All times listed are Eastern Standard Time. Look below for helpful links.
Please note CHANGES in some program times!
8:00 to 8:30 am – Centering Prayer – Sami Ross
Centering Prayer is a method designed to seek the true Self by deepening into the intention to recognize and promptly empty ourselves of what is not true and, in turn, abide more and more fully in the heart as a symbol of the Truth of What We Are.
During the 20-minute silent practice period, we relax and allow everything to be as it is. When we notice attention has gone to a thought/image/feeling/perception, we ever-so-gently return to a sacred word of our choosing. We do not resist thought but we also do not follow it either. We let thoughts go by without thinking ABOUT them. We let them be by softly saying our sacred word inwardly as a symbol of our intention to consent to the Presence of God within and God’s action within.
Devotional music or words will be offered prior to the start of the 20-minute silent practice period and for a couple minutes directly following the practice period to allow a transition time back to our ordinary awareness.
8:30 to 9:00 am – Contemplating the Thoughts of Awakening – A Daily Devotional Practice – With Rev. Michele Hojnacki and Sami Ross
This daily, year-long devotional program will be focusing on contemplating the Thoughts of Awakening. The group will meet every morning at 8:30 am ET for 30 minutes to share our insights from the previous day’s contemplation with our inner teacher. This Devotional program is hosted by Rev. Michele Hojnacki and Sami Ross.
The Thoughts of Awakening were given to Regina Dawn Akers in response to her prayer for help. In her book, Thoughts of Awakening, Regina wrote, “she found the contrast between profound spiritual devotion and her typical day-to-day state of mind unbearable”. The Thoughts of Awakening were given to help her from “falling back into the old state of mind after her morning devotional practice”. She says of the Thoughts of Awakening, “They are the thoughts that led her from suffering with a split mind to the experience of a highly consistent, happy way of being. Each of the 365 thoughts is intended for a full day’s contemplation. They are to be read and contemplated repeatedly throughout the day. If you read and contemplate each thought deeply for a full day, you’ll experience shifts towards true perception this year.”
The group’s aim is to support one another in a daily practice of inner listening using the Thoughts of Awakening. This group could benefit those new to inner contemplation or anyone wishing to enhance their practice.
We will contemplate a single Thought of Awakening daily with our inner teacher.
Following Regina’s recommendation, we’ll write it down and carry it with us for reflection throughout the day, as well as reflecting on and putting into practice the guidance received from our own inner teacher.
The book, Thoughts of Awakening by Regina Dawn Akers is available to purchase on Amazon: https://a.co/d/2ag15vy
Our invitation to join extends to all, even if attending the daily sessions is not possible.
Join Revs. Melody and Erica for our new Gentle Healing group for 2025! Whether you’re just starting your journey with us or continuing to deepen your practice, we have something special for you. Read on to discover more about our Year 1 class.
Consistent Gentle Healing Year 1: A Journey Begins
Join us for our newest Gentle Healing Year 1 group. This weekly session provides a space for sharing experiences and learning new practices, encouraging growth and inner peace that resonate in your daily life.
🗓️ WHEN: The first class was on Friday, January 3, 2025. Meetings are scheduled every Friday from 10 am – 12 pm ET (8-10 am MT).
🛐 WHERE: Participants will meet in the Sanctuary.
🧑🏫 FACILITATORS: This group will be led by Revs. Erica Joy West and Melody Brauninger.
The Gentle Healing Curriculum is designed to foster steady and gentle progress toward a life filled with peace, joy, and love. It’s an open invitation to anyone committed to their healing and awakening journey. Our Year 1 group will explore profound insights through daily workbook lessons from “A Course in Miracles,” “The Holy Spirit’s Interpretation of the New Testament (NTI),” Michael Singer’s “Untethered Soul,” Gina Lake’s “In the World but Not of It,” among other transformative teachings.
