Guest Presenter: Ken Kitatani
Topic: The Sacred Art of Giving Light
Venue: 401 Baker St, San Francisco
Date & Time: Sat, Jan 21 2012, 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Ken Kitatani has been an instructor for the Centers for Spiritual Development of Sukyo Mahikari since 1992. In his years of tenure, he has been taken on many roles and was posted to many centers in the North American region, including New York, Chicago, Houston, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, and the regional headquarters in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA. At present he is the Assistant Director of the San Francisco Center and Regional Staff Coordinator of the Scholars, Health, and Educators Groups. Ken is a recognized teacher and translator and has been the official translator throughout the North American region as well as internationally in Japan and other countries for over 16 years. Ken also currently serves as the Director of Forum 21, a multidisciplinary research association, that brings together experts from diverse fields to focus on issues facing the world today and seek out positive solutions. He is the USA representative of Women In Need, International, an NGO that advocates for gender equality and sustainability. He also serves on the board of What Shape is Green?, a program of sculptures for the environment. Ken graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in East Asian Studies. He also studied Vipassana meditation extensively in Myanmar (Burma) under the guidance of U Tagaya and U Janaka. In addition, he is a certified Yoga Instructor.

Light refreshments will be served. The event is free of charge.
Interested? Click here to register (optional).

Living With Purpose and Passion

Guest Speaker : Ocean Robbins
Sat, Jul 16 2011, 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm

At: 401 Baker St, San Francisco, CA

In 1990, at age 16, Ocean Robbins was co-founder of YES!, which he directed for 20 years. Ocean has spoken in person to more than 200,000 people and facilitated more than 50 week-long gatherings for young leaders from 65+ nations. Ocean is author of Choices for Our Future and of The Power of Partnership, and has served as a board member for Friends of the Earth, EarthSave International, Omni Center, and many other organizations. He is a founding member of The Turning Tide Coalition, co-founder of the Leveraging Privilege for
Social Change program, and founding co-convener of Leverage Alliance. He is a graduate of The Work That Reconnects facilitation intensive with Joanna Macy, and a certified facilitator of Essential Peacemaking: Women and Men. Ocean's on-going efforts on behalf of a better world have been honored by many organizations, including the Giraffe Project (for people who stick their necks out for what they believe), the National Alliance for Animals (The Compassionate Youth Award), E Magazine (The Kid Heroes Hall of Fame), and EarthSave (Volunteer of the Year Award). Utne Reader recognized him as one of 30 "Young Visionaries" under 30, and both both Time and Audubon magazines chose him as being among the heroes of the new millennium. He is a 2008 recipient of the Freedom's Flame Award, and of the national Jefferson Award for Outstanding Public Service by an Individual 35 Years Or Younger.

Ocean lives in the mountains of Santa Cruz, California, with his beloved wife Michele, and their special needs identical twin boys, River and Bodhi (born in 2001). They live 100 yards from Ocean's parents, Deo and John Robbins (author of the international bestseller Diet for a New America and founder of EarthSave). For more information about Ocean's life and work, go to www.oceanrobbins.com.

Light refreshments will be served. The event is free of charge.
Interested? Click here to register (optional).

MooWee - An Experience of a Silicon Valley Startup Life Cycle in the Internet Video Space

Guest Speaker : Dhaval N. Shah
Sat, Apr 23 2011, 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
At: 401 Baker St, San Francisco, CA
This informative session will cover:-Video Ecosystem and Startup Lifecycle in Silicon Valley-The relevance and importance of Spirituality -How non-profits are using video medium to spread their message-Some ideas on video production in cost-effective manner-Q&A Bio: Dhaval N. Shah, Vice-President, Business Development, Xoriant Inc.Prior to Xoriant, Dhaval spent 3 years at MooWee, a company he helped co-found as it's CTO upto it's acquisition by Xoriant. Prior to MooWee, Dhaval spent over ten years at Cisco and helped drive several products to market in the areas of voice, video and wireless applications, cable and Internet routing protocols. Dhaval is an inventor on 15 patents and co-authored the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Standard RFC 5140 'A Telephony Gateway REgistration Protocol (TGREP)'. Dhaval has a MS in Computer Science from University of Wisconsin-Madison, Certificate of Software Systems from Stanford University, and an MBA from University of California - Berkeley. He was honored as the "Outstanding Student of the Institute," awarded annually to one student, for his top academic performance and excellence in extra-curricular activities at his leading undergraduate Institute, IT-BHU. During this period, he also served in the Board of Directors at Crystal, a television company in India. As time permits, Dhaval likes to sing & play the keyboard with a group of friends passionate about music, and also play table-tennis that he pursued competitively at the National level in India before he came to the United States.

