Calendar

Apr
23
Thu
2020
The Light of the World: A Retreat in Arizona with Eckhart Tolle and Kim Eng @ Arizona Biltmore Hotel
Apr 23 – Apr 26 all-day

The Light of the World

A Retreat in Arizona with Eckhart Tolle and Kim Eng

April 23–26, 2020

Arizona Biltmore

Register today! This event will sell out!          Register Now

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Eckhart Tolle teaches a simple but profound truth: you are not separate and are never alone. Just as a sunbeam is an emanation of the sun, you and everyone you know come from the same basic source—and are still connected at the deepest level.

In this spirit, we are pleased to host The Light of the World: A Retreat in Arizona with Eckhart Tolle and Kim Eng. In April of 2020, you can join Eckhart and Kim at the historic Arizona Biltmore Hotel for four days of personal and spiritual exploration.

 

Eckhart TolleKim Eng

You Are the Light of the World

Set against the dramatic backdrop of the Sonoran Desert, this retreat will dive deep into questions about the origin of consciousness, humanity’s ongoing evolution, the tendencies of the ego, and your true, timeless nature. Eckhart and Kim will guide you through inquiry, meditation, guided movement, piercing insights, and much more—all in the comfort of one of Arizona’s most storied resorts.

When we meet to share the search for meaning, we take another step closer to embodying our inherent interconnectedness. During The Light of the World, you’ll not only receive live instruction from two of the world’s premier spiritual teachers, but also enjoy the rare opportunity to explore the spaciousness of the present moment with fellow seekers.

“There’s no place where you say, ‘Here’s the sun and here’s the ray.’ They merge. Here’s the sun, and then it becomes the rays of the sun. And in the same way, consciousness emanates from the source of all life and then manifests as beings.”  Eckart Tolle

Highlights

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    Inspiring daily talks with Eckhart Tolle

  • movement practice icon

    Presence Through Movement practice and talks with Kim Eng

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    Group meditation and practical question-and-answer sessions with Eckhart and Kim

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    Opportunities to explore the startling beauty of the Sonoran Desert and its pristine night skies

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    Ample time for both solitude and community engagement within the beautiful grounds of the Biltmore

    Arizona Biltmore Resort

    Since 1929, the Arizona Biltmore has been a stand-out destination, creating unforgettable memories. Over the years, the 39 acres of gardens, swimming pools, and iconic architecture have provided a safe haven for celebrities, diplomats, and presidents, and a luxurious resort for guests from all walks of life.

    The resort has been an Arizona landmark since its opening and is one of the only existing luxury hotels in the world with a Frank Lloyd Wright influence. The Biltmore was designed by Albert Chase McArthur, a Harvard graduate who had studied under Wright. The Arizona Biltmore, located at the base of the Phoenix Mountain Reserve, is a timeless treasure in itself as well as a base to explore the beauty of the Sonoran Desert. The beautiful and magical red sandstone formations of Sedona are a short two-hour drive away.

    We have reserved a large block of rooms at a special group rate for retreat participants. The nightly rate of $359 for a single occupancy room or $419 for a double occupancy room includes a daily private group lunch for retreat participants.

    Rooms will sell out! Please book your lodging as soon as possible.

    Lodging costs are paid separately to The Arizona Biltmore and are not included in your retreat tuition. A special group lodging rate will be available until March 23, 2020 or until rooms are sold out, whichever comes first. Reservations require a one-night deposit. After March 23, 2020, any unsold rooms can be booked at the current hotel rates based on availability. Please be sure to review the room cancellation penalties at the time of booking.

    For hotel booking inquiries with specific requests, or to book days before and after the retreat, please call the Arizona Biltmore at 602.955.6600.

    For those who would like to find a roommate, please visit the Meetup forum.

    Dining

    A daily group lunch will be served in a private dining room for The Light of the World retreat participants beginning on Friday, April 24 and ending with lunch on Sunday, April 26. Gluten-free and vegetarian options will be offered.

    For breakfast and dinner, guests are encouraged to dine at one of several restaurants and casual cafes at the Arizona Biltmore: Frank & Albert’s (casual dining, open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner), Wright’s (fine dining, only open for dinner), and the Wright Bar (contemporary American fare). Also available: poolside service at the Cabana Club, grab-and-go items at the Café, and 24-hour in-room dining.

