Past Events › Sonoma

Satsang: 2-4 pm
Refreshments: until 5
Suggested Donation: $10- $20, no one turned away.

Location: 8476 Sonoma Ave, Sebastopol, CA. Park on Sonoma Ave.

Note: The address sign says 8474/8476. Park on the street, and walk down the short driveway to the house with the carport. Please arrive 10-15 minutes early.

In colorful and direct language, Paul 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, colored with plenty of humor and laughter, doesn’t provide a refuge for entrenched conditioning and the sense of separateness, no matter how convincing that experience may be.

"'Whatever arises in my mind, I don't let it vouch for me. Any form of looking that focuses on an object misses the opportunity to directly be the seeing, and not identified with the object."

Paul Hedderman has been leading workshops and holding talks for almost 30 years. His 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. Paul is the author of The Escape to Everywhere and On Having Never Left, and is the subject of the DVD Traveling Lighter.

Satsang: 2-4 pm
Refreshments: until 5
Suggested Donation: $10- $20, no one turned away.

Location: 8476 Sonoma Ave, Sebastopol, CA. Park on Sonoma Ave.

Note: The address sign says 8474/8476.  Park on the street, and walk down the short driveway to the house with the carport. Please arrive 10-15 minutes early.

Come and explore what it is to be awake within our ever-changing present experience. We will be exploring our deep conditioning of being separated from the wholeness of who we are and how nondual teachings can be tools to create favorable conditions for "slipping into" a larger dimension of ourselves.

Yet teachings can also pose limitations.  Understanding has its place and value, but concepts and language are at best a pointer to the presence of who we are. Words like presence or effortless being are descriptions of this open, loving presence; but not to be mistaken for the actual experience of the vast fullness of one's essential self.

We will see how observing and grappling with our ego and its structures can help us to let go and surrender. In doing so a larger dimension opens.  From a glimpse into our true nature we naturally want more of this...it's human nature.  Wherever you are on your journey, come explore together the fertile ground of your true being.

• Hear from David about movement from the Progressive Path to the Direct Path
• Understand the role of ego and the Separate Self
• Dwell in the presence of who you are
• What is surrender all about?

"Real understanding is in not knowing. All knowing dissolves in not-knowing, and it is this not knowing state that there is transformation. Let go of all desire to know. But keep your terrible eagerness." ~ Jean Klein

David Lee lives in Sebastopol and has been facilitating nondual discussion groups for 5 years. He has been a sincere and dedicated aspirant of both the Progressive Path and the Direct Path for 48 years. He has done long retreats, 3 months as well as shorter 10 day retreats over this period of time. His main teachers are Rupert Spira, Miranda MacPherson, Adyashanti and in the Buddhist tradition, Joseph Goldstein.  To learn more about him and see what he is offering, please go to his website: www.davidleenonduality.com

Satsang: 2-4 pm
Refreshments: until 5
Suggested Donation: $10- $20, no one turned away.

Location: 8476 Sonoma Ave, Sebastopol, CA. Park on Sonoma Ave.
Note: The address sign says 8474/8476.  Park on the street, and walk down the short driveway to the house with the carport. Please arrive 10-15 minutes early.

The satsang starts with a short meditation, then comments by Gail, then Q&A and discussion.

Come and gather together for a deep dive into the practicalities of awakened living. Your everyday human life is the laboratory as we explore the myth of the separate self, unexplored trauma patterns, and living the deepest truth of nondual reality.

You are welcome as you are with your fears, doubts, shame, and questions - and simply to share space with like-minded friends. Together, we lovingly embrace our humanness as we expand into pure openness, overflowing appreciation, and deep connection with all of Life.

Gail Brenner, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and lover of truth with a fire that burns brightly. She brings to this work years of experience with individuals and groups and is known for creating the safety and trust needed for this deeper exploration. Gail is the author of the award-winning The End of Self-Help and Suffering Is Optional.

Satsang: 2-4 pm
Refreshments: until 5
Suggested Donation: $10- $20, no one turned away.

Location: 8476 Sonoma Ave, Sebastopol, CA. Park on Sonoma Ave.
Note: The address sign says 8474/8476.  Park on the street, and walk down the short driveway to the house with the carport. Please arrive 10-15 minutes early.

This gathering is about the act of being. It’s about knowing a happiness you can’t explain because you have no reason to point to. The joy of pure being. Together we’ll explore knowing who you are, resting in presence, and what it means to act in the world on behalf of this deep knowing.

We’ll give our attention to the pleasure of being aware of being aware, and seeing what gets in the way of this—personally and collectively—while exploring how to let it go, to undo, to realize freedom together.

This gathering will consist of a guided meditation, a teaching, and a group discussion. It is based on Caverly’s new book: The Heart of Who We Are.

Caverly Morgan is a meditation teacher, non-profit founder, speaker, and author. She is the founder of Peace in Schools, a nonprofit that created the nation’s first for-credit mindfulness class in public high schools. Caverly is also the founder of Presence Collective, a community of cross-cultural contemplatives committed to personal and collective transformation. She is the author of A Kids Book About Mindfulness as well as The Heart of Who We Are: Realizing Freedom Together.

Caverly blends the original spirit of Zen with a modern nondual approach. Her practice began in 1995 and has included eight years of training in a silent Zen monastery. She has been teaching contemplative practice since 2001 and leads meditation retreats, workshops and online classes internationally. More at caverlymorgan.org.

Satsang: 2-4 pm
Refreshments: until 5
Suggested Donation: $10- $20, no one turned away.

Location: 8476 Sonoma Ave, Sebastopol, CA. Park on Sonoma Ave.
Note: The address sign says 8474/8476.  Park on the street, and walk down the short driveway to the house with the carport. Please arrive 10-15 minutes early.