Interested in joining? Simply arrive in the Sanctuary every Friday at 10am ET. No prior registration is needed. Please note that participants are required to purchase their own copies of “A Course in Miracles” (Foundation for Inner Peace Edition) and “The Holy Spirit’s Interpretation of the New Testament (NTI).”
1:00 to 2:00 pm – DEBUT! I am the source – Hosted by Rev. Laura Joy Bedford
As we know and hear from the sages, we are limitless, infinite Light, powerful beyond measure. And, we are loved beyond measure. Yet, the infinite power and potential of limitless infinite Light…an unbelievably powerful power that we have access to…combined with amnesia (i.e., not fully noticing and realizing the Presence of our True Nature in all moments) makes for feelings and experiences that may not reflect the Truth of our Being.
Come explore in a deeply safe, loving space the pointing Jesus gives that I am the source of whatever experience is occurring within. During this hour, at whatever rate is appropriate for each of us, we gently invite ourselves to the realization that we are indeed the source of experience, and that this realization is infinitely good news, even if we still appear to suffer and resist this realization from time to time. Realization can occur in a nano-second by not judging ourselves, anyone else, the world, or the feeling(s) or experience. Rather, we welcome the realization that the feelings and experiences that appear to happen “to us” were actually in us first from an unremembered moment. Notably, we warmly embrace any resistance to realizing the accuracy of Jesus’s sharing this key information. As we open and let the Light in, the Love and Light we have invested in beliefs and hidden desires to feel the feelings…to experience beliefs about ourselves…(such as the belief it is possible to be a victim and, hence, to feel the feelings of “victim”) so that the energy…the inner light…can be released from the beliefs. Noticing the holding (resistance to Love’s Presence) is deeply helpful!…for instant release of the inner light or eventual release of the inner light. Forgiving is a huge part of this process, as we may not consciously realize how much we need to forgive ourselves, but if we see holding onto grievances happening, we immediately know that there is an unhealed belief about ourselves we are still holding onto, and we may have projected this belief outside our self to protect the egoic nugget within. This program is intended to further strengthen the recognition that our True nature is pure, infinite, loving radiance, and we never left our True Home: Infinite Love.
Using pointings from Jesus, The Way of Mastery and other books & materials, we support each other to enfold in love suffering/resistance energy that might arise in the course of our lives, including when we hear that we are the source of our feelings/experiences. We are never alone. We are always held in Immaculate Love.
CANCELLED today: 3:00 to 4:00 pm – Nisargadatta Maharaj: Contemplating “I Am That” – Facilitated Rev. Anne Blanchard
While the impetus for this program was born from the power and the clarity of the practice of the Minster Preparation Program curriculum, “The Teachings of Nisargadatta Maharaj” in which his pointings were contemplated, the desire is to share in this practice with all at Awakening Together regardless of any prior familiarity with the teachings of this Indian Master. So whether you have taken the MPP class or are brand new to these teachings, you are warmly invited to join in and see how Nisargadatta speaks to you.
The only thing that’s needed is an open heart, a little curiosity, and the aim to bathe and soak in the Truth coming through the teaching; to abide in the place Nisargadatta points to. On a practical level, this means we will read and contemplate the book I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj (by Maurice Frydman)”, which is available as a free PDF here: Click Here
You are also invited to choose and contemplate your own weekly reading assignment from the book. There will be space for sharing your contemplation during our time together.
“Between the banks of pain and pleasure the river of life flows. It is only when the mind refuses to flow with life and gets stuck at the banks, that it becomes a problem.” – Nisargadatta Maharaj. Come and step into the river of life with the teachings of I Am That as your guide. Come see for yourself where your river of life is flowing and where mind refuses to flow with life and gets stuck on the bank.
2:00 pm The Sanctuary is Closed
All times listed are Eastern Standard Time – See helpful links below.
Enter the Sanctuary or see the complete listing of speakers.
How to Enter the Sanctuary
