Emerson’s transformational and prescient wisdom addresses the current and pressing needs of the world today. He encourages us to pay attention to our angle of vision because it is the first step toward self-awareness and will aid us in separating truth from falsehood. He guides us with inclusive thinking rather than the limitations of binary, either/or thinking.Mark Matousek is a teacher, spiritual seeker and award-winning author of many books. He leads transformative workshops, intensives, and guided writing sessions that mentor participants to reach their artistic and personal goals by using writing as a tool for insight, innovation, and clarity of purpose. He’s the founder of the Seekers Forum, an online community for self-inquiry. His books include: Sex Death Enlightenment: A True Story (Riverhead 2000), The Boy He Left Behind: A Man's Search for His Lost Father (Riverhead 1997), When You're Falling, Dive: Lessons in the Art of Living (Bloomsbury 2009), Ethical Wisdom: The Search for a Moral Life (Anchor Books 2011), Writing to Awaken: A Journey of Truth, Transformation, and Self-Discovery (Reveal Press 2017) and Lessons from an American Stoic: How Emerson Can Change Your Life (HarperOne 2023)Interview Date: 10/24/2023   Tags: Mark Matousek, transcendentalism, transcendentalist, self-reliance, ecstasy, materialism, rationality, Stoicism, Stoics, implicit bias, Pauline Boss, Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Christ, Buddha, Jesus, Bhagavad Gita, Henry David Thoreau, Advaita Vedanta, nondualism, pantheism, Personal Transformation, Philosophy, History, Social Change/Politics

Humanity is straddling unprecedented, threshold times. This situational crisis is more than climate change. It’s a whole system change. Yet, despite the extreme nature of our situation, we’re also living in a moment of immense possibility. We live in an immense sea of a living universe within a domain of aliveness with new kinds of potentials that are going to emerge. Duane Elgin, Ph.D.(hon) is a visionary futurist, educator, and Citizen-Voice Activist who received the Goi Pace Award in Japan in recognition of his contributions to a global vision that fosters a “more sustainable and spiritual culture”. Duane is currently the Co-director of the Choosing Earth Project. He is the author of many books including Awakening Earth: Exploring the Evolution of Human Culture and Consciousness (William Morrow 1993), Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Way of Life That Is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich (Harper 2010), The Living Universe: Where Are We? Who Are We? Where Are We Going? (Barrett Koehler Publishers 2009), Promise Ahead: A Vision of Hope and Action for Humanity’s Future the Living Universe (William Morrow 2000) and Choosing Earth: Humanity’s Journey of Initiation through Breakdown and Collapse to Mature Planetary Community (Revised Edition) (Duane Elgin 2022)Interview Date: 10/20/2023.  Tags: Duane Elgin, initiation, Christopher Alexander, mutual symbiosis, pocket neighborhoods, eco-villages, digital authoritarianism, digital dictatorship, electronic meetings, ETMs, electronic Town Meetings, The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Personal Transformation, Psychology, Community, Social Change/Politics, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Global Culture

Johnson suggests by opening to the possibility of wonder from surprising sources, we recognize that, even in the bleakest of times, beauty is possible. Although that beauty can’t permanently replace our losses, our sorrow, and the dire problems we’re facing, it can break through the walls of powerlessness and melt despair. Trebbe Johnson is the founder and director of the global community Radical Joy for Hard Times, and she’s devoted to finding and making beauty in hurt places. She has camped alone in the Arctic wilderness; studied classical Indian dance; worked as an artist’s model, has been a street sweeper in an English village, and is an award-winning multimedia producer. She’s led wilderness rites of passage and contemplative journeys in clear-cut forests, Ground Zero in New York, in EPA’s toxic Superfund sites, the Sahara Desert, and other places. She participates in Global Earth Exchange—bringing people around the world together to go to places they care about that have been damaged or endangered: share stores, listen to the land, and make a simple gift of beauty for the place out of materials the place itself offers. She is the author of several books including Radical Joy for Hard Times: Finding Meaning and Making Beauty in Earth’s Broken Places. (North Atlantic Books 2018) and Fierce Consciousness: Surviving the Sorrows of Earth and Self (Calliope Books, 2023).Interview Date: 10/6/2023     Tags: Trebbe Johnson, Michael Meade, The Woman in the Cave, Dylan Thomas, green fuse, grief, beauty, Kim Stanley Robinson, Ministry Of The Future, disbelieving, disbelief, Halaco Plant, hurt places, superfund places, Global Earth Exchange, Personal Transformation, Health & Healing, Ecology/Nature/Environment

Here you’ll learn how to start a circle of your own for honest, safe conversations and cooperation in a divisive world. Hear examples of how to maintain the integrity and mutual support in a circle. Oliver says “You don’t need to go somewhere or pay someone to start your circle. You can do it yourself.” Lauren J Oliver, Ph.D. received her baccalaureate degree from Harvard University and her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from UCLA. She currently provides coaching and organization development consultations for leaders, businesses, organizations, families, and individuals. She was co-founder with Dr. Robert Harrison Simmons of the California nonprofit Support Group Network. She is the author of Circle Culture: Tools for Cooperative Work (Bonnie Burstein) (Circle Culture 2023)Interview Date: 9/21/2023     Tags: Lauren J Oliver, special needs, Peer Counseling Program, circles, circling, Social Change/Politics, Personal Transformation 

Dogs are the best kind of teachers because they teach us just by being themselves. Wilson describes the undiluted love of a dog when we come home after an absence, “You can have a stressful day but having a dog greet you just changes everything.” Dog and cat companions have much to teach us if we take the time to pay attention and open ourselves enough to listen and learn. Hersch Wilson is an organizational consultant, pilot, former professional dancer, newspaper columnist, and 30-year volunteer firefighter-EMT. He is also a consultant who has worked extensively with leadership teams from a variety of organizations including IBM Japan, the US Postal Service, and the CIA, to name a few. He writes a monthly column on dogs for the Santa Fe New Mexican. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his wife Laurie, a daughter, and two dogs, a Great Pyrenees and a Chihuahua-Terrier mix. He is the author of Play to Win!: Choosing Growth Over Fear In Work And Life (coauthor with his late father, Larry Wilson)(Bard Press; Revised Edition 2004), Firefighter Zen: A Field Guide To Thriving In Tough Times (New World Library 2020) and Dog Lessons: Learning the Important Stuff from Our Best Friends (New World Library 2023)Interview Date: 9/11/2023   Tags: Hersch Wilson, dogs, animal guardians, veterinary care, pet insurance, animal shelters, Animals

Poetry, at its best, takes us beyond our analytical minds and lands us in an embodied experience. It helps us meet the despair which inevitably rises up in the darkest moments. Poetry can cut windows and doors in your despair and give you a way to walk back into the world with others. Jane Hirshfield is an award-winning poet, essayist and translator. She's the author of ten books of poetry and two collections of essays. She has edited and co-translated four books presenting the work of world poets from the past. Her books have received the Poetry Center Book Award, the California Book Award, and the Donald Hall-Jane Kenyon Prize in American Poetry. Her poems appear in a wide range of prestigious outlets. A resident of Northern California, she is a chancellor emerita of the Academy of American Poets. She presents her work at literary and interdisciplinary events worldwide. In 2017, in conjunction with the March for Science in Washington DC, she founded Poets for Science, an interactive exhibit of science poems and writing invitation housed at Kent State’s Wick Poetry Center, which has traveled to venues across the country.Jane Hirshfield has authored many books including The October Palace (HarperCollins 1994), The Lives of the Heart (Harper Collins 1997), Women in Praise of the Sacred (HarperCollins 1994), Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry (Perennial 1998), After (Harper Collins 2006), Given Sugar, Given Salt (Harper Collins 2001), Come, Thief (Knopf 2011), Ten Windows: How Great Poems Transform the World (Alfred A. Knopf 2015), The Beauty: Poems (Alfred A. Knopf 2015), Ledger (Alfred A. Knopf 2020) and The Asking: New and Selected Poems (Alfred A. Knopf 2023)Interview Date: 9/1/2023   Tags: Jane Hirshfield, Poetry, Hersch Wilson, bryophyta, mosses, kinship of all life, despair, March for Science, beauty, Poetry, Art & Creativity, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Philosophy

If we are to grasp Willis Barnstone’s greatest contribution to culture over the course of his 87 years, we can focus on his role first and foremost as a poet – a lover of words, both his own and those of others, and on what he believes are sacred words from our earliest written records down to present day mystics and poets. Willis Barnstone is a poet, translator, biblical scholar, memoirist, anthologist, teacher, and painter. He is a former O’Connor Professor of Greek at Colgate University, Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature at Indiana University, a Guggenheim Fellow, and winner of numerous literary awards, including the Emily Dickinson, Lannon, and W. H. Auden awards. In 2015 he was recipient of the Fred Cody Lifetime Achievement Award. He is translator of the Greek Lyric Poets, a literary historical version of the New Testament, and poets as diverse as Sappho, Rainer Maria Rilke, Jorge Luis Borges, Antonio Machado, Wang Wei, and St. John of the Cross.Barnstone’s life’s work includes over 75 books including With Borges on an Ordinary Evening in Buenos Aires (University of Illinois Press 1999), The Poems of Jesus Christ (W.W. Norton & Company 2012), The Poetics of Ecstasy: Varieties of Ekstasis from Sappho to Borges (Holmes & Meier Pub 1983), The Poetics of Translation: History, Theory, Practice (Yale University Press 1995), Sappho and the Greek Lyric Poets (Pantheon 1988), The Other Bible (HarperOne 2005), The Apocalypse (editor, translator) (New Directions 2000), The Gnostic Bible (Shambhala 2009), The Restored New Testament: A New Translation with Commentary, Including the Gnostic Gospels Thomas, Mary, and Judas (W.W. Norton and Company 2009) and A Book of Women Poets from Antiquity to Now (editor with Aiki Barnstone) (Schocken1992)Interview Date: 3/9/2015    Tags: Willis Barnstone, poetry, prose, metaphor, literature, Antonio Machado, Robert Fitzgerald, Jack Kerouac, Eve of the Bible, Jack Kerouac, St. John of the Cross, Jesus, translation, art of conversation, Jorge Luis Borges, Arts & Creativity

Are we living in a material universe or a simulated one? Are we living in a massive, multiplayer, online, role-playing game where our deeds and quests are being kept track of in the “cloud” like an angel recording our lives? If so, who is running the game? And what is the connection between computer science, video game physics, and the great spiritual traditions? Rizwan Virk (known as Riz) is a successful entrepreneur, a video game pioneer, a venture capitalist, and founder of the start-up accelerator Play Labs @ MIT. His interest and expertise ranges from video games, the metaverse, simulation theory, meditation, consciousness, and the intersection of science, science fiction, religion, and philosophy. He’s a graduate of MIT and Stanford and is currently a faculty associate at Arizona State University. He is the author of Zen Entrepreneurship: Walking the Path of the Career Warrior (BayView Labs 2013), Startup Myths and Models: What You Won't Learn in Business School (Columbia Business School Publishing 2020), Treasure Hunt: Follow Your Inner Clues to Find True Success (Watkins Publishing 2017), The Simulation Hypothesis: An MIT Computer Scientist Shows Why AI, Quantum Physics and Eastern Mystics Agree We Are in a Video Game. (Bayview books 2019), Wisdom of a Yogi: Lessons for Modern Seekers from Autobiography of a Yogi (Bayview Books 2023), The Zen Entrepreneur & the Dream: An MIT Grad’s Quest for Success & Enlightenment in Silicon Valley (2023)Interview Date: 7/14/2023  Tags: Rizwan Virk, Riz Virk, video games, Hindu Vedas, Atari, ChatGPT, reincarnation, dialup computer modems, augmented reality, Nick Bostrom, The Matrix film, Elon Musk, multiple universes, parallel universes, John Wheeler, 20th century physics, consciousness, entanglement, nonlocality, Star Trek Holodecks and replicas, Claude Shannon, Galileo, Schrödinger’s cat, quantum physics, probability wave, optimization, conditional rendering, chaos theory, complexity theory, Stephen Wolfram, quenched disorder, Paramahansa Yogananda, Science, Philosophy, Technology, Spirituality

How we talk to ourselves sets the tone for every experience in our life. Our voice is a powerful guide in releasing emotions, traumas, and difficult memories. It can be dramatically effective in transforming our lives in meaningful ways. As we start speaking to ourselves out loud with kindness and curiosity, our body will loosen up and speak back to us. Vasavi Kumar is a first generation Indian American, a life coach and licensed therapist who holds degrees in social work and special education from Hofstra and Columbia Universities. She runs the Say It out Loud Safe Haven community for coaches, creatives, and entrepreneurs. She is the author of Say It out Loud: Using the Power of Your Voice to Listen to Your Deepest Thoughts and Courageously Pursue Your Dreams. (New World Library 2023)Interview Date: 7/7/2023    Tags: Vasavi Kumar, trigger points, procrastinating, procrastination, Gabor Maté, curiosity, Personal Transformation

Margaret Renkl inspires us to make an “untidy” garden that will nurture our soul and the natural world. She encourages us to fall in love with the natural companions in our lives: the spiders, the hummingbirds, crickets, and racoons, and all the other species who are living right beside us. When we fall in love with them, we can't help but want to save them. Renkl is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, where her essays appear weekly. She has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards for her writing. She is the founding editor of Chapter 16, a daily literary publication of Humanities Tennessee. A graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Carolina, she now lives in Nashville. She  is the author of Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss (Milkweed Editions 2019), Graceland, At Last: Notes on Hope and Heartache from the American South. (Milkweed Editions 2021) and The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year (Spiegel and Grau 2023)Interview Date: 6/19/2023     Tags: Margaret Renkl, birding tradition, blue jays, crows, bird language, tadpoles, amphibians, frogs, toads, endocrine disruptors, chemical fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, monarch butterflies, Methuselah generation, Roundup, glyphosate, pollinator plants, rabbits, manicured lawns, spiders, hummingbirds, walking, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Writing

Mark Nepo shares how we can have direct connection to the attending guiding spirit within. He further suggests that we describe three reliable truths which are our personal foundation to return to as we meet the challenges of daily life. Nepo writes about how the net of relationship distributes our suffering. He is the author of many audio learning projects and over 20 books including Reduced To Joy (Cleis Press 2013), Seven Thousand Ways to Listen: Staying Close To What Is Sacred (Free Press 2012), The One Life We’re Given: Finding the Wisdom That Waits in Your heart (Atria Books 2016), More Together Than Alone: Discovering the Power and Spirit of Community in Our Lives and in the World (Atria Books 2018), Drinking from the River of Light: The Life of Expression (Sounds True 2019), The Book of Soul: 52 Paths to Living What Matters (St. Martin’s Essentials 2020), Surviving Storms: Finding the Strength to Meet Adversity (St. Martins’ Essentials 2022) and Falling Down and Getting Up: Discovering Your Inner Resilience and Strength (St. Martins’ Essentials 2023)Interview Date: 6/30/2023  Tags: Mark Nepo, heart mind, head mind, Dante, The Divine Comedy, inner guiding spirit, honor, Indra’s net, fear, inner guide, Philosophy, Personal Transformation, Relationship

Cathy Wild suggests that there is no set formula for the creative process and that it is our natural state, our birthright. She gives advice on the importance of knowing yourself deeply, which sustains the creative process. She also talks about how to cope with resistance and how to remain calm and vulnerable once your gift is presented to the world. She is the author of Wild Ideas: Creativity from the Inside Out (Standing Place Press 2017)Tags: Cathy Wild, highly sensitive people, HSP, creativity, the creative process, body work, PTSD, creative imagination, talk therapy, authenticity, fertile limits, perceptual overload, chaos, chaotic times, overwhelm, resistance, Standing Place, creative spiral, Writing, Art, Creativity, Self Help, Personal Transformation, Writing, Psychology

Orloff says that empaths don’t have the same neurological wiring that other people do and so they tend to absorb things and take on the world’s angst. Her goal is to give people strategies on how to keep empathy open, alive, and growing, while learning how to set very clear boundaries.Tags: Judith Orloff, empaths, intuition, intuitives, highly sensitive people, HSP, Heart meditation, water, eating well, self-care, trust, types of empaths, intuitive empaths, animal empaths, earth empaths, intuitive overload, strengthen inner core, mediumship, empathic teenagers, addiction, overeating, narcissist, energy vampires, energy inventory, victim vampire, no-stop talker vampire, earthing technique, compassion revolution, Health & Healing, Intuition/Psychic, Personal Transformation, Self Help

This is a most unlikely life story of a “hippie” doctor who travels overland to India to aid flood victims, but ends up with an assignment from an Indian guru to be part of a team to successfully eradicate the last bastion of the smallpox epidemic in India. It is a story of an inner spiritual journey coupled with a life of service.Tags: Larry Brilliant, smallpox, India, Radical Doctors, Native American occupation of Alcatraz, Hog Farm Commune, Wavy Gravy, darshan, Neem Karoli Baba, Indira Gandhi, Dr. M.I.D. Sharma, Rahima Banu, S.N. Goenka, R.A. Tata, Russi Modym, History, Health & Healing, Spirituality, Travel

Keepin states that the essence of God resides in the heart; this supreme reality is deeply personal. His work as both a scientist and a seeker of spiritual wisdom reveals that we are witnessing the birth of a vast, unified worldview that unites and cross-fertilizes East and West. This far-ranging conversation also includes a scientific view of consciousness and more.Tags: Will Keepin, God, Divine Love, Satyana Institute, J. Krishnamurti, David Bohm, nondualism, theistic traditions, devotion, nondual path, Bhakti path, Path of love, Path of the heart, path of devotion, Shankara, Advaita Vedanta, Sri Aurobindo, Upanishads, Islam, hadith, Rumi, Urgyen Rinpoche, Dzogchen, Ramana Maharshi, surrender, T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets, implicate order, Bell’s theorem, quantum entanglement, spooky action at a distance, holomovement, fractals, Laniakea, Father Thomas Keating, Jesus, Arjuna, the divine fire in the heart, Spirituality, Peace/Nonviolence, Religion, Science

Here we explore the reclaiming of wonder and hope. We are in need of an upgrade, a new story upon which the mythic foundation of culture rests. Wesselman says, “The old story about who we are, what we’re doing here, and what this world is all about is no longer supporting us . . . [W]e’re in need of a new story.” This is an invitation to co-create with spirit.  Hank Wesselman, Ph.D. (1941-2021) was a respected paleoanthropologist who worked with noted anthropologists around the world including in Ethiopia investigating the mystery of human origins in the Great Rift Valley. Besides his training and scientific work, he was a shamanic student, practitioner, and teacher. In addition to his scientific publications, his seven books on shamanism include The Spiritwalker trilogy (Bantam 1996), Awakening to the Spirit World (co-authored with Sandra Ingerman) (Sounds True 2010), The Bowl of Light: Ancestral Wisdom from a Hawaiian Shaman (Sounds True 2011) and The Re-Enchantment: A Shamanic Path to a Life of Wonder (Sounds True 2016)Interview Date 10/1/2016 Tags: Hank Wesselman, Medicine Person, Shaman, re-enchantment, F. Clark Howell, Don Johanson, Sandra Ingerman, Ghost Dance, Wovoka, Hale Makua, oversoul, dreams, intuition, climate change, Pagan, Rachel Naomi Remen, entelechy, Dalai Lama, deity yoga, mysticism, Shamanism, Dreams, Indigenous Wisdom, Intuition, Psychic, Ecology, Nature, Environment

Casey experienced a literal angel knocking on her door which moved her from the potential of committing suicide to a path of discovering how God is present on the other side of the abyss of depression and despair and shares how she connected with her Higher Power that has served as her guide ever since. Karen Casey, Ph.D. received her doctorate in philosophy with an emphasis on Native American studies. She’s an accomplished author with over two dozen books and is the 2007 winner of the Johnson Institute American Honors Recovery Award for her contribution to the field of recovery. Karen’s focus as a writer and spiritual teacher is to strengthen our connection to a Higher Power, which is the invisible source of inspiration, guidance, strength, and wisdom available to each of us. Her books include Each Day a New Beginning: Daily Meditations for Women (40th anniversary edition, Hazeldon 2022), 52 Ways to Live the Course in Miracles: Cultivate a Simpler, Slower, More Loved-Filled Life. (Conari Press 2016) and Let Go Now: Embraced Detachment As a Path to Freedom (Conari Press 2022)Interview Date: 5/19/2023   Tags: Karen Casey, Al Anon, codependence, alcoholism, AA, Alcoholics Anonymous, Higher Power, isolation, Catherine Ponder, Spirit, ego, nonreisistance, Aesop Fable Hercules and the Apple, kindness, Personal Transformation, Spirituality

The experience of our essential nature is available to us at any moment. We don’t have to “practice” to get there. It is not something “exotic” to our being. Teacher of non-dualism, Spira says, “The peace for which we long, the fulfillment for which everybody longs lives in their own being. It’s accessible, available to everybody in their own being.”Tags: Rupert Spira, nondualism, non-dualism, the direct path, awareness, perception, relative, absolute, consciousness, love, non-duality, fear, individuality, death, presence, presence of awareness, essential being, Spirituality, Philosophy, Death, Dying, Personal Transformation, Science

