
April 2025
Dorothy Hunt ~ Honoring the Life and Teachings of Ramana Maharshi ~ Retreat Day (In-Person & Livestream)
“There is no greater mystery than this—that being the Reality ourselves, we seek to gain Reality.”
Ramana Maharshi has been a light shining in the darkness for countless seekers of Truth. His expression of Truth beautifully and lovingly embodies the Absolute, and yet his method of Self-Inquiry does not require seekers to leave home, hearth, job, or family life. In his words, “All that is required to realize the Self is to be still.” Join us for this day of silence and satsang, reflecting on the life and teachings of this great sage. There will be a 1½-hour break for lunch and afternoon tea. Apart from satsang, the retreat will be held in silence.

Dorothy Hunt, Spiritual Director of Moon Mountain Sangha will facilitate this retreat day. She is a teacher in the spiritual lineage of Adyashanti and founder of the San Francisco Center for Meditation and Psychotherapy. Dorothy has a long and deep connection with the teachings of Ramana Maharshi and offers this day to any who are interested in coming to sit in silence and listen with the Heart.
Presently, Dorothy offers satsang and retreats via Zoom, and dokusan by phone. For more information, please visit www.dorothyhunt.org
Pre-registration is Required for In-Person attendance.
Pre-registration for In-Person attandance closes at Midnight on April 11th (the night before event)
Sliding Scale: $60 to $120
No one turned away for lack of funds.
OR
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If you register for Recording access by event, link to access it will be sent to you within a week.
If you register for Recording access AFTER event, please forward your confirmation email to web@opencirclecenter.org with your request that we send the recording.
For inquiries about In-Person attendance contact LocalEvents@opencirclecenter.org
For inquiries about the Livestream Registration & Access contact Web@opencirclecenter.org
Lunch: There will be a 1 & 1/2 hour lunch break.
Bring your own lunch to eat outside on the patio overlooking the Bay.
If you have symptoms of a viral infection, or have had a recent
Covid exposure or positive test, please stay home out of consideration for others.
Engaged Nonduality ~ With David Loy and Lisa Ferguson
Engaged Nonduality:
Nondual Values in Action
with With David Loy and Lisa Ferguson
Recording will be emailed to participants within a week.
You’re welcome to join even if you can’t attend the live session.
"Compassion arises and manifests itself naturally when we have overcome our sense of separation from the world.” David Loy, Nonduality: In Buddhism and Beyond
Join Lisa and David Loy, leading advocate in connecting spirituality with engagement, for an exploration of nondual values in action, and practical responses to our planetary crises from the perspective of non-separation. We’ll explore how our world situation mirrors that of our own personal misconception of separation, and how the wisest response to our planetary crisis is to address separation on both of these levels. David will introduce us to the Bodhisattva path as a nonsectarian archetype that offers a new vision of the relationship between spiritual unfolding and social engagement, and orient toward our true “home,” which spontaneously expresses itself in skillful action.....
LEARN MORE HERE
Silent Group Meditation (Free, No Guidance)
Join us for a silent group meditation. Do your own practice quietly in the company of others. Let’s be present, together. .... more details
Mon.: 8:00am – 8:30am (PT) and Wed.: 9:00am – 9:30am (PT)
Ongoing drop-in group – attend as often as you like.
Weekly, with rare exceptions. Verify dates on Full Calendar.
Silent Group Meditation (Free, No Guidance)
Join us for a silent group meditation. Do your own practice quietly in the company of others. Let’s be present, together. .... more details
Mon.: 8:00am – 8:30am (PT) and Wed.: 9:00am – 9:30am (PT)
Ongoing drop-in group – attend as often as you like.
Weekly, with rare exceptions. Verify dates on Full Calendar.
Arian Mateo ~ Letting Ourselves Off the Hook
Join us for a transformative spiritual meeting led by Mateo (Arian Mateo), where we will explore the profound freedom that comes from letting ourselves off the hook. In this gathering, you will be guided to release deep-rooted patterns of self-judgment, seeking, striving, and unresolved guilt and shame, allowing you to discover and rest in the simplicity of our true nature.......
LEARN MORE HERE
Ishita Sharma ~ Embodiment Lab – Experiments in Embodying Presence: Relationships
Together we will examine what embodied presence makes possible in relationships, and how we can use the crucible of intimate relationships to deepen as/into unity.
Join us for Embodiment Lab, an experiential exploration of the body as a doorway to presence and aliveness, returning to the ground of being through our own direct experience......
LEARN MORE HERE
Silent Group Meditation (Free, No Guidance)
Join us for a silent group meditation. Do your own practice quietly in the company of others. Let’s be present, together. .... more details
Mon.: 8:00am – 8:30am (PT) and Wed.: 9:00am – 9:30am (PT)
Ongoing drop-in group – attend as often as you like.
Weekly, with rare exceptions. Verify dates on Full Calendar.
May 2025
Marlies Myoku Cocheret ~ Presence: Our Only Refuge (In-Person & Livestream)
Open Circle is hosting an evening Satsang and two DAYLONGS with Marlies Myoku Cocheret in California, USA.
May 2nd (7-9 pm, PT) ~ Berkeley, CA (In-Person & Livestream)
May 3rd (11am - 5pm, PT) ~ Fairfax, CA (In-Person & Livestream)
May 4th Way of the Women Daylong (11am - 5pm, PT) ~
......Fairfax, CA (In-Person only - Women only)
Presence: Our Only Refuge
Abiding presence is the only ground from which right action can flower in our world.
These times demand a strong Presence if we are to care as Love for the world right now. So let’s come together in truth and love, to connect as our true nature for ourselves and our world. This brings forward wisdom and compassion. Naturally the right action follows......
LEARN MORE HERE
Stephan Bodian ~ Waking Up Through the Metacrisis: Finding Deeper Ground in Challenging Times
The Buddha said it succinctly 2500 years ago: human existence is, and always has been, marked by constant change and uncertainty. Yet we find ourselves in uniquely challenging and uncertain times: overpopulation, mass extinctions, extreme weather, environmental tipping points, political upheaval, nuclear proliferation, demographic instability and widespread migrations, and the advent of technologies that challenge and distort our understanding of what’s real and true.
Please join me for one or more satsangs in this monthly series (Jan-May) that include meditations for returning to and resting in our deeper ground while welcoming and working with the feelings that these challenging times evoke. There will also be a brief talk and plenty of time for sharing and discussion.....
LEARN MORE HERE
Marlies Myoku Cocheret ~ Presence: Our Only Refuge ~ Bay Area Daylong Retreat
Open Circle is hosting an evening Satsang and two DAYLONGS with Marlies Myoku Cocheret in California, USA.
May 2nd (7-9 pm, PT) ~ Berkeley, CA (In-Person & Livestream)
May 3rd (11am - 5pm, PT) ~ Fairfax, CA (In-Person & Livestream)
May 4th Way of the Women Daylong (11am - 5pm, PT) ~
.....Fairfax, CA (In-Person only - Women only)
Presence: Our Only Refuge
Abiding presence is the only ground from which right action can flower in our world.
During this Daylong Meditation Retreat, we sit and share together sacred space to welcome in our true nature, our silent nature, that is always here and never changes. Marlies takes you by the hand into the cathedral of your being so together we connect, taste and abide as Presence: our only refuge......
LEARN MORE HERE







