Annual May Gathering 2023 - Krishnamurti Foundation of America (2023)

We invite you to our Annual May Gathering, May 7th and 8th, 2022, taking place at Oak Grove School (OGS) in Ojai. Friends both local and from around the world come to listen to speakers, participate in discussions and dialogues, attend workshops, and enjoy the beauty of our campus while hanging out with friends old and new. Choose from different programs or engage with teachers from our schools and scholars of Krishnamurti’s teachings who share their understanding.

For this year, we have chosen the theme, Choiceless Awareness

Truth is not the result of choice, nor is it made up of opposites. There is no choice when there is integrated attention. This attention is not to be realised through weighing, balancing, choosing. Through meditation & understanding each thought as it arises is there the tranquility of attention.

What is chosen is not lasting, continuous choice wearies the instrument that chooses.

-Krishnamurti

The focus of this Gathering will also be to have speakers and dialogues aiming at exploring this theme in a wide context.

For two days we have speakers plus organized dialogues.

• This is a Free Event.No reservation necessary.
• Lunch: Purchase at the event $15
  ($10 if you pre-purchase online)
• Live Streaming: Event will be streamed over the web.
• No onsite lodging available. Please check local Ojai listings for information on accommodations.

Karolina Rojahn is a Los Angeles based classical pianist and multidisciplinary artist who has dedicated the last decade of her career to premiering and recording contemporary classical repertoire. She is a co-founder and artistic director of Merge Collaborative, a cross disciplinary concert series in Los Angeles that brings together various disciplines of art into salon-style performances centered around socially relevant themes. Karolina has collaborated with various classical music labels and has released over 40 albums of solo piano and chamber music, in addition to recording for television and film. Karolina was born in Warsaw, Poland, but was educated in Boston. She received a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Piano Performance from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where she later served as a faculty member. Karolina’s mission as an artist and performer is to reach beyond the traditional constructs of classical music performance: to invite mindfulness, cross-disciplinary collaboration and soulful dialogue.

Leah Luong has a B.A. in Political Science (Global Politics) from California State University, Long Beach. She has been involved in the dissemination of Krishnamurti’s teachings with the KFA after attending a retreat in Ojai. Raised amongst communities of dogmatic institutions and groups, Leah’s interest in questioning the truth from a young age was inevitable.

Gianni Garubo was first introduced to Krishnamurti’s work as a student at Oak Grove School. He has a B.A. in Liberal Arts (Philosophy & History of Mathematics/Science with minors in Classical Studies & Comparative Literature) from St. John’s College. He currently works at the Krishnamurti Foundation assisting the Development team and at the Oak Grove school as a teacher’s aide for the 2nd grade.

Kathy Franklin and Terry O’Connor are retired psychotherapists who found Krishnamurti’s teachings invaluable in their work. They have hosted a monthly dialogue in their home since 1992, and have organized the annual Memorial Day Krishnamurti Dialogue and Gathering in Maryland since it began in 1995.

Deborah Kerner and Richard Waxberg live in Ojai, California. They are both practicing artists. They taught several art and design courses at the Rishi Valley School in rural Andra Pradesh, India, a school based on Krishnamurti’s teachings located near his birthplace. Both Richard and Deborah had successful careers in New York City as designers. Richard taught art and design, aesthetics and art history at the prestigious Parsons School of Design. They created the Explorations into Freedom Intensive Retreats for the KFA and offer two 8-day retreats each year at the Krishnamurti Center in Ojai, in June and October. They have also facilitated retreats in British Columbia, Canada and Denmark.

Exhibit

The Mind Of Krishnamurti /World Citizen World Teacher

This exhibit draws on materials from the archives of the various Krishnamurti Foundations. It will be on display in several locations around the world.

An exhibit placing the trajectory of Krishnamurti’s life and teachings in the context of 20th century world events is inherently interesting. This juxtaposition of global and personal history is accomplished through a circular set of nineteen freestanding panels, each eight feet tall by three feet wide. As the participant walks the outer perimeter, world history and Krishnamurti’s emerging teaching activity unfold with events, dates, times, images, people and happenings worldwide during Krishnamurti’s lifetime. The world history timeline is in five-year segments and covers important political, cultural, art, media, international, and national events.

Upon coming to the conclusion of Krishnamurti’s extraordinary life in 1986, one turns to the inside perimeter of the spiraling panels. Insights from his writings are joined with a series of mural photos of the grove of oak trees where Krishnamurti spoke in California from 1922 onward. The mental chatter slows and stillness manifest as an oasis for quiet reflection and contemplation of the central issues of human existence: what is sacred in life; how can one live holistically and not fragmented; and what is the meaning of life?

Activities

• Presentations
• Workshops
• Organized dialogues

• If you are curious about Krishnamurti’s teachings
• If you want to meet people with and interest in Krishnamurti and the teachings
• Teachers
• Educators
• Parents
• Students of Education