiritually, I mean, I think the earth becomes a harder place to live in a lot of ways. Because, I mean, I don’t want to be a downer. But it’s like, there’s it’s just, I find it difficult because of the discrepancies between the true intent and the, you know, sort of the way that people relate, and also just the degree to which people are interested in this stuff. So it makes sense to me when a really sensitive person who loves God and loves people and loves the earth, goes, yeah, I’m not coming back because I think they’re looking for some sense of security that I don’t have to, please don’t make me go back to that place.

Candice Wu 38:37

Yeah. Right.

Andrew Shykofsky 38:40

No, I get that.

Candice Wu 38:41

Yeah, it is a hard place to be.

Andrew Shykofsky 38:43

But at the same time, I agree. Let’s lay it out there. I mean, you know, just watching what we do to the planet, if you love the planet. I mean, it’s just, you know, it’s just sad and then you have a presence is coming in and sort of almost reversing all these, all the progress that the groups have worked for decades to try to protect the environment is now going like, well, doesn’t matter. We want oil and we want coal. I mean, it’s just heartbreaking.

Candice Wu 39:09

It’s excruciating.

Andrew Shykofsky 39:11

Okay, so I think that, like you, I don’t know, if I mean, what I was taught was that, as a priest, I have taken a vow to come back into physical incarnations for as long as is needed, that souls, there are souls on earth who are striving for, you know, the kind of path that I was given, that it is my duty, and in my responsibility to incarnate, go through the process, and once again of self-realization in the next body, and then the abuse as a priest.

Andrew Shykofsky 39:43

I mean, I remember I had a psychic reading when I was in my 20s and a woman said, Oh, you’ve been a priest in another life. Now back then my idea of a priest was different than it is now but something in me went, Oh, that’s kind of cool. I felt good about it, you know, it wasn’t until almost 30 years later that I became a priest, or 25 years later didn’t actually go, Oh, yeah, I mean, I would say with quite a bit of certainty, that this vow of service has been on my soul for a while.

Andrew Shykofsky 40:09

And so, with having taken the vow in this life, I’m accepting like, well, I’ll come back as long as I must. And then even if I don’t have to, and they say, Well, do you want to come back? I may come back, just because, you know, if I’m, if I’ve developed enough to go like, yeah, it’s a bit irritating. But if I can help a few people, I mean, that really does the most joy for me, is being able to do things that are meaningful to other people. I wouldn’t, I was not like that when I was younger. In my 20s I did not have that mentality. So that transformation has been as a result of coming into the presence of Christ and going, life is about being of service to others and in so doing, your life will be blessed. And people will go like, well, people are just going to take all your energy and all your money and all your, you know, like, how can that be joyful? Well, you got to experience it. I mean, they don’t take all your money, they take a little bit, not all of it.

Andrew Shykofsky 41:07

I mean, actually, that’s not even true, because I have more money now than I’ve ever had, you know, and I don’t even have a job.

Andrew Shykofsky 41:13

I mean, my point is, by being flippant about it is like, yeah, God has really rewarded me, I think, or graced me, whatever language because I’m all in. And I’m trying, I’m sort of like trying to be you know, there’s a passage in the Bible that talks about John the Baptist as the voice in the wilderness crying out, make straight the ways of the Lord. In other words, go, like straighten up, like, let’s rain in those places where we fade away, because we’re depressed, or we’re disappointed, we’re angry, and, you know, rain in those tendencies to be selfish and kind of lustful and so: Well, everybody else is doing so I’m going to get my chunk. Like, let’s make it a straight, nice, clean connection between me and God. And, you know, let’s see how that looks.

Candice Wu 41:58

Yeah.

Andrew Shykofsky 41:58

And sometimes I feel like that I’m, I’m kind of at these courses, or what I teach or classes going, like, oh, man, this is so cool if you do this, you know, it might take a few years, I wish I could say it’s 30 days, but it’s not. And, but you’re going to — this is going to happen, and then you’re going to have this change. And then you know, if you stay with it, you’ll be brought through this initiation and that’s a whole shift in consciousness. And, you know, initially, that brings up some darkness, because you take on more light, you’re going to see more darkness, but that’ll fade away if you, you know, it’s like, knowing the process and then conveying it as articulate as I can. And then, you know, feeling a lot of people going like, hey, sounds great. Sounds like it worked out for you and, you know, maybe we’ll see you next week. But, you know, I probably have to clean my yard or so.

