My Teachers

Henry Green, PH.d.

Henry A. Green has taught at the University of Miami since 1984. He is the author or co-author of four books, including: The Economic and Social Origins of Gnosticism (Jewish origins from a sociological perspective); Mosaic: Jewish Life in Florida. Professor Green is the former Director of the Judaic Studies Program (1984-2000). Currently, Professor Green is the International Director of Sephardi Voices.  The project’s mission is to record, document and preserve the memories of Sephardi/Mizrahi Jews. I worked directly with Dr. Green for  nearly two years, where he provided me with a basic understanding of mysticism.

Don Sebastián Pauccar Flores

Don Sebastián Paccaur Flores was born in the village of Q’eros in the Andes Mountains. Initiated by his father as a Pacho (shaman of the Andes), he holds an Incan lineage from father to son going back hundreds of years. He travels internationally, sharing his heart connection to Pachamama (the Earth Mother). Several books have been written about him, including The Andean Codex, by J. E. Williams, who describes how Sebastián teaches Andean wisdom in the mountains of Peru. Sebastián has a deep connection to the Apus (the sacred mountains) and offers his blessings with a Tibetan bell. He gave me my first shamanic initiation in 2017.

Adyashanti

Adyashanti, author of The Way of Liberation, Falling into Grace, True Meditation, and The End of Your World, is an American-born spiritual teacher devoted to serving the awakening of all beings. His teachings are an open invitation to stop, inquire, and recognize what is true and liberating at the core of all existence.  Asked to teach in 1996 by his Zen teacher of 14 years, Adyashanti offers teachings that are free of any tradition or ideology. “The Truth I point to is not confined within any religious point of view, belief system, or doctrine, but is open to all and found within all.” I've been honored to have studied with him on multiple occasions including two, ten day silence meditations. 

Richard Alpert / Ram Dass

Ram Dass first went to India in 1967. He was still Dr. Richard Alpert, a prominent Harvard psychologist and psychedelic pioneer with Dr. Timothy Leary. He continued his psychedelic research until that fateful Eastern trip in 1967, when he traveled to India. In India, he met his guru, Neem Karoli Baba, affectionately known as Maharajji, who gave Ram Dass his name, which means “servant of God.” Since 1968, Ram Dass has pursued a panoramic array of spiritual methods and practices from potent ancient wisdom traditions, including bhakti or devotional yoga focused on the Hindu deity Hanuman; Buddhist meditation in the Theravadin, Mahayana Tibetan and Zen Buddhist schools, and Sufi and Jewish mystical studies. Ram Dass has been one of the biggest influences on my spiritual journey and I have been blessed to have spent time with him on multiple occasions in Maui. 

Stan Grof, m.d.

Stan Grof is a psychiatrist with over sixty years of experience in research of non-ordinary states of consciousness and one of the founders and chief theoreticians of transpersonal psychology. He was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, where he also received his scientific training: an M.D. degree from the Charles University School of Medicine and a Ph.D. degree (Doctor of Philosophy in Medicine) from the Czechoslovakian Academy of Sciences. He was also granted honorary Ph.D. degrees from the University of Vermont in Burlington, VT, Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto, CA, and the World Buddhist University in Bangkok, Thailand.Currently, Dr. Grof is Professor of Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in the Department of Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness in San Francisco, CA; he has also taught at Wisdom University in Oakland, CA, and the Pacifica Graduate School in Santa Barbara. My connection to Stan Grof comes from my work wit Holotropic Breathwork workshops worldwide. These workshops and Stan knowledge have proven to be invaluable tools on my journey. Each time I am amazed by the power of breath. 

Lama zopa rinpoche

Lama Zopa Rinpoche holds the Gelugpa lineage and has received teachings from many of the great Gelugpa masters. Lama Zopa Rinpoche is a Tibetan Buddhist scholar and meditator who for 30 years has overseen the spiritual activities of the extensive worldwide network of centers, projects and services that form the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) which he founded with Lama Thubten Yeshe. Lama Zopa Rinpoche is also considered as the heart son of the 14th Dalai Lama and diligently works to establish all of His Holiness's wishes. I was blessed to receive oral transmission from Lama Zopa in December of 2018 as well as taking refuge with him.

Daniel mcqueen & alison mcqueen

Daniel McQueen (MA) is a professional psychedelic therapist and guide with a Masters in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology from Naropa University. With his wife Alison McQueen (MA, LPC), Daniel is the co-director and manager of Medicinal Mindfulness, a local consciousness community and psychedelic education program in Boulder, Colorado. Daniel facilitates individual and group psychedelic experiences using psychedelic cannabis blends and transformational breathwork techniques. He is the Principal Organizer of the Medicinal Mindfulness Extended-State DMT Program. I went through both Psychedelic Sitter School and Psychedelic Guide Training with Daniel and Alison. Both of whom have taught me more about psychedelics and healing than I ever could have imagined.

