Special programs

Monthly Inquiry Group with Gayan

May – October 2024 3 hours
$150-$250
  • To inquire
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At a Glance

Invited members, please check your email for Registration Link.  The Monthly Inquiry Group with Gayan is currently not accepting new members.

  • Time: 11am - 2pm PT (2-5pm ET)
  • Duration: 3 hours
  • Format: Online via Zoom
  • Teacher: Gayan Macher
  • Eligibility: This group is closed to new people at this time
  • Questions? Contact us for questions about registration, eligibility and scholarships.

Gathering with kindred seekers with a shared dedication to the inner life, these groups provide companionship, training and support for your spiritual development.

The contemplative inquiry process involves sitting in a circle while a teacher or guide works one on one with someone in the silent presence of the group. You take a turn when you are in touch with your “burning question”—your heart-felt desire to explore or understand something more deeply. You may inquire into anything, though frequently it is about something stirring or troubling as these questions often call us most strongly. With your guide’s support, you deepen contact with the light of knowing within you, learning to hear the voice deeper than incessant thinking.

There is special value in doing contemplative inquiry in a group setting. First, the shared experience connects us in spiritual friendship, which is precious and rare. On the surface our situations are unique, but as we look further, we recognize an underlying unity in our deepest questions. Secondly, witnesses who are practicing being present provide a powerful field of support to the person working. Lastly and most importantly, witnesses benefit by observing how guidance functions. There are specific qualities we cultivate that are conducive to the revelation of meaning and truth.

The practice brings us to a state of intimacy and honesty with our hearts, where, surprisingly, we have often been strangers.

If there is a kingdom of God to be found anywhere, it is within oneself. And it is, therefore, in the knowledge of self that there lies the fulfillment of life.
Hazrat Inayat Khan

The Fruits of Practice

  • To Feel Fully Alive
    We must discover our heart and truly know its joy, sorrow and secret.
  • To Live with Maturity and Fulfillment
    We must see life as it is and be earnest students of its lessons.
  • To Align with the Divine Intention
    We must listen with total commitment to the voice of guidance that comes from within.

These purposes are not mere platitudes; they can be developed and made real.

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Teacher(s)

Gayan Macher

Gayan Macher

Gayan is a companion and guide to those who are called to the courageous path of love. He has practiced and taught the universal Sufism of Hazrat Inayat Khan his entire adult life. In addition, he has studied Buddhist practice, the Diamond Approach, and psychology, where he explored emerging understandings of the formation of the ego.

Gayan leads group retreats and has guided scores of individual students. He collaborated with Pir Zia Inayat Khan in designing Suluk Academy, and taught at Suluk for eight years. Along with Taj Inayat he created Sufi Retreats, and then New Rain, which became laboratories for the process of awakening and spiritual maturation.

A specialty of his work is leading Inner Guidance Groups, a process in which people learn the art of listening to the voice of truth and understanding coming from within.

Gayan also has a 40-year career as a consultant to executives of organizations, having worked with numerous Fortune 500 companies as well as non-profits of all sizes. Being a confidant to people in positions of significant responsibility has given him a front row seat for the study of leadership and human nature.

Among Gayan’s great loves is music. He plays guitar, and as a singer-song writer has recorded two CDs of original songs.

You can listen to this music here >

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Schedule

NOTE: New start and end times.

NEW TIME 11-11:30 for Attunement Meditation 11:30-2 PM PT for group

05/11/2024

11:00 am - 11:30 am
Combined group attunement
11:30 am - 2:00 pm
Inquiry Group

06/29/2024

11:00 am - 11:30 am
Combined group attunement
11:30 am - 2:00 pm
Inquiry Group

08/03/2024

11:00 am - 11:30 am
Combined group attunement
11:30 am - 2:00 pm
Inquiry Group

08/31/2024

11:00 am - 11:30 am
Combined group attunement
11:30 am - 2:00 pm
Inquiry Group

10/19/2024

11:00 am - 2:00 pm
Attunement and Inquiry Group
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