Mystics and Scientists Conference 2024 – Love, Forgiveness and Compassion: Where Spirituality Meets Science

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Speakers: Prof David Cadman, Ricky Derisz, Prof James R. Doty, Dr Natalie Dyer, Prof Paul Gilbert, Audrey Kitagawa, Satish Kumar, David Lorimer, Prof Jenny Mascaro, Dr Caroline Myss, Dr Judith Orloff, Prof Stephen Post, Yehuda Tagar, Prof Scherto Gill, Prof Everett Worthington

 

“All conscious people in the world today are aspiring towards the new life, they are in a state of expectation. They are expecting something good of life. That is the new which is on its way. Everyone senses it. It already permeates the air and penetrates the whole of life.”

“Love brings life, wisdom brings light and knowledge, while truth brings freedom. Love is fundamental to life, while light, knowledge and freedom are conditions for the manifestation of love.”

– Peter Deunov, 1940

Come and join us online for inspiration and illumination with our like-minded community at our 2024 annual Mystics and Scientists Conference – for over 45 years these meetings have been dedicated to forging a creative understanding of the complementary roles of rational scientific and intuitive mystical approaches to reality. Our topic this year is Love, Forgiveness and Compassion – Where Spirituality Meets Science.

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We have an amazing line-up of speakers to inspire you on your path towards fulfilment and understanding of these crucial conference themes so important in our divided times driven by vicious cycles of trauma, fear, revenge and leading to further polarisation. These destructive drivers are unsustainable, as are authoritarian responses, so this conference provides you with an opportunity to step back and reflect on how we can co-creatively reconfigure ourselves, our relationships and our centralised technocratic systems. As the Bulgarian sage Peter Deunov prophetically stated: “Today it is not just separate individuals but whole societies and nations that find themselves subjected to great pressure and tension, up against difficult situations that they are unable to resolve and balance. We are entering a period of liquidation… a new law and order are coming into the world…. It is only love that has the power to set the world to rights. In order to improve conditions on Earth, people must love. The future world is a world of love and understanding between people; it will be a world of brotherhood and freedom. The present world is destined to undergo a great transformation… the present sufferings are the birth pangs of the new human being.” (Prophet for our Times, The New Epoch)

The conference will begin on Friday afternoon with Stephen Post talking about unlimited love and his collaboration with Sir John Templeton. Judith Orloff will share her insights on the transformative power of empathy, then on Saturday morning we will convene a symposium on love with three speakers who have lived this out in their lives: Satish Kumar, Scherto Gill and David Cadman. After lunch, there will be an experiential session on empathy and forgiveness with Yehuda Tagar, followed by an inspiring keynote with Caroline Myss. The day will be rounded off by a three-way dialogue on the science of compassion with James R. Doty, Jennifer Mascaro and Marjorie Woollacott. On Sunday, Paul Gilbert will address the theme of evolution and compassion, and Audrey Kitigawa will offer a spiritual perspective from her lived experience of the Divine Feminine. Ricky Derisz will give us an experiential session on self-compassion, then Everett Worthington will share his insights on the power of forgiveness and reconciliation, and finally Natalie Dyer will round the conference off with a talk on embodying universal love.

As you can see from this brief description, this very special meeting is not be missed, so we are very much looking forward to your participation! And do spread the word among your friends!

Disclaimer: We welcome the diverse views expressed by individual speakers in our webinars and conferences, but these are not necessarily representative of any general Scientific and Medical Network views or positions – the Network is in no way liable for such views or opinions expressed by our speakers.

 

Here are just a few of the great comments we received at the end of our 2023 event on The Healing Power of Sound:

Thank you all for the care, support, kindness and for organizing this wonderful weekend. Love, Light and Wisdom. 

Thank you David and your lovely team for providing such an inspirational heart felt experience. Very special and unique. Love, light and peace to everyone 🕯️🌹🌈🦋

This has been the most heartening/magical/brilliant weekend conference. Transformative? Definitely! Thank you, David for organising such a lovely programme, Jerome, Andrew and all the other tech team, Wishing love, peace and joy for everyone 🙏❤️🌹

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PROGRAMME

Thursday 11th April
Time BST	Speaker(s)	Topic
Film
5.00 pm (Suggested start time)		Film – Risking Light
7.00 – 8.30 pm		Chair: David Lorimer Panel Discussion: Dawn Mikkelson, Kilong Ung and Prof Everett Worthington

Friday 12th April
Time BST	Speaker(s)	Topic
Session 1
		Chair: Dr Vasileios Basios
3.00 pm	David Lorimer	Introduction
3.20 pm	Prof Stephen Post	Unlimited Love as Experienced by Adults Directly and Through Synchronicity Based on a National Survey
4.45 pm		Break
5.00 pm	Judith Orloff MD	The Genius of Empathy
6.20  pm	Dialogue and Q & A
7.00 pm		FRIDAY CLOSE

Please note: With your Conference ticket you will be invited to the SMN Member’s Friday Virual Bar, taking place at 7PM after the Conference has closed on Friday – the theme of the Virtual Bar discussion will be based on what has been discussed at the Conference on Friday.

