Description

Join a . . .

Hidden Heart of the Cosmos
(Study Group)

Facilitated by Stephan Martin

Six Zoom Meetings, choose between two groups:
Tuesdays: 7:00 – 8:30 PM EDT:  May 12, 19, 26; June 2, 9, 16
Wednesdays: 1:00 – 2:30 PM EDT: May 13, 20, 27: June 3, 10, 17

$125; $95 Early Bird Price Till May 5
Premium Members receive 20% discount ($76 with Early Bird Discount)
Basic Members receive 10% discount ($86 with Early Bird Discount)

Note:  If money is stopping you, please get in touch with us by writing [email protected] about a Covid discount.

NEW!
This is the first time we’re offering two groups
to accommodate different time zones.

Online study groups are a remarkable way to learn, connect with others around the world, and nurture your soul while staying safe.  In Zoom meetings (1.5 hrs) participants from around the world connect and learn together from the safety of their homes.  Each meeting will start with a ritual or practice to orient participants to the cosmic story as a experienced reality to which we all belong.

The Hidden Heart of the Cosmos explores the intersection of cosmology and life on Earth by asking the question, “What does it mean to be human in an evolving universe?” Bringing together transformative insights from leading edge science and spirituality, Brian Swimme explores how a life-affirming and life-enhancing New Story of our cosmic origin and cosmic perspective can begin to replace our old dysfunctional cultural story of materialism and consumerism. It’s a beautifully written book, filled with insights into the cosmic nature of human life and includes some wonderful exercises for cultivating a connection with a living universe.

In this study group, we’ll explore and unpack some of the scientific insights that fill the book and also dive deep into their transformative implications for our daily lives and the opportunities they present for a “mutually enhancing human presence to the Earth community,” in the words of Thomas Berry. Each session will begin with an opening ritual, a short presentation of the science explored in each section of the book, followed by the opportunity to interact and discuss our own insights with others in the group. We’ll also take time to explore some of the rich exercises presented in the book together so that we each have an opportunity to experience ourselves, as Brian Swimme suggests, “as being a place where the universe seeks to deepen its intimacy with itself.”

No scientific background is needed or assumed and we’ll record the science presentation segment so that participants can review it at any time.

Who is this for?

• Everyone who wants to delve deeply into the Universe Story and it’s implications for our future.
• Teachers who want to frame their curriculum inside the Story of the Universe.
• Montessori teachers in particular will be interested in how this work compliments the Cosmic Education curriculum.

Study Group Sessions

Session 1: Introductions, orientation to the course space
Introduction to the New Cosmology – why is a new story/cosmology important in our culture at this time? Chapter 1: The Way of Cosmology

Session 2: Orienting to the Solar System. Chapter 2: A Three-Hundred Thousand Year Lineage, and Chapter 3: The Whirling Solar System. Chapter 4: Cosmology and Ecstasy. Practice: Experiencing the whirling Earth

Session 3: Energy and the Sun and Locating ourselves in the Milky Way galaxy and our galactic neighborhood. Chapter 5: The Sun as the Center, Chapter 6: Looking Down on the Milky Way, Chapter 7: A Large-Scale View of Space and Time. Exercise: Experiencing Cosmic Allurement

Session 4: Discovering the origin of the universe. Chapter 8: The Story Came to Us, Chapter 9: Nighttime and Cosmic Rebirth, Chapter 10: The Place Where the Universe Began. Exercise: Contacting the Origin

Session 5: Omnicentrism and the expanding universe. Chapter 11: A Multiplicity of Centers, Chapter 12: Cosmic Desire, Chapter 13: Universe Guidance. Exercise: Activating Cosmic Guidance

Session 6: The quantum vacuum and generative aliveness, Chapter 14: The Origin, Chapter 15: All-Nourishing Abyss, Chapter 16: Einstein’s Awakening. Exercise: The Quantum Moon

Stephan Martin is an astronomer, educator, and author who has taught astronomy, physics, and consciousness studies at colleges, universities, and learning centers across the US for over twenty-five years. Between 2003-2008 he studied directly with Brian Swimme and others at the California Institute of Integral Studies, out of which came his first book Cosmic Conversations, in which he held dialogues with scientists, spiritual teachers, and cultural creatives on the nature of the universe and our role in it. Since then he has led workshops on the New Cosmology at seminars and retreat centers across the US and Europe and has been active in exploring multidisciplinary approaches to exploring the universe.

He is currently adjunct faculty in the Consciousness and Transformative Studies graduate program at John F Kennedy University where he teaches a course on “Cosmology and Consciousness.” Steve is also a co-director of the continuing care program at the Center for Spiritual Emergence in Asheville, NC where he assists clients in living more conscious lives from an expansive perspective.

Steve says, “The Hidden Heart of the Cosmos was a wonderful book in helping me transition from a more traditional scientific worldview to one which includes the way of cosmology as an approach to experiencing the universe directly.” He’s looking forward to sharing his passion, knowledge, and wonder for this amazing universe with everyone in this study group.