Past Speakers

Mayan Spiritual Leader Ac Tah “Caminante Maya.”  Known in his native land of Mexico as Caminante Maya, “The Walking Maya,” Ac Tah is a wisdom keeper, spiritual leader and direct-descendant Maya who travels extensively throughout Mexico to deliver what he calls “messages of light” – inspirational words of compassion, peace, community, understanding and unity.  Messages received by Ac Tah from ancestor Mayan leaders include evolution being all about emotion, passion, joy, happiness, energy and love. If humans cannot experience this, they are dead men walking and they better get down to searching for the true meaning of their lives. “The Maya were aware that time is infinite and could be counted to infinity, however they left us a calendar up to the year 2012 to leave it to our generation to commence a new count, in the light of a new spiritual awareness.” Ac Tah – Night of the Last Katu’n

William Arntz, president of Captured Light, graduated summa cum laude in 1972 from Penn State University with a degree in Engineering Science then worked as a research physicist with Pratt and Whitney Aircraft on the first wave optics simulator for high-energy gas dynamic laser weapons (a.k.a. “Star Wars”). In the late 80’s with $100,000 in savings and no business experience, in five months Mr. Arntz wrote AutoSys – a distributed job scheduler and one of the most widely used pieces of System Management software ever written, used by such clients as Merrill Lynch, NASA, ILM, Sun Microsystems, Cisco, and Boeing.  In 1995 he devised a second successful software product, which he sold nine months later.  He is originator and co- writer/producer/director of What the BLEEP Do We Know?!

Jeanne Achterberg, PhD is a scientist who has received international recognition for her pioneering research in medicine and health psychology. She was a faculty member for 11 years at Southwestern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center, where she directed the Center For Rehabilitation Science. Achterberg has authored over 100 papers and five books. Her book, Imagery in Healing: Shamanism and Modern Medicine has been published in many languages and is critically acclaimed as a classic in the field of mind/body studies.

Janis Amatuzio, MD was trained at the University of Minnesota, Hennepin County Medical Center and the Minneapolis Medical Examiner’s Office before founding Midwest Forensic Pathology, PA. She is certified in anatomic, forensic and clinical pathology, is an authority in forensic medicine and has served as Coroner and a regional resource for multiple counties in Minnesota and Wisconsin. She is also the author of Forever Ours: A Forensic Pathologist’s Perspective on Immortality and Living and Beyond Knowing: Mysteries and Messages of Death.

Painter Richard Amos and sculptor Frank J. Brown  Richard Amos’ work documents his exploration of African American, African and Native American spirits that imbue his art; using multiple layers of perception, understanding and sight (and paints and gessoed jeans) while utilizing ancestral mask themes. “We all wear them,” he says.  Frank Brown is an award-winning sculptor (in many mediums) who has always considered his artwork to be social commentary and art to open up communication. He often will put the skeletal system on the outside of a human figure, believing that “we’re starved for self-knowledge and the richness of knowing each other.”

Marc Ian Barasch   is former editor at Psychology Today, former editor-in-chief of New Age Journal and an award-winning writer/producer for television and film. He is the author of the classic mind/body book, The Healing Path, and  Field Notes on the Compassionate Life, and is co-author of Remarkable Recovery: What Extraordinary Healings Tell Us About Being Well and Staying Well.

Noa Baum  Born and raised in Jerusalem, trained in theatre and education, Noa Baum is an acclaimed performance artist, educator and workshop facilitator who brings stories to life with her animated and energetic style. Her storytelling builds a bridge of understanding and compassion between East and West, American and Israeli, Arab and Jew, past and present.

Edward Belbruno, PhD is currently associate professor of astrophysics at Princeton University and a well-known mathematician, scientist and artist, as well as a NASA consultant and former Dean of NASA Project Affairs. He has published several books on his mathematical work with Princeton University Press and the New York Academy of Sciences. His bold theory of space travel was successfully used in 1991 to rescue a Japanese spacecraft and bring it to the moon, and he has appeared twice on NBC’s Today Show to discuss space-related issues. His art tours the US and Europe, and his paintings are in major collections including NASA headquarters and the Smithsonian.