    Travel

    Nearest Airport

    Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (8 miles)

    Airport Shuttles

    There are many transportation options available upon arrival at Phoenix Sky Harbour International Airport, including airport shuttles, taxis, private car service, and car rentals. Driving time is approximately 15 minutes.

    Transportation Options

    Parking

    Parking at the Arizona Biltmore is available for an additional cost.

     

    Schedule

    Opening Day: Thursday, April 23

    3:00–7:00 pm
    Retreat registration
    7:00 pm
    Doors open
    7:30 pm
    Eckhart Tolle opening talk

    Closing Day: Sunday, April 26

    9:30 am
    Doors open
    10:00 am
    Eckhart Tolle closing talk

    Full retreat schedule to be announced at a later date.

    Morning sessions on Friday and Saturday will be Kim Eng’s Presence Through Movement workshop. You will have the opportunity to choose which day you would prefer to attend. Afternoon and evening sessions will be talks, meditations, and Q&A sessions with Eckhart and Kim.

     

    This event will sell out!
    $1,197 USD

    Registration fee covers tuition only. Lodging, which includes a private daily group lunch, is paid separately through the Arizona Biltmore.

    For more information contact support@soundstrue.com
    or call 800.333.9185

May
21
Thu
2020
People’s Hub Workshops: Getting Through Economic Downturns Together @ Online
May 21 @ 1:00 pm – Jun 11 @ 1:00 pm

TODAY.

Where have we been?

Where are we going?

What might be possible together? 

https://peopleshub.org/project/getting-through-economic-downturns-together-workshops-and-circle/

https://www.facebook.com/PeoplesHub-1695905997109684/

The Circle may be over but the workshops are coming up! 

It’s time to sign up!!

This has been a time of organizing. We are moving from our deep roots in community to challenge the status quo. We are building systems that work for our people. We are imagining a different way. 
 

It has been a time of reckoning. 

Covid-19 has magnified the disparities and injustices of our world. Specifically, the ways that Black, Indigenous, People of Color, chronically ill and disabled people experience higher levels of violence, housing insecurity, and job discrimination. We continue to lose people to white supremacy: 

Nina Pop

Breonna Taylor

Ahmaud Arbey

There is a missing and murdered indigenous women’s epidemic. 

Capitalism and white supremacy will attempt to make us forget this time and return to a disconnection from each other and the earth. 

We cannot and will not return to a normal that devalues people and planet. 

“We can impose beauty on our future.”
–Lorraine Hansberry 

Instead, let’s make a promise, a commitment to honor community. For those of us with privileges it’s a time to risk comfort,  #share your check.

Together, we can be a part of community-based solutions, be a part of the radical imagination. As Lorraine Hansberry stated, we can impose beauty on our future.

Join us for a deepened understanding of economic downturns and solidarity economy. What we do now matters. 

May
28
Thu
2020
WECAN presents their upcoming webinar, “Structuring an Economy for People and Planet in the Time of Climate Crisis and COVID-19” @ Online - Zoom
May 28 @ 2:00 pm

Please be invited to join the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) on Thursday, May 28 for our upcoming webinar, “Structuring an Economy for People and Planet in the Time of Climate Crisis and COVID-19”. During this dynamic dialogue women and feminists from different regions of the world will unite to discuss alternative economies that counteract extractive economic systems, colonization, racism, and patriarchy— and instead visibilize women’s labor, center Indigenous knowledge, and prioritize people and planet. There could not be a more important time to ensure we do not go back to business as usual.
As unemployment severely rises, food and housing are under further threat, oil prices plummet, and some governments insist on bailing out the fossil fuel sector and other destructive industries instead of people and nature— the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the already existing severe cracks in our global economic system. What is needed now is investment in economies founded on principles of justice, reciprocity, and regeneration. Learn more about this vital interactive discussion and how to participate down below!

Structuring an Economy for People and Planet

In the Time of Climate Crisis and COVID-19

Thursday, May 28, 2020

11:00 am PST/ 2:00 pm EST USA time

Please check your own time zone to coordinate!

