On Saturday, 21 February, we'll have three meditation sits at the Center in Big Indian, at 156 Lost Clove Rd. We'll gather at 11am in the gompa practice hall. Click HERE to register. Email us at info@bodhivastu.org if you haven’t been initiated into Rudi‘s open-eyed meditation practice to schedule an introductory class at 10am (this is required).
Here's a schedule:
11am: A brief guru puja laying the ground for the day's practice. Kindly bring an offering of fresh fruit to contribute to the Prasad table.
11:30am: First sit.
12:30pm: Carpool to Brio's in Phoenicia for lunch.
2pm: Second sit.
2:45pm: Break to stretch and share Prasad.
3:15pm: Third meditation sit.
For those who live too far away to attend in person, classes will be available via Zoom.
Gurunam Pina (Stephanie JT Russell) is a second-generation teacher in the lineage of Rudi (Swami Rudrananda). Founder-Director and principal teacher at Samadhi Bhavana / Center for the Cultivation of Consciouness, she has practiced Kundalini Mahayoga since 1986, and has taught the form since 1990.
Pina identifies as a secular mystic. Her fifty-five years as a student and teacher of inner work have led to wisdom integrations across Classical Yang Tai Chi and Taoist mysticism (with T.K. Shih and Don Ann), Zazen and Cha-No-Yu (in Japan at the Oomoto Center) and in New York with Yamada Sensei), Sufi practice (with “rapid method” master, Adnan Sarhan). In 1985, she lived and worked as a staff member at the Sivananda Yoga Ashram in Woodbourne, NY. Pina additionally studied in both the Nyingma and Kagyu Tibetan lineages starting in 1977.
Pina is degreed in acupressure, shiatsu, and Reiki. Her nine nonfiction books include Everyday Zen and One Flash of Lightning: A Samurai Path for Living the Moment (Andrews McMeel). As a peacebuilder, educator, and cultural worker, Pina has worked extensively in West Africa, Europe, the US and Canada.
In the late 1990s, Pina’s work evolved into a non-dual sitting practice, Doing Nothing Together. She teaches this work to advanced students who have steadily practiced Kundalini Mahayoga meditation for more than two years.
She is additionally a renowned cultural worker, and her visual art, poetry, and performance work have been exhibited and presented at venues such as Hallwalls, Artspace, NAME Gallery Chicago, The Albright Knox Gallery, Max Fish, Bowery Poetry Club, and numerous other spaces in the US, Canada, and overseas, and was the Dutchess County Poet Laureate in 2023.