If you’ve devoted yourself to the path of awakening, transformation, and healing and still feel there is an indescribable “something” missing, you’re not alone.
Most of us have inherited a subtle split that was created with the best of intentions but often ends up hobbling our spiritual path and creating a life that is distant from the radiant, enlightened ideals we carry.
You, see, we’ve all been taught to focus on “waking up” and becoming more filled with light and higher virtues, which often leads us to develop distance, distrust and even disgust towards the “lower,” everyday aspects of our human selves.
The result is that we’re striving towards an imagined ideal in a way that separates us from the sacred ground of being – that prevents us from really seeing, feeling, and moving with the spirit of divinity in all things. We become split – a “higher,” truer seeker self and an abandoned but tenacious “lower,” false self. And this actually stunts our spiritual evolution.
Waking Down™ pioneers Saniel Bonder and Linda Groves-Bonder are here to change all that and help the 21st century Seeker become a Finder, who arrives completely and wholly here as an awake-yet-very-human, always growing being.
And they have the track record to prove it, with hundreds of their students and friends going through what they call the Second Birth – a deeper descent into awakened humanness that is so profound that people say it shifts their entire lives. Simply put, people consciously “land” more fully in their bodies, their relationships, and their lives, dissolving the quality of seeking and replacing it with a spirit of grace and gratitude. They know themselves more and more clearly as at once divine and human beings: “divinely human.”
Waking Down is a gateway into your magnificent ordinariness, your divine embodiment, and an awakened quality of awareness that endures, even if you’re just folding the laundry. And even if you’re having a seriously bad day.
The benefits of Waking Down are profound: greater peace, abiding joy, deeper friendships, fuller embrace of your career and gifts, a whole different orientation to both inner and outer challenges, and a spirit of reverence that perfumes each day. That’s because we’re not striving to be somewhere different but instead are rejoicing in the spiritual perfection that is already here.
For the first time now, you can get access to the most essential gateways of “Waking Down” in one 8-week virtual course, taught by the founding leaders of Waking Down themselves.
Saniel and Linda are the real deal, offering a complete rewiring of how we view the journey of awakening and spiritual transformation. They open the possibility of literally incarnating the Conscious Principle into our cells, of becoming far more powerfully embodied as evolution itself.
They have been passionately endorsed and deeply honored by leaders from Ken Wilber to Barbara Marx Hubbard and Stephen Dinan (who, along with Devaa, invited Saniel and Linda to officiate at their wedding!)
For more than 25 years they have carefully cultivated this work in an innovative new form of spiritual democracy where, as people complete their Second Birth, they enter into a community of teachers and a beloved network of allies who do not need to answer to or offer deference to a “guru.” The Waking Down in Mutuality™ community honors the founders and leaders for their “transmission” of energy and insight while also being blessed as equal co-creators and divine beings.
In this way, Saniel and Linda and their colleagues have pioneered a truly 21st century spiritual path that goes deeper into awakened embodiment than any other system that we are aware of.
When you join these two remarkable teachers for the 8-week journey into the frontiers of Waking Down, you’ll learn to “greenlight” parts of yourself that you have long struggled with as unconscious or regressive, and discover their latent blessings. You’ll experience a spiritual wholeness that you have likely not felt elsewhere. You’ll begin to see how to experience a whole-being integration that represents a real breakthrough on the spiritual path... and begins a whole new cycle of your evolution, from the cells up and the heart out.
The course’s 8 initiatory Portals into Waking Down take you through core teachings, practices, and experiences that prepare you to land more fully in your body and your life. Each weekly LIVE teaching, contemplation and training session will build harmoniously upon the next, so that you’ll develop a complete, holistic understanding of the practices, tools and principles you’ll need to ‘wake down’:
Key Portals into Waking Down: (all of the following live sessions are at 5:00 pm US Pacific time)
In addition to Saniel and Linda’s transformative 8-week course, you’ll also receive these powerful training sessions with the world’s leading visionaries and teachers. These bonus sessions will complement the course, deepening your understanding and practices.
