This conference aimes to explore the nature of the Self from a multidisciplinary perspective.
The exploration of the nature of the I is a central question for different fields like psychology, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, behaviorism, mysticism and religion.
Through this meeting, we will try to understand more deeply what we are, what we are looking for, and the mechanisms underlying the psycho-spiritual maturation of the human being.
Lectures, workshops and round tables will offer a unique opportunity of sharing, knowing and understanding.
Organizational team
Prof. Bob Zenhausern, Ph.D.
Saint Johns University
New York City
Email: drz@rdz.acor.org
Gerald Leisman, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Dean and Director
Touro College, New York City
Email: drgersh@aol.com
Peter Fenner, Ph.D.
Center for Timeless Wisdom
Spiritual Wisdom and Mental Health
Email: PeterFenner@compuserve.com
Jean-Marc Mantel, M.D.
International Association of
Spiritual Psychiatry
Spiritual Wisdom and Mental Health
Email: iaps@essence-euro.org
Preliminary program
Daniel Benor, M.D. - Spiritual healing research perspectives on the Self.
Research shows that spiritual healing is a potent therapy. There is more research on healing than on most of the other complementary/alternative therapies. Daniel Benor, M.D. will review more than 165 studies of healing on humans, animals, plants, bacteria, yeasts, enzymes and more. Dr. Benor will discuss his theories which explain healing, and will share from his clinical experience as a psychiatrist who has developed his own healing gifts and uses them in his clinical practice.
Judith Blackstone, M.A. - Individuation and Transcendence
The Hindu philosophy of Advaita Vedanta describes the spiritual ground of being as an all-pervasive, unified dimension of consciousness, sometimes referred to as Self. I will discuss how the individuation of the separate, authentic self and the experience of transcendent oneness with the cosmos occur simultaneously through the realization of our most subtle dimension of consciousness. I will also address how the realization of unified consciousness facilitates the release of defensive constrictions in the mind, breath and body, how it awakens the essential qualities of being, and how it unifies and refines our senses.
Ken Bryson, Ph.D. - Do my relationships individuate me?
1. The elusive nature of the "I", "self" or "Ego.
2. The old model: the "self" as substance or subject of experiences.
3. Problems with that model:(i) D.Hume and D.Parfit; (ii) the (genetic) deconstruction of human nature or reason.
4. Relationships individuate the "self". I am nothing in the absence of my associations (the whole individuates the part).
5. Types of associations or relationships: psychological, ethical, and metaphysical.
6. The critical role of my spiritual (metaphysical) associations.
7. The spiritual self arises through a process of becoming aware
that the creator (possibly God) enters into relationship with us.
Penny Cohen - The Kabbalistic tree of life and mental health
Kabbalah is the mystical tradition that underlies the Judaic, Greco
Christian esoteric philosophies of the West. The word Kabbalah means
to receive. It connotes receiving insights into the purpose of existence
and man's relationship to God. The Tree of Life is a Kabbalistic
map on evolving consciousness. This presentation will explore the symbolism
of the Tree of Life as a framework for the journey into the Self and how
it relates to mental health. This will include discussion, meditation and
experiential exercises.
Ronald Mann, Ph.D. - Who Lives? Who Dies? A Psycho-Spiritual Model for the Development of Self
Sankhya Yoga philosophy suggests that the infinite condenses into form to give rise to the illusion of material reality. Our sense of self emerges from both psychological phenomena and our deeper recognition of our essential spiritual nature. Various aspects of the self will be discussed as well as processes for Self-Realization.
Jean-Marc Mantel, M.D. - Who am I? The ultimate quest.
Emmanuel Ransford - A panpsychic approach to the Self
Starting from the panpsychic or psychomatter hypothesis, I
shall outline an alternative answer - at once nonmaterialist and
nondualist - to the age-old mind/body problem; which lends itself to experimental
testing. I shall argue that it leads to a new vision of the
self, termed the "Wholistic Self", that is very close to that of
the great spiritual traditions...
Amrit S. Sorli - The Science of the Subject
One of the most significant functions of the subject is to experience. Any human being has the capacity to experience reality through their five senses. Outside they experience nature, other people, animals, their body; inside they experience their feelings and thoughts. The experiencing itself includes the existence of the subject. Existence of the subject cannot be proven directly, it can only be proven through its function.
experiencing = (f) subject
Carlos Warter, M.D., Ph.D. - The healing power of your sacred Self
Experience show us that when we awaken to the empowerment of our spiritual or essential identity a new focus arises both for the patient as well as the doctor from where to develop a perspective which we have defined a pyramid of healing. This contextualizes the healing process from a zone of understanding which allows not only for inner work and self development but also for a large vision for the therapeutic process as a sacred one.
