February 2020
Ellen Emmet ~ The Awakening Body
In our daily lives, the body is seldom tasted as it truly is. We rarely listen to its language or allow it to simply blossom with its natural, organic intelligence. In fact we have deeply disconnected from this level of experience and even when we turn back towards the body, we come with agendas and ideas that we project upon it, only to perpetuate a network of tension and density that we identify with as 'myself'.
Ellen’s approach to the body is a form of ‘somatic inquiry’ that invites us to open to the totality of our felt, tactile and sensorial experience moment by moment, free of any agenda. With the help of guided meditation, visualizations and dialog, we will discover our place in and as this open, available, listening presence which is our essential identity. Simultaneously the body will uncover its organic and natural resonance and identity with this presence which is its source and substance. Gently and effortlessly, it will flow with more and more ease, intensity and transparency.
Ellen’s deepest intuition was confirmed when she met her teacher, Francis Lucille. In his presence, she recognized the eternal, limitless and universal nature of our shared reality. As a child, Ellen loved to move and dance. She knew, without words, the joy and limitless transparency that the body dissolved into when it was free and alive. Thus, the experience we call the body has always been central to all of Ellen’s experiences, both in ignoring and in recognizing our true nature.
Ellen offers meetings and retreats, sharing a direct exploration of reality sourced in the traditions of Kashmir Shivaism and Advaitic self-inquiry. In addition, she has a private practice as a psychotherapist, and facilitator of Authentic Movement. She has Master Degrees in Dance Movement Therapy from NYU, and Transpersonal Psychology from JFK, and has a certificate in Laban Movement. She lives in Oxford, England with her husband, Rupert Spira.
Suggested Donation: $15- $25, no one turned away.
Find out more »March 2020
Rupert Spira ~ The Essence of Non-Duality
“Meditation is what we are, not what we do; the separate self is what we do, not what we are.”
In the last few years Rupert Spira has become one of the most respected and sought-after teachers of non-dual wisdom, known for his crystal clear use of language, laser-like intellect, skillful guided inquiries, and powerfully direct pointing to aware presence—all delivered with warmth, wit and an unmatched and distinctive eloquence.
In his meetings, Rupert explores the perennial, non-dual understanding that lies at the heart of all the great religious and spiritual traditions, such as Advaita Vedanta, Kashmir Shaivism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Mystical Christianity, Sufism, Zen etc., and which is also the direct, ever-present reality of our own experience. This is a contemporary, experiential approach involving silent meditation, guided meditation and conversation, and requires no affiliation to any particular religious or spiritual tradition. All that is required is an interest in the essential nature of experience, and in the longing for love, peace and happiness around which most of our lives revolve.
After thirty years of intense seeking, Rupert met his primary teacher Francis Lucille, who introduced him to the direct way taught by his own teacher, Jean Klein. Rupert lives in Oxford, England, with his wife Ellen Emmet, a therapist and yoga teacher in the tradition of Kashmir Shaivism. . He is the author of several books, including his latest two, The Nature of Consciousness and Being Aware of Being Aware, and two book/CD box-sets, Transparent Body, Luminous World and The Light of Pure Knowing.
www.non-duality.rupertspira.com
No registration required. Just show up & join us. Make your donation at the door.
PARKING: There is some limited street parking in the neighborhood, free and without time limit weekday evenings. There is also parking a few blocks away at the east parking lot of the Ashby Bart station: www.bart.gov/stations/ashb/map
Find out more »Shakti Caterina Maggi ~ The Way of Compassion: How Non-Duality Leads us to be in Peace
True compassion leads to a profound peace with the conflict that we still have with ourselves and the world. It is the blossoming of our non-dual nature into the human form. The satsang will unfold though questions and answers to explore this topic.
Shakti Caterina Maggi has been sharing a message of awakening to our true nature as One Consciousness since 2003. Her approach to Self-Realization is very contemporary and accessible, and is profoundly in tune with Advaita and the non-dual Tantric traditions. She reveals the real possibility of seeing what we truly are, and embodying it in our everyday lives with clarity, wisdom, and humor.
She was recently asked to contribute to the anthology On the Mystery of Being: Contemporary Insights into the Convergence of Science and Spirituality edited by Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo, the founders of the Science and Non-Duality (SAND) Conference. She teaches in Europe, Canada and the USA, offering satsang, seminars and retreats.
“The true Heart is the space in which we can deeply meet ourselves and the entire world. The way to the Heart is an embodied Consciousness, in which we are divinely human.”
Thursday, March 5th, 7:00 pm to 8:45 pm
Suggested Donation: $15-$25 (cash or check)
Also see calendar for details on upcoming Daylong with Shakti
Saturday, March 7th, 11 am to 5 pm
Sliding Scale: $60-$120 (cash or check)
No pre-registration required.
No one turned away for lack of funds.
Shakti Caterina Maggi ~ The Alchemy of True Heart – How to meet duality from our non-dual essence
“The Heart is where consciousness abide” Ramana Maharshi
Meeting life and its polarities compels us to challenge our usual defense mechanisms and to access a deeper space in ourselves where manifestation is not separate from us. This space is the true Heart which is where our non-dual essence as consciousness is relating from.
