Mind and Supermind for Fall 2009
NOTE: THE FINAL EVENING OF THE FALL SERIES ON NOV. 16 WITH CHUNGLIANG AL HUANG AND DAVID DARLING WILL BE HELD AT THE GRANADA THEATER, 1214 State St. in downtown Santa Barbara.
Monday, Sept. 21 at the Lobero Theatre: Changing the World with the Dalai Lama, One Heart at a Time with Pico Iyer
Over the last 35 years, author and essayist Pico Iyer has known and traveled extensively with the Dalai Lama, who has long been one of the world's most widely recognized and universally revered spiritual leaders. A living embodiment of kindness, wisdom and practical peace-making, the Dalai Lama still prays daily even for the Chinese who are seemingly eradicating his homeland and its cultural and religious traditions. In this conversation with journalist Scott London, Pico Iyer offers a human, intimate, private look at the exiled leader, an inspiration who brings spiritual clarity to the world of politics, a rare sense of openness to the conversation between religions, and a down-to-earth, concrete, and non-sectarian message about our human potential and responsibilities. Pico Iyer is the author of The Open Road: The Global Journey of The Fourteenth Dalai Lama, as well as eight other books, including Video Night in Kathmandu, The Global Soul, and The Lady and The Monk.
Monday, Oct. 5 at the Lobero Theatre: The Great Birth with Andrew Harvey
Rising out of the great deaths that are facing our planet - whether of environmental, religious, social or economic systems - is the possibility of a great birth. Andrew Harvey, author, mystical scholar and poet extends an invitation to us to delve deeply into the core teachings of the major mystical paths of our religious traditions to find ancient practices that will empower us to participate in the transformation that will heal the planet and humanity. Harvey shows how ancient practices of gratitude, compassion, attention to heart and facing the shadow-within can lead to harnessing the energies of love. Harvey holds out great hope for humanity, that with deepening spiritual wisdom, humanity can live in a totally new way of relationship, human to human, and human to planetary. Andrew Harvey was born in India and studied at Oxford. He is the author of The Direct Path, Sun at Midnight, Son of Man, Teachings of Rumi and The Way of Passion.
Monday Nov. 16 at the Granada Theatre: The Tao of Poetic Imagination with Chungliang Al Huang and David Darling (NOTE CHANGE OF VENUE. THIS EVENT WILL BE HELD AT THE GRANADA THEATER.)
These two masters of the cello and Tai Ji celebrate the 'Tao of Poetic Imagination', blending ancient philosophical wisdom with the beatific visions and metaphors of Chinese Poetry, to inspiring music and 'Wu Wei' spontaneity. Chungliang will recite these timeless poems both in Chinese and in English translations, dancing with David Darling's virtuosic cello improvisations. The audience will be invited to share these deeply transcendental experiences. Chungliang Al Huang is the founder-president of the international Living Tao Foundation, and the director of the Lan Ting Institute in China and on the Oregon Coast. A philosopher, artist-calligrapher, and Tai Ji master-mentor, Huang combines his multi-cultural dimensions of learning to inspire the TAO of life-long self-cultivation. He is the author of the classic Embrace Tiger, Return to Mountain: The Essence of Tai Ji; Quantum Soup: Fortune Cookies in Crisis; Essential Tai-Ji Book; co-author with Alan Watts of Tao: the Watercourse Way; and with Dr. Jerry Lynch of Thinking Body, Dancing Mind; Tao Mentoring, The Way of the Champions; and soon, The Dancing Warrior Athletes. David Darling, the internationally acclaimed recording and performing artist, is a Grammy nominated composer/cellist, and founder/artistic director of Music for People, an organization dedicated to self-expression through music and improvisation. He was an original member of the Paul Winter Consort, and a frequent guest artist with Coleman Barks concert tour of Rumi Poetry. His many recordings include Cycles, 8-String Religion, Cello, Darkwood, The River; and most recently, Prayer for Compassion. David and Chungliang have been collaborating in concerts and teaching for nearly 3 decades. They are currently collaborating in a series of The Tao of Poetry recordings. This year's special concert celebrates twelve consecutive years of Chungliang Al Huang's Mind Supermind lecture-concerts, and a second collaboration with David Darling in Santa Barbara. REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT NOW.
REGISTRATION INFORMATION: Register online for one, two or all three of the presentations. If you register before the day of the event, please come to the "Check In" table the evening of the lecture, and you will be issued an admission ticket. If registering online the day of the event, please bring your receipt and you will be given an admission ticket. Remember that seating is on a first-come basis, so you may want to arrive early. Doors open at 7 p.m.
