This site is a dedication and thank you to an amazing human being and kind spiritual teacher. This site is also a healing tool to inspire others to heal and clear their lives and share their light.
I created this site because Stan Andre Grier (December 17, 1957 - September 10, 2011) was one of the most amazing teachers I had the chance to meet. He assisted me greatly with my own spiritual journey.
I know he affected numerous people in a positive way and I wanted to share his light and their stories with others.
Ten Nebula is
a trained shaman, Reiki master, psychic, trance channel, and schooled doula.
She also
attended high school for art and attended City College of New York in Harlem
for art history. She has been trained in
many holistic health modalities. She believes in proactively healing one’s life
in order to shed fears & disease states of being. Ten Nebula offers her
healing work in the form of blogs, videos, and talks at this time. It is a goal
of hers to write books on health and open a healing clinic in California.
Social Activist
Ten Nebula is
a social activist who believes that in order for humanity to progress we must
be FULLY aware of the issues we hold. She presents her activism in form of
blogs, videos, and talks. Her major focuses are women’s issues, animal rights, and
gay/transgender rights. Ten Nebula also donates to U.S. non-profits,
nationwide, on the monthly & annual basis.
Environmentalist / Witch
Ten Nebula is
an environmentalist. She donates to U.S. green non-profits every year. She
participates in Earth day clean-ups. She strongly believes in the power of
recycling and composting. She educates the public about ways to help the
environment through her blogs, videos, and talks. Ten Nebula is also a white
witch who honors and worships The Goddess, Nature, Gaia (the earth mother) and
serves The Light / Divine Will.
Political Activist
Ten Nebula
believes in the equality for all. She advocates for people to exercise their
right to vote and be properly educated about the American systems (i.e. police,
federal courts, making of laws, etc). She
also works towards rallying the U.S. government to make more U.S. companies/entities
transparent and honest so the American people can BETTER relate to them. Ten
Nebula has sued Facebook and 8 other U.S. companies over issues of racism,
sexism, cyberstalking, and cyberbullying.
Karma Yoga
Ten Nebula
believes in karma yoga, donating, giving back, and volunteering as a way to
find your purpose and to be of serve to the whole. She donates on the monthly
and annual basis. She had volunteered at Earth day clean-ups, vegetarian
festivals, holistic health centers and green festivals. She also gives back by
offering to the public free blogs, free educational videos for years that are
now recently monetized, and useful talks. She also gives back through her daily
spiritual practice.
Artist
Ten Nebula is
an artist who has been singing since she was in middle school, dancing since
she was a child, modeling since she was a teenager, and discovered her love for
acting as a young adult. She attended high school for art and attended City
College of New York in Harlem for art history. She also donates to art-based institution
(like The Studio Museum of Harlem, Five Myles Gallery, etc.) on the annual
basis. She has volunteered at art-based events like New York Cares Day &
Celebrate Brooklyn Art Festival.
Ten Nebula is
currently working on preparing her life for her next level as an artist in
Hollywood where she will focus on writing, films, documentaries and her
performing arts.
- honor the memory of Stan Andre Grier - share his work and practice - share the positive effects he had on so many people - inspire others to follow their bliss - inspire others to consciously walk on their spiritual path - share helpful resources and tools for spiritual growth (Photo credit: Village Zendo)
On this site, we would like to focus on his: - life - education - work - spiritual practice - philosophies - testimonials - resources (Photo credit: Buddhist Council / Empty Square)
Stan Andre Grier was born in Atlanta, Georgia on December 17, 1957. He was raised by his parents Ed (sr) and Marry Grierand grandmother Ida. He was the youngest of his siblings - Ed, Kay, & Eatrice. He had two sisters and an older brother.
Stan had a passion for traveling. He lived for long periods of time in New York City and in Atlanta, Georgia. During his time here, he traveled to Europe (Paris, Italy), Middle East (Israel), Asia (Japan), and the Caribbean (Guatemala, Costa Rica). He also traveled immensely extensively with Samuel Jakob Kirshner.
Stan had a career in dance. He danced with the Alvin Ailey dance theater. He greatly enjoyed the arts. He took great care of his body. He always carried himself in a refined and elegant manner.
Stan and Samuel met in 2000. They worked together for seven years. They led wellness workshops & retreats in Guatemala, Istanbul & Jerusalem (& Costa Rica), organized weekly group meditations in their home together, and both worked at The NY Open Center. They had different teaching styles. Samuel worked more with the emotions and had a psycho spiritual gentle approach to his work. Stan believed in a more rigid and disciplined approach in his teachings, like in chanting & Zen Buddhism. They both had a strong meditation practice and were dedicated to improving the lives of others.
