Sunlight filtering through a foggy forest with tall trees and green foliage.
Logo for 'Woodstock Center for Awakening' depicting a circular, intricate black and white mandala with an eye at the center, surrounded by geometric patterns and floral motifs. The text encircles the mandala reading 'Woodstock Center for Awakening'.

On the Woodstock Center
for awakening

We want to blaze a trail into and out the heart of the human dilemma by way of “awakening” and how it touches on so much of what we are and do.

This area is blessed with many spiritual centers and healing arts’ groups and practitioners–-healers, past-life regressionists, yogis, therapists, and teachers. It’s also blessed with ecologists, poets, scientists, artists and musicians engaged in all stripe of practice—as well as social-justice advocates, alternative communities and hermits—for whom awakening resonates.

Awakening seems to intersect with so many, and it is our aspiration to open up space for its exploration. All we are doing is holding up a mirror so that the potentiality of this place, hemmed by mountains and water, may recognize itself. Moreover, at this moment of ecological and other imbalances, we want to be a model for community building. That’s what the festivals, the dialogues and gatherings, as well as our proposed “Woodstock Awakening Directory,” are all about.

What distinguishes the Center’s activities from other organizations that might fall within the wellness universe is that we seek to call to us without categorical distinction those area people and groups that self-identify “awakening” as core to their mission and aspiration. Also, utilizing positive, non-violent communication with a conflict-positive approach, we are building an infrastructure to facilitate positive communication between the different and diverse aspects of our town. Centered around myriad forms of healing, resiliency, gatherings and fostering collaboration, we hope our project may bring our community together to face the challenges of the 21st century.

Two men are having a conversation at an outdoor event, with one wearing a black fuzzy jacket and the other in a black leather vest. In the background, Buddhists monks in red robes and other people are gathered near a house with flags.
Person holding a large, illuminated agate geode against a blue sky with trees and buildings in the background.

Our story

This all began in the summer of 2022 when Michael Raphael received a cancer diagnosis—a solid reminder of our impermanence. At the time Michael was living in Tel Aviv, safeguarding and advocating for Mediterranean ecological sites. In the fall his friend and collaborator Sam Truitt went to stay with him, and together they roamed the “Holy Land,” with a long stay within the miraculous depth of the Dead Sea, exploring things, including existential precarities.

Later that same November the Woodstock benefactor John Joseph Synan (“Jogger John”) unexpectedly died. His memorial at the Woodstock Community Center was a galvanizing event in our recent cultural life: as folk from all walks came together. The gathering to honor his Woodstock life was heartwarming. Yet at the same time his passing left a void: Who was left to carry on his maverick stride and bring people together the way only he seemed capable? For many it was a wake-up call.

In December Michael called Sam with the news he had enrolled in Eckhart Tolle’s “Teacher of Presence” workshop for the spring and summer of 2023. Sam thought it was a great idea to join that course, and in the train of that conversation they together leapt to the understanding that they would start a Woodstock Center for Awakening, with the predicate that the Center would be open to all people and groups magnetized to the concept of awakening, broadly speaking. They were aware that the town of Woodstock itself could use some awakening. The Center would seek to realize some of Jogger John’s values, including his persistent drive to awake. HIs selflessness and generosity seem exemplary of the Woodstock spirit and is what the Center seeks to be: a diehard giver and lover.

They thought one direct means of gathering that force would be a Woodstock-wide festival in the fall of 2023. They had a first community meeting around this endeavor on May 6th. In that and subsequent meetings, the proposition was met with a groundswell of interest, including the signing of many volunteers from whom formed a Festival steering committee, consisting of: Avinash, Paul McMahon, Urana Kinlen, Emma Leigh and Kimber Truitt. Corinne Mol joined Michael and Sam to form a Board of Directors, and through the benefaction and support of Michael Hassan, we incorporated in July 2023: The Woodstock Center for Awakening, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization “dedicated to the exploration of awakening in all its forms and to be a place where people and groups may find each other and learn and prosper together.” With the generosity of community support, we have mounted two festivals, with our third Woodstock Festival of Awakening, happening August 8-10, 2025. We are continuing to work on the inauguration of “Woodstock Awakening Directory.”

The rest is now.

A black and white sketch of a young child's face with a big smile and eyes partially closed, with wavy hair.

Jogger John

A group of people huddles together in a circle in front of a porch decorated for a Woodstock festival, with a banner, American flag, and signs, on a grassy yard.
A group of diverse people, including monks, standing together outdoors on grass in front of a house with a porch. They are smiling and posing for the photo, with flags and banners including an American flag and a 'Black Lives Matter' sign visible in the background.

our team

A man wearing a black wide-brimmed hat, blue shirt, and gray scarf around his neck, posing indoors with colorful lights and reflections in the background.

Sam Truitt

Older man with short white hair wearing a black leather jacket, standing outdoors at a gathering or protest, with a yellow banner in the background.

Michael Raphael

A smiling woman with long, curly gray hair wearing a white blouse and layered gold necklaces, sitting against a neutral background.

Stefanie Frank

A woman with short blonde hair smiling outdoors near a body of water with trees in the background.

Corinne Mol (curtesy of Lauren Piperno)

A man sitting in a large rattan peacock chair, wearing a black sweater and layered necklaces, smiling at the camera.

Avinash

A black and white close-up photograph of an elderly man with a white beard and mustache wearing a knit beanie. He is holding a flower, possibly a tulip, near his face, covering one eye, and gazing intently at the camera.

Paul McMahon (curtesy of Georgina Berbari)

A woman with shoulder-length brown hair, wearing a black top, smiling in an indoor setting with blurred background.

Beth Weinstein

Close-up photo of a smiling woman with long, wavy blonde hair, wearing a red coat with a green pin. The background shows a colorful tapestry on the wall and a wooden bookshelf with books and a flower vase.

Urana Kinlen

An elderly man with a white beard and wearing a white cap, green shirt, and gray jacket standing outdoors next to a yellow and purple banner on the ground that reads

Sparrow

A woman with shoulder-length light brown hair, wearing hoop earrings and a gray shirt, standing indoors.

Kimber Truitt

A young girl with curly blonde hair and blue eyes, smiling, wearing a blue shirt, leaning out of a circular opening in a green structure.

Emma Leigh