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Kevin Kollenda

@kevko

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𝕃𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕟 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣
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I can still feel you India, even a week after the dizzying hangover of your influence dissipates.
I don’t even know how to begin to capture what I witnessed and experienced, but I can tell you that in every city, in every village and in every person I greeted, I was met with a continuum of kindness and patience.
And all contained in one word.

Namaste.
नमस्ते

A Greeting everyone shares to each other, a hello, a good afternoon and a good evening. But a more revealing and apt definition is, ‘I bow to the divine in you.’

Imagine that being the greeting you bestow upon every individual you encounter throughout your day .
It sets a tone for every situation, every frustration , the traffic, the poverty, the big and little deaths, the discomforts, and the joys and the sorrows.
Capturing my time in India is capturing the people that appeared and gently reminded me to live my day with this simple incantation.

Namaste.
🤍🙏🏽
#bowdownsister taken in Bodgaya,India by @kevko

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2 years ago

🌕 🌎 🌘
𝕱𝖊𝖊𝖑 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝕭𝖚𝖗𝖓
𝕷𝖊𝖙 𝖌𝖔
𝕭𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖙𝖍𝖊
𝕺𝖕𝖊𝖓 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖍𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖙
𝕷𝖔𝖔𝖐 𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖓
𝕭𝖊 𝖛𝖚𝖑𝖓𝖊𝖗𝖆𝖇𝖑𝖊
𝕷𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖓
𝕺𝖇𝖘𝖊𝖗𝖛𝖊
𝕭𝖊 𝕶𝖎𝖓𝖉
𝕭𝖊 𝕻𝖗𝖊𝖘𝖊𝖓𝖙
𝕾𝖚𝖗𝖗𝖊𝖓𝖉𝖊𝖗
𝕮𝖗𝖞
𝕷𝖆𝖚𝖌𝖍
𝕯𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖊
𝕾𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝕰𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖞𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖌
𝕿𝖗𝖚𝖘𝖙 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗𝖘𝖊𝖑𝖋

𝕽𝖊𝖕𝖊𝖆𝖙
♾️🫂♾️

A truly heartfelt thank you to my dear brothers and sisters who encouraged me and gently, if not forcefully nudged me along on this journey, allowing me to bring my practice to the Playa.

Supporting me in my weird decisions to go off piste, to be alone with it ALL at times, to sit in silence for hours in the middle of crowded dance floors, feeding me and nourishing me and encouraging me to widen my perspective and aperture of what is (and my opinions and judgements😉), and to truly receive and appreciate all of the abundance of 75,000 humans’ collective awareness- showering me with such kindness, generosity vulnerability and compassion.
Receiving an essence of pure love in the middle of nowhere.
And everywhere.
And the offerings of some delicious grilled steaks, watermelon, necklaces, stones, teachings, waffles and cocktails along the path.
Wowie!!

This is a curriculum every human should experience once.
This human will be going back.
To Burn again.

Thank you @burningman for your impeccable organization throughout.
I am in awe and deep gratitude of every human’s efforts to create such a safe, inspiring and kind container.

Sending metta and dust to all
🤍♾️🪩 K (Hanuman)

PS 🤍🫂🙇‍♂️ to @robgarrettsmith @rodgrozier @othokerr @joshua_ramus for being best RVMates evah!!!! taken in Black Rock City by @kevko

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2 years ago

HNY Humans and happy Martin Luther King day.
Been trying to come up with something inspiring, pithy and clever.

But version Kevko 2.24 was reminded of his practice: Keep it simple, and listen.
So here it is.

Aloha. 🌸

Aloha is an essence of being: love, peace, compassion, and a mutual understanding of respect. Aloha means living in harmony with the people and land around you with mercy, sympathy, grace, and kindness. When greeting another person with Aloha, there is mutual regard and affection. This extends with warmth in caring for the other with no obligation to receive anything in return. The direct translation from Hawaiian to English is the presence of divine breath. The Hawaiian word alo is presence, front and face, and ha is breath.

Oh yeah, and let’s try giving peace a chance again.

To a year of magical thinking.
Aloha!
🙏🏼🤍🚀
#aloha #hawaii #newyear #peace #love taken in Kauai's Hindu Monastery by @kevko

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3 years ago

You know you wanted it!
Car Karaoke II With Fiona and back-up singers Olaf & Sassafras
🐾🎵🖤
#karaoke #dogsofinstagram #happyhumpday by @kevko

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15 days ago

Car Karaoke with Fiona
🐾🎶🖤
#karaoke #wolfhound #belgianmalinoisofinstagram #poodle #rescue taken in Shelter Island, New York by @kevko

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23 days ago

Seat of the Soul
Another year, and I begin again 💫
Thank you, mom and dad for the ride of a lifetime (pun intended)

“The universe is a celebration. It is a fireworks show to celebrate that existence is. Wowee.” Alan Watts

Gratitude unbound for every one of you
🤍♾️🤍 taken in Laguna Beach, California by @kevko

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3 months ago

Hello Star-Crossed Voyagers!

A new Lunar year approaches on February 17, and with it, an invitation to embrace change - the law of impermanence.

If you’ve felt a little windswept lately — by actual weather or the emotional climate of our political and economic landscape — you’re not alone. There’s been a lot moving through the system. And while some of it is invigorating, some of it is simply… a lot.

So rather than pretending everything feels crisp and clear, let’s just acknowledge what’s here. A bit of uncertainty. A bit of fatigue. Maybe even a quiet longing for steadiness. Which is exactly where practice enters.

Buddhism encourages us to take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha — not as an escape from reality, but as a way to meet reality with steadiness. Refuge isn’t hiding. It’s remembering where to stand.

I began this year sitting ceremony in Pasadena (it’s been 3 years, and boy did I need it!) — and a week later dove into a 10-day Vipassana silent retreat in Joshua Tree. Both experiences were magnificent in their own way. Both reminded me of the depth and necessity of practice.

And also… something humbling.

Even with a practice.
Even after years of sitting, and teachings and retreats and dedication,
When the rough moments come — the discomfort, the loneliness, the strange looping thoughts — I can still fall off track.

That awareness wasn’t discouraging. It was clarifying. Practice doesn’t make us immune. It makes us more honest. More resilient. More able to return. And return we must — especially in a time when unwanted experiences seem to be arriving in bulk.

So this year, we are expanding our community offerings to help steady ourselves together. Please DM me to be added to our community blast.

As many of you know, I’m often pushing the 28-day challenge/reboot - wake up, drink a glass of water, and sit every morning for 10 minutes. No heroics. Just show up. Consistency builds integrity.

The Sangha isn’t theoretical. It’s lived.
It’s this — showing up together.

With love, metta and laughter,

XKevin by @kevko

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8 months ago

When Jupiter aligns with Mars ♾️
🪐 Some Fall Equinox Awakenings
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ by @kevko

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a year ago

Happy everything humans 💫
My OS update 3.112026

Breathe until
you feel your bigness, until the sun  rises in your veins.
Breathe  until you stop needing  anything to be different.

Listen better
Love everyone
Laugh frequently
Live impeccably

And begin again
🤍♾️🩶

‘Go gently today, don’t hurry
or think about the next thing. Walk
with the quiet trees, can you believe
how brave they are—how kind? Model your life
after theirs. Blow kisses
at yourself in the mirror

especially when
you think you’ve messed up. Forgive
yourself for not meeting your unreasonable
expectations. You are human, not
God—don’t be so arrogant.

Praise fresh air
clean water, good dogs. Spin
something from joy. Open
a window, even if
it’s cold outside. Sit. Close
your eyes. Breathe. Allow

the river
of it all to pulse
through eyelashes
fingertips, bare toes. Breathe in
breathe out. Breathe until

you feel
your bigness, until the sun
rises in your veins. Breathe
until you stop needing
anything
to be different.’

by Julia Fehrenbacher taken in Joshua Tree National Park by @kevko

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9 months ago

🎶Who can turn the world on with her smile?

Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?

Well it’s you girl, and you should know it

With each glance and every little movement you show it….🎶🎵

Love is all around you mama, I hope you feel it today and every day.
Thank you for bringing me here, and for every moment, every teaching every challenge and every heartbeat.
Thank you for making the world a brighter place.

And for those whose mothers are no longer with us, my love is all around you today. 🫂🤍

Love and beyond ❤️💫🎉 xxxxkev by @kevko

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a year ago

Happy Bicycle Day humans! 💫
A celebration of the psychedelic revolution and the first psychedelic trip on LSD by Dr. Albert Hofmann in 1943, in tandem with his bicycle ride home from Sandoz Labs.
As many of you know, I am a proponent and facilitator of psychedelics, and have witnessed over the last seven years extraordinary transformations in both Myself and those that I have been privileged to work with and hold space for.

I love that this day falls on Easter weekend, another celebration of death, renewal and rebirth.
A spring of new beginnings and transitions.
The entropy of phenomena, and a fountainhead of wisdom available and always accessible.
And a bike ride that changed Everything.
Aho!
💥💛🪄♾️ taken in Planet Earth by @kevko

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a year ago

My Dear friends,

My friend Clayton’s life changed forever after a tragic fall last year, leaving him a C2 #quadriplegic. Clayton is 37.
He’s been stuck in the cracks between mediocre health insurance and underfunded care in Southern California. Despite battling a Stage 4 wound that forces him to be turned every 2 hours (see video) leaving him without solid sleep for over 6 months—his spirit remains unbreakable.

And another blow, just two weeks ago, Clayton was hit with a digestive infection, landing him back in the hospital on a 5-week antibiotic drip. Yet, his resilience and compassion continue to inspire everyone around him.

When I saw Clayton in January, I was shocked to see him in his condition. For the past year, he’s been silent, dealing with this unimaginable journey almost entirely on his own, with just a small circle of support. Seeing him like that, and realizing how overlooked and unsupported he was, I knew I needed to step in and spearhead this GoFundMe to get him the help he desperately needs.

We’re pushing to hit 40% of our goal in the next week so we can secure PT/OT physical therapy while he’s in the hospital finishing his treatment, acquire a new adaptive device so he can continue creating each day in the hospital as he restarts the process for the fourth time, and find and secure stable housing. Every time Clayton is hospitalized, he loses his place in congregate living, since there are no protections for people in critical conditions like his.

Every donation—big or small—makes a huge difference and gets us one step closer to providing Clayton with the support and stability he deserves.

Thank you for sharing GoFundMe link in my bio, thank you to those of you that have already donated generously, and thank you for taking the time to read this post.
With love and metta,

🙏💙
XX Kevin

⸻ taken in Torrance Memorial by @kevko

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2 years ago