Welcome to the Light on Light Family of Publications!
We’d like you to know about our Editorial and Production Teams
Light on Light Magazines:
Shannon Marie Winters, Managing Editor; Karuna, Host Editor and Media Hosting; Kurt Johnson, Contributions Editor; David Winters, Design and Layout
Light on Light Press:
Kurt Johnson, Managing Director; Robert Atkinson, Acquisitions Director; Nomi Naeem, Technical Director; Karuna, Media Hosting; Sandra Simon (Chamatkara), Managing Editor, Dharma and Spiritual Practice Publications
LIGHT ON LIGHT MAGAZINES, ABOUT
HOST EDITOR, KARUNA
Karuna is well known throughout the world of Yoga and as a hostess and conference facilitator. She joins us as a part of the global interspiritual work for over a decade. We like to think she “sets the table” for us here at Light on Light, and thus her title.
She a devoted mother, teacher, actress, radio host and magazine editor.
She brings her own
unique light of compassion, enthusiasm and pure joy to international yoga
and as a producer of inspired heartfelt sacred events including yoga,
music and dance. As Host Editor of Light
on Light Magazine, and on the Host Team of The Convergence series on VoiceAmerica, her message reaches out to
thousands. 2020 will see the appearance of her forthcoming book and yoga &
lifestyle manuals.
Based in Boulder, CO at www.lightonkundalini.com Karuna pioneered bringing level one, two, and three certified KRI
Teacher Training programs to the region and offers daily classes at Rally Sport
Health & Fitness Club in Boulder along with online classes, including
individual and group sessions. Certified in Children’s yoga and prenatal yoga,
she teaches yoga to all ages including children, teenagers and prenatal moms. She
leads retreats in Costa Rica and Yoga Festivals in Europe and has hosted many
workshops with Master Teachers including GuruGanesha “Conscious
Selling,” Mata Mandir “Mantra,” Snatam Kaur and GuruGanesha
“Voice,” and loves to offer the community in-depth opportunities for
studying with the Masters. She has been ordained as a “Wisdom Keeper” in both
Kundalini Yoga and Lakota Native American healing modalities.
True to her spiritual name, which means “compassion,” Karuna likens herself to a coach, helping her students push beyond self-imposed limits. Her classes are filled with humor, music and the spirit of transformation. Between international events, Karuna hosts Yoga-inspired retreats near Boulder at Hacienda de Guru Ram Das.
CONTRIBUTIONS EDITOR, KURT JOHNSON
Kurt Johnson Ph.D., is known worldwide as one of the founders of the “Interspiritual Movement”. In 2002 he founded Interspiritual Dialogue with Br. Wayne Teasdale, who named “Interspirituality” in his now classic book The Mystic Heart: Discovering a Universal Spirituality in the World’s Religions (see “About Light on Light”). In the last decade his work he has emphasized media. He is Host of the VoiceAmerica Series, The Convergence, available online here.
the international audio voice of our Light on Light Programs. He brings to Light on Light his network of global contacts and colleagues across science and spirituality.
Kurt has worked in professional science and comparative religion over 40 years. A prominent figure on international committees, particularly at the United Nations, he is author of the influential book The Coming Interspiritual Age (2013) and two award-winning books in science: Nabokov’s Blues (2000) and Fine Lines (2015) (Brian Boyd Prize in scholarly writing, 2019). He is the author of dozens of articles on spirituality and activism in numerous periodicals.
Kurt has served on the faculty of New York’s One Spirit Interfaith Seminary for 12 years and, for 25 years was associated there with the American Museum of Natural History. He is host for UNITY EARTH’s Convergence radio series at VoiceAmerica, a series featuring global change-makers, and an editor of two Interspiritual Network and UNITY EARTH magazines: The Convergence and Light on Light. Kurt is ordained, or certified, in five religious traditions.
Kurt has a PhD in Evolution and Ecology and is author of over 200 scientific articles and seven books, along with further articles at Kosmos Journal, The Contemplative Journal, Evolution Institute, Integral Life with Ken Wilber and peace studies with Philip Hellmich of the SHIFT Network.
Kurt, a former monastic, is a member or founder of The Evolutionary Leaders, The Association of Transformational Leaders, the international Contemplative Alliance, the Gaiafield and Subtle Activism Networks, the Self Care to Earth Care network, the UN NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns, the NGO Forum 21 Institute, and the UN Committee for International Yoga Day, and is President of the Friends of the Institute of Noetic Sciences.
Kurt is host or co-host of a number of websites, including www.unity.earth, www.interspirituaity.com, www.isdna.org, www.thecominginterspiritualage.com, www.communityofthemysticheart.org, www.selfcaretoearthcare.com, www.gaiafleid.net, and www.nationalserviceaeu.org, reflecting the variety and scope of his work.
IN MEMORIAM, SWAMI SHRADDHANANDA, BOOK REVIEW EDITOR
Swami Shraddhananda (aka Dr. Sonya Jones) made unique contributions to interspirtuality along with her significant leadership role among the Vedic Traditions and Yoga and joined Light on Light as its book review editor. For numerous years, she and Dr. Kurt Johnson were part of shepherding The Community of The Mystic Heart, an important incipient organization within the growing interspiritual movement at the turn of the millennium. During that time, she hosted interspiritual retreats and, through her publishing imprint, SACRED FEET, published the important book Mature Interspirituality: Wayne Teasdale’s Nine Elements—and Beyond.
She continued her work through The Jones Educational Foundation, Inc. (JEFI) and Anugraha Ashram, the home of the Sacred Feet Publishing Imprint (which was founded in 2014 for purposes of releasing titles in the field of Interspiritual Studies) and Sacred Feet Yoga. Guests from all over the United States as well as Canada and the United Kingdom have attended retreats in Somerset, KY where Swami returned upon taking early retirement as a full professor from Allegheny College and assumed a position in the Honors Department at the University of Kentucky. Swami received her doctorate from Emory University and was a professor of literature, the classics, and comparative world religions for 35 years. She lectured on six continents and is the author of numerous books including Jesus Was a Shaktipat Guru, A Short Book about Killing and Are You Dancing with Me, Shiva?
The Teachings of Sacred Feet Yoga are offered at retreats conducted by the Sacred Feet Yoga Acharyas, or in private sessions. People of all spiritual traditions, or none, are welcomed. Interested persons should contact Acharya Jenny (“Amrita”) Williams in Somerset, KY at jennyannharness@gmail.com, Acharya Sandra (“Chamatkara”) Simon in Pittsburgh, PA at sandrajsimon@hotmail.com, or Acharya Sw. Prakashananda in the United Kingdom at swprakashji@gmail.com.
Swami Shraddhananda transitioned in February 2021. We honor her legacy.