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Planetary civilizational crises require planetary-scale solutions at the level of culture. Key to the future is a World Religion that unites the great truths still dormant in the many profound wisdom traditions. At the same time, World Religion is the culmination of the Neo-Perennialism of CosmoErotic Humanism, which seeks to clarify the core structures of value and meaning that make human civilizations possible.
Obviously, there is some overlap between our different topics. While we are displaying some of our content under more than one of the topics, most of the times, we decided to put the different papers, videos, and audios under one topic only, so you have a unique experience on each of our topics pages. In order to get a full sense of the topic you are most interested in, we invite you to explore the other topics as well.
by Dr. Marc Gafni (President of the Think Tank)
by Dr. Marc Gafni (President of the Think Tank)
by Barbara Marx Hubbard (Former Chair of the Think Tank)
by Howard Bloom (Senior Fellow of the Think Tank)
Ken Wilber (Co-Founder of the Think Tank)
by Ken Wilber (Co-Founder of the Think Tank)
by Ken Wilber (Co-Founder of the Think Tank)
by Dr. Marc Gafni (President of the Think Tank)
On our main topics pages, you get a direct experience of our ongoing work at the Center for World Philosophy and Religion – the Great Library of CosmoErotic Humanism. We invite you to explore our books, papers, podcasts, etc.
Take the next step with us and access our Stacks & Archives with our Free Great Library Card.
Unique Self is a body of theory and teaching that provides a new model of identity, grounding the ideas of CosmoErotic Humanism in a new conception of personhood. Blending Western psychology with ancient wisdom traditions, Unique Self provides a framework that can orient individuals to their greatest potentials and position them within the large Story of the Universe.
We need a new sense of what it means to be human.
We have founded the Unique Self Institute, in which we are dedicated to articulating and disseminating a new narrative of identity, meaning and purpose, that can bring humanity together in these times of existential risk.
by Dr. Marc Gafni (President of the Think Tank)
by Dr. Marc Gafni (President of the Think Tank)
by Dr. Marc Gafni (President of the Think Tank)
by Dr. Marc Gafni (Available)
by Dr. Marc Gafni (Available)
Obviously, there is some overlap between our different topics. While we are displaying some of our content under more than one of the topics, most of the times, we decided to put the different papers, videos, and audios under one topic only, so you have a unique experience on each of our topics pages. In order to get a full sense of the topic you are most interested in, we invite you to explore the other topics as well.
On our main topics pages, you get a direct experience of our ongoing work at the Center for World Philosophy and Religion – the Great Library of CosmoErotic Humanism. We invite you to explore our books, papers, podcasts, etc.
Take the next step with us and access our Stacks & Archives with our Free Great Library Card.
To find these books organized by topic, please visit our Topics page on the Top Menu.
by David J. Temple
AS THE META-CRISIS DEEPENS, THE FATE OF CIVILIZATION AND HUMANITY HANGS IN THE BALANCE.
First Principles and First Values is the tip of the spear in the fight for a humane future. Establishing frameworks for a new school of thought called CosmoErotic Humanism, the book is built around forty-two propositions that provide new source code for the future of planetary culture.
Like Europe in the early Renaissance, humanity is in a time between worlds, at a time between stories. First Principles and First Values contains blueprints for the bridge needed to cross from this world to the next.
“The position argued for in this book is of vital importance . . . it needs urgently to be read.”
IAIN McGILCHRIST, author of The Master and His Emissary
The core mission of the Center for World Philosophy and Religion is the research, articulation, and writing of the Great Library, a collection of books and media projects to function as a strange attractor toward our memory of the future.
The Great Library is made up of two kinds of books, foundational books and impact books. The synergistic introduction of these books into public culture is aimed directly at catalyzing a crucial, pivotal evolution of today’s consciousness and culture. At this phase-shift inflection in human history, without this conscious evolving the source code of consciousness and culture, humanity will likely not survive the existential risks now threatening our civilization.
The Great Library is an expression of our mission at the Center to evolve the source code of culture and to participate in the evolution of love.
Through writing and publishing, we create what we are calling the Great Library, a body of work written as our response to the question: What do we need to give “our children” so they can prosper and grow into their highest potential—even though we don’t know what kind of challenges they will face in their lives?
That Great Library provides us with a shared language, a framework, or a context, from which we can co-create together a world that works for everyone. To have shared values, a shared framework, or what we call shared memetic structures is one of these conditions.
by Dr. Marc Gafni (President of the Think Tank)
by Dr. Marc Gafni (President of the Think Tank) & Dr. Kristina Kincaid
Discover the hidden relationship between Erotic, the Sexual and the Sacred.
None of the four old philosophies about sex are sufficient to inspire us or even hold us in our sexuality. Sex is not merely negative or positive. Sex is not just neutral, nor is it merely sacred because it creates babies.
Erotic Mystics from the hidden tradition of Solomon’s temple taught a secret doctrine. Sex is the source of all wisdom. Sex is an expression of the erotic impulse of existence itself alive in us-the yearning for contact, pleasure, and aliveness. The Sexual however is not the sum total of the erotic. Rather, the sexual models the Erotic. The sexual teaches us how to live an Erotic life in all dimension of our existence.
It is these secret doctrines that were later taught by Mary Magdalene and that sparked excitement around bestselling novels such as The Da Vinci Code.
Deep understanding of the sexual becomes the portal to accessing aliveness in every dimension of our reality. This realization demands that you live sexually without shame and shows you how to re-eroticize all areas of your life.
A Return to Eros: On Sex, Love, and Eroticism in Every Dimension of Life, from Drs. Marc Gafni and Kristina Kincaid, reveals the radical secret tenets of relationship between the sexual, the erotic, and the holy. They reveal what Eros actually means and share the ten core qualities of the Erotic, which are modeled by the sexual. These include being on the inside, fullness of presence, yearning, allurement, fantasy, surrender, creativity, pleasure, and more.
A Return to Eros shows why these qualities of the erotic modeled by the sexual are actually the same core qualities of the sacred. The relationship between the sexual and the erotic becomes clear, teaching you how to live an erotically suffused existence charged with purpose, potency and power.
To be an Outrageous Lover–not just in sex but also in all facets of your life–you must listen deeply to the simple yet elegant whisperings of the sexual. This book will forever transform your understanding and experience of love, sex, and Eros.
by Dr. Marc Gafni (President of the Think Tank)
Two major works have been written within the framework of Integral Wisdom about the nature of Self and God. While they share important features, namely the evolutionary context of the conversation and a vision of Self beyond Ego, their interior visions of the quality of the Self beyond Ego are profoundly different.
Both of these visions of Self, or key dimensions of the two versions, have been adopted, directly and indirectly by many spiritual teachers. In Self in Integral Evolutionary Mysticism, Marc Gafni articulates the two models, their shared features and their differences, and as we seek to articulate an Integral Wisdom, why these differences matter so desperately.
by Dr. Marc Gafni (President of the Think Tank)
by Dr. Zachary Stein (Co-President of the Think Tank)
Our world is currently undergoing major transformations, from climate change and politics to agriculture and economics. The world we have known is disappearing and a new world is being born. The subjects taught in schools and universities today are becoming irrelevant at faster and faster rates. Not only are we facing complex challenges of unprecedented size and scope, we’re also facing a learning and capacity deficit that threatens the future of civilization.
Education in a Time Between Worlds seeks to reframe this historical moment as an opportunity to create a global society of educational abundance. Educational systems must be transformed beyond recognition if humanity is to survive the planetary crises currently underway. Human development and learning must be understood as the Earth’s most valuable resources, with human potential serving as the open frontier into which energy and hope can begin to flow.
The expansive essays within this book cover a diverse array of topics, including social justice, the neuroscience of learning, deschooling, educational technology, standardized testing, the future of spirituality, basic income guarantees, and integral meta-theory. As an invitation to re-vision the future of schools, technology, and society, Education in a Time Between Worlds replaces apathy and despair with agency, transformation, and hope.
by Ken Wilber (Co-Founder of the Think Tank)
Hailed as “one of the most significant books ever published,” this work of far-reaching vision is a comprehensive exploration of the evolution of human consciousness
In this tour de force of scholarship and vision, Ken Wilber traces the course of evolution from matter to life to mind and describes the common patterns that evolution takes in all three of these domains. From the emergence of mind, he traces the evolution of human consciousness through its major stages of growth and development.
Wilber particularly focuses on modernity and postmodernity: what they mean; how they impact gender issues, psychotherapy, ecological concerns, and various liberation movements; and how the modern and postmodern world conceive of Spirit. This second edition features forty pages of new material, new diagrams, and extensively revised notes.
by Ken Wilber (Co-Founder of the Think Tank)
This cutting-edge theory of spirituality for today’s global society honors the truths of modern science and postmodern culture while incorporating the wisdom of the great world religions
Applying his highly acclaimed integral approach, Ken Wilber formulates a theory of spirituality that honors the truths of modernity and postmodernity—including the revolutions in science and culture—while incorporating the essential insights of the great religions. He shows how spirituality today combines the enlightenment of the East, which excels at cultivating higher states of consciousness, with the enlightenment of the West, which offers developmental and psychodynamic psychology. Each contributes key components to a more integral spirituality.
On the basis of this integral framework, a radically new role for the world’s religions is proposed. Because these religions have such a tremendous influence on the worldview of the majority of the earth’s population, they are in a privileged position to address some of the biggest conflicts we face. By adopting a more integral view, the great religions can act as facilitators of human development: from magic to mythic to rational to pluralistic to integral—and to a global society that honors and includes all the stations of life along the way.
by Dr. Zachary Stein (Co-President of the Think Tank)
Social Justice and Educational Measurement addresses foundational concerns at the interface of standardized testing and social justice in American schools. Following John Rawls’s philosophical methods, Stein builds and justifies an ethical framework for guiding practices involving educational measurement. This framework demonstrates that educational measurement can both inhibit and ensure just educational arrangements. It also clarifies a principled distinction between efficiency-oriented testing and justice-oriented testing.
Through analysis of several historical case studies that exemplify ethical issues related to testing, this book explores and propounds speculative design principles and arguments in favour of radically democratic school reforms, which address how the future of testing might be shaped to ensure justice for all. These case studies cover the widespread use of IQ-style testing in schools during the early decades of the 20th century; the founding of the Educational Testing Service; and the recent history of test-based accountability associated with No Child Left Behind.
Social Justice and Educational Measurement will be essential reading for academics, researchers and postgraduate students in education, testing and assessment, and the philosophy of education. It will also be of interest to policymakers and educational administrators.
by Dr. Marc Gafni (President of the Think Tank)
This is a book about tears. It is about the dance of tears in our lives. Tears are not of one texture. There are many forms of holy tears. And there are also, or so it appears from the perspective of one level of consciousness, unholy tears. This book is about learning to discern between these different forms of tears. To learn the language of tears is to discern between the different forms of sacred tears.
Ultimately, however, from a higher level of consciousness all tears are holy in their root. Part of what it means to wake up is to identify the nature of your tears, and to give your tears voice. To wake up is to know the language of tears. When you are awake, you hear and hearken to the melody and message of your tears.
Ken Wilber (Co-Founder of the Think Tank)
A provocative examination of how the great religious traditions can remain relevant in modern times by incorporating scientific truths learned about human nature over the last century
A single purpose lies at the heart of all the great religious traditions: awakening to the astonishing reality of the true nature of ourselves and the universe. At the same time, through centuries of cultural accretion and focus on myth and ritual as ends in themselves, this core insight has become obscured.
Here, Ken Wilber provides a path for re-envisioning a religion of the future that acknowledges the evolution of humanity in every realm while remaining faithful to that original spiritual vision. For the traditions to attract modern men and women, Wilber asserts, they must incorporate the extraordinary number of scientific truths learned about human nature in just the past hundred years—for example, about the mind and brain, emotions, and the growth of consciousness—that the ancients were simply unaware of and thus were unable to include in their meditative systems.
Taking Buddhism as an example, Wilber demonstrates how his comprehensive Integral Approach—which is already being applied to several world religions by some of their adherents—can avert a “cultural disaster of unparalleled proportions”: the utter neglect of the glorious upper reaches of human potential by the materialistic postmodern worldview. Moreover, he shows how we can apply this approach to our own spiritual practice. This, his most sweeping work since Sex, Ecology, Spirituality, is a thrilling call for wholeness, inclusiveness, and unity in the religions of tomorrow.
by Barbara Marx Hubbard (Former Chair of the Think Tank)
by Barbara Marx Hubbard (Former Chair of the Think Tank)
by Barbara Marx Hubbard (Former Chair of the Think Tank)
by Howard Bloom (Senior Fellow of the Think Tank)
Edited by Ervin Laszlo (Senior Fellow of the Think Tank)
by Ervin Laszlo (Senior Fellow of the Think Tank)
by Dr. Marc Gafni (Available)
by Dr. Marc Gafni (Available)
by Dr. Marc Gafni (Available)
by Dr. Marc Gafni (Available)
by Alfred North Whitehead
by Alfred North Whitehead
by Abraham Isaac Kook
by Moshe Idel
by Joseph B. Soloveitchik
by Eliezer Berkovits
Jean Piaget Symposia Series
by Jürgen Habermas
by Charles Sanders Peirce Edited by Nathan Houser & Christian Kloesel
On our main topics pages, you get a direct experience of our ongoing work at the Center for World Philosophy and Religion – the Great Library of CosmoErotic Humanism. We invite you to explore our books, papers, podcasts, etc.
Take the next step with us and access our Stacks & Archives with our Free Great Library Card.
The Temple of the ancient Israelites is the original Hebrew expression of pagan consciousness. Now—as we will see later in this essay—the difference between Temple and pagan consciousness is very crucial. But it is a difference that is only important because of their profound similarity. Both the Temple and the pagan cults shared an intoxication with the feminine Goddess, symbol of sacred eros.
The relationship with the Goddess was not a hobby for the Israelites like modern religious affiliation often tends to be. It was an all-consuming desire to be on the inside, to feel the infinite fullness of reality in every moment and in every encounter—it was an attempt to fully experience eros. Because the ancients were so aware of the depth of reality, to live without being able to access the infinite in this erotic way was enormously painful. (For an example, read the story of the idolatrous King Menashe, as retold in the Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 92A.)
The prophets of the Temple period opposed paganism with all of their ethical fire and passion. For them, it was inconceivable that the ecstatic and primal Temple experience, religiously powerful and important as it might be, should become primary. When eros overrode ethos, the prophet exploded in divine rage. In moments of clash, the prophet taught that the ethical always needed to trump the erotic.
Modern Judaism has developed from the ethical teachings of the prophets. In the process, however, we have overlooked the erotic, present in the pagan consciousness of the Temple service. We have forgotten the Goddess, a vital presence in the life of ancient Israel. Hebrew liturgy reflects the virtually inconsolable longing of the Hebrew spirit for the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem. This longing is not a dream of proprietorship over this or that hill in Jerusalem. Indeed, ownership and holiness are mutually exclusive. Instead, it is a yearning to reclaim sacred eros as part of the fabric of our lives. And, in the way of the circle, our longing for eros is also a longing for ethos. All ethical breakdown emerges from a dearth of eros. When we are overwhelmed by an erotic vacuum, ethics collapse. (more…)
To find these essays organized by topic, please visit our Topics page on the Top Menu.
