Photos
Esalen 2012: To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Esalen Institute, Jeffrey Kripal, a scholar of religious studies and director of Esalen’s Center for Theory and Research, convened a five-day conference including some of the founding teachers of this amazing place. Since Aldous Huxley was a key early influence at Esalen, I was asked to share his perspective. I am in the photo, as the first person on the left in the back row, but more importantly, the photo includes many key theorists of consciousness studies. Drifting from left to right, we find Adam Crabtree, Michael and Dulce Murphy, Charlie Tart, Stanislav and Christina Grof, Russell Targ, Don Hanlon Johnson, Nick Herbert, Elizabeth Rauscher, Edward Kelly, and Jeff Kripal—an amazing group of pioneering explorers into the nature and potentialities of human consciousness.
Esalen 2012: This photo was also taken at the Esalen conference in 2012, with (left to right) Nick Herbert, Stan Grof, Michael Murphy (the founder, with Dick Price, of Esalen), and myself.
Mike Horowitz and Cindy Palmer, in their home in San Francisco, taken in 2007 while I was researching my book on Huston Smith. Together, Mike and Cindy edited a volume of Aldous Huxley’s writings on psychedelic experiences titled Moksha. Mike was Timothy Leary’s archivist and friend, and since Huston worked closely with Leary when they both were teaching in Cambridge, he was able to provide useful background information. My wife and I also enjoyed Mike and Cindy’s company several times while in the Bay Area.
This photo of a three-way discussion between myself, Alex Grey, and Allyson Grey was taken at their CoSM center in New York State, in 2016. I first met them at the World Book Fair in New York around 2004. Alex’s book The Mission of Art shares his views on art from the perspective of the Perennial Philosophy, and I found it inspiring. My wife and I see Alex and Allyson as kindred spirits.
I first met Khen Rinpoche Lobzang Tsetan, abbot of the Panchen Lama’s monastery in India, in 1992, when he visited Maine on a speaking tour. We quickly became close friends and he enlisted me to help him give talks in Maine for more than 25 years. He was a frequent visitor to the college where I taught, and my wife and I helped him start a school for underprivileged children in his native area of India, Ladakh. This photo, taken during one of his many visits with us, showing him taking a selfie with my wife and I outside of my wife’s art studio.
While preparing to write my biography of Huston Smith in 2008, I spent many days interviewing the famous scholar,, and these interviews were video recorded. Over time, Huston and I—and our wives, Kendra and Stephani—fell into a wonderful friendship. This photo was taken soon after our last interview together in 2012.
In 2014, at the annual ‘Science and Non-Duality’ conference in San Jose, California,, Rick Archer and I interviewed Robert Thurman, the eminent scholar of Tibetan Buddhism. This photo was taken right after the interview. Bob was one of the external reviewers for my faculty review when I became full professor at the Maine College of Art & Design, so this was my chance to thank him for his support. Bob is a landmark figure in the academic study of Tibetan Buddhism and, by the way, he has a killer sense of humor.
Shantena Sabbadini is an Italian physicist and early scientist exploring the nature of Black Holes. His book Pilgrimages to Emptiness, describing his spiritual awakening triggered by his understanding of quantum physics, deeply impressed me, so I reached out to him in 2017 and we quickly became friends. We now see each other annually in Spain, where he lives with his wife Cruz. In this photo we are sharing lunch on a beautiful spring day in Cordoba.
I first met Mirabai Starr in 2014, while we were on a panel at the Parliament of World Religions in Salt Lake City, Utah. I admire her work greatly for its heartfelt wisdom, and so we—and she and my wife—have kept in close touch. Here we are in January of 2024, after having dinner in Merida, Mexico, with our spouses, Stephani and Jeff.
Roland Griffiths came to the study of mystical experiences triggered by psychedelics from a very different background than I did. He was a rigorous scientist, while my background is in Asian philosophy and religious studies. But we shared an enthusiasm for the possible benefits of psychedelic medicines and, for two years, we kept up a correspondence. This photo was taken just one year before he died of cancer. His amazing acceptance of his diagnosis and prognosis continues to inspire me—and thousands of others.
I first met Rick Archer (seated at the middle) when he taught me Transcendental Meditation back in 1971. Rick has hosted me on his podcast ‘Buddha at the Gas Pump’ twice, but I include my old buddy here for his value in keeping alive interesting conversations on spirituality. Rick has done hundreds of interviews, with both respected scholars and controversial figures, always listening to all voices in his search for what might have the most growth potential for all of us. Here we are with Robert Thurman in 2014.
Phil Golberg, host of “Spirit Matters Talk,” has written an important biography of Paramahansa Yogananda as well as a book tracing the history of Hindu spirituality’s influence on American culture, titled American Veda. Phil and I were both teachers of Transcendental Meditation in our youth, and in this photo, taken, in 2018, at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, we are with a group of students, with Phil sitting at the bottom left. I’ve known Phil for decades and deeply appreciate both his opinions and friendship.
My beautiful wife!