November 2018
John Prendergast ~ The Deep Heart
John is a spiritual teacher, psychotherapist and retired adjunct professor of psychology at CIIS known for his pioneering work in integrating nondual wisdom and psychotherapy. He is the author of In Touch (Sounds True, 2015) and is working on a new book for Sounds True on the subject of the heart that will be published in 2019. A long-time student of both Jean Klein and Adyashanti, he was asked to share the dharma by Dorothy Hunt. He offers quarterly daylong retreats in the SF Bay Area and residential retreats and seminars in the U.S. John brings a depth of experience, insight, warmth, and compassion to his teaching work, and is especially skillful in guided meditative inquiries and one-on-one dialogues Join John for a deep exploration into the true nature of the heart, the wellspring of spontaneous gratitude.
“We are often reminded to count our blessings, which can be a useful practice. However, as we discover our true nature as open, loving awareness, we begin to feel that our whole life is a blessing. Gratitude is an essential quality of Being. As the depths of the heart unfold, we are increasingly grateful simply to be. “
Suggested donation: $15 to $25
Find out more »Peter Russell ~ Resting in Being
2:00-4:00 pm, with refreshments until 5 pm
"For thousands of years, spiritual traditions have taught meditation as a way to awaken to our true nature. Yet many people find meditation tedious and difficult, a never-ending struggle to quiet the mind or focus the attention. This has led to the popular misconception that meditation requires great discipline and years of practice."
Peter Russell shows that the key is giving up all trying and effort. The mind in its natural, unperturbed, state is already at ease. Nothing needs to be "done" to find inner peace, we simply need to let go of the thinking that keep our minds busy and tense. The beauty of this approach is that nothing needs to be changed or eliminated. It is simply allowing the mind to relax so that we can drop back into our true nature, and come to rest in the ground of being— the "I am" at the heart of every experience.
Originally studying mathematics and theoretical physics, Peter became increasingly interested in the nature of consciousness, and in the late sixties traveled to India, to study meditation and Eastern philosophy. On his return he established a meditation center in Cambridge, England, and went on to pioneer the introduction of personal growth programs to corporations. He is the author of a dozen books, including The Global Brain, Waking Up In Time, and From Science to God.
Suggested donation: $10 to $20, no one turned away for lack of funds.
Where: 8476 Sonoma Ave, Sebastopol, CA
Park on Sonoma Ave, walk down short driveway to to house with carport.
Arrive 10-15 minutes early for the best seat.
Ajaya Sommers ~ Awaken to the Intimate Embrace of the Heart
Please note that this gathering is limited to approximately 15 people, so pre-registration is strongly recommended. Please see below for more information.
Within a field of unconditionally loving presence, Ajaya facilitates a unique discovery process called Core Embodiment®, an integrated system of embodiment practices, principles and perceptual orientations to awaken and align with the power of your human potential. She is a Biodynamic Craniosacral Integration Teacher, Authorized Continuum Teacher, gifted healer, writer and creative catalyst in the field of embodied awakening and trauma resolution for the last 26 years. All of her programs are grounded in science, expanded through devotional practice, and made real through direct experience.
Due to early developmental trauma, ancestral trauma and our cultural context at large, there is a prevailing unconscious nervous system habit of using spirituality, and particularly the non-dual orientations, to hide, bypass or otherwise disassociate from the intelligence of your core human needs and desires. It is as if your needs and desires are problems to be ashamed of; to fix or get rid of, on your way to spiritual realization.
This is not a sustainable, humane or truly integrative path. We long for the tangible felt sense of our wholeness. We long to passionately embody all that is present within our very human, holy and messy majesty of being alive. It is time that we compassionately discover how to allow everything to be lived within the intimate embrace of the Heart.
In this introductory evening, we will melt below our habit patterns of the default nervous system and connect directly with this core intelligence ─ discovering our own intimate, ever fresh, self-healing, oxytocin-replenishing, cell-renewing, inspired embodiment practice.
Utilizing conscious breath, sound vibration, subtle intrinsic movement, embryological anatomy and provocative inquiry, we enter into the inner alchemy that allows a dissolve of any outdated structures that may be obstructing our path. A psycho-spiritual somatic reorganization and higher order of self-regulation arises as our cells surrender into the all-pervasive holding ground of nature that is always present, when we are seated in the Core.
We will re-emerge renewed, resourced and ready to re-engage our senses such that they become thresholds where the divine, the natural world, our culture and the mystery of being human coalesce as the dynamic dance of Life.
