Seeking with a Pure Heart: Adventures in Buddhist-Christian Encounter
2023-05-12 - 2023-05-14 | Zoom
Course Description:

In this freely-offered, dana-based program, over three afternoon sessions, Dr. Robert Jonas and Dr. Mark Unno will offer an experiential learning opportunity in Buddhist-Christian Encounter. With nearly three-quarters of a century of combined experience in Buddhist-Christian dialogue and practice, Jonas and Unno will provide:
1) An overview of the history of Buddhist-Christian Dialogue;
2) Accounts of first-hand experiences with key figures in Buddhist-Christian dialogue and their contributions;
3) Guided Contemplative Practices that reflect multiple religious belonging and influences;
4) Demonstrations through expert live performance of Zen flute (Shakuhachi) by Jonas and Buddhist Chanting (Shin Buddhism) by Unno;
5) Participants will be encouraged to engage in active contributions through sharing their own experiences in Buddhist-Christian encounters as well as questions and comments they would like to offer.
Jonas comes from a rich background in Carmelite Christianity and Zen Buddhist practice and flute mastery, and Unno, the current President of the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies, is steeped in the Shin tradition of chanting and will bring to life colorful accounts of his own encounters.
Robert and Mark are generously offering all dana from this program in support of BCBS.
More Info & Register

The Inner Work of Age: Shifting from Role to Soul
2023-06-22 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
Coming soon, to be available on Zoom from the Empty Bell.

Course: Nouwen & the Trinity with Dr. Robert Jonas
2023-11-06 10:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York)
What does St. Paul mean when he maintains that we have “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16)? What did renowned spiritual writer Henri Nouwen mean in calling us to the “life of the beloved?” Following a trail of scriptural sayings, as well as the teachings of ancient Christian mystics, and stories from Yale Divinity School professor Henri Nouwen, Dr. Jonas, long-time friend of Nouwen, explores the possibility that any of us can discover and awaken the mind (Greek: nous) of Christ. In his award-winning new book, My Dear Far-Nearness: The Holy Trinity as Spiritual Practice (Orbis, 2022), Jonas suggests that Jesus’ consciousness was trinitarian and non-dual. With attention and practice, this consciousness can– through the grace of God– be awakened in us, as well. By casting a clear, fresh light on the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, this presentation will support people in ministry, in addition to helping professionals who walk with others. By offering accessible, down-to-earth spiritual practices, this presentation will show us how to deepen our connection to God in the midst of our daily lives, and how to draw from the well of grace as we encounter the demands and challenges of ministry.
Register

Sojourn with the Solstice
2023-12-21 17:00 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
We will explore spiritual and cognitive practices that reveal deep, transformative portals to the solstice experience.

Myth Salon 2nd Annual Winter Solstice with Amanda Yates-Garcia & Dr. Robert Jonas
2023-12-21 20:00 - 22:00 (America/New_York)
On the night of the Winter Solstice, Thursday, December 21 at 5PM Pacific, the Myth Salon features the Oracle of Los Angeles, Amanda Yates Garcia, for a night of ritual, tarot, ceremony and deep-diving into one of most sacred days of the year – when the Earth reaches its maximum distance from the sun. It is the shortest day and longest night of the year. Accordingly, throughout the world in ancient and contemporary cultures, the Winter Solstice represents a time of renewal, as well as transition and transformation.
I first met Amanda Yates Garcia during one of her performances at the Getty Villa. I invited her to present at one of the early Myth Salons in my Santa Monica home (above). As virtually everything has moved online, the Myth Salon will be providing Amanda with all the warmth and intimacy that zoom can offer, together with an incredible panel, each of whom will contribute their skills. Dr. Raïna Manuel-Paris will bring her skills in tarot and mythic imagination. Dr. Jonas will offer readings in contemplative spirituality (and maybe serenade us on his shakuhachi flute). Dr. Dennis Slattery will deepen our experience of the Winter Solstice with poetry of renewal, transition, and transformation.
Register now for the Winter Solstice Myth Salon with Amanda Yates Garcia:
Register Now!

A Contemplative Evening with Dr. Robert A. Jonas
2024-01-17 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
What does St. Paul mean when he maintains that we have “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16)? The renowned spiritual writer Henri Nouwen often echoed St. Paul in asserting “What is said of Jesus is said of you.” If indeed all of us have the mind of Christ, how do we access this human/divine experience? Following a trail of scriptural sayings, as well as the teachings of ancient Christian mystics, Jonas explores the possibility that any of us can discover and awaken the mind (Greek: nous) of Christ. In his award-winning new book, My Dear Far-Nearness: The Holy Trinity as Spiritual Practice (Orbis, 2022), Jonas suggests that Jesus’ consciousness was trinitarian and non-dual. With attention and practice, this consciousness can – through the grace of God – be awakened in us, as well.
By casting a clear, fresh light on the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and offering accessible, down-to-earth spiritual practices, Jonas will show us how to deepen our connection to Christ amidst our daily lives and how to draw from the well of grace as we encounter demands and challenges in our families, friendships, neighborhoods, and ministries.
According to Jonas, the Holy Trinity is not merely something to believe in but is something to live.
Fee: Free Will Offering
Register

