Great River

GREAT RIVER INSTITUTE

GREAT RIVER INSTITUTE is a small, private research center located in Montvale, Virginia. GRI is dedicated to improving our awareness of who we are and our purpose for Being. The Institute has students and clients throughout the United States, as well as in countries around the world.

GRI has taught thousands of classes on hundreds of subjects. Seminars and course offerings cover a wide range of subjects, including Creativity, Prayer and Meditation, Dreams, Overcoming Negativity, Selfishness, Purpose, Karma, Nutrition, "The Bhagavad-Gita", Ralph Waldo Emerson, the "Book of John", music appreciation, Rhythm and Timing, esoteric arts and sciences, and much more.

Founded in 1989 by Scott Walter, GRI offers a variety of therapies and services including counseling, clinical hypnotherapy, regression therapy, healing, music and light therapy, and ministerial services. Mr. Walter is also a professional musician, arranger and composer, and is Music Director/Conductor of the Bedford Community Orchestra.

NOTE: This is neither an official nor unofficial GRI site. The views expressed here only reflect my personal perspectives and inner journey. Any and all errors, mistakes and omissions are solely mine.

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About Sensei

Sensei with his daughter, on her wedding day

Email Inquiry - Who is Sensei?

Q. The more I read about Sensei the more I feel interested. Sorry for not knowing, but who is he? Is there any website by or about him? Do you have any pictures of him?

A. I have put pictures here that show Sensei. He is my younger brother, Scott Walter. However, I recognize him as my teacher from past lives. He is an astounding individual.

GRI does not yet have a website. You can contact GRI at GrtRvrInst@aol.com.

Q. Wow, what a wonderful thing to know. All praise be to God. He is your younger brother and you feel such a great bond in terms of teacher - student relationship. That is really wonderful. Why does he not he start a blog? It’s so easy, I’m sure he can manage. Thus he can spread his wisdom and share with all of us and can touch hundreds of lives by his teachings. By the way, what does Sensei mean?

A. It is a great thing to be his student. He is far too busy to do a blog. Thank you for your kind thoughts about him, and your sincere expression of friendship. I will certainly convey your thoughts to him.

My meager websites are a personal attempt to spread his teachings to a wider audience, as seen through the eyes of a student.

Sensei means teacher. It is a Japanese word, and is primarily used to refer to a Master or teacher or instructor of the martial arts. He is a Master or “Shihan” in Jiu Jitsu, and is referred to as Scott, Master Scott, or Sensei. I nearly always refer to him as Sensei, even though he is my brother by birth; I see him as so much more than my brother. Many people call him Scott, and he certainly welcomes that. I am also a Sensei, but not a Master or Shihan. In the Jiu Jitsu dojo (training hall), students refer to me as Sensei Mark, but outside of the dojo everyone calls me Mark.

Q. Please convey my regards to your brother. Please mention that he has another fan in Singapore. Automatically I have become a disciple of Sensei by reading so many thoughts and ideas of him from your blog. Thanks also goes to you as well. I wish the best of luck to GRI. If I can help in anyway, please do let me know. I would be more than happy to help in anyway.

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Meaning, Great River

Def. (great river): connetquot: native american word meaning great river; the great spirit (native american), holy spirit (christian), ki (japanese), chi (chinese), prana (hindu), etc.

Shown above is the is oldest Chinese symbol for harmony. It represents ‘wa’ or the Original Harmony. This symbol is at the center of our Great River Jiu Jitsu patch, and is worn directly over the heart.

Machete Demonstration

“I so deeply believe in the principles I teach and live that I am willing to put my life on the line to prove it. How many teachers do you know who are willing to do that?”

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In 2005, a fellow blogger "L" said, “Mark, can you give us some further details about this brother of yours, such as early days, schooling, spiritual experiences, etc.? In such a way we may grow closer to the One.”

