Teachers: Kara Vangen, Jim Lockridge and Kathleen Graham
December 2-4, 2022: Held via Zoom
Cost $175
Students who have already received this teaching may register at half price.
Please call the Christine Center main office at 715-267-7507 to register at the reduced rate.
The Soul is the medium of our consciousness that experiences the continuum of experience from the most superficial to the deepest; the most contracted to the most expanded; within space and time and beyond. The most striking aspects of this organism are its malleability, sensitivity, intelligence and dynamism. The soul can take many forms; it is not a rigid structure but a flowing, conscious Presence with certain inherent capacities and faculties. When we understand the core aspects of the Soul, we begin to recognize that our consciousness is not hard-wired but always in some ongoing stage of development. This perspective allows us to relax into our experience with acceptance and compassion, the only place from which true unfoldment can happen. In this retreat, we will study specific qualities of the soul, including its aliveness, dynamism, impressionability and natural flow.
For questions please contact the teachers of Midwest Diamond Approach Group 4 at: DiamondApproachMidwest@gmail.com
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Who looks out with my eyes? What is the soul? I cannot stop asking. If I could taste one sip of an answer, I could break out of this prison for drunks. I didn’t come here of my own accord, and I can’t leave that way. Whoever brought me here, will have to take me home.
~Rumi
More Information about Midwest 4 Diamond Approach Retreats
The Diamond Approach is the core teaching of the Ridhwan School (www.diamondapproach.org) and has been in existence since 1977. The method has become well known through the many books published by A.H. Almaas and the multiple opportunities currently to participate in Diamond Approach retreats throughout the world.
The Diamond Approach path was first introduced in the Midwest in 1996. This new group, DA MidWest Group 4, will be an open group, accepting new students for the next few years. The current teachers have been members of the school for over 25 years and live and practice in various places in the Midwest.
Retreat Structure:
Currently we are teaching on zoom and will transition to a mix of in-person and zoom retreats in 2023. Eventually In-person retreats will be held at the Christine Center in Willard, WI. The Christine Center offers a serene, natural environment that enhances and supports inner exploration and integration.
The initial stages of the teaching will be in the form of weekend retreats, meeting 4 times a year, Friday evening thru Sunday at noon. As the group gets established, additional sessions will be added which will extend the retreat. Time: Friday 7-9:30PM, Saturday 9:00AM-8:30PM, and Sunday 9:00AM-12:00PM
Weekend retreats will be composed of meditation, breath and movement practices, lectures and self-reflection exercises geared toward connecting with our True Nature, and facilitating the unfoldment of our souls.
The Christine Center Scholarship Fund is available from donations specified for this purpose.
Our hope is that all who seek a spiritual deepening experience will have the opportunity to participate with us.
Meet the Teachers
Jim Lockridge is an ordained teacher of the Diamond Approach where he has been a student since 1998 and began working with students in 2012. He is a lifelong investigator of both the physical and spiritual worlds. Jim began his spiritual quest at age 14 when he first discovered Catholicism and soon became an altar boy. He was a research scientist for 40 years, an auto-mechanic, a floor waxer, army reservist, meditator, school bus driver, gardener, teacher, father of 2 daughters, grandfather and lately, an expert popsicle developer. He currently lives in St. Paul with his lovely wife, Stephanie. Jim is passionate about teaching others how to investigate and reveal the truth of who they are.
Kathleen Graham, RN, MS, she/her, ordained Diamond Approach teacher (2016), and student member of the Ridhwan School (1996 – current). Her primary interest and passion is with health and wellness, and personal transformation, whether working as a hospice/ oncology nurse or Diamond Approach teacher. She continues to recognize and trust the alchemical process of transformation that can happen as one is engaged in the immediacy of one’s experience. She offers an open-hearted invitation to the inner journey that can open in ever-deepening ways to the preciousness of one’s truth.
Kara Vangen, MSW, CHTP, she/hers, is passionate about doing the, “deep inner work” required to show up authentically in life and community and believes that our value and happiness as human beings arises from our ability to illuminate our inner life. She has been a member of the Ridhwan school for 25 years and is an ordained Diamond Approach teacher.
Kara’s professional experience includes front line work as a social worker in community mental health and as a Mental Health Therapist where she combines traditional and complimentary health practices to address mental health. She is co-director of the Cauldron Studies program which centers spiritual practice in both the study of culture and the sacred feminine. She has been teaching and working with others for over 20 years.
