The 2019-2020 series of this program takes place [currently via Zoom] courtesy of the Penn Yan Public Library, 214 Main St. on Mondays, 11 a.m. to Noon.

Informal discussions explore a tapestry of diverse topics with deeply spiritual threads. Everyone is invited to attend one or many sessions; registration is not required. Free-will offering benefits sponsor, Cobblestone Springs Retreat Center. Watch your email or local paper for specific program offerings.

This series begins in September 2019 and will continue through spring 2020. Many thanks to Mary Beth Gamba for again organizing presenters and discussion leaders for this series. See also The Future of Classics, about the 2020-21 series.

Upcoming Topics, schedule as planned:

• May 18: The Gift of Years: Growing Old Gracefully, book discussion of that title led by Mary Beth Gamba

Please Note: Schedule is subject to change; updates will be posted here as they are available. If you have a topic to present or a suggestion for future topics, please contact Cobblestone Springs Retreat Center and someone will respond.

For though my faith is not yours and your faith is not mine, if we each are free to light our own flame, together we can banish some of the darkness of the world.

    — Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

Recent Past topics include:

• The Healing Power of Green Light, featuring Greg Lynn of PeaceWeavers, Inc.
• Thich Naht Hahn, video interview by Oprah Winfrey
• Buddha & Patanjali’s Solution to an Epidemic, video with Pandit Rajmani Tigunait
• Honoring the Earth (for Earth Day), two videos featuring Robin Wall Kimmerer
• The Environmental Vision of Thomas Merton; video about his life and teachings, with Monica Weis via Zoom
• The Mystic Poetry of Rumi, with Christopher Wright, via Zoom
• Person/Planet, by Theodore Roszak, book discussion led by Sally White
  Considering Cosmos (Carl Sagan), with Marty Dodge (NOTE: The remainder of these sessions will be rescheduled due to COVID-19.)

• The Humanism of Robert Green Ingersoll, with Tom Close.
• Are You Happy?, with Tom Close.
• As the Veil Thins, with Rev. Beth Frigard
• Vishoka Meditation, book review with Peter Gamba
• A Theology of Addiction, presented by Rev. Gary Brown.
• The Lessons of Ram Dass, presented by Christopher Wright.
• Going Out Dancing, presented by Mary Beth Gamba.
• Midwinter Holidays, presented by Tom Close.
• Violence Against Women, presented by Christopher Wright
• The Teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff, presented by Folk Art Guild
• Black Liberation Theology, with Henry Thomas
• How to Meditate Using Chakras, Mantras, and Breath, Book discussion, with Peter Gamba
• The Importance of Speech in the Jewish Tradition, with Leslie Schwartz
• More previous topics listed here