User:Anandamayima/Thomas Clough Daffern June 2010

Thomas Clough Daffern was born in 1956, Montreal, Canada, to George N. Daffern (1911-1973) management consultant, author of Management Development in a Changing World (New York, 1960) and co-founder of the idea of Management by objectives, and Eileen M. Daffern (1914-) author, lecturer, teacher and peace activist. He is a British-Canadian philosopher, lecturer, teacher, historian, poet, esotericist, author, musician, thinker, educator, druid, mediator, consultant and peace studies specialist.

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Thomas Clough Daffern was born in 1956.

Career

His academic background includes degrees in world history, with specialist work on the history of ideas, history of philosophy and Slavonic and East European history, and a long period of intense study in philosophy, religion and the history of ideas. He also studied philosophy and religion at the University of Bristol (under Prof. Stefan Korner) and at the University of Calgary, in Canada. He is also a secondary school educator and teacher and has served as head of Religious Studies and Philosophy Departments in various schools in the UK. Thomas has been initiated into various spiritual traditions, and has long pioneered interfaith education at a senior level. He took Bodhisattva tantric vows as a Buddhist at the age of 20, studied yoga and Sufism intensely from aged 19 onwards, attended Quaker meetings in Canada regularly from 1978-1981, and was baptised as an ecumenical Anglican at the University of London in 1989. An ecumenical metaphysical thinker, Thomas also served as Secretary General of the World Conference on Religions and Peace (UK and Ireland) from 1990-1997 (http://www.wcrp.org) and has long advocated the path to world peace through intellectual, philosophical and spiritual reconciliation. He participated in the 1995 Vatican Conference of the World Conference on Religion and Peace along with some 900 religious leaders from around the world. In addition to the above religions, he also has an intensive knowledge and first hand personal experience of studying and teaching Judaism, Kabbalah, Jainism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, Bahaism, classical paganisms, Hinduism, Shintoism, Taoism, Confucianism, Sumerian, Babylonian, Phoenician (Canaanite), Greek and Roman philosophy, Druidry and Celtic teachings, Anglo-Saxon, Germanic and Scandinavian Paganism, Wicca, Neopaganism, Shamanism and New Religious Traditions, Christianities (including Gnostic, Catholic, Protestant, Ecumenical and Orthodox traditions), Ancient Egyptian philosophy and African traditional teachings, Modern Spiritualism, Theosophy, freemasonry, Anthroposophy and New Age Teachings etc. as well as modern science and scientific philosophies. He has called for the development of a Periodic Table of Religions, and argues that to come of age spiritually, mankind needs to evolve towards a new meta-Catholic position, which embraces the innermost wisdom core of each faith path known to mankind, emphasising what is common and universal between them all. This, he argues, would constitute genuine meta-Catholicism or meta-mahayana position, in which each faith tradition is seen as an exposition of the skillful means of the collective conscience of mankind in action, and enable a global renaissance of intelligent spirituality to replace the current system of global politics based on fear and terrorism.

He is Director of the International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy – IIPSGP - (http://www.educationaid.net) which works across many academic fields to bring together all those with an interest in, and a commitment to, the study and application of peace and philosophy on all levels, from personal to global, and towards applying the practice of love and wisdom to the resolution of the problems and tensions of today's world. I.I.P.S.G.P. arose out of a feasibility study which he undertook for the University of London (http://www.lon.ac.uk/) into the proposed establishment of an International Institute of Peace Studies. He established, with the help of many sponsors, including Dr Tony Weaver, Dr Tony Hart, Christopher Meredith, Prof Maurice Wilkins FRS, Prof. Cedric Smith FRS, Prof Tom Kibble FRS, inter alia, the current International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy as a follow-through from the feasibility study. As a graduate at the University of London himself from 1985-1988, he took part in numerous symposia, attended lectures widely across the University, founded a Philosophy Society at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (now part of UCL), and also studied for part of his degree at the School of Oriental Studies, and the London School of Economics, and Kings College etc. Thomas is also the founder of The Global Green University, which has arisen from the work of IIPSGP and was launched in 2000 to bring into being a new global higher education initiative which can provide space for the deeper kind of learning which is needed at this time of critical transition in the history of planet earth. He has developed long term educational programmes to widen understanding of the causes of conflict and approaches to peace and to assist social and cultural development. He has also created the Multifaith and Multicultural Mediation Service. The M.M.M.S. is the first mediation service to specialise in disputes in which issues of faith and/or culture are present.

