Sunrise Ranch, in Colorado:
The Seminar will be held at the beautiful Sunrise Ranch, convenient to the Denver International Airport, yet far away from the bustle of daily life, located in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Delicious, wholesome meals are prepared with local, organic ingredients as much as possible and many of the vegetables and grass-fed beef are raised right there on the Farm at Sunrise Ranch.

Seminar Program
John Hogue will be presenting several talks, including a talk on Osho as a Prophet of the New Man, a look at his definition of Homo Novus and how he is not a future phenomenon. Homo Novus lives in the present, so he or she comes alive only if we come alive in the present right here and right now. Details of his presentations can be seen here.

Question/Answer
These talks will be followed by question and answer periods where you will have a chance to bring your own personal questions to be answered. In the afternoons, James St Clair and several of the Osho Leela Meditation Center staff will facilitate exercises which bring the presentation from John and the following sharing into a personal space where you can start getting a clearer glimpse of how your own consciousness works, and how to become rooted in the present, free of the future.

Osho Meditations
Taking that understanding even deeper, several Osho meditation techniques will also be taught at the seminar, which support this learning. These are the very techniques used by John Hogue, James St Clair, and thousands of others today all over the world. (Further reference can be found at www.osholeela.org and www.osho.com.) The Leela Center is a non profit educational organization teaching meditation since 1995.

Music, Dance, Celebration
The Osho approach to awareness, and conscious living, is one of fun and celebration. There will be three musicians at the event (perhaps more), to create music for several of the meditations, giving them a sweetness and immediacy that recorded music can't lend. Email lists will be available, and phone numbers so that participants can connect after the seminar for support in continuing the practices learned. Meditation Centers list will be available to find Meditation Centers near you, if that feels supportive.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who is "Osho?"
"Never Born -- Never Died -- Only visited this planet Earth between December 11, 1931 and January 19, 1990." With these words, Osho both dictates his epitaph and dispenses with his biography. He changes his name to "Osho," explaining that it is derived from William James' "oceanic." "It is not my name," he says, "it is a healing sound."

Osho's offer to Western Man is twofold: a complete understanding of the human mind and all it's workings, and a masterful articulation of that understanding not seen before in human history. Human psychology, emotion, mind/body connection; moralism, ethics, education, sexuality, politics, belief; religion, history, and social evolution - all are examined, understood in their essence, and articulated in public discourses ranging over 20 years. His meditation techniques, often called Active Meditations, integrate his understanding that modern Western Man cannot simply sit down and watch his breath, as Buddha's disciples did. Modern Man needs to begin with the body, movement, dance, energizing and relaxing the body first through movement (that's where the"Active" name comes in), and then inner silence and peace becomes available.

Author Tom Robbins comments on Osho eloquently: "I recognize the emerald breeze when it rattles my shutters. And Osho is like a hard, sweet wind, circling the planet, blowing the beanies off of rabbis and popes, scattering the lies on the desks of the bureaucrats, stampeding the jackasses in the stables of the powerful, lifting the skirts of the pathologically prudish and tickling the spiritually dead back to life. Osho has something appropriate for a species crippled by greed, fear, ignorance and superstition: he has cosmic comedy."

2. Is meditation a practice to gain "peace of mind?"
The answer is yes and no. Meditation eventually leads to inner peace, as it is practiced. However to think of peace of mind is a contradiction in terms, actually. By its very nature the mind is constantly commenting and judging, about others, and one self. What you can discover through meditation is the knack of finding the distance between yourself and the commentary, so that the mind, with its constant circus of thoughts and emotions, no longer intrudes on your inherent state of silence.

3. Is meditation a mental discipline or effort to control or "tame" the mind?
Meditation is neither a mental effort nor an attempt to control the mind. Effort and control involve tension, and tension is contrary to the state of meditation, which happens in relaxation in a natural state. There is no need to control the mind, we only need to understand it and how it works.

4. Is it a form of concentration or contemplating?
Concentrating is a narrowing of awareness. By contrast, meditation is all-inclusive, your consciousness is expanded. The meditator is simply aware of whatever is happening inside and outside of himself. This again leads to more and more relaxation.

5. Is meditation difficult to learn?
No. It is only a knack, something that with practice gets easier. In the beginning like riding a bike, one falls off ocassionally, but then gets back on and continues riding. It is similar with meditation. And it really helps to learn in the presence of people who have experience with it.

6. I'm not at all sure I will be able to learn meditation, will I still get something out of the seminar?
Definitely yes. Meditation, and this seminar, is really about becoming more relaxed in our humanity, letting go of judgements about ourselves and others, and perhaps getting a deeper experience of coming home - being at home in ourselves. Everyone can benefit from that.

Dates, Times

Saturday, August 27 to Sunday, August 28 Seminar/Weekend Retreat.

Friday, August 26, Early check in is between 4:30 and 7:30 pm.
Friday evening dinner is optional for those who can make it. The meal is served at 5:30 pm.
From 8:00 to 8:30pm there will be a talk on active meditation from John Hogue.
From 8:30 to 9:30 there will be an evening meditation offered.

Check in
Friday, August 26 (optional): If you can make it for Friday evening, check in is between 4:30 and 7:30. Evening meal is served at 5:30, so that is available if you arrive in time.
Saturday, August 27: Seminar starts at 10:00 am, promptly. When arriving on Saturday, please allow one hour check in before 10am, so arrive by 9am to Sunrise Ranch.

Check out
The Seminar is finished at 5:30pm Sunday, August 28. Check out from Sunrise Ranch

Support staff
The attending staff includes meditation teachers, therapists, and healers from around the world, including

• Arpita, certified BCST Biodynamic Craniocacral Therapist, and certified SE™ Trauma Therapist from UK
• Nina Lynch and Ashik Lynch, certified Byron Katie therapists also from the UK originally
• Avinash Phipps, experienced Awakening to Love facilitator, board member Osho Leela Meditation Center, Boulder
• Punitama Phipps, original founder of the Osho Leela Meditation Center, with over 20 years experience leading and teaching Osho's active meditations

Individual sessions are available with each of the staff, bookable at any time during the seminar. Free time periods can be used to schedule individual sessions, which are paid separately, either cash, check, or credit card. Individual sessions range from $40 to $70, and are usually 45 minutes to one hour.

Pre-register:
(holds your place and you can pay later, or upon arrival at Seminar. It's refundable up to 14 days before the event.)

Registration:
You can pay your full registration for the seminar, $250. You can choose on the payment page the optional Friday evening, which costs an additional $35. Your full payment is refundable up to 14 days before the event. After that there is a $25 fee.

Please contact Sunrise Ranch directly online, for the accommodations page for this event click here, or phone (877) 786-0078 to arrange your accommodation for the weekend. Your registration fee here does not include accommodation. Your payment to Sunrise Ranch does include 3 organic meals per day, snacks, and accommodation.

Accommodation options you can choose cost:
Camping at $64 per night (includes all meals)
Dorm (shared) room at $84 per night (includes all meals)
Single (private) room at $124 per night (includes all meals)
Book accommodation at Sunrise Ranch here online. Phone them at (877) 786-0078.

You can also book this event by phoning us at 303 800 5447.

"I felt welcome and at ease from the moment I arrived!"
"The food was fantastic: simple, healthy, delicious and plentiful"
"I've never been so relaxed while learning so much"