Synthesis III
Biographical Profiles
June 1–7, 2004
Castelgandolfo Rome. Italy
His Holiness, the Dalai Lama of Tibet (Tenzin Gyatso)
Entourage Members
Ven. Thupten
Ngawang
Personal Assistant
Ven. Thupten
Thokme
Personal Assistant
Tenzin Geyche
Tethong
Secretary
Geshe Dorji
Damdul
Religious Translator
Tenzin
Phuntsok
Security Officer
Kalsang
Tashi
Security Officer
Ngawang
Lhundup
Security Officer
Emran Akhtar
Pakistan
Our world has reached a point in time when more than ever practical
steps are needed to save ourselves. Conferences and discussions without
implementation and only statements cannot achieve this end. The way to
fully participate in the conference would be by bringing a practical
perspective to the table. Our primary purpose of attending would be to
assist in achieving and implementing goals set by various individuals
groups and organisations present. The way individuals can be assisted
their goals achieved dreams realised and taken to the next level, so
can groups and organisations.
Dr. Vinu Aram
Shanti Ashram
India
Member of the Presidents of WCRP, Medical Doctor (pediatrician),
Director of Shanti Ashram ( an Ashram founded by her late Father, an
outstanding politician in India), former World Moderator of the Youth
Section of WCRP, long time friend of the Focolare Movement (Chiara
Lubich visited Shanti Ashram in 2001). Vinu is a very well known on an
international level.
A.T. Ariyaratne
Founder, President
Sarvodaya Movement
Sri Lanka
Dr. A T Ariyaratne was born in a village in South of Sri Lanka on 5th
November 1931. He had his secondary and higher education at Mahinda
Collece Galle and Sri Jayawardenepura University of Sri Lanka. He was a
1st class science trained teacher and also a Bachelor of Arts Graduate.
He was awarded D.Litt Degree by Sri Jayawaedenepura University and also
Doctor of Humanities Degree from the Emilio Aguinaldo College.
While being a teacher at Nalanda Collecge Colombo he founded the now
world famous Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement of Sri Lanka acknowledged by
many scholars and institutions as the largest people‚s participatory
development movement in the world working in 15.000 villages in Sri
Lanka.
Dr. Ariyaratne has won many international awards including the
following.
International Awards
∑ Mahatma Gandhi Peace Prize, India, 1996
∑ Hubert H. Humphrey Award, USA, 1996
∑ IL-GA Memorial Award for Public Service, Korea, 1995
∑ Niwano Peace Prize, Japan, 1992
∑ Jamnalal Bajaj Award for Propagating Gandhian Values Outside India,
1990
∑ Forel Award, Good Templar Movement for Promoting Temperance,
Denmark,1990
∑ Alan Shawn Feinstein World Hunger Award,Brown University, USA, 1986
∑ King Boudouin Award for International Development, Belgium, 1982
∑ Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership, Philippines, 1969;
He has served in many national and international bodies in areas
pertaining to health, education, community development and is a well
known authority on Non-violent Social Transformation based on Buddhist
and Gandhian values.
Honorary International Appointments
∑ A President of World Parliament of Religions, 1993
∑ An International President, World Conference on Religion and Peace,
1994
∑ Member, Club of Budapest, Hungary
∑ Fellow, World Academy of Arts and Science, Minnesota, USA
∑ Former Chair, Asian and Pacific Bureau of Adult Education
∑ Former Chair, Approtech Asia, Philippines
∑ Former Chair, Asian Institute of Rural Development, India
∑ Third International Advisory Council, Auroville (India) 1999-present
Sri Lankan Awards
Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka
Deshabandu Award for Distinguished National Service from the President,
Sri Lanka
Vishwa Prasadini Award from the Prime Minister, Sri Lanka, 1996
Prem Baba
Janderson Fernandes de Oliveira
Brazil
Janderson Fernandes de Oliveira was born in a radical Christian family
in Brazil. While still young, in training to be an evangelical
minister, he was disillusioned by not finding answers to his questions
or tolerance for his ideas. So he spent his youth searching
through different religions, esoteric schools, scientific academies,
and spiritual masters.
He became a gnostic priest and directed the gnostic association of
anthropological studies and sciences in Sao Paulo for some years,
developing and practising the doctrine of synthesis, which sought to
unite art, science, philosophy, and mysticism. He was one of the
coordinators of the first meetings of alternative culture in Sao Paulo,
where religious leaders from esoteric schools and scientists discussed
spirituality and society.
Trained in psychology, Janderson developed methods for building bridges
between psychotherapy and spirituality. He added to his work the
shamanic experience originating with the peoples of the Amazonian
rainforest.
Feeling himself incomplete, Janderson sought in India what he was still
lacking. He found himself through the grace of Guru Hans Haj
Maharajji, a karma yogi and realized being, and took on a spiritual
name, Prem Baba, father of love.
Today he directs the Ordem do Luz, the “Order of Light,” and teaches
the “Caminho do Coracao”, the Path of the Heart, that synthesizes
elements of all the traditions from which he has learned. The goal of
this work is to contribute to the transformation of the world through
love, compassion, and truth. In the heart, we are all one.
Barbara Fields Bernstein
Director, Synthesis Dialogues I, II, III
Executive Director, The Association for Global New Thought
U.S.A.
Director of the Synthesis Dialogues with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama
of Tibet, Dharamsala, India, 1999, Trent, Italy, 2001, and Rome,
2004; Project Director - Gandhi & King: A Season for
Nonviolence 1998-2004; Program Director - 1993 Parliament of the
World's Religions in Chicago; Recipient of The Peace Museum's 1998
Community Peacemaker Award, in the area of Diplomacy, and shared with
Dr. Arun Gandhi Religious Science International’s first Peace Award in
2003; Conference and Program Director for the Society for
Buddhist-Christian Studies 1996 (Chicago), 2000 (Tacoma, WA), and 2005
(Los Angeles); Program Director - International Buddhist-Christian
Theological Encounter, Purdue University and the Lilly Foundation
1998-2004; Participant - UNESCO Seminar on Religion and Peace, Granada,
Spain, 1998; Co- founder of The Earth Network, a non-profit alternative
television organization for the environment, social action, and the
human spirit for which she received the 1994 Visionary Award from
the Center For New Television; Contributing author, The Community of
Religions (Continuum Press, 1996).
