REV. FORREST GILMORE

Motivated by the attacks of September11th, Rev. Gilmore
is dedicated to helping people transcend an “us vs. them”
mentality and come to embrace our oneness with all
existence. He is the author of the forthcoming pamphlet,
Oneness – A Path to Heal Our World, soon to be available
at www.oneness.net. Called in 2004, Rev. Gilmore serves
as the parish minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation
of Princeton. He also served the UU Church of the Monterey
Peninsula from 1999-2004 as its associate minister. He graduated
from Starr King School for the Ministry and worked as a wildlife biologist and outdoor educator before entering the ministry.

RAVI SKC GUPTA

is the founder of “Gandhi for Today,” an international peace organization. Ravi’s spiritual journey goes back 40 years
and is anchored in Vedanta (Hinduism, including the beliefs
of Buddha & Mahavir). Ravi’s guiding belief is in everyone’s

direct connection to the divine and inherent holiness in all faiths. His spirituality includes wisdom from Sufism, Jainism, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Sikhism, Native American beliefs and African traditions. In addition, Ravi’s life journey includes an international business career of 27 years and a love for starting social-change ventures from age 11. Ravi’s passion now is to help each person find their own unique path for inner growth and life-success; and to increase humanity’s understanding about the oneness in different spiritualities. Ravi’s core conviction is that “we are not human beings with a spiritual quest; rather, we are spiritual beings on a human journey. All aspects of our humanity – personal, professional, intimate, family, social, and community – are part of our spirituality. And, our individual spiritualities are all part of the one collective universal consciousness. Living in this awareness of human-wholeness is essential for individual happiness and worldwide peace.”

REV. VANESSA R. SOUTHERN

Vanessa was ordained to ministry in 1995 upon graduating from Harvard Divinity School. Her first settled ministry was five years as a minister at The Universalist National Memorial Church in Washington, D.C. She served an interim year in Cherry Hill, NJ, before being called to serve the UU Church of Summit, NJ in 2001. In explaining her personal theology, Vanessa has written: "...For me there is something beyond and within and between us all that is more than just flesh and blood, intellect and will. It is what I call God (although I am with the Buddha on this one in believing we each grab hold of only one part of this elephant and would be wise not to draw any grand conclusions from our single handful). So I know and speak from what I have experienced, open to what others have experienced, humbled always by what ultimately is mystery and paradox to me..." Rev. Southern is the author of the popular UU meditation manual, “This Piece of Eden,” published in 2001.

KURT SPELLMEYER

is the teacher (sensei) of the Rutgers Zen Community. He has been teaching Zen for nearly 20 years, having received dharma transmission and permission to teach in 1985, as a member of the Kanzan (Cold Mountain) lineage of Japanese Zen that ultimately goes back to the Han Shan Temple in Suzhou, China. He leads weekly Zen meditation groups at Rutgers, and all over northern and central New Jersey, with five 5-7 day silent retreats a year that are held at Murray Grove. He is also the Director of the Writing Program at Rutgers, overseeing the English composition course required of all Rutgers students. In 2004 he was honored with a Faculty Scholar-Teacher Award, which “recognizes professors who are able to integrate their teaching with their research, and who demonstrate how both scholarship and love of learning can be shared with students.” His most recently published book is entitled Arts of Living: Reinventing the Humanities for the Twenty-First Century.