Ken Wilber is today’s preeminent theorist of a comprehensive Integral view of human personal and cultural development. The whole purport of Integral understanding and practice naturally points and leads to greater wholeness and increasing embodiment of advanced traits and qualities of human development. Ken has also long appreciated and advocated Saniel and Linda’s work and the contribution of Waking Down. It’s been about five years since they got together to speak about these matters and compare notes; this promises to be a very lively, revealing, and potent conversation.
Ken Wilber is the most widely translated academic writer in America, with 25 books, translated into some 30 foreign languages. Ken is an internationally acknowledged leader and the preeminent scholar of the Integral stage of human development and is widely regarded as the “Einstein of consciousness.”
Terry and Saniel have known each other for nearly 40 years. They share a revolutionary fervor for changing the world, now well tempered and informed by their many decades of transformational work. More than that, they share an appreciation for the mysteries of the Heart – our total divinely human reality that is also, even biologically, centered in our literal hearts. As fellow awakened teachers, they dive in this dialogue into an exploration of these mysteries that probably will be like none other you’ve encountered – and hopefully will be of great value to your own presence and participation in life.
Terry Patten is a leading voice in the emerging fields of integral evolutionary leadership and spirituality. In his cutting-edge writings, talks, and teachings, he not only inspires transcendental awakening, love, and freedom, but also calls us to accept and incarnate our full humanity. This expresses itself in a profound sense of purpose, spiritual inspiration, and evolutionary activism.
Terry is a member of Deepak Chopra’s Evolutionary Leadersgroup, a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Integral Theory and Practice, and serves on the board of the Wellsprings Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom. He holds degrees from the University of Michigan and John F. Kennedy University.
Roughly a generation apart in age, Saniel and Linda ("Boomers") and Stephen and Devaa ("Gen Xers") share among other things a passion for helping people find their ways into and then sustain truly intimate sacred relationships. Saniel and Linda have frequently taught a process they call "The Tantra of Trust," and Stephen and Devaa, singly and together, have helped lead or host many Shift Network events and trainings on how to make relationships work in the deepest and also most practical ways. In this conversation, the four of them will explore the keys that stand out to them for each of us to attend to in this tender and central part of our lives, whether we are presently in an intimate partnership or not.
Stephen Dinan is the CEO of The Shift Network and a member of the prestigious Transformational Leadership Council and Evolutionary Leaders groups. As the former Director of Membership and Marketing at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, he was the driving force behind the Shift in Action program, which grew to 10,000 paying members, and the One Minute Shift video series, which was seen by more than one million. He is also the author of Radical Spirit and a forthcoming book Sacred America. Stephen directed and helped to create the Esalen Institute’s Center for Theory & Research, a think tank for leading scholars, researchers, and teachers to explore human potential frontiers.
Rev. Devaa Haley Mitchell is the Founder of the Inspiring Women Summit and Co-Founder of the Soulful Women programs. She is a core part of the teaching faculty at the Shift Network and is an expert in women’s awakening and leadership. She also works as a spiritual guide with ongoing programs through the organization she founded, Radiant Essence Services.
You’ll receive the audio download and e-book version of this potent book on the essential challenge of 21st century spirituality: uniting transcendental awakeness with full valuation of the Earth, life, the body, and all relationships. These lively conversations reveal the core of Saniel’s pioneering work to help us bring our enlightenment all the way down to Earth and out into a divinely human destiny of awakened service that hundreds of people are now embracing.
"Saniel Bonder offers a refreshingly grounded yet wise approach to spiritual awakening, one that is founded on a deep understanding of the human condition."
-Peter Russell, Author of From Science to God, The Global Brain
“It is [Saniel’s] natural and spontaneous embodiment which is impressive, his words are a transmission from that embodiment. Having drunk his tea, sat with him and his wife Linda, and frequently been the recipient of his kind, attentive and generous heart, I offer you a five star recommendation for Saniel and his vision as high-integrity spirituality.”
