The Internet to the Inner-net

Speaker: Gopi Kallayil

Business Marketing Leader (Google), Triathlete, Yoga & Meditation Practitioner

Date : July 21, 2012

Time : 2 - 4pm

Venue : Brahma Kumaris Meditation Center

The Internet has become humanity's invisible central nervous system that connects us and can sometimes overwhelm us. Yet, the most important technology is within us - our brain, body, and consciousness. A fast-paced career in the hi-tech industry in combination with a deep yoga and meditation practice have allowed me to integrate my inner and outer technologies. Wisdom from my yoga mat and meditation cushion guide my professional career and, in turn, my professional life provides the perfect classroom to deepen my wisdom practice. 

ABOUT THE PRESENTER 

Gopi Kallayil works at Google on the marketing of Google Plus and is based out of the Googleplex in Mountain View, California. Earlier he worked on marketing the company's flagship advertising product,AdWords, in the Americas and Asia Pacific. Gopi also led the marketing team for AdSense, Google's publisher-facing product.

Before joining Google, Gopi was Vice-President of Strategic Alliances at Nextance, an enterprise Contract Management Software startup. He was also Vice-President of Business Development and a founding management team member at Allegrix, an Application Software Provider start-up acquired by Progress Software. While a consultant with McKinsey & Co., he worked on engagements helping the management teams of large corporations improve business performance and maximize revenues. Additionally, Gopi has led large Information Technology projects for global corporations in India, China, and the US. Gopi earned his Bachelors degree in electronics engineering from the National Institute of Technology in India. He received his Masters in Business Administration degrees from the Indian Institute of Management and The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He is an avid yoga practitioner, triathlete, public speaker, global traveler and Burning Man devotee.

Funfair: Celebration of our Interdependence on Mother's Day

Bring your family to a funfair celebrating our interconnectedness while honoring the diversity in Marin on May 13. 

Exciting things to expect at the fair include storyteller, speakers, music, improv, dance, exhibits, food and much more. Speakers are BK General Secretary Brij Mohan, Consulate General of India N. Parthasarathi and Bettina Gray. Artists performing will be Emmy award-winning Singer Gary Malkin, and Grammy-nominee Storyteller Diane Ferlatte, Mexican Dancers Ballet de Folklorico and Improv Artist Jill Eickmann. 

It's Mother's Day and we will have a ceremony to honor all the mother's at the event. 

A partner and award-winning film maker, Tiffany Shlain, will show the trailer of her movie ”Declaration of Interdependence”. 

This special celebration will be held at the Anubhuti Retreat Center in Novato. Click here for directions. Please carpool.

Program is as follows:

11:00 am Funfair, Exhibits, Art Gallery, Games and Kid's Entertainment

12:00 pm Lunch

1:00 pm   Public Program and Children's Improv session

4:00 pm   End of Program

This event is FREE. Please RSVP and/or send questions to anubhuti@bkwsu.org.

Making Sense of Your Past, Freeing Yourself in the Present and Constructing a Creative Future

"Our sense of a "we" is born from these earliest ways in which we "feel felt" within the mind of our caregivers. Seeing the connections between the mind, the embodied brain, and our relationships lets us come to view the "self" as a plural verb rather than a singular noun." Being open to one's own inner life with kindness, connecting to another person, being a part of a group, being a member of a larger community, and having a sense of meaning that emerges from interconnections with a larger whole each form the foundation for a sense of "we" that is at the core of what can be called a spiritual life."

An award-winning educator, Dr. Dan Siegel is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and recipient of several honorary fellowships. His unique ability to make complicated scientific concepts easy to understand and exciting has led him to be invited to address diverse local, national and international groups of mental health professionals, neuroscientists, corporate leaders, educators, parents, public administrators, healthcare providers, policy-makers, and clergy. He has been invited to lecture for the King of Thailand, Pope John Paul II, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Google University, and TEDx. For 2010-2011, Dan is serving as the National Speaker for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Mindfulness and Integrative Medicine Lectures.

Here are photos from the circle.



Date : March 17th, 2012
Time : 2 - 4pm
Venue : Brahma Kumaris Meditation Center

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).