Unity Week/Fair 2004

“Unity through transcendental experience”

 

PREAMBLE

 

The Unity Fair unites a variety of student groups, philanthropists, organizations, and schools of thought around one common goal: that the ideas and techniques presented enrich your life: we hope it contributes to a more mature, fulfilled, serene, healthier, transcendent, and meaningful future – regardless of your background.

 

It may take ions for war, bigotry, poverty, pollution, materialism and other collective ailments to be replaced by global prosperity, spirituality, peace, fraternity, ecology, and universalism.  However, your participation can help us all get a little closer to the common goal of cosmic unity.

 

The scientific research, personal experiences, and ideas shared by young and experienced researchers, scholars, activists, and practitioners will help you realize:

n      There are universal techniques to transcend the physical realm that you can use regardless of your age, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, wealth, etc.

n      These experiences and research show we are more than matter

n      This transcendent knowledge and experiences transform our self- and world-view

n      We can transcend divisiveness when we can discover:

o       Spiritual wealth is superior to ephemeral physical power

o       We are all of the same non-physical essence

o       Unity is more intelligent for our evolution

 

Thank you to our president Dr. Bernie Machen for supporting our effort of promoting unity and the purposes hereby stated:
<< The Gainesville Buddhist Association, Science of Self Club, Knowledge Within, Unity Club and several students are organizing Unity Week to promote "Unity through Transcendental Experience" which connects numerous traditions throughout the world and the times.  This opening year we also honor the enduring contribution of Gandhi.  The experience of different groups with different perspectives about what matters most working for a greater common cause of enriching lives beyond divisions of religion and culture: this was itself an expression of unity and diversity – not just tolerance, but cooperation and even admiration. >>

 

This year, we dedicate this event to the remarkable and enduring contributions of Gandhi.  Overcoming the most powerful nation in the world, through self-sacrificing peaceful protest, Gandhi became the progenitor of the largest democracy on Earth. October 2 is the anniversary of his birth.

 

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

 

Unity Club

Science of Self Club

Knowledge Within

Gainesville Buddhist Association

Dedicated Students and Gainesville residents

 

FUNDING PROVIDED BY

 

Local philanthropists

ACCENT

 

 

TENTATIVE PROGRAM OF EVENTS

 

Monday, September 27

Enjoy FREE FOOD and ground-breaking science & spirituality talk!

 

6:00 pm: Opening Talk – Perennial Wisdom & Transcendental Experience

Scott Olsen (PhD, UC-Berkley). Professor of Philosophy, Comparative Religion at Central Florida Community College.

Dr. Olsen demonstrates how similar transcendental experiences are at the foundation of a variety of religions and mythologies of all ages and places of the world, and how these experiences continue to bring us closer to unity even today.

New Engineering Building 100

 

6:45 pm: The Role of Consciousness in Physical Reality

Two decades of jaw-dropping scientific research on how consciousness affects physical reality are summarized as well as profound philosophical and social implications. Mind over matter?! These Princeton University engineers say: “very likely, yes!”

Robert Jahn, PhD. Princeton College of Engineering & Applied Science, former dean

Brenda Dunne. Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Laboratory, director

New Engineering Building 100

 

Tuesday, September 28

5:30 pm: The Development of Peace

Alcine Potts, PhD. Published in the journals Science and Contemporary Physiology; Transcendental Meditation teacher since 1972.

What is our individual responsibility in the development of Peace? What role does meditation play in this process?

 

7:30 pm: Ayurvedic Cooking

Ramesh Patel. An authority in this area, he has been honored by the mayor of Gainesville with a day dedicated to him.

Healthy cooking from the ancient Ayurvedic school of knowledge, increasingly popular today with people of all cultures throughout the world.

 

Wednesday, September 29

5:00 pm: Meditation & Consciousness

Abrahim Silverstine has studied consciousness and meditation for 19 years; Transcendental Meditation teacher.

What does meditation reveal about the self?

