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Yoga Vacation Program
December 21, 2024 — January 2, 2025

Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year Unity in Diversity Symposium

Living a Life of Devotion

Swami Swaroopananda, Snatam Kaur and Sopurkh Singh, James Twyman, Daniel Matt, Imam Jamal Rahman, Acharya Mangalananda, Jose Stevens, Lena Stevens, and Lama Losang

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.

James Twyman – December 27-29

How St. Francis of Assisi Saved Christmas: 800 years ago St. Francis had an idea no one had thought of before – to create a live Nativity scene in the town of Greccio, Italy to celebrate the birth of Jesus. The tradition has grown over the centuries to the point that Nativity scenes are commonplace every Christmas. But what led to this incredible inspiration? In this talk Fr. James-Francis Twyman, an Episcopal Franciscan friar, will share the story as well as the insights that made St. Francis the most popular Christian saint in history.
Workshop:
Who is St. Francis and Why is He Important Today?: More books have been written about St. Francis of Assisi than any other person in history. It’s a fact, and yet Francis himself wanted only one thing – Oneness with God. Most people know him as the saint of nature, or the birdbath saint, but there must be more that makes St. Francis such a compelling character 800 years after his death. In this three-part workshop Fr. James-Francis will unravel the mystery of this revered saint and show why his voice is more important today than ever before.
Lama Losang – December 29-31

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 theseare 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. Herewe 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, Snatam Kaur shares the power of Sikh sacred music with the world. Sopurkh Singh has been teaching yoga & meditation in retreats, workshops and classes for the past 20 years. Sopurkh accompanies Snatam musically with tabla, providing a meditative and devotional rhythm for their chanting events.  Sopurkh and Snatam live in New Hampshire with their daughter Jap Preet and two dogs. Together they founded an online school specializing in the teaching of kirtan (sacred music) and Kundalini yoga, called Kirtan and Kundalini, which serves people globally.

Snatam & Sopurkh are joined by Ezra Landis on guitar and his partner Emelia.

kirtanandkundalini.com

 

James Twyman is an Episcopal priest and Franciscan friar in the Community of Francis and Clare. He is also the NY Times bestselling author of 23 books including Emissary of Light and The Moses Code. James has been called “The Peace Troubadour” for his journeys into war-torn areas like Bosnia, Iraq, and Ukraine to promote peace with his music and wisdom.

worldpeacepulse.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.

Acharya Mangalananda is a direct disciple of Sri Anandamayi Ma, a venerated Indian saint of the 20th century. Though an American by birth, a lifetime of Indian culture has given him a deep immersion into the traditional spiritual music of India. He is now a kirtan singer well-versed in the traditional kirtan style of India’s rural villages.

Devoted to Sri Anandamaya Ma and her direct disciples, he helped establish a spiritually-based school for local village children after living in her ashram. After teaching in the school for twelve years, he toured internationally to give kirtan presentations and spiritual workshops. In 2013, he returned to the United States and now hosts a small ashram in the San Francisco Bay area, sharing kirtan and classes.

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“.

thepowerpath.com

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.

thepowerpath.com

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.

davidbole.com

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