Scholars at the Center for World Philosophy & Religion are conducting research and co-creating publications which can help to chart the course for the next step in the emergence of humankind. Some of our authors have traditional academic credentials, and others are independent scholars and thinkers who bring unique perspectives to bear, often informed by real-world involvement in putting insights from Integral Wisdom into practice.
Note: Dr. Marc Gafni is involved at different levels in many of these projects, ranging from being the lead author, co-author, or at times simply writing an introduction to frame the topic in terms of the larger conversation.
The following white papers, extended essays, and book excerpts have been or are now being actively developed at the Center for World Philosophy & Religion think tank – the links lead to the final or current versions of the papers.
Dr. Marc Gafni is a philosopher, public intellectual, author and social innovator. He holds his doctorate in philosophy from Oxford University, rabbinic certification from the chief rabbinate in Israel, as well private rabbinic ordination. He is also ordained and holds a doctorate in religious science. He is the initiating thought leader, together with Ken Wilber, of World Spirituality based on Integral principles, as well as the leading theorist and teacher of Unique Self Enlightenment. He is the director of Center for Integral Wisdom, a think tank he co-founded in 2010 with Mariana Caplan which is creating a body of work to evolve the source code of human existence.A rabbinic lineage holder in Bible, Talmud, and Kabbalah, Gafni self-describes as a “dual citizen” of both integral World Spirituality and classical Hebrew practice. He is a guest editor of the Journal of Integral Theory and Practice on issues of Integral spirituality, has been a faculty member of J.F.K. University, and is the author of eight books including the national bestseller Soul Prints, and The Mystery of Love, an exploration of the relationship between the erotic and the sacred. His newest books are Your Unique Self and Radical Kabbalah.
An iconoclastic artist and provocative visionary, Dr. Gafni has led spiritual movements and learning communities as well as created and hosted for several seasons a highly popular national Israeli television program on culture, meaning, and spirit. He is the father of four children (the youngest being two years old), is in committed relationship, and lives in Northern California.
[in-depth biography…]
Zak Stein‘s work focuses on social justice and education through the lenses of developmental psychology and integral metatheories. He holds degrees in philosophy and religion from Hampshire College, and educational neuroscience, human development, and the philosophy of education from Harvard University. He was a co-founder of Lectica, Inc., a non-profit dedicated to the research-based justice-oriented reform of large-scale standardized testing in K-12, higher-education, and business. He has published in a wide range of outlets including American Psychologist, New Ideas in Psychology, Mind, Brain, and Education, Integral Review, and the Journal of Philosophy of Education. He is currently the Academic Director of the activist think-tank at the Center for Integral Wisdom, and Core Faculty at Meridian University.
Ken Wilber is the most influential figure in defining the terms of discussion on what constitutes the “Integral” perspective today and he is a leading voice on the CWS Wisdom Council. His corpus of 25 widely translated books has erected an intellectual framework for understanding the nature of converging trends in philosophy, psychology, sociology, and other disciplines. His books have often been bestsellers, and his scholarly books have been the basis for numerous academic programs, master’s and doctoral dissertations.
Revered as the “Einstein of consciousness,” Ken has written over twenty books exploring different facets of human development and cultural evolution. His first book, The Spectrum of Consciousness, written when he was only 23, became a seminal text in the emerging field of transpersonal psychology. Among his diverse corpus of writings are a novel, Boomeritis, which provided a groundbreaking critique of postmodernity, and The Simple Feeling of Being, a corpus of mystical, spiritual writings of transcendent and lyrical beauty.
Wilber has also played an active role in supporting and promoting integral thinking. He is a leading voice in support of World Spirituality based on Integral principles and has been one of the founding members of the Wisdom Council of the Center for World Spirituality.
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Sally Kempton has been practicing and teaching in a Hindu tradition for 30 years, twenty of them as a Swami, or Hindu monk of one of the Dasnami order of sannyasins. A former New York journalist who wrote extensively for the Village Voice, Esquire, New York Magazine, and The New York Times, she left her career in the early 1970s to study with her guru, Swami Muktananda. In the 1980s, she became one of the key teachers in the Siddha Yoga tradition as well as the first editor of a magazine, Darshan, which aimed at finding the shared truths within different spiritual traditions.Sally has spent many years studying Kashmir Shaivism and yoga philosophy, as well as investigating esoteric mysticism as it appears in different traditions, including Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, and Sufism. Since 2002 she has lived and taught as a lay teacher of meditation and spiritual wisdom. Her work aims at bringing the wisdom of non-dual philosophy and yoga into the problems and challenges of daily life. Sally’s teaching is based on the philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism, on the core texts of yoga and devotional Hinduism, and deeply influenced by Integral theory. She is the author of two books, The Heart of Meditation and Meditation for the Love of It, writes a column, Wisdom, for Yoga Journal, and teaches regular teleconference classes as well as retreats and workshops at conference centers like Kripalu, Esalen and Mt. Madonna.
Kerstin Zohar Tuschik has served as Executive Director of the Center for many years and has now shifted to the position of Editorial Director of the Great Library, working closely with Dr. Marc Gafni as Senior Editor, Scholar, Researcher, and sometimes co-author for major book projects. She is also a Senior Teacher for Unique Self and Representative for the Center in Germany.
Her professional, academic, and experiential background ranges from professional stage dancing and its didactics, physics, human resources development, project management, coaching, and alternative education to personal and spiritual growth. She has been on a conscious spiritual path for more than 30 years, studying different practices and approaches (including Kundalini Yoga, Trauma Therapy, Constellations Work, etc.) with various teachers.
Integral Theory has helped her to connect the dots. Through her dedication to this field, she met Dr. Marc Gafni in 2011 and connected deeply to his vision of a World Spirituality based on Integral Principles and his trans-lineage-path Dharma of Unique Self, Eros, Outrageous Love, and the New Enlightenment. Working and studying with him while working with this international trans-lineage sangha (our band of Outrageous Lovers) is a deep Pleasure and Joy for her.
She is the Executive Director of the Center and also serves as the Outrageous Love Ambassador, bringing excitement and enthusiasm for our shared practice: loving our way to enlightenment through writing Outrageous Love Letters.
She graduated as a Religion Scientist, focussing her studies on sexuality & gender. In 2009 she was initiated as a Priestess during a Vision Quest as part of a three year training. Next to that she has studied with many tantric teachers, including two intensive Tantra Teacher Trainings.
Suzette Messa is the Board Secretary for the Center for Integral Wisdom and functions in various executive roles within the Foundation for Conscious Evolution and Sefer, Inc., including running the technology for the weekly One Mountain, Many Paths gatherings, managing Dr. Marc Gafni’s vibrant schedule and helping wherever is needed.
Suzette is a Business Consultant for a Fortune 100 company and holds a B.S. in Business Administration and Marketing from California State University.
Her professional career and passion are focused on bringing innovative solutions and technology into the world. She was instrumental in launching three start-up companies and helped revolutionize an industry through the co-creation of the first online travel application.
Dr. Kristina Kincaid is the Director of the School of Integral Evolutionary Tantra (IET) in New York City. IET teaches, coaches and mentors individual to take the next step in self-transformation. IET was created to develop cutting edge Leaders, Projects and Initiative of conscious collaboration in the world. IET understands that in order to respond to the challenges that face our planet today, it is imperative to create a WE-space, where we as individuals, and individual systems, realize that enlightened consciousness is beyond ego, and is the essential next stage of self-transformation.
The School is an affiliate division of The Center for Integral Wisdom (CIW), a non-profit activist think tank founded in 2010 by Marc Gafni, Mariana Caplan and a leadership team that has expanded to dozens of the most respected spiritual teachers, leaders, authors and activists in the world. CIW is articulating and advancing a spiritual movement that is moving across the globe in the hearts of people everywhere. Evolving the source code of human existence is the urgent need and great planetary adventure of these times. Kristina is a CIW Scholar and a member of the Board of Directors.
Kristina is on faculty at The Institute of Core Energetics and holds an M.A. in Energy Medicine and a Doctorate in Theology from Holos University. A graduate of the Institute of Core Energetics and the Barbara Brennan School of Healing, she also holds a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Texas, Austin.
She is also a Senior Teacher of the Unique Self Enlightenment Process. Her Eros and passion for the Unique Self work, includes not only the depth and heart of the teachings but also the visceral, bodied realizations that are transmitted through the dharma and grounded through physical practices. The teachings allow a process of real, radical transformation. She is honored and excited to be part of bringing out into the world, this cutting edge transformational work pioneered by Dr. Gafni.
Kristina is also the Chairperson and creator, along with Dr. Gafni, of the OutrageousActsofLove.com, OutrageousLoveLetters.com and OutrageousEroticLoveLetters.com Projects. Outrageous Love Projects are community writing and art projects being utilized to birth the inner Rumi, the inner Outrageous Lover, in every man, woman and child. A grass roots movement that was birthed from Dr. Gafni’s creation of a community practice of writing outrageous love letters. The movement’s intention is to literally democratize enlightenment, empowering everyone to radically participate in the very evolution of love itself!
Lastly, Kristina has traveled extensively studying indigenous healers around the world and documented her findings in a film series called “In Search of Healing.” Her passions include the deep mysteries of the body, genetics, and evolution. Her journey has taken her into deep explorations of the feminine and healing around sexuality. She has a Healing practice in New York City.
Claire Molinard M.Sc, PCC, Vice-President of CIW France, is an Integral master Coach™ and the Co-Founder of Unique Self Coaching Collective. Along with Barbara Alexander, they have designed a Unique Self Coaching process that facilitates Unique Self emergence based on the Unique Self teachings and Integral theory. Initially trained as an Acupuncturist, with graduate Studies in Chinese Medicine, Philosophy and literature, Claire has lived and worked in various places of Africa, Europe, the Middle East and the US. Her spiritual journey spans from studying Aurobindo’s Integral Yoga in her early twenties to Ken Wilber’s philosophy and Integral Theory. As a Unique Self lineage holder, Claire is committed to coaching individuals and change agents to embody their Unique Self. As a long term Zen practitioner, Claire feels deeply sourced by both transmissions, and is most at home in the trans-lineage movement articulated by Ken Wilber and Marc Gafni at the Center for World Philosophy and Religion.
Chahat Corten, spiritual teacher, is one of the founding members of the Venwoude Integral Practice community in Holland. She stood with her partner Ted Wilson in the development of spiritual contexts and in the founding and development of Venwoude. Chahat is well-trained and thoroughly cooked in sacred communal living and many modalities of spiritual practice. Gentle and holy laughter and ecstatic creativity merged with penetrating wisdom — unique teachings in the realms of relationship and sexuality — embodied practice and the formation of evolutionary WE-space, rooted in her realization of emptiness and fullness — is what she offers from her heart. Chahat has been empowered as a World Spirituality teacher.
Terry Nelson writes, “In my 30 years working as a Lifespring trainer, I have coached thousands of people all over the world to be more successful in fulfilling their commitment to becoming fully human. I think the work of CIW, to provide us human beings with a new and powerful lens through which to view our spiritual journey, will help all of us greatly. Hopefully, this wisdom will also reduce the likelihood of bad things being done in the name of religion. I am not a fan of crusades or suicide bombers. Enough!”
Terry is currently an executive development coach. He is a former Vice-President of Lifespring, a personal development training company. He worked as an analyst for the Congressional Budget Office and was a Peace Corps Volunteer and Training Project Director in Thailand. For the last 11 years, he has coached his kids’ basketball and soccer teams. Terry lives in Mill Valley, California, with his wife and two children. He holds a B.A. from U.W. at Madison and an M.P.A. from the Johnson School of Management at Cornell.
Thomas Goddard is the President and CEO of The Integral Company, a firm dedicated to helping individuals and organizations to operate consciously and joyfully in the world. In his work with organizations, Dr. Goddard brings his expertise in Integral Theory and industrial and organizational psychology to diverse organizations, primarily in the health care sector.
His work with organizations has taken him throughout the United States and to Latin America, the South Pacific, and the Middle East. In his work with individuals, Dr. Goddard empowers his clients to live full, conscious lives.
Dr. Goddard has earned a law degree and master’s and doctoral degrees in psychology. He has received specialized training in emotional intelligence, Respectful Confrontation, shadow work, Tantra, the Shalom process, and consciousness studies. A founding member of Ken Wilber’s Integral Institute, he has led mindfulness and Integral Theory trainings and workshops for the National Institutes of Health, Shalom Mountain, The Omega Institute, The Chrysalis Group, and the Center for Creative Therapies and the Arts. Dr. Goddard serves as one of the three members of the Executive Council of Shalom Mountain, Inc., a retreat center in the Catskill Mountains of New York.
Tom writes, “My spiritual journey throughout my adult life has been marked by a yearning for a global, transformational conversation at the ‘deep end of the pool,’ where the mystics of all the great spiritual traditions meet in deep resonance with one another. The Center for Integral Wisdom has drawn my support because it offers the best opportunity for such a conversation I’ve seen in nearly 40 years of searching.”
Venodhar Rao Julapalli, M.D. is founder and president of Integral Gastroenterology Center, P.A., an active private practice in gastroenterology. Inspired by the works of Ken Wilber, he started his practice in 2005 with a passion to bring an AQAL approach to patient care. With extensive experience on the front line of the American health care system, he has engaged in the best of what traditional allopathic medicine can offer and lamented the vast flatland of unconscious healthcare. His mission, with his brother Vinay, is to consciously co-evolve the practice of medicine. Venu graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. with Distinction in Biological Sciences. He was elected a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He completed medical school at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, with election to Alpha Omega Alpha. He underwent medical training in internal medicine and gastroenterology at Baylor College of Medicine, where he continues to serve as a volunteer clinical instructor. He practices in north Houston. Venu’s spiritual stream has flowed from his mother’s traditional Hindu rituals to Ken Wilber’s writings, from Vipassana to Adyashanti, and now to Marc Gafni’s Unique Self insights. He believes the Unique Self holds the key for all stakeholders in healthcare to enjoy lives well lived.
Vinay Rao Julapalli, M.D., F.A.C.C. is founder of Integral Cardiovascular Center, PLLC. He has been active in private practice in cardiology for the last five years and intends to integrally transform the future of medicine. He sees that healthcare is at a pivotal juncture in its transformation from acute care of disease to the promotion of wellness, a shift that can flourish only by transcending and including old paradigms through integrally informed and validated injunctions. “Medicine is suffering a broken heart. To make it whole, we need to co-create and implement leveraged actions on the front lines of community practice that entail win-win, conscious solutions for all — our community, employers, physicians, and other healthcare providers. The result will be no less than the grand unfolding of a new, integrated future of health and well-being.” In solidarity with his brother Venu, Vinay’s Unique Self has called him to help enact this mission. Vinay graduated from medical school at the University of Texas (San Antonio) and completed medical training in internal medicine, cardiology, and interventional cardiology at the University of Texas (Houston), home to the largest medical center in the world. During his medical training, he helped create and implement changes in protocols that have transformed the way acute myocardial infarction is treated in the community. He practices in north Houston and is on staff at Memorial Hermann – The Woodlands Hospital and Houston Northwest Medical Center. He was recently elected Chairman of Cardiology there for 2013-2014.
In 2023, Aubrey Marcus joined the board of the Center. He is the founder of Onnit, a globally disruptive brand based on a holistic health philosophy he calls Total Human Optimization. Onnit remains an industry leader with products optimizing millions of lives, including many top professional athletes around the world.
