SPEAKERS
Reverend Cynthia Bourgeault, Ph.D.
Father Thomas Keating say's "Cynthia Bourgeault applies her singular grasp of the Centering Prayer practice to the needs of both beginners and those who are advanced. Her masterful use of words enables each person to feel personally invited by the Divine Spirit into the spiritual journey."
Cynthia Bourgeault is an Episcopalian priest and retreat leader focusing in Christian Spirituality, the Wisdom Tradition and Contemplative Practice. She is Founding Director of the Contemplative Society in Victoria, B.C., and author of Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, The Wisdom of Knowing, Mystical Hopex94 and Love is Stronger than Death.
Venerable Bhikshuni Tenzin Kacho
Ordained by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1985, Ani Tenzin Kacho is an American Buddhist nun and teacher in the Tibetan tradition who resides in California where she is coordinator for the next visit of the Dalai Lama to Los Angeles in September 2006. She has studied in Los Angeles, California under the direction of Ven. Geshe Tsultim Gyeltsen, Spiritual Director of Thubten Shedrup Ling in Colorado Springs and Thubten Dhargye Ling in Los Angeles.
Camille Adams Helminski
Camille Adams Helminski is co-founder of the Threshold Society, rooted within the Rumix92s Mevlevi Tradition. With her husband, Kabir, she has helped to bring into English many Sufi classics including several volumes of poetry of Jalaluddin Rumi. She is the author of The Light of Dawn, and recently published Women of Sufism, A Hidden Treasure.
Kabir Helminski
Kabir Helminski is a Shaikh of the Mevlevi Order which traces back to Rumi, and is the Co-Director of the Threshold Society, a nonprofit educational foundation which developed programs that provide a structure for practice and study within Sufism and spiritual psychology. He has translated many volumes of Sufi literature, including the works of Rumi. He is the author of Living Presence and The Knowing Heart. Between 1994 and 2000 he toured with the Whirling Dervishes of Turkey, bringing the spiritual culture of the Mevlevis to more than 100,000 people.
Rabbi Rami Shapiro, Ph.D.
Rabbi Rami Shapiro is an award-winning poet and essayist, whose liturgical writings are used in prayer services throughout North America. He has written over a dozen works of poetry, liturgy, short story and nonfiction. A congregational rabbi for 20 years, Rabbi Shapiro currently directs the One River Foundation, a non-profit educational center for the study of the worldx92s religions. His most recent books are Open Secrets, Hasidic Tales Annotated and Explained and The Hebrew Prophets Annotated and Explained.
Ed Bastian, Ph.D.
Ed Bastian, President of the Spiritual Paths Foundation, holds a Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies and Western Philosophy. He lived for years in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and studied Indian philosophy and religion at Banares Hindu University. At the Smithsonian, Bastian taught courses in religion, served as Director of Programs on BioDiversity and Intellectual History. He produced a series of television documentaries on the religions of Asia for the BBC and PBS and three films on Tibetan Buddhism.