Candice Wu 42:43

Oh, right. Are you saying like, it can be a lot for people? Or —

Andrew Shykofsky 42:48

Well, I think it can be a lot for people. And also, I think that for some people, it’s like, yeah, I mean, it doesn’t, I don’t think this is it. Now, like what you’re saying sounds like it works for you. But — and I’m used to that, you know, I don’t feel it’s my obligation to force people into a super-spiritual path. But you know, it can be painful and frustrating to be sitting with somebody who’s got a particular challenge, and you’re going like inside of myself I’m like: oh, man, this could be alleviated through this process.

Andrew Shykofsky 43:24

But, you know, we can only sort of be, I don’t know, we can help out as we can. And that’s part of this journey is letting people as souls have the free will to do whatever path they want.

Candice Wu 43:37

Yeah, I can relate to that, too. And I think it’s a really powerful place to be to have gone through your own journey and to have come to a place of love where it’s got enough clarity, that it’s not about your own agenda to support someone, but about what you can offer and that’s wonderful that you’re doing that. So where are you on your journey?

Andrew Shykofsky 44:03

I’m in a kind of a difficult spot, I’ll be honest with you. I mean, as a result of being ordained this summer into, you know, this level known as master teacher, I mean, my sensitivity right now is higher than it’s ever been to, you know, the realities of what’s going on, my, you know, in social situations on the planet, I mean, I can’t even, I really can’t even listen to even NPR, any news, I can’t listen to it. It’s just it has such a negative effect on me and I think that there’s an integration period, you know, once when on this path, when you’re ordained, it’s a dramatic shift in consciousness that reveals itself, sometimes over weeks or over months.

Andrew Shykofsky 44:45

And, you know, some people have a more refined skill when it comes to inner personal relationships, that has not been my specialty. In other words, when there’s a discrepancy between somebody’s intent, I mean, like, for example, I’m sure you’re familiar as a psychologist or somebody in that realm with passive-aggressive expressions of anger and that is something that I deal with daily, in a way that’s very difficult for me, because it’s not kind to bring it up, if somebody is doing that, if somebody may not have the spiritual sight to see it and yet to be the recipient of it, is really difficult. It really has a bad effect on me. And I mean, with the shift in my sensitivity, as a result of this ordination, it’s like magnified.

Andrew Shykofsky 45:35

So I am learning how to, I mean, and then my challenge, because I’ve signed on to be a priest and a teacher is to love people, regardless of what kind of energy they throw my way, that doesn’t necessarily mean I got to hang out with them and be a punching bag. But it does mean that I am not allowed. It’s not — I don’t allow myself the choice to write somebody off because of the, you know, I mean, yeah, they may not be in my life day to day, but if I’m aware that there’s something in me that’s closed my heart to them, that’s not acceptable. I’m really not allowed to, I put that standard on myself, because that’s how I was taught. And that is, I mean, for lack of a better word is brutal. It’s brutal to face that kind of challenge when, you know, there’s no apology forthcoming. There’s no awareness of it. And also, it’s lonely in that sense. I mean, I don’t want to come on your show and make a you know, soapbox plea for but it’s like, I’m just being straight up with you as far as, I love the fact that I was, that somebody saw the receptivity to the teachings and work with me and prepared me for ordination and had the faith that I would be true to the ordination that I’m totally grateful for.

Candice Wu 46:44

Thank you for sharing that. It sounds really hard when you said, you’ve made that choice and commitment to keep your heart open, not close your heart off to someone even if you’re experiencing that passive-aggressiveness coming towards you. How does that work out? What does it look like to stay in that engaged connection?

