Open Circle Center
Open Circle Center
Open Circle Events:

John Prendergast ~ ÒHow Do You Unenlighten Yourself?Ó ~ Bay Area Daylong Retreat

Our true nature is inherently open, wakeful, and loving; however, it is veiled by our conscious and subconscious identification with conditioning. In this daylong gathering, we will pointedly explore how our core limiting beliefs and their corresponding subtle somatic contractions sustain the sense of being a separate self. The day will include guided and silent meditation, meditative inquiry, a talk, and experiential conversations.

John Prendergast, Ph.DÊis a spiritual teacher, retired psychotherapist, and retired Adjunct Professor of Psychology at CIIS, well known for his pioneering work in integrating non-dual wisdom and psychotherapy. He studied with the European sage Jean Klein for many years, as well as with Adyashanti, who gave him dharma transmission in 2023. He is the author of The Deep Heart (2019), In Touch (2015), and a new book, Your Deepest Ground: A Guide to Embodied Spirituality (March, 2025) from Sounds True.

www.listeningfromsilence.com

YouTube channel

The meeting will be from 10:00am to Noon and 2:00pm to 4:30pm, with a break for lunch.

Please bring your own lunch, or feel free to go into town to one of the restaurants or to Good Earth Natural Foods.

Pre-registration required, as space is limited.

Registration closes at 5 pm on Sept. 20th

Suggested donation: $75

(Any amount acceptable. No one turned away for lack of funds.)

PRE-REGISTER HERE & PAY AT DOOR WHEN YOU ARRIVE.

(Cash or Check only)

This event is Co-sponsored by Open Circle & the Schwartz Family Trust.

All proceeds, above covering event costs, will go to the

Schwartz Family Trust to support Rob SchwartzÕs vision of retaining

his house and property to be available as an Open Circle retreat facility.

Event donations will go directly to the Schwartz Family Trust, rather than to Open Circle.

If you want to make larger donations for this project, you can do so at the event, or contact us

for more information on how to make larger donations (or loans, or otherwise support this project).

For inquiries contact LocalEvents@opencircle.net

Location:

The meeting will be held at a private home in the Fairfax hills, with views of Mount Tam and hiking trails.

Address and directions will be provided upon registration.

If you have symptoms of a respiritory infection, or have had a recent

Covid exposure or positive test, please stay home out of consideration for others.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Our online events are always recorded and the recording is sent to all registrants via email within a week, usually sooner. The recordings remain available for at least 1 year. We also occasionally record and/or livestream our in-person events. If that’s the case, you’ll find it noted on the given in-person event page.
It’s part of our core values to make our events as accessible as possible. If you are not able to pay within the sliding scale, we’d still like to make it possible for you to join by offering a partial scholarship. Please contact us on web@opencirclecenter.org to request a scholarship.
We offer our events by donation or sliding scale with scholarships available to make them as accessible as possible. We still however have many expenses to pay and therefore we ask that you contribute as much as you can comfortably afford for an event. Most of the funds are paid directly to the teacher. The remainder goes towards Open Circle’s expenses so that we can keep our platform in operation. Your generosity also helps cover any scholarships we offer to those unable to pay within the sliding scale.
For inquiries about
You’ll find an overview of the nature of our events, including the common types and formats, in our About Events page.
Most events consist of a guided or silent meditation, a talk by the teacher, and time for questions and sharing. There may be other practices such as somatic exercises, movement practice, dyads, etc. Each teacher chooses the format freely according to what they feel supports their message best, so formats may vary.
The recording email may have landed in the spam or promotional folder in your inbox. After confirming it’s not there, please contact our support team at web@opencirclecenter.org.
Most of our in-person events require advance booking. However we do offer some events where you can just show up. Please check the event page relating to your event. We will clearly state there if advanced booking is required. If in doubt, you can always email localevent@opencirclecenter.org to double check.
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