White Robed Monks of St. Benedict

Pre-Conference Morning Workshops Wednesday October. 20, 2010

Jeff Foster
Jeff Foster graduated in Astrophysics from Cambridge University in 2001. Several years after graduation, following a period of severe depression and illness, he became addicted to the idea of'spiritual enlightenment' and embarked on an intensive spiritual search which lasted for several years. The spiritual search came to an absolute end with the clear seeing that there is only ever Oneness. In the clarity of this seeing, life became what it always was: spontaneous, clear, joyful and fully alive, and Jeff began to write and talk about nonduality, which he often calls 'the utterly, utterly obvious'. He now holds meetings and retreats around the world, clearly and directly pointing to the frustrations surrounding the spiritual search, to the nature of mind, and to the Clarity at the heart of everything. His uncompromising approach, full of humor and compassion, shatters the mind's hopes for a future awakening, revealing the awakening that is always already present, right in the midst of life.
Using simple language and drawing on both personal experience and age-old wisdom, Jeff shares the possibility of waking up from the dream of separation. The possibility of absolute freedom, tight in the midst of this ordinary life. The possibility that the spiritual search, and indeed all seeking of the mind, can come to an end once and for all. And in the falling away of the seeking, what is revealed is a wholeness that the separate seeker could never find.
It's a direct recognition of who you really are, beyond all thoughts and ideas of yourself, beyond time and space, beyond your life and the world surrounding you. It's a plunge into unconditional love. Its liberation. It's coming home.

The Primacy of Consciousness, Peter Russell
Which is more fundamental: Matter or Mind?
Modern science assumes that the ultimate reality is material, whereas many metaphysical teachings hold that the ultimate essence of cosmos is mind or spirit. Two views apparently in clear opposition. The persuasive influence of Western science seems to have ruled in favor of the materialist view. But one thorny problem remains: How could dead, inanimate matter ever manifest as subjective experience? Integrating physics, psychology, philosophy and mysticism, Peter Russell, argues that we are on threshold of revolution in worldview even more profound and far-reaching than that initiated by Copernicus 500 years ago. All the pieces for the new worldview are in place. Nothing new needs to be discovered. All that is required is for us to put the pieces together and explore the new picture of the cosmos that emerges.
When we do we arrive at a radically different worldview – one in which the fundamental essence is consciousness. With consciousness as primary, everything remains the same and everything changes. Mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry remain the same– although some of the paradoxes of relativity and quantum theory become less puzzling, and light takes on a special significance. The hard problem then becomes not how does mind emerge from matter, but how is the experience of matter created in the mind. That is answered not through physical science, but through the inner science of direct inner knowing – the path that many mystics and spiritual adepts have taken.

Reacquainting with The (Nondual) Mind of a Child, Robert Dittler
From beyond the "I" - certainly not a new idea at all. Said in many ways: the Advaita Vedanta ("not this-not that"), Zen ("a field far beyond form and emptiness"), the Tao Te Ching ("The Tao that can be named is not the Tao that is") and on the contemporary scene - Thoughts without a Thinker by Mark Epstein, MD. The Christian tradition mentions the nondual mind of a child: Unless you have the mind of a child, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. What is this nondual mind of a child? How do we re-awaken this mind and be Nonduality? From beyond the "I" we will sense how our belief systems impact our day-to-day living. We will review how our belief systems regarding people, places, things and events invite unnecessary pain and suffering as well joy and pleasure as into our own lives and, by extension, into the lives of those with whom we work and play. Then let us center on the belief systems behind our thoughts, feelings, and emotions that preclude our perceptions about peoples, places, things and events. We may even open the door and be Compassion. Let us glean a living perspective from beyond the "I" – the nondual mind of a child, selfless, without ego as such -how do we do this? We will have the direct experience of various means by which we can experience our ego just as it is and be beyond the alleged "I" we have created. From beyond "I" we will experience how being more dispassionate actually, paradoxically, enhances our passion for life. We cease interfering (resisting) and experience a sense of equanimity.
Being Equanimity, we, whether aware or not, are The Center of the Cyclone (John Lilly), being just peace amid the chaos of the world, of our own mind. So doing, we will experience a still mind, a thinking mind, a reflectingmind, and mind in relation to the body. Then we will experience both the still and the diinking mind in sequence, and lastly consider applications of nondual awareness for the psychotherapeutic encounter. An awesome experience! Join us for a refreshing, insightful, and somewhat pleasant, if not an enlightening, starding experience. And yes, words are difficult. Peace. Just be Peace. Thank you. At the end of this workshop, you are better able to:

1. identify client's underlying possible belief structure, resistance, and secondary gain behind client's maintenance of the client's presenting problem.
2. clinically apply in an outpatient psychotherapy setting various nondual awareness based interventions for client's use in ameliorating presenting problem. This workshop is eligible for CE credit for psychotherapists only.

