Coauthor Bios
Barbara Marx Hubbard has been a pioneer in positive options for the future of humanity for forty years. A public speaker, author, and social innovator, she is president and executive director of the Foundation for Conscious Evolution. She has been instrumental in the founding of many future-oriented organizations, including the World Future Society, New Dimensions Radio, Global Family, The Foundation for the Future, and the Association for Global New Thought. Among her books are Emergence (Hampton Roads, 2001), and Conscious Evolution (New World Library, 1998). For more information visit her website at www.barbaramarxhubbard.com.
Neale Donald Walsch is the author of fifteen books, and founder of the nonprofit Conversations With God Foundation. In 1992, after four failed marriages, poor health, spotty relationships with his children, and losing his job, he fired off an angry letter to God–and to his surprise, received an answer filled with profound truths. Those answers have touched the lives of millions of people through his books, most recently Tomorrow’s God (Atria, 2004). He recently created Humanity’s Team, a worldwide grassroots movement to catalyze the emergence of a new form of spirituality on Earth. Full information is found at www.HumanitysTeam.com.
Saniel Bonder has helped hundreds achieve embodied spiritual enlightenment&emdash;and then discover how to live an awakened life together on Earth. A neo-shaman and tantric, he is author of Great Relief, Healing the Spirit/Matter Split, and The Tantra of Trust, and founder of the Awakening Mutuality work (www.wakingdown.org, 888.741.5000). He’s also a devoted husband to his beloved, Linda Groves; an avid golfer and flute player; a grateful Gold Ambassador in John Easterling’s Amazon Herb Company; and a proud activist with Dr. Helen Caldicott’s Nuclear Policy Research Institute. For more information see www.sanielbonder.net or call 1.888.657.7020.
Huston Smith, Ph.D., is a retired professor of philosophy and religion whose teaching appointments include MIT and the University of California at Berkeley. His twelve books include The World’s Religions (HarperSanFrancisco, 1991), The Way Things Are (University of California Press, 2003), and Why Religion Matters (HarperSan-Francisco, 2001). In 1996 Bill Moyers featured his life and career in a PBS series, The Wisdom of Faith. His documentary films on Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam all won international awards, and The Journal of Ethnomusicology cited his discovery of Tib-etan multiphonic chanting as an important landmark. More at www.hustonsmith.net.
Mary Catherine Bateson is a writer and cultural anthropologist. She has written and co-authored many books and articles, lectures across the U.S. and internationally, and is president of the Institute for Intercultural Studies in New York City. Until recently she was the Clarence J. Robinson Professor in Anthropology and English at George Mason University; she recently completed three years as a Visiting Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her chapter is based on a talk she gave at Foundation2020, Brioni Islands, Croatia, in May 2004. She can be found on the web at www.marycatherinebateson.com.
Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama and revered leader of Buddhism worldwide, is one of the greatest champions of humankind’s precious right to live one’s life according to one’s own values and customs. Former head of the Tibetan state, he sought accommodation with the Chinese government when it invaded Tibet in 1950. He fled Tibet in 1959 for exile in Dharamsala, India. For his nonviolent resistance to the Chinese occupation, which has killed some one million Tibetans, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.
Helen Caldicott, M.D., is a humanist, physician, and a Nobel Peace Prize nominee. She is recognized worldwide as an impassioned advocate of nuclear disarmament, and has been honored with dozens of awards, including the Gandhi Peace Prize and the SANE Peace Award. She founded and headed Physicians For Social Responsibility and Women’s Action For Nuclear Disarmament (WAND). She is the author of several books, as well as developing dozens of documentaries. She has spoken at many universities, and her articles have appeared in virtually every major newspaper and magazine worldwide. You can find her on the web at www.helencaldicott.com.
Sylvia Haskvitz, M.A., R.D., has been a Certified Trainer with the Center for Nonviolent (Compassionate) Communication since 1989. Her training clients include: Health Net, Canyon Ranch Resort, Spirit Rock, and Head Start. She has presented workshops at national conferences, and is a columnist for Tucson West Publishing. She has also hosted the weekly radio program “Call In a Conflict,” and a television show, “People Skills.” Tapes and CDs of her work are available online, and a booklet entitled Make Peace With Food (Puddle Dancer Press) will be available shortly. Find her on the web at www.nvcaz.com/tucson.
Debbie Ford is an internationally recognized expert in the field of personal transformation and human potential. A pioneering force in incorporating the study and integration of the shadow into modern psychological and spiritual practices, Debbie is the founder of the Ford Institute for Integrative Coaching, a personal development organization that provides professional training for individuals who are committed to leading extraordinary lives. A number one New York Times best-selling author, Debbie’s books and tapes have sold more than one million copies and are used in universities worldwide. For more information visit www.debbieford.com.
