ONE, The Project Personalities
ONE, The Project has benefitted from the wisdom and words of a diverse collection of spiritual leaders, influential thinkers and regular people. This collection of individuals has helped shape the thoughts and direction of ONE, The Movie, as well as the world in general. Without the participation of these wonderful people dedicating their time and knowledge, the project would not exist as it does today. Many thanks go out to these individuals in helping spread the word of creating a larger global community. Learn more about ONEness from these wonderful people.
His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama (Voice of)
His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama is the head of state and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. In 1950, His Holiness was called upon to assume full political power (head of the State and Government) after some 80,000 Peoples Liberation Army soldiers invaded Tibet. Since 1967, His Holiness initiated a series of journeys which have taken him to some 46 nations. The Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the 1989 Peace Prize to His Holiness the Dalai Lama won worldwide praise and applause.
Deepak Chopra
Acknowledged as one of the world’s greatest leaders in the field of mind body medicine, Deepak Chopra, M.D. continues to transform our understanding of the meaning of health. The author of more than 50 books and more than 100 audio, video and CD-ROM titles, he has been published on every continent, and in dozens of languages. Esquire Magazine designated him as one of the top ten motivational speakers in the country. Dr. Chopra is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, Adjunct Professor at Kellogg School of Management, and Senior Scientist with The Gallup Organization. He is a co-founder and President of the Alliance for a New Humanity. Time magazine heralds Deepak Chopra as one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century and credits him as “the poet-prophet of alternative medicine.”
Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat Hanh (Thây), renowned spiritual teacher, founded the Unified Buddhist Church (Eglise Bouddhique Unifieé) in France in 1969, during the Vietnam war. Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, a poet, a scholar and a peace activist. His life long efforts to generate peace and reconciliation moved Martin Luther King, Jr. to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967. A Buddhist monk since the age of sixteen, Thây (“teacher,” as he is commonly known to followers) earned a reputation as a respected writer, scholar, and leader. He has written more than seventy-five books of prose, poetry, and prayers. Most of his works have been geared toward the Buddhist reader, yet his teachings appeal to a wide audience. For at least a decade, Thich Nhat Hanh has visited the United States every other year; he draws more and more people with each tour, Christian, Jewish, atheist, and Zen Buddhist alike. His philosophy is not limited to preexistent religious structures, but speaks to the individual’s desire for wholeness and inner calm. He founded the Van Hanh Buddhist University in Saigon and the School for Youths of Social Services in Vietnam. When not travelling the world to teach “The Art of Mindful Living”, he teaches, writes, and gardens in Plum Village, France, a Buddhist monastery for monks and nuns and a mindfulness practice center for lay people.
Robert Thurman
Robert A. F. Thurman is a scholar, Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, author, former Tibetan Buddhist monk, Co-founder and President of Tibet House in New York City, a close personal friend of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, and father of five children including Hollywood actress, Uma. Working at Columbia University, his intention is to enrich contemporary thought and practice through the profound and vast Buddhist philosophy and psychology. He has lectured all over the world; his charisma and enthusiasm draw packed audiences. In 1997, Time Magazine chose him as one of its 25 most influential Americans.
Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee is a Sheikh of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order. Born in London in 1953, Llewellyn has followed the Naqshbandi Sufi path since he was 19, after meeting Irina Tweedie, author of Chasm of Fire and Daughter of Fire: a Diary of a Spiritual Training with a Sufi Master. He has specialized in the area of dreamwork, integrating the ancient Sufi approach to dreams with the insights of modern psychology. He is the author of several books including Love is a Fire: The Sufi’s Mystical Journey Home and The Face Before I Was Born: A Spiritual Autobiography. Llewellyn has lectured extensively throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. He currently lives in California.
Father Thomas Keating
Father Thomas Keating spent twenty years as the abbot of St. Joseph’s Abbey, a Trappist monastery in Spencer, Massachusetts, and is now the leading figure in an interdenominational movement to revitalize the Christian contemplative practice known as “centering prayer.” He is the cofounder of Contemplative Outreach, an organization devoted to introducing Christian contemplative practices to laypeople of all faiths, and the author of several books, including Open Mind, Open Heart and Intimacy with God, both of which describe the process of spiritual development that such practices are intended to catalyze. He has met and studied with spiritual teachers from a variety of Hindu and Buddhist lineages and helped to create, fifteen years ago, the Snowmass Interreligious Conference, at which teachers from different traditions meet regularly to compare views and ideas, and to evaluate objectively the benefits and drawbacks of their respective practices.
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev is a visionary and a humanitarian whose work transcends all boundaries. Isha Foundation, founded by him as the conduit for his work, is an international non-profit organization dedicated to advancing physical, mental and inner health through the science of yoga. In his books, Encounter the Enlightened and Mystic Musings he approaches the reader through rational thought and nudges one beyond the limitations of rational thinking to begin the journey of discovering the Self, to discover the unbounded and singular nature of all existence. As delegate to the United Nations’ Millennium World Peace Summit, and as a member of eminent global forums like the World Council of Religious and Spiritual Leaders and Alliance for New Humanity, Sadhguru works with the world’s pre-eminent leaders to relieve human suffering, foster harmony and promote the dignity of all life. Recognizing that there can be no universal transformation without individual transformation, Sadhguru has dedicated his life to presenting powerful methods of self-transformation to people from all walks of life. He developed Isha Yoga – a set of scientifically structured programs, which have touched and transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world.
