Arthur Kleinman MD, is one of the most influential scholars and writers on psychiatry, anthropology, global health, and cultural issues in medicine. Educated at Stanford University and Stanford Medical School, he is currently professor of psychiatry and of medical anthropology at Harvard Medical School as well as Esther and Sidney Rabb Professor of Anthropology in …
Peter Booth is a scholar and translator of the 14th Century Persian poet Hafiz. A member of the DC-area Iranian Culture Association (Kanoon Iran), he studied Sanskrit and sacred Indian texts at Georgetown University, received a B.A. in English Literature from Bard College, and attended Harvard Graduate School in Persian Language and Literature. He then …
Duncan Ryuken Williams was born in Tokyo to a Japanese mother and British father. After growing up in Japan and England, he moved to the U.S. to attend Reed College and then Harvard, where he earned a Ph.D. in Religion. He is currently Professor of Religion and East Asian Languages & Cultures at the University …
Christian Conte, PhD, is a licensed professional counselor, a certified Domestic Violence Counselor, and a Certified Level V Anger Management Specialist (the highest level possible). The creator of “Yield Theory”—which combines radical compassion with conscious education for the effective treatment of anger issues—he was the resident therapist on VH1’s Family Therapy, co-host of USA Network’s …
Sarah Taylor is a stand-up comedian and actor as well as a spiritual/creative mentor and energy healing practitioner. Based in Los Angeles, Sarah has performed on NBC, CBS, ABC, and at many top comedy clubs, including The Laugh Factory, The Comedy Store, and The Improv. After undergoing a series of profound, radical, and abiding inner …
Peter Sterios is an internationally recognized yoga teacher and architect based in San Luis Obispo, CA. He is the founder of LEVITYoGA and MANDUKA, and the creator of the popular yoga DVD series “Gravity & Grace,” which is one of Yoga Journal’s top 15 yoga DVDs of all time. For three years (2011-2013) Peter taught …
Dani Antman is an internationally known energy healer and interfaith minister in Santa Barbara, CA. She has been at the forefront of energy medicine and healing since 1992, when she graduated from the Barbara Brennan School of Healing. Dani was a senior teacher at the School for Nondual Healing and Awakening for more than nine …
Eiman Al Zaabi is a Muslim spiritual teacher and life coach who integrates the principles of harmony, beauty, and unity in her teachings. Raised in a Muslim Arab family in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, she embarked on a spiritual journey sparked by struggles with anxiety and depression. It led to years of in-depth research …
Richard Geldard is a writer and lecturer living in New York City and the Hudson Valley. He is married to the artist and writer Astrid Fitzgerald. Before turning to writing he was an administrator and teacher at the secondary, undergraduate, and graduate levels. Prior to his retirement, his graduate appointments were to the faculties of …
Loch Kelly, M.Div., LCSW, is an educator, contemplative psychotherapist, and recognized leader in the field of consciousness and awakening. He is a graduate of Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary, where he received a fellowship to study Insight Meditation, Advaita, and Tibetan Buddhism. He trained with Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche in Nepal, served on the Teacher’s …
Michael Benner is well known throughout Southern California for his popular human potential talk radio programs, most recently on KPFK-FM. He left broadcasting in 1987 to start Personal Development Strategies, which has offices in La Quinta near Palm Springs, California. He provides counseling and personal development training to individuals and couples, as well as consulting, …
Philip Shepherd originated The Embodied Present Process™ (TEPP), a unique set of practices that reunite the intelligence of the head with that of the body. He is the author of New Self, New World: Recovering Our Senses in the Twenty-first Century, and Radical Wholeness: The Embodied Present and the Ordinary Grace of Being. His work …
Igor Kufayev (spiritual name, Vamadeva) is an Advaita Tantra teacher and founder of the Flowing Wakefulness Fellowship. In his words, he serves as “a conduit of transmission for awakening towards the new era of heart-centered consciousness” and “inspires all seekers of truth to recognize the fullest potential present in human birth.” Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, …
Jeffery D. Long is Professor of Religion and Asian Studies at Elizabethtown College, in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, where he has taught since receiving his PhD from the University of Chicago Divinity School in 2000. He is the editor, most recently, of the volume Perspectives on Reincarnation: Hindu, Christian, and Scientific, as well as the co-editor of …
Tami Simon founded Sounds True, a multi-media publishing company dedicated to disseminating spiritual wisdom, in 1985, when she was only 22. The company created and distributed audio recordings of important spiritual teachers, and over time evolved into digital and online audios and expanded into book publishing. As a pioneer in mindful living and the conscious …
Gary Gach is a writer, mystic, and teacher in the Plum Village lineage of his root teacher, Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, with whom he studied for more than 20 years. He is the editor of What Book!? – Buddha Poems from Beat to Hiphop and the author of the bestselling The Complete Idiot’s Guide …
Graham Schweig is a Professor and the Director of Studies in Religion at Christopher Newport University in Virginia. He is also affiliated with The Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and the Avanti Schools Trust in the UK. He earned his doctorate from Harvard in comparative religion, specializing g in sacred Sanskrit literature. A student of …
