SPIRITUAL PATHS FOUNDATION

“Forging InterSpiritual Wisdom”

Prospectus

This brief prospectus provides a brief historical perspective and outlines our priorities and initiatives over the next two years for which we are seeking funding, partners, and personnel.  Further information is available upon request.

A. History

This year, Spiritual Paths Foundation, a 501©(3) not-for-profit organization, is celebrating its tenth anniversary. Since our inception, we have provided retreats, classes, and e-courses wherein contemplative teachers and practitioners from many major traditions have found common ground for forging shared wisdom that enhances communal and individual spiritual development leading to greater peace and justice, and a healthier environment.  Our educational programs are helping to create a universal, non-sectarian “InterSpiritual Wisdom” that can be a unifying and healing force in the world.

We were founded in 2002 in Aspen, Colorado, and in 2006 we moved our administrative office to the beautiful grounds of La Casa de Maria Retreat Center in Santa Barbara. We have partnered with La Casa de Maria on more that twenty major retreat programs, courses, and individual classes. Our Aspen base continues to be the Aspen Chapel where we present annual summer programs.

By the end of 2011, we will have presented more that fifty thematic-based education programs with over forty teachers to more than 1,500 students in Aspen, Santa Barbara, Garrison Institute (New York), Naropa University (Boulder, CO), Hollyhock Retreat Center (British Columbia), Institute of Noetic Sciences (California), Esalen Institute (California); as well as individual programs in Seattle, Carmel, Cedar Rapids, and San Francisco.

Our two-year Certificate program on InterSpiritual Wisdom graduated its first twenty-two students in 2010.  Currently, we are expanding our online learning classes by utilizing hundreds of hours of our insightful audios and videos.  We have also published three books based on the thematic content of our programs.

B. Projects and Twelve-Month Budget

1. Certificate Courses and Classes on InterSpiritual Wisdom

In 2008 we launched a two-year masters-level curriculum on InterSpiritual Wisdom.  It was developed by an InterSpiritual team of exceptional teachers, each authenticated within their respective traditions.  The program is based on an intellectual inquiry and contemplative experience of the teachings of the world’s sacred traditions combined with personally mentored spiritual practice. We graduated our first class of twenty-two students in 2010.  Based on this experience, we are now restructuring this program to increase its educational effectiveness and to make it financially sustainable.

In 2011, we are increasing our emphasis on online certificate classes via our website.  These online classes will enhance our curriculum on InterSpiritual Wisdom and build upon the hundreds of hours of audio and videotapes from each of the retreat programs and classes we have presented over the past ten years.  Online classes will enable us to reach a global audience that will benefit from the wisdom of our teachers long into the future.

Our goal is to continue providing in-person classes, retreats, and intensives that bring students and faculty together to build community relationships that are very important to the subjects we teach.  The frequency of these in-person programs will depend on enrollment numbers and revenues.

2. Individual Classes and Retreats

Many of our previous public programs, classes and retreats have included multiple presenters around a single theme.  These programs included presentations, discussions, meditations, music or ritual, and personal contemplative time.  While this is an ideal approach for InterSpiritual programming, participant fees alone are often not adequate to fund multiple teachers in a single program.

In the coming years, many of our individual classes and retreats will be done in partnership with such other organizations as La Casa de Maria, Institute of Noetic Sciences, Esalen Institute, One Spirit Interfaith Seminary, and the Garrison Institute, among others.  Most will be led by Ed Bastian and will include other teachers when funding is sufficient.  Since the cost of multiple presenters cannot be fully recovered from program fees alone our ideal format of five presenters from various religions will only be possible if they are subsidized by a foundation grant or individual donations.

Accordingly, we are seeking funding sources for a multiple teacher weekend program on InterSpiritual Wisdom in the fall 2011, or spring 2012.  In addition, we are seeking development funding for a program on Chumash and Polynesian spiritual maritime culture.  A preliminary draft of this program is attached.

3. Publishing

Spiritual Paths has published three major books based on our programs.  The titles of these books are: Living Fully Dying Well, InterSpiritual Meditation, and Meditations for InterSpiritual Wisdom.  Living Fully Dying Well won three gold metals for the best book on the end-of-life in 2010.

New publishing technologies have made it very economical to publish books on our own without a separate publisher.  Also, publishers typically retain content rights making it difficult to repurpose our content for online education and digital publishing.  By publishing our own books (along with audios &videos), we increase the value of every presentation from each of our programs by, potentially, reaching a much larger audience.  Therefore, we will continue to develop and publish books in both paper and digital formats along with audios, video DVDs, and Podcasts based on recordings, transcripts, and learning materials from a variety of programs we have presented and recorded throughout the US.

In the coming year, we will be developing three more books.  One is by SPI faculty Swami Armarupananda, based on his teachings of two years in the Spiritual Paths Institute.  This will be a model for future publications by other faculty.  The second two books are by Ed Bastian.  The first is called “Buddhism Inside Out.”  The second is called “Mandala for Personal Spiritual Development.”

