Legendary Humanitarian Dick Gregory at the MIND BODY SPIRIT EXPO, April 14.

DICK GREGORY: A MAN OF INTEGRITY

© By Miro Lipinski

Comedian, social commentator, civil rights activist, humanitarian, natural health food advocate. Dick Gregory is all these things, and more. One deep thread running through his life has been integrity, the integrity that demands a person stand up for his beliefs despite whatever personal pain, suffering or inconvenience will result. Dick Gregory doesn’t back down from challenges or stating, with conviction, wisdom and a dose of humor, the truth about society, politics or the state of our health, individually or as a country.

Dick Gregory was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on October 12, 1932. (Yes, he is nearing eighty now.) A student at the Southern Illinois University of Carbondale with a track scholarship, he was drafted into the Army in 1954, which is where he began to perform comedy. After leaving the Army, he went back briefly to college, but the pull to make use of his comedic talent proved compelling, dictating a move to Chicago, where he began to perform in small clubs for chiefly black audiences. When he replaced “Professor” Irwin Corey at the famed Playboy Club in Chicago, his trajectory increased dramatically.

Gregory’s satirical comedy, coated with an ironic detached vibe, touched both the funny bone and the social consciousness of his audiences. A sample: “Segregation is not all bad. Have you ever heard of a collision where the people in the back of the bus got hurt?”…. Television appearances, such as on the popular Jack Parr Show, and then the recording of comedy albums, made Gregory a household name, at least in the hipper houses of America. In 1963 he published a controversial autobiography, Nigger, brazenly attacking in the title the derogatory appellation with pointed purpose. In his forward to his bestselling book, he explained to his mother: “Whenever you hear the word ‘Nigger’ you’ll know they’re advertising my book.’”

Aside from his pointed comedy, Gregory also participated in marches for civil rights, against the Vietnam War and world hunger. He ran for mayor of Chicago in 1966, and then in 1968 was the Freedom and Peace Party’s candidate for President of the United States. A confirmed pacifist, Gregory also realized the importance of natural health and respect for animal life, and became a vegetarian.

Dick Gregory’s concern for what foods and drinks we put into our bodies and how we damage our system with smoking and drugs is just as passionate and real as his concern for the injustices in society. In 1987, he developed a successful powdered diet mix, the Slim-Safe Bahamian Diet, that is still being used today. (Before his conversion to natural health and vegetarianism, Gregory was grossly overweight, smoked 4 packs of cigarettes a day, a drank a 5th of a Scotch daily. Afterward, he went down to a slim 135 pounds.)

In 2000, Gregory announced that he had lymphoma, but was able to become 100% cancer-free after a program of diet, vitamins, exercise, and, as his website states, “modern devices not even known to the public.”

These days, Gregory continues to be an advocate for healthy food and healthy bodies, aware that the medical community “makes money on the treatment, not the cure.” He addresses corporate America’s involvement in what passes for natural and organic food and bottled “pure” water, and speaks of the need to re-orient young people as to the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and healthy eating habits.

The Mind Body Spirit Expo, taking place at the New Jersey Convention Center in Edison from April 13-15th, is honored to have Dick Gregory as a special guest speaker on Saturday, April 14th; starting time 1pm. Tickets available now online at www.mindbodyspiritexpo.com or by phone 215-627-0102. Tickets will also be available during expo hours.

Don Miguel Ruiz in a Special Appearance at the MIND BODY SPIRIT EXPO, April 15th

DON MIGUEL RUIZ AND HIS AGREEMENTS

© by Miro Lipinski

It is a rare person that can influence not only his generation, but the generations that follow. Since the publication of his The Four Agreements in 1997, Don Miguel Ruiz has established himself as one of the iconic figures in what I like to call the human potential movement, and what others may term, “New Age.” Don Miguel’s work is not of this age or another age, however, but of both—and beyond. It is timeless, which renders it a natural masterpiece. Apparently many people agree, as The Four Agreements is continually on the “New Age” bestseller lists, even now, 15 years after its first publication, with no sign of its diminution in such coveted standings.

Born in 1952, Don Miguel was raised in a family of healers but gravitated to the secular world by going to medical school to become a surgeon. A car accident made him reevaluate his life and secular goals, and, returning to his roots, he took on the work of a shaman. But there were more changes coming, as Don Miguel relinquished the healing facet of his work. “I didn’t like it because of the way that people see me as a healer,” Don Miguel related to New Visions in 2006. “They want miracles and I really don’t like to work for miracles. What I want is for them to see that there are different ways to live life. There is a way to make life so easy so that anybody can enjoy life, because this is the point, to enjoy life, to be happy.”