The Heart is the great alchemist that can transform the fear of the false personality into the natural radiance of our being, sat- cit- ānanda (truth- consciousness-bliss). The transformation of the lead of fear into the gold of joy implies dying to images that we had built up about ourself and meeting life from something that is perceived as vulnerable, but is actually openness.
The workshop will be accompanied by perceptual experiences and satsang.
Shakti Caterina Maggi has been sharing a message of awakening to our true nature as One Consciousness since 2003. Her approach to Self-Realization is very contemporary and accessible, and is profoundly in tune with Advaita and the non-dual Tantric traditions. She reveals the real possibility of seeing what we truly are, and embodying it in our everyday lives with clarity, wisdom, and humor.
She was recently asked to contribute to the anthology On the Mystery of Being: Contemporary Insights into the Convergence of Science and Spirituality edited by Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo, the founders of the Science and Non-Duality (SAND) Conference. She teaches in Europe, Canada and the USA, offering satsang, seminars and retreats.
“The true Heart is the space in which we can deeply meet ourselves and the entire world. The way to the Heart is an embodied Consciousness, in which we are divinely human.”
Where: Chochmat HaLev, 2215 Prince St., Berkeley, CA
When: 11:00am – 5:00 pm
Sliding Scale: $60 – $120 (cash or check)
No pre-registration.
No one turned away for lack of funds.
Lunch Break:
Welcome to bring your lunch, and there are also various places near the Berkeley venue, to go out to eat.
Note: Per venue policy, only vegetarian food is allowed on premises at Chochmat HaLev
* CANCELLED * – Jeannie Zandi ~ Embodying the Divine
Due to an abundance of caution over the increasing spread of the corona virus (COVID-19), Jeannie Zandi has CANCELLED her Berkeley event this Friday (March 13th). You can read Jeannie's statement in full below.
You can join her online this Sunday morning (March 15th).
FROM JEANNIE:
"I love teaching and being with you all, and generally nothing but hell or high water will prevent me from showing up for an event. However, after reviewing the available recommendations related to COVID-19, I am cancelling my event in Berkeley. The insistence by health officials for us to practice “social distancing” to slow the spread of the virus to vulnerable populations looks like a fine (and necessary) way to express our love of the collective. I am interested in doing my part to prevent the spread of this virus to vulnerable people and the resulting potential overwhelm of our health systems, and I urge you to do the same where possible.
I ask us all to meet these current challenges with as much care as we can, for ourselves and for each other, and to use whatever anxiety rises to deepen our practice of digesting it, resourcing our bodies and living as love rather than fear. Take good care of yourselves!"
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, spontaneous talks 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. 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.
Find out more »* CANCELLED * – Ellen Emmet ~ The Awakening Body
Due to an abundance of caution over the increasing spread of the corona virus (COV-19), we have CANCELLED this event and all other in-person events for the month of March.
We'll continue our Online Events (Live interacttive gatherings) on Sunday mornings, as well as longer online courses and retreats. These are found on the ONLINE EVENTS page on our website. And if Sunday morning is not a convenient time to participate, you will be sent a recording after the event if you register, allowing you to watch at any time that is convenient to you. However, to get the recording, you would need to register before the event.
Thank you for your patience and understanding. We do feel a responsibility to our teachers and our community (both the Open Circle community and the broader community) to do our part to keep everyone safe.
Love always,
The Open Circle Team
July 2021
Adam Chacksfield ~ Falling Open Together
You are invited to receive the ultimate gift as Adam shares the direct experience of the heart, mind, and body falling open. In this effortless opening, the suffering involved in resisting feelings and believing thoughts finally releases. Your 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 we are.
Adam Chacksfield, PhD leads retreats worldwide exploring the depths that reveal themselves as we become intimate with our embodied experience and vibrantly alive field of relating. He is the creator of the “Falling Open” course and the "Erotic Embodiment & Intimacy" course. He also offers private sessions online and in person.
Suggested donation: $15 to $25
Find out more »August 2021
Pamela Wilson ~ At Rest As Life
This 11:00 am event will be held in a shaded garden.
Bring layers for the variable Berkeley weather.
(Note that this event was originally scheduled for 7:00 pm.)
Join Pamela and your fellow sages to explore beingness and rest from doingness!
Pamela invites us to uncontain the field of presence, clarity and strength within by noticing the ongoing inner satsang that appears in the heart, body and mind. Bringing warmth and compassion to what is tight or troubled liberates the past from the body, allowing a rooted, clear and free flowing expansion. Life then can live itself, no role play required!
Pamela evokes through dialogue, inquiry and her very presence the qualities of unconditional love and radical acceptance. She is celebrated for her ability to open the heart and create a space in which long-cherished struggles and notions about one's identity relax. Featured in the book Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Wisdom, Pamela is at her best in heart-felt dialogue, so please come and bring your questions!
Suggested donation: $15 to $25
Find out more »October 2021
Peter Russell ~ Letting Go of Nothing
This event will be held in a shaded garden courtyard.
