Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Interspiritual Paradigm

DESCRIPTION: We are just past the 25th anniversary of the Interspiritual paradigm, named at the turn of this Century by Br. Wayne Teasdale and four other renowned global interfaith pioneers. Marking this anniversary is a new two volume thematic and chronological history of Interspirituality with contributions by over 120 global interfaith leaders– opening message by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Foreword by Matthew Fox (one of the namers of the paradigm) and Afterword by Colorado’s own Ken Wilber. The paradigm is also so familiar to Coloradoans because of the central role of Fr. Thomas Keating, host of the decades long Snowmass Dialogues from his Snowmass Abbey which resulted in the Nine Points of Agreement Among the World’s Religions. In my sharing we’ll explore what the original interspiritual pioneers envisioned and how things have turned out a bit differently. We’ll also look at the four areas of emphasis for the future that the over 120 contributors to these two new historic volumes suggest is the direction things must go for our world to have a thriving global future. Our discussion will be right in line with your theme for May: Awakening Curiosity – Exploring New Perspectives

BIO: Kurt Johnson. Rev. Kurt Johnson PhD has worked in professional science and comparative religion for more than fifty years. A well-known author, and co-founder of the award winning Light on Light Press, he is one of the editors of the recent two volume series Interspirituality: The Heritage and Interspiritiuality: The Future. A a prominent figure on international committees, particularly at the United Nations, he has published over 200 scientific articles and seven books, including co-authoring or co-editing award winners The Coming Interspiritual Age, Our Moment of Choice, Nabokov’s Blues and Fine Lines. Ordained or certified in five spiritual traditions, Johnson served on the faculty of New York’s One Spirit Interfaith Seminary for fifteen years and was on the staff of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City for twenty-five years. As part of UNITY EARTH and the Interspiritual Dialogue Network he has been a part of major international events for many years, and co-edits two e-magazines: The Convergence and Light on Light. He also cohosts the ongoing Convergence podcast series, originally from VoiceAmerica. He serves on core teams of the Evolutionary Leaders, The Holomovement and Prosocial World. See EvolutionaryLeaders.net/leaders/KJohnson; lightonlight.us; issuu.com/LightonLight; isdna.org; thecominginterspiritualage.com; interspirituality.com.