Netanel Miles-Yepez

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Biographical Information

"NETANEL MILES-YEPEZ was born in Battle Creek, Michigan in 1972, and is descended from a Sefardi family of crypto-Jews (anusim, "forced" converts) tracing their ancestry from Mexico all the way back to medieval Portugal and Spain. He studied History of Religions at Michigan State University and Contemplative Religion at Naropa University, specializing in non-dual philosophies and comparative religion.

"Unsatisfied with academics alone, Netanel moved to Boulder, Colorado to become re-acquainted with his family's lost tradition of Judaism and to study Hasidism and Sufism under Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi's personal guidance. Today, he is the co-founder of the Desert Fellowship of the Message with Reb Zalman and an ordained murshid ("guide") of the Maimuniyya tariqat, fusing the Sufi and Hasidic principles of spirituality espoused by Rabbi Avraham Maimuni in 13th century Egypt with the teachings of the Ba'al Shem Tov and Hazrat Inayat Khan.

"Netanel is currently the Executive Director of the Reb Zalman Legacy Project, an advisor to the Spiritual Paths Foundation and the Spiritual Paths Institute, and the author and editor of three books: The Way of Contemplation and Meditation (Spiritual Paths Publishing, 2002), Wrapped in a Holy Flame: Teachings and Tales of the Hasidic Masters (Jossey-Bass, 2003), and The Common Heart: An Experience of Interreligious Dialogue (Lantern Books, 2006).

"He lives with his wife, Jennifer, in Boulder, Colorado."

Affiliations

• Advisory Board, Universal Awakening