Online Zoom Forum: Interspirituality: The Heritage.
Date: Wednesday 8 April 2026.
Time: 7pm-9pm (UK time).
Event Description:
Format: There will be five talks, each of 12 minutes, followed by discussion among the speakers and the chair, followed by Q & A.
Chair:
Rev Kurt Johnson PhD:
Bio: Rev Kurt Johnson PhD has worked in professional science and comparative religion for more than fifty years. A well-known author, and co-founder of the award winning Light on Light Press (Nautilus “Best in Small Press” 2024), he is one of the editors of the recent two-volume series Interspirituality: The Heritage and Interspiritiuality: The Future. A prominent figure on international committees, particularly at the United Nations, he has published over 200 scientific articles and seven books, including co-authoring or co-editing award winners The Coming Interspiritual Age, Our Moment of Choice, Nabokov’s Blues and Fine Lines. His co-founded Light on Light Press has received nine Nautilus Awards. Ordained or certified in five spiritual traditions, Johnson served on the faculty of New York's One Spirit Interfaith Seminary for fifteen years and was on the staff of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City for twenty-five years. As part of UNITY EARTH and the Interspiritual Dialogue Network he has been a part of major international events for many years, and co-edits two e-magazines: The Convergence and Light on Light. He also cohosts the ongoing Convergence podcast series, originally from VoiceAmerica. He serves on core teams of the Evolutionary Leaders, The Holomovement and Prosocial World. See EvolutionaryLeaders.net/leaders/KJohnson; lightonlight.us; issuu.com/LightonLight; isdna.org; thecominginterspiritualage.com; interspirituality.com.
Speakers:
Rev Matthew Fox, PhD:
Title: The Quest for Interspirituality and Common Ground among our Mystical Ancestors.
Description: Mystics tend to put spirituality and experience of God before religious structures. For that reason, they often seek a common "underground river" of wisdom that all religions share. We will consider how Nicolas of Cusa, Howard Thurman, Mary Oliver, Rumi and Hafiz name that common ground.
Bio: Rev. Matthew Fox, PhD, author, theologian, and activist priest, has been calling people of spirit and conscience into the Creation Spirituality lineage for over 50 years. His 44 books; and his lectures, retreats, and innovative education models have ignited an international movement to awaken people to be mystics, prophets, and contemplative activists, who honor and defend the earth and work for justice. He has contributed to the rediscovery of Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart and Thomas Aquinas as pre-modern mystics and prophets. Fox holds a doctorate in the history and theology of spirituality from the Institut Catholique de Paris. The founder of the University of Creation Spirituality in California, he conducts dozens of workshops each year and is a visiting scholar at the Academy for the Love of Learning. Among many awards he has received is the Abbey Courage of Conscience Peace Award whose other recipients include Rosa Parks, the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa.
Jeanette Banashak, EdD, PhD.:
Title: Interspirituality, Intersectionality, and the Natural World.
Description: In the talk, I will explore the question, what are the interrelationships among nature, interspirituality, and intersectionality? For Teasdale, the “realization and tangible experience of unity” known to many as the Divine, Source, Spirit, or Ultimate Reality, is revealed through nature. Teasdale maintained that without nature, interspirituality is not complete, humans miss out on understanding themselves, their reciprocal relationships with the natural world, and the possibility of embracing their ecological identity as nature.
Bio: Jeanette Banashak is the co-founder/director of The Spiritual Guidance Training Institute where she started a training program for Nature Companionship to build relationship, reciprocity, and eco-justice with the natural world. She is the author of The Mindful Pilgrimage: A 40-Day Pocket Devotional for Pilgrims of Any Faith or None and What Teachers Need: How the Education Community Can Promote Sustainable Well-Being and Help Heal the Profession. Jeanette also teaches social and emotional learning at Erikson Institute and spiritual direction at the Graduate Theological Foundation.
Rev Diane Berke:
Title: Cultivating Interspiritual Maturity.