The Intricacies of Oneness, Marti Spiegelman
Humans have been gifted the most puzzling role in the unfolding of the universe – the role is to be the housing for a unique 2-part style of consciousness, that is a key player in the evolution of life in the universe. This is recorded in all the great wisdom traditions of the world, shamanic and contemplative alike. The difficulty is that we've become enamored witb one of those parts, which only allows us to see a few pieces of the whole at a time and is solely geared to 'do' things. In fact, its job is to carry out intricate instructions that the other part of consciousness receives from the 'One' intelligence that we are. In modern cultures, we call this other part of consciousness the 'un-' or 'sub-' conscious realm. So here we sit – unaware of the whole system housed within us, and only with awareness that there are things to 'do'. We can think about 'being' in a larger state of awareness, but it can be rather hard to achieve, and when we do, we no longer know how the 'being' actually expresses itself in the world of form. We try to figure it out and end up in 'doing' again, puzzled about how to allow the unfolding [.. .and will anything get done?]
Nature is comprised of systems - intricate interrelations between various energies and life forms - and every system is connected to other systems. Janine Benyus reminds us that nothing in nature exists outside a system, and life always produces what is conducive to life. The universe and life evolved through the magic of these interrelations for millions of years. Then we humans were spoken into being, and eventually our unique 2-part consciousness evolved. You see the problem – awake as we are, we can't perceive the system. We're effectively on the outside with no view of a way back in.
What we need is a bit of education – we need to learn again how consciousness has spoken us into being, and be that. Only in being fully who we are, awake to our puzzling and magical gift, will we be able to live into the questions of our times instead of haggling over who has the right answer. Join me for the education of a lifetime, through the shaman's lens.

Consciousness as Nonduality, Duality, Plurality: Working with Science and other Wordviews in a Diverse World, Elisabeth Sathouris
At the Sages and Scientists Conference earlier this year, Dr. Marilyn Schlitz urged us to 1) recognize that we have biases/assumptions, 2) work to cultivate healthy skepticism (even as we "prove" our own theories), 3) recognize that consciousness "matters," but that it isn't "matter."
Humanity must now solve Global Crises by collaboration and cooperation: how can it do so without becoming a Monoculture, instead preserving the very diversity that spawns creativity? To answer this question, we need to gain a clear and practical understanding of the inevitability and necessity of unproven assumptions in both science and society, among individuals and groups. In this workshop, which will prepare the participants to understand my presentation more deeply, we will address questions such as: Have I uncovered my own definition of and assumptions about consciousness, what it is, how it relates to others' consciousness, how it can be studied? What is the relationship between consciousness and nonduality? Can "I" ("my" consciousness) exist in nonduality? Why is the scientific view of consciousness important to the human future? What are my own fundamental assumptions about the world and how it can change? How can understanding my own assumptions and those of others change both their lives and mine, if not the whole world?

Nassim Haramein
In this extraordinary presentation, Nassim Haramein will guide you on an exhilarating odyssey through humanity's evolutionary path while delineating the inconsistencies in current scientific theories, exposing the changes necessary to produce an all-encompassing unified physics.
Haramein's series of groundbreaking scientific papers, including his latest award-winning paper "The Schwarz-schild Proton", propose solutions to the long-sought quest for a Unified Field Theory, revolutionizing our current understanding of physics and our place in the universe. The research could lead to a fundamental change in our current understanding of physics, from cosmology, the quantum world and the advent of consciousness.
Weaving together the sciences of advanced physics, cosmology, chemistry and biology as well as the wisdom and codes of the ancients, Haramein creates an exciting unified tapestry of spacetime which may prove to be one of the most important scientific, philosophical and technological discoveries of our time. Come and discover a deeper sense of yourself and the reality around you and participate in "rising to the equation."

The Art of Re-Patterning: Tuning into the Life Patterns and Personal Epistemology of Clients from a Non-Dual Perspective, Peter Wrycza
The process of Re-Patterning, which I have developed over the past 20 years, offers an important contribution to non-dual approaches to psychotherapy and the helping relationship.
Re-Patterning is predicated on the notion that all surface expressions of our lives reflect deeper organizing principles, and, fundamentally, deep epistemological assumptions about self, other, and world. These assumptions, together with their physical expressions, are instrumental in creating and sustaining that sense of separateness and enmeshment in our personal story which obscures openness to source consciousness and is at the root of personal problems of every kind. In Re*Patterning, we help the client identify the essential elements to his or her deep patterning and recover the organizing principles pervading his or her modus vivendi. Approaching the client's deep patterning, with its cognitive elements and their energetic reflection in the body, opens the possibility of recognizing not only what has been true and 'what is', but of allowing some updating of the patterning to set a direction for growth and greater balance and harmony in body and mind.

