Dear ones,

This image was taken in 2018 at a makeshift refugee camp in a warehouse in Tijuana, Mexico. At the time, it was shocking to many that a border could be closed to shut out people wanting to seek refuge. As 2020 draws to a close, closed borders are the new normal, and it is not just refugees who no longer can move freely across borders, it is all of us. As I am writing this, I am on day 11 of a 14-day very strict quarantine. I am limited in my movement because I traveled to Germany for three weeks because my father had passed suddenly and I wanted to be with my very elderly mother at this time of shock, grief, and transition.

Our human reality is not always light-filled and merry, and at no time is this more obvious than at Christmas. At no other time of the year is the contrast between darkness and light more present (in the Northern hemisphere). The outer darkness of long nights resonates with and may even deepen the dark feelings we may feel inside. Pain and suffering can feel very inescapable at this time.

And yet, the magic and mystery of the indelible human spirit shine even then. Children will decorate a christmas tree in a warehouse shelter, a friend or kind neighbor may drop a present at our doorstep or say something that touches the heart, there may be a sense of being held or of some presence or light even at the darkest of moments. We may feel moved to reach out with kindness to others who are steeped in inner or outer darkness.

The reality of the human journey is marked by both darkness and light. The good news is that we are all on our way to discovering, ever deeper, ever more fully, and in ever new ways, the truth of our being, which is beyond darkness and light, but shines through us as light and love.

May you find that light, that love, in yourself, in others, and in all things, all over again, freshly, as if never known before. May that be your sacred Christmas gift to yourself.

In love and gratitude,
grace

PS: If you're having a hard time over the holidays (or any time) you may find heart meditation a good resource. You will find two guided heart meditations on the bottom of this page.

Dear ones,

A few weeks back, it occurred to me that it might be helpful and insightful to continue some of the Life challenges conversations that I had last year, inviting new reflections and insights after a year has passed. The perspective of time -- though meaningless at the level of Self/Being -- is very real at the human level. Circumstances change, to the better or worse, emotional wounds heal or not, we recover from illness, or it may worsen. We don't ever know how life at this human level will unfold, and we are transformed by how it does. All of Life's challenges are an opportunity to meet anew and freshly Life as it Is, instead of playing out some conditioned thoughts, emotions, or responses. This is the background for the upcoming series of conversations, entitled Life challenges Part 2. Four of the teachers who had been sharing so movingly from their lives and experience with their particular challenge last year were open to sharing more, reflecting on what has happened and what insights and/or maturing this has brought, including how this may have changed their spiritual understanding and teaching.

Life challenges Part 2: Program
These are the four themes that we are revisiting, with a new 'life challenge' added in: that of dealing with our own shadows as and when they arise.  

• Sunday 17 February 2019: Unmani, Loss and grief;
• Sunday 24 February 2019: Joan Tollifson, Cancer as an awakening journey;
• Sunday 10 March 2019: Craig Holliday, Opening to the shadow;
• Sunday 24 March 2019: Marlies Myoku Cocheret, Staying awake in the midst of chronic dis-ease;
• Sunday 31 March 2019: Ananta Kranti, Caring for a parent with dementia.

The first two conversations have happened already and the videos are up on the event pages (Unmani and Joan). The last three will all be happening in March. 
I hope you can join us. If you can't, you can find the videos on the event pages within 24 - 48 hours after the live conversation.
​
With love and gratitude,
grace

How to share with you the gift that my journey to India was? It's not really possible, other than to say that it left a deep impression in my heart. In the above photo, you see the river Ganga just upstream from Rishikesh, including the Sacha Dham ashram right by the beach (center left), where ShantiMayi gives satsang when she is in India.

The below photo captures the in your face quality of the experience, full of contrasts and powerful sensory input, including the ever present dust and noise of barking dogs and honking cars and motor bikes (thank you to Fred Bastide for the photos):

I went to satsang with a small number of nondual teachers who were in Rishikesh at the time, all of them unique in their expression of Truth/Love. It was beautiful, and the most precious gift, to experience them directly, rather than via the internet. What cannot be captured in photos is the sacred, deep silence and simple, sweet open-heartedness that are such an intimate part of the experience there and that melt one's heart and mind.

Next online conversation: ShantiMayi
I so much enjoyed and appreciated the freshness and depth of ShantiMayi's teachings, including the Sacha lineage that she carries, that I wanted to bring her to you online. Our conversation, on the theme of 'The Mind Is Not Our Enemy', will be on Sunday, 2 April, at 9am PDT, 12pm EDT, 5pm UK, 6 pm Europe, and 9.30pm India. Please note the unusual time, as Shantimayi will be joining us from Rishikesh. More info about this event and about Shantimayi on the Living from Love homepage. More online events are in the planning stage, and I will keep you posted once they're settled.

