Prepare for the Inner Journey! – Session Three: Supple Mind
November 23, 2024 5 hours
In this 4-part series, we will focus on four qualities , “soil conditions”, essential for spiritual transformation. Each session is an experiential contemplation of one of these four.
Session Three: Supple Mind – the openness that allows the birth of a new mind
- Time: 9am - 3:30pm Pacific (with break)
- Duration: 5 hours
- Format: Zoom
- Teacher: Gayan Macher
- Eligibility: open to all
- Questions? Contact us for questions about registration, eligibility and scholarships.
Spiritual progress is the changing of the point of view.
Session Three: Supple Mind
- Do you rejoice at seeing your blind spots?
- Do you love your questions at least as much as your answers?
- Can you truly listen to someone’s opinion that is contrary to yours?
- Are you ready to perceive what your mind has not conceived?
These are signs of an open and supple mind. Hazrat Inayat Khan stresses this quality—both in human relations, and also for its profound importance on the inner journey. He says “one will attract knowledge from every plane as soon as the mind becomes so pliable that it does not only stick to its own point of view.”
Spiritual realization means leaving the shore of our entrenched perspective and allowing the dawn of a new mind. Our attachment to a point of view can relax.
Once we appreciate this quality, it can be practiced and developed.
That is the focus of this session.
In every soul there is a longing to bring out, to bring to a culmination, what is waiting within.
The Four Part Series
You may attend one or more of these sessions. The four sessions form a cohesive whole, so it is ideal to attend the entire series. Please note, you must register for each session separately.
Video recordings will be available in “My Portal”.
- Session One: Faith—faith in the power of the path, with total confidence in your spiritual destiny
- Session Two: Motive Force—wholehearted dedication to your ultimate priority
- Session Three (Nov 23): Supple Mind—the openness that allows the birth of a new mind
- Session Four (Dec 15): Detachment—release, even for a few moments, from mental preoccupation with life’s affairs. Dying before death.
If you miss a session, Prior Sessions are available through the Self-Guided section of the website.
For partial scholarships, contact us.
The Practice of Inner Guidance
During the afternoon sessions we practice attuning to guidance. In this process, Gayan works with someone who is in touch with their “burning question”—a heart-felt desire to understand something more deeply. With Gayan’s support, they learn to deepen contact with the light of knowing coming from within, learning to hear the voice beneath incessant thinking. This is done in the presence of the rest of the group.
There is special value in practicing inner guidance in a group setting. On the surface our situations are unique, but as we look further, we recognize an underlying unity in our deepest questions. Secondly, and most importantly, witnesses observe how guidance functions. There are specific qualities we cultivate that are conducive to the revelation of meaning and truth.
Testimonials
Studying with Gayan is a rare opportunity led by one of the wisest and kindest people I’ve ever met. He combines the holy with everyday life in a way that makes it all make sense.
Aila Alice Hardesty
The inspired, masterful, and deeply loving guidance offered by Gayan will take you on a journey towards truly knowing yourself, which is exactly where Hazrat Inayat Khan asks us to go. “To know the self is to know God.”
Elizabeth Normand
Teacher(s)
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.
Schedule
11/23/2024
- 9am - 3:30pm pacific time
- with lunch break tbd
