2012 Infinity Foundation
Spirit Award Recipient

The question of how you can know what choices to make today and for your future remains at the heart of who you are. Today, much of the way you live your life, think about the world, and solve your problems is based in core beliefs of an outdated science. From Newton's view of the universe as a machine to Darwin's survival of the fittest, for nearly 300 years the ideas of science have formed the foundation of the modern world. It is during this same period of time that the world has found itself facing the greatest crises of war, suffering, and disease in recorded history.

In this compelling new work, bestselling author and visionary scientist Gregg Braden explores many of the hottest issues at the core of our great social divisions-seemingly separate issues such as abortion, suicide, right-to-die and the death penalty, war, terrorism, genocide, poverty, abuse, economic collapse, and nuclear proliferation-are actually related. They all stem from the false assumptions of science that have compromised core human values and have brought us to the brink of disaster resulting in the loss of all that we cherish as a civilization.
Deep truth reveals new discoveries that will forever change the way you think of yourself. Knowing who you are, where you are in the cycle of civilization and nature, and learning from the mistakes of past civilizations is the key to surviving the crises facing us today. The best science of this time, when it is married to the wisdom of the past, confirms that you still have ways to shift this time of crises into a time of emergence. You can be part of creating a new world based upon actionable and sustainable principles at the core understanding of your deepest truths.
Through a powerful synthesis of easy-to-understand science and the wisdom traditions of the past, explore the deep truths at the root of humankind's greatest threats. Make new discoveries that hold the key to life-affirming changes you can make in your personal life collectively in your family, community, and in the world. Be part of the wake-up call about ideas that now threaten our existence. Be a vehicle to spotlight the lifesaving discoveries that give meaning and hope for the new world that is emerging before your eyes.

Course 113154
Date Saturday, May 19
Time 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM, lunch included
Cost $120/110 payment 10 days in advance
Place Highland Park Country Club, FREE parking

Equanimity is a spacious stillness of mind that allows you to be with things as they simply are. It does not imply indifference, however. Rather, when equanimity is present, it is the ground out of which sustained transformation can occur. It is also the foundation for the boundless arising of other qualities of the mind and heart, such as lovingkindness, compassion, and sympathetic joy-joy in the happiness of others. The predominant tone of equanimity is one of calm. Be fully connected to whatever is happening around you. Fully connect to others without habitual reactions of careening toward what is pleasant and pulling away from what is unpleasant. Without equanimity, you might offer friendship only as long as your offering is acknowledged and appreciated, or as long as someone responds in kind. You would offer compassion to yourself only when you were not overcome by pain and compassion to others only when you were not overcome by their suffering. You would offer sympathetic joy only when you did not feel threatened or envious. Cultivate equanimity and your tremendous capacity to connect can blossom-for you do not have to push away or cling to anything that may happen.

Sometimes in teaching meditation we say, "Sit like a mountain. Sit with a sense of strength and dignity. Be steadfast, be majestic, be natural and at ease in awareness. No matter how many winds are blowing, no matter how many clouds are swirling, no matter how many lions are prowling, be intimate with everything and sit like a mountain." This is an image of equanimity. We feel everything, without exception, and we relate to it through our own strength of awareness, not through habitual reactions.

Equanimity's strength derives from a combination of understanding and trust. It is based on understanding that the conflict and frustration you feel when you can't control the world does not come from your inability to do so, but rather from the fact that you are trying to control the uncontrollable. You know better than to try to prevent the seasons from changing or the tide from coming in. Following autumn, winter comes. You may not prefer it, but you trust it because you understand and accept its rightful place in a larger cycle, the bigger picture. Apply the same wise balance to the cycles and tides of pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral experiences in your life through guided meditations, talks, and Q&A periods to explore the practice of equanimity. Go deep into the practice and find equanimity:

• Through mindfulness
• Alongside lovingkindness and compassion for yourself and others
• By reducing the stress of daily life
• In deep peace meditations

As you begin to understand and practice equanimity, you move from a mode of struggling to control what comes into your life a mode of simply wishing to truly connect with what is. This is a radical shift in worldview. Be part of it. This retreat is suitable for both new and experienced meditators.

