Past Events › East Bay

You're invited to join Anja to experiment with a new path to gratitude - a modern and very personal reframing of the traditional Buddhist Offering Practise in advance of her Christmas book release. During our evening, we'll explore and share the 8 most simple, potent, gorgeous archetypes of gratitude, as gifts that all cultures understand. But in this experiment, we won’t receive gifts. We'll give them. Millions of them.

Anja will share the exact set of skilful actions that is designed to rewire the brain, tackle the root of poverty-consciousness and heart-break, to stop it recurring in any form. We'll then start testing how it might open the doorway to virtuous joy in our mind-heart, in the shortest possible time with the longest possible effects on everyone around us. Our aim after all, is not just to be grateful for things we receive, but to BE Gratitude itself - to embody it.

Anja-Karina Pahl inadvertently discovered mystic Christianity at an early age but has been a serious student of Vajrayana Buddhism since 2000, first with the Danish crazy wisdom teacher Ole Nydahl, and now with the Kagyupa lineage head, Thaye Dorje, H.H. the 17th Karmapa. For 25 years, she has been integrating their non-dual teachings and her own personal experience of applying them in daily life with research in modern physics and emerging philosophies of consciousness. She fervently believes we can re-envision and repair old conundrums in science and mind with this view - and vice versa, bring fresh Western insights into traditional Buddhist teachings. And, along the way, bathe in grace, gratitude & awe.

$10 - $20
Space is limited, so come early!

These intimate evenings are limited to 12 people.
Advanced registration is required.

Click on event title for More info & Registration

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.”

www.ajayasommers.com

Pre-registration (strongly recommended): $25

At the door (as space allows): $25

REGISTER

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.

$12 Preregistered Online - by noon on 12/20
$15 at the Door - space permitting

Location: Berkeley, CA
Open Circle’s Small Gathering Room
(first door on the left by the carport)
2215 Prince Street, Berkeley

Join Maja and like-hearted company for a special Open Circle gathering in honor of the holy-days. This intimate evening will weave together meditation and holiday-inspired rhymes, songs, sing-alongs, and reflection. Together let us celebrate the true spirit of the One Heart.

Feel free to linger afterwards to partake in the sweetness of the season — including chocolate, hugs, and heartfelt conversation.

Due to the nature of this gathering, please attend only if you plan to arrive on time and stay until the end. Doors will open at 7:15. Thank you.

About Maja

Maja Apolonia Rodé shares an inspiring array of creative expressions with one common purpose: to support the realization and flowering of your true nature. From ethereal chants to irreverent raps, mystical rituals to playful games, sacred arts instruction to contemplative consulting, Maja’s work invites you into the depths of presence where your consciousness and true creative potentials naturally blossom.

Maja holds a PhD in Transpersonal Psychology and worked closely with spiritual teacher Adyashanti for almost two decades as the Creative Director of Open Gate Sangha, where she supported the flowering of his dharma and shared her original music and poetry at countless events and silent retreats. In her one-on-one work, Maja serves as a creative catalyst, guide, and friend to those who are called ever-deeper into their original, authentic expression of awakened awareness.

$12 Preregistered Online - by noon on 12/20
$15 at the Door - space permitting

REGISTER

What is the most essential you that is present regardless of thought or emotion? Who or what has been present for all of your life experience? How does this spirit of constancy touch your life? Mukti will offer a mediation and then speak on these compelling topics followed by the opportunity for questions and answers pointing directly to the true nature of Self.

Mukti, whose name is translated as "liberation," is a teacher in the lineage of Adyashanti, her husband. Prior to 1996, when she began studying the nondual, Zen-flavored teachings of Adyashanti, Mukti studied the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda for over 20 years. In her own teachings, Mukti points audiences back to their natural state of wholeness or undivided consciousness. Licensed in acupuncture and certified to teach hatha yoga, Mukti has a love of the whole, in form as well as the formless.

info on Mukti's Teachings

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.”

www.ajayasommers.com

Pre-registration (strongly recommended): $25

At the door (as space allows): $25

REGISTER

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.

Can you imagine living with a deep trust in your being – so strong that you know without a doubt that you are the Heart, the One Being, living uniquely as you, the local, particular, ordinary person you are? Can you imagine having no confusion about who you are, not fundamentally different or separate from your body, others, the world…. the Divine reality?

The Sun in the HEART of every human being and all sentient beings is “rising”: the radiant feeling-intelligence of our eternal nature and condition is intensifying, coming alive and awake in us as both the source-engine and the emergent expression of what and who we are becoming.

This “rising” is as natural a process as being human itself and with guidance it can lead to Radiant Whole Body Awakening.

The HEART is our humanness and our divinity all at once, our Totality Identity encompassing all Spirit and all Matter. It is the Mystery of all mysteries, the Love-Unity that holds us together even when life appears to be falling apart.