 

7:00 pm: Centering Prayer

Sister Elizabeth became a nun after witnessing the bloodshed of World War II as a nurse.  She will teach a form of meditation for people of all backgrounds.

 

Thursday, September 30

5:30 pm: Meditation & Daily Life

Ravindra Ahuja, PhD. UF College of Industrial Engineering professor; former visiting professor at Sloan School of Management, MIT. A long-time meditator in a variety of forms, he conducts a free, weekly meditation session for Gainesville Buddhist Association.

Reitz Union 283

 

7:00 pm: Yoga & Judaism

Sankara Saranam, The Pranayama Institute (GA), founder

S. Saranam traveled extensively in Israel and India, writing the book, Yoga and Judaism (Astrologue, 1997), showing that the Hebrew Prophets were practitioners of the various systems of pranayama. He is also the author of God Without Religion: Questioning Centuries of Accepted Truths (Pranayama Institute, 2004), which shares a far-reaching vision of human potential. He graduated from Columbia University magna cum laude, writing his thesis (Pranayama in Theory and Practice) as a student of religion. He has a Masters degree in Eastern texts and Sanskrit from St. John's College. S. Saranam is also a poet, composer, and classical guitarist.

A philosopher, yogi, and tireless proponent of pranayama, a form of breathing and prana (vital energy, chi) meditation, he founded the Institute to make pranayama techniques available worldwide at no cost to students. He has devised many techniques of pranayama and various systems of practice designed to aid individuals of differing lifestyles and vocations.

New Engineering Building, 100

 

Friday, October 1

6:00 pm: Cosmic Consciousness: the experience of enlightenment

Jane Lloyd, MS. International Academy of Consciousness – New York

This psychologist will explain how this most transcendent of experiences is often described, how it occurs from a non-physical science perspective, its transformative effects on an individual, and how we can predispose this experience of cosmic unity beyond space, time, and form.

New Engineering Building 100

 

Short Documentaries & Discussion

Out-of-Body Experience: A Glimpse of Immortality (IAC)

How can scientists and I study what is beyond the physical dimension and death?

 

The Mind in Matter: New Directions in Psi Research (IONS)

Can thoughts heal from a distance? Can we develop our intuition? What is the evidence for non-local consciousness?

 

Saturday, October 2 – Gandhi Day

10 am – 3:30 pm: Workshop: Consciousness Development Course 1 – Part 1 of 2*

Instructor: Jane Lloyd (MS, Psychology - CUNY)

Foundations for Consciousness Research; Scientific Experiments on Out-of-Body Experience; Non-Physical Bodies; Bioenergy; Chakras;

Techniques: clairvoyance, ESP, energetic self-control, healing

 

Sunday, October 3

10 am – 3:30 pm: Workshop: Consciousness Development Course 1 – Part 2 of 2**

Factors that facilitate and inhibit OBE; sensations related to disconnection from the body; return to physical body; applications of OBE; control of the OBE; levels of lucidity outside the body; characteristics of non-physical environments

 

5:00 pm: Integral Yoga

Swami Jyotirmayananda

Founder, Yoga Research Foundation

You might find his name hard to pronounce, but he is well-recognized as the foremost proponent of Integral Yoga, a way of life and thought that synthesizes the various aspects of the ancient yoga tradition into a comprehensive plan of personality integration.

For over 50 years,

 

Through insightful lectures that bring inspiration to thousands who attend the conferences, camps and philosophical gatherings, Swamiji shares the range and richness of his knowledge of the great scriptures of the world.

 

7:00 pm: Ayuerveda & Medicine

Stuart Rothenberg, MD. Former medical director for the Center for Chronic Disorders. Studied Ayurveda in India and established Maharashi Center for Ayurveda in various US locations, including Gainesvillle.

 

8:00 pm: Closing Remarks & Feedback

 

* LIMITED SEATING!: For more information and reservations call 352-262-9181 or email patagao@hotmail.com

** CDC 1 – Part 1 is a pre-requisite for part 2.