Aubrey currently hosts the Aubrey Marcus Podcast, a motivational destination for conversations with the brightest minds in athletics, business, mindset, and spirituality with over 100 million listens. He is the author of the NYT Bestselling book Own The Day, Own Your Life and has been featured on the cover of Men’s Health and other publications. He has also produced several documentaries including Awake In The Darkness, Dragon of the Jungle, Ayahuasca, and Huachuma.
He is currently the visionary behind the donation based coaching platform Fit For Service which recently hosted the transformational music festival, Arkadia. If you ask Aubrey what he is most passionate about, it is raising awareness for psychedelic medicine, including dedicated philanthropic support to MAPS.org and Heffter Institute. He is a 27 year native of Austin, Texas where he currently resides with his wife Vylana.
Carrie Kish (special committee OAL) is a Senior Consultant and the Director of Business Development for CultureSync. Carrie is a consultant, a leadership trainer and a coach who specializes in leadership training for executives, small businesses and non-profit leaders. She has over 20 years of experience as a coach and a trainer, including working as a coach for Anthony Robbins. She is a serial entrepreneur who has built and sold several businesses.
Gabrielle Anwar is a British actress, writer and film maker.
Gabrielle about her role as co-chair of the board of The Center For Integral Wisdom
“I co-chair the board of The Center For Integral Wisdom. We are a think tank for the future, for the future generations, our children and grandchildren, and so on. As much as Pikler can directly improve an individual’s lifetime if implemented in infancy so, the CIW can directly improve the contentment of one’s life. Rather than reading self-help books, or engaging in therapy, though both certainly have an important role, the CIW and the work we do heals the tumult inevitable in one’s lifetime by not focusing on the past, but the present and the future, infusing the world, both internal and external with love. Outrageous love. The practice is astounding and entirely unparalleled.”
Shareef Malnik is Owner of The Forge Restaurant, Chairman of NextWave Funding, and a movie producer. However, Malnik might be best known for his charitable endeavors. Malnik proudly holds the position of Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Make-A-Wish Southern Florida. He has also held the prestigious title of Chairman of the InterContinental Make-A-Wish Ball for the past 12 years, helping to raise more than $15.5 million which has been used to grant wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses. In 2013, Malnik was honored as Make-A-Wish Board Person of the Year. He is also Chairman of the Board of the Foundation.
Adam Bellow is the Editorial Director at Broadside Books (HarperCollins) and Publisher/CEO of Liberty Island Media. A publishing professional for over 25 years specializing in nonfiction books for a conservative readership, Adam is also the founder of Liberty Island Media, an online magazine and publishing company for conservative-themed fiction. He is the author of In Praise of Nepotism: A History of Family Enterprise from King David to George W. Bush and the editor of New Threats to Freedom and The State of the American Mind.
The late Barbara Marx Hubbard has been called “the voice for conscious evolution of our time” by Deepak Chopra and is the subject of Neale Donald Walsch’s book, The Mother of Invention. A prolific author, visionary, social innovator, evolutionary thinker and educator, she is co-founder and president of the Foundation for Conscious Evolution. She is the producer and narrator of the award-winning documentary series entitled Humanity Ascending: A New Way through Together. She also serves as Chair of the Center for Integral Wisdom’s Wisdom Council.
Kate Maloney, Ph.D. holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and a Doctoral degree in Psychology with an emphasis in Organizational Psychology/Business and Financial Applications. She has applied her formal training and study to the areas of business and development as an organizational psychologist, executive consultant, affiliate professor, author, and business owner. Kate is active at creating a transformational workplace, and implements cutting-edge business practices which have created a best in class company with a hip, fun, high-performing culture.
Lori Galperin is a clinician, writer and teacher who began her 27 year career working in the area of sex & marital therapy. Training at Masters & Johnson Institute, she eventually became co-director, co-founded the first inpatient sexual trauma program in the country, and ultimately established and clinically co-directed three such programs. Her work spanned diverse populations including incest families, sex offenders, victims of sexual abuse and individuals struggling with sexual addiction.
In 2000, Lori turned her attention to another under-served population: eating disorder clients, co-founding and clinically directing 3 residential treatment centers over the next 13 years. Most recently she has been working with populations with co-occurring disorders in a context that utilizes all prior skill bases.
Lori currently resides on the Monterey Peninsula of N. California, where she recently participated in the founding of the Monterey Institute of Mental Health. She is also hard at work in collaboration with Dr. Marc Gafni on a book project entitled: Unique Self Recovery, a distillation & application of the heart Marc’s Unique Self teachings to the process of healing.
John Mackey is Chairman and CEO of Whole Foods Market, a $4 billion Fortune 500 company which has been named a Fortune 100 Best Companies To Work For every year since 1998. John Mackey was named the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur Of The Year in 2003.
John is a strong believer in FLOW principles, including free market principles and empowerment management. He is also one of the most influential advocates in the movement for organic food. Whole Foods was the first grocery chain to set standards for humane animal treatment.
Dr. Marc Gafni is a philosopher, public intellectual, author and social innovator. He holds his doctorate in philosophy from Oxford University, rabbinic certification from the chief rabbinate in Israel, as well private rabbinic ordination. He is also ordained and holds a doctorate in religious science. He is the initiating thought leader, together with Ken Wilber, of World Spirituality based on Integral principles, as well as the leading theorist and teacher of Unique Self Enlightenment. He is the director of Center for Integral Wisdom, a think tank he co-founded in 2010 with Mariana Caplan which is creating a body of work to evolve the source code of human existence.A rabbinic lineage holder in Bible, Talmud, and Kabbalah, Gafni self-describes as a “dual citizen” of both integral World Spirituality and classical Hebrew practice. He is a guest editor of the Journal of Integral Theory and Practice on issues of Integral spirituality, has been a faculty member of J.F.K. University, and is author of twenty five books, of which the first ten have been published, including the national bestseller Soul Prints, and The Mystery of Love, an exploration of the relationship between the erotic and the sacred. His newest books are Your Unique Self, Radical Kabbalah, and, together with Dr. Kristina Kincaid, A Return to Eros.
An iconoclastic artist and provocative visionary, Dr. Gafni has led spiritual movements and learning communities as well as created and hosted for several seasons a highly popular national Israeli television program on culture, meaning, and spirit. He is the father of four children (the youngest being two years old), is in committed relationship, and lives in Northern California.
Zak Stein‘s work focuses on social justice and education through the lenses of developmental psychology and integral metatheories. He holds degrees in philosophy and religion from Hampshire College, and educational neuroscience, human development, and the philosophy of education from Harvard University. While studying at Harvard, he was a co-founder of Lectica, Inc., a non-profit dedicated to the research-based justice-oriented reform of large-scale standardized testing in K-12, higher-education, and business.
He has published two books. Social Justice and Educational Measurement was based on his dissertation and traces the history of standardized testing and its ethical implications. His second book, Education in a Time Between Worlds, expands the philosophical work to include grappling with the relations between schooling and technology more broadly. He also writes for peer-reviewed academic journals across a range of topics including the philosophy of learning, educational technology, and integral theory. His work has appeared in a variety of journals including, American Psychologist, New Ideas in Psychology, Mind, Brain, and Education, Integral Review, and the Journal of Philosophy of Education.
He has taught at Harvard University, Meridian University, and JFK University. His invited speaking engagements span a wide range of venues, from metamodern podcasts to the National Security Agency and off-the-grid spiritual retreat centers. Partial curriculum vitae: CV_Stein_Winter2015
These days:
Ken Wilber is the most influential figure in defining the terms of discussion on what constitutes the Integral perspective today, and he is a leading voice on the Wisdom Council of the Center. His corpus of 25 widely translated books has erected an intellectual framework for understanding the nature of converging trends in philosophy, psychology, sociology, and other disciplines. His books have often been bestsellers, and his scholarly books have been the basis for numerous academic programs, master’s and doctoral dissertations.
Revered as the “Einstein of consciousness,” Ken has written over twenty books exploring different facets of human development and cultural evolution. His first book, The Spectrum of Consciousness, written when he was only 23, became a seminal text in the emerging field of transpersonal psychology. Among his diverse corpus of writings are a novel, Boomeritis, which provided a groundbreaking critique of postmodernity, and The Simple Feeling of Being, a corpus of mystical, spiritual writings of transcendent and lyrical beauty.
Wilber has also played an active role in supporting and promoting integral thinking. He is a leading voice in support of World Spirituality based on Integral principles and has been one of the founding members of the Wisdom Council of the Center.
Howard Bloom has been called “next in a lineage of seminal thinkers that includes Newton, Darwin, Einstein, Freud, and Buckminster Fuller” by Britain’s Channel4 TV and “the next Stephen Hawking” by Gear Magazine. Bloom is the author of seven books, including The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition Into the Forces of History and the new Einstein, Michael Jackson & Me: A Search for Soul in the Power Pits of Rock and Roll. The Office of the Secretary of Defense threw a symposium on Bloom’s second book, Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big Bang to the 21st Century, and brought in representatives from the State Department, the Energy Department, DARPA, IBM, and MIT. The eleventh president of India, Dr. A.P.J. Kalam called Bloom’s third book, The Genius of the Beast: A Radical Re-Vision of Capitalism, “a visionary creation.” And the Sheikh who runs Dubai named a racehorse—the Beast–after that same book. Bloom has published or lectured scholarly conferences in twelve different fields, from quantum physics and cosmology to neuroscience, evolutionary biology, psychology, information science, governance, and aerospace. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Wired, Knight Financial News Service, Cosmopolitan, The Village Voice, and the blog sites of Psychology Today and The Scientific American. In a full-page article in Business Insider, SpaceX’s Elon Musk praised one of Bloom space projects, the Two Billion Dollar Moon Prize. The Two Billion Dollar Moon Prize was also covered in Time, Newsweek, CBS, NBC, Fox News, and Politico. And Jeff Bezos tweeted a Bloom blog from the Scientific American calling for the establishment of a permanent transport infrastructure in space.
Daniel Schmachtenberger is the Founder of the Consilience Project and Director for Research & Development and Senior Vice President at the Center. His background in systems science, human behavior, and activism brought him to focus on the global systems that interconnect and drive our major global challenges.
He has spent much of the last decade studying the etiology, scope, magnitude, timelines, and interconnectedness of major issues; inventorying global resources and solutions; doing detailed comparative analysis of economic and comparative analysis of economic and governance systems; and developing comprehensive systems solutions, adequate to the issues and realistically achievable.
Sally Kempton has been practicing and teaching in a Hindu tradition for 30 years, twenty of them as a Swami, or Hindu monk of one of the Dasnami order of sannyasins. A former New York journalist who wrote extensively for the Village Voice, Esquire, New York Magazine, and The New York Times, she left her career in the early 1970s to study with her guru, Swami Muktananda. In the 1980s, she became one of the key teachers in the Siddha Yoga tradition as well as the first editor of a magazine, Darshan, which aimed at finding the shared truths within different spiritual traditions.
Sally has spent many years studying Kashmir Shaivism and yoga philosophy, as well as investigating esoteric mysticism as it appears in different traditions, including Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, and Sufism.
Since 2002 she has lived and taught as a lay teacher of meditation and spiritual wisdom. Her work aims at bringing the wisdom of non-dual philosophy and yoga into the problems and challenges of daily life. Sally’s teaching is based on the philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism, on the core texts of yoga and devotional Hinduism, and deeply influenced by Integral theory. She is the author of several books, The Heart of Meditation, Meditation for the Love of It, and Awakening Shakti, writes a column, “Wisdom,” for Yoga Journal, and teaches regular teleconference classes as well as retreats and workshops at conference centers like Kripalu, Esalen, and Mt. Madonna.
Sally says, “I was originally drawn to the spiritual path through the teachings of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, a radically prescient nineteenth-century Indian saint who realized God through the practices of several different traditions. My deepest conviction is that all the traditions contain authentic pathways to mystical realization, as well as authentic guidelines about how to live. As we move outside of conventional religious frameworks, it’s imperative that our practice carry an authenticity and rigor that is comparable to the rigor of the traditions, even as it acknowledges and works with the gifts and questions of modernity and post modernity.
“I am excited that the Center has the potential to define a trans-lineage spirituality that is powerful enough to hold practitioners steady in the radical transitions of our times, and to lead us in working with the transformative energies all around us for the highest good. To me, World Spirituality holds a promise that as a group, we can discover pathways to full self-realization and skillful enlightened action, which are rigorous, authentic, dogma free, and capable of riding the energy of this pregnant moment in human evolution.”
One of her most recent works is her book Awakening Shakti: The Transformative Power of the Goddess of Yoga.
For more books and CDs by Sally Kempton, see her website>>>.
Lori Galperin is a clinician, writer and teacher who began her 27 year career working in the area of sex & marital therapy. Training at Masters & Johnson Institute, she eventually became co-director, co-founded the first inpatient sexual trauma program in the country, and ultimately established and clinically co-directed three such programs. Her work spanned diverse populations including incest families, sex offenders, victims of sexual abuse and individuals struggling with sexual addiction.
In 2000, Lori turned her attention to another under-served population: eating disorder clients, co-founding and clinically directing 3 residential treatment centers over the next 13 years. Most recently she has been working with populations with co-occurring disorders in a context that utilizes all prior skill bases.
Lori currently resides on the Monterey Peninsula of N. California, where she recently participated in the founding of the Monterey Institute of Mental Health. She is also hard at work in collaboration with Dr. Marc Gafni on a book project entitled: Unique Self Recovery, a distillation & application of the heart Marc’s Unique Self teachings to the process of healing.
Venodhar Rao Julapalli, M.D. is founder and president of Integral Gastroenterology Center, P.A., an active private practice in gastroenterology. Inspired by the works of Ken Wilber, he started his practice in 2005 with a passion to bring an AQAL approach to patient care. With extensive experience on the front line of the American health care system, he has engaged in the best of what traditional allopathic medicine can offer and lamented the vast flatland of unconscious healthcare. His mission, with his brother Vinay, is to consciously co-evolve the practice of medicine.
Venu graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. with Distinction in Biological Sciences. He was elected a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He completed medical school at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, with election to Alpha Omega Alpha. He underwent medical training in internal medicine and gastroenterology at Baylor College of Medicine, where he continues to serve as a volunteer clinical instructor. He practices in north Houston. Venu’s spiritual stream has flowed from his mother’s traditional Hindu rituals to Ken Wilber’s writings, from Vipassana to Adyashanti, and now to Marc Gafni’s Unique Self insights. He believes the Unique Self holds the key for all stakeholders in healthcare to enjoy lives well lived.
Dr. John Gray is the leading relationship expert in the world. His relationship and health books have sold over 50 million copies in 50 different languages. His groundbreaking book, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, is the best-selling non-fiction book of all time. It launched his Mars Venus book series that forever changed the way men and women view their relationships. John helps men and women better understand and respect their differences in both personal and professional relationships.
Dr. Warren Farrell has been chosen by the Financial Times as one of the world’s top 100 thought leaders. He feels, though, that the mind can be misused as easily as well-used; spiritual centering facilitates the mind being well-used both externally and internally. Dr. Farrell’s books are published in over 50 countries and in 15 languages.
They include two award-winning international best-sellers, Why Men Are The Way They Are plus The Myth of Male Power. His book on couples communication, Women Can’t Hear What Men Don’t Say, was a selection of the Book-of-the Month Club. His book, Father and Child Reunion, has inspired many dads to be more involved with their children. And Why Men Earn More: The Startling Truth Behind the Pay Gap–and What Women Can Do About It was chosen by U.S. News and World Report in 2006 as one of the top four books on careers.