Here we explore scientific findings of the continuity of human consciousness beyond the physical body. There is much that is constantly going on beyond our ordinary senses. Drasin explores the comparison that the “greater reality” beyond physical life might be analogous to an ocean and the soul is analogous to a surfer’s wave that has form and endurance but is not separate from the ocean. Dan Drasin is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and has been a photographer and media producer for more than six decades. He’s also the Operations Manager of New Dimensions and the announcer whose voice you hear on each program. His short 1961 documentary film titled Sunday was widely acknowledged as the first social-protest film of the 1960s and is part of the permanent film collection at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Since the early 1990s, Drasin has been actively investigating the field of afterlife communication through traditional mental and physical mediumship, as well as modern electronics as featured in his documentary film, Calling Earth. He is the author of A New Science of the Afterlife: Space, Time, and the Consciousness Code (Park Street Press 2023)Interview Date: 5/5/2023. Tags: MP3, Dan Drasin, scientific materialism, space time, causation, Matrix films, habits of mind, language, consciousness, skeptics, Rupert Sheldrake, curiosity, afterlife, electronic voice phenomenon, instrumental trans-communication, Konstantin Raudive, Mark Macy, Friedrich Jürgenson, soul group, hypnotherapist Michael Newton, Parapsychology/Paranormal, Science, Philosophy, Intuition/Psychic

Until his NDE, material success was of utmost importance to Dr. Parti. He routinely disregarded stories his patients told him about their spiritual experiences during surgery until he, himself, experienced his own spiritual awakening in an NDE. Hear his profound tale of traveling to the Hell realm, meeting his spirit guides, finding forgiveness, and melding with the light.Tags: Rajiv Parti, NDE, Near Death Experience, SDE, Shared Death Experience, Hadol, Ketamine, spirit guides, Pakistan, partition of India, St Michael, St. Rafael, Angel Gabriel, materialism, forgiveness, prayer, self-funeral, cortisol, chronic pain, unified universal energy of light, Raymond Moody, Christ Consciousness, past lives, Health & Healing, Parapsychology/Paranormal, Meditation, Intuition, Psychic, Death & Dying, Spirituality, Spirit Guides, Angels, Spirits

Nisker takes us on a funny, smart, and enlightening foray into physics, spirituality, and the oddities of life as we know it. You’ll hear a new spin on atomic theory, meditation, politics, evolution, and more. Beneath the humor, though, is the wisdom of a man who sees life for what it is, and celebrates it for all it can be.Wes “Scoop” Nisker is a Buddhist meditation teacher, author, radio commentator, and performer. He is founder and co-editor of the Theravada Buddhist journal, Inquiring Mind, and an affiliate teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California. He travels the world leading retreats and workshops in insight meditation. He’s the author of Buddha's Nature: A Practical Guide to Discovering Your Place in the Cosmos (Bantam 2000), Crazy Wisdom Saves the World Again! Handbook for a Spiritual Revolution (Stone Bridge Press 2008), The Essential Crazy Wisdom (Ten Speed Press 2012) and The Big Bang, the Buddha, and the Baby Boom: The Spiritual Experiments of My Generation (Iro Books 2013)Interview Date: 10/24/2008    Tags: Wes Nisker, Scoop Nisker, Wes “Scoop” Nisker, Crazy Wisdom, Gods, Revolution, Radio, Aging, Baby Boomer, Humor, Storytelling, evolution, Department of Wisdom, Philosophy, Social Change/Politics, Media, Art & Creativity, Buddhism, Community, Education, Personal Transformation, Peace/Non-Violence

One of the foundations of being able to act skillfully with others is by deep breathing, giving us time to interrupt the emotional hijacking of the reactive brain. Also, included in this dialogue is the announcement of the Global Compassion Coalition in which people can come together to create a world in which people and nature are cared for and thrive. Rick Hanson, Ph.D. is a psychologist, senior fellow at the University of California, Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, and a summa cum laude graduate of UCLA. He’s founder of the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom. Also, the founder and president of the Global Compassion Coalition. He is the author of Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom (New Harbinger 2009), Just One Thing: Developing a Buddha Brain One Simple Practice at a Time (New Harbinger 2011), Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence (Harmony Books 2013), Meditations to Change Your Brain - CD Set (Sounds True 2009), Resilient: How to Grow an Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength and Happiness (Harmony Books 2018), NeuroDharma: New Science, Ancient Wisdom, and Seven Practices of the Highest Happiness (Harmony Books 2020) and Making Great Relationships: Simple Practices for Solving Conflicts, Building Connections, and Fostering Love (Harmony Books 2023)Interview Date: 4/10/2023  Tags: Rick Hanson, compassion, deep breathing, resilience, positive neuroplasticity, inner-homelessness, chronic stress, inner refuge, speak wisely, nonviolence, Relationships, Psychology, Philosophy, Social Change/Politics

“Vitality is the essence of what it is to be alive,” says Dr. Zucker, and the body will tell us when our vitality is weak. With good self-care we can revitalize our own health, like tending to a garden with gentle loving attention. It’s about being honest about where we’re losing our energy and experimenting with ways to redirect it in the manner that makes us thrive. Tags: Deborah Zucker, naturopathy, naturopathic physician, holistic health, wellbeing, healthcare, self-care, vitality, shadow, Jung, voice dialogue, fatigue, energy, attention, play, inner GPS system, voice dialogue, experimentation, fruit tree, garden, exercise, diet, community, breath, portable altar

Amoda encourages us to loosen our grip and soften the way that we respond to life and how the fundamental nature of reality is open awareness. She speaks about ending our argument with reality and meeting it with kindness, tenderness, and openness. “That is the beginning of transformation.” Amoda Maa is a spiritual teacher who, after immersion in psychospiritual practices, and experiencing her own dark night of the soul, offers meetings and retreats with seekers of peace and true fulfillment. Her teachings don’t belong to any tradition or lineage although they do tap into the wisdom of many esteemed wisdom philosophies. She is the author of How to Find God in Everything: An Invitation to Awaken to Your True Nature and Transform Your World (Watkins 2008), Change Your Life Change Your World (Watkins 2012, Radical Awakening: Discovering the Radiance of Being in the Midst of Everyday Life (Watkins 2016), Embodied Enlightenment: Living Your Awakening in Every Moment (New Sarum Press 2022) and Falling Open in a World Falling Apart (Larson Publications 2020Interview Date: 3/30/2023   Tags: Amoda Maa, nondualism, India, openness, tenderness, dualism, self-righteousness, right action, Inner authority, inherited beliefs, patriarchy, surrender, grace, Personal Transformation, Spirituality

Here we explore what it means to be in conversation with trees. Davidson hikes into an ancient redwood forest on a regular basis and practices “forest bathing”. She reminds us that when we are not bombarded with the noise, bright lights, and electromagnetic fields of a city our nervous system calms down and our capacity opens up to a wider field of perception. Ellen Dee Davidson is an advocate for the health of forests. Besides her memoir, she’s the author of a number of children's books, also worked as an elementary, piano, and creative writing teacher and raised two daughters. She lives with her husband in the redwoods of northern California where she regularly sits with trees in a form of “forest bathing”. She is the author of Stolen Voices: In a City Ruled by Silence Can One Girl’s Voice Make a Difference? (Turtleback Books Library Binding 2005), Princess Justina Albertina (Charlesbridge 2007), Zoe the Misfit (Boulden Publishing 2008), Wind (Luminare Press 2022) and Wild Path to the Sacred Heart (A Forest Bathing Memoir) (Star Tree Press 2019)Interview Date: 3/27/2023    Tags: Ellen Dee Davidson, forest bathing, Shinrin Yoku, hypnagogic state, authentic core, Suzanne Simard, Sophie Strand, dung beetle, Peter Wohllenben, trees, elementals, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Personal Transformation, Dreams

Awe gives us a break from processing and judging unwanted events and gives us the capacity to see through them—to see a larger picture and we don’t have to travel to the Grand Canyon or overlook Niagara Falls in order to access it. It’s available to us in our everyday life and we can tap into it with something called the A.W.E. Method that only takes 5 to 15 seconds. Jake Eagle, LPC, is a psychotherapist, mindfulness instructor, fellow member trainer of the International Association of Neuro‑Linguistic Programming, and cofounder of Live Conscious. Michael Amster, M.D., is a physician and faculty member at Touro School of Medicine. Jake Eagle & Michael Amster, M.D. are co-authors of The Power of Awe: Overcome Burnout & Anxiety, Ease Chronic Pain, Find Clarity & Purpose―In Less Than 1 Minute Per Day (Hachette Books 2023) How the A.W.E. Method can be a shortcut to three levels of consciousness: safety, gratitude, spaciousnessInterview Date: 3/3/2023  Tags: Jake Eagle, Michael Amster, awe, microdosing mindfulness, attention, David Elkins, Dacher Keltner, depression, timelessness, pro-social experience, Viktor Frankl, loss, grief, safety, gratitude, spaciousness, wonder, microdose awe, beauty, Personal Transformation, Meditation, Health & Healing

All complex systems share limited randomness, whether it’s human society, ants in an ant colony, cells in a body, there's got to be a limited range of randomness. This randomness in biological life makes us different from machines. Also included is a discussion about how the brain does not create consciousness and consciousness is fundamental in the universe. Neil Theise, M.D. is a practicing pathologist and leading stem-cell researcher as well as an explorer in the nature of consciousness and its relationship to us and the cosmos as revealed in Complexity Theory. Theise is also a senior student of Zen Buddhism at the Village Zendo, in New York City, under the guidance of Roshi Enkyo O’Hara. He is the author of Notes on Complexity: A Scientific Theory of Connection, Consciousness, and Being. (Spiegel & Grau 2023) Interview Date: 2/25/2023   Tags: Neil Theise, ant colony, ant colonies, errant ant, quenched disorder, technosphere, liver cells, stem cells, hard problem in science, complexity theory, consciousness, Max Planck, spacetime energy field, quantum physics, particles, photons, waves, complementarity, nonlocality, mass extinction, Covid, AIDS, holocaust, Buddhist relative and absolute. Science, Buddhism, Personal Transformation

Thomas Merton was an American Catholic writer, mystic, and Trappist monk who died mysteriously in Bangkok, Thailand when he was 53 years old. The gifts he left behind from his short life were immense. He combined deep contemplation with social action. Here Fr. Matthew Fox shares his profound intersection with Merton via Creation Spirituality. Tags: Matthew Fox, Thomas Merton, Michael Toms, activism, Dan Berrigan, Philip Berrigan, Martin Luther King, Jr., Karl Marx, Pere Chenu, Saint Augustine, Second Vatican Council, original sin, D.T. Suzuki, Meister Eckhart, Thomas Aquinas, prophetic Christian, Augustinian Christian, Dalai Lama, mysticism, Thomas Berry, hermitage, New Grange, spiral, Hildegard of Bingen, Hagia Sophia, Feminine side of god, Doctor of Spirituality DSP, Cosmic Mass, African mass, Spirituality, Religion, Social Change, Politics, History, Ecology, Nature, Environment

Humanity is poised on a threshold that could be described as a global dark night of the soul. This global crisis is not asking us to simply “make things better” or invent new ways of living. It’s demanding that we surrender to a transformation so radical that we become a new variety of the human species. Our assignment is to become sacred activists. Carolyn Baker, Ph.D. was a psychotherapist in private practice and a college professor of psychology and history. Now through her webinars, podcasts, live workshops, books, and articles, as well as one-on-one life coaching, Carolyn is touching the lives of thousands to assist them in deeply adapting and becoming resilient in the face of the unprecedented changes confronting humanity. She works closely with Andrew Harvey for the Institute for Sacred Activism. She is the author of Undaunted: Living Fiercely into Climate Meltdown in an Authoritarian World (Apocryphile Press 2022) and Radical Regeneration: Sacred Activism and the Renewal of the World (co-author Andrew Harvey) (Inner Traditions 2022).Interview Date: 2/17/2023    Tags: MP3, Carolyn Baker, Stephen Jenkinson, H.H. the Dalai Lama, sacred activism, sacred activists, Margaret Wheatley, caterpillar liquefying, rite-of-passage, shelter in place, pandemic, Willis Harman, pessimism, optimism, Paul Levy, infinite possibilities, AI, Artificial intelligence, Shoshana Zuboff, Jonathan Harari, fascism, democracy, sacredness, reverence, joy, isolation, eldership, Social Change/Politics, Personal Transformation, Spirituality

Horses are valuable teachers and healers. They show us powerful lessons in how to be effective leaders. You'll be surprised by what Resnick reveals about the secrets of how a horse becomes and maintains its leadership of a herd of wild horses. Horses’ extensive language and communication skills are a matter of survival and they do it without words. Carolyn Resnick is the founder of The Resnick Method of Horsemanship and offers many online courses, clinics, retreats, and certification opportunities that create a magical connection with horses using rituals that are innate to the horse. She is a master horse communicator who grew up with horses and spent three summers of her childhood gradually becoming accepted into a community of wild horses, culminating in her ability to ride a lead mare bareback and without a bridle. She is the author of Naked Liberty: Memoirs of My Childhood, Guided by Passion, Educated by Wild Horses (Amigo Publications, Inc. 2005).Interview Date: 10/18/2022   Tags: Carolyn Resnick, Ray Hackworth, lead mare, dominant horse, leader horse, Thomas Banyacya, Joe Brown, Lame Deer, Personal Transformation, Animals, Indigenous Wisdom

In this deep dialogue we discuss how the brain selectively filters our perception of reality through our personal histories, our beliefs, habits of mind, and our prejudices. It highlights the evidence that we are living in a “consensual realty” and our senses are reporting back to us only a very small portion of the greater reality. Howard Eisenberg, M.D. is a medical doctor with additional postgraduate training in both psychology and psychiatry. He’s also been awarded a postgraduate degree for his parapsychological research on telepathy. He is the author of Inner Spaces: Parapsychological Exploration of the Mind (Musson Book Co. 1977) and Dream It to Do It: The Science and the Magic—Decoding Reality 2.0 (Syntrek® Inc. 2021).Interview Date: 1/20/2023   Tags: Howard Eisenberg, collective illusion, love, meditation, universal mind, consciousness, Jesus, intention, imagination, the placebo effect, silo thinking, empathy, soul gazing, Philosophy, Meditation, Personal Transformation, Science

Williams tells the story of her initiation by the living land when she was 7 years old. While taking a school trip she ended up alone, in the dark, in Mount Timpanogos Cave. For a brief but powerful moment she felt the beating heart of the mountain. She says, “For the rest of my life I’ve been trying to retrieve that sacred space I felt inside that mountain alone. I have been searching for that moment when you’re part of something so old, so deep, so true.” Take a tour with Williams and find the relevance of our national parks in the 21st century and how these public commons might bring us back home to a united state of humility. It’s Terry Tempest Williams’ hope that we learn what it is to offer our reverence and respect to the closest thing we have to sacred lands.

Most of us are trapped in the stories we tell ourselves. Archetypes, such as are found in the Greek myths, can trigger a story in our brain that helps us notice opportunities, props, and characters that may have been invisible to us. They change what we are noticing and can enhance our narrative intelligence and encourage us to tap into our potential. Carol Pearson, Ph.D. is an expert in depth psychology and transformational leadership as well as archetypal narrative intelligence. She has served as professor at several universities and colleges and also served as president of Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara. She was the senior editor of The Inner Edge: A Resource for Enlightened Business Practice. She is the author of such classic works as: The Hero Within (republished, Harper Elixir 2015), Awakening the Heroes Within (Harper Elixir 2015),The Hero and the Outlaw (coauthor Margaret Mark) (McGraw Hill Education 2001), Persephone Rising: Awakening the Heroine Within (Harper Elixir 2016)Interview Date: 8/3/2016     Tags: Carol Pearson, archetypes, Zeus, Demeter, Persephone, Dionysus, Eleusinian Mysteries, somebodies and nobodies, interdependent, sit-in strike, sharing power, Greek myths, eros, allurement, Stephen Denning, narrative intelligence, archetypal download, Mythology, Personal Transformation, Social Change

Here we look at the life adventures of a father, husband, writer, corporate marketer, world traveler, and meditation and yoga teacher. We explore the question of whether our search for spiritual fulfillment and creativity has to take a back seat to our livelihood. Bajaj takes a year sabbatical from corporate work every four years and suggests how we can too. Karan Bajaj was born and raised in India, and trained as a Hatha Yoga teacher in the Sivananda ashram in South India. He learned meditation in the Himalayas. He’s been named one of India Today’s Top 35 Under 35. He lives in New York City but soon will be returning to India with his wife and young daughter. He is the author of several novels, including Johnny Gone Down (Harper Collins 2010), Keep off the Grass (Harper Collins, India 2008) and The Yoga of Max’s Discontent (known in India as The Seeker) (Riverhead 2016).Interview Date: 6/23/2016     Tags: Karan Bajaj, habits, routines, yoga, bodhisattva, belief, Buddha, enlightenment, venture capitalist monk, flow, sabbaticals, Spirituality, Meditation, Travel, Personal Transformation, writing, work/livelihood, parenting

The heart releases its own logic, going beyond our everyday attempts to meet goals and solve problems. Mark Nepo helps us re-kindle the fire of our aliveness, and reminds us that kindness allows us to experience our connection with all things. Prepare to be deepened by his ability to be authentic as he illuminates the wisdom that is available in our own hearts. Mark Nepo is a poet and philosopher who, for over three decades, has been teaching in the fields of poetry and spirituality. As a cancer survivor, Mark remains committed to the usefulness of daily inner life. He devotes his writing and teaching to the journey of inner transformation and the life of relationship. He is the author of 18 books including Seven Thousand Ways To Listen: Staying Close To What Is Sacred (Atria 2012), Reduced To Joy (Cleis Press 2013), Inside the Miracle: Enduring Suffering, Approaching Wholeness (Sounds True 2015), The One Life We’re Given: Finding the Wisdom That Waits in Your Heart (Atria Books 2016) and The Way Under the Way: The Place of True Meeting (Sounds True 2016). His many audio learning courses include Staying Awake (Sounds True 2012) and Holding Nothing Back (Sounds True 2012)Interview Date: 7/18/2016   Tags: Mark Nepo, surrender, listening, courage, trust, choices, upaguru, e dai, kindness, kinship, regret, grace, fear of past, fear of present, fear of future, wonder, resilience, Spirituality, Personal Transformation

Executives can spend hours in daily meetings to ensure the success of a company. What if that commitment can be applied to your own personal life? May McCarthy says we should consider working with a “Chief Spiritual Officer (CSO)” whose job it is to make our goals a reality. Our part is be clear, be disciplined, pay attention, and act. She has co-founded and grown six successful companies over her thirty-year career, with the largest growing to over $100 million in annual revenues. She is a successful entrepreneur, CEO, angel investor, and philanthropist, and is the author of The Path to Wealth: Seven Spiritual Steps for Financial Abundance (Hierophant Publishing 2015) Interview Date: 7/3/2016 Tags: May McCarthy, Barbara Frederickson, CSO, Chief Spiritual Officer, C-Suite, CFO, CEO, intuition, guidance, prosperity, giving, receiving, daily meeting, opening, meditation, expression, goals, gratitude, law of attraction, doubts, denial statements, gratitude statements, fraud factor, seven steps, mantra, ritual, leads, Spirituality, Personal Transformation, Spirit Guides/Angels/Spirit, Self Help

The stereotypical man is evolving into a more balanced being, leading to a better relationship with his partner and a better expression of himself. There is a renewed understanding of both male and female qualities, and the need to respect and balance those differences, as men learn to successfully stay on their masculine side while they open their hearts. Arjuna Ardagh is a writer, public speaker, and founder of the Awakening Coaching.  Arjuna Ardagh is the author of many books including The Translucent Revolution (New World Library 2005), Better Than Sex: The Ecstatic Art of Awakening Coaching (Awakening Coaching 2013), Radical Brilliance: The Anatomy of How and Why People Have Original Life-Changing Ideas  (SelfXPress 2018) John Gray, Ph.D. is a leading relationship expert. His unique focus is assisting men and women in understanding, respecting and appreciating their differences. He is the author of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus (Harper 2012). Gray and Ardagh are co-authors of Conscious Men (Self X Press 2016) Interview Date: 6/26/2016   Tags: John Gray, Arjuna Ardagh, conscious man, masculinity, femininity, relationships, sex, pornography, testosterone, estrogen, imitated masculinity, polarity, polarization, dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, stereotypical roles, stereotypical male, intimacy, communication, gender equality,  Relationship/Partnership/Sexuality, Women’s Studies, Men’s Studies

Here an avid researcher has brought reports of thousands of people who have experienced the phenomenon of alien encounters. When asked if nonhuman intelligence is real Gober says, “There is a lot of research out there suggesting that we are not alone, and this is probably an ancient phenomenon. There are people who do seem to have pretty amazing encounters.” Mark Gober is an avid curator and researcher of scientific papers and books about consciousness, biological processes, psychic phenomena, near-death experiences, and quantum physics. He was a partner at the Sherpa Technology Group in Silicon Valley, California, which advises technology companies on mergers and acquisitions. He has also worked as an investment banker analyst in New York and has been named one of IAM’s strategy 300 (IAM hosts the world’s leading intellectual property strategists). Gober graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University where he wrote his award-winning thesis on Daniel Kahneman’s Nobel Prize-winning “Prospect Theory” and was elected a captain of Princeton’s Division I Tennis Team. He is the author of several books including: An End to Upside Down Thinking: Dispelling the Myth That the Brain Produces Consciousness, and the Implications for Everyday Life (Waterside Productions 2018), An End to Upside Down Liberty: Turning Traditional Political Thinking on Its Head to Break Free from Enslavement (Waterside Productions 2022) and An End to Upside Down Contact: UFOs, Aliens, and Spirits—and Why Their Ongoing Interaction with Human Civilization Matters (Waterside Productions 2022) Interview Date: 11/4/2022  Tags: Mark Gober, UFOs, near death experience, NDEs, John Mack, nonhuman intelligences, David Jacobs, empathy, Paul Levy, wetiko, mind virus, Ezekiel, Eric Von Daniken, Paul Anthony Wallace Australian Archdeacon, Frances Crick, DNA, Mike Cleland, psychedelics, DMT, Rick Strassman MD, alien hybrids, Jacques Vallee, Phoenix lights, Parapsychology/Paranormal; Spirit Guides/Angels/Spirit, History