Ram Dass, bestselling author of Be Here Now and many other books, will join Sharon Salbzerg via live streaming, health permitting, on Saturday night for an interactive dialogue.

Course 123146
Date Saturday, June 23 and Sunday, June 24
Time 10:00 AM - 4:30 PM, Sat. night optional Q & A 7:00 - 900 PM
Cost $300/275 by May 23
Place Techny Towers, 2001 Waukegan Rd., near Northbrook, IL

Each day offers miracles. You do not have to spend 20 years on a mountaintop in Tibet to become enlightened. It is in the everyday experiences and how you interpret them that lead you to be spiritually awake.

Join Gary Renard, world acclaimed teacher of A Course in Miracles (ACIM), and bestselling author of The Disappearance of the Universe and Your Immortal Reality, in a practical application using the Manual for Teachers in A Course In Miracles to open you up to look at everything differently. Through guided meditations, interactive exercises, along with question and answer sessions, take the opportunity to apply the ACIM concepts and make them real. Take specific aspects of your life experience and transform them with new perceptions. Through group discussion and working with partners, heal perceptions you have held as you enter into the spiritual realm of understanding. Deepen different levels of relationships as you relate differently to those around you. Determine the choice of changing your perceptions and how you view and interpret your life. Be prepared for the loving actions to move you out of stuck places into grace.

Enter into the new cycle of life along with the new cycle that 2012 is bringing. Practice true forgiveness and apply it in your everyday life with yourself and others. Discern the voice of your ego as it opens to the voice of the Holy Spirit. By using the teachings from ACIM your life becomes joyful, filled with grace, and steadfast.

Course 123147
Date Saturday, July 21 and Sunday, July 22
Time 10:00 AM - 4:30 PM, Sat. night optional Q & A 7:00 - 900 PM
Cost $300/275 by June 22
Place Techny Towers, 2001 Waukegan Rd., near Northbrook, IL

There is more to the universe than meets the eye. Just beyond the veil of normal reality there is a vast realm of Spirit. It is simply a matter of knowing how to step in through to the other side. In this deeply empowering retreat, safety travel through mystic portals to activate the shamanic ability to shape-shift, journey into your dreams, find your true name, and discover past lives. Denise Linn, bestselling author of Sacred Space, distills shamanic wisdom gathered during four decades of training in native cultures around the world to provide you with a transforming experience. Take a soul journey that creates vibrational gateways into other dimensions.

Embark on extraordinary shape shifting journeys where sacred visions and personal direction are revealed to you such as shamans experienced in ancient times. Commune with the world around you and gain secret messages. Find mystical power in your name, how its meaning affects your life, and your true spirit name. Enter mystical gateways to gain powerful secret messages from your dreams that you can program and remember. Discover how to tell a prophetic dream from an ordinary dream, ones that warn you of danger and ones that connect you with loved ones who have passed on. Use time-honored techniques to transport yourself out-of-body and experience the mysterious realm of dreams. Be informed of little-known astral travel techniques that avoid common pitfalls.

Traveling into your far past and into your (potential) future are forms of shamanic journeys. Embark on a live shamanic journey into your past lives and create your future. Release karma that you received from your parents and ancestral family to help heal your DNA blood line.

Safely travel through mystic portals for the journey of your life. Create a liaison with Spirit to anchor in extraordinary inner journeys. Open to receive sacred visions and personal direction for your life journey. Deeply connect to your soul's wisdom.

Course 123148
Date Saturday, August 11 and Sunday, August 12
Time 9:30 AM - 5:00 PM, Sat. night optional Q & A 7:00 - 900 PM
Cost $300/275 by July 11
Place Techny Towers, 2001 Waukegan Rd., near Northbrook, IL