Daniel Benor, M.D. - Spiritual healing and psychotherapy
Spiritual healing helps to build rapport rapidly and deeply.
Sometimes psychotherapy gets
blocked. Spiritual healing can bring out buried emotional
hurts. Psychotherapy may help people to integrate the hurts that
are brought out in this way. Spiritual healing brings people into
awareness of dimensions of their being which are enormously helpful in
sorting out their problems and putting them in a healthier perspective.
The combination of spiritual healing with psychotherapy is far more potent
than either alone. This experiential workshop will help therapists and
healers understand how to combine the two approaches.
Judith Blackstone - Subtle Self Work
Subtle Self Work is a method of direct attunement to our most subtle, non-dual dimension of consciousness. This dimension is both the basis of our authentic sense of self and our transcendent oneness with other people, nature and cosmos. Subtle Self Work includes techniques for integrating spiritual consciousness with the body and breath/energy system, and for remaining in this dimension while relating with other people. It thus presents a way of becoming spiritually mature without becoming fragmented within oneself or cut off from other people. The session will also show how the realization of non-dual consciousness can enhance psychological process, intimacy and individuation, boundary formation and the release of somatic defenses.
Ronald Mann, Ph.D. - Sacred Healing: Awakening to the Healing Power of the Soul
This workshop will focus upon the extraordinary healing power of the soul. The soul contains the blueprint for perfection at all levels of being: mind, body and spirit. Participants will learn meditation and healing techniques that provide direct access to the subtle energy of consciousness and learn processes of healing that transcend time and space.
Participants will learn:
Emmanuel Ransford - Anchoring the Self to the seamless whole, through threading.
In the panspychic perspective, the self comes across as truly divine
and limitless. We are part of a universe - wide pool of psychic energies,
that we can learn to tap and harness. Threading is an inner path towards
reclaiming and sharing our divine nature. It is a technique for personal
growth and self-empowerment, which hushes the ego and allows
us to connect to the deeper layers of our wholistic self.
Richard Schaub - The Higher Self in Psychotherapy
Roberto Assagioli, one of the founders of transpersonal psychology, felt that the proper role of the therapist is to help guide patients to contact with their higher self. This session covers the basics of the higher self phenomenon and methods to gain access.
Amrit S. Sorli - Meditation of the Heart
The Meditation of The Heart has been developed in the last seven years of my work. In this meditation we awake with a kind of Sufi breathing the current of bioenergy (QI, prana, orgon, morphogenetic field) through the body. Once the energy starts moving we go with our awareness into the heart and search for the inner light. For me the heart is the highest "Chakra" of the human being. In the heart is her/his strongest connection with the Consciousness.
The Meditation of The Heart that is also practiced in couples "woman-man". For couples the meditation is stronger, because the stream of bioenergy through their bodies is stronger. They are like two poles of the battery. The man is positive in the belly and negative in the heart, the woman is negative in the belly and positive in the heart.
The relation "woman - man" is a basic social relation which is mirrored in all others social relations. If we raise the quality of the relation "woman-man", the quality of the whole society is rising automatically. So it is very important that the woman and the man start to meditate together. Their harmony is a base for harmony of the whole society
Carlos Warter, M.D., Ph.D. - Healing power of sacred self
Self is who you are, who I am, who everyone is. Self is the ocean in which all the waves of experience are always moving. Self is the silence which experiences all thought. Self is the Love which can embrace all feeling. Self is the formlessness in which all form arises. Self is the only safe refuge from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Self is who you are anyway, awake or asleep, old or young, spiritual or mundane, Self is all there is.
Judith Blackstone, M.A.
Self is the innate quality of our primary dimension of consciousness, which can be accessed and experienced through subtle attunement. This dimension of consciousness pervades one's whole body and, according to some Eastern metaphysical systems, all of the cosmos as well. This means that there is one unified Self underlying all natural forms. Human maturity is the recognition and experience of this Self as one's true identity.
Ken Bryson, Ph.D.
The existence of an atomistic view of the self is an illusion. The self
is the output of dynamic relationships or associations arising at the level
of psyche, other human
beings, and being's unconcealment (environment.) The spiritual self
arises
as my response to the interconnectedness of all things.
Sylvia Caras
I think Self is what is remembered when I am no longer alive. If I also know that while I am still embodied here, I am wise.
Robert Leverant
If all things return to the One, where does the One return to?
