This post is a continuation of the post above.
LAW OF ONE GATHERINGS
Within that mirror’s image, within that other self that you see lies a limitless and infinite self, a self that is connected to all other selves and to all parts whatsoever of the creation of the Father. This connection is so powerful that to gather together in groups, even small groups, is to gather tremendous amounts of energy, and if each of you can sense into the flow of energy around the circle in which you sit you may indeed experience for yourself the great amount of light energy that coming together with one purpose and hope has given to you.
Q’uo, April 18, 1999
Each connection that is made between spirits such as yourselves is a connection that is greatly sanctified and blessed and holy, and it is the reason that you feel that need to come into groups and to express your love of the Creator in some way as a group. The energy of each multiplies the energy of each, so that together you are far more than the sum of yourselves.
Wanderers, spiritual seekers, and students of the Law of One are at home with one another—even and especially for those who are introverted, socially awkward, or saddled with feelings of alienation, of which there are many in this community. When we come together in a circle of seeking, joy, love, even exuberance are unlocked and released into the environment. And magic is in the air.
Again and again, this experience has been repeated over the decades.
This is not to say that the doubts, the anxieties, the depressions, and the inner and outer struggles of life are banished because of an L/L Research gathering. Rather it is to say that the load is immeasurably lightened for a time; the way made clearer; the armor let down to allow the light in; the oasis of community, belonging, and togetherness tasted.
The healing, even transformative experiences of the these gatherings is due not to any specialness on L/L’s part – we are just spaceholders – but to the utter magic of being among one’s people, in a sense, however different the backgrounds, interests, and temperaments. The hearts naturally open up. There is ease. And the lived sense of the Creator is more palpably felt.
This year, 2025, was our second round of five gatherings in a calendar year. It has become clear to us that we have hit the ceiling of our capability, at least at present levels of energy, resources, and staff. So a sixth gathering in a year would be like the 107th session of the Ra contact—not fated to be.
But oh what a year! In order of appearance on the calendar, we hosted/co-hosted the five following Law of One-focused gatherings:
Of those, there were several important changes/upgrades this year:
- We launched the brand new Law of One Contemplative Retreat. Built from the ground up, the event integrated aspects of a silent meditation retreat with Law of One study. (The event’s facilitators were invited onto Nathan’s “The Law of One & Spiritual Concepts” podcast to reflect on the event.)
- Joining our friends of the Law of One Europe group, we expanded the one-day Law of One Berlin Gathering to three days as it grew into a full-sized event for the first time.
- Migrating from Jim’s quarter-acre suburban home for the first time since Homecoming’s launch in the mid-90s, we found a new home on a Kentucky farm for the Homecoming Gathering and expanded the circle to its largest size at 70 people.
- As mentioned in the Melodious Medley > Gatherings.work section in the previous post, Vojta, the Czech translator, built a website to serve as a hub for all L/L Research gatherings into the foreseeable future.
Each event was profoundly inspiring and a spiritual battery recharger. We love and feel familial bonds with the Law of One community so much. Many, many thanks to our collaborators who volunteer their love and efforts toward L/L Research and the gathered circle, and above all to everyone who shows up with hearts brilliant in their truth.
Gary had wanted to produce a financial analysis of the gatherings to publish to this blog but as he is crawling forward, marshaling the final reserves of energy to complete the above post and this one, that shall have to wait.
To be notified of when registration opens for these events, please subscribe to our Gatherings Newsletter, or develop telepathy, whichever is more convenient for you.
THE LAW OF ONE
CONTEMPLATIVE RETREAT
Crestone, CO
May 15–18, 2025
Our first gathering of the season, an experimental one, was our Law of One Contemplative Retreat in Crestone, Colorado.
Setting
The Sun Luis Valley is the largest alpine valley on the planet. Running on roughly a north-south axis, it is bracketed by two mountain ranges on each side: the San Juan mountains to the west and the San Sangre de Cristo range to the east. The valley in between is around 8,000 feet above sea level. You could feel that elevation when walking between the buildings.
The Blazing Mountain Retreat Center in Crestone, CO sits at the base of the eastern range of mountains in this valley. Perched on a hillside, it’s very large main meeting area has a long row of huge windows that look west across the valley to the snow-capped mountain range on the other side. Big sky. Big quiet. The air outside is incredibly still and relatively noise-free.
There are no chain hotels, restaurants, convenient stores, etc., in town. The area is rather remote with a tiny population; but, uniquely, it is also home to around fourteen different spiritual centers of different faiths and denominations. It is sometimes called Little Tibet.