Dr. Farrell has taught at the university level in five disciplines, and appeared on more than a thousand TV shows from Oprah to Larry King Live. He has been featured repeatedly in Forbes, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. He has two daughters, and lives with his wife in Mill Valley, California.
Terry Nelson writes, “In my 30 years working as a Lifespring trainer, I have coached thousands of people all over the world to be more successful in fulfilling their commitment to becoming fully human. I think the work of CIW, to provide us human beings with a new and powerful lens through which to view our spiritual journey, will help all of us greatly. Hopefully, this wisdom will also reduce the likelihood of bad things being done in the name of religion. I am not a fan of crusades or suicide bombers. Enough!”
Terry is currently an executive development coach. He is a former Vice-President of Lifespring, a personal development training company. He worked as an analyst for the Congressional Budget Office and was a Peace Corps Volunteer and Training Project Director in Thailand. For the last 11 years, he has coached his kids’ basketball and soccer teams. Terry lives in Mill Valley, California, with his wife and two children. He holds a B.A. from U.W. at Madison and an M.P.A. from the Johnson School of Management at Cornell.
Dr. Kristina Kincaid is an Anthropologist, Theologian, Master Embodiment Practitioner, Relationship and Sexuality Teacher, Speaker and Author.
She holds an MA and a Doctorate in Theology and Energy Medicine from Holos University. A graduate of the Institute of Core Energetics and the prestigious Barbara Brennan School of Healing, Kristina also earned a BA in Anthropology from the University of Texas, Austin.
Dr. Kincaid is known for her transformative work around sexuality, personal growth and intimate relationship with self and other through the body.
Kristina has traveled the world studying with powerful Healers of our tim e- from the most primitive to the most advanced, cultivating an extensive background of bodywork and energy healing rooted in science. Her passions include the mysteries of the body.Her own personal healing journey has taken her into deep explorations of healing around sexuality.
Kristina’s personal mission is to teach conscious relating that is an affront to shame and guilt. Her commitment is to spark a movement of embodied practice that empowers women and men to take responsibility for their own arousal and desire resulting in the full liberation and reclamation of their true potency and power.
Kerstin Zohar Tuschik has served as Executive Director of the Center for many years and has recently shifted to the position of Editorial Director of the Great Library, working closely with Dr. Marc Gafni as Senior Editor, Scholar, Researcher, and sometimes co-author for major book projects. She is also a Senior Teacher for Unique Self and Representative for the Center in Germany.
Her professional, academic, and experiential background ranges from professional stage dancing and its didactics, physics, human resources development, project management, coaching, and alternative education to personal and spiritual growth. She has been on a conscious spiritual path for more than 30 years, studying different practices and approaches (including Kundalini Yoga, Trauma Therapy, Constellations Work, etc.) with various teachers.
Integral Theory has helped her to connect the dots. Through her dedication to this field, she met Dr. Marc Gafni in 2011 and connected deeply to his vision of a World Spirituality based on Integral Principles and his trans-lineage-path Dharma of Unique Self, Eros, Outrageous Love, and the New Enlightenment. Working and studying with him while working with this international trans-lineage sangha (our band of Outrageous Lovers) is a deep Pleasure and Joy for her.
Benjamin graduated from Lafayette College school of Engineering in 2011. During his time there, Benjamin attempted to address injustices through leading activist work with organizations like Save Darfur and Amnesty International. In the midst of confronting massive systemic inequalities, which seemed beyond repair, Benjamin found the work of Integral Theory and the Center for Integral Wisdom which helped him reclaim the hope and vision of a more beautiful world.
After college and earning his Permaculture Design Certificate through Kibbutz Lotan, he then worked in Silicon Valley at Bloom Energy and SunPower. Benjamin returned to Israel for a year in 2016 as a Fulbright Scholar, where he learned about the convergence of the environmental crisis and the Conflict in the Middle East. This took place on Kibbutz Ketura, a rarefied living laboratory of Arab, Israeli, and international students all learning with and from each other.
It was during this year, that he began studying with Dr. Marc. While deepening his understanding of the Unique Self theory and learning sacred texts from original sources, Benjamin has also been working as a proton accelerator engineer at Varian Medical and a hardware engineer at Apple and Beats headphones.
As part of a 3 year internship with the Center for Integral Wisdom, Benjamin is currently co-leading the creation of a publishing and editing process for the Homo Amor Great Library.
Benjamin also enjoys Tai Chi, sci-fi movies, and walking barefoot!
Advisory Board Members of the Center for World Philosophy and Religion, the Office for the Future, and the Foundation for Conscious Evolution. Each organization has a distinct legal board, which takes its decisions, all the decisions are made collectively by the appropriate board and board leadership. The listing below includes present and former board members, research fellows, faculty and officers of these organizations.
We have intentionally not broken them out by designation, as all of these people contribute equally needed value to the overall missions of these distinct organizations.
In alphabetical order:
From Homo Sapiens to Homo Amor
The Great Library of CosmoErotic Humanism
From Homo Sapiens to Homo Amor
The Great Library of CosmoErotic Humanism
by David J. Temple
AS THE META-CRISIS DEEPENS, THE FATE OF CIVILIZATION AND HUMANITY HANGS IN THE BALANCE.
First Principles and First Values is the tip of the spear in the fight for a humane future. Establishing frameworks for a new school of thought called CosmoErotic Humanism, the book is built around forty-two propositions that provide new source code for the future of planetary culture.
Like Europe in the early Renaissance, humanity is in a time between worlds, at a time between stories. First Principles and First Values contains blueprints for the bridge needed to cross from this world to the next.
David J. Temple is a pseudonym created for enabling ongoing collaborative authorship at the Center for World Philosophy and Religion, a leading international think tank whose mission is to address existential risk by articulating a shared universal Story of Value for global intimacy and global coordination. The Center focuses its work on a world philosophy, CosmoErotic Humanism, as the ground for a global vision of value, economics, politics, and spiritual coherence. The two primary authors behind David J. Temple are Marc Gafni and Zak Stein. For different projects specific writers will be named as part of the collaboration. In this volume Ken Wilber joins Dr. Gafni and Dr. Stein.
An invitation by Marc Gafni (Transcript of Video):
Reality is evolution, and evolution is a series of transformations. My reality—my life—is my evolution. That evolution consists of the personal transformations I experience. To count means to be accountable, right? So, to be accountable is to answer one fundamental question: Did I live my Unique Self Story, the story that will shape how I face my death? Whether I find myself in a death chair, on a death walker, or even on death skis, the goal is to reach that final moment feeling fearless and fully alive—more alive at the moment of my death than ever before. A life well-lived is one where I realize the unique transformations that are the essence of my Unique Self Story. Continue reading…
In Dr. Gafni and Dr. Stein’s language: “We stand at a pivotal moment in history – a time between worlds and a time between stories – poised between dystopia and utopia.” To bridge the gap between our external technologies and internal narratives of identity and purpose, every human and every epoch of humanity must evolve responses to three essential questions, what we refer to as the three great questions of CosmoErotic Humanism: “Who? Where? And What?”
Who am I? and Who are we?
Where am I? and Where are we?
What ought I do? and What ought we do?
In a profound analysis of our current meta-crisis and what he calls the “global intimacy disorder,” Dr. Marc Gafni draws from what he refers to as “the exterior and interior sciences” to deepen our responses to these three questions. The responses offer a new understanding of the Good, the True, and the Beautiful, and generate the beginning of “a universal grammar of value as a context for our diversity.”
“A universal grammar of value is grounded in eternal yet evolving First Principles and First Values, which are inherent in the Intimate Universe, in which we all participate. A new grammar articulates a potent Story of intrinsic Value, with the poignancy and power to respond to the meta-crisis. At the core of this Story of Value, called CosmoErotic Humanism, is a new narrative of identity, both personal and collective. Principles of Unique Self and Unique Self Symphony contribute to the shaping of a shared reality that is flawed and human, filled with holy and broken Hallelujahs. Yet, that Reality reaches insistently towards better tomorrows that are suffused with ever-deepening Eros and ethos, kindness, and creativity.”
Welcome to this beautiful Audio Workshop on The Erotic and the Holy: Kabbalistic Tantra for Everyday Living!
The Erotic and the Holy is a 7.5-hour audio journey that will guide you with sweetness and tenderness toward “being a lover” in every aspect of your life.
With his intimate knowledge of Kabbalistic mysticism, Marc Gafni unfolds insight after insight, leading listeners toward a new and profound relationship between pleasure and the spirit.
Join him on The Erotic and the Holy as he combines intriguing revelations about the Kabbalah with moving stories from everyday life to guide you into igniting the divine power of the Shekinah in your own world.
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The controller is the natural person or legal entity that single-handedly or jointly with others makes decisions as to the purposes of and resources for the processing of personal data (e.g. names, e-mail addresses, etc.).
Revocation of your consent to the processing of data
A wide range of data processing transactions are possible only subject to your express consent. You can also revoke at any time any consent you have already given us. To do so, all you are required to do is sent us an informal notification via e-mail. This shall be without prejudice to the lawfulness of any data collection that occurred prior to your revocation.
Right to object to the collection of data in special cases; right to object to direct advertising (Art. 21 GDPR)
In the event that data are processed on the basis of Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. e or f GDPR, you have the right to at any time object to the processing of your personal data based on grounds arising from your unique situation. This also applies to any profiling based on these provisions. To determine the legal basis, on which any processing of data is based, please consult this Data Protection Declaration. If you log an objection, we will no longer process your affected personal data, unless we are in a position to present compelling protection worthy grounds for the processing of your data, that outweigh your interests, rights and freedoms or if the purpose of the processing is the claiming, exercising or defence of legal entitlements (objection pursuant to Art. 21 Sect. 1 GDPR).
If your personal data is being processed in order to engage in direct advertising, you have the right to at any time object to the processing of your affected personal data for the purposes of such advertising. This also applies to profiling to the extent that it is affiliated with such direct advertising. If you object, your personal data will subsequently no longer be used for direct advertising purposes (objection pursuant to Art. 21 Sect. 2 GDPR).
Right to log a complaint with the competent supervisory agency
In the event of violations of the GDPR, data subjects are entitled to log a complaint with a supervisory agency, in particular in the member state where they usually maintain their domicile, place of work or at the place where the alleged violation occurred. The right to log a complaint is in effect regardless of any other administrative or court proceedings available as legal recourses.
Right to data portability
You have the right to demand that we hand over any data we automatically process on the basis of your consent or in order to fulfil a contract be handed over to you or a third party in a commonly used, machine readable format. If you should demand the direct transfer of the data to another controller, this will be done only if it is technically feasible.
SSL and/or TLS encryption
For security reasons and to protect the transmission of confidential content, such as purchase orders or inquiries you submit to us as the website operator, this website uses either an SSL or a TLS encryption programme. You can recognise an encrypted connection by checking whether the address line of the browser switches from “http://” to “https://” and also by the appearance of the lock icon in the browser line.
If the SSL or TLS encryption is activated, data you transmit to us cannot be read by third parties.
Encrypted payment transactions on this website
If you are under an obligation to share your payment information (e.g. account number if you give us the authority to debit your bank account) with us after you have entered into a fee-based contract with us, this information is required to process payments.
Payment transactions using common modes of paying (Visa/MasterCard, debit to your bank account) are processed exclusively via encrypted SSL or TLS connections. You can recognise an encrypted connection by checking whether the address line of the browser switches from “http://” to “https://” and also by the appearance of the lock icon in the browser line.
If the communication with us is encrypted, third parties will not be able to read the payment information you share with us.
Information about, blockage, rectification and eradication of data
Within the scope of the applicable statutory provisions, you have the right to at any time demand information about your archived personal data, their source and recipients as well as the purpose of the processing of your data. You may also have a right to have your data rectified, blocked or eradicated. If you have questions about this subject matter or any other questions about personal data, please do not hesitate to contact us at any time at the address provided in section “Information Required by Law.”
Right to demand processing restrictions
You have the right to demand the imposition of restrictions as far as the processing of your personal data is concerned. To do so, you may contact us at any time at the address provided in section “Information Required by Law.” The right to demand restriction of processing applies in the following cases:
If you have restricted the processing of your personal data, these data – with the exception of their archiving – may be processed only subject to your consent or to claim, exercise or defend legal entitlements or to protect the rights of other natural persons or legal entities or for important public interest reasons cited by the European Union or a member state of the EU.
Cookies
In some instances, our website and its pages use so-called cookies. Cookies do not cause any damage to your computer and do not contain viruses. The purpose of cookies is to make our website more user friendly, effective and more secure. Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer and stored by your browser.
Most of the cookies we use are so-called “session cookies.” They are automatically deleted after your leave our site. Other cookies will remain archived on your device until you delete them. These cookies enable us to recognise your browser the next time you visit our website.
You can adjust the settings of your browser to make sure that you are notified every time cookies are placed and to enable you to accept cookies only in specific cases or to exclude the acceptance of cookies for specific situations or in general and to activate the automatic deletion of cookies when you close your browser. If you deactivate cookies, the functions of this website may be limited.
Cookies that are required for the performance of the electronic communications transaction or to provide certain functions you want to use (e.g. the shopping cart function), are stored on the basis of Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. f GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in storing cookies to ensure the technically error free and optimised provision of the operator’s services. If other cookies (e.g. cookies for the analysis of your browsing patterns) should be stored, they are addressed separately in this Data Protection Declaration.
Server log files
The provider of this website and its pages automatically collects and stores information in so-called server log files, which your browser communicates to us automatically. The information comprises:
This data is not merged with other data sources.
This data is recorded on the basis of Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. f GDPR. The operator of the website has a legitimate interest in the technically error free depiction and the optimization of the operator’s website. In order to achieve this, server log files must be recorded.
Contact form
If you submit inquiries to us via our contact form, the information provided in the contact form as well as any contact information provided therein will be stored by us in order to handle your inquiry and in the event that we have further questions. We will not share this information without your consent.
Hence, the processing of the data entered into the contact form occurs exclusively based on your consent (Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. a GDPR). You have the right to revoke at any time any consent you have already given us. To do so, all you are required to do is sent us an informal notification via e-mail. This shall be without prejudice to the lawfulness of any data collection that occurred prior to your revocation.
The information you have entered into the contact form shall remain with us until you ask us to eradicate the data, revoke your consent to the archiving of data or if the purpose for which the information is being archived no longer exists (e.g. after we have concluded our response to your inquiry). This shall be without prejudice to any mandatory legal provisions – in particular retention periods.
Registration on this website
You have the option to register on our website to be able to use additional website functions. We shall use the data you enter only for the purpose of using the respective offer or service you have registered for. The required information we request at the time of registration must be entered in full. Otherwise we shall reject the registration.
To notify you of any important changes to the scope of our portfolio or in the event of technical modifications, we shall use the e-mail address provided during the registration process.
We shall process the data entered during the registration process on the basis of your consent (Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. a GDPR). You have the right to revoke at any time any consent you have already given us. To do so, all you are required to do is sent us an informal notification via e-mail. This shall be without prejudice to the lawfulness of any data collection that occurred prior to your revocation.
The data recorded during the registration process shall be stored by us as long as you are registered on our website. Subsequently, such data shall be deleted. This shall be without prejudice to mandatory statutory retention obligations.
