March 2019
Aisha Salem ~ Ground of Being
Aisha Salem is a deeply realized woman of Truth. She has been living the unfolding of her Being through 17 years of radical surrender and been teaching for 15 years across the world. Aisha lives in Denmark with a growing community and is the founder of Gateway, which is the name of a container for exploration, investigation and realization of reality in everything from the deepest intimacy to the widest expanse of Truth.
The teaching of Aisha Salem invites to relax into the fire of Truth. It is an invitation into the deepest Intimacy with Reality as the meeting with your Self as every aspect of Reality – from your Empty and pre-existential Core, over your recognition as Love and One Being and all the way into your Humanness and true bowing to the Ground.
It is an invitation to that meeting with yourself, which requires a full face-off with Reality – as the full relaxation into the Ground of Being. The invitation is both Vast, Wide and Deep. The Vast part of it, is for your recognition as Emptiness, which truly brings Freedom and pure Brilliance by the birth of pure and Mind. The Diamond – Clear, Sharp and Bright. The Wider part of the invitation, is for your recognition of yourself as pure and Universal Spirit – able and ready to move across every existential layer as True Action of your Being recognised as Love itself.
The deepest part of the invitation, is what brings all of the pieces together – it is for your enjoyment and fulfilment as a True Human Being and is Your exhale down into the Holding of the body as pure Consciousness. For the Healing and Wholeness of your human state, as you relax into the Core of the body and dissolution of the somebodiness on Ground – being real and present with what is pleasant as well as unpleasant – for a full blossoming to and fulfilment of the sweetness, passion and innocence of your True, Natural and Individual Self.
Every angle of the teaching of Aisha Salem has the single and One-pointed direction of emerging as the True Human – emptied of identification (the twist away from Reality) and Naked to Reality through both mind, heart and belly/ground.
Suggested donation: $15 to $25
Find out more »Adam Chacksfield ~ Falling Open Together
Inviting us to receive the ultimate gift, Adam shares the direct experience of the heart, mind, and life falling open. In this effortless opening, the suffering involved in resisting feelings and believing thoughts spontaneously releases. Our natural abundance of joy, peace, wisdom, and love becomes apparent and available. Heart-centered, gentle, and direct, Adam offers a path straight into the truth of who you are.
"Adam is a great messenger of truth. He has a very unique transmission that does wonderful things for my spirit—spa treatment.” — Pamela Wilson, featured in Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Wisdom by Rita Marie Robinson
“Adam delivers the essence of nondual awareness in an uncompromising form. He is whole-heartedly committed to creating new possibilities that are grounded in awareness and practical at the same time. I highly recommend him.” — Peter Fenner, Ph.D., author of Radiant Mind
Adam Chacksfield, Ph.D. is founder of the Center for Nondual Awareness and creator of “Falling Open”, a four-month online course transforming how participants experience their lives.
www.adamchacksfield.com
Suggested donation: $15 to $25
Find out more »John Prendergast ~ The Current of Life
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. A long-time student of both Jean Klein and Adyashanti, he was asked to share the dharma by Dorothy Hunt. 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 He is the author of In Touch (Sounds True, 2015) and a forthcoming new book for Sounds True on the subject of the heart to be be published in 2019. He offers quarterly daylong retreats in the SF Bay Area and residential retreats and seminars in the U.S.
“As the process of awakening deepens, it typically drops down from the head and begins to penetrate into the depths of the conditioned body-mind. As this happens, the inner felt-sense of the body opens up, lines up, and lights up. The body and by extension the so-called world come alive in a new way. We feel ourselves tapped into a profound current of life that animates everything – people, animals, trees and even rocks. This brings a natural sense of aliveness, wonder, and intimacy. We experience this naturally as small children, taking delight in the smallest discoveries. We can return to this way of experiencing life as adults, this time knowingly, with profound gratitude for the whole of life and for the simplicity of Being.“
Suggested Donation: $15-25
No one turned away for lack of funds.
Find out more »
CANCELLED!!!!! Susanne Marie ~ What is Realization?
Beyond descriptions of enlightenment or realization lies the lived experience of what we are in truth, right now. And right Now there is the immediate accessibility to be present, open, and aware. Together we will explore what is the direct experience of being awake: Here and Now.