He has also served as an educational adviser to numerous organisations ranging from the UN and UNESCO to various University and other educational projects. He is a member of the International Association of University Presidents / UN Commission on Disarmament Education, Conflict Resolution and Peace which meets at the UN HQ in New York, and has twice addressed their meetings in the UN Headquarters (http://www.iaups.org/commissions.php)

He is also a board member of The Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (HumanDHS) Network http://www.humiliationstudies.org and addressed their 2005 conference in Berlin on the subject of Sophiaphobia, the fear of wisdom. He argued in this presentation that one of the root causes of the human desire to humiliate is a fear of wisdom (sophiaphobia) which lies deep inside the human psychological framework. This work was eventually published in its own right as Sophiaphobia. This network continues to hold meetings globally, in New York, Costa Rica, Norway etc. An interview with its founder Director, Even Lindner was published in the Muses IIPSGP Journal for 2005/6. The Director of IIPSGP serves on the International Advisory Board of the network and has teamed up with the work of Prof. Francisco Gomes de Matos of the Federal University of Pernambuco in Recife in North-Eastern Brazil. Thomas Daffern has published the first Multilingual dictionary of Philosophical and religious terminology. This work, The Multilingual Dictionary For Multifaith And Multicultural Mediation, Peace And Global Philosophy is a research tool for all scholars and students and philosophers interested in languages and philology. It was included as part of the appendix of Dr Daffern’s PhD Thesis for the University of London. It is the first ever published attempt to compile a comparative philosophical dictionary of terms for absolute concepts, which vary from culture to culture and religion to religion, of philosophically charged words such as God, Being, virtue, love, truth, beauty, power, existence, peace, knowledge, wisdom, mind, consciousness, magic, holy, spirit etc. It has a specific irenic purpose as a tool of inter-cultural understanding and reconciliation, on the proposition that through studying one another's words and concepts and ideas in their own vocabularies, rival spiritual and ideological systems might replace intellectual hostility and feuding with study, dialogue and mutual understanding. IIPSGP itself publishes annually 'The Muses Journal: Love, Justice And Wisdom' the only academic journal in the world to focus on the academic study of love and altruism and other positive aspects of human nature. This journal is now in its 9th edition, and is divided into 9 sections, one named after each of the 9 Classical muses of antiquity, thus representing the full range of potential human learning and ingenuity: Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia, and Urania.

He has lectured on all aspects of philosophy and contemporary public policy and has also convened and co-chaired over 30 seminars in the House of Lords in Westminster on various aspects of Ethics, Public Policy and Peace. From 1993- 1994 he convened and chaired the House of Lords seminar first series on "THE GLOBAL CHALLENGE: THE PHILOSOPHICAL AND EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGES OF PEACE BUILDING, CONFLICT PREVENTION AND GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE POST COLD WAR WORLD", attended by many leading academics, educators, NGO representatives etc. This series of meetings was hosted by the late Lord Ennals (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ennals) as the Parliamentarian sponsor for the series. In 1994 between April and July he acted as Convenor and Chair of a House Of Lords Second Seminar Series on "ETHICS, POLITICS AND ECONOMICS: GLOBAL PROBLEMS, GLOBAL POLICIES AND THE SEARCH FOR PEACE AND GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITY" For this second series of meetings in the House of Lords he chose to focus on the relationship between ethics, politic and economics - feeling that the ethical and values perspective is usually left out of political discussion, or is seen as too divisive to permit coherent discourse. It was felt that there needed to be a neutral space at the heart of national conversations on policy which could address these deeper spiritual questions within a context of education for peace in the broadest sense. From April 1994 to July 1994 a series of 13 seminars was held, also at the House of Lords, bringing together a similar wide ranging body of academics, NGO representatives and concerned members of the public. Thomas Daffern chaired and directed all the seminars, (with Lord Ennals acting as host and overall Convenor), introducing the various speakers to the audience and summing up at the end with closing remarks. From October 1994 to March 1995 he organised and chaired a third seminar series at the House Of Lords on "ETHICS, POLITICS AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT: EDUCATION FOR PEACE AND GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITY AND THE WORLD SUMMIT FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT", attended by numerous academic peace and conflict researchers, NGO representatives, educators etc. This 1994-1995 seminar series focused on the serious global problems facing the planet at this time of crisis and the political, ethical & educational resources available to solve them. In this follow up series we focused particularly on the preparations for the UNITED NATIONS WORLD SUMMIT FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT in Copenhagen, March 6-12 1995. Later, in 1998 – he organised and co-chaired (with Lord Macnair) a further House of Lords series (fourth series) of meetings on POLICY, ETHICS AND VALUES: ADDRESSING THE INNER DIMENSIONS OF THE COMPLEX POLICY ISSUES FACING BRITAIN AND THE WORLD COMMUNITY, with a series of meeting which again included thinkers, faith leaders, educators and political figures. A subsequent couple of meetings were held in the House of Commons in 2001 and 2003, under the auspices of Lembit Opik MP, Leader of Liberal Democrats in Wales, on the feasibility of establishing an All Party Group for Peace and Conflict Resolution.

