Like a primordial sound, the voice connects us with our true energetic and emotional nature. It becomes a link with our spiritual life by revealing deeper aspects of the self and the spirit world. With the gentle guidance of Silvia Nakkach - renowned internationally as a master musician with a voice that transports the listeners into the heart of devotion – you will experience freeing your voice as a contemplative journey, through a soundscape of shamanic chants, divine melodies, vocal purification, and deep listening practices that reveal the nuances of a voice that feels opened like never before; In this vocal meditation-like states, there is only breath, attention, and the ecstatic magic of tone. Enhancing the sensibility of the subtle in the mind and the body, what we call singing becomes a doorway into inner silence where we are one with pure vibration. The heart is open, the voice is open, the hands are open, the eyes are softly closed—and we experience a kind of spiritual autonomy equal to unconditional love. Connecting the dots between sound healing, science, spirituality, and the wisdom tradition of Nada Yoga, this is a rare occasion to experience the healing potential of the voice with an innovative approach developed by a vocal artist who is also a longtime Buddhist practitioner. Recommended reading: Silvia Nakkach, Free Your Voice (Sound True).

Eros is fading from our lives: our sensitivity, our relationship to each other, to the earth, to birth and death, our embodied longing: these qualities are diminishing in the wake of tremendous alienating forces—and yet eros is the foundation of being itself. Eros includes but also transcends the sexual; it is the call to be; to exist; to become; to emerge; to depend; to transform; to unveil; to fulfill; to cultivate uncompromisingly authentic relations; to need; and to sacrifice. The Erotic Basis of Being program consists of practices and exercises that employ original embodied Daoist movement arts seen through a “Western” mythopoetic and archetypal lens. Master Zhenzan Dao leads students through an exhilarating repertoire of sensitivity and enlivening training—both physical and psychospiritual—based on many of the MogaDao disciplines. This enlivening, which is both individual and communal, is then brought into the extraordinarily creative work space of the SACRA:Immanence Theater company exercises. SACRA is not conventional theater; there are no “roles” to play, only selves to be revealed. Language and body are seamlessly interpenetrated in the experiments. SACRA is a penetrating journey into the authentic, the living experience of the irrepressible life force as it searches, through self-transcendence and group inter-dependence, for the sacred. Although all manner of movement modalities are employed in this work, this is an all-bodies workshop and no particular experience or training history is necessary.

What if it were possible to access the worlds of your imagination, and bring them to life as never before? Jean Houston, Ph.D., is legendary for exploring the outer limits of human possibilities. Now, she combines her years as a philosopher, author, international consultant for the United Nations, and pioneer in personal and social change with the immense discoveries of the mind’s relationship to quantum physics.We know that when we bring local consciousness to a higher resonance in the Quantum field, we access capacities that until now seem more mythic than real. In this powerful workshop, you’ll discover how your mind can unite with the all-encompassing Matrix of consciousness that transcends all space-time categories.Dr. Houston introduces participants into the field that is then created as an enhanced quantum self. In this state, you’ll learn how your imagination can operate at a higher order of discovery and manifestation. You’ll no longer be caught in habits and expectations of the past, but step into an “imaginal” sphere where intention and imagination can be transformed into a new reality.Each of us is defined by an identity that is influenced by our life experiences, culture, and relationships. What if we were born with a blueprint that is larger and more meaningful than our current understanding? Through revolutionary concepts, personal processes and engaging humor, discover the pathways into the fullest expression of yourself and the ability to bring it to life; learn how to harness the quantum self that you are.

In this workshop we will explore the power of the feminine when it is expressed politically and socially. There are many examples of political systems that are governed by the priorities of the Feminine, including the Newar of Nepal, the Hopi of North America, and the Akan of West Africa, to name just a few. Matriarchies are true gender-egalitarian societies that are in no way a mirror image of male dominated societies where power hierarchies are created to hold resources in the hands of a few at the expense of the many. Rather, resources are shared, the nurturing of children is prioritized and the welfare of the group as a whole is emphasized. Rule by consensus, power sharing between cultural groups and fair distribution of goods between men and women, young and old is the norm in cultures which have been organized by women since time immemorial.In this workshop, Drs. Thurman and Gucciardi, who regularly teach the Embracing the Sacred Feminine retreats together, will discuss how we can focus the spiritual aspect of the feminine into the current political climate. They will demonstrate how this focus can be a powerful, transformative force and offer a vision of a new political order that is based on the priorities of feminine forms of power. The surprise, is, in fact, that a political order based on the priorities of the feminine is not new at all. Almost all indigenous cultures were originally matriarchal, and the rise of patriarchal forms of power is actually very new. By returning to the priorities of these earth-based cultures, we can infuse our current culture with the creativity, generativity and possibility that are the hallmarks of feminine power.

The great Spanish mystic, Teresa of Avila, had a vision of the soul as a sacred sphere made up of seven moradas, the spiritual chambers of our “interior castle,” in which each one represents a station on our journey to union with the Divine. While this is not a linear path, Teresa’s instructions for the cultivation of contemplative practice (the “prayer of quiet”) serve to help the seeker navigate the common features of the inner wilderness, leading to peace and connectedness with the Beloved.In this gathering, we weave readings from Teresa’s writings with deep dialog, writing exercises and contemplative practice, paying special attention to how the development of a contemplative life enables us to be of service in a wounded world.

The treatment of trauma is fraught with many pitfalls and “tight corners.” Generally overlooked, however, is an innate relationship between trauma, archetypes and spirituality. Understanding and applying these intimate relationships can suggest therapeutic strategies that help to support and resource trauma clients and support the genuine transformation of traumatic experience.
The “awe-full” qualities of horror and terror may share essential structural, psycho-physiological and phenomenological roots with those underlying transformative states such as flow, awe, presence, timelessness and ecstasy. Our organisms are designed with primitive-instinctual-proclivities that move us to extraordinary feats of focused attention and action when we perceive that our lives are threatened. The bridging and “owning” of these survival capacities of readiness, “slow motion” perception, and intense, focused, alertness with more “ordinary” states of consciousness promotes the experience of “timelessness” and presence sometimes referred to, in meditation systems, as “the eternal now.”
In addition, the effect of trauma involves a profound compression of activation. The ability to access, and integrate the rhythmic movements of this “bound energy” determines whether it will be destructive or potentially vitalizing.
In the Yoga’s of the East, awakening of the “Kundalini” has long been utilized as a vehicle for spiritual transformation. In trauma, a similar mobilization of (survival) activation is evoked, but with such intensity and rapidity that it is overwhelming. If we can gradually access, titrate and integrate this “energy” into our nervous system and psychic structures then the instinctual survival response imbedded within trauma can also catalyze authentic spiritual- transformation. Most individuals, however, are frightened by these involuntary bodily reactions and brace against them, causing even more fear to develop.
Traditionally, therapies have attempted to change perceptions of the world by means of reason and insight, with conditioning and behavior modification, and with medication. However, perceptions remain fundamentally unchanged until the internal experience of the body changes. In this workshop, we will look at some simple ways to help clients open to and even embrace their spontaneous bodily reactions facilitating not only movement out of traumatic states but access to spiritual dimensions that support the “deep-self”. The class will involve didactic material, live demonstration, experiential practice exercises, video material and some time for case discussions.

This in-depth workshop based on Dr. Dan Siegel’s new book provides practical instruction for mastering the Wheel of Awareness, a life-changing tool for cultivating more focus, presence, and peace in one’s day-to-day life. With a look at the science that underlies meditation’s effectiveness, this workshop will teach attendees how to harness the power of the principle “Where attention goes, neural firing flows, and neural connection grows.” Siegel reveals how developing a Wheel of Awareness practice to focus attention, open awareness, and cultivate kind intention can literally help you grow a healthier brain and reduce fear, anxiety, and stress in your life.Whether you have no experience with a reflective practice or are an experienced practitioner, Aware: The Science and Practice of Presence will help you to become more focused and present, as well as more energized and emotionally resilient in the face of stress and the everyday challenges life throws your way.

“Creativity can be seen as a state of natural flow, one that spontaneously and effortlessly gives birth not only to manifest form, but to all experiences of body, energy, and mind. This state of flow, which has its roots in openness, occurs only in the absence of hope and fear. It is at once naturally joyful, peaceful, compassionate, expansive, and powerful.”“When you know how to tap fully into this open, creative flow, its beneficial qualities can extend to any area of your life. You can paint more masterful paintings. Your music can have more depth of connection. Your writing can be more genuine and moving. You will be able to solve problems at work, resolve conflicts with loved ones, or even shift your thought patterns with more natural spontaneity. “- Tenzin Wangyal RinpocheThe Great Perfection of Creativity, Shambhala Sun Magazine, November 2012Join us for this opportunity to free yourself from creative obstacles, nurture your capacity for joyful self-expression, and make positive changes in your life.This retreat is for anyone who seeks to usher a vision into reality — whether through creative problem solving, personal growth, or bringing creative artistry to a whole new level.The Tibetan spiritual traditions tell us that unleashing our dynamic creative energy is a matter of recognizing and tapping into the wellspring of creativity that already exists in us. Tenzin Rinpoche will instruct and guide simple meditation practices of body, speech and mind that can help you to:- recognize and clear physical, energetic, and mental obstacles blocking your creative flow- connect with and trust in your innate creative potential- discover the inner strength and confidence that can allow your creativity to naturally blossom

This performance theater piece, with audience co-creation, establishes the atmosphere of human mutual dependency, what Zhen Dao calls the "eros bond" of the ecology of need, vulnerability, honesty, and emotional bravery that makes all of life, and certainly learning, possible. A choreography and choir are created literally on-the-spot, and the themes of this work that are foundational, and the ones that emerge inside its beauty, are—even in this short space of time—the themes that make our lives ultimately significant, which is to say profoundly human and spiritualized. THE MUSIC OF THE SPHERES is, in short, a theatrical sanctum of invocation to our profoundest suggestibility.

The treatment of trauma is fraught with many pitfalls and “tight corners.” Generally overlooked, however, is an innate relationship between trauma, archetypes and spirituality. Understanding and applying these intimate relationships can suggest therapeutic strategies and support the genuine transformation of traumatic experience.
The “awe-full” qualities of horror and terror may share essential structural, psycho-physiological and phenomenological roots with those underlying transformative states such as flow, awe, presence, timelessness and ecstasy. Our organisms are designed with primitive-instinctual-proclivities that move us to extraordinary feats of focused attention and action when we perceive that our lives are threatened. The bridging and “owning” of these survival capacities of readiness, “slow motion” perception, and intense, focused, alertness with more “ordinary” states of consciousness promotes the experience of “timelessness” and presence sometimes referred to, in meditation systems, as “the eternal now.”
In addition, the effect of trauma involves a profound compression of activation. The ability to access, and integrate the rhythmic movements of this “bound energy” determines whether it will be destructive or potentially vitalizing.
In the Yoga’s of the East, awakening of the “Kundalini” has long been utilized as a vehicle for spiritual transformation. In trauma, a similar mobilization of (survival) activation is evoked, but with such intensity and rapidity that it is overwhelming. If we can gradually access, titrate and integrate this “energy” into our nervous system and psychic structures then the instinctual survival response imbedded within trauma can also catalyze authentic spiritual- transformation.

To be human we have the opportunity to grow all the way to enlightenment. But to think of the human stage as simply for enlightenment shortchanges the potential of humanity. It is through the human that the spiritual nature underlying the universe actualizes its potential in a way that it knows. I will address not only the potential for nonduality and enlightenment, but the inherent value in being human and having a true authentic human life. Recognizing that being human we are the locus through which the ultimate nature actualizes its potentialities we see that we are not only indispensable for spiritual realization, but that we can know and experience the infinite potentiality of Being, which is magical and endless. Our human life can be a magnificent adventure, a wormhole through which the secrets of being arise and express themselves. Realization or awakening is simply the beginning of living such true and complete human life.

Merging technology with shamanic and multilayer sources of light, sound, and the voice, the audience is invited to take a musical journey to the land of tone magic.

The form of qigong I teach was created in 1989 by a Chinese man who was recognized as a genius at a young age. He studied with 19 Grandmasters, became a doctor of Chinese and Western medicine, and was steeped in Daoism, Buddhism, Confusionism and Quantum Physics.

All types of illness have been documented as being healed using these practices, including my own 20-year struggle with Lyme disease.

And the practices have a profound effect on our ego identity. Having experiences of opening to the timeless infinite source of all existence gradually (or not so gradually) awakens us out of the illusory separate self. The limiting patterns of belief about self and world dissolve on the energetic level. Empty of old programming, our essence is revealed—a deep inner joy and peace, independent of outer circumstances. The experience is being infinite Love embodied.

In this session, we will have the opportunity to experience this transformation together as I guide us through moving meditations. The standing practices can be modified or done sitting or lying down, while still following the visualizations.

Beginners and experienced practitioners most welcome. Your unlimited potential is awaiting activation!

The form of qigong I teach was created in 1989 by a Chinese man who was recognized as a genius at a young age. He studied with 19 Grandmasters, became a doctor of Chinese and Western medicine, and was steeped in Daoism, Buddhism, Confusionism and Quantum Physics. All types of illness have been documented as being healed using these practices, including my own 20-year struggle with Lyme disease.And the practices have a profound effect on our ego identity. Having experiences of opening to the timeless infinite source of all existence gradually (or not so gradually) awakens us out of the illusory separate self. The limiting patterns of belief about self and world dissolve on the energetic level. Empty of old programming, our essence is revealed—a deep inner joy and peace, independent of outer circumstances. The experience is being infinite Love embodied. In this session, we will have the opportunity to experience this transformation together as I guide us through moving meditations. The standing practices can be modified or done sitting or lying down, while still following the visualizations. Beginners and experienced practitioners most welcome. Your unlimited potential is awaiting activation!

Geshe Tenzin leads the audience on a meditation experience to unveil the obstacles that block creativity and host them in a way that they dissolve and make space for a space of love and clarity.

Regardless of the dazzling complexity of humans, at the end of the day, we are a type of mammal, primate, ape, operating on the same basic types of neurons found throughout the animal kingdom. Are we just another primate? Are we just the sum of our neurons? In this lecture, Sapolsky considers the unlikely realms where humans are merely on a continuum with other species….until you look closely.

Most people roll their eyes if someone tells them that they have the attributes of a genius. The fact is that few have accessed the vast universe of imagination, creativity, problem solving and confidence that these complex times require.

In her international teaching for the past 60 years, Jean Houston, Ph.D., now shares what she has learned from working emerging cultures the world over. She introduces you to what she calls the “Quantum Blueprint” that she believes everyone carries, but seldom accesses. In this fascinating presentation, she’ll take you on a wild ride into your own original mind and help you to unpack the infinite possibilities in this exciting new field of consciousness.

You’ll be pleasantly surprised as you discover higher states of functioning and insights that may have been lost to you by years of conditioning and limiting messages. You will think, feel, and perceive as if you were standing on a star field of possibilities. Once there, you’ll see how entangled you are with all life and how your activation can impact the networks to which you belong.

If you thought genius belonged to others, get ready. You’ll find within yourself the courage, passion, diligence, joy, creativity, spiritual depth, and unimagined capacities that have always awaited your awareness of them. You will leave empowered by your own unique genius, believing in your gifts and inspired to bring them to life.

Interlude

Our human-ness will become more and more threatened by AI (artificial intelligence), the augmentation of biological intelligence by machine intelligence, and those who believe that the human entity is nothing more than information that can stored in a memory device. As the world is increasingly governed by AI and as humans inhabit virtual realities more than the realm of nature and interpersonal relationships, we may lose our most human attributes, becoming desensitized, depersonalized, without empathy, bereft of intimacy. The great sacred traditions basically agree that the greatest possibility of human conscious life is to upload our consciousness to an energetic body. The goal of preserving our sensory memories belies a complete misunderstanding of what the human being and individual consciousness essentially is. Society is unprepared emotionally, intellectually, economically, and spiritually for the challenge. Without an adequate articulated metaphysics we may not be able to defend our very human-ness from slipping gradually into a non- or post-human world.

To live is to participate. To love is to connect. To pray is to offer the depths of our wanting in an intimate dialogue with the responsive fabric of an intelligent universe of which we are a part.

There is a prayer at the center your life.
Every single being, no matter how large or small, has a prayer at the center of its existence. That prayer is a prayer for more life.
“More life, please,” sings the mourning dove. “More life, please,” roars the lion. “More life please,” gurgles the tiny stream as it tumbles downhill, called by the sea."

You are no different. Implicit in the fact of your incarnation is the prayer of wanting more life. The path of prayer is an art of living fully while surrendering. It is a way of showing up and letting go, at the same time.

During this hourlong workshop, learn and practice a powerful a universal methodology for prayer that you can easily integrate into your daily life. Explore the simple grammar of, "thank you," "help me," and "I want," and why these specific grammatical tools are the most fundamental and effective levers you can use to offer up your deepest desires in a dialogue with the greater-than-human universe.

Come play with these gateways to self-awareness, manifestation and unimaginable happiness.

"The only thing that will change is your whole life." ~Barrett Eagle Bear

Many teachings do not appreciate that the human being is important for realization and liberation. That there is no awakening without humans. But some do, which is a different kind of appreciation than the scientific exploration of the mystery of being human. We want to discuss what is it to be a human being, both biologically and spiritually, in order for us to value who and what we are, and our necessity for the worlds we experience and know. A dialogue and discussion, mediated by Zaya Benazzo.

We are made of the earth and divine, life force energy itself. We live in-between what is completely solid and dense and what is light and energy and formless. Human is this embodiment of the in-between; this great, alchemical mystery of consciousness and life force and animal. Soul.

Our soul is this life force energy expressing itself as us at this time. It is our soul that is here, in this life, having this journey. This soul is our embodied consciousness that arises in the center of our hearts. This is the core essence of who we are.