Online groups
Two new online groups will begin in April:

• A monthly Awakening as Love group will start on Monday, 10 April 2017. This group is like a once-a-month small group satsang where you have the sacred opportunity and support to inquire into your experience to reveal what is True, the Love that you are. More info HERE.
• A Healing and Awakening 6-week group program will start on Tuesday, 18 April 2017. This is a more sustained and intensive context in which to bring whatever feels unhealed in your life to the light of loving inquiry. If you appreciated the Healing and Awakening retreat last December, you might find this group interesting. More info HERE.
  

SAND online webinar
I have also been asked to facilitate a 6-week webinar with the theme of 'Living From Our Deepest Knowing' that is organized by SAND (Science and Nonduality), with teachers that will probably be familiar to you (Jac O'Keefe, Unmani, Joan Tollifson, John Prendergast, Ellen Emmet, and Amoda Maa). This webinar will start on Sunday, 9 April 2017. More info about this on the SAND website.

Last but not least: your donations
... towards the free online offerings are always welcome! If you've found them meaningful and helpful for yourself, and you'd like to support the work that goes into making them happen and continuing to offer them for free (including covering the monthly overheads of website hosting and keeping a mailing list), your donation is gratefully received and very appreciated. You can make a donation on the donation page.

Ganga blessings to you all!
In Love and Truth,
grace

The theme of Healing and Awakening brings together two movements of consciousness unfolding: the Eastern and now also Western wave of non-dual spiritual teachings, and the Western wave of healing the pain of humanity through the development of ever new forms of therapy and healing. While traditional non-dual teachings stress the need to transcend the self that feels a need for healing, it is remarkable that many Western non-dual teachers are also therapists and healers. When we look at the essence of healing the psyche, there is a movement of consciousness out of the limitation through conditioning and unquestioned beliefs into the freedom of Being and of living life truly in the moment. In fact, in new forms of therapy inspired and informed by non-dual understanding, true Self and true Being can be discovered, just as it can be discovered through non-dual spiritual teachings. But not all non-dual teachers agree on this -- hence the retreat!

The retreat is an opportunity to come together from all over the world as a virtual sangha (community), to explore this fertile ground of Healing and Awakening in our own lives. It is also an opportunity to hear non-dual spiritual teachers, many of whom are or have also been therapists and healers, reflect on this topic and share their insights. And most of all, it is an opportunity to participate in satsang, a gathering for and in Truth. As we sit and inquire with teachers whose sharing expresses Truth, a potent field of awareness arises that has the power to transform and help us shift out of the limited perspective of the separate self. The unique expression of Truth, by each of the teachers, adds richness, variety, and depth to the inquiry throughout the weekend, like a bouquet of flowers compared to the unique beauty of a single one.

The wonder and gift of the internet is that it allows us to gather in satsang no matter where we are on this planet. It also gives you the opportunity to participate live by asking questions and interacting with the teachers. The typical format of the sessions will be a first part where I am in conversation with the teachers about the specific topic for the session, and a second part where you are invited in with your questions and comments (either by posting them on the YouTube comment thread, or by coming onto the Google hangout directly).

​Joan Ruvinsky, who very graciously agreed to a conversation with me on Facing Death at the end of last year when her life and energy were already limited by her illness, has left us.

In spirit she is very much with us, of course, but no longer in her body.

I came to know her more than a decade ago, when I went to some of her meditation and chanting evenings in Montreal. We shared a love of Krishna Das chants and kirtan, and a love of meditation. She wasn't a non-dual teacher yet, and I had yet to meet my teacher Gangaji.

...  and maybe the most fitting tribute to Joan is this little video from the very last few minutes of our conversation, where she shares her celebration of Love, as well as her silent, love-filled presence: Death only happens to the body, we are Love.

I had a very beautiful session with a client today that made me reflect on just how practical Love can be, and how it has a tendency to show up in the most unlikely ways and places. The reason why she had called me was that she – let’s call her Clare –  and her husband were facing a very difficult situation: their son is having a hard time at school and acting out a lot, and they were considering pulling him out and have him home-schooled. She wanted to get clearer on her feelings about all of this before coming to a decision.

Very quickly during and after she described the situation to me, it came to me to ask whether she had spoken to the teacher. When clients share situations with me, I listen at that level, but I am also always open to the expression of Love. When I asked the question, I had no idea where it would lead, but I trusted the fact that it kept coming. It turns out that it may hold the key to a healing embrace and movement in and with this situation, rather than the disconnecting that they had been thinking of.

I've been so lucky so far with doing live online events: I've not had to cancel any of them due to internet connection problems. Until today!

Everything had started off well, and then, about 10 minutes before we were due to start, I got thrown out of the Google hangout, for good as it turned out. After 20 mins of trying to get back in, and checking and trying all sorts of stuff, I had to give in to the reality of a connection so minimal that it was impossible to do a live event. Now, after having given up and gone snowshoeing for an hour instead, everything is back to normal... but too late for Ellen, who had been waiting for me in the hangout having joined from the UK.

We'll reschedule and let you know about the new date.

​To all of you who were there, waiting, my heartfelt apologies. I felt really disappointed myself, as I had been looking forward to this conversation. But there was really nothing I could do (turns out it was a problem with the cable company that provides the internet connection). I hope to see you back for the rescheduled event!