Morris Berman, PhD is a cultural historian with a doctorate in the History of science form John Hopkins. He has taught at Rutgers University, The University of San Franciso, Concordia University and the University of Victoria. His books include Re-enchantment of the World and Coming to Our Senses.

Joan Borysenko, PhD is trained as both a cell biologist and a psychologist. She is co-founder and former Director of the Harvard Medical School Mind/Body Clinic and author of many books including the bestseller, Minding the Body, Mending the Mind and Guilt is the Teacher, Love is the Lesson.

Fritjof Capra, PhD is a research physicist in high energy physics. He received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of Vienna. Capra has been a pioneer in making the discoveries of quantum physics accessible and relevant to the public. He is perhaps best known for his book, Tao of Physics. Other books include The Turning Pointand Belonging to the Universe. Capra is the founder of the Elmwood Institute.

Deepak Chopra, MD is an endocrinologist, former Chief of Staff of New England Deaconess Hospital and founding member of the National Institutes of Health panel on alternative medicine. His best-selling books include, Quantum Healin;, Perfect Health: The Complete Mind/Body Guide; Ageless Body, Timeless Mind; and The Seven Spiritual Secrets of Success.

Don Coyhis, a member of the Mohican Nation, was a senior executive at Digital Equipment Corporation for 14 years when he left to reconnect with traditional values and find more effective and culturally  sensitive principles to guide business.  He discovered many teachings of wisdomfrom various Indian tribes.  For many centuries those sacred teachings have been hidden, however according to recent Native American prophesies a New Springtime is emerging making it necessary for these teachings to be shared with all people.

Catherine Dees is co-creator of the original Continuum Exhibit. In addition to her early interests in theosophy and consciousness, Catherine has an abiding passion for ancient Egypt and archeology. She is the author of five historical and romance novels, ghost writer for two popular non-fiction books, a documentary film producer and sponsor of the Amarna Royal Tombs project, a major archeological dig in the Valley of the Kings.

Dr. Joe Dispenza, DC studied biochemistry at Rutger’s University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.  He received his doctor or chiropractic degree at Life University in Atlanta, Georgia, graduating magna cum laude.  Dr. Dispenza’s postgraduate training and continuing education has been in neurology, neurophysiology, and brain function.  He is the recipient of a clinical proficiency citation for clinical excellence in doctor-patient relationships from Life University and is a memeber of the International Chiropractic Honor Society, and is featured in the movie What the Bleep Do We Know?!  He is author of Evolve Your Brain; Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself and You are the Placebo: Making Your Mind Matter.

Larry Dossey, MD is co-founder of the Dallas Diagnostic Association, former Chief of Staff at Dallas Medical City Hospital, was the first physician ever asked to deliver th Mahatma Gandhi Annual Address in India, and is a NY Times best-selling author whose many books include, Space, Time and Medicine; Healing Words: The Power of Prayer in the Practice of Medicine; Meaning & Medicine; Extra-ordinary Healing Power of Ordinary Things ; The Power of Premonitions; and One Mind.

Robert Fisch, MD is a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps and a native of Budapest, Hungary where he completed medical school. He came to the US in 1957 and eventually became a professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota.  Dr. Fisch is an artist whose work has been exhibited internationally, and an author who is committed to sharing his story so others may learn from the past and create a more compassionate future. His book, Light from the Yellow Star: A Lesson of Love from the Holocaust tells how he came to understand the power of love and freedom. Yellow Star is the name of his foundation (www.yellowstarfoundation.org), dedicated to educating young people about the Holocaust.

Arun Gandhi is the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and is founder and Director of the Gandhi Center for the study of non-violence in Memphis.

