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John Astin ~ This Extraordinary Moment: Moving Beyond the Mind to Discover the Miracle of What Is
Sunday, June 23, 2019 @ 7:00pm-9:00pm
Berkeley, CA United States
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Through a series of guided inquiries, meditations, music and dialogue, John Astin invites you into a deep exploration of a very simple yet profound question: “What is experience actually made of?” Together, we will peer around the edges of what we think experiences are, and discover the myriad ways that reality transcends our ideas about what it is and who we are.
This experiential investigation reveals that it is not merely those times of great inspiration, beauty or intimacy that lie beyond the reach of our concepts and descriptions, but every experience we have ever encountered. And this discovery—that experiences are ultimately indefinable—turns out to hold the key to our greatest freedom, for every moment—even the ones we conventionally think of as problems—is actually an astounding display of the most miraculous, inconceivable energy, intelligence, lusciousness and depth.
Adyashanti writes in the Foreword to John’s most recent book, This Extraordinary Moment:
“John Astin’s book is an invitation into a profound experience of being that is, quite literally, unimaginable. It offers a way of perceiving that is direct, immediate, and rich with wonder. What John has written here is really a guidebook for breaking the spell of conditioned thinking, and discovering what lies on the other side of our imagination—reality beyond words, and an experience of being that is beyond the known. Read this book, but even more, contemplate it. And perhaps it will evoke within you something greater than can be imagined.”
John Astin is a singer, songwriter and recording artist having produced seven CDs of original spiritual/contemplative music. He is also the author of four books, exploring the nature of human experience—Too Intimate for Words, (2005) This Is Always Enough, (2008) Searching for Rain in a Monsoon, (2012) and This Extraordinary Moment (2018).
Along with his teaching, writing and music, John holds a PhD in health psychology and is an internationally acclaimed scholar in the field of mind-body medicine, his research focusing on the applications of meditative/contemplative practices in psychology and health care. He is presently an adjunct professor of clinical/counseling psychology at Santa Clara and Notre Dame de Namur Universities.
Suggested Donation: $15-25
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