-Arjuna Ardagh, Author of The Translucent Revolution
“Saniel and Linda’s Waking Down in Mutuality work provides the spiritual container and compassionate understanding for my humanness and everything beyond that.
I have never experienced spirituality really embodied or lived with integrity, and this is what Saniel and his teachers are giving every day.”
-Sabine Grandke-Taft
“I awakened to myself as embodied consciousness because of Saniel’s discovery and blessing of transmission. The mysterious healing process which has ensued since my awakening has repeatedly brought me to my knees, when past trauma has been triggered in me. Being with Saniel and Linda always wraps me in a warm blanket of love and acceptance. Their ability to hold me in the deepest of places calls forth the Goddess in a way that I never thought imaginable. My heart breaks open and I fall into the vast source of power within me.”
-Lena Cain, Seattle, WA
"I have been on a path of personal and spiritual growth for more than 20 years. As a healer and a teacher, I have met many seekers, practitioners, and teachers of several traditions over the years. I have been involved with two well-known Indian spiritual masters for about 15 years. Even after I realized the unbounded nature of Consciousness, I have never met anybody who was able to be simultaneously utterly human while being fully awakened.
"Saniel and Linda are the very first teachers I have met who embody most honestly and courageously the Divine Human condition. Their teaching on the Core Mystery is a major and fundamental breakthrough on the Path of Enlightenment. It empowers a quick awakening among truly sincere spiritual seekers and finders.”
-Franck J., Spiritual Teacher, Marseilles, France
“I continue to stand in awe of your work, embodiment, love and integration and of your commitment to us and the work, my and others empowerment and the dynamic unfolding evolutionary way of living you do and with which you support the community and us so magnificently. My heart felt appreciation to you both.”
-Steve Rogers, Auburn, CA
The Waking Down Course not only offers some of the most advanced online teachings currently available, it’s also a thriving global community of learning and practice.
Join your fellow students and practitioners from across the world in the live interactive conference calls or in the custom online community, to support and learn from each other while you learn to fully embody a deeper Love and awaken your spiritual potential.
This international community is also at the leading edge of a global movement of people who are committed to manifesting a better world for all beings. This emerging planetary movement is rooted in an open heart and stands for the principles of mutual support, cooperation, harmony and reverence for all of life.
Eight 90-Minute Class Sessions with Saniel and Linda
Experience a rare opportunity to mentor and learn with two of our day’s top spiritual teachers from the comfort of your own home. Each class session helps you learn the specific principles and abilities to deepen your recognition and embodiment of your divinity. Live classes are at 5:00 pm US Pacific time.
Eight Audio Recordings of Each Class Session
After each class, the audio will be available to you to download in high quality MP3 format. This way you’ll never have to worry about missing a session and you can listen anytime and anywhere on your iPod, in your car and at your convenience.
Eight PDF Transcripts of Each Class Session
In addition to the high quality MP3 audios, you’ll also receive the entire class transcription in PDF format after each session is completed. This way you can review, print and highlight the most important insights and practices that you’ll learn.
Eight 30-Minute Interactive Group Practice Sessions
Following each class session there will be a live 30-minute interactive practice session, where you will be placed in an intimate group with several other participants on the conference call to interact, share and do additional practices to help further integrate the weekly lessons.
Interactive Exercises and Questions for Each Lesson
After each lesson you will then have the option to do related exercises and answer questions in order to accelerate your learning and integrate each week’s lesson.
Custom Online Community
Our exclusive, custom-built online community is the perfect place to continue your learning after each class. Here you can ask additional questions, interact with your fellow students and get access to additional resources to take your learning experience to an even deeper level.
"Waking Down" BONUS Collection
We at The Shift Network feel deeply honored that Saniel and Linda have chosen to partner with us on this exclusive LIVE online training. As you may know, this is a rare opportunity to learn directly from two top spiritual teachers who draws upon their own deep learning, experience and awakenings to inspire your personal transformation.
