November 2023
Marlies Myoku Cocheret ~ Exploring Meditation
Whether you are starting to meditate or already have a meditation practice, this bi-monthly meditation with Marlies will help you drop deeper into connection with yourself, setting the tone for the day in an embodied way.
Your body is a refined sense organ.
It is a portal into the beautiful Silent Presence that you are.
Let’s sit together … abide as You … for All
Meditation is the art of inner exploration. It’s an opportunity to slow down and receive all of life exactly as it is. Using your body as a portal into your Yourself, we will explore how to connect with and abide as your true essence underneath all the daily busy-ness.
You may have noticed that often the mind does not settle easily. In fact, in quietude, all the things you have been trying to avoid often come bubbling up to the surface. It’s not a problem. They simply want to be met with that gentle, fierce and spacious awareness which is what you truly are.
The more we learn to rest as our underlying silent nature, no matter what arises within us, the easier it becomes to keep our seat when the winds of life pull us back and forth.
Come set the tone for the day and be close with yourself in an embodied way.
Marlies Myoku Cocheret was invited to teach the Dharma by Adyashanti in 2000. She teaches meditation, retreats, and works as a Hakomi therapist and psychologist. She brings a potent invitation into the deep silence that you are, and guides you into embodied connection with your humanity and divine nature. With her grounded presence and therapeutic experience, people feel safe to explore meditation and awakening, knowing that whatever comes up is welcome and can be held.
Suggested donation: $10 to $30
No one turned away for lack of funds.
Please register early if you can.
The event will be recorded and emailed to participants within a week.
To check your local time, use a tool such as: Time Zone Converter
Dave Oshana ~ Delicious Human Consciousness
Since Existence is so fantastic, alive and desirable, I'm not sure why non-duality and other religious views are so often presented as dry and boring. Is it fear, culture, contraction, fetishization, objectification, or just a dispassionate transcendence of desire, drama and tendencies? Hmmm...
Whatever! Speculation knows no end.
All I know is what I know, which is that life after Enlightenment (Awakening/Liberation) is so much more tasty, juicy - and, well, alive, naturally. I also know, and you are certainly in on the secret, that humans thrive on contact. Truly deeply connecting - the kind of connection that only happens when the conditioned self (false identity/Ego) gets out of the way, off the potty and turns off.
So, this is an invitation to do what we humans do best (and long for) - to mix, mash and merge. Oh, don't worry if you are shy, the enlightened company present won't be holding anyone's feet over the flames, scorching and roasting them into Enlightenment. You'll be able to be just as you are, and snooze by the campfire, as the stars come down to co-mingle with our consciousness.
This is an experience to be had, live and direct, not read about after. You are welcome to join in.
Read the warm and amazing feedback after Dave's debut last month ‘Dave Oshana at Open Circle Center: Enlightenment Transmission, Enlightenment & Healing’.
Advice:
For full receptivity and comfort, it is recommended that you have space to lay down, away from WiFi and phones, hydrate well and abstain from addictive and mind-altering substances, both before and after our meeting.
Newcomers are invited to make an early connection with Dave Oshana and Enlightenment Transmission, prepare in advance, experience the energies and receive guidance and updates about the event - use email or contact-form.
About Dave Oshana:
After 25 years of intense spiritual seeking, I was surprised to find myself Enlightened at 5am on 19th June 2000. I share the profound transformation in the energetic fields we create together, and call this phenomenon: Enlightenment Transmission.
Enlightenment Transmission online resources
include YouTube, audio, writings and online events.
enlightenment-transmission.com
Suggested donation: $15 to $40
No one turned away for lack of funds.
Please register early if you can.
The event will be recorded and emailed to participants within a week.
To check your local time, use a tool such as: Time Zone Converter
Dorothy Hunt ~ Grace and Gratitude
Grace is always present. You imagine it is somewhere high in the sky,
far away, and has to descend. It is really inside you, in your Heart.
Grace is the Self. . . .You are never out of its operation.
--Sri Ramana Maharshi
Whether life’s unfolding gifts are birth or death, tears or laughter, understanding or confusion, challenge or compassion, it is all grace. Grace fills the world, but only a heart awakened to its true nature will taste its depths. Whatever is here expresses life’s wholeness and can be an invitation back to our unborn Source.
Awakening itself is a movement of grace that allows us to freely appreciate the gifts of impermanence and life’s continual flow, no longer bound by the suffering that comes from perpetually wanting “more,” different, or unending experiences. The working of such grace depends on our ability to receive it.
When we realize the movement of grace in our lives, the natural response of the heart is gratitude. Gratitude is not simply being thankful for things we deem beneficial or pleasurable. It is really a way of living and an expression of the love we discover that is right here in all circumstances. Like Brother David Steindl-Rast, we may discover that “It is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.”
