EICSP will participate at the 2021 World Parliament of Religions, 16-18 October 2021, with one event as part of the program schedule.
Online Forum.
Title: Interspirituality and our Global Multi-Cultural Evolution.
Jointly organized by Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace, EICSP, Scottish Charity, SC038996, and The Interspiritual Dialogue Network (ISD).
Jointly organized by Neill Walker, on behalf of EICSP, and Kurt Johnson, on behalf of ISD.
Date/Time: Sunday 17 October 2021, 2pm-2.45pm (United States (Chicago) Time).
Description: Modern science states that interfaith and interspirituality represent the natural direction of human evolution toward globalism and multi-culturalism. Specifically, in the current modern view of evolution, "group" and "multi-level" natural selection predict that movements like interfaith and interspirituality would be exactly the direction of natural cultural evolution as our planet "goes global". Group and multi-level selection theory understands that groups always select "what is good for the whole" whereas individuals tend to select what is good for particular individuals. This creates quite an "inflection point" for human history.
Although we needed to in the past, we don't need to explain anymore "what interspirituality is". Given the natural directions of cultural evolution toward inclusivity everyone recognizes that interfaith and interspiritual sharing and understanding are a natural part of our evolution toward globalism and multiculturalism.
We can now talk about interfaith and interspirituality in the context of larger questions: "How does humanity's natural evolution toward interfaith and interspiritual understanding specifically affect and address issues like democratic governance, human rights, social justice, gender and racial equity, environmental protection, sustainability and regeneration, the individual human's experience of "the subtle realms?" -- and many more.
Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace, EICSP, Scottish Charity, SC038996, was founded in December 2007 to provide educational opportunities and an international forum for understanding, experiencing, and participating in the rich diversity of the world’s spiritual traditions.
EICSP is an events-led Scottish charity, SC038996, that works with the world's spiritual traditions, both in Scotland and internationally, seeking understandings of the nature of spirituality, and of interspirituality and intraspirituality, in its diversity.
EICSP advances education of the public in Scotland, and elsewhere, concerning spirituality, culture and peace.
EICSP continues the spiritual work previously undertaken by the former Edinburgh International Centre for World Spiritualities, EICWS, 1995-2008. www.eicsp.org
Interspiritual Dialogue, the not for profit foundation founded with Br. Wayne Teasdale (and incorporated with him as a US 501c3 [charity] in 2002).
Interspiritual Dialogue [ISD] (or The Interspiritual Dialogue Network [ISD] as it is also known) is also parent of the Light on Light Magazines (www.issuu.com/lightonlight) and the Light on Light Press (https://www.lightonlight.us/light-on-light-press/).
Br. Wayne was on the Board of Trustees of the Parliament for many years and there are extensive sections about him at the ISD website: History of ISD: https://www.lightonlight.us/history-of-isd/
Br. Wayne was also a Founding Patron of EICWS, and had agreed to lead an EICWS-organized retreat in Scotland prior to illness.
Chair: Dr. Kurt Johnson.
Dr. Kurt Johnson, well-known in the science-religion dialogue for decades, founded the Interspiritual Dialogue Network (https://www.lightonlight.us/history-of-isd/) with Br. Wayne Teasdale, a long term Trustee of the GPWR, in 2002. Johnson’s book The Coming Interspiritual Age (2013) followed on Br. Teasdale’s classic The Mystic Heart. Kurt has authored two award-winning books in science—Nabokov’s Blues and Fine Lines (Brian Boyd Prize 2019) and co-authored the Gold Nautilus Award winning Our Moment of Choice in 2020.
A former monk for a dozen years and with a PhD in evolution and ecology, Kurt works closely with both Prosocial World and One Spirit Interfaith Seminary. He accompanied Prosocial’s founder Dr. David Sloan Wilson for discussions with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in India in 2019. Kurt and colleagues publish the free Light on Light e-magazines (https://issuu.com/lightonlight), interspiritual books from their Light on Light Press and host The Convergence series on VoiceAmerica. Kurt is also a co-visioner of UNITY EARTH (https://unity.earth/) which hosted a pre-event for the Toronto GPWR.
Forum Presenters:
Rev. Diane Berke, Founder of the largest interfaith-interspiritual Seminar in the world - One Spirit Interfaith Seminary, New York City.
Rev. Diane Berke is the Founder and Spiritual Director of One Spirit Learning Alliance. Ordained as an interfaith minister in 1988, she is a respected pioneer in the field of interfaith and interspiritual education. Diane has worked closely with Andrew Harvey in his Institute for Sacred Activism and is a founding member of Transformation 365, an online platform to introduce people to a broad range of contemplative practices. She is a certified facilitator of the Circle of Trust® work of the Center for Courage and Renewal, a member of the Evolutionary Leaders Circle, and part of the core team developing Prosocial Spirituality. Diane maintains a private practice in spiritual counseling/companionship and has led retreats and workshops on spiritual development throughout the United States and internationally. In addition, she is a licensed mental health counselor in New York State.
Jeff Genung, Founder of Contemplative Life (www.contemplativelife.org) and now also Director with http://www.prosocial.world and Prosocial Spirituality.
Jeff, also a close colleague of Br. Wayne Teasdale, is Managing Director, Chief Architect, and Trustee of Prosocial World, a non-profit organization whose mission is to consciously evolve a world that works for all. He is also Co-Founder of Contemplative Life, a digital hub that connects people and communities with transformative practices, and Co-Founder of Transformation365.org, an experiential practice network.
Most recently, he launched Prosocial Spirituality, a training and research initiative exploring the integration of evolutionary science and evolutionary spirituality. Jeff has spent decades as an entrepreneur and technology executive. He has created and managed partnerships with some of the world’s largest technology and retailing companies.
He is currently focused on exploring the integration of science and spirituality, the arts, and technology, with the aim of creating a more balanced and caring world for all.
Carolyn Jacobs, MSW, PhD, Dean Emerita and Elizabeth Marting Treuhaft Professor Emerita of the Smith College School for Social Work.
Dr. Jacobs was a member of the School’s faculty for 35 years, serving as the dean 14 of those years, as well as director of “Contemplative Clinical Practice: An Advanced Certificate Program in Spirituality and Social Work Practice for seven years. In 2001 she was elected to the National Academies of Practice as a distinguished social work practitioner. Since 2018 she has been a faculty member for George Washington’s Institute for Spirituality and Health programs on Interprofessional Spiritual Care Train - the Trainer Education Curriculum and retreats on the Art of Presence for health care professions. She has written and presented extensively on the topic of compassionate self-care for health care professionals. From June 2015 to November 2015 she served as Interim President of the Mind and Life Institute.
Among many volunteer responsibilities, she has served as an external reviewer for social work programs in Hong Kong (2009-2013, 2015), on the Advisory Council for Health, Fetzer Institute (2011-2013), the Contemplative Mind in Society Board (chair 2010-2011, member until 2015) and on the board of Naropa University from 2011-2020. She is currently on the boards of Elms College (2020-) and the Mind & Life Institute (2012-).
Jacobs received her BA from Sacramento State University, her MSW from San Diego State University, her doctorate from the Heller School of Brandeis University, and her training as a spiritual director from the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation. She maintains a spiritual direction practice and is committed to creating spaces for health care providers to discover the rich resources of contemplative practices from many wisdom traditions in developing resilience for self and others.
To register for the Parliament