Mark Shafer

Mark Granville Shafer, born in Washington DC on October 13, 1950, son of Myrle Harold Shafer and Bettye Margaret Reynolds Shafer, died riding his bike on July 18, 2018 in Littleton, Colorado. He is survived by his sister, Mary Gay Shafer of Wheat Ridge, Colorado, and her wife, Karen Wray. Mark was awarded a Doctorate in Psychology from the University of California, Irvine, after receiving his BS and MA at M.I.T. He taught and conducted research at M.I.T., the University of California, and Washington University, with professional publications on extraordinary personal experience and self-actualization and also in science. He studied and practiced a variety of approaches to well-being and personal growth, especially in the fields of humanistic and transpersonal psychology. His own teaching career began in 1974, focused primarily in psychology but also including economics and sociology, and he had over 5000 students. Mark was also successful in the field of currency trading, utilizing his brilliant mind to create code for this fast moving arena. He lived in for a time in Texas, Massachusetts, California, Missouri and Colorado. Mark was that rare combination of excellence in the realms of a discerning intellect, intuition, and creativity. This was balanced with his loving heart and gentle spirit. Mark loved to travel, cats, biking, gourmet cooking, meditation and all things involved with leading a healthy lifestyle. He was devotional in his two marriages, to his family, and his ever-present cats. Mark made countless contributions to the inner lives of his family, friends and students. His teachings will live on as they are passed from one soul to another, bringing more light and unconditional love to the world. His last gift was a series of post death communications revealing the quiet and profound joy he was then experiencing, as well as an unobstructed perception of the glorious beauty abiding in people. He was attuned with this poem by e e cummings… i thank You God for most this amazing day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes (i who have died am alive again today, and this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birth day of life and love and wings and of the gay great happening illimitably earth) how should tasting touching hearing seeing breathing any-lifted from the no of all nothing-human merely being doubt unimaginable You? (now the ears of my ears awake and now the eyes of my eyes are opened) e e cummings (in ‘complete poems 1904 – 1962’)