Rev. diane berke, phd

Rev. Diane Berke, PhD. holds advanced degrees in sociology, psychology, and therapeutic counseling. Ordained as an interfaith minister in 1988, she is a widely respected pioneer in developing interfaith/interspiritual ministry education. Diane is on the faculty of Andrew Harvey’s Institute for Sacred Activism, a founding member of The Contemplative Alliance of the Global Peace Initiative of Women, and a certified facilitator for the Circle of Trust® work of the Center for Courage and Renewal. She is the author of numerous books and educational manuals, including Love Always Answers, The Gentle Smile, Developing and Deepening Your Spiritual Practice, and Interfaith Ministers’ Service and Reference Manual. A psychotherapist and spiritual counselor for over thirty years. I could mention dozens of teachers from OneSpirit but as the founder and head of my Seminary program she deserves special attention. She has been the guiding light for all my seminary training and I’m beyond grateful to be in her last Seminary class.

Samasti Yoga: Angela Perez, Sean Goldberg and Tomer Weiss

My three wonderful teachers at Samasti yoga school; Angela Perez, Sean Goldberg and Tomer Weiss. Sean Goldberg BSc (Physiotherapy) is a Co-Director and teacher of Samasti Yoga. His teaching style is based on a deep understanding of yoga anatomy, yoga physiology and traditional Hatha Yoga. Sean has taught on yoga trainings for various schools all over the world, including Mexico, Thailand, Brazil, Bali and Australia. He is a registered physiotherapist in Australia and continues to work and treat cliental there. Sean regularly teaches meditation courses, workshops and retreats for people that suffer from chronic pain, anxiety, depression and insomnia.Thomas , a trained psychotherapist, and yoga teacher since 10 years, is a Co-Director and teacher of Samasti Yoga. His thirst for knowing the truth about life and dedication to his personal practice has given him an abundance of experience that will guide you through each class with an open heart and great awareness. With a blend of Spanish born fire and deep love and gratitude for this life, it is equally her joy and honor to teach, study and share yoga and Tantra. Angela’s teaching style mirrors the way she practices - with complete joy and commitment to the path. She truly embodies the understanding that practice is a gift and holds firm to her intention to be a radiant example of the true joy, power and potential of yoga. The three of them helped me to understand the true essence of yoga. They transform my life and the understanding of my own body in way I never thought possible. I was truly blessed to have studied that path of yoga with them.

Influences

Alan Watts

A prolific author and speaker, Alan Watts was one of the first to interpret Eastern wisdom for a Western audience. Born outside London in 1915, he discovered the nearby Buddhist Lodge at a young age. After moving to the United States in 1938, Alan became an Episcopal priest for a time, and then relocated to Millbrook, New York, where he wrote his pivotal book The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety. In 1951 he moved to San Francisco where he began teaching Buddhist studies, and in 1956 began his popular radio show, “Way Beyond the West.” By the early sixties, Alan’s radio talks aired nationally and the counterculture movement adopted him as a spiritual spokesperson. He wrote and traveled regularly until his passing in 1973. Watts has been a major influence on my path I've listened to every lecture ever published by his foundation (200+ hours) and have written extensively on his ideas and books.

Terence Mckenna

Terence was one of the most influential philosophers and leading edge thinkers of the 20th century; he was an American ethnobotanist, philosopher, psychonaut, researcher, teacher, lecturer and writer on many subjects, such as human consciousness, language, psychedelic substances, the evolution of civilizations, magic, shamanism, the nature of time and many more. Not only has he been a great inspiration to myself and countless other psychonauts but his posthumous fame has proven that his techno-psychedelic message was ahead of its time. A few of his more notable ideas were the Archaic Revival, Stoned Ape Theory, Novelty Theory and Timewave Zero to name a few. His ideas on the mystical experience (mainly around psychedelics) have been one of the greatest sources for my understanding of the mystical experience. 

Robert lanaza m.d.

He is currently Chief Scientific Officer at Advanced Cell Technology, and Adjunct Professor at Wake Forest University School of Medicine; he has hundreds of publications and inventions, and over 30 scientific books. Lanza is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in Medicine and Healthcare, Who’s Who in Science and Engineering, Who’s Who in American Education, and Who’s Who in Technology, among others. In 2009, he co-authored a book “Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe” with leading astronomer Bob Berman. In biocentrism, space and time are forms of animal sense perception, rather than external physical objects. Reading his book Biocentrism was a pivotal moment on my journey and lead me to question many of the ideas I had previously held as fact.

Aldous Huxley

Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer, novelist, philosopher, and prominent member of the Huxley family. He graduated from Balliol College at the University of Oxford with a first-class honours degree in English literature. The author of nearly fifty books, Huxley was best known for his novels (among them Brave New World, set in a dystopianfuture); for nonfiction works, such as The Doors of Perception, in which he recalls his experiences taking psychedelic drugs; and for his wide-ranging essays.Huxley was a humanist and pacifist. He became interested in spiritual subjects such as parapsychology and philosophical mysticism,and in particular universalism. His book The Doors of Perception helped me understand my first mystical experience and shaped the whole course of my life. His book The Perennial Philosophy became the basis of my thesis. 

Carl Jung

Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. His work has been influential not only in psychiatry but also in anthropology, archaeology, literature, philosophy, and religious studies.Among the central concepts of analytical psychology is individuation—the lifelong psychological process of differentiation of the self out of each individual's conscious and unconscious elements. Jung considered it to be the main task of human development. He created some of the best known psychological concepts, including synchronicity, archetypal phenomena, the collective unconscious, the psychological complex, and extraversion and introversion. Studying Jung's ideas has been one of the great highlights in my academic career. His ideas about the collective unconscious and archetypes have shaped my understanding of human nature more than anything else.