Freedom, Equality and Justice in the 21rst Century September 18-20, 2020

Am I My Brother’s Keeper?

Well, the answer is both “yes” and “no”.  Yes, we do have a responsibility to treat our brothers and sisters with dignity and respect and to look out for their well being as well as our own.   But no, we do not have the right to dictate, control, limit or interfere in their lives even if we believe it is for their own good.  We can encourage and support others, but we do not have the right to decide what is right for them. We are not their savior, or their judge. 

The rights we claim for ourselves we must safeguard for others.  That means that any kind of unfairness or injustice must be challenged.  If the safety or freedom of any person is compromised by the thoughts, the speech or the actions of another, the safety and freedom of the rest of us is threatened.  

Freedom does not come without responsibility but we must understand what our responsibility is and what it is not.  Otherwise, we will not create equality in our relationships with our spouse, our children, our parents, our coworkers and all the other beings who share our life and our planet.

Gathering together at the Autumnal Equinox (and Rosh Hashanah) we will explore how we can create greater authenticity and equality in our relationships and chart our course toward Freedom and Justice in the 21rst Century

The beauty of a virtual retreat is that you don’t have to leave your living room to participate. You will just need to download Zoom on your computer if you don’t already have it. You save on air fare, room and board and even tuition. With the pan-epidemic spreading around the world, it is wise to stay home and stay safe.

The Schedule

September 18, 2020  Opening Talk #1 by Paul Ferrini 12:00 --3:00 PM  Eastern.

September 19, 2020 Talk #2 by Paul Ferrini 12:00 --3:00 PM  Eastern.

September 20 2020 Talk #3 by Paul Ferrini 12:00 --3:00 PM  Eastern.

Note: Breakout sessions will follow each talk. They will be facilitated by Paul Ferrini’s certified teachers. In some time zones these sessions will be held the following morning. If there is sufficient interest breakouts can be offered not just in English, but also n German, French, Spanish, and Chinese.

Talk 1: Our Existential Equality

The most difficult task in our lives is to learn to love ourselves radically and existentially.  Our worth and value as human beings does not come from how much we know, what we do or how others think and feel about us.  It comes from cultivating a loving relationship with ourselves.   Once we have connected to love within our hearts, we know that divine love is universal and extends to and embraces all of us. Each one of us is an equal child of God.
Without establishing a connection to love, most of what we say and do will be misguided and wound-driven.  Instead of bringing blessings and support to each other, we will bring judgment and attack. It is a core spiritual truth that if we are not able to love ourselves, it is unlikely that we will be able to love our neighbor. We may pay lip service to the concepts of love, justice and equality but we will never be able to manifest them in our relationships with each other.

Talk 2:  Healing Unworthiness, Overcoming Projection

and coming Face to Face.

As we move into our healing Journey, we come face to face with our unworthiness and shadow material and see how we project our self-hatred onto others.  By healing our traumas and having compassion for the suffering of others, we dissolve the blocks to love in our hearts and begin to take back our projections so that we can see others as they really are.   We learn to accept our differences and celebrate our common humanity.  We see our diversity as a strength and a blessing.  We know in our hearts that love is based on acceptance, not on agreement. When we tolerate differences and listen to each other with compassion, we bury our swords and become peacemakers. We bring everyone into the infinite embrace of love.

Talk 3: Creating a World with Liberty, Equality and Justice for All

We all make mistakes.  We all have prejudices and unconscious bias.  We all have beliefs that prevent us from seeing the truth about ourselves and others. We need to break through our denial, recognize our shortcomings, and practice forgiveness of ourselves and others.  As we do this, we begin to  overcome the outward polarization in society.  We move beyond labels like right vs left, black vs white, women vs men, rich vs poor, gay vs straight, old vs young, We learn to find common ground and shared solutions.  We cooperate to end poverty, racism and other forms of injustice.  We learn to stand up for everyone’s right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  We build together a world that realizes the vision of our founding fathers and greatest visionaries.

Cost of the Retreat

We are intentionally pricing this retreat so that it is affordable for everyone. That is why we have a flexible pricing structure (see below). The prices below reflect an early-bird discount and are valid until August 21, 2020. After that, you will have to pay full price, so please take advantage of this pricing structure while it is still offered. When you register, please tell us your time zone so that we can find an appropriate break out group for you.

• Option A: If you are working and/or have a steady income, we ask you to pay full price of $299. Click here to register.

• Option B: If you are struggling financially and cannot afford to pay full price, you can .attend for $199. This is offered on the honor system. Click here to register at the discounted rate.

• Option C: Click here to sponsor another person or contribute to the scholarship fund for just $99. Please be sure to give us the name and contact information of the person you are sponsoring. If you don’t specify someone your donation will be placed in the general scholarship fund.

  Other Options

If you can’t join us for the full retreat, you can attend Paul’s first talk as a stand alone 3 hr. event, for $36.00 Click here to register for Talk 1 only.

Have to work on Friday, September 18, 2020? You can download the recording of Paul’s Friday talk and listen to it later in the day or the following morning. Then you can join us live on Saturday and Sunday.

Can’t be with us on any of these dates?  Click here to order a download of the retreat videos for $99.

We look forward to hearing from you and hope you will join us for this important and timely event.

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