Saturday 13th April
Time BST	Speaker(s)	Topic
Session 2
		Chair: Dr Athena Potari
9.45 am	Dr Athena Potari	Plato’s Symposium
10.00 am	Satish Kumar	Radical Love (recorded)
10.25 am	Prof David Cadman	Love is of the Essence (recorded)
11.00 am		BREAK
11.15 am	Prof Scherto Gill	Understanding and Healing Relational-Spiritual Harm: The Imperative of Love
12.00 pm	Athena Potari Prof Scherto Gill	Q & A
12.30 pm	David Lorimer	Presentation of SMN
12.45 pm		LUNCH
Session 3
		Chair: David Lorimer
1.45 pm	Yehuda Tagar	Introduction to Methodical Empathy – Foundation for True Forgiveness
3.00 pm	Dr Caroline Myss	A Time for Healing and Grace
4.30 pm		BREAK
5.00 pm	Prof James R. Doty Prof Jenny Mascaro Prof Marjorie Woollacott (chair)	Dialogue on the Science of Compassion
6.20 pm	All Speakers	Dialogue and Q & A
6.55 pm	Chair	Closing Remarks
7.00 pm		SATURDAY CLOSE

Sunday 14th April
Time BST	Speaker(s)	Topic
Session 4
9.15 am		Chairs: Prof David Peters / David Lorimer
9.30 am	Prof Paul Gilbert	Evolution and Contemplative Paths to Compassion and Enlightenment, followed by Q&A
10.50 am		BREAK
11.20 am	Audrey Kitagawa	Holy Sophia: Divine Love, Compassion and Peace, followed by Q&A
1.00 pm	Dialogue and Q & A
1.30 pm		LUNCH
Session 5
		Chair: Paul Kieniewicz
2.20 pm	Ricky Derisz	The Practice of Self-Compassion
3.10 pm	Prof Everett Worthington	The Power of Forgiveness and Reconciliation
4.30 pm		BREAK
4.45 pm	Dr Natalie Dyer	Embodying Universal Love
6.05 pm	All Speakers	Dialogue and Q & A
6.30 pm	David Lorimer	Closing Remarks
6.40 pm		CONFERENCE CLOSE

Please note: With your Conference ticket you will be invited to the SMN Member’s Sunday Meditation, taking place at 7PM after the Conference has closed on Sunday – the Sunday Meditation will last 30-40 minutes.

Buy Tickets

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Thursday 11 April:

Risking Light – Online Film Screening and Panel Discussion

A film on forgiveness and compassion by Dawn Mikkelson, followed by a live panel discussion.

(Be sure to add this separate event to your main ticket purchase below.)

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Friday 12 April:

Prof Stephen Post – Unlimited Love as Experienced by Adults Directly and Through Synchronicity Based on a National Survey

The Institute for Research on Unlimited Love (so-named by Sir John Templeton in 2001) conducted a national survey of American adults asking them if they had experienced “Godly love” (a love that was unexpected, powerful, and inspired benevolent action) either (A) directly or (B) through others (e.g., in moments of synchronicity). This was published in the form of a book, The Heart of Benevolence co-authored by Matthew T. Lee, Margaret Paloma, and Stephen Post. A decade later, Post will return to the remarkable survey results of the experience of Unlimited Love with regard to various modulations ranging from compassionate care and creativity to forgiveness and “carefrontation,” a term co-coined with M. Scott Peck before his passing.

Post will also explain the Institute’s working definition of love (www.unlimitedloveinstitute.org) as influenced in some part by the thought of Dr. Harry Stack Sullivan: if the security and well-being of another is as real or meaningful to you as your own, and sometimes even more so, you love that person. Post will also touch on the ten major modulations or expressions of this love ranging from compassionate care and forgiveness to creativity and loyalty in the form of his “wheel of love.”  Very briefly, Post will touch on the great Russian-American sociologist of love Pitirim Sorokin, whom he met as a boy before his death in 1969. Love is always love, but following Sorokin in his classic The Ways and Power of Love: Techniques of Moral Transformation with a Foreword by S.G. Post, human love tends to be unwise, unstable, myopic, and limited when separated from full consciousness. 

Sorokin went on to clarify techniques in world religions to allow us to become conscious of the One Mind that connects with all in love, and underlies all that is as Ultimate Reality. Post will also touch briefly on a relationship of nearly two decades with Sir John Templeton, who from his deathbed via his son Jack Templeton MD asked Post to write on his behalf the book he would not have time to write, by the title Is Ultimate Reality Unlimited Love? 