“The beauty of any true transformational path is that it will involve pattern interrupting the normal way in which you breathe, and thus your unconscious identity, taking you home to the innocence of your origins and the birthright of your Biological Breath – a systemic breath that unifies your body, mind and heart. You awaken as a whole body, mind, and heart breathing, reclaiming ALL that you are.”
Pre-registration (strongly recommended): $25
At the door (as space allows): $25
Please note that this is one of an ongoing series of special intimate gatherings to be held in the new Open Circle Room at Chochmat HaLev (the first door on the left down the side passageway).
Due to limited space, and in order to facilitate a more intimate container, these gatherings will be limited to about 15 people. Therefore, we strongly recommend pre-registration for these special evenings.
For anyone who has not pre-registered, admission at the door will be as space allows. So, be sure to sign-up early, and please try to arrive at least 5 minutes before the starting time.
Also note that, unlike most Open Circle events, these gatherings are not by donation. We require a specific admission price, whether by pre-registration or at the door. Thank you for your understanding and support.
Find out more »Pamela Wilson ~ Being with What Is
Pamela Wilson is a Bay Area treasure who has been sharing satsang for twenty years around the world, honoring the sage within everyone, and the absolute oneness of All That Is. Her own teachers included Lester Levinson (The Sedona Method), Robert Adams and Neelam. She evokes through dialogue, inquiry and her very presence the qualities of unconditional love and radical acceptance. She endears herself to her audiences with her playful and light-hearted humor, combined with compassion and deep understanding of what it is to be human.
Pamela is celebrated for her ability to open the heart, call forth our own inner sage, and create a space in which long-held struggles and notions about one’s identity relax. And she speaks the truth of non-duality, that the universe is one undivided whole. Featured in the book Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Wisdom, and the author of the forthcoming A Golden Retriever’s Guide to Joy, Pamela is at her best in heart-felt dialogue, so please come and bring your questions!
“Here we are, benevolent rooted space wearing a remarkably sensitive instrument called the body. Most sages report the body-mind insists on being included and permeated by presence, so it too, can know and live its naturalness. The body is the five elements, already free with no history, though it has born witness to all. As compassion we will be instantly aware of any suffering and answer its call; as stillness we will be aware of remaining restlessness. To be with what is in the moment, this is our function and is at the heart of all longing.”
Maja Apolonia Rodé ~ The Alchemy of Consciousness and Creativity
These intimate evenings are limited to 12 people.
Advanced registration is required.
Click on event title for More info & Registration
Find out more »December 2018
Jeannie Zandi ~ Masculine Heart *Public Meeting for Men*
Join Jeannie and friends in a safe, presence-saturated man-friendly space for an exploration into the healing, reclamation and shameless embodiment of the masculine heart. Come join us!
Jeannie’s gift for inviting people to join her in resting and rooted presence evokes a deep meeting with oneself and reality. Within that, Jeannie’s humor and iconoclasm serve to bring people into an understanding that is beyond the intellectual. She has been passionate about men’s hearts for a lifetime, presented her Women as Allies to Men workshop at several men’s conferences in the 90’s, founded a group called Feminists for Men and co-organized the 5th Rocky Mountain Men’s Conference in Boulder, CO. She is committed to holding transformational spaces where men can heal, know themselves as Love, put legs under their hearts and walk those hearts shamelessly into the world
Jeannie is the director of Living as Love, a nonprofit organization dedicated to seeding a culture of the Heart on the planet, inspiring, teaching and supporting people to live from their essence as Love. A year before the birth of her daughter, Jeannie was plunged into a dark night of the soul that culminated in a radical shift of consciousness. She is known for her fearless clarity, tender mercy toward humanness, and a juicy, poetic and often humorous style that draws from Advaita Vedanta, Sufism, Christian mysticism and the ongoing revelation of fully engaged living. Residing in Colorado, she travels widely in the US, bringing a down-to-earth embodied teaching of living as love.
Sliding Scale: $30-$45
No one turned away for lack of funds.
No registration required. Pay at the door.
Find out more »Jeannie Zandi ~ Yin Revolution *Public Meeting for Women*
Women! The earth is calling for us to integrate the tender power of yin and the clear-eyed sovereignty of yang. Join Jeannie and friends in a safe, sweet, presence-filled space where yin can unfold and grow roots in the sturdiness of your embodied being.