Thomas helped run the Gandhi Foundation School of Nonviolence between 1993 and 1997, and chaired approximately 20 seminars and educational meetings, partly at Kingsley Hall in London and partly throughout the UK and Ireland. (See http://www.gandhifoundation.org)

He has also founded in 2006 THE TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION FOR BRITAIN AND IRELAND (TRCBI). This annual meeting is open to is open to all whom have the long term interests of peacemaking in Britain and Ireland, and particularly the final ending of the long conflicts in Ireland, at heart. It is held biannually in a different part of Ireland or Britain, being held in Anglesey (2006), Dublin (2007) and Belfast (2009) to make it possible for participants to come both from both parts of Ireland as well as throughout the British Isles. Its foundation is based on the view that with the peace process in Ireland having moved so far in recent years, it is time to encourage a healthy debate between both Irish and British peace thinkers, activists and spiritual leaders, so as to vision together a long future for both Britain and Ireland. Representatives are invited from among those who participated or took part in the conflict, from whichever perspective, and to come forward and share their testimony, and hopefully explain how the path of peace and non-violent political conflict resolution is in the long run more effective than the path of violence ever could be.

As a lecturer, Thomas has lectured widely in numerous colleges and Universities and schools, and has taught at London and Oxford Universities for many years in adult and further and continuing education (Birkbeck College and Rewley’s House – see http://www.bbk.ac.uk/ and http://www.conted.ox.ac.uk) as well as for the WEA (http://www.wea.org.uk) and at the Institute of Education (http://ioewebserver.ioe.ac.uk/ioe/index.html). More recently he has taught in secondary schools and has been serving as head of religious studies and philosophy at several schools in the UK.

As a poet he established the Order of Wandering Peace Poets in Macedonia in 1998. This Order has now metamorphosed into the Order of Peace Poets, Bards and Druids (OPPBD). He has published 3 volumes of poetry. The first volume of his collected poems cover poems written between 1971-1994, and the second volume covers poems from about 1995 to 2005. Volume three of his collected poems covers poems written from 2004-2008 in places as diverse as the Philippines, India, UK, France etc. Thomas was invited on three separate occasions to participate in the Struga Poetry Evenings (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struga_Poetry_Evenings) in Macedonia which experiences not only occasioned many new poems but also led to the founding of his Order of Peace Poets, Bards and Druids as an international; network of poets for peace. (http://www.svp.org.mk/)

He was an active supporter and friend of the late Robert Hart’s Forest Garden project in Much Wenlock, Shropshire, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hart_(forest_gardener) and is a founder member of the Association of Spiritual Academies International along with Rev. Dr Carole Parrish of the Sancta Sophia Seminary (http://www.sanctasophia.org). Thomas has lectured twice at Sancta Sophia Seminary in Oklahoma on aspects of esoteric philosophy, education for wisdom, plus peace and inter-faith mediation.

As a Druid and Philosopher, Thomas is founder of the European Pagan Academic and Educational Network which is an initiative to create a network for academics interested in paganism either theoretically or practically. This body held a conference in Shropshire in July 2009 at the Festival of the Edge. This EUROPEAN PAGAN ACADEMIC AND EDUCATIONAL NETWORK (EUROPAEN) continues to develop as a project of IIPSGP. EUROPAEN is interested to work on research and development projects concerning all aspects of the overlaps between paganism and education. Academic life itself began as an impulse cultivated under the guidance of classical pagan teachings; the Academy in Athens, the Lyceum established by Aristotle, and the Mouseion (Museum) of Alexandria were all conceived as places of learning based on spirituality, religious idealism and practical education and research. IIPSGP has recently been in touch with a Greek pagan organisation which is campaigning for religious freedom under the Greek constitution as the legal successor to the ancient Greek pagan priesthood, and requesting freedom of access for religious worship at the ancient Greek shrines and temples scattered throughout the land (http://www.ysee.gr) As Chair and co-founder of the Stonehenge Truth and Reconciliation Commission, he has convened many meetings in Wiltshire (with the late George Firsoff) bringing together all parties involved in the use and management of Stonehenge including English Heritage, the Police, local landowners, Druids, Pagans, Wiccans, Shamans etc. This series of meetings has helped create the conditions which made it possible at the Summer solstice of June 20/21 2000 for over 7000 people to have free and open access to Stonehenge for a millennial celebration. He helped train the team of approx 25 peace stewards who worked alongside other groups to ensure that the celebrations were nonviolent and a success for everyone who attended. Since then there have been a series of annual summer solstice events which have gone off peacefully and in 208 over 30,000 peaceful pilgrims braved the slight drizzle to commune with the sacred landscape and await the dawn of the longest day. On June 21st 2008 he convened the Stonehenge Eisteddfod in Amesbury, near to Stonehenge itself, an event which is to be repeated annually hereafter. The Stonehenge Eisteddfod met again on June 21 2009 and MS. Corinne Gibbons won the music award, having flown over from Singapore for the competition. Prizes at the Eisteddfod are awarded for original and creative works in the following categories: 1. Poetry 2. Songs and Music 3. Storytelling 4. Theatre and performance arts 5. Dance 6. Writing (fiction – on Druidic, Bardic and Pagan themes) 7. Writing (non-fiction – on Druidic, Bardic and Pagan themes) 8. Best website design (on Druidic, Bardic, Pagan and community evelopment themes) 9. Social and community development projects 10 Fine art, painting, sculpture, craft works, fashion, design. The 2008 Overall theme was that of Peace. The prizes for written works are awarded annually for creative and original contributions to the growing store of literature relating specifically to the Druidic and Bardic traditions, rather than general works of literature or scholarship, since there are many other general literary prizes elsewhere around the UK and the world. The overall best entry (from any category) will be presented the annual Holy Grail Award. This was the first annual event re-establishing this ancient Eisteddfod which we believe will have figured as part of the ancient Midsummer celebrations at Stonehenge right back in the Bronze and Neolithic ages. The Stonehenge Eisteddfod is being organised by the Order of Peace Poets, Bards and Druids, and the International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy. The 2008 event was filmed by http://www.holisticchannel.org.uk. The 2009 Eisteddfod was on the theme of Mystery.