Registration is required – register at this link


Rooted in neo-liberal capitalism, the current economic system is set to continue to rapaciously extract resources from the Earth and drive the dual crises of climate chaos and pandemics, while exploiting the labor of people worldwide to line the pockets of wealthy CEOs, fossil fuel companies and other large corporations. As we see disaster capitalism play out in real time, we must dismantle the current system and call for a regenerative, rights-based economy that prioritizes communities and nature.
An integral part of the fight for climate justice is rejecting false market-driven “solutions.” This includes the effort to expose and dismantle the roots of the extractivist economy that is inextricably intertwined with the patriarchal system that has been exploiting women and the environment for centuries. Women are on the frontlines of the climate crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, making up 70% of healthcare workers worldwide and the majority of unpaid care workers who bear the brunt of a broken economic system.
We are calling for a transition from a colonial paradigm of “exploit and extract” to a regenerative, globally-conscious one of “respect and restore.” What is needed now is an investment in alternative economic models predicated on community-led solutions, Indigenous knowledge, and ancient concepts of reciprocity with the Earth and all living beings. Already there are Indigenous economies to learn from and an emergence of socially just, place-based, caring economic models that are structuring a path forward.
Speakers include: Melina Laboucan-Massimo (Lubicon Cree First Nation), Programs Director, Indigenous Climate Action; Ruth Nyambura, Kenyan Activist with African Ecofeminist Collective; Cindy Wiesner, Executive Director, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance; Ellen Brown, Attorney and Founder of the Public Banking Institute; Rauna Kuokkanen (Sápmi) Research Professor of Arctic Indigenous Studies at the University of Lapland, Finland; and comments and moderation by Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN).

This webinar is part of WECAN’s Advocacy and Solutions Series: A Just and Healthy World is Possible, an ongoing dialogue series lifting up women’s leadership as we continue to collectively build a powerful movement founded on principles of justice, love, and a fierce dedication to our planet and each other.


REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED, please register here:
To ensure the security of our participants and speakers we ask that you register for the webinar via Zoom, which we encourage so that you may participate in the conversation and ask questions and make comments. If you do not want to register, you are welcome to join us on Facebook, where we will be streaming the event live.
If you need support registering or have any questions, be welcome to reach out to katherine@wecaninternational.org.
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Melina Laboucan-Massimo, Lubicon Cree First Nation
Programs Director, Indigenous Climate Action
Canada, Turtle Island

Melina Laboucan-Massimo is Lubicon Cree from Northern Alberta, Canada. She is the founder of Sacred Earth Solar and the Campaign Director at Indigenous Climate Action. She has worked on social, environmental and climate justice issues for over 15 years. Melina has worked, studied and campaigned in Brazil, Australia, Mexico, Canada and across Europe focusing on resource extraction, climate change impacts, media literacy, energy literacy and Indigenous rights & responsibilities.

Melina is the host of a new TV series called Power to the People which documents renewable energy, food security and eco-housing in Indigenous communities across North America. She is also a Fellow at the David Suzuki Foundation with a focus on Climate Change, Indigenous Knowledge and Renewable Energy. Facing the firsthand impacts of the Alberta tar sands in her home community, Melina has been a vocal advocate for Indigenous rights and environmental justice. For over a decade, Melina worked as a Climate and Energy Campaigner with Greenpeace Canada and the Indigenous Environmental Network. She has written for a variety of publications and produced short documentaries on the tar sands, climate change, water issues and Indigenous cultural revitalization.

Ruth Nyambura
Kenyan Activist with African Ecofeminist Collective, Kenya
Ruth Nyambura is a Kenyan eco-feminist and researcher working on the intersections of ecological justice in Africa. Her work and activism uses a feminist political ecology lens to critically engage with the continent’s and global food systems; challenging neoliberal models of agrarian transformation and amplifying the revolutionary work of small-holder farmers of Africa (most of them women), as well as rural agrarian movements offering concrete anti-capitalist alternatives to the ecological, economic and democratic crisis facing the continent.

Cindy Wiesner
Executive Director, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, USA
Cindy Wiesner, a 25-year veteran of the social justice movement in the U.S. and internationally, is the executive director of the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance. She’s been active in many movement building initiatives, including Climate Justice Alliance, World March of Women, Social Movement Assemblies, International Council of the World Social Forum, Fight Against the FTAA, UNITY, Building Equity and Alignment Initiative and, currently, It Takes Roots and the Rising Majority, Green New Deal National Network and People’s Bailout. Her main passions are training organizers in a transformative radical organizing model and building counter-hegemonic campaigns that not only fight what participants are against, but put into practice what they want to see manifested. She identifies as a lesbian and is of Salvadoran, Colombian and German descent. She is a grassroots feminist, internationalist, and movement strategist.