The comment function on this website
When you use the comment function on this website, information on the time the comment was generated and, if you are not posting anonymously, the user name you have selected will be archived in addition to your comments.
Storage of the IP address
Our comment function stores the IP addresses of all users who enter comments. Given that we do not review the comments prior to publishing them, we need this information in order to take action against the author in the event of rights violations, such as defamation or propaganda.
Subscribing to comments
As a user of this website, you have the option to subscribe to comments after you have registered. You will receive a confirmation e-mail, the purpose of which is to verify whether you are the actual holder of the provided e-mail address. You can deactivate this function at any time by following a respective link in the information e-mails. The data entered in conjunction with subscriptions to comments will be deleted in this case. However, if you have communicated this information to us for other purposes and from a different location (e.g. when subscribing to the newsletter), the data shall remain in our possession.
Storage period for comments
Comments and any affiliated information (e.g. the IP address) shall be stored by us and remain on our website until the content the comment pertained to has been deleted in its entirety or if the comments had to be deleted for legal reasons (e.g. insulting comments).
Legal basis
Comments are stored on the basis of your consent (Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. a GDPR). You have the right to revoke at any time any consent you have already given us. To do so, all you are required to do is sent us an informal notification via e-mail. This shall be without prejudice to the lawfulness of any data collection that occurred prior to your revocation.
Processing of data (customer and contract data)
We collect, process and use personal data only to the extent necessary for the establishment, content organization or change of the legal relationship (data inventory). These actions are taken on the basis of Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. b GDPR, which permits the processing of data for the fulfilment of a contract or pre-contractual actions. We collect, process and use personal data concerning the use of our website (usage data) only to the extent that this is necessary to make it possible for users to utilize the services and to bill for them.
The collected customer data shall be eradicated upon completion of the order or the termination of the business relationship. This shall be without prejudice to any statutory retention mandates.
Data transfer upon closing of contracts for online stores, retailers and the shipment of merchandise
We share personal data with third parties only if this is necessary in conjunction with the handling of the contract; for instance, with companies entrusted with the shipment of goods or the financial institution tasked with the processing of payments. Any further transfer of data shall not occur or shall only occur if you have expressly consented to the transfer. Any sharing of your data with third parties in the absence of your express consent, for instance for advertising purposes, shall not occur.
The basis for the processing of data is Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. b GDPR, which permits the processing of data for the fulfilment of a contract or for pre-contractual actions.
Data transfer upon closing of contracts for services and digital content
We share personal data with third parties only if this is necessary in conjunction with the handling of the contract; for instance, with the financial institution tasked with the processing of payments.
Any further transfer of data shall not occur or shall only occur if you have expressly consented to the transfer. Any sharing of your data with third parties in the absence of your express consent, for instance for advertising purposes, shall not occur.
The basis for the processing of data is Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. b GDPR, which permits the processing of data for the fulfilment of a contract or for pre-contractual actions.
Google Analytics
Some of our websites may use functions of the web analysis service Google Analytics. The provider of this service is Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.
Google Analytics uses so-called cookies. Cookies are text files, which are stored on your computer and that enable an analysis of the use of the website by users. The information generated by cookies on your use of this website is usually transferred to a Google server in the United States, where it is stored.
The storage of Google Analytics cookies and the utilization of this analysis tool are based on Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. f GDPR. The operator of this website has a legitimate interest in the analysis of user patterns to optimize both, the services offered online and the operator’s advertising activities.
IP anonymization
On this website, we have activated the IP anonymization function. As a result, your IP address will be abbreviated by Google within the member states of the European Union or in other states that have ratified the Convention on the European Economic Area prior to its transmission to the United States. The full IP address will be transmitted to one of Google’s servers in the United States and abbreviated there only in exceptional cases. On behalf of the operator of this website, Google shall use this information to analyse your use of this website to generate reports on website activities and to render other services to the operator of this website that are related to the use of the website and the Internet. The IP address transmitted in conjunction with Google Analytics from your browser shall not be merged with other data in Google’s possession.
Browser plug-in
You do have the option to prevent the archiving of cookies by making pertinent changes to the settings of your browser software. However, we have to point out that in this case you may not be able to use all of the functions of this website to their fullest extent. Moreover, you have the option prevent the recording of the data generated by the cookie and affiliated with your use of the website (including your IP address) by Google as well as the processing of this data by Google by downloading and installing the browser plug-in available under the following link: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en.
Objection to the recording of data
You have the option to prevent the recording of your data by Google Analytics by clicking on the following link. This will result in the placement of an opt out cookie, which prevents the recording of your data during future visits to this website: Google Analytics deactivation.
For more information about the handling of user data by Google Analytics, please consult Google’s Data Privacy Declaration at: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=en.
Contract data processing
We have executed a contract data processing agreement with Google and are implementing the stringent provisions of the data protection agencies to the fullest when using Google Analytics.
Demographic parameters provided by Google Analytics
Some of our websites may use the function “demographic parameters” provided by Google Analytics. It makes it possible to generate reports providing information on the age, gender and interests of website visitors. The sources of this information are interest-related advertising by Google as well as visitor data obtained from third party providers. This data cannot be allocated to a specific individual. You have the option to deactivate this function at any time by making pertinent settings changes for advertising in your Google account or you can generally prohibit the recording of your data by Google Analytics as explained in section “Objection to the recording of data.”
WordPress Stats
Some of our websites may use the WordPress tool Stats in order to statistically analyse user access information. The provider of the solution is Automattic Inc., 60 29th Street #343, San Francisco, CA 94110-4929, USA.
WordPress Stats uses cookies that are stored on your computer and that make it possible to analyse the use of this website. The information generated by the cookies concerning the use of our website is stored on servers in the United States. Your IP address is rendered anonymous after processing and prior to the storage of the data.
“WordPress Stats” cookies will remain on your device until you delete them.
The storage of “WordPress Stats” cookies and the use of this analysis tool are based on Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. f GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in the anonymous analysis of user patterns, in order to optimize the operator’s web offerings and advertising.
You can set up your browser in such a manner that you will be notified anytime cookies are placed and you can permit cookies only in certain cases or exclude the acceptance of cookies in certain instances or in general and you can also activate the automatic deletion of cookies upon closing of the browser. If you deactivate cookies, the functions of this website may be limited.
You do have the option to object to the collection and use of your data for future implications by placing an opt out cookie into your browser by clicking on the following link: https://www.quantcast.com/opt-out/.
Google AdWords and Google Conversion Tracking
Some of our websites may use Google AdWords. AdWords is an online promotional program of Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States (“Google”).
In conjunction with Google AdWords, we use a tool called Conversion Tracking. If you click on an ad posted by Google, a cookie for Conversion Tracking purposes will be placed. Cookies are small text files the web browser places on the user’s computer. These cookies expire after 30 days and are not used to personally identify users. If the user visits certain pages of this website and the cookie has not yet expired, Google and we will be able to recognise that the user has clicked on an ad and has been linked to this page.
A different cookie is allocated to every Google AdWords customer. These cookies cannot be tracked via websites of AdWords customers. The information obtained with the assistance of the Conversion cookie is used to generate Conversion statistics for AdWords customers who have opted to use Conversion Tracking. The users receive the total number of users that have clicked on their ads and have been linked to a page equipped with a Conversion Tracking tag. However, they do not receive any information that would allow them to personally identify these users. If you do not want to participate in tracking, you have the option to object to this use by easily deactivating the Google Conversion Tracking cookie via your web browser under user settings. If you do this, you will not be included in the Conversion Tracking statistics.
The storage of “Conversion” cookies and the use of this tracking tool are based on Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. f GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in the analysis of user patterns, in order to optimize the operator’s web offerings and advertising.
To review more detailed information about Google AdWords and Google Conversion Tracking, please consult the Data Privacy Policies of Google at: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en.
You can set up your browser in such a manner that you will be notified anytime cookies are placed and you can permit cookies only in certain cases or exclude the acceptance of cookies in certain instances or in general and you can also activate the automatic deletion of cookies upon closing of the browser. If you deactivate cookies, the functions of this website may be limited.
Facebook Pixel
To measure our conversion rates, Some of our websites may use the visitor activity pixel of Facebook, Facebook Inc., 1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA (“Facebook”).
This tool allows the tracking of page visitors after they have been linked to the website of the provider after clicking on a Facebook ad. This makes it possible to analyse the effectiveness of Facebook ads for statistical and market research purposes and to optimize future advertising campaigns.
For us as the operators of this website, the collected data is anonymous. We are not in a position to arrive at any conclusions as to the identity of users. However, Facebook archives the information and processes it, so that it is possible to make a connection to the respective user profile and Facebook is in a position to use the data for its own promotional purposes in compliance with the Facebook Data Usage Policy. This enables Facebook to display ads on Facebook pages as well as in locations outside of Facebook. We as the operator of this website have no control over the use of such data.
The use of Facebook Pixel is based on Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. f GDPR. The operator of the website has a legitimate interest in effective advertising campaigns, which also include social media.
In Facebook’s Data Privacy Policies, you will find additional information about the protection of your privacy at: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/.
You also have the option to deactivate the remarketing function “Custom Audiences” in the ad settings section under https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen. To do this, you first have to log into Facebook.
If you do not have a Facebook account, you can deactivate any user based advertising by Facebook on the website of the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance: http://www.youronlinechoices.com/de/praferenzmanagement/.
Newsletter data
If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter offered on this website, we will need from you an e-mail address as well as information that allow us to verify that you are the owner of the e-mail address provided and consent to the receipt of the newsletter. No further data shall be collected or shall be collected only on a voluntary basis. We shall use such data only for the sending of the requested information and shall not share such data with any third parties.
The processing of the information entered into the newsletter subscription form shall occur exclusively on the basis of your consent (Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. a GDPR). You may revoke the consent you have given to the archiving of data, the e-mail address and the use of this information for the sending of the newsletter at any time, for instance by clicking on the “Unsubscribe” link in the newsletter. This shall be without prejudice to the lawfulness of any data processing transactions that have taken place to date.
The data you archive with us for the purpose of the newsletter subscription shall be archived by us until you unsubscribe from the newsletter. Once you cancel your subscription to the newsletter, the data shall be deleted. This shall not affect data we have been archiving for other purposes.
YouTube with expanded data protection integration
Our website uses plug-ins of the YouTube platform, which is being operated by YouTube, LLC, 901 Cherry Ave., San Bruno, CA 94066, USA.
We use YouTube in the expanded data protection mode. According to YouTube, this mode ensures that YouTube does not store any information about visitors to this website before they watch the video. Nevertheless, this does not necessarily mean that the sharing of data with YouTube partners can be ruled out as a result of the expanded data protection mode. For instance, regardless of whether you are watching a video, YouTube will always establish a connection with the Google DoubleClick network.
As soon as you start to play a YouTube video on our website, a connection to YouTube’s servers will be established. As a result, the YouTube server will be notified, which of our pages you have visited. If you are logged into your YouTube account while you visit our site, you enable YouTube to directly allocate your browsing patterns to your personal profile. You have the option to prevent this by logging out of your YouTube account.
Furthermore, after you have started to play a video, YouTube will be able to place various cookies on your device. With the assistance of these cookies, YouTube will be able to obtain information about our website visitor. Among other things, this information will be used to generate video statistics with the aim of improving the user friendliness of the site and to prevent attempts to commit fraud. These cookies will stay on your device until you delete them.
Under certain circumstances, additional data processing transactions may be triggered after you have started to play a YouTube video, which are beyond our control.
The use of YouTube is based on our interest in presenting our online content in an appealing manner. Pursuant to Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. f GDPR, this is a legitimate interest.
For more information on how YouTube handles user data, please consult the YouTube Data Privacy Policy under: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en.
Vimeo
Our website uses plug-ins of the video portal Vimeo. The provider is Vimeo Inc., 555 West 18th Street, New York, New York 10011, USA.
If you visit one of the pages on our website into which a Vimeo plug-in has been integrated, a connection to Vimeo’s servers will be established. As a consequence, the Vimeo server will receive information as to which of our pages you have visited. Moreover, Vimeo will receive your IP address. This will also happen if you are not logged into Vimeo or do not have an account with Vimeo. The information recorded by Vimeo will be transmitted to Vimeo’s server in the United States.
If you are logged into your Vimeo account, you enable Vimeo to directly allocate your browsing patterns to your personal profile. You can prevent this by logging out of your Vimeo account.
The use of Vimeo is based on our interest in presenting our online content in an appealing manner. Pursuant to Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. f GDPR, this is a legitimate interest.
For more information on how Vimeo handles user data, please consult the Vimeo Data Privacy Policy under: https://vimeo.com/privacy.
Google Web Fonts (local embedding)
Some of our websites may use so-called Web Fonts provided by Google to ensure the uniform use of fonts on this site. These Google fonts are locally installed so that a connection to Google’s servers will not be established in conjunction with this application.
Google Maps
Via an API, this website uses the mapping service Google Maps. The provider is Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.
To enable the use of the Google Maps features, your IP address must be stored. As a rule, this information is transferred to one of Google’s servers in the United States, where it is archived. The operator of this website has no control over the data transfer.
We use Google Maps to present our online content in an appealing manner and to make the locations disclosed on our website easy to find. This constitutes a legitimate interest as defined in Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. f GDPR.
For more information on the handling of user data, please review Google’s Data Privacy Declaration under: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en.
Google reCAPTCHA
We may use “Google reCAPTCHA” (hereinafter referred to as “reCAPTCHA”) on our websites. The provider is Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (“Google”).
The purpose of reCAPTCHA is to determine whether data entered on our websites (e.g. information entered into a contact form) is being provided by a human user or by an automated program. To determine this, reCAPTCHA analyses the behaviour of the website visitors based on a variety of parameters. This analysis is triggered automatically as soon as the website visitor enters the site. For this analysis, reCAPTCHA evaluates a variety of data (e.g. IP address, time the website visitor spent on the site or cursor movements initiated by the user). The data tracked during such analyses are forwarded to Google.
reCAPTCHA analyses run entirely in the background. Website visitors are not alerted that an analysis is underway.
The data is processed on the basis of Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. f GDPR. It is in the website operators legitimate interest, to protect the operator’s web content against misuse by automated industrial espionage systems and against SPAM.
For more information about Google reCAPTCHA and to review the Data Privacy Declaration of Google, please follow these links: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en and https://www.google.com/recaptcha/intro/android.html.
SoundCloud
We may have integrated plug-ins of the social network SoundCloud (SoundCloud Limited, Berners House, 47-48 Berners Street, London W1T 3NF, Great Britain) into our websites. You will be able to recognise such SoundCloud plug-ins by checking for the SoundCloud logo on the respective pages.
Whenever you visit one of our websites, a direct connection between your browser and the SoundCloud server will be established immediately after the plug-in has been activated. As a result, SoundCloud will be notified that you have used your IP address to visit our site. If you click the “Like” button or the “Share” button while you are logged into your Sound Cloud user account, you can link the content of our websites to your SoundCloud profile and/or share the content. Consequently, SoundCloud will be able to allocate the visit to our website to your user account. We emphasize that we as the provider of the websites do not have any knowledge of the data transferred and the use of this data by SoundCloud.
We use SoundCloud on the basis of Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. f GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in attaining the highest level of visibility on social media.
For more information about this, please consult SoundCloud’s Data Privacy Declaration at: https://soundcloud.com/pages/privacy.