Bio:
Featured in conversation with Adyashanti on Buddha at the Gas Pump as well as recently on Conscious TV, Susanne Marie offers teachings in support of freedom, sacred mutuality, and the celebration of our common essence of love and unity with all life. Her work is transformational and empowering, as she points to the remembering of That which we have always been, allowing truth to become ever more conscious of itself through a human life.
In a relaxed, empathetic and personable manner, and with deep personal insight, humor, and grace, she helps others deconstruct their beliefs of what living a life of freedom looks like. Susanne, the parent of two young adults, divides her time between Taos, New Mexico, and Northern California, and offers spiritual mentoring as well as Grace Healing Sessions to individuals and groups.
Pamela Wilson ~ Back to True Nature
A Rustic Weekend Retreat with Pamela Wilson
Saturday March 30th and Sunday March 31st
10:00am to 5:00pm, Fairfax, CA
This weekend retreat with Pamela Wilson will take place on private property in Fairfax, on 50 acres of ridgetop land, with beautiful views of Mount Tam and the surrounding area, with many trails for walking and savoring the beautiful spring wildflowers.
Pamela Wilson has been sharing satsang for twenty years around the world, honoring the sage within everyone, and the absolute oneness of All That Is. 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. She is featured in the book Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Wisdom, and is the author of the forthcoming A Golden Retriever’s Guide to Joy,
“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. Join with your fellow sages in satsang, sharing what you are noticing is an act of love.”
We will savor the stillness, inquire, share and walk together. A light organic vegetarian lunch, and tea and cookies at tea time will be provided free of charge, or you may bring your own food, or head out for lunch to Good Earth Natural Foods or a number of local restaurants.
Satsang meetings will be held outdoors, in the shade, weather permitting. If it rains, we will meet inside.
It is expected that most attendees will commute; however, shared dormitory-style overnight accommodation is available for those who want to spend the whole weekend at the property, though space is very limited.
Pre-registration is required, as the retreat will be limited to 30 people. Priority will be given to those who can attend both days.
For more information or to register, email robmschwartz@yahoo.com
Directions and logistical details will be provided upon registration.
Suggested donation:
$75 for a single day
$130 for the weekend
No one turned away for lack of funds.
Tom Kurzka ~ Rest in Being: The Love of Your Life
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 »April 2019
Ajaya Sommers ~ The Alchemy of Intimacy Series
Please note that this gathering is limited to approximately 15 people, so pre-registration is strongly recommended. Please see below for more information.
In this four-part series we will explore through experiential solo and partner practices the intimate initiations of Sex, Love, Loss and Death as the developmental blueprint of our human embryo, and thus the ongoing continuum that we call, Life. We will name and presence the distortions of the life force that also occur due to the traumas of our cultural and ancestral inheritance.
The deeper invitation from Life is to remember and recognize the holy love story of our origins ─ not as an event from the past that we might read about in biology class, but as a memory of wholeness that is embodied and tangible. This living memory gifts us with the freedom to be here in the eternal now, expressing as the Miracle of Life.
Session 1 (April 6th): Original Intimacy
Original intimacy with our innocence, the core embryological motifs that inform our initial physiological and metabolic development that later become psycho-spiritual somatic initiations of the human continuum of experience.
Session 2 (April 13th): The Central Reality of the Heart
We will experientially dive into the developmental motifs that are central to your direct and intimate experience of being alive. Growing our capacity for staying present with more feeling and thus embodying more vitality and authenticity.
Session 3 (April 20th): Relational Intimacy
Practices for embodied relational intimacy ─ staying connected to your direct experience/authentic truth, while being in intimate relations with another.
Session 4 (April 27th): Alchemical Intimacy
Staying authentic with you in daily life ─ the intersection of meeting your human needs, desires, impulses amidst the fields of culture, family, ecosystem, cosmos and the ever deepening call of receiving and offering your unique gifts to Life.
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.
Registration Information:
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 anyone who has not pre-registered, admission at the door will be as space allows. Note that at-the-door registration will be available at the first session only, not at subsequent sessions. Please try to arrive at least 5-10 minutes before the starting time.
Pre-registration: $100
For those unable to attend in person, the sessions will also be Live-streamed
and made available as recordings.
Pre-registration: $100
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.
Location:
Open Circle Room at Chochmat HaLev , 2215 Prince Street, Berkeley
(The first door on the left down the side passageway)
Also note that this series is not by donation.
We require a specific admission price, whether by pre-registration or at the door.
Thank you for your understanding and support.