Most, if not all, of us experience a wounding our soul in this lifetime from other humans who are also confused about who they are, disconnected from their true nature. This is the soul wound. This soul wound is often emotional in nature and becomes the ground that births shame from our unmetabolized pain.

This unmetabolized pain makes us dislike our own humanity and separates us from our own divine nature and life force energy. It is through this soul wounding we forget who we are and how to find the way back to the center of our own divinity.

In our culture, pain is often pathologized, numbed, ignored, looked down upon, repressed or otherwise made wrong, perpetuating and deepening the effects of our soul wounding. Separation is encouraged to fuel our economy.

Healing the soul wound is a path towards embodying the in-between. It is healing our relationship with source through healing our unmetabolized pain and reconnecting us with something greater than ourselves. This is healing our human hearts and restoring our divine nature.

Drawing from Vajrayana Buddhism, shamanism and psychoanalytic concepts, this presentation will discuss spiritual approaches to healing the soul wound, the wisdom of emotions and the sacred nature of being human

The mystery and power of the creative process can perhaps be best understood through the lens of the birthing process. The creative portal that opens during the birthing process is the same portal that opens when the creative impulse moves through the artist or scientist who is seeking inspiration. The portal is very clearly delineated and articulated in birthing in a way that is not always so easy to perceive in other types of creative processes. In this talk, we will explore the nature of the creative portal in the birthing process and learn what it shows us about the creative portals that open in other artistic and scientific endeavors. We will learn how the creative portal supports and directs inspiration and how we can align ourselves with it in order to better manifest what we envision. We will also discover what the creative portal asks of us and what kinds of practices we may have to engage in to be able to best serve its requirements. We will explore what happens when we are not in alignment with the portal and how this affects our ability to receive and direct inspiration and intention into that which we wish to manifest. Through experiential work, we will learn how to identify the creative portals in our lives and how to awaken them. Through this exploration, we can learn how to align our lives as human beings with the universal forces of creativity and generativity. By becoming a student of the creative portal, we can learn how to ground these processes in our everyday lives so that we can participate most fully with the mystery of the forces that inspire and guide our lives. This talk is based on the Tracking Spirit in the Birth Environment retreat that Isa has taught for over 10 years.

Are you still plagued by your past—even though you know it’s an illusion? Do you still get stuck—even though you’ve tasted the bliss of your true nature? Many of us on a spiritual path find this confusing. How can we know the truth yet still feel like the pain of the past lives on in our minds and bodies?
In our everyday lives, we feel resentful, blame our parents, and feel hopeless that we will ever find the abiding peace and happiness we just know is possible. Even with our deepest desire to live as the timeless unfolding of life, we find ourselves stuck in patterns rooted in our past such as addictions, chronic anxiety and depression, and difficulties in relationships. We struggle with fear and feelings of lack and inadequacy.
Holding onto stories from the past and repeating them in our minds keeps the sense of the personal, broken self in place—and veils the infinite aliveness of our true nature. Understanding this human suffering is the gateway to being free of it.
In this presentation, we’ll explore how consciousness contracts into believing that you are the one who is separate and wounded. We’ll study how conditioned patterns develop early on in life and learn how to identify when conditioning takes hold. Together we’ll discover that you can relate to your present moment experience in a fresh way that untangles you from the old stories and softens the emotions that underlie them.
The truth of who you are is already free of the past. And it’s right here, right now, to be known and experienced. Now available to explore beyond the old, familiar ways of being, you’re primed to discover what’s always been here…reality: silent, still, and radically free.

Presence is foundational to engaging fully the moment-to-moment of lived experience. Bringing arousal into your presence practice can move you beyond engagement into enjoyment and insight. You will find deeper levels of awareness both of yourself and others and uncover hidden information that can inform decision-making in your life. Additionally, understanding what arouses you psychologically deepens insights into your wounds and potential creative pathways to healing. Aroused embodiment also offers you a lived experience of safety and strength, and enhances your ability to detect and move away from unsafe experiences. Finally, it gives you a pathway to embodied empathy and deeper insight and connection into your partners and loved ones. Embodied arousal and an understanding of our own sexual psyche can be a guide to a life truly worth living.

In this workshop, Danielle Harel, Ph.D., and Celeste Hirschman, M.A., Co-Founders of the Somatica® Method of Sex and Relationship Coaching will take you on a journey to discovering your erotic psyche and deepening embodied arousal. Through these practices, you will learn more about who you are, how you want to live in the world, regain trust in your inner wisdom, and reconnect with your internal motivation to follow through.

Mark Gober is the author of An End to Upside Down Thinking: Dispelling the Myth That the Brain Produces Consciousness, and the Implications for Everyday Life. He will be discussing the findings that have led him to the conclusion that changed his worldview 180-degrees: consciousness is the basis of all reality rather than matter. He explores independent areas of evidence, including quantum physics, psychedelics, savants, remote viewing, telepathy, precognition, psychokinesis, near-death experiences, communications with the deceased, and children who remember previous lives. The implications are immense for science, technology, and medicine as well as happiness, life/death, relationships, and even world peace. The shift to a consciousness-centric picture of reality is regarded by some as the next “Copernican-scale revolution.” Mark’s thesis has been endorsed by well-known thinkers such as Jack Canfield, Dr. Eben Alexander, Dr. Dean Radin, Dr. Ervin Laszlo, Goldie Hawn, Dr. Rupert Sheldrake, Dr. Larry Dossey, and others

We live in an age when spiritual authority feels suspect—and for good reason. Yet we also intuit our own need for models, mentors, and even human embodiments of truth. So what does a human guru actually do for us?

The tantric traditions distinguish between the human teacher and the guru principle itself. The guru principle is a cosmic function, baked into reality. It is the power we often call ‘grace’ or ‘revelation,’ which awakens our intuitive connection to truth. A human teacher may carry the guru principle, but can never own it or block our access to it. us to our real nature and A human teacher can carry the guru principle. But the true guru is a a cosmic function: the power of grace that awakens us to our real nature and to the truth of our interconnectedness.

In short, no human being is your ‘real’ guru. The real guru is the universal principle of cosmic revelation, the subtle power that kindles our own ability to see into the heart of reality. hidden truths of reality unfold within your consciousness. But there’s a paradox. Though the guru principle lives in each of us—it often needs to be kindled by a transmission from another human. This paradox is the heart of the delicate relationship between practioners and our teachers.

This presentation reveals how the guru-principle actually functions, and offers principles that can help you discern the true experience of the guru from the myths.

"Recent advances in the field of mind/body medicine suggest the importance of including intuition when treating clients, based on theory and empirical research from traumatology, psychoneuroimmunology, spiritual psychology, and nursing theory, among others. [Marks-Tarlow, 2012; Hassani-Abdi, 2016; Johansson-Palmqvist-Ronnenberg, 2017].

This presentation aligns with the conference theme of ""The Mystery of Being Human,"" and the topic of Trauma, in relation to uncovering the hidden mysteries of the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual/energetic impacts of trauma on the human experience. Current research and case studies will be presented and discussed.

Medical Intuition is defined as a system of expanded perception gained through the development of the human sense of intuition. It focuses on a holistic approach to health and wellness with the use of visualization skills and intuitive scanning to obtain information from the body's physical systems and biofield. It is also designed to address the energetic influence of thoughts, beliefs and emotions, and how they affect the health and well-being of the client.

As the body of literature on intuition grows, the healthcare field can be broadened to include the practical use of Medical Intuition to assist in alleviating the long-term effects of trauma, including PTSD and early life experiences. It is designed to reveal the origins and details of trauma events, including age and life circumstances, unconscious decisions and potential future effects that may correspond to a client's present state of illness, imbalance or disease. This method is learnable and applicable to any clinical setting.

Medical Intuition offers a new vision for personalized healthcare, including insights for long-term wellness. Clients often report profound perceptions of ""finding the missing pieces,"" and a path to increased compliance and recovery in their healing journey."

Embodied Nondual Life is life’s flow as the conscious flowering of heart’s undivided intimacy with divine emptiness.

Nondual Archetypal Intregral Consciousness: These words each point us towards deeper realms of reality and each illustrate core flavors of the embodiment of divine emptiness; of the lived unique form body of each of us as the unity and uniqueness of Undivided Being.

In this meeting we will explore together these four realms and their emergent potential and illumination of an Embodied Nondual Life.

We will discuss anything people wish to discuss, relevant to Buddha at the Gas Pump, either regarding its effect on me, or points that often come up in interviews. For instance, people often ask:

_what effect interviewing so many awakened people has had on me,
_how I might have changed over the nine years I've been doing this,
_what I have learned,
_does incorporating or harmonizing so many different perspectives enrich or confuse me?,
_do I ever get tired of doing this?

Ideas that often come up in interviews include:

_whether the end of seeking is the end of spiritual development,
_whether or not there are levels and stages of enlightenment,
_whether different awakened teachers experience and represent different aspects of Reality,
_whether one can be an enlightened atheist,
_blind spots that students might have in relationship to teachers,
_the importance of integrating awakening to the Absolute in relative life,
_the individuality as an instrument of the Divine

As human beings we struggle to find lasting harmony in relationships. Despite our frustration, the drive for intimacy and love propels us to seek this. Ultimately, our search leads to the discovery that the root cause of all relationship struggles is the commonly held belief that we are separate from love and from each other. This belief, along with the negative experiences and insecurities that arises from it, can cause endless problems in our intimate relating.

Living in imagined separation and duality has resulted in relational wounding for most of us. Therefore, in addition to the pain of imagined separation, we may be struggling with attachment and developmental trauma that limits our capacity to be in harmonious relating.

It is only possible to fully heal and transform our relational patterns and wounding in the infinite wisdom, love and compassion of our infinite nature. Our finite human nature is not capable of this. So, our struggle to find deep connection and harmony in relationship is always pointing us back to our infinite nature, if we are willing to see.

True intimacy cannot be found while believing we are separate selves in duality. This is found through connecting with our true, nondual nature and being that, together. We may get glimpses of our nondual nature in dualistic relating, but the ongoing deeper intimacy that we all long for eludes us until we recognize and begin to rest as our true identity.

This presentation will include direct pointing to our infinite nature and practical guidance about how to embody that in real human relationship issues such conflict resolution, communication issues, sexuality and lack of self-love.

Silent awareness is mostly drawn to light, sound, color, beauty, movement, patterns and contrast. In the wilderness, we can feel if a huge unseen presence is gazing at us. Or feel the notable absence of people - that hush that can soothe or hasten you home.

At the ocean, seeing is invited to widen and expand past habitual focus - though It is rare to notice silent space itself, between, behind and within it all. The vastness of an African savannah or the evening sky invites us into that which holds everything.

Our gaze is drawn primarily to form rather than to the essence at the heart of everything. And we tend to naturally overlook that which does not move in favor of the ever-changing display of ordinary life. What if it is the unmoving that notices and delights in movement? What if it is silence that adores music?

How lucky we are to have and be an omnidirectional awareness wearing a body that amplifies perception. A curiosity that can formlessly explore the infinity of life, the seen and unseen. And then reflect upon, share and celebrate!

This short lecture will give a quick overview of what happens physiologically and emotionally as we age, or engage in long-term relationships. It will provide valuable information for those hoping to understand what can bring more aliveness into their sexuality, as well as for practitioners working with couples or clients with low sexual desire.

Conventional Reality sees separation as fundamentally inherent, our self as distinct from all other aspects of existence and from the source and origin of existence itself.

In Nondual Consciousness there is no absolute separation. Existence and nonexistence are undivided. Nondual is beyond and inclusive of unity and uniqueness.

In this pioneering age of the Awakening of Nondual Consciousness, it is important to discriminate and to include the core aspects of its embodied life expression. That is, to remove the bathwater, but to include all the facets of the baby’s essence.

After meeting with over 10,000 individuals in the intimate setting of personal nondual psychotherapy sessions and in small groups, it has become dramatically apparent that there is a need for the realization of both the strength and clarity of our masculine nature and the balance of our heart-centered compassionate feminine qualities for a healthy integration in the human psyche.

It is through both these qualities of our True Nature that we are able to live in a way which is not confused by the play of life, and simultaneously, willing to compassionately embrace our humanity and evolving edge. We must be willing to let go of an "either or" approach and instead adopt a "both and" approach to our spiritual lives. This all begins by first acknowledging that the masculine and feminine aspects of God are available to us all and that they are the very building blocks of our own Divine Nature.

What does this look like in a practical everyday reality? It is the willingness to face everything, with a strong back, an unwavering clear mind rooted in reality and the strength to handle the storms of life’s confusion with an absolute love and compassion.

My classical guitar repertoire consists of many well known pieces ranging from Spanish classical, Bach, F. Sor, romantic movie themes, and modern pieces composed by unknown classical guitar players. I only pick the most beautiful ones.

Our dream experiences seem so real to our sleeping minds that it is usually only after we awaken that we recognize our dreams as the mental experiences they are. Happily, there is an important exception: sometimes while dreaming, we become conscious that we are dreaming. This remarkable state of consciousness is referred to as “lucid dreaming” and is learnable and rewarding. Scientific research has proven the objective reality of lucid dreams, and has led to the development of new methods of inducing them. I will provide a brief overview of lucid dreaming, touching on techniques and technology for achieving lucid dreaming; a model of dreaming and waking consciousness; scientific research on mind-body relationships during REM sleep; and several applications of lucid dreaming — exploring consciousness, enhancing creativity, personal development and self-integration, dream yoga, and transcendent experience.
Of the many applications and implications of lucid dreaming, the one of greatest, deepest relevance to SAND-folk is its potential to stimulate spiritual awakening. Implicit in lucid dreaming is the knowledge that one is dreaming, which is to say, that one is not awake. Yet this is the paradox: as the beginning of wisdom is “to know that one knows nothing,” so too, the beginning of awakening is to know that one is not awake. If we suppose we already are awake, as we do in both the dreams we call “false awakenings” and also those we do not call dreams at all, but presumptively term “waking life,” how can we even frame the possibility of waking up? We already (believe) we are. Yet as both ancient Eastern spiritual teachings and recent Western psychological science agree, much of ordinary life is lived in such an automatic unconscious manner, that to say that most of us somnambulate through life seems little exaggeration. In the words of Bahauddin Naqshband (d. 1388) “Here we are all of us in a dream caravan. A caravan, but a dream. A dream, but a caravan. And we know which are the dreams. Therein lies the hope.”

Emotion moves us, changes us, visits us and seems to come from “nowhere” and sometimes to disturb what we thought was our “equanimity,” our calm, our sense of control over our lives. In the 21stcentury, our lives seem more out of control than ever; we feel that we are not so much living as being lived by forces outside of ourselves. We feel programmed from without, distracted constantly against our inmost instincts, and prey to massive forces—sociopolitical, consumerist, technological—that we cannot control. Therefore we have begun to suspect emotion, and to treat it as something that we must control; we feel that emotion is “bad” for us, something that is deterring us from our right and prescribed course, from our rewards. To Zhen Dao this represents nothing less than a tragic loss of faith in being itself. For emotions—like Daoist conceptions of 5 Element Theory—have patterns which fulfill themselves through faith. Zhen Dao will talk about the spiritual purpose of emotion, in particular the so-called “negative emotions,” for no wind, no weather, no authentic tempest in the human soul can be wrong. Rather, it must be seen (and felt) all the way through to its magnificence, that is to say its value and significance for a whole life—and for all of being that touches and depends on that life.

Shakyamuni the Buddha took the mystery out of being human by understanding, experiencing, and manifesting it to its fullest extent. He declared that the human life form is created by the humans themselves by developing their wisdom and love/compassion. He saw it as a major achievemtn of animal life, and showed how it serves as a platform to develop that wisdom and love/compassion to its consummate perfection. Wisdom is the complete knowledge of reality, distinguishing the real from the false, starting with critical discernment and summiting into full experience. That experience was found to yield a bliss of total relief from fear and pain, a bliss that fulfils and satisfies beyond all expectation and conception. Love is the natural and spontaneous overflow of that bliss toward others in its experience of their beauty and natural possession of the very same bliss as their very selves. Compassion is the articulation of that bliss in art, driven by its all-embracing recognition that others’ misknowing of their own nature holds them apart from knowing their own natural bliss, and powerfully effective reflecting the suffering beings’ reality of freedom from that separateness.
The “mystery”—the hiddenness—then is the bliss-born beings’ ignorance’s ability to obscure their own reality from their actual experience. The Buddha’s enlightenment encompassed all that, it was no less an enlightenment than the Western one that has unfolded since the 17th century from the materialist disruption of the monotheistic thought control that had crippled European consciousness for over a millennium. To that rational scientific enlightenment coming to understand the material world, the Buddha’s enlightenment added a complete understanding of the mental and spiritual worlds. These two enlightenments are now in the process of meeting and slowly merging. Tonight we will celebrate together that merging, expressing our joy that it is happening at an accelerating pace, overcoming various resistances.

Yoga offered by Nadeshwari is inclusive and exclusive, vibrates freely between the immanent and the transcendent, does not stop at the asanas and does not divide the spiritual world from the material world. In the practice that She transmits a continuous encounter is created between the experience of the physical body aimed at experiencing fluidity, vigor or stasis and the energetic approach to the spiritual path.

The Sacred Shapes sequence is a dynamic method that uses a language of symbols to experience the universal’s energies; Sacred forms moves the dormant and forgotten creative energy of our second Chakra (belly, genital organs, relationships, sensuality ...), makes it savor to our body and gives it to the surrounding environment thus restoring a balance between what we feel and what we want to express in the world.

We will experience a union of soft sacred forms, with lines and angles of the Barathanatyam temple dance that form particular energetic filters in the body so that there is conscious purification and directing of energy. The movements are simple and affordable for everyone, just as nature teaches us.

