Chautauqua - About

Background

The Mobile Monastery Chautauqua is deeply rooted in modern monasticism. Founder Autumn Turley is a long-time practitioner and has spent years as a “modern monastic”. We specialize in teaching meditation, chanting and mindful relating inspired by our training at MAPLE (Monastic Academy for the Preservation of Life on Earth). We draw from an eclectic group of Mobile Monastery Teachers whose offerings range from embodiment to sound healing to nature bathing. Our events also feature art, music, massage, and tea. We have the flexibility to creatively customize our offerings to best serve your community’s interests and needs.

The Mobile Monastery Chautauqua was inspired by the circuit chautauquas of the early 20th century. Circuit chautauquas traveled the country sharing education, culture, and spiritual teachings through lectures, workshops and performances. By the 1930s the original Chautauqua Movement nearly died out, due to mass transit and mass media, as well as other factors. Our goal is to carry forward the spirit of the Chautauqua Movement by sharing practices that foster culture and community through in-person connection.

Purpose

Just as our bodies need nutrients, exercise, and sleep to thrive, we need nourishment throughout all aspects of our lives. Now more than ever we are called to bring wellness, spirituality, and community to the world. The Mobile Monastery Chautauqua connects local communities through our traveling spiritual carnival. We leverage an ecology of practices from modern monasticism, earth-based modalities, and healing arts. It’s our joy to nourish hearts, minds, and spirits throughout the land.

Autumn Turley

Autumn is a 5th generation Californian with a background as a Violinist, Massage Practitioner, Contact Improv teacher, Poet, and Project Manager.

Before joining The Monastic Academy in 2017, she co-founded the Bridge Within movement and traveled the US and Canada doing massage, teaching Contact Improv, and organizing events. At the Monastic Academy she has served as Director of Care, Director of Operations, and Assistant Director. She is passionate about networking, growth, helping people discover and actualize their dreams, going on adventures, sharing art and healing and movement, creative collaborative projects, community-building, Spiritual Practice, and the ocean.

Gigen (Omar) Obregon

Over and over again falling and failing, Gigen has found himself in a critical moment in life: how do I serve all beings in this constantly changing world? In this society that feeds greed and hatred? In this age of youtube videos and artificial intelligence chat-bots replacing, and destroying real friendship, connection, trust in the reality of love, wisdom and responsibility? Gigen has returned to the answer that came to him as a child: to study, serve and sing the song of God, truth, clarity and wisdom, the song called: "INTEGRITY." Through the Chautauqua tour Gigen aims to provide spaces and opportunities to bridge various religious/ideological communities, in order address the crisis of this age: that of integrity.

Kai Geffen

Kai comes from Western Massachusetts and the worlds of dance, intentional community, digital privacy, and meditation. His practice has been a striving for integrity and honesty done within co-created communities throughout his life that have included embodied contact dancers, ambitious creators, and steady sitters. Currently a New Yorker working on a card game that centers on reflection about life, Kai works with other friendly ambitious nerds promoting prosocial ends to loneliness in the Fractal builder community, and practices Zen with Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn. Significantly inspired by artists like Hayao Miyazaki, he seeks to “See with eyes unclouded by hate”, travelling light and far in the world.

Xuramitra (Peter) Park

Mitra is a deeply practical, deeply spiritual guide who focuses on building authentic community. He studied world religions and holds a Master’s in Comparative Philosophy. He trained for seven years at the Monastic Academy, eventually serving as Executive Director and primary teaching staff.