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KARABI SEN: HARIDAS CHAUDHURI SCHOLAR Dr. Karabi Sen has been appointed as Haridas Chaudhuri Scholar for the spring semester 2000 by the Asian and Comparative Studies Concentration of the Philosophy and Religion Program. Funding is provided by the Haridas Chaudhuri Chair fund. Dr. Sen will teach two courses: Integral Philosophies, and Essence and Development of Hinduism. Dr. Sen has had a long association with the Institute. She was core faculty in philosophy and religion in 1984-85, and has been adjunct faculty since 1989. She was a professor of philosophy at the University of Burwan in Bengal for twenty years, and has numerous publications to her credit, including Values and Their Significance, Her Story: Anthology of Essays Concerning Women, and an edited book, Anthology of Jataka Tales. Karabi Sen is a true embodiment of the East-West tradition of the Institute. With a Ph.D. from the University of Calcutta, she has a broad knowledge of Western philosophy, and has taught courses on Aristotle, Kant, Hegel, Russell, and Heidegger. She has also taught intensive courses on the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo, comparative philosophy, the Bhagavad Gita, and Indian logic and epistemology. Dr. Sen has researched the Ramayana story in Southeast Asia, and has worked with the Northern California Geographic Alliance as a trainer of trainers, offering in-service training in ecological awareness. Jauhara Care, a former student of Sen's who is now working on her dissertation in PAR, says, "Karabi is the very best teacher of Indian philosophy at the Institute. Because she grew up and also taught in India, she brings a personal experience that greatly enriches her classes. Also, she is extremely knowledgeable about Western philosophy, so she is able to bring a comparative approach to the classroom that is relatively rare. Karabi embodies the philosophy that was at the heart of the school as it was created by Haridas Chaudhuri."
The Dream
Has Begun Four weeks ago three people sat around a table in the Institute Cafe and shared ideas for a community-building event. On November 19, 450 people came to a party created by over sixty volunteers from CIIS and beyond. "Let the Dream Begin" was a success beyond our wildest dreams. Students working throughout the day created a magical space of imagination, with a canopied room worthy of 1001 Nights, and beautiful presentations of food. Fabulous performances from students and others followed. Board of trustees member Stuart Sovatsky '84 initiated a trance-inducing bhakti yoga chant-and-response, and professional DJ, Cheb i Sabbah, created a mesmerizing multimedia experience of tunes and images. Joey Downing scored another highlight of the evening: a surprise performance by the twelve-member belly dancing troupe from Fat Chance Belly Dance, in full regalia. As the evening drew to a close, the Barbod ensemble-playing traditional Iranian music-entranced the crowd with a subtly powerful evocation of Spirit through their gift of traditional Iranian music. Vast thanks and huge blessings to all who helped bring this dream to reality-for the dedication, love, and talent given by members of our community-and in particular to the Student Alliance, which financed the event with $3,000 worth of faith. The Day After . . . Janis Phelps, Dean of the School of Consciousness and Transformation, said, "The party showcased the aesthetics, enthusiasm, commitment, and great creativity of CIIS students. I laughed and danced with overflowing gratitude for the love all the organizers put into the best event CIIS has had in many, many years." Heather Ussery-Knight, ICP student commented, "There were many, many more people there than I anticipated. The belly dancers were an inspiration! I hope we can have more such gatherings, perhaps every semester." Stuart Sovatsky commented, "Friday night's party was an outpouring of communally-planned creativity, intimate friendship, and broadly-inclusive fun. It was a special honor to share an aspect of my own spirituality by chanting with everyone that night. I hope that the steady flow of such evenings becomes our ongoing way of life at CIIS."
CIIS Sage
Advice - Jacob Needleman The CIIS Council of Sages is a group of distinguished individuals who serve the Institute in many capacities. Recently, Rachel Naomi Remen gave the keynote speech at our Gala. Collectively, this group has made significant contributions to the arts, humanities, sciences, and spiritual practices. Look to future issues of the Inner Eye for an introduction to some of these essential people. For a complete list of Sages, go to our Website- www.ciis.edu Council of Sages member Jacob Needleman is professor of philosophy at San Francisco State University, as well as the author of many best-selling books. He was featured on Bill Moyers' acclaimed PBS series "A World of Ideas." Dr. Needleman has a particular interest in looking at the ways in which the ideas of the great wisdom traditions of the world can be of practical help as we grapple with the concrete and very challenging problems of contemporary times. Dr. Needleman's recent books have addressed the spiritual implications of our relationships with money, loved ones, and time. In his most recent book, Time and the Soul, he addresses the modern obsession with time, asking where all the meaningful time has gone and how to get it back. He has also written A Little Book on Love and Money and the Meaning of Life. He is now working on a book about America which examines the spiritual meaning of independence, freedom, and self-reliance. Dr. Needleman sees CIIS as an extremely important place for those seeking these truths. As a long-time friend of the Institute, he believes that "CIIS has a tremendous role to play in California, the academic world, and in our culture. It is one of the very few places to take on the challenge of bringing a spiritually oriented approach to an academic environment. The world is in desperate need of the wisdom of the world's spiritual traditions. What is required is not more information, but more understanding-what we need are open hearts and critical minds." In talking with Inner Eye about the Institute's future, he stressed the importance of maintaining high academic standards, as well as communicating the unique vision and accomplishments of the school in a persuasive way to the public. He drew on an ancient tradition for his final piece of "sage advice": "Trust in Allah but tie your camel first!"
