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What nine months does for the embryo
Forty early mornings
Will do for your growing awareness.
-Rumi
January 15th - February 23rd, 2012
A Winter Feast for the Soul
Northern Hemisphere
A Summer Feast for the Soul
Southern Hemisphere
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Volume V, Number 9
January 11th, 2012
IN THIS VERY SPECIAL ISSUE:
FROM THE FOUNDER
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
TO BEGIN THE 2012 FEAST
ON LINE MEDITATIONS
ACTS OF KINDNESS INTERVIEWS ARE NOW COMPLETE
AND POSTED ON OUR WEBSITE
DAILY INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES
ONENESS UNIVERSITY SCHEDULES
SPECIAL BLESSING FOR FEAST PARTICIPANTS
HEARTMATH DONATES EMWAVE2
AS DONOR INCENTIVE
MINDFULNESS MEDITATIONS IN SPANISH:
OUR PARTNERS IN ARGENTINA
CHILDREN’S MEDITATIONS IN FRENCH
FREE GIFT FROM TERRY PATTEN:
"Seeker’s Dilemma" e-Book
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FROM THE FOUNDER:
It was almost impossible to keep this newsletter short. There are so many exciting things to tell you. Please take the time to read all the articles. They are filled with gifts for you.
I am overwhelmed with all the grace that is flowing to you as part of our Winter Feast community. Gifts, incentives, blessings of all sorts from our partners.
Thank you to all who help to make this Feast the best one ever: meditation guides, volunteers around the world, partners, translators, and donor Angels. I thank you all for your loving service to this Feast.
I have come to see that each of the previous four Winter Feasts have brought us to this wonderful moment of 2012. Everything you and I do is done in service of the entire planet.
PLEASE MAKE A FIRM COMMITMENT TO YOUR PRACTICE AND YOUR KIND ACTS NOW.
I send you Love and Blessings to support your practice.
In Service,
Valerie Skonie
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EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO BEGIN THE 2012 FEAST
All of this information is found on the Home page of our web site. We have included links so that you can go directly to any page you might be looking for as you begin the Feast on Sunday, January 15.
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ON LINE MEDITATIONS:
We have a stellar group of meditation and prayer guides for this year’s Feast for the Soul:
- Christian Contemplative Prayer: Carrie Kelley
- Tibetan Buddhist Meditation: Anam Thubten
- Mindfulness (Insight) Meditation in
Spanish: Clara Badino from Argentina
English: Phil Jones
- Sufi Interdenominational: David Less
- Vedic Interdenominational: Davidji Greenspan
- Sikh Meditations: Gurukirn Kaur Khalsa
- Kabbalistic Meditations: Rabbi Olivier BenHaim
- Children’s Four Minutes of Stillness for World Peace:
Inner Kids Mindfulness Teachers
- Older Children and Teens Mindfulness Practice in
English: Jodi Komitor
French: Francoise Sansoni
* Most of the meditations will be prerecorded for you to download and listen to daily at your convenience. All guided meditations will be archived for at least one year after the Feast ends.
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ACTS OF KINDNESS INTERVIEWS ARE NOW COMPLETE AND POSTED ON OUR WEBSITE:
These interviews were created to deepen your understanding of the importance of taking our practice into our lives each and every day of our lives. The commitment to Dailey Acts of Kindness should form a new habit by the end of your 40-day Feast. Each spiritual tradition prescribes some form of kind acts or service.
Here is the list of interviews that are archived on the website for your deepening pleasure.
- Anam Thubten: Tibetan Buddhist
- Rabbi Olivier BenHaim: Kabbalistic
- Suhrwardi Gebel: Sufi
- Rollin McCraty: HeartMath
- Nicole Salzman, age 11, children
- Episcopal Bishop Right Reverend Brian Thom, Christian Perspective
- Terry Patten, Transdenominational Considerations
The following quote was shared with us by Episcopal Bishop Right Reverend Brian Thom during his interview:
"Life is short and we have too little time to gladden the hearts of those who travel the way with us. Oh, be swift to love and make haste to be kind" Henri Amiel, 19th century Swiss poet, philosopher and critic.