Blazing Mountain Retreat Center was a perfect setting for quiet, stillness, and connection.
Meditation Schedule
Following a long-held dream to incorporate elements of a silent meditation retreat into a Law of One context (especially thanks to Gary’s various vipassana and other silent meditation retreats), we experimented with integrating aspects of a silent meditation retreat. And accelerating the zip line to enlightenment.
In order to support the morning meditation and to experience a taste of Noble Silence, we asked attendees to hold intentional silence during breakfast. After which, we convened as a group in the main meeting hall for ten minutes of meditation guidance followed by an hour-long block of silent meditation.
In the evening, we met again for group discussion about our experiences in meditation, followed by another 30-minute silent group meditation.
Between the morning/evening meditations we hosted the standard open space offerings that most everyone here is familiar with.
We also asked that all transitions between the scheduled blocks of time be conducted in silence in order to foster mindfulness.
We were joined by our fabulous and longtime co-facilitator West (BJ) Harden-Jones (who along with her husband Aaron Maret, teamed up with us to build the Coming Home series launched in Asheville in 2018). BJ, Austin, and Gary each took a turn sharing meditation guidance before each of the hour-long group meditations, but not from the position of meditation teachers – only humble thoughts shared from our own respective practices.
Experience
Some of the attendees had attended a silent meditation before. Many had not. Thus, many were new to meditating for an hour’s length of time and/or to sharing a communal meal in intentional silence.
We didn’t hear from everyone, but of those we heard from the reports were overwhelmingly positive. At the end of the gathering, most hands went up when we asked who intended to carry a daily meditation practice beyond the retreat.
We loved every aspect of it. The space could not have been more beautiful, rivaling Rainbow Lodge outside of Seattle. When we walked into cavernous, sunlight, many windowed, hardwood-floored main meeting hall for the first time, Gary involuntarily gasped. Trisha and he had tears in their eyes. It was beautiful and brimming with natural sunlight.
The staff at this beautiful space were practicing Buddhists who also engaged in our moments of quietude. Between the calm surroundings, the excellent care, and the delicious food crafted by our hosts, we felt ourselves deeply nourished.
Best of all was sharing love with loving, authentic people. We loved meeting new amazing people and reconnecting with amazing people.
And with tons of zafus, zabutons, cushions, and backjacks, it was awesome sharing group meditation with a Law of One group for the first time on the floor for a full hour. Like a dream come true. 💚
We are so deeply thankful to the Blazing Mountain Retreat Center and to the anonymous philanthropist whose donation to the retreat’s parent organization that subsidized the cost by one-third provided us with the grant that made this event possible.
If interested, the event’s four facilitators joined Nathan on his podcast “The Law of One & Spiritual Concepts” to reflect on the event.
Mo Provosty
Several times over the years we have been joined at gatherings by an older attendee named Mo. A lifelong contemplative and Christian, he was introduced to the Law of One by his son and gatherings-attendee Reese. Mo was a source of mirth—he always seemed to have a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
Attending the Contemplative Retreat, we would learn that in multiple sessions he couldn’t fully hear what was being said due to poor hearing, but he nevertheless smiled and emanated a joy simply to be present.
A couple months after the Contemplative Retreat, we would learn that Mo had reached the end of his incarnation. On the outer level, something happened medically and spontaneously. Mo was in his front yard walking back from a trip to the grocery store when he left his incarnation. It took the whole family by surprise.
We received the news from Reese who wrote:
I am so so grateful that we had the chance to attend the meditation retreat in Crestone together and that y’all got to experience the entity Mo in all his appropriately inappropriate glory.
And added:
During his final week here all he spoke about was love so I am confident he stepped off the yellow brick road after it turned green.
(Shared also with others with permission from Reese.) Mo always brought a smile to our face. We will miss him.
COMING HOME TO A NEW EARTH GATHERING
North Bend, WA
June 12–15, 2025
Three years ago, we ventured to the PacNW to host L/L’s first gathering west of Louisville. Oh, how right that decision was.
Our second gathering of the 2025 season was our Coming Home to a New Earth Retreat in North Bend, Washington. In its second year at the beautiful Rainbow Lodge Retreat Center, this event appears to have found its home… at least for the foreseeable future. We have seen a community grow from this gathering, with many attendees returning to the event.
As it is, Law of One students tend to feel kinship with one another on first contact, but when that is sustained and given the space to deepen, the web of light is strengthened into bonds of companionship; bonds that effortlessly welcome and integrate those new to the gathering.
