Divine Duality— The Power of Reconciliation between Women and Men
New Book, Divine Duality Shows a Pathway to Healing
Divisive Gender Issues for Individuals and Nations
Proven Track Record — from Catholic Nuns and Priests in India
to Men and Women in South Africa’s Parliament
***image1***WHIDBEY ISLAND, Wash. — Divine Duality — The Power of Reconciliation between Women and Men, a new book by author William Keepin, Ph.D. of the Satyana Institute, introduces a new area of work between men and women called the “Power of Reconciliation.” This revolutionary approach works on the ancient wounds that underlie current social norms to bring a possibility of lasting and positive change to the sometimes explosive and powerful issue of gender relations. By setting a context of forgiveness, compassion and mutual appreciation of the sacredness of life, the women and men of a group or institution who participate in this process are empowered to jointly confront the realities of gender oppression and conditioning.
Divine Duality presents over 15 years of developmental work done by the Satyana Institute. No other book or body of work deals with this subject from this perspective with the depth of insight and proven results presented here. The process goes quite beyond the traditional psychological/dialogue forms of interaction between the sexes, and provides a container for spiritual or ‘alchemical’ transformation. The book offers readers unprecedented hope and inspiration for resolving the “gender war” in a unique manner that constitutes an important step beyond both the women’s movement and men’s movement.
“I have been looking a long time to find a way to bring healing and reconciliation between women and men here in South Africa. This work is the answer. We need much more of this work in South Africa,” said Nozizwe Madlala Routledge Deputy Minister of Health and Member of Parliament, South Africa.
Divine Duality’s stories and insights illuminate the tragic impact of sexual and gender conditioning in cultures across the globe. They also show powerful healing moments and experiences of ecstatic communion of masculine and feminine-pointing the way to unprecedented healing and reconciliation.
“The healing union of masculine and feminine, emerging from the molten heat of the tension of opposites is vividly presented in Divine Duality, along with the fundamental insights, principles and methods that enable reconciliation and healing between men and women in seemingly impossible circumstances,” said Will Keepin author.
Brief History
Divine Duality comes from years of experiential work done by Keepin, contributing author Cynthia Brix, M.Div. and a network of trained facilitators at the Satyana Institute. This unique perspective and body of work is based on Power of Reconciliation workshops convened by the Satyana Institute and provides men and women a forum for unprecedented collaboration and opportunity to explore the hidden shadows and cultural conditioning around gender and sexuality.
The Process
The book details the constructive dialogue and healing process that addresses some of the most divisive and seemingly intractable challenges between men and women. Experiences such as molestation and rape, infidelity and betrayal, physical and emotional violence, war, economic and power disparities are guided through carefully designed and facilitated group process exercises. One by one, the dark secrets embedded in the wounded psyches of ordinary men and women are brought to individual and collective awareness to be transformed. Issues that are rarely mentioned aloud are openly shared and collectively addressed and reconciled as the group works interactively together to reach a place of mutual understanding, healing and forgiveness.
Divine Duality recounts some of the most dramatic events, and presents the essential insights learned from more than 40 reconciliation gatherings over the past decade, including remarkable results within groups as diverse as nuns and priests in the Catholic Church, and select members of the South African Parliament. This fresh approach transcends socio-economic, cultural and educational barriers and is shown to work equally well in diverse cultural contexts ranging from the affluent West to societies of severe gender oppression, such as India and South Africa.
“This is the first time I have experienced a workshop that fully integrated both transformative learning and spiritual components in a balanced manner,” said
Ela Gandhi, Satyagraha Center, Durban South Africa, and granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi.
What Underlies the Process?
Divine Duality describes what can happen when a transpersonal/spiritual dimension underlies healing work on deeply entrenched wounds. Instead of highlighting the differences between masculine and feminine perspectives, this book focuses on the potential for unity and integration among women and men. It shows how people can honor and transcend their psychological and emotional differences.
It offers practical examples of inspiring, real-world healing work done by women and men committed to moving beyond socially conditioned patterns of gender relations.
Who could benefit?
The information from the book has been gathered at events conducted in diverse venues including governmental bodies, social change organizations, graduate academic courses, religious and spiritual congregations, psychotherapeutic settings, and peace activist organizations.
Ordering Information:
DIVINE DUALITY — The Power of Reconciliation between Women and Men
by William Keepin, Ph.D.
with Cynthia Brix, M.Div. and Molly Dwyer, Ph.D.
Publication date: November/December 2007
ISBN: 1-890772-74-7 or 978-1-890772-74-1
Paperback; 320 pages; 6 by 9 inches
Bio’s Continued:
He published a full expose of this project, as resident scholar at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. He subsequently became Hewlett Fellow at Princeton University, then joined the Rocky Mountain Institute, and became consulting physicist to the Energy Foundation, whose founding documents he co-authored. Will’s work on global warming and renewable energy influenced international environmental policy, and he presented testimony to the Parliaments of United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Australia, and the US House of Representatives.
Will has undergone intensive training in eastern spiritual traditions, and he began leading retreats in interfaith mysticism in India in 2003. He has facilitated many experiential workshops and taught graduate courses at the California Institute of Integral Studies and Holy Names College. He holds a Ph.D. in applied mathematics, Master’s degrees in East-West psychology and in physics, and he completed the three-year Grof Transpersonal Training. Will has published over 30 articles and book chapters, and served as consulting editor for ReVision. He is profiled in the book The Cultural Creatives, by Paul Ray and Sherry Anderson (Harmony Books, 2000).
Cynthia Brix, M.Div, MA. is the Program Director for Satyana Institute, where she co-directs Satyana’s the Power of Reconciliation project. In addition to her leadership with the healing work between men and women, she provides development support for the Maher project, an interfaith shelter and resource center for battered and destitute women and children located near Pune, India. She is the former Unitarian Universalist campus minister at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Fundamental to her worldview is the value of meditation and prayer which is infuse her activism and work in social justice, gender healing, and racial harmony. A long-time student of Eknath Easwaran’s Passage Meditation, Cynthia has led meditation workshops at regional and national Unitarian Universalist conferences. She also co-chaired the Race Relations Committee for the City of Muncie, Indiana, and recently developed an interfaith, multi-ethnic program to help address racial tensions at the University of Colorado-Boulder. She is currently leading spiritual-service pilgrimages to India and Italy for young adults.
Cynthia earned a master’s of divinity from Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado (2006) and a double master’s degree in wellness management and applied gerontology from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana (1999).