Dr. Kenneth Fields
Central Conservatory of Music
Beijing, China
Graduated with Doctorate in Media Arts from the Interdisciplinary Ph.D.
Program at the University of California at Santa Barbara in 2000.
Professor at China's Central Conservatory of Music from 2002. Associate
Professor in the School of Software, Department of Digital Art and
Design, Peking University from 2004.
Dean Lawrence E. Carter Sr.
MLK Jr. International Chapel
Morehouse College
U.S.A.
The Reverend Dr. Lawrence Edward Carter Sr. is the first dean of the
Martin
Luther King Jr. International Chapel, college archivist and curator, and
professor of religion at Morehouse College. He holds the Ph.D.
degree from
Boston University. He was 1994 Fulbright Scholar in Brazil
and a National
Endowment for the Humanities Fellow in 1993 and 1996. He is the
author of
Walking Integrity:Benjamin Elijah Mays as Mentor to Martin Luther King
Jr.
Janis Claflin
Claflin and Associates
U.S.A.
Ms. Claflin is President of Claflin and Associates, a counseling and
consulting firm in Austin, Texas, USA. She is a psychotherapist
in private practice,
a management consultant, an effective facilitator and public
speaker. She
serves in many areas including conflict resolution, organizational
effectiveness,
team building, change management, leadership development and spiritual
formation. She is committed to the facilitation of corporate
cultures and
individual and relational ways of being that promote creativity,
integrity, enhanced
productivity and well being for all parties involved. She is the
founder of
several non profit organizations. She is a founding trustee of
the Fetzer
Institute, a foundation which has as it's mission..."fostering the
awareness of the
power of love and forgiveness in the emerging global community".
She
currently serves as the Vice Chairperson of the Fetzer
Institute. She is on the
board of trustees of the Texas Capital Value Fund and President of the
Center for
Teacher Renewal. She holds a Master of Arts in Religion from Yale
Divinity
and a B.A. in English from Vanderbilt's George Peabody College for
Teachers.
ON. France Coen
Consigliera per le Politiche della Multietnicita'
ITALY
Positioned in Rome government to be a progressive force on issues of
diversity and interfaith activism. (She will also represent the Mayer
of Rome, in the event of an unavoidable absence).
Silvio Daneo
Focolare Movement
ITALY
Born in Turin, Italy 1941
Member of Focolare Movement since 1959
Co-founder of Focolare Movement in the USA (1962) and Asia (1966) and
former Co-Director of the Movment in Philippines, China, India and
Thailand (between 1966 and 1995).
At present: Vice President of WCRP (World Congress of Religion and),
Italy
Involved in Inter-religious dialogue since 1973.
Helped in the organization of major Inter-religious events throughout
the world, also at the Vatican.
Since 1980 works in the field of International Cooperation (Projects in
Third World Countries)
Active in social work, respect and promotion of Human Rights in
national and international levels.
Maria Angela Fala
President of the European Buddhist
Union and Italian Buddhist Union
Italy
Maria Angela Falà, Rome, scholar in Oriental Philosophy,
President of
European Buddhist Union and past President of Italian Buddhist Union,
she is interested in the dialogue between Eastern and
Western culture. She translated into Italian some Buddhist Texts and
she is editor of the oldest Italian Buddhist Revue DHARMA . She
collaborates with some Italian Universities and interreligiuos groups
and she is the Buddhist representative in the Consulta of Religions of
the Municipality of Rome.
She is engaged in rooted Buddhist spirituality in Europe in a non
sectarian
and openminded way and in deep connection with the spirit and the
culture of Western people.
Rabbi Marc Gafni
Bayit Chadash Jerusalem
Israel
Rabbi Mordechai (Marc) Gafni has emerged as an exciting new voice in
Israeli and international religious life and spirituality. In
addition to teaching graduate seminars on mysticism at Oxford
University in England, R’Gafni is the founder and head of Bayit
Chadash. Overlooking Israel’s Sea of Galilee, Bayit Chadash is an
international spiritual community retreat center committed to Jewish
renaissance. Additionally, Gafni is the host and creator of a
highly acclaimed national Israeli television program on ethics and
spirituality. The show, with hundreds of thousands of viewers, has
become an important weaver of the Israeli spirit.
Besides contributing to a number of American journals, R’Gafni is
contributing editor to Chayim Acherim, Israel’s leading spirituality
magazine. An acknowledged master of the ancient texts as well as
the texts of the heart, Gafni has published two works of Jewish thought
in Hebrew with two more forthcoming in the next year. A third
book, Soul Prints, written for a broader English-speaking public, was
the subject of a National PBS Special. The book hit the bestseller
list, has been translated into numerous languages and was chosen for
the prestigious Napra Nautilus Award for the Best Spirituality Book of
2001. Gafni has also just come out with his second highly
acclaimed English book, entitled “The Mystery of Love”. Gafni's work
has deservedly earned him the reputation as a modern philosopher and
spirit master: wise, compassionate, accessible, and universal.
