The NYC Chapter of the Universal Initiatic College, Golden Drum, M.A.I.S.C. (Movement of the American Indian Solar Culture), and The Sacred Arts Research Foundation (S.A.R.F.) present our annual birthday celebration in honor of Dr. Serge Raynaud de La Ferriere.
The theme of this year’s special event is United in A New Vision of Spirituality. This event will feature Taino Elder and World Director of M.A.I.S.C., Maestro Manuel Rufino, Lama Aria Drolma, a Nun in the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition, Laraaji, Dream Seed.
We will also have a beautiful Cacao Ceremony** in honor of this special day.
With gratitude in our hearts and minds for all of humanity's great teachers, those who came to share transcendent and universal teachings and become catalysts for awakening, we will share in wisdom, sound, meditation, and cake!
**Preparation for a Cacao Ceremony:
Cacao contains caffeine, so please do NOT DRINK COFFEE or any other stimulants at least 3 hours before the ceremony. We recommend that you do not eat for at least three hours prior to the ceremony. Dress in comfortable loose clothing.
THIS IS A FREE EVENT. Please enter your email below to reserve your place.
About the Presenters
Maestro Manuel Rufino - Maestro Manuel Rufino is a recognized elder in the Taino tradition and World Director of M.A.I.S.C. He is a spiritual guide, gifted ceremonial leader and teacher of sacred initiatic traditions of the world.
Lama Aria Drolma is a formally authorized Buddhist teacher and a lineage holder in the Karma Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. She is a graduate of the traditional Tibetan Buddhist Retreat program and is trained in the Dharma Path program of progressive stages of Mindfulness for advanced practitioners at Kagyu Thubten Chöling monastery New York.
Philadelphia-born, New Jersey-raised polymath Laraaji has maintained a pursuit of spiritual transcendence through music since the mid-70s. After several years of studiously developing an aesthetic informed by Eastern faiths and transcendental research in his long-time home in Harlem, in 1979 Brian Eno stumbled upon him busking in Washington Square Park in New York, improvising celestial meditations with his electric zither. The producer invited him to contribute to his influential Ambient series, resulting in the 1980 album Day of Radiance.
Ever since, he’s remained an outsized figure in new age and ambient music, eschewing synthesizers in favor of hand-made sounds, consistently embracing a human presence in his ever-seeking performances. Whether using monochord instruments, singing, or deploying electronics-kissed percussion, Laraaji’s music remains connected to cosmic African-American tradition, and as hypnotically beautiful as his work has been he’s never been afraid to inject ripples of tension and dissonance into his trance-inducing journeys.
Dream Seed - Dream Seed is a sound healing ensemble created by members of Golden Drum, Sacred Arts Research Foundation, and Didge Project. Shamanic chanting, mantras, overtone singing, Native American songs, indigenous music, didgeridoos, crystal singing bowls, bells, gongs, harmoniums, tuning forks and other overtone-emitting instruments are used to create an environment conducive to deep relaxation and inward investigation.