Traditional
(Chinese) kung an
Presence
is here
now always
as I walk
& talk
& lie down
& sit up
One
enfolds
into & out of
all things
decay
me/THAT
THAT/me
like a wave in the ocean
I am both
wave & ocean
this & THAT
guest & host
the relative & the Absolute
hasn't IT
always been
this way?
a ONEness
not a twoness
a dance
of emptiness
disguised
as appearance(s)
of course
but obscured
in adulthood
neither recognized
nor embodied
in all humours
since toddlerhood
when lived
undifferentiated
all those stumbles!
& getting up again!
& again & again & again
to stumble anew
phew!
was merely to break
the primordial ONE
ness into two
I & you
dearie
we
is duality
& suffering
THAT
which IS
is so
near
& simple
I call this
phantom crystal
heartmind of no distinctions
Cold Mountain
come visit me here
Daniel Benor, M.D.
Psychiatrist, M.D., practicing wholistic individual, marital/family and group psycho therapy in Philadelphia. His approaches include transactional analysis, gestalt therapy, hypnotherapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, Tapas Acupressure Technique, meditation, imagery, relaxation, and spiritual healing for doctors, nurses, healers and others involved in holistic and spiritual approaches to caring, health and personal development. Dr. Benor is the founder of the Doctor-Healer Network in England, editor of its Newsletter, and author of Healing Research: Holistic Energy Medicine and Spirituality, Volumes I - IV. Dr. Benor consults, lectures and leads experiential workshops internationally on spiritual healing combined with psychotherapy, healing research, intuitive awareness, combining complementary therapies with conventional medical care and related subjects.
Email: danbenor@EROLS.COM
Judith Blackstone, M.A.
Psychotherapist and meditation (Subtle Self Work) teacher. Director of Realization Center in Woodstock, New York. Masters in Transpersonal Psychology from John F. Kennedy University, Orinda, California. Long-time student of Zen, Tibetan Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta. Has been a meditation practitioner for twenty-five years. Developed Subtle Self Work and has taught it for twenty years throughout the United States, and for the past eleven years at Esalen Institute. Author of "The Enlightenment Process: How it Deepens Your Experience of Self, Body and Community", "The Subtle Self: Personal Growth and Spiritual Practice", and co-author of "Zen for Beginners". Has also an essay titled "Defining Enlightenment" in Finding a Way, edited by Lorette Zirker.
Email: Realization@ulster.net
Web page: http://www.realizationcenter.com
(under construction)
Ken Bryson, Ph.D.
Professor of Philosophy. Completed Ph.D. (major in philosophy) at the University of Ottawa in 1971. Teaching (and researching ) area of death and dying since since 1973. Main book: Flowers and Death. Current work "Persons and Immortality" in final preparation.
Email: bryson@sparc.uccb.ns.ca
Web page: http://faculty.uccb.ns.ca/philosophy
Penny Cohen
Penny Cohen is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a Masters Of Science
in Social Work from Columbia University, a Certified Attraction Instructor
and Hypnotherapist. Her private psychotherapy and Life Coaching practice
is in Westport, CT. She has ten years experience designing and teaching
workshops on creativity, motivational skills, relationships, communication,
intuition and spirituality at universities, and organizations. For
the past fifteen
years she has been a student of esoteric philosophies. She has been
facilitating groups on personal, professional and spiritual growth based
on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life for the past five years. Her articles
on relationships and well being have appeared in the New York Times and
Connecticut Today and she has appeared as a guest speaker on local radio
and TV.
Ronald Mann, Ph.D.
Ronald L. Mann, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist, author and corporate
consultant who offers a unique integration of traditional psychological
expertise with the profound wisdom of spiritual and mystical traditions.
His work with Elisabeth Kübler Ross, M.D., prompted a spontaneous
spiritual awakening in 1977. One result of this experience is the gift
for subtle energy transmission for healing the mind, body and soul. Dr.
Mann continues to deepen his spiritual life through Kriya Yoga, the meditation
techniques and yoga philosophy taught by Paramahansa
Yogananda, founder of the Self-Realization Fellowship. He has conducted
intensive workshops on healing and spiritual development in the United
States and abroad.
Dr. Mann has produced a collection of audio tapes for self-healing and spiritual development. Selections from these tapes have been heard on the audio program, Serenity, which aired on both the domestic and international flights of American Airlines.
Dr. Mann is also the author of Sacred Healing: Integrating Spirituality with Psychotherapy, available through Blue Dolphin Publishing, and the Personal Relationship Inventory which asses one’s ability for intimate personal relationships.
He was the Executive Director of Projects for Planetary Peace, a non-profit organization involved in Citizen Diplomacy specializing in the difficulties between the United States and the Soviet Union. His international conflict resolution work resulted in appearances on television and radio. He is currently the Director of the Institute of Alternative Healing, a non-profit organization dedicated to the scientific exploration and dissemination of ancient healing methods. He is currently developing a national research project with UC Davis Unex Business School to explore corporate values in America.
