Thomas Atum O’Kane, Beloved Father, Teacher, and Soul Friend peacefully passed away surrounded by the love of his children on October 16th, 2024. The cause of death was complications from Crohn’s, an autoimmune disease. Atum was known for being joyfully alive and a lover of beauty, laughter, and life. He was a passionate advocate and a generous supporter of dreams. Atum was filled with deep gratitude, appreciation, and authenticity. A follower of calls and a teller of stories, he walked the world, and landscapes of the soul with heartfelt enthusiasm, compassion, and humility.

“A larger life leads to a larger consciousness and a larger consciousness leads to a larger life.” This quote by Carl Jung was the mantra that reverberated through Atum. It framed and oversaw the larger unfolding design of his life. Atum overcame the confined trappings of a difficult childhood and lived an extraordinary life.

After studying philosophy and drama at St Joseph's University in Philadelphia, his journey into a larger life and spirituality started when he worked for VISTA to defer the draft during the Vietnam War. His work with VISTA led to him teaching 8th graders in the inner-city schools of Camden, New Jersey, and introducing drama into prisons in Kansas City. In his late twenties, a Yoga teacher and friend told him he needed to find a real spiritual teacher. This advice led to him attending a camp in the French Alps that profoundly changed his life. In the mountains of Chamonix, Atum met his first spiritual teacher, the Sufi master, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan. This powerful meeting led to a decades-long mentoring relationship spanning many roles including Atum serving as the Secretary General of the Sufi / Inayati Order. Atum met his next root teacher and lifelong mentor Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi the founder of Jewish Renewal and Spiritual Eldering, in Philadelphia. Reb Zalman called Atum his chosen son and served on Atum’s Ph.D committee at Union Institute. Atum’s studies with the Quaker John Yungblut and the transpersonal psychologist Francis Vaughn, were also profoundly influential. A fortuitous private meeting with the highly realized Buddhist teacher H.H Dilgo Khyense Rinpoche at Shechen Monastery in Nepal opened a gateway to Buddhism that shaped many of Atum’s more recent teachings.

After receiving an MA in Psychological Counseling from Goddard College while working in HR at a department store, and a Ph.D in Transpersonal Psychology while working for the Sufi Order, Atum devoted his life to teaching and being a spiritual guide. For over 40 years, he cultivated planetary consciousness as he taught programs, retreats, and pilgrimages in Bhutan, Brazil, Canada, Cambodia, Cuba, England, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Nepal, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, USA, and Uzbekistan. His home base for these excursions was, in chronological order: Philadelphia; The Abode of the Message in upstate New York; Seattle; Sussex, England, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; and Spokane.

In 1999 Atum founded the Spiritual Guidance Wisdom School, an interfaith program drawing from the teachings of Carl G. Jung, Hazrat Inayat Khan, and Teilhard de Chardin, and influenced by the teachings of Francis Vaughn, Pir Vilayat Khan, Reb Zalman Schacter-Shalomi, and H.H. Dilgo Khyense Rinpoche and lessons from his personal relationships with them.

In line with Atum's synchronistic nature and his teachings on wholeness, he was born on March 30th, 1945, a full moon Good Friday (moon in Libra and sun in Aries). He passed away on October 16th, 2024, with a full moon (moon in Aries and sun in Libra).

An abundance of love. Atum is survived by his four children, Chris, Emmanuel, Kyrian, and Rose, his former wife Mary, and the Spiritual Guidance Wisdom School Community.

Remembering and Honoring Atum

Atum’s body has been cremated. His expressed wish was for his ashes to be spread in several places that left an imprint on his soul. A memorial fund with a vision to fulfill these wishes will be created and shared at a later date. There will be no official memorial service.

I know many communities and groups of friends have already held touching services and gatherings of remembrance for Atum. If you haven’t done this yet, I encourage you to. Please let these remembrances take whatever form inspires or moves you. Honor your journey with Atum in your own way(s). It’s what Atum would’ve wanted.

Like many of you, I strongly feel Atum’s peaceful presence and spirit. I feel him guiding me and watching over me. During my last day in Spokane, about a week after Atum passed, I felt called to go for a final walk. Below me and across the river, I saw a grove of golden trees exquisitely illuminated by the autumn morning sunlight. As soon as I saw the grove, I knew I was meant to go there. When I got to the grove, I was the only person there. Walking in a radiant world of golden splendor brought a deep solace. I sat under a tree (pictured here), meditated, and felt Atum in my heart.

As Atum told my brother Kyrian when he found out he was dying, “Kyrian you will never lose me, I will live in your heart forever.” I would like to extend this message to the whole community. Atum may not be physically with us, but the light of his being and the wisdom of his teaching shine bright and remain with us.

I’m currently reading, “Notebooks of a Wandering Monk by Matthieu Richard.” When I read this passage it strongly resonated with me: “The 'departure' of a spiritual teacher is a moment of depthless sorrow to his followers, as if the sun has suddenly fallen from the sky. But this particular sorrow rises above all feeling, all emotion, to carry us into the heart of what is essential…. Our task now was (is) to put the teachings we had received into practice for the remainder of our days.” I invite you to turn within, to ask what is essential, and to put Atum’s teachings into practice. The world needs them.

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