Bring layers for the variable Berkeley weather.
Peter Russell will be leading a session based on his new book, Letting Go of Nothing: Relax Your Mind and Discover the Wonder of Your True Nature.
The call to let go lies at the heart of the world’s spiritual traditions. Non-attachment to outcomes, surrendering desires, accepting the present, opening to a higher power, relinquishing the ego, forgiveness—they all entail letting go. But letting go is not always easy. That’s because we often think of it as getting rid of some disturbing thought or feeling. Peter Russell reframes letting go, not as another task we need to do, but as letting in and letting be, and applies this principle to letting go of judgments and grievances, unhealthy emotions and fixed beliefs, and our assumptions as to what will make us happy.
He shows how letting go is key to meditation—allowing the thinking mind to quieten so that we can experience the intrinsic peace of our natural mind, unperturbed by worry and concern. When we do, we discover the true nature of the self—the “I” at the heart of our being. Here, free from the machinations of the ego-mind, we can be more in touch with our hearts and our innate wisdom, and taste the awakening that all the great mystics and spiritual teachers have spoken of.
Peter Russell is a leading thinker on consciousness and contemporary spirituality. He is the author of a dozen books, including The Global Brain, Waking Up in Time and From Science to God. His new book, Letting Go of Nothing, was published this August.
Peter studied theoretical physics, experimental psychology, and computer science at the University of Cambridge, and meditation and Eastern Philosophy in India. And pioneered the introduction of personal growth programs to corporations in the 1980s.
His mission is to distill the essential wisdom on human consciousness found in the world’s various spiritual traditions, and to disseminate their teachings on self-liberation in contemporary and compelling ways.
Suggested donation: $15 to $25
Find out more »June 2022
CANCELLED – Matt Kahn ~ The Heart of Awakening: A Deep Dive into Loving Presence
Sorry to announe we've had to cancel these events.
Friday June 17th, 2022 ~ 7:00pm – 9:00pm (PDT)
and
Saturday June 18th, 2022 ~ 11:00am – 5:00pm (PDT)
Attend one or both dates, In-person or by Livestream.
Is there an inner calling inviting you back home to the truth of love? Are you ready to explore a reality more real and tangible than the pain and fear of the world? Isn’t it time to make more meaningful contact and deeper connections with yourself and those you know? If so, then please join best-selling author and empathic healer, Matt Kahn for a deep dive into the heart of awakening.
This Friday Night Event and Full-Day Saturday Immersion are your opportunities to:
- Experience a profound transmission of healing energy that eases the mind, relaxes the nervous system, expands consciousness,and opens your heart to receive more love.
- Explore innovative ways that point awareness back to the truth of undivided reality in the most direct and abiding way.
- Learn how to be more naturally present, awake, and aware without giving the ego more “to do”.
- Release core wounds to amplify self-worth and strengthen your sense of compassion as necessary components to the deeper stages of awakening.
- Remember how to be the grace of loving presence without denying your personal self and no matter how others around you seem to be.
About Matt:
Matt Kahn is the author of the best-selling books Whatever Arises, Love That, Everything Is Here to Help You, The Universe Always Has A Plan and his upcoming book All for Love – the Transformative Power of Holding Space (release date: June 21). His books have been translated into more than a dozen different languages around the world. In 2020, Matt was named as one of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People in the World by Watkins Magazine. His second book, Everything is Here to Help You, was featured in the “Be Kind” box by Ellen Degeneres.
He is a spiritual teacher and highly attuned empathic healer who has become a YouTube sensation with his healing and often humorous videos. Universally known as “The I Love You Guy,” more than 20 million YouTube channel viewers are finding comfort, inspiration, and relief from the challenges of daily life through his intuitive updates and helpful, uplifting heart-centered messages. When the world gets crazy, help is here – one “I Love You” at a time.
What People Are Saying:
The most amazing fresh, most ahead of time and new paradigm teachings ever from the kindest most loving and humblest teacher ever. – Sabine N.
Thank you, Matt! I feel so supported in the most compassionate way when I listen to you. – Heather S.
A beautiful speaker and spiritual teacher. Matt has helped me tremendously with letting go of blame, ridicule, and sabotaging thoughts and emotions I was inflicting on myself and others. And incredible at teaching me to love this within me with so much self-compassion that I can finally breathe and live easier. – Silencio M.
He has a way of explaining things that makes you feel like he’s talking to you. Just you. Right through the TV at you. He has helped me work through so much own stuff and I finally feel free. I understand how this works. And I’m doing everything I can to embody it. – Steven H.
Thank you Matt. Everything you say seems like missing pieces of a gigantic puzzle. You're not just making more sense of the whole picture, but you're helping me see how much bigger it really is. I feel exposed to more and better mystery about the world and myself. I love everything you say and reading your books releases so much heaviness in my heart. - Amelie B.
I recommend if your heart is in need of healing and your soul is calling out for a higher level of consciousness -- then Matt Kahn is what you're looking for. Helping to guide you to a better level of understanding. Gratitude, LOVE, compassion so much more. Blessed to have crossed his path. – Donna
Find out more »