In October last year, in the midst of writing the article about the history of the Course, I came across the first public article written about ACIM, ‘Simple, Dumb, Boring Truths and A Course in Miracles’, published in New Realities magazine in 1977 by Brian Van der Horst. In the course of my research, I came across Brian’s website – and I was intrigued by his far ranging interests and expertise in seemingly diverse areas: journalism, marketing, the New Age and consciousness, marine biology, NLP, Ken Wilber’s integral theory, and even being an ex-staff writer for Playboy!
It was also very interesting that he lived in Paris – it just so happened that I was due to be in Paris for a week that month. It was simply too much of a coincidence, and a wonderful opportunity to hear about some Course history first-hand, so I contacted him to see if he would like to do an interview.
What is fascinating for me – being a young man – is hearing about the New Age / spiritual / consciousness exploration movement that took place in the 70s and 80s, especially in the US and in Europe, with all of the things associated with it – the Beatles, Rock and Roll, the Harmonic Convergence, Hippies, etc. I can only imagine what an immense period of change it was – politically, socially, and culturally.
This interview took place at Brian’s home in the outskirts of Paris, in October 2010.
Brian’s bio:
Brian Van der Horst has been an executive coach and consultant since 1977, and an NLP trainer and psychotherapist since 1984 when he began to live and work in Europe, based in Paris where he founded The Integral Perspectives Group Repère, an international NLP training institute, with two French consultants, designing and teaching practitioner and master practitioner certification programs for more than 10,000 people world-wide. In 1994, he founded a coaching school, and has certified around 300 coaches.
A founding member and Chief Facilitator, Europe, for Ken Wilber’s Integral Institute. In the past few years, he has held positions such as Director, Program Development for Renaissance2, and Associate Director for Dirigeants and Partenaires, in Paris. Previously he was director of the Neuro-Linguistic Programming Center for Advanced Studies in San Francisco, an international NLP training institute, designing and teaching practitioner and master practitioner certification programs, and specializing in NLP applications for business, psycho-neuro-immunology, and intercultural communication, Before that he was a consultant with Stanford Research Institute in the Values and Lifestyles Program of the Strategic Environments Group.
Van der Horst has taught at John F. Kennedy University in Orinda, California; The University of California in Sonoma; the University of Paris XIV, and XIII; and Apple University, France; and has given seminars in NLP and intercultural communication for MBA students at the Sorbonne, the International Management Institute , in Paris, and at the Institut d’Administration des Enterprises in Aix-en-Provence. He has also given leadership, team-building, and long-term management training seminars in Moscow, Sao Paulo, Hong Kong, and Indonesia; along with 10 countries in the European Community.
He has worked in journalism as an editor for New Realities, Practical Psychology, Playboy, and The Village Voice. The author of the books, Folk Music in America, Rock Music, and The Outcome Strategy; and over 1,000 magazine and newspaper articles, he has also been an acquisitions editor for J.P. Tarcher Books, Houghton-Mifflin, and hosted a television program in San Francisco. He currently writes for Intelligence, a newsletter on neuro-computing, and Integral Leadership Review.
Before this time, Van der Horst was originally trained in marine biology, but shortly after attending Duke University, worked in the entertainment industry for 10 years, serving as Vice-President of the Cannon Group, and as Director of Advertising and Publicity for Atlantic Records. Van der Horst has been listed in Who’s Who in the World since 1994, and Who’s Who in America since 2007.
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On behalf of Spirit, I say, you are very welcome! Love, Ken - 
Ken -