He participated in annual events at Village Zendo in New York City. At these events, he taught yoga, mediation, and qi gong.
The Village Zendo is a Zen community in the heart of downtown New York City. Serving as a sanctuary in busy Manhattan, it offers meditation, services, retreats, workshops and study groups. Village Zendo - https://villagezendo.org
Stan enjoyed working with children. He also enjoyed working with people who were incarcerated. Working at The Lineage project, he was able to effect many lives. He made connections with youth and also volunteers who were seeking mentorship. His nonjudgmental attitude towards people made him an easy teacher to relate to.
The Lineage Project is an organization that utilizes yoga and meditation techniques with disenfranchised youth in New York City to help break the cycle of poverty, violence and incarceration through empowerment and mindfulness.
The Lineage Project - https://www.lineageproject.org
Stan was a staff person at The New York Open Center for about 10 years. He worked primarily in the event coordination department. He offered guidance to numerous volunteers who made their way through The NY Open Center looking for their true calling. Stan was a mentor to so many people there.
The New York Open Center offers holistically-based educational programs to create positive transformation in individuals and the world.
Manhattan Plaza is a complex that offers apartments and a gym space to artists in midtown Manhattan. Stan offered a Qi-Yoga class there for several years and had a big following.
Stan was inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh. He considered him a mentor. He enjoyed his work, books, and allowed him to influence his work.
Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is a global spiritual leader, poet and peace activist, revered around the world for his powerful teachings and bestselling writings on mindfulness and peace. He is the man Martin Luther King called “An Apostle of peace and nonviolence.” His key teaching is that, through mindfulness, we can learn to live happily in the present moment—the only way to truly develop peace, both in one’s self and in the world. ThÃch Nhất Hạnh - http://plumvillage.org/
Stan had an attraction to Zen Buddhism. He liked its call for self-discipline. He used this practice in his own work and at his weekly group meditations co-created with Samuel Jakob Kirschner. Stan was also a friend and colleague of angel Kyodo williams who is a well-established Zen Buddhist teacher. He had great respect for her path and contributions to the global community.
Center for Transformative Change - www.transformativechange.org
Stan had a fascination with Chinese culture, philosophy, medicine, and healing. He also spoke Chinese fluently. He taught Qi Gong at numerous events, classes, and trainings. He utilized yoga and Qi gong together to create " Qi Yoga".
Qigong is an ancient Chinese health care system that integrates
physical postures, breathing techniques and focused intention. The
word Qigong (ChiKung) is made up of two Chinese words. Qi is
pronounced chee and is usually translated to mean the life force or
vital-energy that flows through all things in the universe.
Stan studied and was trained in yoga. He had a strong connection to Ashtunga Yoga. He continuously took various styles of yoga trainings to stay informed and well rounded in his yoga practice. He studied yoga for 20 years.
Ashtanga yoga is a system of yoga transmitted to the modern world by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois (1915-2009). This method of yoga involves synchronizing the breath with a progressive series of postures—a process producing intense internal heat and a profuse, purifying sweat that detoxifies muscles and organs. The result is improved circulation, a light and strong body, and a calm mind.
Stan had a strong chanting practice. His work with SGI allowed him to travel to Japan and teach the practice. He was involved with SGI for 20 years. He kept a lovely altar in his home with his personal Gohonzon.
The Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is a lay Buddhist organization upholding the tradition that originated with Shakyamuni (Gautama Buddha) and developed as it was inherited by India’s Nagarjuna and Vasubandhu, China’s T’ien-t’ai and Miao-lo and Japan’s Dengyo and Nichiren.
The specific Buddhist tradition embraced by the SGI is based on the Mahayana scriptures and the Lotus Sutra in particular. The SGI is engaged in faith practices and activities in society that correspond with the compassionate spirit of the Lotus Sutra in the contemporary world.
Later on in life, Stan was drawn to Mindfulness Mediation. He enjoyed the work of Gina Sharpe.
After retiring from the practice of law, Gina Sharpe co-founded New York Insight Meditation Center. She currently serves as the Guiding Teacher. Trained as a retreat teacher in a joint Teacher Training Program of Spirit Rock Meditation Center and Insight Meditation Society, she teaches at various venues around the United States.
Stan believed in honoring the dishonored. Tikun is a term that means the soul comes here to repair from past lives and it was a term that resonated with Stan. He felt that it was important to help, support, and speak up on behalf of those who couldn't. Stan was a very helful person and was always willing to lend a hand.
