Wondering about the oppressive power the political situation is having over our minds and our lives in this unprecedented time? We have invited two leaders to provide guidance and practices that will help you to take your power back. Power is not about physical strength. Nor is it about putting the right person in power. Rather, as they say at the Metta Center, it’s about bringing out the right kind of power in people. That comes from our inherent capacity to transform anger and fear into love and compassion.
Join us for a morning of meditation, teachings and conversation with Michael Nagler and Stephanie Van Hook from the Metta Center, followed by an afternoon of spa treatments and relaxation.
Includes:
Instruction and practice in passage meditation
Presentation of non-violent principles and practices
Cedar-Enzyme Footbath and 75-minute Swedish-Esalen massage to relax and unwind
Healthy Organic farm-to- table lunch …
And great company!
“Wherever people gather for selfless ends, there is a vast augmentation of their individual capacities. Something wonderful, something momentous happens. An irresistible force begins to move, which, though we may not see it, is going to change our world.”
~ Eknath Easwaran
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The Metta Center been working for decades to explore nonviolence, which Gandhi called “the greatest power at the disposal of humanity” and Metta calls “the bridge between spiritual practice and social action.”
They envision a world transformed by an awareness of the true potential of every human being, where all of life is sacred and where all our social systems work in harmony with the earth, recognizing that:
Life is an interconnected whole
We cannot be fulfilled by an indefinite consumption of things, but by an expansion of our relationships
We can never injure others without injuring ourselves, therefore:
We are body, mind, and spirit; the human body may be completely developed, but in terms of our consciousness, we can and must continue our evolution, which has no known limits.
Michael Nagler is Professor emeritus of Classics and Comparative Literature at UC, Berkeley, where he co-founded the Peace and Conflict Studies Program in which he taught the immensely popular nonviolence course for 15 years.
Among other awards, he received the Jamnalal Bajaj International Award for “Promoting Gandhian Values Outside India” in 2007, joining other distinguished contributors to nonviolence as Archbishop Desmond Tutu and peace scholar and activist Johan Galtung in receiving this honor. He is the author of The Nonviolence Handbook: A Guide to Practical Action (2014) as well as The Search for a Nonviolent Future, which received a 2002 American Book Award and has been translated into Korean, Arabic, Italian and other languages; Our Spiritual Crisis: Recovering Human Wisdom in a Time of Violence (2005); The Upanishads (with Sri Eknath Easwaran, 1987), as well as many articles on peace and spirituality. He has spoken for campus, religious and other groups on peace and nonviolence for many years, especially since September 11, 2001. He has consulted for the U.S. Institute of Peace and many other organizations and is the founder and President of the board of the Metta Center for Nonviolence. Michael has worked on nonviolent intervention since the 1970s and served on the Interim Steering Committee of the Nonviolent Peaceforce. Michael is a student of Sri Eknath Easwaran, Founder of the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation, and has lived at the Center’s ashram in Marin County since 1970.
Stephanie N. Van Hook has been working with the Metta Center since 2007, starting as the Executive Director in 2010. She is the author of Gandhi Searches for Truth: A Practical Biography for Children and the host of Nonviolence Radio, which airs on community station KWMR. In her free time, Stephanie is a Montessori educator at Red Barn Montessori in Petaluma, California, and draws insight and encouragement from the works of the great feminist peace educator, Dr. Maria Montessori. She is associated with the Green Shadow Cabinet, Peaceworkers and the US Peace Corps (Benin 2005-2007). In 2015, she wrote a daily column on Gandhi’s wisdom for our times. She is a novice weaver and spinner (in the Gandhian spirit) but primarily a spiritual aspirant. She attributes her energy to her daily meditation practice as well as the gentle, magnanimous spirits of the beloved children at her school.
Phone: 707.823.8231
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209 Bohemian Hwy
Freestone, CA 95472
Osmosis is known for its authenticity and has established a reputation as one of the most aesthetically pleasing and tranquil spas in the nation.
Just minutes from Northern California’s breathtaking Sonoma Coast, vineyards and redwoods, Osmosis is a destination with many nearby activities to choose from and superb lodging.
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