Executive Officers

Dr. Marc Gafni

President/CEO

Marc Gafni, Dr. Phil. is a philosopher, public intellectual and wisdom teacher. He holds his doctorate in philosophy from Oxford University, rabbinic certification from the chief rabbinate in Israel, as well private rabbinic ordination. He is also ordained and holds a doctorate in religious science. He is the initiating thought leader, together with Ken Wilber, of World Spirituality based on Integral principles, as well as the leading theorist and teacher of Unique Self Enlightenment. He is the director of Center for World Spirituality, a think tank he co-founded in 2010 with Mariana Caplan which is creating a body of work to evolve the source code of human existence. A rabbinic lineage holder in Bible, Talmud, and Kabbalah, Gafni self-describes as a “dual citizen” of both integral World Spirituality and classical Hebrew practice. He is a guest editor of the Journal of Integral Theory and Practice on issues of Integral spirituality, has been a faculty member of J.F.K. University, and is the author of eight books including the national bestseller Soul Prints, and The Mystery of Love, an exploration of the relationship between the erotic and the sacred. His newest books are Your Unique Self and Radical Kabbalah.

An iconoclastic artist and provocative visionary, Dr. Gafni has led spiritual movements and learning communities as well as created and hosted for several seasons a highly popular national Israeli television program on culture, meaning, and spirit. He is the father of four children, is in committed relationship, and lives in Northern California.
[in-depth biography…]

Sally Kempton

Vice President

Sally Kempton has been practicing and teaching in a Hindu tradition for 30 years, twenty of them as a Swami, or Hindu monk of one of the Dasnami order of sannyasins. A former New York journalist who wrote extensively for the Village Voice, Esquire, New York Magazine, and The New York Times, she left her career in the early 1970s to study with her guru, Swami Muktananda. In the 1980s, she became one of the key teachers in the Siddha Yoga tradition as well as the first editor of a magazine, Darshan, which aimed at finding the shared truths within different spiritual traditions. Sally has spent many years studying Kashmir Shaivism and yoga philosophy, as well as investigating esoteric mysticism as it appears in different traditions, including Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, and Sufism. Since 2002 she has lived and taught as a lay teacher of meditation and spiritual wisdom. Her work aims at bringing the wisdom of non-dual philosophy and yoga into the problems and challenges of daily life. Sally’s teaching is based on the philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism, on the core texts of yoga and devotional Hinduism, and deeply influenced by Integral theory. She is the author of two books, The Heart of Meditation and Meditation for the Love of It, writes a column, “Wisdom,” for Yoga Journal, and teaches regular teleconference classes as well as retreats and workshops at conference centers like Kripalu, Esalen and Mt. Madonna. Sally says, “I was originally drawn to the spiritual path through the teachings of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, a radically prescient nineteenth-century Indian saint who realized God through the practices of several different traditions. My deepest conviction is that all the traditions contain authentic pathways to mystical realization, as well as authentic guidelines about how to live. As we move outside of conventional religious frameworks, it’s imperative that our practice carry an authenticity and rigor that is comparable to the rigor of the traditions, even as it acknowledges and works with the gifts and questions of modernity and post modernity. I am excited that Center for World Spirituality has the potential to define a trans-lineage spirituality that is powerful enough to hold practitioners steady in the radical transitions of our times, and to lead us in working with the transformative energies all around us for the highest good. To me, World Spirituality holds a promise that as a group, we can discover pathways to full self-realization and skillful enlightened action, which are rigorous, authentic, dogma free, and capable of riding the energy of this pregnant moment in human evolution.”

Dr. Warren Farrell

Vice President

Dr. Warren Farrell has been chosen by the Financial Times as one of the world’s top 100 thought leaders. He feels, though, that the mind can be misused as easily as well-used; spiritual centering facilitates the mind being well-used both externally and internally. Dr. Farrell’s books are published in over 50 countries and in 15 languages. They include two award-winning international best-sellers, Why Men Are The Way They Are plus The Myth of Male Power. His book on couples communication, Women Can’t Hear What Men Don’t Say, was a selection of the Book-of-the Month Club. His book, Father and Child Reunion, has inspired many dads to be more involved with their children. And Why Men Earn More: The Startling Truth Behind the Pay Gap–and What Women Can Do About It was chosen by U.S. News and World Report in 2006 as one of the top four books on careers. Dr. Farrell has taught at the university level in five disciplines, and appeared on more than a thousand TV shows from Oprah to Larry King Live. He has been featured repeatedly in Forbes, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. He has two daughters, and lives with his wife in Mill Valley, California.

