Angeles Arrien, treasured member of Spirituality & Practice's Council of Advisors, creator of our Elder Spirituality e-course Becoming a Wise Elder, and admired S&P award-winning author, changed worlds on April 24, 2014. We will miss her kindness, her wise counsel, and her full, open, clear, and strong heart.
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Angeles Arrien was a cultural anthropologist, educator, award-winning author, and consultant to numerous organizations and businesses inside and outside the medical field. She lectured nationally and internationally and conducted workshops bridging cultural anthropology, psychology, and mediation skills on issues such as conflict resolution and multi-cultural issues.

Dr. Arrien taught throughout California and co-designed and implemented the Social and Cultural Anthropology Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She was also core faculty with the End-of-Life Counselor Training (EOL) program that is sponsored by the Alaya Institute and connected with the Zen Hospice Project, both which are aimed at reorganizing our views of life and death.

She was the founder and president of the Angeles Arrien Foundation for Cross-Cultural Education and Research, which focuses on the preservation of indigenous wisdoms, environmental sustainability, multi-cultural bridging and effective intergenerational leadership demonstrated by both elders and youth. She was also a fellow at the Institute of Noetic Sciences where rigorous science is applied to the study of the conscious.

Dr. Arrien’s research and teaching focused on values and beliefs shared by humanity cross-culturally, and on the integration and application of multi-cultural wisdoms in contemporary settings. She taught universal components of leadership skills, communication, health care, and education. Her work reveals how indigenous wisdoms are relevant in our families, professional lives, and our relationship with the Earth.

Read For:

  • Transmission of the bounties of wisdom from indigenous peoples
  • Explorations of the interaction of mythology and creativity
  • Insights on discovering the meaning and gifts of different stages of life