Join us this holiday season for a joyous celebration during our annual Christmas & New Year Unity in Diversity Symposium. World-renowned spiritual leaders, musicians and artists from different religions and spiritual traditions will inspire us to live a life of devotion. Through live lectures, workshops, concerts, and performances, we will deepen our understanding of the spiritual path and how we can focus our hearts on peace and love for ourselves and humanity. We will reflect on the past year and establish a new, more connected vision for the coming year.
The teaching of Unity in Diversity was at the core of Swami Vishnudevananda’s mission. According to yoga and Vedanta philosophy, the one God or Ultimate Reality manifests as a multiplicity of names, forms, shapes, and colors. There is an underlying unity which supports our manifested diversity. “Unity” and “diversity” are one and the same and their essence is our own essence: pure existence, pure consciousness, and pure bliss.
Join us for this spiritual gathering and gain a direct glimpse of this truth. Through talks, concerts, spiritual practices, discussions, and more, we will participate in breaking down artificial barriers and experience the unity in our diversity.
TOPICS OF PRESENTERS:
Daniel Matt – December 21-25
December 21, evening satsang
The One and the Many
Through mystical experience, we discover the One, the oneness of it all. But what about
the Many, the multiplicity of the world. How should we consider that? How can we
integrate the One and the Many in our lives?
December 23, morning satsang
Kabbalistic Teachings on Meditation
We will explore some teachings from Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition, relating to
meditation.
December 24, afternoon workshop
Devekut – Cleaving to God
The Bible says that we should join ourselves to God. We will explore this mystical theme
as it unfolds in the Jewish spiritual tradition.
December 25, afternoon workshop
Shekhinah – The Feminine Aspect of God
Shekhinah is perhaps the greatest contribution of Kabbalah. We will see how She
emerges from Her Biblical roots and develops in the Jewish mystical tradition.
Imam Jamal Rahman – December 22-24
Jesus and Mary in the Qur’an – Islamic spiritual teachers explain that, metaphorically speaking, we humans must give birth to our inner Jesus, our higher self. Take note, they continue, that this “inner inconvenient work” is only possible if we cultivate divine feminine qualities of compassion and creativity.These traits are symbolized by the sacred womb of Mary.
Spiritual Reflections on Poetry of Rumi – Jamal will glean wisdom and practices from the poetry of Rumi to help us transform our ego and open our heart so that we can be of authentic service to God’s creation.
Cultivating Laughter and Joy – Through the lens of Islamic spirituality, Jamal will explore the qualities of mind and heart we need to deepen in order to experience happiness in our lives.
Snatam Kaur and Sopurkh Singh – December 23-25
Kundalini and Nada Yoga: discover the tools of Nada Yoga and resonate in the energy of pure love.
Swami Swaroopananda – December 25-27 – Morning satsang
Snatam Kaur – December 26-28
The Heart of the Universe – Experience the angelic voice of one of the most inspirational singers of devotional music of the Sikh tradition.
Rooted in the timeless wisdom of the Buddha, this program brings to life the essence of his teachings: cultivate boundless virtue, avoid harm to self and others, and master the art of taming the mind. Though these principles are simple to hear, their practice holds the key to a life of true health, happiness, and spiritual awakening. Lama Losang, drawing from his latest book *Wisdom, Compassion, and Awakening* (Balboa Press, 2024), offers a uniquely organized and accessible approach to unlocking these truths.
José and Lena Stevens – December 30-January 1
Discovering the Cave of Brahma, the Upper Room, to become free of fear – In this satsang we will locate and activate the physical portals of bliss to lift to the higher octave available to all human beings. Alignment, balance, freedom, and joy are possibilities of the physical plane, and these are what we seek to cultivate.
How to Live from Essence Through the Body Personality -Discover the structure of the personality, and learn its path to freedom and spiritual awakening. Here we will discover these parts to understand what their positive and negative poles are.
Creativity and Balance – Through the creative expression of language, song, movement and rhythm, and informed by the balance of feminine and masculine, we align with the cycles of nature to connect more deeply with our authenticity and life purpose.
Acharya Mangalananda – December 31-January 2 – Love and Devotion New Year’s Kirtan
Swami Swaroopananda is a senior disciple of Swami Vishnudevananda. A practicing yogi from a very young age, Swami Swaroopananda has dedicated his life to the practice and teaching of yoga. He taught in Yoga Teacher Training Courses around the world and is currently teaching advanced yoga philosophy courses and lectures internationally. He is Director of the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat and acharya (spiritual director) for the Sivananda centers and ashrams in the Bahamas and the Middle East. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres.
Through inspirational concerts, workshops, immersion courses and retreats, the much-beloved devotional singer and recording artist Snatam Kaur shares the power of Sikh sacred music with the world. Sopurkh Singh teaches yoga and meditation, with a focus on helping people awaken to inner peace, happiness and freedom. Prabhu Nam Kaur teaches classes and workshops on the Sikh practice of Shabad Guru and with her daughter Snatam Kaur has recorded a number of albums. Snatam and Sopurkh founded an online school specializing in the teaching of Kirtan (sacred music) and Kundalini yoga, called Kirtan and Kundalini, which serves people from all over the world. Together Snatam, Sopurkh and Prabhu Nam will be teaching and sharing Naad Yoga and music from the Sikh tradition for this year’s symposium along with the musical support of Ezra Landis who is a founding member of the Gathering Space in Keene New Hampshire. Joining the group for vocal support are Emilia Landis and Jap Preet.