Advancing the Institute Section Message from President Subbiondo Dear Colleagues, On Friday evening, November 19, the Student Alliance held its "Let the Dream Begin" celebration at Fort Mason. I was impressed not only by the magic of the event, but also by the camaraderie of all there. I know that this renewed kinship will enhance our day-to-day interactions. We owe a debt of gratitude to the Student Alliance for reminding us that CIIS is indeed very special. Earlier in the day, the Strategic Planning and Budget Committee (SPBC)-which has faculty, staff, and student representatives-had met at the Institute's loft. We focused on how to proceed in light of our institutional history and vision. After reviewing documents from the past five years, we concluded that the Institute has developed a number of plans that could serve as a basis for future planning. As a faculty member recently commented, "The problem here has never been planning, it has been implementation." The committee agrees, and we will move to implementation as early as possible. To ground the planning process in the Institute's vision, we will incorporate previous as well as new plans into a framework that is built upon the seven ideals of the Institute. In the next month, we will form a subcommittee for each of the seven ideals; the subcommittees will consist of members of the SPBC as well as faculty, students, and staff outside the committee. Each subcommittee will develop a draft of goals and objectives that will be reviewed by the SPBC. Once we have developed a draft, we will present it to all stakeholders of the Institute as well as an external group for review and revision. The plan will be completed early in the coming semester so that we can begin implementation by the end of this academic year. Cordially, Joseph L. Subbiondo
EYE ON
TECHNOLOGY Great news is on the horizon for computing at CIIS. President Subbiondo has authorized a shift to more advanced technology for a new administrative software system by October 2000. The new system will handle all student records and receivables, admissions and recruiting data, and internal ledger and purchasing activity. Additionally, CIIS will incorporate donor and alumni relations records into the new system-the first integrated database for donors and alumni at CIIS! And, wonderfully enough, the new administrative software system will interface with the Institute's Web site, which is currently being renovated. Next October, students will be able to view course schedules on-line as well as register for classes. The new software system offers increased capabilities to our faculty as well, allowing faculty to maintain their courses and advise students from any networked computer either at CIIS or at home. Led by Scott Ciliberti, the project to convert our data and customize the new software includes many administrators at CIIS in student services, Web development, and information systems and technology (IST). Over the next couple of months, we will purchase, configure, and test the hardware and database. Beginning in February, student service administrators will configure the new software while IST converts the old data into the new database. Over the summer, we will incorporate our new database into our Web site. After fall registration, we will finalize our training and testing. Finally, we will switch over to the new system towards the end of October. Now if our desktop computers could just run a little bit faster . . .
Trustee Judie Brown '96, chair of the Development Committee, recently contributed $10,000 to start an unrestricted endowment fund for the Institute." This should be a significant step forward for our future financial planning," said Ms. Brown, "and I am happy to be a part of it." The fund will grow through planned gifts, such as bequests, and over time will provide significant annual income to the Institution through interest earnings. Marion Weber, a member of the CIIS Council of Sages, contributed $10,000 to support fund raising events for the current fiscal year. The events provide an opportunity to introduce new donors to the Institute, and to bring together current donors for programs that feature CIIS faculty speakers. All alumni of CIIS will receive an opportunity to make a year-end gift through a recent letter that went out from President Subbiondo to all 1,700 alumni for whom we have current addresses. A follow-up letter went out from Trustee Peg Jordan '96, president of the CIIS Alumni Association. During the week of November 28-December 3, Somatics faculty Don Hanlon Johnson participated in the inaugural seminar of a series entitled the Transformative Practices Fellowship, convened by Esalen Institute to revision its 'post El Nino' future. Other participants included Michael Murphy, George Leonard, Baker Roshi, Jeffrey Kripal, Fred Luskin, Michael Mahoney, Kaisa Puhakka, Roger Walsh, and Gordon Wheeler. The seminar coordinator was CIIS alumnus Steve Dinan '98. The seminars are aimed at developing a Web site, publishing a series of texts with the Shambala imprint, and making Esalen one of the centers of research in this important field.