Empty Bell New Year's Eve
2024-12-31 16:30 - 17:45 (America/New_York)
Holiday and New Year blessings to you and your families. Here on the brink of a new year, please join our online community on New Year’s Eve. Together, we will take a sacred pause instead of rushing forward into 2025. We can’t know what this new year will bring, but perhaps we can identify some of our fears and hopes. Sharing with friends what we know and don’t know can bring solace and inspiration.
On Tuesday, Dec. 31, New Year’s Eve, we will meet on the usual Empty Bell Zoom site. Contact Jonas if you need the URL.
Rather than focusing on so-called New Year’s resolutions, we’ll focus on how we hope to live personally, in our families, and in our communities, as 2025 proceeds. We’ll focus more on who we want to be rather than on what we want to do. To whet the whistles of our hearts and minds, I’ve pasted below a number of quotes from thinkers many of us will recognize. Browse the list to see what stirs in your souls as you look ahead to the new year. When we meet, as usual, all perspectives will be honored. Let’s listen together in hope and mutual care.
Here are some quotes to ponder and perhaps to take on as your own guide to the future:
And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.
–Rainer Maria Rilke
Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.
–Carl Jung
Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.
–Carl Jung
Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.
–Carl Jung
That best portion of a man’s life, his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love.
–William Wordsworth
The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.
–Ernest Hemingway
I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.
–Ernest Hemingway
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.
Mahatma Gandhi
Do what you feel in your heart to be right–for you’ll be criticized anyway. You’ll be damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.
–Eleanor Roosevelt
The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.
–Alan Watts
If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.
–Maya Angelou
Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.
–Judy Garland
Grief is the price we pay for love.
–Anon
The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery.
–Anais Nin
People living deeply have no fear of death.
Queen Elizabeth II
Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes.
–Walt Whitman
I used to care about how other people thought I led my life. But lately I’ve realized that most people are too preoccupied with their own lives to give anybody else even the scantiest of thoughts.
― Douglas Coupland
Our Christian destiny is, in fact, a great one: but we cannot achieve greatness unless we lose all interest in being great. For our own idea of greatness is illusory, and if we pay too much attention to it we will be lured out of the peace and stability of the being God gave us, and seek to live in a myth we have created for ourselves. And when we are truly ourselves we lose most of the futile self-consciousness that keeps us constantly comparing ourselves with others in order to see how big we are.
― Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island
———————————
Blessings, Jonas

Interspiritual Wisdom with Dana Sawyer
2025-11-12 10:30 - 12:00 (America/New_York)
Jonas interviews Dana Sawyer, author of The Perennial Philosophy Reloaded, A Guide for the Mystically Inclined, and biographer of Aldous Huxley and Huston Smith on Zoom.
Dr. Sawyer teaches courses in philosophy and world religions, with an emphasis on Asian religions. His areas of expertise and research are Hindu asceticism, Tibetan Buddhism, and the perennial philosophy of Aldous Huxley. He is a biographer of the well-known spiritual writer Aldous Huxley, a biographer of Huston Smith, another perennial philosopher. and SUNY Press will soon release a book of Sawyer’s analysis of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and his influence on American spirituality. Professor Sawyer also teaches meditation and leads trips to India. Professor Sawyer has traveled extensively in India, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, Cambodia, Hong Kong, and Japan. He has lectured at the Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, Banaras Hindu University, the University of Riga, Latvia, the Huntington Library, and at colleges at conferences throughout the U.S. In August 2005 he was an invited participant at the Oxford Roundtable, Oxford University, England, for a conference on “Government, Education, and Religion.”
Prof. Sawyer recently contributed an essay to Bruce Springsteen and the American Soul: Essays on the Songs and Influence of a Cultural Icon.

Phil Goldberg Interviews Jonas
2025-12-01 10:30 - 12:00 (America/New_York)
Philip Goldberg has studied the world’s spiritual traditions for more than 50 years, as a practitioner, teacher, and author. His essays have appeared in numerous publications, and he has authored or coauthored more than 25 books, including Roadsigns on the Spiritual Path; the award-winning American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation, How Indian Spirituality Changed the West; the seminal biography The Life of Yogananda: The Story of the Yogi Who Became the First Modern Guru; and Spiritual Practice for Crazy Times: Powerful Tools to Cultivate Clarity, Calm and Courage. An Interfaith Minister, spiritual counselor, public speaker and workshop leader, he has appeared at leading venues throughout the U.S. and India and has taught online for Spirituality & Practice, Embodied Spirituality, and Hindu University of America. He serves on the board of the Association for Spiritual Integrity and as an advisor to the National Museum of Religion. His website is www.PhilipGoldberg.com. (For additional interviews, check out the archive at the earlier Spirit Matters podcast.)

My Dear Far-Nearness: Part 1 — The Mystery Within the Words
2026-04-14 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
Beginning with an honest look at why the Trinity has often felt distant or off-putting, we will explore what happens when we approach it not as a doctrine to believe, but as a living mystery to enter. Jonas will introduce the vision at the heart of his book and will explain why it matters for contemplatives today.
Register…

My Dear Far-Nearness: Part 2 — The Contemplative Dance of the Trinity
2026-04-28 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
At the center of Jonas’s work is a profound image of the Trinity as a sacred, flowing dance of awareness: God the Creator, incarnate human life and our relationships, and the Spirit as the living presence connecting them all. In this session we explore how this dance moves through the world and through us. We will discuss how to align with this Spirit moment by moment as we go through the day.
Register…

My Dear Far-Nearness: Part 3 — The Trinity Within Us
2026-05-12 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
Jonas will invite us to discover that this Trinitarian movement isn’t only ‘out there’ — it also lives within us, in our awareness, our relationships, and our deepest longings. This session will explore the Trinity as a map of the inner life, psychological and spiritual, and what it means to be made in the image of a loving, relational God.
Register…

My Dear Far-Nearness: Part 4 — Practicing the Presence
2026-05-26 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
How do we live inside this sacred dance? In our final session, Jonas will bring us home to daily contemplative practice: silence, presence, discernment, and the way this vision transforms how we show up for family, friendship, community, and the world.
Register…
