Women's Spiritual Transformation Group
The Women’s Group is back for a 6 session series, starting Sunday, January 7th. The group will meet on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of January, February and March. CLICK HERE to sign up for this wonderful group.
2024 Annual Meeting
Our 2024 Annual Meeting is an opportunity for our spiritual community to see the 2023 year in review. This is also an opporunity to honor the Board Trustees who are stepping down and welcoming our new Trustees.
2024 Community Spiritual Practice
Click this image for a free-download of the affirmations.
Get your book from the Bookstore or another store and start journalling and upleveling your abundance. Do this with others. Starts Jan. 1 for at least 40 days.
Join Rev. Sunshine on Wednesdays at 3 pm via Zoom for a discussion group. Visit oaklandcsl.org and scroll down to the Wednesday Oasis service and select the zoom link.
Board Trustee Candidate Aikya Param
Rev. Aikya Param is an ordained Centers for Spiritual Living minister and Spiritual Counselor. She is the Staff Minister working with membership. Her past ministries have included outreach to people in prison and their families and art as spiritual practice.
Rev. Aikya graduated from Holmes Institute for Consciousness Studies in June 2017, receiving a Certificate of Spiritual Leadership. She passed her ministerial oral examination October 17, 2017 and was ordained at Oakland Center on January 13, 2024. In 2002 Aikya received an MA degree in Women’s Spirituality from New College of California. She was nurtured by amazing mothers of feminist/womanist consciousness including inspiring artist and scholar Rose Francis, PhD (California Institute of Integral Studies), professor, poet, playwright and cultural theorist Judy Grahn, PhD (Institute for Transpersonal Psychology), artist and writer on feminist spirituality Zsuzsanna Budapest, creative visionary Vicki Noble (Institute of Transpersonal Psychology), and feminist image historian Max Dashu. Dianne Jenett PhD (Institute of Transpersonal Psychology), encouraged and nurtured our emerging feminist scholarship and brought the group to Kerala, India to meet the goddess in her own home.
She studied Sanskrit and Vedanta with the late Pujya Sri Dayananda Saraswati at Sandeepeny West in Piercy, California from 1979 to 1982. She taught adults and children Hindu worship and values, Sanskrit and Vedanta. Pujya Swamiji gave the name Aikya to her.
Rev. Aikya’s ancestry is 25% Cherokee (paternal grandfather) and 75% Irish. Her maternal grandfather was the first college graduate in his family and the first Fire Chief in Weehawken, NJ. He was one of eleven children, most of whom remained in Ireland. Her paternal grandfather was a U.S. Post Office employee and urged her to always remember the American Indian.
Board Trustee Candidate Nancy Hester
Good afternoon! I’m Nancy Hester, retired, embracing all aspects of retirement. It’s been a journey; however, Science of Mind principles constantly remind me of what/how to focus! In this period of my life, I’ve chosen to focus on my dreams, without perfection.
In my previous work life, I was an executive assistant. As I persevered throughout my
career, one constant was the recognition of my strengths and capabilities through the different entities I supported. I didn’t “ask” for this, it just showed up. One of my favorite positions was when I was working in biotechnology and in this particular position, I was pulled from one position by the owners of this company to support two incoming executives, one who was positioned on the east coast. It was one of the most exhilarating places of my life as it showed me what I was capable of regardless of my thoughts! SOM has taught me to believe in the “unseen”, just know where you WANT to stand. I persevered!
I was a single parent earlier in life (1989) left with three children after losing my mother to raise on my own through divorce. I didn’t know where the support was coming from, I was just reminded that I could. And I did! I successfully raised three children on my own! Science of Mind was my support throughout this ordeal. I continue to support my children with SOM principles.
How do you go from where you are to where you want to be? My support system was gone (my mom passed in 1989, we were very close). I used SOM principles. It was an “early on” test of my strength beliefs and capabilities. I knew it worked previously in my life, but could it support me in one of the most challenging moments? The answer was yes! It wasn’t easy but I stayed focused on what I wanted to experience.
I come from a “tower of strength”, my mom’s influence. My parents owned/operated Hesters Daycare, a childcare facility licensed in Berkeley California to care for 30 children a day. My mom started caring for children to “make ends meet” as my dad studied for the California bar exam. My mom’s business grew) hours 8 am to 6 pm. She
had a staff and I never had to worry about care for each of my children as they were all raised in her daycare.
Today, I am retired and living happily, with an amazing partner, gifted to me by my
former best friend who left this place I 2016. Wilma brought Ron and I together in 2019 through an amazing experience. When Ron asked if we could date, I was hesitant because Wilma was my best friend. As I shared this with Ron, he stated “Wilma was the one who said to ask you”. WHEW! Talk about ‘up in your face’…. I continue to practice and believe that regardless of appearances, anything is possible, as long as you
believe!
Spiritual Practices
OAKLAND CENTER PRAYER LINE:
510-547-1979 x-6
WORLD MINISTRY OF PRAYER:
https://csl.org/world-ministry-of-prayer/
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION:
In Person Group Tuesdays 2 PM
Susan Brecker sbrecker@oaklandcsl.org
PRACTITIONER SESSION:
Visit the Practitioner Page to learn about this valuable resource.