About Us

The Association for Spiritual Integrity℠ (ASI), a 501(c)(3) charity, was founded in 2018 by Craig Holliday, Jac O’Keeffe and Rick Archer with input from many valuable friends, peers and students along the way. The ASI arose out of a deep need to address the numerous scandals and confusion involving spiritual teachers, their students and communities, over the years. The ASI aims to deepen the conversation and become an evolving force in education so that there is greater integrity and professionalism within the modern spiritual landscape.

The intention of the ASI is to grow and evolve as a community of spiritual leaders, teachers and guides, and prevent these unfortunate events by empowering teachers to become fully educated on the ethics and dynamics of working with students. The ASI team believes passionately that now is the time to fulfill the fundamental need for establishing education, transparency, responsibility and ethical standards within the spiritual guidance & teaching community. The ASI is not a judging, policing or mediating body. It seeks to create accountability and support leaders, teachers and guides professionally so that they may better serve their communities.

While Jac, Craig, and Rick are founding members of ASI, they are as equally accountable to the Honor Code of Ethics and Good Practice presented here as every other member. We all are “works in progress,” and will continue to explore the realm of ethics and spirituality and improve the Code. Nobody receives “special privileges” within ASI. We are in this together.

Rick Archer, Co-Founder, Special Advisor

Rick Archer created the website Buddha at the Gas Pump in the Fall of 2009 and has since interviewed over 470 “spiritually awakening” people, from the well-known to the unknown, and from a variety of backgrounds and traditions. He conducts a new interview each week. Rick learned Transcendental Meditation at the age of 18, was trained by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi as a TM teacher in 1970, and served in that capacity for 25 years, teaching hundreds of people, lecturing around the world, helping to train TM teachers, and serving at the international headquarters of the TM organization in Switzerland. He earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Vedic Studies from Maharishi International University. Rick is no longer associated with the TM organization, having become too eclectic and independent in his perspective to affiliate exclusively with any one organization. https://batgap.com

Christopher Key Chapple, Special Advisor: Education, Environment, Yoga

Christopher Key Chapple is Doshi Professor of Indic and Comparative Theology at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. A specialist in the religions of India, he has published more than 20 books, mostly on topics related to Yoga and religion and ecology. Chris trained in classical Yoga for more than a decade at Yoga Anand Ashram with Gurani Anjali Inti. He is founder and spiritual director of the Hill Street Center for Yoga and Meditation in Santa Monica, California. In 2002 he established the first of several certificate programs in the study and practice of Yoga at LMU’s Center for Religion and Spirituality and in 2013 launched the Master of Arts in Yoga Studies. LMU Faculty Webpage

Clyde W. Ford, Special Advisor: Social Justice

Clyde W. Ford is a software engineer, a chiropractor, and a psychotherapist. He’s also the award-winning author of twelve works of fiction and non-fiction, whose most recent book, THINK BLACK: A Memoir was published in September 2019 by Amistad/HarperCollins. His expertise lies in Body-Mind Healing, Racial Healing, African Mythology and Healing, and the effect of climate change on the marine environment he loves. www.clydeford.com

Philip Goldberg, Board Member

Philip Goldberg has been studying the world’s spiritual traditions for more than 50 years, as a practitioner, teacher, and writer. He was trained as a meditation teacher in 1970 by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and has been ordained as an Interfaith Minister and spiritual counselor. He has lectured and conducted workshops in a variety of venues in the US and India. A prolific writer, his articles have appeared in numerous publications, and he is the author or coauthor of 25 books, including Roadsigns on the Spiritual Path; the award-winning American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation, How Indian Spirituality Changed the West; The Life of Yogananda: The Story of the Yogi Who Became the First Modern Guru; and his most recent, Spiritual Practice for Crazy Times: Powerful Tools to Cultivate Calm, Clarity, and Courage. He also blogs on Elephant Journal and Spirituality & Health, co-hosts the Spirit Matters podcast, and leads American Veda Tours to India. www.PhilipGoldberg.com.

Jac O’Keeffe, Co-Founder, Board Member

Jac O’Keeffe is a spiritual teacher, leader and author of Born to Be Free and How to Be a Spiritual Rebel. She pushes the boundaries of the conditioned mind and encourages her students to engage their unique path with honesty, courage, and integrity. Students who are drawn to her are dedicated and passionate about their spiritual lives, and appreciate the no-nonsense approach. Jac’s work is driven by her capacity to envision the possible future of spirituality. She speaks about the required evolution of both teachers and methods to impart teachings to make spirituality relevant and applicable to regular life. Jac’s deep knowing that awakening is only the beginning of wisdom ensures the continued discovery of her own edges of evolution. She walks her talk. For more information about Jac visit jac-okeeffe.com or join one of her weekly Truth Serum Café sessions.