Thomas also serves as Peace Officer to the Council of British Druid Orders (COBDO – see http://cobdo.org.uk/) and has had a long love affair with all aspects of Druidry and an eco-centred esoteric spirituality affirming nature and Goddess/God equally, and which celebrates the wisdom of primal peoples of all cultures, epochs and geographical regions, including in Britain and Europe. He has lectured extensively on primal religions and published several articles and essays on aspects of pagan and primal spirituality including an article on Amerindian Ethical Teachings in the Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics edited by Dan Cohen. He believes that pagan wisdom and the wisdom of revealed regions such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam, can and must be reconciled and that this is the most crucial aspect of interfaith peacemaking for our time. He is also Chair of Pagan and Druids Rights and Services (PADRAS) an umbrella group which works to sharpen the awareness of Pagan and Druid rights and responsibilities worldwide, a body founded by the late George Firsoff http://www.stonehengecampaign.org.uk/greenleaf/padras.htm), He is also a member of the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids (http://www.druidry.org) and an Honourary Member of several other Druid Orders. He has also served as a Governor of the Saor Ollscoil Na h'eireann / Free University of Ireland which is an alternative higher education institution in Ireland, where one is able to undertake both BA, MA and Ph.D. degrees via their good offices, and a recognised qualification in peace studies. More details from the website: http://www.saor-ollscoil.ie. He has also served on the Board of the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship (http://www.anglicanpeacemaker.org.uk) In 2010 he was awarded the Mount Haemus scholarship, an annual lectureship awarded to Druid scholars under the auspices of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, as award intended to advance historical studies in Druidry. The theme of Dr Daffern’s lecture will be that of applying Transpersonal History to Druidical studies. (www.druidry.org) As a Druid, he founded in 2007 the CENTRE FOR DRUID PHILOSOPHY which is dedicated to research and education into all aspects of the Druid philosophical tradition, in the widest possible senses of the term. The Centre is a networking organisation for both under-graduate and postgraduate students, as well as academics and intellectuals worldwide, and is based in the UK. Its purpose is to advance study and research into the complex, multilayered and ancient legacy of Druid thought, and to help advance international understanding, cooperation and peace through dialogue, research and education. Its work is divided into several sections, including Research, Education, Publications, Conferences, celebrations and the Internet. Its study agendas include advancing research into all aspects of the Druid philosophical tradition, and its worldwide significance and impact. In 2007 one of his lectures (in Bury St Edmunds) on Druidry and World Peace was recorded and which is available at www.holisticchannel.org.uk (see Human Rights Section). He also founded and runs the ORDER OF PEACE POETS, BARDS AND DRUIDS, which works to inspire a rebirth of the wisdom of Druid teachings on peace and non-violence, and to work with all aspects of Druidic and bardic crafts for a world of peace: healing, philosophy, art, music, dance, poetry, prophecy, seership, mediation, counselling, spirituality, prayer etc. The Order is also organising the rebirth of the PERPETUAL CHOIRS OF BRITAIN AND IRELAND project, which is taking the form of a rolling series of musical choirs, with music being sung in praise of the Spirit, to be undertaken at sacred centres and places throughout Britain and Ireland. According to several ancient triadic sources, there were in Ancient Britain three perpetual choirs, at the Isle of Avalon (Glastonbury), Salisbury and Bangor Iscoed (on the River Dee in Wales, seat of a great ancient monastery of Druid Christian learning). THE ORDER OF PEACE POETS, BARDS AND DRUIDS in concert with other groups and organisations, is calling not only for their recreation and restatement, but also for a continual rolling perpetual choir not located in any one geographical place, but rather as a roving choir throughout the Islands of Britain and Ireland. The idea is to inspire the involvement of the numerous choirs and singing groups, from official church choirs, to Cathedral choirs, or community choirs, or local singing groups, from all levels of professional or amateur expertise, to contribute three hours singing per year, dedicated to world peace and harmony. This is happening already on an informal and impromptu basis. The Order has also called for the creation of a STONEHENGE SPIRITUAL PILGRIMAGE CENTRE somewhere in the immediate Stonehenge landscape, within a walking distance of not more than one or two miles (preferably closer), on long-term loaned MOD land, where a wooden structure could be built by the community in the form of a Woodhenge type round-house structure, or large Celtic round house, suitable to house visiting pilgrims for an overnight stay (max 3 nights) in simple sleeping bag type accommodation, plus space for a central fire, with open air to sky for smoke dispersal. The Centre would be for visiting spiritual pilgrims to the Stonehenge landscape.