 

Judith Orloff, MD – The Genius of Empathy

Empathy is so much more than feeling deeply―it holds a transformative power to heal ourselves, strengthen our relationships, and amplify our purpose.

Join Judith Orloff, MD, author of the new book The Genius of Empathy: Practical Skills to Heal Your Sensitive Self, Your Relationships and the World as she takes you beyond the typical definition of empathy to teach you how to empathize without over-giving or burning out. Drawing on insights from neuroscience, psychology, and energy medicine, Dr. Orloff will show you how to access your sensitivities, soothe your nervous system, and stop absorbing the emotions of others. You’ll also learn the art of empathic listening, how to stop overthinking, and the importance of setting healthy boundaries and loving detachment (especially with toxic relationships) to prevent overwhelm.

Empathy is a form of emotional intelligence that you can learn and develop. It’s a healing act, whether you’re on the giving or receiving end. Empathy doesn’t limit discernment. It allows you to be more caring with yourself and others. It is an alive healing energy that is medicine for your mind, body, and soul and will illuminate every aspect of your life.

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Saturday April 13: Symposium on Love, chaired by Dr Athena Potari

Prof David Cadman – In Order to Love (recorded)

For the past 12 or so years, David has been exploring the matter of Love – not romantic love or love as a narrow virtue, but Love as being ‘of the essence’, that which Teilhard de Chardin referred to as ‘the energising force of the universe.’ David’s work – set out in three books, Love and the Divine Feminine, The Recovery of Love and, most recently, In Order to Love – has explored the loss of the ‘narrative of Love’ in Western culture and its insistent re-emergence both in science and literature. In an unfolding universe intentionally moving towards higher and higher levels of consciousness – that which David calls Great Love – the question that arises is this: how can we ‘learn to love’ not just for ourselves, nor only for our communities and the Earth, but so that we attune ourselves to the purpose our Universe?

 

Prof Scherto Gill – Understanding and Healing Relational-Spiritual Harm: The Imperative of Love

Scherto draws insights from Satish Kumar and David Cadman’s reflections on their personal journeys. She then takes these to the UNESCO work in global communities to address the profound relational-spiritual harm of systemic dehumanisation. She suggests that to characterise multi-dimensional damage of dehumanisation, it requires a thorough understanding of the nature of being human. Indeed, as well-conceived in the African, indigenous and other spiritual traditions, being human has a sacred core. It is this sacred nature of our being that constitutes our dignity and that is the basis of our primary non-derivative value. Our sacred core defines the equal non-instrumental value of all persons. Hence, when people are alienated from this sacred aspect of our being owing to dehumanising conditions, we are subject to relational and spiritual harm. Such harm is a form of severance that evades our capacity to love. 

 

Satish Kumar – Radical Love (recorded)

Radical Love draws on and distils the author’s lifetime of experience as a lover, parent, activist, and educator into simple lessons on transforming our time of ecological crisis, conflict, and scarcity into one in which we experience harmony with nature, safety, and abundance. It is an exploration of the transformative power of love in all its forms, from romantic love to love for one’s family and community to love for the planet and all beings. Satish’s approach is founded on simplicity (including the Jain principle of aparigraha), generosity, and continuous learning. Like an unfolding metta meditation, the book expands our notions of love to its most sublime universal state and makes a great gift to share with those we love.

 

Yehuda Tagar – Introduction to Methodical Empathy: Foundation for True Forgiveness

Empathy identifies the latest real paradigm change of the 20th-21st centuries’ evolution of consciousness: this new growing human capacity was introduced internationally only in 1951, just as the acute need for it had arisen. 

Our unstoppable process of individuation accumulated, alongside our scientific and technological progress – leading to a progressive loss of the old instinctive and traditional forms of social cohesion, replaced either by regression into group-consciousness, populist authoritarianism – or something new. Empathy became the name for the new principle of community based on the freedom of individuals. 

Methodical Empathy is a new method of initiatory adult education, evolution of consciousness and therapy that emerged out of Psychophonetics, a modality of Psycho-development, Radical Phenomenology and Participatory Medicine based on Continental Philosophical Idealism – involving the Deep Intelligence of perceptive Imagination, Inspiration and Intuition.  

Deep Empathy enables the deep intentions and the high ideals of Compassion and Forgiveness to become a real step in personal initiation and social healing. 

 

Dr Caroline Myss – A Time for Healing and Grace

I learned long ago in my work that deep, genuine healing requires more than the skill and assistance of the medical community. We are participants in every level of our healing. And while traditional medicine is indeed effective for our physical needs, getting to the root causes is a matter of personal choice, beginning with the decision to examine our inner conflicts, attitudes, beliefs and struggles that result in deep-rooted stress patterns, often affecting the health of our relationships, our view of life, our creativity, our life-energy as well as our health. This type of healing is an undertaking that requires courage and grace because you know at the onset that such an inner journey will result in a profound personal transformation. 

