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KFA Dialogue Facilitators

 

Susan Sunsong Clark   Susan Sunsong Clark has worked in schools for over twenty years. She studied early childhood education and has a BA in Psychology. Early on she worked in a Montessori pre-school and elementary school. She has worked the last several years in a Krishnamurti school as a residential counselor and in conducting courses for adolescents in self-inquiry and human development/life skills. She now co-facilitates workshops for educators internationally.
     
Rajesh Dalal   Rajesh Dalal is an innovative educator from India who was invited by Krishnamurti to travel and to be closely associated with him in India from 1975-86. This journey with Krishnamurti has deeply inspired and challenged Rajesh to live an authentic, creative life. For over three decades, Rajesh has committed himself to primarily one challenge -- transformation of consciousness through inviting, asking, nurturing and deepening fundamental questions of human existence. Rajesh directed an innovative school in the foothills of the Himalayas called "Nachiket Education Center". A German film maker made a documentary about the school which is posted here. He was also the director of the New Forum for Education in India. And he was head of the KFI Rajghat School for a period when the school was looking at significant transitions.

"These unresolved questions and problems crowd the mind, limiting its possibility to find peace, love and creative happiness. An uncompromising, existential process of facing 'whatever is' opens up a radically different way of living. Such an inquiry generates honesty, vitality and depth in one's daily life. In its absence, we dodge the truth and live a life of superficiality, fragmentation and illusion."
     
Eric Hassett   Eric Hassett

Bio coming soon.
     
Karen Hesli   Karen Hesli has worked in education for 40 years. After graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1970, she taught middle school and conducted human relations training for teachers during the desegregation of Minneapolis Public Schools throughout the 1970's. Inspired by the profound implications of J. Krishnamurti's writings and talks on the nature of mind and the art of learning, she visited the K schools in India and England, and moved to Ojai in 1980. Since then she has held various teaching and administrative positions at the Oak Grove School and is currently a board member of the school, a trustee of the KFA and a part-time teacher with middle school students.
     
Deborah Kerner   Deborah Kerner has taught numerous workshops on design in New York City, and has also taught a variety of artistic and design subjects at the Krishnamurti Rishi Valley School in India. Deborah continues to have a highly distinguished career as a book designer, with clients such as Random House, Penguin Putnam, St. Martin’s Press, Doubleday and HarperCollins. Deborah has also studied and participated in Native American shamanic spiritual practices with traditional elders from several Native American tribes. She is a practicing artist and poet. Besides being an active co-facilitator, Deborah has been instrumental in the development of the Krishnamurti Study-Intensive & Retreat Program for the last 7 years.
     
Gopal Krishnamurthy   Gopal Krishnamurthy is a PhD candidate in Education at the University of California Santa Barbara, and has MA's in Education and Philosophy. His research interests include teacher development, classroom observation and J.Krishnamurti's educational philosophy. He has been a teacher for 18 years in India, the UK and the USA. He has taught a variety of subjects including physics, mathematics, geography, environmental studies, philosophy, drama and Indian classical music, at High School, Middle School and College levels. Gopal has spent most of his life since the age of 4, as a student and teacher at the Krishnamurti schools.
     
Liz Otterbein   Liz Otterbein, R.N. studied media and communication at the University of Paris VIII and then studied Nonviolent Communication in France where she received a certification as an NVC trainer in 2001. She gave seminars on “Response to Assaultive Behavior” to public school teachers, social workers, and peace officers. She has been involved in Oak Grove School since 1986. As a parent first, then co-leading several trips to India with the senior class, and now works as one of the residential counselors at the school.
     
Jaap Sluijter   Jaap Sluijter is the current head of the KFA. He taught at Brockwood Park School in England from 1995-2000.

"The study of Krishnamurti’s work is the study of our own life, to observe our own minds in action and to become aware of the multitude of stimulus-response patterns in the network of our thoughts. His questions draw attention to the very perspective from which we view our lives. We are so used to having problems and to solving problems. Then Krishnamurti comes along and asks, “Is it possible to not make a problem out of anything?” A question like this brings in a totally new perspective, and has the possibility of turning the mind towards its own movement, creating the potential for a new direction."
     
Satish Telegar   Dr. Satish Telegar, PhD, is a full-time professor of ancient and classical-to-modern world philosophy and religious studies at Towson University. He has taught at the Krishnamurti Rishi Valley School in India and several prestigious universities in the USA. Satish also teaches special programs at Towson that include the teachings of J.Krishnamurti within the context of ancient and classical-to-modern world philosophical and spiritual traditions. He is a respected scholar of the Vedantic and Buddhist spiritual traditions and texts. He also directs and facilitates a Krishnamurti Dialogical Study Group at Towson University. Besides being an active co-facilitator, Satish has played a vital part in the development of the Krishnamurti Study-Intensive & Retreat Programs for the last 7 years.
     
Craig Walker   Craig Walker holds a BA in Humanistic Psychology from UC Santa Cruz, a MA in Psychology w/emphasis on college teaching from San Francisco State University, and a California Standard Secondary Teaching Credential. Craig’s interest in Krishnamurti’s teachings began when he first heard K speak in New Delhi, India, in 1960. Over the next 25 years he participated in many talks and small-group discussions with K. He taught high school psychology and history in Ojai, CA for 35 years; challenging his students to question their conditioning and explore the nature of consciousness. Craig served as Secretary of the Krishnamurti Foundation of America for three years beginning in 2006 and served on the KFA’s education committee, where he organized the new Oak Grove School Board and served as its first Chair. He currently works in the Krishnamurti Library and assists with the Teaching Academy.
     
Richard Waxberg   Richard Waxberg has been a college teacher for over 20 years. He has taught and developed a variety of courses for Parsons School of Design in New York City and at the Krishnamurti Rishi Valley School in India. He has also been involved in teacher training, and has designed special programs that help teachers to communicate with students from different cultural backgrounds. Richard is a practicing artist and novelist. He has studied and participated in Native American shamanic spiritual practices with traditional elders from several Native American tribes over a 10 year period. He has developed, directed and co-facilitated the Krishnamurti Study-Intensive & Retreat Programs for the last 7 years.