Home of The Path of Non-Separation & Applied Awakening
Richardson-Borne Institute
est. 2016 | Lexington, Kentucky
The Teaching of Michael Richardson-Borne
Michael Richardson-Borne is an American spiritual teacher and the creator of Applied Awakening and The Path of Non-Separation. Simplifying spiritual awakening into a series of “micro jumps” where many small shifts of identity experience accumulate to reveal what he calls Non-Separation, Michael’s teaching is now internationally recognized as a means to enact personal, cultural, and systemic change.
Michael’s work is portrayed in many mediums – everything from identity depth assessments with corresponding educational curriculum to spiritual, philosophical, and literary writing, lectures, and short films. He is currently working on a 4-volume series titled The Only Revolution Left.
Rather than living as a Separate Self in a nation filled with “others,” Michael’s life is a lived invitation to Non-Separation, a continuous call to establish a United States of America that no longer accepts the assumption of separative identities as the status quo.
“Mass cultural inquiry into the experience of life as a Separate Self is the only revolution left.”
–Michael Richardson-Borne
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About Richardson-Borne Institute
Richardson-Borne Institute’s purpose is to make spiritual awakening via The Path of Non-Separation available to anyone in the United States with an internet connection.
By working to provide Americans the means by which to realize Non-Separation, Richardson-Borne Institute advances Michael’s vision of Applied Awakening, the catalyzation of cultural, social, and political change through the transformation of human identity.
More specifically, Richardson-Borne Institute offers access to Michael’s vast body of work by producing books, websites, online courses, group and one-on-one teaching programs, artistic productions, and other materials and educational opportunities that bring The Path of Non-Separation and Applied Awakening into the lives of people seeking a grounded, authentic journey to spiritual awakening.
Richardson-Borne Institute serves Michael’s intention to assist Americans in overcoming “the primary assumption of humanity,” what he defines as “the belief in a Separate Self as the totality of lived experience.”
Offering educational assistance in spiritual awakening is the first step in transforming America’s “Culture of Separation” into a nation where all institutions have their foundations rooted in the wisdom of Non-Separation, not the limiting beliefs of the Separate Self.
Established in 2016, Richardson-Borne Institute now consists of four operational “quadrants” that represent and support the continuation of Michael’s work – The Path of Non-Separation, Applied Awakening, Soll Ich Werden, and The Richardson-Borne Foundation.
By working to provide Americans the means by which to realize Non-Separation, Richardson-Borne Institute advances Michael’s vision of Applied Awakening, the catalyzation of cultural, social, and political change through the transformation of human identity.
More specifically, Richardson-Borne Institute offers access to Michael’s vast body of work by producing books, websites, online courses, group and one-on-one teaching programs, artistic productions, and other materials and educational opportunities that bring The Path of Non-Separation and Applied Awakening into the lives of people seeking a grounded, authentic journey to spiritual awakening.
Richardson-Borne Institute serves Michael’s intention to assist Americans in overcoming “the primary assumption of humanity,” what he defines as “the belief in a Separate Self as the totality of lived experience.”
Offering educational assistance in spiritual awakening is the first step in transforming America’s “Culture of Separation” into a nation where all institutions have their foundations rooted in the wisdom of Non-Separation, not the limiting beliefs of the Separate Self.
Established in 2016, Richardson-Borne Institute now consists of four operational “quadrants” that represent and support the continuation of Michael’s work – The Path of Non-Separation, Applied Awakening, Soll Ich Werden, and The Richardson-Borne Foundation.
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The Four Branches of Richardson-Borne Institute
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“Being lived as Non-separation, nothing touches object to object.”
–Michael Richardson-Borne
1. The Path of Non-Separation
Essential to Michael’s teaching is the intellectual and experiential understanding of Non-Separation, what he defines as “the existence of being that includes personal, impersonal, and transpersonal experience.”
To assist in guiding people to this understanding, Michael developed The Path of Non-Separation, the official educational program for spiritual awakening at Richardson-Borne Institute.
Michael’s vision is for every person in the United States to live within a non-separative environment rooted in a "depth education" that establishes a detailed intellectual understanding of the Separate Self, offers developmentally appropriate inquiries for integrating all aspects of the Separate Self’s experience, and encourages practices for questioning the Separate Self until personal experience is re-contextualized in a broader field of non-separative existence.
From years of teaching The Path of Non-Separation, Michael has come to recognize universal incremental shifts of identity that can be “induced” by performing the relational practices he designs. Each practice progressively loosens the grip of the Separate Self as the sole interpretation of reality, freeing students from multiple layers of “fossilized” Separate Self stories by exposing the limited depth of each identity structure they discover within. Focusing on accomplishing these “micro jumps” from one primary identification to another, students build confidence and gain a kind of momentum that makes moving beyond the ego toward the realization Non-Separation a natural by-product of their learning.
To assist in guiding people to this understanding, Michael developed The Path of Non-Separation, the official educational program for spiritual awakening at Richardson-Borne Institute.
Michael’s vision is for every person in the United States to live within a non-separative environment rooted in a "depth education" that establishes a detailed intellectual understanding of the Separate Self, offers developmentally appropriate inquiries for integrating all aspects of the Separate Self’s experience, and encourages practices for questioning the Separate Self until personal experience is re-contextualized in a broader field of non-separative existence.
From years of teaching The Path of Non-Separation, Michael has come to recognize universal incremental shifts of identity that can be “induced” by performing the relational practices he designs. Each practice progressively loosens the grip of the Separate Self as the sole interpretation of reality, freeing students from multiple layers of “fossilized” Separate Self stories by exposing the limited depth of each identity structure they discover within. Focusing on accomplishing these “micro jumps” from one primary identification to another, students build confidence and gain a kind of momentum that makes moving beyond the ego toward the realization Non-Separation a natural by-product of their learning.
