LA Oneness Conference
The 2nd annual, International Oneness Conference held June 14-17, 2007, in Los Angeles, California, was a great success.
Nearly 500 deeksha-givers from a dozen countries all over the world attended the first three days. Then on day four (Sunday, June 17), it was open to the public and had between 1000 to 2000 in attendance.
Below is a recap of the daily events from start to finish with videos and photos.
Enjoy...
Packing for Departure...
It's not that I thought you'd be terribly enamored with my messy, packing process, but I needed the practice to make sure I could create and then upload a video before I left for the Conference.
Here's my first attempt, and to make it worth your while, I included a couple of packing tips.
See what you think. Comments are welcome. :>)
Arriving at the Oneness Conference...
Here's a little airport trivia...
Our present day, local airport is still located at Selman Field, where, during World War II, it housed the only complete Navigator Training School for the Army Air Corps.
All 15,000 of their navigators, who flew in every theater of operation during the war, had to pass through here for at least part, if not all, of their training before they could get their wings and become commissioned to serve.
The current airport terminal now features a large memorial to those navigators.
Day 1 of the LA Oneness Conference...
Registration began today at 7:30am, with the program beginning at 9:00, then we ended at 9:30pm tonight. A long, but fulfilling 14 hour day.
Ananda Giri spoke to us and answered questions for three hours this morning, then we were able to sit with him in small groups for private sessions of more questions and answers.
Ananda Giri answering a question in private sesssion.
His answers are often in the form of a story and contain teachings. For example, when someone asked how to clear the subconscious, Ananda Giri's answer went something like this...
When the postman knocks at your door, you should open the door, because if you fear his message and keep the door shut, he will just keep coming back again, and again. So open the door and let the message come to light.
Listen to what the mailman is saying to you, pay attention to it, understand it, and it will disappear.
Early in our afternoon session Arjuna Ardagh kept us laughing with personal stories of some of the people he interviewed for his new book about Bhagavan and the Oneness Movement called Awakening into Oneness (see it here.) He's as good a speaker as he is a writer.
Later we were serenaded with live music, songs, and chants, had a short, statistical update on the Oneness Movement in North America, then ended with deekshas for healing.
Day 2--LA Oneness Conference...
Today was another full day that began at 8:30am and ended at 9:30pm. Raniji opened by leading us in a breathing meditation.
The rest of the day was spent with Ananda Giri speaking to us and answering questions, and meditating with and receiving deekshas from two Cosmic Beings (Uttama and Ananya). Both are Westerners, with Uttama being from the USA and Ananya from Sweden.
Ananya was one of the female guides at the Oneness University both times when I was there, then more recently she became a Cosmic Being. She looked beautifully radiate, sweet and childlike with her cropped, blonde hair as she radiated to us from the altar/stage.
Uttama still laughs a lot even when he's in full Cosmic Consciousness. When he smiled and patted his heart, Raniji "translated" saying he was telling us that he was holding us all in his heart.
You can see Uttama and other Cosmic Beings in this video that was taped in Golden City. (You will recognize Uttama since he's the only Caucasian in the video.)
Coming back from the morning break the Universe provided me with a way to arrive late, so as soon as I entered the meeting hall I was immediately ushered to the front of the room to fill the last of a group of four who were sitting right up front.
Since my group was at the front of the room, I was able to spend five full hours seated in the second row within a few feet of the altar and the Cosmic Beings. This was a real treat since I normally would have been seated near the back of the room.
The four deekshas we received today each had a specific focus:
1. health
2. wealth--material prosperity
3. healing relationships--flowering of the heart
4. Oneness
Day 3--LA Oneness Conference...
The early afternoon was spent with Tony Robbins as he told us of his background, how he heard about Amma Bhagavan, and his funny experiences at the Oneness University when he and his wife attended their 21 Day Process. His impersonation of Ananda Giri was hilarious.
Later he gave a very productive presentation about human needs, the formula for happiness, and the levels of consciousness. The day ended with Tony leading us through a healing exercise to help us make each level of consciousness permanent as we advance through the levels.
Best laugh of the day: In his quiet, gentle voice, Ananda Giri had just, very knowingly, given us one of his profound teachings which concluded with, "There is a state where paradoxes exist."
Then someone in the audience shouted, "California!"
Day 4--LA Oneness Conference...
The big day arrived and oh, wow. What a day.
After the morning introduction by actress Lindsay Wagner, between 1,000 and 2,000 people got to listen to Ananda Giri speak and answer questions for several hours, then Tony Robbins spoke to us for four hours in the afternoon.
Everyone present received hands-on Oneness Blessings (deekshas) in both the morning and afternoon sessions. The afternoon deekshas seemed especially beautiful.
All in all, the entire event was quite special and a huge success.
This video gives a good overview...
PS During all four days of the event Sudha and Menash sang the incredibly beautiful "Om, Bhagavan" numerous times for us. It's on their Om Deeksha album just released this month, and has become my new, very, very, very favorite CD. (You can listen to it here.)
Your comments and bookmarks are welcome. You can add them below.
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posted by P. J. at 1:10 PM
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