“The emergence and blossoming of understanding, love and intelligence has nothing to do with any tradition, no matter how ancient or impressive — it has nothing to do with time. It happens completely on its own when a human being questions, wonders, listens and looks without getting stuck in fear, pleasure and pain. When self concern is quiet, in abeyance, heaven and earth are open. The mystery, the essence of all life is not separate from the silent openness of simple listening.” — Toni Packer
Toni Packer founded the organization that became Springwater Center and was its resident teacher for many years. Born July 5, 1927 in Germany, Toni lived most of her adult life in Western New York. Beginning in 1976 she led retreats in the United States and Europe, and continued even through ill health in her later years. Toni died on August 23, 2013, leaving a legacy of extraordinary recorded talks in which she “lives the work” with a vibrant and passionate intensity.
For her biography, follow this link to the video created by Toni, Joan Tollifson and Paula Kimbro in 1993.
Toni was the author of five books: Seeing Without Knowing / What is Meditative Inquiry, The Work of This Moment, The Light of Discovery, The Wonder of Presence and The Silent Question.
Digital Archive of Toni’s Talks
Thanks to two generous donations–from Toni’s family in Switzerland, and from Peter and Chana Santschi–her taped recordings from Springwater, Europe and California have been transferred to digital format. A sampling of recordings are on Toni’s Audio page. Over 800 of her audio and video talks have been uploaded to the Springwater Center channel on YouTube.