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The movement of consciousness from separation toward wholeness is one in which the individual’s identity can be liberated from the egoic state, and be recognized as awareness, which can realize itself as oneness. Often, following a short or prolonged shift into the liberated state, consciousness moves to individuate once again—not to be rooted in ego but to be rooted in one’s authentic incarnation. Through returning focus from the transcendent to the imminent, consciousness becomes more free to express and reflect the presence and undivided consciousness of spirit.

Mukti’s presentation will be devoted to investigating how spirit enfolds what is separate and informs what is uniquely distinct.

Mukti, whose name is translated as “liberation,” has been a teacher at Open Gate Sangha in the lineage of her husband, Adyashanti, since 2004. Her teaching methods are founded in meditation, self-inquiry, and body awareness, and bring flavors of healing, nurturing, quietude, and a refreshing down-to-earth humanity.

Many seekers who shift from progressive approaches like deliberate mindfulness to a more direct approach continue to search for the right meditative strategy, the sweet spot that allows them to let go of their efforting and drop into their natural state of nondual presence. But paradoxically it’s this very strategizing that needs to drop away as presence reveals itself to be the nature of reality, the deeper ground beyond a separate self, not something that you can strategize into being. You can’t do it—you can only join the nondual presence that’s always already taking place.

In this two-day mini-retreat you’ll learn how to take the backward step to illuminate the deeper ground of Being as your true nature or true Self beyond all division. Once that deeper identity has been revealed, you no longer have to search for what is already so blatantly obvious. You merely need to be it.

Stephan Bodian is a teacher in the nondual wisdom tradition of Zen, Dzogchen, and Advaita Vedanta. He studied for many years with Advaita master Jean Klein and received Dharma transmission from Adyashanti in 2001. His books include Wake Up Now and Beyond Mindfulness.

Like a kink in a garden hose, "I can'ts", ideas and habits can separate us from the all pervading loving sustenance of Life.

As Life, we are uncontained, receptive and at ease with receiving and giving….from our breath, sunlight, evening stars, friends, creativity. Life can appear to wear us down, but in the deep rest of the rooted return to substratum we rise, refreshed, with less history.

Pamela Wilson 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.

The nondual teaching invites us to recognize the truth of who we are beyond any conditioned ideas about ourselves. And this recognition changes everything. We no longer believe the fear-based, limited ideas we hold about ourselves and the world, and we open to everything, flowing with things as they are. Rather than needing to fix and control, we get out of our heads and rest effortlessly as the Being that we are, loving whatever appears. This knowing radically transforms our relationships with others, how we relate to ourselves when we’re triggered, and how we meet the challenges that arise in the course of human life. Where before we felt stuck and limited, we now live in wonder, curiosity, and heart. Let’s gather in loving community to explore living everyday life with nothing in the way…endlessly available to all that is. Gail Brenner, Ph.D. is a psychologist, author, and teacher, who transmits a love of truth with a fire that burns brightly. Gail is an expert in healing from early trauma and brings to this work years of experience with individuals and groups. She is known for creating the safe space needed for deep inner exploration.