Christopher Bamford is editor of Steiner Books and Lindisfarne Books and has lectured, taught, and written widely on the Western spiritual and esoteric traditions. He is the author, translator, and editor of numerous books, the most recent of which is An Endless Trace: The Passionate Pursuit of Wisdom in the West.

Barbara Helen Berger is an artist and author of ten books for children. She has experience in both Christian and Buddhist traditions, and a long interest in wisdom stories.

David A Cooper, rabbi and meditation guide, is the author of God is a Verb, A Heart of Stillness, The Mystical Kabbalah, and Seeing Through the Eyes of God. He is currently at work on his next book, The Godding Principle.

Meister Eckhart (c. 1260–c. 1328), born as Eckhart von Hochheim, was an influential German mystic and theologian of the Dominican Order.

Jean Houston is a leading figure in the cross-cultural study of spirituality and ritual proces-ses, and a founder of the Human Potential Movement. Among her many books are The Possible Human and The Search for the Beloved. Since 2003 she has been working with the United Nations Development Program, training leaders in developing countries throughout the world in the new field of social artistry.

D.K.M. Kartha is a reteller of stories from the Hindu tradition and directs the Center for Music by People with Disabilities. He grew up before the days of electricity and radio in a south Indian village in the 1950s, and vivdly remembers hearing literally thousands of stories that relatives, teachers, and wandering monks freely shared with eager listeners, and seeing the stories enacted in temple cerremonies, dances, and dramas.

Patrick Laude is a professor at Georgetown University. His most recent book is Pray Without Ceasing: The Way of the Invocation in World Religions (World Wisdom, 2006).

Venerable Narada Mahathera (1898–1983) was an esteemed Sri Lankan dhammaduta bhikkhu who pioneered the revival of Buddhism in Indonesia.

Mary Oliver is a poet who has won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (1984, for American Primitive), the National Book Award for Poetry (1992, for New and Selected Poems), and the Lannan Literary Award for Poetry (1998).

Tom Rothschild is a Quaker living in New York City. He has also spent many years working with the teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff, including the study of various traditions. He recently completed a two-year program of the Quaker-sponsored School of the Spirit. Currently Tom serves as clerk of the Committee on Conflict Transformation, which assists New York Yearly Meeting Quakers in using conflict as an opportunity for spiritual growth as well as reconciliation and resolution.

Huston Smith is one of the world’s leading religious studies scholars. His classic book The Religions of Man has sold more than two million copies.

Eric O. Springsted is co-founder and president of the American Weil Society.

Val Thorpe is a master portrait sculptor as well as an award-winning essayist who most recently has won second prize for works in bronze at the prestigious Catharine Lorillard Wolfe spring 2008 exhibition at the Broome Street Gallery in Soho.

Charles Upton is a poet, social critic, and lifelong student of traditional metaphysics and comparative religion. He began his writing career as a poet; his epic poem Panic Grass was published by City Lights Books in 1968. In 1988 his book on the Sufi saint and poetess Rabi’a, Doorkeeper of the Heart, appeared; since that year he has been a member of a traditional Persian Sufi order. He has published four subsequent books, with three more (Who Is the Earth? How to See God in the Natural World; Reflections of Tasawwuf; and Knowings In the Arts of Metaphysics, Cosmology and the Spiritual Path) due out from Sophia Perennis in 2008. Also in 2008, his second epic poem, The Wars of Love, will be published by Middle Earth Editions.

Simone Weil (1909–1943) was an influential French philosopher, Christian mystic, and social activist.

Diane Wolkstein, storyteller, writer, and teacher, began her career by telling Bible stories in Paris in 1965. Thirty years later, after exploring myths throughout the world, she returned to her roots and for eight years researched Bible stories and oral legends in preparation for writing Treasures of the Heart: Holiday Stories that Reveal the Soul of Judaism. She is the author of 23 books and the subject of the recent DVD A Storyteller’s Story. For more information, please visit Dianewolkstein.com.