Programs
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Spiritual seekers are drawn to the teachings of the world's mystics for a variety of reasons. Those who are already committed to a particular religion may want to learn more about the mystics of their own tradition. Others who have no religious affiliation may be in search of a spiritual tradition suitable for them. Still others may be intrigued by mystical teachings but have difficulty accepting aspects of the worldviews as they are traditionally presented. Helping all these seekers constitutes the third major task of the Center for Sacred Sciences. To accomplish this, we provide the following services: On most Sundays the Center offers a free public service beginning at 11 am. The program lasts between one and two hours and usually includes a short meditation, a talk by our spiritual director, Joel Morwood, and time for discussion. For a map and directions to our meeting location, please visit the contact page. Please refer to the current calendar of events for special event dates, closings, and the current video schedule.
Each year near the anniversary of Joel's Enlightenment (August 13, 1983), we celebrate everyone's potential for Enlightenment with a special Sunday program, followed by a potluck party. While our Sunday programs are offered free of charge to everyone, donations are always appreciated.
Practitioners Group
Because the practitioners group requires a serious commitment, if you are interested in joining the Center's community of practitioners, you should take some time to learn about our group before making a decision. First, we suggest you attend our Sunday public programs for several months, get to know some of the current members, read about our spiritual practices and read Joel's spiritual autobiography, Naked Through the Gate, which is available in the Center library. The next step is to meet with Joel to discuss your spiritual background and to get answers to any questions you may have about the Center, its teachings, teachers, or practices. If you and Joel both agree that the practitioners' group seems right for you, then you may enroll in our foundations studies class, which is offered once every year. This course, led by one or two senior practitioners, will introduce you to fundamental teachings and practices of all the major mystical traditions. The course includes spiritual practices such as meditation and precepts, reading books from various spiritual traditions, and group discussions. After you have completed this ten-month course, you will be eligible to join our regular practitioners' group. When you join the foundation studies class, if you are not already a supporting member of the Center, we ask you to become one. This entails pledging a fixed amount of money every year to help support our organization. How much you pledge is completely up to you, and should be based on whatever you feel you can afford.
Distance StudiesA growing number of people who live outside the Eugene area have asked if there was some way they can personally participate in the Center's teachings and practices from a distance. In response to these requests, we have decided to experiment with offering a distance studies course which loosely parallels our foundation studies class. This self-paced course, entitled The Way of Selflessness, includes:
For more details about the Way of Selflessness distance studies course, please visit our distance studies page.
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The Center maintains a lending library containing thousands of books, audio and video recordings, magazines, and journals for patrons to explore the classical teachings of the mystics from all the world's religious traditions.
For people who have made a personal commitment to put mystical teachings into practice in their own lives, the Center offers a practitioners group which is led by the Center's spiritual director, Joel Morwood. This group meets once a week at our Center in Eugene, Oregon to study and practice teachings drawn from all the world's great mystical traditions. Several times a year, members of the practitioners' group have an opportunity to attend Center-sponsored meditation retreats at the