Andrew Harvey was born in South India in 1952 and lived there until he was nine years old, a period he credits with shaping his vision of the inner unity of all religions. At the age of twenty-one, at Oxford University, he became the youngest person ever to be awarded the Fellowship of All Souls College, England’s highest academic honor. He then abandoned academic life to embark on a spiritual search, and was the subject of a 1993 BBC documentary “The Making of a Mystic.” His books include The Direct Path (Broadway, 2001), and The Sun at Midnight (Tarcher, 2002). Find him on the web at www.andrewharvey.net.
Ram Dass is one of the cultural icons of our age. In the nineteen sixties, he studied psychology in collaboration with Aldous Huxley, Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, and other early experimenters with LSD. In India in 1967 he met his spiritual teacher Neem Karoli Baba, and wrote Be Here Now (Three Rivers, 1971), which has over one million copies in print. For decades, he pursued devotional yoga from several wisdom traditions, and taught widely, until in February 1997 a stroke left him partially paralyzed. His most recent book is Paths to God: Living the Baghvad Gita (Harmony, 2004). His web site is www.RamDassTapes.org.
A student of the Theosophical tradition for twenty-five years, Marsha Covington Ed.D. is president and founder of New Wisdom University, a modern mystery school dedicated to sharing the esoteric teachings that have been guarded in secret libraries around the globe. In addition to courses on the path of initiation and spiritual leadership, Marsha teaches Saint Germain’s Pure Joy System of spiritual alchemy to transmute physical and psychological burdens. Marsha also serves as a guest lecturer and adjunct instructor in the communication arts and adult learning for universities and private organizations. More information at www.newwisdomuniversity.com.
Kai Jakoma has studied everything from geology, computer science and 3D computer animation; to philosophy, comparative religions and consciousness studies; to fine art, music theory and modern dance; to holistic health, somatic therapy and dance therapy. He is a writer, artist, musician, poet and companion to people on their journey toward their authentic selves. He is currently most interested and involved in the process of our recovery from Western civilization and the re-integration of our animal awareness into our everyday lives. His evolving web presence can be found at www.kaijakoma.com.
Marshall Vian Summers is a dynamic teacher and inspired writer, providing a new awareness that humankind is not alone in the universe. He points to a deep understanding of humanity’s spiritual reality and about our destiny within the greater community of intelligent life in the universe. In 1975, Marshall ended his career as a special educator for the blind. He later began teaching the principles and practices of inner knowing, and he has written a trilogy of books on the subject. Marshall lives in seclusion with his wife in the Rocky Mountains. He can be found on the web at www.greatercommunity.org.
Larry Dossey, M.D, is a physician of internal medicine. He was a battalion surgeon in Vietnam, and chief of staff at Medical City Dallas Hospital. He has lectured all over the world, including the Mayo Clinic, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, and numerous major universities. Among his many books are Space, Time & Medicine, and Prayer Is Good Medicine. He executive editor of the journal Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine.
Barry Sears, Ph.D. is a leading authority on the control of hormonal responses through food. A former research scientist at the Boston University School of Medicine and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he continues his research today through biotechnology company Sears Labs. Dr. Sears has been a frequent guest on many national programs such as 20/20, Today, Good Morning America, CBS Morning News, CNN, and MSNBC. More than 4 million hardcover copies of books, incluing The Zone, The Anti-Aging Zone and The Omega Rx Zone, have been sold in the United States. The Zone has been translated into 22 languages.
Bruce Lipton, Ph.D. is an internationally recognized authority in bridging science and spirit. A cell biologist by training, he taught Anatomy at the University of Virginia, and later performed pioneering studies at Stanford University’s School of Medicine. He has been a guest speaker on dozens of TV and radio shows, as well as keynote presenter for national conferences. His breakthrough studies on the cell membrane presaged the new science of Epigenetics, and made him a leading voice of the new biology. His new book The Biology of Belief appears in 2005, and you can find him on the web at www.brucelipton.com.
Henry Han, O.M.D., is the co-author of Ancient Herbs, Modern Medicine (Bantam, 2003). He was born to a family of doctors in China in 1958, and received his formal medical training both in traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine from Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. He moved to the United States in 1985 and studied psychology and cognitive science. He has been in private medical practice since 1989 in Santa Barbara, California. He is currently writing the book: The Gray Zone, the first part of which is outlined in this chapter.