B. T. Swami
His Holiness Bhakti-Tirtha Swami Krishnapada is founder and director of the Institute for Applied Spiritual Technology and director of the International Committee for Urban Spiritual Development. As a young man, he became a leader in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s civil rights movement. Later, he served as president of the student council at Princeton University, from which he graduated with a degree in psychology. His visits to South Africa have included highly publicized meetings with then-President Nelson Mandela, where they have shared their visions and strategies for world peace. Bhakti-Tirhta Swami’s books have been acclaimed around the world for their universal appeal and their straightforward, insightful treatment of issues that face us on the global, national, community, family and individual levels.
Barbara Marx Hubbard
Barbara Marx Hubbard, noted author, futurist and social architect, is a founding member of the World Future Society, the Society for the Universal Human and the co-founder of the Foundation for Conscious Evolution. Her books include The Hunger of Eve, The Evolutionary Journey, Emergence: The Shift from Ego to Essence and Conscious Evolution: The Great Awakening – A Spirit-Motivated Plan of Action for the 21st Century. She was given a first ever Doctorate in Conscious Evolution by Emerson Theological Institute.
Brother Wayne Teasdale (1943-2004)
Wayne Teasdale received a Ph.D. in theology from Fordham University and is a member of the North American Board for East-West Dialogue. Teasdale is a “lay monk” and pioneer of the interfaith movement, a member of Hundred Acres Monastery, a tireless spokesperson for the practical power of profound spiritual realization and the author of several books including: A Monk in the World: Cultivating a Spiritual Life, The Mystic Heart: Discovering a Universal Spirituality in the World’s Religions, Essays in Mysticism and Towards A Christian Vedanta.
Ram Dass
Richard Alpert (aka Ram Dass) studied psychology, specializing in human motivation and personality development, and received an M.A. from Wesleyan and a Ph.D. from Stanford. He taught and researched in the Department of Social Relations and the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University. Alpert traveled to India in 1967, discovered Eastern thought and more significantly, met his guru, Neem Karoli Baba, who gave him the name Ram Dass. He has embraced a wide variety of spiritual traditions and practices, including guru kripa (grace of the guru), bhakti yoga focused on the Hindu spiritual deva Hanuman; meditation in various schools of Buddhism including Theravada, Mahayana, Tibetan, and Zen; karma yoga; and Sufi and Jewish studies. He has written a number of spiritual books including Be Here Now (over one million copies sold, 37th printing), Journey of Awakening, Miracle of Love: Stories of Neem Karoli Baba and Compassion in Action: Setting Out on the Path of Service.
Riane Eisler
Increasingly recognized as one of the most original thinkers of our time, Dr. Eisler was recently honored as the only woman among twenty great thinkers featured in Macrohistory and Macrohistorians, in recognition of the lasting importance of her work. Riane Eisler is President of the Center for Partnership Studies, a charismatic speaker who keynotes conferences worldwide, and a consultant to business and government on applications of the partnership model she introduces in her work. Eisler is best known for her international bestseller The Chalice and The Blade: Our History, Our Future (Harper & Row), hailed by novelist Isabel Allende as “one of those magnificent key books that can transform us.”
Father Richard Rohr
Father Richard Rohr is a Franciscan of the New Mexico Province. He was the founder of the New Jerusalem Community in Cincinnati, Ohio and the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Father Rohr is probably best know for his extremely popular audio and video tapes; articles by Father Rohr have appeared in numerous publications and much of his writing has been translated into other languages. His latest books are Job and the Mystery of Suffering and Everything Belongs.
Bobby Lake-Thom (a.k.a. Medicine Grizzly Bear)
Bobby Lake-Thom (Medicine Grizzly Bear) is a traditional native healer and spiritual teacher trained by 16 medicine men and women from different tribes. He lectures, conducts workshops, and has doctored hundreds of people from all walks of life. He has also served as Professor for Native American Studies at Humbolt State University and as an Indian affairs specialist for numerous Indian tribes and organizations in the United States. He is author of several books including Call of the Great Spirit: The Shamanic Life and Teachings of Medicine Grizzly Bear, Native Healer: Initiation into an Ancient Art and Spirits of the Earth: A Guide to Native American Nature Symbols, Stories, and Ceremonies.
Mantak Chia
Recognized very early as having great potential for spiritual development, Mantak Chia was initiated into meditation practices by Buddhist monks at the age of 6. While studying in Hong Kong, he learned Tai Chi Chuan, Aikido and Kundalini Yoga from a variety of teachers, eventually leading him to study under renowned Taoists Master Yi Eng. The author of dozens of books, booklets, videos and CDs describing the theory and methods of these practices, Master Mantak Chia has taught hundreds of thousands of eager students the principles of Taoist internal alchemy for the past forty years. Teaching that by re-establishing a direct connection with the natural energies surrounding us, the subtle awareness necessary for spiritual progress arises spontaneously. He has certified hundreds of Instructors and Practitioners to help in the transmission of these teachings.