Bio For Peter Frank Womack Johannessen Osisi

Bio Of Peter Frank Womack Johannessen Osisi

Formal Education

Peter Frank Womack Johannessen Osisi, 39, is a mystic and a multiethnic man living within the Cuyahoga area of Northeast Ohio (on the Northern shore of Lake Erie);  with ancestry that includes Scandinavia, Africa, Seminoles, Israel, Ireland, and additionally.  Peter is born and raised in the Cleveland Heights area, with his younger brother and sister.  He attends a small, private Montessori school from kindergarten through the 8^th grade level, and a large, public high school.  He graduates from Hampton University with a BA degree in Economics, from Case Western Reserve University with an MBA degree focusing in Entrepreneurship, and from Georgetown University Law Centre with a JD in International Governance.  Peter also spends semesters studying at the Manchester Business School of the University of Manchester in England, and the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, South Africa (via the Howard University School of Law).

Spiritual Path

Peter is raised outside any specific religious congregation.  He is raised with a strong belief in God and a strong belief in the Golden Rule.  This approach enables Peter to build enduring friendships with people from many different religious, ethnic, and cultural communities;  and amidst these friendships, Peter conducts a considerable amount of diversity outreach throughout his early academic and professional careers.  Yet, when he graduates from law school, Peter is disillusioned with the conventional law of the United States, citing the 3/5^ths Compromise of the US Constitution as a dehumanising legal construct that establishes an effective 4-tier caste system within American society.  Yet, rather than living a life “wailing against the machine” as an antagonist, Peter strives to identify a framework of principles and rules in which he does belief and through which he can be a protagonist.

During that period, Peter begins to independently study comparative religion.  Through his relationships and studies, he understands the 5 predominant religions of humanity to be Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam;  so Peter ventures into reading and studying the Torah and Tanakh of Judaism, the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads of Hinduism, the Digha Nikaya and Dhammapada of Buddhism, the Gospels and New Testament of Christianity, and the Koran and Hadith of Islam.  Amidst the living experience of his studies, Peter also becomes increasingly versed within the activism of the InterFaith Movement.  He initially participates exclusively within international initiatives involving organisations such as the Parliament Of The World’s Religions and the International Association For Religious Freedom.  Eventually, he becomes involved with local interFaith outreach, particularly with InterAct Cleveland and the Heights InterFaith Council.

InterFaith Activism

Shortly after the convening of the Parliament Of The World’s Religions in Barcelona, España, Peter develops the concept of the InterFaith Settlement with friends throughout the international interFaith community.  The InterFaith Settlement is conceived as a planned community specifically predicated upon diversity and pluralism, with environmental harmony, socioeconomic balance, and a university of higher education based upon these same principles.  Along with additional endeavours, Peter begins cultivating interest within the InterFaith Settlement, locally within the Cuyahoga area, and internationally.

1 year after attending the Parliament Of The World’s Religions in Melbourne, Australia, Peter begins to work with the Universal InterFaith Action Network (WเเϕअAنא 天).  WเเϕअAنא 天 is an intergalactic, alinear, chaordic, egalitarian network of beings who practise Ahimsic Civil Transcendent Golden Rule Compassion (ACTs of GRaCe);  the objective of WเเϕअAنא 天 is to perform Tikkun Olam (healing of the Universe) and alleviate the Dukka (suffering) of all beings.  There is difficulty in tangibly describing WเเϕअAنא 天 as its nature exists beyond names, numbers, and the perception of time and space.  1 tangible comparison that is utilised to describe WเเϕअAنא 天 is the Underground Railroad within the United States;  and it involves everyone, where each individual is simultaneously a slave, a conductor, and a patty roller, on the path towards liberation.

3 years after the Melbourne Parliament, Peter initiates Asona Ashram (अΣO אن冬宮).  अΣO אن冬宮 is offered as a gathering place for families and friends from our many different religious, ethnic, and cultural communities.  अΣO אن冬宮 is inspired by the examples of Avraham, the Benevolent Samaritan, Baha’is, the Sadhu, and the examples of hospitality from our respective traditions.  अΣO אن冬宮 is guided by the Welt Ethos, the Charter For Compassion, the United Religions Initiative Charter, the Earth Charter, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  अΣO אن冬宮 is egalitarian and decisions are made through general consensus.  And अΣO אن冬宮 is dedicated towards serving our local community.

During the past decade, Peter essentially works as a freelance social entrepreneur, enhancing the communication, relationships, and cooperation amongst the activists and organisations within our InterFaith Movement, as well as within additional movements.  Peter works towards the transformation and transcendence of humanity where Love and Peace are abundant within the systems and institutions of our global, Universal community.  In this effort, Peter is involved with an international initiative, the ACE Plan, to actualise a comprehensive set of objectives by the centennial celebration of the United Nations and the 150^th commemoration of the Parliament Of The World’s Religions.  Peter is also involved in an initiative to establish Asona University, designed to prepare students to become Universal citizens.