If you prefer not to have your visit to our websites allocated to your SoundCloud user account by SoundCloud, please log out of your SoundCloud user account before you activate content of the SoundCloud plug-in.
PayPal
Among other options, we offer payment via PayPal on our website. The provider of this payment processing service is PayPal (Europe) S.à.r.l. et Cie, S.C.A., 22-24 Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg (hereinafter referred to as “PayPal”).
If you choose payment via PayPal, we will share the payment information you enter with PayPal.
The legal basis for the sharing of your data with PayPal is Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent) as well as Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. b GDPR (processing for the fulfilment of a contract). You have the option to at any time revoke your consent to the processing of your data. Such a revocation shall not have any impact on the effectiveness of data processing transactions that occurred in the past.
We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to outside parties your Personally Identifiable Information unless we provide users with advance notice. This does not include website hosting partners and other parties who assist us in operating our website, conducting our business, or serving our users, so long as those parties agree to keep this information confidential. We may also release information when it’s release is appropriate to comply with the law, enforce our site policies, or protect ours or others’ rights, property or safety.
However, non-personally identifiable visitor information may be provided to other parties for marketing, advertising, or other uses.
Third-party links
Occasionally, at our discretion, we may include or offer third-party products or services on our website. These third-party sites have separate and independent privacy policies. We therefore have no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of these linked sites. Nonetheless, we seek to protect the integrity of our site and welcome any feedback about these sites.
CalOPPA is the first state law in the nation to require commercial websites and online services to post a privacy policy. The law’s reach stretches well beyond California to require any person or company in the United States (and conceivably the world) that operates websites collecting Personally Identifiable Information from California consumers to post a conspicuous privacy policy on its website stating exactly the information being collected and those individuals or companies with whom it is being shared. – See more at: https://consumercal.org/california-online-privacy-protection-act-caloppa/#sthash.0FdRbT51.dpuf
According to CalOPPA, we agree to the following:
Users can visit our site anonymously.
Once this privacy policy is created, we will add a link to it on our home page or as a minimum, on the first significant page after entering our website.
Our Privacy Policy link includes the word ‘Privacy’ and can easily be found on the page specified above.
You will be notified of any Privacy Policy changes:
You can change your personal information:
How does our site handle Do Not Track signals?
We honor Do Not Track signals and Do Not Track, plant cookies, or use advertising when a Do Not Track (DNT) browser mechanism is in place.
Does our site allow third-party behavioral tracking?
It’s also important to note that we allow third-party behavioral tracking.
When it comes to the collection of personal information from children under the age of 13 years old, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) puts parents in control. The Federal Trade Commission, United States’ consumer protection agency, enforces the COPPA Rule, which spells out what operators of websites and online services must do to protect children’s privacy and safety online.
We do not specifically market to children under the age of 13 years old.
The Fair Information Practices Principles form the backbone of privacy law in the United States and the concepts they include have played a significant role in the development of data protection laws around the globe. Understanding the Fair Information Practice Principles and how they should be implemented is critical to comply with the various privacy laws that protect personal information.
In order to be in line with Fair Information Practices we will take the following responsive action, should a data breach occur:
We will notify you via email within 7 business days.
We also agree to the Individual Redress Principle which requires that individuals have the right to legally pursue enforceable rights against data collectors and processors who fail to adhere to the law. This principle requires not only that individuals have enforceable rights against data users, but also that individuals have recourse to courts or government agencies to investigate and/or prosecute non-compliance by data processors.
The CAN-SPAM Act is a law that sets the rules for commercial email, establishes requirements for commercial messages, gives recipients the right to have emails stopped from being sent to them, and spells out tough penalties for violations.
We collect your email address in order to:
To be in accordance with CANSPAM, we agree to the following:
If at any time you would like to unsubscribe from receiving future emails, you can email us at
If there are any questions regarding this privacy policy, you may contact us using the information below.
The Center for Integral Wisdom
PO Box 702
San Anselmo, California 94979-0702
United States of America
Telephone: (415) 8571943
support@centerforintegralwisdom.org
Read this fantastic piece on Medium by Dr. Kristina Kincaid and Chahat Corten. In their sensitive and important case study – using Marc Gafni’s case as an example – she proves the truth of what Wael Ghonim, who helped touch off the Arab Spring in his home of Egypt by setting up a simple Facebook page – said in his TED talk: “The same tool that united us to topple dictators eventually tore us apart.”
In their own words:
In his TED Talk, Wael Ghonim points to 5 challenges facing today’s social media. First, we spread rumors that confirm our personal biases. Second, we create ‘echo chambers’ in which to communicate only with people who share the same beliefs as us. Third, online discussions can (and often do) quickly turn into angry mobs. Fourth, it’s nearly impossible to change our opinions once we’ve posted them since everything ‘lives’ on the internet indefinitely. And Fifth, our online experience is designed for shallow comments over deep conversations. In other words, the internet has become a forum which allows for the bypassing all of the mechanisms of justice and integrity upon which this great country is founded.
In this light, I think you will find the following case study an unnerving example that speaks directly into Ghonim’s points. You will discover how the internet is used to crowd-source a witch hunt in an effort to publicly shame and ultimately commit social murder of innocent people. And finally, you will realize the sobering truth: That this could happen to anyone, including you.
The case study I will use to make my general point is the story of Marc Gafni and his alleged sexual abuse as it has played out on the internet. In full disclosure, it’s no secret that I work directly with Marc Gafni. And as my close friend and colleague says, “with all the material online about Marc, it is impossible for anyone to get close to him without having to do their own research and come to their own conclusions”.
Read this case study on “Using The Internet To Attempt Social Murder” here>>>
by Marc Gafni
I am greatly saddened by the necessity of writing this post. Recently, Stephen Dinan called for a boycott against a film, RiseUP, based on my original role in inspiring and galvanizing the movie. In his post, he refers to articles written against me in the last several months. The articles are part of a smear campaign that Dinan and his posse have catalyzed against me for the last five months. If necessary, at the right time, I will do a line-by-line refutation of the major deceptions in Dinan’s article.
In future posts, both in this forum and in others that are now being created I will address, in a direct and personal way, all of the key claims and actors, past and future, in the smear campaign. I have been silent for ten years, thinking that the dignity of silence, forgiveness and moving on to new creativity and contribution would cause the agony of these false attacks to fade away. By their own admission, the perpetrators of the (false) attacks against me ten years ago were shocked that I survived their attempted social murder. Sorry for the trouble folks. I know it is annoying to have to try it again and again. Sadly, they have – and this is well documented – spent much of their energy in the last eight years seeking avenues to complete the deed.
My commitment to integrity and intimacy no longer allows me to be silent. As of this post my decade of silence is over. I will respond fully via video posts, email records, as well as other forms of documentation and analysis to any and all false claims.
I stand fully against sexual harassment in all of its expressions. I stand fully against any form of victim shaming.
I also stand against all forms of name rape. Name rape often happens via false accusations which hijack the victim narrative to hide their own malice. And let me add that you cannot make false accusations and then ask not to be challenged by labeling any challenger a victim-shamer. This is a weirdly inverted form of the old adage, where the son kills his parents and then throws himself at the mercy of the court because he is an orphan. That just not okay in any way.
I also stand against the new form of cyber-bullying which is the orchestrated smear campaign.
For now, however, I want to focus specifically on the meta issues which underlie Stephen’s article, because they are more fundamental.
By his own admission in private emails, and in conversations with his colleagues, Stephen has been a key figure in an organized campaign to destroy my good name. In this, he has deployed the classic playbook of the Big Lie propaganda campaign, and adds to it some new virtual techniques.
To say it simply, Stephen is, in my best understanding, a self-styled jihadist. This phrase in regard to Stephen was coined not by myself, but by Barbara Marx Hubbard’s daughter after interacting with him in my regard. You can read Barbara’s relevant description of these sad events here.
By jihad, I mean holy war, launched by those with who are so fanatically persuaded of their righteousness that they move to destroy all who they deem infidel or heretic.
Stephen is not following the precepts of a particular fundamentalist religion. Far more insidiously, he is self-appointed. He and those attracted to, or aligned with, his vibration of jihadic consciousness are driven to save the world from demonic forces and evil. Conveniently, those that they deem evil or demonic are usually also those who arouse in them the kind of rage and grenvy – greed and envy –that is the source of malice.
Malice is a core feature of reality, which we recognize in the political, business and religious worlds but somehow we sometimes forget that it exists in the New Age Spiritual world as well. Malice is aroused, as Rene Girard reminds us, by those whose essence makes us feel somehow small, those who are professional competitors in some visceral way, as well as those who perhaps play Mozart to their Salieri, or Othello to their Iago.
Like all those engaged in various forms of jihad, Stephen is convinced of his righteousness. He has cast me as the infidel who must be both excommunicated (i.e. “don’t talk to him”) and, for the sake of the good, destroyed. In this distorted internal scenario, Stephen seems to be the self-appointed jihadist protector, protecting the purity of the helpless victims. Key to this process of course is to hide all of your own more base ulterior motives – be they financial, psychological or professional – under the fig leaf of the protector mantle. Let us state this clearly and fearlessly: this is a regressive meme that threatens the very soul of public culture.
Crowd Sourcing a Witch Hunt: An Eight-Step Guide to Internet Abuse
Here’s how such a cyber-jihad campaign is done:
1) You dredge up old stories—some outright false, some merely distorted—and make contact with your target’s old enemies (such as an angry ex-wife, ex-students and professional rivals with axes to grind and hidden agendas) in order to get them to support your campaign.
2) Using loaded words like ‘sociopath’ and/or ‘pedophile’ without any evidence as to their accuracy, you begin seeding a series of false or distorted allegations about your target around the web.
3) You might even go so far as to claim, as Stephen’s closest allies have, that this so-called sociopath has occult or demonic powers. The claim that I am demonic, made both in private conversation and in public posts, has been a major theme of Stephen’s campaign. Psychologists tell me that only such a disassociated projection allows one to make sense of the extremity of the smear campaign. I do not know. Such explanation is beyond the realm of my expertise. However, I do know that the ascription of demonic powers to me allows anyone who associates with me to be said to be under some kind of malevolent spell, and anyone who wants to hear my side of the story is warned that they might be affected by my ‘demonic’ energy.
(For those interested in further sources on this see René Girard’s critical work on scapegoating. See also Wilhelm Reich’s work on the Murder of Eros.)
4) You set up a system where there is no possibility of fact checking and no possibility of transformation. In terms of fact checking, I have invited a fair process of fact checking many times. Such a process would require all parties to take responsibility, including especially responsibility for the results of organizing and leveling false complaints.
I have also invited any individual who feels hurt to engage with me in a mediated process of resolution and transformation. I am not only open but very much want to learn if there is a way that someone feels genuine hurt, for which I owe an apology. Let’s have a genuine conversation in a mediated context and see transformation and healing.
But if you are organizing a cyber-jihad campaign you must endeavor to make sure that there is not a possibility of fact checking, mutual responsibility or resolution. That would defeat the entire goal of the jihad: the destruction of the infidel. Because the infidel is in some sense demonic, no true transformation or resolution is ever possible. The infidel must be killed.
5) You must hide your malice. After all, as Milan Kundera reminds us, Malice must never admit of itself so it must always plead other motives. What are the motives that malice pleads? The perpetrator claims to be rescuing future victims or pretends to be a victim. This is famously referred to in Karpman’s “drama triangle”, or the victim triangle.
The other motives pleaded are that of being a protector. So the next step in the smear campaign playbook is to enroll a group of your friends and colleagues, by telling them that you are protecting ‘future victims’. You establish credibility by pointing to personal testimonials, none of which have been cross-checked for facts—just as, in the old witch trials, unreliable personal testimony was used to ‘prove’ that someone was a witch.
Remember again: Malice must never admit of itself so it must always plead other motives.
It is a shockingly accurate description of the approach that Dinan and his two colleagues have taken in organizing this smear campaign.
6) The next step is to crowd-source your witch hunt. In a short time, using the tools of social media, you form an internet mob. The mob generates likes, tweets, posts, blogs and the like. Credible information no longer matters. In the outpouring of vituperation, it is nearly impossible to tell that most of the statements made about the object of attack are grossly untrue; He or She has become an object. Accuracy and integrity no longer matter much when attacking an object.
You have almost all the key elements necessary to have a contemporary Trial by Internet – the modern form of a Salem Witch Trial. Just one more step is necessary. Victim Voices.
7) A key move in such a campaign is to hide behind what are ostensibly “victim voices”. You gather first person testimonies with emotionally evocative power to front your cause. It is not dis-similar to the mafia using an ostensibly kosher business to cover up for the criminal rackets of murder and extortion. Evocative first person testimonies shift attention from the true ulterior motives of the smear organizers.
First person testimonies are powerful because they evoke emotional resonance. That is why these kind of personal testimonies were so central in the European witch trials that tortured and burned –according to some estimates – tens of thousands of women at the stake.
But of course anyone who is truly involved with working with victims, knows that first testimonies are by themselves not reliable. Just ask any African American family who has a family ancestor that was lynched because a posse of white women claimed that he was sexually in appropriate with them, and they will tell you that first person testimonies can be organized for the sake of murder. Once the horrific demonizing meme of the perpetrating black person with occult powers was set into play, then dozens of white women came out of the woodwork to testify.
That is why, in a rational society, we have evolved post-witch-trials and post-lynch-mobs. We gather evidence, we check for social ties that bind the ostensible victims and look for evidence of collusion and aligning of testimony between the “victims”[1]. We might investigate the influences behind the scenes that are pulling the strings, and check for subtle signs that there is social and psychological pressure or reward at play, influencing the narratives etc.
In the regressive meme of Trial by Internet, however, none of these checks are in place.
The facts of the first person testimonies are never checked or cross-checked. The idea is to create a virtual mob of victim voices, which is orchestrated and manipulated from behind the scenes. In an internet age this is relatively easy to do.
8) Deploying the strategy of the Big Lie: Where there is smoke there is fire
Is it not true that where there is smoke there is fire?
How does it happen that there are multiple accusations against one person? Indeed after closely researching the literature and interviewing a dozen people who are experts in the field, it turns out that the nature of the Big Lie is that it always generates multiple accusations. This lends a veneer of credibility to the smear campaign. This is how the principle of ‘where there’s smoke there’s fire’ is deployed to support to the Big Lie strategy. However, even slightly more careful scrutiny reveals that the accusers virtually always know each other and have close social, political or communal bonds. They emerge from the same network or have been drawn into the same network via the internet because they all represent disgruntled or offended ex partners, ex business associates, ex lovers, ex wives, ex students and the like. They enter into a kind of group-think in which subtle or not so subtle social reward and pressure move to align their stories and foster collusion, which is easily revealed once a process of cross-checking information and fact-checking is begun.
Let me give you a simple example of how these dynamics emerge. A leader/ teacher/ television personality/ corporate head etc. can work with tens of thousands of people over many years. 95% of the people may have had wonderful experiences. But they are the silent majority. They are living their lives productively, balanced and healthy. There will also often be five or ten percent that respond negatively to any kind of strong personality. They may also be dis-satisfied with their lives, or have any number of interior at issues at play, which are triggered by their meeting with the leader figure. Some amount of triggered folks is particularly probable if the leader is doing work that is edgy or provocative, or that demands a lot for people. If the leader him or herself is not pallid, but is, in his or her own ways edgy, demanding and provocative then it is even more likely to have a small percent of disaffected folks. Usually those people are from the “ex” society, made up of ex partners, ex lovers, ex colleagues or ex students.