Description: In The Mystic Heart, Brother Wayne Teasdale described 9 qualities or orientations to life that characterize mature contemplative practitioners across wisdom traditions. In this talk we will look at these 9 elements and an overarching framework for cultivating a well-rounded, mature spiritual life.
Bio: Rev Diane Berke is a visionary spiritual leader, author, and educator. Ordained in 1988, she is the Founder of One Spirit Learning Alliance and a widely respected pioneer in interfaith/interspiritual education. With a strong background in psychology and a rich understanding of diverse spiritual traditions, Diane’s teaching seamlessly bridges the psychological and spiritual realms. She is known for her clarity and wisdom, her sincerity and depth of compassion, and her ability to create welcoming learning spaces for deep inner exploration and for companioning people in living lives of service, purpose, and meaning. Diane is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in NYS, a certified Circles of Trust® facilitator, and co-creator of Prosocial Spirituality courses for Prosocial.world.
Philip Goldberg:
Title: The Great East-to-West Transmission.
Description: The spiritual and philosophical teachings that were birthed in ancient India migrated to the West gradually over the course of centuries. The transmission picked up speed and eventually took root in the 18th and 19th centuries, only to explode in the 20th and radically transform the spiritual landscape of America and Western Europe. The presentation will describe both the explicit impact of this transmission on the Interspiritual Movement and its more subtle and underappreciated influence on the way westerners understand religion and engage the spiritual impulse.
Bio: Philip Goldberg has been studying the world’s spiritual traditions for over 50 years, as a practitioner, teacher, and writer. His numerous books include: American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation, How Indian Spirituality Changed the West; The Life of Yogananda: The Story of the Yogi Who Became the First Modern Guru; Spiritual Practice for Crazy Times; and Karmic Relief: Harnessing the Laws of Cause and Effect for a Joyful, Meaningful Life. He hosts the Spirit Matters podcast, publishes frequently on his “Practical Spirituality” Substack, and serves on the board of the Association for Spiritual Integrity. His website is https://www.philipgoldberg.com/.
William Keepin, PhD:
Title: Inner Net of the Heart: The Mystical Unity of Spirituality and Science.
Description: This talk presents a visual glimpse into the interiority of quantum physics and mystical spirituality, which reveals their shared cosmic interbeing. Combining the nondual quantum physics of David Bohm, fractal holography, and Indra’s Net illustrates the mystical oneness of the major world religions and science. This reveals that the infinity of divinity dwells deep within the heart of every human being, and can be accessed through the alchemy of the ‘inner net of the heart.’ This portends a future science and spirituality of mystical interbeing that truly unifies love and knowledge, heart and mind, body and soul.
Bio: Will Keepin, PhD, is Executive Director of the Satyana Institute and co-founder of Gender Equity and Reconciliation International, which has organized more than 300 intensive gatherings on six continents for community based healing and reconciliation of gender injustice. A mathematical physicist with 20 + years of research on sustainable energy solutions for climate change, Keepin became a whistleblower in nuclear science policy. He began practicing silent meditation in 1982, trained in multiple spiritual traditions and transpersonal psychology, and has organized six international conferences on interspirituality to bridge the major world religions and science. Keepin is author of 50 + journal articles and five books, including Belonging to God: Spirituality, Science, and a Universal Path of Diivne Love. See www.geri.global and www.dawnofinterspirituality.org
An archive recording will be made for the EICSP archive.
NB: There will be no refund if you cancel your booking.
Cost: By Paypal:
Contact: Neill Walker, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
If you are having a difficulty paying by Paypal, then you can pay by bank transfer instead.
NB: you must also email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. so we can send you the Zoom sign-in details.
Here are the bank transfer details:
Account Name: Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace
Bank: Bank of Scotland
Bank Address: Edinburgh Royal Mile Branch
Account Number: 06131159
Sort Code: 802000
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The IBAN number:
GB70 BOFS 8020 0006 1311 59
BIC:
BOFSGB21168