Tom Gegax  Founder and former CEO (Head Coach) of Tires Plus Stores, Tom was the innovator in the early ’90’s of the coaching phenomenon now popular. He sold the company in 2000 and has since been writing and consulting. His book, Winning in the Game of Life, won critical acclaim and he also authored The Big Book of Small Business. Ernst and Young named Gegax 1995 Entrepreneur of the Year, he has been featured in the New York Times, Fast Company Magazine, three PBS specials, and on CNBC and CNN.

Jack Gibb, PhD spent his career as an organizational development consultant whose client list includes General Motors, the IRS, AT&T and the State Department. He is the past president of the American Humanistic Psychology Association and authored many books including, Trust: A New View of Personal and Organizational Development andTouching the Universe.

Amit Goswami, PhD earned his doctorate in theoretical nuclear physics and has been a professor at the University of Oregon since 1968.  Hugh Harrison, founder of Continuum Center, took a class from Amit in the ’80’s and Hugh encouraged Amit to consider the relationship of physics to the exploration of consciousness.  Amit’s books include The Self-Aware Universe: How Consciousness Creates the Material World and Visionary Window.

Alex Haley. After twenty years of service, Haley left the Coast Guard in 1959 to become a full-time writer. He wrote for Reader’s Digest biographical features, interviewed Miles Davis for Playboy, and produced The Autobiography of Malcolm X, his first major work. It appeared in 1965 and had an immense effect on the black power movement in the United States. While growing up in Henning, Tennessee, Alex heard stories from his maternal grandmother, Cynthia Palmer, who traced the family genealogy to Haley’s great-great-great-great-grandfather, who was an African, called “Kin-tay”. He was brought by slave ship to America and named Toby. This eleven year research odyssey led to Haley’s best known book, Roots.

Willis Harman, PhD was a pioneering senior social scientist at SRI (Stanford Research International), an economics and engineering systems professor at Stanford, and president of the Institite of Noetic Sciences (founded by astronaut Edgar Mitchell when he returned from the moon).  He was a consultant internationally  for corporations and governments; his books include Higher Creativity and Global Mind Change.

Paul Hayes, Lakota pipe carrier was born in Cheyenne River, South Dakota. His inspiring journey through 13 years in the adult correctional system and the 12 years after his release, revealed lessons in spirituality and humanity that many can learn from, Indian and non-Indian alike.

Carl Hammerschlag, MD is a Yale-trained psychiatrist who spent thirty years in the southwest as Chief of Psychiatry for the Phoenix Indian Health Center. He is a founding member of the American Association of Psychiatrists in alcohol and addictions and his books include, The Dancing Healers: A Doctor’s Journey of Healing with Native Americans and Theft of the Spirit.

Jean Houston, PhD was tutored as a child by the late Teillhard de Chardin, has served in the departments of psychology, philosophy and religion at the University of California, Columbia University and New York University. As a leading pioneer in the study of human consciousness, she has lead workshops in over forty countries and is the founder of the Foundation for Mind Research in Ponoma, New York. Her books include, The Possible Human andMind Games.

Arvol Looking Horse is the Medicine Man for the Lakota people. He is the 19th generation pipe carrier, continuing a tradition four centuries old and two centuries in hiding. He has lectured at Stanford University, University of California at Berkeley, and Harvard University and has conducted prayer services at the United Nations headquarters.

Jerry Jampolsky, MD has published extensively, is the author of the best-selling book, Love is Letting Go of Fear,Teach Only Love and Goodbye to Guilt. He has appeared on 60 Minutes, The Today Show, The Mike Douglas Show, the Phil Donahue Show and on Merv Griffin. He is the founder of the Center for Attitudinal Healing in Tiburon, California and co-founder, with Diane Cirincione, of Children as Teachers of Peace. They are co-authors of Change Your Mind, Change Your Life.

Roger Jones, PhD is a retired associate professor of physics at the University of Minnesota and author of Physics as Metaphor.  In the eighties he produced a 10-part television series on modern science for non-scientists.