Deva Premal and Miten have been performing sacred music together for more than 20 years. Since the release of their first recording, The Essence, their mantra-based albums have exceeded 1.5 million sales. They have 550,000 monthly Spotify listeners and 400,000 Facebook followers; they have been featured in major media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, …
Swami Sarvapriyananda has been Minister and Spiritual Leader of the Vedanta Society of New York since January, 2017. Prior to that, he was Assistant Minister of the Vedanta Society of Southern California for 13 months. He joined the Ramakrishna Math and Mission in 1994 and received Sannyas in 2004. Before coming to America, he served …
Mirabai Starr writes creative non-fiction and contemporary translations of sacred literature. She taught Philosophy and World Religions at the University of New Mexico-Taos for 20 years and now teaches and speaks internationally on contemplative practice and inter-spiritual dialog. A certified bereavement counselor, Mirabai helps mourners harness the transformational power of loss. She has received critical …
Raymond Rigoglioso is the founder and executive director of Gay Men of Wisdom. Prior to starting the organization in 2012, Ray had an extensive career in the nonprofit sector, working with Gay Men’s Health Crisis, The Picker Institute (a health care think tank), the United Hospital Fund, and other charitable and philanthropic groups. A certified …
Ann Gleig is associate professor of Religious Studies at the University of Central Florida, where she specializes in Asian religions, Asian religions in America, and Religion and Psychoanalysis. She is co-editor (with Lola Williamson) of the book Homegrown Gurus: From Hinduism in America to American Hinduism, has published numerous scholarly articles, and contributed chapters to …
Kamla K. Kapur was born and raised in India and studied in the United States. Her writing has included plays, novels, poetry, essays and re-imagined spiritual writings. Her critically acclaimed books include The Singing Guru, on the legends of Guru Nanak, and Ganesha Goes to Lunch: Classics from Mystic India. Her latest book, Rumi: Tales …
Maurizio and Zaya Benazzo are the founders and organizers of the Science and Nonduality (SAND) conferences, which are held annually in California and Italy, attracting a large number of participants and prominent speakers. Part of SAND’s purpose statement reads: “the time is right for the fragmentation of knowledge that has occurred over the last four …
Gina Salá has been chanting since her childhood, which was spent in the Canadian ashram of Swami Sivananda Radha (a disciple of Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh). Her repertoire spans 23 languages, and her performance credits include Cirque du Soleil, the United Nations, and numerous international festivals. In her retreats, India tours, and workshops, Gina shares …
Philip Clayton holds the Ingraham Chair at the Claremont School of Theology and directs the Comparative Theologies PhD program. He has taught at Williams College and the California State University, and held guest professorships at the University of Munich, the University of Cambridge, and Harvard University. As a leader in interreligious education and dialogue for …
Rabbi Rami Shapiro is an award–winning author of over thirty-six books on religion and spirituality, including Holy Rascals – Advice for Spiritual Revolutionaries, Recovery—the Sacred Art, and his latest, The Tao of Solomon: Unlocking the Perennial Wisdom of Ecclesiastes. A “Jewish practitioner of Perennial Wisdom,” he received rabbinical ordination from the Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute …
Jeffrey Cox moved to Ithaca, New York, in 1971 . There, he was guided to the teachings of Paul Brunton, and was one of the first individuals to live as a resident “monk” at Wisdom’s Goldenrod, where he studied with Anthony Damiani, a close student of Brunton’s. A longtime devotee of His Holiness the Dalai …
Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian is the director of the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment in San Jose, CA. Ordained by Roy Eugene Davis, a direct disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda, she has been teaching Kriya Yoga philosophy and practice nationally and internationally for over three decades. She is also the host of The Yoga Hour on Unity …
Christina Rasmussen is an internationally recognized grief educator whose mission is to change the way we grieve, the way we live, and how we define our potential in this life and the hereafter. She is the founder of The Life Reentry Institute, and the author of Second Firsts and her new book, Where Did You …
Dr. Sulekh C. Jain currently serves as the Chairman and member of the Governing Council for the International School for Jain Studies, North America. He previously served as President of the Federation of Jain Associations in North America (JAINA) and is the author of the book An Ahimsa Crisis: You Decide, which can be accessed …
Marj Britt was the visionary leader of Unity of Tustin, in California, for 19 years. Widely known as a Campus of Consciousness, Unity of Tustin hosted during Rev. Marj’s tenure some of today’s foremost spiritual teachers. In 2011, Marj founded Called By Love Institute, a non-profit whose mission is to “harness the power of love …
Thomas Moore is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Care of the Soul. He has written 24 other books about bringing soul to personal life and culture, deepening spirituality, humanizing medicine, finding meaningful work, imagining sexuality with soul and doing religion in a fresh way. Among them are A Religion of One’s …