Andrew Shykofsky 46:44

And if, you know, we had more time, I’ll tell you how difficult that journey was working with teachers coming upon teachers that were a little bit off and being misled and stuff, I had that all as part of this journey. And yet, I had no other choice in terms of, well, this is what I got to do. I just know what’s right for me. But I’m in a period now, it’s like six months since my ordination that, not quite six months, I would say it’s very difficult and I accepted. I see it changing over time as I soften, relax, learn a higher level of compassion and acceptance. But yeah, this is a challenging phase for me.

Andrew Shykofsky 47:53

Well, it’s real simple. I mean, I appreciate the question. Because I mean, this is the kind of stuff that I’d love to talk about, you know, that somebody would actually be curious. It’s a very, you know, one level, it’s a very subtle experience, because when I’m sitting and counseling people, and I can sense that the energy, you know, they’re going like, Well, you know, they really badly hurt me, or they wounded me, but it’s fine. You know, I have forgiven them, I moved on. But the energy is not yet really forgiveness, you know, there’s a sense that, as long as I don’t see them, as long as I don’t hear their name, as long as I don’t hear about what they’re doing, it’s fine. But bring that person into the room and all of a sudden, you know, it’s like the dander is going to go up, because there’s still a sense of unresolved angst or anguish, or there’s a tightness about what happened in the past.

Andrew Shykofsky 48:36

If I sense that there’s something about that in me towards another person, because of, you know, some element about the relationship, I have to resolve it. I have to sit in meditation and I have to feel myself tempted to want to, you know, say to myself, well I want this person out of my life, it’s fine, it’s done with, I won’t have to think about it. And I go, Okay, that’s not an acceptable solution, I have to sit here in meditation and I have to reach a place where internally, I do not go down that path. I go, I have to get to a place where there is no guile in me towards this person, there’s no desire to get away from them. It doesn’t mean I have to hang out with them or have a relationship. But the connection if I was to see them, I would be able to hug them and it would be — and here’s a place where I actually was able to accomplish this.

Andrew Shykofsky 49:24

And it was a monumental feat that my dad who, you know, was responsible for sexually molesting me, and I did confront him within a number of years ago, and he never admitted anything. And I went on a long journey with the teachers that I had to reach a place of understanding, acceptance, and forgiveness of all what I went through, so that I was able to have a relationship with my dad in the present that had no spite on my end, no need for me to get him to validate anything. No hidden desire to watch him suffer for anything.

Andrew Shykofsky 49:58

It took months, actually, it took months of sitting in meditation, reaching that place, and then just becoming furious, pounding the pillows on the couch going, that’s all I can do today. Because you know, it’s maddening. Maddening when you think about another adult human being taking advantage of their child. I mean, it’s sick, right? Obviously, we know that element of society as sick, to be the recipient of it and realize over your adult life as I have been. How difficult it is to recover from that, like when your sexuality gets all you know rewired because of somebody else’s selfishness and lost at an early age.

Andrew Shykofsky 50:32

It’s really hard to get back to neutral. I mean, we sort of get back to a place where we function, but we don’t have the same clean parts that you get out of the factory, right? What I mean is your internal neurology is not the same. So somebody could be angry about that for their whole life. And just go, yeah, my whole life was ruined, because of what you know, if you counsel people. So how do you get to a place where you accept that, like, somebody walks in and, you know, cuts off your leg and you’re supposed to go, Okay, well, I got to get to a place where I have no guile towards that person that’s permanently crippled me.

Andrew Shykofsky 51:05

It is possible, it’s possible to get there. But I don’t think it’s possible without a connection to Christ, to God to love, that has to open my sight to be able to stay in that vibration, that energy, that attitude and be truthful about it and I’ve done that work. And I know how hard it is and some days, I just have to go, I’ll pick it up tomorrow. I can’t finish it right now. Because, you know, like I was telling you in the beginning, when the first thing that I became aware of was like, I cannot stand hypocrisy. I’m way more easy-going when somebody says, Yeah, I did that and this was my intent, and I’m not even sorry about it. Okay, well, hey, at least you’re being honest. I like the honesty.

Candice Wu 51:44

Right.

