Opening to Darkness

A Book Study Exploring Eight Gateways for Being with the Absence of Light in Unsettling Times

Opening to Darkness Book Study

Eight Gateways for Being with the Absence of Light in Unsettling Times

Book By Zenju Earthlyn Manuel
Study group led by Emily Jarrett Hughes

November 2 - January 4 (except Nov. 23)
Thursdays, 6:30 - 7:15, US Central Time

Online
Recordings Available

We are born from the darkness. We return to the darkness. And throughout our lives the darkness is ever present. Yet do we really understand the dark? With Opening to Darkness, Zenju Earthlyn Manuel explores darkness as a cosmic landscape for transformation within unsettling times, rooting her teachings in indigenous earth-based wisdom, Buddhist practice, and her lived experience.

View the Introductory Session

Sign up to journey the rest of teh way through the eight gateways together.

Click here for a quick preview of the slides.

You know in your bones the power of the dark: Night sky so dark you can see the Milky Way. Sacred place for ceremony, only dimly lit by candlelight. The dark of the womb. A wonderfully dark room for sleep. Encountering Mystery. The darkness in these places and states is a precious gift.

There is likely also a part within you that runs from darkness because it contains the unknown. There are good reasons why the dark of night might not feel safe when experienced on a city street. When we encounter dark experiences of violence, injustice, and suffering, of course we wail. We long for light and peace.

We have lost the sacred transmissions from our wisdom traditions for being with the darkness. It is time to recall and relearn spiritual practices to ease the terror that emerges when we enter the darkness or encounter the unknown or unknowable.

Opening to Darkness by Osho Zenju Earthlyn Manuel is one such sacred transmission. This book will take you through eight gateways for being with the authentic nature of dark and for knowing darkness as transformative.

But perhaps you have noticed that all the focus on light is not eliminating our suffering. On the literal level, light pollution in our cities disrupts bird migration and our own biorhythms. On a cultural level, obsession with lightness and whiteness has led to collective suppression of anything dark or black.

Black cats wait the longest for adoption. Violence against black people is engrained in both our nervous systems and political systems. The sheer horror of our catastrophes like floods, fires, and war, can make us cry out with longing for the light.

There are many books about darkness.

Part of what makes this book special is that Osho Zenju lives in a black woman’s body. Through her embodied experience she invites all people to make the connection between how we relate to the dark with how we relate to blackness.

The purpose of this book is transformation. That means that all the teachings in the book are anchored by guided meditations.

Emily Jarrett Hughes is the guide for this study group and will expertly lead you through each week’s meditation, drawing from her extensive qigong training to enhance the meditations with:

Invitations to attend to posture and breath.
Specific techniques for connecting with the dark origin of the universe.
Chanting of mantras to integrate the teachings of each guided meditation.

I am Emily Jarrett Hughes, a healer, dancer, and teacher in the Wisdom tradition. My spiritual journey has been driven by the desire to find meaning and hope in a world of dark experiences. The mystery of how life emerges from the dark is common theme in my studies and teaching. For years I have taught dance workshops that explore the Eleusinian mysteries of descent and ascent. This danced approach is grounded in my in-depth study with Laura Shannon, a pioneering researcher of women’s ritual dances from the Balkans, Greece, and Asia Minor. I began studying Spring Forest Qigong during my own dark experience of major illness, and the practice has transformed how I understand darkness. I am in love with the practice and have received the highest level of training and certification available from Spring Forest Qigong. I gave a keynote speech about the Heart Sutra at the Spring Forest Qigong annual conference in 2023 and will draw upon the insights of the Heart Sutra for interpreting Opening to Darkness.

Osho Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, PhD, is a poet, author, ordained Zen priest, and medicine woman. She is the author of The Shamanic Bones of Zen, The Way of Tenderness, The Deepest Peace, and more. Manuel is a native of California and now resides in New Mexico. Learn more at www.zenju.org

A portion of registration fees will be donated to Zenju’s work.

What People Are Saying About Opening to Darkness

“Opening to Darkness is beautiful, wise, magical, earthly, and utterly necessary for our time.”

— Resmaa Menakem, bestselling author of My Grandmother’s Hands, The Quaking of America, and Monsters in Love

“In these times, what some might call… “dark times,” Zenju Earthlyn Manuel does not offer us a sun, starlight or even a torch yet in this book we are lovingly led. This book beckons us to remember that the sacred nutrients of wisdom, creation, and transformation dwell in blackness, in darkness. Opening to Darkness cradles us with grace in the womb of that ever pregnant possibility.”

– Sonya Renee Taylor, Activist & Author ,NYTimes Bestselling Author of The Body is Not An Apology

“Zenju shines a contemplative light on the wisdom of sacred darkness, offering a journey of returning to what we have forgotten and must now remember that heals and unites humanity. This book offers life-giving practices to those seeking the revelations of wholeness and belonging.”

— *Ruth King**, author of Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out*

Book study details:

Nine Thursdays, 6:30-7:15 PM, November 2 – January 4. (Excluding Nov. 23)
Attend live sessions, which will include small group conversations.
Listen to the recordings anytime (but you’ll miss the conversations)
Connect with other participants through weekly prompts with the online class community
The first session is free – invite a friend to attend.

Purchase of the book Opening to Darkness is recommended. Each week’s reading will be roughly 15-20 pages.

Reading the book is recommended, but not essential. Each week’s session will include a summary of the chapter. (My little secret is that I’ve been a member of a book group for years yet only skimmed or read summaries most of that time! You can still have a meaningful experience if you don’t have time to read.)

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