Interspiritual Network Programs

A Collection of Interspirituality-related Programs

Since 2013 several “Working Groups” have been formed to work concertedly with partnered interfaith-related organizations across several areas of global concern. These continue ongoing work as noted under each below.

Sacred Sites & Gaiafield

INTERSPIRITUAL NETWORK Sacred Sites & Gaiafield CIRCLE

See our History, and Statements of Purpose, Below the Circle Lists

 

This working group connects the work of The Gaiafield Project with that of Bio-Cultural Sacred Sites (The Center for Earth Ethics, Forum 21 Institute, and the Bio-Cultural and Sacred Sites Synergy Circle of the Evolutionary Leaders). This work is described in great detail in a special issue of our partnered magazine Light on Light.

We wish to acknowledge a great gratitude to Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee (www.goldensufi.org; www.spiritualecology.org) for his support of this initial joining, Dr. David Nicol and Philip Hellmich of our Circle–who also join us to the Gaiafield Subtle Activist Circle (see links below)–and these five circle members who helped “vet” language for this page: Oscar Miro-Quesada, Grand Father Morning Owl, Roger La Borde, Diane Berke, and Woody Vaspra.

Our Circle is a Holarchical Structure; there is no “Leader”. For information:
Kurt Johnson
(kurtjohnsonisd@yahoo.com):
www.thecominginterspiritualage.com,
www.isdna.org.

After several years of community building through weekly shared group intention calls, this Working Group has coordinated on-line international Meditations with Gaiafield and UNITY EARTH for major international events of the United Nations World Interfaith Harmony Week. These have included the 2019 Convergence of Fires in the Land of Origins (Ethiopia) [https://issuu.com/lightonlight/docs/the_convergence_sept_2018] and 2020 Holy Land, Living Waters [www.unity.earth]. The future of this work includes these kinds of activities and a further linkage of our Circle to the unfolding and ongoing activities of the Bio-Cultural Sacred Sites Synergy Circle of the Evolutionary Leaders for which Kurt Johnson, Ken Kitatani and Mindahi Bastida noted herein are the coordinators.

Circle Participants: Click to Expand
Abhiram Das: www.iskcon.org

Adam Bucko: www.adambucko.com

Andrew Vidich: www.sos.org

Amanda Turner: www.ayurvedicheadling.com

Annette Knopp: www.thefreeheart.com

Arjan Deva: (contact Karuna)

Arthur M. Suggs (Rev. Dr.): www.uccbinghamton.org

Ashley Young

Ashok Gangadean: www.awakeningmind.org

Aster Patel: www.auroville.org

Buddhananda (contact Kurt Johnson)

Charandev (contact Kurt Johnson)

Dada Maheshvarananda: www.priven.org

David Nicol: www.gaiafield.net

Desiree Hurtak: www.affs.org

Diane Berke: www.onespiritinterfaith.org

Do’ro: heartofthehealer.org/pmt-thoth-teachers/#NY

Grand Father Morning Owl (contact Kurt Johnson)

Gurutej Khalsa: www.gurutej.com

Gurucharan Singh Khalsa: www.kundalini-yoga-info.com/Gurucharan-singh.html

Inoshi: http://u.nu/

James Barnett (contact Kurt Johnson)

James Ross Godbe: www.stillpointdesign.org

Jeff Firewalker Schmitt: www.firewalker.be

J. J. Hurtak: www.affs.org

Karuna: www.lightonkundalini.com

Ken Kitatani: www.sukyomahikari.org

Kurt Johnson: www.thecominginterspiritualage.com

Lama Surya Das: www.surya.org; www.dzogchen.org

Loch Kelly: www.lochkelly.org

Mahan Rishi Singh Khalsa: www.khalsahealing.com

Mac Legerton: www.spiritualguidance.org

Michael Johnson: www.pathwaystopeace.com

Mirabai Starr: www.mirabaistarr.com

Nita Renfrew: www.facebook.com/nita.renfrew

Oscar Miro-Quesada: www.heartofthehealer.org

Philip Hellmich: www.godandconflict.com

Roger La Borde: www.shamansdoor.com

Ronit Singer: www.onenesscenternyc.org

Sachraj: (contact Karuna)

Swami Shraddhananda: www.jonesfoundation.net

UttamaSloka das: www.spiritualunitednations.info

VaradanChandar: sriramanujamissiontrust.info/old%20files/page.php?cid=17

Wilfredo Juan Baez: revwillbaez.blogspot.com

Woody Vaspra: www.worldcouncilofelders.org

Yanni Maniates: www.insideoutjourneys.com

Associated Circles: Click to Expand

Associated Circles are circles of similar workers we know through The Interspiritual Network and who share this common purpose, and also activities (as these arise). They are listed below through their major contact person(s):

