In this interactive session, Bradley Roth, Chair of MBBI-NY and teacher of “Mediation & Meditation,” and Renata Keller, dialogue facilitator and film director, will explore with participants the relationship between inner stillness and peacebuilding. The session will discuss Renata’s new film, “In the Fire of Dancing Stillness – Reflections with Vimala Thakar,” which is an homage to Indian thought leader, social activist and visionary Vimala Thakar, who emphasized that an inner revolution borne from the discovery of inner stillness is necessary to create durable peace.

Note: Registrants will receive a free link to the film 48 hours prior to the session, and we highly recommend viewing the full film prior to the start of the session, which will include moments of stillness, excerpts from Vimala’s books, film clips highlighting her perspective on life, and facilitated breakout sessions.

Speakers Bios:

Renata Keller is a filmmaker and dialogue facilitator based in Berlin and Switzerland. She has worked in visual arts for over thirty years and was until recently also the CEO and art director of the German philosophical quarterly magazine ‘evolve‘. She runs various Salons in Berlin and gives dialog seminars worldwide.

With a master’s degree in Applied Imagination at University of Arts in London, Renata went on to study documentary filmmaking. Renata’s lifelong pursuit of philosophical and spiritual questions, along with her interest in women’s development, led her to Gerda Lerner’s work and inspired the creation of Why Women Need to Climb Mountains (2016). In the film True Healing Arises in Freedom (2019), she accompanies the Biochemist Dr. Roger Kalbermatten in his research about the nature of healing plants and their relationship with us humans. A significant meeting with the Indian philosopher, mystic and social activist Vimala Thakar and questions about the changing values of our times has led her to work on the just-released film In the Fire of Dancing Stillness – Reflections with Vimala Thakar (2020).

Bradley Roth is an attorney, mediator, and co-founder and chair of Mediators Beyond Borders International – New York (MBBI-NY).  He teaches the course “Mediation & Meditation” at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, where he is an adjunct lecturer and from which he received a 2019-2020 Teaching Excellence Award.  Bradley is both a long-time meditator and mediator.  After graduating with honors from John Hopkins University with a degree in Philosophy, he traveled to India, and upon his return to the States dedicated himself to his spiritual interests while working in a series of jobs ranging from environmental activism to nonprofit management to law firm recruiting.  He then attended and graduated from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where he participated in the school’s Mediation Clinic.  He has mediated in civil and small-claims courts, community mediation centers, and at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). In addition to his leadership of MBBI-NY, he is an active participant in MBBI’s United Nations Multilateral Working Group (UNMWG) and its Internship Task Force.  Bradley is also a member of the Project for Integrating Spirituality, Law, and Politics (PISLAP).