Late-Breaking News in the Self Knowledge Symposium

	Click here to view the SKS calendar of upcoming events and weekly meetings. (Find out when and where we are meeting near you!)
	Click here for the Brother John Web Page, featuring Augie Turak's prize-winning essay, a photo gallery of the big event, and more!

TAT Foundation Open House
Augie Turak, the founder of the Self Knowledge Symposium, began his own spiritual search in 1973 as the student of Richard Rose. 35 years later, TAT continues passing on the teachings of the late Richard Rose.
Note: This is not a Self Knowledge Symposium event
April 12-13, 2008

Are You a Robot?
Kenny Felder spent years working on artificial intelligence at Microsoft, while running a spiritual group from his home. Now he challenges you to answer the question—are you anything more than a walking, talking artificial intelligence algorithm? How do you know?
February 26, UNC, Gardner 105

What Is Cosmic Consciousness?
Most young people are looking for something BIG: the extraordinary career, the great calling, the magnificent adventure. That's what August Turak wanted as a student in the early '70s when he met Richard Rose, a West Virginian hillbilly and self styled Zen teacher who had himself experienced cosmic consciousness. Now Turak will be giving a lecture that is the fruit of a lifetime's study, search and experience—a lecture about the BIGGEST experience any of us could hope to have.
January 29, 8:00p
Duke McClendon Tower, 5th Floor

Quest for the Ultimate
When he was going to be an undergraduate, Ed Cheely turned down a Harvard scholarship. In the business world, he walked away from six-figure incomes. Instead, he hosted a spiritual conference, fasted and meditated in the woods, and traveled through Western Europe, Southern Africa, and Central America, looking for answers. The journey is incredible, but the real story is what he found.
Thursday, January 17, NC State Talley Student Center Room 3118, 8:00p

October 22-24, 2004
The SKS retreat "Blood, Sweat, and Cosmic Consciousness" brings together martial arts and meditation for a sometimes physical, sometimes mental, and always spiritual weekend.

Fall, 2004
Augie Turak wins $100,000 in the John Templeton Power of Purpose essay contest with his award-winning essay Brother John.

October 13-15, 2002
The biggest SKS event ever: Inward Bound brought 250 students and educators from around the country to 3 days of intense, spiritual exploration. On the Inward Bound Web site you can see pictures, videos, survey results, quotes, and much, much more from the event.

November 2-4, 2001
The fourth annual SKS retreat at Avila, "The Still Point of the Turning World," continued the SKS Avila tradition of combining solitude with community, and relaxation with magic.

July 20-22, 2001
On a smaller scale—a "mini-Avila" retreat for SKS officers and members only. The primary purpose was to plan the next year, but of course, we did more than that...

April 18, 2000
"Rhymes, Rants, and Reflections," the original SKS Poetry Slam, begins a tradition of SKS poetry readings.

March 3-5, 2000
The third annual SKS weekend Avila Retreat was not, in fact, held at the Avila retreat center like its predecessors. But like the previous two retreats, it drew students from three universities and spiritual seekers from across the country. Leila Plummer, SKS member and UNC student, wrote later about being in the crowd that pressed around Fleet Maull after his talk the first night: "The group, which included spiritual teachers Dave Gold and August Turak, continued to talk until well after midnight, when the folks at the front desk locked the doors and shut off most of the lights. There was a rare feeling in the room, a sense of being part of something unique that would not come again."

February 27, 2000
SKS members showed up in force to man the phones for the WUNC pledge drive. Some people claim they did it out of a sense of "civic duty" or "to support public television" but we suspect it was the cool T-shirts...

Spring Semester, 2000
The SKS "House Course," Great Faith and Great Doubt, exposed new students to the SKS approach to self-knowledge: deep reading, deep discussion, and deeply deeply personal inquiry. Learn why one student wrote "I learned that SKS classes ruin me for the night—afterwards, homework and shallow chatter are not options."


This section lists a few past SKS events, so you can get a flavor of the kind of things we do. Most of the pictures are clickable, so you can see more pictures and learn more about a particular event.
October 22-24, 2004 The SKS retreat "Blood, Sweat, and Cosmic Consciousness" brings together martial arts and meditation for a sometimes physical, sometimes mental, and always spiritual weekend.
	Fall, 2004 Augie Turak wins $100,000 in the John Templeton Power of Purpose essay contest with his award-winning essay Brother John.
October 13-15, 2002 The biggest SKS event ever: Inward Bound brought 250 students and educators from around the country to 3 days of intense, spiritual exploration. On the Inward Bound Web site you can see pictures, videos, survey results, quotes, and much, much more from the event.
	November 2-4, 2001 The fourth annual SKS retreat at Avila, "The Still Point of the Turning World," continued the SKS Avila tradition of combining solitude with community, and relaxation with magic.
July 20-22, 2001 On a smaller scale—a "mini-Avila" retreat for SKS officers and members only. The primary purpose was to plan the next year, but of course, we did more than that...
	April 18, 2000 "Rhymes, Rants, and Reflections," the original SKS Poetry Slam, begins a tradition of SKS poetry readings.
March 3-5, 2000 The third annual SKS weekend Avila Retreat was not, in fact, held at the Avila retreat center like its predecessors. But like the previous two retreats, it drew students from three universities and spiritual seekers from across the country. Leila Plummer, SKS member and UNC student, wrote later about being in the crowd that pressed around Fleet Maull after his talk the first night: "The group, which included spiritual teachers Dave Gold and August Turak, continued to talk until well after midnight, when the folks at the front desk locked the doors and shut off most of the lights. There was a rare feeling in the room, a sense of being part of something unique that would not come again."
	February 27, 2000 SKS members showed up in force to man the phones for the WUNC pledge drive. Some people claim they did it out of a sense of "civic duty" or "to support public television" but we suspect it was the cool T-shirts...
Spring Semester, 2000 The SKS "House Course," Great Faith and Great Doubt, exposed new students to the SKS approach to self-knowledge: deep reading, deep discussion, and deeply deeply personal inquiry. Learn why one student wrote "I learned that SKS classes ruin me for the night—afterwards, homework and shallow chatter are not options."