Dan O'Neal Archives - Richmond IONS

Richmond IONS Meeting April 2020

Richmond IONS Meeting April 2020 (April 18) and Central Virginia IONS Community Group Meeting. It will feature a talk by Dan O’Neal.

Where/When: Online only, through ZOOM at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/106042756, Saturday, April 18,2020,
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. See the more detailed ZOOM instructions at the bottom of this notice.

Richmond IONS Meeting April 2020 Program

“Scientific Sound Healing for the 21st Century.”

Our April 18, 2020 meeting will feature a talk by Dan O’Neal. Sound has been used for healing the mind, body, and spirit from the beginning of Man’s history. Like the Hindu god Shiva, it has the power to create or cause chaos, to heal or harm depending on its use.

In this ZOOM presentation we will focus on the HEALING use of sound and learn about the most recent and exact techniques of SCIENTIFIC SOUND HEALING THERAPY.

Through a combination of PowerPoint and video clips shared remotely from Dan’s computer at home, Dan will lead us through history with sound clips and commentary to modern techniques of entraining our brains to our own personal frequencies of balance.

We will learn about brain wave entrainment, what brain waves are, and about the different brain wave frequencies from deep sleep to mystical states. We will also learn about different techniques to alter our brain waves, especially by focusing on binaural beats.

Dan will briefly cover a little anatomy and physiology of our autonomic nervous system and how the brain controls all functions in our bodies. This presentation will be educational and useful no matter what you watch it on, but, regrettably, we cannot experience it in-person together with a high-quality sound system as originally intended.

Given the current world condition with each of us “sheltering in place” (who thinks of these phrases?), we will attempt to make this presentation as experiential as possible. However, a large part of that experience will depend on the quality of your personal sound system.

To enhance your experience, we recommend using the highest quality device (computer/TV/speakers) that you can. You also can call into the presentation on your phone by teleconference if you wish, but you may miss the visual aspect and higher quality of sound.

About Dan O’Neal, Our Richmond IONS Meeting April 2020 Presenter:

Dan O’Neal has been passionately drawn all his life to healing practices, spiritual and metaphysical thought, and especially music. Growing up in a loving family in Baltimore, he remembers an experience at about 1 1⁄2 years old of kissing each molecule of air good night as he fell asleep.

As a young altar boy, he was exposed to the heady power of frankincense to enhance spiritual experience. Disillusioned at 14, he fell away from traditional western religion and was attracted to eastern mysteries, flirting with Rosicrucians and Yogananda and eventually finding Unity and A Course in Miracles.

At age 5, he was given a children’s drum kit which his mother quickly replaced with bongos after a short period of time. He began playing
guitar at 15 to “pick up girls” and hasn’t’ stopped since, with many folk, rock, jazz, and classical influences.

Dan has been a musician and sound man for over 50 years, a massage therapist for 25 years, and more recently a scientific sound healer. He was introduced to the healing uses of essential oils and has been teaching about them and using them regularly for the last nine years.

He studied with Dr. Jeffrey Thompson in California two years ago and is continuing his study on biweekly Zoom training calls with Dr. Thompson to the present. Dan uses Dr. Thompson’s cutting-edge sound equipment and techniques to find custom healing frequencies for clients. Dan can be reached by email at danshands11@gmail.com.

Zoom Instructions:

Many of you, like myself, may have recently downloaded the ZOOM app to your smartphone or computer, but for those who have not, simply click on the link above or right below (at 10 a.m. on Saturday) and follow the instructions:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/10604275

As anyone who has used ZOOM before is aware, this meeting platform is interactive and provides for participation by all in attendance, which will mean the potential for questions and answers during the program.

About Richmond IONS AKA Central VA IONS Community Group:

To find out more about Central VA IONS Community Group (Richmond IONS), please CLICK HERE.

About Our Richmond IONS Facebook Page:

Please also visit and “LIKE” our Richmond IONS Facebook page

Upcoming Richmond IONS Meetings:

Looking for our upcoming meetings? Please CLICK HERE.

To be included in our mailing list, please click the “Contact” button at the top right of this page and send us a message.

Please share your thoughts and any feedback by leaving a comment below:

Richmond IONS December Meeting 2019

Richmond IONS December Meeting 2019 (December 14) and Central Virginia IONS Community Group Meeting. It will feature a talk by Tom Coates and music by Dan O’Neal.

Where: St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, New Parish Hall, 12291 River Road, Richmond, VA 23238

When: Saturday, December 14, 2019, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, followed by a potluck lunch at the conclusion of the program.