Peter Koestenbaum, PhD consults to the leaders of such organizations as Ciba-Geiby, Hewlett-Packard, AT&T and IBM. He has served as Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at San Jose State University, and has been in-house philosopher at Ford Motor Company. He has used philosophical inquiry and insight to become an international expert on management and leadership. His books include, The New Image of the Person: The Theory and Practice of Clinical Philosophy; The Heart of Business; and Leadership: The Inner Side of Greatness.

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, MD is the late Swiss psychiatrist famous for her ground breaking research with dying patients. Her seminal books include Death, The Final Stage of Growth and To Live Until We Say Goodbye.

William Kunstler was one of the most celebrated and controversial lawyers of our time and was a strident defender of constitutional rights for more than thirty years. The Chicago Eight conspiracy trial, the American Flag burning case and the defense of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Leonard Peltier (with Ramsey Clark) are some of the highlights in the bold career of this legal legend.

Lawrence Le Shan, PhD is a psychotherapist in New York City. He is a world renowned research and clinical psychologist with his PhD from the University of Chicago and is a long-time specialist in scientific experimental design and methodology with a focus on cancer. His work laid the foundation for prominent figures of the health scene like Vernie Siegel and Carl Simonton. He has authored, Cancer As a Turning Point; Alternative Realities; The Medium, The Mystic and The Physicist; How to Meditate and many more.

Steven Locke, MD has served as research psychiatrist at Boston’s Beth Israel Hospital, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and maintains a private practice of psychiatry in behavioral medicine. Since 1976 Dr. Locke has conducted research, taught and published in the field of psychoneuroimmunology. He is author of Mind and Immunity and The Healer Within.

Arvol Looking Horse, is widely respected as a medicine man and 19th generation keeper of the sacred pipe for the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota people.  He has lectured at Stanford, Berkeley, Dartmouth and Harvard, and has conducted prayer services at the United Nations.

Astronaut Edgar Mitchell was the sixth man to walk on the moon and is the founder of the Institute of Noetic Sciences which funds consciousness research.

Marlo Morgan is the author of The Mutant Message Down Under which was on the New York Times best seller list for 23 weeks. She originally self-published and sold a phenomenal 350,000 copies. She wrote the book out of an obligation to the aboriginals she met when visiting Australia in 1985. Through the course of a four month walk-about with a tribe who selected her to carry the message of their way of life, she discovered that the human body/mind has capacities far greater than most “civilized” people suspect.

Caroline Myss, PhD  A pioneer in the field of intuition and medical science, Dr. Myss has worked since 1982, with Norman Shealy, MD, PhD, a Harvard trained neurosurgeon. Their research, of human stressors contributing to the formation of disease, has profoundly affected the way we now view illness and health. She is the author of two New York Times bestsellers: Anatomy of the Spirit and Why People Don’t Heal and How They Can, and many other books including, Defy Gravity.

Jacob Needleman, PhD is considered one of the foremost living philosophers. He is a professor of philosophy at San Francisco State University, former adjunct professor of psychiatry at the University of California Medical Center, and professor of medical ethics at University of California School of Medicine, San Francisco. A thoughtful explorer of consciousness, he was featured on Bill Moyer’s “A World of Ideas” and he has written many books including, A Sense of The Cosmos, The Way of The Physician, The Heart of Philosophy ; and Money and the Meaning of Life.

Candace Pert, PhD received her PhD in pharmacology from Johns Hopkins Medical School and is former Chief of Brain Biochemistry at the National Institutes of Mental Health. She founded and directed a private biotech lab, RapidPharma. Candace’s early work led to the discovery of endorphins, and she is currently running trials of a new peptide biomedicine. Candace is a featured scientist in the movie, What the BLEEP Do We Know? and is the author of Molecules of Emotion: The Science Behind Mind-Body Medicine and How to Feel Go(o)d.

