Presenters
Program Presenters
Ed Abdill - author of The Secret Gateway, is a former Director of the Theosophical Society in America and past President of the New York Theosophical Society. Since 1980, Abdill has been one of the national speakers for the Theosophical Society in America, lecturing in several other countries, including Australia, Brazil, England, and New Zealand. He currently presents courses on Theosophy at the New York Theosophical Society. His study guide and video course, Foundations of the Ageless Wisdom, is used internationally and available through The Theosophical Society in America. website: http://questbooks.net/author.cfm?authornum=145
Rev. Maryann D'Angeli is an ordained interfaith minister who makes spirituality her highest priority. She hosts an Edgar Cayce "Search for God" study group. The group has a very active prayer list and is the work force that sustains a Fall and a Spring A.R.E. Conference in New Jersey. Rev. D' Angeli is a Licensed Professional Counselor in private practice in Scotch Plains where she seeks to integrate the traditional and metaphysical milieus into her work. As such, she has provided aftercare for the Dr. Phil Show, and has also been trained in Past Life Regression techniques by Dolores Cannon. She is a Board Certified Diplomate in Clinical Hypnotherapy and a Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming with additional training in Eye Movement Integration and Hypnotapping.
Rev. Mary Emma Dryden found Divine Science in 1981 when she began attending the Church of the Healing Christ in NYC, the Emmet Fox Church. She attended the Brooks Divinity School, Denver, CO, where she was awarded a Divine Science Graduate certificate. She continued her ministerial studies with the Divine Science School, Washington, DD. After completion of this work in 2003 she was ordained as a Divine Science minister by the Divine Science School. She is a member of the faculty of this school and is Assisting Minister of the Quimby Memorial Church, Secaucus NJ. Rev. Dryden is also the minister and teacher at the Divine Science Study Group, NYC.
Yursil Kidwai is an American born Muslim of Pakistani descent. As a Sufi Muslim, Yursil is trained under the spiritual sciences of the Naqshbandi Hakkani Sufi Way, under the guidance of Shaykh Abdul Kerim al-Kibrisi. Yursil has published over 15 books of Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani a 10th century Sufi saint under Al-Baz Publishing and he is the writer of the three-time Brass Crescent Award winning religious blog "Mind, Body, Soul". Yursil has been representing Traditional Islamic values and principles to the internet and NJ/NY community for over 10 years and has been used as a resource on Islam by the Daily Record and other local news outlets.
Steve Nation - is joint founder and coordinator of Intuition in Service and the United Nations Days & Years Meditation Initiative (http://intuition-in-service.org/). He has been a student of the Alice Bailey teachings for over 30 years, and worked for 18 years for the London headquarters of Lucis Trust. Since 2002 he has coordinated an annual global meditation Vigil for International Day of Peace and regional vigils for World Invocation Day. He is webmaster for the http://www.worldservicegroup.com/full moon meditation website. He writes a regular column, ‘New Festivals for Our Global Community', in UK journal, Caduceus (http://www.caduceus.info/ ). Steve serves on the Boards of Lifebridge Foundation, Lucis Trust, Darjeeling Goodwill Animal Shelter and is Co-Convenor of the Council of the ‘Spiritual Caucus at the United Nations'.
Gloria Thomson is currently an adjunct professor at William Paterson University Women's Dept. Gloria graduated from New York University with a Masters in Social Work and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She has studied metaphysics and parapsychology and conducted classes/workshops in the same. Gloria is a member ofthe Rosicrucian Order AMORC for more than 40 years, and has studied with other mystical schools as well. She has successfully integrated spiritual studies and experiences in her life to be of "service to humanity".
John Beck - is former general manager of the New York Open Center and past president of the Anthroposophical Society in New York City (asnyc.org). He has studied Rudolf Steiner's work for almost twenty-five years, has lectured and led workshops on cultural and social questions in New York and internationally, belongs to the social network GlobeNet3 (globenet3.org) and is a listed speaker with Yes! magazine (yesmagazine.org) and the Positive Futures Network. He was an early leader in public broadcasting, and is currently writing and developing web concepts for global value sharing.
Hafizullah Chishti - "Hafizullah Chishti has walked, stumbled, crawled, and danced the Sufi path for 33 years. He is a shaikh (senior teacher and lineage-holder) in the Sufi Order International and an ordained interfaith minister. He has a particular interest in the interface between psychology and spirituality, and how daily life can be both an expression of and a support for spiritual unfoldment. He believes that developing a spiritual basis for one's life can be the most pragmatic and practical approach to living with authenticity, inner freedom, and dignity in today's world."
Himanshu Jain - has taken a keen interest in Jain Philosophy from childhood where he was brought-up in a Jain religious family learning Jainism for over 15 years. Areas of interest include scientific understanding of various tenets of Jain Philosophy and building an online Jain study portal that can serve as a one-stop educational website on Jain Philosophy, Literature, Rituals, Festivals, and its role in modern day World. Himanshu Jain has taught Jain Philosophy and its current day-to-day relevance to teenage students at a Jain School in Iselin, NJ for the past 4 years and is a regular speaker at the monthly Jain studies discussion forum organized by International Jain Sangh (IJS). He also serves as Vice President of the current IJS Executive Committee
Rev. Bill Jikai Greenberg is a psychiatrist who is a member of the American Psychiatric Association Committee on Religion, Spirituality and Psychotherapy, and Past President of the New Jersey Psychiatric Association. He has been a student of Zen since the early 1980s, when he studied with Bernard Tetsugen Glassman at the Zen Community of New York, and is currently President of the Board of Directors of High Mountain Crystal Lake Zen Community in Wyckoff, New Jersey, where he studies with Rev. Paul Genki Kahn. Bill is a Zen priest, and teaches and also leads a Spirituality and Psychotherapy group for clinicians at the Wyckoff zendo. website: www.highzen.org
Bernice Peitzer - studied with mystical spiritual masters Rabbi Weiner and Rabbi Gruenwald. Bernice was ordained as a Rebbe (teacher) after completing the study of the "49 Gates" under the direction of Rabbi Zalman Schecter-Slomi. She has taught "Jewish Enlightenment with Spirituality" for 18 years and has led several workshops on judaica including programs on the Kaballah. Bernice also lectures on "The Key to Happiness" a program which she designed. Ms. Peitzer has been a spiritual care person with hospice for the past 20 years, and a volunteer with the Pastoral Department at Saint Barnabas Hospital for the past 8 years. She writes spiritual books as well as spiritual poetry.
Peggy Pilch - ECKANKAR is the Religion of the Light and Sound of God. Light and Sound are the twin aspects of the Holy Spirit. Peggy Pilch has been a student of these teachings for over twenty-five years and a member of the ECKANKAR Clergy for over seven years, conducting sacerdotal functions of ECKANKAR, including the Worship Service, Wedding Ceremony, the Rite of Passage, and the ECK Memorial Service. She facilitates workshops, introductory talks, as well as leading classes of spiritual study of the ECK teachings.