Nelson Kellogg, Ph.D., is Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies in The Hutchins School of Liberal Studies at Sonoma State University. In this position, since 1991, he has been able to develop a suite of new courses, including “Space, Time, and Culture,” “Machine as Metaphor,” “Biography of a Community,” “Utopias and Monocultures,” and “Inventing the Protean Self.” His doctorate, from Johns Hopkins University is in the History of Science, and he has been a fellow at the Smithsonian (National Museum of American History) and for IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers). He is the author of The Persistence of Visions.
Trathen Heckman is the founder of Daily Acts organization and Ripples journal. He is a former professional snowboarder and software engineer who now writes, teaches and organizes around reclaiming our personal and planetary richness. Trathen weaves Permaculture Design and Tai Chi into everything he can dream up and believes that by approaching people in entertaining and diverse ways, we inspire the engagement of hearts, minds and senses. He lives in the Dutch Bill Creek Watershed in Monte Rio, California where he enjoys Tai Chi toast, working to compost apathy and planting subversive seeds of conscious delight. Web address: www.daily-acts.org.
Deepak Chopra, M.D., has written twenty-five books, which have been translated into thirty-five languages. He is also the author of more than one hundred audio- and videotape series, including five critically acclaimed programs on public television. In 1999 Time magazine selected Dr. Chopra as one of the Top 100 Icons and Heroes of the Century, describing him as “the poet-prophet of alternative medicine.” Dr. Chopra currently serves as CEO and founder of The Chopra Center for Well Being in Carlsbad, California. For more information about his books and lectures you can visit his web site at www.chopra.com.
Richard Moss, M.D., received a Doctorate of Medicine in 1972 from New York Medical College. After a few years of general practice, he realized that he was called to serve life in another way. His work has been of value to countless individuals in many arenas of life and also has inspired changes of consciousness in healthcare, business and teaching organizations. He is the author of five books. Richard teaches in Europe, South America, and Australia, as well as in the United States. He lives with his wife Ariel in the foothills of the High Sierra in California. They have three grown children. Find him on the web at www.richardmoss.com.
Rev. Edward Viljoen, D.D. is a dynamic and inspiring speaker, who has had a passion for spiritual understanding from a young age. During his tenure as senior minister, the Center for Spiritual Living, Santa Rosa, California, has grown to one of the largest churches in the San Francisco Bay Area, with groundbreaking lecture series’s on prayer, creativity, and the world’s major religions. He is also co-author with Rev. Joyce Duffala of Seeing Good At Work, a book that condenses perennial spiritual teachings into day-to-day exercises for greater peace and success in the workplace. You can find him at www.centerforspirituallivingsantarosa.org.
Dawson Church, Ph.D., is a writer and publisher. His first published title was The Heart of the Healer (Penguin 1989), which “defines the health care trends of the current era.” His work has been published in the Los Angeles Times, Publishers Weekly, and elsewhere. His new anthologies, The Heart of Healing (Elite, 2004), this book, and Mystical Activism (Elite, 2005) simultaneously define the state of health care today, and provide a compelling vision of our future. He facilitates the self-publishing process for authors through the Author’s Publishing Coop (www. authorspublishing.com), as well as defining current health trends in his new writing.
Daryl Hannah is an accomplished actress and producer. After graduating from the University of Southern California School of Theatre, she studied drama at Chicago’s Goodman Theater. Her breakout role was the gymnastic android in the movie “Blade Runner” (1982) starring opposite Harrison Ford. She portrayed a mermaid in “Splash” (1984) and went on to star in “Steel Magnolias” and many other movies. At the Berlin Film Festival in 1994, she won the Best Short award for a movie she directed and produced entitled “The Last Supper.” She is currently involved in several new movie projects.
Gay Hendricks, Ph.D., is the author and co-author of twenty-five books in conscious relationship, conscious business, and body-mind transformation. Included are such enduring bestsellers as Conscious Loving (Bantam, 1992), Conscious Breathing (Bantam, 1995), and Conscious Living (HarperSanFrancisco, 2001). Before founding his own institute, he was Professor of Counseling at the University of Colorado. Over the twenty-four years of their relationship, he and his wife Kathlyn have raised two children, accumulated a million frequent flyer miles and appeared on more than 500 radio and television programs. You can see him on the web at www.hendricks.com.
Duane Elgin, MBA, M.A., is an author, speaker, evolutionary activist, and Internet entrepreneur. Author of Voluntary Simplicity (Perennial Currents, 1998), Promise Ahead (Perennial Currents, 2001) and Awakening Earth (Morrow, 1993), he is a former senior social scientist at SRI International, where he coauthored numerous studies on the long-range future for the Environmental Protection Agency, the president’s science advisor, and the National Science Foundation. Prior to SRI, Elgin worked as a senior staff member for the National Commission on Population Growth and the American Future. Find him on the web at www.awakeningearth.org.
