Report by Peter Fenner

The second 9 month Nondual Teacher Training started in February this year in Boulder with 38 participants. This is the first training offered in North American and the level of interest and caliber of participation is truly outstanding. We have people from most nondual traditions in the Training: teachers and masters from Zen, Sufism, Western style Mindfulness, Dzogchen and Mahamudra. Some participants have developed their own forms for transmitting nondual wisdom. The expertise in traditional nondual modalities is powerfully complemented by the participation of a very large number of psychologists and counselors who have decades of expertise in a wide range of therapeutic approaches. The blend of experience and depth and breadth expertise is quite unique.

We are using a structure in the Training that is based on demonstrations of nondual transmission to the larger group and in smaller breakout groups, demonstrations and explanations of the Radiant Mind form of nondual work supported by a reference manual, regular conference calls, coaching calls and field work. The field work happens in between the three full group workshops. This is where the people in the Training explore new structures for delivering nondual transmission, refine the work they are presently doing, experiment integrating nonduality into new domains, or begin doing something they have never done before!

The field work that people are engaged with is coming into place right now. The range of courses, workshops, small and large events, that people are envisioning, designing and beginning, is wonderfully diverse and varied. Several people are loosening the structures that have defined their teaching and discovering how to work “on the spot” with whatever is arising, others are creating bridges from the nondual into areas such as end-of-life, social activism, and explicitly building nondualism into intimate relationships. Others in the Training are experientializing the teaching of nondual texts, exploring how to introduce people to nondualism through natural meditation. The new events that are being created include informal evening meetings, weekend workshops and longitudinal programs. Many people are “out there” doing things that they wouldn’t have imagined 4 months ago.

I think we are all learning that far more is possible than we’d imagined. We’re seeing a level of interest by so many people, in internal sources of fulfillment, and an availability to rest in awareness itself, that was impossible even just one or two years ago.

Peter Fenner
peter@fenner.org
radiantmind.net
nondualtraining.com

There’s not a Speaking Circles group in Nova Scotia, so I have no experience with it, but I still want to talk about it because I like what I’ve come across. I read founder Lee Glickstein’s book Be Heard Now, and from reading it I think I’d be more inclined toward Speaking Circles than Toastmasters. Speaking Circles has more of spiritual sensibility to it. Toastmasters was founded in the 1920s in order to help advance men — and I do mean men — in business. However, there are some Toastmasters groups that have a spiritual bent and women make up at least half the membership, if not more, of all clubs.

In a sense it doesn’t matter which organization you join. I’ve belonged to a local Toastmasters club for about four years, and have attended meetings at other local Toastmasters clubs. Each club has its own vibe, its own personality. One club may cater to young aggressive professionals. Another may be established within a seniors center and be more genteel and non-controversial. Still another may emphasis success in speaking competitions, so that speakers who are not naturally gifted may feel ignored or left behind. Still others are middle of the road, appealing to most of the population.

There are many ways in which Toastmasters clubs could vary and the diversity is welcome. What it means is that if you are interested in joining a Toastmasters club, you will probably have to visit three or four before deciding which one you will join. You are more than welcome to attend meetings several times for free as a guest.

The cost of joining Toastmasters is very nominal, about $50 every six months.

I don’t know the cost of joining Speaking Circles. They have different levels of study which can be expensive compared to Toastmasters. Some Speaking Circles invite love offerings. What’s a love offering these days? Ten bucks? Fifteen? I don’t know. With Toastmasters there’s no love offering.

I imagine, but I don’t know for sure, that each Speaking Circles groups is different, too. They don’t all have love offerings. However, there are far less SC groups.

While I think I’d be more inclined to join Speaking Circles than Toastmasters, it depends on the personality of the group. In either organization you will learn public speaking. That’s the main thing.