As individuals and as a species we have been suffering and perpetuating a chronic developmental predicament, “the Spirit/Matter split.” This nearly universal split manifests in and among us as a paradigm, a worldview. It creates and continually reinforces in each of us a fundamental sense of separateness, confusion, and incompleteness.

The fundamental healing of the Spirit/Matter split is the whole body, whole being, whole world realization or radiant embodiment of the HEART."

For over 22 years, Saniel Bonder and Linda Groves-Bonder have been helping hundreds of people move into their own unique expressions of Embodied Awakening. Their work — Waking Down in Mutuality® — is a primary expression of what human beings go through when the HEART becomes ever more Self-aware in, as, and through them.

In this workshop, Saniel and Linda will discuss key elements of the three foundational principles of this process, Waking, Down and Mutuality, and how you can explore and integrate those principles to further your own Embodied Awakening. There will be a 20 minute talk, a short period of Q&A for immediate questions and responses, followed by 15 minutes of gazing and meditation, after which we will open the rest of the event for questions and answers.

Suggested donation: $15 to $25

Please join us for this special series of events with Italian teacher Shakti Caterina Maggi.

Tues. Feb, 12th, 7:00-8:45 pm ~ Awakening in Daily Living (San Rafael)
Thur. Feb. 14th, 7:00-8:45 pm ~ Love in Non-Duality (Berkeley)
Sat. Feb. 16th, 11am-5pm ~ The Way of Perception (Berkeley)
Sun. Feb. 17th, 1:00-5:00 pm ~ The Way of Perception (Sebastopol)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Thur. Feb. 14th, 7:00-8:45 pm in Berkeley
~ Love in Non-Duality ~
Silence is the space where there is no me or you

"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there" ~ Rumi

Love is not an emotion but the space in which we meet as One. Shakti will guide the participants to learn how to relate not from the image of our separate identity but from the recognition of what we truly are. Falling in love means to recognize ourselves in the other and to go beyond the image borders and separations that we create out of fear. Love is the unconditional space in which we can learn to live and express and to meet the world.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Shakti is a teacher very well known in Europe and her native Italy, who offers a contemporary and accessible vision of true awakening that is profoundly in tune with Advaita and nondual Tantric traditions.

The spiritual journey inevitably leads to the confrontation between our "spiritual life" and our "material life", discovering how and where we truly embody the truth of our heart. Realizing the emptiness of our true nature is just the starting point of an integration process that can take several years and involve all aspects of our lives, and leads us to several moments of crisis in which old egoic patterns of behavior that are still based on the separative mind emerge to be dissolved by the light of Awareness.

Shakti has spent many years deepening this integration process. With wisdom, humor, and heartfelt connection, she shares a message of discovering our divinity at the very core of our humanity. Shakti has been sharing this message of non-separation since 2003 with many people around the world, especially in Italy and in Europe, where she holds satsangs and retreats.

~ The Way of Perception ~ Day-long intensive on Saturday March 16th ─ which will include mediation, satsang and perception exercises ─ will help us see and dissolve our conflictual view of life, and enable us to live and embody a message of true peace and non-separation between human beings.

"Peace is not a destination, but a starting point. Find that Peace that rests behind anything and anybody and bring it into your world. Every human being looks for Peace in their inner or outer reality. In this call for clarity, what we are looking for is what our true nature actually is.

“We are used to imagining that the dissolving of inner and outer conflicts comes as the result of some action, whereas it is only when we move from Peace that those actions will bring the end of any conflict. Moving and living from Peace is recognizing what we are, and integrating it in our everyday life.

“Awakening to your true nature means to wake up to your true essence that lies behind any conflict of daily living. Thoughts and feelings are not an obstacle to this recognition, but the direct expression of how we know or ignore ourselves. Once we find that silence that rests behind manifestation, the ego will come back, out of habit. If we can recognize its presence, not as a disturbance but as an opportunity to integrate the message, our everyday life becomes our true spiritual journey. The Peace of our Being becomes the world we see and live in.”

www.shakticaterinamaggi.com

Video

Thur. Feb. 14th Evening in Berkeley ~ Love in Non-Duality
Time: 7:00pm - 8:45pm
Place: Chochmat HaLev, 2215 Prince St., Berkeley, CA
Suggested donation: $15 - $25
No one turned away for lack of funds

Feb. 16th Daylong in Berkeley ~ The Way of Perception
Time: 11:00am - 5:00 pm
Place: Chochmat HaLev, 2215 Prince St., Berkeley, CA
Sliding scale: $65 - $125
Pre-registration is encouraged and suggested (not required) at info@shakticaterinamaggi.com
(make payment at the door) Partial scholarships available

Lunch Break:
Welcome to bring your lunch. 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