Andrew Shykofsky 51:45

When somebody is not being honest, oh, my God, it’s like, maddening to me. And when I was younger, all I wanted to do was expose those lies and go, I’m going to show you what a liar you are. Okay, well, that’s not helpful. But internally, how do you get to a place where even if they’re being hypocritical, and they know that they’re lying, and they know that they’re doing all these things, and then they deny them, how do you reach a place where there’s no guile, there’s no anger, there’s no sense of justice not being, you know, brought about. All I can tell you is that consciousness exists to get there. And it’s just to what degree you’re guided, and you’re driven to get there, but oh, my God, how liberating.

Andrew Shykofsky 52:24

You know, there’s a great passage in the Gospel where Jesus talks about, you know, if you’re angry at somebody, basically go and resolve it with them and if you can resolve it one on one, bring somebody else with you, and see if that person can mediate, and if they still can’t resolve it, then bring the whole congregation.

Candice Wu 52:38

Wow.

Andrew Shykofsky 52:38

And if you still can resolve it, at least, you know, forgive them before God. Because if you don’t, he says, you know, you will be taken, you know, to the trial, and the judge will, you know, condemn you and you will be in prison, and the guard will take you to prison, and you will remain in there until every penny has been paid. But people go, Well, that sounds pretty harsh.

Andrew Shykofsky 52:56

What it means on the mystical is if you don’t deal with your anger, you are going to be imprisoned by it. When you’re angry at somebody, I mean, I’m sure you can relate to this. If you’re in a relationship, and you’re angry at your partner, it’s like, it’s hell, because you can’t just be yourself with them. There’s an energy of having to maintain that tension until they see it or they apologize or whatever. It’s terrible.

Candice Wu 53:16

Absolutely.

Andrew Shykofsky 53:17

Getting to a place where you forgive — so I was saying a lot of stuff, let me finish this last point.

Candice Wu 53:21

Yeah.

Andrew Shykofsky 53:22

When you get to a point where you forgive somebody who brutalized you, and you truly reach that place of neutrality, that is a monstrous liberation of energy. And, you know, that’s the thing that you can’t explain to people or really communicate unless they go through it. And because I’ve been through it, and I can explain that, people — they give me a little more credibility. They’re like, wow, you know, that’s amazing. I don’t think I could ever do that. I’m like, you could do it. But yeah, you got to have to want to do it.

Candice Wu 53:50

Yeah, right. And it takes a lot of commitment to that and moving through the tough stuff to do it.

Andrew Shykofsky 53:59

Yeah. Because it was wrong, what was done. And you know, the person did lie, or they didn’t know what I mean, there are all sorts of reasons to go, no, why should I? Like, because you will be liberated if you do. And maybe like, well, maybe, maybe not but I can’t get involved in this. That’s how some people think and I get that too. I’m not down on people for that. It’s just like, again, if you feel like you’re the person screaming, hey, the solution is this road less traveled, you’ll really work if you stay in there.

Candice Wu 54:28

Yeah, I think what you’re saying is that we are the ones enslaved by that anger, or that situation, or that tension between us and whoever it is that we’ve had a situation with, and it’s incredibly liberating to find the place where either you’re able to be in connection with them with love, or that you’re walking away with respect, not with anger. It’s such a difference, like to be able, as you said, you don’t have to hang out with them. But when you walk away from them, what kind of feeling is behind that, has been one of my gauges as well for what’s going on underneath things. And I think I’m very much like you. I don’t think I would have said it in the same words as you have a commitment to keeping your heart open to other people. But that’s exactly what I do as well, whenever I experience some situation that brings another part out in me, even if I don’t want to deal with it, it’s like there’s no ignoring it.

Candice Wu 55:42

And, you know, there’s a deeper part of me that actually really does want to look at it and to know more about myself and to reach that freedom. And if I don’t, I also know, I’m just going to repeat it somewhere else until I do so. Sometimes I just let myself you know, do it again, but right, might as well do it now.

Candice Wu 56:07

Yeah, thanks for sharing that. That’s very real and tangible, what you’re saying.

