
June 2019
Loch Kelly ~ The Way of Effortless Mindfulness
10 am to 12 noon (Pacific Time - San Francisco, CA, USA) Time Zone Converter
Awakening is always already here, whether we recognize it or not. And, there is an unfolding, which can become the next natural stage of human development. If our true nature is already here, does awakening only happen unintentionally, or is there a way to intentionally realize and live from this? It seems clear that our will, the “doer,” our best effort, our attention and our ego can’t awaken.
So what is it that can awaken? It seems it is only awake awareness that can know awake awareness. But where, oh where, is this awake awareness that can know? In The Way of Effortless Mindfulness, I explore the ways that local awake awareness can know spacious awake awareness, and then welcome everything as interconnected love. This unique “method-less method” does not ask the “doer” to do anything. Instead, it begins by asking your already awake awareness to detach, unblend, or “unhook” from its identification with the small separate sense of self. Effortless mindfulness is a unique form of direct realization and inquiry.
In The Secret of the Golden Flower, it is said that the sublime truth is “turning the light of awareness around.” In Tibetan Buddhism, this is called “child awareness returning to mother awareness,” “looking back at your own face” or “flashing on awakened heart-mind.” The key is to be able to feel awareness immediately separate from thinking and return home to open-hearted awareness.
In this live online session, we will explore practical ways of experiencing local awareness unhook from the separate sense of self. Then, instead of getting caught in a pure awareness witness or not-knowing, we learn to shift into the embodied “not-knowing that knows.” This open-hearted awareness is a new operating system, which has the capacity to liberate traumatic karmic patterns and heal shadow parts.
Loch Kelly is author of the newly released guidebook, The Way of Effortless Mindfulness. He is a psychotherapist and awakening teacher affiliated with Adyashanti. He is the founder of the non-profit Open-Hearted Awareness Institute, whose goal is to make compassionate awakening more available to everyone. After a spontaneous awakening early in his life, he went on to explore how to access, abide in, and help others live from open-hearted awareness. In the early 1980’s, Loch was awarded a fellowship while at Columbia University to study forms of non-dual meditation in Sri Lanka, India and Nepal with teachers from a variety of traditions, including legendary Dzogchen and Mahamudra masters, such as Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche.
He has also worked extensively with the homeless, with families of 9/11 victims, and as an Inter-spiritual Chaplain at Union Theological Seminary. Loch has collaborated with neuroscientists at Yale, UPenn and NYU in the study of how awareness training enhances compassion and wellbeing. He is known for his warm sense of humor, and his practical, non-dual pointers, which help people shift into the freedom that has always been their true nature. His previous book, Shift Into Freedom: The Science and Practice of Open-Hearted Awareness, was awarded two “Best Books of the Year Awards.”
Suggested donation: $15 to $25
Find out more »July 2019
Neelam ~ How to Break the Illusion of Separation
However the moment we believe it and identify ourselves as “it”, as the sense of I, we experience suffering. We are habitually used to going by the sense of separateness that arises with that identification.
We are also used to relying on the mind, in its limited way, to describe Reality for us and tell us how we are to believe things really are.
By understanding what the illusion of separation is and by addressing and inquiring into the sense of I, we can break the habit of separation. By learning to recognize strategies that are a substitute for Being Here, we strengthen the invitation to Awakening and to Embodied Living.
Areas of focus for this satsang:
• Recognizing the illusion of separation and the impermanence of all experience, and finding comfort in the Unknown.
• Inquiring into the sense of I, and learning to recognize strategies that stop us from Being Here
Neelam is a direct disciple of HWL Poonja (affectionately known as Papaji), whose own teacher was Ramana Maharshi. Neelam’s unequivocal commitment to Truth helps us turn inward and release underlying patterns of conditioning which block the recognition of our True Nature. With the utmost tenderness, she invites us into the same recognition of Truth that her teacher, Papaji, transmitted to her, while helping us to address all aspects of daily living, including past conditioning and trauma.
“Awakening is a shift from identifying yourself as this body to knowing yourself as Presence. Freedom means a true independence from the past, where our ability to Be Here and the action in the moment are not guided by our attachment to the arising past. To truly be Free we need to embody our recognition of Presence, and that requires growing of the capacity of our nervous system to Be Here. It is in the meeting of what arises that we find true and lasting freedom.”