How Meditation Improves the Management of the Innovation Process

Guest Presenter: Jarie Bolander
Sat, 18 Dec 2010, 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
At: 401 Baker St, San Francisco, CA
Jarie Bolander is an engineer by training and an entrepreneur by nature. For the past fifteen years, he has focused his career on building innovative products that make peoples lives easier and safer. His first book, Frustration Free Technical Management details his philosophy on managing creative people for success. Part of that philosophy is to rely on the rhythm of innovation to creative wonderful inventions while still having a life.. He is also a community leader who is currently the President of the North Panhandle Neighborhood Association, a vibrant community in the heart of San Francisco. Through his community leadership, he has seen first hand the power of calm, caring people who transcend ego and self gain to create wonderful communities. Jarie also blogs about innovation, entrepreneurship and management at the http://www.thedailymba.com. He holds a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering and a MBA in Technology Management. You can follow him on twitter @thedailymba.

Light refreshments will be served. The event is free of charge.
Interested? Click here to register (optional).

Changing the Dream of the Modern World
Guest Presenter: Jon Symes

Sat, 20 Nov 2010, 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
At: 401 Baker St, San Francisco, CA
In his first career Jon set up and ran a successful business consultancy working with multi-national companies around the world, he coached senior executives and trod the boards as a professional speaker. Ultimately he left that path behind in search of a more meaningful contribution and in his 06 publication, Your Planet Needs You, he mapped the challenges we face in creating and living a new future and showed ways to overcome these. His own life now is an endeavor to walk this talk with passion and joy, and to tell the story of the many adventures this produces.

This path has taken Jon to the USA from Britain where he is now Program Director of the worldwide Awakening the Dreamer Initiative for the Pachamama Alliance. He has helped develop this message and taken it to places like China, New Zealand, Ecuador and Ireland, from where he has gathered a wealth of stories about what’s possible for the human family.

Light refreshments will be served. The event is free of charge.
Interested? Click here to register (optional).

Embracing Abundance™ your pathway to authentic prosperity

Guest Presenter: Normand René Poulin
Sat, 18 Sept 2010, 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
At: 401 Baker St, San Francisco, CA

As a Sacred Space consultant, Feng Shui specialist, Spiritual Counselor and former hospice minister, Normand is an exceptional teacher and guide to living mindfully and creating authentic environments that nurture and inspire the heart & soul!

He is founder and principal of Living Consciously by Design, Inc. and the creative force behind the Embracing Abundance guided meditation audio CD series and workshops, and the Infinite Blessings product line, belongings for mindful living.

Normand is available for residential and commercial consultations, spiritual counseling and life coaching, specialized workshops, retreats and lectures related to mindful living and abundance consciousness:

∞ Thriving...in a chaotic world! ~ Embracing Soul-Full Prosperity

∞ Embracing Seasonal Prosperity

∞ Creating Sacred Space ~ personal sanctuaries for the everyday!

∞ Creating Environments that nurture, heal and empower!

∞ Hospice Retreats ~ Creating Life-Affirming Environments

∞ Spiritual Counseling and Life Coaching

∞ Sacred Space Design Projects with holistic emphasis

∞ Feng Shui specialist

∞ Customized guided meditations for special events and celebrations

∞ Facilitation of ceremony, conscious rituals and blessings for couples & groups

Light refreshments will be served. The event is free of charge.
Interested? Click here to register (optional).

How to use your Career (no matter what it is) to Assist in Humanity's Awakening

Guest Presenter: Daniel B Holeman Sat, 21 Aug 2010, 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM At: 401 Baker St, San Francisco, CA Artistic talent combined with life-long exploration of consciousness and spirituality has given Daniel B. Holeman an ability to depict uplifting and profound sacred imagery. His inspirational paintings have a strong and profound impact. His Website, www.AwakenVisions.com is a special world to explore and enjoy - a Domain of Beauty, Inspiration, Insight and Spiritual Awakening. In addition to the artwork, Awaken Visions is a haven for truth seekers, consciousness explorers and all who appreciate the beauty found in living from the Heart. At a young age Daniel had a profound spiritual awakening and experienced the nature of pure consciousness from which the manifested world is created.  Since then his life has been about deepening that awareness and sharing it with others through art, lifestyle and conversation.  He is committed to bringing forth an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, and socially just human presence on the planet as the guiding principle of our time. Daniel encourages all to join and contribute to the Earth's Awakening in whatever ways they can. Light refreshments will be served. The event is free of charge. Interested? Click here to register (optional).