If each gathering has its own flavor, we might say that this Coming Home event has a “spiritual summer camp” feel. In between the powerful sharings and classes offered by fellow seekers are moments of wonder and occasional silliness. And there is a popcorn machine, that helps.
From the incredibly friendly staff to the misty and verdant surroundings, the mismatched coffee cups to the 5am alarm of the onsite rooster, the laughs around the bonfire to the hugs on Monday morning, we feel deeply blessed to share this space with such beautiful fellow selves.
And the chairs! Oh, the comfortable, thick-padded chairs with armrests. Nothing like it in the venue world.
We were joined with co-facilitation from our dear friend and improv extraordinaire, Stephanie Anderson.
PRAGUE LAW OF ONE GATHERING
Prague, Czech Republic
July 18–20, 2025
Our third gathering of the season took us across the pond to the Czech Republic for our Prague Law of One Seeker Gathering. This was our fifth year in the capital city working with husband-wife duo Vojta and Emilly, our friends and collaborators of the Czech translation team.
This series was launched in 2019 when Vojta, the principal Czech translator of The Ra Contact, proposed that L/L Research host its first international gathering in a city renown the world over for its beauty, culture, and high-quality but inexpensive beer. 🍺
We once again held the gathering at the lovely and centrally located Prostor8 venue. A now very familiar space, it is located in the courtyard of a large block of stone building apartments, and within easy walking distance from nearby hotels and AirBnBs.
Our partnership with Vojta and Emilly continued to strengthen and streamline, as we have fine-tuned much of the production, with V&E handling all the on-the-ground effort in the Czech Republic. We remain so thankful to be able to share in such a project with family.
We were also inspired to see so many returning seekers and meet new friends from across the globe. It was a few attendees smaller than usual and with less international diversity, but there were still seekers from eight different countries-of-origin present, including Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Israel, Norway, Slovenia, UK, and the USA. (Though naturally some of those seekers were born and/or raised in countries other than the one they now live in.)
Prague is also the first event we resumed after the covid pause, and the first where, in 2022, Austin, Trish, and Gary made the leap and channeled in front of other human beings besides Jim <gasp> for the first time after years of practicing non-publicly. The event and those who attend it live fondly in our hearts.
As we do at almost all our events now, we used the Open Space Technology for the gathering, which is a methodology whereby the circle co-creates the schedule each morning with various presentations/activities shared from their hearts and minds.
And for an extra measure of a nostalgic sense of home, we were reunited with our dear friend Roman (Romi) Vodacek, who lived in Louisville from the early 90s to 2013. A close friend of Carla and Jim’s, he attended virtually every channeling in the 90s and in many cases was the only other person present, thereby making the minimum of three people needed for the universal contact.
The gathering was also joined by Morris and Linda Hoagland for the first time, the latter L/L Research’s oldest friend (he knew Don and Carla years before Jim would meet them) and the Chair of L/L Research’s Board.
they greet and register arriving attendees
BERLIN LAW OF ONE GATHERING
Berlin, Germany
July 25–27, 2025
Just a week after Prague, our fourth gathering of the season followed closely in Germany with our Berlin Law of One Seeker Gathering. This series was launched and funded in 2022 by Daniel Hodapp, who invited us and other Law of One seekers for a spiritually focused afternoon together in a large room in a Berlin building that his employer let him use. : )
The next year, 2023, Daniel was able to book a conference room in the large Hotel Estrel for the one-day gathering. The next year, 2024, he was joined forces by an agent of love of the female and angelic variety of our species (who prefers not to be credited) and booked a wonderful and unique place, the Buddhist House, the oldest operating Buddhist monastery in Europe, for a one-day gathering.
With interest growing, Daniel and his collaborator proposed that the one-day event be expanded into a three-day gathering. Arms locked together, L/L Research took the plunge with him. Daniel + collaborator worked to create a new iteration of this gathering that included elements of the Open Space format used at our other events with meditations and periodic check-ins around the circle.
This year’s event returned to Estrel Hotel, a gigantic hotel with multiple large conferences happening at the same time as our little gathering off in a corner of the hotel, one of which was the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP of the card game Yu-Gi-Oh! (Their exclamation mark.)
Also, there was a conference of medical persons in the hotel about the herpes virus. So, we weren’t the only interesting ones…
Like our Prague gathering, we found ourselves so touched to learn of the many places fellow seekers travel from to connect in-person. By our count there were representatives of ten different nationalities (which is an aspect of identity that the Law of One places great importance on…), including: Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Portugal, Sweden, and the USA.