 

Dena Merriam et al. and The Contemplative Alliance: www.gpiw.org

Diane Dunne and Paz y Luz (Peru) Circle: www.dianedunn.net

Ed Zullo and his New Jersey Circle (contact Kurt Johnson)

Hanne Strong and Manitou Foundation Circle: www.manitou.org

Inoshi and the UNU Wellness Circle: http://u.nu/

Jim Bryden and Binghamton NY Circle (contact Kurt Johnson)

Lyra Wright and Circle: www.livingshaman.com

Roman Unger, Cynthia Robinson and Paititi Institute (Brazil) Circle: www.paititi-institute.org

Ron Friedman, Victoria Friedman, VISTAR Circle: www.vistarfoundation.org

Yanni Maniates, and Interfaith Circle: www.insideoutjourneys.com

History and Statements of Purpose

 

In 2014, members of this Interspiritual Network—Oscar Miro-Quesada, Kurt Johnson, Roger La Borde and Diane Berke (see their links below) hosted a tele-summit call on “The Emerging Inter-Shamanism Inherent in the Emerging Interspiritual Age”.

An emerging dialogue, cooperation, synergy and co-working, they suggested, would be expected to inevitably arise across persons from the world’s shamanic practices (indigenous and other), the varied landscape of “energy work”, and the contemplative practitioners that connect with ancestral wisdom keepers of their (and others’) traditions.

Brother Wayne Teasdale was himself an active part of this conversation, reflected in his comments in The Mystic Heart: Discovering a Universal Spirituality in the World’s Religions.

In fact, over thirty members of this Interspiritual Network, including many authors and spiritual constituency leaders, had been corresponding, or speaking personally, about this for some time—actually for nearly a half-decade or more.

In 2015 we were afforded the opportunity to share our discussions– some of us directly, some anonymously– with members of a similar circle formed around:

 

David Nicol, PhD
Director & Co-Founder Gaiafield Project


gaiafield.net
Gaiafield Project on Facebook
SubtleActivism on Facebook
 
David Nicol

We welcomed this, following up with a growing number of direct contacts, and gatherings.

Accordingly, we have committed ourselves to developing a cooperative and synergetic circle with these and others, in the context of all the subtleties, and even potential pitfalls, of this kind of cooperation across such a delicate, and historically deeply rooted, realm of spiritual inquiry and practice.

 

Selected Statements of Purpose

Statement of Purpose from Grand Father Morning Owl**

The intention of our circle gatherings is to open ourselves to the understanding and respect of the spiritual journey, the variety of revelations and the transformational powers of each.

All evolved souls share a common Compassion. Having awakened Compassion, we are motivated to act Altruistically.

We are all spiritual beings having human experiences. Many of us have been here many times, through millennia. We are actually divine beings, with our feet on the ground and our spirits in eternity. We are also the instruments through which the ultimate reality perceives creation. We actually stand halfway between the microcosm and the macrocosm.

We are co-creators of this dream as well. At this time in human history, the technology of communication is allowing us to bring together individuals who have experienced higher dimensions and perspectives, through different doorways.

In accessing the people who have come through, or passed through, different doorways– shamans, awakened souls, from a myriad of religions, as well as seekers who sere simply “awakened” spontaneously and have no explanation, we discover that none of us has an explanation— it is simply a phenomenon.

Trying to grasp the magnitude and diversity of universal creation with the organizing computers we call our brains is comparable to measuring the ocean with a measuring cup.

**Grand Father Morning Owl is a long term associate of the representatives of indigenous people who, along with Grand Father Gerald Red Elk and Roger LaBorde, worked with Fr. Thomas Keating’s Snowmass Inter-religious Dialogue (see HERE)

 

Interspirituality & Prosocial

INTERSPIRTUALITY and THE PROSOCIAL MOVEMENT

Tracking the Growth of Mainstream Science’s Shift to Altruistic Evolution

 

This working group was founded in 2016 to host the initial events noted below with The Evolution Institute following on the important work on “Altruism” founded by Drs. David Sloan Wilson and Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom. This work is described in detail in a 2017 special issue of Light on Light’s The Convergence magazine [issuu.com/lightonlight/docs/the_convergence_oct_2017]. Since 2018 this work has emerged further as the “Prosocial Movement” and Prosocial World. The Interspiritual Network has further partnered with this work as described a series of articles [integralleadershipreview.com/author/kurt-johnson-and-david-sloan-wilson/] and events with Kurt Johnson and David Sloan Wilson including a filmed meeting with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala, India, in 2019. This has been followed by an experimental program in 2020 funded in part by The Templeton Foundation for visioning and activism programs based on the design elements of the Prosocial Movement and the universal spiritual elements of the Interspiritual Network and its colleague organizations (see www.prosocial.world and Jeffrey Genung at www.contemplativelife.org).

