Marvin Ernest Colin Higgins

My main accomplishments as a chaplaian stem from successfully running a four and one half
acre, 32 room, campsite ready, Yoga ashram, catering to as many as 300 live-in residents from
around the world, year-round. For almost four years, initially, I dealt effectively with the daily
and nightly exigencies resulting therefrom, as both Director and Chaplain. Later, for several
years, I was only chaplain, manager, general secretary and a Yoga Professor/instructor there.
I have for about 30 years done the work of a chaplain, studied material that a CPE student would
study, completed advanced religious and medical study and practice, and worked in clinical
conditions to complete pastoral objectives, in the USA, Canada and in the Bahamas. (Please
contact Dr. David Allen, retired professor of Public Health at Yale, Harvard and Georgetown
universities, and/or Dr. Brian Humblestone, MD, Chief Psychiatrist of the Bahamas (ret.) and
senior advisor to the late Swami Vishnudevananda (both are at the Renaissance Institute and the
Christian Counselling Centre in the Bahamas, telephone: 242-327-8718 � email:
cccbahamas@gmail.com ) - Prahlad, Director at the Yoga Camp, ISYCV headquarters, Val
Morin, Quebec, Canada (email: hq@sivananda.org) - Samantha Baney, RN, Administrator at
Amberwood Care Centre (sbaney@amberwoodcarecentre) and/or Sherry Head-Gillihan,
Administrator at Presence Health Cor Mariae, sherry.gillihan@presencehealth.org and/or Jacki
Panattoni, Director of Personnel at Presence Health Cor Mariae -
jacki.panattoni@presencehealth.org - and/or Chandra Rinehart, Director of the Activity
Department, Amberwood Care Centre, email: crinehart@amberwoodcarecentre.com.
I have been based in the USA for more than a decade and will continue my chaplaincy, research
and Yoga careers exclusively in America.
At the US, Bahamas and Canada ISYVC ashrams and centers and at Amberwood and Cor
Mariae retirement and rehab centers, I have counselled lovers, the parents of unruly children and
their children. I have dealt successfully and peacefully with a psychopathic and violent homeless
adult American couple, I have investigated several beatings and counselled the perpetrators and
victims. I counsel dementia retirees, I counsel regular retirees and rehab patients. In short, I have
been and continue to be, a FATHER, MOTHER and FRIEND to many adults from around the
world but mainly to healthy Americans from New York City and American retirees and rehab
patients here in Rockford, Illinois.

Some of my research topics, pursued alone and with others, are:

THE MARTIAL ARTS EXPERIENCE - THAI AND AMERICAN STYLES
MARCUS GARVEY AND THE BLACK STAR LINER
FILM IN AMERICA
FLORIDA GEOGRAPHY
SWAMI VISHNUDEVANANDA AND MARVIN ERNEST COLIN HIGGINS (SWAMI
SWAYAMSWAROOPANDA)
YOGA PRACTISE AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE BODY AND MIND
GROWING �OLD� IN AMERICA � AN ANCIENT/NEW PARADIGM
SOME RESULTS OF LIVING IN COMMUNITY
HOW YOGA PRACTITONERS RESPOND TO INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP TRAUMA
RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY: SOME ASPECTS
BAHAMIAN SOCIETY: THE NINETEEN EIGHTIES
AMERICAN SOCIETY AND WORD-WIDE CULTURE
THE PINDLING COMMISSION OF INQUIRY INTO DRUG SMUGGLING AND
GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION IN THE BAHAMAS
YOGA, INCLUSIVITY AND ANCIENT/MODERN PARADIGMS FOR A NEW WORLD
CULTURE
HOW SIR LYNDEN OSCAR PINDLING WAS PEACEFULLY AND DEMOCRATICALLY
REMOVED FROM POWER AFTER 25 YEARS OF CULTURAL, RACIAL, POLITICAL
AND SPIRITUAL RULE
REPORTS FROM THE BAHAMIAN PARLIAMENT � BOTH GOVERNMENT AND
OPPOSITION
My research experience is from my academic and extra-mural life at Palm Beach State College,
the Harvard University Extension School, Florida Atlantic University, my writing and editor�s
careers at the Bahamas Daily Tribune Newspaper and my careers as a Yoga
Professor/Director/Chaplain At Large, member of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta
Centers and Ashrams and as a private individual. This is about 12 years, total, covering the
seventies and eighties. Since several of these careers extend to the present (Yoga Instructor and
Chaplain At Large), and span my lifetime, the time covered is actually from 30 to 60 years.
I worked with a legally blind African-American citizen in the late seventies to research and
complete a master�s degree dissertation in the Florida Atlantic University History Department
(Dissertation: �A COMPARISON OF THE PHILOSOPHIES OF MARCUS GARVEY AND
MALCOLM X�) and to enter Law school at Nova University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida as a
disabled person.
My research education was imparted mainly by my professors at the mentioned American seats
of higher education (Harvard University Extension School, Florida Atlantic University (FAU)
and Palm Beach State College); by my Bahamian and British college-trained employers at the
Daily Tribune Newspaper, Bahamas (ecarron@tribune.net/rcarron@tribune.net) and by my
superiors/teachers at the ISYVC in America, Canada and the Bahamas (ebm@sivanada.org).
The Tribune Daily Newspaper, Bahamas, was owned and directed by my mentors Mrs. Eileen
Dupuch-Carron (ret.), a London-trained lawyer, and her late British husband Roger Carron, a
former British military officer and London-trained lawyer. It is now run by their adopted son
Robert Carron.
Here are some examples of my research at Harvard University (GRADUATE LEVEL), the
Tribune Daily Newspaper, Bahamas, the ISYVC and privately today:
..\..\Downloads\Writings on my Gurudev.txt
..\..\Downloads\ADA351557.pdf
..\..\Downloads\ADA350979(3).pdf
..\..\Downloads\ADA349748(1)(2).pdf
Encounter with Mystery.docx
Religion. Scourge or Refuge.docx
..\Devotion to God.docx
..\Colin's Documents Office from downloads\Document 1(3).pdf
..\..\Downloads\The Peaceful Overthrow of the Father of a Nation.txt
Marvin Ernest Colin Higgins.txt
..\..\Downloads\ADA351860.pdf
The foregoing examples of my writing and research skills, from the Tribune
Newspaper/Bahamas, reprinted in the US Government�s Latin America Report, from my
graduate Harvard University class on Religion, and elsewhere, eminently show my research
acumen, both in terms of searching and finding, and being able to express my findings, using the
written word. Dr. Rosanna Picascia, whose name appears under my own on my Harvard
University essays, and who was my graduate Harvard University writing tutor during the religion
course (picascia@fas.harvard.edu), can attest to my research, leadership and writing abilities.
Others are the American authors Carl Hiaason, of the Miami Herald (author of �Striptease�)
and Neal Donald Walsch (�Conversations with God�).
I was a co-investigator with Mr. Hiaason (and wrote for my newspaper The Daily Tribune,
Bahamas, while he wrote for the Miami Herald of Florida) in the Lynden Pindling investigation
into drug smuggling and alleged associated government corruption in the Bahamas. Mr. N.
Donald Walsch has a copy of my unpublished research manuscript on Swami Vishnudevananda,
my guru and teacher, and myself (Marvin Ernest Colin Higgins/Swami Swayamswaroopananda):
�In the Master�s Garden� ..\..\Downloads\Writings on my Gurudev.txt

1) I would like to research the involvement (or non-involvement) of the country�s people of
color (dark-skinned Latinos, African-descended Americans, other discernably physically dark
Americans) in chaplaincy of any kind.
2) I would like to do research amongst those persons who state involvement in a religion, form of
spirituality or chaplaincy, to see what form it takes, and its intensity, or lack thereof.
These questions speak, not only to chaplains as Americans, but also to chaplains as mainly
Christians, Muslims, Jews or members of other off-shoots of the Abrahamic religions.
These questions will inform the work of chaplains by telling them, firstly, about the involvement,
or lack thereof, of the nation�s darker population. Secondly, it will speak to the outreach, or lack
thereof, of chaplains to our darker brothers and sisters, of all income brackets, educational
brackets, social brackets, etc.
Finally, the answers to these questions will hint at the strength or weakness of the Abrahamic
religions and philosophies in today�s world. It will examine the relevance of �Race� in
religious, spiritual and philosophical questions.
The answers to these questions will address the levels of importance and inroads into modern
culture, of non-Abrahamic ideas: such as those stemming from Hinduism, Pantheism, Paganism,
Animism, Buddhism, Science, Taoism, etc.