And from both events, a robust virtual community has taken root, thanks in no small part to the consistent effort that Daniel & company make to so lovingly tend to the European readership through their online Telegram group.
The three-day expansion worked great! And as of this writing in November 2025, we are working with Daniel and team on selecting next year’s venue, which, spoiler alert, will migrate from Berlin and thus need a new series name.
THE HOMECOMING GATHERING
Harrodsburg, KY
September 11–14, 2025
Discovery
Our fifth and final gathering of the season, L/L’s first, oldest, and flagship event, the Homecoming Gathering, migrated from Jim’s quarter-acre suburban home for the first time to find a home to spread its wings on a 350-acre family farm and sacred space in Harrodsburg, Kentucky.
Why did it migrate? Last year, Homecoming filled up within an hour of opening public registration, and thereafter the waitlist grew to 30 souls within a few days before we had to close that too. We knew it was time. And so, the search began.
Rooted in his Louisville home, Jim is not a traveling person anymore, and we cannot have Homecoming without a Jim, so we needed to find a local’ish venue. Trisha scoured Louisville and surrounding areas but couldn’t find anything that fit the bill. But synchronicity or luck would deliver to us a superlative venue for our gathering
Late one December night, Gary, wistfully and wishfully remembering the music festivals that he and Trish used to attend, joined by Austin a couple of times, in central rural Kentucky, he checked into their website. He was saddened to learn that they no longer hold music festivals, but elated to learn they do book their property as a venue space.
A couple weeks later that same month, Trish, Gary, and Austin made a trip to Terrapin Hill Farm to meet with the wife-husband duo, Brenda and Pete, who own and steward the land. We fell in love all over again with the beautiful land and its stewards. They and we were both excited to host Homecoming at Terrapin Hill, and, as synchronicity would have it, a September weekend was atypically open.
The Land
This 350-acre retreat space once served as a hub for periodic music festivals (that Trish, Gary, Austin attended many moons ago) but has continued to be a space for spirit-congruent events. Thanks to Brenda and Pete, its kindhearted and spiritually oriented owners, along with the many thousands who have shared their hearts in this place, the land has been imbued with decades of love, community, ceremony, and sacred energy.
The farm boasted four covered spaces for our breakout sessions (three of which are electrified and all of which were built by hand by the owners, much of the wood sourced from the land itself); an additional indoor, climate-controlled breakout space; a large hill facing a music stage, great for performances and nighttime star-gazing; a running creek; a swimmin’ pond; and miles of trails for walking in the beautiful rolling hills of central Kentucky. It is a place on Earth that generously offered seclusion, privacy, and freedom to come together in a sacred circle, not to mention the freedom to walk the earth barefoot if we so chose. Oh, and bonfires. Big ol’ bonfires.
Production Firsts
While the following details are likely interesting only to us, they MUST BE RECORDED.
Circle Size: The land could hold a thousand people, and house everyone if they wanted to camp on the land, but our logistics aren’t equipped to manage an event that size, not to mention that the Law of One just isn’t to that level yet : ). Suffice it to say, we had all the space we needed to accommodate a larger circle. But, preferring to err on the conservative side for our first go, we expanded the circle to 70 souls—still the largest we have yet hosted.
We were concerned about the potential loss to intimacy, as beyond a certain point there seems to be an inverse relationship between group size and intimacy. But by all accounts, the 70-person circle it didn’t come at the expense of intimacy. In fact, many reported that, while they didn’t connect with everyone, those dozen or so with whom they did connect were perfect, everyone else helping to hold the field of love, and creating even more opportunity for synchronicity and magic to weave its way through.
Logistically there were extra challenges and considerations to tend to a circle of that size, but it was all very manageable, and the production side of the house was relatively smooth and seamless.
Rideshare: Also in a first, we built an online rideshare system for attendees lodging offsite without cars to coordinate rides with those who had cars prior to the event. It wasn’t as needed as we had anticipated it would be, but its creation was still a pat-on-our-own-backs moment for us.
Pamphlets: Hold onto your britches: we also leveled up and created our first ever professional pamphlets! They featured a venue map, schedule, and some key info. We are a guaranteed shoe-in for fourth-density graduation.
Gatherings’ Website: And as mentioned in the Melodious Melody > Gatherings.work section in the previous post, Vojta had built a website to serve as a central hub for all L/L gatherings. He ran a beta test a couple months prior in Prague, and after a month of working on it, we unveiled the website for full use at the Homecoming Gathering.