Richmond IONS December Meeting Program

“Another Day at the Amusement Park.”

Our December 14, 2019 program will feature a talk by Tom Coates, our group’s only still-active original member. He is one of our most popular guest speakers. Dan O’Neal will provide live music. This is a continuation of Tom’s Self-discovery series aimed at exploring the multidimensional facets of human identity and every human’s search for his or her authentic Self.

The Dalai Lama has often identified Mao Tse Tung (nka Mao Zedong) as his “greatest spiritual teacher.” This is despite or perhaps due to the fact that the Communist Chinese, at Chairman Mao’s direction, invaded and annexed his native Tibet in 1950. They eventually forced the Dalai Lama to flee to India in 1959 and spend the rest of his life as a refugee in exile.

In this year’s installment of his search for Self series, Tom will examine a variety of social, cultural, political, religious, spiritual and other currents and themes, in an effort to determine how they may influence and shape our ideas, our beliefs, our behaviors, our experiences, our lives, our world and our reality.

Tom also will explore how the personal/individual and sociocultural/collective metaphors we choose to describe, define, conceptualize and contextualize our lives will either have the effect of expanding and enhancing our experience, our lives and ultimately our spiritual growth and evolution, or have the opposite effect – of contracting and limiting our experience and our lives; and stories – some farfetched, some miraculous, some disturbing – illustrating these points will be shared.

An open-mic discussion

Tom will conclude the program with an open-mic discussion of our group, its meaning and significance to its members, the larger community and the world at large, We’ll explore some of the challenges and opportunities we face as a group.

The meeting will also include an experiential meditation exercise. It will create a space within which each of us can personally access and experience new and deeper layers of meaning about who we are and the purposes of our lives at levels which surpass and transcend our rational, intellectual understanding.

This promises to be another blockbuster program. It will be a fitting way to conclude our group’s twenty-fourth year and usher in its twenty-fifth. As always, Tom promises some secrets known only to a few will be revealed. Another not-to-be-missed program for all who can attend! See you there!

About Tom Coates, Our Richmond IONS December Meeting Presenter:

Tom Coates is a Richmond-based lawyer who has represented numerous spiritually oriented and public interest groups throughout his career. He was a co-founder of Richmond’s Ekoji Buddhist Sangha in 1985. And he has been a member and contributor of the Richmond IONS chapter since its formation in early 1996.

In his spare time he enjoys reading, creative writing, painting, woodworking, alpine skiing, biking, backpacking, sailing, time travel, metaphysics, and relaxing with his family at their ancient Outer Banks beach cottage or their Appalachian Mountains retreat. He still reports that his most significant unfulfilled ambition of this lifetime is to make
love to an extraterrestrial female, preferably of Pleiadean or Sirian origin.

About Richmond IONS AKA Central VA IONS Community Group:

To find out more about Central VA IONS Community Group (Richmond IONS), please CLICK HERE.

About Our Richmond IONS Facebook Page:

Please also visit and “LIKE” our Richmond IONS Facebook page

Upcoming Richmond IONS Meetings:

Looking for our upcoming meetings? Please CLICK HERE.

To be included in our mailing list, please click the “Contact” button at the top right of this page and send us a message.

Please share your thoughts and any feedback by leaving a comment below:

Richmond IONS December Meeting, 12/15/2018

Richmond IONS Meeting December Tom Coates Richmond IONS December Meeting, and Central VA IONS Community Group Meeting will feature a talk by Tom Coates + music by Dan O’Neal

NEW LOCATION!

Where: St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, New Parish Hall, 12291 River Road, Richmond, VA 23238

When: Saturday, December 15, 2018, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. A potluck lunch will follow at the conclusion of the program.

Richmond IONS December Meeting Program:

“Choosing and Taking Responsibility for Your Life.”

Our program at our Richmond IONS December Meeting will feature a talk by Tom Coates. Tom is our group’s only still-active original member and one of our most popular guest speakers. Dan O’Neal will provide the music.

This is a continuation of Tom’s Self-Discovery series aimed at exploring the multidimensional facets of human identity and every human’s search for his or her authentic Self.

The Human Potential Movement And How It Has Affected Us

The Human Potential Movement had its origins in the 1960s, and was predicated on the hypothesis that our potential far exceeds our limiting beliefs about what is possible.

Its theme was that as sentient beings imbued with free will we can choose to awaken from our slumber and expand our consciousness, our awareness, our horizons, our capabilities and our potentials in every way we can imagine. And in doing so, we can free ourselves from limitations we previously took for granted and assumed were immutable.