In 2007 he founded the A.R. WALLACE MEMORIAL LECTURE, taking place in Poole, Dorset, where Wallace died and is buried, commemorating the creative relationship between Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace, the co-discoverers of the theory of natural selection underlying the evolutionary transformation of living species. Two lectures have been held so far in memory of A.R. Wallace as well as a symposium in his honour in Shrewsbury.

In 2007 he also founded the ORDER OF ST THOMAS, whilst in Venice, as a new Catholic and Ecumenical Christian spiritual order dedicated to the reconciliation of Christian wings and factions (Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Gnostic etc.) through rigorous intellectual scholarship and frontier work on harmonising science and religion. (see http://www.wnrf.org/cms/order-st-thomas-formed.shtml) He has also written a Dictionary of Thomas’s listing over 600 thinkers, writers, scholars and saints with the Christian name Thomas (eg Becket, Jefferson, Aquinas, Hobbes etc.) and argues that the Thomas tradition is an inclusive and gnostic current running throughout the universal church in which intelligent doubt is permissible and indeed acts as a spur to real faith. The Order takes for its motto the quote from Rumi: “The Disbeliever Hides His Disbelief”.

In August 2008 he visited again Israel and Palestine to found the TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION FOR THE MIDDLE EAST (TRCME). It is intended that the project will address several outstanding issues involving peace and the need for reconciliation in the Middle East as a whole (including Israel/Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Afghanistan etc. The Commission was launched in Israel/Palestine in 2008 and will from 2010 be taking place around different Middle Eastern countries, and on a bi-annual basis thereafter (Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran etc.). In his publication Towards A Truth And Reconciliation Commission For The Middle East he explains two things, firstly the background behind the launching of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the Middle East in 2008, and secondly to give something of the theoretical framework in which this project is being based. Unusual among peace institutes worldwide, the work of the International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy is dedicated not to the political or military or even economic aspects of peace building, although all such are important – but rather to the causal, metaphysical and philosophical level of peace building – the building of peace in the collective imagination, the collective will and the collective intelligence of mankind’s warring tribes, nations and religions. The book is therefore concerned with the psychological healing and philosophical reconstruction of mankind’s inner life, alongside the outermost socio-economic factors.

Thomas has himself traveled 4 times to India and regards it almost as a second home, as he is familiar with, and teaches from, the ancient wisdom teachings of Indian civilisation. In November 2008, following the tragic Mumbai killings, he proposed that the Indian subcontinent, including the patchwork of countries bordering onto the Republic of India (Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Burma, Tibet) form together an Indian Union Mediation Service, and pledged the support of IIPSGP towards this end. This proposal was warmly endorsed by the Jain Anuvibha movement, Buddhists, Hindus, Indian Muslims, Christians and other groups.

He also formed in 1997 THE BRITISH AND COMMONWEALTH INTERFAITH NETWORK FOR PEACE AND NONVIOLENCE. Its history is as follows. The initiative was taken in 1997 during the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Edinburgh, when IIPSGP and the MMMS organised a special meeting to launch officially the Commonwealth Interfaith Network, on Friday October 24, 1997, United Nations Day, at New College, University of Edinburgh. The purpose of launching the Interfaith Commonwealth Network was to provide an international network for persons and organisations active in any of the 53 Commonwealth Countries, in the United Kingdom, or in any of the UK Overseas Dependent territories, concerned with advancing better interfaith understanding, and to act as a forum for advanced ethical, philosophical and religious dialogue and educational studies, and to advance the prospects of international peace and well being. The project was endorsed by the then Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, at a private meeting with Dr. Daffern in 1997. The network has built a network for good interfaith relations with many Commonwealth countries, including India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Canada, New Zealand, Malta, Cyprus, South Africa etc. As founder, Thomas Daffern has travelled and taught throughout different pats of India on 4 separate occasions (Rajasthan, Dharamsala, Delhi, Madras, Pondicherry, Rajasamand, Jaipur, Ladnun, Bangalore etc.) See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Nations and http://www.commonwealth-of-nations.org/Commonwealth-Home.