David Sloan Wilson with His Holiness The Dalai Lama in 2019
Dr. David Sloan Wilson and H. H. the Dalai Lama
Kurt Johnson with His Holiness The Dalai Lama in 2019
Dr. Kurt Johnson and H. H. the Dalai Lama

Past Events

Date: April 12th, 2016

A one-day, filmed event focused on the ethical and global change implications of mainstream science’s shift to the altruistic understanding of evolution, as summarized in David Sloan Wilson’s 2015 book in the Yale/Templeton Series in the Foundational Questions of Science: Does Altruism Exist? Culture, Genes and the Welfare of Others (DAE), featuring 20 international well-known experts and thought leaders from sacred and secular roots in a series of three (3) revolving panels that struck a balance between spirituality, ethics, environment, science, sustainability, governance, social justice, arts, economics, and more.

Host: The New York Society for Ethical Culture

Host Sponsors: The National Ethical Service and The New York Society for Ethical Culture

Event Co-Sponsors (alphabetical): The Center for Earth Ethics (Union Theological Seminary), Forum 21 Institute, Friends of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, The Interspiritual Network, Our Humanity Matters, Presence, Inside Out Journeys

Directed and produced by Tanja Andrejasic Wechsler
Filmed by Katina Productions

More to Watch

Interspirituality & Prosocial Video Discussions

Panel 1:

Moderator: Yanni Maniates and David Sloan Wilson Panelists: Mitchell Rabin, Tanja Andrejasic-Wechsler, Dena Merriam, Diane Berke, Gaston Meskens, Kurt Johnson

Panel 2:

Moderator: Henrietta Weekes, David Sloan Wilson Panelists: John Thatalamil, Anne Klaeysen, Doug King, Richard Bowell, Rev. Deborah Moldow

Panel 3:

Moderator: Yanni Maniates, David Sloan Wilson Panelists: Karenna Gore, Carole Hart, Myra Jackson, Rick Ulfik, Robert Kadar, Mahan Rishi Singh Khalsa, Mindahi Bastida Muñoz

Published Discussions

First Roundtable:

Steering Toward the Omega Point

featuring written discussions by David Sloan Wilson, Kurt Johnson, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Richard Clugston, Zachary Stein, David Korten, Kevin Brabazon, Doug King, Mike Morrell, Ken Wilber.

 

Second Roundtable

written discussions published in The Convergence magazine featuring David Sloan Wilson, Matthew Fox, Steve McIntosh, Steve Farrell, Elisabet Sahtouris, Laura George, Catherine Bell, Diane Berke, Tanja Andrejasic Wechsler, Diane Williams, Deborah Moldow, Ken Kitatani, Herman Greene, and Gaston Meskens, edited by Yanni Maniates

 

Interview with Steve Farrell of Humanity’s Team, Dr. Kurt Johnson and Yanni Maniates on the topic of Evolution and Spirituality, July 16, 2016

Click on the download link below to listen to the Interview: (NB: At a bit past the 8 minute mark there is an inadvertent brief musical interlude) MP3 File    

Dr. Kurt Johnson discusses the Altruism paradigm in these comments at a July 2016 United Nations side-event during the UN High Level Political Forum with thought leaders Richard Bowell and Michael Shewchuk
(www.humanevolutionarychange.org).

 

Even More to Watch

More Interspirituality & Prosocial Video Discussions

Continuing the Altruism Conversation with Stephen Dinan and Friends

The Convergence: Boulder Roundtable Discussion on Altruism

Ecospirituality & Sustainability

The Interspiritual Network is pleased to have supported, and innovated projects and initiatives, in Ecospirituality and Sustainability since its inception.

Below are links for the projects and initiatives directly grown from the members and organizations of The Interspiritual Network. These all aim, especially through our many Committee roles at the United Nations, to assist the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The work is closely associated with the Science and Spirituality Synergy Circle of the Evolutionary Leaders.

FROM SELF CARE TO EARTH CARE Since 2014, providing luminary programs, events and materials on the relationship of Self Care, Earth Care and everything in between. This website, for “Interspirituality and Eco-Spirituality” is updated regularly with quality materials, videos and news. Dr. Kurt Johnson and Yanni Maniates of the Interspiritual Network are hosts.

