FROM INNER TO OUTER TRANSFORMATION

Transformation is a radical change in human nature, from a self-centered life rooted in an illusion of separateness to a state where individual and universal consciousness is increasingly unified. This integration fosters active engagement in a vibrant, interconnected world. Relationships become sacred ground for learning and fulfillment, while compassion brings together individual, community, nation and world for healing and peace. Join us in exploring, in different presentations, how inner and outer transformation may change everything we know about relations and our life together.

In addition to our regular classes, please join us for the second Tuesday of the month lecture series both on-site and over Zoom. Sponsored by the Krotona School of Theosophy and the 2024 Centennial Committee. 

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Ravi Ravindra

Love and Death in the Great Spiritual Traditions

On-site and Zoom

March 5 – 8 Tuesday – Friday, 10 am – noon PST

March 12 – 15 Tuesday – Friday, 10 am – noon PDT

March 19 – 21 Tuesday – Thursday, 10 am – noon PDT

According to the great sages – especially as enunciated in the Gospels and Bhagavad Gita – it is much more important that I am loved by the Christ or by Krishna or by God than that I love them. When I am loved by them, they reveal themselves to me in their true nature, not as I conditioned by my cultural background, imagine them to be. Then the subtle conscious energy can dwell in me and assist me to live with compassion and truth in the service of the whole life on the planet Earth. What is required from the human side is for each one of us to become more and more loveable by God.

Every human being is interested in the meaning of one’s existence and wonders what happens to me when my body dies. Does anything survive and how? In the Indian spiritual teachings, unlike in the Abrahamic ones, there is a great deal of emphasis on reincarnation. In the Abrahamic traditions each individual has a unique birth and unique death eternally. We will explore the consequences of these cultural differences.

Single Session $15 Series $150

Click here to register.

Ravi Ravindra, PhD is professor emeritus at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada, where he taught in the departments of physics, philosophy and comparative religion. He has authored many papers in these fields and several books, including Pilgrim Soul; the Gospel of John in the Light of Indian Mysticism; Science and the Sacred; the Wisdom of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and The Bhagavad Gita: A Guide to Navigating the Battle of Life. Ravi travels and teaches internationally as well as online.

Recommended Study:

Ravindra: The Yoga of the Christ (also published as The Gospel of John in the Light of Indian Mysticism) (The Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar)

Ravindra: The Bhagavad Gita: A Guide to Navigating the Battle of Life (Shambhala Publications)

Annie Besant: Death and After (TPH)

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O’Kawai Kin

The Power of Diversity: Creating a Just and Welcoming World

April 9 On-site and Zoom

Tuesday Evening 6:30 – 8:00 pm PT

We are collectively more powerful than we are individually, so how do we intentionally make lasting changes that will result in the growth of harmony and cooperation? This is particularly important when it comes to creating a safe and equitable world for every individual, regardless of age, race/nationality, gender/gender expression, sexual orientation, religious/spiritual affiliation, disability seen and unseen. Join us, as we explore ways to welcome and celebrate each other as our full selves, with our unique identities, and as we choose to share who we are.

This is part of the 2nd Tuesday Transformational Series, sponsored by the Krotona School of Theosophy and the  2024 Centennial Committee.

$10 or donation. Registration at the door or call 805 646-1139

O’Kawai has worked at the Ojai Foundation as a facilitator for Rites of Passage and other programs. For over a decade, they have been teaching and facilitating Council circles in schools, professional development settings, and with “at risk” youth outreach programs. Their dream is to bring the practice of Council to communities all over the world. O’Kawai is now the Director of Education at Topa Institute, focusing on youth educational programs, as well as Council trainings and ceremonial practices for people of all ages. O’Kawai believes deeply in the practice of authentic communication as a path to deeper relationships, greater social understanding, and a more peaceful world.

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Krotona School Centennial Classes
From Inner to Outer Transformation

This series consists of the following 4 programs.
The entire series is $50, and each individual session is $15.

Please register here for the entire series.

Rozi Ulics

The Law of Essential Unity

April 15 10:00 am – noon PT On-site and Zoom

The Oneness of all Life is the essence, aim and goal of spiritual work and transformation. It is embodied in Krotona’s mission statement and has been promoted by Theosophists resident at Krotona over the past 100 years. Through their teachings we know that Universal Life is not merely interconnected but interdependent, that the evolution of all beings proceeds in tandem and, at the human stage, none of us reaches our ultimate goal until we all do. In honor of Krotona’s Centenary we will explore these profound ideas through the eyes of former Krotona luminaries and rediscover concrete practices we can each use to invoke and transmit this message in our world today.

Click here to register

Rozi Ulics is current Vice President of the Theosophical Society in America. She is past president of the Washington DC Lodge, and served for years on the board of directors of the Mid-South Federation and the Theosophical Order of Service (USA). Rozi holds degrees in International Commerce & Policy, Economics and German, and currently resides in the DC area where she works as an economist for the federal government.

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Doug Keene

Ksanti, Patience Sweet (and When Is It Not Enough)

April 16 10:00 am – noon PT On-site and Zoom

We are often told patience is a virtue. But is it really, and in what circumstances? Why is it so frustrating to hear this? Can it be of value by itself, or are there other factors for consideration? Doug Keene will look at the Paramitas (six transcendental virtues) in general, and specifically discuss ksanti, or patience, and see how this relates to inner development and progress on a spiritual quest. Additionally, he will address how this applies to our external world, particularly in this time of crisis.

Click here to register.