30 years ago at Georgetown University, for a conference whose centerpiece was the Continuum Exhibit, Dr. Pert first made a presentation tying her pioneering work to the work of the Continuum Center.  Back then, she stretched conventional thinking to consider evidence suggesting that consciousness exists separate from the brain and perhaps survives death of the physical body. Still on the front lines of the paradigm shift, she now offers new insights into the mind-body connection and if consciousness in our cells links us to life outside our bodies

Horst Rechelbacher is the founder of Aveda, a company that manufactures pure and natural hair, skin and body care products based on the traditional herbal wisdom of native cultures from around the globe. In addition, he is the founder of Intelligent Nutrients – a line of organic and food-grade hair and body products – and is on the board of trustees of the Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust, a medical college in India.  He is author of the books, AVEDA Rituals and Minding Your Business.

Peter Russell, PhD  Recognized to be a creativity expert and futurist, Mr. Russell has conducted seminars for corporations including IBM, Apple, American Express and British Petroleum. Peter earned a first class honors degree in Theoretical Physics and Experimental Psychology and a masters degree in Computer Science at the University of Cambridge. He then traveled to India to study eastern philosophy and upon return began research into the psychology and neurophysiology of meditation. His books include The Upanishads; The Global Brain Awakens; The Creative Manager and White Hole in Time.

Jehan el-Sadat is the former First Lady of Egypt and was a pioneer advocate and spokesperson in the ‘70s for women’s rights in Egypt. As a devoted activist for women and peace, Jehan Sadat, speaks to thousands every year, urging women to take their rightful place in the world. Since 1993, she has been a professor teaching international studies at the University of Maryland. Her first book, A Woman of Egypt , recounts her notable life as the First Lady of Egypt and her life and marriage to global peace maker, Anwar Sadat. (He was assassinated on October 6, 1981). Jehan Sadat has righteously carried forth his and her messages of peace and world understanding.

Norman Shealy, MD, PhD is a neurosurgeon and a Ph.D. psychologist, the founding president of the American Holistic Medical Association and a pioneer and expert’s expert in pain management.  He has treatments and patents on procedures used by traditional and non-traditional practitioner’s in nearly every specialty today, and had been a consultant to leaders in every specialty including the personal physicians of Presidents Kennedy and Eisenhower.  Since his early years in medicine, Norm has been interested in and researched many alternative approaches to healing, the human energy system and the role of consciousness in creating quality of life.  He has more than 300 published papers and his seminars are attended by physicians, alternative health care professionals and lay persons internationally.  He is the author of several books including Life Beyond 100: Secrets of the Fountain of Youth, Miracles Do Happen, 90 Days to Stress Free Living, and Creation of Health and AIDS: Passageway to Transformation, written with Caroline Myss, Ph.D.

Malidoma Patrice Some’, PhD  A man of two worlds, Malidoma, a shaman, holds three masters degrees and two Ph.D.’s from Brandeis University and the Sorbonne in Paris. With permission of his tribal elders, he shares the spiritual secrets of the indigenous people and the world of his ancestors. His message is a hope-filled and affirming testimony to the power, mystery and interconnectedness of humanity and Nature. He is the author of Of Water and the Spirit and Healing Wisdom of Africa.

Swami Veda has been teaching internationally for more than 60 years about the unifying streams of religious and spiritual thought about – and scientific support for – meditative contemplation.  His credentials include working with the World Council of Religious Leaders, UN Peace Summit Ethics Initiative, and the Dalai Lama.  He is a Mahamandeleshvara – one of the highest spiritual offices in India.

William Tiller, PhD  The Continuum exhibit, 25 years ago, featured Tiller’s work with theoretical energy fields completely different from those known to us through conventional science; energies operating in different dimensions from physical space-time, energies that interconnect all of life. Years later, as Dean of Materials Science at Stanford, Tiller has spent numerous years with instrumentation now able to measure the electromagnetic “lift” that a specific human intention from a deep meditative state has on an experimental space. Under normal conditions, the level of reality affected by this consciousness research is only very weakly coupled to our familiar level of physical reality. With an electromagnetic lift, the interconnectivity between the two is greatly increased, even at a  distance.