In 2008 he called for the establishment of a COUNCIL OF MONARCHS to be established on planet earth as a framework body for giving guidance and wisdom to mankind on behalf of the reigning monarchs of the global community. The purpose of their coming together as a council would be so that they can be more effective as a council than they can be individually. They could add their voices collectively to the work that needs to be done on the planet and the achievement of certain collective policy aims. These could be, firstly, eliminating the need for wars between nation states or their respective dominions, in effect they would act as a peace pact; the members of the Council would pledge their countries to non-violence against each other, and would set up a mechanism that in the unlikely event that any such outbreaks of violence occurred, it would be referred automatically to an arbitration mechanism established within the Council whereby other monarchs not involved in the dispute could facilitate its solution. Secondly, it would also act as a mediating forum for disputes between other nations which are not monarchies, and where countries may be sadly locked in cycles of war and violence. The Council could send mediation teams with their backing and support to help solve any dispute. A formal letter and policy document was sent to each single reigning Monarch on earth from IIPSGP. In ancient times, Druids had the power to appoint Kings and Queens, and to call them to account if they were misbehaving – and there existed considerable mutual respect between the monarch and the Druidic classes of society. This is true in all cultures and religions, where the Druids might be called something else – Prophets, Seers, Brahmins, Sages, Priests etc. Given the near total anarchy existing on planet earth at present, and the inability of governments to effectively tackle the global problems affecting our planetary community, not least the environmental threats were are facing, such a council might well be a good idea whose time has come. If it had existed in 1914 or 1939, for example, it is very unlikely that World Wars One and Two would have broken out. Dr. Daffern feels therefore that the creation of such a body at this current time might facilitate peace and reconciliation work around the planet, especially between different cultures and religious traditions – given that reigning monarchs come from Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Shinto and other faith backgrounds. Since issuing his call for the creation of this Council, synchronistically the King of Saudi Arabia and the King of Spain cooperated on convening an extraordinary meeting in the United Nations Headquarters in New York focussing the attention of all world leaders on the urgent need to advance intercultural dialogue for peace. If only two Monarchs collaborating can achieve such results, imagine what would happen if all 32 monarch got together to focus on global problem solving !

In August 2008, whilst travelling through Greece, the Balkans and Venice on returning from the Middle East, at a time when major conflicts were underway in the Caucasus and Georgia, Dr. Daffern conceived of the idea of a EUROPEAN UNION MEDIATION SERVICE, namely, that a formal and mandatory mediation service should be built into the fabric of the European Union, by special Treaty, to deal with outbreaks of conflicts involving either European Union members, other European nations, or the neighbours thereof (including those neighbouring to adjacent seas and oceans, including the Mediterranean, Baltic, Caspian and Black Seas and the Atlantic Ocean. The idea was communicated to President Sarkozy and President Barroso, and is in the process of development as a political peacebuilding project with considerable practical potential in today’s troubled global climate. A book has also been published setting forth the idea in some detail. The essential argument is that Europe cannot afford future wars either internally or anywhere on its borders, including the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, the Atlantic, the Baltic and neighbouring surrounding waters. As Europe searches for a new identity in the wake of the financial instabilities affecting the continent it is hoped the new proposal will capture the imagination of not just European bureaucrats and officials but also the peoples of the continent as a whole.

Dr Daffern values especially the creative energy of like minded people exploring and deepening our common understanding and search for truth through networking and personal interaction and mutual inspiration. Among other new projects in hand for IIPSGP under his direction are: the establishment of an Interfaith Peace Museum, a Centre for Peace Policy Research, and the overall inspiration of creative artistic and scientific work which can help give birth to a peaceful world culture based on love and cooperation rather than militarism, fear and greed. Thomas has lectured and travelled extensively throughout Europe, Russia, Scandinavia, North America, India and the Middle East. Father to three daughters (Helen, Sophia and Shanti-Grace), he now lives (when not busy teaching elsewhere) in a secluded philosophical retreat centre in the United Kingdom. He is a broad minded philosopher, poet and Druid who loves all faiths and philosophies that seek to understand and manifest the common and universal Good. He is an expert in research techniques and methodologies on many aspects of history, religious studies, the history of world philosophy and transpersonal psychology. As an author he has published widely on such issues, and as a philosopher has long argued for a common underlying ethical wisdom-tradition behind all faith traditions, which can provide an essential underlying substratum on which to base a peaceful future for mankind. As a teacher and lecturer in schools and Universities he has long suggested that education systems and curricula around the world should include more in-depth study of the world’s spiritual and intellectual heritage, in which tolerance for the variety of religious and spiritual teachings of mankind can be developed, and for a multiple harmonisation including scientific, humanistic and philosophical approaches to reality, combined with metaphysical and spiritual approaches – with an underlying emphasis on peace education for global citizenship. In 2010 he helped inaugurate a brand new website based on his own development of a Periodic Table of the World’s Religious and Philosophical Traditions, which presents in easy graphic form, similarly to the Periodic Table of Elements, a way of conceptualising at once the diverse intellectual traditions that comprise human history and civilisation. Divided into 168 separate boxes, grouped into 15 categories, the Periodic Table has been made available as an educational and research tool for all those interested in divining the complexities of the human spiritual and philosophical search for ultimate truth. The new website incorporates in a nutshell the fruit of over 30 years of intense research into comparative philosophy and theology (see www.thewisdompages.co.uk)

PARTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE WRITINGS, PAPERS AND ADDRESSES BY DR. THOMAS C. DAFFERN IIPSGP Code Title and date of Ist publication Brief Description 1. Ladnun Declaration, India - December 1995 A proposal on linking global ecology, peace and spirituality by 500 educators assembled in India 2. 40 Questions Instead Of A Paper, 3rd International Conference on Peace and Nonviolence, Ladnun, 17-21 December 1995 40 key questions to a global educators in India 3. Preface To Robert Hart's “Beyond the Forest Garden” Autumn 1995 Preface to “Beyond the Forest Garden” 4. On Paradigms, Global Philosophy And Peace - St Petersburg Conference - August 1995 Philosophical paper presented in Russia 5. Towards A History Of The Interrelations Of Marxism And Esotericism Unique study of 18th and 19th century radical freemasonry and its influence 6. Feasibility Study On Peace Studies In The University Of London 2 Volume study produced at Institute of Education 7. 1989 "Towards The Semantic History Of The Federal Idea" Study of federalism in its historical context 8. 1990 "The Historical & Philosophical Connections Between The Modern Evolution Of Peace & World Order Studies And The Idea Of Federalism" Study first given at the Lothian Foundation Conference, Pembroke College, Oxford 9. The Role Of Universities In Peace And World Order Studies 1991 Paper presented to the United Nations Commission on Disarmament Education, New York, UN HQ 10. "Towards The Prevention Of Nuclear Omnicide: Philosophy As A Way Of Healing" Paper given to Conference In St Louis, USA on historical links between philosophy, peacemaking and healing 11. Alice Bailey Corpus In the Context Of Modern World History, 1988 Paper given at Theosophical History Centre, London, 1988 12. "Towards A Community Of Communities: Inter﷓Racial Harmony And The European Integration Process", 1989 Report prepared for International Alert, London , 1989 13. "On The Potential Of Psycho﷓History & Intellectual History To Peace & Conflict Studies", 1989 Paper To British International Studies Association 14. "On The Potential Contributions Of Philosophy And Peace And World Order Studies To The Prevention Of Omnicide" 1990 Paper to Philosophers For Peace Conference, Institute of Philosophy, Moscow 15. Eastern Europe In Transition: A Chance Or Threat To Peace, 1990 Paper for conference in Warsaw at Polish Institute of International Affairs 16. "Some Preconditions For Reaching Sustainable International Agreements On Environmental Goals: A Study Of The Contribution Of Intellectuals , 1990 Paper To University Of Strathclyde International Conference on "International Arrangement For Reaching Environmental Goals", Glasgow, Scotland 17. "A Global Survey Of Trend In Universities In Peace & World Order Studies", 1992 Paper to Research Seminar organised By International Association Of University Presidents & United Nations Disarmament Commission, UN HQ, New York. 18. "Inner Peace & Outer Peace", 1992 Part of "The Seekers Guide" 19. "The Heart Of Mind & The Quest For Peace & World Order: A Psycho-Etymological & Historical Approach" 1992 Paper to Symposium In Memoriam for the Late Dom Sylvester Houedard (1925-1992) Chisolme House, Scotland 20. Australian National Education Plan: a Critique, 1995 Review of education system of Australia from The New Era: Journal Of The World Education Fellowship 21. Gandhi and Religious Peacemakers in the 20th century: a Historical survey 1995 Published On 125th Anniversary Of Mahatma Gandhi's Birth, In India, by the Anglo-Indian Society 22. Towards The Intellectual, Educational And Cultural History Of The Search For Peace During The Post World War Two Era 1945-2001: The potential contribution of transpersonal theory to peace historiography and multifaith and multicultural conflict resolution and education Dr Daffern’s PhD thesis for the University of London, examined and passed in 2008. It comprises a contribution to both historical scholarship, philosophy of history and the specifics of conflict resolution dynamics – and it proposes above all a new sub-discipline of historical scholarship be formed, called Transpersonal History, as a tool to help solve the cultural, religious and ideological conflicts which have bedevilled the 20th century and much of the previous history of mankind. 23. Peacebuilding: a survey of approaches First published in Kurtz L, editor. Encyclopaedia of violence, peace and conflict. San Diego, CA: Academic Press; 1999. 