Webinar: Right Action & Social Change

Bridging Spiritual Practice, Right Action, and Social Change

Join Richard Miller (founder and chairman, Integrative Restoration Institute) and Michael Nagler (founder and president, the Metta Center for Nonviolence) for a free webinar that will address the intersection of spiritual practice with nonviolence and social action.

When: March 23, 2016; 4-5:30pm PST

Where: Online—register for free

Mahatma Gandhi had a tremendous impact on history and continues to be a giant inspiration in the world today. In the words of Albert Szent-Gyeorgyi, Gandhi “taught the world that there are higher things than force, higher even than life itself; he proved that force had lost its suggestive power.” Gandhi was a tour de force because he was both grounded in himself (or if you will, in the Self), as well as because he worked tirelessly and selflessly to bring his vision and mission into the world through his word, speech and nonviolent actions.

How do we, in our own way, drawing upon our own gifts, bring the best that we are capable of being and doing, into the world, without losing our sense of peace, joy and well-being in the process? How can we bring our true creative energy to our work and relationships to create lasting change, rather than adding to the world’s existing misery and turmoil? In other words, during our lifetime, how do we balance internal meditative contemplation and well-being with right action?

“Nonviolence is the bridge between spiritual development and social change” is a guiding principle at the Metta Center. “Helping people resolve their suffering and experience deep healing and peace” is a guiding principle at the Integrative Restoration Institute. During this webinar, Richard Miller, in conversation with Michael Nagler, will be exploring these and other topics that center around spiritual practice and well-being, and nonviolence and social change.

Michael will be sharing his approach to both Passage Meditation, as taught by Eknath Easwaran of the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation, and the basic principles of Gandhian nonviolence. Richard will be speaking to the non-dual practices of meditation that promote joy and well-being no matter the situation or circumstance we find ourselves experiencing during our lifetime.

Join Richard and Michael—two people who have dedicated their lives to promoting peace, well-being, nonviolence and social change in the world—for what promises to be a rich, in-depth, stimulating and rewarding conversation.

More About Your Hosts

Michael Nagler is the founder and president of the Metta Center for Nonviolence, and professor emeritus of Classics and Comparative Literature at UC, Berkeley, where he co-founded the Peace and Conflict Studies Program in which he taught courses on nonviolence, as well as seminars that probed questions such as “Why Are We Here, Great Writing on the Meaning of Life”.

Michael received the Jamnalal Bajaj International Award for Promoting Gandhian Values Outside India in 2007 where he joined other distinguished contributors to nonviolence including Archbishop Desmond Tutu and peace scholar and activist Johan Galtung in receiving this award. Michael is author of The Nonviolence Handbook: A Guide to Practical Action, as well as The Search for a Nonviolent Future, which received a 2002 American Book Award; Our Spiritual Crisis: Recovering Human Wisdom in a Time of Violence; and The Upanishads (with Sri Eknath Easwaran).

Michael is a student of Sri Eknath Easwaran, Founder of the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation, and has lived at the Center’s ashram in Marin County since 1970. The Metta Center works with students, educators, activists, the media and military personnel from around the world to help them see, however far off in the future, a vision of healing, respect, justice and compassion based on the understanding of the capacity of ourselves as human beings to bring deep value, purpose and meaning to life. The Metta Center is offering an in-depth weekend retreat that integrates yoga, meditation, and nonviolence to create a powerful approach to personal and social change.
Richard C. Miller, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, author, researcher, yogic scholar and spiritual teacher who, for the past 46 years has devoted his life to integrating the ancient non-dual wisdom teachings with modern Western psychology. Richard is the founding president of the Integrative Restoration Institute, co-founder of the International Association of Yoga Therapists, and the founding editor of the peer reviewed International Journal of Yoga Therapy.

Author of The iRest Program for Healing PTSD; iRest Meditation: Restorative Practices for Health, Resiliency and Well-Being; and Yoga Nidra: The Meditative Heart of Yoga. Richard also serves as a research consultant studying the meditation protocol he’s developed (Integrative Restoration ~ iRest), a modern adaptation of the ancient non-dual practice of Yoga Nidra, researching its efficacy on health, healing, and well-being with diverse populations that include active-duty soldiers, veterans, children, youth and college students, seniors, the homeless, the incarcerated, women rescued from human trafficking, and people experiencing issues such as sleep disorders, PTSD, traumatic brain injury, chronic pain, chemical dependency, and anxiety, as well as research on iRest’s efficacy for enhancing resiliency, well-being and compassion.

In 1983, after decades of searching, Richard met his spiritual mentor, Jean Klein, who introduced him to the non-path, non-method, and non-goal realization of non-duality. Richard now shares his understanding through international trainings and retreats on awakening and the integration of enlightened living into daily life.