Family Background

We grew up in a family of four kids. Life was hard at times. We grew up in Virginia, and did a lot of moving around. I once counted that I lived in over 40 locations. Sometimes food was scarce, and we even had times where mom and my two sisters moved in with one family, and dad and us boys went in with another family. My dad was a minister, and I really enjoyed his sermons on the Book of Revelation. After the divorce things got even tougher. Mom had been out of the workforce since shortly after World War II, and now had to support a family of four kids with no job skills. She worked two or three jobs. Sometimes, to earn extra money, she would play the organ or piano on U.S. Navy ships on Sundays. After church, we’d all follow her to the Navy base, board a ship and help lead a church service for naval personnel. Eventually mom remarried, and our stepfather had two children of his own. Now we were a family of eight.

My brother was always a catalyst. He has often told me his earliest memories are of stars, but evidence of his unusual abilities didn’t show up in ways you might expect. At first they just manifested in everyday ways. For example, he had an imagination that was infectious, and could get you involved in a game or outdoor activity in a way that opened up your own imagination past its normal comfort or experience level – but always in a fun way. Being around him was always a stretch. And he had a certain infectiousness that brought out enthusiasm in others. In the neighborhood, young children would stop by our house and complain about bullies. Scott wasn’t that big himself, but he wouldn’t hesitate to defend the smaller kids, even if the bullies were bigger than him.

One of our childhood homes

In middle school he discovered music. He was a popular kid in band circles, and nearly always the leader. He didn’t push people out of the way to get that position, it just came to him. He wasn’t the greatest of academic students, but he had a gift and passion for music. He held principal trumpet positions in band and orchestra, and was elected to All American Band in 1972. He was playing professionally at 15 years of age. He majored in music at East Texas State University, playing in the ETSU Orchestra, Jazz Band and his own performing ensemble. He went on to a successful career as a professional musician, composer and arranger.

Orange Belt promotional in Jiu Jitsu

During his high school years he discovered his greatest guru, the father of his high school girlfriend. Don was legally blind, a tyrant at home and would laugh if you called him a guru. But he had a fondness for my brother. They developed a very close bond, and the student/teacher relationship touched all aspects of life. Don would challenge Scott on many, many levels – never missing an opportunity to stretch his mind and his outlook on people and life. He was intimidating, and I was a bit afraid of him. But we was very good for my brother. It was during this period that my brother began to open up. It was also during this period that he began learning martial arts.

This was also a time when he struggled with distinguishing his own abilities from those of others. “I could not believe other people weren’t seeing and understanding or relating to things the way that I was. For many years I thought people were intentionally playing with me, fooling me, messing with my mind.” It was incomprehensible to him that he was singular in some of his more unique abilities. At a young age he could see things so plainly that others simply could not fathom.

Deciding that the life of a professional musician could put a lot of strain on a family, he transitioned out of music as a career, started a family and entered into the business world. He lived in that world successfully for many years. In 1989, he founded Great River Institute in New York. Prior to the founding of GRI, he had earned his Master’s certification in the Japanese self defense arts of Jiu Jitsu. In 1996, after selling his business he relocated his family and GRI to the mountains of Virginia. I relocated from New York with my family the following year.

By that time his realizations had long since matured. He was still somewhat reserved in letting his abilities and understandings clearly show, but his insights, gifts and understandings were nevertheless apparent. There were many people who mourned his move away from New York.

He is currently director of Great River Institute, and also conductor of the Bedford Community Orchestra. As orchestra conductor he works with the musicians to bring the scores to life. “What part of life is the score expressing? Our job as musicians is to help our audience feel that point inside themselves. As a conductor, it is my responsibility to be conductive of that point and to help bring that point into form.”

I think the message that comes out of our upbringing and my brother’s life experiences is this: We were just everyday kids in a struggling family. Scott lived a normal life, full of its dysfunctions and difficulties. It wasn’t at all perfect; far from it. While he has some special talents, I can tell you that he wasn’t born babbling truisms and prophecies. We were everyday kids.

Sensei’s understandings came about because of his open mind and heart, his determination to center on the truth, and through the generosity of some great teachers. Realizations, deeper experiences and awareness are not the domain of special individuals, cloistered monks or nuns, or cave dwelling mystics. They happen to everyday people like Sensei, and you and me.