To find out more information visit: www.kirtanandkundalini.com and www.snatamkaur.com
Daniel Matt is a scholar of Kabbalah, who taught for many years at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. His books include The Essential Kabbalah (translated into eight languages), God and the Big Bang, and his nine-volume annotated translation of the Zohar, The Zohar: Pritzker Edition, which has been hailed as “a monumental contribution to the history of Jewish thought.”
Recently, his biography of Elijah (Becoming Elijah: Prophet of Transformation) was published by Yale University Press in their series Jewish Lives. Daniel lives in Berkeley with his wife Hana and teaches Zohar online.
Imam Jamal Rahman is a popular speaker on Islam, Sufi spirituality, and interfaith relation, who has been featured in the New York Times and on the BBC and various NPR programs. Co-founder and Muslim Sufi minister at the Interfaith Community Sanctuary in Seattle and adjunct faculty at Seattle University, Imam Jamal is a spiritual counselor who travels internationally, presenting spiritual teachings at retreats and workshops. His books include The Fragrance of Faith: The Enlightened Heart of Islam and, with Rabbi Ted Falcon and Pastor Don Mackenzie, Getting to the Heart of Interfaith: The Eye-Opening, Hope-Filled Friendship of a Pastor, a Rabbi, and an Imam.
With Rabbi Ted Falcon and Pastor Don Mackenzie, he is one of the Interfaith Amigos.
Magalananda began his spiritual life in 1972 under the guidance of Swami Satchidananda, a direct disciple of Swami Sivananda. After an inner experience with Anandamayi Ma, the great woman Saint mentioned in Yogananda’s “Autobiography of a Yogi”, with Sw. Satchidananda’s permission, he went to India to find her. He travelled with her in India during 1973 and ’74, receiving mantra Initiation from her. He has been since living within her Lineage with some of her great disciples in ashrams in the US and India. In 2001, he was sent back to India by Ma’s main Swami, Sw. Bhaskarananda to help start a school in one of her ashrams. He lived in Central India for twelve years, teaching in this school and also traveling within India extensively.
From 2007 to 2013, the Ashram sent him yearly to Europe and the US to present kirtan concerts and classes. In 2013, he returned to the US and lives in the San Francisco area, where he presents programs and hosts an online worldwide Matri Satsang group. He is an appointed Acharya (Lineage Teacher) of Ma Sharanam Ashram in India. He is the author of the book “A Goddess Among Us” which has been translated and published into five different languages. He is on the Board of Directors of the Shri Anandamayi Ma Ashram and Temple in Massachusetts and is a guest speaker and musician at Satchidananda Ashram/Yogaville, as well as at Sivananda Yoga Farm and Sivananda Bahamas.
José is the president and co-founder (with wife Lena Stevens) of The Power Path Seminars and School of Shamanism, an international school and consulting firm dedicated to the study and application of shamanism and indigenous wisdom to business and everyday life. José completed a ten year apprenticeship with a Wixarika (Huichol) Maracame in the Sierras of Central Mexico and has since gone on to study other Toltec traditions as well as traditions from the Amazon, Andes and Europe extensively.
In 1983, he completed his doctoral dissertation at the California Institute of Integral Studies focusing on the interface between shamanism and western psychological counseling. Since then, he has studied cross-cultural shamanism around the world to distill the core elements of shamanic healing and practice.
José is an MSW, life coach and master teacher with over forty-five years of experience. In addition, he is the author of numerous articles and more than twenty books including “How To Pray The Shaman’s Way“, “Awaken The Inner Shaman“, “The Power Path”, “Secrets of Shamanism“, “Transforming Your Dragons“, and “Praying with Power“.
Lena is an internationally known teacher and shamanic practitioner. She apprenticed for 10 years with a Wixarika (Huichol) Maracame from Mexico and has studied cross-cultural shamanic healing from numerous traditions including South American, Native American, Northern European and Siberian. Lena has taught and worked with individuals, groups, businesses and communities since the 1980s, helping to bring shamanic nature based wisdom back into people’s lives. One of her specialities is working with energy, which includes the singing of Icaros or healing songs.
She is the author of the Power Path “Monthly Forecast”, social media wisdom posts, and the full and new moon updates which provide support and practical advice in navigating the energy of the times. She is the producer, with Anna, of the Power Path Monthly Supporting Audio. Lena is the co-author of the “Secrets of Shamanism, How to Tap the Spirit Power Within” and a contributing author to “The Power Path: The Shaman’s Way to Success in Business and Life”. Along with her husband and partner Jose, she is the co-founder and one of the primary instructors of Power Path Seminars and the School of Shamanism.
Lama Losang completed the traditional three-year retreat under the guidance of the renowned Meditation Master, Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche. He is a fully ordained Gelong monk and Lama in the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism and Director of Gainesville Karma Thegsum Choling Meditation Center. He was awarded the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) in Psychology from the University of Florida. He is a licensed Acupuncture Physician and Director of the Traditional Acupuncture Center. As a Westerner trained in both Eastern and Western sciences, he is able to provide a unique synthesis and perspective to health and healing to students of all ages.
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