Spirituality Week Festival Opening Talks

Spirituality Week is a city-wide festival to nourish the spiritual needs of New Yorkers and its visitors. The Festival Opening Talks will be limited to 140 attendees and will be immediately followed by a free Museum-wide Community Celebration for up to 3,000 people (RSVP here).

The Opening Talks will include remarks by the Spirituality Week organizers as well as luminaries who will explore the importance of spiritual communities in our modern era.

Speakers include:

Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei: Guiding Teacher, New York Zen Center

Jason Harris: Co-Founder and CEO of Mekanism, Author of The Soulful Art of Persuasion

Attendance is free and on a first-come first-served basis.

Schedule of Events:

4:00 PM: Doors Open

4:30 PM: Welcome by Festival Organizers

5:00–6:00 PM: Fireside Talks with Koshin Sensei and Jason Harris

6:00–10:00 PM: Exit to Community Celebration / K2 in the Rubin Museum’s lounge

Visit spiritualityweek.org and follow us on Twitter & Instagram. #spiritualitywk

About the Speakers

Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei, MFA, LMSW, DMIN, is an author, Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, and ACPE Certified Chaplaincy Educator. After more than a decade as a chaplain and psychotherapist, Koshin co-founded the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. The non-profit center offers contemplative approaches to care through education, carepartnering, and Zen practice. Today, New York Zen Center’s methodologies are internationally recognized—and have touched the lives of tens of thousands of individuals. Koshin is a renowned thought leader in contemplative care; his work has been featured in the New York Times, PBS, CBS Sunday Morning and other media outlets. He is the author of Untangled: Walking the Eightfold Path to Clarity, Courage, and Compassion (Balance/Hachette, 2022); Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up (Wisdom Publications, 2019); and the co-editor of Awake at the Bedside: Contemplative Teachings on Palliative and End of Life Care (Wisdom Publications, 2016). Koshin began his formal Zen training in 1987, and he is a recognized Soto Zen Teacher by the American Zen Teachers Association, White Plum Asanga, and Soto Zen Buddhist Association. He serves on the Board of Directors at the Soto Zen Buddhist Association, New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, and Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. He has completed six years of training at the Jungian Psychoanalytic Association as well as clinical contemplative training at both Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center and New York Presbyterian Medical Center. He is an ACPE Certified Educator, chaplain, and Jungian psychotherapist.

Jason Harris is the co-founder & CEO of award-winning creative advertising agency Mekanism, co-founder of the Creative Alliance, author of national bestseller The Soulful Art of Persuasion and host of The Soul & Science Podcast. Harris works closely with brands through a blend of creativity and performance, calling this approach Soul + Science. Iconic brands include Peloton, Ben & Jerry’s, Jose Cuervo, Alaska Airlines, Charles Schwab and OkCupid, among others.

Under his leadership, Mekanism was named Independent Agency of the Year by The Drum, and ranked by the Effie Index as a top 10 Most Effective Independent Agency in the United States. Mekanism has also been named to Ad Age’s Agency A-list and twice to their Best Places to Work.

Harris was named 2021 CEO of the Year by The Drum, a recipient of the 4A’s 100 People Who Make Advertising Great, and a 2020 Campaign US 40 Over 40 honoree for his noteworthy contributions to the advertising & marketing industry. His methods are studied in cases at Harvard Business School.

Lead support for the Rubin Museum is provided by the Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, Bob and Lois Baylis, Barbara Bowman, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, Noah P. Dorsky, Fred Eychaner, Christopher J. Fussner, Agnes Gund, The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Global, Henry Luce Foundation, The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Matt and Ann Nimetz, Rasika and Girish Reddy, Shelley and Donald Rubin, Tiger Baron Foundation, and Ellen Bayard Weedon Foundation.

General operating support of the Rubin Museum of Art is provided by Daphne Hoch Cunningham and John Cunningham, Anne E. Delaney, Dalio Philanthropies, the Estate of Lisina M. Hoch, Andres Mata, Dan Gimbel of NEPC, Inc., The Prospect Hill Foundation, Basha Rubin and Scott Grinsell, Linda Schejola, Eileen Caulfield Schwab, Tong-Tong Zhu and Jianing Liu, with generous donations from the Museum’s Board of Trustees, individual donors and members, and corporate and foundation supporters.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

The Rubin Museum’s programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of Governor Kathy Hochcul and the New York State Legislature.