The Association for Spiritual Integrity℠ (ASI), a 501(c)(3) charity, was founded in 2018 by Craig Holliday, Jac O’Keeffe and Rick Archer with input from many valuable friends, peers and students along the way. The ASI arose out of a deep need to address the numerous scandals and confusion involving spiritual teachers, their students and communities, over the years. The ASI aims to deepen the conversation and become an evolving force in education so that there is greater integrity and professionalism within the modern spiritual landscape.
The intention of the ASI is to grow and evolve as a community of spiritual leaders, teachers and guides, and prevent these unfortunate events by empowering teachers to become fully educated on the ethics and dynamics of working with students. The ASI team believes passionately that now is the time to fulfill the fundamental need for establishing education, transparency, responsibility and ethical standards within the spiritual guidance & teaching community. The ASI is not a judging, policing or mediating body. It seeks to create accountability and support leaders, teachers and guides professionally so that they may better serve their communities.
While Jac, Craig, and Rick are founding members of ASI, they are as equally accountable to the Honor Code of Ethics and Good Practice presented here as every other member. We all are “works in progress,” and will continue to explore the realm of ethics and spirituality and improve the Code. Nobody receives “special privileges” within ASI. We are in this together.
The ASI Board oversee the strategy and direction of the organisation. They are also deeply involved in the day-to-day activities that keep the ASI running, supporting members, and more.
Jac O’Keeffe is a Theology graduate with postgraduate studies in Adult and Community Education. She has followed her own eclectic and disciplined spiritual path for over 25 years, including 15 years served as an independent spiritual teacher, guiding people in the unfoldment of their own spiritual journey. An extensive library of teachings, courses, talks (The Mind Stops Here Podcast) and retreat recordings are available online. Her books include Born to Be Free and How to Be a Spiritual Rebel.
Jac has now shifted her work from guiding students to supporting teachers and leaders in both their spiritual and personal development. This work is founded on her long experience as an international spiritual teacher, her academic qualifications, and professional certifications that include: The Right Use of Power (instructor level), Leadership Skills for Women in Management, and Financial Coaching.
www.jac-okeeffe.com
Philip Goldberg has been studying the world’s spiritual traditions for more than 50 years, as a practitioner, teacher, and writer. He was trained as a meditation teacher in 1970 by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and was ordained as an Interfaith Minister and spiritual counselor. A prolific writer, his articles have appeared in numerous publications, and he is the author or coauthor of 25 books including: Roadsigns on the Spiritual Path; the award-winning American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation, How Indian Spirituality Changed the West; The Life of Yogananda; and Spiritual Practice for Crazy Times. He contributes to several publications, hosts the Spirit Matters podcast on mindbodyspirit.fm, and leads American Veda Tours to India.
www.PhilipGoldberg.com
Kimberley Theresa Lafferty, MA, is a scholar practitioner specializing in human development, adult education, and extraordinary experiences. Her trans-disciplinary practice includes private counseling and online and in-person educational retreats – facilitating deeper meaning making and the integration of extraordinary experiences into everyday life. She is a seasoned teacher in Indo-Tibetan contemplative psychology, leading hundreds of hours Mahayana, Vajrayana and Classic Yoga trainings internationally. Kimberley leads multi-year, spiritual education cohorts with the Confluence Experience. She is the founder and decade-long director of the global non-profit Yoga Studies Institute. She is also a certified Stages therapist with Stages International, co-leading the penultimate Minds I year-long developmental course. Kimberley lives in a remote valley of the North Cascades of North America which deeply impacts her worldview and practice.
confluenceexperience.com
Ray Bratcher shares the energetics of personal transformation and “embodied enlightenment,” primarily through Sacred Breath–the culmination of nearly 30 years as a professional Rebirthing-Breathworker. Ray served as Lead Trainer with Rebirthing’s discoverer, then as Executive Director of Rebirth International. He was led to Sacred Breath, recently being recognized as a “Global Breathwork Leader” by the International Center for Breathwork. He has served on the board of directors of a Unity Church, and as a founding board member of both the Church of the Father-Mother God and Kagyu Shenpen Tharchin, a Tibetan Buddhist Sangha. He has explored a wide variety of paths, both Eastern and Western, and has taught many classes, workshops, and seminars. He is also the host of the “Children of the Sun” program.
sacredbreathfreedom.com
Dominik Delgado Diaz graduated in the studies of Spiritual Philosophy, Art, and Social Entrepreneurship. Later, he studied European mysticism through a postgraduate scholarship. He co-founded the retreat program ‘Purpose Retreats’, where he helped young people with the process of finding their purpose in life. Together with Prof. Dr. Marcelo da Veiga, he initiated the ‘Institute of Conscious Education and Social Transformation’ (CEST) at Alanus University in Germany to bring holistic spiritual education into the academic realm through certification and degree programs. He actively develops the institute and moderates the ‘Forum for Conscious Education’. As an organizational developer, he is helping and consulting spiritual organizations like the Source of Synergy Foundation (Evolutionary Leaders), the Interstellar University, and the Association for Spiritual Integrity.
dominikdelgado.com
Advisors are experts who have volunteered to support the mission of the ASI. They may advise the company’s directors and management but are not authorized to make business or policy decisions.