Stan believed that all of life was sacred. He like to see the value and good in people. He knew that we were all connected and taught that we must honor all things. He used this as a practice in his home and asked others to remove their shoes when entering. He enjoyed keeping things sacred like objects, people, places, etc.
Message from Hopi Elders
You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour, now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour. And there are things to be considered...
Where are you living? What are you doing? What are your relationships? Are you in right relation? Where is your water?
Know your garden. It is time to speak your Truth. Create your community. Be good to each other. And do not look outside yourself for the leader.
This could be a good time! There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly.
Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.
See who is in there with you and celebrate. At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally. Least of all, ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt. The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves!
Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration. We are the ones we've been waiting for.
Stan celebrated others and he celebrated life. He was always open and available to acknowledge something special and make it into a festival, a party. He enjoyed people, culture, traveling, and enjoying his life. He like living to the fullest.
I met Stan at the NY Open Center. I was a volunteer and he was a staff person who worked in the event coordination department. I found Stan to be beautiful, elegant, and refined. I loved the way he spoke. He was articulate and clear. He was self-expressive and open. I was also impressed that he spoke so many languages. He was strong, kind, and interesting. He introduced me to so many great things that have served my life and path like Zen Buddhism, SGI, T. Harv Eker, and angel Kyodo williams. What I remember most about Stan was how helpful he was. He was spacious and made others feel included and heard. I also loved that he lived his practice. He did not just talk about spirituality and holistic well-being but he strived for it and applied it to his own life.
Vajra Yoga is very excited to launch this training with our fellow collaborators at the Lineage Project This training has been over a year in the making, and we are getting a tremendous response to it already – thank you to those of you who have written to express your support, and to those of you who are joining us.
Why Social Action? For many years I have been disappointed by the way yoga has become a hip physical exercise in this country. Instead of just complaining – which is so useless and rather lazy- I decided to try my best to do something positive instead… …to continue, click “Read more! below…
A couple of years ago I was approached by members of the Lineage Project to join them in helping to bring yoga, meditation and mindful awareness practices to at risk and incarcerated youth. I went on a site visit in the Bronx to see what the project was all about. It was not only eye opening, but heart opening as well.
What I saw was a group of young people who were abused by their environment or their families – forgotten by society at large and confused by it all. Honestly, they all looked like wounded hearts to me….very tender hearts hiding for protection under a layer of street tough-ness.
I knew right then that I wanted to do my very best to help them. Through eye contact with each of them in the group that day, I was able to see them as they were, and much to my astonishment-they seemed to be o.k. with me! For those of you who don’t know me, I’m about as opposite physically as one can be from them- white, blonde, and well cared for. But they laughed with me, poked fun of me, listened to me, tried to do yoga postures and sit as still as they could during meditation. The senior Lineage teacher Stan Grier, was remarkable in his ability to keep them in line and on the mat. Stan is a very gifted individual, and it was because of him that they were even interested in participating.
Bottom line for me is-we are all tender and somewhat broken hearts. Each of us feels the pain of abandonment or disappointment – in the way we have been treated financially, by the health care system, school system, our family members etc. So the color of skin, the way each of us acts out may vary from person to person, culture to culture, but in essence we are all trying to get love and attention. Every human being needs and deserves that and yearns for it.
If you are inclined, please visit my website www.vajrayoga.com or lineageproject.org, and see what we’re up to. There are many ways that you can help us if you wish.
With all my very best wishes to each of you reading this. May we all ban together to help others to help themselves.
Sincerely,
Jill Satterfield
Founder , Vajra Yoga
Vajra Yoga Social Action Teacher Training at The Breathing Project : begins January 2007
When someone first suggested that Leslie Booker teach yoga and meditation to incarcerated youth, her first response was “no way.” She wasn’t certified, for one, and (at the time) she hated teenagers, for another. But eight years later, she’s still working with The Lineage Project to bring yoga and mindfulness to adolescents who are incarcerated or involved with the court system. She also spent two years on Riker’s Island as part of a research team through New York University facilitating an intervention of Mindfulnesss and Cognitive Behavioral Theory, and has spent time with James Fox of the Prison Yoga Project on San Quentin. We asked how the kids first won her over and what she’s learned along the way. Yoga Journal: What led you to yoga and meditation? Leslie Booker: I was in the fashion industry for a very long time and was feeling that I needed to do something bigger with my life. I had dabbled in yoga and realized it was the thing that really made me feel alive. At that point yoga was still very much a physical practice for me, but I knew it was something I needed to explore more. I ended up getting a part-time job at the New York Open Center to help me segue out of fashion, and that’s where I was introduced to a great mentor of mine, Stan Grier. Eventually I got certified and came to work with him at The Lineage Project.