Rauna Kuokkanen, Sápmi
Research Professor of Arctic Indigenous Studies,
the University of Lapland, Finland
Rauna Kuokkanen is Research Professor of Arctic Indigenous Studies at the University of Lapland, Finland. Prior to that, she was Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science and Indigenous Studies Program at the University of Toronto (2008-2018). Her main areas of research include comparative Indigenous politics, Indigenous feminist theory, Indigenous women’s rights and Arctic Indigenous governance and legal and political traditions.
Professor Kuokkanen’s new book Restructuring Relations: Indigenous Self-Determination, Governance and Gender, forthcoming by Oxford University Press in 2018, is an Indigenous feminist investigation of the theory and practice of Indigenous self-determination, governance and gender regimes in Indigenous political institutions. She was the founding chair of the Sámi Youth Organization in Finland and has served as the Vice-President of the Sámi Council. She has also long worked and advocated for the protection of Sámi sacred sites, particularly Suttesája, a sacred Sámi spring in Northern Finland. Professor Kuokkanen was recently appointed as the Chair of the Arctic Program Committee of NordForsk. She is from Ohcejohka/Utsjoki, Sápmi (Finland).

Ellen Brown
Attorney and Founder of the Public Banking Institute, USA
Ellen Brown is the founder of the Public Banking Institute and the author of a dozen books and hundreds of articles. She developed her research skills as an attorney practicing civil litigation in Los Angeles. In the best-selling Web of Debt (2007, 2012), she turned those skills to an analysis of the Federal Reserve and “the money trust,” showing how this private cartel has usurped the power to create money from the people themselves and how we the people can get it back.
Ellen ran for California State Treasurer in 2014 with the endorsement of the Green Party garnering a record number of votes for a Green Party candidate. Learn more about Ellen Brown at http://EllenBrown.com.

Osprey Orielle Lake
Executive Director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), USA
Osprey Orielle Lake is the Founder and Executive Director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International dedicated to accelerating a global women’s climate justice movement. She works nationally and internationally with grassroots and Indigenous leaders, policy-makers and scientists to promote climate justice, resilient communities, and a just transition to a decentralized, democratized energy future.
Osprey serves on the Executive Committee for the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature and Osprey is the Co-Director of the Indigenous Women’s Divestment Delegations, and actively leads WECAN’s advocacy, policy and campaign work in areas such as Women for Forests, Divestment and New Economy, Indigenous Rights, a Feminist Agenda for a Green New Deal, and UN Forums. Osprey is the author of the award-winning book,”Uprisings for the Earth: Reconnecting Culture with Nature.”
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For the Earth and All Generations,
Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network
(WECAN) International Team

20,000 Masks Have Been Delivered to Indigenous Communities in the U.S.

WECAN is honored to announce that the first round of 20,000 face masks have been delivered to Indigenous communities throughout the United States through the Protect the Peoples Emergency (PPE) partnership fund with Movement Rights, Indigenous Environmental Network, T.E.J.A.S, Eaton, and other organizations.
As reported by one of our partners, Sebi Medina-Tayak of Eaton, “We have shipped most of the masks out to Navajo, Ponca, Apache, Oglala, Hopi, Piscataway and Houma clinics and organizations in this first round.”
Please learn more about the fund here: https://protectthepeoples.org/
WECAN International | 20 Sunnyside Avenue, #A-438, Mill Valley, CA 94941

Jun
4
Thu
2020
Grandmother Bernadette – SUMMIT OF THE ROSE @ online
Jun 4 – Jun 7 all-day

 

SAVE THE DATE!

SUMMIT OF THE ROSE
June 4 -7, 2020

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Our mailing address is:

International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers

P.O. BOX 27933

Tucson, AZ 85726

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The International Council of the Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers

invites you to save the date for a

four-day online retreat and ceremonial gathering.

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The Summit of the Rose asks the questions: How can we be more fully in love with life? Are we living the call of our heart? What is feeding our lives, and our priorities? Perhaps it is the time to reevaluate. Holy times are upon us. Our great Mother is speaking. To enter into the heart of the rose where she resides. Asking all to re-connect and honor the natural rhythms of life and cycles of our humanness. To go deep with Her as She builds the bridge between the states of life called birth and death. What is calling to be transformed? What is calling to be rebirthed? There is an almighty power ready to be released within the heart of every human being. It’s purpose – the awakening of the soul. A work of great love and compassion. The healing of every human being is the healing of our Great Mother – it is the healing of all Her creatures – and we as part of Creation. Each human being is a mother, being prepared to die and give birth to oneself in the same life.