Ela Gandhi
Former member of Parliament
Republic of South Africa
I am a qualified social worker by profession. But have always
been more of a social/ political activist. From my early
childhood I have been driven by a community spirit. I helped
child welfare fund raising when I was still in Primary
School. For me liberation, social justice, animal and
environmental rights issues are important. I consistently
take up issues of prejudice, of oppression, of power and of ensuring
that the voices of the voiceless are heard. To this end then all
my work as an activist in South Africa was directed towards the raising
of the issues of the oppressed. While I worked as a social
worker, healing and providing relief to people, I also tackled the
bigger questions of how people can be mobilized to take up their own
issues. But this work drew attention to myself and I was placed
under house arrest for 8 years.
During the negotiations process I was selected as one of the
representatives of my organization to represent the people. I was
then selected to be on the list of candidates for parliament and was
sent to parliament for two terms. I resigned from parliament in
January 2003. At present I am Editor and Chairperson of the
Board of management of Satyagraha- In pursuit of Truth a Non
Profit Organisation which runs a newspaper, promoting Gandhian
ideals. I am Secretary of the Gandhi Development Trust, which
makes awards on an annual basis and holds a Gandhi Lecture.
I am Chairperson of the Domestic Violence Help Line and the
Mahatma Gandhi Handicraft Centre. Trustee of the Mahatma Gandhi
Trust which owns a property which was donated to the Natal Indian
Congress when Gandhiji left South Africa in 1914. I am a member
on the Advisory Boards of Unilever Ethics Centre, International
Advisory Board of the World Parliament of Religions and Advisory
Board of the Ahimsa Centre, in California. I am Vice
President of the South African Chapter of World Conference on
Religion and Peace and am on the ANC’s Commission on Religious
Affairs. I am hoping to soon set up a Centre for Nonviolence with
focus on building a resource centre, a research facility,
an academic facility, a materials development facility and a community
outreach programme.
Dr. Nancy Harris
Terma Foundation
U.S.A.
Founder of Terma Foundation, a non-profit health initiative, develops
and implements programs dedicated to the immediate improvement of child
survival and welfare in Tibet so that an endangered generation of
children may live to share their wisdom with other world cultures.
Over the last decade, the Terma Foundation documented widespread,
severe malnutrition and multiple micronutrient deficiencies, publishing
our findings in the New England Journal of Medicine (February 2001).
Terma has also found indications of potentially multi-drug-resistant
tuberculosis, contributing to high maternal and infant mortality rates
in Tibet. "
Terma's ongoing Integrated Health Programs include:
- Rickets Education and Prevention
- Child Feeding and Indigenous Food
Development
- Tibetan Traditional Medicine
- Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies:
Prenatal and Postnatal Care
- Health Education and Primary Care
Delivery
- Tuberculosis Prevention and
Control "
Dr. Hazel Henderson
Global Economist
U.S.A.
Hazel Henderson is a world renowned futurist, evolutionary economist,
consultant on sustainable development, and author of Beyond
Globalization and seven other books. Her editorials are
syndicated to some 400 newspapers in 27 languages by InterPress
Service, Rome. She has published articles in over 250 journals,
including The Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, The
Christian Science Monitor, Challenge (USA), Mainichi (Japan), El Diario
(Venezuela), Australian Financial Review, World Economic Herald
(China). Her books have been translated in 8 languages. She co-created
with the Calvert Group, Inc. of Bethesda, MD, the
Calvert-Henderson Quality-of-Life Indicatorssm. She sits on the
advisory boards of Worldwatch Institute, Calvert Social Investment
Fund, WETV, and others -- and on the editorial boards of WorldPaper,
Futures Research Quarterly and World Business Academy Perspectives
(USA). Henderson shared the 1996 Global Citizen Award with
Nobelist A. Perez Esquivel of Argentina. From 1974-1980 she
served on the Advisory Council of the US Office of Technology
Assessment, and on advisory boards of the National Science Foundation
and the National Academy of Engineering. She has been Regent's Lecturer
at University of California (Santa Barbara), held the Horace Albright
Chair in Conservation at University of California (Berkeley) She
is an active member of the National Press Club (Washington, DC), Social
Venture Network, World Future Society (USA), and a Fellow of the World
Futures Studies Federation (Philippines).
Afra Jalabi
Canada
Montreal based freelance journalist and writer.( Jawdat Said’s niece.)
Born in 1970 in Damascus; moved to Germany in 1975. Finished high
school in Saudi Arabia. Did a B.A in anthropology and political science
at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. A Master’s Degree in
Journalism at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. Had a weekly
column on cultural, social and literary topics in al Jadeedah magazine
in London, England for 4 years. Member of the Editorial Board of the
Journal of Law and Religion in the US. Lectures on feminism, Islam and
nonviolence. Currently, working on projects about Islam and nonviolence
with Jawdat Said in English.
Cardinal Walter Kasper
President
Pontifical Council for the Promotion
of Christian Unity
Italy
Director of all the Ecumenical aspect of the Catholic Church (rapport
with ALL Christian denominations) as well as with the Jewish Religious
World.
Prof. James P. Keen
Antioch University
U.S.A.
Dr. James P. (Jim) Keen researches, writes and teaches about how people
develop and sustain commitments to working on behalf of a common good
that includes the diversity of the planet and the whole human family. A
key aspect of this work focuses on ways that transformational leaders
engage complexity. He currently divides his time among his practice as
a leadership coach; his volunteer work for the Quaker United Nations
Committee and for two groups working to transform American higher
education, The Initiative for Authenticity and Spirituality in Higher
Education (he is co-founder) and the Education as Transformation
Project (he is Vice President). He is College Professor at Antioch
College, where he has served half time since stepping down as Vice
President and Dean of Faculty nearly a decade ago. At Antioch he
teaches courses in leadership, peace studies, nonviolent action and
lives of commitment.
He formerly served as Executive Director of the Governor’s School of
New Jersey (a program he designed), as Milicent Fenwick Research
Professor at Monmouth University, as Senior Research Fellow at the
Bonner Foundation, as Associate Director of American Team for the 7th
report to the Club of Rome, No Limits to Learning and as coordinator of
Harvard University’s Committee on Peace and Conflict Studies.