Alvin Toffler was a futurist and author of the best-selling books, Future Shock and Third Wave. Toffler wrote about the proliferation of computers, the advent of cable television, niche markets, the shift to work-at-home, corporate restructuring, the break-up of the Soviet Union, the shift to a global economy and dozens of other scenarios long before they appeared in our nomenclature.

James Twyman, also known as the Peace Troubadour, has been described as one of the greatest story-tellers of our time. He is an internationally renowned author and musician who has traveled the world, often to war-ravaged countries such as Bosnia, South Africa, Iraq, Israel and northern Ireland at the invitation of the leaders of those governments. James is the author of books including Emissary of Light – a Vision of Peace; Emissary of Love – The Psychic Children Speak to the World and Ten Spiritual Lessons I Learned at the Mall.

Don Warne, MD, an enrolled member of the Ogalala Tribe from Pine Ridge, South Dakota, adeptly converges the honorable rivers of two healing traditions. He graduated from Stanford University School of Medicine, is a diplomat of the American Board of Family Practice and the American Board of Medical Acupuncture. He received his Public Health Masters degree from Harvard University.

Marianne Williamson is a critically acclaimed author and lecturer. Her first book, Return to Love was on the New York Times best seller list for 35 weeks and her second book, A Woman’s Worth topped the list for 19 weeks. She is the founder of the Los Angeles and Manhattan Centers For Living which provide free non-medical support service to people with life-challenging illness. She is also the author of Illuminata: Thoughts, Prayers, Rites of Passage and TheHealing of America.

Robert Anton Wilson, PhD has worked as a futurist, novelist, playwright, poet, lecturer and stand-up comic. He is the author of numerous books including, Masks of the Illuminati; Schrodinger’s Cat Trilogy; Cosmic Trigger; and The New Inquisition. With a doctorate in psychology and a strong interest in social philosophy, his dazzling juxtaposition of science, politics and humor have earned him the reputation of super-genius.

Arthur Zajonc, PhD  Looking back on his life’s study of light quanta, Einstein declared that light remained as much of a mystery as when he began 50 years earlier. Max Planck, the father of quantum physics and of photons, marveled at how all of nature, and especially light, behaves as if guided by a “final cause” to form intelligent patterns of great beauty and economy. Amherst physics professor, Arthur Zajonc has spent much of his life studying light, including time at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics and the Ecole Normale in Paris. He is a Fulbright professor at the University of Innsbruck in Austria.  In his writings on light Dr. Zajonc has shown how the light of mind is interwoven with the light of nature.  He is author of the book, Catching the Light, co-author of The Quantum Challenge and in 1997 he served as coordinator of the Mind and Life dialogue with the Dalai Lama, published in 2004 as The New Physics and Cosmology: Dialogues with the Dalai Lama.

Za Rinpoche is a Tibetan Buddhist monk who grew up in a refugee camp in Southern India and was recognized by the Dalai Lama as a reincarnated spiritual leader.  He teached throughout the world, supporting humanitarian projects and personal spiritual development.  “For every nine people who denounce innovation, only one will encourage it…for every nine people who do things the way they have always been done, only one will ever wonder if there is a better way…for every nine people who stand in line in front of a locked building, only one will ever come around and check the back door.” – from Za’s book, Backdoor to Enlightenment.

Danah Zohar, PhD is a physicist, philosopher and management thought leader.  She has made in-house presentations to organizations around the world including Volvo, Shell, British Telecom, Motorola, Philips, UNESCO and the European Cultural Foundation.  She is the author of Rewiring the Corporate Brain and The Quantum Society, and co-author of Who’s Afraid of Shcrodinger’s Cat? and Spiritual Intelligence.