This Yoga does not derive from a single lineage but flows directly from the source - it is Love. It integrates the creativity and the cyclicity of the female quality (Shakti) with the presence and the linearity of the masculine (Shiva). To this end, several approaches are used: Jnana Yoga (explaining the basis of how the nervous system works at the Ayurvedic and physiological level according to the emerging sciences), Hatha Yoga (you enter the body through movements such as asanas or circular and fluid sequences ), moments of listening, Mantra, Nada Yoga (Yoga of sound) and Pranayama (breath control).

In these difficult times, we are faced with the dark side of humanity that acts more like animal than what our real potential can be which is a facet of the divine. What does it take to recognize our true human qualities and express them in the world?Being human is not something we should take for granted. Just because we are born Homo Sapiens does not mean we understand what being human is. We are each responsible for discovering what it is to be a true human being. When we explore our nature and find what is the real authentic presence of human beingness, we begin the process of transformation like a butterfly one form of life to quite another creature. Then it is possible to take the next step of expressing this Divine realization in the world while being free from its constraints. We can become conduits for pure awareness and consciousness to support this sacred right in one another. This can make it possible for people of the world to take the next step in the evolution of the true human being.

Essential Wholeness uses the relative truths of neuroscience and evolutionary biology to understand what allows people, all living systems, to evolve and thrive. It recognizes how these processes are inseparable from the absolute truth of Being. From this nondual foundation we can explore how the vast array of human capacities that inform psychotherapeutic and spiritual methods can be organized into a practical integrated model of knowing what to do, with whom and when.

The Enneagram provides us with a practical fractal-like representation of these relative and absolute truths with enough complexity to be inclusive and enough simplicity to be usable. It show us how the suffering that brings us to psychotherapy and spirituality occurs when we fear, judge or ignore these realities, while overly identifying with one-ninth of our essential wholeness causing repetitive vicious cycles of thinking, feeling and behaving.

The symbol describes cycles of change starting from one level of homeostasis (phase 9) around the circle to a higher level of homeostasis with each cycle transcending and including the previous level. It also describes how the essence of being in response to life demands, differentiates into one of nine, what Almaas refers to as “essential qualities.” For example, when maintaining homeostasis we draw on the quality of peace; or when addressing our inadequacies (phase 4) we draw upon forgiveness.

The suffering caused by ego fixations amplifies the more we lose trust in life and being, and overuse the capacities and the essential quality associated with one of the nine phases. Type Nine for example, becomes too identified with maintaining homeostasis and the essential quality of Peace.

Psychotherapy in this model helps people rest in the emptiness of their true nature, loosening them from their ego identity so their ecology of resources can emerge in response to life’s challenges and opportunities.

At the beginning of her professional career, neuroscientist and researcher, Dr. Marjorie Woollacott had no doubt that the brain was solely a physical entity and was controlled by chemical reactions and electrical impulses. She was sure that the loss of brain activity meant the end of existence. The first time she meditated, however, she had a glimpse of another possibility an undeniable experience of unlikely and uncharted energy. Since this time Dr. Woollacott has been actively exploring research on the nature of consciousness. Through her integration of data from objective science and subjective spirituality, Woollacott breaks open the issue of human consciousness and investigates the existence of the non-physical and infinitely powerful human mind.

In this talk Dr. Woollacott shares her own research and key studies from other laboratories supporting a non-dual reality, in which consciousness is primary. She will discuss studies on the mystical experiences of meditators, near-death experiences, and end-of-life experiences, including terminal lucidity and end-of-life telepathic communication.

She will explore questions such as What catalyzes transformation in the life of materialist scientists and others? When a person has Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, which has destroyed the brain, is it possible to return to perfect lucidity and communicate with their loved ones, shortly before death? When a family member living far from us who is dying appears to us telepathically at the moment of their death, is it just our own imagination or can this be verified? The answers to these questions suggest that consciousness does not require a functioning brain and validate the presence of clear awareness at times when the brain is compromised or an individual is pronounced clinically dead.

Drawing from his firsthand experience at a traditional healing center near Iquitos, in the Peruvian Amazon, Dr. Tafur will review a few case studies in which clients showed marked improvement in symptoms related to PTSD, depression, migraine headaches, and Crohn's disease after treatment with traditional Amazonian plant medicine and ayahuasca shamanism. Linking physiology common to these cases and drawing upon modern medical research, this presentation will demonstrate that emotional trauma often underlies each of these conditions. Such emotional trauma is stored in the emotional body, which Dr. Tafur defines medically as the psychoneuroendocrine immunologic network (the PNEI network) well-described in mind-body research. At the biochemical level, emotional trauma is also associated with maladaptive epigenetic imprinting and related dysfunction. As implicated by the presented cases, Dr. Tafur suggests that deep emotional healing leads to physiologic shifts in the emotional body (PNEI network) and subsequent improvements in epigenetic function. In the case of ayahuasca shamanism, a spiritual context facilitates this deep emotional healing and allows for subsequent biological shifts. This also appears to be the case in other forms of psychedelic assisted therapies and has broader implications for our understanding of all forms of spiritual healing. Such understanding can help us to once again appreciate the medical utility of self-love, forgiveness, compassion and gratitude in modern healthcare.

Recognizing that many of us, even those with positive experiences and attitudes towards sex, find that sexual desire and responses decline some as we age. Culture, religion, the media, sexism, peer pressure, porn and dozens of other influences give us distorted messages of what sexual intimacy is supposed to look like, especially to those over 50. Jumping off from the earlier lecture on the science of the aging body, this program will experientially explore how you can connect more deeply with your most authentic relationship to sexuality, as well as how to awaken you and your partner’s body. We’ll mix lecture, experiential exercises, opportunities to reflect, and guidance on how to enhance your love life once at home. Please bring paper and pen, and an open mind and heart.

Spiritual teachings tell us we are no one and there is nowhere to go. Everyday life demands we show up, pay our bills and be decent human beings. Learning to know and truly embrace all of who we are demands fierce compassion, truth telling from the inside out and the courage to be and love our authentic self.

In this presentation Penny will share with you how it is possible to have it all, with courage and humility. Rather than an instant moment of awakening full presence takes time, strength and kindness to learn to graciously accept, and respond skillfully to, what is, moment to moment.

Connected presence rarely if ever happens through one or even several moments of waking up but is an ongoing process of revealing, dismantling, readjusting, softening and strengthening. It is by showing up and meeting all aspects of ourselves including our tricky emotional states that we can become spiritual warriors who can embrace and engage fully with life, just as it is.

If you really ARE pure Consciousness; limitless, infinite and sublime, how is it possible to ALSO live an ordinary and mundane human life when you're "down in the marketplace?" Can you live "IN" the Dream world with absolute integrity and authenticity, and yet, also experience not really being "OF" that same world, too? Can you actually walk the proverbial razor's edge between being "god" and being "human" by learning, instead, to simply "BE?" Discover practical ways of embracing the perennial paradox of living as a "ONE-ness" that, quite mysteriously, also likes to pretend that it's a "TWO-ness."

Interlude

We see a variety of sexual states and behavior, and a growing interest in interdisciplinary studies aimed at investigating aspects of human sexuality and gender issues. Why is marriage increasingly unstable? Why do many experience conflicting needs to express their creative and intellectual abilities and to be good parents and spouses? Why are some attracted to the opposite sex while others are attracted to their own sex or both sexes? This talk will present a comprehensive overview of human sexuality as described by the Danish spiritual writer Martinus (1890-1981). His analyses show the sexual principle to be the wheel of creation, a principle that underlies all creation and experience, human sexuality being only one detail of this principle (The Book of Life, vol. 3, section 827). Martinus describes how sexuality is driven by two poles in our consciousness: the masculine pole and the feminine pole, the relative size of which determines our sexual nature. Human sexuality evolves continuously through reincarnation and the changing constellation of these poles. A completely one-poled state results in a primitive moral standard. A completely two-poled state, in which the male and female poles are equal and balanced in our consciousness, results in the very highest moral standard and is the organic structure for neighborly love. According to Martinus’s analyses, today’s humanity will evolve into a third and truly human sex that is neither male nor female but a harmonious union of the two principles within the one being, a being that will experience a sense of non-duality and oneness with all life. Martinus’s framework for understanding sexual evolution can give us a better insight into our own identity and help us navigate through the changing sexual landscape.

In this presentation, you’ll be invited to explore through a series of guided inquiries, meditations and dialogue, a very simple yet profound question: What is experience actually made of? Together, we will peer around the edges of what we think our experiences are and discover the myriad ways that each moment radically transcends our ideas about what it is. This investigation reveals that it is not merely those times of great inspiration, beauty or intimacy that lie beyond the reach of our concepts and descriptions, but every experience we have ever encountered. And this discovery that experiences are ultimately indefinable turns out to hold the key to our greatest freedom for every moment, even those we conventionally label as “problems," are in fact a swirling dance of the most miraculous, inconceivable energy, intelligence, lusciousness and depth. I invite you to enter into and enjoy this inquiry.

How do the different spiritual traditions view being human? How do they differ in their appreciation of the human individual and the place of the human in the total scheme of reality? A dialogue in depth that may help us see our value for the universe.

21st Century science is on the verge of recreating the processes that may have brought life into being on the young Earth some four billion years ago. If experimental proof is achieved, these processes would be shown to be the fundamental “boot codes” of the living world. Cycled together they would then constitute an “engine of creation” that continuously generates all of biology, human culture, technology and even conscious experience. The emerging understanding of this conceptual engine bears surprising parallels to the Dao and other spiritual systems. Ironically this highly reductionist work on our deepest ancestry may give us the great gift of unifying the dual magisteria of science and spirit. But if we all live by and within this engine what does this say about how and where consciousness operates and what does this tell us about our own free will and future? Dr. Damer will guide the SAND audience on an illustrated journey from life’s beginning to some possible answers to these big questions. He will conclude by suggesting a way to use the power of this engine to further evolve what it is to be human and how we might collectively realize a truly great destiny.

For this presentation Martin will share insights and teachings from his highly popular 2009 book, "Being Human: An Entheological Guide to God, Evolution, and the Fractal, Energetic Nature of Reality," wherein he lays out his nondual worldview that was the result of deeply transformative personal work with the powerful entheogenic tools of 5-MeO-DMT and Ayahuasca. "Being Human" takes a radical and nondual look at the nature of the self, the ego, God, and reality as a whole, providing methods and techniques for how individuals can both uncover and rest within their infinite unitary nature, grounding the insights and energetic experiences of psychedelics into everyday awareness and identity that is free from the limiting constructs of ego, which is addressed as a collection of energetic patterns that function unconsciously to create the image and character of the assumed individuated self. This shot, but profound book, can be summed up with the statement: "Guess What: You are God. Now get over it!" and covers such topics as "You," "God and Evolution," "Life as and Individual," "How to Begin," "Entheogenic Practice," "Interfacing with the Divine," and "Responsibility." Given the theme of the SAND conference for 2018, it seems like a great place to share the insights and methods detailed in "Being Human," and discuss clearly and in a non-mystified manner how entheogens are excellent tools for nondual realization and transformation. More recently, all of these ideas have been greatly expanded upon in Martin's newest book, "Entheogenic Liberation: Unraveling the Enigma of Nonduality with 5-MeO-DMT Energetic Therapy," some of which could also be addressed in this talk, depending on time.

The current times seem to be defined by the great promise of technology for human enhancement. Yet the source of capacity to optimize our experience and wellbeing is already present within all of us as the innermost essence of nondual awareness. This panel will present contemporary methods for realizing nondual awareness and the scientific research on its effects on wellbeing.
Speaker. Judith Blackstone, PhD, has been a Realization Process teacher and a psychotherapist in private practice for four decades. She is author of Belonging Here, The Enlightenment Process, The Intimate Life, The Empathic Ground and the upcoming Trauma and the Unbound Body.
Speaker. Tiffany Barsotti, M.Th., C.Ht., MCPLT, is a spiritual, medical intuition counselor and teacher in private practice at HEAL and THRIVE in Encinitas, California. With her spiritual and intuitive guidance, she serves as an integrative practitioner working alongside physicians and other allied health professionals.
Speaker. Zoran Josipovic, PhD, is a research associate at New York University Langone Medical Center, and adjunct assistant professor for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience in the Department of Psychology, New York University. With his wife, Judith Blackstone, he founded the Nonduality Institute, where he is the principal science investigator.
Speaker & Session Chair. Paul J. Mills, PhD, is a Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health, and Director of the Center of Excellence for Research and Training in Integrative Health at the University of California, San Diego. He is currently serving as Director of Research for the Chopra Foundation. He has expertise in Integrative Medicine and psychoneuroimmune processes in wellness and disease, publishing extensively on these topics.

Discussant. Deepak Chopra, MD, is a world-renowned pioneer in mind-body medicine and personal transformation, and Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Endocrinology and Metabolism. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. He has authored more than 80 books, published in more than 43 languages, including 22 New York Times best sellers.

Previous work has proposed a process called "meaningful history selection" which defines "meaningful outcomes" and predicts meaningful coincidence, or Jung's "synchronicity," using the image of a branching apple tree. Recent progress will be presented which provides an equation to calculate the statistics of synchronicity, based upon fundamental physics. A synchronicity is an event which is meaningfully related to future outcomes and becomes statistically more likely based upon the current actions we take. The connection between our current actions and the future outcomes is based on the notion of qualitative experience, or qualia. When a conscious being anticipates a future qualitative experience, future branches of the tree of possibilities are preferentially selected which contain that qualitative experience. A synchronicity (or at least a particular type of synchronicity) is a causally improbable event that become more probable because of its causal relationship with a future anticipated qualitative experience, and one can calculate this change in probability using the equation presented. This research is supported by the Federico and Elvia Faggin Foundation.

Exploring the intersection of individual awakening with humanity evolving through response to the many challenges we face into collective flourishing.

Utilizing the lens of one holographic reality, One Unitive Consciousness we will play with the possibility and experience of realizing One Human Being, One Heart Awakening. Through this we will see and enjoy how the integration and embodiment of Truth in each of us is essential to the co-creation of a flourishing humanity globally.

We will enjoy the 'Unitive Breath One Grateful Heart' meditation to give the direct experience of the ideas outlined in the presentation.

Discover the power of our full surrender to being lived by Love. Explore and experience the beautiful qualities of being a 'New Earth Ninja', awake, empowered and inspired to serve the whole.

There is often a perceived divide between archetype and flesh—soul and body—as if archetypes, or the forces that make up our personal and collective mythology, are merely “hosted” by the body. This perception persists even after apparent renaissances in mind
body awareness since the middle of the 20th century. MogaDao Qigong, founded by Zhen Dao, is an original tradition of qigong that ensouls the body. “Ensouling the body” means that in MogaDao Qigong a practitioner does not just work with the body’s organs as vessels of functionality, but as talismanic forces of primordial harmony. In MogaDao Qigong, the body is a locus of original power, a totem that is liberated into its primordiality through the formal and graceful movements of MogaDao Qigong. No experience is necessary. All bodies and all health conditions are welcome.

Immerse yourself in the vibrant world of The Radiance Sutras, a contemporary version of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra, a classic yoga text describing 112 doorways to ecstasy. The text invites us to be at home in our bodies and the universe by accepting every intense or subtle experience, every sensual delight, every ordinary moment, as a gateway to the divine. Each Sutra or meditation practice is a deep dive into aliveness, into the underlying reality of what life is. The meditations work by activating the senses and extending their range further into the inner and the outer world. The basic dynamics of life—breathing, falling asleep, waking up, walking, loving—are all used as paths of alignment and enlightenment. Balance is here at every step; the unshakable serenity of the depths is used as a foundation so that we can tolerate the electrifying vastness of the universe. We are invited to cross the threshold, to walk by the guardian of the gate, to face our terrors, and make our way into the immense and timeless mystery that is always calling.

In the spirit of wonder and play, Lorin and Camille will guide a journey through simple sensory and movement meditations inspired by the Sutras. You will also have the opportunity to explore savoring the sound of the original Sanskrit, which has a luscious, evocative sensuality.

Being Human: what does it mean in the context of Self-realization, which — when properly understood — is aimed at living our innermost potential? After all, the process of Self-realization is to go beyond, to transcend the boundaries of human consciousness — to realize the essence of who we are beyond our most dearly held notions. The way we hold on so dearly to what we call “individuality,” is in itself a telling sign that this may be nothing other than psychosis in varying degrees of intensity. To go beyond this identity requires courage and a different kind of knowledge — opening the possibility for experiencing every shade of what it means to be human, whilst transcending these shades in the light of Awareness which illumines it all.

Though many are going through various stages of awakening and expansion of Consciousness, there is still only a vague understanding of this phenomenon. The dynamics of this process are colored by our psychophysiological conditioning — most of our cognitive responses are automated, because our perception is determined by previous experiences, which in turn plant the seeds for future ones. When seen from this perspective, the ancient line, “Know thyself,” gains an extra dimension. And knowledge of the Self is inseparable from the instrumentality of knowing — the body. The attitude toward that notion marks a point of departure in many spiritual traditions, whose teachings are united by the same goal.

This presentation is an invitation to re-evaluate the human experience — to explore the very meaning and hidden potential of “Human Being.” Is it just a concept? A field of pure transcendence or a conglomerate of neurophysiological responses? Is “individuality” really nothing other than psychosis? What if transcending human experience — without understanding what it represents — is actually bypassing the very purpose of being alive?

Humans have engaged in the process of making myth since the beginning of their existence. Mythos, the search for meaning in life, is the companion to logos, the how it works. We create a set of subjective facts that when woven together create a story that others hear and possibly believe. It gives us peace, understanding and meaning until the science of the day catches up. Listen as we explore the thread of mythic expression from classical times to contemporary culture.