24. American Indian Ethical Teachings: a survey First published in the Encyclopaedia of Applied Ethics, San Diego, USA, 1999, Second edition published 2010 edited by Dan Cohen 25. What is Sufism ? Written for a Sufi Journal in Iran; published in Macedonia 26. Symbolism in Education: The meaning of the 9 Muses A piece produced for the Triangles in Education Newsletter 27. Preface for To Create a Peaceful Media Environment, 2000 Produced for the United Nations Society of Writers publication of “Peace Times” editorials, from the offices of Lama Gangchen, Italy 28. Introduction to “A Solution for the Third Millennium” – proposal for a UN Spiritual Forum for World Peace, 2000 Written for a special commemorative volume presented to the Secretary General of the United Nations in New York on the proposal of Lama Gangchen to establish a spiritual forum at the UN 29. Paper for the Convocation of Wisdom Schools, London, May 23-25, 1999 A set of probing questions given to this conference establishing a network of world-wide wisdom schools and esoteric academies 30. Questions instead of a paper for the 5th International Conference on Peace and Nonviolence, Rajasthan, 2003 A further set of philosophical questions presented to a conference in Rajasthan at the Jain University, Ladnun 31. Education for Global Citizenship Article first published in World Encyclopedia of Peace, Korea 32. Declaration Towards a Peaceful World Through Philosophical Dialogue and Understanding, 1998 A Declaration presented to the World Congress of Philosophy, Boston, USA, on behalf of Philosophers for Peace 33. Religion and Literature, 2000 A survey of the complex and deep relationship between religion and literature, produced for the Ochrid Writers Symposium, Ochrid, Macedonia 34. Religious Diversity And Human Rights, a review, 1997 A review first published in Contemporary Religions 35. Gender Rituals and Female Initiation in Melanesia A Review first published in Contemporary Religions 36. The educational implications of September 11, 2001 A report on an educational conference at St Deiniols Library, Wales 87. Global Poetics and the search for Peace: 1945-2003 Based on a talk given to the Wilfred Owen Society, Shrewsbury, 2003 88. World Philosophy and Peacemaking: a survey, 2003 Published in the Encyclopaedia of Global Problems, by the Russian Philosophical Association, for the World Congress of Philosophy, Istanbul, 2003 89. Pagan Enlightenments (lecture given in Shrewsbury 2003) An original philosophical contribution arguing that "enlightenments" are an ongoing plural, polytheistic dynamic process rather than a monolatrous on/off 90. Love, Justice and Wisdom: A, Journal for Peace and Global Responsibility Number 1 – 9 (1993 – 2010) The Institute’s Journal, divided into 9 sections, one for each Muse, covering reports on all kinds of creative educational work aimed at peace and enlightenment – now in its 10th edition (forthcoming) 125. Towards a history of peace studies, peace research and peace education 1945-2001 A study of work in peace studies, and sister disciplines, in relation to peace and conflict resolution 183 Remaking the Mosaic with the Help of the Muses: Manilla 2004 A paper on education and peace given at the International Association of University President Conference in Manilla, Philippines, March 2004 185 Global Studies Encyclopaedia (On Global Studies and Philosophy) An article published in the Encyclopaedia of Global Studies, Moscow, 2003 192a. An Encyclopaedia of Transpersonal Thought and History 1945-2001 A comprehensive a-z of who’s who in transpersonal thought from 1945-2001 (appendix for doctoral thesis) 193 Romanticism, the search for global peace and the world situation: Towards a history of contested ideas A paper prepared for a seminar in 2004 in Wem on the history of the romantic movement and its potential contributions towards a philosophy of peace 194 Enlightenments: Towards A comparative analysis of the philosophies of enlightenment in Buddhist, Eastern and Western thought and the search for a holistic enlightenment suitable for the contemporary world A paper prepared for the University of London SOAS Symposium on Buddhist Ecology, February 2005, co-sponsored by Dongguk University, Korea 195a. Philosophical Interpretations of History, East and West Written for and submitted to the 2004 Straniak Philosophy Prize 198a. Naming the Ghosts in the Peace Landscape: “Recognition”, “Sophiaphobia” and “Philiaphobia” A paper given in Berlin in October 2005 to the European meeting of the Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies Network, proposing the identification of a new psycho-medical problematic underlying the contemporary manifestations of cultural and intellectual disintegration, namely “sophiaphobia” (fear of wisdom) and “philiaphobia” (fear of loving).

External links

• http://www.educationaid.net
• http://www.holisticchannel.org.uk
• http://www.thewisdompages.co.uk