He assembled his teachings into The Four Agreements, which was published by Amber-Allen, a small independent press established in 1990. The rest is bibliographic history, with the book achieving both widespread acclaim and amazing success. It couldn’t have happened to a better book. The Four Agreements is captivatingly clear and calm, relating truths in a straightforward manner. It is a book of depth, but no one should feel out of his or her depth in reading it and accessing its wisdom. All is housed within a snuggly and wonderfully designed book of 150 pages, making it a perfect companion (slippable into a backpack or large pocketbook) to take on travels far or near, even if just to a neighborhood cafe.

In 2002, Don Miguel suffered a massive heart attack, and was in a coma for 9 weeks. Miraculously he recovered, but his heart retained only 60% of its function, and he would spend years in pain. His work schedule had to be reduced to accommodate this new reality. Meanwhile, he waited and waited for the availability of a heart for a transplant. That day came on October 9th, 2010. “The new heart brought me back to life and released the chronic pain that I’ve had for 8.5 years,” stated Don Miguel in a recent interview with New Visions. “I feel completely normal, strong and in good shape.”

As can be confirmed by Don Miguel’s October 2011 Mind Body Spirit Expo appearance at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, the master teacher and thinker is back, in good cheer and equally good health, exuding warmth and love for all. If you have been touched by this man’s words and thoughts, you should see him in person. If “the agreements” are new to you, seeing and listening to him could be a wonderful, transforming introduction.

And he brings along, not only the wisdom behind the Four Agreements, but the awakening to an additional Fifth Agreement, based on the spiritual and intellectual developments that were gathered into a new book, The Fifth Agreement, written with his son, Don Jose, before Don Miguel had his heart transplant.

As Don Miguel says: “The time has come for the Fifth Agreement—which is ‘be skeptical.’ Do not believe me, do not believe anyone else, and most importantly do not believe yourself—but learn to listen. The truth is always present beyond all our beliefs and distortions, ready to be heard, ready to be experienced.”

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Don Miguel Ruiz will make a special appearance at the MIND BODY SPIRIT EXPO, taking place at the New Jersey Convention Center in Edison, NJ, on April 15th. There will be a special reception with Don Miguel starting at 12:30pm, with his event beginning at 2pm. Tickets available by phone: 215-627-0102 or online at MindBodySpiritExpo.com. Tickets will also be available at during the expo, April 13-15th.

Sylvia Browne at the Mind Body Spirit Expo, April 14!

The World’s Most Renowned Psychic and Spiritual Teacher Sylvia Browne is coming to the Mind Body Spirit Expo as a part of her 50th Anniversary Tour! Come witness first hand the teachings and spiritual insight from one of the world's most renowned psychics!

Sylvia Browne is a #1 New York Times best-selling author, with 27 of her books landing on the Times' Bestseller List, and a world-famous psychic medium who has appeared regularly on The Montel Williams Show and Larry King Live, as well as making countless other media and public appearances. With her down-to-earth personality and great sense of humor, Sylvia thrills audiences on her lecture tours and still has time to write numerous immensely popular books. She has a master’s degree in English literature and plans to write as long as she can hold a pen. Sylvia is the president of the Sylvia Browne Corporation; and is the founder of her church, the Society of Novus Spiritus, located in Campbell, California.

Millions of people have witnessed Sylvia Browne’s incredible psychic powers on TV shows such as Montel, Larry King Live, Entertainment Tonight, and Unsolved Mysteries; and she has been profiled in Cosmopolitan, People magazine, and other national media. Her on-target psychic readings have helped police solve crimes, and she astounds audiences wherever she appears. Sylvia is the author of Adventures of a Psychic; The Other Side and Back; God, Creation, and Tools for Life; Soul’s Perfection; and Life on the Other Side, among other books.

Tickets are available now online at www.mindbodyspiritexpo.com or by phone: 215-627-0102.

Mind Body Spirit Expo, April 13-15 in Edision, NJ

Sylvia Browne and Don Miguel Ruiz headline the Spring MIND BODY SPIRIT EXPO at the NJ Convention Center in Edison, NJ, April 13-15. Other guest speakers include Dick Gregory, John Major Jenkins and Charles Virtue.



Tickets are now available online at www.mindbodyspiritexpo.com or by phone: 215-627-0102.