The Covid pandemic is changing our world and changing our lives in ways that we hope will be positive, important, and enduring. The truth is that we will probably derive more pandemic insight from scrutinizing the past than from speculating about the future because no one pandemic is entirely separate from any other. Barbara E. Hort, Ph.D. is a Jungian counselor. She provides consultation and training in the theatrical practice of psychodramaturgy in which she provides material on the psychological dynamics of a play that can be used by performing artists to enhance their storytelling. She is the author of Unholy Hungers: Encountering the Psychic Vampire in Ourselves and Others (Shambhala 1996) and Hollow Crown of Fire: A Discovery of Meaning in the Coronavirus Pandemic and Its Predecessors (White Horse Wordsmithing 2022)Interview Date: 10/18/2022      Tags: Barbara E. Hort, pandemics, Black Death, Justinian, 1918 pandemic, 1918 flu, Shakespeare’s Richard the II, Persephone, abduction, Eleusinian mysteries, Dante’s Divine Comedy, Boccaccio’s Decameron, John Ronewyk, World War I, Alfred Crosby, AIDS pandemic, bubonic plague, Greek myth of Daedalus and Icarus, vaccines, Health & Healing, History, Mythology, Personal Transformation

Vanhoenacker opens our vision to a more expansive landscape. He says, “I get to so see so much of the urban world, in particular, and it's a joy for me to share it as best I can… Travel is a miracle and is something that would have amazed almost all humans who have ever lived to be able to travel the way some of us do now.” Mark Vanhoenacker is a seasoned, long-haul commercial pilot and a brilliant lyrical writer about his journeys as experienced both from the air and on the ground where he chronicles for us some of the planet’s great cities. He is also a regular contributor to The New York Times and a columnist for the Financial Times. Born in Pittsfield, in Western Massachusetts, he trained as a historian and worked in business before starting his flight training in Britain in 2001. He now flies the Boeing 787 Dreamliner from London to cities around the world. He is the author of Skyfaring: A Journey with a Pilot (Alfred Knopf 2015), How to Land a Plane (The Experiment; Illustrated edition, 2019) and Imagine a City: A Pilot’s Journey Across the Urban World (Alfred Knopf/Penguin Random House, 2022)Interview Date: 11/4/2022     Tags: Mark Vanhoenacker, piloting, William Stafford, The Way It Is, Pittsfield MA, Brazilia, the color blue, place lag, clouds, Aurora Borealis, solitude, Travel, Philosophy, Writing

What constitutes dying well in a death-phobic culture? Stephen Jenkinson points out that life is a time-limited offer and our “obligation is to obey. Obey doesn’t mean submit; obey means attend to. What is this asking of me now?” There is much to ponder in this dialogue, whether or not you are actively dying.  Stephen Jenkinson is an activist, teacher, author, and farmer. He has a master’s degree in theology from Harvard University and a master’s degree in social work. He was formerly a program director at a major Canadian hospital and medical-school assistant professor. He has worked extensively with dying people and their families and is a consultant to palliative care and hospice organizations. He is the founder of the Orphan Wisdom School in Canada and is the subject of the documentary film, Griefwalker. Heis the author of Die Wise: A Manifesto for Sanity and Soul (North Atlantic Books 2015)Date: 3/14/2016   Tags: Stephen Jenkinson, med-tech, death-phobic, death centered care for the dying, euthanasia, failure to thrive, death-phobic culture, Michael Toms dying, the death trade, palliative care, the angel of death, heartbrokenness, sorrow, grief, love, solitude, Brother Blue, Hugh Hill, prayer, Death & Dying, Personal Transformation, Philosophy

This deep dialogue explores what energy medicine is and how it encourages us to inhabit our body as a full participant in co-creating more conscious choices about what kind of relationship we want with our body, mind, and spirit. It offers us tools to help heal, build resilience, and to go beyond merely the healing of illness. Ellen Meredith, Ph.D., is a medical intuitive, energy healer, teacher, and writer. She’s been in practice since 1984 and is an Eden Energy Medicine Advanced Practitioner who served on Donna Eden’s faculty and offers online courses through the Shift Network and other forums. She is the author of Listening in: Dialogues with the Wiser Self (Horse Mountain Press 1994), The Language Your Body Speaks: Self-Healing with Energy Medicine (Donna Eden) (New World Library 2020) and Your Body Will Show You the Way: Energy Medicine for Personal and Global Change (New World Library 2022)Interview Date: 10/28/2022     Tags: Ellen Meredith, speak energy, disembodied councils, yang thinking, binary thinking, yin thinking, empowered yin, inner knowing, streams of energy, nothingness, chakras, sniffer dogs, Donna Eden, water, Personal Transformation, Health & Healing

This deep dialogue enlivens the works and words of Jesus to higher levels of inspiration and understanding so needed in these threshold times. Klotz helps us to see the moving nature and luminosity of the teachings of Jesus that are present within us, within our very breath, every day through the Aramaic translations. Neil Douglas-Klotz, Ph.D. is a teacher, scholar, author, and musician, specializing in the native traditions and the translation and interpretation of the ancient Semitic languages of the Middle East—Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic. His scholarship connects religious studies and psychology. He’s past chair of the Mysticism Group of the American Academy of Religion and is active in various international conferences dedicated to peace and spirituality. For more than 40 years he has followed the Sufi path and was a student of the Sufi Murshid Moineddin Jablonski (d.2001) and serves on the advisory board of the International Association of Sufism. His books include Prayers of the Cosmos (HarperOne 2009), The Hidden Gospel (Quest Books 2001), Revelations of the Aramaic Jesus: The Hidden Teachings on Life and Death (Hampton Roads 2022) Interview Date: 10/14/2022.  Tags: Neil Douglas-Klotz, Bible, New Testament, Jesus, Yeshua, Semitic languages, ancient Hebrew, Samual L. Lewis, Sufi Sam, Sufism, Dances of Universal Peace, Rabbi Zalman Schachter, Beatitudes, somatics, Miracles of Jesus, Religion, History, Spirituality

The universe is coming to know itself through us and the story of the universe has direct impact on the story of our personal life. Here we pursue a cosmological story that can unify and guide us into a future flourishing with life and with the power to experience ourselves as a manifestation of 14 billion years of cosmological creativity. Brian Thomas Swimme, Ph.D., is a cosmologist and a professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, where he teaches evolutionary cosmology to graduate students in the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program. He is a cocreator and host of the Emmy award winning PBS documentary Journey of the Universe. He is the author of Hidden Heart of the Cosmos (Orbis 2019), Universe Story: From the Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era—A Celebration of the Unfolding of the Cosmos (HarperOne 1994), The Universe is a Green Dragon: A Cosmic Creation Story (Bear & Company 1984) and Cosmogenesis: An Unveiling of the Expanding Universe (Counterpoint 2022). His video series Include Journey of the Universe• (Prime Video 2009) and Canticles to the Cosmos (Sounds True.1995)Interview Date: 10/18/2022    Tags: Brian Thomas Swimme, cosmosgenesis, primordial intelligence, astronomy, big bang, Copernicus, gravity, spiritual resilience, Ken Feit, Matthew Fox, Thomas Berry, Dolores Maro, time development consciousness, Science, Philosophy, Art & Creativity

Amy B. Scher says our internal environment is like the soil that feeds the roots of a tree. “We need to go into the soil of our beings which is who we really are, our soul, our body, our mind, our spirit."

If we had the opportunity to speak to our younger self, what would we say? What wisdom could we give to that younger self about the meaning and purpose of life? What does our experience tell us about why we are here and who we are? This conversation explores these questions and why they may be important to our lives. Jacob Needleman, Ph.D. is a professor of philosophy at San Francisco State University and former director of the Center of the Study of New Religions at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. He has also served as a research associate at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research. His books include Why Can't We Be Good? (Tarcher 2003), The Heart of Philosophy (Tarcher 2003), Time and the Soul: Where Has All the Meaningful Time Gone -- and Can We Get It Back? (Berrett-Koehler Publishers 2003), Lost Christianity (Tarcher 2003), Money and the Meaning of Life (Doubleday 1994), The Wisdom of Love: Toward a Shared Inner Life (Morning Light Press 2005), What Is God? (Tarcher 2010), Necessary Wisdom (Fearless Books 2013) and An Unknown World: Notes on the Meaning of the Earth (Tarcher 2012)Interview Date: 6/2/2016    Tags: Jacob Needleman, freedom, ethics, listening, truth, Gurdjieff, essential questions, polarized times, ancient mystical wisdom traditions, Christianity, attention, Denise Levertov poem A Gift, Philosophy, Personal Transformation, Spirituality, Science

Inherited family traumas may be at the core of our inability to succeed in life. Wolynn’s research has shown that unresolved traumatic events in our families can hinder how success flows to us and how well we are able to receive it. Mark Wolynn is the founder and director of The Family Constellation Institute. He has taught at the University of Pittsburgh, the Western Psychiatric Institute, and The California Institute of Integral Studies, in addition to many training centers, clinics, and hospitals. He is the author of It Didn’t Start With You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are And How To End The Cycle (Viking 2016)Interview Date: 5/14/2016   Tags: Mark Wolynn, family trauma, bridging questions, core language of fear, Rachel Yehuda, PTSD, visualization, core language map, core sentence, genogram, core complaint, neuroplasticity, meditation, Relationships, Psychology, Personal Transformation, Self Help, Health & Healing.

Father Tiso gathered eyewitness accounts in Tibet of the dissolution of the material body at the death of Kenpo A Chö. His questions are: Can we bridge the gap between physics and metaphysics, between spirituality and paranormal phenomena? Can we verify the claim that the resurrection of Jesus is not just a metaphor but an actual physical resurrection? Father Francis Tiso holds a Master of Divinity degree from Harvard University, and a doctorate from Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary where his specialization was Buddhist studies. He was Associate Director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops from 2004 to 2009, where he served as liaison to the Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, the Sikhs, and Traditional religions as well as the Reformed confessions. He is the author of Liberation in One Lifetime (North Atlantic Books 2014) and Rainbow Body and Resurrection: Spiritual Attainment, the Dissolution of the Material Body, and the Case of Khenpo A Chö (North Atlantic Books 2016) Interview Date: 4/11/2016    Tags: Francis Tiso, Rainbow body, resurrection of Jesus, Dzogchen, Bonpo, Scythian realm, Brother David Steindl-Rast, Shroud of Turin, Bodhisattva, Dudjom Rinpoche, Dalai Lama, Lama Kenpo A Chö, Eucharist, resurrection at the end of time, spiritual body, Thomas Merton, Syro-Oriental Christians, King Gesar of Tibet, contemplative practice, Thomas Keating, Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, Chöki Nyima Rinpoche, Buddhism, Religion, Death & Dying, Spirituality

In this warm and thoughtful program you’ll by dazzled by the mystery of Terry’s dying mother’s request for her to read her journals, but not until after her death. Terry found 3 shelves of journals only to discover all of them were blank. Puzzle about this mystery along with Terry in this far-reaching dialogue about finding one’s authentic voice. Terry Tempest Williams is a naturalist, environmentalist, and award-winning author. She is a recipient of the Lannan Literary Fellowship in creative nonfiction and the 1997 Guggenheim Fellowship, and served as naturalist-in-residence at the Utah Museum of Natural History. In 2014, on the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act, Ms. Williams received the Sierra Club’s John Muir Award honoring a distinguished record of leadership in American conservation. She divides her time between Castle Valley, Utah, and Moose, Wyoming. She is the author of many books including Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place (Pantheon 1991), Red: Patience and Passion in the Desert (Vintage Books 2002), An Unspoken Hunger: Stories from the Field (Vintage Books 1995) , Leap (Vintage 2001), The Open Space of Democracy (The Orion Society 2004), Finding Beauty in a Broken World (Pantheon 2008), When Women Were Birds (Sarah Crichton Books: Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2012) and The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America’s National Parks (Sarah Crichton Books, Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2016) Interview Date: 5/5/2012    Tags: Terry Tempest Williams, Wangari Maathai, voice, speaking, courage, silence, Mother Tongue, reproductive freedom, language, emotional intelligence, Mormon, birth control, abortion, Carden School, teaching children, Utah wildlands, wilderness, storytelling, Wilderness Society, embodied language, uncertainty, questions, questioning, deep listening, journaling, journal, authentic voice, sisterhood, crisis, ecology of the mind, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Social Change/Politics, Writing, Women's Studies, Philosophy

The Cool Cities Challenge is a non-political grassroots effort that encourages the building of strong communities and support social ties around emergency preparedness and lowering of the carbon footprint. It encourages connections between neighbors block by block. The results translates into higher civic engagement, safer, and healthier neighborhoods. John Crowley is co-founder of Cool City Petaluma 2030 and co-owner of the Aqus Café in Petaluma, California. He’s a social instigator and champion connection-maker. It was his intention in starting Aqus Café to recreate an Irish pub atmosphere with a focus on social dynamics that create opportunities and support the connection of individuals, businesses, and nonprofits by bringing them together with their various interests, talents, and energy. He believes that social capital determines the health and happiness of a community and that as individuals of a town are provided more opportunities to interact and connect the entire town benefits. Leslie Curchack is a nature photographer and block leader of Cool City Petaluma 2030.Interview Date: 8/19/2022    Tags: John Crowley, Leslie Curchack, front porches, air conditioning, TV in 1950s, natural disasters, water stewardship, net-zero emission, Synthetic Limestone, Daily Acts calendar, interdependence, passeggiata, Community, Social Change/Politics

Here we explore an optimistic and realistic look at how we can and must restore the health of our atmosphere to levels that support all life on this planet. Fiekowsky has extensively researched and come up with specific, concrete steps we can take that can bring about a restoration of the kind of healthy climate humankind has flourished under for 10,000 years. Peter Fiekowsky is an MIT educated physicist and engineer, an entrepreneur, a philanthropist, and a social innovator. He has worked at NASA and the Fairchild/Schlumberger Artificial Intelligence Lab in Palo Alto, California and has taught at MIT. He holds 27 patents and was instrumental in launching the Foundation for Climate Restoration whose purpose is to work with top scientists, innovators, policymakers, and others to create the understanding and policy needed to further climate restoration. He is co-author with Carole Douglis of Climate Restoration: The Only Future That Will Sustain the Human Race (Rivertown Books 2022).Interview Date: 9/25/2022    Tags: Peter Fiekowsky, citizens’ advocacy organization Results, immunization program, Muhammad Yunus, microlending, hunger project, Sam Daley-Harris, Blue Planet Systems, ocean restoration, synthetic limestone, planetary population, CO2, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Science

Dreams embody our hopes, fears, and creativity. They come from our unconscious pool of wisdom as a viable means of knowledge of self as we commit to valuing and honoring them by tracking, recording, and thinking about the messages they’re trying to reveal. They’re a permanent witness to our life’s journey, a portable, practical, and unlimited resource. Linda Yael Schiller, MSE, LICSW is a psychotherapist who has taught dream work and run dream groups for over three decades. She teaches and consults on trauma treatment, PTSD, and nightmares. She is the author of Modern Dreamwork: New Tools for Decoding Your Soul’s Wisdom (Llewellyn Publications 2019) and PTSDreams: Transform Your Nightmares from Trauma through Healing Dreamwork (Llewellyn Publications 2021).Interview Date: 9/15/202    Tags: Linda Yael Schiller, dream work, dreamwork, nightmares, Jeremy Taylor, REM cycles, synchronicity, Dreams, Personal Transformation

Andreotti has noticed that there is way more kindness happening on a day-to-day basis than there is drama, negativity, and darkness. She shares with us ways we can expand our awareness and be a vessel of kindness and suggests that one of the strongest forms of kindness is to be a good listener. She is the founder of several companies and has held leadership positions in small and large organizations, including government, nonprofit and Fortune 500 companies. For many years she served as an organizational development coach, business transformation consultant, and executive coach. She believes that when you are authentic and in your brilliance, you can achieve anything. And she's the founder and host of The Kindness Club. She's the author (with co-author, Brian Hilgendorf) of Sex, Intimacy and Business: A Revolution Has Begun And It's Time To Get Undressed (Brilliance Press 2005)Interview Date: 9/5/2022     Tags: Lindsay Andreotti, kindness, self-criticism, Michael Singer, Surrender Experiment, caterpillar process, imaginal ventures, One of a Kindness™, intention, listening, curiosity, Personal Transformation, Social Change/Politics

Listening is a skill that we have to learn. It takes effort, attention, patience, and practice. It’s a process that requires us to use different parts of our brain. Effective listening can improve our relationships and our jobs, as well as enhance our intelligence. Leslie Shore explains what it takes and what gets in the way. Leslie Shore has worked in the retail industry and personal management fields, as well as being a professor and instructional designer, where she has gained much wisdom in what it takes to be an effective listener. She is the owner of Listen to Succeed, a consultancy that focuses on using listening analytics to help personal and professional clients achieve their highest level of effective communication. She is the author of Listen to Succeed: How to Identify and Overcome Barriers to Effective Listening (self-published 2012). Her book is currently being used as a textbook in several universities.Interview Date: 4/15/2016.      Tags: Leslie Shore, listening, deep listening, effective listening, hearing, life skills, deepening friendships, multitasking, cell phones, communication, external barriers, internal barriers, interrupting, intruding, mind reading, body language, mind map, rehearse, advertising, technology, internet, television, politics, law of least effort, Personal Transformation, Self Help

This deep dialogue explores the embodied spiritual path and what it means to live more consciously in a human body. He says, “The body is 3 billion years of evolution and there's a tremendous wisdom and intelligence in it that moves us towards wisdom, connection, mutuality, and interdependence.Richard Strozzi-Heckler, Ph.D. is a coach and consultant on embodied leadership and mastery and has spent more than five decades researching, developing, and teaching Somatics and embodiment practices to organizations in such fields as education, healthcare, leadership team development, military, technology and international peace work, including the United States Marine Corps.He holds a Shihan 7th -degree black belt in aikido and has founded and cofounded several Aikido schools and projects including the Mideast Aikido Project and Training across Borders, organizations that bring citizens from warring countries together to practice aikido. He was advisor to General Jim Jones, the Supreme Allied Commander of Europe from 2003 to 2006 in Afghanistan. He is the founder of the Strozzi Institute, where he teaches courses on somatic coaching and leadership in action. He is the author of many books including In Search of the Warrior Spirit, Fourth Edition: Teaching Awareness Disciplines to the Green Berets (Blue Snake Books 2007), Embodying The Mystery The Art of Somatic Coaching: Embodying Skillful Action, Wisdom, and Compassion (North Atlantic Books 2014) and Somatic Wisdom for Emotional, Energetic, and Spiritual Awakening (Inner Traditions 2022)Interview Date: 8/26/2022    Tags: Richard Strozzi-Heckler, aikido, Sensei Hirata, Morihei Ueshiba, Nisargadatta Maharaj, attention, certainty, vulnerability, wisdom, knowledge, Odysseus, anger, Personal Transformation, Meditation, Spirituality

As our population ages with its emphasis on hyper-cognitive power and productivity, we must begin to acknowledge the equal moral status of people with physical and cognitive disabilities as someone not less significant than that of someone who is more lucid of mind. And, we must better support those who support this growing population.Stephen G. Post, Ph.D. is among a handful of individuals awarded the National Distinguished Service Award from the National Alzheimer’s Association. Post is a leader in research on the benefits of giving and on compassionate care in relation to improved patient outcomes and clinician well-being. In 2001 he founded The Institute for Research on Unlimited Love, which researches and distributes knowledge on kindness, giving and spirituality. Post served as a co-chair of the United Nations Population Fund Conference on Spirituality and Global Transformation. He’s a professor in the Department of Preventative Medicine at Stony Brook University and founder and director of the Stony Brook Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care and Bioethics. He is the author of: Why Good Things Happen to Good People: How to Live Longer, Healthier, Happier Life by the Simple Act of Giving (Broadway Books 2008), The Moral Challenge of Alzheimer Disease: Ethical Issues from Diagnosis to Dying (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2nd edition 2000), God and Love on Route 80: The Hidden Mystery of Human Connectedness (Mango 2019) and Dignity for Deeply Forgetful People: How Caregivers Can Meet the Challenges of Alzheimer’s Disease (Johns Hopkins University Press 2022)Interview Date: 8/19/2022    Tags: Stephen G. Post, caregiving, dementia, Alzheimer’s, assisted oral feeding, tube feeding, Willem de Kooning, Oliver Sacks, Health & Healing, Philosophy, Science, Death & Dying

