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Seminar Spotlight - A Closer Look In our efforts to expand our programming in new directions, we continue to present leaders whose names may not be as familiar to you as others in the Catalog. In this section we highlight a few of these offerings by providing a bit more information than you'll find in the Seminars section. Jack Healey
Deeply devout, Healey became a Franciscan priest and helped Martin Luther King, Jr. organize the March on Washington in 1963. At the age of 30, however, he left the priesthood, following a call to "get more deeply involved with what was going on—and going wrong—in the world." He has since worked as a fundraiser for Freedom From Hunger, served as director of the Center for Community Change, been a Peace Corps volunteer (he was director of the African Peace Corps for four years), and eventually became director of Amnesty International, U.S. It was in this last position that Healey pioneered the musical tours that made Amnesty International a household name. He organized the "Conspiracy of Hope" and "Human Rights Now!" tours that featured such artists as U2, The Police, Bruce Springsteen, Peter Gabriel, Miles Davis, Tracy Chapman, and Lou Reed, among others. In 1994, after 12 years with Amnesty, Healey left to found the Human Rights Action Center (HRAC), dedicated to moving the world toward nonviolence by utilizing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document drafted in 1948 by Eleanor Roosevelt. Says Healey, "I view the United States as one of many countries in the world, not the center of the universe. What I'd like to do is create a universal celebration for the Declaration that was signed by nearly every nation in the world, although many of those countries violate that agreement today." Come and find out why US News and World Report called Jack Healey "Mr. Human Rights." See Human Rights Activism: Joining the Family of Doers, January 18-20.
Josiah Cain
As a way to get innovative projects built, he obtained a license and became a founding partner in a design/build firm at the age of 27. Over the next eight years his firms designed the first permitted graywater systems in three Bay Area counties, and worked on ecologically-driven master plans, outdoor environments, and innovative infrastructure projects for retreat centers, schools, and residential clients. To add credibility, Josiah obtained certificates in Permaculture Design, Constructed Wetland Design, and Green Roof Design. By the time the word "sustainability" began to sound clichéd, it had become clear that ecological responsibility was no longer the niche it had once been. The U.S. Green Building Council had become a rapidly growing organization, "green building" had become the fastest growing sector of the building industry, and increasing numbers of design firms were marketing "green" to remain competitive. Rather than compete, Josiah opted to return to school and earned a Master of Design, Technology & Environment from Harvard's Graduate School of Design. He was quickly hired to head a regional office for an ecological design and restoration firm known for its innovative approaches to landscape, structure, and urban design. Josiah has mentored many young aspiring professionals in finding a life path and career that are in alignment. He enjoys working with others, inciting their passions and inspiring them to follow their dreams in pursuit of meaningful careers. See Spiritual Ecology of Business and Right Livelihood, February 22-24.
Nora Bateson & Alfonso Montuori
Nora Bateson currently lives in Nelson, British Columbia, headquarters for her upcoming film, That Reminds Me of a Story, a documentary about Gregory Bateson. She is also compiling a book of her father's unpublished works, and she recently published three pieces in Kybernetes, a cybernetics and systems journal. She is dedicated to fostering the possibilities of human evolution, starting with teaching young children to see the interconnectedness of the natural world. Nora developed a curriculum in human relations for grades 7-12, integrating self-discovery, relationships, social justice, mythology, environmentalism, and sex education. Central to all of her work is the idea of utilizing media and storytelling aimed at bringing about cultural understanding, social justice, and environmental awareness. Born of an Italian father and a Dutch mother, Alfonso Montuori spoke five languages by age 12. He was born in Holland and grew up in Lebanon, Greece, England, and, finally in 1983, the U.S. Since coming to this country, Alfonso has been a professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies, a consultant in the areas of creativity, innovation, and executive development, and has authored numerous articles and books on creativity and complexity. Having grown up and lived in different countries, and seeing the world's history of prejudice, racism, war, and domination, Alfonso gradually began to ask himself how human beings can learn to live in a pluralistic, complex, ambiguous, uncertain world. Can we learn to thrive on the inevitable chaos and uncertainty of life? Exploring such conundrums opens up a rich world of potentials and possibilities, and requires that we question some of our most deeply held assumptions. From this standpoint, creativity is the cornerstone for a new perspective and a new way of being in the world. Somewhere Gregory Bateson is smiling. See Tea with the Bread and Butterfly: An Exploration in Creativity, Interconnectedness, and the Double Bind, March 2-7. Nancy Abrams & Joel Primack
Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack write: "We will introduce up-to-date ideas of cosmology. We'll talk about the new scientific cosmology and the ancient universe pictures that traditional tribes and religions offered. We'll redefine familiar images and age-old metaphors into a modern series of symbols that encapsulate cutting-edge scientific understandings. We'll also do guided meditations which allow people to grasp concepts that defy earthly experiences. By understanding the universe, we can understand ourselves at a new level." Joel R. Primack, professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, is a pioneer in modern ideas about cosmic evolution. He has published hundreds of papers in scientific journals and he currently uses some of the largest supercomputers to simulate the origin of galaxies. Nancy Ellen Abrams is a writer and lawyer with a background in the history and philosophy of science who has worked as a kind of science-interpreter for governments. She is also a songwriter who has performed at conferences, concerts, and events in eighteen countries. Abrams and Primack are married and have collaborated for decades in understanding and communicating the possible meaning of scientific cosmology. For the past decade they have taught a prize-winning course called "Cosmology and Culture" at UC Santa Cruz, and are co-authors of The View from the Center of the Universe: Discovering Our Extraordinary Place in the Cosmos. Visit http://viewfromthecenter.com. See The View from the Center of the Universe, April 4-6. Peter Russell
Russell first studied mathematics and theoretical physics at Cambridge. (For a while he was supervised by Stephen Hawking.) However, he became increasingly fascinated by the nature of consciousness and switched his studies to experimental psychology, graduating with a first class honors degree. He then traveled to India to study meditation and Eastern philosophy with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. "This was [a] major turning point of my life," he said. "It became very clear to me that the fundamental problem with humanity had to do with our self-centeredness and egocentricity. I felt that I wanted to do what I could to promote spiritual understanding." Returning to England, Russell initially set up a meditation center and an organic vegetarian restaurant and whole food shop. He then took up research into the psychophysiology of meditation and also earned a post-graduate degree from Cambridge in computer science. With his prodigiously curious intellect, Russell has published ten books on subjects ranging from meditation to memory, from a translation of the Upanishads to problem-solving in the corporate world. In his most recent book, From Science to God, Russell explores the nature of consciousness and the inability of the Western scientific worldview to account for conscious experience. Swedish Telecom has retained Russell as their "in-house philosopher" and the environmental magazine Buzzworm has named him "Eco-philosopher Extraordinaire" of the year. Now Russell suggests a new metaparadigm in which science and spirituality are no longer in conflict, and God takes on new meaning—not the almighty father-figure of traditional religion, but the divine inner essence of which the mystics have always spoken. See Releasing into Divine Joy, April 25-27. Lillie P. Allen
In 1983 Lillie introduced her groundbreaking "Black and Female: What is the Reality?©" workshop at the First National Conference on Black Women's Health Issues. This workshop continues to be a catalyst for African-American women to enter the health and empowerment movements. In 1988, she created the Sisters & Allies© workshop for African-American women, other women of color, and white women. This workshop series served as a foundation for the development of a grassroots national network of women and girls committed to social change. In 1989, Lillie established the Lillie Allen Institute, Inc., expanding her work to include training and consulting services for corporations, educational and medical institutions, and government agencies. Her focus on understanding and working with diversity, as well as her expertise in assisting individuals, institutions, and agencies to examine themselves, provides a new and holistic framework for interacting and working cooperatively. She has consulted on organizational development issues with Tellus Communication, Procter & Gamble, National Abortion Rights Action League, National Hispana Leadership Institute, and Congregation Bet Haverim. She has worked on program analysis and design with the City of Oakland, Riverside Methodist Hospital, New Leaf Distributing Company, and DuPont. She has developed diversity training for the Atlanta History Center, Threshold Foundation, Northwestern University, and Georgia Legal Service. As a consultant, Lillie brings to her work her extraordinary skills at creating open and meaningful dialogue among diverse groups of people and working effectively through the racism, sexism, classism, and other forms of oppression that adversely impacts people's lives. See Building Sustainable Leadership for Justice: The Be Present Empowerment Model, May 4-9. Henry Daniel
