Synchronicity Foundation

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Synchronicity Foundation

Synchronicity Foundation, known for its support of an innovative high-tech form of meditation, was founded in 1983 by Master Charles, a mystic and former leading disciple of Swami Paramahansa Muktananda (1908-1982), one of the most popular spiritual teachers from India to build a following in the West in the 1970s. He taught a form of kundalini yoga. Master Charles was born on March 14, 1945, in Syracuse, New York, and raised in a Roman Catholic family. As a child he began to have mystic and visionary experiences and developed a special devotion to the Virgin Mary. He attended a Roman Catholic high school and at one point considered entering a Roman Catholic order, but became disenchanted with the church as an institution.

As he moved into adulthood, he began to explore the alternative spiritualities, especially Eastern forms, that were flowing into the country at the time. Then in 1970, some friends who had been to India showed him a photo of Swami Muktananda. He had an immediate reaction to the picture. He discovered a copy of Guru, Muktananda's autobiographical book, and laid plans to go to India himself. His meeting with Muktananda confirmed the awakening of divine energy he already experienced. He became a disciple and was given the name Arjuna. He eventually became Muktananda's private secretary.

Shortly before his passing in 1982, Muktananda instructed Arjuna to return to the West and create a form of the teachings not bound in an Indian cultural format. Thus, in 1982, Arjuna changed his name to Brother Charles and settled in rural Virginia. He began to attract a few disciples, and as his following grew he founded the Synchronicity Foundation. The name of the foundation grew out of his understanding that meditation is an experience that synchronizes the activity of the two halves of the brain. When the brain is unsynchronized, one experiences the duality of the world. When they are synchronized, one experiences the underlying unity of the Source of all.

Brother Charles (now known as Master Charles) has also considered the scientific advances in the West and the understanding of the role sound played in enhancing the meditation experience. He discovered that certain patterns of sound aid synchronization and developed recordings that could be fed to meditators in headphones. This became the basis of a growing technological approach to spirituality and mysticism.

The Synchronicity Foundation is headquartered at P.O. Box 694, Nellyford, VA 22923. It offers a program of retreats and workshops, and a network of Synchronicity centers have emerged around the world. The foundation has an Internet site at http://www.synchronicity.org/.