These days, there are many ways for people to learn about consciousness and awakening, but mostly only if they’re already interested in these topics. After all, there is very little cultural awareness about consciousness and awakening, so the great majority of people never realize that there is anything to wake up from, or how to go about waking up. Fortunately, art books and exhibitions provide opportunities to reach people who may not already be interested in consciousness or spirituality, and to build cultural awareness about awakening.

In this proposed presentation, I would take viewers through an exhibition of my 3-D multiple-exposure photographs called, From Wandering to Illumination, inspired by the Eleusinian Mysteries of ancient Greece, which were effective for thousands of years at introducing people to experiences of awakening.

The exhibition will progress from black-and-white photographs of bare trees in winter, representing the state of “Wandering” or the ordinary consciousness of our monkey mind/grasping mind, to color photographs of trees in summer, representing the state of Illumination or Awakening. Meanwhile, the accompanying text weaves together the story of Demeter’s search for her daughter Persephone, and our global effort to reclaim our soul.

Just as Persephone was taken away to the underworld, and Demeter wandered the Earth looking for her daughter everywhere, we face a similar loss of soul today on both the personal and collective levels. Our world in general is very much lost in a state of Wandering, with all the mass shootings, corporate greed running amok, infatuation with strongmen, etc.

Fortunately, if we realize that we’re Wandering, we can get back on track. It’s time for us to drop the veil that has kept the Mysteries hidden behind the doors of monasteries, and obscured in esoteric symbolism.

It’s time for us to wake up.

We explore the idea that perceptual experiences do not approximate properties of an “objective” world, but provide a simplified, species-specific, user interface to the world. Donald Hoffman introduced it as the Interface Theory of Perception. Hoffman also introduced his Conscious Realism thesis: the objective world consists of a social network of ‘conscious agents’ and their experiences. Thus consciousness creates all objects and properties of the physical world, reversing the traditional mind-body problem.
Using evolutionary game theory, we support interface theory with a theorem saying that perceptual strategies reporting the truth will, under natural selection, be driven to extinction by those tuned instead to fitness.
A mathematically precise definition of “conscious agents” is proposed, leading to a non-dualistic, dynamical theory of conscious process in which both observer and observed have the same structure, with many possible interfaces.
In support of conscious realism, we then discuss two theorems showing that a conscious agent can see geometric and probabilistic structures that are not necessarily in the world but properties of the conscious agent itself and different agents may see the world as having different (even incompatible!) structures. We will also discuss a way in which interfaces represent a dramatic compression of information which is functional to the agent.
This suggests that space-time is a description of location and dynamics on the perceptual interface of human conscious agents; that the “objects” of Physics are akin to icons on that interface; and that “phenomena” appear as the interactions those icons seem - to us - to be having.
What motivates a species to evolve its particular interface? Federico Faggin has proposed a mechanism for the evolution of interfaces: that it is the desire for comprehension, or self-knowing, that drives this evolution. What is required next is a theory of the process of self-knowing.

Wholeness is the nature of reality; and yet human civilization seems to be shaken by a crisis of fragmentation. We are living amidst a multidimensional, radical revolution, one fraught with dangers but also offering nearly inconceivable opportunities. How, in practical, personal terms, can wholeness reassert itself through us? We can each become an active agent of love, and of the transformation of human civilization which is necessary to continued human survival. While today's world crises appear virtually insoluble, they also create openings for rapid evolution, as have past periods of acute challenge.

We will stay present to two inseparable aspects of reality our dynamic but fractured and threatened world, and its underlying unity and wholeness. Only by honoring both simultaneously can we enact sustainable changes in ourselves, our communities, our body politic, and our planetary life-support system. The mission of the awakened practitioner and that of the activist are not-two. Each of us is called to express our best and most beneficent capacities, not just personally but mutually.

Terry Patten's major new book, A New Republic of the Heart provides a comprehensive understanding and inspiring vision for the inner work that can lead to the whole-system change necessary to heal the most intractable problems of our time: environmental, economic, political, cultural, and spiritual.

We will consider how to have "conversations that matter" and how to co-create communities of practice, enterprises, and forms of dialogue can enact wholeness more broadly.

We thus discover that a "new republic of the heart" is already coming into being, invisibly and quietly, as more and more of us organically respond to our evolutionary imperative. Wholeness is not abstract. It has agency, and in response to fragmentation, through you and me, it is beginning to reassert itself.

If you're going through the awakening process, you know that it can be delicate to talk about what happens when a whole tsunami of energy hits the second chakra.

In this presentation, we will crack open the door to awakened sex and explore what to do when:

- our blocked energy is being pounded on by Kundalini
-our previous conditions about sex are now are reorienting and if feels so disorienting
- the old spiritual identities want to avoid all this dirty, nasty, human love
-the old patterns of relationship don’t hold or honor this new freedom

When simplified into its basic function, business is a system and structure of expression and exchange. The key is how we use this basic system and structure. Do we let ego control business? Or do we allow awakened consciousness to utilize the systems and structures with wisdom, truth, and love for the benefit of all beings?

Business in its fundamental function can empower us to share critical ideas; to create new services and products; to foster evolution in our communities. Business can be the vehicle through which we realize our divinely guided missions and purposes. Business can be the container for sacred creative collaboration. It can also be one of the places where we expand our experience of living awakened awareness.

When we reclaim the sacred in business, we activate the true potential of each individual and our community, thus creating new potential for collaboration. This can be true in any field or industry, for profit or non-profit, technology, spirituality, science, personal development, medicine, arts, and more.

It starts with you as an individual. When you bring your intention for truth, wisdom, and love to your work, you invite conscious engagement from others around you. The more aligned you are with your true calling and movement, the more you are empowered to use business in a sacred way.

I invite you into the paradigm of reclaiming the sacred in business. I invite you to allow the brilliance of your conscious awareness to be fully present every day you are at work. I invite you to fully express all the gifts and skills you are here to share. This presentation will support you to liberate old limiting ideas of self and business; embody your awakened consciousness more at work; and create new relationships, pathways, and possibilities through sacred business.

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.

Self-awareness is a primary human trait, but one we have wrestled with for centuries. Other species are thought to have a marginal capacity to be aware, but only humans are defined by awareness. This constituted a major evolutionary shift in prehistory. We became a consciousness-based species with unlimited potential.
Our origins story began in self-awareness and then unfolded to the point where we inhabit a human universe, not simply colored by our perspective but actually reified—given material existence—by us. Once it is understood that the universe is the play of consciousness in different modes, the next evolutionary leap becomes possible.
Evolving from human to Metahuman can be defined as going beyond the products of consciousness to the source, where existence is consciousness. The scientific search for an irreducible something that forms the ground state of creation has inevitably led here.
To expand on the theme, the following topics will be covered:
* Breaking the habit of personal identity, becoming aware that what constitutes being a person is a malleable process.
* The primacy of experience as a validation of reality.
* Escaping the illusion of virtual reality.
* Adopting a view of consciousness as the creative "stuff" of the universe.
* Accepting the dimensionless and timeless as normal facts of everyday life.

Fear and Hope
One of the contemporary struggles in our culture is the contraction of the psyche brought forth through feelings of fear and the expansion found in the seeking of hope and meaning. My workshop will explore this topic through an introductory discussion followed by exploration in small groups and dyads. Participants will gain insight into their personal challenges while gaining compassion towards the struggles of others. We are moving into an age of mass participation in societal and cultural change that requires the activation and inclusion of a greater number of individuals. To this end, a personal practice clearing insecurities “not ready yet ness” and feeling ones self as part of a greater whole both both physically and spiritually is needed. There will be format flexibility depending on the number of participants. Time frame: 30 minutes to two hours depending on event needs.

Come enjoy Soul Kirtan! C.C. White's unique, soul-flavored chant experiences effortlessly enrapture audiences and bring them to their feet!

We will practice yoga by tuning into our physical, emotional, and subtle bodies respectively, while trying to tune into the connection between all three and noticing any differences that arise in the moments. I will verbally guide you through the nuances of such inquiry as you flow mindfully on your mat.

The Global Coherence Initiative is exploring the interactions between humanity and the earth’s magnetic fields. The magnetic field produced by the heart can be detected by the nervous systems of other people and a new system for measuring group coherence will be introduced at the conference. New research will be presented showing how people are far more interconnected with each other and the earth’s magnetic field environment than previously imagined.

We in the interdisciplinary field of Interpersonal Neurobiology describe the mind as an emergent, self-organizing, embodied and relational process that regulates the flow of energy and information. This definition reveals how this aspect of mind is both within and between us, and helps us clarify how a healthy mind is one that moves these inner and relational movements of energy and information flow toward integration; integration optimizes self-organization. Integration is the linkage of differentiated parts, such as connecting the left and right sides of the brain, or embracing and honoring differences and cultivating compassionate communication. By exploring our mental lives, we can move toward a healthy flow of integration, which creates harmony in our lives. When not moving toward integration, complex systems like our lives move toward either chaos or rigidity, rather than the flexible harmonious flow of integrative wellbeing.

One way to promote integration is with the Wheel of Awareness. In this practice, the center hub of our metaphoric wheel represents the “knowing” of being conscious while the elements on the rim stand for the “known.” Known elements on the external rim include:
• What we see, hear, smell, taste and touch
• What we sense from our inner bodily sensations
• What we experience with our mental activities, such as feelings, thoughts or memories
• Our sense of relational connections—with other people and with the planet

The power of doing the Wheel of Awareness practice is to integrate consciousness by differentiating hub from rim, and systematically linking these various elements intentionally with the movement of a spoke of attention. This integration of consciousness allows us to free the mind to learn to move recurrent thoughts and moods of the rim toward an open space of knowing – the hub. Practicing the Wheel of Awareness can liberate the mind from ingrained patterns of cognition and emotion and help you emerge with a more expansive sense of awareness.

Join this engaging speaker, author, mycologist, medical researcher and entrepreneur, for an immersion lecture on mushrooms that will deepen your understanding and respect for the organisms that exists under every footstep you take on this path of life.
His presentation will cover a range of mushroom species and new research showing how mushrooms can help the health of people and planet. Habitats have immune systems, just like people, and mushrooms are cellular bridges between the two. Our close evolutionary relationship to fungi can be the basis for novel pairings in the microbiome that lead to greater sustainability and immune enhancement.

Behind all our endeavors lies the desire to be happy—to feel content, relaxed, and at ease. No one wants to be in pain or to suffer unnecessarily. This is our true bottom line. Why then, given the many benefits and comforts of contemporary culture, are we so seldom at peace?

Throughout history, there have been those who’ve discovered a timeless truth about human consciousness: The mind in its natural unperturbed state is already at ease. We don’t need to do anything, or go anywhere to find the inner peace and joy we seek. The beauty of this approach is that nothing needs to be changed or eliminated. It is simply relaxing back into our natural state of effortless being.

Join Peter Russell for an exploration of the nature of human consciousness and the essence of spiritual awakening, how our thoughts can veil the peace within, the distinction between ego and the true self, and how to free meditation from effort and trying.

When we knowingly take our stand as the limitless field of Awareness we may recognize that all experiences arise spontaneously within it and share their deepest reality with it.
In this workshop, we will give special attention to the body. For most of us, even after an awakening to our true nature of Awareness, we continue to experience the body as a habitual and intricate network of density and tension which perpetuates and reflects the belief in being a fragment that needs to defend, assert and protect itself… These habits are layered, deep rooted and active under the surface of our contemplation. Thus, the body’s original and harmonious nature, its lively flowing expression, and deep silent vibration remain compromised by the impossible task of maintaining itself as an anchor and cage for the separate one…

Together we will explore and discover.

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Psychic skills offer access to extraordinary insights into the phenomenal world, yet this ability can prove to be a stumbling block on the path to abiding in Absolute Reality. This presentation will explore the nature of the psychic realm, where it fits into the spiritual spectrum, and how to avoid the common pitfalls and potential to get stuck there.
Of those who are given this 'gift' many find it hard to let go of it and its trappings. Yet, the spiritual path necessitates a surrendering into ordinariness. Not letting it go or putting it in its proper perspective can have two common effects: it can distract and prevent one from abiding in the Truth, and it may also make it hard to have a fully embodied and functional phenomenal life (relative reality).
Cultural values placed on psychic abilities range from seeing it as a gift, a curse and indicative of mental health issues. Access to the non-physical worlds offers another layer of perceivable information that may be refined and ethereal but is still part of the cause and effect construct of the illusion (maya). When it is given too much authority or interpreted as truth, the Truth cannot be seen.
On my own journey, a spontaneous third eye opening initiated an abrupt orientation toward spirituality and ultimately Truth. I am amazed at how often people have asked me about my journey and when I answer, they get so caught up in the 3rd eye opening that they never get to the awakening. While subtle skills of perception can be useful when working with a student to pinpoint where they are stuck, for the most part information from non-physical realms is ignored. This talk redefines the role of psychic abilities and non-physical realms within spirituality.

If we call the content of all our conscious experience as information, we may say that matter is accessible to senses and that information is not. This inaccessibility is implied when we say that our experiences are all subjective. A quantum particle (QP) is not directly accessible to senses and needs to be 'observed' in a suitably designed measurement experiment. Even in such an experiment, what we actually observe is the ‘classical’ measuring device. The position and other 'observable' properties of a QP are only inferred from the devices’ readings. Quantum mechanics tells us that QPs are packets of de Broglie's phase waves, each of which is supposed to have a speed greater than that of light. Clearly, the phase wave is a mathematical abstraction, an idea in physicists' minds and unphysical. It cannot be observed like light or heard like sound. But at the same time, the phase wave’s wavelength can be measured in a suitably designed experiment. So, we may say that the de Broglie's phase wave is ‘objective information’! Although electromagnetic waves different from light such as X-rays cannot also be directly perceived but are detected only by their effects on matter, such effects can be predicted deterministically. De Broglie waves on the other hand, are the reason for the nondeterministic behavior of quantum matter. Since the measuring device, and in general, ‘classical’ matter is supposed to be made of numerous QPs, all matter is made of ‘objective information’ according to quantum mechanics. We will analyze the idea of ‘objective information’ in this presentation.

Developmental trauma deeply affects and limits how we connect with ourselves and the world around us; it has been called a silent epidemic. Fortunately, there is now a wide and rich array of integrative interdisciplinary practices available from which to learn, explore and heal. As the seriousness of the impact of early trauma is more widely acknowledged, the silence of this terrible epidemic is being broken. More people are realizing the effects of trauma in their lives and finding their way through the rigors of trauma’s consequences to joyous wellbeing, and spiritual expansion.

Trauma obscures our authentic self—our essential nature, yet trauma can also be a portal to opening to a deeper spiritual reality. The obscurations tend to occur in early life to maintain attachment and love with our caregivers. It is a sacrifice of loss on the altar of survival, where there can be varying degrees of numbing, splitting and dissociation. The adaptations, defenses, & distortions that emerge in the face of trauma, configure to create a false sense of self, which compensates for the loss. It is the false self that we identified with and come to believe we are. If we continue to operate out of those places, we limit our life, vital life force and capacity for connection in every dimension of being. The authentic/essential self is never destroyed, but it is concealed by the web of defenses and survival strategies. To access our essential nature, the systemic dysregulation and the physiological dysregulation that occurs in response to trauma needs to be addressed, and integration needs to occur.

This presentation brings a somatic and scientific approach to healing developmental trauma. How can we transform our lives as we facilitate the integration of consciousness and release identity distortions? As we embrace the unfamiliar and unknown we can connect with our natural drive toward inner harmony and wellbeing.

Let us dwell in our creation of science, mystery, and the human experience. We think we know from science how many aspects of our experience have come to be and are. Yet, a scientist would admit that there is no absolute scientific explanation for anything. We may conclude that the mystery of Life is but a fantasy of our own creation.

We do not know how to cure the common cold nor why or how we maintain a blood pressure. What perhaps may be the mystery of the human experience is our inability to overcome our natural propensity for violence, genocide, and other egregious ways of being while at the same time evidence compassion, empathy, and good will toward our fellow human beings.

We are not all that different from our ancestors in the cave. We fight for territory, for what we believe is right or The Truth. We talk about peace and brotherhood, yet act contrary much of the time whether we admit it or not.

We waver between trust and distrust, confidence and a lack thereof. Hence, we find ourselves in the world of duality creating controlling issues or evidencing arrogance or experiencing feelings of alienation. Yet, we somehow know such practices are self-defeating as we become ever more aware of nondual interdependence.

We are our own aggregate mystery. And it all happens in our heads this illusion we call the human experience.

Let us join together and fathom the way out of our self-created conundrum. Join-in an eye-opening experience of mystery, wonderment, and awe.

Let us dwell in our creation of science, mystery, and the human experience. We think we know from science how many aspects of our experience have come to be and are. Yet, a scientist would admit that there is no absolute scientific explanation for anything. We may conclude that the mystery of Life is but a fantasy of our own creation.We do not know how to cure the common cold nor why or how we maintain a blood pressure. What perhaps may be the mystery of the human experience is our inability to overcome our natural propensity for violence, genocide, and other egregious ways of being while at the same time evidence compassion, empathy, and good will toward our fellow human beings.We are not all that different from our ancestors in the cave. We fight for territory, for what we believe is right or The Truth. We talk about peace and brotherhood, yet act contrary much of the time whether we admit it or not.We waver between trust and distrust, confidence and a lack thereof. Hence, we find ourselves in the world of duality creating controlling issues or evidencing arrogance or experiencing feelings of alienation. Yet, we somehow know such practices are self-defeating as we become ever more aware of nondual interdependence.We are our own aggregate mystery. And it all happens in our heads this illusion we call the human experience. Let us join together and fathom the way out of our self-created conundrum. Join-in an eye-opening experience of mystery, wonderment, and awe.