He is co-author of the book, Common Fire: Leading Lives of Commitment
in a Complex World and of numerous articles, the most recent of which
address the integrative counter-tradition in the 20th century,
equanimity as an aspect of spirituality, students’ understanding of
service as politics, and interfaith encounter and dialogue in a
pre-college program focusing on human rights and environmental issues.
Azim Khamisa
Tariq Khamisa Foundation
U.S.A.
Author of the award-winning book: Azim’s Bardo: A Father’s Journey From
Murder to Forgiveness. Founder and president of the Tariq Khamisa
Foundation, created in memory of his beloved 20-year-old son Tariq, who
was murdered in January 1995. A national speaker on topics of
prevention of youth violence, forgiveness and restorative justice.
Mir Nawaz Khan Marwat
Advocate, Supreme Court of Pakistan
Karachi, Pakistan
Mr. Mir Nawaz Khan Marwat hails from one of the most respectable
families of Marwat Tribe. He has brilliant academic career at his
credit. As a student he was elected President of College Union and
participated in many all Pakistan debates during college days where he
won many shields and awards. As a student leader he took active part in
Pakistan movement. His educational qualifications are M. A., L.L.B. He
is an advocate of Supreme Court of Pakistan.
He remained Federal Minister as well as Provincial Minister twice. He
was a member of Federal Council of Pakistan (Majlis-e-Shura). He was
elected as a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from Karachi
in 1985. He also remained as Chairman of Labour Welfare Commission of
Pakistan. He represented Pakistan as delegate in UNO in 1987. He has
attended many international conferences and seminars in different parts
of the world and is a well read and extensively travelled person. He is
the office bearer of many cultural and social organisations. He is the
president of World Conference on Religion and Peace Pakistan and Asian
Conference on Religion and Peace Pakistan Chapter.
Elected as Moderator of Asian Conference on Religion and Peace in
Authiya, Thailand, in October 1996, for five years; re-elected as
Moderator for five years on 28th June, 2002, in Yogyakarta,
(Indonesia); awarded certificates of meritorious and social services in
1965 by the Government of Pakistan; awarded certificate by Government
for his services for peace and harmony; taken on many important
committees of legal, social and administrative reforms by the
Government; appointed as Justice of Peace; attended many meetings and
conferences of ACRP and WCRP in different parts of the world.
As a parliamentarian he contributed a lot in the legislative work and
also presided the lower House of Parliament, National Assembly of
Pakistan; led Parliamentary delegations of Pakistan to many
countries; represented Pakistan in the Conference of Global Forum held
in Oxford, U.K., from 11th to 15th April, 1988 which was attended by
hundred Parliamentarians and hundred spiritual leaders of the world;
elected Assistant Secretary General International of World Muslim
Congress on 15th October, 1997; re-elected as Assistant Secretary
General for five years on 19th December, 2002, in Colombo; attended
Sixth Asia Pacific Workshop on Regional Arrangements for the Promotion
and Protection of Human Rights from 28 February to 2 March 1998 in
Tehran, Iran; attended Conference for Christian and Muslim
understanding in Castelgandolfo, Rome, held under the auspices of
Focolare Movement from 10th to 14th June 1998; awarded Peace Award by
International Commission of Human Rights; invited by different
Universities of world and organisations for lectures; attended
Inter-Sessional Workshop on the Development of National Plans of Action
For Protection of Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific Region held from 5th
to 7th July 1999 in Bangkok, Thailand; performed the Opening Ceremony
of Women Empowerment Centre of ACRP in Manila, Philippines, on 5th July
1999; elected as International President of World Conference on
Religion and Peace for five years in November 1999 in Amman, Jordan;
nominated as member of select Committee for Disarmament and Security of
W.C.R.P; re-elected as Moderator of A.C.R.P. on 28th June 2002 in
Yogyakarta Indonesia.
He is respected by the followers of different religions due to his
efforts for bringing peace, harmony and understanding amongst them; a
staunch believer of peace, human dignity, common living, interfaith
dialogue and human survival in Nuclear Arms free world.
Attended 50th Anniversary of Myochikai Foundation in October 2000 in
Tokyo, Japan and delivered speech on Peace and Harmony on behalf of all
the foreign delegates. He was the only Muslim who was invited at this
important occasion. He also attended meeting of Arigatou Foundation and
Global Network of Religions for Children and made important
recommendations for resolving the problems of Children and for their
betterment. These recommendations were accepted and it was made part of
the document to presented in the special session of U.N.O. for children
to held in 2001.
On November 27th and 28th, 2000 attended 30th Anniversary of World
Conference on Religion and Peace in Kyoto, Japan. On 28th and 29th,
2000 attended there also a meeting of Steering Committee for
Disarmament and Security formed by World Conference on Religion and
Peace and was elected as Vice-Chairman of Commission for “Disarmament
and Security”.
Attended on 23-24 October, 2001 in New York, U.S.A. international
symposium of Leaders of the World Religions and delivered speeches on
both dates. The topic was “Religions Working Together Against Terror
and Violence and for Peace with Justice”.
From June 9th to 12th, 2002, participated in African Religious Leaders
Conference on H.I.V/AIDS held in Nairobi (Kenya). He also attended the
meeting of Governing Board of W.C.R.P. there on 12th and 13th June,
2002. On 3rd and 4th August 2002, he attended 15th Anniversary of
Inter Faith Religious Summit arranged by the Tendai Bhuddhist
Denomination in Kyoto (Japan). He delivered an important speech on
“Dialogue between World Religions and Islam”. On 4th August 2002 he
joined the World Religious Leaders on Mount Hei, Kyoto and all prayed
together for peace there. On 1st to 3rd November 2002, he
attended convention of Muslim Friends of Focolare Movement, well known
Christian organisation in Castale Gandalfo Rome. He delivered Key Note
speech on “Peace and Human Brotherhood”. The Convention was attended by
large number of Christians and Muslim leaders from all over the world.
