Spiritual Counselor Coaches Clients in Awareness

On the wall of Roger Elkrief's office hangs a sign that reads, "This, is it."  So, what is "this"? Through counseling and teaching about spirituality, Elkrief wants to bring people to a direct experience of presence. He has the singular goal of cultivating awareness in himself and others. 

Elkrief is a self-taught spiritual teacher and counselor offering one-on-one sessions to adolescents and adults. In his individualized sessions, Elkrief helps people to make sense of their spiritual beliefs, answering questions about what it means to follow a spiritual path and encouraging clients as they develop their own senses of knowing. 

Elkrief's unique spiritual journey began 45 years ago in his native Morocco.  After a demanding career in business, Elkrief decided to follow his heart and share the fruits of his own spiritual seeking with others. He has been teaching spirituality for 10 years. 

Elkrief started out by teaching in groups, but saw that people often have difficulty opening up in a group setting, so he began to offer one-on-one counseling.  The essence of his message resonates with Socratic philosophy: "I teach how to know yourself, who you really are, your true nature.  My way is through direct experience. You feel it and you really know," he said.

Born Jewish, Elkrief has studied nearly every major world religion—taking something from each tradition to inspire himself and his students.  "My way is really a combination of many different paths," he said. "When I was 13, I decided I didn't believe in God."

Elkrief said he was an atheist for a long time, because he didn't feel that religion had anything to offer him. "I tried so many different rabbis, but for me it didn't work," he recalled. "What I teach now is absolutely practical. I don't adhere to a particular method.  I look first and see what is needed, and then what I say is mostly spontaneous."

Rather than undertaking a formal religious education, Elkrief chose to study under a variety of gurus and rely on his own experiences to advance his spiritual development. He says that our understanding of spirit is in constant evolution, so espousing a doctrine feels unnatural.

According to Elkrief, knowledge of spiritual traditions gives only limited access to growth.  "I respect all traditions," he insists, recognizing the value in every path and refraining from any judgment.  He also makes a distinction between knowing about spiritual matters and being spiritual, saying, "You can go to your knowledge, but then knowledge is all you have."   

When contacted for an interview with Patch, Elkrief suggested meeting in his office—and more than just providing an interview, Elkrief said it would be more interesting if we se up a guidance session, so I could write about my own experience with his method.

Before we began, Elkrief clarified what distinguishes his work from traditional counseling: "When you talk about your past, it is never ending.  There is always more of it to deal with.  As for the future, we don't know what it is."  Elkrief explained he finds it more useful to discuss what is real for people right now. 

To commence the session, he offered me some tea.  I was then instructed to sit, enjoy my tea and completely relax. I attempted to get centered and connect to my immediate surroundings. Discussing my practice of meditation, I said , "I am trying to retrain my mind."  Beginning with my statement, Roger invited me to look more closely:  "Already, I can see what we can work with.  You say that you are 'trying' to 'retrain' your mind. What if there was nothing to change and nothing to fix?" 

Next, Elkrief simply invited me to look deeply. He asked me what I saw.  When I looked up or down, or appeared to be thinking, he said, "Don't go away."  He asked if I was feeling anything.  Truthfully, I felt intimidated at the prospect of staying fully present for half an hour with another person.  It was very difficult to resist my usual stream of thoughts and I became aware of using thoughts to protect myself.

I was not asked to converse. Instead, I was being asked to still my mind and then perceive what remained in the stillness. When I realized there was no reason to be afraid, I looked and described what I saw. 

He asked, "Is it male or female?" 

I replied, "Neither." 

He continued, "Well then, what is there? What does it feel like?" 

I answered, "Raw creativity."  Describing awareness with words seemed counterintuitive, but I knew I was making some progress. 

When I asked Elkrief to describe what his work has taught him, he said, "Many people are confused about their spiritual paths—they don't know where they are, and it's mostly intellectual. One can spend thirty years in meditation and have no clue about who they are. They suffer a lot."  

He continued: "I do this work to help spirituality become clearer for people.  It is really to show how we create our own reality with our minds; our minds create our suffering.  We are what we think, but most people don't know that."

In addition to the private sessions he offers in his Hastings office, Roger Elkrief will be teaching group classes at Human Bodyworks beginning Saturday, October 2.  To inquire about his private sessions, please contact Roger Elkrief by phone at (914)-478-5353 or by e-mail at rogere108@yahoo.com.   To learn more about the upcoming classes at Human Bodyworks, please visit www.humanbodyworks.com.