Andrew Shykofsky 56:15

Good. Well, I think when you have that conscience, like what you’re describing, if the conscience won’t let you, you know, put it to rest, it’s just like, it’s a developmental stage where we go like, by ignoring this, I know I’m ignoring it and I can’t live with myself, because I’m ignoring something that I know, I should not be ignoring. And that’s a pressure, that a lot of people want to get away from that. But I think if everybody responded to it, we all just kind of we’re a little bit more responsible for the pressure of our conscience. You know, the world wouldn’t take that long for things to transform.

Candice Wu 56:48

I think that goes back to truth. Like how, what’s our relationship to truth?

Andrew Shykofsky 56:54

Yeah, how much you value it? How much do you want it?

Candice Wu 56:57

Or, how much are we afraid of it or —

Andrew Shykofsky 56:59

Right. Well, that’s true. I think that the reason that people are afraid of it because it’s going to create pressure for things to change.

Candice Wu 57:06

Yeah.

Andrew Shykofsky 57:06

You know, and I love that, actually. I mean, I don’t always love it. There are days where I, you know, I wish it could be a little lower. But ultimately, you know, it’s like, in the beginning of the path, that pressure, well, first of all, it’s liberating because like, Oh my god, there’s a way. There’s a way to be liberated. So there’s this great joy in the beginning of finding a path and then there’s the sort of the harder phase and like, Oh, my God, I have to stop doing this and I got to start doing this. And oh, my God, I’m exhausted.

Candice Wu 57:33

Right.

Andrew Shykofsky 57:33

Because I thought it was okay or I hope that was okay. It’s like, not that I’m not okay. It’s just that, yeah, you know, I mean, if you go to the bin of dirty water and drink it, you’re going to get sick. And I go, like, why don’t you walk the extra mile and get it directly out of the rivers and I kind of got to walk a mile?

Candice Wu 57:49

Yeah.

Andrew Shykofsky 57:50

I’m just going to drink the sewer water. It’s like, it’s making you sick. I know. But whatever. I can deal with it.

Andrew Shykofsky 57:57

No, I mean, in a way, it’s like it’s just a mile. I know. But that’s like 20 minutes if I walk and it’s cold outside, and then by the time I get home, the waters too cold. Just —

Candice Wu 58:06

That’s an interesting trade-off, right?

Candice Wu 58:10

The things that we don’t want to do, but the things that we’re willing to pay the price for?

Andrew Shykofsky 58:16

I know.

Candice Wu 58:16

Yeah.

Andrew Shykofsky 58:18

It’s kind of disheartening sometimes, you know, when you’re, I mean, I don’t know. Let’s stay on topic here.

Candice Wu 58:25

Well, speaking of the topic, what —

Andrew Shykofsky 58:29

We are at the end here?

Candice Wu 58:29

Well, I think so. I have one more question for you and feel free to ask anything of me.

Candice Wu 58:36

This question is, what really brings you alive at the moment? What’s inspiring to you or life-giving?

Andrew Shykofsky 58:46

Oh, man, after my diatribe about the most of the hardest phase in my life, what brings me alive.

Andrew Shykofsky 58:52

You know, I am lucky that at least probably three or four times each week, I mean, I’m teaching a Monday morning class at this place, it’s a spiritual coop in Mount Pleasant, which is about a 25-minute drive from where I live, and it seems it’s considered part of Charleston. This place has been running for a while the woman who runs it, she’s basically a Christian mystic. She’s love — she’s really encouraging me to do these classes.

Andrew Shykofsky 59:18

So when I sit in the class and I get to speak of this stuff, I absolutely come alive. I’m so hopeful. I’m so full of spirit, I’m so engaged. When I do my Sunday services here, in my home, I have a relatively large room as a chapel so we have people come, we meditate, we sing, I do a sermon, I teach a Bible contemplation class from the mystical perspective on Wednesday nights.

Andrew Shykofsky 59:44

And finally, I mean, I’ve been in Chicago, Charleston, about 10 months and we’re getting consistent attendance at these things. I mean, in the beginning, when you start a mystical community, it takes a while before even one person will come and then when you get one person coming, it’s a little awkward, they’re like, Am I the only one here? It’s like, yeah, but if you just stuck around, you help us get the second person.

