Honorary Board of Advisors - Spiritual
Swami Vishveshwaranand (Swami Ji) is the eleventh President of Suratgiri Bangla, Haridwar & President of Sanyas Ashram Vile Parle Mumbai. At the age of 18, Swami Ji came to Sanyas Ashram as a Brahmachari. In 1981, he was initiated into Sanyas (monkhood). In 1995, his Guru Brahmalin Mahamandleshwar Shri Swami Brahmanand Giri Ji Maharaj handed over the responsibilities of the ashram and honored him with the title of Mahamandleshwar. Swami Ji is deeply involved in organizing and spreading awareness of Vedic religion through spiritual lectures and programs in India and abroad. Swami Ji manages ten ashrams and works along with many other religious and social organizations for human welfare. www.sanyasashram.org
Her Holiness Sai Maa Lakshmi Devi is a spiritual master and humanitarian dedicated to global enlightenment. Her endeavors include feeding people, working with AIDS patients, offering transformative teaching retreats, collaborating with other internationally known spiritual luminaries, and participating in global and interfaith conferences. She is one of the only women in history to receive the title of “Jagadguru”, the first woman outside India to receive the title of “1008 Mahamandleshwar” and the first woman outside India to receive the title of “Her Holiness” and “Master of Enlightenment”. Renowned spiritual leaders worldwide, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh, have recognized her as a dynamic visionary master. www.humanityinunity.org
Born in Mumbai, India in 1962, Swami Nityananda was trained from childhood by the renowned Shaktipat Guru, Baba Muktananda. He was initiated into the path of the Siddha Gurus, learning meditation and Sanskrit chanting, and studying the philosophies of Vedanta and Kashmir Shaivism. In 1980, he was initiated into the Saraswati order of monks and received the name Swami Nityananda. In 1981, Baba Muktananda declared Nityananda his successor. Swami Nityananda founded Shanti Mandir Ashram in 1987 and subsequently established three ashrams. At the age of 32, he was installed as a Mahamandaleshwar of the Mahanirvani Akhara. He is the youngest person in history to have received this exalted spiritual title. Currently, Swami Nityananda spends his time between his Ashrams in Gujarat, India and New York, U.S.A. www.shantimandir.com
Marianne Williamson is an internationally acclaimed spiritual teacher. Among her 9 published books, four of them including A Return to Love were #1 New York Times Bestsellers. A paragraph from that book, beginning - "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure" - often misattributed to Nelson Mandela's Inaugural address, is considered an anthem for a contemporary generation of seekers. Her latest book, The Age of Miracles, hit #2 on the New York Times Bestseller list. Marianne's other books include Everyday Grace, A Woman's Worth, Illuminata, Healing the Soul of America and The Gift of Change. She has been a popular guest on television programs such as Oprah, Larry King Live, Good Morning America and Charlie Rose. In 1989, she founded Project Angel Food, a meals-on-wheels program that serves homebound people with AIDS in the Los Angeles area. Today, Project Angel Food serves over 1,000 people daily. Marianne also founded The Department of Peace Campaign, a grass roots campaign supporting legislation to establish a U. S. Department of Peace. In December 2006, a NEWSWEEK magazine poll named Marianne Williamson one of the fifty most influential baby boomers. According to Time magazine, "Yoga, the Cabala and Marianne Williamson have been taken up by those seeking a relationship with God that is not strictly tethered to Christianity." Marianne is a native of Houston, Texas. www.marianne.com
Swami Shankarananda (Swamiji) is a guru in the lineage of Bhagavan Nityananda of Ganeshpuri. He was a disciple of Swami Muktananda Paramahamsa. Swamiji has an integrated approach, which draws on both Eastern and Western sources. He emphasizes awakening of the Kundalini energy (Shaktipat). His Shiva Process method of Self-inquiry, based on the philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism, is effective for both Self-realisation and intelligent living in today’s world. In recognition of his work in spreading the dharma, Swamiji was given the title ‘Mahant’ in 2007 by Hindu spiritual leaders in Haridwar, India. Swamiji is the Director of the Shiva Ashram, a thriving spiritual community near Melbourne Australia and author of Happy for No Good Reason, Consciousness Is Everything, and Self-inquiry. www.shivayoga.org
Swami Jyotirmayananda was initiated into Sannyasa by His Holiness Sri Swami Satchidananda in 1986 at Satchidananda Ashram-Yogaville. She designed the displays in the Light of Truth Universal Shrine (LOTUS), and served as special events coordinator for 18 years. She is currently serving as Vice president for the Ashram Office of Spiritual Development. Her preschool and after school care experience has resulted in her recently published children’s book, Sparkling together: Starbright and His Earthling Friends. taopao.org/Sparklin/Author.html
Rev. Aaron Zerah is an ordained Interfaith Minister who honors the wisdom in all peoples and traditions. Aaron is the founder of the Interfaith Seminary and a strong voice in the global interfaith movement. He has spoken at the historic Parliament of the World’s Religions, the U.N. and a host of houses of worship. He was a nominee for the prestigious Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. Aaron is the published author of four books: The Soul's Almanac, How the Children Became Stars, As You Grieve and Every Day Is a Blessing. He has recently completed a series of children's books called Spirit Storybooks and a historical novel entitled Joseph in the Land of the Mizraim. Aaron currently lives in Sechelt, British Columbia with his eleven-year-old daughter, Sari.
Santosh Sachdeva is semi-retired and spends significant amounts of time mentoring people in the myriad aspects of meditation, Kundalini, and spiritual practice. She is the author of The Kundalini Trilogy, comprising ‘Conscious Flight Into The Empyrean', ‘Kundalini Diary' and ‘Kundalini Awakening’. Her writing conveys insights into the experience of Kundalini with elegance and simplicity. She lives in Mumbai, India.
Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche is one of only a few masters of the Bön Dzogchen tradition presently living in the West. An accomplished scholar in the Bön Buddhist textual traditions of philosophy, exegesis, and debate, Tenzin Rinpoche completed a rigorous11-year course of traditional studies at the Bönpo Monastic Center (Menri Monastery) in India, where he received his Geshe, degree. He founded Ligmincha Institute in order to preserve and introduce to the West the religious teachings and arts of the ancient Tibetan Bön Buddhist tradition. He teaches students throughout the United States, Mexico, and Europe, and has established centers in Mexico, Poland, The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Ireland, and Russia. He is the author of 5 books: Wonders of the Natural Mind, in which he presents the view and practice of the Bön Dzogchen teachings; and The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep; Healing with Form, Energy, and Light: The Five Elements in Tibetan Shamanism, Tantra, and Dzogchen, Unbounded Wholeness, and Tibetan Sound Healing. https://www.ligmincha.org/
Rabbi Stephen Robbins is a master of both the mystical and intellectual traditions of Jewish and Kabalistic thought. He began his rabbinic studies at age 16 following in the tradition of a long line of Rabbis in the Luria family that originates in the middle fourteenth century. He was ordained in 1972 and has served in a variety of settings including Hillel at University of Cincinnati and at University of California Berkeley, followed by 16 years as Rabbi of Temple Emanuel in Beverly Hills, California before he and Hazzan Eva created N’vay Shalom. This heritage of mystic study and experience has shaped his unique approach to understanding text and teaching Torah. He also maintains a private practice as a Clinical Psychologist and Naturopathic practitioner and mind/body healer, contributing to his multi-disciplinary approach to Judaism with an emphasis on his Kabalistic roots and their expression in his Rabbinate. www.nvayshalom.com