Additional Upcoming Retreat:
Note also that Ajaya will be conducting a retreat on the Big Island of Hawaii May 15-19th.
Click here for more information.
Jeannie Zandi ~ Roadblocks are Holy Invitations
Holding tight to the idea of forward movement as progress toward a goal when applied to spirituality can limit our sight when life throws roadblocks and challenges in our path. Join Jeannie and friends to explore the role of yin, surrender and softening in awakening to the truth of who you are.
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 true richness of life can be experienced, and your innermost spiritual questions can be met fully. Come join us!
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.
Suggested donation: $15 to $25
Find out more »Amoda Maa ~ Unbroken Presence
Amoda Maa offers an intimate conversation that includes the totality of the human experience within the unbounded space of unconditioned awareness. The conversation is always spontaneous, allowing jewels of wisdom to arise naturally in support of the journey of awakening and the deepening into living an awakened life.
“What really matters is your willingness to turn towards tenderness in the midst of that which offends you, to stand as openness in the face of brokenness, and to bear the unbearable. This is the path of surrender, and the only way I know to enter the slip-stream of unspeakable grace inside this human experience.”
In 2002, an experience of the dark night of the soul led to Amoda’s profound inner awakening. After a long period of integration, she started speaking from silence. Today, she offers meetings and retreats all around the US, as well as speaking at conferences and on radio shows. She brings to her teachings a depth and breadth of understanding of the human journey, born out of her own immersion in the furnace of personal transformation.
She is the author of several books. Her most recent Embodied Enlightenment (published in 2017) — written 15 years after her awakening — is based on the many conversations at the cutting edge of spiritual inquiry in her meetings with people from all around the world, and addresses many of the questions relevant to today’s seeker. It has been acclaimed as “a beautiful and precious gift to an emerging new humanity” as well as “the best spiritual book since Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth.”
Amoda currently lives with her husband and beloved, Kavi, in California.
To learn more, visit www.amodamaa.com
Suggested donation: $15-25
No one turned away for lack of funds
Ajaya Sommers ~ The Alchemy of Intimacy Series ~
Please note that this gathering is limited to approximately 15 people, so pre-registration is strongly recommended. Please see below for more information.
In this four-part series we will explore through experiential solo and partner practices the intimate initiations of Sex, Love, Loss and Death as the developmental blueprint of our human embryo, and thus the ongoing continuum that we call, Life. We will name and presence the distortions of the life force that also occur due to the traumas of our cultural and ancestral inheritance.
The deeper invitation from Life is to remember and recognize the holy love story of our origins ─ not as an event from the past that we might read about in biology class, but as a memory of wholeness that is embodied and tangible. This living memory gifts us with the freedom to be here in the eternal now, expressing as the Miracle of Life.
Session 1 (April 6th): Original Intimacy
Original intimacy with our innocence, the core embryological motifs that inform our initial physiological and metabolic development that later become psycho-spiritual somatic initiations of the human continuum of experience.
Session 2 (April 13th): The Central Reality of the Heart
We will experientially dive into the developmental motifs that are central to your direct and intimate experience of being alive. Growing our capacity for staying present with more feeling and thus embodying more vitality and authenticity.
Session 3 (April 20th): Relational Intimacy
Practices for embodied relational intimacy ─ staying connected to your direct experience/authentic truth, while being in intimate relations with another.
Session 4 (April 27th): Alchemical Intimacy
Staying authentic with you in daily life ─ the intersection of meeting your human needs, desires, impulses amidst the fields of culture, family, ecosystem, cosmos and the ever deepening call of receiving and offering your unique gifts to Life.
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.
Registration Information:
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 anyone who has not pre-registered, admission at the door will be as space allows. Note that at-the-door registration will be available at the first session only, not at subsequent sessions. Please try to arrive at least 5-10 minutes before the starting time.
Pre-registration: $100
For those unable to attend in person, the sessions will also be Live-streamed
and made available as recordings.
Pre-registration: $100
Location:
Open Circle Room at Chochmat HaLev , 2215 Prince Street, Berkeley
(The first door on the left down the side passageway)
Also note that this series is not by donation.
We require a specific admission price, whether by pre-registration or at the door.
Thank you for your understanding and support.
Additional Upcoming Retreat:
Note also that Ajaya will be conducting a retreat on the Big Island of Hawaii May 15-19th.
Click here for more information.