Robert A. Jonas, Ed.D. (Harvard University), M.T.S. (Weston Jesuit School of Theology) is the author of the recently published, My Dear Far-Nearness: The Holy Trinity as Spiritual Practice (Orbis), The Essential Henri Nouwen (Shambhala), as well as Henri Nouwen (Orbis) and Rebecca (Crossroad). Dr. Jonas is the director of The Empty Bell, a contemplative sanctuary in Northampton, MA, whose website (www.emptybell.org ) is an extraordinary resource for contemplative Christians and for Buddhist-Christian dialogue. Trained as a psychotherapist, Dr. Jonas is now a retreat leader, environmental activist, author, and musician. A Christian in the Carmelite tradition, he also received spiritual formation with Buddhist teachers from the Vipassana, Zen, and Tibetan traditions.

Dr. Jonas is a past Board member of the Henri Nouwen Society and a member of the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies and the Eckhart Society. He is an emeritus Board Chair of the Kestrel Land Trust in Amherst, MA, and a participant in land protection actions with the Hilltown Land Trust and the Franklin Land Trust—all active in western MA.

Dr. Jonas is a student of Sui-Zen, the Japanese bamboo flute (shakuhachi). He has played in many secular and spiritual contexts and has played at three Buddhist-Christian retreats with the Dalai Lama, including a performance under the Bodhi Tree in India. His CDs are “New Life from Ruins, “Many Paths, One Joy,” and “Blowing Bamboo,” (which is available on iTunes, Spotify, and Pandora).

Jonas’s videography collection includes offerings on spirituality, environmental activism, visual artistry, and music at: youtube.com/user/honkyoku.  He can be reached at jonas@emptybell.org