If our future is one of limitation, how may we face it with courage to do the best job with what is possible? Even though easy solutions may not be apparent it does not make asking hard questions irrelevant. According to our guests, what are the four hard questions we must be asking at this time.Robert W Jensen, Ph.D. is professor emeritus in the School of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of many books including Plain Radical: Living, Loving and Learning to Leave the Planet Gracefully (2015 Skull Press), The End of Patriarchy: Radical Feminism for Men (Spinifex Press 2017) and The Restless and Relentless Mind of Wes Jackson: Searching for Sustainability (University Press of Kansas 2021)Wes Jackson, Ph.D.is recognized as a leader in the international sustainable agriculture movement and earned his Ph.D. in genetics. He is cofounder and president emeritus of the Land Institute in Salina, Kansas, and a 1992 MacArthur Fellow. He is the author and co-author of numerous books, including Hogs Are Up: Stories of The Land, With Digressions and New Routes for Agriculture. (University Press of Kansas 2021) and Consulting the Genius of the Place: An Ecological Approach to a New Agriculture (Counterpoint 2011)Jensen and Jackson are coauthors of An Inconvenient Apocalypse: Environmental Collapse, Climate Change, Climate Crisis, And the Fate Of Humanity. (University of Notre Dame Press 2022)Interview Date: 8/12/2022     Tags: MP3, Wes Jackson, Robert W Jensen, agriculture, population limits, cascading crises, carrying capacity, technological fundamentalism, techno-optimism, ecosphere, Marty Bender, Sunshine Farm study, William McDonough, Abe Osherhoff, Leland Lorenzen, Jim Koplin, human population, electric cars, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Philosophy, Social Change/Politics, technology

Sound is medicine, according to the research of David Gibson. Every person, emotion, and ailment has a tone. Sound and frequency can be used to influence mental states, enhance human experience, and heal disease. He explains how music therapy is being applied in healthcare. “It’s unbelievable what’s been happening with people just by using sound and music.”David Gibson is a leader in the field of sound healing and therapy. He’s the founder and director of the Globe Sound and Consciousness Institute in San Francisco which offers an Associates degree in sound healing therapy. He is also the producer of sound healing music and runs the sound therapy center at the Institute offering different types of sound healing treatments. He is a founder of the sound healing research Association designed to help bring sound healing into the mainstream. He is the author of The Complete Guide To Sound Healing (Sound Healing Center 2013) Interview Date: 3/8/2016    Tags: David Gibson, music therapy, sound therapy, music, sound, vibration, frequency, tone, ultra sound, brain waves, entrainment, depression, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, pain medication, sound medicine cabinet, disease, illness, sound chairs, sound tables

Our brain forms many automatic neural circuits including those that support our breathing, heartbeat, and digestion. Here we explore how to create new neural circuits that put us in touch with the larger energetic field of infinite intelligence. Joseph Selbie, a dedicated meditator for nearly 50 years, has taught meditation and yoga throughout Europe and the United States. He is a founding member of Ananda, a meditation-based community and spiritual movement inspired by Paramahansa Yogananda. He resides with his wife at the long-standing Ananda Village near Nevada City, California. He is the author of The Yugas: Keys to Understanding, The Physics of God: How the Deepest Theories of Science Explain Religion and How the Deepest Truths of Religion Explain Science (New Page Books 2021) and Break Through the Limits of the Brain: Neuroscience, Inspiration, and Practices to Transform Your Life (New Page Books 2022)Interview Date: 7/29/2022    Tags: Joseph Selbie, brain science, neural circuits, The Gorilla Experiment, psychedelics, meditation, nonlocality, M-theory, near death experience, Max Planck, Hans-Peter Dürr, introspection, affirmations, hong-sau meditation, Spirituality, Science

As a man born of a Nigerian father and a white mother, Jawando is our guide for the essential gift of mentorship and how staggeringly transformative it can be for an entire community. It’s a reminder of how even a brief encounter of positive mentoring can make all the difference for all our children, most especially those at risk. Will Jawando is an attorney, an activist, a community leader, and a councilmember in Montgomery County Maryland, a diverse community of more than 1 million residents. Called “the progressive leader we need” by the late Congressman John Lewis, Jawando has worked with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Sherrod Brown, and Pres. Barack Obama. HE is the author of My Seven Black Fathers: A Young Activist’s Memoir of Race, Family, and the Mentors Who Made Him Whole (Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2022).Interview Date: 7/8/2022   Tags: Will Jawando, Kalfani, Joseph Jacob, Deen Sanwoola, Nigeria, grandmothers, Dean Hoge, NAACP, Barack Obama, affordable housing, low-income housing, mentors, mentoring, mentorship, Social change/politics, Personal Transformation, Men’s studies, Community

Inner and outer storms can be transformational agents. Nepo advises us that we must not skip over pain, breakage, and loss. He goes on to say, “And, we must not drown in it or make a permanent residence of it. We have to find the corridor of aliveness that allows us to process our experience and land in the opening the storm has made in us and around us.” Mark Nepo is a poet and philosopher and a most eloquent spiritual teacher. In 2015, he was given a Life-Achievement Award by AgeNation and in 2016 was named by Watkins: Mind Body Spirit as one of the Most Spiritually Influential Living People. He was part of Oprah Winfrey’s The Life You Want Tour in 2014 and has appeared several times with Oprah on her Super Soul Sunday program on OWN TV. As a cancer survivor, Mark devotes his writing and teaching to the journey of inner transformation and the life of relationship. He is the author of many audio learning projects and over 20 books including Reduced To Joy (Cleis Press 2013), Seven Thousand Ways to Listen: Staying Close To What Is Sacred (Free Press 2012), he One Life We’re Given: Finding the Wisdom That Waits in Your heart (Atria Books 2016), Drinking from the River of Light: The Life of Expression (Sounds True 2019), The Book of Soul: 52 Paths to Living What Matters (St. Martin’s Essentials 2020) and Surviving Storms: Finding the Strength to Meet Adversity (St. Martin's Essentials 2022)Interview Date: 7/20/2022    Tags: Mark Nepo, Japanese Haiku poet, Masahide, geological storms, lightning strikes, Tempestarii, ethnic diversity, brokenness, spiritual diversity, dissociation, mass shootings, Roman Colosseum gladiatorial shows, Facebook algorithms, fear, denial, Tang Dynasty Tu Fu poet, love, victimhood, betrayal, empathy, George Floyd, Sheena Malhotra, 9-1/2 minutes of collective silence, soul, Personal Transformation, Social Change/Politics

Despite our being connected 24/7 with others, post-modern life is replete with loneliness. Loneliness is not the same as aloneness. Loneliness is when you lack the feeling of being connected with another. Explore how to build fulfilling and deep connections with others and make closeness flourish. Kira Asatryan is a certified relationship coach who provides individual life coaching, relationship coaching, conflict mediation, and couples coaching. Before becoming a relationship coach, she was director of performance marketing for prominent Silicon Valley technology start-ups and cofounded an online marketing consultancy. She lives in San Francisco. Kira Asatryan is the author of Stop Being Lonely: Three Simple Steps to Developing Close Friendships and Deep Relationships (New World Library 2016)Interview Date: 4/3/2016     Tags: Kira Asatryan, introverted, closeness, caring, intimacy, families, caretaking, loneliness, empathy, inflammation, efficiency, effectiveness, social media, incidental contact, open-ended questions, Arthur Aron, efficiency, effectiveness, Relationships, Psychology, Personal Transformation, Self Help, Health & Healing, Technology

We are in a constant deluge of noise and information and chat whether it is from our email and social media, or the 24-hour news cycles with its constant announcements of breaking news. Even our households can be filled with noise. Here we explore how to lessen both the exterior and interior noise to hear our own intuition and tune in to our creative gifts. Justin Zorn has served as a senior advisor for Policy and Strategy at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. He has also served as a meditation teacher in the U.S. Congress and is a Harvard-and-Oxford-trained specialist in the economics and psychology of wellbeing. Leigh Marz is a collaboration consultant and leadership coach for major universities, nonprofit coalitions, and federal agencies. Marz and Zorn are the cofounders of Astrea Strategies whose purpose is to help businesses, nonprofits, and leaders find creative and enduring solutions in living beyond the noise. They are the co-authors of Golden: The Power of Silence in A World of Noise. (Harper Wave 2022)Interview Date: 6/30/2022     Tags: Leigh Marz, Justin Zorn, noise, intuition, thinking and talking, Johann Hari, attention, flow, Arlin Bronzaft, Andrew Yang, John Maynard Keynes, market forces, Sheena Malhortra, George Floyd, Joyce DiDonato, Jarvis Masters, San Quentin, Cyrus Habib, Social Change/Politics, Personal Transformation

Approaching and facing some essential life questions and leaving them in a written “ethical will” will benefit our loved ones after we have passed and might be more important than any material things we pass on at our death. It will also be helpful in shedding light on our own deepest beliefs and dreams. Steve Leder is senior Rabbi of Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles. After receiving his degree in writing and graduating cum laude from Northwestern University, studying at Trinity College, Oxford University, Leder received a master’s degree in Hebrew letters in 1986 and rabbinical ordination in 1987 from Hebrew Union College. He is the author of many books including The Extraordinary Nature of Ordinary Things (Behrman House 1999), More Money Than God: Living A Rich Life Without Losing Your Soul (Volt Press 2003), More Beautiful Than Before: How Suffering Transforms Us (Hay House 2017), The Beauty of What Remains (Avery 2021) and For You When I Am Gone: Twelve Essential Questions to Tell a Life Story Interview Date: 6/20/2022    Tags: Steve Leder, ethical will, living legacy, estate planning, grief, abracadabra, regret, Schopenhauer, Max Planck, compassion, Seventh generation, good and evil, Writing, Personal Transformation, Philosophy

Meade advises us that we must break the spell of normalcy itself and we must accept the presence of uncertainty. However, the good news is that with every ending there is a new beginning. This deep dialogue explores the collective rite of passage we are experiencing and how using the wisdom of myths gives us a roadmap to the renewal of life itself. Michael Meade is a renowned storyteller, author, scholar of mythology, and student of ritual in traditional cultures. He has scoured the world to bring to us meaningful folk tales that tap into ancestral sources of wisdom and acts as a guide to connect them to the stories we are living today. Meade is the founder of Mosaic Multicultural Foundation. He also offers regular Living Myths Podcasts and workshops. He’s the author of many books including Why the World Doesn't End: Tales of Renewal in Times of Loss (GreenfirePress 2012), Fate and Destiny: The Two Agreements of the Soul (GreenFire Press 2012), The Genius Myth (GreenfirePress 2016), Awakening the Soul: A Deep Response to a Troubled World (GreenFire Press 2018) andThe Water of Life: Initiation and the Tempering of the Soul (GreenFire Press 2019) Interview Date: 6/17/2022   Tags: Michael Meade, Rumi, duality, centering, descent to darkness, myths, creating myths, polarity, darkness and light, love, re-creation of the world, opposites, Sky Woman myth, Mythology, Psychology, Personal Transformation

How are the successes and failures of the fledgling South African democracy relevant to all democratic nations? Why a nation cannot truly thrive without full socio-economic equity. Why true freedom must also include freedom from an imprisoned mind. What is the importance of teaching a full, robust history of a nation? Mamphela Ramphele, M.D., Ph.D. is an activist, medical doctor, academic, businesswoman, and global servant. Besides her medical degree, she holds a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology. She was the managing director of the World Bank, and is a trustee of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, as well as chairwoman of the Bishop Desmond Tutu Trust. She also serves as co-president of the Club of Rome, which was founded in 1968 as a nonprofit, informal organization of intellectuals and business leaders whose goal is to identify holistic solutions to complex global issues, and to promote policy initiatives and actions to enable humanity to emerge from multiple planetary emergencies. She is the author of A Passion for Freedom (I.B. Tauris 2014), Conversations with My Sons and Daughters (Penguin 2013) and Dreams, Betrayal and Hope (Penguin Books 2017) Interview Date: 5/20/2022   Tags: Mamphela Ramphele, South Africa, apartheid, colonial conquest, Steve Biko, oppression, South African political settlement, Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, competition, interconnectedness, collaboration, conversation, ubuntu, apartheid cities, Alexei Navalny, History, Social Change/Politics, Education, Philosophy

Debra Silverman suggests that each of us has basic personality traits that can be seen in the context of the four elements of earth, air, water, and fire. Each element has strengths and shadows. Understanding which element is most prevalent in your personality and which ones are weak will help you see what is missing in order to be a more balanced human being. Debra Silverman holds a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and has specialized in helping thousands of individuals achieve emotional health and wisdom based on their unique personality and the four elements of water, air, earth, and fire. She combines this work with her expertise in Soul-Centered Astrology. She is a host of an on-line radio program “Tell me a Story.” She works on an individual basis as well as with groups, and is the author of The Missing Element: Inspiring Compassion for the Human Condition (Findhorn Press 2016).She is the author of The Missing Element: Inspiring Compassion for the Human Condition (Findhorn Press 2016)Interview Date: 3/3/2016      Tags: Debra Silverman, personality, shadow, tears, empathic, sadness, spiritual bypassing, water people, air people, fire people, earth people, four elements, fire element, air element, water element, earth element, missing element, astrology, soul-centered astrology, zodiac, compassion, shaming, planetary evolution, birthing, cosmic birth, web, Hopi prophecy, Aquarian Age, Psychology, Self Help, Spirituality, Relationship/Partnership/Sexuality

Andrew Harvey shares his experience of why it takes rigorous discipline to be an artist, why solitude matters, how to cultivate our personal passions, how “networks of grace” can save humanity, and more. He speaks eloquently on how to cultivate sacred friendships and speaks of his “soul brother,” 88-year-old pianist and teacher, Seymour Bernstein, a true wisdom elder. Andrew Harvey is an internationally acclaimed poet, novelist, translator, mystical scholar, and spiritual teacher. He is the Founder/Director of the Institute of Sacred Activism. He is the author of many books including The Direct Path: Creating a Personal Journey to the Divine Using the World's Spiritual Traditions (Harmony 2001), The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism (Hay House 2009), Teachings of Rumi (Shambhala 1999) and Play Life More Beautifully: Conversations with Seymour (Hay House 2016)Interview Date: 2/29/2016    Tags: Andrew Harvey, Seymour Bernstein, composer, solitude, soul friends, spiritual reservoir, Ethan Hawk, stage fright, charming, spellbound, prayer, elective affinities, soul friends, sacred friendships, forgiveness, soul listening, New Age music, Velazquez, artistic passion, rigorous discipline, Rumi, Bede Griffiths, the Christ path, transfiguration, Jesus, imaginal cells, sacred activists, Networks of Grace, heartbreak, radical action, Art & Creativity, Writing, Music, Philosophy, Spirituality, Social change/politics

Lupa is a strong advocate for connecting with animal or plant totems as allies to enhance our spiritual life and help us reconnect with nature. They can provide a “bridge” between us and the rest of the natural world. She cautions us to understand that totems, whether they be animal, plants, or fungi, are not simple one-dimensional helpers limited to stereotyped meanings from dictionaries. They are vibrant, intelligent, dynamic beings sharing the world with us as much as anyone else, and while we may have forgotten what it is to be in nature’s community, they have not. Lupa is a neo-shaman, artist and sustainability geek. She has been working with animal magic for more than 20 years and has developed a self-created and spirit-directed neoshamanic path. She possesses a master’s degree in counseling psychology with an emphasis on eco-psychology. Her books include New Paths to Animal Totems: Three Alternative Approaches to Creating Your Own Totemism (Llewellyn 2012), Plant and Fungus Totems: Connect with Spirits of Field, Forest, and Garden (Llewellyn 2014) and Nature Spirituality from the Ground Up: Connect with Totems in Your Ecosystem (Llewellyn 2016) Interview Date: 2/16/2016    Tags: Lupa, ecosystems, watershed, bioregion, totem, totems, hard fascination, soft fascination, totemism, water, rivers, grey wolf, Yellowstone Park, Never Cry Wolf, fungi, plant blindness, The Private Life of Plants, David Attenborough, Bill Mollison, trees, practice of place, practice of action, practice of celebration. Grounding, power spots, sleep, mammals, hugging, gravity, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Spirituality, Philosophy, Science, Spirit Guides/Angels/Spirit, Personal Transformation

Most people believe the loss of the body is the loss of life, but when Matthew McKay’s 23-year-old son Jordan was suddenly shot and killed, for Matthew, it was not the end of Jordan’s life. It was the beginning of a quest to penetrate the veil of death through some extraordinary communications. These virtual conversations led Matthew to co-author a book, with his son. Matthew McKay, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and professor at The Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA. The Wright Institute offers Masters and Ph.D. programs to psychologists and provides support and evaluation for the research needs of its students. McKay is also the founder and publisher at New Harbinger Publications. He is the author and co-author of many books, including: The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook: Practical DBT Exercises for Learning Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotion Regulation ^ Tolerance (coauthor Jeffrey Brantley) (New Harbinger Publications 2007) and Seeking Jordan: How I Learned the Truth about Death and the Invisible Universe (New World Library 2016).Interview Date: 4/28/2016  Tags: Matthew McKay, hypnosis, Michael Newton, Allan Botkin, Ralph Metzner, channeled writing, past life regression, Akashic records, reincarnation, afterlife, consciousness, God, time, broken vase Wabi Sabi, post traumatic growth, Death & Dying, Parapsychology/Paranormal, Intuition/Psychic, Personal Transformation

Here we take a closer look at many assumptions, unquestioned conclusions, and beliefs that are pervasive in our culture, such as our universe exploding from nothing in a big bang, or “we create our own reality”, or “humans are the most special of all the species on the planet”. In this provocative dialogue we explore the nature of consciousness, energy and matter. Christian de Quincey, Ph.D. is Professor of Philosophy and Consciousness Studies at John F. Kennedy University and Dean of Consciousness Studies at the University of Philosophical Research. He is the founder of the Wisdom Academy. His books include Radical Nature: The Soul of Matter (revised edition) (Park Street Press 2010), Radical Knowing: Understanding Consciousness through Relationship (Park Street Press 2005), Consciousness from Zombies to Angels (Park Street Press 2008), Deep Spirit: The Noetic Code (The Wisdom Academy Press 2008) and Blindspots: 21 Good Reasons to Think before You Talk (Park Street Press 2015) Interview Date: 1/5/2016    Tags: Christian de Quincey, Big Bang theory, parallel universes, consciousness, energy, matter, dualism, Descartes, idealism, panpsychism, evolution, Einstein, materialism, octopus, intention, beliefs, sentient, sentience, choice, Philosophy, Science

Phillips, a gay, former novice of the Catholic Church, reveals her religious crucible and the wisdom she’s gained along the way. She says, “I’m no longer a seeker, I’m a finder. Every morning, I find my source. As I say in one of my poems, ‘I eat God for breakfast, and all day long. I metabolize love. ‘” Jan Phillips is an award-winning photographer, writer, multimedia artist, and workshop leader. She's a co-founder of the Livingkindness Foundation, a global network for grassroots philanthropists. Early in her life she entered a convent as a novice to become a nun at the Catholic community of nuns at St. Joseph’s Provincial House in Latham, New York. After three years she was abruptly and surprisingly dismissed which led her on a life-quest to seek her personal spiritual truth. Jan Phillips is the author of many CDs and books including The Art of Original Thinking: The Making of a Thought Leader (9th Element Press 2006), Marry Your Muse: Making a Lasting Commitment to Your Creativity (Quest Books 1997), God Is at Eye Level: Photography as a Healing Art (Quest Books 2000), Born Gay: Images & Reflections of an Ordinary Lesbian (Jan Phillips 2003), No Ordinary Time: The Rise of Spiritual Intelligence and Evolutionary Creativity (Livingkindness Foundation 2011) and Still On Fire: Field Notes of a Queer Mystic (Unity Books 2021)Interview Date: 4/25/2022   Tags: Jan Phillips, Sister Robert Charles, Margaret Lalor, nun, Father Grabys, homosexuality, Teilhard de Chardin, Catholic confession, photography, Nagasaki, Tokyo, Father Oshida, Meister Eckhart, Memoir, Social Change/Politics, Spirituality, Religion, Buddhism, meditation

This conversation encompasses a wide range of what it means to be human and life’s universal questions from very different perspectives. Valente responds to Trappist monk Brother Quenon’s question, “Does this bring you closer to God?” by saying “I think that's the question we have to ask ourselves all the time in our work. Is this bringing me closer to the Divine Presence? Judith Valente is a former staff writer for the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal and is a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in journalism. Valente contributes to the US Catholic magazine and National Catholic Reporter. Besides her life as a journalist, she’s a poet, retreat leader, TV & Radio Producer, and Benedictine lay Associate. Judith Valente and Brother Paul Quenon, OCSO are co-authors of : How to Be: A Monk and a Journalist Reflect on Living & Dying, Purpose & Prayer, Forgiveness & Friendship (Hampton Roads 2021) Interview Date: 4/8/2022   Tags: Judith Valente, Paul Quenon, Thomas Merton, Haiku, Rule of St. Benedict, deep listening, meditation, discontent, surrender, prayer, friendship, Saint Aelred of Rievaulx, Poetry, Letter Writing, Spirituality, Meditation