Jeannie’s gift for inviting people to join her in resting and rooted presence evokes a deep meeting with oneself and reality. Within that, Jeannie’s humor and iconoclasm serve to bring people into an understanding that is beyond the intellectual. Through silent and guided meditation, a spontaneous talk and exchange with participants, Jeannie will host a space of clarity and warmth where the richness of relating can be explored safely and your innermost questions met fully
Jeannie is the director of Living as Love, a nonprofit organization dedicated to seeding a culture of the Heart on the planet, inspiring, teaching and supporting people to live from their essence as Love. A year before the birth of her daughter, Jeannie was plunged into a dark night of the soul that culminated in a radical shift of consciousness. She is known for her fearless clarity, tender mercy toward humanness, and a juicy, poetic and often humorous style that draws from Advaita Vedanta, Sufism, Christian mysticism and the ongoing revelation of fully engaged living. Residing in Colorado, she travels widely in the US, bringing a down-to-earth embodied teaching of living as love.
Sliding Scale: $30-$45
No one turned away for lack of funds.
No registration required. Pay at the door.
Find out more »Jeannie Zandi ~ Sovereignty and Relating *Meeting for All*
How do sovereignty and togetherness interplay to yield the most satisfying and sustainable relating possible? How do we root in the ground of Being as the foundation of our sovereign relating? Join Jeannie and friends to explore the dignity of sovereign existence and the play of human relating from embodied Truth.
Jeannie’s gift for inviting people to join her in resting and rooted presence evokes a deep meeting with oneself and reality. Within that, Jeannie’s humor and iconoclasm serve to bring people into an understanding that is beyond the intellectual. Through silent and guided meditation, a spontaneous talk, and exchange with participants, Jeannie will host a space of clarity and warmth where the richness of relating can be explored safely, and your innermost questions met fully.
Jeannie is the director of Living as Love, a nonprofit organization dedicated to seeding a culture of the Heart on the planet, inspiring, teaching and supporting people to live from their essence as Love. A year before the birth of her daughter, Jeannie was plunged into a dark night of the soul that culminated in a radical shift of consciousness. She is known for her fearless clarity, tender mercy toward humanness, and a juicy, poetic and often humorous style that draws from Advaita Vedanta, Sufism, Christian mysticism and the ongoing revelation of fully engaged living. Residing in Colorado, she travels widely in the US, bringing a down-to-earth embodied teaching of living as love.
For either in-person attendance or Livestream, Suggested Donation: $15-$25
No one turned away for lack of funds.
No pre-registration for attendace in-person.
For LIVESTREAM Register here....
This is a Livestream event in combination with Local in person event. There will not be interaction with the Livestream viewers, as there is with our regular participatory web events.
Tom Kurzka ~ Rest in Being: The Love of Your Life
Live Worldwide Web Event
6:00-8:00 pm (Pacific Time - San Francisco, CA, USA) Time Zone Converter
You are invited to join Tom as we explore this experience called me and my world. We’ll begin with an introduction followed by a brief guided meditation, then open dialogue. There is no question or concern that is too unworthy to be addressed. Often the most deep rooted problems are our gateway to the Love that we all are. Through this process Tom holds a sweet tender kindness that makes many who work with him feel held and safe. Within this supportive framework our full humanness is embraced and touched. As we radically accept and meet the worst of the worst, a gentle piercing happens as the entirety of our human experience melts in Being’s all-embracing arms, this ever present Love. We see that we are that Love, this sweetness that unconditionally holds our humanness.
In 2000, after a lifelong battle trying to hold onto his false sense of a separate self, Tom’s fight against Reality spontaneously ended, resulting in a shift into unitive consciousness or Being. Shortly thereafter, Tom was asked to share and has since been holding small group meetings at his home in Oregon and also with a group in Virginia. Tom is known for his humility and a profound acceptance of what is. The guidance moving through him has flavors of Advaita Vedanta, Sufism, Buddhism and, most importantly, an ongoing revelation of living in the moment.
Suggested donation: $15 to $25
Find out more »Maja Apolonia Rodé ~ The Alchemy of Consciousness and Creativity
These intimate evenings are limited to 12 people.
Advanced registration is required.
Join Maja and like-hearted company for a multidimensional satsang experience. Gathering in a sacred circle, we will co-create a unique and potent field for the emergence of truth, beauty, and the realization of our sincerest intentions. The evening will weave together a gentle yet alchemical mix of silent meditation, mystical music/chanting/poetry, visual elements, and conversations in consciousness. Bring your heartfelt inquiries and intentions — to be held in our sanctuary of consciousness and caring — where answers arise from within, creative possibilities emerge, and physical, mental, and emotional bodies find their natural balance, harmony, and healing.
Due to the nature of this gathering, please register only if you plan to arrive on time and stay until the end. Doors will open at 7:15. Thank you.
Click event title for More info & Registration
Find out more »