He also visited Vatican and held meeting with President of Pontifical
Council of Inter Faith. Attended Peace Conference in 17-18 November
2003, in Seoul and presided over one session. The Conference was
organized by Korean Peace Forum.
Chalanda Sai Ma Lakshmi Devi
Humanity in Unity
U.S.A.
Chalanda Sai Ma, a Holy Being and a Spiritual Leader, radiates the
healing grace of Divine Love. As a Divine Mother, Sai Ma brings
the healing power of love and compassion to humanity. She answers
our heart’s yearning to experience our own true nature, the nature of
the Divine.
Bold, fearless and passionate in Her efforts to end our suffering, Ma
is the inspiration behind Humanity in Unity, a nonprofit, charitable
foundation whose purpose is to develop and administer humanitarian
projects. The projects encompass all races, religions,
nationalities and cultures. Honoring the many paths that lead us
to God, Ma teaches Oneness, Wholeness, Truth and Love. Whatever
our tradition, Ma guides us to a deeper understanding of ourselves and
of the path we have chosen: “The All is in You, the All is You and You
are All.”
Sai Ma travels throughout the world serving humanity. She works
tirelessly supporting programs to end poverty and hunger, to care for
the sick, to educate our children and to bring peace to the
planet. Ma moves around the planet working quietly with an
uncommon personal grace and commitment to bring relief to people of
many nations and cultures. Essential to Her work is the message: “As I
serve you, so shall you serve others.”
James McManis
U.S.A.
I am by training and education a theologian, a psychoanalyst, a family
therapist, a community developer, an organizational consultant and a
spiritual teacher and healer. I completed my doctoral work in
consciousness studies with an emphasis in transformation of
consciousness. My life’s work has been focused in the practical
work of transformation of organizations and institutions, small and
large. My particular focus in this work is on the integration of
spiritual practices and values into the flow of normal institutional
practices. My effort in my work has been to awaken in others a
sensitivity to our inherent spiritual nature and to the remembrance
that we are spiritual beings, first and foremost; that our work in and
for the world, when infused consciously with our spiritual values,
becomes deeply transformative, with an opening to transcendent (beyond
this life; beyond form) realities.
James O'Dea
President
Institute of Noetic Sciences
U.S.A.
James O’Dea, a native of Ireland, joined the Institute of Noetic
Sciences as President in April 2003.
Previously, he spent ten years as the director of the Washington DC
office of Amnesty International, where he testified before Congress,
met with two U.S. presidents and numerous foreign heads of state and
government leaders, and represented Amnesty International to the State
Department, the White House, and the World Conference on Human
Rights.
Subsequently, he spent six years as executive director of Seva, a
non-profit organization dedicated to international health &
development issues in Latin America, Asia, and on American Indian
reservations. Seva is a Sanskrit word meaning service.
During the past five years, James created and currently co-leads a
series of dialogues funded by the Fetzer Institute called
"Compassionate and Social Healing." The dialogues bring together
leaders and activists in a variety of fields related to human rights,
peace, and social reconciliation initiatives.
James lived and worked in Turkey and Lebanon, and witnessed civil
conflict and massacres, which influenced him deeply. He brings to
IONS a sense of urgency about the issues the world currently faces, as
well as an Irish sense of humor and love of language.
Lisa Palmieri-Billig
World Congress on Religion and Peace
Vatican Representative Anti-Defamation League
Italy
B.A. Barnard College, M.A. Columbia University Teachers
College. Candidate for PhD in Social Sciences: Media at the
Pontifical Gregorian University Born in Vienna, Austria, U:S. and
Italian citizen. Vice Moderator of the European section of the World
Conference on Religion and Peace, Representative in Italy and Vatican
Liaison of the Anti-Defamation League, Rome correspondent of “The
Jerusalem Post” and free-lance journalist for English and Italian
language publications Former lecturer in English at Columbia
University, Queens College, New York University, The New School for
Social Research, University of Puerto Rico, American Overseas School of
Rome. Have organized and directed press offices of several
international conferences related to inter-religious dialogue on
theological and media issues. Participated as Advisor to Council
of Europe panels on Mass Media, and on Intercultural Dialogue. Fluent
in English, Italian, French, German
Lucia Ricco
Baha'i Community
Italy
Born in Cagliari, 1958. Graduate in Chemistry. Member of the National
Board of Directors of the Italian Baha’i community, Director of the
Foreign Office of the Italian Baha’i community in Rome. Long career in
the television network, Director of an Italian and European network for
over 15 years. At present she is a member of Executive Council of the
Budapest Club Italy and member of the Municipal Inter-religious Office
of Rome. Former member of the Executive Committee of WCRP/ Italy and
President of the Youth Budapest National Club in Italy.
She has been giving lectures and conferences all over the Italian
territory.
In 1988 she was the director of an important documentary film in Human
Rights in Africa marking the 50th anniversary of the Human Right Chart.
In 1966 she is awarded the first price as director of a film “Vote
woman”, by the Commission for Equal Opportunities inRome.
Ven. Achok Rinpoche
Director, Library of Tibetan Works and Archives
Dharamsala, India
ACHOK RINPOCHE, born in 1944 in Amdo, Tibet, left his monastery, Amchok
Tsenyi Gompa, along with with his teacher, for further study in Lhasa,
from where they escaped to India in 1959. Continuing his
philosophical studies in the Buxa transit camp for exiled Tibetan
lamas and monks in West Bengal, he was later appointed abbot of
the re-established Tashi Kyil monastery, and then worked for 14
years in the Library of Tibetan Works & Archives at Dharamsala.
