Date: Thursday, August 25, 2022, 7:00 - 8:00 pm ET
Available by: Join by Videoconference Only (learn more about videoconference)
Suggested Love Offering: $ 10.00
James Webb Space Telescope images and the emerging myth of our times
“In the vast expanse of Space and Time travel I, a lone human, a wonder-struck wanderer.”
- Rabindranath Tagore, translated by Sushmita Mukherjee
The great Bengali mystic-poet wrote these words back in 1896. Today, images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) seem to have brought this wonder smack-dab into our living rooms and our media feeds! How will these images change our perception of ourselves, and of our place in the “grand scheme of things?” And how will we relate to those - human and more-than-human - whom we used to so easily classify as “different,” or “weird,” or simply as “not my problem?”
Come, join us as we sit in conversation with Dr. Sangeeta Malhotra, an astrophysicist from NASA working with the JWST data, and Rev. James Walker, a meditative music composer and graduate of One Spirit, who is deeply touched by these images. We will circumambulate subjects such as… What do these images ultimately mean - both scientifically and metaphorically? And how might they inform the new myth that is trying to be born in this time, out of an uneasy mixing of globalization and Gaia-consciousness on one hand, and fear-driven fragmentation of society on the other?
Rev. Dr. Sushmita Mukherjee, Dean, One Spirit Seminary, will be moderating the conversation.
Facilitator
Rev. Dr. Sushmita Mukherjee (she/her/hers)
Based in New York City, on indigenous Lenape land
Associate Professor of Research, and Co-Director of Microscopy & Image Analysis Core Facility, Weill Cornell Medical College
Academic Dean, One Spirit Interfaith and Interspiritual Seminary
Sushmita’s vocation straddles cutting edge biomedical research technology, and a spirituality imbued with magic and wonder. Her psyche thrives at the interface of image, imagination and creative innovation. Sushmita’s spiritual work draws on Eastern and Western myths, Earth-based traditions, Taoism, Sufism, and Perennial Philosophy. Her work is deeply influenced by the teachings of Carl Jung and James Hillman, and the creative perspectives of poets and writers, too many to name. Some of her specific interests include myths, dreams, poetry and art (especially fractal, mandala and abstract art), altar building, guided visualizations, chanting and vocalization, and practices of Interspiritual Companioning, Jungian-influenced Dreamwork, SoulCollage® and ChakradanceTM. Sushmita is deeply committed to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging in all fields of engagement.
Guests
Sangeeta Malhotra
Sangeeta Malhotra is an astrophysicist who studies galaxies, their contents, and their effects on the universe around them. The objects she studies range from our own Milky Way galaxy to some of the earliest and most distant known galaxies in the epoch of cosmic dawn.
Malhotra works at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, where she is part of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope project.[1] She was previously a tenured full professor at Arizona State University. She is a Legacy Fellow of the American Astronomical Society and has mentored PhD students, postdocs, undergraduates and high school students.
James Anthony Walker
Over the course of his career, the word ‘innovator’ looms large when describing James Anthony Walker, whether within the music industry’s manufacturing segment, or as an in-demand, award-winning composer.
Graduate Teaching Fellow, Digital Media, The University of Chicago
Accomplished Luthier
Director of Marketing, Gibson Guitars
Creative Director, numerous critically-acclaimed digital media projects
Interfaith/Interspiritual Minister
Award-winning Composer with a current catalog of over 50 musical works
Recently recommended for membership in the Grammy Recording Academy
If you have questions about registering for this course, please contact One Spirit Learning Alliance by email to info@1spirit.org or call 212-931-6840.