In this provocative dialogue, Finley guides us in how to better cope with our own sense of being overwhelmed by unbidden occurrences and the conditions of life. He points out that what we are truly seeking is a higher understanding of our relationship to Divine Source. Guy Finley is a spiritual teacher and author. He is the Founder and Director of Life of Learning Foundation, a nonprofit center for transcendent self-study located in Merlin, Oregon. He hosts the Life of Learning Foundation’s Wisdom School and offers free online classes open to all every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Each class also includes a question-and-answer session with Guy. He is the author of over 45 books including The Secret of Letting Go (Llewellyn Publications 2008), The Lost Secrets of Prayer: Practices For Self-Awakening (Llewellyn Publications 1998) and The Seeker, the Search, the Sacred: Journey to the Greatness Within (Weiser Books 2011). Also: CD: 5-Prayers for Self-Transformation - a self-discovery courseInterview Date: 5/3/2022    Tags: Guy Finley, Vernon Howard, overwhelm, the seeker, seeking, consciousness, blame, triggers, timelines, reactions, negativity, pain, conscious responsibility, injustice, Ho’oponopono, Vladimir Putin, hatred, limitations, addiction, Divine Source, herd instinct, Philosophy, Psychology, Spirituality, Personal Transformation

Tygielski describes a movement that offers direct aid, connecting those who need help with those who want to be of help. Even when problems seem too big to solve, she says, “We start to pare down and look at things on a smaller level (such as within our own families or our children’s schools). Once we start there, it’s surprising how far reaching those effects are.” Shelly Tygielski is founder of the Pandemic of Love movement and is a self-care activist, community organizer, and mindfulness teacher. She is the author of Sit Down to Rise Up: How Radical Self-Care Can Change the World (New World Library 2021)Interview Date: 4/18/2022   Tags: Shelly Tygielski, Pandemic of Love, nonprofit disrupter, Covid Pandemic, Self Care, Self-Care, intention, baby steps, Canal Point Elementary School in Pahokee, Florida, Music teacher Mr. Goindoo, Pyoitr Kropotkin, Peter Kropotkin, Darwin, survival of the fittest, cooperation, collaboration, David Loye, Dan Siegel, Mwe Up Community, Personal Transformation, Community, Social Change

Justine Willis Toms shares principles that lead to a more useful and fulfilling life. She asks the question: is worry fruitful and will it lead me to an effective outcome? She also encourages us to create circles of friends who support us in our fullness. She shares the lessons of the caterpillar and the butterfly. Since 1973, Justine Willis Toms has been exploring personal, social and spiritual transformation through her work as an electronic journalist, editor and writer. She is co-founder, executive director and host of New Dimensions Radio. She is a founding convener of The Millionth Circle Initiative and has been actively involved in circle work since 1980. She serves on the board of World Prayers as well as Women’s Perspective. In June 2004, she was one of 30 people in the world invited to participate in The Synthesis Dialogues with his holiness the Dalai Lama. She was inducted into the Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2011. She is the author of True Work: Doing What You Love and Loving What You Do (with Michael Toms) (Harmony Books 1999) and Small Pleasures: Finding Grace in a Chaotic World (Hampton Roads 2008)Interview Date: 12/16/2015   Tags: Justine Willis Toms, metamorphosis of caterpillar, hope, optimism, Tom Greenaway, imaginal cells, joy, 4 keys for thriving in chaotic times, curiosity, millionth circle, circle principles, worry, be open to outcome, hold the future loosely, Dalai Lama, gratitude, Personal Transformation, Philosophy, Spirituality, Media

Whether you believe intuition is our soul speaking to us, or that it’s coming to us from a greater field of universal wisdom and knowledge, intuition has been proven to assist us in the betterment of our lives and of the human condition. This dialogue explores examples of how intuition and spiritual telepathy can bring us powerful and enlightened insights. Colleen Mauro is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Intuition magazine published from 1988 to 2001. It explored the potential of the mind and the many varied ways of intuitive knowing, and featured research and how-to information on intuition, inspiration, and telepathy for the general reader. Colleen Mauro is the author of Spiritual Telepathy: Ancient Techniques to Access the Wisdom of Your Soul (Theosophical Publishing House 2015)Interview Date: 1/22/2016   Tags: Colleen Mauro, Intuition, Telepathy, gut feeling, ESP, Mind Dynamics, spiritual telepathy, Patanjali, Alice Bailey, Helena Blavatsky, clairvoyance, channeling, mind training, etheric broadband, mindfulness meditation, evolutionary leap, Prodigal son, Christian virtues, Jack Kornfield, creative imagination, soul, heart, Willis Harman, silence, Eileen Caddy, Findhorn Community, Andy Mackie, Meditation, Spirituality, parapsychology/paranormal

For those of us who are committed to a life of awakening and truth, Sluyter gives us deep insight into the writings of such luminaries as Mark Twain, William Blake, Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, J.D. Salinger and many more. You’ll not be bored in his class as he takes us deep into the spiritual insights hidden in the writings of these revered literary geniuses. Dean Sluyter lived in New Jersey for 33 years where he developed the Literature of Enlightenment Program at the Pingry School and worked with inmates at Northern State Prison and Mountain View Youth Correctional Facility. He now lives in Santa Monica, California and teaches natural methods of meditation and awakening throughout the United States and beyond. He's known for his funny, down-to-earth style and for making life-transforming teachings accessible and easy. He is the author of many books including The Zen Commandments (Tarcher/Putnam 2001), Why the Chicken Crossed the Road and Other Hidden Enlightenment Teachings (Tarcher/Putnam 1998), Cinema Nirvana: Enlightenment Lessons from the Movies (Three Rivers Press 2005), Natural Meditation: A Guide to Effortless Meditative Practice (Tarcher/Penguin 2015) Fear Less: Living Beyond Fear, Anxiety, Anger, and Addiction (TarcherPerigee 2018) and The Dharma Bum's Guide to Western Literature (New World Library 2022)Interview Date: 4/1/2022     Tags: MP3, Dean Sluyter, William Blake, Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn, Gary Synder, Jack Kerouac, Poetry, Ernest Hemingway, Haiku, Basho, kenshō, Big Two-Hearted River, PTSD, Farewell to Arms, To the Lighthouse, Anattā, non-self, Dr. Suess, Cat in the Hat, Caravaggio's Calling of St. Matthew, J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield, Seymour Glass, Glass Family stories, Gautama Buddha, Meditation, Education, Writing, Art & Creativity, Buddhism

Here we explore afterlife investigations such as near death experiences, after death communication, reincarnation, instrumental transcommunication, mediumship, and much more. Mishlove explores survival after death and whether or not consciousness is separate from the brain. Jeffrey Mishlove, Ph.D. is the only person who has been awarded a doctoral diploma in Parapsychology by an accredited American University - the University of California at Berkeley. For the past 50 years he's been a pioneer in the research of parapsychology. He is the founder and host of the radio and TV program series Thinking Allowed, and most recently, New Thinking Allowed. Both are available on YouTube. Dr. Mishlove is the recipient of the prestigious Bigelow Institute Award of $500,000 for his essay on parapsychology entitled Beyond the Brain: The Survival of Human Consciousness After Permanent Bodily Death. His books include Roots Of Consciousness: The Classic Encyclopedia of Consciousness Studies Revised and Expanded (Da Capo Press; Revised 1997) and PK Man: A True Story of Mind Over Matter ( Hampton Roads 2000)Interview Date: 2/25/2022   Tags: Jeffrey Mishlove, Eben Alexander, M.D., Darien Experiences, Peak in Darien, Elizabeth Targ, Russell Targ, Willis Harman, instrumental transcommunication, Dan Drasin, Emmy Vadnais, reincarnation, Ian Stevenson, Carl Sagan, Max Planck, hyperspace, Jane Roberts, Seth Speaks, Geraldine Cummins, channeling, channelers, Shiva Tripathi, mediums, séances, William James, Parapsychology/Paranormal, Life After Death

Loch Kelly describes open-hearted awareness as a direct experience of our interconnectedness and the feeling of being held by the same essence that holds all life. It is a dynamic place that sparkles with life. Some describe it as “a child on the first day of summer vacation.” It is beyond head-knowing. It taps into a deeper source of intelligence and wisdom. Loch Kelly, M.Div, LCSW is founder of the nonprofit Open-Heart Awareness Institute. He is an educator, licensed psychotherapist, and recognized leader in the field of meditation, who was asked to teach Sutra Mahamudra by Mingyur Rinpoche and to teach nondual realization by Adyashanti. He collaborates with neuroscientists in the study of meditation to discover ways to improve compassion and well-being. He’s an emerging voice in modernizing meditation and social engagement. He is the author of Shift Into Freedom: The Science and Practices of Open-Hearted Awareness (Sounds True 2015) and a CD set of Meditations: Shift Into Freedom: A Training in the Science and Practice of Open-Hearted Awareness (Sounds True 2015)Interview Date: 1/13/2016     Tags:Loch Kelly, nondualism, consciousness, problem solver consciousness, thought based operating system, awareness based knowing, ground of being, mindfulness meditation, waking-up waking-in waking-out, embodied meditation, heart-mind, open-hearted awareness, memory door meditation, shame, well-being, spacious awareness, pure awareness, curiosity, intelligence, wisdom, creativity, Meditation, Philosophy, Personal Transformation, Spirituality

With extended longevity comes a chance to become a true wisdom elder. To leap from adulthood to elderhood we're challenged to uncover our unconscious denials and resistances around repairing the past and reclaiming our creativity thus revealing ways to discover and share our talents and wisdom to become a force for change in ourselves and in the lives of others. Connie Zweig is a psychotherapist and has been initiated into Elderhood as a certified Sage-ing leader. She is known as an expert in Shadow Work and uncovering our inner shadow. Although she is retired from clinical practice, she leads online workshops listed on her website which is also populated with many activities, blogs, videos, and audio references. She is the author of several books including Meeting the Shadow: The Hidden Power of the Dark Side of Human Nature (Tarcher/Perigee 1991 reprint iUniverse 2017), with (Steve Wolf, PhD.) Romancing the Shadow: A Guide to Soul Work for a Vital Authentic Life (Wellspring/Ballantine; Reprint edition 1999), A Moth to the Flame: The Life of the Sufi Poet Rumi (a novel) (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers 2006), The Inner Work of Age: Shifting from Role to Soul. (Park Street Press 2021)Interview Date: 2/14/2022   Tags: Connie Zweig, aging, senior, elder, longevity, ageism, unconscious, shadow work, inner ageist, regret, inner life review, outer life review, self-hate, productivity, depression, Ari Goldfield, wisdom, Anna Douglas, mindfulness, not good enough, inner sight, Bill McKibbon, Third Act, Citizens Climate Lobby, Elders Action Network, Encore.org, Sage-ing International, Sage-ing.org, Moses, Wisdom Circles, Aging, Personal Transformation, Spirituality

This deep dialogue uncovers many spiritual laws in everyday life. Millman gives us a taste of the four mentors who guided him on his spiritual quest. He calls these teachers The Professor, The Guru, The Warrior-Priest, and The Sage. They transmitted practical wisdom and spiritual laws for living wisely and well. These laws are immutable as gravity. Dan Millman is a lifelong student and longtime teacher of practical wisdom devoting his life to mastery, first in sports and then in everyday life. He is a former World trampoline champion, Stanford gymnastics coach, and Oberlin College professor. He teaches The Peaceful Warrior’s Way and is the author of 18 books published in 29 languages including Way Of the Peaceful Warrior (adapted to a 2006 feature film.) (HJ Kramer Revised Edition 2006), The Laws of Spirit: A Tale of Transformation (HJ Kramer book, published jointly, New World Library 1995), The Life You Were Born to Live: A Guide to Finding Your Purpose (HJ Kramer, Anniversary Edition 2018) and Peaceful Heart, Warrior Spirit: The True Story of My Spiritual Quest. (New World Library 2022)Interview Date: 2/4/2022    Tags: Dan Millman, martial arts, gymnastics, bullying, Judo, Karate, humility, Oscar Ichazo, Franklin Jones, Bubba Free John, Da Free John, Adi Da, Gurdjieff, Enneagram, Arica, guru, cult, Michael Bookbinder, David K. Reynolds, Constructive Living, positive thinking, Philosophy, Personal Transformation, Spirituality

Committed advocate of the preservation of wilderness and an explorer of both the outer and inner wilderness, Brooke Williams is constantly looking to understand and experience the value of wild places and what that means for modern humans. Here we explore wildness for ideas, possibilities, and inspiration across the great divide in which we find ourselves as Americans. Brooke Williams is an advocate for the preservation of wilderness. He writes about evolution, consciousness, and his own adventures exploring both the inner and outer wilderness. He lives in Utah with his wife and partner, the writer and former New Dimensions guest, Terry Tempest Williams. He is the author of several books including Half-Lives: Reconciling Work and Wildness (Johnson Books 1999), Escalante: The Best Kind of Nothing (photos by Chris Noble) (University of Arizona Press 2006), Open Midnight: Where Ancestors and Wilderness Meet (Trinity University Press 2017 and Mary Jane Wild: Two Walks & A Rant (Homebound Publications 2021)Interview Date: 1/14/2022.    Tags: Brooke Williams, Hilary Clinton, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Mary Jane Wilderness, toxic masculinity, white male power, democracy, Coleman Barks, Rumi, field I’ll meet you, awe, Carl Jung, dreams, biological evolution, climate change, climate collapse, extreme sports, wander, wandering, walking, Rebecca Solnit, Charles Darwin, Thoreau, sacred feminine, Terry Tempest Williams, David Hinton, indigenous art, Bill Porter, Red Pine, rock art, desert, wandering, walking, Milky Way, dark sky towns, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Social Change/Politics

Revisit the four agreements that are steeped in Toltec philosophy and wisdom, as brought to us by don Miguel Ruiz. Be inspired by the new insights he shares with us after suffering a near-fatal heart attack that left him in a coma for nine weeks, during which time he traveled in a dream state between life and death. Don Miguel Ruiz is a renowned and most beloved spiritual teacher dedicated to sharing wisdom and love through practical concepts in order to promote transformation and ultimately change lives for the better. He’s the youngest of 13 children, born in rural Mexico to parents who were healers and practitioners of ancient Toltec traditions. As a young adult, he graduated from medical school and practiced neurosurgery until a near-fatal car crash forever changed the direction of his life. Since then, he consistently delivers the deepest truths in the most relevant ways. He is the author of many books including The Four Agreements (Amber-Allen Publishing 1997), The Fifth Agreement (Amber-Allan 2011), which is presented in collaboration with his son, don Jose Ruiz and The Toltec Art of Life and Death (co-author Barbara Emerys) (HarperOne 2015)Interview Date: 10/27/2015.    Tags: don Miguel Ruiz, Toltec wisdom, the four agreements, coma, dream journey, truth, knowledge, language, intent, closet of mirrors, mind is predator, conditional love, respect, ancestors, Teotihuacán, faith, Indigenous Wisdom, Death & Dying, Philosophy

Many spiritual practices guide us in what is known as “waking up.” Even though this process gives us a great sense of freedom and spaciousness, Prendergast suggests that the path to “waking up” is by “waking down.” Tuning into our body often brings forth a useful image, and will help us to live with more authenticity. John J. Prendergast, Ph.D. is a psychotherapist, retired professor of psychology, spiritual counselor, and founder and editor-in-chief of Undivided: The Online Journal of Nonduality and Psychology. He is the author of Listening From the Heart of Silence (co-author G. Kenneth Bradford) (Paragon House 2007) and In Touch: How to Tune In to the Inner Guidance of Your Body and Trust Yourself (Sounds True 2015)Interview Date: 12/5/2015    Tags: MP3, John J. Prendergast, interconnection, attention, emotion, sensation, original ignorance, fear of abandonment, waking up, waking down, circles, circle work, beliefs, fear, desire, relaxed groundedness, mindfulness, awareness of being, presence, non-duality, Advaita Vedanta, non-dualism, Health & Healing, Psychology, Personal Transformation

A “mind share economy” is all about collaboration where the currency is ideas. The more ideas you share with each other the richer all of you are. A “market share economy” is based on the premise that the more of something you have and the less someone else has, what you have is more valuable. This sets up a culture of competition, and creativity suffers. Dawna Markova, Ph.D. is the CEO Emeritus of Professional Thinking Partners. She’s known Internationally for her research in the fields of learning and perception. She’s a former senior affiliate of the Society for Organizational Learning, originated at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. Angie McArthur is the CEO of Professional Thinking Partners and co-founder of SmartWired and the Smart Parenting Revolution. As an expert in communication and learning styles, she has developed strategies for authors, corporations, CEOs, and the ongoing Executive Champions’ Workshop.Interview Date: 10/1/2015    Tags: MP3, Dawna Markova, Angie McArthur, cooperation, collaboration, competition, mind share economy, market share economy, confusion, curiosity, communication, kinesthetic, auditory, visual, inquiry compass, pivotal mindset, dealing with difficult people, thinking talents, brain science, analytical thinkers, storytelling thinkers, Smart Spark, Business, Personal Transformation, Work/Livelihood, Social Change/Politics

The legacy of authentic indigenous healing practices and traditional shamanism is disappearing. Marie-Rose Phan-Lê is doing her part to preserve this precious human resource, which has gifts to give humankind in these challenging times. She has traveled the world seeking healers who have been trained in some of the most ancient healing traditions on the planet.  Marie-Rose Phan-Lê was born in Vietnam, emigrated to France, and later came to the United States. She is the founder and president of Healing Planet Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and presentation of healing and spiritual traditions through media. She is an award-winning writer, director, and producer of a documentary film and companion book. She is the author of Talking Story: One Woman’s Quest to Preserve Ancient Spiritual and Healing Traditions (North Atlantic Books 2014)Interview Date: 10/9/2015    Tags: MP3, Marie-Rose Phan-Lê, authentic self, indigenous healers, Papa K, Kahuna, Lomi Lomi, Aunty Mary Fargas, ho’oponopono, Ayahuasca ritual, divine feminine, shamanism, Indigenous wisdom, Shamanism, Travel, Spiritualty, Global Culture

Fox’s spiritual enthusiasm has taken him beyond the dogma of the Catholic Church, and for this he’s been censored by the Vatican and ultimately expelled from the order of the Dominicans. However, this has not stilled his voice for a mystical theology that speaks to the heart of seekers of a numinous sacred experience. Matthew Fox, Ph.D. is a priest and was a member of the Dominican Order of the Catholic Church for thirty-four years. He holds a doctorate in History and Theology of Spirituality and is a scholar in residence with the Academy for the Love of Learning in Santa Fe, New Mexico, as well as founder and president of Friends of Creation Spirituality. Matthew Fox is the author of more than thirty books including Original Blessing (Tarcher 2000), Hildegard of Bingen: A Saint for Our Times (Nameste Publishing 2012), A Way To God: Thomas Merton’s Creation Spirituality Journey (New World Library 2016) and Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action (coauthors Skylar Wilson, and Jennifer Listug) (Monkfish 2018) Interview Date: 10/8/2015   Tags: MP3, Matthew Fox, polio, Thomas Merton, Chenu, Second Vatican Council, Time Magazine 1958, prayer, Cardinal Cody of Chicago, Pope John Paul II, Thomas Aquinas, Hildegard of Bingen, mysticism, New Age, Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Ratzinger, Father Leonardo Boff, Congregation of the Faith, Cosmic Mass, Pope Francis, the Vatican Bank, Opus Dei, Father Junipero Serra, Spirituality, History, Religion

Ralph White’s life reads like some sort of Indiana Jones story with a spiritual flavor. He grew up on the coast of Wales and then moved to a grimy industrial city on Northern England. You’ll be enthralled by his amazing tales of travels to New York, Chicago, Vancouver, Peru, Ecuador, Tibet, Russia, and more. In between he established The Open Center in New York. His current activities include the Esoteric Quest series of conferences in Europe that focus on the lost spiritual history of the West. He also presents the Art of Dying conferences. He is the author of the memoir The Jeweled Highway: On the Quest for a Life of Meaning (Divine Arts 2015)Interview Date: 9/22/2015    Tags: MP3, Ralph White, Huddersfield England, the moors, music, University of Sussex, Vancouver Canada, Machu Picchu, The Open Center, Esoteric Quest, Tibet, Global network of holistic centers, China, Waldorf Schools, Rudolf Steiner, Robert McDermott, Russia, Travel, History, Global Culture, Social Change/Politics

Wetiko is known by many names in many different traditions. It’s a collective psychosis found within the psyche. This psychological force within the unconscious mind feeds off separation and polarization and predisposes us toward unwholesome impulses such as the thirst for power and control, greed, and jealousy. The good news is that the cure is also found within us. Paul Levy is a pioneer in the field of spiritual emergence and is also a certified art teacher teaching both painting and drawing for a handful of years to people of all ages. He considers himself a wounded healer and is in private practice, assisting others who are also awakening to the dreamlike nature of reality. He has been a Tibetan Buddhist practitioner for more than 35 years and is the founder of the “Awakening in the Dream” Community; in Portland, Oregon. Along with these activities he is deeply steeped in the work of C. G. Jung. He is the author of several books including Dispelling Wetiko: Breaking the Curse of Evil (North Atlantic Books 2013), The Quantum Revelation: A Radical Synthesis of Science and Spirituality (Select Books 2018) and Wetiko: Healing the Mind-Virus That Plagues Our World (Inner Traditions 2021)Interview Date: 12/15/2021   Tags: Paul Levy, wetiko, Kellipot, e’epa, Archon, C.G. Jung, shadow, altered states, collective dream, spiritual awakening, shamanic underworld, evil force, nonlocal field, vampires, January 6 insurrection, narcissism, dark night of the soul, corona virus, Covid, Stanislav Grof, Max Planck, collective dream, creativity, Rutger Bregman, Tongan boys, Lord of the Flies, Spirituality, Social Change/Politics, Philosophy, Health & Healing, Indigenous Wisdom, Intuition/Psychic