Following this he was Director of Tibetan Medical Institute and
then abbot of Gaden-Shartse Monastery in south India for short
periods. He spent many months in Tibet in both 1983 and 1987, and
travelled extensively in the West, having taught Tibetan
philosophy and language at Vienna University in Austria for 2 years.
Currently he is Director, Library of Tibetan Works &
Archives, Dharamsala.
Dr. Elisabet Sahtouris
Evolutionary Biologist
U.S.A.
Internationally known evolution biologist, futurist, author and
business consultant. She taught at MIT and the Univ. of Massachusetts,
has been a science writer for the TV program, NOVA/HORIZON, organized
Earth Celebrations 2000 in Athens, Greece, was a UN Consultant on
indigenous peoples. She teaches in the Bainbridge Graduate
Institute's MBA program on sustainable business and is a fellow of the
World Business Academy. Dr. Sahtouris lived extensively in Greece and
the Peruvian Andes, learning to see solutions to our big social and
economic problems in Earth's ecosystems and indigenous sciences. Her
venues have included The World Bank, EPA, Boeing, Siemens, Tokyo Dome
Stadium, Australian National Govt, Sao Paulo's leading business
schools, State of the World Forums (NY & San Francisco) and World
Parliament of Religion, South Africa. Her books include EarthDance:
Living Systems in Evolution, A Walk Through Time: from Stardust to Us
and Biology Revisioned (with Willis Harman). Her websites are
www.sahtouris.com <http://www.sahtouris.com/> (professional) and
www.ratical.org/lifeweb <http://www.ratical.org/lifeweb>
(personal, with many writings).
Jawdat Said
Damascus, SYRIA
Jawdat Said who influenced my ideas on Islam and nonviolence. He’s been
writing about nonviolence and the Prophetic tradition for over 40
years. His website is mostly Arabic, but there are some English
material. My uncle published Law, Religion, And The Prophetic Method of
Social Change with the Journal of Law and Religion, which I translated
a few years ago. Recently, the Journal gave him a life time achievement
award for his stance on nonviolence and long commitment at Hamline
University.
Alfredo Sfeir-Younis
Senior Adviser To The Managing Directors Office
The World Bank, Washington Office
U.S.A.
< Major Areas of Experience
Human Rights and Economic Development.
Named the Institutional Focal Point on human rights at the World
Bank. Principal spokes-person at the UN and WTO and other
international forums, including civil society organizations.
Prepared large number of papers/statements on civil and political
rights, economic and social rights and the right to development.
< Mainstreaming Sustainable Development Into Macro-Economics and
Global Policy
Led missions and tasks to design and implement sustainable development
programs. Given training on conceptual and practical aspects of
sustainability, including sectoral and resource based issues (e.g.,
forestry, water, soil and biodiversity). Worked in the
preparation of country strategies and national environmental action
plans at the macro and local levels. Assisted developing
countries in the implementing of environmental programs and in
integration into macro-economics planning, public investment and
expenditure reviews, sectoral policies and programs, and regional
strategies.
< Environment, Sustainability and Poverty Eradication
Involved in operations and evaluation of progress made with regard to
poverty eradication and sustainable development. Integrated
growth, sustainability and poverty through the theory of capital
accumulation and its translation into the design of forestry and land
management programs. Drafted and led implementation of policy
positions in fisheries development, water conservation and management,
pricing natural resources, and compensation of displaced populations.
< Operational Experience: Project/Program Related
Participated and led mission in agriculture, structural adjustment
public expenditure reviews environmental conservation and natural
resources management. Special emphasis on forestry, irrigation
development, soil conservation and land management, desertification and
biodiversity. Added emphasis on institutions, social structures,
equity and long term impacts. Written books/reports on the
economic analysis of natural resources and conservation
strategies. Provided training and prepared training materials on
natural resources management and environmental policies. Given
training policy makers in developing countries, including legislators
and justice people, journalists, etc.. Training given at the community
level.
< Evaluation and Assessment of Sustainable Development,
Environmental/Economic Impacts
Led two major macroeconomic studies on the long term impacts of
macroeconomic policies and investment programs into natural resources
management. Included review of multilateral assistant programs
during a period of 25-30 years of development interventions. Emphasis
on the role of human, cultural and institutional capital.
< Management and Implementation
Held many management positions, including tasks essential for
development implementation. Participated in many supervision and
evaluation missions including social, environmental and economic issues
and constraints. Organized retreats, seminars, committees and
task forces, and leader on International Conference on Environmentally
Sustainable Development. Organized professional staff retreats on
technical, organizational and institutional dimensions linked to the
environment and natural resources.
< Spiritual Economics, Business and Entrepreneurship, Human Values
in Economics, Finance, and Sustainable Development
Involved in developing a new paradigm based on the non-material and
spiritual dimensions of economic and social development. Assisted
in the organization of a world meeting on Ethics, Moral and Spiritual
values for Sustainable Development. Given many seminars on the
relationship between spiritually and economic development, including
indigenous peoples knowledge. Published several articles and made
numerous public statements. Involved also on issues of business,
entrepreneurship and spirituality. Provided elements needed to
enliven the soul of businesses.
Other Areas of Expertise
< Macroeconomics: Monetary, Fiscal and Trade Policies
Trained in economics with particular emphasis on macro policies.
Worked at Central Bank of Chile leading on questions of savings and
interest rate policies. Prepared a dissertation on Credit
Concentration in the Private Sector. Researched on international
trade and finance, with emphasis on trade of primary commodities
(non-renewable resources) and impacts on developing countries.
Prepared a paper on potential retaliation from trade practices in
copper, tin and bauxite. Trained as an agricultural economist
with strong background on economic evaluation and assessment, benefit
cost analysis, policy formulation and analysis and institutional
development. Emphasized institutional economics matters,
including role of the public sector and civil society.