Suggested donation: $15 to $25
Find out more »Lynn Marie Lumiere ~ The Healing Power of Awareness ~ 3 Day Online Retreat
Online Retreat with Lynn Marie Lumiere
The Healing Power of Awareness:
Transforming our Relationship with our Self and Others
July 12, 13, 14 (Friday, Saturday and Sunday)
10 am to 1:00 pm (Pacific Time - San Francisco, CA, USA)
Time Zone Converter
This retreat will bring together nondual awakening and nondual psychology, which can facilitate a true healing of our relationship with our self and others. Awakening to our deeper nature alone will not necessarily dissolve the self-hatred so many of us carry in our ego-identity as well as the relational wounding that is held in the body-mind and causes problems in our relationships. And, the ego-identity is incapable of transforming this. It is when awareness meets our psychological wounding that it is freed to return to its original nature, allowing its qualities to shine through our humanness in all our relating.
We will weave between awakening to our essential nature and bringing that to our psychological suffering for healing and transformation. The focus will be as follows:
- Day 1: Awakening Awareness: How to awaken awareness and stabilize as that. Discussion about how to releases the grip of ego conditioning.
- Day 2: Self-Love: How to bring awareness to our self-negativity and release it into true self-love.
- Day 3: Relationship to Others: Healing our relational wounding through self-inquiry and the practice of awakened relating.
This retreat will offer guided meditation, dialogue and experiential exploration, including psychological process and spiritual inquiry.
It would be helpful to read Lynn Marie's book Awakened Relating as part of this retreat (not required).
This Retreat consists of:
- Three live and interactive 3-hour meetings with Lynn Marie in Zoom (a total of 9 hours)
- Audio and video recordings of all meetings
Sliding scale: $50 - $90
Find out more »Finders Course ~ 4 Month Online Course

Why Seek When You Can Find?
Get the remarkable wellbeing and other profound psychological benefits that have been historically associated with states such as enlightenment, persistent mystical states, and nonduality, but without taking years or having to follow religious or spiritual dogma.
What is the Finders Course?
The Finders Course is the first universally effective, step-by-step course that helps people transition to Ongoing and Persistent Non-Symbolic Experience rapidly, safely and reliably.
The course is 100% secular, and built on data from the world’s largest scientific research project in this area, which included over 1,200 participants on 6 continents. Our research showed that using the Finders Course, over 70% of people reached Persistent Non-Symbolic Experience in 4 months or less. And another 19% of people who took the program had temporary experiences of it.
Through the Finders Course, we provide the most effective methods and practices for creating permanent positive shifts in peace of mind, mental balance, life satisfaction and happiness. From ancient practices to cutting-edge science, our programs help you to assemble a personalized program to reach your goals. In our course you’ll find a community of like-minded adventurers on the same journey.
The Course Format
- Weekly video modules introducing a variety of proven practices, including:
- Daily meditation (using 26 different methods)
- Intention
- Gratitude
- Mindfulness
- One-on-one practice/exploration sessions
- Online weekly support group meetings
- Mentoring
- Facebook group
- Book (The Finders by Dr. Jeffrey A. Martin)
Please note that the course does require a significant degree of commitment, which has been found to be crucial to its effectiveness. One must be prepared to commit a minimum of one hour a day, plus an hour or two a week for group meetings, over a four month period.
Right now the Finders Course is available through Open Circle at a special discounted price of $1,995, for the course beginning August 3rd, a 20% discount off the normal price of $2,495.00. If you have financial concerns, please email us at the address below.
Free Introduction
On Saturday July 20th at 10:00am Pacific Time, we will be offering a special, free online introductory session to discuss the course, and to answer any questions you may have.
To join the free introductory session at 10:00am on Saturday July 20th, click https://zoom.us/j/3814331950 (no pre-registration is required)
For more information on the course, please visit https://finderscourse.com/.
To register for the course at this special price, go to: https://smileu.finderscourse.com/offers/6JddwnJv
Enter “Open Circle” when asked who referred you to the course.
For any questions, please contact Kelley Duilio at kelley.duilio@gmail.com
Find out more »
Pamela Wilson ~ Rooted Flow
"I am Rooted and I Flow” - a marvelous quote by Virginia Wolff confirming what is already here for all of us as embodied presence. Let’s explore this relaxed rootedness and honor together the intelligence of Life’s flow, within and without.
Pamela invites us to uncontain the field of presence, clarity and strength within by noticing the ongoing inner satsang that appears in the heart, body and mind. Bringing warmth and compassion to what is tight or troubled liberates the past from the body, allowing a rooted, clear and free flowing expansion. Life then can live itself, no role play required!
Pamela 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. Featured in the book Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Wisdom, Pamela is at her best in heart-felt dialogue, so please come and bring your questions!