Wicca is the art of sensing energy and flowing with it: in reality everything changes, everything is moving, and interdependent. Here an avowed Wiccan Priestess talks about this much maligned form of spiritual practice and celebrations. It’s a form of spirituality that understands that everything is alive and is communicating with you when you develop ears and heart to hear. Cerridwen Fallingstar refers to herself as a Shamanic Witch and has taught classes in magic and ritual for over 40 years. She gives lectures tying together psychology, spirituality, history, contemporary issues, and politics. She is the author of three historical novels based on her past lives. Her books include White As Bone, Red As Blood: The Fox Sorceress (Cauldron Publications 2009), White As Bone, Red As Blood: The Storm God (Cauldron Publications 2011), The Heart of The Fire (Cauldron Publications 2021) and Broth from the Cauldron: A Wisdom Journey Through Everyday Magic (She Writes Press 2021)Interview Date: 12/7/2021   Tags: MP3, Cerridwen Fallingstar, Wicca, Wiccan, greenstone, weather, Beltane rituals, the elements, fire, wind, water, earth, calling the whales, magic, past lives, imagination, intuition, dreams, Patricia Sun, Spirituality, Ecology/Nature/Environmental

We Are Not Who We Think We Are, with Peter Coyote, Explores the practice of meditation to catch a glimpse of who we truly are. His mask workshops provide for the possibility of “the disappearance of your everyday self [along with] self-criticism, self-consciousness, and a sense of shame…[allowing for] absolute freedom.” It allows us to experience Buddha's idea of no fixed self. Peter Coyote is an award-winning actor, author, director, screenwriter, and narrator who has worked with some of the world’s most distinguished filmmakers. He’s won several Emmys for his narrations and was ordained as a Zen Buddhist priest in 2011. In 2015 he received “transmission” from his teacher, making him an independent Zen teacher. He’s conceived mask training experiments and workshops as tools to give us a reprieve from the repetitive weight of our normal attachments and habits. His books include The Rainman’s Third Cure: An Irregular Education (Counterpoint 1998/2015), Sleeping Where I Fall: A Chronicle (Counterpoint 2015), Tongue of a Crow: A Book of Poetry (Four Way Books 2021) and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Meet Buddha: Masks, Meditation & Improvised Play to Induce Liberated States (Inner Traditions 2021)Interview Date: 12/30/2021     Tags: Peter Coyote, mask, Pantalone, Lone Ranger, Tonto, acting, improv, street theater, enlightenment, San Francisco Mime Troop, ego, Samantha Paris, Voicetrax, Thelonious Monk, Paper and Glue documentary, French artist JR, emptiness, engaged Buddhism, karma, compassion, kindness, Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Path, Buddhism, Philosophy, Art & Creativity, meditation

A spiritual experience has been described by some as an encounter with the presence of the infinite within our finite universe of time and space. It takes on many forms and can be conceived of in a wide variety of ways. In his integral view, McIntosh challenges us to hold two seemingly paradoxical worldviews: an infinite, nondual universe and a personal God. Steve McIntosh, J.D. is a leader in the integral philosophy movement He’s President and Co-Founder of the nonprofit, social policy and think tank organization: The Institute for Cultural Evolution. He founded the consumer products company Now & Zen and practiced law and held an executive position with Celestial Seasonings Tea Company. He is an honors graduate of the University of Virginia Law School and the University of Southern California Business School. Besides these accomplishments, he enjoys Olympic-class bicycle racing. He is the author of Integral Consciousness: The Future of Evolution (Paragon House 2011), Evolution's Purpose: An Integral Interpretation of the Scientific Story of Our Origins (Select Books 2012), and The Presence of the Infinite: The Spiritual Experience of Beauty, Truth, and Goodness (Quest 2015)Interview Date: 10/22/2015    Tags: Steve McIntosh, theism, nondualism, nonduality, traditional spirituality, modernism, post modernism, spiritual progressionism, progressivism, progressive theism, spiritual evolution, beauty, truth, goodness, panentheistic, interconnectedness, mindfulness, nondual unitive experiences, progressive spirituality, pluralism, cultural creatives, evolutionary spirituality, fundamentalism, secular spirituality, atheists, religious naturalists, free will, triunity, integral philosophy, oneness, wholeness, Bede Griffiths, polarity, quantum physics, David Bohm, Philosophy, Spirituality

The Greek myth of Sisyphus unveils our valiant and irrepressible desire to create something unique out of our lives despite our despair and our defeats. This deep conversation plunges the depths and fullness of this misunderstood myth. It is a parable for the modern world and our fight against the hell of the pandemic and the rise of authoritarianism in the world today. Phil Cousineau is a freelance writer, filmmaker, photographer, art and literary tour leader, teacher of creativity, mythographer, storyteller, and an all-around Renaissance man. He's published over 40 books and has over 25 documentary film writing credits. He is also host and co-writer of "Global Spirit," a nationally broadcast television series. His books include Wordcatcher (Viva Editions, Cleis Press 2010), Beyond Forgiveness: Reflections On Atonement (Jossey-Bass 2011), Stoking The Creative Fires (Red Wheel/Wiser 2008), Burning the Midnight Oil: Illuminating Words For the Long Night's Journey Into Day (Viva Editions 2014), The Book of Roads: Travel Stories from Michigan to Marrakech (Viva Editions 2015), The Art of Pilgrimage revised (Conari Press 2021) and The Lost Notes of Sisyphus (Sisyphus Press 2021)Interview Date: 11/17/2021     Tags: Phil Cousineau, Joseph Campbell, Albert Camus, Greek mythology, Mythology, Philosophy

A good poem takes us on a treasure hunt for the ineffable emotions that toss us like flotsam and jetsam on the relentless pounding waves on the seas of life. It’s the sacred text of life and guides us in being ever curious and observant, helping us to notice even the smallest details of life as it awakens our own creative energies of Divine Imagination. Margaret Barkley is a teacher, poet, and curious observer of humans and nature. Her poetry has been published in the Redwood Writers poetry anthologies Beyond Distance, And Yet, and Crow, in which she was an Award of Merit poet. She holds an MA in Psychology with a focus on group facilitation and emotional intelligence and has taught for over twenty years, including at Sonoma State University and the University of San Francisco. Her latest love is leading women’s retreats in the Grand Teton National Park. She is the author of a book of poetry: Ribs (Finishing Line Press 2021)Interview Date: 11/4/2021      Tags: Margaret Barkley, poetry, poems, Robert Bly, Junkyard Dog, ecstasy, grief, loss, suffering, soul, Michael Meade, Art & Creativity, Writing

The hurts and disappointments that we suffered in childhood often leave lasting scars to our inner sense of safety and security. They show up later in the form of trigger reactions. Campbell describes the ultimate goal of inner work as making effective decisions that come from the higher brain versus the knee jerk tendencies of our primitive, lizard brain. Susan Campbell, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and the author of close to a dozen books on relationships and conflict resolution. She leads seminars internationally, is a couples therapist, relationship coach and trainer of professional coaches. She also works with private clients through her relationship coaching practice. Her books include Getting Real: Ten Truth Skills You Need to Live an Authentic Life (H.J. Kramer 2001), Saying What’s Real : 7 Keys to Authentic Communication and Relationship Success (H.J. Kramer 2005), Five-Minute Relationship Repair: Quickly Heal Upsets, Deepen Intimacy, and Use Differences to Strengthen Love (John Gray) (H. J. Kramer 2015), From Triggered to Tranquil: How Self-Compassion and Mindful Presence Can Transform Relationship Conflicts and Heal Childhood Wounds (New World Library 2021)Interview Date: 11/24/2021     Tags: Susan Campbell, reactive brain, amygdala, lizard brain, adrenaline, cortisol, emotional triggers, triggered response, trigger signatures, self-soothing, inner self-compassion, Archetype of good mother, conditioned mind, compassion, polarization, reactions, pausing, pause agreement, survival alarm system, reactive brain, Relationship, Psychology, Health & Healing

Millions of spiritual seekers have, in their library, a dog-eared copy of the spiritual classic Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation. Here is an intimate and first-hand account of the way master teacher Shunryu Suzuki Roshi taught, as told by his student and now Zen teacher himself, Tim Burkett. These delightful stories are not to be missed. Tim Zentetsu Burkett, Ph.D. is Guiding Teacher of the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is also a licensed psychologist and a former director of People Incorporated, a large mental health agency in St. Paul, Minnesota. He has been a student of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and later Katagiri Roshi, in whose linage he is a dharma heir. Suzuki Roshi’s book of talks, Zen Mind, Beginner Mind (Shambhala 2011), is a classic for all spiritual seekers. Tim Burkett is the author of Nothing Holy About It: The Zen of Being Just Who You Are (Shambhala 2015) and Zen in the Age of Anxiety: Wisdom for Navigating Our Modern Lives (Shambhala 2018)Interview Date: 9/24/2015     Tags: Tim Burkett, Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, Katagiri Roshi, San Francisco Zen Center, aspiration, longing, boredom, stillness, contact high, chatterbox café, spiritual bypassing, concentration meditation, Japanese Samurai movies, kindness, attention, fear body, Zen stick, Tibetan Buddhism, Vajrayana Buddhism, Zenefit, Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, Meditation, Spirituality

Sluyter says not to worry about thoughts during our meditation; they are inevitable. Often we must deal with such sounds as voices or traffic rolling by. He instructs that, “It’s all a texture of the silence, which actually you are at your core. It’s just resting in what you are in your own essence.” He also suggests that we find the meditation style that suits us. Dean Sluyter has taught natural methods of meditation and awakening throughout the United States and beyond since 1970. He’s taught at colleges, yoga studios, corporate offices, and maximum-security prisons. He’s known for his funny, down-to-earth style, and for making life-transforming teachings accessible and easy. He is the author of many books including The Zen Commandments (Tarcher/Putnam 2001), Why the Chicken Crossed the Road and Other Hidden Enlightenment Teachings (Tarcher/Putnam 1998), Cinema Nirvana: Enlightenment Lessons from the Movies (Three Rivers Press 2005), Natural Meditation: A Guide to Effortless Meditative Practice (Tarcher/Penguin 2015), Fear Less: Living Beyond Fear, Anxiety, Anger, and Addiction (TarcherPerigee 2018)Interview Date: 4/23/2015  Tags: Dean Sluyter, Zen meditation, Mahareshi Mahesh Yogi, Transcendental Meditation, principle of least action, boundless happiness, Nirvana, guided visualization, beingness, monkey mind, attention, sky meditation, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, worry, prisoners meditating, benefactor meditation, mediating on the breath, Mr. Rogers, Sri Mooji, Meditation, Personal Transformation, Self Help, Buddhism

Miller has reviewed and conducted interviews with leading scientists in America who are investigating the effects on humans of psychedelic medicines such as LSD, MDMA, Psilocybin and Ayahuasca. This has revealed that certain psychedelic medicines administered by proper protocol, have shown that altered states of consciousness can facilitate creativity and psychophysical healing. Richard Miller, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and host of the syndicated talk radio show Mind, Body, Health & Politics. He’s founder of Cokenders Alcohol and Drug Program and has been a faculty member at the University of Michigan and Stanford University. He also served as advisor on the President’s Commission on Mental Health and a founding board member of the Gestalt Institute of San Francisco as well as a member of the national board of directors for the Marijuana Policy Project. He also restored and reopened the Wilbur Hot Springs Retreat facility in Northern California. He is the Editor and author of the book Psychedelic Medicine: The Healing Powers of LSD, MDMA, Psilocybin, and Ayahuasca. (Park Street press 2021)  Interview Date: 9/30/2021  Tags: Richard Miller, Psychedelics, LSD, MDMA, Psilocybin, Ayahuasca, PTSD, alcohol, LSD scientists, Dave Nichols, ethnobotanists, Guardian Grange, Stanislav Grof, M.D., Oregon bill SB109, Rick Doblin, Ph.D, MAPS, Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, NORML, National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law, clozapine, Roland Griffiths, Ph.D. at John Hopkins, Robert Whitaker, Health & Healing, Psychology, Social Change/Politics

Salh is the last person in her direct lineage to have lived as a nomad and keeper of her family stories. Her beloved country of Somalia was changed forever by a civil war. Her grandmother imbued her with resilience, courage, love of poetry, and storytelling. Salh shares her journey from the deserts of East Africa to the green pastures of Northern California. Shugri Said Salh was born in Somalia in 1974. In 1992, she immigrated to North America after civil war broke out in her home country. She attended nursing school at Pacific Union College and graduated with honors. From her grandmother and the nomadic community in which she spent her early years, she heard stories and learned of their power to entertain, teach, and transform. She now lives in Northern California with her husband and three children and works as a post-operative nurse and infusion specialist. She is the author of The Last Nomad: Coming of Age in the Somali Desert (Algonquin books 2021) Interview Date: 9/24/2021   Tags: Shugri Said Salh, Somalia, Mogadishu, Galkayo, female circumcision, Al-Shabaab, Somali civil war, Personal Transformation, Global Culture, History, Women’s Studies

Buddhism is not a religion but is an engagement with “real” reality. The entire Buddhist tradition is built on a philosophical scientific foundation. The Buddha was more a scientist than a religious teacher. Here we explore how we can tap into “real” reality by removing the veils of ignorance and make our life count with evolutionary skill. Robert Thurman, Ph.D. is the retired professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist studies at Columbia University as well as cofounder and president of Tibet House, which is dedicated to the service of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the people of Tibet. He’s been a close friend of the Dalai Lama for over 50 years and is a passionate activist for the rights of the Tibetan people. He is a skilled translator of Buddhist texts and an inspiring writer of many popular Buddhist books, including Man of Peace: The Illustrated Life Story of the Dalai Lama of Tibet (graphic novel co-creator) (Tibet House 2016) , Love Your Enemies: How to Break the Anger Habit & Be a Whole Lot Happier (co-author Sharon Salzberg) (Hay House 2013) and Wisdom Is Bliss: Four Friendly Fun Facts That Can Change Your Life. (Hay House 2021).Interview Date: 8/20/2021   Tags: Robert Thurman, Nirvana, Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche, The Four Nobel Truths, The Eightfold Path, Max Planck, consciousness, authority, noble, speech, empathy, Buddhism, Personal Transformation, Spirituality, meditation

Glenn Parry believes that the way to cure our planetary challenges begins with a return to original thought. The way we think and interact with nature and each other, he says, affects everything. He believes that the shift to linear thinking is not our natural way, and explains that our rational thought is different from the kind of thought that connects us to the universe. Glenn Aparicio Parry, Ph.D. is an educator, international speaker, entrepreneur, and visionary whose life-long passion is to re-form thinking and education into a coherent, cohesive whole. He’s the founder and past president of the SEED Institute, and is currently the president of the think tank: The Circle for Original Thinking. Parry organized and participated in the groundbreaking Language of Spirit Conferences from 1999 – 2011 that brought together Indigenous Native Elders and Western scientists in dialogue. This series of conferences was moderated by Leroy Little Bear. Parry is an avid outdoorsman and makes his home in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains in Albuquerque, NM, with his wife, dog, and cat. He is the author of Original Thinking: A Radical ReVisioning of Time, Humanity, and Nature (North Atlantic Books 2015).Interview Date: 8/18/2015     Tags: Glenn Aparicio Parry, Original thought, conspiracy with nature, Native Americans, Language of Spirit Conference, brain, David Bohm, Leroy Little Bear, Dan Moonhawk Alfred, sacred ratio, golden mean, map story, rational thinking, rational thought, New Mexico, Navajo, Grandfather Leon, Orlando Secatero, campfire, spirit dialogues, Science, Self Help, psychology, Ecology/Nature/Environment

Brant Cortright brings brain research into a new dimension by putting it into a holistic health context. Cortright’s lessons about brain health incorporate body, heart, mind, and spirit. He clarifies some common misconceptions, and shares how we can help our brains thrive and grow, including what we might be doing to unknowingly cause harm. Brant Cortright, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychology at California Institute of Integral Studies. His consulting practice specializes in brain health and neuroscience-informed depth therapy. He is the author of Psychotherapy and Spirit: Theory and Practice in Transpersonal Psychotherapy (Suny Series, Philosophy of Psychology) (State University of New York Press 1997), Integral Psychology: Yoga, Growth, and Opening the Heart (Suny Series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology) (State University of New York Press 2007) and The Neurogenesis Diet & Lifestyle: Upgrade Your Brain, Upgrade Your Life (Psychic Media 2015).Interview Date: 8/11/2015   Tags: Brant Cortright, neuroscience, neurogenesis, brain science, brain health, Alzheimer’s, antidepressants, Prozac, depression, serotonin, isolation, emotional regulation, emotional navigation, spiritual practice, meditation, devotional love practice, lifelong learning, cognitive reserve, relationships, aerobic activity, running, Science, Self Help, Heath & Healing, psychology

Brenner says we are not limited, damaged or inadequate. She critiques the self-help movement as perpetuating the idea that we are in need of fixing, and holds the provocative view that nothing needs to be changed or fixed to be happy. She posits that we have the capacity to spontaneously find inner peace by shedding the stories and negative emotions that cause us pain.  Gail Brenner, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and blogger. She is the author of The End of Self-Help: Discovering Peace and Happiness Right at the Heart of Your Messy, Scary, Brilliant Life (Ananda Press 2015)Interview Date: 6/25/2015    Tags: Gail Brenner, self-help, happiness, searching, curious, curiosity, changing our thoughts, meditation, thought, story, recurrent thoughts, habitual thoughts, conditioned thinking, beliefs, “hello dread”, anxiety, label the emotion, underneath the emotion, couch process, fear, allowing, conditioning, seeking, control, worry about the future, end of resisting, unfolding, Self Help, Personal Transformation, Psychology

“Awake-ism,” in Nichtern’s view, means to be aware, open, and compassionate. He looks at Buddhist thought as a useful psychological, philosophical, and ethical system that anyone can make use of. His advice for living in these times is to maintain our awareness as we move between very personal spaces and collective spaces. Ethan Nichtern is a senior teacher in the Shambhala Buddhist tradition and the founder of the Interdependence Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to secular Buddhist study as it applies to transformational activism, mindful arts and media projects, and Western psychology. Nichtern has taught meditation and Buddhist studies classes and retreats across the United States since 2002. He is based in New York City. His books include One City: A Declaration of Interdependence (Wisdom Publications 2007) and The Road Home: A Contemporary Exploration of the Buddhist Path (North Point Press 2015)Interview Date: 5/20/2015    Tags: Ethan Nichtern, awakeism, heartmind, interdependence, emotions, meditation, karma, mindfulness, Chogyam Trungpa, nature of mind, blind faith, psychology of habit, minding the gap, Pema Chodron, Sakyong MIpham, Ghostbusters, Ground Hog Day, pride, confidence, fear, emotions, sadness, transformational activist, shame, blame, spiritual materialism, co-emergence, Buddhism, Personal Transformation, Religion

Poetry can play a transformative role in our lives. It gives us an opportunity to ask questions and open up to the unknown. Hirshfield shares her love of poetry, her take on beauty, and she treats us to some of her poems. She takes us into the mind of the poet and reminds us that a reader can benefit from a poem without knowing what the poet is thinking. Jane Hirshfield is the author of nine books of poetry and two collections of essays. She has edited and co-translated four books presenting the work of world poets from the past. Her books have received the Poetry Center Book Award, the California Book Award, and the Donald Hal-Jane Kenyon Prize in American Poetry. Her poems appear in a wide range of prestigious outlets. A resident of Northern California, she is a chancellor emerita of the Academy of American Poets. She presents her work at literary and interdisciplinary events worldwide.Interview Date: 5/9/2015    Tags: Jane Hirshfield, poetry, poems, The Beauties, beauty, darkness, suffering, amplitude, uncertainty, opening, questions, culture, permeability, listen, Ten Windows, windows, My Skeleton, skeleton, My Sandwich, cottage cheese sandwich, My Task, buildings

How often have you exclaimed, “There isn’t enough time.” Albert Einstein once wrote: “People like us who believe in physics know that the distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” Lisa Broderick says “Once you understand the science of time, you understand that our experience of time is one part physical and one part perception.” She goes on to give us many insights as to how we can be liberated from the illusion that time is strictly linear and is our enemy. This deep dialogue explores how time is less limited than we think and it can be stretched and bent. Broderick describes the difference between selective attention and focused perception, “Selective attention is our ability to tune out that which is not important to us. Focused perception is our ability to focus on, to the exclusion of all other things, one thing. Complete opposites. And focused perception is what we use to change and control our experience of time.”  Lisa Broderick earned her BA from Stanford University and an MBA from Duke University. She’s a Transcendental Meditation™ Siddha and has attended the Monroe Institute for the exploration of expanded states of consciousness. For 15 years she studied imagery and dream reading at the American Institute for Mental Imagery. She currently runs a business consultancy based in New York City that helps socially conscious entrepreneurs manifest their creativity and energy. She is the author of All the Time In The World: Learn To Control Your Experience of Time to Live a Life Without Limitations. (Sounds True 2021).Interview Date: 8/12/2021    Tags: MP3, Lisa Broderick, Time, memory, Sidereal time, Lord Kelvin, observer effect, focused perception, meditation, timelessness, Itzhak Bentov, supersight, seeing remotely, Personal Transformation, science, meditation, dreams, death and dying

