Hosted by CIIS Public Programs
$12-$33
Drawing from decades of Sufi teaching, a deep relationship with nature, Emmanuel guides us beyond today’s ecological and cultural crises to the heart of the matter: our collective forgetfulness and the severing of our primordial bond with Earth. Following the entwined threads of grief and love, he explains how this moment of crisis holds within it the seeds of transformation and regrowth.
Join Emmanuel and CIIS faculty Laura Pustarfi for an inspiring conversation exploring how remembrance, prayer, praise, and intimacy with Earth can restore our sacred relationship with the living world. Sharing insights from his latest book, Remembering Earth, Emmanuel discusses ways to experience radical belonging through practices in six key areas—Breath, Heart, Step, Listening, Time, and Prayer. He invites you to move from observer to participant in the sacred web of life, offering an embodied spiritual ecology that moves beyond ideas into lived experience.
Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee is a Sufi teacher in the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya tradition. He is the founder, podcast host, and executive editor of Emergence Magazine, a Webby Award–winning and National Magazine Award–nominated publication exploring the intersections of ecology, culture, and spirituality. His books include Requiem, Invitation, and Celebration: A Collection of Seasonal Practices; Song of the Seasons: A Meditation on Cycles, Story, and Humility; and Remembering Earth: A Spiritual Ecology (Shambhala Publications, 2026). An Emmy- and Peabody-nominated filmmaker, he has directed over twenty documentary films, including Taste of the Land, The Last Ice Age, Aloha ʻĀina, The Nightingale’s Song, Earthrise, Sanctuaries of Silence, and Elemental. His films have been screened at leading festivals such as the New York Film Festival, Tribeca, SXSW, and Hot Docs; exhibited at the Smithsonian and the Barbican; and featured by PBS, National Geographic, The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic. Prior to his work in film and media, he performed with renowned jazz artists, releasing two acclaimed records—Previous Misconceptions and Borrowed Time. Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee leads retreats on Sufism and spiritual ecology worldwide. His work invites a deeper relationship with the living world through story, practice, and devotion.