Rick is the creator and host of the interview show Buddha at the Gas Pump. Since the Fall of 2009, he has interviewed nearly 700 “spiritually awakening” people, from the well-known to the unknown, from a variety of backgrounds and traditions. A former Transcendental Meditation teacher for 25 years, Rick instructed hundreds of people and spent years on long meditation retreats. He has practiced meditation daily for over 54 years. He is also one of the founders of the Association for Spiritual Integrity and spoke regularly at the Science and Non-Duality Conference.
batgap.com
David Beaver was one of the first teachers of A Course in Miracles and has taught weekly classes for nearly 45 years. In his professional life, he created a series of public service projects derived from his Course work. Three decades of independent research into human perception, and its interaction with media images, led to invited lectures at graduate schools in psychology, design, virtual reality, theater, film and cognitive neuroscience. He invented and received multiple patents in VR technology based on his research. He co-founded the Overview Institute, bringing the perspective-altering experience of astronauts, the “Overview Effect,” into cultural awareness.
www.davidbeaver.org
Sara Priestley is a spiritual guide and writer in modern nonduality, independent of religious tradition or life path. She has a degree in Theology, masters in the Human-Computer Interface, and postgrads in Teaching for Further Education and Psychology. Her unique voice in this field stems from an eclectic background in boutique consultancy, corporate IT and bodywork. Sara now provides coaching, structure, tools and language to empower students in their own nondual awakening process. She supports those affected by culty groups or relationships and leads groups exploring the metaphysical phenomena that come with enlightenment. Her books include The Complete Book of Awakening and quintessence: the poetry of true nature. Sara lives in London, England, with her husband and a rescue cat colony. She’s currently learning Tagalog.
www.sarapriestley.com
Miranda Macpherson is a spiritual teacher, modern mystic and author. She’s internationally recognized for her depth of presence and her refined capacity as a guide into direct experience of the Sacred. Today she leads the Living Grace sanghas in Marin and Sonoma county, Northern California, teaches retreats across the USA and Europe, and global online courses through The Shift Network. Author of The Way of Grace: The Transforming Power of Ego Relaxation, Boundless Love, and Meditations on Boundless Love, Miranda is also a kirtan musician with a mantra album The Heart of Being.
www.mirandamacpherson.com
Krish works as a spiritual mentor, therapist, life coach, and teacher in India. He has spent the bulk of his life in spiritual pursuits, learning and development, and giving back to the community. As a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) he spent his childhood in periods of silence, enabling him to grow his intuition and connection with the divine. Krish has 30 years of experience in spirituality, therapy, corporate training, new age teaching & publication. Thought this, he has developed the expertise to detect teachers who blind to their shadow and institutions that are becoming cults.
krishsrikanth.com
Christopher Key Chapple is Doshi Professor of Indic and Comparative Theology at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He has published more than 20 books related to Yoga, religion and ecology. Chris trained in classical Yoga for more than a decade at Yoga Anand Ashram with Gurani Anjali Inti. He is founder and spiritual director of the Hill Street Center for Yoga and Meditation in Santa Monica, California. In 2002 he established a certificate programs in the study and practice of Yoga at LMU’s Center for Religion and Spirituality and in 2013 launched the Master of Arts in Yoga Studies.
LMU Faculty Profile christopherkey.chapple
Clyde W Ford is a software engineer, a chiropractor, and a psychotherapist. He’s also the award-winning author of twelve works of fiction and non-fiction. His most recent book, THINK BLACK: A Memoir was published in September 2019 by Amistad/HarperCollins. His expertise lies in Body-Mind Healing, Racial Healing, African Mythology and Healing, and the effect of climate change on the marine environment he loves.
www.clydeford.com
Angel Marcloid is a mixing and mastering engineer, musician and composer, visual artist, and feline enthusiast living outside of Chicago, IL. On paper, she would be considered “transgender,” or more specifically “transfeminine,” “agender,” and “nonbinary.” However, her own experience is more nuanced and mysterious. Since 2010, Angel has been on a life-transforming journey: After escaping a hijacked and misappropriated version of Christianity as a teen, she studied widely – more recently settling back into Christianity, this time with an entirely transformed understanding of it, by way of mysticism and contemplation. As of 2021, she is also studying Law of One.
angelmarcloid.com/
Tom Murray is a scholar in the fields of wisdom skills, adult developmental theory, meta-theory (including integral and metamodern theories), we-space practices, and advanced learning technologies. He brings a lifetime of experiences in contemplative practices, conflict resolution advising, and improvisational dance to his professional work. He is Director of Research and Innovation at STAGES International, Chief Visionary and Instigator at Open Way Solutions LLC, and a Senior Research Fellow at the UMass School of Computer Science. He is an Associate Editor at Integral Review and is on the editorial review board of the International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education.
www.tommurray.us
Marina has been supporting individual spiritual practitioners, teachers, and spiritual and religious communities for over 20 years. This work includes: peer support and counselling for spiritual and religious leaders; working with communities to integrate psychological integration with spiritual practices; helping individuals heal from the breakdown and dissolution of spiritual communities; and working with spiritual emergencies. Marina’s books include Halfway Up the Mountain: the Error of Premature Claims to Enlightenment, The Guru Question: the Perils and Rewards of Choosing a Spiritual Teacher and Eyes Wide Open: Cultivating Discernment on the Spiritual Path. She deeply believes in preventative spiritual health to prevent and prepare for the inevitable challenges that arise in spiritual leadership and practice.
marianacaplan.com
The mission of the Association for Spiritual Integrity℠ (ASI) is to foster the fundamental role of strong ethical principles in the ongoing development of spiritual leaders and communities.