In this workshop, through ancient inquiry, letting go, meditation, movement and dance, you’ll explore the body, the mind, and the stillness within all. You’ll see through false perceptions of self and unveil the direct experience of inherent freedom. The human body can be seen as a seemingly localized expression through which to realize the non-local and infinite origin of all Life. Having unconditional compassion for this body and its human story with all its innocence, trials, and triumphs, can bring a profound relaxation and rest. This can turn our suffering on an island of aloneness - into experiencing life as a universe of beloved Oneness. Come and uncover this infinite sense of being – right in the center of the human story that you're experiencing every precious moment of life.

There is one reality, but it is vast, multi-layered and profoundly comprehensive. Humans don't have the mechanism to take it all in at once. Rather, we're like a lens, focusing on this or that aspect of the whole. As we move through the 7 stages of enlightenment, our relationship with the whole changes and with it our perception and understanding of reality.

We could say reality is different in different stages of development. However, our perspective is also strongly influenced by our dominant guna or quality. Do we see the world as concrete and real? As an illusion? Or as a play of the Divine?

How does this impact our relationship with the one reality? What are the common variations in perception? How does this influence the variety of descriptions through the ages? David will explore the two parallel processes of consciousness and refinement in the path of spiritual unfolding.

Life is the embodiment of Consciousness. Therefore, everything we experience reflects our knowledge or ignorance of our true nature. Awakening is concretely manifested in and as our everyday life. In this integration, traditionally called “enlightenment”, Emptiness is expressed in form without being filtered through a sense of separate self. The ego-based mind should not take this as a goal of perfection, but rather as the impossible and precious meeting of that which is already perfect with the apparent limitations of space, time, matter, error, and death. God becomes human while remaining Divine. The unmanifested Divine journeys through the miracle of the manifested, living experience.
As T. S. Elliot put it, “We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”
The “we” to which he refers is the Divine itself. There are not many souls looking for God, but one Divine Consciousness awakening to itself through all forms, and in doing so, playing in the polarities of life - death and birth, error and wisdom, happiness and suffering. The Divine exploration of embodied life is not a descent or a fall, but rather a blossoming of unmanifest Emptiness into greater Fullness. Becoming human is therefore the sublime participation in the impulse of the Divine to become a Living Reality.

We are witnessing a sea change in collective consciousness. From entertainment to politics to athletics, sexual misconduct is no longer tolerated. Sexual and other forms of abuse have also plagued the spiritual world which the SAND family inhabits. While actors and politicians might not be expected to have developed high moral values, most people expect spiritually awakened people to have done so. Contrary examples have led many to conclude that higher consciousness and ethical behavior are not correlated. Some have become cynical about the motives of all gurus and teachers and have lost faith in spirituality altogether.

Yet, every spiritual tradition includes codes of ethics that apply to both teachers and students. Ethical behavior has been regarded not only as a reflection of spiritual development but as conducive to it.

Unlike the legal, medical, psychological, and other professions, spiritual teachers lack a shared code of ethics and an organization to formalize them. At this writing, the members of this panel have made significant progress in drafting such a code. By conference time, we hope to have established an organization which would offer the following:

_Teacher membership would imply trustworthiness, as it would be predicated upon agreeing to the code of ethics.
_Teachers would be encouraged to be more open to feedback, transparent, and accountable.
_Students would be emboldened to expect high moral standards in teachers and might become more discriminating in choosing a teacher.
_A place where those who have been abused might submit grievances.

The proposed model of the brain consists of three sub-agents: The Thinker, Doer, and Experiencer. The Thinker and Doer are justified because of their consistency with well established, experimentally derived models of cognition in two different academic fields. In the field of psychology, Dual Process Theory would map the Thinker to System 2 (slow, deliberative, explicit, & conscious), and the Doer to System 1 (fast, intuitive, implicit, & subconscious). In the field of neuroscience, a model by Henry Yin and Barbara Knowlton would map the Thinker to the action-outcome contingency system and the Doer to the stimulus-response habit system. A theorem in control theory by Conant and Ashby proposes that every good agent should contain a model of the world where the agent operates. This theorem suggests the existence of the third agent, the Experiencer; this agent would construct the model of the world needed by the Thinker and Doer. Attention schema theory proposes a model of awareness containing three sub-models: a self-model of the agent, the attention schema (which is a model of attention), and the representation of the object of attention. This awareness model is applied to each of the three proposed sub-agents to describe the form of awareness that each sub-agent has about external objects. Additionally, attention schema theory is utilized to determine the type of self-awareness each agent would experience. This integration of attention schema theory and the three sub-agents results in three different forms of conscious awareness. One of these forms of awareness would be the consciousness that animals (and ancient humans) would experience. The second is the default awareness state of modern humans. The third form of awareness exactly explains the experiences reported in Nonduality and other enlightened consciousness states. This model could also explain some of the experiences described as flow states, or peak consciousness states.

Love is a perennial theme in painting, literature, music, and the movies, but what do we really discover about the nature of love, sexual desire and relationships from the arts? Does art inform us with deep, eternal truths about love or merely bounce back the beliefs and biases of its time? And, if so, does art effectively constrain our notions of love, and place culture-bound limits on it? Can love be liberated from art, or by art?

In movies about love and relationships, there is a well worn path to commercial success that relies on familiar tropes. In a typical romantic comedy, boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy then makes outlandish gesture and wins girl’s heart for-ever. In a drama triangle, a marriage is threatened when one partner “strays” and brings down the sky in the process. Conventions of storytelling require that transgressions be punished before harmony can be restored. Women in particu-lar are never permitted sexual desire beyond the confines of a monogamous rela-tionship. In family comedies, hapless husbands are to be tamed and domesticat-ed. Characters are rarely represented as having real communication skills or emotional intelligence. Arthouse films about love are far more nuanced, but the underlying cultural rulebook mostly still applies. Do such films truly reflect what love and relationships are, or can be, or do they simply force people into a box? In this presentation I’ll look at how love has been historically portrayed in the movies, how this might influence our own beliefs about relationships, and offer examples that break free of the monogamous heteronormative rulebook.

In this presentation, Scott Kiloby will explain how the Kiloby Center’s innovative inquiry and mindfulness tools allow us to explore previously unconscious patterns of suffering connected to addiction. The focus of Scotts addiction recovery work is not behavior. The focus is on the psychological and emotional issues such as shame and lack. These tools were developed to help those who have no background in nonduality to access the natural state of awareness more easily and dissolve the persistent suffering that lies at the core of addiction.

Scott will speak to how addiction cannot be truly healed without dealing with these unconscious drivers. Scott will also provide some very helpful tips on avoiding bypassing while on the path to recovery and/or awakening.

Finally Scott will provide fresh insight into how some modern day nonduality teachings are actually prolonging addictions and trauma by implicitly encouraging bypassing.

From the moment we are born into this world, we are socially conditioned by our outside environment. Unconsciously, we embrace the norms and ideologies of society that influence our behaviors, thinking, and the decisions we make in life. Through this constant programing, we have forgotten who we truly are and our unlimited potential. Our disconnection from the true self, has created mental patterns of unworthiness, fear, loneliness, anxiety, anger, and depression.
In this talk, David Thomas will discuss social programming, limiting beliefs, and the low-level energies we have unconsciously adopted. David will lead a guided meditation to help you to focus on the present moment and find a place of stillness within. As a result, you will be able to go beyond the veil of the mind and ultimately realize that you are the source of your own peace, joy, love, and liberation.

In this experiential presentation that will include a talk, guided meditation, and dialogue, we will explore how being fully human requires both the awakening of the deep Heart that is shared by all beings as well as the full embrace of the vulnerable human heart. It is the deep or universal Heart of compassionate presence that is able to most tenderly and fully hold the suffering human heart, creating an optimal environment for its natural unfolding.

The heart area is a center of great emotional and energetic sensitivity as well as a portal to our true nature as loving awareness. It is where we feel self-love and self-loathing, a core worthiness or unworthiness, as well as grief and joy. It is also the wellspring of profound gratitude, appreciation and wonder and where we recognize our inherent wholeness and non-separateness from all of life.

What breaks information symmetry and fuels paradigm shifts such as the shift from Newtonian mechanics to the very profound everything not forbidden is compulsory�xiom of quantum mechanics? Why do we still perceive in linear time when there exist two time dimensions in F-Theory and four levels in the Holographic Multiverse?

Quantum mechanics posits that particles are mathematical possibilities, irreducible representations of Lie Groups. It is as if space itself were a time crystal, where the perceived low-energy configuration, the grand what is, is symmetric with respect to quantum time. But what is quantum time and who could create it?

Using Mirror Symmetry, Level 4 of the Multiverse, and Noncommutative Algebras, I propose that in proportion as we integrate as fully actualized human beings, we change our mathematical constructs which therefore directly change perceived reality. So humanity is the dynamical singularity between the black and white hole, constantly replacing old paradigms with emergent constructs, and thought itself is an event horizon.

Firstly, we explore powerful shifts in theoretical physics which parallel the spiritual movement to the human integrating to the 6th Density of lovelight wisdom: gravity as geometry and tensor networks; multi-verse circle time; entanglement as black holes.

Secondly, we propose that the fully actualized human would construct quantum time as a holographic mirror symmetry, as it will no longer be relevant to perceive through linear time.

Using F-theory and Loop Quantum Gravity, we argue that space and time are pre-geometric emergent mirror pairs, emerging from the symmetries of spin networks of quantum complexity. So just as we made classical time an approximation symmetry, we could construct a quantum multiverse time, where humans could perceive their magical multiverse copies. Imagine the effect on the isms of humanity, if tomorrow were replaced with infinite day returning?

“The success of an intervention depends on the interior condition of the intervener”
Billy O'Brien

“We collectively create results that nobody wants …“
C. Otto Scharmer

How is it that we, as a society, with all of our technological, philosophical and spiritual advancements, are ineffective in creating a thriving environment for our citizens?

The origin of our attention, our interior condition, is often hidden from our awareness and therefore impacts our actions directly, like an unseen car in the rearview mirror blind spot.

Observing our body sensations and actions gives us insight into what/who is at the source of our individual and collective actions, and helps us discern when we are driven by fear and habits instead of being fully present to each unique moment.

Listening to our body can help us connect with that to which we all belong to and support our ability to co-create actions that flow and flourish.

The recognition and treatment of buried trauma within individuals is at the leading edge of psychotherapy today. The recent discovery that trauma can have epigenetic effects that are passed down through generations is at the leading edge of biological research. While we are gaining a greater understanding of how trauma can affect the health of individuals, we have not yet understood the impact of collective trauma. Could it be that a hidden layer of collective trauma underlies many of the seemingly intractable social, economic, and even environmental issues humanity faces today?

On a spiritual level, it is crucial that we understand the implications of trauma and collective trauma in our lives order to create a spiritual path that is embodied and grounded and is not used to bypass our difficulties. Only by bringing our spiritual practice into relationship with the darkest parts of our history can we break free of repetitive patterns and open the door to new possibilities.

The ecological crisis that most people currently attribute to greenhouse gases will not be resolved by merely switching energy sources. It invites us into a profoundly different relationship to the planet and the rest of life, even a different sense of who we are and what is real. It is an invitation, not a compulsion. Will we choose life, or continued death? How might we change the psychic conditions from which we choose?

As the fierce and tender voice of the feminine rises again, we are gifted with renewed access to the women mystics and wisdom beings across the spiritual traditions, such as, Teresa of Avila, Julian of Norwich, Mary Magdalene, Sophia, the Shekinah, Song of Songs, Rabia, Fatima, Tara, Quan Yin, Kali, and indigenous Mother goddesses. In this gathering we engage in contemplative readings from the mystics, group reflections, evocative writing exercises, inter-spiritual chanting and silent sitting, weaving these luminous elements into a basket of awakened community.

Interlude

While we are gaining a greater understanding of the psychological and biological effects of trauma on the health of individuals, we have not yet fully understood the impact of trauma on our collective wellbeing. Could it be that a hidden layer of collective trauma underlies many of the seemingly intractable social, economic, and even environmental issues humanity faces today? How can we uncover the traumas embedded in our social body and work together to heal those wounds?

Through guided meditation and dialogue, Thomas Hübl will lead us to inquire into the collective trauma layer that is a part of our being, and become aware of its effects in our own lives and in our society. We will explore how spiritual practice can either be a way to bypass our personal and collective traumas, or a powerful ally when brought into relationship with the darkest parts of our shared human history. Together we will activate the potential to heal our collective nervous system, break free of repetitive patterns, and transform the trajectory of humanity’s future.

The majority of what occurs when we relate with one another is body-based communication. Through our breath, our heart rate, our muscle tension, our nerves, our tone, our shapes and our qualities of movement, we are in constant communion with the world around us. Through body-based play,we will explore and honor our body’s responses to proximity (closeness and distance), eye contact, motion, tone and qualities of touch. Come play and inquire with others. Together, we will make this “dance” of relationship a living, breathing, work of art.

A four-billion-year-old cycling evolutionary engine of creation lifted us improbable and beautiful human beings into existence. The very process by which we were made is driven by the dual nature of night and day, death and reproduction, despair and hope. The dark and light parts of our nature now starkly face each other in a high stakes planetary stand-off which will determine our very survival. The secret to our future may be to invoke Jedi-like transformative powers into the midst of the stand-off. To paraphrase Master Yoda… “Jedi need the dark force of the Empire to grow skills stronger… to answer power with power, the Jedi way this is not… so you must face the truth, and choose to give off light, for Luminous beings we are., Padawan.”

What is grasper and grasping? It is object and subject. When an object first appears to sentient beings they become attached, then thoughts move. For example, insects become bound to a spider's web. The more the insect's body moves, the more it becomes bound in the web. The result is like that of grasper and grasping. All ignorance comes from grasper and grasping. The ideas of "You" and "I" comes from grasper and grasping. Ego-grasping is part of that. The cause of samsara is also the grasper and grasping view. Karma comes from delusion and delusion comes from ego-grasping view. When it is dark at night, we can see a multi-colored rope that looks like a snake. We then become afraid. This is created from grasping. The grasping is actually a mistaken perception. When the object appears to the practitioner, it is immediately integrated into the Natural State. The object is dissolved into Ultimate Truth. There is no foundation of attachment. At that time the practitioner observes without the grasping view. For example, when we meditate in the Natural State, there is no object and subject. Why is the grasping view a mistaken perception? Whatever first appears: Where did it originate from? Where is it abiding? Where will it disappear to? Everything is pervaded with intrinsic awareness. It is non-dual with the natural state. According to high practitioners, there is no rejection, no negativity. For example, if you visualize a golden place, you will not find earth and stone there. When we meditate we must continue our session without grasping. There is no difference between the observer and the observed. It is non-duality. This is what we call "self-knowing wisdom". When we experience this, we get liberated or achieve Enlightenment.

There is an ever expanding conversation these days within nondual circles about embodiment as a maturational process in awakening, yet there is little talk about how awakening is actually integrated within our human body. Could it be that freedom from suffering is not about transcending form, but rather, becoming more fully present with the field of experience within the body? How does the health and tone of the nervous system correlate with awakening if at all? How can we meet the arising energies, emotions, conditioning and ego structure that are implicit to having a human form? In traditions that have historically pointed to the experience of the truth that lies beyond form, how to we begin to include the physical body in the conversation of awakening?

In this panel discussion with teachers Jeannie Zandi, Kiran Trace, Dorothy Hunt we will explore themes such as how to be present in the body, the role the body may play in awakening to truth as well as the impact awakening may have on the body, how we can have a direct experience of the body without concept or objectification, the intelligence and conditioning that lies within the body, the relationships between trauma, the body and awakening, the feminine movement of embodiment and what it means to live a fully human existence within physical form once you’ve awakened from the dream of separation.

“Underneath all his [her] preoccupations with sex, society, religion, etc. (all the staple abstractions which allow the forebrain to chatter) there is, quite simply, a person tortured beyond endurance by the lack of tenderness in the world.”
— Lawrence Durrell

After 45 years of clinical and developmental research, I've come to several realizations: 1. No one escapes pain, 2. From a psychological point of view, our first developmental milestone is learning to trust soothing and affection from another (resonance-at-our-core), 3. Suffering is our experience of pain without resonance, 4. As resonance increases, suffering diminishes and transformation ensues.

“We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection.
— H.H. Dalai Lama

This micro-seminar will begin by focusing on current developmental research regarding infant sensitivity to resonance. We will then look at defensive process (“It’s up to me”) as the inevitable response to non-resonance. Finally, we will glimpse the dance of duality/non-duality as “Oneing Affection” (Cloud of Unknowing).

Ai: natural balance; Ki: living energy of connection: so Aiki: conscious unity;
Do: universal Truth, Dharma. The practice of Aikido as Budo, the Way of the Warrior is a way of non-duality, in three stages: Coordination, Connection and Realization
To learn the martial art of effectively receiving and applying Aikido techniques is a process of emptying habits of reactiveness and control, and so developing the humility and trust in oneself as an embodiment of Great Nature. This is the true self-confidence that leads to self-knowledge and to gratitude for life and in turn is the key for healthy relationships to flourish. So we can say with O Sensei:
“True victory is victory over one’s self.”
In this experiential session, we will practice safe drills with partners, involving minimal physical effort and requiring no special skills. We will seek to embody the power and beauty of both internal spirit-mind-body connection and of connection with another person. We will see how, when feeling stuck, there is always another way: one that can be found not by “fighting through” a problem, but by embodying unity, in which resolution naturally occurs.

