Past Events

Most months, the first Saturday of the month, from 4 to whenever, the Community for Spiritual Living gathers to explore how to integrate spirituality into our daily lives. The next gathering is January 6, in Falls Church, Virginia. We'll do process work from 4-6, and pot luck from 8 to whenever. Please bring a dish for 8. This month: NONORDINARY CONSCIOUSNESS

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See map: Google Maps

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See map: Google MapsOnce each month, usually on the first Saturday of the month, the Community for Spiritual Living ("CSL") gathers in Falls Church to explore, through an experiential adventure, how to more fully integrate our spiritual lives with the entirety of our lives. DRUMMING CIRCLE ALL ARE WELCOME We'll begin with some light yoga and meditation and then begin 45 minutes to an hour of drumming. Don't know how to drum? -- just join in with a tambourine or some maraccas. Nothing fancy, just a good time letting yourself groove to the beat with community. Trance dancing is also welcome! Bring a drum or drums, or any percussive instrument you like. If you have extras, please bring them so we'll have some for everyone. Bring a friend if you like, and then stay for POTLUCK FROM 6 TO 8PM-be sure to BRING A DISH FOR 8 PEOPLE (main dish, salad, side dish, bread & beverage, or dessert).

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WE ARE MEETING, NOTWITHSTANDING THE WEATHER!

It's not as bad as you may think! See you there!

William James said "Genius means little more than the faculty of perceiving in an unhabitual way." The converse of that might be to say that creativity is stifled by our tendencies to routinize our thinking into cognitive ruts. One of most comprehensive ways in which the ruts of modern thought have been explosed and disrupted is Integral Theory. First elucidated by Jean Gebser and more fully fleshed-out by many others, including Ken Wilber, Integral Theory weaves together a tapestry of eastern and western developmental psychology, a radical understanding of taking multiple perspectives, the emergent wisdom of multiple intelligences, a revolutionary view of ordinary and nonordinary states, and an appreciation of the various typologies found in tantra, eneagrams, Myers-Briggs, and the like. The resultant rich tapestry leaves those who understand its basic principals with a drastically expanded canvas on which to paint our lives, our work, our world.

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See map: Google MapsMost months, the first Saturday of the month, from 4 to whenever, the Community for Spiritual Living gathers to explore how to integrate spirituality into our daily lives. The next gathering is April 7, in Falls Church, Virginia. We'll do process work from 4-6 p.m., and pot luck from 6:00 p.m. to whenever. Please bring a dish for 8.

April 2007: Befriending Death

Many of the Wisdom Traditions have understood that Death can be a great teacher about Life. In the encounter with the reality of death, whether we view it as the end or merely a passage, we can glean much about the richness of our lives.

Tom Goddard will lead the community through a series of experiential processes designed to create a series of profound learning encounters with Death. As a result of participating in this workshop, participants likely not only will have a deepened appreciation of the life we are given, but a clearer notion about how to live a life filled with meaning and joy. It is no overstatement to say that some participants in the March 2006 CSL exploration of Death, led by Dr. Goddard and Michael Smith, emerged with a radically transformed view of their lives. Some even made profound decisions that changed the very course of their lives, both professionally and personally.

Bring a friend if you like, and then stay for POTLUCK FROM 6 TO 8PM-be sure to BRING A DISH FOR 8 PEOPLE (main dish, salad, side dish, bread & beverage, or dessert).

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Tom Goddard, founder of The Integral Company, and Kristen Chamberlin, founder of Maitri, are joining their creative talents and experience to offer a Shalom-style retreat in the Washington D.C. area.

Kristen Chamberlin

What is a Shalom Retreat?

A Shalom Retreat is an intensive growth experience set in a loving and supportive community. Shalom Retreats are based on our understanding of love:

• More than anything else, we long to love and be loved.

• Love is a gift.

• Love is not time-bound.

• Love is a response to need.

• Loving is an art. The skills of loving can be learned. They involve seeing and hearing another, expressing good will, recognizing another’s right to think and feel as he/she does, and the skill of being fully present in our relationships with others.

Tom Goddard

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See map: Google MapsNow, as one of those who have worked with Wilber since Wilber founded the Integral Institute, Tom Goddard is joining with Alistair Macmartin of Shalom Mountain to offer the Integral Intensive to people interested in diving into the world of Integral. The Intensive is a 3-1/2-day, immersive experience in Ken Wilber's Integral Theory. This retreat offers participants a thorough exposure to Wilber’s work through a diverse blend of brief lectures, individual and group experiential processes, journaling, and group discussion.

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See map: Google MapsLast February, participants in the Community for Spiritual Living ("CSL") had a great time at our first ever drumming circle. The most memorable comment was "when can we do this again?" Well, the time has come.

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See map: Google MapsWhat's your relationship to the Divine? Is it an intimate, personal friendship? One of distant awe? Perhaps you experience yourself as Spirit, a component of Spirit, or all this and more. Or maybe you long for a relationship with the Divine, but are struggling to establish one.

Join us as Tom Goddard leads us through a series of experiential processes in which we will examine not only our existing relationships (or lack thereof) with the Divine, but also alternative perspectives that may enrich our relationship. Informed by wisdom traditions from across the globe and from throughout the centuries, these processes may take you from what you know about God to perspectives you've never known, or haven't tapped into in years.

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See map: Google MapsOn Saturday, November 3, at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, The Integral Company's founder Tom Goddard will join Ken in taking questions from fellow Integral Institute members in a discussion of Integral Healthcare. Dr. Goddard is the author of "Integral Healthcare Management" in the first volume of the AQAL Journal.