The Science and Nonduality 2018 conference in San Jose, CA was once again a fascinating and unique experience. I had time to catch up with many friends, meet others I’ve only known on-line, and make new ones. I was less recognized this year, probably because I shaved the beard.
Gender was a major theme during the event. I caught up with Francis Bennett, a spiritual teacher who is transitioning from male to female. I also saw Zhen Dao, a remarkable gender-fluid person forging a unique gender identity. Both were on the Divine Feminine panel discussion and touched on modern issues, including some I discussed in the Unbalanced Masculine. Zhen, a martial artist, shared the story of surrendering to the feminine when confronted by potential male violence. This despite their martial abilities.
Another theme was The Association of Professional Spiritual Teachers (now ASI). This is a new organization for ethical standards and support for modern spiritual teachers. I attended the recording of the founders introducing it plus their panel discussion at SAND. The panel included Rick Archer, Jac O’Keeffe, Craig Holliday, and Caverly Morgan. All have had BATGAP interviews. I’ll be writing more on the topic shortly.
Vaidhi and Anoo Nathan were generous hosts for Rick Archer and my second BATGAP interview, the APST founders discussion, and interviews with Sean Webb and Thomas Hubl. I hope to have pictures from those events soon. Rick is interviewing my SAND roommate Ishtar Ishaya while they’re in Sedona. My other expected roommate David Thomas brought his brother Terry and ended up staying with friends. He too is a BATGAPer.
As last year, meetings in the halls were sometimes profound. Like watching Jac O’Keeffe break through someones mind constructs. Comedienne Sarah Taylor was a warm presence and Kimberly Braun a happiness dynamo. Conversations at meals could be excellent too, like breakfast with Sufi Kabir Helminski.
Also typically, some of the best talks were in the smallest rooms. We helped each other record our talks. Deep thanks to Kristin Kirk for recording mine (coming soon).
Rick was interviewed for a podcast on Radiant Love Now in our bedroom just before leaving the conference. That led to a second one with myself. More on that later too.
Davidya
Last Updated on March 5, 2019 by Davidya
Awesome stuff 🙂 SAND is such a cool conference, all these teachers coming together under one roof. The energy there must be remarkable.
Hi Joseph
It is remarkable but mixed. The energy of nearby Silicon Valley is very intense. At the conference, a lot of confused seekers, saturated by the divergent approaches. Most people have to take regular breaks.
But at the same time, it’s a wonderful chance to connect with people I’d not otherwise have met. And make a few choice discoveries.
The place is also expensive – $50US for a buffet meal? Thus I go when it makes financial sense. This year, a generous donor comped my room. But this happened late in the game so I was late submitting my talk proposal, leaving me with a short speaking time. But other stuff is spinning off the conference too.
The SAND talk is posted now:
https://davidya.ca/2018/11/03/the-faces-of-reality-talk-sand18/
The mentioned podcast dropped into the void. Unfortunate as what flowed out was potent. However, I am scheduled for a different podcast on Dec 11. More news will follow.
Are you in contact with the person who recorded it? If they can’t/won’t publish it perhaps they could send you the recording and you could post it on your own YouTube channel (or some other hosting platform)
I’ve tried to but they’ve not responded. Had a friend in their town contact them as well. 0 response. They were a “relief pitcher” and may not have followed the right format or some such thing. But you’d think they’d at least get back to me. Then I could arrange such. But people can be odd when things don’t work the way they expected. Had something similar happen last year. Karma? (laughs)
Nice…and we’ve got the BATGAP interview to be posted a few days before that.
Too bad about the lost podcast. Have you considered creating your own personal talks and uploading them to your youtube channel? You could riff on any topic you want and not deal with an interviewer in the first place 🙂
Yes, about a week until the BAT interview…
And yes, I have experimented a little with podcasting. Currently, I plan to do a video talk thats not suitable for SAND. Have been trying some software and setups. But the process takes time, more so getting it rolling.
The BAT interview has been moved up to the 15th. Chain reaction from tucking in something else.
I’m still enjoying the wake of the wonderful experiences there 🙂
Yes, myself as well, Roomie (Rumi?). Of course, there’s also been my reading with you, an extra-potent Dorothy webinar, and more since.
And we both have the BATGAP interviews yet to come…
🙂
Had a chance to see the BatGap interview. Happily they were able to clean up the sound. That goes live this weekend. I’ll post an article with photos and lots of related links.
Just finished a podcast interview with Embodied Philosophy. I’ll post about the when it’s ready in a few weeks.
I am looking forward to it! I’ve never heard of Embodied Philosophy- sounds like it is up my alley.
Thanks, Ishtar. They said I was not a typical interviewee. They seem more about life approaches, practice and philosophy. I was probably a little more out there. (laughs)
They discovered me via SAND and attended last year.
This pic is just now being brought to my attention and I love seeing Ishtar’s smiling face in it. We both look like we ate the canary! Probably some bliss from so many wonderful connections there! It was a delight to meet you in person that year. I look forward to returning to SAND again. xo
Hi Sarah
Yes, it was wonderful to see the real thing and chat a few times. You have to have timeouts there to process it all. 🙂
I’ll be curious to see what evolves. SAND struggled a lot with breaking even, something true of most conferences. Their online events are more straightforward and less costly. But they massively reduce the speaking and networking options.
Hugs!