DIVERSITY TOWN HALL MEETING A SUCCESS The first of seven scheduled Town Hall meetings focusing on the Intitute's seven ideals was held on November 11. The purpose of the meetings is to contribute to the revision and development of the Institute's strategic plan. The first meeting-which addressed the ideal of "cultural diversity"-was hosted by the Diversity Action Team. Students,
faculty, and staff actively engaged in candid dialogue and shared personal stories
about their experiences at the Institute. Small groups of individuals discussed
the following questions: If you did not attend the meeting, but would like to express your point of view, you may pick up a copy of the cultural diversity questionnaire in the Dean of Students Office; return responses to Henry Villareal, Dean of Enrollment Management, Room 403.
FACULTY: ON THE PAGE AND ON THE STAGE IN PRINT Renee Emunah,
PDT Jorge N.
Ferrer, '99, EWP Kirk Schneider,
ICP Joseph
L. Subbiondo (co-author with G. H. Quehl and W. H. Berquist) PRESENTATIONS Judye Hess,
ICP Alfonso
Montuori, TLC Charlene
Spretnak, PCC Brian Swimme,
PCC Judyth
O. Weaver, SOM Tanya Wilkinson,
PSY
PORTRAIT OF A PCC STUDENT: RICHARD KAHN When Richard Kahn realized that he might not be destined to be a rock star or a famous poet after all, he decided to return to his other love, academia, and follow up his two masters degrees with a doctorate. Richard, who entered the Philosophy, Cosmology, & Consciousness Program in fall 1999, also works as web coordinator in the Institute's Communications & Marketing Department. Richard was attracted to CIIS because he believes students should be able to manifest their unique visions within the educational context. He looks forward to one day radicalizing academia from within its walls. He sees himself as a "new diplomat in academia, bridging traditional and nontraditional approaches...decidedly an undercover agent." In his life as a musician, Richard sees himself as a troubadour moving within the Dylan tradition. "What can I possibly say about the man? Bob is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. He is the dirt road tradition that leads back through Kerouac and Guthrie, deep into the mysterious synthesis of Son House, Africa, Irish limerick and sea shanty, Commedia dell'arte, Jewish apocalypticism, and the Jungian shadow of MTV and Motown." While playing saxophone, guitar and harmonica, Richard traveled around Hungary for over a year playing blues, and then performed in the folk circuit in Boston, Cambridge, and Gloucester, MA. He sees music as his spiritual practice, and hopes to find like-minded musicians at the Institute to form an informal "cosmic bluegrass band." Newly married on Thanksgiving Day '99, Richard lives with his wife, D'vora, and their Rottweiler companion Beckett in Pacific Heights. If you're interested in contacting him, e-mail Richard at richardk@ciis.edu. RETURNING-
A live presentation of ReTurning, the new recording by Jennifer Berezan, musician and Women's Spirituality faculty member, will be featured in a ritual concert celebration on February 6. The event will feature musicians, dancers, ritualists and well-known authors and artists in women's studies and arts-Starhawk, Vicki Noble, Z Budapest, Arisika Razak, Jami Sieber, Sharon Burch, Krissy Keffer and the Dance Brigade, Riffat Salamat, Mary Youngblood, Luisah Teish, and others. Artist and student Tricia Grame will present an exhibit of sacred art honoring the Goddess and the ancient temple cultures of Malta. Sponsored by CIIS and hosted by the Women's Spirituality Program. Tickets are $20 advance, $25 door, available at your local booksellers or through the mail. Mail checks payable to Edge of Wonder Records, P.O. Box 6181, Albany, CA 94706. For more information about the concert, call 415-575-6100, ext. 470 or check out www.ciis.edu. East-West Psychology faculty member Ralph Metzner is the program director for this conference devoted to ayahuasca, the visionary plant brew widely use by indigenous shamans in South America for healing and divination. The conference is an important part of an ongoing revival of interest in shamanism and entheogens-sacred plants. Presenters include Charles Grob, Dennis McKenna, Jace Callaway, Luis Eduardo Luna, Jeremy Narby, and Alex Polari de Alverga. The conference will also include panels on Women and Ayahuasca, Medico-Scientific Research on Ayahuasca, and the Amazonian Cultural Context of Ayahuasca. For further information on this conference, contact kathyg@ciis.edu, conference coordinator Kathy Gower, 415-575-6290; www.ciis.edu
Wednesdays,
2:30 to 4:30 pm, Mondays,
3:00 to 4:00 pm Thursdays,
3:00 to 4:30 pm, Sunday,
February 6, 2000 Friday-Monday,
March 17-20, 2000 June 2000 Happy Holidays from the Communications & Marketing Dept.