Through this powerful online format, you’ll not only save time and money on workshop costs (plus travel, accommodations and meals, which would cost thousands of dollars). But you’ll be able to benefit from Saniel and Linda’s incredible teachings and exercises from the comfort of your home – at your own pace!
If you are serious about your spiritual development, then you owe it to yourself, your loved ones and our world to take this one-of-a-kind training with Saniel and Linda.
If you’re ready to take the next step on your sacred spiritual journey, click the register button below to reserve your space now.
“My experience of Saniel Bonders transmission is that sitting with him is like having living, liquid concrete poured into my body. I become aware that the Divine Consciousness or Consciousness Itself is fully present in and as the cells, molecules and atoms that make up his body and mine. Saniel more strongly embodies Living Consciousness than any other person I’ve ever met or experienced.”
-Jonathan Labman
“I began working with Saniel four years ago with a deep intuition that he had something special to offer me. Since then, my world and self have been repeatedly expanded, deepened, and blown open by his one-of-a-kind seeing and empowerment.
“Our work together has allowed me to claim and step into my divine greatness and purpose in a way that I could have never predicted. He is a rare and unique Gift and it is my profound wish that many people receive what only he can offer.”
-Jed Bentley
"For those looking to awaken in a thoroughly Integral manner, the Waking Down in Mutuality process, including Saniel and Linda’s Human Sun Experience, is exemplary. My experience so far, after only a few months (and after many years and many modalities of, in effect, integral practice), is that witnessing consciousness has gone from ’behind’ to ’in front’ and is now ’coming forward,’ merging with all form, and doing so in a manner that is more profoundly tantric – a marriage of She and He – than I could have ever imagined. There has also been unearthing and healing of shadow at a depth I never imagined (despite all the prior work), unfolding as it is at a breakneck pace – all in all, an Integral Realization of my Unique Self.”
-Michael Schwarz, Aesthetics Editor, Integral Life, Professor, Augusta State University, Georgia
“Meeting Saniel and Linda was a life-changing experience. I was deeply seen, met and gotten from their hearts to mine. It was what my soul was crying out and longing for.
This opportunity to be met on such a fundamental human level is what enabled me to discover all of who I am, the conscious loving aspects as well as the unconscious darker aspects. It is also what enables me to continue on my path of self-discovery.
Let yourself have the opportunity to experience the raw loving honesty that Saniel and Linda most graciously pour out, and feel for yourself how the power of the these two human hearts helps heal those who are hurt, wounded, and seeking their places in this life.”
-Karen Steen, Buffalo, NY
Saniel Bonder is the author of Healing the Spirit/Matter Split and the founder of the Waking Down in Mutuality work. He has been a pioneer in the widespread embodiment and mutual, evolutionary exploration of awakened consciousness for over a decade.
By the time he received a B.A. in Social Relations from Harvard in 1972, a quest for spiritual enlightenment had become the focus of his life.
During the years of his search he benefited from both Eastern and Western teachings and transmissions – as well as from the training in integrity, tolerance, compassion, and perseverance he received from his parents and secondary school mentors. His quest culminated in December 1992 in the awakening he calls his Second Birth.
Within days his spontaneous transmission of this condition came alive and began to affect others. A year and a half later he entered the mysterious further intensification of bodily and cosmic enlightenment in love that he refers to as “the White Heat.”
Since awakening, Saniel has dedicated himself to democratizing this embodied, nirvanic aliveness and exploring with others how to create a sane human culture on its foundation.
Saniel is also a tantric and a shaman, an eco-entrepreneur, an activist for nuclear disarmament, a golfer, and a flute player. He writes, “The heart of my life since bodily awakening as the conscious Self is being related to the great Mystery in Female form, the Goddess. Of all Her forms, the most precious to me is my beloved wife and partner Linda. I can’t begin to tell you how grateful I am to her and for her every day of my life. We feel deeply privileged to serve others and the world together.”
He is extremely proud of the transitions he and Linda and their Heart-colleagues in the Waking Down in Mutuality community have accomplished. After more than a decade under his direction as the founder, their shared work and community life are now proceeding on a new, cooperatively created footing of democratic empowerment and mutual accountability.