Terry Nelson

Vice President

Terry Nelson writes, “In my 30 years working as a Lifespring trainer, I have coached thousands of people all over the world to be more successful in fulfilling their commitment to becoming fully human. I think the work of CWS, to provide us human beings with a new and powerful lens through which to view our spiritual journey, will help all of us greatly. Hopefully, this wisdom will also reduce the likelihood of bad things being done in the name of religion. I am not a fan of crusades or suicide bombers. Enough!” Terry is currently an executive development coach. He is a former Vice-President of Lifespring, a personal development training company. He worked as an analyst for the Congressional Budget Office and was a Peace Corps Volunteer and Training Project Director in Thailand. For the last 11 years, he has coached his kids’ basketball and soccer teams. Terry lives in Mill Valley, California, with his wife and two children. He holds a B.A. from U.W. at Madison and an M.P.A. from the Johnson School of Management at Cornell.

Thomas G. Goddard, J.D., Ph.D.

Vice President

Thomas Goddard is the President and CEO of The Integral Company, a firm dedicated to helping individuals and organizations to operate consciously and joyfully in the world. In his work with organizations, Dr. Goddard brings his expertise in Integral Theory and industrial and organizational psychology to diverse organizations, primarily in the health care sector. His work with organizations has taken him throughout the United States and to Latin America, the South Pacific, and the Middle East. In his work with individuals, Dr. Goddard empowers his clients to live full, conscious lives. Dr. Goddard has earned a law degree and master’s and doctoral degrees in psychology. He has received specialized training in emotional intelligence, Respectful Confrontation, shadow work, Tantra, the Shalom process, and consciousness studies. A founding member of Ken Wilber’s Integral Institute, he has led mindfulness and Integral Theory trainings and workshops for the National Institutes of Health, Shalom Mountain, The Omega Institute, The Chrysalis Group, and the Center for Creative Therapies and the Arts. Dr. Goddard serves as one of the three members of the Executive Council of Shalom Mountain, Inc., a retreat center in the Catskill Mountains of New York. Tom writes, “My spiritual journey throughout my adult life has been marked by a yearning for a global, transformational conversation at the ‘deep end of the pool,’ where the mystics of all the great spiritual traditions meet in deep resonance with one another. The Center for World Spirituality has drawn my support because it offers the best opportunity for such a conversation I’ve seen in nearly 40 years of searching.”

Chahat Corten

Vice President

Chahat Corten, spiritual teacher, is one of the founding members of the Venwoude Integral Practice community in Holland. She stood with her partner Ted Wilson in the development of spiritual contexts and in the founding and development of Venwoude. Chahat is well-trained and thoroughly cooked in sacred communal living and many modalities of spiritual practice. Gentle and holy laughter and ecstatic creativity merged with penetrating wisdom — unique teachings in the realms of relationship and sexuality — embodied practice and the formation of evolutionary WE-space, rooted in her realization of emptiness and fullness — is what she offers from her heart. Chahat has been empowered as a World Spirituality teacher.

Victoria Myer

Treasurer

Victoria Myer is the former owner and current Business Manager and Communications Coordinator for Shalom Mountain, a non-profit retreat center that offers transformational retreats and trainings in Shalom Process, personal and spiritual growth, along with a Wisdom School of which Marc Gafni is the lead teacher. Victoria has long been a practitioner of earth-based ritual in community and has been informed by studies in yoga, Wicca, shamanism, creative process, Tantra and most recently the teachings of Marc Gafni. Her role as a mother and a lover has been a significant gift that she offers into the world with great integrity and an open heart. Victoria’s dream for Center for World Spirituality is to manifest ever evolving levels of consciousness in an ever expanding and connected global spiritual network.

Lesley Freeman

Secretary

Lesley Freeman has served as administrative and creative assistant for several diverse organizations and projects including Angelic Organics CSA Farm, the award-winning documentary film The Real Dirt on Farmer John (with an appearance as the singing bee), Erwan Davon Teachings, satsangs with Dr. Laurie Moore, and the Art Monastery Project. Lesley enjoys exploring song, words, and play to give permission and context to human questions and relationships.