A beautiful light has gone out with the recent death of my old friend, Kerry Riley.
Kerry is the first of my close contemporaries who has died, so his death, even though we knew it was coming was a blow, a gut punch. We knew it was coming and hoped it wouldn’t. But eventually it did, and, from what his wife, Diane, has told me, it was time.
Battling aggressive prostate cancer became Kerry’s life for more than a decade. In the case of cancer, it’s so often the case that it’s not just the patient’s battle but his family’s as well.
When I reflected on why Kerry’s passing affected me so much I realised it felt like we’d been kids together. Not like six-year olds, but more like 20 and 30 year-olds with stars in our eyes about what we could bring to the world. We wanted to make a difference. For me, it was the health benefits of yoga. For Kerry, it was Japanese therapies including macrobiotics, shiatsu and oki yoga. We were idealistic educators and ever so committed.
I had the utmost respect and admiration for Kerry. He was a pioneer. When he was still a classroom teacher, he introduced the tough Port Kembla kids to meditation and amazingly got them to do it. After gaining healing skills at the Oki Dojo in Japan and the East West Centre, Kerry went on to study the mind and presented large seminars on mind powers training. Then came Tantra teaching and the beautiful collaboration between Diane and Kerry—the Australian School of Tantra and goddess training—which live on.
The crowning glory of a life, I believe, is one’s legacy. With Kerry, there are the obvious achievements of his– some of which I’ve mentioned. He was a magnetic personality and had such a simple and heartfelt way of teaching what he believed in.
Kerry was a lifelong and intrepid vegetable gardener. I would say that his greatest legacy is the love that he’s planted in all our hearts, and most especially those of Diane, Soleil, Lisa, Sam and the grandkids.
Here’s an song that I learned that reminds me of Kerry:
When you were born you cried, and the world rejoiced.
Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you will rejoice.
Navaho Prayer
Congratulations Kerry on graduating on this journey from the school of life and returning home. Your mind power course helped me become aware of who I am and my purpose in my life’s journey and I’m sure many others too.
Oh my goodness I’m so saddened to learn of his passing. I was just yesterday telling my son about him and how amazing he was. I did his Mind Powers course and then a 10 day retreat which was so incredible. I learned so much from him. His knowledge was so broad. And his teaching so dynamic and charismatic. He was really an incredible human being in my opinion. He altered the course of my life for the better and I have always been grateful to have come across him and made use of all the things he offered.
I was telling my son too the funny story he told of how at one point in his earlier journey, he had become incredibly zen, to the point that he was unreactive to virtually anything. Which drove Diane nuts until one day she threw a bucket of water over him and said there, zen that! Hahaha.
Heaven is blessed with his presence and I was blessed to experience it. Very very grateful for Kerry Riley.
xxxxx
Thankyou for the gifts you shared with me that allowed me to embrace my sexuality and sensuality like I have never been able to before.
I went to one of Kerry’s free mind power courses in the late eighties in Melbourne. It changed my life. No one had ever given.. any education about the power of the mind before,or how to use it. Thank you Kerry for all you gave
How wonderful that you have these tools from Kerry, Geoffrey.
He had a positive influence on so many people.
Kind regards,
Eve
I am sorry to have just discovered the loss of Kerry, via this link. I did Kerry’s first Mind Powers Course in Brisbane in the mid 1980s. Kerry’s course changed my thinking, reacting, and life. I went from being very sceptical, to a believer in change. I thought that I would share an amazing coincidence. Back in the early 1990s, when I was a 737 First Officer/Co pilot with Ansett Australia, I had to passenger down to Sydney one morning, and go to the Hilton Hotel at Sydney Airport for a rest period, prior to crewing a night flight out to Norfolk Island and return. I was due to be collected from the hotel at 9pm. I was having a bit of a down day mentally. I did my exercises on the floor of my room, had a sleep, and spent a good part of the day doing affirmations, meditation and revisiting the Mind Powers 6 laws etc.
When I checked out just prior to 9pm, and was walking out of the hotel to the waiting car to go to the International Terminal, to crew the flight, I stopped in my tracks at the door of the hotel book shop / news agency. I said to the Captain, “I will be with you in a minute.” As I had spotted a male in the shop. I entered and walked up to this male, and said “excuse me, but are you Kerry Riley?” The male answered yes! I quickly introduced myself and thanked Kerry for his course and told him that it has really benefited me. I departed with haste, and made my way to the waiting Captain and car, feeling astounded.
How amazing that experience was! What a coincidence; or was it???? Extraordinary timing.
Thank you Kerry for the help that you gave to so many participants in Brisbane.
A lovely story, Paul, thank you for sharing. Kerry was my friend from 1978, before Mind Powers, so I saw his amazing trajectory from school teacher/vegetable farmer in Jamberoo, NSW, to inspiring influenser in the Northern Rivers. May his inspiration live one through friends and family.
Kind regards, Eve