Douglas Keene, MD is currently the national president of the Theosophical Society in America in Wheaton, IL. He has been a member of the TSA for over 40 years and participated in programs in Krotona, Olcott, and Adyar. A retired family physician, he practiced for more than 33 years, initially in rural northwest Alaska, above the Arctic circle. Later in his career he earned a Masters of Public Health degree in Global Health following which he worked in Lesotho (Africa) for two years training native doctors. When not in Illinois, he lives in New Hampshire with his wife Risa.

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Pablo Sender

Yoga in The Voice of the Silence

April 17 10:00 am – noon PT On-site and Zoom

In this presentation we will explore the spiritual practice presented in the First Fragment of The Voice of the Silence. This Theosophical classic, published by Blavatsky in 1889, describes a meditative approach that includes elements of the system known as nāda-yoga, which describes a path of union with the Self by meditating on the inner sound.

Click here to register.

Pablo Sender, PhD, has been a member of the Theosophical Society since 1996. He has lived and worked at the international headquarters of the TS in Adyar, India, at the national center of the TS in America, and is currently residing in the Krotona Institute of Theosophy in Ojai, California. He has presented programs and retreats in India, Europe, Oceania, and the three Americas. He writes for many Theosophical journals and is the author of The Evolution of the Higher Consciousness. www.pablosender.com

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Barbara Hebert

Transformation: Implications and Applications in Daily Life

April 18 10:00 am – noon PT On-site and Zoom

Spiritual transformation is complex and multifaceted, yet it is part of our pilgrimage as seekers for Truth. Our day-to-day activities provide us with tremendous opportunities for growth and transformation; yet, how often do we really take advantage of these opportunities? Our discussion will focus on a few of the universal, practical aspects of daily life that can help facilitate our journey.

Click here to register.

Barbara Hebert is Past President of the Theosophical Society in America. A third-generation theosophist, Barbara has been a member of the Theosophical Society since the mid-1970s and has been active in local, regional, national and international theosophical work. In her professional life, Barbara also had a long career as a mental health practitioner and as a counselor-educator.

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Peter Russell

Waking up in Time: An Afternoon with Peter Russell

Saturday April 20 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm PT On-site and Zoom. On-site seating limited. Please register early.

Explore the essence of spiritual awakening and its relevance to our lives today
with a leading thinker on consciousness and contemporary spirituality.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the global crises facing us are, at their root, a crisis of consciousness.  We are being called to let go of self-centered, materialist ways of thinking and open to the wisdom of our true nature. As numerous spiritual adepts have discovered, beneath our everyday consciousness, with its hopes, fears, plans, and worries, lies the natural mind, untarnished by the stories we tell ourselves and the roles we play. Here we feel at home, fully at ease, and content.

Sharing his own journey of self-discovery, and integrating ideas from Eastern and Western models of the mind, Peter will explore questions such as: What is awakening? Why do we get caught in egoic thinking? Can we let go and open to the inner peace, love, and freedom that we yearn for? How will this change our relationship to others and to planet Earth. He will also share some practices that clarify and deepen meditation, allowing us to open more easily to the stillness within. The key is surrendering all effort and resistance. It is simply opening to the fullness of the present moment.
$20 or donation.

Click here to register.

Peter Russell coined the term “ global brain” with his 1980s bestseller of the same name in which he predicted the Internet and the impact it would have on humanity. He is the author of ten other books, including Waking Up in Time, From Science to God, and most recently Letting Go of Nothing and Forgiving Humanity. He studied theoretical physics, experimental psychology, and computer science at the University of Cambridge, and meditation and Eastern Philosophy in India. He also pioneered the introduction of personal growth programs to corporations in the 1970s and ‘80s. He believes the critical challenge today is freeing human thinking from the limited beliefs and attitudes that lie behind many of our problems—personal, social, and global.

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Centennial Open House Celebration

April 21 Sunday 2:00 – 4:30 pm On-site only, please RSVP

WELCOME AND PERSPECTIVES
Chumash Elder Blessing
Betsy Stix, Ojai Mayor
Elena Dovalsantos, Krotona V. President & Resident Head (or Linda Oliveira, President KIT )
Douglas Keene, President, The Theosophical Society in America

PRESENTATIONS
Janet Kerschner, TSA Archivist “How Krotona Came to Be”
Video: “An Enduring Vision: Krotona Then, Now and Tomorrow”

ACTIVITIES
Krotona Tour 1:00 pm
Refreshments 4:30 Library Veranda
New and Used Books and Krotona Plant Sale

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Marti Fast

Hiawatha: The Legend of the Peacemaker

May 14 On-site and Zoom
Tuesday Evening 6:30 – 8:00 pm PT

Hiawatha: The Legend of the Peacemaker is a series of 23 oversized oils depicting the Onondaga Chief Hiawatha’s quest to share the Great Creator’s vision of unity through the Great Law of Peace. This rich visual presentation will introduce the genius of artist and theosophist Harold E. Forgostein (1906-1990), who painted the images in the 1940s. Weaving history with legends such as Longfellow’s “Song of Hiawatha,” the artist interprets the hero’s journey through stories of the initiations of Hiawatha, the Four Winds, and the call to unify the human family as symbolized by the League of Six Nations.

This is part of the 2nd Tuesday Transformational Series, sponsored by the Krotona School of Theosophy and the  2024 Centennial Committee.

$10 or donation. Registration at the door or call 805 646-1139

Marti Fast is a decades-long theosophist and member of the Temple of the People in Halcyon, an intentional community on California’s Central Coast. A retired educator, she taught drawing, design, and watercolor, and served as gallery director at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria.

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