Faculty Members

Our multi-faith faculty members have worked closely with each other to develop this unique curriculum in InterSpirituality. Authenticated within their respective traditions, they are respected both their scholarly knowledge and the depth of their spiritual practice. With mutual curiousity and respect they are dedicated to the spiritual education and maturation of each student.  In the years to come, our faculty and curriculum will be expanded to include the spiritual traditions of Native America, Taoism, Shintoism, Shamanism, and major representative traditions of Africa, South America, and Polynesia. 

Our core faculty includes the following teachers:

Ed Bastian, Ph.D. is President of the Spiritual Paths Institute. His Doctorate is in Buddhist Studies and Western Philosophy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Bastian studied for nearly a decade with Buddhist Monks in monasteries in the U.S., India and the Himalayas. As a Fulbright Scholar, he studied Indian philosophy at Banares Hindu University and translated Buddhist scriptures from Tibetan and Sanskrit sources. At the Smithsonian Institution, Bastian served as Director of programs on BioDiversity and Intellectual History, where he taught courses and moderated conferences on Buddhism, world religion, and Tibetan human rights. He has lectured, presented scholarly papers and his films in the U.S., England, Japan and India. Bastian is the Executive Producer of television programs on Asian religion for the BBC, PBS, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Reverend Cynthia Bourgeault, Ph.D. is an Episcopal priest and contemplative, a Benedictine Camaldolese oblate, and an internationally known writer and retreat leader. She has worked closely with Father Thomas Keating in the development and teaching of Centering Prayer. Her books include: Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, Mystical Hope, Nurturing the Heart, The Wisdom Way of Knowing, and Love is Stronger than Death. She has served on the faculty of Bangor Theological Seminary and the Vancouver School of Theology and is founding Director of the Contemplative Society in Victoria, BC, and the Aspen Wisdom School.

Shaikh Kabir Helminski is a Shaikh of the Mevlevi Order, which traces back to Rumi, and is the Co-Director of the Threshold Society. He holds a Masters Degree in Transpersonal Psychology and an honorary doctorate from Selcuk University in Konya, Turkey. He has translated many volumes of Sufi literature, including the works of Rumi, and is the author of Living Presence, The Knowing Heart, and the Beliefnet Guide to Islam. Kabir teaches widely throughout the world and is also a renowned musician, and educator.

Shaikha Camille Helminski is a gifted musician and author of Women of Sufism: A Hidden Treasure, Book of Character, Book of Nature. She collaborated with Refik Algan on a translation of Ahmet Hilmi’s classic, Awakened Dreams, and was the first woman to translate a substantial portion of the Qur’an in her book The Light of Dawn. She has collaborated on several translations of the works of Rumi, as well as a CD of Sufi music.

Rabbi Rami Shapiro, Ph.D. is widely regarded as one of the most creative voices in contemporary American Judaism. An award winning poet and essayist, his liturgies are used in prayer services throughout North America. He has written over a dozen works of poetry, liturgy, short story and non-fiction including: Open Secrets, The Jewish Prophets, Proverbs, The Wisdom of Solomon, Minyan, Ten Principals for Living a Life with Integrity, Last Breaths, Open Hearts, Open Minds, and The Divine Feminine. Rabbi Shapiro is a graduate of Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion, and holds a doctoral degree in religious studies from Union Graduate School.

Pravrajika Vrajaprana, a member of Sarada Convent in Santa Barbara since 1977, is an ordained nun or sannyasini of the Vedanta Society of Southern California. A frequent participant in interfaith gatherings and active member of the American Academy of Religions, she is the author of Vedanta: A Simple Introduction as well as editor of Living Wisdom: Vedanta in the West and Seeing God Everywhere.

Swami Atmarupananda is a renowned scholar, teacher, and Monk of the Ramakrishna Order of India, a monastic organization dedicated to the teaching of Vedanta. He joined the Order in 1969 and spent many years in India engaged in monastic, scholarly and spiritual training. He combines a contemplative and mystical approach with a extraordinary scholarly training and a good sense of humor that are helpful in explaining subtle concepts of Hinduism to Western students.