This moment in our social history compels us to invite ourselves into a path of discovery, learning, and practices to transform our collective racist karma. As a Black man residing in America, Larry Ward says to those who say, “I am not racist” …We are invited to dismantle the systems that perpetuate that profound misperception of what it means to be human. The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. was the catalyst that sparked Larry Ward's journey into a life of planetary peacemaking. He's been subjected to racial profiling and has experienced a bombing in his home in Idaho. He was able to move past these traumas when his path led him to the introduction of Buddhist practice in Calcutta in 1977. When he met Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in 1991, the practice of Buddhism became truly central to his life. He was ordained as a Dharma teacher in Plum Village in 2000 and is the co-founder of the Lotus Institute, which offers Buddhist practice for change makers on the journey of individual and collective liberation.Larry Ward, Ph.D. is the author of America's Racial Karma, And Invitation to Heal (Parallax Press 2020) Interview Date: 7/31/2021  Tags: MP3, Larry Ward, racialized consciousness, karma, karmic wheel, intention, George Floyd, grief, injustice, racism, Social Change/Politics, Buddhism, History

Patten has a deep comprehension of the sacred global rite of passage that we, and all humankind, are going through in these liminal times and shares how we can be of help in an insane world. He gives us a context for spiritual friendship, for turning outward in service, and for doing what we can to brighten everyone we come into contact with. He is the founder of A New Republic of the Heart, a co-creative social experiment in Being of Benefit. He’s a philosopher, activist, social entrepreneur, and teacher of integral practice and transformation. He has taught Integral Life Practice to over ten thousand people. Terry also founded the consciousness technology company Tools for Exploration and led the team at the HeartMath Institute that developed their first heart-rate variability monitor. He advises businesses addressing restorative forestry, fossil-fuel alternatives, collective trauma, and the reclaiming of personal data and power. His books include: Biocircuits: Amazing New Tools for Energy Health (co-author Leslie Patten) (H.J. Kramer 1988), Integral Life Practice: A 21st Century Blueprint for Physical Health, Emotional Balance, Mental Clarity, and Spiritual Awakening (co-author with Ken Wilber, Adam Leonard, and Marco Morelli) (Integral Books 2008) and A New Republic of the Heart: An Ethos for Revolutionaries (North Atlantic Books 2018)Interview Date: 8/26/2021  Tags: MP3, Terry Patten, grief, heart intelligence, awe, wonder, forgive, forgiveness, be of benefit, Ernest Becker, tribalism, listening, coherence, gratitude, spiritual friends, friends of the heart, jubilee year, humility, Personal Transformation, spirituality, Social Change/Politics, Community

Contracts are used to lay out expectations and responsibilities of the parties involved. We take them very seriously in business and law. Joel Fotinos says that we should take our own goals just as seriously and create personal contracts to hold ourselves accountable in our pursuit of excellence. He shares methods and ideas for committing to a Personal Life Contract. Joel Fotinos is a vice president at Penguin Random House Publishers and publisher of the Tarcher/Penguin imprint. He’s also a licensed minister with the Centers for Spiritual Living. He is the author and coauthor of several books including The Prayer Chest (coauthor August Gold) (Doubleday Religion 2007), Multiply Your Blessings (coauthor August Gold) (Hampton Roads 2012), A Little Daily Wisdom (Paraclete Press 2009), Think and Grow Rich Starter Kit (coauthors Napoleon Hill, August Gold) (Tarcher 2014), The Think and Grow Rich Journey: Enhance and Enrich Your Path to Success (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 2013 and My Life Contract: 90-Day Program for Prioritizing Goals, Staying on Track, Keeping Focused, and Getting Results (Weiser Books 2014)Interview Date: 5/28/2015  Tags: MP3, Joel Fotinos, Personal Life Contract, contract, Mastermind Partner, Mastermind Group, Prioritize, debt, 90 days, Am I happy, Am I free, life purpose, contract map, goals, consistent, persistent, energy follows action, excellence not perfection, accountability, responsibility, Personal Transformation, Self Help

From 1342 to 1415, Julian lived through the bubonic plague that killed one out of three humans in Europe. She did not deny suffering but found goodness in all things and was a feminist 700 years before the current movement. She held God as Mother and deconstructed patriarchy pulling the rug out from under dualism of body as separate from soul. Michael Meade is a renowned storyteller, author, scholar of mythology, and student of ritual in traditional cultures. He has scoured the world to bring to us meaningful folk tales that tap into ancestral sources of wisdom and acts as a guide to connect them to the stories we are living today. Meade is the founder of Mosaic Multicultural Foundation. He also offers regular Living Myths Podcasts and is the author of many books including: Why the World Doesn't End: Tales of Renewal in Times of Loss (GreenfirePress 2012), Fate and Destiny: The Two Agreements of the Soul (GreenFire Press 2012), The Genius Myth (GreenfirePress 2016), Awakening the Soul: A Deep Response to a Troubled World (GreenFire Press 2018), The Water of Life: Initiation and the Tempering of the Soul (GreenFire Press 2019)Interview Date: 6/4/2021    Tags: Matthew Fox, bubonic plague, goodness, dualism, patriarchy, Saint Augustine, Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Ratzinger, Motherhood of God, Divine Feminine, sacred masculine, compassion, rachem, Mirabai Starr, grief, Rilke poem: Pushing Through, Robert Bly, Hafez, the Mystics of the Middle Ages, Thomas Aquinas, Meister Eckart, Francis of Assisi, Hildegard of Bingen, Jesus, climate change, oneing, soul, trust, Fred Shuttlesworth, Dorothy Stang, evil, despair, acedia, Thomas Berry, eco-theologian, creation centered spirituality, climate change, Spirituality, Philosophy, Social Change/Politics, Women’s Studies, History, Ecology/Nature/Environment

The pandemic of 2020-21 has given humans a worldwide, collective initiation of separation, ordeal, and return. This deep dialogue explores a critical moment of renewing, not only of ourselves but of the culture in which we are embedded. Michael Meade is a renowned storyteller, author, scholar of mythology, and student of ritual in traditional cultures. He has scoured the world to bring to us meaningful folk tales that tap into ancestral sources of wisdom and acts as a guide to connect them to the stories we are living today. Meade is the founder of Mosaic Multicultural Foundation. He also offers regular Living Myths Podcasts and is the author of many books including: Why the World Doesn't End: Tales of Renewal in Times of Loss (GreenfirePress 2012), Fate and Destiny: The Two Agreements of the Soul (GreenFire Press 2012), The Genius Myth (GreenfirePress 2016), Awakening the Soul: A Deep Response to a Troubled World (GreenFire Press 2018), The Water of Life: Initiation and the Tempering of the Soul (GreenFire Press 2019)Interview Date: 6/17/2021    Tags: Michael Meade, initiation, rite-of-passage, uncertainty, deep self, plotline, William Stafford, The Way it Is poem, William Stafford, mass funerals, AIDS quilt, bone memory, meaning vs. happiness, Sir Laurens Van der Post, joy, Social Change/ Politics, Mythology, personal transformation

Hear Montgomery’s fascinating encounters with gorillas, snakes, and spiders. She takes us from the largest bird in the world, the Emu, to the smallest, the hummingbird. With their jewel-like foliage hummingbirds are capable of the most unique and astonishing feats such as flying backward and even upside down. Sy Montgomery is a naturalist, documentary scriptwriter and author of many books, which often include stories of her encounters with animals. During research for her books, films, and articles, Sy Montgomery has been chased by an angry silver back gorilla in Zaire and bitten by a vampire bat in Costa Rica. She worked in a pit of 18,000 snakes in Manitoba and handled a wild tarantula in French Guiana. She holds an honorary doctorate from the University System of New Hampshire. Her many books have garnered numerous awards, and include The Curious Naturalist: Nature’s Everyday Mysteries (Down East Books 1991), Search for the Golden Moon Bear: Science and Adventure in Pursuit of a New Species (Chelsea Green Publishing 2009), The Good, Good Pig: The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood (Ballantine Books 2007), Birdology: Adventures with a Pack of Hens, a Peck of Pigeons, Cantankerous Crows, Fierce Falcons, Hip Hop Parrots, Baby Hummingbirds, and One Murderously Big Living Dinosaur (Atria Books 2011), The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness. (Atria Books 2015), How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2018), Becoming a Good Creature (a children’s book) (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2020), Condor Comeback (Scientists in the Field Series) (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2020), The Hummingbirds’ Gift: Wonder, Beauty, and Renewal on Wings (Atria Books 2021) Interview Date: 6/4/2021     Tags: Sy Montgomery, emus, hummingbirds, Brenda Sherburn LaBelle, spiders, gorillas, Kakapo, Wendilgarda spider, wolf spiders, kangaroos and wallabies, Animals, Ecology/Nature/Environment

As a young Black woman, Regina Louise was born poor, supposedly unwanted, neglected, marginalize, stigmatized, disenfranchised, and labeled crazy. What led her to not accept these factors in her life and reject that they were going to define all her life? Be uplifted by her story as she moves with fierce determination from shame to dignity. Regina Louise is a teacher and coach on advocacy work. Her memoir was featured in a Lifetime movie, I Am Somebody’s Child. She’s a Hoffman Process teacher. She is the author of two memoirs: Somebody’s Someone: A Memoir (Agate Bolden 2008) and Someone Has Led This Child To Believe: A Memoir  (Agate Bolden 2018), as well as Permission Granted: Kick-Ass Strategies to Bootstrap Your Way to Unconditional Self-Love (New World Library 2021)Interview Date: 7/19/2021      Tags: Regina Louise, adultification, predators, bullies, loneliness, aloneness, Ann Richards, unconditional self-love, Margaret Paul, curiosity, triggered, shame, W.E.B. Du Bois, Bessel van der Kolk, Robert Fuller, Dignitarian Movement, dignity, rankism, hope, Personal Transformation

Nature and the imagination thrive when boundaries are exposed, and both persevere when challenged. Vecchione explains how the act of being in nature expanded her imagination, which made the act of doing art become more meaningful. Wandering and letting go of control, she says, are the best ways to spark creativity. Patrice Vecchione is a poet, author, and artist. She teaches creative writing retreats, and collage and poetry workshops. She has also worked with children, leading classes in poetry and the imagination in elementary, middle, and high schools. She is the author of several books including Writing and the Spiritual Life: Finding Your Voice by Looking Within (McGraw Hill 2001) and Step Into Nature: Nurturing Imagination and Spirit in Everyday Life (Beyond Words Publishing 2015)Interview Date: 5/12/2015   Tags: Patrice Vecchione, imagination, earth, structure, nature, poetry, children, bees, grandparents, birdbath, education, walls, art-making, clouds, wandering, leaf, forest, pocket park, The Tenderloin National Forest, Art & Creativity, Ecology/Nature/Environment

Hubbard inspires us with a vision of possibility as we move into a new era of conscious evolution. She says we are at a choice point, and describes a tipping point of people who are collectively becoming excited by the changes. By joining together in small groups we are connecting up our creativity and our genius, which can ultimately lead us to a life-sustaining planet. She says, “Small fluctuations in a sea of social chaos can jump the system to a higher order.” She goes on to describe how we could connect with one another in a celebration of a global birthday party on December 22, 2012. She also points out that it will be small groups of people connecting with one another that will facilitate and accelerate the change toward a positive future for all life. (hosted by Justine Willis Toms)  Barbara Marx Hubbard, Ph.D. (1929-2019) was a visionary futurist and evolutionary educator. She was the cofounder and chair of the board of The Foundation for Conscious Evolution, and cofounder of the Association for Global New Thought and The World Future Society. In 1984 her name was placed in nomination for the vice presidency for the United States on the Democratic ticket. She was a guide and teacher for The Shift Network’s Agents of Conscious Evolution training. She’s the author of many books including Emergence: The Shift from Ego to Essence (Hampton Roads 2001), Birth 2012 and Beyond: Humanity’s Great Shift to the Age of Conscious Evolution (Shift Books 2012), The revised edition of Conscious Evolution: Awakening the Power of Our Social Potential (New World Library 2015)Interview Date: 6/29/2012   Tags: Barbara Marx Hubbard, Birth 2012, Birth2012, December 22 2012, dissipative structures, evolution, heart math, Ilya Prigogine, morphogenetic field, noosphere, planetary birthday party, regenopause, scientific materialism, scientific orthodoxy, Shift circles, Shift Network, supra-sex, suprasex, Teilhard de Chardin, tipping point, universe story, world that works for everyone, Community, Global Culture, Personal Growth, Philosophy/Psychology, Social Change/Politics

We have all experienced getting caught up in a thought and identifying ourselves by it. Dr. Laura Basha talks about the ability to bring choice into the thought process. She explains the importance of listening for what’s possible rather than trying to figure it out. We also learn about Transformational Humor, the power of silence, and the two modes of thought. Laura Basha, Ph.D. holds a combined doctorate in clinical and organizational psychology. She’s an international consultant in leadership development and a personal coach. She is also a fine artist whose paintings reside in many private collections. She is the author of: The Inward Outlook (Xlibris 2014)Interview Date: 4/9/2015   Tags: Laura Basha, MP3, Three Principles, Transformational Humor, Process thought, problem solving, flow thought, in the flow, Mind, Consciousness, thought, sound of silence, character of thought, quality of thought, inward outlook, mentally ill, schizophrenia, modes of thought, Everything and No-thing, transformation, silence, Philosophy, Psychology, Personal Transformation

How can mindfulness allow us to by-pass reactivity? How do we cultivate a sense of spaciousness? Buddhist teacher and author Bodhipaksa helps us find a sense of oneness, stillness, and perfectness. Bodhipaksa was born Graeme Stephen in Scotland and currently lives and teaches in New Hampshire. He is a Buddhist teacher and author who has been practicing within the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order since 1982 and has been a member of this order since 1993. Bodhipaksa runs the online meditation center, Wildmind, to increase awareness of the positive effects of meditation. His published works include The Wisdom of the Breath (CD) (Sounds True 2009), Wildmind (Windhorse 2010) and Living As a River: Finding Fearlessness in the Face of Change (Sounds True 2010)Interview Date: 10/22/2010 Tags: Bodhipaksa, retreats, mindfulness, happiness, fear, terror, management theory, reincarnation, karma, consciousness, self, virtual selves, clinging, Spirituality, Buddhism, Science, Meditation

Stuckey begins this conversation by telling three stories — how an eagle, a bougainvillea bush, and the birch tree of her childhood all communicated with her in some way. We think we are alone, but Stuckey points out “we are deeply connected with all others with whom we share our lives.” Priscilla Stuckey is a writer, book editor, scholar, and Earth-advocate. She teaches humanities at Prescott College and holds a Ph.D. in religious studies and feminist theory from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. She is the author of Kissed by a Fox: And Other Stories of Friendship in Nature (Counterpoint 2012)Interview Date: 1/21/13     Tags: animal communication, animals, communicating with animals, creeks, dog Sapphire, dogs, ecosystems, Gary Snyder, hybrid, keystone species, land stewardship, land use laws, mp3, nature, Peralta Creek, potlatch, prairie dogs, Priscilla Stuckey, reciprocal generosity, relationship, Rudy the fox, watershed, watersheds, Animals, Community, Ecology, Nature, Environment, Spirituality

Diamond has worked with thousands of men who are angry, irritable, and to some degree violent. "There isn't one man that I've ever worked with that when you get to the root, when you look at his early life experience, violence is part of his experience. He's been wounded in some way." He offers many examples of ways men heal cultural and personal wounding. Jed Diamond, Ph.D., is a licensed psychotherapist, a founding member of the American Society of Men’s Health, and an internationally respected leader in the men's health movement. He’s the Founder and Director of MenAlive, a health program that helps men live long and well. Though focused on men’s health, MenAlive is also for women who care about the health of the men in their lives. Jed Diamond is the author of many books including: The Irritable Male Syndrome (Rodale Press 2004), Mr. Mean: Saving Your Relationship from the Irritable Male Syndrome (Numina Press 2010), MenAlive: Stop Killer Stress with Simple Energy Healing Tools (Fifth Wave Press 2012), My Distant Dad: Healing the Family Father Wound (Lasting Impact Press 2018) and 12 Rules for Good Men (Waterside Productions 2020)Interview Date: 5/27/2021  Tags: MP3, Jed Diamond, masculine, masculinity, male violence, humiliation, shame, disrespected, suicide, loneliness, isolation, breadwinner, rites of passage, Mankind Project, Sterling Institute, Men’s Studies, Personal Transformation, Relationship/Partnership/Sexuality

Prayer can influence our state of mind which then has an effect on our state of body. It’s a portal that connects us with Divine Source and is an intensely personal journey inward as well as an act of conversation with the Presence of the Infinite or what some call God. It can help us to move from a primarily secular, materialistic life into a more spiritual one. Rabbi Paul J. Citrin has served various congregations as a rabbi for over 40 years. He is retired from the pulpit, but continues to teach in synagogues and community centers. He is the author of several books including: Gates of Repentance for Young People (Paul Abrams, Judith) (CCAR Press 2009), Ten Sheaves: A Collection of Sermons and Articles (2014), Lights In The Forest: Rabbis Respond To 12 Essential Jewish Questions (editor) (CCAR Press 2016) and I Am My Prayer: A Memoir and Guide for Jews and Seekers (Resource Publications 2021) Interview Date: 5/20/2021  Tags: MP3, Paul J Citrin, prayer, communal prayer, Judaism, Reform Judaism, YHWH, Yahweh, Gullfoss Falls, keva, synagogue, Southern Baptist church, muezzin, Islamic call to prayer, Talmad, Torah, Hadith, New Testament, Shalom, Aloha, Meditation, Religion, Spirituality, Community

Guided imagery is a powerful technique to lessen anxiety, pain, cognitive decline, insomnia, and many other chronic ailments. It can lead to better outcomes with surgery and many other health issues. Naparstek is a pioneer in recorded guided imagery programs and this dialogue is filled with practical advice. Belleruth Naparstek is a psychotherapist, author, and guided imagery pioneer, She, along with George Klein, launched the Health Journeys guided imagery audio series in 1991. Since then, this audio library has expanded to include over 250 carefully curated, science-based, meditations that target a wide range of physical and mental health conditions. Many major medical institutions, departments of corporate human resources, and wellness centers provide this content to their members. Some of these organizations include Kaiser Permanente, Johns Hopkins, the US Veterans Health Administration, the Mayo Clinic, Blue Shield of California, Progressive Insurance, the US Armed Services and many more. Belleruth Naparstek is the author of Staying Well With Guided Imagery (Warner Books 1995), Your Sixth Sense (HarperSanFrancisco 1998) and Invisible Heroes: Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal (Bantam 2004) Interview Date: 5/14/2021   Tags: MP3, Belleruth Naparstek, guided Imagery, hypnosis, Ericksonian Hypnosis, stress, anxiety, diabetes, dementia, Alzheimer’s, cognitive decline, chronic fatigue, Fibromyalgia, Allergies, sleep, Marty Rossman, Emmitt Miller, Ben Kriegler, David Gaffney, stem cell therapy, Health & Healing, Personal Transformation, Psychology

A sense of wonder is an active ingredient in a passionate life. Even suffering and restlessness can be seen with curiosity, says Levoy. Making space in our minds for the unknown, and allowing creativity to flow, he says, can keep us from being pulled into the “burden of purpose.” Levoy talks of the powerful effects of small actions and the importance of saying “yes.” Gregg Levoy is a former adjunct professor of journalism at the University of New Mexico, and former columnist and reporter for USA Today and the Cincinnati Enquirer. He’s written for the New York Times Magazine, Washington Post, Omni, and Psychology Today. He has presented lectures and seminars for the Smithsonian Institution, Environmental Protection Agency, Microsoft, National Conference on Positive Aging, American Counseling Association, National Career Development Association, and others. He is the author of Vital Signs: The Nature and Nurture of Passion (Penguin 2014) and Callings: Finding and Following An Authentic Life (Random House 1998) Interview Date: 4/16/2015   Tags: MP3, Gregg Levoy, awe and wonder, passionate life, cognitive upgrade, taking risk, adventure gene, trimtab factor, trimtab effect, Carl Sagan, kindergarteners, vitality, enthusiasm, not knowing, ask questions, football, stop and smell, mammalian brain, ten percent, restless, suffering, wild kingdom, critic and creator, momentum, source not resource, nature, aliveness, relationships, spark, space, passion and security, commitment, gap for spark, paradox, indecision, excuses, say yes, Personal Transformation, Relationship/Partnership/Sexuality, Philosophy, Art & Creativity, Writing

For close to three years Glancy suffered from a debilitating illness. Despite consulting with countless health practitioners and subjecting herself to innumerable tests - CT scans, EEGs, EKGs, colonoscopies and much more - the diagnosis proved elusive and her illness progressed. Listen and discover how she finally solved the mystery and returned to health. Gabrielle Glancy is an award-winning poet and translator whose work has appeared in The New Yorker and The Paris Review among other publications. She’s also a top expert in getting high school students into college. She is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is the author of The Art of the College Essay (Oneiric Press 2014), Best College Essays 2014 (editor) (Oneiric Press 2014) and I’m Already Disturbed Please Come In: Parasites, Social Media and Other Planetary Disturbances (A Memoir, of Sorts) (Oneiric Press 2014)Interview Date: 3/26/2015    Tags: Gabrielle Glancy, Mysterious illness, parasites, Facebook, bronchitis, Prednisone, stool test, internet, computers, Doctor J, panic attack, medical tests, diseases, computers, mustard plaster, Western medicine, line between consciousness and unconsciousness, vulnerable, Michael Pollan, germs, Health & Healing, Personal Transformation

