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SIMPLE PEACE RETREATS ASSISI, ITALY
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Our Heart Team


We are a community of equals that believe the sharing of Divine Love in the spirit of peace, service and humility is our highest purpose.  Our founders Ruth and Bruce Davis currently teach in Santa Barbara, California full time.  
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Each day the retreat leader provides a contemplation practice that guides the day.  They are available for one on one meditation guidance or spiritual counseling as well.  Sitting with teachers that have practiced for many years deepens everyone's practice.  Our intention is to see everyone as an anchor of peace.  

We are dedicating our time to support each person, with kindness, understanding and to receive the unique peace of Assisi.  

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Vinod Ravindranathan - Retreat Leader

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Vinod has been practicing meditation for over 30 years.  In 1994 he was trained in Vipassana at the Wat Ram Poeng monastery in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  Although not a buddhist monk,  he accomplished the same degree of training.  A few years later he earned his Mindfulness Teacher Training from Bangor University. 

​He currently facilitates the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Course in London. 
In the earlier part of his career, he worked in the corporate world as a lawyer before joining various non-profit organisations including; the UNHCR and Amnesty International Secretariat in London.  In Amnesty International he helped people dealing with sexual & gender equality, migrant & refugee rights, compassionate care for drug addicts and animal welfare.

Vinod finds joy in sharing the heart practices of St Francis as a guide to inner peace.

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Liam Murphy - Retreat Leader

Liam entered Saint Charles Seminary in Philidelphia at the age of 18 and was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1990. He worked  with the Latino community for 32 years as a parish priest, which led him to serve in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico for 4 years.  In 2015, he opened a store-front church in the Kensington section of Philadelphia, Mother of Mercy House, to be a Presence of Peace in an area torn apart by violence, poverty and drugs. 

In 2022 Liam discerned a call to a more all-inclusive ministry that encourages the development of the mystic in every person.  Convinced that SILENCE leads us to our true self and to an ever-increasing awareness of the interconnectedness of all Creation, he seeks ways to accompany those seeking such unity and peace: all hearts beating in unison with each other inside the One Heart. 

Assisi, the home of peace and inclusive to all, is why he chose to be a part of the Assisi Team bringing love to all. 

Spiritual Meditation & Mindfulness Retreats in Assisi, Italy, Europe Brenda Brisch photo
David Nowe - Retreat Leader

David has been teaching Yoga philosophy for more than 40 years globally and has been a retreat leader for Assisi Retreats since 2014. He was the oldest of a family of 13 children of a large Catholic family.  At the age of 20 he was initiated and trained by Swami Muktananda.  He became one of his teachers. He has served as National Coordinator and Spiritual Director for SYDA Foundation. Later, he founded “The God Realization Ministry” which brought meditation into more than 200 churches in the US. Currently leading the Second Education Initiative, a venture bringing meditation into the school system of India. More than 30 universities have signed on to the program offering this comprehensive curriculum. He has a huge heart and welcomes all to find their home in their heart. He is deeply connected to the humility and service of St Francis to all and everyone.



Spiritual Meditation & Mindfulness Retreats in Assisi, Italy, Europe Brenda Brisch photo
Brenda Brisch - Retreat Leader 

Brenda has been lovingly guiding contemplative retreats for over 40 years and has devoted much of her life to spiritual inquiry.  After practicing Transcendental Meditation in the 1970’s, she studied Vedanta philosophy and yoga with an Indian monk from Gujarat.  She began teaching Hatha Yoga in his school in Chicago shortly thereafter.  In 1976, she met her teacher, Swami Muktananda, with whom she traveled widely for many years. She became a monk under his auspices. He instructed her to continue teaching in Europe, India, and the United States.  She was the swami in residence in the Paris ashram. 

She joined the Assisi Retreat Community of retreat leaders in 2015.  Brenda is our lead retreat leader with extensive background in awareness training. She helps people discover their unique pathway to inner peace, and to understand that all of life’s circumstances are a guide to finding the stillness within. She gently guides people into the sweetness & peace St Francis & St Clare inspire.  She is a student of the Course in Miracles and Kashmir Shaivism. She brings great wisdom, love and joy to her retreats.  