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DAILY INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES:
Each year we offer you an inspirational quote to begin your practice or your day. We will not be sending out the quotes in our newsletters as we have done in the past. However, they will be posted daily on our website. We regret that we are not always able to offer a full spectrum of translations this year because we do not have translators available in all languages. If someone wishes to step forward to help, please let Diana know: Diana@winterfeastforthesoul.com
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SPECIAL BLESSING TO BE TRANSMITTED FROM INDIA FOR WINTER FEAST FOR THE SOUL PARTICIPANTS:
On Monday we received word from the Oneness University in southern India that one of their American monks will be transmitting a blessing via webcast on Sunday, January 15, the opening day of the Feast.
The thought behind offering this blessing is that it will deepen your resolve to your commitment to 40 days of practice. There will be an even more powerful blessing given on the last day of the Feast. That second blessing will move you deeper into your awakening. Your 40-days of practice will prepare you for this second blessing.
The Blessing (referred to as Deeksha) will be transmitted live at 2:15 p.m. GMT.
The following are times in the US and Canada:
Please make every effort to join us at the time the Blessing is given. A video recording of it will also be available on our website for the duration of the Feast.
A new announcement will be made in one of the February newsletters regarding the closing ceremony and blessing. Please watch the newsletters for further announcements.
By learning to locate
Consciousness in the heart,
We can begin to know the world...
Mineral, plant, animal, and human...
In a way that is long forgotten,
But most natural to us.
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HEARTMATH DONATES emWAVE2 TO WINTER FEAST:
After my interview with Rollin McCraty, Director of Research at HeartMath, last week Rollin asked if it would be helpful for our fund raising efforts if HeartMath were to donate an emWave2 to create an incentive in the form of a "raffle" for our donors. Of course we accepted.
So here is an opportunity for you to train your heart-mind coherence by making a donation to Winter Feast.
Here is a link to the emWave 2 for you to consider:
http://www.heartmath.com/technology-products/product-finder.html
All donations of $50 or more will be entered in the raffle at the end of the Feast. We still need about $2,200 more to take us to the "finish line".
All of the components of the Feast are offered to you at no cost. They do, however, cost time, energy, and a few unavoidable costs to create. This worldwide 40-day Feast for your Soul is created with a budget of less than $10,000. Won’t you please make your donation now?
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OUR MINDFULNESS MEDITATIONS IN SPANISH:
We are extremely grateful to our partners in Argentina who are preparing daily meditations for you in Spanish. Special thanks to Clara Badino and to Miguel de Anguin for all their work in preparing this series. Here is a link to their website:
http://www.visionclara.com.ar
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CHILDREN’S MEDITATIONS IN FRENCH:
Special thanks to Francoise Sansoni who offered to record daily mindfulness meditations for children and young people in French. This might be a great opportunity to practice your French while sitting quietly on your cushion.
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SEEKER’S DILEMMA: Gift from Terry Patten
At the end of our interview with Terry Patten yesterday he announced that he has a free eBook available. Go to: http://www.seekersdilemma.com to register for the download.
I think that is all for now. We will send out newsletters only as new information warrants during the Feast. Please write or create a post on Facebook to let us know how your own Feast is going. There are always interesting letters that show up as the Feast takes hold of life.
I plan to start a separate blog for your thoughts on Acts of Kindness. We will write again when that is set up.
More Love to you,
Valerie
Valerie@winterfeastforthesoul.com
Diana
Diana@winterfeastforthesoul.com
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You may donate through PayPal:
Or by sending a check to:
A Winter Feast for the Soul
421 Deer Trail Drive
Hailey, ID 83333
*We are a non-profit organization operating under the auspices of Rising Tide International, a 501c3 nonprofit corporation located in Sarasota, Florida. All donations from the United States are tax deductible.
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Winter Feast for the Soul / 421 Deer Trail Drive / Hailey, ID 83333 / (208) 788-6373 / www.winterfeastforthesoul.com
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