Henry is a fitting choice for this role. Born in Trinidad, he worked as an actor with the Trinidad Theatre Workshop under the direction of poet/playwright Derek Walcott. He also trained as a dancer at the Juilliard School, the Joffrey Ballet School, and the Alvin Ailey America Dance Centre in New York. He went on to perform with a number of dance companies in New York City, including the Bernhard Ballet and the José Limón Dance Company. From 1984 to 1994, Henry lived in Germany, dancing, teaching, and choreographing simultaneously for several companies and his own group, Henry Daniel and Dancers. In the UK he taught dance at The Laban Centre, London, and later taught as a lecturer at the University of Plymouth, Exmouth, University College Scarborough, and King Alfred's College in Winchester. His impressive record of accomplishment in practice-based research continues to lead to advances in cultural knowledge by bringing to bear the perspectives and skills of the artist/scholar. Through his collaborations with researchers from the fields of science and engineering, he enables and contributes to technological innovation. His collaborations with software and equipment developers on devices created by Soundbeam (sensor technology to translate body movement into digitally generated sound and image) are commercially developed and marketed. Dr. Daniel currently lives in Vancouver, Canada, where he is artistic director of Full Performing Bodies, a performance research group, and associate professor of dance and performance studies in the School for the Contemporary Arts at Simon Fraser University. See Dancing from the Soul: A Doorway to Embodied Knowledge, May 23-25. Brian Weller
"I was born at the end of the Second World War in London, England," Weller says. "We lived with rations and grew delicious fruit and vegetables in allotments or victory gardens. Nobody I knew had a television or refrigerator, and cars were rare. In our community we made our own fun and made everything last. We had movies at the Salvation Army hut on Saturday mornings, local dances, bring-and-buy fetes, and lots of lively discussions about the future waiting to happen. Self-reliance was our way of life. "As a boy soprano at the Royal School of Church Music, I sang for Vaughan Williams and was a soloist in Benjamin Britten's opera Noyes Fludde. This was, tellingly, a story about a reluctant family coping with a natural disaster in the face of enormous societal denial. I became an engineer, studied meditation with the Maharishi, and traveled the world as a business trainer, facilitator, and creativity consultant. "In the mid-1990's I came to live in Willits. It was here in 2004 that a small group of us created Willits Economic Localization. WELL is a grassroots movement to create a local, sustainable economy in the light of rising energy costs, imported everything, and climate changes. We are now hundreds strong, have staged numerous public events, raised funds, and started projects. We work with our city council on energy and water conservation. We are relearning the age-old wisdom that community is about building enduring relationships. It is a journey into the heart. In many ways, my life has come full circle." Weller has a compelling urgency to lighten the impact of human society on the natural ecology. Speaking of London, his place of birth, he says, "If you look at the ecological footprint of London, you would need a land area 120 times its size to supply all of London's consumption needs. Cities must become sustainable if they've got a future." See Creating Sustainable Communities, May 30-June 1.
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Maybe it was being the youngest of eleven brothers sisters that spurred Jack Healey to develop a sensitivity for the oppressed among the family of man. When his father died when Jack was two, his mother told him, "I didn't bring you into this world to survive, I brought you into this world to do something." Those words have been his compass for his entire life.
Josiah Cain has been combining activism, spiritual practice, and a passion for ecological design throughout his career. He had to forge new territory along the way, since his drive to create meaningful work—satisfying personally, spiritually, and ethically—forced him to create options that were not always available. When his UC Davis landscape architecture program required a choice between focusing on landscape ecology or urban planning, he combined them to create a new focus: Sustainable Community Planning. Upon graduation, he found that there were few firms seriously engaged in ecological design, and he struggled to find personally fulfilling employment.
Peter Russell's message is simple and clear: The individuals and organizations that will thrive will be those that understand the nature of the human mind and fully appreciate the interconnectedness of our problems and our potential. Russell weaves a stirring, thought-provoking blend of scientific rationale, global vision, and intuitive wisdom.
Lillie P. Allen has been involved in public health education for over twenty years. In 1992 Lillie founded Be Present, Inc., a nonprofit organization committed to improving the economic, health, political, and social status of women and girls. She created and developed the Be Present Empowerment Model© (BPEM) to support a diverse network of women and girls committed to changing their circumstances and leading social-change efforts within their families and communities.
Henry Daniel is a choreographer/dancer and the project research leader for Transnet, an international network of artists, scholars, educators, scientists, engineers, and activists that explores concepts of performance. Transnet operates under the premise that, in this age of information, new knowledge emerges at the intersections of disciplines rather than strictly within them. Aligned with Esalen's philosophy, this transdisciplinary approach analyzes how knowledge from other fields intersects with one's own and how this contact influences all disciplines.
The Willits Economic Localization (WELL) project is a landmark program to foster a 100% local, self-sustaining economy. Brian Weller is a cofounder of this revolutionary project taking root in the small (just over 5000 people) town of Willits, the gateway to the redwoods in Northern California. It has been an unusual journey for the British-born Weller.