
September 2024
Louise Kay ~ Embodied Awareness (Berkeley & Livestream)
You're invited to join Louise Kay for a full-day retreat, an invitation to deepen into the stillness of being in a field of pure, unconditional love, alongside like-minded community. The day will consist of guided and silent meditations as well as Q&A sessions where you will have the opportunity to explore whatever arises for you in the moment.
Louise will support you to rest your attention as the aware witness, while consciously including and feeling the experience of the body as alive sensations. This practice, which Louise calls 'Embodied Awareness,' supports the direct recognition of one's true nature through self-inquiry, as well as the integration of unprocessed energies and emotions held in the body. When employed with consistency, this practice allows one to live fully in presence in an integrated way, bringing joy to every aspect of life.
In her early thirties Louise, who is from the UK, felt a strong call to visit India, where she experienced a profound spiritual awakening. In the years that followed she experienced a deepening and integration of her initial spiritual awakening, and, as she opened more to this dimension of being, a new form of expression revealed itself from deep within her heart.
Find out more »Ellen Emmet ~ Venturing Into the Unlit Corners of the Now
There are times in each of our lives when a bitter wind blows our spiritual torch out. It may be called depression, grief, trauma, illness, the end of a relationship, or a sense that we are no longer in alignment with our deepest self. Here we are, standing at the threshold of our being, knowing that nothing we have used to light the way forward will work.
During this gathering we will venture together, away from the certitudes held by the mind and into the dark wilderness of the body. We will listen inwardly to our felt experience. Perhaps we will face and taste the unconscious layers of defense that portent to protect us, yet keep us in a cell of false security.
Ellen’s deepest intuition was confirmed when she met her teacher in the non-dual tradition, Francis Lucille. Ellen will draw on her experience of Kashmir non-dual yoga, the Jungian ideas especially as expressed by Marion Woodman, Authentic Movement, and whatever else may arise from the field of our gathering.
Find out more »October 2024
Lynn Marie Lumiere ~ EMPOWERED EMBODIMENT: The Deepest Solution to Life’s Challenges
With all that is going on in our personal lives as well as in the world we live in, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed and disempowered. The only way we can be fully empowered is to embody our deepest nature. Then we embark on the beautiful and challenging journey of embodying that on all levels of our human being—somatic, emotional, psychological, and relational. The more we can embody our loving presence on any of those levels, the more empowered we are to transform our lives and the lives of those around us, as well as the world we live in.
Lynn Marie Lumiere is a seasoned psychotherapist, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, spiritual mentor, and author. She offers a rare blend of embodied spiritual wisdom with a skilled therapeutic approach that facilitates healing of psychological trauma and wounding and the embodiment of awakening.
Find out more »John Prendergast and Lisa Ferguson ~ Engaged Nonduality
This series weaves non-dual awakening and an embodied response to our world in crisis. We are facing intersecting crises of climate breakdown, the potential of ecological and systems collapse, severe injustice and inequality, rising authoritarianism, unaligned tech and AI, and more. The path of non-duality has much to offer in these times, including a deep recognition of our wholeness and shared Being, and opening to the wellspring of our wise response.
This series invites guest presenters to explore how the wisdom of these non-dual teachings may be deeply embodied through a response to our world in crisis.
John J. Prendergast studied with the European sage Jean Klein for many years, as well as with Adyashanti who gave dharma transmission to John in August, 2023. He is a retired Adjunct Professor of Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies as well as a retired psychotherapist, and the author of several books.
Lisa Ferguson is the founder of Climate Compassion, and has focused on supporting planetary well-being as a healing arts practitioner, climate justice activist, organizer and contemplative.
Find out more »Rupert Spira ~ The Essence of Non-Duality ~ In-Person & LIVESTREAM in Berkeley, CA
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, and which is also the direct, ever-present reality of our own experience. This is a contemporary, experiential approach involving guided meditation and conversation. 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.