In the process of incarnating the body, so many imprintings are shaping us, so many dimensions become part of our cells. And everything starts from the void of the heart creating eternal movement of energy that dances life.
A journey through the voice and the silences.
Now with sweetness and now with power, we will be landscapes of nature whose scent recalls the temples in the forests of ancient India where every day flowers were offered as a tribute to the Goddesses; and at the same time, we will be in this millennium, to awake us at this present moment, to stay with what there is now.
Vibrations that enters in the body and dances in the silence of feelings.
Through the thousand nuances of the frequencies of the vital energy and the primordial sound of the Mantras recited by Nadeshwari, we will have the opportunity to gradually leave resistances so that we will be transported to the place where the Spirit resides ... in our heart.

Love others by remaining in connection with you.
Love yourself by remaining connected to the heart of those around you.
Dance these two possibilities to perceive them as part of a single feeling.

A space were we can meet saints, sages, rishis and muni ... yogini and yogis.
Those who for centuries have met the forces of nature in the beauty, strength and simplicity

The debate of whether awakening is sudden and without cause, or progressive and supported by practices, has raged for millennia. Strong evidence exists for both sides of the argument. The do nothing side points to the ever-present Ground that we are, which needs no practice of any kind to Be and to be realized. The practice diligently�ide points to the thousands of years of scientific testing (in places like Tibet) that spiritual practices (in this case Buddhist) have refined and honed, to increase the likelihood of awakening. Why choose? Both sides are true, if we embrace a both/and perspective rather than an either/or perspective. In particular, the Tibetan Buddhist practice of dzogchen, with the support of a concentrated mindstream, have much to offer the modern non-dual practitioner in the recognition and stabilization of non-dual realization as part of our human experience. This session provides participants a brief overview of the practice elements in which non-dual realization can be actively cultivated, in addition to the possibility of non-duality being realized spontaneously. Non-dual practitioners curious about what has made Tibetan Buddhism endure throughout the ages, can find in this session some answers that highlight the rich wisdom and usefulness of these ancient practices, even (and maybe especially) in this modern age. This session will also include neuroscience research highlighting the scientifically measurable benefits that Buddhist meditation has on not only the software of our personality conditioning, but the hardware of the grey matter of the brain. These benefits of meditation not only support realization of Reality, but provide health, relationship, and anti-aging advantages that have been discovered through neuroscience to support a modern human life.

We all believe we have, or are, a self. But what is a self? What is my self? What does it mean to say that I, myself, am doing something? What does it mean to claim that I, myself, have a history?

One of the "jobs" of my self is to appear as a character in the episodic memories with which I reconstruct my personal past. But who is this character, how does it relate to me, and why do I, now, believe that the events depicted or described by these "memory" experiences actually happened in some "past" to which I have no independent access? Another role of my self is to "own" the beliefs, actions, emotions and other feelings that I call "mine." But what does this ownership consist of? If a thought or a feeling occurs, did my self create it? If I'm driving my car or having a conversation with someone, is it my self that is acting? If not, why is my self claiming ownership?

This talk will examine these questions from the perspectives of cognitive neuroscience and evolutionary biology. We will consider how the experienced self is "put together" out of memories and feelings, and how alterations in neurocognitive function can produce subtle or radical changes in the experience of a self, from confabulated memories to ecstatic experiences. We will ask how an experienced self might be advantageous in evolutionary terms. We will discuss how the idea that the self is invented as a means of organizing experience can influence how we interpret our experiences of selfhood.

Virtual Reality may well be an ideal tool to use for psychotherapeutic support. What are the possible uses for mobile virtual reality (VR) and VR within the mental health field? What are the possibilities to produce worldview shifts that encourage growth, balance and integration within the individual and the group? What would be better than to be able to provide patients with a universe and a world view that is a way for embodied cognition and visual stimuli to be activated in a positive manner? VR may well prove to be a major mental health tool in the future. Additionally there are specific elements in the way it can be applied that are unique to non dual psychotherapy. It can if designed specifically for it, be a transformational tool towards spiritual embodiment.

All the women in my family live with hereditary kidney dis-ease. How does one relate to a chronic dis-ease? What is it like to hear you have 2 more weeks to live? Choose dialysis or not? Transplant or not? And, much more!
My own recent experience of a long and extensive surgery to remove my two kidneys and receive a transplanted kidney, as well as the recovery that followed, had and has many layers of challenges. Through it all Divine Radiance carries me.
How do we unpack the wrapping paper of adversity and discover what is inside? Life/She helps us cultivate Being thru offering the most wonderful challenges. When we leave the search behind, we live in total intimacy with what is, which is the dance of our Humanity and our Divine radiance.
We are left in Love!

We are currently living into a new paradigm of consciousness, a glimpse of the future human being. This presentation will elucidate the human journey of consciousness from primal hominid to the possible human edging toward enlightenment. Drawing on the work of Jean Gebser (The Ever-Present Origin) and C.G. Jung (The Collected Works) as well as the wisdom of dreams, we’ll explore the story of collective human development through five phases of unfoldment: Archaic, Magical, Mythical, Mental, and Integral. Each structure of consciousness shapes and determines our perceptions of the world and our relationship with the unknown. Each is a complete and comprehensive way of perceiving and understanding life. It is “a given”, the lens through which we make sense of the world.
These structures are not, however a simple linear progression. Each emergent paradigm blends with, and is added to, the previous structures of consciousness. Our primal origins and successive achievements of consciousness, therefore, are always with us.
Using rich visual imagery, we will explore each of these structures and correlate them with a depth psychological understanding of the layers of the unconscious active in every individual today.
The energy in magical phenomena, the meaning inherent in mythic ranges, and the abstract reasoning of our mental structures are all essential to what is coming into being. It will be transcendent, but cannot yet be fully known. We have only glimpses and yet it looks a lot like collective enlightenment.

The Hakomi Mindful Somatic Psychotherapy offers an elegant, comprehensive and highly effective approach to human change. Hakomi combines mindfulness, unique and powerful somatic techniques, and a focus on present experience to access and transform deeply held, life-limiting core beliefs. For over 30 years Hakomi has pioneered and integrated the use of mindfulness in the human change process. It is backed by thousands of hours of clinical applications and research into the neurological underpinnings of mindfulness. Psychotherapists can successfully use Hakomi in a wide range of applications including individual, couples/ family therapy, and group work. The Hakomi Method also offers cutting-edge skills for coaches, health professionals and others who work to support human change and growth.
Drawing from different Buddhist traditions and meditation practices, Hakomi employs Mindfulness as a distinct state of mind in which clients can slow down and observe carefully their internal experience. The heart of the method is the precise study of the client's experience in the present moment, designed to reveal their unconscious beliefs about the world and about themselves. These access routes are surprisingly effective to take us straight to the core of how we are organized as beings, the blueprints that we unknowingly place on just about everything. At the core of our organization is where we can create new neural pathways for transformation and expand on our possibilities of being. Together we will engage in this process of setting up experiments in mindfulness.

The work before us, highlighted by the #metoo movement, is plain: how do we meet the masculine shadow, and support men in reclaiming and opening their hearts? Join Kent Welsh of Open Circle and his panelists who will explore the unique potential and challenges for men opening their hearts and standing up to face the individual and cultural masculine shadow.

A ‘Gong Bath™’ with Richard Rudis is a dynamic meditative concert which acoustically guides each participant via harmonic overtones into realms of spiritual well-being, emotional balance, cellular healing and spiritual awareness. Using an unique 38" Gong, toned to ‘Aum’ frequency of the Earth (in it’s yearly dance with Sol), a multitude of octaves are created designed to entice the brain into Alpha/Theta/Delta wave-scapes of creativity, relaxation and enrichment. (see www.sacredsoundgongbath.com for further description).

Fake news has been in the media this year, but in reality, creating a fake story is a form of human deception that we know from the depth of our bones. After 18 years as an LPC (licensed professional counselor) using EMDR to reprocess trauma, I have witnessed over and over again, how the brain takes snippets of memory and transforms these into narratives that sometimes deceive. Many who have studied this, believe that memories solely exist as a collection of images or sensations. These are tiny flashes, not logical, or full memories. The brain then fills in the gap to create full memories. These may contain false details or be absolutely false. However, false narratives have immense power to move us beyond trauma or keep us frozen in it. It doesn’t even matter that they are false, because it becomes a story we believe in. As a trauma therapist, I reprocess true and false stories. False stories have tortured people for years—stories created around failed relationships, business ventures, money management, etc. We can’t trust the intellect to amplify truth. We need to question our thoughts. We need to flush out the shadow and embody ourselves accurately. If we don’t, instead of grounding ourselves in meditation, we end up grounded in an 8 year old self, frozen in a story of trauma. This talk serves to deconstruct the way we worship the mind and see it as incorruptible. I became a therapist to help people understand why we tell ourselves both true and false stories. We deserve to live in an evolved state, without blind faith in the stories we create.

Mystic or Mad? Psychosis or Spiritual Experience? This workshop will overcome the duality in clinical practice between pathology and awakening with a new vision of altered states of consciousness and a new direction for interventions and treatment. Nonduality points to a paradigm change in understanding of being human, viewing “anomalous” or unexpected mind spaces as needing compassionate response as reflections of greater wholeness. Set and setting, drawn from psychedelic sitting and integration, can help reframe psychosis as an opportunity to embrace non duality and access greater depth in the multidimensional mystery of reality. This workshop will explore methods for working with individuals, family, and self — based on the ongoing work of the Bay Area Mandala Project — leading the way for a much needed paradigm shift in mental healthcare.

Nothing, the Jewish mystics tell us, is as whole as a broken heart. The world breaks our hearts wide open; and it is this openness itself that mends us, re-members us, makes us whole. This presentation will explore the theme of brokenness through the lens of comparative religion and delve into the paradox of divine brokenness through teachings from various spiritual traditions. It will focus on the apophatic and kenotic nature of feminine wisdom, which sees brokenness and emptiness not as negativities, but as intimacy with the very nature of Reality. We will explore sacred narratives of brokenness from the Jewish, Christian, Hindu and Buddhist cosmologies, including the great primordial shattering of divine vessels in Lurianic Kabballah, the story of the Hindu Goddess of Brokenness, as well as the theological implications of Christological wounds, and of the Buddhist Perfection of Wisdom Sutra from which the notion of Bodhisattva rises.

That things will fall apart in our lives, despite our greatest efforts is as inevitable as breath. Indeed, no matter how spiritual, how awake we might be, no matter how clear our intention, or good our karma, there is only one certainty: we will all without exception experience loss, heartbreak and disappointment of a regular human life. Whether it is death, divorce, disease or failure that shakes up our world and makes us tremble, whether it is a broken dream or a broken bone that brings us to our knees, brokenness is an essential part of the human experience and a jewel of the spiritual process. Our brokenness is not a mistake, but an invitation to give up on our projects of fixing ourselves, fixing reality. Instead it kindly points us in the direction of the Divine, it too shattered, fragmented, broken open in its radical wholeness and dwelling among Her broke, broken, broken hearted likeness.

Spiritual seekers often imagine that awakened living means ridding ourselves of our humanness, or that nondual awareness is somehow at odds with its own expression as human beingness. Egoic thought imagines that “it” is what will become ever-present, compassionate and loving, and so continually falls short in its attempt to become what it will never become. Presence, compassion, and unconditional love are already here in our deepest essence, the Heart of Awareness that we share. Awakened living realizes that the Absolute and the relative dimensions of our Being are simply “not-two.” In such seeing, we honor What is already whole and undivided as well as its infinite expressions as life. Through discussion and experiential invitations, we will explore Presence and personhood, and look at ways to approach our inner struggles by not separating ourselves from them yet being willing to look deeply at where we are divided. We often need reminding, “Without mud, there is no lotus.”

This presentation will offer attendees a vast horizon of consideration directly tending the title. What could it mean that to be human is to be in the process of realization described as _ —being and becoming conscious?

A conversation with Thomas Huebl and Peter Levine

The Nature of Creativity: from Cosmology to Consciousness

Join us for this experiential group meditation. Through the naked, unfiltered perception of each other, we will merge into Oneness of Being. In this intimacy, we can truly meet as fully human, fully divine.

Dholrhythms Dance Co. highlights the ancestral and ethnic roots of the Punjabi folk dances while pushing boundaries with contemporary influences. The result is a fresh and exciting experience full of joy, energy, and passion.

DJ Dragonfly’s sets bridge all variations of the underground global dance scene. Known for incorporating nu-bass culture with the leading edge of production and programming, he fuses trans-temporal dynamics and genre-morphing beats with the global village's traditional cultural idioms and sounds (sitars, percussion, vocal samples, african drumming, etc.). Spanning all genres, no continent goes unturned in his search for the perfect groove!

To be human is deeply personal to the individual who is experiencing life. To have a body in & of itself, is deeply sensual & experiential. Of the millions, or even billions of nerve receptors in your body, thousands reside in your fingertips alone. They are designed to connect you to pleasure points, memory & processing centers that are aware & co-creative in a fraction of a second. These receptors naturally awaken humans into discovering fields of harmony or disharmony in relationship with everything around us. Traditional religious adherence has often tried to strip away this fact by burying normal human impulses as wild, untamed, animalistic or even dangerous. It has placed extraordinary emphasis on taming the mind & subjugating the body as the Gateway of God. The feelings of Knowing, of Seeing & of Intuiting is pre-wired & given to us by birth, yet has been shredded through the weight of fears & the threats of even torture & death throughout the centuries. To heal the traumas inflicted by this history of suppression, we must invite the tender blossoming of our inherent Sensual Spirituality.

In this experiential session, we will dive into some of these sensitive receptors in both the physical & subtle bodies, and immerse ourselves deeply into a heightened perception via alternate states of consciousness that allow us to experience a realm of sensuality inherent in the spiritual self. Join Kristen Eykel CHt. on this journey to unwind these ancestral bonds of fear & shame. Discover within the universe of your own body, how intimately connected you already are to the Self as Source. Enjoy becoming One with All!

What if we put into every day practice the scientific truths that we know? What if our lives bore the fruits of the principles in which we are rooted? What if we simply acted like we know what we know?

We are evolving from a Newtonian paradigm of existence in which we are static entities of matter at the mercy of external forces in the universe. We now understand that we live in a quantum field of infinite potentiality, and that we are part of the quantum field itself. We are consciousness in form and our forms are forever changing. As vibrant energetic beings co-creating our reality every moment, we have agency and the ways in which we direct our energy impacts our experience.

Furthermore, our experience is not the facts of what has happened, but our interpretation. We live life at the level of our real time narrative. Our “story” is more than the monotonous repetition of former conclusions; it is our active narration in the moment, projected into the future. Hence, our story is not merely a stagnant photograph of our past; it is an impressionable blueprint for our future. With enough repetition, it is hardwired within our brains such that our sense of possibility is eclipsed by the probability of precedence.

We are quantum beings of infinite potential harnessed by human pre-cognitive commitments limiting our vision of possibility. How do we navigate this paradox? How do we bridge the gap between the unbridled magnificence of our future with measured capacities of our past? How do we create new neuronal synaptic pathways to receive more than our intellect can conceive, let alone comprehend? How do we step into our greater yet to be? Let’s explore our more.

Over the last thirty years, a new systemic understanding of life has emerged at the forefront of science. At the core of this new understanding we find a fundamental change of metaphors: from seeing the world as a machine to understanding it as a network. This change has profound philosophical, social, and political implications. In this lecture, Fritjof Capra will present his synthesis of the new “systems view of life” and will then concentrate on one of its most radical philosophical implications: a scientific theory which, for the first time, unifies mind, matter, and life.

While 26 million Americans have taken LSD since it became illegal, and quite a few took it before that, all of us overlooked microdoses. Albert Hoffman even chided Sandoz Pharmaceuticals for not studying “low doses.” Microdoses research evolved very much the way a lot of science actually happens: A fortunate series of mistakes, misunderstandings, misinformation and unlikely surprises. The first few hundred self-explorers’ findings gave form to a survey of several thousand people from 59 countries. All used the same protocol, and filled in a daily checklist of 23 different emotional states, as well as writing reports going well beyond the statistics.
At the same time, the media endlessly promulgated the notion that creative healthy individuals, like many in Silicon Valley, regularly microdosed, reporting improved energy, heightened work effectiveness, and better health habits including diet, sleep, and exercise. Microdosing went viral.
The survey team reported how often (and far from always) microdosing seemed to help people who have not been helped by antidepressants, antipsychotics, and other mental health pharmaceuticals.
Furthermore, small groups reported changes in conditions that had never been associated with psychedelics, including difficult menstrual periods, chronic migraines, cluster headaches, traumatic brain injuries, and even the painful symptoms of shingles. There were no magnificent breakthroughs into non-duality, no angels nor demons, no giant snakes. Just people with improved school grades, greater success with coding problems, improved intimate relationships, increased libido, eating more salads, and smoking less pot. The very diversity and span of improvements were confusing, but as the next phase of research is starting (well-controlled, double-blind, university based studies in several countries), we are uncovering what may be an underlying pattern.

A few of the case studies are sufficiently remarkable that, as time allows, will be shared.

When we engage in the distortion that the relative plane is separate from the absolute – that it is something to transcend or ‘just an illusion’ – we ignore the reality of the illusion. What it is the illusion comprised of? How is it known? And by whom?
The relative may appear to arise out of the absolute, as waves appear to arise out of the ocean, but like waves, both relative and absolute are components of a greater whole. They are not separate. When we know ourselves as this whole which subsumes everything, we cease to diminish or dismiss the mystery of being human. We experience viscerally that “the world is my family”.
From this understanding, we recognize that liberation is not a singular experience. There can be no individual ego that experiences enlightenment. We suffer when we forget that. We suffer when we perceive ourselves as separate from the collective – on the level of consciousness, (the absolute) as well as with our neighbor (the relative).
When we recognize that the world is arising in us, Awareness, there is nothing to dismiss. How, then, in our situation of privilege on the relative plane, do we dismiss injustice, bias, cruelty in the name of transcendence or ‘spiritual understanding’? How do we participate in systems of oppression while ignoring the effects our neighbor, as well as the whole?
Do we fall for the story that the awakened life we seek is mine to have rather than ours to be? And what’s love got to do with it?

