The Center for Spiritual Transformation (CST) was founded by William C. Sawyer II, M.B.A. (Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania); Ph.D. (School of Business – now the Stern School –New York University); M.A. (Institute of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry – now the School of Theology & Ministry – Boston College).  The M.B.A. and the Ph.D. focused mostly on finance and economics in support of Dr. Sawyer’s career in portfolio management.

The M.A. focused on theology, scripture studies and pastoral ministry.  These studies flowed out of Bill’s (Dr. Sawyer’s preferred salutation) spiritual journey with its gradual, but profound spiritual transformation.  Bill’s spiritual journey will be discussed in more detail in the introduction (to come later) to the “book” in process, presented herein under the title Happiness 101.  Suffice it to say here, that Bill resisted Jesus’ invitation to go back to school at night and on weekends for these religious studies, having previously spent thirteen years of nights and weekends completing his Ph.D.  Jesus’ reaction to Bill’s resistance was great patience followed by a decisive move which propelled Bill into the discernment process that led to choosing Boston College and the particular concentration of Spirituality and Ministry.

In the master’s thesis of this program, Bill chose to compare and integrate the Buddhist and Christian views on emotional suffering.  This integration led to Bill’s particular approach to spiritual transformation, which provided the basis for his many workshops, conducted since 1999, and for the basis of his book and web site.