Mandala for Personal Spiritual Development

The ” Mandala for Personal Spiritual Development” was the founding vision for Spiritual Paths and has implicitly guided our mission since 2000.  It is based on the theories, writing, and experience of Spiritual Paths founder, Dr. Ed Bastian who began developing it in 1988.  The Mandala describes 12 spiritual styles, 12 spiritual questions, and 12 spiritual traditions.  The process begins with each person creating their own personal spiritual profile.  Then guidance is provided to obtain the teaching and information needed to create a personal spiritual path.  The main features of the website are: 1. The 3-Dimensional User interface; 2. The expert content by our team of teachers; 3. The algorithm assisted searches for web-based content to help each person find the most suitable information for them;  4. Community forums for people of similar profiles to communicate and share their journeys; 5. Individual or group spiritual classes, mentoring, and coaching.

The goal over the next two years is to bring the Mandala fully to life in the form of a published book, in concert with instructional website, classes, programs, and a computer-based virtual journey.  The next steps are as follows:

1. Design of the computer interface (including the 3-D Mandala) – [beginning with the wire frame of the duodecahedron]
2. Design the web template for (a) articles for each of the 3 sets of 12, (b) expert content on each for our team, (c) discussion/forum/articles content from users, (d) search tool for web-based content, (e) individual sections for user personal paths.
2. Program the process for creating personal profiles (spiritual styles, questions, etc.)
3. Create the algorithms for searching the web for the information that matches the personal profile of each user.
4. Design the programming by which each user organizes the elements of their personal path on the website.  (Please note that detailed information on each of these tasks will be available on request._

4. General and Administrative Support for All Projects

Administratively, our goal has always been to keep our costs to a minimum.  Rather than hiring fulltime employees, we have learned to employ proven experts in the areas of work required and to hire them on contract at the best rates possible.  Included in the budget that follows are the minimum operational costs for office, telephone, internet, websites, program development & management, relationship building, accounting, and fundraising.  These costs are directly related to the development and completion each of the projects mentioned herein.

5. Physical Home for Spiritual Paths

During the past 5 years we have been very fortunate to be based at La Casa de Maria in Santa Barbara, and before that at the Aspen Chapel in Aspen.  And our programs have been held in wonderful retreat centers through the US and Canada.  They have successfully helped over 1,500 people unite “their heads and the hearts,” in the quest for InterSpiritual Wisdom.

In the near future, La Casa de Maria will begin a major renovation that quite likely will require us to move to another location.  This move aligns with our long-term need to find a physical home of our own.  Over the past ten years, we have learned that our InterSpiritual education and experience would be immeasurably enhanced by a place where people can connect this vision with a physical environment – a pilgrimage place or destination – devoted to this all-inclusive, universal mission.  Ideally, it would be a place nestled in the nature where our faculty and students could engage, reconnect, and unite with the elements of a natural environment.

Therefore, we envision a place where modest individual retreat structures can be nestled into the land, around centralized meeting, administrative, dining, and bathing facilities. The facilities would be simple, natural, light-on-the-land, and self-sustainable while requiring no fossil fuel based energy. The environmentally friendly features will, ideally, include composting toilets, water conservation and re-use, permaculture inspired gardens, solar and wind generated electricity.   In this place, participants will connect their spiritual, contemplative practices with a deeper relationship with the natural environment.  Here they will gain new tools and practices to live sustainably and provide a living environmental model for others to follow.

If such a place is not available immediately, we will seek a near-term place to provide a simple residence, office, and meeting space.

6. ECOFaith Santa Barbara

For the past few years, Spiritual Paths has managed the development of ECOFaith Santa Barbara, a collaborative environmental initiative including over twenty faith communities.  The premise of ECOFaith is that the solution to global warming cannot come from new technologies alone.  Rather, a sustainable future will also require behavioral changes that include reduced consumption and energy-saving lifestyles.  Religions are very significant behavioral change agents and most of the people in the world are affiliated with a religion.  Therefore, a solution to global warming must include religions.

ECOFaith is a significant public service initiative to help religious organizations and congregations to “green up” and become models of environmental sustainability.  In a partnership with the UCSB Bren School, Masters Degree students, we are will producing a comprehensive manual for future ECOFaith congregations including carbon reduction metrics for each action taken.  This comprehensive manual will be used by faith communities throughout the world throughpartnerships with such organizations as Interfaith Power and Light and the United Religions.

Ed Bastian helped to launch ECOFaith with support of Congressperson Lois Capps along with Karin Quimby and other key partners.  Spiritual Paths has provided a funding vehicle for its development and  this year we will seek another appropriate non-profit organization to take on the administration of this important initiative.

7. Projected Budget (2011)

1. Certificate Courses & Classes on InterSpiritual Wisdom 2. Individual Classes and Retreats 3. Publishing (Including Mandala) 4. G&A inclusive of all these projects 5. Home for Spiritual Paths Total (Spiritual Paths Direct Projects) 6. ECOFaith Santa Barbara	$25,000 $17,500 $29,000 $88,100 TBD $149,600 $55,550
Grand Total	$215,150

Budget details will be available upon request.