Kathy Brownback, Board Member of CIW and academic teacher in the religion and philosophy department at Phillips Exeter Academy:
Dr. Marc Gafni flew into Boston on his way back from Holland in early June 2012, and came up to Exeter an hour north to meet with us (Phillips Exeter is an independent boarding school for students with strong academic promise from around the United States and the world). Students in the mysticism class in the religion department, who were nearly all seniors just about to graduate, had read and really liked Marc’s unique self teaching and were thrilled to hear that he was coming. When eros is named and separated from the solely sex-shop connotation of “erotic,” they all know what it is and they understand why it is important to expand and reclaim the word.
Marc linked it directly to the electrical thread of uniqueness in their own lives and to their obligation to find and follow it. It means a lot to them not to have this framed as a “head vs. heart” or “mind vs. body” conundrum—in his teaching the two are inseparable and give access to each other. Marc’s work speaks to students in a remarkable way—they often seem to have an almost instinctive feel for and response to what he is saying, which does give the sense of an evolutionary process unfolding. I have written about his impact in this class before and will do so again.