Gary Alan Spanovich

Peace Maker, Humanitarian, Author, Urban Planner, Spiritual Leader, Professor

Peace Making Dialogue with Andrew Young. --Gary Spanovich, Andrew Young

Water Color of Fr. Bernard Sander at Mt Angel Monastery - My Teacher and Who Helped Become an Oblate and Who I Saw do Minor Miracles Constantly

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Gary Spanovich working with Chinese officials in Dalian, China

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A Spiritual Leader

Gary first heard the Lord’s Voice in the desert in 1988 when he was meditating and praying with his college friend, Tom Purkey; during an all-night prayer vigil he began to hear a “Still Small Voice within” and its words were ‘this The Still Small Voice of the Lord and your purpose on Earth is to help others to hear The Still Small Voice of the Lord within themselves”. That is how his direct experience with God began. A few years later when he visited the same location; he heard within from The Still Small Voice to begin to write a book; which he did. It was titled “A Book of Gentleness: Developing a Dialogue With God”. Published originally by John Honea Press in 1995 it is now available from All Saints Press 2022. The Still Small Voice has always said, this is a training manual on how to hear God’s Voice and that everyone can hear the Voice of God which speaks constantly, however we must be willing to listen, through silence in order to hear it within ourselves.

This desert experience with God changed Gary’s life in 1988; he was at the time the Transportation Planning & Engineering Director of Clackamas County, Oregon, one of the three major counties in the Portland, Oregon Metropolitan Area. Eventually he left his government job to pursue: teaching at Marylhurst University in the Religion & Philosophy Department under Sister Cecilia Ranger; developing a consulting practice on using a Wholistic Approach for Planning & Decision-Making – which included both silence and reflection processes to open up workplace conflicts to inspiration from The Still Small Voice in the workplace. Through this process he wrote – “Workplace Spirituality – Developing a Wholistic Approach to Planning & Decision-Marking” and the 1989 Nobel Peace Laureate read the manuscript and wrote a Foreword endorsing the approach and Gary’s spirituality.

After his 1988 desert experience, Gary was guided to return to the Catholic Church and also became an oblate at Mt Angel Monastery in St. Benedict, Oregon and he has been an oblate (secular member) for the last twenty years. He was also guided to seek out holy people, or those who were close to God. One of these who played a key role in his life was Fr. Bernard Sander, a monk at Mt. Angel, it was Fr. Bernard who encourage Gary to become an oblate and they would meet together in Fr. Bernard’s office for many years – praying, discussing world politics and peace; discussing all manner of spiritual issues. Gary saw Fr. Bernard do small miracles over the years and is in the process of writing a book about Fr. Bernard and his miracles which he hopes to have ready for 2017.

Gary also has traveled to India over ten times for both humanitarian work and spiritual renewal; there he again met many holy people who also performed miracles in front of his eyes. He has spent a lot of time in nature and has also worked with native American and indigenous spiritual leaders and has attended and participated in their many ceremonies over the years, such as: Sweat lodge Ceremony; Sundance Ceremony; Ghost Dance Ceremony (brought by the India spiritual leader, Wovoka, who always called it the Father Dance – The ceremony given by the Creator in Heaven). He learned from these holy people that all life is one “whole” that all aspects make up this “whole”. The earth, the air, the sun, the rivers, the birds, the animals, the rocks and especially the people – that we are all part of one “whole”. All are inter-dependent.

For the last twenty years Gary has been going to India seeking out Hindu holy people; Tibetan Buddhist Geshe’s, Rinpoche’s Monasteries and being welcomed by them and being recognized for his spirituality. He has helped start two schools for Dalit (untouchable) children in India and has also dedicated himself to helping the humanitarian needs of the 53 Tibetan Refugee Camps. He has been a frequent visitor to the many camps and the Tibetan officials have welcomed him and hosted him. He has raised funds for their needs through Rotary International and private donors. He has also sponsored tours of Tibetan Monks here in Oregon , sponsoring about ten tours, 2-6 weeks in length, to assist them with their humanitarian needs.

An Urban Planner

Gary began working as an urban planner while he was getting his Master’s degree in Planning at Florida State University; he was able to obtain an internship at the Borough of Harrow in Harrow, England and worked there for 5 months. When he finished the internship Mr. Ted West offered him a permanent Senior Planner position and he considered taking a new path and then enrolling in the London School of Economics. However he decided to travel throughout Europe for over 6 months and to return to Florida State to finish his Master’s in Planning. On this trip, he was able to take a train through East Berlin and Moscow and then south to Armenia. He then took another international job becoming a planner for the Ministry of National Development, in Singapore working under Chief Planner Chua Peng Chye. He worked there for one & half years and then traveled for one year throughout India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and through Europe back to London. Flying to Nepal and then Calcutta over the next year he traveled by bus and train back to London. When he flew back to the United States, in 1976 he made his way to Mt. Katahdin, Maine and began what he felt would be a two week backpacking trip, he ended up finishing the entire 2000 mile Appalachian Trail 6 months later. This was one of his peak experiences and it left him with an awe for the sacred nature of the earth.