Suggested donation: $15 to $25
Find out more »August 2019
Lynn Marie Lumiere ~ Awareness: The Alchemical Solvent
As we awaken to the ever-present awareness and bring that directly to our psychological, emotional conditioning, wounding, and sense of separate identity, it is transformed, healed and dissolved. Awareness is the only solution that has the power to dissolve our sense of separate identity, one thought, feeling, belief, sensation and perception at a time. We cannot do this from the conditioned mind. Only from the vantage of awareness can we fully meet all of our human experience and see it for what it truly is—passing phenomena taken to be a self. This requires recognizing the presence of awareness and inquiring from/as that into our experience as it arises and then falls away back into its source. This webinar will include a talk, guided meditative inquiry, and dialogue.
In this webinar, Lynn Marie will share her presence and clarity, as well as wisdom derived from many years of experience as a nondual psychotherapist, through teaching, guided meditation and dialogue. Her work is dedicated to awakening consciousness and bringing that to our psychological and emotional issues in order to transform them and become free of identification with them. Lynn Marie is a contributing author of The Sacred Mirror: Nondual Wisdom and Psychotherapy, and the author of Awakened Relating: A Guide to Embodying Undivided Love in Intimate Relationships. She lives in Grass Valley, CA and offers online spiritual mentoring and nondual psychotherapy. For more information, please see www.lynnmarielumiere.com
Suggested donation: $15 to $25
Find out more »Neelam ~ Freedom In Every Moment: 4-Hour Telesatsang
What we really want is to Be Here
To Be Here is the truest, deepest desire that we have. That of course is not always visible on the level of personality and the sense of I. But if we look deeply enough, Being Here - and the Peace and inner Freedom that comes from that is what we really, really want.
We often hear "just Be Here" but we don't really understand or know what it really means or how to do it.
In this 4-Hour experiential intensive with Neelam we will be both speaking about "What we really want is to Be Here" and practicing the elements of what Being Here really is:
- Direct experience of Presence - knowing Presence beyond the mind
- Inquiring into the sense of I and breaking the illusion of separation
- Capacity of the Nervous System to Be Here -this is often the missing link between the desire for Truth and our ability to Be Here
Neelam’s teachings offer a spiritual solution that is also informed by science. Her practical approach to Awakening, spiritual Inquiry and to calming your overactive nervous system when you are triggered helps open your heart to a different way of experiencing your life, yourself and others. Past students say they have gained:
- Direct experience of Presence
- Greater capacity in the nervous system to Be Here when experiencing the arising past (less fight/flight/freeze or overwhelm)
- Spiritual Awakening
- Able to accept what is and enjoy life more (‘be at peace in my true nature’)
- Increased self-compassion and improved relationship
- Increased ability to navigate life’s ups and downs
- Ability to break habitual mental, emotional and behavioral patterns that cause suffering.
- Inner Freedom
Testimonial
“What's different about Neelam is that she demystifies the actual practice of being present - she's helped me see what's actually happening when feelings and emotions come up, and how, in a very practical way, to deal with them. Her strong point is "how to actually do this being the present thing." It really helps to take it out of the mind and into the body”
About Neelam
Neelam is a direct disciple of HWL Poonja (affectionately known as Papaji), whose own teacher was Ramana Maharshi. Neelam’s unequivocal commitment to Truth helps us turn inward and release underlying patterns of conditioning which block the recognition of our True Nature. With the utmost tenderness, she invites us into the same recognition of Truth that her teacher, Papaji, transmitted to her, while helping us to address all aspects of daily living, including past conditioning and trauma.
"Awakening is a shift from identifying yourself as this body to knowing yourself as Presence. Freedom means a true independence from the past, where our ability to Be Here and the action in the moment are not guided by our attachment to the arising past. To truly be Free we need to embody our recognition of Presence, and that requires growing of the capacity of our nervous system to Be Here. It is in the meeting of what arises that we find true and lasting freedom."
www.neelam.org
4-Hour Experiential Intensive
Sliding Scale: $30 to $65
Tom Kurzka ~ Rest in Being: The Love of Your Life
You are invited to join Tom as we explore this experience called me and my world. We’ll begin with an introduction followed by a brief guided meditation, then open dialogue. There is no question or concern that is too unworthy to be addressed. Often the most deep rooted problems are our gateway to the Love that we all are. Through this process Tom holds a sweet tender kindness that makes many who work with him feel held and safe. Within this supportive framework our full humanness is embraced and touched. As we radically accept and meet the worst of the worst, a gentle piercing happens as the entirety of our human experience melts in Being’s all-embracing arms, this ever present Love. We see that we are that Love, this sweetness that unconditionally holds our humanness.
