Volume III : September 2007

2007 Program Schedule

Living Presence: A 6 Month Program with Neelam (New)

Living Presence is an opportunity to work with Neelam on a new and more comprehensive level, directly and personally, for six months. It is the next step if you who have been on several retreats with Neelam, have had private sessions or more recently have been a part of one of the 6 week inquiry groups. Teleconference is one of the newer ways Neelam is able to work more closely with you. We are pleased to announce that she will be facilitating all the teleconference sessions in this program. You will have a chance to stay connected to Neelam and her teaching throughout the program.

Each month we will begin with a teleconference Satsang on a particular theme. Then Neelam will facilitate a teleconference "working session". Through her skillful and tender direction, you will be invited to dive into the teaching and to meet your conditioning as it is. You will also practice inquiry with a partner from the group so that your inquiry becomes easier and automatic. To strengthen commitment during this period, Neealm will work closely with us to develop a daily, personal practice. There will also be two weekend gatherings with other group members in your region during the six months. Neelam will connect with us during these weekends again, through teleconference. We will gather for one group retreat with Neelam in January to allow everyone to come together for Satsang and to simply enjoy sangha. And of course there will also be opportunities to work with her privately as needed.

For more details, download the flyer. (Assistance with PDFs can be found on our PDF Help Page.)

November 2, 2007 - April 27, 2008
By Application. Deadline for application Wednesday, October 10.

A 3-hour Inquiry Satsang with Neelam
Saturday, September 29
2:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Location: Pamela's in Tesuque, NM
Donation: sliding scale $25 - $65

Open Teleconference Satsangs with Neelam
September, 19th, October, 17th, November, 14th, December, 12th
All at 5:30pm MST
Donation: sliding scale $25 - $30

Teleconference Satsang Inquiry Group
October - November
October 16 - November 20 6:00PM MST
Donation: sliding scale $65 - $125

Teleconference Satsang Inquiry Group
November - December
November 27 - December 18 6PM MST
Donation: sliding scale $45 - $85

FOTS and Sangha News Update

Selling the Land in Hotchkiss

Dear Sangha,

I would like to let you know that we have recently reached the difficult decision to put the Hotchkiss house and land up for sale. My unexpected health crisis almost a year ago, due, to a large extent, to the environmental exposure in the Hotchkiss house, has made it impossible for me to live on the land and to maintain the resources needed to support this project. For now, the recovery of my health is a priority and I am taking all the necessary steps for that. The progress is slow but steady and I don't know yet when I'll regain my full capacity to work and travel.

The funds that many of you have donated towards the house and the community building remain in a special building fund account. It is my intension to use the funds to find a new place to live that will help restore my health and allow me to continue my work with you.

Life and I came to this valley four years ago with the vision to create a community and a retreat center. We found a warm welcome, sincere support, and a strong interest in Satsang. Over the last few years, many beautiful retreats and events have taken place here. We have developed a strong connection with many members of the community and with the land. We are deeply grateful to everyone in the Hotchkiss community that have supported us here as well as those of you that have supported us from afar in the undertaking to create a community. We love this land and love living in this valley. It is really difficult for us to see it go.

Thank you for helping make Hotchkiss a special place for us. And we appreciate your continued support as we move through this transition and establish a new home.

LOVE,

Neelam

New Virtual Office

Dear Sangha,

The office, which has been the hub and housed in Paonia, Colorado for the last few years, was closed in June of this year. The winter weather caused severe damage that then created mold which made it impossible for Neelam or any of us to work there. With Nina moving off to the Denver area and Lee in Virginia, Gita along with the support of Adrianna, Arlyn, Aaron, Hal, Michele, John, Brook and Jonathan, packed up and moved us into the storage unit. We are now living in boxes and operating totally in a virtual office as Neelam and Life, Gita, Lee, Nina and Alexandra all live in different parts of the country. And though we miss sharing a cup of tea and chatting in person, the virtual office seems to be working.

Our office phone number has changed to Lee's home office in Virginia (757.961.9092) and we may decide to shift the mailing address as well. Time will tell.

The email addresses (info@neelam.org, lee@neelam.org, etc.) remain the same. As we have done in the past, we will continue to send you email updates regarding Neelam and her teaching schedule. Much is transpiring now and we ask that you visit the website often to keep updated on changes.

Thank you for your kindness and your endless patience,

Lee

Remembering Guy with Love

Guy Trepanier died on Monday, August 27. He lived in Quebec, Canada and he and his partner Rachel Garber have been an active part of the Sangha for over five years. Together they have attended several retreats over the years including the trip to India in 2005. We are grateful that he shared his life with us. All our love to Rachel.

Neelam's Housing Search

Neelam and Life are looking for a place to live this winter in Arizona and New Mexico by Nov. 1st. If you have any information to support their search or would like to help, please contact Amber Widom at housing@brycewidom.com

Getting Involved

Fire of Truth Satsangha is now run by volunteers and there are always ways you can help. If you can donate in dollars, please visit our Donation page. If you can offer your time and talents, here are few areas that we would love to have you join us in:

• Writers. If writing is your talent and you would like to work with the teaching and the sangha, we need help in areas of transcribing, editing, and writing material for the website.


• Fundraising. Do you have fundraising experience? Would like to help us raise money creatively and mindfully? Our team is small but we have big aspirations!


• Website. Looking for maintenance support when our current volunteers aren't available. Bryce Widom (who is stepping down from his position) has done a fantastic job designing and maintaining our website and so has Suzanne Montenegro, who currently maintains our schedule page.


• Bloggers. Yes, we too would like to get into the blogging world. If anyone has experience creating a blog, we'd love to hear from you.


• Administrative Assistant. Neelam needs a personal assistant to help with her schedule, write emails, make calls etc.

Please send an email to alex@neelam.org with GET INVOLVED WITH FOTS in the subject. State your interests and availability and include your phone number.

Fire of Truth Satsanga (FOTS) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the teaching of Neelam. FOTS was founded in 1996 to awaken individual consciousness into the Oneness of Being. View more information about our organization.