Directors

Rev. Allan Lokos; Founder/Director
Rev. Allan, an ordained Interfaith minister, is co-founder and Spiritual Director of the Community of Peace and Spirituality and the guiding teacher of the Community Meditation Center. He is also in private practice as a spiritual counselor working with individuals and couples and is writing a book about mini spiritual practices as a way to inner peace and global harmony. Allan is a graduate of the New Seminary and has served as a Dean of Students for The New Seminary and One Spirit Interfaith Seminary.

Allan has an active ministry performing weddings, baby blessings, and memorials. The range of wedding ceremonies he has created is enormous, from gala events marrying international celebrities to intimate celebrations on the terrace of his own home. (The most unusual of these may have been when he was invited to India to officiate a four day wedding ceremony that culminated with the bride entering on an elephant.)

A student of Buddhadharma and a meditation teacher, Allan has been a member of Thich Nhat Hanh’s Community of Mindfulness and has studied with several renowned meditation teachers including his current mentor Sharon Salzberg. He regularly participates in meditation and study retreats.

Earlier in this life, Allan was a professional singer in opera and on Broadway, appearing in the original Broadway productions of Oliver!, Pickwick, and the Stratford Festival production of The Pirates of Penzance. He also performed the sacred music of Bach, Händel, Mozart, and Verdi, as well as hundreds of concerts throughout North America. He is a talented player of the Native American Flute and uses his musical background to compose flute music for meditations, chants, weddings, and funerals. He is also an accomplished photographer who combines his visual skills with his love of animals, and photographs wildlife from Central Park in New York to the plains and valleys of Eastern Africa.

Rev. Susanna Weiss; Founder/Director
Rev. Susanna is an ordained Interfaith minister, and with her husband, Rev. Allan Lokos, is the co-founder and Spiritual Director of the Community of Peace and Spirituality. She studied at The New Seminary and is a graduate of One Spirit Interfaith Seminary.

Susanna performs all life cycle ceremonies including weddings, baby blessings, and memorials, as well as hospital chaplaincy. She creates every wedding ceremony individually for each couple, and that ceremony is intended to reflect the unique vision of the couple, speaking to the heart in a meaningful, joyful, and spiritual way. Her background in languages is present in wedding ceremonies that she has performed in French, German, and Spanish, and also those that have included elements in Chinese, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, and Tagalog, among others.

Susanna founded Personal Fitness Training, Inc. in 1980. Through this company she designs individualized programs for clients. She and her trainers specialize in working with physical issues that need a creative and extended approach.

Susanna’s twenty year career as a professional dancer and actress is reflected in her presentations of liturgical and sacred dance. She recently returned to professional dance, performing with Paradigm Dance Company at Symphony Space in NYC, and she also studies Flamenco.

She enjoys early morning explorations of Central Park with the Artful Dodger, the irresistible Golden Retriever who shares Susanna and Allan’s Upper West Side home. Susanna also enjoys a daily meditation practice in the Buddhist tradition.