Jacques Van Engel is from Belgium. He has a Master of Art in Liberal Studies which he obtained at the State University of New York. He worked primarily for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in South Korea and Vietnam from 1985-1989 and in New York from 1989-2016. Jacques’s work was environmentally focused and specifically concerned with the protection of the earth’s ozone layer. He traveled extensively for his work in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The primary goal of his UNDP work was to provide industries with technical and financial assistance to shift away from harmful chemicals that destroyed the ozone layer.

 

After a fulfilling career at the UN for over 30 years, Jacques decided to devote himself fully to his two passions in life: meditation and art. This led Jacques to move to Vienna in March 2017. He founded a meditation center called The Still Point (see www.meetup.com/Der-stille-Punkt-Wien/ or watch his YouTube channel here). His lifelong interest in meditation relates to two traditions: Advaita and Zen. Jacques also co-founded the Vienna Atelier of Traditional Art, which focuses on traditional drawing and painting methods. Through the fulfillment of these two dreams, Jacques hopes to share wisdom with other interested truth seekers and to nurture artistic creativity and inspiration with interested artists.