With Linda, Saniel is a founding member of the Integral Institute and a charter member of the Integral Spiritual Center.
Linda Groves-Bonder is Saniel’s full partner in The White-Hot Yoga of the Heart transmission and teachings and a Founding and Senior Teacher of the Waking Down in Mutuality work.
In 2006, she brought out her first book, Conversations with Margaret: A True Story of Self-Love, Conscious Awakening, and the Power of the Heart.
Upon first attending Saniel’s meditation gatherings in October 1994, she was deeply attracted to his work. She grew quickly in the process, entering her Second Birth in August 1996. She soon became moved to teach, eventually giving up her career as a professional photo-stylist to concentrate in transmitting and teaching the Waking Down in Mutuality process. Linda swiftly became a partner to Saniel not only in practical instruction of others but also in deep “holding” of the White-Hot Being-force and spiritual space of the work as a whole.
One of Linda’s primary spiritual archetypes is Quan Yin, the Chinese goddess of compassion. In the Waking Down community she is honored for her immense compassion for all creatures and all Life.
Linda’s first career was as a professional jazz-cabaret singer and songwriter. During the last two years she returned to the stage for a time as a singer, dancer, and percussionist with an international touring band. She recently resigned to focus on developing her book and, with Saniel, on new expansions of their work.
Linda is a founding member of the Integral Institute and a charter member of the Integral Spiritual Center.
Q: What is a virtual course?
A: It’s a great way to engage live teachings and each other from the comfort of your home! All you need is a phone line (or an equivalent voice service). If there is more than one person in your household taking the course, you will each need your own line. We use MaestroConference to make it just like an in-person event, where you can ask questions, participate in groups, and deepen your exploration of the course themes.
Please note that dialing MaestroConference from your phone is a regular toll call to California, and your telephone service provider will charge you according to your existing long-distance calling plan. You can also use Skype credit/subscription or Google Voice to dial in to MaestroConference, and you’ll need to use your virtual keypad to enter your PIN and to indicate that you want to ask a question. Other options include calling cards and discount long-distance carriers, and we also have a webcast which is free to use from anywhere in the world.
Q: Can I get benefit from the course if I miss the live classes?
A: Absolutely! You can download the recordings and transcripts of all course sessions from our online media archive, so you never need to worry about missing live calls. You can also engage the full community and leaders on our private community website.
Q: Can you tell me about the Private Course Group?
A: We will have a private community group for all course participants on our Shift Movement that will support you in making connections with others, sharing insights, engaging in discussions, completing homework assignments and exchanging information about events and other activities that can supplement your transformational journey. You’ll have the ability to share your experiences, projects, and growth throughout the Course.
Q: Are there scholarships available for this Training?
A: Yes, we always make a certain percentage of spaces available for partial scholarships, giving preference to those in developing countries or doing important but underpaid work to which they can apply the training material immediately. If you would like to apply for a scholarship, please review our guidelines, which include a link to our online application form.
Q: What is your refund policy?
A: Your satisfaction with The Shift Network and this course is our highest priority! If you find that the course is not meeting your needs, please visit our support site and submit a request at support.theshiftnetwork.com so that we can address your concerns. We offer a satisfaction guarantee for a full 14 days so that you can try out the course risk-free. The deadline to receive a full refund is before the start of the third class on Dec 31st, 1969. Submit refund requests at support.theshiftnetwork.com with the subject "Refund request".
Q: How can I reach Customer Support?
A: Please visit our Customer Support Center, where you should be able to find the answer to your question or the solution to a problem. And if you can’t, you can submit an online request form and we’ll get right back to you.
Q: What are the benefits of telling my friends to join the program?
A: You can sign up as an Affiliate of The Shift Network and receive 20% for anyone that you introduce who registers for the virtual event. If you bring five friends into the event, you can cover your own! Register at theshiftnetwork.com/affiliate and you’ll receive a promotional link to use.
