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          Anam Cara Meditation
           Nourishing meditators since 2001
  • Satsang Video
  • Program Changes - July-August
  • New Course - register now!
  • Sofia's Wisdom
  • Thurs Eve zoom meditation - 1st & 3rd Thurs - 9/1 next 
  • Links to our YouTube channel
  • Meditation Resources
  • Podcast Interviews: click
  • Donate
In this program from last year Lawrence discusses the means by which we come to live in a state of true freedom. The finite mind, bound by layers of identification with self, body, gender, roles, beliefs, groups, memories of the past and fantasies of the future, yearns for liberation, yearns to cast off its chains and live a life of true freedom. Yet all the mind imagines, no matter how grand, becomes another prison.

How is true freedom known? How do we escape the confines of the mind when it is the mind itself that confines our consciousness?

Our spiritual and religious traditions give us practices and disciplines to reign in the mind and begin the work of transformation. But in the end we can only directly and fully know our boundless, infinite nature through the power of knowing whose source is beyond the mind, whose source is the Infinite, the One, the Divine, Para-Atman, Buddha, Christ-consciousness...

Through that power of our inherent Consciousness, call it what you will - Buddha mind, bodhicitta, Holy Spirit, the Great Mother Prajnaparamita, or Kundalini - consciousness regains awareness of its eternal fullness once again, knowing its all-encompassing, all-embracing, all-loving nature, enveloping us as gracefully as space envelops our body.  Dissolving the ephemeral “me” in the infinite expanse of pure knowing, pure Consciousness, leads to the state of knowing one’s finite nature even while reveling in the state of radical freedom beyond all words and concepts.

The poet saint Kabir says, "all know the drop merges into the ocean, but few know that the ocean merges into the drop."


Lawrence Edwards, PhD offers private consultations to people around the world who are seeking to deepen their spiritual practices. To learn more about Lawrence please visit www.thesoulsjourney.com, which also has many free resources for people interested in spiritual development, meditation, Kundalini and the power of mantra.
PROGRAM CHANGES FOR JULY-AUGUST 2022
 
Satsangs for the remainder of July and August are cancelled.  Satsangs will resume on the first and third Thursdays of each month starting on September 1st. 

The new course, Listening To The Divine Within, is postponed to September 11th and it will run from 4-5:30pm each Sunday for 8 weeks. 

These changes are due to Lawrence having surgery to repair an old injury to his foot and ankle. 
Om Kali Ma!
Sofia's Gifts


The Great Mother Prajnaparamita

"Knowing the nature of emptiness nondualistically is liberation. Whether you call it emptiness, the absolute, or the dakini makes no difference. All are liberating."
-Ven. Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche

Pranjaparamita refers to wisdom or "penetrating insight" (prajna) that is perfected or has "gone beyond" (paramita), which means that it has transcended concept, expectation, or conventionality of any kind. The earliest of these sutras, the Ashtasahasrika, proclaimed Prajnaparamita to be the "mother of all the buddhas"...

Judith Simmer-Brown, pp.84-85

 
   
Little Mind

Little mind playing in its sandbox,
Mother calls,
Illusion shatters!


O My Beloved: Whisperings From The Divine
Heard By Kalidas
p. 113
© 2021 Lawrence Edwards, all rights reserved

New Course!

Listening To The Divine Within:
Readings & Contemplations From
O My Beloved: Whisperings From The Divine
Heard By Kalidas

Part 1: September 11th - October 30th
Sundays 4-5:30pm via Zoom
Preregistration Required
In this 8 week, 12 hour contemplative course we'll dive into the gifts of the Divine heard by Kalidas and offered in this collection O My Beloved.  This kind of sacred poetry invites us to enter the joyous, grace-filled world of our inner mystic, our inner knower of the Truth, where revelation and transformation naturally arise and the state of meditation is always fully present.  That state is the state of your highest nature.  Knowing that fully and living it into the world is the ultimate aim of all meditative and yogic practices.

This is Part 1 of what will be a two part course.  Part 2 will be offered in the fall.  As we saw in the contemplation course on Kali's Bazaar, which turned out to be Part 1 of that course, it takes time to settle into the contemplation and listen to what the poetry invokes in ourselves and each other. (Part 2 of Kali's Bazaar will also be offered in the fall.)  The deep sharing and communion that unfolded within the sessions led to tears of joy, profound new vistas and clearer ways of perceiving the living presence of the Divine, here, now, always.  That then informs our meditation practices and our everyday lives.