A Year
to Live Socrates believed that we should "always be occupied in the practice of dying" in order to appreciate our living. So imagine that you only have one year left to live. What would you do differently? For one year poet and meditation teacher Stephen Levine consciously chose activities, relationships, and spiritual practices that reflected life's urgency rather than life's complacency; he later wrote A Year to Live: How to Live This Year As If It Were Your Last. Levine (also the author of Who Dies? and other books) offers a year-long program of strategies and guided meditations to help us feel satiated when our numbers come up. Noah Levine, an ICP student, has offered to lead a year-long noncredit workshop at CIIS based on his father's book starting in February, tentatively set for the first Tuesday of each month, 6:00 to 9:00 pm. The workshop will be open to faculty, staff, students, and alumni; donations to the facilitator will be appreciated. Noah is director of youth programs at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and is a skilled meditation teacher who has first-hand experience with the "year to live" material. If you are interested in this study group, please contact Noah at noahl@igc.org or call 415-929-6849. School
Credit for Service For further information, call Bahman Shirazi at 415-575-6252 (e-mail bahmans@ciis.edu), or Janis Phelps at 415-575-6251 (e-mail janisp@ciis.edu). New Printer
in Lab! InnerLight
Bookstore SALE! Health
Insurance Changes We will be changing to a Blue Shield HMO plan which will have a hospital co-pay of $100 per day. However, with the savings, a pool will be established and any employee hospitalized will be reimbursed for three days hospital stay. We will be changing from United Concordia to the Best Life Pro Dent dental indemnity plan. Dental indemnity plans allow employees to see any dentist they wish. The Best Plan allows for a better dental benefit at a lower monthly cost than our current indemnity plan. The savings from changing our medical and vision plan will be used to offset the additional expense of this change, resulting in no monthly cost to employees for the dental indemnity. Acupuncture and chiropractic coverage will remain the same. Employees will benefit from these changes in the following ways: 1) they will receive an additional 1% of salary in retirement contribution; 2) they will be eligible for dental indemnity insurance at no cost, an annual savings of $238; 3) if paying dependent medical coverage, they will save $886 to $1221 annually; and 4) in a couple of months they will be able to access their medical accounts online. Financial Aid Notes The Financial Aid Office will close for the holiday, on Wednesday, December 22, and re-open on Monday, January 3. Disbursement checks for excess financial aid funds for the spring semester is January 31, 2000; students may pick up checks in the Business Office. Support
Diversity-Volunteer! Faculty
Basketball Challenge
Talk about
ethnocentrism!! I have news for you all, it's not a new millennium. I think CIIS'ers
should celebrate their visionary, diverse selves by refusing to participate in
any celebration remotely connected to the false notion of a 'new' millennium.
I predict
that I shall be married to the most beautiful and tender-hearted woman in the
world. I predict
that sun will rise, the moon will glow and the stars will shine, thus debunking
the myth that the end of the world is upon us. (Will check in with all of you
on January 2 just to be sure.... ) I predict
that post-millennium, dwarfism will become fashion-chic, that in a startling Supreme
Court ruling of some measure, t.v. dinners will be classified as a form of 'cruel
and unusual punishmentÕ, and most importantly I predict that there will be a slight
-- though ever-rising -- increase in the mass consciousness concerning the distant
arrival of the year 3000, the next supposed millennium.
Farewell:
Transitions:
IT'S
IN THE STARS With the fall semester behind us, and Sun in Sagittarius until the Winter Solstice on December 21, it's a good time to party. Planetary alignments Christmas Day bring fun, high energy, and surprises. Jupiter turns direct December 20, enabling us to jump into action and move forward after four months in retrograde motion. Enjoy the holiday partying, as the New Year's Eve energy will be more subdued with Moon in Scorpio and Sun in Capricorn trine Saturn. You may even prefer to be alone. Saturn turns stationary direct January 11 just before the new semester begins. With all planets now in forward motion we can move ahead easily and swiftly with our visions, plans, and goals for the new year.
Our Apologies INNER EYE Editor: Candice Chase Editorial Board: Donna Blakemore, Pamela Chaloult, Cathy Coleman, The Inner Eye is published every 3 weeks by the Communications & Marketing Department. Deadline for next issue: Thursday, January 6 Next issue: Thursday, January 20 Articles may be submitted by to candicec@ciis.edu via email or disks may be put in the Inner Eye mailbox. Articles are subject to editing for clarity, length, and appropriateness. |