Practitioners groups are on-going groups for CSS members who want to dedicate themselves to practicing the teachings of the mystics from the major religious traditions. These groups meet once a week starting in October and ending in the summer. For exact meeting dates, times, and locations, please see the CSS calendar. Practitioners may sign up for multiple groups. The Foundation Studies course or Distance Studies Course is a prerequisite to attend other practitioners groups.
Practitioners groups are not "drop-in" groups. To attend a group, you should register in the Fall when making your membership pledge. If you need to take a leave of absence from a group, or need to be absent, please let the teacher know in advance. In addition to these on-going year-long practitioners groups listed below, CSS teachers may also offer shorter duration classes, workshops, or seminars, which last a few days or a few weeks.
2026-2027 Practitioners Groups
(All times below are US Pacific time unless otherwise noted)
Foundation Studies Class
See the Foundation Studies Class page for details.
Distance Studies Course
The distance studies course is a self-directed course of study following a set curriculum, with guidance from a CSS mentor. This is an alternative to the Foundation Studies Class. For details, see Distance Studies Course.
Practitioners Group (Todd)
Location: CSS Meeting Hall with hybrid Zoom
Days and Times: Most Wednesdays from 3:00 - 4:30 PM Pacific time, Sept 30 through June 16 (but no meeting on October 7).
Description: We’ll be reading and discussing excerpted, short manuscripts from a number of different authors, chosen to help us with our practices, and to open awareness into our infinite nature within daily life. So, it’s a tentative list depending on the direction our meetings seem to be going. The manuscripts for this year so far are:
We’ll begin with discussion of a short collection of selected mystical poems and quotes from various traditions:
~An excerpt from Tibetan Buddhist Pema Chodron’s book Living Beautifully, and another from her book: ‘When things fall apart.’
~An excerpt from Peaceful Heart, by Tibetan Buddhist Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche
~An excerpt from Tibetan Buddhist Chogyam Trungpa- Simplicity- from the Myth of Freedom.
~Joan Tollifson- Enjoying the Perfection of Imperfection
~An excerpt from neo Advaitist, Richard Bates, The World is My Mirror—on ‘creating the drama’
~An excerpt from Zen Beyond All Words by Wolffgang Kopp
~An excerpt from Pema Chodron’s book, How we live is how we die
~An excerpt from Tibetan Buddhist Ken McLeod’s 2016 book, A Trackless Path which is his commentary on a poem by Tibetan sage jigme Lingpa, entitled Revelations of Ever Present Good.
I will be sending all readings out via email attachments to all participants, so there will be no need to purchase these books.
Practitioners Group (Andrea)
Location: Zoom
Days and Times: Mondays from 6 - 8 PM, Oct. 4 through summer.
Description: We continue on the path with study, discussion and practice to realize directly the truth of impermanence, suffering and selflessness moment by moment in all our daily activities. Sharing practice insights and questions from participants is baseline and rich and juicy. I will continue to share teachings I have received from Dzog Chen and Mahamudra lineage masters.
Practitioners Group East (David)
Location: Zoom
Days and Times: Tuesdays 5:00 - 6:30 PM Pacific (7-8:30 Central)
Description: This informal group provides support and fellowship among spiritual friends with conversation about spiritual teachings and spiritual practices. We begin each meeting with a 10 minute meditation. Most recently we have been reading and discussing the book “That Which is Before You” by CSS teacher Matt Lowes.
Practitioners Group West (David)
Location: Zoom
Days and Times: Thursdays 6:30 - 8:00 PM Pacific (8:30-10 PM Central)
Description: This informal group provides support and fellowship among spiritual friends with conversation about spiritual teachings and spiritual practices. We begin each meeting with a 10 minute meditation. Most recently we have been reading and discussing "Zen Beyond All Words."