I would like to collaborate with Harvard University John Cowles professor of Sociology Dr.
Orlando Patterson, PhD, to whom I have already written and who is of mixed descent (mainly
African) and from Jamaica; Dr. Cornel West, PhD (also mixed but of mainly African descent)
and to whom I have written, and formerly with Princeton, Yale, Harvard and the University of
Paris as either a graduate or professor; my colleagues in the Activity Department at Amberwood
Care Centre Tami Angel-Decker (of European descent); Chandra Rinehart, MA in Psychology, a
European-descended colleague and head of Amberwood�s Activity Department, with extensive
experience with African-Americans, and Susan Chang, PhD, head of the MPH program at
Benedictine University.
I would also like to work with European-descended Dr. Professor Christina Puchalski, MD, of
George Washington University (Medical School), GNSAH and the GWish Foundation. I have
been in correspondence with Dr. Puchalski since 2016.
Dr. Professor Orlando Patterson, PhD, is of special significance to me. Besides being of African
descent, he is also of Jamaican descent (like my late father) and worked in government for
former Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley (like my father).
Also, I would like to collaborate with Dr. Professor Henry Louis Gates, PhD, of Harvard
University, to whom I introduced myself in 2016. He is the �Alphonse Fletcher University
Professor� and director of the �Hutchins Center for African and African-American Studies� at
Harvard University. I have already been in touch with Dr. H. Louis Gates, also of mixed (but
mainly African) descent.
I myself am mainly of African descent, but also have European and Taino/Lucayan (Bahamian)
Indian ancestors.

Mainly, I hope to become a better researcher and chaplain and be more willing to use research in
my day-to-to activities.
I hope to learn how to be a better listener and reader. I hope to be brought further abreast of the
latest medical and palliative care methods used in hospitals, clinics and similar settings.
I would like to be better equipped intellectually to serve all, especially the �lowest of the low,�
to use Mother Theresa of Calcutta�s apt words.
This training will influence me as a chaplain by firstly, furthering my research knowledge and
practice in the field, and next, giving me a greater store of current medical and palliative care
information. It will make me more sensitive to all of my clients, especially those who could use
my skills the most.
I plan on sharing my newly acquired knowledge and expertise with fellow chaplains and non-
chaplain colleagues by my own words and actions with them (in conferences, at work, etc.) and
with my clients. I also plan to make myself available to lead workshops, consult, conduct
seminars, take part in conferences and mentor others in my field.
I hope to have the opportunity to present papers on the findings from my research, publish in
peer magazines, books and so forth.
PLANS FOR EMPLOYMENT DURING THE FELLOWSHIP/USE OF TIME:
I will not seek or accept employment during the two years of Fellowship. I will abide by the
Fellowship guidelines and refrain from working more than 10 hours per week. I am currently a
part-time employee at Amberwood Care Centre but, should I receive one of the John Templeton
Fellowships, I will work no more than the prescribed number of hours during my MPH course.
In short, I will be working 10 hours or less at Amberwood, I might be on unpaid leave, or maybe
unemployed, whatever Amberwood desires. I will devote the hours from eight to lunch (noon)
and then until dinner (three hours before sunset) to study, research and/or compilation of data.
I have applied to three MPH programs and to three universities in connection with the John
Templeton Foundation Fellowships: Benedictine University, George Mason University and
George Washington University (Milken Institute School). I have been accepted into
Benedictine�s MPH program. I am awaiting word on my George Washington University
(Milken Institute School) and George Mason University applications. I found Benedictine
University and its MPH program, the Milken Institute School (GWU) and George Mason
University, listed among universities and programs acceptable to the John Templeton Foundation
and accredited by the Council for Education on Public Health (CEPH).
The main reasons that Benedictine University�s MPH program is the best fit for me are: 1) it is
approved by the John Templeton Foundation/USA Council on Education for Public Health
(CEPH) and 2) it is completely online (Milken Institute School, GWU, and George Mason have
their online MPHs too, which I am completely open to) and could be accessed from anywhere,
perfect for a husband whose marriage comes first. Also, dissemination of Health Information and
Health Promotion, the stream I will pursue, is in line with my talents, training and inclinations. 3)
I have already been accepted 4) I could begin studies soon. However, I am totally open to doing
either George Washington University�s or George Mason University�s on-campus MPH
programs in Health Promotion which start 03/15 2017, because my wife and I would be closer to
her aging parents in Arlington, Virginia. Either one of the several study options would be perfect.

Upon completion of the �Transforming Chaplaincy� Fellowship MPH degree, I will approach
my current employer, Amberwood Care Centre, and propose institution of a Chaplaincy and
Chaplaincy Research Department, which I would head. Since I am on very good terms with
Amberwood (my father spent his final moments there and I volunteered daily there for a year
after that) and since we only have hospice chaplains who come very rarely, I would propose the
change which would add an in-house chaplain for all (about 140 persons), including dementia
patients (of which my father was one for over a year) and also add a research chaplain: me. This
program could be implemented anywhere in America.
Twenty two references from around the world, who can attest to my being uniquely placed
(racially, personally, intellectually and spiritually/religiously) to be a leader in research, are listed
herein:
..\..\Downloads\References.txt

Best wishes,
Marvin Ernest Colin Higgins