We hope you will join us in prayer, contemplating the deep mystical journey of living and dying.

Confirmed Grandmothers:

  • Grandmother Aama
  • Grandmother Bernadette
  • Grandmother Clara
  • Grandmother Flordemayo
  • Grandmother Mona
  • Grandmother/Unci Rita

Registration will open soon!  To be the first to know, email us at rose@grandmotherswisdom.org

Message from Omyene Grandmother Bernadette Rebienot, Owansango:

The period we are going through, like every ordeal that life brings us to endure, invites us to question our way of living and to see things in a new light. What message is hidden behind everything that happens to us?

Today, most of the world’s population is confined and Nature can reclaim her rights. In this regard, a break in human activity is more than welcome. Pollution is declining, animal species are repopulating. The whole world is at rest. What could be more natural after so many years of excess?

The real question to ask ourselves is how did we get here, reaching such a level of imbalance without any respect for natural laws, without harmony or restraint?  Never in human history have we reached such levels.

We were all surprised by this crisis, generating doubt among some, acceptance among others. Everyone analyzes it in their own way. Can’t we see in it a form of natural justice which comes to impose itself and enlighten us on our condition?

This virus affects the entire population, no one is spared. Isn’t this a sign that nothing separates us, whatever our origin or our social rank? It is up to us to realize that the future of the human being is written together. We all come from diverse communities, with values ​​and traditions that define our reality and determine where we recognize ourselves as an individual, but this richness must be lived with an opening towards our neighbor, whoever it may be.

Again, justice is expressed. It is social but also spiritual, because it shatters the illusion of separation in which we live. It shows us that humanity is One being and its survival depends on this achievement.

It is precisely this call that we, the Grandmothers of the whole world, must heed. If we are among those most at risk, it may be because we have a crucial role to play. It is we who transmit knowledge to new generations, remembering where we come from and who we are.
It’s time to get back to basics. Through prayer and the invocation of our ancestors, it is up to us to hear this global warning properly, and to share the message with as many people as possible.

Human beings are endowed with intelligence but, despite their desire to dominate nature, the latter will always triumph.

Let us remember that the central element is Life. It’s up to us to keep the flame alive.

Grandmother Bernadette
International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers

Grandmothers Wisdom: Reverence for All Creation 

is a ground-breaking portrayal of traditional spiritual women

and an inspiration for all.

The stories are ageless wisdom of earth-based cultures that can benefit all people in today’s climate of disconnection, preparing and opening pathways

for the future generations.

 

Grandmothers Wisdom is a call to action, revitalizing our connection

to what is sacred. 

 

Aug
7
Fri
2020
The Interfaith Leadership Institute – for Students and Educators – 2020
Aug 7 – Aug 9 all-day

Interested in joining us in 2020? Fill out our early interest form and be the first to know when registration opens and save $50 off your registration.  We’ll make sure you’re the first to know when registration opens for our August 7-9, 2020 ILI in Chicago. Bonus: you’ll receive $50 off when you register!

See the ILI in action

The Interfaith Leadership Institute (ILI) is the largest gathering of students and educators with a commitment to American religious pluralism. Each year, hundreds of people who care about the future of our religiously diverse society converge in Chicago to learn, train, share, and get inspired to bring the movement for interfaith cooperation back to their campuses and communities.  Over the course of three days, participants learn to bridge divides and forge friendships across lines of religious and worldview differences. Come to the ILI with the passion to bring people together and leave equipped with the knowledge and skills to make it happen.

Interested in joining us in 2020? Fill out our early interest form and be the first to know when registration opens and save $50 off your registration.

 

Training Tracks

Introductory and advanced training tracks are designed to support those new to this work by laying the foundation for interfaith leadership, and providing advanced skills in topics ranging from strategic planning to navigating tricky challenges and more.

Plenary Sessions

Plenary sessions will feature conversation with experienced leaders and their stories of engaging religious difference and disagreement in American life. During the Unconference, attendees will have the power to guide these conversations by choosing discussion topics and important questions at the beginning of the gathering.

Discounts & Scholarships

As we do not want cost to be a hindrance to engaging with interfaith leadership, we have a number of discounts, as well as registration scholarships available.

Interfaith Youth Core
141 W. Jackson Blvd, Suite 3200, Chicago, IL 60604
Phone: (312) 573-8825
Email: info@ifyc.org