Zen & STAGES: A Journey of Development & Awakening

IEC Conference: 2025-pending

This workshop unites Eastern wisdom (Zen) with Western insights (Development).

Development shows that with each stage, we’re “reborn,” bringing forth new hopes, fears, and understandings. Spirituality, on the other hand, reminds us that our primordial nature is unborn, undying, beyond concepts, and always accessible here and now.

All sentient beings have needs and wants that develop through time. From its basic form of moving towards pleasure and away from pain, to looking for friends and belonging, to seeking knowledge, success, connection, or truth – our wanting mind develops throughout our human journeys in increasing levels of complexity as we try to find happiness. And yet, the ancient traditions tell us that this wanting is precisely what prevents us from discovering what we truly long for; to realize our true nature.

This workshop is designed to take us on a journey from our beginnings entering the world through the realization of our true nature

Format: Keynote presentation, WORKSHOP 2.5h
Presentation category: EMBODIMENT, Emergence, Soul, SPIRITUALITY, STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT, TRANSPERSONAL

JIMENEZ, Santiago

Colombia

Santiago Santai Jimenez is an ordained Zen monk authorized to teach by his lineage. He is also an industrial engineer, a multi-instrumentalist and music producer, a certified Big Mind / Big Heart process facilitator, and a certified STAGES coach and debriefer. He is the current CEO of the Integral Center Colombia, one of the pioneering integral institutions in Latin America, and was the director of the first Latin American Integral Conference. Santiago integrates both gradual and sudden approaches to awakening, combining systematic mind development in some Buddhist traditions with the immediate realization characteristic of Zen. As a facilitator, he has worked across countries with individuals and groups, from indigenous tribes to multinational executives. His latest musical project, “A Journey of Sound through the Stages,” merges music, development, and awakening, and will be showcased at the 2025 Integral European Conference.

https://www.santiagosantai.com