< Innovative Forms of Financing Environmentally Sustainable
Development
Organized a world conference on innovative forms of financing for
sustainable development. Prepared and disseminated a number of
proceedings on matters related to financing.
< Institutional, Human and Social Development
Interested and actively sought to mainstream institutional and social
dimensions of sustainable development into macro-economic planning,
policy formulation and implementation. Of particular interest:
development of environmental institutions (including socio-economic
research) at the national and regional levels; role of indigenous
communities in sustainability and knowledge; cultural aspects of the
development process; and issues related to governance.
< Indigenous Knowledge, Poverty Eradication and Sustainable
Development
Improved understanding of the role that indigenous people and their
knowledge play in sustainability. Increasingly involved in
learning about the holistic views of the Mapuche, Maya, Cuna and Lacota
peoples.
Sulak Sivaraksa
Founder, Santi Pracha Dhamma Institute
Bangkok, Thailand
2001-present: Cofounder of the World Future Council
1980-present: Founder and Director of the Thai Inter-Religious
Commission for Development (TICD) and its resource center, under
Satheirakoses-Nagapradipa Foundation
1988-present: Founder and Director of the International Network of
Engaged Buddists (INEB)
Founder and Director of Santi Prachadhamma Institute, an
non-govermental, non-profit Tahi institution for research, training,
propagation and community activities, under Satheirakoses-Nagapradipa
Foundation
1994-present Foundeer and Director of Spirit in Education Movement, a
non-governmental organization heading to promote alternative education
for adults, under Satheirakoses-Nagapradipa Foundation
1998 Chief Advisor to the organizers of the world artists for Tibet
exhibition, Bangkok
Dr. David Sluyter, Ed.D.
Program Director, Fetzer Institute
U.S.A.
For the past twelve years, Dr. Sluyter has worked at the Fetzer
Institute as a program director, vice president for education, and an
interim period as president and chief executive officer. He currently
holds the position of senior advisor.
The following three themes have run through Dave’s work at the Fetzer
Institute:
∑ Relationship-Centered Care – Dave has been interested in the
influence of relationships in health care including relationships
between providers and patients, between providers from different
professions, and between providers and the communities in which their
patients and clients reside. He is also interested in the
organizational factors that promote and sustain right relationship with
patients, staff, and other constituencies. He has organized a network
of health care providers and educators who are doing this work and is
currently working with a large medical school that is establishing a
model educational program based upon it.
∑ Teacher Formation and the Courage to Teach Program – Dave has worked
closely with a national program called the Courage to Teach, which
facilitates small groups of public school teachers who are attempting
to reconnect with the core values that brought them into the
profession. It is a program that brings new meaning to the life of the
teacher. This program is currently being applied in other professions
as well.
∑ Emotional Intelligence and Social and Emotional Learning – Dave
helped build the field of social and emotional learning in primary and
secondary education in the United States. He is on the leadership team
of the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning
(CASEL), an organization that sponsors research and practice in
teaching and social and emotional skills to children. He co-edited the
book, Emotional Development and Emotional Intelligence: Educational
Implications.
Prior to his work at the Fetzer Institute, Dave worked in several
capacities at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He
taught in the psychology department and in the holistic health care
program, and he founded and directed a rehabilitation and research
program for severely and profoundly mentally retarded adults. Dave was
a senior consultant in applied behavioral analysis with the Michigan
Department of Mental Health. He worked with the staff of several
psychiatric hospitals in Michigan, and with patients who exhibited
severe behavior disorders, including violent behavior and self-abusive
behavior. His specialty was the application of learning theory to these
difficult behavior problems.
Prior to working at the university, he held a number of executive level
positions in mental health clinics and institutions in Southwest
Michigan. He has been on the executive board of numerous professional
and nonprofit organizations, including the Michigan Association of
Professional Psychologists, the American Association on Mental
Retardation, the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional
Learning (CASEL), and the Phoenix Society.
Dave received his doctorate in counseling psychology from Western
Michigan University.
Bro. David Steindl-Rast, OSB
Hermitage
U.S.A.
DAVID STEINDL-RAST was born July 12, 1926, in Vienna, Austria. He
studied art, anthropology, and psychology, receiving an MA from the
Vienna Academy of Fine Arts and a PhD from the University of Vienna. In
1953 he joined the Benedictine monastery in Elmira, NY, of which he is
now a senior member. In 1958/59 Brother David was a Post-Doctoral
Fellow at Cornell University, where he also became the first Roman
Catholic to hold the Thorpe Lectureship, following Bishop J.D.R.
Robinson and Paul Tillich.
After twelve years of monastic training and studies in philosophy and
theology, Brother David was sent by his abbot to participate in
Buddhist-Christian dialogue, for which he received Vatican approval in
1967. He co-founded the Center for Spiritual Studies in 1968 and
received the 1975 Martin Buber Award for his achievements in building
bridges between religious traditions. Together with Thomas Merton,
Brother David helped launch a renewal of religious life.
For decades, Brother David divided his time between periods of hermit's
life and extensive lecture tours on five continents. His wide spectrum
of audiences has included starving students in Zaire and faculty at
Harvard and Columbia Universities, Buddhist monks and Sufi retreatants,
missionaries on Polynesian islands and gatherings at the United
Nations, Green Berets and participants at international peace
conferences.
He has written for a wide range of books and periodicals, from the
Encyclopedia Americana and The New Catholic Encyclopedia, to the New
Age Journal and Parabola Magazine, and has contributed chapters or
interviews to well over 30 books. His books have been translated into
many languages. He co-authored with physicist Fritjof Capra Belonging
to the Universe, a dialogue on new paradigm thinking in science and
theology (American Book Award 1992).
At present, Brother David serves a worldwide Network for Grateful
Living, through www.gratefulness.org, an interactive website with
several thousand participants daily from 226 countries.
Bro. Wayne Teasdale
Co-director, Synthesis Dialogues
U.S.A.
