Testimonials

Spiritual Paths is an excellent program that grew out of the Snowmass Inter-religious Conference at St. Benedict’s Monastery. As inter-religious dialogue continues to deepen and spread, experienced spiritual practitioners, with some capacity for scholarship, need to suggest what works best for spiritual growth. This is the thrust of the Spiritual Paths conferences and educational activities

Father Thomas Keating

Founder, Centering Prayer
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Spiritual Paths brings together the wisdom of authentic teachers from the worlds spiritual traditions,
provides an excellent curriculum based on those traditions, and leads us toward a new paradigm of InterSpiritual education and practice.

Rabbi Zalman Schachter

Founder, Jewish Renewal
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I am particularly excited by this initiative of Edward Bastian and the Spiritual Paths Foundation.
It as a sea change in the evolution of what we used to call the ecumenical activity. I see us coming into the next phase of inter-religious dialogue, to introduce one another to the inner experience of each others faith traditions.
For when we do, we shall come to the realization that the end is One. In a sense, the previous intellectual phase of inter-religious dialogue was like reading cookbooks on French food, or Indian food what Spiritual Paths is suggesting we do now, is to taste and sample it!

Imam Feisal Abdul-Rauf
Founder of ASMA, American Sufi Muslim Association
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Dr. Bastian has done for spirituality what I’ve worked to do with archetypes, developing a system through which anyone–religious or not– can identify his or her own natural mode of assessing spiritual truth. Dr. Bastian’s work is a great and important breakthrough, as so many believe they are not spiritual because they do not follow a particular dogma or because the tradition in which they were raised does not fit for them. His work also can be of assistance to those within any spiritual tradition to expand their horizons and to promote respectful interfaith dialogue.

Dr. Carol Pearson

Past President, Pacifica Graduate University
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ISM is an open-hearted and truly universal practice. If ever there was a practice to help us get spiritually unstuck, this is it.”

Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault

Author and Teacher
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While many religions propose superiority to other traditions, Ed Bastian has been promoting an integrative approach
to becoming intimate with one’s sense of spiritual purpose for many years now. His book takes the reader through a journey of many ways of knowing the awe of sacred connection and encourages each person to accept their own unique mosaic of meaning. He shares some of his own path with the reader in an open and genuine manner
and demonstrates the wisdom of complexity in an expanded vision for what is possible on this planet.

Professor Juliet Rohde-Brown

Dept. Chair, Pacifica Graduate University
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Students

I am filled with so much inspiration with every class, and as I go through the following day I find that there is a remarkable shift. There are so many riches here that I want to put more work into this, and so I will keep showing up.
Nicole, 2020
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In the last few years of practicing ISM, I have discovered wisdom through the meditation practice, to learn how to trust it through the deepness of what is being taught. And not just about my own sense of self in the world, but about what is being passed on collectively through all of these different traditions that is available to us and it is available to me.
Matt, 2020
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For me the whole mandala process was like a pool of water, and I feel like I just put my toe in, and I’m so looking forward to using the website on a continuing basis. I’m planning to go back through the material for each of the 7 steps of ISM, for I feel that each step has so much profundity that I’d like to concentrate on each one as I continue my practice.
Margaret, 2020
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For me the 7 steps of ISM have provided a road map, a platform, a container in order to just look in a different way.
One of the questions that arises for me is “What can I discover where I have never looked before?” I think this has opened up the opportunity to look not only at different platforms, different wisdom traditions, but also to look at it with different eyes. It has given me an open canvas with a new paint brush, so I am very appreciative for that.
Kim, 2020
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I find I am really grateful for this class. I took the ISM class previously, and the 7 steps feel likean old friend – they feel familiar – just the tag lines for each one brings me to a meditative state much more quickly because I’ve sat with them, and I’ve practiced them. I find I can’t do without the stillness of meditation, it is my lifeline. I am grateful for the fellowship and sharing that we all have had.
Kathleen, 2020

Testimonials

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