Andrew Shykofsky 1:00:04

And so now, these things, I mean, we had five people at the Bible contemplation last Wednesday. We had three people at Sunday service yesterday at Bliss, we had, I think, seven, these are good numbers, and to be able to sit in the room with people who are engaged in this stuff and be able to speak the truth that I know, at whatever level I’m at, and interact. It’s just so comforting to sit with people who resonate with this stuff. And what a privilege to be the teacher, you know, to sit there and be able to express what I have experienced and hopefully create some hope for others who may want that. That’s what really brings life to me.

Candice Wu 1:00:41

Yeah, there’s really nothing like being able to be fully expressed in yourself and to be received and gotten by those around you. And —

Andrew Shykofsky 1:00:51

Yeah.

Candice Wu 1:00:53

Like swimming in the same pool.

Andrew Shykofsky 1:00:55

That’s so true.

Andrew Shykofsky 1:00:56

I mean, I do love teaching, and I do love, I love the gospel story. I don’t teach all the Bible, I teach the Gospels primarily because I believe that Jesus lived a life that demonstrates how do we get into the full realization of Christ consciousness. I believe that that’s what his gospel is truly about. This is how he says, I am the truth, the life, and the way. So he might as well said, I will help you and show you how to come into the full realization of your potential as a Christ as being. It just, you know, you need some help, most people need some help and being able to interpret the teachings of Scripture. So that’s one of my roles is to be a facilitator to help people get to unlock the mysteries that are in there.

Candice Wu 1:01:39

I like how that sounds, the mystery within us. And —

Andrew Shykofsky 1:01:43

Yeah, that sounds cool, right?

Candice Wu 1:01:45

Sounds great.

Andrew Shykofsky 1:01:47

Yeah, I mean, I, I’ve been doing the Bible contemplation, I was a student in there, you know, for seven years, and teaching the class for another eight years, and it’s always freaking fascinating, you know. I have some of these passes I’ve done a dozen times, I’m like, Oh, my God, that’s a different angle. I never thought of it. Because, you know, they call the Gospels, the living word, the teaching comes alive, based on who’s in the room or where people are at, the time of the year, etc. There’s no other book that I have found that has that kind of mystical quality.

Candice Wu 1:02:18

Yeah, I’ve heard the living word. But what you’re saying gives so much meaning to it. It’s very alive. It’s very evolving. Sounds like —

Andrew Shykofsky 1:02:29

Yeah, exactly. I mean, it’s so cool. Because I’ll sit there and meditate. I’ll pick a passage beforehand, I’ll go into meditation. I feel the Christ and saying, well, let’s do this passage tonight. So okay, let me read it. Let me just get a custom to where it’s at and part of me be like, there’s always something going okay, what does that mean today? And then when we get into the class, it’s like, someone will say something like, Oh, that’s cool. Well, can I just say more about that and it starts to take the conversation because the Spirit of God is present, trying to bring forth the teachings that each one of us needs that night and so stuff comes up. That’s just, like, so freaking cool. You just go like, man, I love this.

Candice Wu 1:03:08

I love that. I’ve often started like, women circles, doing that same sort of thing, not reading from the Bible, or the Gospels, but with pieces of our own lives or other things that inspire us, or some idea and concept. and I think it’s so cool that you’re doing that. And I almost feel like, how come I didn’t know this sooner? Like, all this time I was teaching right next to you while you were doing this and this sounds pretty growth-full and magical and real. Powerful.

Andrew Shykofsky 1:03:51

Yeah, I think I’ve become very discreet about talking about Christian things. Because, you know, I’ll probably, I’m sure with yourself, I may have, like, put out a question at some point about what’s your sense of, you know, Christ or Christianity. And if it was, like, if you had said something like, well, it’s not really my path, but I respected which is probably something that I would have might have heard from you. I probably just decided that it wasn’t something I wanted to, these people can become sensitive it’s like, are you trying to convert me? I really don’t want that right now. So, you know, this is a better form for me to become enthusiastic because I don’t, there’s no part of me that wonders if you think I’m trying to get you engaged, and you know, something that’s not really right for you.

Candice Wu 1:04:34

Right, cleaner.

