Myles Byrne

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email: fname.lname at podzero.fi
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Interfaith ministry:

I function socially as an interfaith minister, where one of the integrated ‘faiths’ is science:

The opposite of absolute reductionism is absolute holism.
The opposite of absolute dualism is absolute nondualism.
The opposite of absolute materialism is absolute symbolism.

We think of the former terms as ‘science’ and the latter terms as ‘religion’.
We think of these terms as contradictory and mutually exclusive.
We think that participation in science and religious faith are incompatible.

These beliefs are both bad science and bad faith. My ministry is to heal the schism between science and religion by helping people *directly experience* their unity. Starting in the mid-1990's, this has taken various forms such as:

In 2018, my partner (a senior scientist) and i began developing a space for combining science and spirituality, specifically for everyone involved in cancer care. Meeting Paul Davies prompted us to apply for a Templeton Foundation grant. We did not receive the grant, but kept going.

In April 2021, we secured the site for this center, a 1930’s schoolhouse in the Finnish archipelago. Shortly after, we discovered like minds were opening similar centers combining science and spirituality, for similar goals. E.g:

We intend to open this center in 2022 as a node in this larger network of new monasteries, where science and spirituality are reunited at last.

F2F teachers:

In 1983, i learned from the priest at my high school that Joseph Campbell had gone to the same school. Reading Campbell seemed to shift the locus of meaning and truth from external and rational, to internal and emergent. Campbell wasn't teaching stories - he was teaching patterns that repeat across all stories and scales. He wasn't teaching the skills of one domain, but skills that cut across all domains. The approach required a shift we now recognise as a re-centering of the seat of attention and identity from the left hemisphere to the right. I began seeking teachings, teachers, and experiences leading to and flowing from this shift.

Between 1989 and 2019, i had the good fortune to learn from these teachers:

  • Jim Hersh - hardcore Jungian; father of Kristen Hersh
  • Starhawk
  • Swami Bob D’Ancona - founding cohort at Architecture Machine Group
  • LeRoy White
  • Damon Apodaca Sensei
  • Duncan Laurie
  • Donald Nathanson
  • Robert Bly
  • Michael Meade
  • Ram Dass
  • Terence McKenna
  • Thich Nhat Hanh
  • Michael Craft
  • Chungliang Al-Huang
  • Tim Speed Levitch
  • Antero Alli
  • Mary Heiny Sensei
  • Sasha and Ann Shulgin
  • Robert Nadeau Shihan
  • Michael Lerner
  • Janice Redman
  • Mooji

Interfaith studies:

  • Catholic theology, at school and home-tutored, 1978-1985
  • Classical studies, home-tutored, high school, AA NYU 1978-1987
  • BS Clinical Psychology, University of Rhode Island, 1993
  • Practicum in Jungian therapy, Salve Regina University, 1993
  • Integral and Holistic Therapies, 2yr. degree program, Salve Regina University, 1992–94
  • Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, staff 1993
  • Monte Sahaja ashram, 2018
  • Monte Sahaja Sangha, Rishikesh, 2019
  • Men’s Group circles - 1989–2000
  • Lifelong (1986 ->) exegetic self-tuition across STEM-HUM domains in pursuit of expert generalism