Having finished his long backpack, he made his way to Miami, Florida where his mother and grandmother lived and spent Christmas with them in 1976. Early in January the next year, he loaded all his possessions into a car and drove out to Seattle, Washington, having decided that he wanted to live where he could have complete access to the mountains, lakes, rivers, deserts of one of the most beautiful parts of the US. He started looking for a job in urban planning and within a few months had found one at CRAG (to become METRO soon) in Portland, Oregon and started as a Transportation Planner. He eventually moved up through the organization becoming Plan & Program Section Chief and in charge of the Portland Regional Transportation Plan. He later left that job to become Transportation Section Chief in the Portland, Oregon office of CRS Group Engineers/Architects, who at the time were on of the largest Design Build firms in the country, this was in 1980. Later he started his own urban and transportation planning practice, at one time was the official transportation planner for: Clackamas County, Oregon; Multnomah County, Oregon; the Port of Portland; and EDAW, Inc. in San Francisco, California. This evolved into his position as Transportation Engineering & Planning Director for Clackamas County, Oregon which was the position he held when The Still Small Voice of the Lord visited him in the winter of 1988. He continued his planning practice over the years, doing contracts for clients and still occasionally does when he is guided to say yes to a potential client who asks for help.

A Professor

After Gary left Clackamas County in 1990, he began his college teaching career, first working as an adjunct professor in the Religion & Philosophy Department, as well as the Business Department and the Communications Department. It was at Marylhurst University over a ten year career that he developed a curriculum on teaching about the Wholistic Approach. His way of teaching involved focusing workplace problems or conflict issues or visioning exercise on the fact that all human beings have four basic components: a mental part, i.e. we have thoughts; a heart or emotional part, i.e. we have feelings; a physical part, i.e. we have a body; and a spiritual part, i.e. this part is not so obvious as it is a mystery, but nonetheless it exists and by learning its language, the language of silence and reflection, we can tap into our most creative aspect and bring it to bear to solve what appear to be intractable problems; as well as new problems that occur for which there are no precedence’s.

Gary also taught as adjunct professor at Western Oregon University; at the University of Portland; and Concordia University at different times.

Gary Spanovich facilitating Yanbian University, China and Concordia University, USA academic agreement

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Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prizewinner and Gary Spanovich with colleagues discussing a world peace conference

A Man of Peace

Circa 1998 Gary attended a Tibetan Freedom Rally in Pioneer Square in downtown Portland, The Still Small Voice asked him to approach the Tibetan Leader, Jigme Topgyal and offer his help to the Tibetan Cause. He did and as they were strangers, Jigme did not seem interested. Later he went to a nearby Starbucks and as he was putting cream in his coffee, he turned around and that exact time Jigme was turning, they crashed into each other and both spilled their coffee. It was amusing enough and startling enough, that they exchanged phone numbers and said they would meet to discuss Tibetan issues. It was as if God through them together for His purpose. Ove the next two years, they became very close friends and Jigme was able to secure the first visit of the Dalai Lama to Portland, which occurred in May, 2001 – Jigme added Gary to the planning committee for this historic visit. One day a group of us met in Gary’s home to discuss what the Dalai Lama’s events would look like, Gary suggested world peace and that they should invite other Nobel Peace Laureates to come as well and have a conference on world peace. After everyone left, The Still Small Voice said “stay the course”. He then worked for over two years, mostly from 8pm to 1am 5-6 days a week to create the 2001 World Peace Conference – which was held at Portland State University and also helping Jigme with the 10,000 middle and high schools student Dalai Lama Youth Summit. In all 6 Nobel Peace Laureates attended the World Peace Conference. When the Conference had finished Gary heard The Still Small Voice, “stop the killing”. During the next week, three came forth to offer to hire a Non-Profit attorney to establish a non-profit for Gary to continue the work of bringing Nobel Peace Laureates to Oregon. Then he met a Korean professor at Portland State University who offered him office space for his work. The non-profit the Wholistic Peace Institute was formed and its work can be viewed at: www.wholisticpeaceinstitute.com

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What Others Have Said About Gary Alan Spanovich and the Wholistic Approach

“Gary Alan Spanovich has attempted to bring together his professional experience as a planner with his longstanding interest in a practical and holistic approach to spirituality. He incorporates what I think of as fundamental human values. I believe his explanation of how spirituality can be introduced into the workplace will have a compelling appeal to anyone interested in creating a more peaceful and happier world, whatever work they do”. The Dalai Lama, the 1989 Nobel Peace Laureate

“I am writing on behalf of Gary Spanovich. I hope you will decide in favor of funding this important project to promote world peace and intercultural communication”. United States Senator Mark O. Hatfield - Oregon
“I do believe that we can’t survive at the beginning of the 21st century with the ethics of the 20th century. We need to change the value system.” President of Costa Rica Dr. Oscar Arias Sanchez & 1987 Nobel Peace Prize
“It is indeed wonderful of you to have such an enormous interest and warm heart about peace establishment not only on the Korean Peninsula but across the world”. Former President of South Korea Kim Dae Jung & 2000 Nobel Peace Prize

Partial List of Clients

Port of Portland; Clark County, Washington; Port of Tillamook Bay; ODOT; LCDC; Clackamas County, Oregon; West Linn, Oregon; City of Olympia; Cogan Owens Cogan; Portland & Western Railroad; Western Oregon University; Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon; World Undersea Tunnel Association, Seoul, South Korea; World Trade Center Association, New York, New York & Dalian, China; Korean Transport Institute, Seoul, South Korea; other clients.

Books Published

“A Book of Gentleness; Developing a Dialogue with God” - College text book in College Religion and Philosophy Departments.
“How to Achieve World Peace; 6 Nobel Peace Laureates Answer the Question” - College textbook.
“A Wholistic Approach to Planning & Decision-Making” – With A Two Forward by the Dalai Lama, 1989 Nobel Peace Prizewinner recommending Professor Spanovich’s Wholistic Approach