Speaker Biographies
Barbara Marx Hubbard, Michael Murphy, Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche, and Swami Shankarananda will be joining Andrew Cohen on Saturday and Sunday February 19 & 20 to explore the ‘Being’ and ‘Becoming’ dimensions of enlightenment.
Barbara Marx Hubbard
Barbara Marx Hubbard is president and founder of The Foundation for Conscious Evolution. A speaker, social innovator, visionary and author of five books, she is an evolutionary educator, communicating the new worldview of conscious evolution.
She has worked closely with some of the great innovators of our time such as Dr. Jonas Salk, Abraham Maslow, and the great Buckminster Fuller who said of Barbara, “she is the best informed human now alive regarding futurism and the foresights it has produced.”
She is the producer and narrator of the award-winning documentary series entitled Humanity Ascending: A New Way through Together. Part One: Our Story, is now translated into seven languages, and in Part Two: Visions of a Universal Humanity, she brings together some of the finest minds of our time, presenting us with positive, future scenarios for humanity based on the latest scientific, social and spiritual realities.
She has been instrumental in founding many future-oriented and progressive organizations, including the World Future Society, New Dimensions Radio, Global Family, Women of Vision In Action, The Foundation for the Future, and the Association for Global New Thought. She is currently a co-founder of the Evolutionary Leaders Group helping to form an evolutionary university.
Her name was placed in nomination for the vice-presidency of the United States on the Democratic ticket in 1984 proposing a Peace Room in the office of the vice presidency to scan for, map, connect and communicate what is working in America and the world. She is currently working to develop the Peace Room concept into an operating internet platform called The Synergy Engine.
Through her Foundation for Conscious Evolution, her books, movies, educational programs, TV appearances, interviews and speaking engagements, her message continues to bring answers and comfort to global audiences seeking solutions to today’s most pressing issues.
*Barbara’s books include: The Hunger of Eve: One Woman’s Odyssey toward the Future; The Evolutionary Journey: Your Guide to a Positive Future; Revelation: Our Crisis is a Birth –An Evolutionary Interpretation of the New Testament; Conscious Evolution: Awakening the Power of our Social Potential and Emergence: The Shift from Ego to Essence.
Buckminster Fuller on Barbara Marx Hubbard
“There is no doubt in my mind that Barbara Marx Hubbard – who helped introduce the concept of futurism to society – is the best informed human now alive regarding futurism and the foresights it has produced.”
Michael Murphy
Michael Murphy is Chairman Emeritus of Esalen Institute
Murphy is author of many nonfiction books that explore evidence for extraordinary human capacities, including The Future of the Body, The Life We Are Given (with George Leonard),In the Zone: Transcendent Experience in Sports (with Rhea White), The Physical and Psychological Effects of Meditation (with Steven Donovan), God and the Evolving Universe (with James Redfield and Sylvia Timbers). He has also written four novels: Golf in the Kingdom, The Kingdom of Shivas Irons, Jacob Atabet, and An End to Ordinary History. The movie, ‘Golf in the Kingdom’ will be released in 2012.
Robert Reich on Michael Murphy
“His zest, energy, humor, and insight have fired up generations of personal reformers and social reformers who understand the connections between the two. To those who know him by reputation he is merely remarkable; to those who have had the pleasure and privilege of knowing him personally, he is transcendent.”
Swami Shankarananda
Mahamandaleshwar Swami Shankarananda (Swamiji) is a spiritual teacher in the tradition of Bhagavan Nityananda of Ganeshpuri. Swamiji has spent the last thirty-five years giving satsangs, retreats, lecturing, teaching and awakening seekers. In this time he has also headed many ashrams around the world.
Originally from New York, Swamiji travelled to India in the early 1970s where he met many great saints and sages including his teacher Baba Muktananda, who initiated him into the Saraswati order of teaching swamis. In 2010 he received the Hindu title “Mahamandaleshwar” in recognition of his work in spreading the eternal teachings of spirituality.
A prolific writer, Swamiji is a well-respected authority on meditation, Self-inquiry and Kashmir Shaivism – a powerful mystical philosophy whose goal is to see and experience the world as a divine play of Consciousness. He is the author of the Australian bestselling guide to meditation, Happy For No Good Reason, as well as many other books including the classic Consciousness Is Everything – a comprehensive introduction and practical guide to Shaivism.
Swamiji’s Self-inquiry work, The Shiva Process, is a key component in his teachings. Like Swamiji himself, Shiva Process work is a blend of the traditional and the modern, seamlessly drawing together ancient truths and wisdom with an accessible and modern approach that addresses everyday needs and contemporary sensibilities. Swamiji has the gift of divinizing the mundane and his teachings are both wise and practical, giving students the inspiration and tools to bring spirituality into everyday life.
In 1991, Swamiji founded the Shiva School of Meditation and Yoga, and when he is not on tour internationally or interstate, he resides at the Shiva School’s headquarters, the Shiva Ashram, situated just outside Melbourne, Australia.
Sally Kempton on Swami Shankarananda
“A master of applied Kashmir Shaivism, Hindu devotional practice, and psychological insight, Swami Shankarananda has been guiding students for 40 years with warmth, humor, and depth. He carries the energy of one of the powerful mystical lineages of India, and unfolds it in an utterly accessible contemporary style.”
Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche
Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche was recognised as the ninth incarnation of the Traleg lineage at the age of two, enthroned as Supreme Abbot of Thrangu Monastery, and has undergone rigorous scholastic and meditative training under various Tibetan Buddhist masters in India and Bhutan. Rinpoche moved to Australia in 1980 where he established E-Vam Institute and Maitripa Centre in Victoria and Yeshe Nyima: Indo-Tibetan Yoga and Meditation in Sydney. In addition he is the Director of E-Vam Institute New York and Nyima Tashi Buddhist Centre, New Zealand.
Rinpoche runs the annual Buddhist Summer School, the bi-annual Buddhism and Psychotherapy Conference, and also Shedra for under 35 year olds. He is author of various books including the best selling The Essence of Buddhism and operates Shogam, publishing Western academic and psychotherapy related texts, as well as traditional Buddhist books. In addition Akshara Books and Maitripa Bookroom offer the widest range of Buddhist books in Australia. Rinpoche has travelled extensively in the US, South East Asia and Europe conducting lectures and courses.
Ken Wilber on Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche
“One of the most deeply insightful and profound teachers not only of the Tibetan tradition, but of any tradition, East or West.”
EnlightenNext