This year the International Initiation School Head Office has decided to organize two of its training courses – Meditation and Concentration Part 1 & 2 – in Monte Sant’Angelo in Apulia, in the South of Italy. This place, which became an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011, holds a special and sacred energy because, in 490 it recorded an apparition of Archangel Michael, who defined it as “His Abode on Earth”.  

The word “meditation” means “to take care of self” through a contact with the True Inner Self, or Witness, without any interference of thoughts and emotions. The Inner Being knows each individual Higher Plan and purpose, and it knows how to guide us in the unfoldment of life because it is constantly in contact with the Greater Life. There is no separation between our little life and the greater Whole: Life is in us and we are Life. Between these two aspects – which in reality are ONE – there is a constant communication based on symbolism. The memory of this symbolic language is deeply impressed in us, but the constant attention on the outer has apparently weakened it. 

The meditation practice is a tool to remember that language in order to reconnect the Creator with its Creation by developing a correct relationship between the two hemispheres of the brain and the body as a place where the light can dwell and reflect the vibrations received from the Greater Life. The right hemisphere “senses”, while the left “focusses”. The body embraces the symbolism of nature and the mind reveals the mystery that it hides.

In this sacred place where Archangel Michael, which means “Who is like God”, reminds our little intellect that we can connect with our True Self only by listening to the Higher voice, we will learn how to “get lost and find ourselves again” in a new way by bowing to the Higher guidance. In this place we will get in touch again with an apparently “lost” language, which deeply belongs to us, by learning to “remember” how the Creator and His Creation dwell in us. Archangel Michael assists each human being in connecting to their own heart; he shows them the futility of their own illusions and he guides them towards the realization of their own life purpose. The pilgrimage along the Michael Line brings about the “stripping away” of the idea we have about ourselves in order to become who we truly are.

Meditation will be the tool which will slowly become our main way of being and living; peace and stillness will start to infuse our life and support us in the unfoldment of the role we have come here to play in each moment. It is about the understanding that it is only in the now that we can be One with the Greater Whole.
 

During this First Part of the course Meditation & Concentration, we will learn what meditation is, how it can help us in our daily life to constantly connect and listening without being dominated by the personality, from the itself inferior and from what it internally happens. The sense of  meditation therefore, is to learn to have a constant connection with our source of life, the Spirit, so that we’ll constantly receive information from the Great Mind on what is the best attitude in the present situation. It means learning to become the "instrument" for something very important: our role in the world. In these three days together we will work to begin this trial, we will analyze and see different techniques and the way these can be used. The meditation is a means that slowly becomes our way to be and live; the peace and the calm that it constantly pervades our life to help us to activate the role that we have called to realize and to be more and more participates with the creation of the Creator.

On 3rd April we will walk in the Umbria Forest, an ancient pathway leading to Monte Sant’Angelo, which the pilgrims used as a path of purification. We will walk for about 8km along an easy path.

From the book of Cesare Brandi, “Terre d’Italia” (Pubblished by Bompiani, Milan 2006): “The name ‘Umbria Forest’ will always be misleading, because it actually almost certainly has nothing to do with the region Umbria, or even with ‘ombra’ (‘shade’ in Italian – editor’s note) […]. It all comes from ‘imber’, meaning ‘rain’. After the small town of Vico, you will get a first glimpse of the forest. It’s like when an orchestra tunes its instruments, making an almost resentful hum. At first, it’s the young, pole-thin chestnuts and hazelnut trees. The air becomes denser and lighter at the same time: lighter because you are breathing in the green, the humidity, the shade; and lighter because, who knows how, it seems not to reach the bottom of the lungs, and almost escapes from nostrils like the smoke of a cigarette. These are the first signs, then comes the real show. Quiet, immediately immense and tall. The beech trees have trunks as smooth and straight as smokestacks, rising from the bottom of the valley and extending large, dilated branches, with leaves spread out as if they were floating. In the luminous shade, the leaves are as transparent as membranes, and almost reflect the green, like filters of light. Then come the maple trees with palms open like fingers, the scalloped, capricious edges of the Turkey oaks, the hazelnut trees with their soft leaves, and a whole underwood of humid ferns that look like they’re inside an aquarium.”


Meditation & Concentration – Part 2 (April 5th-7th 2019)

During this three-day seminar we will explore together different meditation and concentration techniques coming from the Ancient Wisdom Teachings. These will help us explore distinctive aspects of the self in order to show us how the little mind misleads our thinking and how, on the contrary, the True Self knows how to instil in us joy, bliss, understanding and faith. Living from the soul means to receive the guidance and the inspiration in each moment of life; it means to detach from a sense of separation and learn to see everything there is as part of a Greater Plan, whose only aim is to help us rise in consciousness and reveal its unity. The universe guides us in each moment – the most important thing is to learn to listen.

On 6th April we will walk from Bosco Quarto to Archangel Michael’s Grotto/Shrine for a total of 8 km. This is another easy walk with a variety of vegetation and the possibility to see the wild orchids flowering. Along the way we will see the little church dedicated to the Mother of the Angels, built in the XIII century.

TEACHER: Cristiana Caria

DETAILS OF THE COURSE: This course, organized and accredited by the International Initiation School as part of the Soul Facilitator training, is open to all candidates who took part in the Meditation & Concentration – Part 1 course. The prerequisite to Part 2 (from 5^th  to 7^th  April)  is the attendance of the Meditation and Concentration Part 1 course. Places on the course are limited; please book your place in advance by paying your deposit (un-refundable). 

RECOMMENDED RELATED COURSES: Knowing Yourself and Change. The attendance of these courses is recommended in order to obtain a more complete understanding of the subject.

COST OF THE COURSE (VAT included)*:

• single course - € 550,00
• both courses - € 976,00

*to reserve your place on the course it is necessary to send an unrefundable deposit by 15th February 2019: €165,00 to book for one course, €300,00 to book for both courses. Balance by 22nd March 2019

COST OF THE COURSE FOR IIS STUDENT (VAT included)**:

• single course - € 465,00
• both courses - € 933,30

**to reserve your place on the course it is necessary to send an unrefundable deposit by 15th February 2019: €145,00 to book for one course, €300,00 to book for both courses. Balance by 22nd March 2019

CLICK HERE FOR WATCH INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

BOOKING & INFORMATION:
School Office (from: Monday to Friday - 9:30 to 13:30)
phone: +39 059 686147 
e-mail: secretary@internationalinitiationschool.com

VENUE OF THE COURSE: 
Palace Hotel San Michele
Via Madonna degli Angeli
71037 Monte Sant'Angelo (FG)
ITALY

Phone: +39 0884.565653
Fax: +39 0884 565737
e-mail: INFO@PALACEHOTELSANMICHELE.IT
www.palacehotelsanmichele.it