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Begin The Path of Non-Separation Free Study Program Today
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"Have you found the ‘point of view’ that is inherently rather than strategically non-violent?"
–Michael Richardson-Borne
–Michael Richardson-Borne
2. Applied Awakening
Applied Awakening is Michael’s response to a call for a “fourth political theory” beyond liberalism, communism, and fascism.
The moment a person remembers Non-Separation, an emergent experience of life is animated. This emergence induces a more sophisticated relational capacity that signals the beginning of Applied Awakening.
The transition from separative living to being lived as the non-separative application of awakening is the bedrock of an American social transformation Michael calls “the only revolution left.”
Michael’s approach to confronting the many challenges in the US is to first investigate the personal identity structures of the population as a whole – an inquiry that reveals how all US institutions are built upon the foundational belief in a Separate Self.
By unshackling the conservative, modern, and post-modern identity structures of the population in a way that uncovers the impacts of more mature self-identification, Michael’s teaching positions the US to collectively re-consider the separative conditions in which they live.
A population released into a mass consideration of the Separate Self is the spark needed for political and cultural change that transcends the shortcomings of past social revolutions.
Michael’s work in Applied Awakening highlights the “real politik” implications of the realization of Non-Separation individually and en masse. In The Divided States of America, an essay about Democrat-Republican relationship dynamics, Michael wrote, “Applied Awakening uncovers the only way to re-align the US culture of separation with its non-separative origin. The remembrance of Non-Separation empowers effortless understanding of the root cause of conflict and opens emergent behavioral pathways for never-seen-before solutions sourced from beyond the ego or Separate Self.”
The moment a person remembers Non-Separation, an emergent experience of life is animated. This emergence induces a more sophisticated relational capacity that signals the beginning of Applied Awakening.
The transition from separative living to being lived as the non-separative application of awakening is the bedrock of an American social transformation Michael calls “the only revolution left.”
Michael’s approach to confronting the many challenges in the US is to first investigate the personal identity structures of the population as a whole – an inquiry that reveals how all US institutions are built upon the foundational belief in a Separate Self.
By unshackling the conservative, modern, and post-modern identity structures of the population in a way that uncovers the impacts of more mature self-identification, Michael’s teaching positions the US to collectively re-consider the separative conditions in which they live.
A population released into a mass consideration of the Separate Self is the spark needed for political and cultural change that transcends the shortcomings of past social revolutions.
Michael’s work in Applied Awakening highlights the “real politik” implications of the realization of Non-Separation individually and en masse. In The Divided States of America, an essay about Democrat-Republican relationship dynamics, Michael wrote, “Applied Awakening uncovers the only way to re-align the US culture of separation with its non-separative origin. The remembrance of Non-Separation empowers effortless understanding of the root cause of conflict and opens emergent behavioral pathways for never-seen-before solutions sourced from beyond the ego or Separate Self.”
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"Being lived as Non-separation, personal autonomous action becomes an impersonal understanding, an impersonal existence of being that includes all personal experience."
–Michael Richardson-Borne
–Michael Richardson-Borne
3. Soll Ich Werden
In his early 20s, Michael met Guy Davenport (1926-2001), the man who would become his mentor and have the biggest artistic impact on his life. Davenport was a globally recognized polymath – a professor, a writer, a painter, a translator, and recipient of a MacArthur Genius Grant.
Michael fondly remembers a snowy Saturday morning during one of his many weekend visits to Guy’s house where they first discussed Guy’s controversial novella, Wo Es War, Soll Ich Werden. The title was taken from a famous quote by Sigmund Freud that translates, “Where it was, there shall I be,” or “Where id was, there ego shall be.”
Inspired by their conversation, Michael wrote a collection of poems that emulated Davenport’s colorful use of language, blending it with a passionate interest in eastern spiritual traditions and an exploration of Freud’s concept of the ego.
Michael titled this early work Soll Ich Werden, as its motive was to reveal “where ego shall be” as known from an awareness he had experienced that was able to objectify the ego.
Soll Ich Werden stuck as the over-arching moniker for Michael’s aesthetic, one that lives at the intersection of contemporary poetry, American culture, transpersonal psychology, and the remembrance of Non-Separation.
Today, Michael continues to work on a large collection of poems titled Where It Was as well as an experimental novel called There Shall I Be. He is also experimenting with short films shot on his iPhone.
Download a copy of Michael's poetry collection Two-Headed Monsters: Poems for a New American Dream
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"All personal experience leads to the same arrival point that it actually never left."
–Michael Richardson-Borne
–Michael Richardson-Borne
4. The Richardson-Borne Foundation
In partnership with the Center for Conscious Creativity, The Richardson-Borne Foundation is a scholarship fund that makes The Path of Non-Separation Study Program free for everyone with an internet connection.
As a 501(c)(3), Richardson-Borne Foundation accepts tax deductible contributions from students and aligned donors who wish to advance Michael's work.
If you’d like to contribute, please schedule a call so we can discuss your connection to Richardson-Borne Institute, why you’d like to donate, and how you would like your funds to be utilized.
As a 501(c)(3), Richardson-Borne Foundation accepts tax deductible contributions from students and aligned donors who wish to advance Michael's work.
If you’d like to contribute, please schedule a call so we can discuss your connection to Richardson-Borne Institute, why you’d like to donate, and how you would like your funds to be utilized.
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