Locally, Peter is involved with:  Heights InterFaith Council, InterAct Cleveland, Arts Of Thanksgiving, Cleveland Council On World Affairs Young Professionals Network, Akron Area InterFaith Council, Out Of Many 1, Interreligious Peace Makers, Amazing Faiths Project, Occupy Cleveland, Cleveland Ecumenical Institute Of Religious Studies, uNi Village, Communities In Conversation, and Abraham Peace Chant.

Regionally and internationally, Peter is involved with:  Charter For Compassion, North American InterFaith Network, Parliament Of The World’s Religions, Elijah InterFaith Institute, URI Global Youth Forum, International Association For Religious Freedom, InterFaith Youth Core, CPWR Online Forum, Multiethnic Multiplex, and InterFaith Film Festival.

Peter is involved with the Multiethnic Movement (through the Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference), the Mundialist Movement, and the Native Movement (through the Cleveland Chapter of the American Indian Movement).  Peter also has previous professional experience working for Key Bank and Amnesty International.  And he is a member of the Cleveland Heights Area Timebank.

Project Profiles

InterFaith Film Festival:  During the Salt Lake City NAIN Connect, participants (lead by Ralph Singh and Bettina Gray) discuss the importance of story-telling as a means for conveying an individual’s spiritual beliefs, practices, and community.  From this, the idea to convene an interFaith film festival emerges.  The objective is for individuals to share spiritual and religious stories that inform and inspire.  Peter works with a small number of friends, from NAIN and additional networks, to organise a YouTube channel that features these stories.  The group is able to secure backing and participation from organisations that include the World Peace Prayer Society, the International Movement For A Just World, the Pluralism Project, the United Religions Initiative, and additionally.  Peter works with organisers to establish the ground rules for contributions, the screening process, as well as the presentation materials to accompany each contribution.  Over 70 contributions are provided from dozens of nations throughout the Earth, from over a dozen different religious traditions, and including a number of different languages.  Efforts are currently being made to convene another iteration of this InterFaith Film Festival.

Out Of Many 1:  Within the Cuyahoga area, interFaith organisations including InterAct Cleveland and the Interreligious Peace Makers coordinate an event to acknowledge the 10^th year after the attacks of 9/11.  Peter is invited to join this initiative, and in addition to participating in the general coordinating council, Peter is provided with the responsibility of establishing a promotional video to build interest and participation within this event.  With a dedicated sub-committee, Peter establishes a theme and framework for the video:  to have each participating religious community share a teaching from its tradition regarding the importance of “loving the stranger.”  Each segment is filmed at respective Houses of Worship, with the concluding segment including members of each community assembled together, in front of the Cleveland skyline, reciting the phrase of unity:  “Out Of Many 1.”  The actual event includes 100’s of members of the Cuyahoga community, and the relationships built during this process continue to bolster interFaith cooperation within the Cuyahoga area, including the annual Arts Of Thanksgiving event and the annual 1 World Festival.

Civil Transcendence And A Quasi-Sadhu

Also within the years after graduating from law school, Peter engages within a practice of civil transcendence (similar to civil disobedience).  Consequently, he is incarcerated, physically abused, and labelled with a psychiatric disorder.  And within that proceeding decade +, this psychiatric diagnosis is utilised as a premise for additional detainments, torture, and further subjugation.  Yet, through his spiritual development, rather than developing hate towards his persecutors, Peter learns to find these “mandatory retreats” as opportunities to practise and share his loving kindness with the persecutors, and to genuinely work towards alleviating the suffering of the persecutors.  He recognises that within some traditions, this is part of the gift of speaking with Prophetic voice.  Paradoxically, amidst this political persecution, Peter receives and accepts public assistance from the US government.  Along with contributions from family and friends, this provides for his livelihood.  It is through this arrangement that Peter is able to engage within “avant-garde” interFaith projects that are less supported by conventional institutions.  And whilst he is devoted to a life of modest means, Peter is working towards resource-arrangements that are increasingly direct and honest, which also include innovative methodologies of economic cooperation.

                                                                                                                              

Peter continues in his religious studies of Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, as well as within the Baha’i Faith.  He refers to his religious practice as the धर्म עולם תקן (Dharma Of Tikkun Olam:  “The Truth/Belief/Path Of Healing The Universe”), and he proclaims himself to be a Universal Mystic:  recognising the Truth within each tradition and loving everyone.

Personal Interests

Peter enjoys football and sport, World folk and devotional music, international cuisine, nature, Theological conversation, word and board games, poetry and prose, and sharing company with family and friends.