Searching for the inner man; Group offers path to enlightenment

The ManKind Project started in 1985. An international organization with centers in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, it seeks to educate and empower men by affirming cultural, religious and national differences among its participants.

"It's a movement to uplift the masculine," says Sheldon Weinstein, a 63-year-old adherent and Lowcountry group leader.

Weinstein says that the since the beginning of human society, men formed groups to enhance their ability to survive in harsh environments. This survival instinct enabled men to become better hunters and better protectors of their respective tribes and communities.

To join the society of men, boys were required to endure an initiation that often involved introspection and communication with the forces thought to govern life and society, Weinstein says. But since those cave-dwelling days, the transition from childhood to manhood has become increasingly undervalued, he said, and in today's culture, initiation typically involves 'getting drunk and getting laid.'

"The idea is to put men back together in circles to figure out what does that mean for us today," he says. What does it mean to "move from boy thinking to man thinking," to be responsible, to be in tune with one's feelings, to be truly empowered? "Men need a lot of help today."

Read more in Sunday's Post and Courier.