Whether you would like to start a new intimate relationship or want to deepen passion with your partner, the principles of Intimacy and Erotic Friction — the spark that keeps passion alive — are always available to deepen your experience.

The erotic play of masculine and feminine, springing from a radical intimacy with life itself, is a challenging and delightful realm of inquiry. We will explore the deep principles of embodiment, uncover and work with personal blocks to expansion and contraction, engage in practical exercises, dialogue, and learning to widen both heart space and the ability to embody as energy or thrust.

In this experiential session you will be shown the building blocks, practices, and disciplines of creating deeper relational and erotic connections in your life.

Today’s modern society can best be described as a paradox:. On the one hand there seems to be a collective awakening of human consciousness that is creating movement towards greater clarity, creativity, compassion, wellness, communion with nature and a sincere respect for spiritual, ethnic and gender diversity.

On the other hand, our world is grappling with the backlash of social pariahs like racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, class inequalities and religious intolerance, often leading to violence; unbridled materialism and even despair.

As the outdated patriarchal structures rise up in backlash to their inevitable downfall, the need for a more sustainable world paradigm couldn’t be greater. It’s clear that now is the time for balance and integration to be restored to the planet. But how do we bring balance to what sometimes seems like two polar opposite extremes?

Perhaps balance can only be restored by a collective awakening of the Divine Feminine in our society so that women and men can reconnect to a more integrated idea of Source/God/Life and step into a more nurturing relationships with themselves, their communities and the planet.

This panel will be having a conversation on how we can all awaken this healing and nurturing inner feminine energy into our everyday lives and how such an awakening might effect our society and our world..

They will be sharing their own unique perspectives on this topic based on the awakening to the Divine Feminine that has unfolded in their own lives personally and professionally.

From a complex systems perspective, it turns out that the operations of our minds are much simpler than we had ever imagined. So much, that our human emotions are now being modeled for tracking and even prediction within computin. This development also opens the door for emotions to be programmed into software to create emotional AI for computers, and even artificial consciousness itself.

Interestingly, as studies show, it turns out this new understanding of our human emotions processing also opens the door to some powerful and practical mind hacks which can be consciously employed to change our brain thought patterns, so that emerging alternative wave patterns can arise during our waking awareness. This new approach not only provides for a more refined control of our waking minds, but it also opens the door to higher intelligence, greater creativity, better problem solving and even heightened levels of inner peace and well being. It also helps us better understand our top level of consciousness called waking awareness

Taking that one step further into the science of split brain patients, proving that we have multiple levels of consciousness in our brains at lower levels, a fundamental question must be asked; just how far down the ladder does consciousness go in our bodies before the line of demarcation between conscious organic activity and seemingly dumb organic molecules shows itself? In short, the evidence suggests our cells themselves are conscious.

So with the recent discovery in a materials lab in Tsukuba, Japan confirming that our neurons DO indeed interact with quantum field vibrations (in the gamma spectrum, our gamma brain waves being highly correlated with altruism and our higher human virtues), do we now have a very clear scientific trail that our very consciousness (and all matter in the universe) indeed springs forth from an infinite empty field of energy vibrating at the frequency of love? Come take this fun, but science-grounded stroll.

Straight talk from the heart of nondual realization about what it takes to bring the light of realization into the dark crannies of the centuries-old rift between women and men. Jeannie will draw on decades of holding space for women, and her ally work with men since the Men’s Movement of the late 80s. She will be speaking from her experience as cis gender and straight, but everyone and their experience is welcome.

Areas of polarization such as this are a favorite dancing ground for the God(dess) of Love. Come and dance with us!

Authentic Movement is a method developed by Mary Whitehouse as an extension of Jung’s free associations, from spoken words to movement and sound. It is an opening of the door of being through the body. The mover closes her eyes and allows her deepest impulses to manifest in movement, sounds and maybe words. The witness tracks the mover and (separately)his own sensations, feelings, images, metaphors. When they meet their sharing is the story of the sacred and undivided unfolding of the field of life.

In this session we'll activate and explore the vast alive space of we-consciousness together. We'll use a simple practice to directly enter the experience of this consciousness, and allow ourselves to become vehicles for it's revelation and expression.

For thousands of years spiritual teachings have been devoted to individual awakening, and as this happens more, we're now starting to discover the even greater possibility of awakening the shared consciousness of inter-being. Rather than just individual mysticism and individual revelation, we're being invited into we-mysticism and shared revelation.

When we mutually give ourselves to we-consciousness, we participate in a radically more inclusive, complex, and creative consciousness. This consciousness is unique to the participants, highly dynamic, and greater than the sum of it's parts. To be inside this consciousness together is like entering a dimension of the universe that is only just being discovered.

Love is calling us to give ourselves to each other so profoundly that we move completely beyond separation and inside shared consciousness. When we dissolve into the depth of this intimacy a shared sense of oneness emerges where we are all unique channels for the expression of something much greater.

Despite being typically overlooked, we-consciousness is readily accessible for many, as soon as we turn towards it together. And it can be immediately recognized as resonant for us. This session is an opportunity for us to tap the incredible potential of our shared consciousness that's just waiting to be activated.

Grace – direct experience of Divine Presence, always requires some kind of surrender, which Ramana Maharshi described as “giving oneself back to the origin of one’s being”. Yet even after significant realization, the forces of our familiar identity can easily re-constellate, appropriating luminous moments of unity to become a juicier, more spiritually sophisticated ego. In this presentation that includes devotional chanting as well as discourse, Miranda will explore the relationship between true humility and its role in bringing us into the receptive state of Grace. We will explore surrender not something we “do”, but rather, as something we allow the more we bow in humble recognition that only the Divine truly exists. Humility is revealed to be not only the fragrance of a mature soul, a virtue that supports ongoing surrender out of subtle defences, it is the key to ushering us into the mystery of each moment with a fuller humanity.
Sharing her feminine and devotional approach based on Ego Relaxation, Miranda invites you to lay aside your concepts of what you are, and even what the world even is. Together, we can come with wholly empty hands into the Presence, and live its embodiment deeper into our world.

Kundalini, the life force energy of spiritual awakening has been described in the Hindu contemplative and yogic traditions for centuries. The secrets of Kundalini have been buried in esoteric texts guarded by masters. Kundalini is a spiritual energy presumed to reside at the base of the spine and when awakened, it is believed to catalyze spiritual evolution and lead to a higher state of consciousness and integration of body mind and spirit. Practitioners of meditation and Yoga, particularly Tantric traditions, are most familiar with this state. Kundalini awakening can be developed in devotees by these practices, under the guidance and supervision of a competent teacher (guru) to ensure safety and proper integration, but can also arouse spontaneously during breath work (pranayama), NDEs, visionary states, singing, dancing, music (listening and making), ecstatic moments in nature, fasting, injury, trauma, or without apparent cause. The phenomenology of Kundalini activation is well documented, but the psychophysiology is yet to be fully described and understood scientifically. The present EEG studies explore some neural correlates, and provide objective validation of a profound and transformative subjective experience. Kundalini activation is recorded as a high voltage discharge of Delta/Theta brainwaves, followed by increased Beta and Gamma power. The subjects report an ecstatic multi orgasmic experience lasting tens of minutes following the initial discharge. These pioneering studies aim to demystify this remarkable phenomenon.

Our existence is strongly dictated by deep conditioning, the illusion of separation, and the loss of a true understanding of our humanity. In spite of all the scientific and technological advancement available today, most of us continue to feel disconnected, dissatisfied, and displaced from the true essence of our human nature.

Being fully human and living a fully human life is more necessary than ever. This process requires being able to integrate our relative and conditioned sense of self with our fundamental nature of unconditioned awareness in a cohesive expression of human existence. Nondual psychotherapy provides such an opportunity.

Nondual therapy integrates the timeless wisdom of pure awareness with contemporary therapeutic modalities to facilitate a process that reveals our true nature, dissolves our conditioning, and opens a path to living as a full human being.

In this presentation, we’ll explore key aspects of nondual psychotherapy that support the unfolding of healing, awakening, and the full potential of a human existence lived true to its nature.

The nondual rubber hits the road in our intimate relationships where we must face all that remains hidden in the shadowy recesses of our hearts. This includes our unexamined beliefs about love, the fear of aloneness, and the powerful emotions that arise when our buttons are pushed. Wherever we are on our spiritual path, relationships can offer a crucible to see where we are identified and defended. They can also help us transform co-dependency to a deeper communion in which we relate to one another from a sense of genuine inner freedom and fullness. In this presentation, Amoda will speak about the true purpose of relationship, as well as speaking from her own direct experience of being in a long-term relationship. She will explore central questions, such as: What is it like to relate from an inner fullness rather than lack? How does the awakening process impact the experience of intimacy? How does one deal with emotional reactions when they arise? What if one’s partner has no interest in the process of awakening? Is there such a thing as an “enlightened relationship”? She will also take questions from the audience.

In the context of American spiritual practice nondual traditions and mindfulness traditions appear to be in sharp contrast. Nonduality is often associated with the doing nothing schools of meditation, and mindfulness meditation is often very effortful. Mindfulness meditation masters commonly refuse to even discuss enlightenment, whereas nondual teachers never stop talking about how we’re already enlightened.

Is there a common ground for these two great traditions? And are there viewpoints and understandings that they can contribute to each other? I believe so, and will unpack these areas of contrast and overlap in this presentation.

Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo turned the world upside down 400 years ago with scientific evidence regarding our solar system, proving that Earth is not the center of the Universe, shaking organized religion to its core. We are on the verge of a new paradigm, and there are new discoveries regarding the solar system that are even more world-view shattering . . . challenging thousands of years of organized religious belief and hundreds of years of materialistic scientific belief. There is now irrefutable, empirical, scientific evidence that our solar system is different from anything else witnessed in the observed Universe – suggesting that was created intentionally by an EVOLVED consciousness infinitely more expanded than our own. Further, this evidence makes itself known to us as a communication from this totally enlightened, bodhisattvic intelligence . . . a communication having to do with a possible shift in global consciousness. Not explained by science, not necessary for life, and absurdly outside the realm of coincidence, chance or accident, it concerns consciousness itself - and it is time to make this discovery known to the world. I believe that this is the long-sought synthesis between ancient spiritual wisdom and genuine scientific inquiry. This concerns the very heart of sacred geometry - the non-existent, still, point that Buckminster Fuller called ‘the nearest approach we will ever know to eternity and God.’ It is the Kabbalah’s Kether, the Point of Creation at the crown of the Tree of Life. It is the interface between the Ayn, the limitless, and all of manifestation. It is the opening between worlds. It is the Mahabindu, the point representing simultaneously the source of creation and the transcendence of all polarities and final integration at the end of the spiritual journey.’ It is the Stillpoint: The Geometry of Consciousness. 

No matter what spiritual awakenings we may have experienced or what we know conceptually, still, there is an aching, a calling in our own hearts and in our relationships - whether with a friend, partner or stranger on the street- to truly see and be seen, to hear and be heard. Simply to meet in love’s presence exactly as we are right now.

Easier said than done. How do you tap into this river of connection and offer life giving juice? How do you radically include the whole enchilada - the beauty, intelligence, messiness and human vulnerability - in relating and communication? Truly connecting is a profound spiritual practice for sure, especially when the going gets rocky. Yet, it leads us into mutual awakening and enables us to show up fully. Your capacity and courage expands to dive ever deeper into what is flowing between our hearts, connecting us in a most brilliant and often surprising way!

Live practices are offered in this session, which you can use in the streets of our world and for the powerful and tender dance of relating.

Francis doesn't deliver a prepared talk but rather speaks from what arises in the moment.

The recent progress in artificial intelligence combined with claims that conscious computers will be feasible, are challenging the general notions we hold about intelligence and consciousness. Computers are not conscious and yet they perform certain tasks that require human intelligence and conscious attention better than humans. What is intelligence then? and what is consciousness good for? Can computers really become conscious? What will happen if they do? We can no longer dismiss these questions as philosophical musing: We need to clearly understand the boundaries between humans and computers. To do so, we also need to understand the boundaries between living organisms and machines. Human intelligence is intertwined with consciousness, while machine intelligence currently requires no consciousness. How can there be intelligence without consciousness? Science generally considers living organisms to be machines and consciousness to be an emergent property of organisms with brains – also considered to be machines. If we start with these assumptions, we end with the inescapable conclusion that future computers designed by the best minds will become conscious and will be better than us, maybe not in 50 years, but perhaps in 500 years. Yet, those of us who have explored our spiritual nature intuitively reject this conclusion as inconsistent with our deepest experiences. The author has explored these questions since studying and developing neural networks more than 30 years ago. His main conclusion is that to truly understand the differences between natural and artificial intelligence, the materialistic framework of science is insufficient. The author will present his views on intelligence, consciousness, living organisms, and machines based on a framework that answers the above questions in ways that are consistent with both the principles of quantum physics and the insights gained in our most revealing spiritual experiences.

I choose chocolate over vanilla. By monitoring my brain activity, a neuroscientist can predict my choice seven seconds before I’m even aware of my choice. Are we puppets, and neurons our puppeteers?You choose kindness over cruelty, enlightenment over vanity. In 1966, Charles Whitman chose to murder 17 people. His autopsy revealed a brain tumor; his suicide note said, “I have been a victim of many unusual and irrational thoughts.” Can you take credit for your choices? Should Whitman be blamed for his? Are you free to choose, or do neurons and tumors choose for you?Einstein said, “I feel that I will to light my pipe and I do it; but how can I connect this up with the idea of freedom? What is behind the act of willing to light the pipe? Another act of willing?” Sam Harris argues that free will is incoherent: “Either our wills are determined by prior causes and we are not responsible for them, or they are the product of chance and we are not responsible for them.”To deny free will is, according to the Supreme Court, “inconsistent with the underlying precepts of our criminal justice system.” To endorse free will is, according to many neuroscientists, inconsistent with logic and neuroscience.In this talk, I propose a scientific theory of agents with free will, and explain how it is consistent with logic and neuroscience. Free will is a fundamental aspect of reality, and can be modeled mathematically. Agents can combine to form more complex agents, ad infinitum. The free will choices of lower agents constrain the choices of more complex agents; the choices of higher agents influence, in turn, the choices of lower agents. Free will enjoys a complex dynamics that flows bottom up and top down.

Francis doesn't deliver a prepared talk but rather speaks from what arises in the moment.

A workshop series intended to hold a space in which ancient & modern insights involving the subtle nature of the spirit sound may be shared along with the application of a variety of self-healing techniques to be directly experienced in a group environment. These techniques/ tools are brought forth to create a sense of community and include a brief multi-media presentation, group exercises such as Shamanic Breath-Work, Vocal Toning & Basic Yoga followed by an Open Sonic Meditation with Quartz Crystal/ Tibetan Singing Bowls, Gong, Chimes & other Harmonically Rich Sounds. Each tool guides an individual towards _Self-Empowerment_ �s once learned the tools are easy to apply and with discipline can be privately practiced to help anyone remain more physically relaxed, emotionally balanced, & mentally focused as daily life goes on.

Judith will teach the main practices of the Realization Process, a direct, embodied method of personal and relational healing and nondual awakening. She will discuss the application of these practices to healing from trauma. In the Realization Process we attune to the ground of our own nature as an expanse of undivided, fundamental consciousness pervading our body and environment as a unity. Knowing ourselves as fundamental consciousness facilitates resilience to emotional and sensory stimuli, the integration of cognition, emotion and physical sensation, and the capacity for deep connection with other people without losing inward contact with oneself.

Judith will describe how we constrict and fragment ourselves in reaction to trauma, especially as children, and also how we mirror the trauma-based constrictions of our parents, so that psychological pain and limitation is passed down through the generations. She will demonstrate the Realization Process method for recognizing and releasing the emotional wounds, defenses and compensatory patterns held in the body that conceal our authentic nature. She will also show how nondual realization enhances the therapeutic relationship, by cultivating empathy, subtle perception, and authenticity.

Judith will also present some specific types of psychological issues that often cause suffering for spiritually oriented individuals. These include intolerable levels of sensitivity, a lack of grounding, a sense of isolation and alienation, a tendency to feel merged with or displaced by other people, and a desire for purity and perfection. She will show how the practices of the Realization Process can address these challenges and help spiritually gifted people live more comfortably in the world.

Laudable attempts exist to correct the myopic stance of our death-phobic society. Such attempts, however, typically fall short of providing a firm foundation. This presentation reports on relatively recently published teachings that analyze the constructive purpose of death in the cosmological context of individual and collective evolution. The source of this expanded vision consists of the 18 books telepathically conveyed (1919-1949) to Alice A. Bailey by an advanced teacher referred to as “The Tibetan”. Bailey’s Esoteric Healing and related works by the Tibetan-Bailey team point out the need for changing our attitude towards death and dying by a thorough understanding of the nature of form (matter), soul, spirit, and their interactions. According to the Tibetan’s teaching, dying and death are universal processes inherent in all forms, and the elimination of forms is necessary and beneficent for the evolutionary progress of the indwelling life that temporarily uses a particular form. If this outlook is understood in all its implications, it will lead to revolutionary cultural and practical changes (e.g., more proactive and effective uses of medical resources). Furthermore, we are told, the advanced human dies with deliberation and in full consciousness and brings about death through an act of the soul-will in accord with social responsibility and service to humanity. Supplementary topics discussed will include: continuity of consciousness; the relation between death and sleep; the key reasons for cremation (beyond expediency); the release of atomic energy resulting in a great light and a great potency and its close parallel in the release of the human form; the soul absorbing the personality, thus merging two conflicting entities into One integrated unit. Following the progressive training, death and dying, the great restorative process, will then become a conscious, transformative adventure and a truly joyful and communal event.