In 2000, after a lifelong battle trying to hold onto his false sense of a separate self, Tom’s fight against Reality spontaneously ended, resulting in a shift into unitive consciousness or Being. Shortly thereafter, Tom was asked to share and has since been holding small group meetings at his home in Oregon and also with a group in Virginia. Tom is known for his humility and a profound acceptance of what is. The guidance moving through him has flavors of Advaita Vedanta, Sufism, Buddhism and, most importantly, an ongoing revelation of living in the moment.
Suggested donation: $15 to $25
Find out more »Richard Miller ~ Just Say “Yes”
If to say it once, and once only, then still to say: Yes. And say it complete; say it as if the word filled the whole moment with its absolute saying. Later for "but," Later for "if." Now only the single syllable that is the beloved, that is the world. ~ Gregory Orr
The role of the six senses is to divide what is ever indivisible. Awakening reveals our 7th sense that knows only unity: ‘This’ that is always whole, ever present, that knows only love.
Saying, “Yes,” to each moment affirms our life as unitive love in action. “Yes,” acknowledges our ability to embrace radical authenticity and intimacy with ourselves and with every person and situation we encounter.
Join Richard for this Open Circle online inquiry into our unchanging ground of timeless Being, Awareness, and what lies beyond that underlies and pervades all changing states. Richard’s presentation entails guided meditation, a talk, and spirited intimate dialogue.
“Awakening to nondual Being reveals that all seeking is not for intimacy of object to object, but of the Self with Itself, where no separate other exists.” ~ Richard
Richard's teachings are based upon a lifetime of inquiry into the nature of freedom. Following a series of awakenings all sense of separation fell away while working with his spiritual mentor, Jean Klein. Richard experiences this awakening as always fresh and alive, yet forever opening to itself. Author of iRest Meditation: Restorative Practices for Health, Resiliency, and Well-Being, Yoga Nidra: The Meditative Heart of Yoga, and The iRest Program For Healing PTSD, Richard is the founder of the iRest Institute, and co-founder of the International Association of Yoga Therapists and Institute for Spirituality and Psychology. As well as leading spiritual retreats, Richard is researching the effectiveness of the iRest Meditation protocol that he has developed with soldiers, veterans, students, children, the homeless and people experiencing issues such as PTSD, substance abuse, sleep disorders and chronic pain. For information please visit www.iRest.org.
Suggested donation: $15 to $25
Find out more »September 2019
Finders Course ~ 4 Month Online Course

Why Seek When You Can Find?
Get the remarkable wellbeing and other profound psychological benefits that have been historically associated with states such as enlightenment, persistent mystical states, and nonduality, but without taking years or having to follow religious or spiritual dogma.
What is the Finders Course?
The Finders Course is the first universally effective, step-by-step course that helps people transition to Ongoing and Persistent Non-Symbolic Experience rapidly, safely and reliably.
The course is 100% secular, and built on data from the world’s largest scientific research project in this area, which included over 1,200 participants on 6 continents. Our research showed that using the Finders Course, over 70% of people reached Persistent Non-Symbolic Experience in 4 months or less. And another 19% of people who took the program had temporary experiences of it.
Through the Finders Course, we provide the most effective methods and practices for creating permanent positive shifts in peace of mind, mental balance, life satisfaction and happiness. From ancient practices to cutting-edge science, our programs help you to assemble a personalized program to reach your goals. In our course you’ll find a community of like-minded adventurers on the same journey.
The Course Format
- Weekly video modules introducing a variety of proven practices, including:
- Daily meditation (using 26 different methods)
- Intention
- Gratitude
- Mindfulness
- One-on-one practice/exploration sessions
- Online weekly support group meetings
- Mentoring
- Facebook group
- Book (The Finders by Dr. Jeffrey A. Martin)
Please note that the course does require a significant degree of commitment, which has been found to be crucial to its effectiveness. One must be prepared to commit a minimum of one hour a day, plus an hour or two a week for group meetings, over a four month period.
Right now the Finders Course is available through Open Circle at a special discounted price of $1,995, for the course beginning October 5th, a 20% discount off the normal price of $2,495.00. If you have financial concerns, please email us at the address below.
Free Introductions
On Wednesday September 4th at 7:00pm and Saturday September 14th at 9:00am Pacific Time, we will be offering special, free introductory sessions online to discuss the course, and to answer any questions you may have.
To join either of the free introductory sessions at the appointed time, click https://zoom.us/j/3814331950 (no pre-registration is required)
For more information on the course, please visit https://finderscourse.com/.
To register for the course at this special price, go to: https://smileu.finderscourse.com/offers/YvaYSfaS
Enter “Open Circle” when asked who referred you to the course.
For any questions, please contact Kelley Duilio at kelley.duilio@gmail.com
Find out more »







