Most Mondays from 7-9pm
Quaker Meeting House
65 9th St (between Market & Mission)
San Francisco, CA 94103
map & driving directions
Upcoming Dates:
June 15, 22, 29
July 13, 20, 27
August 10, 17, 24, 31
September 14, 21, 28
October 5, 19, 26
November 2, 16, 23, 30
Fall 2009 Retreat: November 5—8
New: Visit Jon's Blog
 
 
 
Special Events
 
One Day Intensive:
Living in the Unknown
Sunday, July 12 from 10am—5pm
As we persist on the spiritual path, we come eventually to a place where beliefs and concepts fall away; where being is no longer about thinking, no longer about identifying with a state or a particular understanding. But what does it mean to live, authentically, from that place of not knowing? Join Jon for a daylong exploration of the ways embracing the unknown can transform how we move in the world. This event will be held at a private home in the East Bay. To register, email us at SanFranSatsang@aol.com.
East Bay Satsang
On Sunday, July 19 from 7—9pm, Jon will offer satsang as a guest of the
East Bay Open Circle. This event will be held at the Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists at 924 Cedar Street in Berkeley.
Sea Ranch/Gualala Weekend Intensive
 Friday, August 14 from 7—9pm
Saturday, August 15 from 10am—5pm
Join Jon for a special two-day event in Mendocino County. To register, or for more information, please contact Katie at katie@athertonassociates.net.
Santa Cruz Satsang
Throughout the Summer and early Fall, Jon will offer satsang at the
Pacific Cultural Center at 1307 Seabright Avenue in Santa Cruz on the fourth Saturday of each month. These events will be held in the Studio behind the
main building.
Time: 11am—1pm
Dates: June 27
July 25
August 22
September 26
 
 
 
  Silent Sitting & Dialogue
 
Our evening together begins with 30 - 40 minutes of silent sitting. About this, Jon says: "During sitting, I invite you simply to feel exactly what you’re feeling, to sense exactly what you’re sensing, right now - and then drop the “I” that’s perceiving it. Simply be that awareness. Whatever is present right now, even if it’s something painful - that is the doorway. And that doorway will open by itself. Ego can try to open it, but ego, even in the act of trying to be open, is actually holding on.
 
 
So by being in the body or relaxing, maybe feeling the breath or resting your feet on the ground, you can simply allow what is without looking for what isn’t; without looking for the experience of so-called awakening. Because awakening is fundamentally what we are, it can’t be achieved or even found. It can only reveal itself.
It is also important to drop any attempt to control and manipulate your experience, particularly your thinking. Generally if you attempt to stop thinking, that’s just going to be a struggle, a holding on, that creates more contraction. Fortunately, you don’t have to stop the thinking; just let the thinking think. The mental realm just does what it does; let it. But instead of putting your energy and attention into thinking, just gently redirect your attention into sensing, breathing, resting.
 
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  Thoughts will still arise, but you just don’t get involved in them. Just as importantly, you also don’t try to push them away. Any attempt at manipulation is a kind of control, and that’s what obscures the truth, always. And when your energy is no longer going into the thinking mind, it will gradually quiet by itself. As Jean Klein often said, "the mind eventually gives up."  
 

Following the sitting, there is dialogue. "Sometimes you need a little help to welcome what is. So we have dialogue. We have the dialogue of presence, which can help you stay available to what you may not want to be available for, or may not even be conscious of, in this moment. In satsang we have the opportunity to look at what is, what’s present, what’s coming up. Not because we want to figure it out, but simply because it is what’s coming up.

  
  Flower   Our dialogue is not an intellectual pursuit. Dialogue here is a vehicle for letting go into our true nature; that’s its only purpose. It’s not an attempt to construct a system of thought or belief - opening to our true nature deconstructs belief. And if you’re still struggling or holding on to something, that’s fine, we can still have a dialogue. Wherever you are is fine - it’s the only place you can be! That may seem rather simple, but actually, if you really get that, it may be the only thing you need to get.  
  What we’re doing here is becoming completely exposed. I welcome you to become completely exposed in this moment."