Founders Bruce and Ruth  Davis


​"As awareness rests in the heart, an indescribable joy from within unfolds."  Bruce Davis
Bruce Davis PhD Assisi Italy
Bruce Davis PhD Co-Founder
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While a graduate student, Bruce met and became an apprentice to a remarkable Shaman who had the gift of entering into and teaching people in their dreams.  Bruce was introduced to many realms and worlds outside normal Western thought for four years. These years were to be the beginning of Bruce's quest to understand the potential of psychology and spirituality.
He received his doctorate from Saybrook University. As a spiritual psychologist, he teaches the essence of world religions, how psychology and spirituality intertwine, offering a more integrated, centered, and fulfilling life. ​He has taught at JFK University in Pleasant Hill, California, and many spiritual centers in the United States, Germany, Austria, France, and Switzerland.
Bruce has been guiding retreats worldwide since 1983. His retreats are based on his deep connection to silence, simplicity, and heartfulness. He has a gift for guiding people from the busy-ness of the mind & personality to the home of the quiet heart. He supports people who have had a Near Death Experience NDE or spiritual awakening, helping to integrate these experiences into daily life.  His primary intention is to help others develop a meaningful spiritual journey, built out of a life of joy.
In 1975, he wrote The Magical Child Within You, which has been said to be the first book written on trusting and nurturing the inner child.  A few years later, he co-authored another best-selling book, Hugs & Kisses about loving life, which has been a theme of his work ever since.
Discovering the heart of awareness, including inner peace, has been the focus of his retreats.  Bruce has taken people to sacred places like Assisi, Italy, where participants discover the sacredness within themselves.  For twelve years, Bruce and Ruth (his wife and partner) lived in Assisi, founding the Assisi Retreat Center where people of all backgrounds are welcome to enjoy the simple peace and spirit of St. Francis of Assisi. The Assisi Retreat Center received the official blessing of Pope John Paul II for its ecumenical work.  Both CNN and Travel & Leisure Magazine named the Assisi Retreat Center as "One of the Top Ten Meditation Centers in the World."  In 2012, he and his wife Ruth opened Silent Stay Meditation Center in California.  It is Bruce's wish to provide a sanctuary for everyone who yearns for inner peace towards finding their path to a purposeful, joyful life.
Through the years, Bruce studied and lived with spiritual teachers in India, the Philippines, Germany, and Bali, Indonesia.  He and Ruth led a program of taking teenagers from one of America's wealthiest communities into the poorest neighborhood of San Francisco to give food to people living in the streets.  This program is still ongoing with the help of Branson School students in Ross, California.
Books by Bruce:  The Magical Child Within You and Hugs and Kisses, Bruce is the author of The Heart of Healing, Monastery without Walls ~ Daily Life in the Silence, My Little Flowers, Simple Peace ~ The Inner Life of St Francis of Assisi and The Calling of Joy, The Love Letters of St Francis & St Clare of Assisi.  His latest book is Unveiling the Heart of Awareness.


