International Abrahamic Network (IAN) hosted a conference at Esalen titled Social Media and The Peace of Jerusalem (TPJ). TPJ is a three-year initiative that was launched at the Esalen meeting and continued in Jerusalem in 2014. This initiative focuses on the fact that social media has the power to shape feelings in ways that can transform entire societies. Focusing on the psychological wounds that both Jews and Palestinians have endured, including those caused by the Jewish Holocaust and Palestinian memories of their catastrophic displacement in 1948. We looked at the religious values in Judaism and Islam that can lead peoples toward peace and encourage reconciliation through each side’s acknowledgment of the hurts it has inflicted on the other. Building on the work of our Esalen/TRACK TWO Abrahamic Network, we studied film and social media and their power to send messages that acknowledge the humanity and value of each people.

​The American team, including the winners of the Esalen Pacifica Art Prize competition from the California College of the Arts, traveled to the Far Eastern port of Vladivostok to join their Russian colleagues for the final journey and month-long exhibition of the art produced at Esalen. Hosted by the Far Eastern Academy of the Arts and the ARKA gallery, the gala opening of the exhibition was covered by national media and included a letter of congratulations from the American Ambassador in Moscow.

​The Chinese-American Potential conference focused on “What is it to be Chinese in the 21st Century?” The attendees included two former presidents of the Asia Society as well as bloggers, journalists, editors, social commentators, business executives and CEOs, environmental experts, and specialists in the arts and humanities.