Natural Rest: Finding Recovery Through Presence, Scott Kiloby
After a 20 year drug addiction, Scott began looking into non-dual presence and found that it holds the key to releasing the cycle of addiction. In this workshop, Scott will share simple ways to recognize presence, as well as inquiries, shadow work, and perspective taking.
The key to releasing the addictive cycle is already within us. All we have to do is change the way we perceive our present experience. In the willingness to make a few changes in our lives, we transform from self-centered thinking to selfless presence, and the energies of craving, addiction, and obsession release themselves naturally.

Breema: The Art of Being Present, Jon Schreiber
Our thinking mind is incapable of comprehending the timeless nature of reality. The mind thinks in concepts, imagining everything to be outside of itself. (That is the root of our judgmental attitude toward life.) The present moment is the domain of our Being, not our mind. Breema is a holistic body-based practice that teaches us practical steps we can take to unify the energies of mind, body, and feelings to become present. The philosophy and principles of Breema address the essential nature of life, the deeper meaning of health and how to actualize it, and the means of gaining practical, self-verified knowledge that can lead to an understanding of our unique potential as human beings.
Practicing Breema offers us the possibility of entering the process of disidentification with the idea of ourselves. In the unification of body, mind, and feelings, we receive Conscious energy. With Conscious energy, we can see the reality of things. This is the alchemy that turns lead into gold. Lead is our fragmented, conceptual relationship to life through past and future. Gold is the present moment, www.breema.com
In this introductory workshop, we practice Breema partner work and Self-Breema exercises as we are introduced to Breema's Nine Principles of Harmony.
Breema is practiced on a padded floor; participants wear comfortable clothing and socks.

Quantum Consciousness and an Integrative Psychology, Amit Goswami
For all its progress psychology is not integrated. What's more, different forces of it use different metaphysics: behaviorism and cognitive psychology use a metaphysics based on the primacy of matter while depth and transper-sonal psychologies use a metaphysics with both matter and consciousness as primary but their relationship is left unclear. Moreover, none of the psychological paradigms deal properly with the mind-body problem.
In this workshop, quantum physicist Amit Goswami introduces an integrative psychology based on quantum physics and the primacy of consciousness. He discusses how a new quantum psychophysical parallelism resolves the mind-body problem. Goswami's integrative psychology distinguishes between the externality and internality of experiences from first principles. Goswami explains conditioning and gives a foundation of the behavioral ego. Next he explains how all the cognitive paradoxes of perception find resolution.
Goswami explains in some detail the distinction of unconscious and conscious and gives a foundation of depth psychology. Goswami next introduces the distinction of the ego and the superconscious and discusses the quantum foundations of transpersonal psychology. He also discusses the question of self-development beyond ego.
In this way, all the four forces of psychology are solidly established within the metaphysical foundation of a nondual consciousness as the ground of being.
Goswami also discusses the quantum explanation of paranormal phenomena including survival after death and reincarnation. The subject of emotional intelligence is broached in conjunction with chakra psychology. Finally, Goswami ends the workshop with a discussion of positive mental health, creativity, supramental intelligence, and spiritual enlightenment. The workshop will be part lecture/discussion and part experiential.

Flarian Tathagata Schlosser
"In allowing the human body to be free and to play innocendy, without interference, there is the experience of Oneness. "There is no conflict and no separation. Being held by awareness it is love in its purest form." (Florian Schlosser) Who we are is consciousness - already free, impersonal, ever-present. This essential realization, which is commonly addressed as self-realization, is nothing more than a shift of the focus of attention. Attention shirts from the content of experience towards that, which is already aware of any experience. Even though it appears as if this realization is happening to an ,1', it is in fact attention recognizing consciousness as its source and true nature. Yet within the human experience, this core recognition is not automatically a synonym for the consistent realization of Freedom and Oneness. Since the human experience belongs to the body only, we inevitably need to re-integrate the human form in consciousness. Only then there is a genuine experience of BEING ONE. The full beauty of'Non-Duality' can blossom, if there is the willingness to fully embody and be alive. With the descent of consciousness into the human form, everything is met which has troubled mankind ever since the beginning of time. The fundamental difference is that this is not experienced from an exclusive ,sense of I', but from the inclusive perspective of consciousness itself. In a 4 hour intensive we practically explore the true meaning and value of BEING CONSCIOUSNESS FULLY EMBODIED. By again including the body in awareness, the nervous system is empowered in its natural capacity to meet the human experience; without personal involvement or need for change. In an alive, unique, grounded and playful inquiry Oneness will not only be known, but experienced.