"A retreat is a time to come home inside yourself, where the mind stops and silence of the heart begins." Ruth Davis
Ruth Davis Assisi Italy
​Ruth Davis,  Co-Founder​
At the age of six, Ruth had a spiritual awakening in her first ballet class.  Her heart burst open to the divine, and joy filled her body.  She felt she was dancing to God, the all and everything.  She felt love and connection to every human being.  Her dance became her devotional practice, which eventually matured into the energetic studies of Yoga, Chi Gung, and the movement of consciousness through the body and beyond it.
Ruth began meditation practice at 16 (1968) when she embraced Surat Shabd Yoga as her spiritual path.  Shortly after her initiation, she started visiting holy sites in India, including the Punjab region, Rishikesh, Hardwar, Varanasi, and Chennai.  She is a continuing student of Vedic, Tantric wisdom & Mystic Catholicism, with particular connection to the teachings of Ramana Maharshi, the silent saint. She raised 2 daughters and has 2 grandchildren.  She holds certifications in Ayurvedic Medicine, Clinical Hypnotherapy & NLP.
In 1993, after the death of her first husband, she began leading spiritual retreats worldwide with her current partner, Bruce Davis.
In 2000, Ruth and Bruce founded the Assisi Retreat Center, a Temple to the World Religions in the heart of the ancient city of Assisi, Italy, and in 2002 opened Silent Stay Assisi.
Ruth has been studying the Dasha MahaVidyas (Wisdom Mothers of Yoga Tantra) while living and teaching in Assisi, Italy and continues to this day.
From this yearlong contemplation came:
  • the ability to connect students to their spiritual heart, inner wisdom, or core of being.  It is from here that all answers become available.
  • a meditative movement practice called Sacred Movement Ritual.  In the style of Chi Gung, it contains spiritual lessons and energetic practices.
  • two books:  Sacred Movement Ritual, Yoga Philosophy in Movement, AND  Journeying up the Mountain, an initiation into the 10 Cosmic Powers.
​In 2012, she co-founded Silent Stay Meditation Center in Vacaville, California.  On one fateful night in 2020, the center burned down in a wildfire.  For Ruth, the loss was similar to a beautiful sand mandala being surrendered to the ocean.  Seemingly swept away, one thing remained: the peace found in the silence, which can never be taken or destroyed.
Currently,  she lives and works in Montecito, California, with her husband, Bruce Davis, PhD.  They share silent retreats at the Pacifica Graduate Institute. Ruth provides private sessions and guidance into the Spiritual Heart, for those seeking a deeper path into their essence, the energetic core of their being, where we are all one with the Absolute.


Administration

Robin Klaassen Adinistrative Assistant

Joining her first Yoga and Meditation classes at age nine, Robin has since been interested in the practice of Conscious Being and Spirituality with child-like wonder. Still very much at the beginning of her own spiritual journey, she is devoted to living with her heart first. 
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Robin lovingly handles your registration requests as an administrative assistant, and is there for you to answer any additional questions you might have about traveling, the retreats, or Assisi itself.
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In Gratitude

In gratitude, we are honored that Brenda, Vinod, Liam, Marianne and Robin are a part of the Assisi Heart Team. Their extensive commitment to spiritual practice, community life, and a heart full journey is a gift to everyone.  
Non Profit Organization
We are a non-profit  organization that supports people of all religions, countries and backgrounds to live a deeply satisfying spiritual life. 
The path of great love and peace is to pursue a life full of heart that includes; devotion, simplicity, humility and service to others.
Italian Phone number for more information:  +39.392.230.1626 
Home Office:
Silent Stay Meditation Center Santa Barbara, California  www.SilentStay.com
Spring Grove Inc. 501(c)(3) non-profit
© since 1986 - present
No part of this website may be copied or distributed without express permission of the Founders, Ruth or Bruce Davis, PhD
  • Home
  • Retreats
    • 2025 Dates / Pricing & How to Register
    • 2026 Dates / Pricing & How to Register
    • Photos & Retreat Experience
    • Daily Schedule
    • Gentle Walks to Sacred Sites
    • FAQ
  • Heartfulness Meditation
  • About Us
    • 501 (c)(3) Non-Profit
    • Assisi Retreats in the News
    • Our Community of Retreat Leaders
    • Books, Blog, Inspirations >
      • Assisi Blog
      • Books by Bruce Davis, PhD & Ruth Davis
      • Contributions by Bruce Davis Ph.D on Huffingtion Post
    • Papal Blessing from Pope John Paul II
    • Retreats in California
    • Little Flower Community
  • Guest SHARES
    • Guest SHARES
  • Contact Us / Info
    • Contact Us
    • How to get to Assisi
    • Where to stay: Rome, Florence, Assisi
    • Links
  • Terms Conditions