East Connects with West in this Meditation, Philosophy and Dialogue Workshop
with The Rev. Dr. Thandeka and Dr. Zhenbao Jin
At your deepest level, you know you are connected to all beings in the world, to your families and friends, to your neighbors and to people on the other side of the globe, to all animals, plants, mountains and rivers, planets and stars.
Our physical and mental health is dependent upon these connections. The harmony and peace of our community, be it local, national or global, is dependent upon these connections.
However, these connections get blocked in today’s world, leading to the collapse of personal health and the integrity of our family, our community and the planet.
To reconnect humanity, these connections have to be experienced as safety, trust, joy, love, compassion, hope and the flow of Qi, the energy that nourishes life and sustains emotional development. Qi makes the evolution of life and the Cosmos possible.
The Rev. Dr. Thandeka and Dr. Zhenbao Jin help people cultivate those connections.
Thandeka in the West and Zhenbao in the East.
You’re invited to apply for a spot in this exciting new workshop. We will Zoom together across the globe––ideally 4 Eastern participants and 4 Western participants––to connect using a powerful combination of ancient Chinese wisdom, modern Western spiritual insights and contemporary findings in science and philosophy, so we can embark on a new journey for humankind’s wellbeing, happiness and care.
The group is small. The goal is global: a bridge connecting the divides between individuals, classes, societies and cultures, between religions and science, between mind and body, and between human beings, nature and the Cosmos.
Would you like to participate?
The workshop takes place June 2-July 28 in the West and June 3-July 29 in the East. We will meet via Zoom Monday evenings (7-9:00ET) in the West which will be Tuesday mornings (7-9:00 Beijing Time) in the East. We’re offering an equity-based registration fee for this world-engaging workshop!
Register here: https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/ZKKS7LMSH8U2U
Dr. Zhenbao Jin has a PhD in law from China University of Politics and Law. He was a lawyer, law lecturer and his law-related research focused on philosophy of law. Since his diagnosis of lymphoma in 2012 (which he healed through his meditation practices), he has shifted his focus of research to Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism and related branches of science, as well as philosophy, especially process philosophy as developed by Alfred N. Whitehead (1861-1947) and John B. Cobb, Jr. (1925-2024).
He has developed an integrative approach to meditation which is undertaken as a practice of philosophy rather than religious belief. It focuses on the flow and circulation of life energy or Qi and maximizes your potential as a living being in healing yourself from various mental and physical problems, while providing a promising path for each individual to explore the infinite potential of oneself and humanity.
Dr. Zhenbao Jin has translated 5 books from German into Chinese: Einfuehrung ins Recht (Introduction of Law, by Prof. Reinhold Zippelius, Chinese version 2007), Juristische Methodenlehre (Methodology of Law, by Prof. Reinhold Zippelius, Chinese version 2009), Rechtsphilosophie (Philosophy of Law, by Prof. Reinhold Zippelius, Chinese version 2011), Was ist Anthroposophie (What is Anthroposophy, by Heinz Zimmermann, Chinese version 2015) and Wo Stehe Ich und Wo Geht’s Jetzt Hin (Where am I now and Where am I Going: Biography Work in the Light of Anthroposophy, by Dr. Med. Susanne Hofmeister, Chinese version 2018). His work on meditation––The Power of Quietness: the Philosophy, Methodology and Practice of Meditation is expected to be published in 2025.
The Rev. Dr. Thandeka, PhD, is a Unitarian Universalist minister and one of America’s leading theologians. She is the founder of Contemporary Affect Theology, which studies how traumatized emotions get transformed into life-affirming feelings of interconnection revealing something universal: humans are inextricably interconnected with all of life and have an innate capacity to experience our interconnectedness––affirming the inherent worth and dignity of every person across partisan, political and religious divides.
Thandeka’s insights and contemplative practices led her to create a spiritual strategy and philosophy aligned with the affective work of Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768-1834)—the father of modern theories of human understanding and the father of liberal theology.
As a result, Thandeka freed herself from the trauma of her early childhood experiences. She creates Universal Connections groups so others can gain access to a liberation practice of freedom.
Thandeka’s books and essays have helped secure her place as a “major figure in American liberal theology” as Gary Dorrien notes in The Making of American Liberal Theology: Crisis, Irony, and Postmodernity, 1950-2005 (John Knox Press, 2006).
Her books include The Embodied Self: Friedrich Schleiermacher’s Solution to Kant’s Problem of the Empirical Self (1995), Learning to be White: Money, Race and God in America (1999, German edition 2009) and Love Beyond Belief: Finding the Access Point to Spiritual Awareness (2018).
Her essays include work in The Oxford University Handbook on Feminist Theology and Globalization (2011), and The Cambridge Companion to Schleiermacher (2005).
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