As long as there is no crisis of any kind, these voices are in right proportion to the majority of people having positive experiences. But once there is a crisis or trauma in the system – say, for example, the president of a hospital is sued – then victims begin to appear from all periods of the person’s life. Sometimes those victims are real. The powerful person has a genuine shadow side, which for example, could be that he consistently sexually harasses women. If the evidence is checked and that turns out to be true then we must deal with it appropriately.
It is important however to realize that just as often as these stories are true, they are just as often not true. Precisely however because these stories are sometimes true, and because we have seen so many of them in the media over the past two decades, there is a confirmation bias; that is to say, a tendency to believe them.
However they are just as often not true as they are true.
A good friend of mine in South America was sued about a decade back. She had run mental health clinics there for several decades with thousands of employees. When the suit happened, the overwhelming majority of her former employees rallied to her support. But because she is a strong and often demanding figure who calls people out on their stuff, over the decades she has accumulated several dozen enemies. These are former colleagues, staff she has fired, jealous competitors, angry ex lovers and the like. A face group group formed called “victims of Janet”. People reading superficially might assume, that there must some truth to the claims. After all, where there is smoke there is fire. But more accurately, in this case, where there is smoke there is a smoke bomb.
How did this happen. When her crisis – being sued in a very public case- hit the press, the persons pressing the suit – which was based on false claims, organized several dozen victims to speak against her. That is the source of the smoke bomb. They found people who had worked for her at different stages of her career over many decades. This was easy to do through the Internet. It would have been impossible in a pre-internet age. These victims then attempted –via internet attacks to – hijack the narrative of her life. They attempted to them claim that there was a pattern. Of course one of the first lessons of cognitive behavioral therapy is false pattern recognition. You create the illusion of a pattern by mobilizing a horde of victims sharing their public testimony, which to the sloppy and glancing eye of the internet consumer, might seem to evoke a pattern. Careful fact checking often eviscerates the initial seductive mirage of a pattern.
Where There Is Smoke There Is An Ember[1]
This does not mean that the leader is without responsibility. It might also be true that where there is smoke there is an ember. The leader may well have made genuine mistakes. It is however malice that fans an ember into a fire. It is however malice that attempts to turn mistakes, which take place in the normal arc of human relations, into wildly exaggerated and demonized pathology, which is termed evil, and according to the self appointed jihadist, must be eradicated at all costs. Malice fans an ember into a fire.
The ostensible victims have been in touch, sometimes for a decade or more, aligning their stories. There is a kind of group think victim consciousness which takes over. By participating the victim voices receive many social benefits and potentially avoid social censure within their communities.
Of course all of this is subtle and hidden. Particularly if your playground is the internet you can easily hide all of the back stories that belie the integrity of the victim voice. You can avoid all forms of genuine fact checking, both at the level of deeds-what actually happened, and at the level of motives.
On the surface, in a plethora of internet posts, all you see are brave victims risking reprisal who are breaking the silence. When the stories are carefully checked and turn out to be true according to genuine standards of inquiry, then we have travesty of integrity and intimacy that must be righted. When the stories are not true however, which is no less often the case, then we have no less of a travesty of integrity and intimacy that also must righted. The latter is precisely the case in the crowd sourced witch hunt of Dinan and his colleagues.
Spiritual Teachers
It is unbelievably painful to me that a group of spiritual teachers and growth movement professionals, who do not know me personally, but who have business relationships or financial ties with Stephen, have been persuaded to lend their names to this campaign without cross-checking the information being purveyed. I am certain however that once all the facts are known, the moral and formal liability of having taken such a stand will become self-evident.
It has also been most disheartening but not as unexpected to see people who have been colleagues who have close ties to Stephen, jump on Stephen’s bandwagon, some from fear, and some from self interest.
I do not know Stephen personally. I have never had a conversation with him, other then a passing hello at a public event. At several points, leaders in the Center have strongly urged Stephen to sit with me, our staff and team and carefully cross check facts and information before acting. They have also strongly urged me to sit with Stephen. Stephen has consistently refused.
I remain open to meeting Stephen directly – face to face, in a facilitated context whose intent is to create truth and reconciliation. That would require people being willing to admit having borne false witness, made false complaints and more. Everyone in the system—including myself—would need to hear each other and own their own responsibility for their part in the contribution system that led to this very moment. This is a context in which neither myself or my colleagues nor Stephen and his colleagues would be “on trial”; rather, it would be a place to give up being right and seek genuine transformation and peace. We could model this for ourselves and for the larger culture.
My colleagues at the Center for Integral Wisdom have responded directly to the smear campaign. Until this point we have only circulated our response to our own community and lists. But in light of Stephen’s rehashing of the same old canards again and again, we are sharing our public response. Following the Board of the Center’s public statement are 55 blog post by Center leaders.
I invite the reader to read each of them. They are short and wise and to the point. In reading them I hope you will actually get a direct sense of the quality of my life, relationships, and the work that we are doing at the Center for Integral Wisdom.
We live in a world of outrageous pain. The only response to outrageous pain is outrageous love. Outrageous love is not tepid or lukewarm. It is a fire that both warms and inspires even as it fierce and demanding. For the sake of goodness, truth and beauty, for the sake of my partners, my children and the many people with whom I am deeply in love, I will at the appropriate time respond in depth to every single false claim. I want to do so in a way which seeks not to destroy but to create, not to tear down but to build up, not merely to shout against the darkness but to add light.
Statement from the Center for Integral Wisdom
In response to the current attacks on Dr. Marc Gafni, The Center for Integral Wisdom has released the following statement:
Dr. Marc Gafni is under attack from certain quarters of the religious and spirituality worlds. Based on our careful review of extensive documentary evidence, numerous professional evaluations, and our collective experiences with Dr. Gafni, we fully trust that the claims of sexual harassment and abuse are false.
The Center for Integral Wisdom takes the strongest possible stance against all forms of sexual harassment and abuse. Before any of us became formally affiliated with the Center, we, collectively, carefully reviewed these allegations. We concluded, and reaffirm now, that the claims against Dr. Gafni are either untrue or significantly distorted.
Furthermore, all of us have extensive professional and personal experiences of the most positive nature with Dr. Gafni, regularly observing his goodness, integrity and kindness.
Over the years, Dr. Gafni has offered many times to engage in a professionally facilitated dialogue with the parties involved in making and disseminating these claims. However, these parties have not been willing to meet for mediated resolution in which all parties take responsibility for their part in the contribution system that created these conflicts.
Instead, over many years they have aligned with each other, coordinating their stories and efforts, avoiding forums which would allow for discerning fact checking and mutual responsibility. Given our common desire for peace in the world, it is more then unfortunate that there has not been the opportunity to engage in a productive process of resolution. The agenda of the parties has been to create public campaigns of character assassination intended to discredit Dr. Gafni in his professional and personal life.
If you would like a deeper sense of Marc, his collaborative work and character, the Center’s work, as well as a substantive refutation of the core negative stories on the web, you might want to read some of the posts below, as well as the Facts section on Marc’s personal website, WhoIsMarcGafni.com. You might also want to peruse the extensive material on the Center for Integral Wisdom website, or just read one of Marc’s books. In the next few weeks and months, Marc and other leaders at the Center will be sharing more specific information, as well as reflections on the larger issues at stake in this conversation.
Please see below for fifty-five blog posts from Center leaders that deal with these issues directly. We would urge any reader interested in deeper understanding and truth to read these posts with care, discernment and an open heart.
You can access the 55+ posts by clicking here.
Also read this beautiful analysis by Dr. Clint Fuhs titled: Anatomy of a Smear: The Internet Trial of Marc Gafni
[1] Where there is smoke there is an ember. In most of these stories there is a pattern of behavior that takes place over many years. Beware however of the common mistake of false pattern recognition. The ostensible pattern needs to be properly interpreted. If the issues at play are sexual, the pattern of interaction over many years may be primarily post conventional, with all of the messiness that sometimes implies or the pattern might be predatory. The difference is everything. To ascertain the distinction, there is all sorts of objective evidence that needs to be reviewed. That review is called fair process or integrity.
by Barbara Marx Hubbard
One of the most dangerous problems we face in the world is extremism on behalf of belief. In many cases, extremists convince themselves that another faith or political system or individual is ‘evil’, and that they are justified in destroying them by any means necessary. We see this tendency, with tragic consequences, in the political sphere. We are now seeing it the so-called spiritual world. People who claim to be apostles of higher consciousness see no problem with trying to destroy others without due process, open dialogue, non-violent communication or the possibility of resolving differences with compassion, forgiveness and healing. Even more problematically they often hide their hidden agendas under the veneer of victim advocacy. The spiritual world is not exempt from malice. Malice, as Milan Kundera reminds us, “must never admit of itself so it must always plead other motives”.
This kind of behavior is terrorism. Violence of this sort is very hard to respond to creatively without becoming a terrorist yourself. Yet we have to say NO! to terrorism of any kind, including our own.
With this in mind I am called forth by my sense of justice to stand against the recent extremist process of cyber-attacks, initiated by a leader in the evolutionary spiritual community against Marc Gafni and the Center for Integral Wisdom. Using his marketing skills and a carefully orchestrated cyber campaign, my former colleague Stephen Dinan has written a series of letters, blogs and articles filled with factual distortions, subtle and gross smears about Gafni, turning the same attack process against anyone who stands with Marc or considers working with him.
Stephen runs a lucrative online network, The Shift, which creates profits and fame for dozens of teachers. Many of these teachers depend on him for a major part of their livelihood. Most of the teachers who have signed onto Dinan’s petition against Marc have business ties of one form or another, or outright financial dependency on Stephen. Many of them have signed without knowing Marc personally, based solely on untrue claims. None of the claims are new. They are recycled versions of old claims that Marc has responded to in depth and that have been professionally reviewed by many conscious people of great integrity. You are welcome to read the Facts section of Marc’s personal website to see much of this material.
The fact is, Stephen has refused even to have a conversation with Marc, and has set out to destroy the reputation and ability to teach of a remarkable spiritual, social and evolutionary innovator.
I along with leaders of the Center for Integral Wisdom are fully opposed to any form of sexual harassment or abuse. At the same time, I equally stand against false accusations to try and destroy a person’s integrity and ability to function in the world. Those of us who know the truth of who Marc is are speaking out, for the sake of a new force in evolution, that is just as important for our world as the force we call democracy. This is about the evolution of our public culture. Those who first supported democracy were often killed for their courage. In the emergence of a fully empowered evolutionary movement, the integrity of our means and methods around conflict is crucial. The evolutionary movement for social change needs to be based on the fundamental principles of modern justice, not on regressive memes which conduct trials by internet with no opportunity whatsoever for dialogue, fact checking, due process, or non-violent communication.
I attended two Center for Integral Wisdom board meetings with about seventy five highly conscious men and women, leaders in business, spirit, and education who were in attendance. As Warren Farrell said at the end of one meeting, “Marc is the only leader I have ever seen with so much personal depth, presence, and teaching ability who is able to step aside and create space for everyone to shine.”
In 2016, I became the Co-Chair of CIW, an office formally handed over to me by John Mackey, whose four-year term was complete.
Many CIW board members are working actively on evolutionary projects with Marc. These include numerous books, online courses, media projects, radio shows, podcasts, and partnered initiatives—all of which focus on furthering the vision of the center, which is to influence the “source code of culture” toward ethical evolution.
Marc is author of eleven books, including two of the most powerful that I have read. First is Your Unique Self: The Radical Path to Personal Enlightenment, which includes a foreword and afterword by Ken Wilber. This seminal work affirms the unique creative self within everyone and offers guidance to fully realize it. Another is his scholarly, two-volume work, Radical Kabbalah, which reveals the origins in Jewish mysticism of the modern concept that free spiritually-motivated human beings embody the Divine. Marc has also authored The Mystery of Love, which speaks for the spiritual significance of Eros as force for evolution, genius and life itself.
He has written at least three unpublished seminal works which I have read that are only now being published and is deep in the middle of the next set of writings.
In Marc’s words, the goal of the center is to create “a genuine unique self symphony, in which each unique self brings their own unique gifts to create a new evolutionary we space.”
I would urge everyone to read the response to the smear campaign by the board of the directors of the Center for Integral Wisdom and especially the fifty plus blogs by Center leaders that follow it. You will feel the quality of the conversation at the Center, which is why I was honored to succeed John Mackey as co-chair of the board.
As an elder of that movement, and as a life-long advocate for the conscious evolution of humanity, I am compelled to speak up for the integrity of our means and methods to resolve conflict.
How did this well-organized attack on Marc Gafni happen?
This is a complex question; one which will be taken up directly in the future. But, here is what I personally know.
My work with Stephen deepened during a beautiful event sponsored by myself and the Shift Network. Called “Birth 2012” to celebrate the new era of evolution.
For many years, I had been describing and teaching about a coming global shift, instigated by the crisis we are facing on Earth. I know that in evolution, crisis precedes transformation.
The question for me and other evolutionaries has been how to respond to a crisis of global magnitude, one which may possibly lead to the extinction of our species. The answer is by deepening our commitment to furthering the 13.8 billion years of evolution that’s driven us toward higher consciousness, freedom, and order. The was the deeper purpose of Birth 2012.
During Birth 2012 leaders and small groups from around the world were connected in cyber-space as we celebrated this multi-media global television event at the Agape Spiritual Center in Los Angeles.
I continued to teach about and call for a full scale Planetary Awakening in the year 2020 seeing it as a critical date.
In August 2015, I invited Marc to be on a Skype call about 2020 with my friend, Ervin Lazlo, scientist and author of over 50 books. Marc, Ervin and I had a deep and delightful conversation. I asked Marc to write up a statement of our intention. Read it here and you will I am sure be as moved as we all were: “A New Coalition Is Forming to Catalyze the Evolution of Consciousness”. Marc knew nothing about Stephen Dinan’s interest in 2020 at that time. It was a wonderful conversation. I asked Marc to post it on the Center’s site and asked Ervin and my staff to post it on our sites.
Stephen told me he was furious. I called Marc and asked Marc to remove the post. He did so immediately. This is when the process of attack against Marc by Stephen began to reveal itself.
The next step happened on September 18, 2015. I had completed a student retreat at the Shift campus in Petaluma. Stephen announced his passion for 2020 — a new campaign for International Peace Day . He said wanted me to work under him again.
I replied that I would “be his partner, but not work directly under him and the Shift”, simply because I wanted to partner with others who were already working toward this date, with many kinds of events and celebrations.
“No,” he said very severely. I HAVE THE STRUCTURE. YOU WILL FAIL. YOU MUST DO IT UNDER ME.” His intense demand for control reminded me of how he behaved during Birth 2012, whenever I wanted to bring any other distinguished person in to work directly with me.
Stephen was treating me with obvious disrespect—demonstrating a not so subtle sexism, ageism, and bullying.
I mildly said that I would be his partner, but not work under him.
As I had promised, I began to introduce people to Stephen who were interested in the 2020 possibilities. I also tried to set up a conversation for Stephen to get to know Marc. He adamantly refused even to talk with Marc. I was shocked at the virulence of his refusal to communicate. He said, “I must not under any circumstances have anything to do with him.” He then told me that it would ruin my career to work with Marc. (He did not mention that he would be the person to try and ruin my career.) He handed me a stack of old attack material against Marc.