Dorothy Hunt currently serves as Spiritual Director of Moon Mountain Sangha, teaching at the request and in the spiritual lineage of Adyashanti. The flavor of her teaching blends Advaita and Zen with a deep welcoming of the human expressions of the Mystery. Dorothy is the founder of the San Francisco Center for Meditation and Psychotherapy, and practiced psychotherapy from 1967 until her retirement in 2020. She is the author of Only This!, Leaves from Moon Mountain, and Ending the Search: From Spiritual Ambition to the Heart of Awareness. In addition, she is a contributing author to two books on Nondual Wisdom and Psychotherapy, and the editor of Love: A Fruit Always in Season.
Presently, Dorothy offers satsang and retreats via Zoom, and dokusan by phone. For more information, please visit www.dorothyhunt.org
Suggested donation: $15 to $40
No one turned away for lack of funds.
Please register early if you can.
The event will be recorded and emailed to participants within a week.
To check your local time, use a tool such as: Time Zone Converter
Lisa Schumacher ~ Your True Nature ~ In-Person Local Event
A meeting with Lisa is an opportunity to step away from your day to day life and devote time for self-inquiry into the heart of the truth. There will be a few moments of silence to start the meeting and then Lisa will speak and invite the community to share reports about their lives and questions.
Lisa Schumacher: Lisa grew up in Colusa, CA, and attended college at San Luis Obispo in the 1980's. After she moved to Southern Oregon in the early 90s, a friend invited her to a video satsang with Gangaji. Upon hearing Gangaji say "Be your Natural Self", Lisa's heart caught on fire and she fell into a deep bow of surrender. That meeting revealed to her the absolute simplicity of the natural, living truth of Love, inseparable from who one is. Lisa moved to Bolinas in 1999 to be closer to Gangaji and the vibrant community around her. In 2006, Lisa was asked by Gangaji to meet with people and share Satsang. She has held meetings in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and North America. She's also a long-time student of Eli Jaxon-Bear, Gangaji's husband, and a founding teacher of the Eli's "Leela School of Awakening". Lisa is the author of "The Stone I Love", a book of poetry inspired by Gangaji, available on her website and for purchase at the gathering.
In Lisa's meetings, she invites you to sit close and inquire about your awakening, your spiritual questions, and the unfolding truth. The teaching is in the tradition of Gangaji, who is a student of Papaji, who had his awakening at the feet of Ramana Maharshi.
Lisa's website: satsangwithlisa.org
Suggested Donation: $15- $25, no one turned away.
No pre-registration. Pay at door when you arrive.
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.
Lisa Schumacher ~ Your True Nature ~ In-Person Local Event
A meeting with Lisa is an opportunity to step away from your day to day life and devote time for self-inquiry into the heart of the truth. There will be a few moments of silence to start the meeting and then Lisa will speak and invite the community to share reports about their lives and questions.
In the early 90s, a friend invited Lisa to a video satsang with Gangaji. Upon hearing Gangaji say "Be your Natural Self", Lisa's heart caught on fire and she fell into a deep bow of surrender. That meeting revealed to her the absolute simplicity of the natural, living truth of Love, inseparable from who one is. In 2006, Lisa was asked by Gangaji to meet with people and share Satsang. She has held meetings in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and North America. Note that Lisa will also be holding a meeting in Sebastopol on Sunday, November 19th (see Sonoma Events).
Find out more »Jeannie Zandi ~ Gratitude
Join Jeannie to explore the authentic impulse to gratitude that rises in the full heart, as well as how gratitude can be used gently to open to the blessing of being alive.
Jeannie’s gift for inviting people to join her in resting and rooted presence evokes a deep meeting with oneself and reality. Within that, Jeannie’s humor and iconoclasm serve to bring people into an understanding that is beyond the intellectual. Through silent and guided meditation, spontaneous talks and exchange with participants, Jeannie will host a space of clarity and warmth where the richness of relating can be explored safely and your innermost questions met fully.
Jeannie Zandi is the director of Living as Love, a nonprofit organization dedicated to seeding a culture of the Heart on the planet, inspiring, teaching and supporting people to live from their essence as Love. A year before the birth of her daughter, Jeannie was plunged into a dark night of the soul that culminated in a radical shift of consciousness. She is known for her fearless clarity, tender mercy toward humanness, and a juicy, poetic and often humorous style that draws from Advaita Vedanta, Sufism, Christian mysticism and the ongoing revelation of fully engaged living.
Suggested donation: $15 to $40
No one turned away for lack of funds.
Please register early if you can.
The event will be recorded and emailed to participants within a week.
To check your local time, use a tool such as: Time Zone Converter
Lisa Schumacher ~ Your True Nature ~ In-Person Local Event
A meeting with Lisa is an opportunity to step away from your day to day life and devote time for self-inquiry into the heart of the truth. There will be a few moments of silence to start the meeting and then Lisa will speak and invite the community to share reports about their lives and questions.
