February 2019
CANCELLED – Rupert Spira ~ The Essence of Non-Duality
The Feb. 9th event has been cancelled due to a family emergency. An email will be sent to all people who pre-registered about how to rollover their tickets for a future event with Rupert, or how to get a refund. Both Rupert himself and Open Circle sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused.
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At this point, we are still expecting the Feb. 24th event in Berkeley to proceed.
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Venue: Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Marin, 240 Channing Way, San Rafael, CA
“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 enquiries, 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
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Please contact LocalEvents@opencirclecenter.org with any further questions.
Find out more »Shakti Caterina Maggi ~ Awakening in Daily Living
Please join us for this special series of events with Italian teacher Shakti Caterina Maggi, beginning with.....
Tues. Feb, 12th, 7:00-8:45 pm ~ Awakening in Daily Living (San Rafael)
See our full calendar for details on following dates
Thur. Feb. 14th, 7:00-8:45 pm ~ Love in Non-Duality (Berkeley)
Sat. Feb. 16th, 11:00 am - 5:00 pm ~ The Way of Perception (Berkeley)
Sun. Feb. 17th, 1:00-5:00 pm ~ The Way of Perception (Sebastopol)
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.
"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.”
Suggested donation $15 - $25
No one turned away for lack of funds
Richard Miller ~ Living Enlightenment
Throughout the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s, Richard had the good fortune of meeting a series of spiritual teachers, including Laura Cummings, J. Krishnamurti, Adi Da, Dadaji, Adyashanti, Suzanne Segal, and Jean Klein, who helped him directly realize the nondual teachings, as exemplified in the paths of Advaita, Kashmir Yoga, Taoism, and Dzogchen. Richard now shares this realization, and its integration into daily living, through meditative self-inquiry, the presence of being, and what lies beyond all sense of separation and self-awareness.
Richard is the co-founder of the International Association of Yoga Therapists, co-founder and past president of the Institute for Spirituality and Psychology, and founder of the iRest Institute, where he teaches retreats and trainings internationally, and conducts research on the nondual program he’s developed—iRest Meditation—a synthesis of ancient nondual practices of yogic meditation, studying its efficacy on health, healing, well-being, and awakening.
“Living enlightenment entails no less than a fundamental figure-ground reversal within our psyche, where our center of gravity shifts from identification as a separate ego-I to Essential Nature—the Mystery that has given birth to the entire cosmos—that is simultaneously everything, and no-thing.
“Living enlightenment takes us beyond duality and nonduality, where we recognize there is no condition, state, realization, or accomplishment that is ultimately definitive and final. Here, life is a continuous unfolding, with Essential Nature living us—and everything—as Its what, where, when, how, that, and this of each moment.
“Living enlightenment both exposes our absolute helplessness and insecurity when we live identified as a separate ego-I, and reveals our absolute security and stability when we give ourselves over completely to being lived by the intelligence of Essential Nature. Here, we awaken beyond conflict and suffering to living true compassion, kindness, love, joy, and equanimity, and respect for the preciousness of life and the environment, amidst all the changing circumstances and relationships of our lives.”
Suggested Donation $15-$20
Find out more »March 2019
Pamela Wilson ~ Being with What Is
Pamela Wilson is a Bay Area treasure who has been sharing satsang for twenty years around the world, honoring the sage within everyone, and the absolute oneness of All That Is. Her own teachers included Lester Levinson (The Sedona Method), Robert Adams and Neelam. 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. And she speaks the truth of non-duality, that the universe is one undivided whole. Featured in the book Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Wisdom, and the author of the forthcoming A Golden Retriever’s Guide to Joy, Pamela is at her best in heart-felt dialogue, so please come and bring your questions!
“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.”
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 called The Deep Heart: Our Portal to Presence (Sounds True, Nov. 2019). He offers quarterly daylong intensives in the Bay Area, and residential retreats and seminars around 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 »
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.
April 2019
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
Paul Hedderman ~ Beyond “Selfing”
Paul’s unpretentious, humorous and energetic style of street-level non-duality is honed by his years of involvement with 12-step programs and the recovery community, as well as his background in Zen, Advaita and A Course in Miracles. In colorful and direct language, he points to the many ways we reinforce what he calls “selfing”, urging his listeners to honestly consider the facts of their daily experience, and look beyond the pull of the past and future, and the self-reinforcing self-importance of ego-identity. His direct, uncompromising pointing doesn’t provide a refuge for entrenched conditioning and the sense of separateness, no matter how convincing that experience may be. Paul is the author of The Escape to Everywhere and the subject of the DVD Traveling Lighter.
"We are saddled with the proscribed way of looking called self-centeredness. Everything is perceived as to how it pertains to me. The thing to do is to turn the light on it to see that all there is, is subject; there is no object called me as a subject. There's just subjectivity. That's the truth. Then enlightenment and all these goals become non-goals, because you realize there is nothing to seek.”
Suggested Donation $15-25
No one turned away for lack of funds.
Find out more »