In our daily lives, the body is seldom tasted as it is. We rarely listen to its tactile and energetic language or allow it to simply unfold and blossom in its natural original intelligence.

In fact we have deeply disconnected from this level of experience and even when we turn back towards the body, we come with agendas and ideas that we project upon it, forcing the body into a new mode, only to perpetuate a felt identification with a body, that may seem improved, but in fact remains a mere projection for the separate self that seems to live in its center.

With silence as our main shrine, we will share a guided tactile meditation. In this contemplation, resistances and chains of bodily contractions, the habits that create the illusion that our identity is limited, located and separate are revealed and free to unfold as they are: feelings and sensations that come and go in Awareness. We com to feel that our true identity is an open field of vibrating openness, limitless and ever-present.

Gently and effortlessly, in deepening waves, the body is slowly realigned with this felt understanding. It flows as a living substance with more and more ease and transparency and reflects and expresses the ever-present freedom and silence that is its invisible source.

For Ellen, "the experience we call the body has always been central to all of her experiences and recognitions. It is the place of pain and expression, the channel for raw and tactile intelligence, the mirror of the totality of creation and the pathway to healing.

She participated in gatherings with the Jungian analyst Marion Woodman, and dove into body and soul through dreamwork, body and voice explorations, mask making, ritual, and a circle of women. Today, Ellen offers meetings and retreats in The Awakened Body, a direct experience sourced in Kashmir Shivaism, Authentic Movement, and self inquiry.

Ellen has Master Degrees in Dance Movement Therapy from NYU, and Transpersonal Psychology from JFK, and a certificate in Laban Movement Analysis. She lives in Oxford.
Ellen's website: www.ellenemmet.com

Satsang: 2-4 pm
Refreshments: until 5
Suggested Donation: $10- $20, no one turned away.

Location: 8476 Sonoma Ave, Sebastopol, CA. Park on Sonoma Ave.
Note: The address sign says 8474/8476.  Park on the street, and walk down the short driveway to the house with the carport. Please arrive 10-15 minutes early.
Please dress warmly, doors & windows will be open!

Since the pandemic, fewer teachers are available for local meetings, and more teachings are onling. Yet there is a value and synergy in meeting in person! This satsang is facilitated by Kathleen McTeigue and Tomas Phillips, two locals who've experienced the teachings directly. We'll explore Nondual Awakening, and direct experience, yours and ours. We'll talk about these topics:

* What do I awaken from, and to?
* Is nondual awakening available to anyone?
* What is duality like in our everyday lives, and what is nonduality?
* What happens to the ego in awakening?
* Can the spiritual ego co-opt awakening?

Kathleen had a spontaneous awakening to nondual nature. This recognition of the unitive nature of reality, forever altered her perspective. It revealed the illusory nature of a separate self and the indescribable essence of our true nature. The awakening was the beginning of an alchemical process of transformation, including as a student of Adyasanti. She enjoys being in satsang and spiritual community with fellow lovers of truth. Kathleen's website: openingtopresence.com

Tomas has been hosting nondual satsangs since 2004. His first teacher was Adyashanti, and his current teacher is Angelo DiLullo. He experienced a consciousness shift on a Sunday afternoon in 2006. Since then he's learned to make the teachings his own, through inquiry, and looking within. Awakening is a continuous process of expansion, away from fixed positions of the mind, to freedom in all areas of life.

You likely have heard the saying: We get what we most sincerely want. As well as: What we place our focused attention on, becomes our reality

There's a power that lives within, and that is the capacity to apply focused attention. The ability to harness one's energies and set one's sights on manifesting something, emerges from the gift on life in its aspect of free-will.

In this meeting, we will apply focused attention on presence as a practice to remember our true nature. This is a practical tool which you will be able to apply in your life.

Bio: Featured in conversation with Adyashanti on Buddha at the Gas Pump as well on ConsciousTV, Susanne Marie offers teachings in support of freedom and the celebration of our common essence and unity with all life. Susanne, the parent of two young adults, offers spiritual mentoring, online an in-person group facilitation, as well as retreats.
Susanne's website: susannemarie.org

The satsang includes a meditation, comments by Susanne, then Q&A and discussion.
Satsang: 2-4 pm
Refreshments: until 5
Suggested Donation: $10- $20, no one turned away.
No pre-registration. Pay at door when you arrive.

Location: 8476 Sonoma Ave, Sebastopol, CA. Park on Sonoma Ave.
Note: The address sign says 8474/8476.  Park on the street, and walk down the short driveway to the house with the carport.
Please arrive 10-15 minutes early.
Please dress warmly, doors & windows will be open!

The Indian philosophy of advaita, or nonduality, teaches that consciousness is the primary reality, the fundamental essence of the cosmos. But what does this really mean? It certainly doesn’t appear that way to our eyes. And how can we understand awakening from this perspective. What are we awakening from? And to? Peter Russell will explore questions such as these, and the essential role that letting go plays in this journey.

Bio: Peter Russell, M.A., D.C.S. is a leading thinker on consciousness and contemporary spirituality. He coined the term "global brain" with his 1980s bestseller of the same name in which he predicted the internet and the impact it would have on humanity. Other books include Waking UP in Time, From Science to God, and his most recent Letting Go of Nothing.
Peter's website: www.peterrussell.com

The satsang includes a meditation, comments by the speaker, then Q&A and discussion.
Satsang: 2-4 pm
Refreshments: until 5

Suggested Donation: $10- $20, no one turned away.
No pre-registration. Pay at door when you arrive.

Location: 8476 Sonoma Ave, Sebastopol, CA. Park on Sonoma Ave.
Note: The address sign says 8474/8476.  Park on the street, and walk down the short driveway to the house with the carport.
Please arrive 10-15 minutes early.
Please dress warmly, doors & windows will be open!