Location:

Rhode Island

Level of Training: 

Level 3

About: 

Arthur Stein (Art) is known internationally as an educator, author, interfaith participant, and scholar-advocate in the areas of peace studies and nonviolence. He received an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania in 1965, and that same year began teaching in the Political Science Department at URI. Art was one of the co-founders of the URI Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies, advocating for peacebuilding, mindfulness and wisdom traditions as important aspects of the Center’s curricular offerings.

One common thread that inspired Teachers, Sages and other practitioners of spiritual traditions have emphasized throughout the ages is that Inner Light and enlightenment can be most directly accessed by utilizing meditation, prayer and other contemplative practices. Dr. Stein has been a long-time student of comparative religion, mysticism, and meditation, and has recently published Let there be Light, experiencing Inner Light Across the World’s Sacred Traditions (2016), co- authored with Dr. Andrew Vidich.

Today, humankind collectively is faced with a host of great challenges: political, socio- economic, and ecological. A number of questions emerge. Simply put, can enough persons of goodwill find sufficient common ground to come together and live into being a unifying ethos for humanity? Can our daily thoughts, words and actions become consistent with the name given our species: homo sapiens (wise people)? What will it take to build a nonviolent, sustainable world based on lovingkindness, compassion and mutual respect? How can we increasingly make a vision of beloved community a reality for all people?

Perhaps the start of the journey towards unveiling such answers can be found in his book: “Let There Be Light”.