Sometimes a calling comes to us when we're not expecting it. Leslie Booker describes how one came to her. "I was doing event coordination for a new Age holistic center after leaving the fashion industry. I met everyone who was on the circuit, and my mentor, Stan Grier, would say to me almost weekly, "You should really teach for the Lineage project." the Lineage Project is a non-profit that brings awareness-based practices like yoga and mediation to incarcerated kids in New York City. Why? I hate teenagers and I don't teach yoga; why on earth would I ever work with them?' I'd reply. It sounded like the one thing I would never do with my life!
Stan, however, was the most patient and persuasive human being I've ever had the privilege to know. After about a year, I found myself in a yoga teacher training, not with the intention of teaching, but simply to deepen my understanding my body and my practice. Within a few months of completing my teacher training, I was teaching alongside Stan at a secured juvenile facility in the South Bronx.
Excerpt from "Real Happiness at Work: Meditations for
Accomplishment, Achievement, and Peace" (page 205)
"When I met Stan in 2000 at the Russian baths in NYC, I had no idea that fifteen minutes into our conversation he would say - “I’m here to assist you in becoming the Lama that you are.”
Nor did I have an idea that we wouldn’t part for the next seven years, and get married twice - in the country and in the city, with his whole family in attendance. I also had no idea that in those seven years together, I would have found the spiritual partner that I looked for and felt most natural with, and that he would stretch me as a healer by going for mindful walks to Ground Zero to help the souls that were trapped there to move on... Teach mindfulness meditation & Qi-Yoga workshops together in Jerusalem, Istanbul & lake Attitlan in Guatemala.
I also didn’t know that our relationship would end the way it did, and that through dealing with the loss, I would have found the lost part of my soul - Jakob, and that I would learn to love all the way, in a sacred manner & in celebration. Stan & I continue to collaborate in spirit and I’ve learned through our relationship to trust that you can be whole & complete, alone & together.”
In order to have rich and balanced lives, we must intend on living rich and balanced lives. It is a process and we must be willing to do the proper work. That work may consist of having clear intentions, following your intuition, letting go when needed, using nonattachment and taking the right action. We all have different kinds of lives but we all want to be happy and we all want to heal.
1. Spiritual Care 2. Home 3. Family 4. Friends 5. Personal Time 6. Money & Abundance 7. Higher Learning & Education 8. Romantic Relationships 9. Travel 10. Work & Career 11. Karma Yoga/Volunteering work/Tithing
12. Physical Body care
1. Use active prayer & clear intention to create your reality
2. Drink lots of water 3. Create a daily spiritual practice 4. Get daily exercise 5. Get monthly healing arts treatments/Alternative Medicine 6. Create an altar in your home and work space 7. Get clear about your dreamtime 8. Study the universal laws
9. Be pro-active in your shadow work (dealing with your ego)
10. Strive to become more of your authentic self 11. Spend 1-hour out in nature everyday 12. Get plenty of sleep (at least 8 hours) every night 13. Eat well. Eat foods that are healthy and whole. 14. Give to others on the monthly basis (i.e. donate,
volunteer, karma yoga)
Being Black: Zen and the Art of Living with Fearlessness and Grace by Angel Kyodo Williams
Radical Dharma by by Angel Kyodo Williams
Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind
Robert Aitken, Taking the Path of Zen
Samuel Bercholz and Sherab Chodzin Kohn, Entering the Stream
Gil Fronsdal, The Issue at Hand
Joseph Goldstein, The Path of Insight Meditation
Ayya Khema, Being Nobody, Going Nowhere
Jack Kornfield, A Path with Heart
Daido Loori, The Still Point
Kathleen McDonald, How to Meditate
Taizan Maezumi, Appreciate Your Life
Walpola Rahula, What the Buddha Taught
Hammalawa Saddhatissa, Buddhist Ethics
Jean Smith, Breath Sweeps Mind
Why have a daily spiritual practice: Having a daily spiritual practice helps us to - stay grounded - stay in peace - be mindful - be aware of ourselves - stay healthy - stay connected to our divine source and the truth of our experiences. - clear and heal ourselves - quiet the mind - stay present - hold more light
To learn more, visit "Spiritual Awareness: Cultivating A Daily Spiritual Practice" -