Andrew Shykofsky 1:04:37

So that’s probably my reasoning behind that. But it’s yeah, it’s just nice that you can hear and receive it, even if it’s not necessarily the thing that you exactly want to do. I think you and I relate to the excitement and enthusiasm of truth. And just, I mean, when I hear the truth, like in these Bible classes, I just like, it’s like a direct injection of pure love energy into my bloodstream. You can’t help but get high off that.

Candice Wu 1:05:01

Well, I think it’s a, I can feel and with the words you’re saying as well, were you are really interested in the work that you’re doing, in the teaching that you’re doing, and your own growth. And maybe some of the verses in gospel or Bible don’t really resonate with me. But as I’m hearing you speak to them, and then go to the aspect of what’s underneath it, or the mystery in it, or something that feels very spiritual around it, not as literal or concrete, that really resonates with me.

Candice Wu 1:05:43

So thank you for sharing all this today and sharing this with all of our listeners in such a candid way. I’ve really learned a lot and enjoyed hearing your story.

Andrew Shykofsky 1:05:56

Oh, cool. Well, you’re welcome, Candice, it’s has been nice to be able to keep in touch with you over the years, even if we’re in different parts of the world. And you know, it seems instantaneous, that we can just pick things up from where we left them off, because there’s no imposition of agenda between you and I. And so that’s, you know, a beautiful thing to know souls on the planet where if you don’t see him for two years, and then you know, you see them, you sit down, you have a coffee, or you know, whatever beverage you just can get right into it, and just get to pick it up again, and then walk away and go like, well, I’ll see you when I see you and I know you’ll be out there. And hopefully, you’re doing the good works. But —

Candice Wu 1:06:34

Yeah.

Andrew Shykofsky 1:06:34

If you slip and you want to reach out, call me or if you have a triumphant moment and you want to send me a text, I’d love to hear about it.

Candice Wu 1:06:40

Yeah. Well, it helps from one Aries to another. It helps that we’re both Aries for that kind of connection.

Andrew Shykofsky 1:06:47

I know.

Candice Wu 1:06:48

Yeah.

Andrew Shykofsky 1:06:49

Probably right. That’s a good point.

Candice Wu 1:06:51

Well, you have a video online, Do We Create Reality, and just wanted to mention that to anyone listening who’s interested in learning more. And would you like to share your audience gift?

Andrew Shykofsky 1:07:09

I would, I mean, it was two things: The first thing, when we introduced me, you talked about coming to one of my visualization classes and you know, I spent about 25 years working on these techniques, just because I don’t think you can ever quite have it locked down. So I made a video, that’s like, do we create reality? Because some of these visualization teachers will go like you create your own reality and there’s a discrepancy is like, well, I create my own reality, or do I create the reality? You know, like, well, I think that the video explains how you create the reality that you live, but you have to be respectful of the, you know, the global reality, you can’t go in there, and like, one of the examples I use was, just because you want it to be 85 degrees and warm, and you’re living in a place where currently it’s 32 degrees, you’re not going to be able to visualize that. Now, I also say, you can try, because maybe I’m wrong.

Andrew Shykofsky 1:07:59

But I think, you know, let’s not be ridiculous, let’s try to use visualization to augment the reality that we live in so that it really works for us. And so that’s what that video is teaching.

Andrew Shykofsky 1:08:14

As far as the gift, I run a meditation center here in Charleston and I believe meditation is central to any kind of spiritual growth, to be able to, you know, sort of, dislodge momentarily from the physical, material reality and go into the internal. And so I’m offering if anybody’s in the area, Charleston, you know, which people know that where that area extends to, and they want to take my course, I’m offering a couple of new level one courses in January, always good to learn something at the beginning of the year. And if they want to write to me, my email, I’ll give them half off the course, the course is $239 for eight sessions, and so whatever half of that is, we do the math, but 120 minus 50 cents. I guess I just did the math.

Candice Wu 1:09:03

It’s all ready for you.

Andrew Shykofsky 1:09:05

It’s all right there.

Candice Wu 1:09:06

Yeah, then we’ll put your information, your email in the show notes. So if anyone’s listening and wants to get hold of you, just connect in there. And where can people find you, other than your email?