Email: mannr@ronmann.com
Web page: http://www.ronmann.com
Jean-Marc Mantel, M.D.
Psychiatrist, founder of the International Association of Spiritual Psychiatry. Has been mainly influenced by East Indian non-dualistic wisdom teachings as taught in the West by instructors like Krishnamurti, Ramana Maharshi and Jean Klein.
Email: jmm@essence-euro.org
Web pages: http://essence-euro.org/iasp
http://www.swmh.com
Emmanuel Ransford
Physicist and epistemologist, author and lecturer. Currently developing a panpsychic theory of the conscious brain. Basic training: in science (esp. quantum physics) and engineering. Currently working as a research scientist in areas pertaining to cognition, as viewed from an interdisciplinary (or transdisciplinary) approach based on quantum physics and borrowing from neurosciences. Is very interested in human growth and development, with a formal training e.g. in co-counseling, (faith) healing and mantra meditation. Has developped the practice of "threading", which is a method aimed at reclaiming and harnessing our hidden psychic powers, based on a panpsychic approach to the [extended, or 'wholistic'] self and the mind/body problem.
Email: ransford@etca.fr
Richard Schaub
Psychotherapist and meditation teacher. Founder and co-director, New
York
Psychosynthesis Institute. Founder, New York Meditation.
Ph.D., Counseling, St. John's
University. Co-author, Healing Addictions.
Email: rschaub@ix.netcom.com
Amrit S. Sorli
Born 1958 in Ptuj, Slovenia. Graduated in 1980 in geodesy at the University of Lubiana. From 1980 to 1987 worked as engineer of geodesy and studied physics, philosophy and psychology. From 1987 to 1980 performed research as a research associate on the project entitled Theoretical and Physical Base for the Biological Morphogenetic Field. In August and September 1998 carried out the experimental part of the research in the Laboratory of the Faculty for Physical-Chemistry, University of Lubiana. In 1990 published a book entitled "Konec Casa" - "The End of Time" presenting results of his research on morphogenetic field and of his research on time (The Problem of Time in Special and General Theory of Relativity). From 1990 to 1997 lived in Germany (Munich), Italy (Centre De Ompio, near Lake Orta), India (Poona, Osho Commune International), travelled several times all over India,Thailand and Ceylon, developing in this years his "Psychology of the Observer" and "The Science of The Subject". From 1997 acting as Director of the Institute for Transpersonal Psychology, Association OM, Milan. From 1998 living in the Centre De Ompio, giving seminars in "The Science of The Subject", introducing "Meditation of the Heart". Preparing his second book: Beyond the Thoughts (in Italian language).
Email: PLATTU@TIN.IT
Sir Carlos Warter M.D., Ph.D.
Chilean born psychiatrist, lecturer and author who has created a unique approach to self-knowledge through the integration of sacred traditions and modern psychological understanding. Through experiential research in a varied healing traditions, he has determined that healing distinct from religion can be accomplished by re-establishing individual connection with the soul that is at the center of wellness. His attempt to increase awareness of this approach to medicine has added a unique and important dimension to the integration of body-mind-spirit based medicine into mainstream medical practice.
Vice President of the International University of Professional Studies. Knight Grand Cross of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem. Knight of Malta. Formerly appointed Senator for the International Parliament for Safety and Peace, representing the Southern Cono Region (Chile/Argentina).
His research on consciousness and alternative health methods for individual and social healing has integrated different models of medicine and spiritual essential values through the training of groups in order to reach the larger community since 1971. Research included shamanism (Peru and Mexico) Sufism (Morocco and Egypt) and the study of Kabalah (Israel).
This work is produced in the form of lectures, seminars, academic and experiential workshops and retreats in sacred locations around the world through Heartnet International and the International University for Professional Studies. It consists of a method for optimizing human potential , enhancing personal awareness and emotional well-being, improved relations within families, businesses and administration.
His literary activity extends itself since 1970 with the publication of his first book prefaced by Nobel Prize Winning Poet Pablo Neruda to current books published by Bantam focused on psychology, health, inspiration, motivation and personal development.
President of the World Health Foundation for Development and Peace since 1982. Awarded the United Nations Peace Messenger award in 1987 for the work of practical applications of values and self esteem in social services in Latin America.
Founded the Fundacion Gota de Miel, which operated in Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, Uruguay and Argentina between 1978 and 1990 providing social assistance to orphanages and nursing homes, through volunteer team of thousands.
He has adressed International Corporations, Congress of several nations and consulted with Governments.
Email: CWARTERMD@aol.com