Michael Bernard Beckwith

Michael Bernard Beckwith is the founder of Agape International Spiritual Center, the Agape University of Transformational Studies and Leadership, Association for Global New Thought, and A Season for Nonviolence.

In 1986 Dr. Beckwith founded the Agape International Spiritual Center, located at the Los Angeles headquarters of the Agape Universal Movement, a trans-religious community that today counts a membership of thousands locally, and hundreds of thousands of worldwide friends, as well as international affiliates.

Agape’s local outreach programs feed the homeless, serve incarcerated individuals and their families, partner with community service organizations active in children’s schools and homes for youth at risk, support the arts, and advocate the preservation of our planet’s environmental resources. Agape’s global humanitarian programs build schools, orphanages, hospitals, clinics, and libraries. In partnership with the Association for Global New Thought, Agape contributes to the Eco Village of the Sarvodaya Foundation in Sri Lanka, along with supporting its home for unwed mothers.

As co-founder and president of the Association for Global New Thought, Beckwith stands at the forefront with other visionaries in the fields of spirituality, education, sociology, economics, science, international futurists -- those who dare to call an end to human suffering. AGNT is the convening organization of A Season for Nonviolence, a grassroots campaign located in more than 100 U.S. cities in 40 states and10 countries. Its inauguration in 1998 at the United Nations marked the first commemoration of the 50th and 30th memorial anniversaries of Mohandas K. Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., respectively. Throughout its 64-day campaign across the nation, over 300 events and programs are facilitated. About its vital work the Dalai Lama has said, “Both Gandhi and Martin Luther King are inspiring examples of the power and truth of nonviolence and the actions that arise from them. They not only embraced nonviolence in principle, but implemented it in action. This Season for Nonviolence is a very good tool to remind us of their witness, but also of the large unfinished work we have together in transforming awareness on our planet.”

The Association for Global New Thought exists for the purpose of galvanizing organizations and individuals to complete the unfinished mission to which the Dalai Lama refers. As its voice, Dr. Beckwith guides activities such as AGNT’s Awakened World conference, which brings together innovators at their creative edge in guiding humanity to its highest potential. Every other year the Synthesis Dialogues are held with His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet and impresarios of peace who create networks of people engaged in transformative world leadership.

Beckwith’s renown as a harbinger of the world’s quest for peace has drawn into his visionary orbit other leading catalysts of change including Dr. C.T. Vivian, Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne of Sri Lanka, Dr. Robert Thurman, professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist studies at Columbia University, and Dr. Robert Muller, former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Dr. Beckwith is a sought-after meditation teacher and facilitates conferences and seminars on the Life Visioning Process (LVP), which he originated. He is the author of the award-winning Spiritual Liberation: Fulfilling Your Soul’s Potential, The Answer Is You, Inspirations of the Heart, Forty Day Mind Fast-Soul Feast, and A Manifesto of Peace. He has appeared on The Oprah Show and Larry King Live and in his own PBS Special, The Answer Is You. A featured teacher in the book and film The Secret, he also appears in the following films: The Moses Code, Pass It On, and Living Luminaries, as well as in a documentary of his own life, Spiritual Liberation.