Bruce Davis PhD
While a graduate student, Bruce met and became an apprentice to a remarkable Shaman who had the gift of entering into and teaching people in their dreams. For four years, Bruce was introduced to many realms and worlds outside normal western thought. These years were to be the beginning of Bruce’s quest to understand the potential of psychology and spirituality.
He received his doctorate from Saybrook University. As a spiritual psychologist he teaches the essence of world religions, how psychology and spirituality intertwine offering a more integrated, centered, and fulfilling life. He has taught at JFK University in Pleasant Hill, California and many spiritual centers in the United States, Germany, Austria, France, and Switzerland.
Bruce has been guiding retreats worldwide since 1983. His retreats are based in his deep connection to silence, simplicity and heartfulness. He has a gift for guiding people from the busy-ness of the mind & personality to the home of the quiet heart. He supports people who have had a Near Death Experience NDE or spiritual awakening helping to integrate these experiences into daily life. His primary intention is helping others to develop a meaningful spiritual journey, built out of a life of joy.
In 1975 he wrote the book The Magical Child Within You which has been said to be the first book written on trusting and nurturing the inner child. A few years later he co-authored another best-selling book Hugs & Kisses about loving life, which has been a theme of his work ever since.
Discovering the heart of awareness including inner peace has been the focus in his retreats. Bruce has taken people to sacred places like Assisi, Italy where participants discover the sacredness within themselves. For twelve years Bruce and Ruth (his wife and partner) lived in Assisi, founding the Assisi Retreat Center where people of all backgrounds are welcome to enjoy the simple peace and spirit of St. Francis of Assisi. The Assisi Retreat Center received the official blessing of Pope John Paul II for its ecumenical work. Both CNN and Travel & Leisure Magazine named the Assisi Retreat Center as “One of The Top Ten Meditation Centers in the World.” In 2012 he and his wife Ruth, opened Silent Stay Meditation Center in California. It is Bruce’s wish to provide a sanctuary for everyone who yearns for inner peace towards finding their own path to a purposeful, joyful life.
Through the years, Bruce studied and lived with spiritual teachers in India, Philippines, Germany and Bali, Indonesia. He and Ruth led a program of taking teenagers from one of America’s wealthiest communities into the poorest neighborhood of San Francisco to give food to people living in the streets. This program is still ongoing with the help of Branson School students in Ross, California.
In addition to his books The Magical Child Within You and Hugs and Kisses, Bruce is the author ofThe Heart of Healing, Monastery without Walls ~ Daily Life in the Silence, My Little Flowers, Simple Peace ~ The Inner Life of St Francis of Assisi and The Calling of Joy. His latest book is The Love Letters of St Francis & St Clare of Assisi.