I told Stephen in subsequent conversations that there was extensive information that refuted these claims but he refused to meet or to check any of the evidence available that countered the false claims. I implored him to meet Marc and the many powerful and conscious women around him. He refused. Later I would realize that by that time he had already set his course to destroy Marc.
I myself have personally read several hundred pages of compelling information that has been meticulously gathered over the years. It is apparent that Marc has suffered injustice in many ways. I also know that he has always been and is now available to meet in mediated contexts with any individual, check evidence, take mutual responsibility, and create peace.
Stephen then gave me the number of Marc’s former wife, Chaya Lester, in Israel as well as Rabbi David Ingber in New York City. It was clear that Stephen, Chaya, and Ingber were all in touch and connected as early as this past September. Ingber and Chaya who were involved in the attack on Marc a decade ago, were central figures in the current smear campaign.
I called them both. Ingber was highly antagonistic to Marc. Chaya told me during the conversation that she might be open to the possibility of reconciliation, but then later apparently plunged again into the smear campaign against her former husband, continuing a decade of attacking Marc. In depth response to these quarters will come I am sure at the right time and place. But for now I will say that I have read a private letter circulated about Marc in 2008 which Chaya co-authored. The level of demonization is truly astonishing and ridiculous to anyone who knows Marc. The letters is so laced with virulence and so filled with “facts” that are factually untrue that the malicious intent to destroy, having nothing to do with protecting any victims, is obviously revealed.
Meanwhile, a personally offensive element of the attack began. Stephen contacted Steven Hassan, a self-published ex-cult member who calls himself “America’s leading Cult Expert.” Stephen asked Hassan to get in touch with my daughter about an “intensive intervention.” Stephen tried to frighten my daughter to persuade her to hire Hassan (at a cost of $10,000) to protect her mother from Marc.
Stephen, Hassan and my daughter exchanged emails for several days. In the email exchange the outline of the smear campaign was clear. Marc was to be “stopped in his tracks”. The “world” would be saved from Marc. Stephen would organize a NY Times article to be the center of the campaign. The virulence of the tone was truly frightening.
My daughter forwarded me these emails from Stephen in mid October, at the same time that Marc heard from the NY times columnist who contacted Marc to do the article that was apparently intended to initiate the smear campaign. My daughter wrote me that she was being taken advantage of and manipulated by Stephen, and that Stephen’s motivation was not to protect me but to destroy Marc. She was deeply offended by what she called an action of Jihad extremism. My daughter said to me: “If anyone tried to do this to my daughter, I would have called the police! “
Subsequently, Stephen also told me directly that he was contacting the New York Times to do an article about Marc. I was dismayed and realized that he is actually trying to destroy Marc and everything Marc had built.
The Times article was published on Christmas Day—December 25, 2015—a sad day to launch the next round of attacks. This article was the first in a line of many articles, some published by the Huffington Post, others in other forums re-cycling the same old material. The attacks ignored all the material Marc had already provided which refuted the claims.
None of the key writers in the smear campaign, who appeared suddenly out of no where, and who seem to have been recruited, knew Marc. Some of them hung up on Marc’s staff who attempted to call and create dialogue or fact checking. They made many blatantly false claims about Marc. Marc was regularly referred to as a child rapist, statutory rapist, pedophile, wanted in Israel for sexual harassment and the like. Not one of these is true. False claims were written both on his Wikipedia page and all over the internet. But none of the writers who were contacted were interested in facts or any form of alternative perspective.
Let me say it clearly. I and dozens of other powerful conscious women and men who work with Marc regularly are certain that Marc is neither a sexual harasser or a sexually abusive person in any way. Quite the opposite. He is deeply considerate, honoring and graceful, even in times of the most intense pressure, which would crack a lesser person. I have witnessed this myself, as have many others, countless times.
Is Marc strong, driving, larger then life, sometimes challenging in his demands on himself and everyone around him. Yes he is. He is a big person in every way and those of us who interact with him regularly, know that he is also one of the best people we know.
There were almost a hundred attack articles, Tweets and blogs during this period orchestrated behind the scenes. Virtually all attempts to correct facts were ignored or mocked.
Meanwhile, Stephen began to call my colleagues and warn them about my relationship with Marc. They called me after talking to Stephen saying outright that if I worked with Marc they would no longer hire me or fund my projects. He called my staff and board of directors, telling them of the danger of my friendship with Marc and recommending they disassociate from me. He insisted that my staff and board keep his ‘intervention’ secret, not telling me about his conversations with them. Several of them did resign. He called people who had invited me to speak at key events with Marc, warning them to disinvite me because of my friendship with Marc.
One of the claims made by the smear campaign is that people who speak out, risk “reprisal” from some supposedly powerful force massed to defend Marc. The fact is that in the ten years these people have been agitating against Marc, there has never been any form of threat or attack from Marc or his friends. All the reprisals have come from Stephen, Ingber, and their group of activists claiming to ‘protect’ others against Marc. Their reprisals have been directed at many prominent persons, including myself, who stand by Marc. Marc’s friends and supporters have been subjected to outright and behind-the-scenes attacks, resulting in everything from ridicule to loss of funding, dismissal from professional associations, jobs, and conference centers. People have been dropped from the Shift Network and from publishers—simply because they are known to stand up for Marc.
A public example of the attacks instigated by the smear campaign, is the way that former CIW Board Co-Chair John Mackey’s company, Whole Foods, has been subjected to smear attacks because he is not willing to speak falsely against Marc. The posts attack Mackey for associating “with pedophile Marc Gafni”. There is not one word of truth in this statement yet so many spiritual leaders have stood by or joined in without any true fact checking. This is not acceptable and that is why I am speaking out on these issues.
Most recently, Stephen has crafted a cyber-attack on me, sent to all my thousands of Shift Network students saying my life would be ruined, warning them that my teaching will be destroyed by working with Marc. Perhaps he is referring to my eight books, and all of the organizations I have helped found—The World Future Society, The Association for Global New Thought, and Evolutionary Leaders. Or perhaps he was concerned about the remarkable campaign in which my name was placed, along with Geraldine Ferraro, for nomination for the Vice Presidency on the Democratic ticket in 1984, where we proposed a Peace Room and an Office for the Future to scan for, map, connect, and communicate what was working in the world. I wouldn’t mention any of this except to reveal the extent of his malice to destroy my long life of service because I choose to work with one good evolutionary teacher and friend, after 86 years of dedication to seeking the next steps toward a positive future for all.
He refuses to give me access to my students’ emails, so I could respond to his criticism and his claims directly. I want everyone to understand the depth of the problem here. I teach for Stephen and yet I have no access to the emails of my own students. So when Stephen attacks me I cannot respond and explain my position to my own students.
As I said, We are speaking for a new force in evolution itself that needs to be activated in society. This is my life-work, and this letter is an expression of that force. True evolutionary movements cannot be destroyed. Like those who first supported democracy we will not be destroyed nor will our community. We will be encouraged and reinforced by our participation in the vast citizen movement for positive change; one that does not at this time directly attempt to change existing government, but seeks to offer a “better design” that articulates common goals and matches needs with resources for the good of the greater community, as advocated so many years ago by one of my great teachers, Buckminster Fuller.
As of this week, Stephen went after the movie RISE UP, which is still in its fund-raising stage. This remarkable and important film focuses on new, more humane and environmentally-concerned visions of success. Stephen is stoking fear in some of its extraordinary cast of business and thought leaders, attempting to persuade them to drop out of the film, by concerning them that their own reputations will be attacked and by sharing the mis-information that has been spread in the smear campaign.
As I finish this letter, I want to summarize some of my thoughts.
I want you all to know that I am dedicated to working with Marc, to teaching and writing with him. Of course I recognize that like all of us has imperfections and faults.
Marc is a scholar and an advocate of spiritual/evolutionary potential for humanity, deeply imbued with the ability to communicate and inspire the evolutionary impulse. He honors and motivates people to fulfill the love and power they can each embody. There are many of us who work with him throughout the world who can attest to this experience with gratitude and deep appreciation.
I have spoken with colleagues in his teaching communities in Europe and the United States. I have worked with members of his staff and find that he is deeply admired and loved by people he has worked with for years. His gift for friendship and collaboration is a blessing in the lives of countless people.
This deliberate effort to separate us, to destroy one another is especially dangerous, activating a process of rejection without dialogue. This is a movement profoundly against the future we are all working toward.
What is needed now is not angry rejection and negativity, splitting Marc off as the Other in order to purify ourselves, but a new degree of connectivity among us that can shift the system forward toward greater complexity, freedom and synergistic order.
In the name of calling out the Shadow, Stephen and others have done exactly the opposite of what Carl Jung famously advocated. Jung described how each of us projects our undigested Shadow onto individuals and groups who serve as ‘hooks’ that reflect our own unacknowledged inner conflicts. What is the woundedness at play here that needs healing?
I am expressing my sadness over this situation and the loss of Stephen Dinan whom I considered to be a very good friend and dear colleague.
Let us seek a higher level resolution commensurate with what is being taught on Shift network such as peacekeeping, non violent communication, sacred democracy and transformation.
In conclusion I would like quote something that Marc wrote: “I want to conclude with my impossible dream: What if the result of this explosion was the seeking of a higher clarification? What if over time, all the parties could sit together, fact check, and seek genuine truth and reconciliation? Some of the key actors in this story are the same people who demand that Israel sit and negotiate with the Palestinians. I understand that demand, despite the terrorism, killing of each others’ children, and countless atrocities. Yes, Israel and Palestine must make peace. How can we demand that they make peace if we cannot, in far different circumstance, even make peace between ourselves? I am ready and willing.”
With profound determination to protect and promote humane, just, and fair behavior, and the development of Sacred Democracy,
Barbara Marx Hubbard
Also read this beautiful analysis by Dr. Clint Fuhs titled: Anatomy of a Smear: The Internet Trial of Marc Gafni
In response to the current attacks on Dr. Marc Gafni, The Center for Integral Wisdom has released the following statement:
Dr. Marc Gafni is under attack from certain quarters of the religious and spirituality worlds. Based on our careful review of extensive documentary evidence, numerous professional evaluations, and our collective experiences with Dr. Gafni, we fully trust that the claims of sexual harassment and abuse are false, and that other claims against him are maliciously distorted.
The Center for Integral Wisdom takes the strongest possible stance against all forms of sexual harassment and abuse. Before any of us became formally affiliated with the Center, we, collectively, carefully reviewed these allegations. We concluded, and reaffirm now, that the claims against Dr. Gafni are either untrue or significantly distorted. Furthermore, all of us have extensive professional and personal experiences of the most positive nature with Dr. Gafni, regularly observing his goodness, integrity and kindness.
Over the years, Dr. Gafni has offered many times to engage in a professionally facilitated dialogue with the parties involved in making and disseminating these claims. However, these parties have not been willing to meet for mediated resolution. Instead, over many years they have aligned with each other, coordinating their stories and efforts, avoiding forums which would allow for discerning fact checking and mutual responsibility. Given our common desire for peace in the world, it is unfortunate that there has not been the opportunity to engage in a productive process of resolution. The agenda of the parties has been to create public campaigns of character assassination intended to discredit Dr. Gafni in his professional and personal life.
If you would like a deeper sense of Marc, his collaborative work and character, the Center’s work, as well as a substantive refutation of the core negative stories on the web, you might want to read some of the posts below, as well as the Facts section on Marc Gafni’s personal website. You might also want to peruse the extensive material on the Center for Integral Wisdom website, or just read one of Marc’s books. In the next few weeks and months, Marc and other leaders at the Center will be sharing more specific information, as well as reflections on the larger issues at stake in this conversation.
Please be aware that Dr. Gafni’s legal team has advised him to not comment further at this time given the defamatory nature of the false accusations against him and the distorted narrative that has ensued.
Editor’s Note:
The people who have commented on this page below work closely with and support Marc and the Center for Integral Wisdom. Most have been working with him for many years. This group includes professors, successful business people, book editors, writers, clergymen and clergywomen, therapists, psychologists, and heads of departments at schools and therapy centers. Most of them have advanced degrees. Several have written successful books.
You will notice that several of these people have posted under initials or pseudonyms. During the weeks since the campaign against Marc began, many of these people were being ‘targeted’ or pressured by some of the organizers who are attacking Marc’s reputation. They and others associated with the Center have received letters demanding that they disassociate from Marc. Their employers, neighbors and families have been called. Their websites and Facebook pages have received negative comments. So in order to avoid more of this, some of them have not posted under their professional names.
For Audio Versions of This Podcast, Click Here The Smart Funny Tortured Podcast Paul Chamberlain sits down with some of the most interesting people he knows to talk about what it was like when they broke down and what was their breakthrough. What tools, supports, and practices did they use and still use, to get back on track and carry on? The podcast will also allow you to get to know Paul. What started as a well-produced podcast, turned into a life-changing cathartic confessional that could have only happened via his amazing guests and the support [...]
NEW Unique Self Courses in Collaboration with Parallax and the Unique Self Institute An invitation by Marc Gafni (Transcript of Video): Reality is evolution, and evolution is a series of transformations. My reality—my life—is my evolution. That evolution consists of the personal transformations I experience. To count means to be accountable, right? So, to be accountable is to answer one fundamental question: Did I live my Unique Self Story, the story that will shape how I face my death? Whether I find myself in a death chair, on a death walker, or even on death skis, [...]
Enjoy this podcast with Dr. Marc Gafni featured on the Aubrey Marcus Podcast Join Aubrey and Vylana in conversation with Dr. Marc Gafni. In Aubrey's voice: How many relationships do you know that are truly inspiring? For many people my relationship with my wife Vylana is one of those unions. But it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. In this radically vulnerable podcast we disclose for the first time the details of our own crisis of separation, and how we came back stronger than ever with the help of Rebbe Marc Gafni and his blueprints for the future of [...]
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Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself… – Khalil Gibran
Thanks again for purchasing this telecourse on the Three Faces of Love from our Unplugged Archives.
You can download a zip-folder of all of the audio recordings here by right-clicking (or Ctr + click for Mac-Users) and save as.
What kind of love do you really long for? What kind of love do you yearn to give? What have you imagined for yourself and for those you care about? When was the last time you challenged yourself to confess what’s true – not as an ideal, but as your lived reality, as your life? Are you ready to challenge yourself to grow in and as love? Are you prepared to admit that your loving is stalled at the status quo, and that it is up to you to change it? Do you want to evolve your love consciously? What would happen if you committed to a conscious, developmental practice of Love – not sentimental, not overly emotional or personally fixated, but one of genuine transformation that changes you, those you love, and the world.
If you are longing for this, if you are ready to join Diane Musho Hamilton and Dr. Marc Gafni for a journey into intimacy, vulnerability, and the vast wilderness of the heart. Abandon limited self-discovery, and enter into a rapturous world where, through conscious engagement, you become an instrument of Love’s Evolution.
Week 1: Open to the Three Faces of Love
Week 2: Discover Evolution as Love, Love as Evolution
Week 3: Become Love: Discover your Innate True Nature
Week 4: Deepen Your Recognition as Love
Week 5: Love as Devotion: Engage the Beloved
Week 6: Transform the Wounds of Love
Week 7: Transmute Negative Emotions
Week 8: Express Love through Sacred Conversation
Week 9: Commit to Love
