Fiery Muse Dena Merriam

Dena Merriam is an extraordinary example of an inspiring woman and of what a phenomenal impact one individual can make. She is the founder of the Global Peace Initiative of Women – an organization that has become a major force on the international scene. Since its inception in 2002 it has brought women from warring factions – such as Israelis and Palestinians and Iraqis and Americans – together to dialogue; it has founded youth programs in conflict areas, and it has organized summits aimed at finding creative solutions to our present crisis with spiritual leaders around the globe. 

You might think that an ordinary person like you or me could never accomplish anything of this magnitude. But in 1998 Dena was indeed someone very much like most of us, a mother and career woman working in a public relations firm in New York. She certainly had no forewarning that she was about to be thrust on the world stage, but in that year she was – through a series of seeming coincidences – assigned to help organize the Millennium Summit of Religious Leaders that would be held at the UN in 2000. 

As her work on the Summit progressed Dena found herself wondering why so few women religious leaders were being invited. When the question was raised at meetings with various religious groups, she was often told “We don’t have any” or even “Don’t go there”. While this troubled her, there was little she – as a fairly small cog in the great UN wheel – could do. Eventually this was to change!

The catalyst for this transformation occurred during the opening ceremonies of the Summit. One of the handful of women delegates was a Buddhist nun from Thailand. This woman was already seated in the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations headquarters in New York City when a Hindu leader from an order of monks who are forbidden to look upon women started to enter. Noticing that the nun was in his line of sight, the monk and his entourage refused to proceed. During the turmoil that ensued, Dena was given the unenviable task of asking the nun to move.

This, she says, was a pivotal moment. Although working on the Summit and dealing with the world of institutional religion had made her increasingly aware of the problem of women being underrepresented and even unaccepted, she says “I was shocked that it would happen in Hinduism”. A long-time meditator and student of Yogananda’s teachings, she adds, “I had always thought of Hinduism as much more individual and less institutional…. Later in the day, when I apologized to Mae Chee Sansanee Sthirasuta, (the nun) from the Thai delegation, I bonded with her on a very deep level.”

Later during the summit Dena organized a breakfast where the women participants could air their concerns about being so underrepresented. At the breakfast, it was suggested that a special meeting focusing on women be convened in the future. Enthused, Dena had the idea presented to Kofi Annan and, with his blessing, began to organize it. As a result, in 2002 a summit of 500 women from 75 countries was held at the United Nations European headquarters, the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

Out of this historic meeting the Global Peace Initiative of Women of Religious and Spiritual Leaders was born. Soon, however, the name was shortened to its present form to reflect the importance of not just women spiritual leaders but, in fact, all spiritual women to the process of global peace.

And Dena stresses that the word “peace” here is very broadly defined. We can’t have peace, she says, unless we also address critical issues like climate change and the development of sustainable economies. “The issues,” she stresses, “are all interconnected.”

Dena goes on to suggest that it is the ability to see this interconnectedness – of not just of issues but of everything in the universe – that women bring to the table. Interrelationship, integration, inclusiveness, and co-operation are, she points out, values that come to us from the feminine side of our being, and it is these values that will lead to creative solutions to the crises that face us. The values linked to the desire to divide and conquer – long associated with the masculine side of our being – will simply no longer do.

Dena is quick to emphasize that she is not talking about women versus men here, but about aspects of our inner selves. Men, she says, are continually encouraged to take part in GPIW events, and the organization’s emphasis is increasingly less on women per se and more on these feminine values – values that both genders have access to. 

It is not, she says, that our inner masculine nature is less important than the feminine, but that the historic lack of emphasis and understanding of the feminine has left us so out of balance – and, consequently, without adequate access to feminine values like cooperation and co-creation that are so desperately needed at this time. 

One of the keys to this re-balancing is the recognition of the Divine Feminine – a force seen in a number of spiritual traditions as the cosmic trigger for the evolution and transformation of consciousness. And, Dena is emphatic, nothing less than a transformation of consciousness is required. The problems the world faces today cannot be solved by traditional thinking. She reminds us that in many traditions the Divine Feminine is seen as the creative force of the universe. Bringing this cosmic force back into balance and unleashing its creative energy is what is needed in the search for global solutions. 

Dena’s Advice on Creativity

 The projects Dena Merriam has been involved in reveal her to be an exceptionally creative thinker – an individual who is continually coming up with innovative approaches to age-old problems. But Dena is also a creative person in the traditional sense. She is the author of five art books on contemporary sculptors that also include the work of her father, world-renowned sculpture photographer David Finn. 

Not surprisingly, Dena sees the Divine Feminine as being as essential to her creative process as it is to the transformation of consciousness. “One of the ways to help bring about this major shift in consciousness is to begin to connect with the natural world… When I was in India getting ready for the 2008 conference in Jaipur, Making Way for the Feminine: For the Benefit of the World Community, I was looking for inspiration, and I began to connect more with the natural world. I spent time sitting by the Ganga. For millennia people have meditated there, and it has been a source of inspiration. In the process of sitting there, my experience of the Ganga changed. I received a direct experience of the living forces that exist in the rivers, in the mountains, in the forests. These forces are our allies. We can connect with them – and not just connect with them, but work with them….This was an epiphany for me. As I sought to be connected with these forces I realized that this is to be connected to the feminine force, and I came to a deep understanding of how to allow this force to flow through me.” 

Meditating and tuning into the feminine life force is, she suggests, an excellent way to tune into the source of creative inspiration. But perhaps the main source of creative inspiration in her life has been her spiritual practice. While Dena’s spiritual practice has been based on meditation and the teachings of Yogananda, she believes that any spiritual practice followed with sincerity and dedication, can be a source of creative inspiration.

Yet another source of inspiration, she says, can be found in visiting holy places. In these long-revered spaces you can connect with the sacred energy that has gathered there over time and be inspired by it. 

Beyond this, Dena has found one of the most wonderful sources of creative inspiration in her life is simply meeting with and being in the company of other people – especially those who are spiritually aware. She has often found that the mingling and exchange of energy that occurs in these situations triggers new ways of perceiving the world and engenders surprisingly innovative solutions to problems.