Grace may seem an unusual component to the healing process, but grace is the fuel of the soul. It is a mystical substance that provides us with a quality of strength and endurance that our intellects, so comfortable with rational thinking, cannot achieve. As I will discuss in this presentation, grace flows into our lives in subtle ways that go unnoticed – but how would our lives change if we did become aware that we could ask for such sacred assistance?  We are now living in a time of extraordinary transformation in which our understanding of the nature of the Divine is expanding beyond the long-held view of an anthropomorphic being who lives off-planet somewhere. We are on the cusp of entering the age of a bio-spiritual-ecological theology in which we are able to comprehend the nature of God as Light, Love and Law, beyond human form. 

This emerging revelation is empowering us to understand that we are agents of co-creation, infused with the same substance as the Divine.  Our learning laboratory is our bodies, a type of micro-earth, in which we have realized that we must align to a template of wholism, striving to integrate all the elements of who we are. I will address these points at length in my presentation, as I believe that all of our lives are on a path governed by the mystical truths, such as, All Life Breathes Together and All is One. This is an age of transformation, from the way we comprehend health and healing to how we must strive to understand the chaotic changes unfolding in our world.

 

The Science of Compassion: A dialogue with Prof James R. Doty and Prof Jennifer Mascaro, moderated by Prof Marjorie Woollacott

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Sunday April 14

Prof Paul Gilbert OBE – Evolution and Contemplative Paths to Compassion and Enlightenment 

This talk will explore the two very different pathways to developing compassion. One focuses on the evolutionary mechanisms underpinning compassion that link to attachment behaviour and physiological systems such as oxytocin and the vagus nerve. The other has a very different pathway which is to create conditions for the mind to experience nonduality and interconnectivity, which is the basis of the Buddha’s enlightenment state. Confusing these two processes and aims can cause difficulties in people’s understanding and the different focus and process of secular and contemplative training

 

Audrey Kitigawa – Holy Sophia: Divine Love, Compassion and Peace

The Divine spirit exists in every manifestation of life, and all of its myriad forms must be honoured in the pursuit of knowledge. Scientific and technological research and exploration, like all avenues of human inquiry, are driven by the search for wisdom, understanding, and innovations that can create a better world for all and – when properly executed – honour and enhance the sacredness of life. The values of Divine love, compassion, and peace are critically important in the search for knowledge. These are foundational principles of the world’s faith traditions that provide moral and ethical guidelines for all human endeavours to ensure that the sacred nature of life is honoured and respected.

 

Ricky Derisz – The Quantum Timeline of Self-Compassion

Psychology, spirituality, and science are edging closer to a paradigm-shifting approach to time as non-linear, or at the very least, influenced by dimensions outside of time. This experiential session will share self-compassion exercises that include your past self, present self, and future self. Could the imaginal realm connect all versions of self, across space and time? And what’s possible if the entirety of your life — from memory to future projection — is saturated with compassion, kindness, and love?

 

Prof Everett Worthington – The Power of Forgiveness and Reconciliation

For centuries, forgiveness seemed “owned” by religions. All major religions advocated it but gave little guidance about how to forgive. That changed in 1998. Science got involved. It could not stipulate that people should forgive, but it described the psychology of forgiving and how people could do it more quickly and thoroughly if they wanted to forgive. Reconciliation, which is restoring trust in a relationship, followed a different, more secular, path. People can restore operational trust whether they forgive or not. So, reconciliation figured into mediation in the workplace, in domestic disputes, and in international affairs. Forgiveness particularly, but reconciliation to some extent, often straddled connections between science and spirituality. I examine the science of forgiveness and reconciliation and the way they can promote peace and harmony in individuals, couples, and communities.

 

Dr Natalie Dyer – Embodying Universal Love

Universal love is a conscious state of unity with others and the whole, which results from contact with the transpersonal/transcendental Self. Universal love is a common theme emerging from spiritual and mystical experiences, psychedelic use, meditation, and energy medicine. Far from just a feel-good concept, universal love has scientific grounding and experientially transformative value. When embodied, universal love is associated with altruism, empathy, forgiveness, spiritual experiences, compassion, positive mood, and life meaning and satisfaction. It is an antidote to narcissism, negative mood, anger, and aggression. Universal love is also a key component of the transformative power of near-death, psychedelic, and spiritual experiences. Is universal love fundamental to the nature of reality, a force that connects our individual consciousnesses into One? If so, how could this understanding about our nature transform society? 

 

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TICKETS

Please note: This event is NOT included in the Season Ticket.

Please note: All bookings will receive a link to view the recordings shortly after the event.