Conference Opening: Overture Jai Uttal, Drew Dellinger, Jack Kornfield, Stanislav Grof, Christina Grof, Chungliang Al Huang, Lori

 
The conference begins in the grand eclectic tradition of the ITA with an opening ritual lead by Jack Kornfield, followed by the sacred and ecstatic devotional songs of Jai Uttal. Conference Program Coordinators, Stanislav and Christina Grof will welcome everyone and set the tone for the conference themes to come. Drew Dellinger will take us on a cosmic ride with his poetic vision of unquenchable passion and cosmic serenity followed by the delightfully interactive movement and music as lead by Chungliang Al Huang. The evening concludes in a true synthesis of East and West as Lorin Hollander and Chungliang Al Huang perform the Tao of Bach.

Special Feature: Drew Dellinger's Poetry Performance

His performance weaves cosmology, myth, and history together with ecology, justice, and activism. Dellinger's work, says Brian Swimme, is "in the tradition of Walt Whitman with his panoramic eroticism but it's amped up even higher with the electricity from hip hop and the unquenchable passion of a Martin Luther King Jr., and the cosmic serenity of an Albert Einstein."

Special Feature: Chungliang Al Huang's Quantum Soup - A Performance of Philosophical Entertainment

A lecture/performance based on Chungliang Al Huang's classic book, Quantum Soup: Fortune Cookies in Crisis. It offers his bite-size "Dim Sum" philosophical morsels and re-enacts enlightening, heart-warmning personal stories of some of the intellectual and spiritual giants who had been mentors and colleagues in Huang's life - honoring Alan Watts, Aldous Huxley, Gregory Bateson, Lama Anagarika Govinda, John Blofeld, and particulary, Joseph Campbell. Chungliang and Joseph closely collaborated for ten consecutive years, on Campbell's birthday week at Esalen Institute in one of the most honored seminars, "Mythbody to Live By".

Special Feature: Lorin Hollander & Chungliang Al Huang's The Tao of Bach

This performance is dedicated especially to Joseph Campbell as part of his worldwide Centennial Celebration. The Tao of Bach is an interactive experience led by Chungliang Al Huang and Lorin Hollander, a true synthesis of East and West. Lorin will perform works of Bach, while Chungliang dances and improvises with ritual Tai Ji movements.