Ann Emerson

"My intent is to consistently and always return to a state

of curiosity, fascination, discovery, and wonder.

This keeps me very alert. Come join me here.”

Perhaps it was my dyslexia that directed the way on my nontraditional path of learning; I have been at it for 69 years. In doing so, I joined with those communities that were far from the mainstream. I was, and still am, dedicated to learning and serving life. I am always embraced as a student of life, even at the age of 90.

I was never awarded traditional academic credentials, as I dropped out of high school at the age of 16 to join the workforce. I married very young, and soon found myself abandoned with three small sons. My passion to learn at that time had much to do with saving my sons from poverty, and making a better world for them. I married again four years later, having two more children with my second husband. You could say,”I learned on the road, with grit, grace, and a passionate drive for my family—and then for families everywhere.

I could share stories about hitting the wall many times over my lifetime. Stories in which I felt totally blocked, and then a door would open before me in the most unexpected way. As soon as I saw that door, I opened it just as quickly, often with fear, pain, and struggle, knowing these experiences would be important keys to the change I was seeking.

More than 40 years ago, I was ordained as an Interfaith Minister by Rabbi Joseph Gelberman at the New Seminary in New York City. I am the director of The Sanctuary of Sophia (a.k.a. The Sanctuary of the Divine Feminine Wisdom), consisting of five interfaith study centers, with the current-day center located in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Many are the master teachers upon whose shoulders I stand. Their teachings supported the creation of ESSENCE, which is helping others with their own lives. Here is a short list of the teachers and communities—only the most dynamic—that helped to hone who I am today:

The Human Potential Movement; the Rebirthing community; the Women’s Movement; the Civil Rights Movement and community; the Shalom Mountain community; the Christian Charismatic community; the Kripalu Yoga community; the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies and its community; the Network Community in the New York State Prison System; the MaryEL Angel community; Ken Wilber’s Superhuman Operating System and community; Gloria Amendola’s mystical community; the Yuen Method of Chinese Energetics community; the Tony Robbins community; the Quantum-Touch community; the Access Consciousness community; Pranic Healing by Master Choa Kok Sui; Dr. Michael Cotton and the Higher Brain Living community; Polarity Energy Work; and the 21st-Century Paradigm Community with founder Bo Lockwood.

In 2010, I collaboratively created a dynamic 900-page website, TheHarmonyProject.org, devoted to 17 spiritual paths, and the interconnection of these paths toward enlightenment. The major contributors to our community have been Peter van Geldern, Joseph Neumayer, Eric Wenzel, Andrew DiFiore Jr., and Ann Marie Sawicki. To this day, we receive thousands of hits monthly, globally.

I have seen the evolution of so many great ideas that were considered bizarre many years ago, but are now part of our modern-day culture. To name just a few, they are equal rights, meditation, energy healing, honoring Native American wisdom and teachings, interfaith communities, and permaculture communities, which honor and care for Mother Earth.

One of my favorite quotes is by the Dalai Lama: “If you’re a good Christian, you’re a good Buddhist.”

We are living in a time of dynamic change, and the shifts are happening more quickly than ever before in human history. I have worked with many students and clients, being greatly blessed as I have learned so much from all of them. I thank them for their trust and dedication.

The communities and movements I have worked with have addressed the shortcomings in American culture. They sought to enhance and shift life compassionately, creatively, and with joy, for the sake of healing all the people on the Earth, by understanding the interconnectedness of life.­

One of my master teachers, the late Barbara Marx Hubbard, was a visionary and a social innovator. She was an

evolutionary thinker who believed that global change

happens when we work collectively and selflessly for the greater good. She realized that the lessons of evolution teach us that problems are evolutionary drivers and that crises precede transformation, giving a new way of seeing and responding to our global situation.

On the back cover of the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is book, which is a 700-verse Hindu scripture, there is a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson which states, “I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavad-gītā. It was the first of books; it was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence, which in another age and climate pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us”.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) was an American essayist, poet, philosopher, and leader of the transcendentalist movement. He was also my great-great-grandfather’s brother. I feel honored to be born into his family’s lineage, as every time I come across one of his quotes, it’s a reminder for me to truly honor who I AM, which is a spiritual teacher and healer, whose life purpose is elevating the consciousness of humanity.

In my 69 years of spiritual growth, teaching and healing, I feel inspired and content in knowing that I have helped thousands of people with their own spiritual growth. My intention is by co-creating ESSENCE with Spirit and Bo Lockwood, that this ancient wisdom that we shared will help millions, or perhaps even billions, of people globally.

Though, I realize for this to occur, ESSENCE will need to be translated into multiple languages. Currently. ESSENCE is translated in Spanish and Arabic. Our goal is to translate it into several more languages, which we are committed to do.

The process of co-creating ESSENCE has been very rewarding to my and Bo’s personal growth. We are now 12 years into the creation process, and ESSENCE is on its Fourth Edition. Our book evolved as we evolved. After lots of hard work and dedication, ESSENCE finally feels complete.

With all of the chaos throughout the world, the timing of publishing the Fourth Edition is Divine. We originally started the co-creation process in 2012, publishing the First Edition in 2014. For the past ten years, ESSENCE has been a billboard in the desert, as we have done very little marketing due to our feeling of having it feel incomplete.

Now that the Fourth Edition is ready to roll, we are committed to having people discover the power of what this ancient wisdom provides. We gratefully ask you to make others aware, too, especially after you have experienced a personal transformation of your own..

America is wonderful, because new ideas are always available to those who seek to make the world better for all. ESSENCE is our attempt to make the world better for all. It’s why we are here. By you benefitting through reading and integrating ESSENCE into your life, our life purpose is being fulfilled. We are grateful to be in service to Spirit, humanity and you!

Thanks for reading. ~ Ann

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