Find out more »Ishita Sharma ~ Embodiment Lab – Experiments in Embodying Presence
We are not thinking beings who sense; we are sensing beings who think. And re-setting that balance is key to joy, to vibrance, and true liberation!
Join us for an experiential exploration of the body as a doorway to presence and aliveness, returning to the ground of being through our own direct experience.
Engaging and transcending our senses, awareness, breath, movement and sound and more, we will use our body's signals to return to sensate presence.
Ishita Sharma serves as a spiritual teacher, healing mirror, embodiment guide, and Core Energetics Practitioner. Ishita’s teachings support self-study through direct realization, marrying western mind and eastern spirit through the human body and heart to facilitate embodied awakening and authentic connection, the balm for our tumultuous times.
Find out more »Amoda Maa ~ Unveiling the Self to Reveal the Freedom of Being
Amoda Maa offers a profound invitation to all those who wish to embody the truth of awakened consciousness in the midst of everyday life. Speaking with clarity and grace, she invites an open-hearted honesty to the exploration of what it means to recognize and live from our essential nature as Being-ness.
Amoda’s teachings are free from any ideology, and yet the luminous truth is the same nondual understanding at the core of many spiritual traditions. Arising from her own direct experience and expressed in a contemporary language, these teachings are relevant and accessible to all people from all backgrounds and cultures.
Find out more »John Prendergast, Lisa Ferguson & Jeremy Lent ~ Engaged Nonduality
A deep investigation into the source of the meta-crisis reveals, at its root, a worldview of separation: a belief that we’re split between mind and body, separate from each other, and at odds with the natural world.
In this session, Jeremy Lent will show how that worldview has led to today’s civilizational crisis and what’s at stake for our future. Then, we’ll glimpse what a civilization might look like based on values that set the conditions for all people to thrive on a regenerated Earth: an ecological civilization.
Jeremy Lent is the author of the award-winning books, The Patterning Instinct and The Web of Meaning, which offer a foundation for an integrative worldview for a flourishing future.
John J. Prendergast is a retired Adjunct Professor of Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies, as well as a retired psychotherapist. He studied with the European sage Jean Klein for many years as well as with Adyashanti.
Find out more »Stephan Bodian ~ Welcoming What Is
When we wake up to who we really are, we discover the innate perfection of this moment right now. Nothing is inherently missing or problematic in the sacred mystery of Being. But the ego has its own ideas about how things should be and is constantly resisting what is and trying to impose its agenda on life.
In this satsang, we’ll sit together in the silent mystery of Being and explore how to relate with our resistance to what is, using the Rumi poem The Guest House as our guide.
Stephan Bodian is a teacher in the non-dual wisdom tradition. As a licensed psychotherapist, he brings a deep understanding of the impact of trauma and early conditioning on the process of spiritual realization. Stephan studied for many years with Advaita master Jean Klein and received Dharma transmission from Adyashanti in 2001.
Find out more »John Prendergast, Lisa Ferguson & Jonathan Gustin ~ Engaged Nonduality
Many spiritual journeys adjourn with a peaceful detachment. A different finale is possible—a love of the unmanifest infinite with a passionate engagement with material existence.
In this gathering we will explore moksha-dharma (liberation and responsibility). A splitting between Moksha (Liberation/Enlightenment) and Dharma (purpose/duty) is not only false...it may be inadvertently contributing to the metacrisis. Non-duality can (and should) evolve, to include dharmic responsibility and 'engaged liberation' where "love leaves nothing out."
Jonathan Gustin is the founder of Purpose Guides Institute and a meditation teacher. He helps people to find and embody their life’s purpose, and offers training for those who want to become Purpose Guides themselves.
John J. Prendergast is a retired psychotherapist and Adjunct Professor of Psychology. He studied with the European sage Jean Klein for many years as well as with Adyashanti.
Lisa Ferguson is the founder of Climate Compassion, and has focused on supporting planetary wellbeing as a healing arts practitioner, climate justice activist, organizer and contemplative.
Find out more »