Alan Gompers in Memphis, TN

Alan Gompers will be in Germantown, TN May 1-6th. If you would like to attend one of his private book signing events or register for his Introduction to Meditation Workshops, please contact Lorena Rostig at 901-309-6557 or lkrostig@earthlink.net. Everyone is welcome.

Books provided by Barnes & Noble (Avenue at Carriage Crossing, Collierville, TN)

A donation from each book sale will benefit Daybreak Treatment Center of Germantown, TN. Daybreak Treatment Center provides services for children, ages 5 to 12, and adolescents, ages 13 to 18, who are experiencing difficulty academically, socially, and/or within the family. Please visit www.daybreaktreatment.com for more information.

Schedule:
Book-signing Events, Free
Thursday May 1 & Saturday May 3rd, 7pm
At Lorena Rostig's house (1910 Chelsea Park Dr, Germantown, TN 38139)
Meet Alan as he shares his personal story of finding freedom in a maximum security prison.

Intro to Meditation Workshops, $49 per person
Sunday, May 4th 3-6pm and Tuesday, May 6th, 6-9pm
At Lorena Rostig's house (1910 Chelsea Park Dr, Germantown, TN 38139)
Learn how to relieve stress, overcome fear, problem-solve and promote health & well-being through meditation.

Any questions, please contact Lorena or Markus Rostig at 901-309-6557.

Visit Alan's website at www.alangompers.com

Invitation from Denny Waxman

Alan Gompers, author "Maximum Security: The True Meaning of Freedom" has been invited to Philadelphia by Denny Waxman to speak at The Strengthening Health Institute on April 28, 2008 at 6:30pm (see details below.)

Denny Waxman is an internationally recognized teacher, counselor, and writer on health, natural healing and macrobiotics. For the past thirty years, Denny has used his expert knowledge in rational ways of eating and the healing power of foods to help others improve their health through diet and lifestyle modifications.

The Strengthening Health Institute (SHI) was founded in 1997 to teach others how to create lasting health and how to discover and live fully their life's dream. In 2002, SHI was incorporated as a not-for-profit school with a mission to (1) Empower people to make their own wise choices for life and health, (2) Create the model for macrobiotic education for the present and future and to move macrobiotics into the mainstream, (3) Demystify and simplify macrobiotics to allow access to a much larger number of people.

Please join SHI on Monday, April 28, 2008 at 6:30 pm. for their April Dinner Lecture featuring Alan Gompers, author of Maximum Security: The True Meaning of Freedom.

Dinner begins at 6:30, followed by lecture at
8 pm. The cost is $30 per person if you register before April 14th and $35 per person when registering after April 14th. Please call (215) 238-9212 to register.

For more information, please visit
http://www.strengthenhealth.org

For more information about Alan and his book, please visit www.alangompers.com

Love & Blessings,

The Friends of Alan Gompers

WEEKLY CONTEMPLATION: FALLING IN LOVE

This week during your daily meditation, contemplate the following:

"'Falling in love' is literally dropping from the mind into the heart."

Dear Friends,

What a beautiful way to look at this most amazing experience. Ultimately, is there anything in this life that we crave more than being touched and embraced by the magic and power of "True" love? I imagine that we could come up with a list of things that we might at times feel rival this state, but in the end the timeless, unbroken ecstasy that only unconditional love can sustain, will transcend all other possibilities.

We spend so much of our lives trying to find the "right" person, the perfect match, our "soul mate," our heart's desire, yet for most of us it continues to elude us, baffle us, frustrate us and turn our lives upside down.

I am reminded of a story about two lovers that had been separated for many years. Finally, after searching desperately for each other they connected, and with great anticipation and excitement, they planned a most romantic rendezvous.

On the day they finally came together, their eyes met at a distance. They moved slowly toward each other at first and then, with their heart's racing almost out of control, began running as fast as they could until they were in each other's arms, embracing ecstatically.

At first glance, it was an absolutely perfect expression of their love for each other. And on one level, it was. But a closer look reveals a fascinating insight. In that incredible moment, neither one was looking at the other. Their eyes were closed, tightly shut.

Their hearts were completely full. The love they were experiencing in that moment was amazingly rich and powerful, yet even the sight of the other became a colossal distraction. They had to completely evade their own senses and move beyond the mind in order to fully experience the love emanating from deep within each of them.

The love that we are looking for can never be found in an "other." We have been told this again and again by the great Masters:

"The best thing I can do for you is to love me."
"The Kingdom of God is within you."
"To thine own Self be true."
"The greatest love of all I found within myself."

Love can only be found in the recesses of our own heart. An other person, or even a powerful event or circumstance can trigger that love, support our search, even lead us right to the door, but the ultimate experience of love can only be claimed by going within. In fact, as the story shows so clearly, we even have to move beyond even the thought of an other to truly experience unconditional love--the only love that exists.

In the end, as the mind gets quiet, we begin to fall. When the mind is totally still, we fall into the heart--we "fall in love."

Love and Blessings,

Alan