You are invited to participate in this new course.  You'll need to purchase either the print or ebook of O My Beloved. The sessions will be audio recorded and made available to everyone for 3 months after each session. Participants sign up for the whole course. The fee is $295 per person.  If a person can't afford that, then they can contact me at info@thesoulsjourney.com and we'll make sure that all who want to participate can.  Some people offer more for courses than required and that allows us to offer reductions for those who can't be as generous as they would like to be.  We're very grateful to those who are so generous and for the joy they share in anonymously giving support to others. We've had people donate money even when they themselves can't participate in the programs, just to support others.  By their grace and large heartedness Anam Cara Meditation offers all it can.

To register: email info@anamcara-ny.org and make your payment to Venmo @Lawrence-Edwards-3 or via
PayPal: https://paypal.me/drle  For other ways to make your offering for the course please email info@anamcara-ny.org.
If you have any questions please email them to info@anamcara-ny.org

I look forward to seeing you in the course!

 

Dear Friends,

Thank you all for your loving well-wishes and prayers as I heal from the recent surgery!  I look forward to being in your company again in September!

Our mission at Anam Cara is to make the highest meditation teachings and practices freely available to everyone and to support people in their ongoing meditation practices. We do this through free meditation programs on Thursday evenings twice a month via Zoom, courses and retreats, through our website, YouTube, and this e-newsletter.  We offer evening meditations twice per month on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays.  We're offering new courses in 2022. The one based on the book O My Beloved begins on Sept. 11th. More course will come!  Stay tuned! We'll be offering courses on the books Awakening Kundalini: The Path To Radical Freedom; Kali's Bazaar part 2; The Soul's Journey: Guidance From The Divine Within; and O My Beloved part 2!
 
You can subscribe to our YouTube channel for free and "like" the videos you enjoy!  Simply doing this helps to make our offerings more available to others.

The Thursday night meditation group (1st and 3rd Thurs each month) Zoom link with added security is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/665891390?pwd=RDBZSFBTd0dpNTZwQzFoKzVEUUtYdz09.

The next satsang will be on September 1st.

Please keep your audio and video off during the program, at the end we open it up to everyone.  This ensures the best quality recording for posting on YouTube. Meeting 665 891 390.  password: OmKaliMa. The program begins at 7:15pm NY time on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays.

May our practices empower us to be agents of wakefulness, love and compassion as we work to transform our world.

Meditation is key to our inner and outer transformation. Through meditation we directly experience our innate fullness, free of want or need.  In meditation we directly experience our unity with all - the illusion of "other" is dispelled. 

There is only One, the Divine, known by many different names, but always One. One all-embracing Divine, One all-embracing Love.  Tat Twam Asi!  Thou Art That!

We are grateful for the support of participants and donors whose generosity makes all this possible. Another change for 2022 is that we are no longer accepting donations for the non-profit Anam Cara, Inc.  We are in our 21st year of serving meditators and seekers around the world. I deeply appreciate the many ways people help us to fulfill our mission, including sharing this newsletter with others and telling people about our programs.  It's a privilege for me to serve the Anam Cara community.  I will continue to offer Anam Cara Meditation programs and courses.  If you would like to make a donation to me in support of what is offered you can do so via Venmo: @Lawrence-Edwards-3, or through PayPal at paypal.me/drle.  This type of donation isn't tax-deductible.  Please contact me, le@anamcara-ny.org, if you have any questions. 

With love and respect for all,

Lawrence Edwards, PhD - Founder & Director
Anam Cara Meditation
Thursday Evening Meditation Program
Twice a month: 1st & 3rd Thursday Evenings - resumes 9/1/22    
7:15-8:30pm Eastern time
Online Anam Cara Meditation
Everyone is welcome to our bimonthly Thursday evening virtual satsangs.  This is a recurring meeting for Thursday nights 2X/month starting at 7:15pm New York time. 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/665891390?pwd=RDBZSFBTd0dpNTZwQzFoKzVEUUtYdz09

Meeting ID: 665 891 390   Password: OmKaliMa

Download Chants & Mantras and the Heart Sutra HERE.
If you have any questions please email info@anamcara-ny.org.
 
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Meditation Resources:
  • Free written and guided meditation recordings from Anam Cara Meditation.  Click here.
  • Podcast interviews with Lawrence by Tami Simon, BATGAP, Wisdom Talks, click here.
  • Meditation, Mantra and Kundalini resources from Lawrence.  Click here.
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Anam Cara Meditation, P.O. Box 87, Bedford, NY 10506

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