FORUM 21 INSTITUTE A forum for non-governmental organizations at the United Nations, Forum 21 is regular partner of the Interspiritual Network in eco-spiritual programs, particularly the annual Self Care to Earth Care events. From the Interspiritual Network, Dr. Kurt Johnson is Director of Life Sciences and Yanni Maniates Director of Eco-Ministries.

INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS AND DEVELOPMENT. Developed in 2020, I-CEED is an international outgrowth of Forum 21 Institute’s ongoing work in ecospirituality and sustainability. Reaching out internationally from the United Nations committee and caucus systems at the UN campus in New York City, I-CEED is a multifaceted program assisting attainment of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

INSIDE OUT JOURNEYS Yanni Maniates, Director of Eco-Ministries for Forum 21, hosts diverse pages on eco-spirituality, including the Eco-Activist Newsletter.

PROCESS SPIRITUALITY T. S. Pennington of the Interspiritual Network hosts this page specializing in eco-spiritual and environmental issues and assisting with the Eco-Activist Newsletter

CONSCIOUS SPACE ECONOMY. Part of our cooperation on sustainability with the Science and Spirituality Synergy Circle of the Evolutionary Leaders is this website specializing in the ethical and actual implications of how we treat the terra firma of other planets or moons. It is a site and initiative launched by the Chair of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, Claudia Welss, as outlined recently in Conscious Business magazine p. 54-55.

ECOFAITH SANTA BARBARA Dr. Ed Bastian of The Interspiritual Network is co-founder of ECOFaith Santa Barbara and a member of the United Religions Initiative Environmental Cooperation Circle.

THE COMING INTERSPIRITUAL AGE Dr. Kurt Johnson updates this page with pertinent Ecospiritual content concerning the global process of “Waking Up and Growing Up”.

AN ASSOCIATION OF ECO-SPIRITUAL ADVOCATES This Facebook Page was created to serve all of the above groups on Facebook and link in the wider Eco-Ministries communities nationally and internationally.

ROOTED IN PEACE Our long term associate, filmmaker Greg Reitman, takes us on a cinematic journey to take notice, stop the cycle of violence, and seek ways to find personal and ecological peace.

CENTER FOR HUMAN EVOLUTARY CHANGE. This is a United Nations NGO partner which also cooperates with our National Ethical Service NGO (NES). It specializes in the vision on integral thinker Richard Bowell and his team with Michael Shewchuk and Kay Dunforf (of NES). It specializes in serving the aims of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

THE ROME-ASSISI CONFERENCE ON SPIRITUALITY AND SUSTAINABILITY. Since 2017, the Forum 21Institute (www.i-ceed.org) family, of which The Interspiritual Network is a part, have sponsored the Rome-Assisi Conference on Spirituality and Sustainability in association with the Earth Charter Initiative and the Dicastery for Laudato Si at the Vatican. The purpose of this annual conference is the organize cooperation for promulgation of Pope Francis’s environmental message.

THE GLOBAL INTERSPIRITUALITY NETWORK Facebook Page

Spirituality and Sustainability Conference: Rome/Assisi
ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Festival & Events

INTERSPIRITUAL FESTIVALS AND EVENTS with UNITY EARTH [www.unity.earth]

 

UNITY EARTH Partners: 1.God.com, World Weavers, UDAY Festivals, Presence, and The Interspiritual Network

The Interspiritual Network is pleased to join the UNITY EARTH Partners– 1God, World Weavers and the international UDAY Festivals and Presence– in creating inspiring top-of-the-line Interspiritual Music, Motion and Participatory Festivals worldwide.

Features

Featured Events & Festivals

1GOD.com Explainer video

U Day Festival Video

An evocative video from World Weavers’ Monk for a Month Program

Presence

And our Network’s further partner, Presence:
www.presence.tv

 
 

Watch the UDAY Festival website for upcoming programs and join us!

 
 

Persons & Organizations

 

Please find below a growing alphabetical list of teachers and organizations that regularly provide Interspiritual related resources and programs. Please click on these links to their websites for up-to-date information about their resources, events and programs.

Many of them are profiled in our Light on Light magazines’ colorful special issues on Transformative Communities [issuu.com/lightonlight/docs/lightonlight_issue_2], Spiritual Practice [issuu.com/lightonlight/docs/lightonlight_un_idy_2019]
and Inspired Lifestyle [issuu.com/lightonlight/docs/lightonlight_issue_4].

Click to Expand

Contact Us

If you would like to get in touch with any of the committee members please click the button below: