News and Events

During Master Charles' recent visit to London, he was interviewed by the Holistic TV Channel, an internet broadband television network whose mission is to promote conscious holistic topics and programs to be viewed on-line, anytime and anywhere in the world.  The interview was conducted and filmed by two very loving and conscious people, Nicola Hague and Robert Armstrong, who met with Master Charles for over an hour.  In a very relaxed and informal interview, Master Charles shares his experience on a number of topics ranging from his childhood, to the Synchronicity Experience, to the Blessed Mother Apparition and more. 

To see the video, click here

We have recently concluded Master Charles’ Birthday Stillpointe Retreat, held March 17 - 23, 2008 at the Sanctuary Retreat Center.  This retreat was a very special one not only because it marked Master Charles’ 63rd Birthday celebration, but also included a week-long yagna, a comprehensive Vedic / Tantric ritual of invocation and empowerment focused on the Divine Feminine.  Highly trained and experienced Brahmin priests conducted the yagna in two sessions per day of three to four hours each.

In addition, on Friday evening of the retreat, Master Charles presented The Sounds of Source live, in which he chanted portions of the Vedic / Tantric scriptures known as The 1,000 Names of the Divine as Mother, accompanying himself on the veena, a traditional Indian stringed instrument.  It was a rare and sacred occasion that delivered all gathered to the most sublime states of holistic fulfillment.   

As the week concluded, many retreatants commented that this was the most impactful week-long retreat experience they ever had. 

Master Charles’ Birthday Stillpointe Retreat featured a week-long yagna, a comprehensive Vedic / Tantric ritual of invocation and empowerment.  This particular yagna was focused on the Divine Feminine in keeping with Master Charles’ life-long association with the Blessed Mother and Her apparitional manifestation within the Shrine of the Heart at Synchronicity Sanctuary.

Retreatants had several opportunities daily to sit at the specially constructed yagna site and enjoy the sacred energetic experience generated by the chanting of mantras and offering of specific materials into the yagna fire, which was kept burning 24 / 7 throughout the week.  Each day, Master Charles was in attendance, blessing and overseeing the ritual. 

The yagna’s conclusion at midday on Saturday, March 22nd was marked by great celebration and along with Master Charles, everyone shared in the miraculous collective empowerment created over the course of the week. 

Brahmin priests chanting mantras along with offerings into fire.		Master Charles plays cymbals along with Vedic chanting.
Master Charles receives a traditional flower garland from the Brahmin priests.		One of the Brahmin priests offers ghee (clarified butter) into the yagna fire.
A tray of fruit is blessed by Master Charles before offering by priest.		Guests are given a bindi (red dot) on the third eye to conclude each yagna session.
The yagna flames leap high after the priest pours a bowl of ghee into the fire.		Master Charles, the Brahmin priests and assembled retreatants at the yagna.

We are delighted to share with you a wonderful in-depth news article featuring Master Charles and the Blessed Mother published on Sunday, June 10th in The Daily Progress, the major daily newspaper for Charlottesville, VA. In its print version, the article, accompanied by many color photos, covers the entire front page of the Lifestyle section and continues with another full page. In the on-line version (accessed via the links below), you will be able to read the full text and then view the same photos that appeared in the print version plus extras in a slide show format. We trust you will enjoy this and share it with those in your world.

Click here for on-line text version: Click here for slide show: For a print version of this article, click here

On May 12th, 2007, WCAV-TV, a major Charlottesville television station and CBS / Fox News affiliate, filmed the monthly meditation with Master Charles at the Blessed Mother Apparition site and aired the broadcast later that week on the 11:00pm news. The newscast was extremely positive and presented Master Charles, the Blessed Mother Apparition, and Synchronicity Sanctuary in a most acknowledging way. We are delighted to share this wonderful experience with you by clicking on the following link:

Click here to watch the video

Master Charles was also formally introduced to the assembly and acknowledged by Her Holiness Sai Maa Lakshmi Devi. Thereafter, Master Charles and Sai Maa spent many hours late into the night and early morning hours, discussing the ways and means in which they and their two organizations might collaborate and support each other in their common vision of a world restored to balance and spiritual value.

Also, Master Charles was invited to address an assembly of all the Australian participants along with Sai Maa’s “Master Teachers”, those who she has designated as primary representatives of her teachings to the world. The response was nothing less than heart-warming and deeply transformative. All were delighted to meet the Modern Mystic and enjoy his palpable energetic transmission.

After the conclusion of the Vail intensive, Master Charles traveled with Sai Maa through the Rocky Mountains to her ashram in Crestone, where their collaborative dialogue continued along with opportunities for Master Charles to meet with members of her monastic and secular communities. In the high desert of Colorado, with the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range as a backdrop, the secluded and rugged beauty of the natural environment combined with the intoxicating energy of two Spiritual Masters to create a fulfilling and holistic experience.

Most impressive was the heart-felt welcoming, acknowledgment, and honoring that Master Charles received from all and everyone and the openness to his modern, technological approach to spirituality with Contemporary Meditation as the means. Looking ahead, ongoing collaborations are being planned as if to demonstrate to the world what it could mean to bring balance to the relative polarities… with the human representation of the Divine Masculine and Feminine… two Spiritual Masters… sharing their combined wisdom… as a unity in diversity.

It has been Master Charles’ intention to reach out to those in the local community and beyond in order to acknowledge and celebrate the common threads of unity that exist within the diversity of religious / spiritual perspectives. This outreach represents a demonstration of the more evolved possibility available to humanity in these times and stands in contrast to the current sectarian strife that threatens to plunge the world into global conflict.

In attendance at the conference were participants active in a number of ongoing local area interfaith initiatives from spiritual / religious traditions including the Bahai; Christian; Hindu / Vedic; Judaic; and others. Several of the guests arrived earlier that day and experienced the daily meditation at the Blessed Mother public apparition site followed by dinner. Joining the interfaith event were a number of Synchronicity Monastic and Secular Community Members who greeted the guests and participated in the discussion.

After Master Charles’ arrival, all were introduced to him and each participant was then invited to share their interfaith background and perspective on the current state of world spirituality and what they see as the greater possibility of such. There were many beautiful and personal sharings and as the discussion unfolded, a palpable sense of holistic collective consciousness was noticed in the room. The joy of an interfaith dialogue was supported and augmented by the truthful experience of unified consciousness experienced in Master Charles’ enlightening presence. Interestingly, a note of gratitude from one of the participants received several days following the event expressed it as follows:

“I thoroughly enjoyed Monday night's meeting and felt that something important was happening there, though I am not sure quite what!”

The event continued much longer than scheduled as the guests repeatedly commented on the fact that they did not wish to leave the peaceful and loving energy they felt radiating throughout the room. Finally, at the conclusion, several invitations were extended to Master Charles to partake in future events in the area and plans are also underway for the next meeting to be held at the Sanctuary.

After showing her the Blessed Mother painting, Master Charles then welcomed Sai Maa into the Environment, where the assembled were invited to come forward individually to greet them both. The mutual honoring and deep love that flowed between Mataji and Master Charles literally filled the hall with divine light and the assembled disciples were gifted with a most uplifting and empowering experience. Sai Maa then spoke to the group for a short time and led a beautiful Vedic chant joined by Master Charles.

After the two Spiritual Masters bid farewell to the assembly to spend time privately discussing plans for future collaborations, Her disciples were hosted by the Synchronicity Community for a sumptuous luncheon and tour of the Sanctuary Retreat Center. Many from both communities commented that the visit felt more like a “homecoming” than merely getting acquainted. Without a doubt, there was an immediate sense of heartfelt welcoming and the joyful recognition that all are brothers and sisters in the spiritual journey, sharing in the greatest fortune possible for a human being… a devoted and steadfast commitment to a true Spiritual Master.

As part of the tour, an overview of the Synchronicity Holistic Lifestyle Model, as created by Master Charles, was presented to the Sai Maa Community by Synchronicity teachers, including a short session of Synchronicity Contemporary HighTech Meditation. It was a blissful experience of meditative awareness in which many were reluctant to remove their headphones at the conclusion!

From there, the tour culminated with a visit to the Pavilion (Blessed Mother Apparition site), wherein the combined communities assembled together for a meditation in the sacred presence of the Blessed Mother, whose apparitional manifestation continues on a daily basis. Simultaneously, Sai Maa and Master Charles communed with the Blessed Mother in Her private apparition site, The Grotto, adjacent to the Pavilion. As the assembled disciples’ meditation was ending, all were gifted with the vision of the radiant Masters joyfully emerging from the Grotto… a most auspicious conclusion to an empowering communion of two great spiritual luminaries and their disciples.

On April 18th, 2007, Master Charles welcomed Tibetan Buddhist Spiritual Master Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche for a visit to the Sanctuary. Tenzin Rinpoche is a lineage holder of the Bön Dzogchen Tradition and is a widely traveled and respected scholar and teacher.

A former Rockefeller Fellowship faculty member at Rice University in Houston, Texas, Rinpoche was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities grant for research on the Bön Tradition and has published a number of books. Rinpoche currently resides in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he has established Ligmincha Institute and Serenity Ridge Retreat Center located within a short distance from Synchronicity Sanctuary.

In their nearly two hour meeting, Master Charles offered a concise overview of the Synchronicity Experience, the contemporization of the ancient wisdom of the Tantra and in particular, Kashmir Shaivism, the spiritual tradition of his illustrious teacher, Muktananda. He also gave Rinpoche an introduction to the Blessed Mother Apparition and how Her public manifestation has made the Sanctuary a place of pilgrimage.

In their ensuing discussion, many questions were addressed, connections acknowledged from both sides, and the sense of mutual respect and fellowship was pervasive. In all, the meeting of these two Spiritual Masters was a most auspicious and timely event as we continue to witness the unfolding miracle of the Blessed Mother Apparition and Her consistent emphasis on the One in the Many… unity in diversity… and the truth of our Oneness as a demonstration of a conscious humanity.

New Blessed Mother Experiences Posted (1/12/07)

Click here to read..

Christmas Day with Master Charles
12/25/06

While Christmas Day at the Sanctuary has always been a blissfully Sourceful experience, this year was especially celebratory. Beginning at 3:00pm with a delicious, Zone balanced Christmas dinner, Master Charles then led the group on a walk to the Pavilion where we meditated together in the empowering presence of the Blessed Mother.

Click here to read the full article

On November 29th, The Sanctuary hosted a gala event to celebrate the unveiling of the Blessed Mother painting, a sacred and miraculous work of art by internationally renowned painter, Alexander Anufriev. Over six months in the making, the monumental work measures seven by ten feet and depicts The Blessed Mother in an ecstatic representation as She currently appears to Master Charles.

Click here to read the full article

We are pleased to share the text of a talk by given by Dr. Constant Mews at the Unveiling of the Blessed Mother painting at Synchronicity Sanctuary, November 29th, 2006. (11/29/06)

We are all born of a mother's blood, effort, and on-going love. That experience has been universal since the beginning of human history. Yet so often, perhaps for many thousands of years, we humans forget where we come from. In this small talk, which I am so honored to give at the unveiling of this wonderful image, I shall pick out and situate what we are about to see within a larger perspective.

Click here to read the full article

New experiences have been posted in the Blessed Mother Apparition section of the website under the link, "What People Are Saying"

Click here to read.

On November 27th, just prior to being transported from the artist's studio for installation in the Sanctuary Atrium, The Blessed Mother Apparition painting was professionally photographed with state of the art equipment.

Click here to read the full article