Due to early developmental trauma, ancestral trauma and our cultural context at large, there is a prevailing unconscious current of using spirituality and particularly the non-dual orientations to hide, bypass or otherwise disassociate from this intelligence. As if your needs are problems to be ashamed of and to fix or get rid of on your way to spiritual realization. The beauty of any true spiritual path though is that eventually it will take you to the inevitable and ineffable place of reclamation of ALL that you are.
In this class we will dive into somatic practice as a self- healing, oxytocin replenishing, cell-renewing ever fresh and inspired embodiment practice. Utilizing conscious breath, sound vibration, intimate contact, subtle intrinsic movement, embryological anatomy and provocative inquiry we enter into the inner alchemy that allows a dissolve of any out dated structures that may be obstructing our view. A psycho-spiritual somatic reorganization and higher order of self-regulation arises as our cells surrender into the all-pervasive holding ground of nature that is always present. We will re-emerge renewed, resourced and ready to re-engage our senses such that they become thresholds where the divine, the natural world, our culture and the mystery of being human coalesce as the dynamic dance of Life.

Anxiety and stress are epidemic in today’s fast-paced world. In response, many turn to mindfulness and meditation, but mostly experienced practitioners achieve long-term calm and relaxed minds. We need a simpler approach for everyone that includes self-reflection to frame our mind throughout the day around a nature-oriented, empathetic, and healthy lifestyle.Oscar Segurado has developed the practice of Mindful Framing and the associated NEO Chi lifestyle to address this unmet need. A physician scientist passionate for integrative medicine, he experienced firsthand the mental, emotional and physical effects of his high-functioning anxiety as he witnessed its impact on family, friends, and colleagues. HIs extensive work on the nervous and immune systems, published in peer-reviewed journals including Nature and Lancet, has helped uncover how stress and anxiety can trigger serious immune-mediated diseases, including cancer, chronic infections, and autoimmunity. Combining his medical and scientific knowledge with a lifelong interest in Ayurveda and Chinese medicine, he has created a practice that trains the mind to be aware of the present moment while processing actively each and every relevant experience and thought.Designed with the modern world in mind, mindful framing creates an ethical, empathetic and wellness-oriented frame of mind that captures anxiety triggers and transforms them into vital energy. Supported with written and audiovisual materials available at mindfulbook.org, mindful framing defines a novel nature-mind-body connection for the twenty-first century. With up to fifteen minutes of daily practice, easy to memorize through movements, yoga poses and visualization, you will experience a more intimate connection with the natural world, emotional harmony with those around you, and a feeling of overall invigoration.

Sir Roger Penrose and Stuart Hameroff propose that human brains don’t compute but rather think, through a process that incorporates a general relativistic modification to quantum mechanics. Although science is far from a unified theory we can see that these ideas would require the brain to obey certain geometrical constraints. This talk explains current research into the structures within the brain including experiments to test the effect of anesthetics on coherent energy transport in brain microtubules and progress on testing Penrose’s objective reduction (OR) hypothesis using Bose Einstein Condensates. Finally, we put this together into a possible model for a thinking machine that is not a computer that might shed light on the puzzle of consciousness.

How do our relationships with non-humans affirm our humanity? Trees are compelling others as they are often both older and larger that humans with a very different form of livingness, and they exist around us in innumerable ways not only in forests and lining streets, but in our products, metaphors, and mythology. It almost goes without saying that trees are highly impacted by anthropogenic environmental destruction through deforestation and climate change planet-wide. Our relationships to non-humans like trees create opportunities for reimagining who we are as humans especially within the Western tradition where trees are either seen as resources for human use or beautiful scenery. Using the tools of phenomenology along with recent scientific findings on plants, we can examine our consciousness in the presence of a being like a tree and better understand our relationships to non-human others. Our relationships to trees speak volumes about our relationships to ourselves, our human family, and our world.

Carl Jung, the celebrated psychologist described Ramana Maharishi as the whitest spot in the white space of spirituality! Mahatma Gandhi,the celebrated peace activist and the father of the Indian national movement for independence held this man attired in a simple white
cod-piece in high esteem often sending his own followers for
recuperation and rejuvenation. Paul Brunton, the celebrated author of
“A Search in Secret India” describes vividly his own experience of the
highest possible attainment for an embodied human being in the
presence of this Master and in a way heralded the ‘Look East’ habit of
the West for spiritual succour.

What indeed was the X - factor that this person possessed that
attracted thousands of people from across the world. In his time, we
could see how individual householders, sorrow-laden young widows,
political activists, outstanding poets, national leaders,
international authors and accomplished writers made a beeline to his
hermitage in the southern corner of the Indian peninsula. Those on
the verge of giving up on life discovered new meaning in his presence
and left healed for a lifetime. In this talk, I shall be attempting
to explore the dimension of reality enunciated and practically
demonstrated by Ramana Maharishi, having experienced in my own way the
salient feature of this teaching over the past two and a half decades.

He lent a new meaning to all faiths, Christians, Muslims and of course
native Hindus. Never demanded anything from anybody and vehemently
discouraged anyone to change the nomenclature encouraging each to rise
upto the higher, and according to the Sage, certainly the highest dimension.
All good accrues spontaneously from here. Come, let us explore by using
this mirror to look at ourselves.

In the midst of a global lion crisis that treats Africa’s most sacred animals as a killing commodity in cross-border trade, Linda Tucker and specialist lion ecologist, Jason A. Turner, have dedicated their lives to the solution.

Today, every conservation issue is a global issue.

If Brazil destroys its rain forests, the world has lost its lungs. If South Africa loses its White Lions, humanity has forsaken our most iconic animal offering the key to leadership on this planet, and restoration of order in chaos.

While every crisis is interrelated, so are the solutions.

The work of the Global White Lion Protection Trust has united ancient indigenous knowledge with modern science to help save species, reviving ecosystems and human value systems – in a leadership model of sustainable living with mutual benefits for Lions, Land and People.

The importance of the White Lions’ sudden reoccurrence on the brink of the polar reversal and climate change is directly linked with the appearance of other prophetic “spirit animals” on all continents, including the White Buffalo and the Spirit Bear of British Columbia. Ancient belief holds that these are Nature’s greatest blessing, or final warning.

Their importance, in summary:

Ecologically,
apex predator and “Capstone animal” restoring the biodiversity of a critical important ecosystem through trophic cascading.

Geographically,
unique speciation on the Golden Meridian Zep Tepi – corresponding with the East African Rift Valley, the tectonic seam in the African continent, which scientists identify as the “Birth Canal of Human Species”.

Climactically,
precursors to the forthcoming Ice-Age.

Culturally,
cross-cultural symbol of majestic importance, offering lessons in leadership – at this evolutionary turning point in humanity’s history.

Astrologically,
Turning of Ages which astrologically marks the brink of the Leo-Aquarius Age.

Spiritually,
luminous symbol of unification and good governance, providing luminous inspiration to achieve what may seem impossible: a leadership plan for peace and planetary regeneration.

As awakeness penetrates the human heart, we experience totality with Source love and consciousness. This love and freedom dissolves old perspectives embedded in personality and the personality changes. An unpretentious, unguarded, open loving presence authentically emerges, radiating the singular truth of Being through a unique lens of individuated expression. Our hearts expand to an infinite capacity while resting in the deliciousness of the moment uniquely. Contradiction falls away and the purity of Love loves through the unique personality. We will explore the mystery of being human and divine simultaneously in inner landscapes and practical day to day living.

The laws that govern the Universe are the same laws that apply to body and mind. It is the presence of a vital force and a subtle energy that creates the rhythmic movement of the living. The human being is a being in motion and life is a permanent relationship to the movement.

Like all parts of the Universe, body and mind are an inseparable non-dualistic entity. To give meaning to this concept, it is necessary to be able to recognize that the slightest change leads to a minute or significant change in the totality of being: unity. In osteopathy, Andrew Taylor Still, evokes a link between structure and function so that the mobility of each part (bones, muscles, organs,...) is preserved in order to allow the free circulation of liquids, fluids, nerve impulses that ensure a correct execution of the function: movement. This description highlights the body's ability to self-regulate (homeostasis) and self-healing.

However, the separation between body and mind is all too often the point of origin that leads to dysfunction and chaos of the body. Relationships with our inner world sabotage the functional mechanisms of our body.

Marcus Aurelius described it in his Meditations : "There is nothing bad in undergoing change - or good emerging from it ." (42-Book IV).

Unfortunately, the body elaborates aches under multiple expressions of which the mind is the source. We must use our memories and past events to trace back to the information that traps somato-emotional dysfunction. These reactions are dictated by the unconscious and spread psychophysiological pains that modify movement.

Traumatic events interfere with the way one thinks, feels, and acts. Some people have minimal symptoms after being exposed to trauma and may recover quickly; while others may develop more significant and longer-lasting problems. Long-term consequences can also cause difficulties to victims and their families. Trauma is not an experience but rather an emotional response to an experience.

I know the hand that is typing is my own but on what grounds do I identify this feeling? A reductionist approach reduces trauma to its minimum state, claiming that it can be completely resolved no matter how severe it may be. Although one may suggest employing cognitive and analytical techniques to address the symptoms, I venture to say that trauma can never fully be resolved from the deepest parts of the psyche unless the spirituality that gave rise to it is properly understood.

I will argue that one needs to distinguish between three distinct kinds of body schema: the working body schema involved in action, the psychological body schema involved in emotions, and the spiritual body schema involved in tapping into the need to create trauma. I will then propose what may be conceived as a total perception of the sense of body ownership, which consists of an awareness of the boundaries of one’s body as having a special significance for the trauma. This will lead me to define the phenomenology of ownership of spiritual connection to the sense of telepathy or direct communication.

What is technology? Is it not a form of human expression, woven into our vast cultural landscape, along with what we call art, science, politics, religion and spirituality? With the right intention and skill, can technology support individual and collective awakening? Is this already happening? What would this look like? How might our beliefs about, and relationship to technology need to change for it to be truly in service to the evolution of our human experience? How would humanity change if we could create secular, science based, and universally accessible tools, that could radically accelerate the path to awakening? Join us for this interactive Un-Panel, where the audience explores burning questions from the panelists in a lively dialogue.

Breath, Voicework, Movement, Connection, Communion. Tantra demystified

The traditional approach to psychotherapy is focused on helping people identify underlying thoughts, feelings and beliefs that cause havoc in their lives - and to confront and remove their resistance to changing them. This can be a slow and tedious process, which is only available and affordable to few people in the world.

What if there is another way of reaching people beyond time and space?

What if there is another approach to personal change and spiritual growth?

What if "fixing it" is not the answer?

What if the answer hides in plain view?

What if this new way is low cost and available anywhere, to anyone?

What if this new way allows for the energy of unconditional love to be transmitted 24/7 via an Intention Host Device for healing purposes?

Not possible?

In four distant healing studies which utilized an Intention Host Device (IHD) to transmit a healing intention to participants worldwide, the results were highly significant (Reed,C., Tiller, B. 2005: Reducing Anxiety and Depression; Miller, S., Tiller B., 2013: Autism Study; Hilberg, G., Tiller, B., 2014: Self-Compassion Study; Hilberg, G.,Tiller, B., Mills, P.Chopra Foundation, 2017: Consciousness Field Project).

Come and explore new ways of conceptualizing and implementing a powerful path of healing based on Information Psychology and ground breaking research.

The heart is the Key organ to connect with the Universal Wisdom. Many cultures, regions and spiritual traditions are well aware of it.

Science is starting to throw some light into the importance of this organ in terms of Mental, Emotional and Physical interactions. From the Osteopathic point of view there is a key biomechanical justification to the role of the Heart in the health of the rest of the body. Anthroposophical understanding of it is as the mediator between the Divine and the Terrenal being.

Different meditations techniques lead to a deeper connection and awareness of the Heart as a gate to reaching wisdom—paying attention to the anatomy, physiology, biomechanics as well as spiritual traditions interpretations.

I will talk about different meditations with special emphasis on techniques directed learned from Mangku (Holly-man) from the Balinese Tradition. Engaging with the root chakra to generate and accumulate inner energy to be sent to the Heart center. Once we have that path developed we can engage with the crown chakra to reinforce the path toward the Heart. Once developed, the Mind and the Body can reach the Spiritual self.

The mind is a system of stimulus and response, and our brain literally develops in response to our experiences. One of the foundations of being friends with our own mind is to be able to work effectively with our thoughts, with our responses to our thoughts, and with the energy and sensations in our body that are stimulated by our thoughts. We need to know the essentials of how it works to understand our bodymind, feelings, nervous system and identification as a separate self.

Many experiences happen in our early life where we disconnect from ourselves, from our sense of value, and from the present moment. Troubling experiences commonly become core deficiency beliefs of unworthiness and unlovability - that feeling there is something fundamentally wrong with us. This drives unhappiness and addiction, including spiritual seeking. Even after seeing through separation, it is common to have nondual awareness drift out of reach. Our attention is pulled back to thoughts Velcroed to energy in our body.

Scott Kiloby’s Living Inquiries allow us to freeze-frame and look directly and safely at this mechanism. Associations of thought/memory Velcroed with energy in our body are seen and released. We have effective tools to inquire into the memories and associations from our past, and this reduces the drive of our compulsive avoidance. This is a hands-on workshop where you will learn and practice simple strategies to work directly with thoughts and sensation. We then have access to the stillness and ease that is always present.

Through the direct experience of welcoming everything that comes and goes in the field of awareness, we reach a tipping point where we no longer fear our own body and mind. We know in our cells that even intense bodily energy is not here to hurt us. As we intimately know and trust ourselves, we reconnect within and separation dissolves.

Yoga as classically formulated in Patanjali’s Yoga-Sutra has too often been construed as leading to a freedom from the world, emphasizing renunciation, asceticism, disengagement, and transcendence of the body, mind and world. Yet, from another perspective, freedom can be understood as being in and for the world, thus supporting a life-affirming approach that challenges us to a fuller humanity allowing for evolution, development and innovation through which life progresses and the world is made a better place. An overriding impression that remains today is that traditionally the authentic aims and values of Yoga conflict with the aims and values of life-in-the-world. The overemphasis on a transcendent otherness as being Yoga’s goal of freedom precludes the possibility for other ways of seeing Yoga and assessing its value and relevance today in a global context. Rather than approach classical Yoga from the perspective of dualistic metaphysical assumptions that sever consciousness from cosmos/nature/matter, I pursue a reading of the Yoga-Sutra that privileges the potential embodied experience of yoga over metaphysical abstractions and anachronistic approaches to practice.

While Yoga today in its most popular expressions is primarily associated with a physical culture for which it is well known, the meaning and value of Yoga lies in its deeper dimension, in the domain of mind, consciousness, and self-transformation leading to spiritual liberation or freedom. The potential for an embodied, relational freedom or whereby consciousness is holistically aligned with existence, is either overlooked or left unexplored resulting in a final unworkable duality between liberated spiritual identity and life-in-the-world. Drawing from the classical tradition I explore how Yoga can culminate in a balanced integration of the spiritual, psychological, ethical and material dimensions of life that incorporate a clarity of awareness or power of seeing with the integrity of being.

The “Old Paradigm” often remains an abstract concept and a vague notion that superficially labels the current dysfunctions and obsolescence of the (still) mainstream “system”. It is actually NOT perceptible because most people look at it from ... inside of it. The very lens through which many of us look at things actually IS the old paradigm. It operates like a pair of tainted glasses that distort the vision of everything that is looked at through them. The first part of this talk will therefore offer tools to expand perception beyond the “modern mind-set” unconscious perceptual limitations and habits.
The second part will focus on spaciousness and Self-Awareness and proposes the hypothesis that this core intimate process is both a necessary pre-condition to actually perceive what the “old paradigm” is about - including within oneself - and to create the very possibility of the Emergence of new personal and societal possibilities. It will nevertheless also highlight the widespread danger of a stage in development that looks like a new paradigm, but is ultimately a mere update of the old with the appearance of the new.
The last part will explore how “result-orientation”, victim-hero syndrome and internalized Master-and-Slave relationships are the main symptoms of the absolute continuation of the “Old Paradigm” and that fighting against it keeps actually being the very manifestation of it.
The conclusion will insist on the necessary development of a non- dual relationship between the old and new paradigms, and hint that a “baby steps” approach is likely to be the most effective one for
most people and organizations.
“The New Age can only be rooted in the Dark Ages. There is no other ground.”

The “Old Paradigm” often remains an abstract concept and a vague notion that superficially labels the current dysfunctions and obsolescence of the (still) mainstream “system”. It is actually NOT perceptible because most people look at it from ... inside of it. The very lens through which many of us look at things actually IS the old paradigm. It operates like a pair of tainted glasses that distort the vision of everything that is looked at through them. The first part of this talk will therefore offer tools to expand perception beyond the “modern mind-set” unconscious perceptual limitations and habits.
The second part will focus on spaciousness and Self-Awareness and proposes the hypothesis that this core intimate process is both a necessary pre-condition to actually perceive what the “old paradigm” is about - including within oneself - and to create the very possibility of the Emergence of new personal and societal possibilities. It will nevertheless also highlight the widespread danger of a stage in development that looks like a new paradigm, but is ultimately a mere update of the old with the appearance of the new.
The last part will explore how “result-orientation”, victim-hero syndrome and internalized Master-and-Slave relationships are the main symptoms of the absolute continuation of the “Old Paradigm” and that fighting against it keeps actually being the very manifestation of it.
The conclusion will insist on the necessary development of a non-dual relationship between the old and new paradigms, and hint that a “radical baby steps” approach is likely to be the most effective one for most people and organizations.
“The New Age can only be rooted in the Dark Ages.
There is no other ground.”