Neriah Lothamer, who since 1967 has produced, promoted, and recorded alternative culture events, is a cultural archivist and visionary activist. His background includes Catholic seminary, training in Neurolinguistic Programming, Nonviolent Communication and Ericksonian hypnosis. He has facilitated encounter groups, consensus communities, Rainbow gatherings, rock and roll shows, and alternative festivals. His activist experiences include the Kent State University strikes, the Black Hills Alliance, resistance to the relocation of the Hopi-Dineh tribes, the Headwaters Alliance, and the Medical Marijuana initiatives. He is the author of the forthcoming book Dancing in the Shadow of Tyranny. Details: www.NeriahLothamer.com.
Patricia Sun is a communication expert and philosopher whose insights are ahead of her time. Her pioneering work has supported and seeded many individuals in the human potential and spiritual movement over the last three decades. She is the Director of ICU, Institute of Communication for Understanding, and has her own daily radio show “Connections with Patricia Sun”; her workshops, audiotapes and conferences appear in over forty-nine countries. As well as doing private consulting, she has lectured everywhere from the FBI to Stanford Medical School to the United Nations, and her work can be found on the web at www.PatriciaSun.com.
Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D., is a psychiatrist, Jungian analyst, clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco, a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and the 2002 recipient of “Pioneers in Arts, Sciences, and the Soul of Healing Award” from the Institute for Health and Healing. She is a former board member of the Ms. Foundation for Women, and the author of The Tao of Psychology (25th Anniversary Edition, 2004), Goddesses in Everywoman (20th Anniversary Edition, 2004), Crossing to Avalon (10th Anniversary Edition, 2004), and many other books. Full information at www.jeanbolen.com.
Joan Borysenko, Ph.D., has a powerfully clear personal vision–to bring science, medicine, psychology and spirituality together in the service of healing. Her brilliance as a scientist, clinician and teacher have placed her on the leading edge of the mind-body revolution, and she has become a world-renowned spokesperson for this new approach to health, sharing her pioneering work with a gentle graciousness, enthusiasm and humility. She is the author of the best-seller Minding the Body, Mending the Mind (1987) and eight other books.
With masters degrees in both Art and Psychology, Anthony Scheving is a visionary artist and adept myth maker. After teaching design and technology at San Francisco State University for ten years, he straddled the worlds between corporate America and explorations in spirituality. He has since turned his interests to studies in imaginal psychology. Visit him at www.heartsoulvision.com.
Geralyn Gendreau is a licensed therapist, black-belt martial artist, and professional muse. A Pacific Rim yogini, she was initiated into the path of union by the Pacific Ocean rather than a guru. She is the originator of Animal Yoga, a “yoga of the Americas” that explores the realm of human being as an indigenous life form. Find her at www.awakenedlover.com.
Marya Mann, Ph.D., trained as a dancer, yogini, and poet in West Texas. A student of Joseph Campbell, Richard Freeman, Jean Houston, and Balinese, Haitian, and Native American Shamans, she choreographs dances for the multi-dimensional body and has brought sacred art traditions in the U. S., Bali, Australia, and the Solomon Islands. Dr. Mann teaches Yoga Dance, Quantum Leap Creativity, Mythic Theater, and Healing Movement, and performs with the musical group Moonshine. Writing fiction, theater, and film, her goal is “dancing for the world, laughing for love, and leaving a legacy of harmony.” www.lotuslivingarts.org.
An internationally recognized expert on environmental economics and natural healing modalities, Amazon John Easterling has twenty-five years experience exploring the Amazon as an entrepreneur and adventurer. A frequent guest on television and radio, his vision and leadership has helped secure the future of the rainforest as a concentrated repository of new chemistry and nutrition. Founded in 1990, Amazon Herb Company models ecological commerce, making life-saving botanicals available to a larger population, while providing resources at the village level for indigenous communities. Information at www.21stcenturyherbs.amazonherb.net.
Alberto Villoldo, Ph.D., founder of The Four Winds Society, trained as a psychologist and medical anthropologist, and has investigated the traditions of the Andes and the Amazon for more than twenty-five years. He makes available a complex body of shamanic knowledge in an elegant and accessible manner. His book, Shaman, Healer, Sage (Harmony, 2000), was selected as book of the month by the One Spirit Book Club. Other books include Dance of the Four Winds: Secrets of the Inca Medicine Wheel (Destiny, 1996) and Island of the Sun (Destiny, 1994). He can be found on the web at www.thefourwinds.com.