Attendees could log into the site and access a live, up-to-date schedule that included ability to click on the different open space offerings to see a picture of the person’s written form on the marketplace grid. It also featured a venue map, comprehensive info about the venue, and a Gallery page to upload and share photos. It was a huge labor-of-love gift from Vojta’s heart and a significant upgrade to the gatherings.
Mobile Marketplace Grid: Terrapin Hill did lack something critical: an interior wall large enough to use for building the Open Space schedule during each morning’s Marketplace session. Coordinating with our dear and now local friends, husband and wife duo Greg Holden and Peggy Lester, we put together some designs, and they manifested a first-ever mobile marketplace grid!
While there are always multiple volunteers who contribute to each event, a special shoutout to our friend Nico who traveled from Germany and was instrumental in volunteering before, during, and after the gathering.
Four Days of Sun
Thank God, we were greeted with four days of sunshine and blue skies for Homecoming’s debut at Terrapin.
During the intro portion of the weekend, we asked Pete and Brenda, the husband-wife co-owners of Terrapin Hill Farm, to introduce the gathered circle to their land. Pete talked to the circle about its history, about how people come to their land and “find home,” and about all the love and spiritual energy that has been a part of the Terrapin. He said that he and Brenda don’t feel like they “own” the property so much as they are loving stewards.
We had five breakout spaces, one of which was indoors, all within a 3-to-5-minute walk. Along with a golf cart for anyone with mobility issues.
In addition to the channeling, we held several group activities: Jim did a Q&A, Gary offered a presentation about Kundalini, and J. Tong held a Q&A with the channels. Along with Incorporating a true marketplace into Homecoming for the first time, with the five breakout spaces there was plenty of space for a medley of beautiful open-space offerings in 90-min time slots.
We had a special attendee in the circle. Don Elkins’s colleague back in the 70s/80s, Andrija Puharich, had a primary assistant who had spent time with Carla and Don in the 70s named Heidi Jurka. She gave a presentation about Andrija’s work with some focus on her intersections with Don and Carla that was a hit.
Our friend Colin also offered a well-loved ecstatic dance session on Saturday night. (The Pavilion had a disco ball!) And Pete and Brenda generously led a drum circle on Sunday night, with bonfires both nights. And Terrapin also had a swimmin’ pond! And about a dozen or so people camped on site. And Morris/Linda and Steve all offered reiki services throughout the gathering.
50 Events/20 Years
Personal note from G. Bean: About a year ago we had compiled all the attendee rosters from events over the years to crunch the data into a master list. By some odd movement of the divine’s hand, or pure and utter randomness, who knows, we learned that the upcoming Homecoming Gathering would be my’s fiftieth L/L event, with the next closest sum tallies of Austin and Trish in the mid-30s. This happening was also transpiring just a few months prior to January, 2026, when I will have been serving L/L Research in a formal capacity for 20 years.
Thus, it was that in the introductory portion of the gathering that Austin asked for the mic so that he and Trish could execute on their conspired plan. Joined by Jim, they honored those 50 gatherings and 20 years with kind words, a slide show of pictures, and a couple small customized gifts. This was unexpected and unusual, because usually I am the one honoring others publicly and privately.
Personal note: Of those 50 gatherings, I was an attendee only during the first two. The next 48 have featured the privilege, honor, and joy of designing and building these gatherings and serving as a container holder. A joy/honor because I have been able to meet and fall in love with the Creator in many various incarnations and costumes.
But this is not without its price, which includes the sad note that accompanies the producer, one that Trish and Austin know as well—I and we have always sought to reduce responsibilities for Jim, and, in her time, Carla—that is, missing out on many conversations, presentations/activities, and points of connections with loved other-selves due to responsibilities to the event.
That notwithstanding, for me the greatest joy was seeing Homecoming grow and find a new home in a beautiful, spirit-imbued outdoor space, and to witness the threads of love connect heretofore lone and lonely individuals into a web of community and shared heart.
We look forward to seeing how this event evolves at this new hallowed ground. And whether at Homecoming or elsewhere, we are so, so unbelievably, inexplicably, overwhelmingly BLESSED to meet so many exemplary souls living fiercely and humbly with their hearts open in a rather troubled world.
While it was a most adventurous year of events effort- and time-wise, it was also a favorite. For every minute spent preparing these events there are countless more spent in gratitude and joy for the connections fostered. We are so looking forward to 2026 and seeing how our in-person gatherings evolve in the future.