Inner Journey Towards Oneness, Ravi Ravindra
Whatever science may tell us about the nature of reality, the journey towards the realization of oneness of all there is, the sort of oneness that the spiritual masters have spoken about, is a matter of inner psychological and spiritual transformation. Based on a long-lasting engagement with scientific research and several spiritual disciplines, including the teachings of Gurdjieff, Krishnamurti, Yoga and Zen, this workshop will engage in some simple transformative exercises. The participants are encouraged to view the video "Journey Towards Oneness" which can be seen and downloaded at http://www.Hnktv.org/globalspirit/Oneness before signing up for the workshop.

In Dreams Awake: An Overview Of Lucid Dreaming, West And East, Stephen LaBerge
"Dreams are a reservoir of knowledge and experience," writes TarthangTulku, "yet they are often overlooked as a vehicle for exploring reality." Lucid dreaming (dreaming while knowing that you are dreaming) is the magic carpet of such vehicles, and for more than a thousand years, the Tibetan Buddhists have used lucid dreams as a means of experiencing the illusory nature of personal identity and awakening to reality.
Lucid dreaming is not only an extraordinary experience; it is also a learnable and potentially rewarding skill. Recent scientific research has proven the reality of lucid dreams, and has led to the development of new methods of inducing them. This workshop 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, enhancingcreativity, personal development and self-integration, dream yoga, and transcendent experience. Find out why Thoreau said "our truest life Is when we are in dreams awake."

The Dissolution Of Hie Separate Self, Rupert Spira
The essential discovery of all the great spiritual traditions, is that experience is not divided into a perceiving subject, an entity known as 'I,' and a perceived object, other or world. The apparently separate entity and the apparently separate object, other or world are realised to be simply concepts that are superimposed by thinking onto the reality of experience. And if we look for the reality of all experience, we find only Consciousness. That is, Consciousness 'finds' only itself.
With the arising of dualistic thinking, ever-present Consciousness is imagined to reside in or as the body. With this primary belief in limitation and location, Consciousness or Presence seems to be veiled and, as a result, its nature of happiness, peace and love is seemingly lost. This apparent loss is known as 'suffering' and is synonymous with the search for happiness, peace and love in the realm of objects, situations and relationships. The search for happiness, peace and love is not something the separate entity does. It is what it is.
In Ruperts meetings we look clearly and simply at the nature of our experience. That is, we go direcdy to the truth of our experience, to the truth of'what is' and 'from there,' so to speak, explore all our beliefs and, more importantly, our feelings about how things 'seem to be.'
In this loving and disinterested contemplation, the concepts with which the dualising mind has seemingly fragmented experience into separate entities, parts, objects, people and the world, are seen through, leaving the naked reality of experience as it is. With the dissolution of the belief that what we are is a separate, limited, located Consciousness and of the feelings in the body with which it is substantiated, the imaginary separate entity comes to an end and happiness, peace and love are re-established.

Quantum consciousness – biology, physics, spirituality, Stuart Hameroff
The notions that consciousness involves something more than electrochemical processes in brain neurons, that it could somehow also connect to a deeper reality, to all beings, and a cosmic wisdom embedded in spacetime geometry are termed quantum consciousness. In particular, the Penrose-Hameroff Orch OR model suggests that consciousness is a synchronized sequence of quantum computations in microtubules within brain neurons. The quantum computations are 'orchestrated' (Orch) by synaptic inputs and memory, and terminated by Penrose objective reduction (OR), self-collapses of quantum superpositions/separations in fundamental spacetime geometry. Thus consciousness in the brain is also a stream, or self-annealing ripples in the fine structure of the holographic universe. This four hour workshop will cover:

• What is consciousness?
• Quantum consciousness, Orch OR and microtubules
• Decoherence and quantum biology - experimental evidence
• Break
• Applications to spiritual traditions and altered states
• Prospects for artificial consciousness - the 'Quantum Singularity'
• Discussion - Q&A

Nondual Transmission: sharing unconditioned awareness in groups and one-on-one, Peter Fenner
Some people feel that the transmission of nondual awareness, by its very nature, is inexplicable and beyond all sense of comprehension and understanding. This workshop demonstrates and describes a skill set (upaya) that supports the induction of nondual awareness in groups and individuals. You will be introduced to a technology, as it were, for mind-to-mind transmission. You will be shown how to create a workshop space that's a living koan in which silence and incisive dialogue are used to reveal and abide in pure, centerless awareness. This workshop will be of value to therapists, coaches, facilitators, meditation instructors, nondual teachers and anyone who feels that their way of being in the world is transforming those around them.
At the end of the presentation, you are better able to:

1. support the induction of nondual awareness in group therapy.
2. support the induction of nondual awareness in individual therapy.
3. see the constructed nature of experience.
4. deconstruct or dissolve painful constructions in clients.
5. share awareness by speaking from it in individual and group work.
6. use silence to dissolve identification to the conditioned mind.
7. create a space that stimulates the arising of natural koans that reveal of unconditioned awareness. This workshop is eligible for CE credit for psychotherapists only.