Sedona Story

Sedona, AZ: A special evening of rhythm and unity, Celebrate the Sedona Spirit: Collaborative Meditation for Global Healing, will be held at the Sedona Performing Arts Center, behind Red Rock High School, on November 12, 2011 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

It is a free-admission community gathering put on by the newly opened Sedona Meditation Center that expects a crowd of 700 people from in and around Sedona. A host of artists are preparing to bring the spirit of Sedona to the stage in a musical concert, including well-known Taiko drummer, Ken Koshio, Vusi Baba Shibambo who plays the African drums, and Sedona’s Rhythm, a local Korean power drumming performance troop. Lively chorus music will be also be performed by Red Rockapella and A La Mode; Hip Hop group, Light Vibe will give an exciting demonstration to drums, and Shondra Jepperson of Tom and Shondra Entertainment will serve as the host.

Special guest Ilchi Lee will present on the topic of Collaborative Meditation, a group meditation that will rise to new heights in the 700-person auditorium. He will also give a performance and lead a style of collaborative healing that is practiced every Friday at 6:00 pm at the Sedona Meditation Center.

Lee is the author of The Call of Sedona: Journey of the Heart (BEST Life Media, 2011), his most recent book and his 33rd on the topic meditation, peace and global healing. He is also an educator, mentor, and trailblazer who has devoted himself over the last 30 years to developing the awakened brain and teaching energy principles through numerous mind-body-spirit techniques. For that purpose he founded Sedona Mago Retreat, a place for spiritual awakening located in the wilderness of Arizona’s red rock country.

The Sedona Meditation Center is a special project of Dahn Yoga Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit. The center has a mission to inspire people to connect to their inner rhythm, to improve well-being and promote peace and happiness in the local community.

Celebrate the Sedona Spirit is a unique event that promises to be one of intimate sharing, dance and song, drumming and uplifted hearts. While the event is free to everyone, the Sedona Meditation Center asks attendees to RSVP by calling 928.282.3600 or emailing info@sedonameditationcenter.org.

By Dylan R. Marshall

I feel so blessed in my life because of many things.

One of those things is talking with people.

My guest is Haejung Jung, a warm, open, and kind woman.

She is a teacher.

We are sitting in the Sedona Meditation Center room as we do the interview.

It is very peaceful.

The energy of the room is harmonious and calm.

Come and join us!

By Paulina Roybal

Heaven on earth is a place where finch, blue jay, hummingbird, falcon and bat share the same sky.

Where red sands and gray stones stand magestic within sight.

Where blue skies, clear skies, clouds, stars, and moon mesmerize the soul and make one’s heart swoon.

Where juniper, pinon and cacti spread wide through out the land.

Where man can feel the touch of God’s hand.

That place is Sedona.

Profile By Diana James

Gently & powerfully, song reaches into the depths of my heart, echoing off the ancient walls of red rock canyons. Coyotes call while birds soar overhead. Ocean waves dance with the wind and thunder. Whales move in silent power & grace beneath the surface, while the far-away cry of an eagle is heard. A feeling of profound connected-ness to all that is, permeates my being as the music ends, and the simple prayer is heard, ‘Peace to your journey, love & light to your path, one in spirit, journey well’. This whole experience of sound & Spirit, is produced by one man sitting quietly, in the center of a musical vortex & colorful imagery, playing his own hand-crafted bamboo flutes.

The story of my friend & brother of the heart Jesse, is a story of Spirit, finding joyous expression in the life-paths of individual human beings, who have actualized their dreams. As a native chamorru of the Mariana Islands, Jesse lived his early years on a tropical territory of the U.S. in the orthern pacific. Jesse remembers playing in his village bamboo grove as a child at the age of 4, and being treated by his native elders with herbal & natural medicines whenever he was ill. It was then, he began to hear the melodies within, that ‘danced in his heart’.

Jesse has lived and ventured in America, traveling through every state since 1976. The great vastness of the land, moved him to continue. Then in the red canyons of Sedona Arizona, Jesse felt he was finally home. His move to Sedona in June of 91, led to such profound experiences suddenly unfolding. That summer, yet to read or write music, his first time playing flutes,echoed in the heart of Boynton Canyon. In 92 with Sedona bamboo, he began making & naming his flutes to reflect, the inherent peace of the heart.

Then somehow, Jesse discovered wildlife calls and nature sounds through his flutes. Also, to sing in his native language, Chamorru. By 93, presenting his flute concerts locally in Sedona.

Then in 1994, began sharing throughout the U.S. & Internationally, his Heartfelt Presentation: with bamboo flutes, story, poetry & nature voices. In Jan. of 95, he was invited to share at a Yoga for World Peace Conference in Jerusalem, Israel. In 1996 through 2002, he toured several times in Austria, Germany & Switzerland. As he continues to present heart to heart, somehow he is able to play & create native american style flutes, from bamboo growing wild in Sedona.

Jesse has not trained nor understands technical music theory. Melodies from the heart, touchs his audiences in unique ways. Each flute has its name & song. Emanating through his hand-crafted flutes, are the wildlife calls of: doves, quails, loons, hawk, owl, seagulls, dolphins, whales, coyotes, wolf, elk & more. We attended Jesse’s flute concert in the Spring of 97, at a book store in Sedona. Looking out at red rock panoramas along with the music, evoking the ancient memories of gentle times living in creative harmony with nature & each other. I wiIl never forget my first experience with Jesse’s Art, and I’ve heard him play & sing many times since.

We ended up staying in Sedona, spending most of our time early on in Jesse’s home. He led us on countless walks on the land to secret & sacred places, always bringing one of his flutes along. We’d get to the top of an arduous climb, and he would disappear! Then we’d hear his enchanting music, echoing off majestic canyons, weaving songs of the land itself. For me, Jesse’s music is a bridge to many cultures, times & places. Yet, always centered Here & Now. I’ve experienced something different, every time I’ve entered the sacred space he creates.

E-mail: kalu@sedona.net
Phone: 928-204-1867
Click here to visit Jesse Kalu’s website.

By Paul Yanson