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LGBTQ+ Satsang: Summer of Love
August 13, 2023 @ 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm PDT
On the second Sundays through the summer, join the LGBTQ+ Satsang for hour-long sessions focused on contemplation, meditation, slowing down, and lightening up.
“When my mind gave up, my heart opened.” – Ram Dass
As we enjoy the delights of summer with early sun rises, time with friends, long evenings, and beautiful sunsets, we are reminded by nature to be light, to carry ourselves gently, to revel in the sun and enjoy the abundance of nature. Through the summer, we remember that the spiritual journey does not have to be a heavy trip, for every dark night of the soul, we can have long days of the soul too.
“A lot of the gurus had a certain kind of playfulness about them, because they saw through the veil, and they saw that everybody was caught in it, and they felt compassion for it. But at the same moment, it all seems so sweet. So sweet.” – Ram Dass
Join us to celebrate our existence and spiritual journey in our blessed Satsang.
For those who identify as LGBTQ+.
LGBTQ+ Satsang Mission Statement
The LGBTQ+ Ram Dass Satsang’s mission is to cultivate loving awareness and heart connections in a community of kindred souls. We celebrate our unity in the full spectrum of gender and sexuality in and from a space of supportive openness.
GOALS:
- Create a refuge of satsang for LGBTQ+ individuals through the teachings of Maharaj-ji and Ram Dass
- Promote inclusive transcendence and self-acceptance of our human incarnation as members of the LGBTQ+ community
- Explore the intersection of seva/service & the spectrum of gender and sexuality
- Hold a space for exploring being LGBTQ+ from the perspective of consciousness
- Have a place to have a voice and be a valued part of the community
- Remove barriers from LGBTQ+ identities within the spiritual world
- Help to generate a shift within the collective consciousness through awakening
To register, sign up for the Ram Dass Fellowship, and check “LGBTQIA Fellowship” under the Fellowship Group Options. You will be added to the mailing list and will receive monthly invitations to events.
Let me begin by stating that Ram Dass is my dearest spiritual teacher and one (who along with Neem Karoli Baba) I pray to every day. I also wish to say that on the whole I think the foundation is doing a wonderful job keeping alive his beautiful legacy. However, In my humble opinion, I don’t think Ram Dass(were he still in his physical body) would approve of using his name to promote “affinity groups” or any other social justice initiative that creates duality of any kind. RD was of course devoted to those people from marginalized groups and he himself was bi-sexual. But he would not have promoted the idea of affinity groups for they create something of an “us” and “them” mindset. Affinity groups divide people into genders, races, sexual orientations etc. RD taught that all of that was just our spacesuits for this incarnation. He was unwavering in his support of non-dual oneness and seeing past all our external identities to our souls. Again, just my humble thoughts. Namaste-Forrest Rivers
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HI Forrest Rivers,
Thank you for your response and your care around preserving Ram Dass’ vision. I encourage you to listen to this lecture by Ram Dass. https://beherenownetwork.com/ram-dass-here-and-now-bonus-episode-behind-the-clinging/ Here he talks directly into your concern. And the take home is, yes, we need to embrace unity consciousness/ the all one AND we STILL honor diversity. We don’t use the “all one” trip against other people’s experiences Our job is to do our work on ourselves. Thanks again for your care and feel free to reach out with any more questions.