Wayne Teasdale, Ph.D.: Brother in Sannyasa tradition; adjunct faculty
at Catholic Theological Union and Columbia College; formulated with the
Dalai Lama the Universal Declaration on Nonviolence; Board of Trustees,
Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions; author of numerous
books and articles including his latest books--The Mystic Heart,
and A Monk in the World.
William Ury
International Negotiation Network
U.S.A.
William L. Ury co-founded Harvard’s Program on Negotiation where he
currently directs the Global Negotiation Project. He is co-author (with
Roger Fisher) of Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving
In, a five-million-copy bestseller translated into over twenty
languages. "No other book in the field comes close to its impact on the
way practitioners, teachers, researchers, and the public approach
negotiation," comments the National Institute on Dispute Resolution.
Ury is also author of the award-winning Getting Past No: Negotiating
with Difficult People and Getting To Peace (released in paperback under
the title The Third Side.)
Over the past twenty-five years, Ury has served as a negotiation
adviser and mediator in conflicts ranging from wildcat strikes in a
Kentucky coal mine to corporate restructurings to ethnic wars in the
Middle East, the Balkans, and the former Soviet Union. With former
president Jimmy Carter, he co-founded the International Negotiation
Network, a non-governmental body seeking to end civil wars around the
world. Most recently, Ury has served as a third party in a civil war
in Indonesia and in a bitter political struggle in Venezuela.
Ury is also co-founder of the e-Parliament Initiative, which is
intended to link together the 25,000 elected parliamentarians around
the world (together with representatives of civil society) in an
Internet-based forum to address global problems such as AIDS,
children’s rights, and war.
Ury is the recipient of the Whitney North Seymour Award from the
American Arbitration Association and the Distinguished Service Medal
from the Russian Parliament.
Trained as a social anthropologist, Ury has a B.A. from Yale and a
Ph.D. from Harvard.
ON. Walter Ventroni
Sindaco della Citta di Roma
Italy
Mayor of Rome, acclaimed for work he is doing in the field of promoting
peace, inter- ethnic relationship, and giving voice to minorities;
strong supporter of cultural events and the arts. He has declared Rome
"City of Peace". Each year, he invites dozens of Mayors from some of
the most important capitals in the world for a joint effort in building
ties and promoting common programs for peace.
Venerable Dr. Yifa
Hsi Lai University
U.S.A.
Ph.D. in Religion, Yale University, 1996; Provost, Hsi Lai University,
California.
Venerable Yifa has been a nun at Fo Guang Shan Monastery in Taiwan
since 1979. She received her Ph.D. in religious studies from Yale
University in 1996 and an award the Ten Outstanding Young Persons in
Taiwan in 1997. She has been an administrator at Fo Guang Shan Buddhist
College and at Hsi Lai University, Rosemead, California, a visiting
scholar at the University of California at Berkeley, and a faculty
member at National Sun Yat-Sen University. Now she acts as the vice
president of Deer Park Foundation in New York.
For these years Yifa has been engaged in interfaith dialogues, some of
occasions are supported by UNESCO; and was a contributor to "Safe
Motherhood Project" by UNICEF in South Asia Office. Yifa is a frequent
guest lecturer on diverse subjects, including Chinese Buddhist
philosophy, thanatology and ethics. Her current research focuses on
Women in Buddhism. Her book on monastic rules and institutions, The
Origin of Buddhist Monastic Codes in China, is soon be published by
Hawaii University Press. Her own website: http://www.yifa.ws
Ven. Dhyani Ywahoo
Sunray Meditation Society
U.S.A.
Venerable Dhyani Ywahoo, is founder Sunray Meditation Society, Chief
Green Mountain Ani Yunwiwa, parent, grandparent, author, musician and
spiritual advisor.
Sunray is an international society of like-minded beings dedicated to
cooperative action to support the potential of wisdom and peacemaking
in all beings. Sunray is composed of three schools; Buddhist
studies, Cherokee Philosophy and Healing Methods of Indigenous
peoples.
The Ani Yunwiwa is a Cherokee band composed of relatives who have
relocated to the Green Mountains of Vermont, as instructed by our
elders, to offer prayers into the headwaters, as earlier
ancestors have done, to return appreciation to the waters of life and
to energize the seed of lucid awareness in all those who drink from
these waters. Water being a means of transmitting information, it
may carry our prayers for all beings to live with mutual respect.
Author of ‘Voices of Our Ancestors’ ‘Wisdom from the Cherokee
Fire’,
Shamballah, Boston, 1986.
‘One Taste’ “One Truth Behind All Appearances”, Thesus Varolg,
Munich2004.
‘Love Letters from the Heart of the Sky’, Ywahoo and Starry Puddle
Publishing, Los Angeles,2004.
Author and designer of Peacekeeper Training Program, 1983-1996,
based upon the teachings of the’ ‘Luminous One’, an
awakened being born among the Cherokee and his later rebirth among the
Huron people, then known as the Peacemaker.
The Peacekeeper Training program is a seven-year program offering clear
instruction on reconciling the appearance of difference to the
realization of innate luminosity (Orinida), and that all beings are our
relatives in the dance of life’s appearances and reveals clear methods
of reconcilation.
Through this carefully constructed curriculum, inspired by Cherokee and
Huron teachers, individuals observe and repair their original
relationship with awakened mind within and trace the roots of
relationship with family, clan &(coworkers) nation, planetary and
cosmic relationship and perceive the appearances of an individual as
inseparable from a vast sphere of potential. This awakened
potential permeates all appearances and is know as Nuwati.
This original curriculum has become model utilized by many schools and
organizations worldwide.
Visit
www.synthesisdialogues.org
June 21, 2004
Barbara Fields Bernstein
Co-founder & Director, Synthesis Dialogues I, II & III
Executive Director, Association for Global New Thought