The movement began 50+ years ago. In the meantime, it has been enhanced by parallel streams of information. In addition, it has included avenues of spiritual awakenings from a great variety of sources. These include channeled teachings, NDEs, OBEs, meditation, and more.

Breakthroughs in Science and Medicine

Moreover, they also include breakthroughs in science, medicine, and healthcare. These have mapped the human genome and extended life expectancies.

Tom will explore how these pathways have had the effect of awakening us to greater capacities for realizing who we are at ever deeper levels of our own being. They have also led us to accepting and taking ever greater degrees of responsibility for our lives, our destinies and our development of mind, body, and spirit.

In addition, Tom will also explore how these spiritual pathways are now converging with a host of new scientific discoveries. They indicate that the shifts occurring are not merely developmental but evolutionary in character. Also, the pace of human evolution is quickening precisely as the Mayan Calendar predicts.

As with earlier installments, the goal of this talk will be to enable everyone there to penetrate even more deeply into the mystery of his or her own authentic Self at its deepest levels.

This promises to be another blockbuster program. It will also be a fitting way to conclude our group’s twenty-third year and usher in its twenty-fourth. As always, Tom promises some secrets known only to a few will be revealed.

This is a not-to-be-missed program for all who can attend. See you there!

About Tom Coates, Our Richmond IONS December Meeting Presenter:

Tom Coates is a Richmond-based lawyer who has represented numerous spiritually oriented and public interest groups throughout his career. He was a co-founder of Richmond’s Ekoji Buddhist Sangha in 1985. Tom has been a member and contributor of the Richmond IONS chapter since its formation in early 1996.

In his spare time, he enjoys reading, creative writing, painting, woodworking, alpine skiing, biking, backpacking, sailing, time travel, metaphysics, and relaxing with his family at their ancient Outer Banks beach cottage or their Appalachian Mountains retreat.

He still reports his most significant unfulfilled ambition of this lifetime is to make love to an extraterrestrial female, preferably of Pleiadean or Sirian origin.

Recordings of Tom’s Presentation & Supplement:

Click HERE for the recording of the meeting

Click HERE for the recording of Tom’s additional comments

About Richmond IONS AKA Central VA IONS Community Group:

To find out more about Central VA IONS Community Group (Richmond IONS), please CLICK HERE.

About Our Richmond IONS Facebook Page:

Please also visit and “LIKE” our Richmond IONS Facebook page

Upcoming Richmond IONS Meetings:

To find out about our upcoming meetings, please CLICK HERE.

To be included in our mailing list, please click the “Contact” button at the top right of this page and send us a message.

To share your thoughts and any feedback, please leave a comment below:

Richmond IONS Meeting, December 12, 2015

Featuring a Talk by Tom Coates

“Peeling Away Layers of the Onion – Soul Stories Lost and Found.”

Our December 12 program will feature a talk by Tom Coates, our group’s only still-active original member. His talk will mark the 240th monthly program of our Richmond area IONS Community Group and pave the way for our 20th anniversary celebration in January 2016. Music will be provided by Dan O’Neal.

Tom’s theme will be “multidimensional explorations into who we are, what we are doing here, and how we create and manifest the world we want.”

As his program title suggests, Tom will use what he refers to as “soul stories,” drawn from his own experience and from his lifelong fascination with and study of the human soul, to inform the subject. And, in keeping with the season, those stories also will include a unique rendering of the life of Jesus and the soul which gave rise to his remarkable life, gleaned from many years of channeling inquiries and guidance.

This is a version of the Jesus story no one is likely to have heard before and underscores that his life was even more extraordinary than commonly believed.

We live in a period of intense transition, one in which many of our most long-held and cherished assumptions about ourselves and our world are being swept away, and one in which it often seems the only constant is rapid, unrelenting, unexpected, unforeseeable, dramatic change.

To help ground us and get us through this topsy-turvy cycle, the program will conclude with a group exercise designed to assist all present to rediscover, reawaken and reconnect with their Authentic Self, the true identity hidden within each of us, and to integrate and sustain that Self through and beyond this sea of change in which we are now immersed. As always, Tom promises some secrets known only to a few will be revealed.

About Our Presenter:

Tom Coates is a Richmond-based lawyer who has represented numerous spiritually oriented and public interest groups throughout his career. He was a co-founder of Richmond’s Ekoji Buddhist Sangha in 1985, and has been a member and contributor of the Richmond IONS chapter since its formation in early 1996.

He still reports his most significant unfulfilled ambition of this lifetime is to make love to an extraterrestrial female, preferably of Pleiadean or Sirian origin.