Lisa Schumacher: Lisa grew up in Colusa, CA, and attended college at San Luis Obispo in the 1980's. After she moved to Southern Oregon in the early 90s, a friend invited her to a video satsang with Gangaji. Upon hearing Gangaji say "Be your Natural Self", Lisa's heart caught on fire and she fell into a deep bow of surrender. That meeting revealed to her the absolute simplicity of the natural, living truth of Love, inseparable from who one is. Lisa moved to Bolinas in 1999 to be closer to Gangaji and the vibrant community around her. In 2006, Lisa was asked by Gangaji to meet with people and share Satsang. She has held meetings in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and North America. She's also a long-time student of Eli Jaxon-Bear, Gangaji's husband, and a founding teacher of the Eli's "Leela School of Awakening". Lisa is the author of "The Stone I Love", a book of poetry inspired by Gangaji, available on her website and for purchase at the gathering.
In Lisa's meetings, she invites you to sit close and inquire about your awakening, your spiritual questions, and the unfolding truth. The teaching is in the tradition of Gangaji, who is a student of Papaji, who had his awakening at the feet of Ramana Maharshi.
Lisa's website: satsangwithlisa.org
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!
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.
Marlies Myoku Cocheret ~ Exploring Meditation
Whether you are starting to meditate or already have a meditation practice, this bi-monthly meditation with Marlies will help you drop deeper into connection with yourself, setting the tone for the day in an embodied way.
Your body is a refined sense organ.
It is a portal into the beautiful Silent Presence that you are.
Let’s sit together … abide as You … for All
Meditation is the art of inner exploration. It’s an opportunity to slow down and receive all of life exactly as it is. Using your body as a portal into your Yourself, we will explore how to connect with and abide as your true essence underneath all the daily busy-ness.
You may have noticed that often the mind does not settle easily. In fact, in quietude, all the things you have been trying to avoid often come bubbling up to the surface. It’s not a problem. They simply want to be met with that gentle, fierce and spacious awareness which is what you truly are.
The more we learn to rest as our underlying silent nature, no matter what arises within us, the easier it becomes to keep our seat when the winds of life pull us back and forth.
Come set the tone for the day and be close with yourself in an embodied way.
Marlies Myoku Cocheret was invited to teach the Dharma by Adyashanti in 2000. She teaches meditation, retreats, and works as a Hakomi therapist and psychologist. She brings a potent invitation into the deep silence that you are, and guides you into embodied connection with your humanity and divine nature. With her grounded presence and therapeutic experience, people feel safe to explore meditation and awakening, knowing that whatever comes up is welcome and can be held.
Suggested donation: $10 to $30
No one turned away for lack of funds.
Please register early if you can.
The event will be recorded and emailed to participants within a week.
To check your local time, use a tool such as: Time Zone Converter
December 2023
CANCELLED – Lynn Marie Lumiere, MFT ~ Being Present with What Is: Deepen Your Ability to be Still in the Midst of Challenges ~ 2-part Retreat
We regret that due to unforeseen
circumstances we had to cancel this event.
The holiday season can bring more challenges such as being with family or being with an absence of family. In being with these, and all challenges, the key to peace and healing is to STOP, be still, and feel our discomfort without avoiding or engaging it. This is what releases and transforms our pain and fixed identifications. It also allows us to listen to the silent voice of wisdom within. We can discover that, no matter what is arising, it is not wrong. It is just what is, and inner support and guidance is always available.
The intention of this retreat is to help you deepen in your ability to be present with what is and to free up the fixations which block that. Lynn Marie will offer assistance with the somatic, emotional and psychological issues that are interfering with your capacity to be present. We all have the capacity to do this because our deeper nature is already and always present with all our experience, no matter how big the challenge!
You are encouraged to attend the 3-hour sessions for this retreat live so you can benefit from sharing your experience and processing with Lynn Marie. However, you are also welcome to attend at your convenience by listening to the recording.
Lynn Marie Lumiere, MFT 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/wounding and the embodiment of awakening. Her depth of experience, rooted in her own healing and awakening journey, spans decades of expertly guiding individuals in the resolution of their trauma and into connection with their true nature. She is the author of Awakened Relating: A Guide to Embodying Undivided Love in Relationships.
For more information see: www.lynnmarielumiere.com
Find out more »CANCELED – Jeannie Zandi ~ Everyday Mystic ~ In-Person Local Event
Due to illness, Jeannie will be coming out to California later than planned and will not be able to have events until Thursday, December 7th.
Please join her for the public gathering on Thursday, December 7 in Berkeley and the Friday & Saturday (December 8 & 9) intensive in Sausalito if you are able!