Andrew Shykofsky 1:09:23

Well, I have two websites. I’m anticipating you know, most people who may listen to this or probably not living in the immediate Charleston area. So if you’re interested in the things I spoke about, as a priest, I have the www.mysticalchurchofchrist.org. And if you’re interested in meditation and some of the wisdom teachings that have resulted from meditation, I have my www.meditatecenter.com.

Candice Wu 1:09:55

And you still have your meditation course online. Is that right?

Andrew Shykofsky 1:09:58

I do have a meditation course online. So if you go to the meditate center website, you’ll see there’s, you know, if you’ve fish around, surf around on that site, you’ll be able to find it. And if people want to write to me, they can write to me, it’s [email protected].

Candice Wu 1:10:17

Yeah, all of that will be available on the website, so don’t have to memorize it all.

Candice Wu 1:10:23

Well, thanks, Andrew. Are there any last words? Any last living words for the moment?

Andrew Shykofsky 1:10:30

Yeah, my last living words is don’t give up hope. I mean, the truth is there, the love is there, it’s probably just not the way we think or wished it would look. So that part I get, but, you know, there’s that old adage, that old adage that like, when you’re ready, the teacher will appear.

Candice Wu 1:10:46

Yeah.

Andrew Shykofsky 1:10:46

I think if you’re ready in your searching, you know, you’ll find someone who will help you. And I am, I get weird emails from, I say weird emails, I’m going to get random emails from people in Africa and India, they found my website, they’re like, how can you help me get to Christ?

Candice Wu 1:10:59

Oh, wow.

Andrew Shykofsky 1:11:00

You know, it’s I’m always willing to — Yeah, I know, and some of these people like, —

Candice Wu 1:11:05

That’s amazing.

Andrew Shykofsky 1:11:07

People in Africa are so kind and gentle and simple, in a way. I mean, not all of them. I don’t know all of them. But you know, just like, my heart goes out to that kind of, just that raw tenderness of people just like, I need help. Can you help me? I like that.

Candice Wu 1:11:20

Yeah.

Andrew Shykofsky 1:11:20

So just don’t give up. You know, it’s sad to live in a life where there’s no hope. I think hope, you know, is the bringer of life. So that’s my final last word. And just thank you so much. I mean, just being, having yourself to ask these incredible questions and to listen, to let me speak about things that matter so much to me. I mean, it’s very moving and I’m deeply grateful. You know, hope we get to do this again sometime.

Candice Wu 1:11:46

Thank you. I deeply enjoyed it and I’m very touched by the work you’re doing, and who you are and it’s an honor to have you here today. Thank you.

Andrew Shykofsky 1:11:57

Okay. Well, thank you. That’s very kind.

Candice Wu 1:11:59

It was so great to have Andrew, I learned a lot about him a lot of what we talked about today, as you can hear, from my surprise, at different times, and my own discovery, all of that was new to me. And as I said, we talk in a very real level where we just converse about how we’re doing on our journey and where we are in life and some of the history of who he is and where he came from, and what he’s done has always been in our conversation. So I hope you enjoyed that. And I hope also that brings some level of unity to the conversation because a lot of what he’s talking about, perhaps it has shifted some of your ideas about where the crossovers are of spirituality, God, consciousness, love, where we can really come together on those same ideas in a different language from a different angle, and landing in the same place.

Candice Wu 1:13:04

If you found any of this conversation interesting, check out his sample video of Do We Create Reality? where he talks a little bit more about how do you create your reality, how do we respect the global reality and what’s actually happening around us that is not in our control, and what do we do within that space where we do have control. So check that video out. It’s linked in the show notes at CandiceWu.com/andrew, and also his audience gift, if you’re in the Charleston area, or if you’re passing through, anyone hearing the podcast can email Andrew and receive 50% off the level one meditation course. And all that information can also be found at the show notes as well.

Candice Wu 1:13:51

Well, we’re coming down to the end. I am so glad that you joined us today. Thank you very much for listening. I appreciate all of you out there and I am just wishing you well on your seeking of love and truth as well as self. I hope this was insightful for you and I look forward to seeing you next week on the Embody Podcast.