It’s possible to rewire our neural networks and build resilience so that positive emotions become a default reaction. Graham explains how habits such as mindfulness, self-compassion, and body awareness can help us learn to naturally respond with grace and skill when we are under pressure. She offers practicable suggestions to consciously develop our natural resilience. Linda Graham, MFT is a licensed psychotherapist and meditation teacher in full-time practice in the San Francisco Bay area. She integrates her passion for neuroscience, mindfulness, and relational psychology through trainings, workshops, and conferences. She publishes a monthly e-newsletter entitled Healing and Awakening Into Aliveness and Wholeness, and weekly e-quotes on resources for recovering resilience, archived on her website. She’s the author of Bouncing Back: Rewiring Your Brain For Maximum Resilience And Well-Being (New World Library 2013)Interview Date: 3/20/2015    Tags: Linda Graham, resilience, prefrontal cortex, positive emotions, mindfulness, self-compassion, negativity bias, body memory, implicit memory, posturing, default network, equilibrium, left brain, right brain, neuroscience, brain science, Personal Transformation, Science, Health & Healing, Self Help

Russell explains the difference between a paradigm and a metaparadigm and why consciousness cannot be explained within our current systems. He describes how all of life, and the universe as a whole, has the capacity for consciousness. His insight into the essence of “I am” points to how our seeking is actually obstructing our natural state of contentment. Peter Russell, D.C.S. is an author and meditation teacher focusing on consciousness and spirituality. His studies include theoretical physics, mathematics, experimental psychology, and computer science. His principal interest is the deeper, spiritual significance of the times we are passing through. His work seeks to distill the essence of the world’s spiritual traditions and present them in ways relevant to current times. In 1982, with his bestseller of the same name, he coined the term “global brain” and predicted the Internet and the impact it would have on our culture. His many books include: Waking Up in Time: Finding Inner Peace in Times of Accelerating Change (Origin Press 1992), The Global Brain (3rd Edition, Floris Books 2008), From Science to God: A Physicist’s Journey into the Mystery of Consciousness (New World Library 2001) and The Brain Book: Know Your Own Mind and How to Use It (Routledge and Kegan Paul 1979).Interview Date: 2/10/2015     Tags: Peter Russell, paradigm, metaparadigm, matter, consciousness, self-awareness, self-aware, awareness, mind, Copernicus, Descartes, brain, mind, recognition, essence of the universe, panpsychism, I am, effortless being, Science, Spirituality, Philosophy

As a creativity coach, Dr. Maisel helps us to avoid getting stuck. He has learned to distinguish between every day creativity and the creative identity. When one self-identifies with an art form, it involves a new level of responsibility and commitment. He reminds us that great work takes more than mere interest, it takes love. Eric Maisel, Ph.D. is a licensed family therapist, a creativity coach, and author of more than 40 books. He also conducts writing workshops and trains creativity coaches. His books include: Life Purpose Boot Camp: The 8 Week Breakthrough Plan for Creating a Meaningful Life (New World Library 2014), Secrets of a Creativity Coach (Motivational Press 2014), Why Smart People Hurt (Conari Press 2013), Fearless Creating (Tarcher 1995), Van Gogh's Blues: The Creative Person's Path Through Depression (New World Library 2007), Mastering Creative Anxiety (New World Library 2011), Making Your Creative Mark (New World Library 2013), Natural Psychology: The New Psychology of Meaning (Natural Psychology Press 2012), Rethinking Depression (New World Library 2012), Brainstorm: Harnessing The Power of Productive Obsessions (New World Library 2010), Creativity For Life (New World Library 2007) and Coaching the Artist Within (New World Library 2005) Interview Date: 1/15/2015 Tags: Eric Maisel, creativity, stuck, creative process, creative identity, creativity coach, creativity consulting, manifest potential, healthy narcissism, healthy ego structure, quietness, permission, self-expression, fragmentation, creativity practice, routine, finishing, identity, detachment, creative process, lineage, messes and mistakes, innovation, problem solving, divergent thinking, creative enterprise, original work, showing up, morning practice, creative flow, ceremony, great work, Spirituality, Philosophy, Personal Transformation

Dr. Powell describes how her curiosity about human consciousness led her to study the extent of human extrasensory abilities. Her research drove her to focus largely on autism, savant syndrome and abnormal brain function, among other things, to support the existence of extrasensory phenomena such as telepathy, remote viewing, and ESP. Diane Hennacy Powell, M.D. is a neuroscientist and psychiatrist who completed her training in medicine, neurology, and psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She is a former member of Harvard Medical School’s faculty and of a think tank on consciousness at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, and has published articles in neuroscience and neuropsychiatry journals. She is the author of The ESP Enigma: The Scientific Case for Psychic Phenomena (Walker & Company 2009) and Seriously Strange: Thinking Anew About Psychical Experiences (contributor) (Viking 2012) Interview Date: 12/4/2014     Tags: Diane Powell, ESP, telepathy, holograph, hologram, autism, remote viewing, brain science, savant, clairvoyance, twins, intuition, out of body, Parapsychology/Paranormal, Science

Here we explore a larger picture of human life as relating to the cosmos. Steinfeld says, “I think the opportunity, that meeting the others, making contact, expands our consciousness. It expands the potential of our humanity. I think that's what's so important. We have to open another part of our mind in order to relate to the possibility.” Alan Steinfeld is an explorer of consciousness. For over 30 years he has hosted and produced the weekly television series New Realities in New York City. The series includes interviews with luminaries in the field of health, spirituality, UFOs, human potential, remote viewing, and the nature of alien contact. For five years he has emceed the largest UFO event in the country, Contact in the Desert. He is the editor of Making Contact: Preparing for the New Realities of Extraterrestrial ExistenceInterview Date: 3/27/2021   Tags: MP3, Alan Steinfeld, Francis Crick, DNA, human hybrids, extraterrestrials, UFOs, aliens, ETs, dormant DNA, Bashar, Darryl Anka, Neanderthals, Ray Bradbury, Star Trek, Whitley Strieber, Colin Andrews, crop circles, Lynne Kitei, John Mack, Harmonic convergence 1987 in Sedona, AZ, Budd Hopkins, alien abduction, Einstein-Rosen Bridge, Hal Puthoff, aerial phenomena, parapsychology/paranormal, intuition/psychic

The deepening of personal transformation is an ongoing act of self-discovery and we're standing on the shoulders of the many pioneers in the study of the astonishing capacities of the human mind and spirit. One such pioneer is the late Joseph Chilton Pearce, whose work has encompassed many decades of extensive research and inquiry into human consciousness. Michael Mendizza is an entrepreneur, author, educator, documentary filmmaker, and founder of Touch the Future, a nonprofit learning center focused on optimizing human potential beginning with the parent-child relationship. His books include Magical Parent-Magical Child (co-author Joseph Chilton Pearce) (North Atlantic 2004) and The Life and Insights of Joseph Chilton Pearce: Astonishing Capacities and Self-Inflicted Limitations (Editor) (Park Street Press 2021Interview Date: 3/19/2021    Tags: MP3, Michael Mendizza, David Bohm, Robert Lanza, The Grand Biocentric Design, Crack in the Cosmic Egg, materialism science, magical child, nurturing, bonding, consciousness, Marcelle Gerber, field effect, savant, play, childhood, Ashley Montagu, reading to children, television, computers, smartphones, Personal Transformation, Science, Psychology, Social Change/Politics

Nelson-Isaacs shares the good news that the cosmos is responsive and synchronicity occurs to help us come into our wholeness. Here we explore some of the filters that hold us back from being our whole, vibrant, creative selves and some tools to help us achieve it. Sky Nelson-Isaacs is a physicist, musician, teacher, parent, and activist. He has many years of experience as a physics and math instructor and has also worked in the software industry. His current work involves research in the field of quantum foundations and he has published a growing body of peer-reviewed work developing the foundation of a theory of synchronicity. He has also earned recognition as a singer, songwriter, and performer. His books include Living in Flow: The Science of Synchronicity and How Your Choices Shape Your World (North Atlantic Books 2019) and Leap To Wholeness: How The World is Programmed to Help Us Grow, Heal, and Adapt (North Atlantic Books 2021) Interview Date: 3/19/2021   Tags: MP3, Sky Nelson-Isaacs, Big Bang Theory, quantum field theory, wave function, abundance, synchronicity, shame, psychological wounds, self compassion, forgiveness, curiosity, Night At the Museum Movie, feelings, isolation, Black Lives Matter, grief, sadness, Personal Transformation, psychology, Health & Healing

This is an edited talk that Justine Willis Toms gave in the summer of 2014. She includes the four keys to thriving in chaotic times and compares this time to that of a caterpillar inside the cocoon where it liquefies and the imaginal cells begin to coalesce, soon to emerge as a butterfly. She suggests that we are the imaginal cells of the changing of an age. Since 1973, Justine Willis Toms has been exploring personal, social and spiritual transformation through her work as an electronic journalist, editor and writer. She is co-founder, executive director and host of New Dimensions Radio. She is a founding convener of The Millionth Circle Initiative and has been actively involved in circle work since 1980. She serves on the board of World Prayers as well as Women’s Perspective. In June 2004, she was one of 30 people in the world invited to participate in The Synthesis Dialogues with his holiness the Dalai Lama. She was inducted into the Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2011. She is the author of: True Work: Doing What You Love and Loving What You Do (Michael Toms) (Harmony Books 1999) and Small Pleasures: Finding Grace in a Chaotic World (Hampton Roads 2008) Recorded 6/29/2014     Tags: Justine Willis Toms, Justine Toms, Dr. Haridas Chaudhuri, Cultural Integration Fellowship, CIF, optimism, curiosity, circles, friends of the heart, isolate, isolation, circulate, butterfly, cocoon, chaotic times, GNP, GNH, Gross National Happiness index, media fast, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, John Oliver, Last Week Tonight, Joseph Campbell, Dalai Lama, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Jennifer Louden, certainty, Chinese Bamboo metaphor, Personal Transformation, Self Help

Here we explore the complex emotion of awe which frequently involves a sense of surprise, unexpectedness, or mystery. Wonder and awe have many benefits and here you’ll find many ways to invite more of these most positive emotions into your life. Klein shares many inspiring examples of how we can tap into the power and benefits of awe. Allen Klein is the former Director of Life and Death Transitions in San Francisco. He's a recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor. He is the author of many books including The Healing Power of Humor (Tarcher/Putnam 1989), The Courage to Laugh, Change Your Life: A Little Book of Big Ideas (Tarcher 1998), Learning to Laugh When You Feel Like Crying: Embracing Life After Loss (Goodman Beck Publishing 2011), Embracing Life After Loss: A Gentle Guide for Growing through Grief (Mango 2019) and The Awe Factor: How a Little Bit of Wonder Can Make a Big Difference in Your Life (Mango Publishing Group 2020 or Conari Press 2020)Interview Date: 2/26/2021     Tags: MP3, Allen Klein, wonder, awe, Cirque du Soleil, Beau Lotto, stress, creativity, Dacher Keltner, Khrushchev, intention, synchronicity, Jenny Odell, John Cage concert, Sam Keen. Personal Transformation

Here we explore an alternative to looking at our bodies through the lens of the brutal forces of cultural bias that highlight the personal shaming that tears down the expression of our intelligence, power, and beauty. Bedrick gives many enlightened examples of women he’s worked with. He takes us into the deeper mysteries of the deeper hungers we are going for. David Bedrick JD, DIPL PW is an attorney, educator, and process worker. He founded the Santa Fe Institute for Shame-Based Studies where he teaches and works with individuals from around the world. He is the author of Talking Back to Dr. Phil: Alternatives to Mainstream Psychology (Belly Song Press 2013), Revisioning Activism: Bringing Depth, Dialogue, and Diversity to Individual and Social Change (Belly Song Press 2017) i You Can’t Judge a Body By Its Cover: 17 Women’s Stories of Hunger, Body Shame, and Redemption (Belly Song Press 2020)Interview Date: 2/23/2021   Tags: MP3, David Bedrick, body image, shame, dieting, weight loss, hunger, lose weight, sexism, racism, body positivity, Psychology, Personal Transformation, Health & Healing, Women’s Studies

Here we explore the Native American influence on the founding of the United States and how putting our country back together in full integrity requires us to remember and respect the living roots of our nation. Parry states that the ultimate reason he is interested in politics is so that we can get to more kindness, compassion, and respect for Mother Earth. Glenn Aparicio Parry, Ph.D. is an educator, international speaker, entrepreneur, and visionary whose life-long passion is to re-form thinking and education into a coherent, cohesive whole. He's the founder and past president of the SEED Institute, and is currently the president of the think tank The Circle for Original Thinking. Parry organized and participated in the groundbreaking Language of Spirit Conferences from 1999 - 2011 that brought together Indigenous Native Elders and Western scientists in dialogue. This series of conferences was moderated by Leroy Little Bear. Parry is an avid outdoorsman and makes his home in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains in Albuquerque, NM, with his wife, dog, and cat. He is the author of Original Thinking: A Radical ReVisioning of Time, Humanity, and Nature (North Atlantic Books 2015) and Original Politics: Making America Sacred Again (Select Books 2020)Interview Date: 2/19/2021   Tags: Glenn Aparicio Parry, Paula Gunn Allen, sacred, genocide, Pilgrims, Plymonth Rock, Haudenosaunee, The Peacemaker, Roger Williams, Benjamin Franklin, Chief Canasatego, caucus, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Matilda Gage, Women’s movement, suffragists, Vandana Shiva, Turtle Island Renaissance, Leroy Little Bear, reconstruction, Van Jones, John McCain, Ramana Maharshi, Know-Nothing Party, Social Change/Politics, History, Indigenous Wisdom

At a very young age, Gendler became enamored with elements of creativity such as words, colors and beauty. After years of writing, painting and teaching, she has come to know herself as an “Anthropologist of the Imagination.” She offers insight into qualities that make us human, such as joy, beauty, curiosity, and courtesy. She suggests some ways to spark our creativity.  J. Ruth Gendler is an artist and a writer, and has been a teacher of writing and art for more than twenty years. She leads workshops in writing and creativity throughout the United States, and has been an artist in residence with California Poets in the Schools and Young Audiences of the Bay Area. She has worked with elementary, middle school and high school students teaching through California Poets in the Schools, and writes about the transformative power of art. In October 2007 the Lineage Dance Company presented a theater piece based on her book The Book of Qualities (Harper Perennial 1988), now in its 52nd printing. Her books also include Changing Light: The Eternal Cycle of Night and Day (Editor) (Harper Collins 1991) and Notes on the Need for Beauty: An Intimate Look at an Essential Quality (Marlowe & Company 2007)Interview Date: 9/17/2014  Tags: MP3, Ruth Gendler, creativity, writing, self-publishing, art, anthropologist of the imagination, beauty, imagination, inspiration, color poems, efficiency, writing letters, Arts & Creativity

Every person has their own timing when it comes to grieving. Claire Willis suggests that grief is a sign of deep love rather than a problem to be solved. She recommends that we allow ourselves to remain in the great brokenness of loss with our eyes and hearts open—thus grief is an invitation to grow and eventually can lead to finding meaning in the experience of loss. Claire B. Willis is a clinical social worker who works in the field of oncology and bereavement. She is a cofounder of the Boston nonprofit Facing Cancer Together and regularly leads bereavement, end of life, support, and therapeutic writing groups. As a lay Buddhist chaplain, she focuses on contemplative practices for end-of-life care. She maintains a private practice in Brookline, Massachusetts. She is coauthor with Marnie Crawford Samuelson of Opening to Grief: Finding Your Way from Loss to Peace (Dharma Spring 2020) Interview Date: 1/21/2021   Tags: Claire B. Willis, grief, mourning, bereavement, depression, disenfranchised sorrows, hidden griefs, untended sorrows, miscarriages, infertility, Hersch Wilson, Metta practice, loving kindness, gratitude journal, Rick Hanson, James Pennebaker, expressive writing, Death & Dying, Personal Transformation

Plotkin encourages us to seek out a soul encounter in order to find our ecological niche and our place in the larger world. He encourages us to do the necessary work to become true “adults,” which has nothing to do with our chronological age. We must do this work in order to give our gifts back to the web of life and become embedded in life-enhancing activities.  Bill Plotkin, Ph.D, has been a psychotherapist, research psychologist, rock musician, river runner, professor of psychology, and mountain-bike racer. As a research psychologist, he studied dreams and nonordinary states of consciousness achieved through meditation, biofeedback, and hypnosis.Currently an ecotherapist, depth psychologist, and wilderness guide, he leads a variety of experiential, nature-based individuation programs. He is the author of Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche (New World Library 2003, Nature and the Human Soul: Creating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World (New World Library 2008) and The Journey of Soul Initiation: A Field Guide for Visionaries, Evolutionaries, and Revolutionaries (New World Library 2021)Interview Date: 1/21/2021     Tags: Bill Plotkin, Steven Foster, Meredith Little, C.G.Jung, Journey of Soul, metaphor of caterpillar and butterfly, William McDonough, soul, Dreams, Personal Transformation, Spirituality

Cognitive decline is rampant in today’s world. It’s a toxic jungle regarding pollutants in the air, water, and foods we eat, as well as the negative media we take in. Here our guest touches on how to protect ourselves and our brains as we navigate the neuro-toxic forces that are currently pitched against everyone on the planet. Brant Cortright, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychology at California Institute of Integral Studies. His consulting practice specializes in brain health and neuroscience-informed depth therapy. He is the author of: Psychotherapy and Spirit: Theory and Practice in Transpersonal Psychotherapy (Suny Series, Philosophy of Psychology) (State University of New York Press 1997), Integral Psychology: Yoga, Growth, and Opening the Heart (Suny Series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology) (State University of New York Press 2007), The Neurogenesis Diet & Lifestyle: Upgrade Your Brain, Upgrade Your Life (Psyche Media 2015), Holistic Healing for Anxiety, Depression, & Cognitive Decline (Psyche Media 2020)Interview Date: 1/14/2021    Tags: Brant Cortright, depression, mental illness, Neurotoxins, hormone disruptors, glyphosates, microbiome, inflammation, Alzheimer’s disease, smog, antidepressants, neuroplasticity, neurogenesis, gut microbiome, microbial diversity, bacteria in our intestines, conspiracy theories, Science, Self Help, Heath & Healing, psychology, meditation

The “laziness lie” ignores the many barriers we must deal with in meeting our goals. Being lazy can be a self-protection. Lacking motivation is rational if you haven’t been convinced that there’s any value in it. They say, “I might disagree with somebody else's priorities but if they don't care about doing something that doesn't matter to them, that's pretty rational.” Devon Price, Ph.D. is a social psychologist, writer, activist, and professor at Loyola University of Chicago’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies. Their work has appeared in numerous publications such as the Journal of Experimental Psychology, Slate, and has been featured on the front page of Medium numerous times. Devon Price is the author of: Laziness Does Not Exist (Atria Books 2020)Interview Date: 1/7/2021     Tags: Devon Price, Ph.D., laziness, unhoused, homeless, welfare, government assistance, Thor, the Avengers, procrastinate, cyber loaf, workaholic, activism fatigue, grief, grieving, mourning, curiosity, burnout, awe, wonder, Personal Transformation, Social Change/Politics, Relationships, Work/Livelihood

Prayer is our most universal and yet individual way of communicating with the divine, of connecting with the infinite dimensions of our being. Here we explore some of the many ways we pray. Celeste Yacoboni is an ordained Minister of Walking Prayer, ordained by the Center for Sacred Studies in Sonora, California. Her work focuses on guiding and supporting people through transitions by creating a space of awareness, presence and inspiration which integrates body, mind, spirit and emotions. She leads “How Do You Pray?” workshops in which people share and experience different ways of prayer and connecting to Source. She lives in New Mexico and is the editor of How Do You Pray? Inspiring Responses from Religious Leaders, Spiritual Guides, Healers, Activists & Other Lovers of Humanity (Monkfish Publishing 2014)Interview Date: 8/27 /2014     Tags: MP3, Celeste Yacoboni, Ho’oponopono, prayer, praying, pray, Matthew Fox, Ph.D., Michael Gelb, Ph.D., Michael Meade, ancestors, God, Robin Lim, Committee of Angels, dedicating our day, ancestors, children and prayer, Peter Russell, innocent curiosity, what would love do now, What would love say, whale caught and freed from fishing lines, Terry Tempest Williams, prairie dogs in prayer, prayer field, Prayer Intention Experiment, e.e. cummings, Antonio Machado, Honey in my heart, oldest prayer, forgiveness, Hail Mary full of grace prayer, credo, Spirituality, Meditation

Play is deeply embedded in our natures. It contributes to optimism and hope for the future. It enables us with the ability to persevere. Brown concludes, “Play is a fundamental survival drive of humanity without which long term survival of our species may be at stake.” He describes research showing that most sociopaths suffer from play deprivation in their childhood. Stuart Brown. M.D. is a pioneer researcher on the effects of play. He’s the founder of the National Institute for Play in Carmel, California. In 1987, he was the producer of the classic documentary film The Hero's Journey, the Life and Work of Joseph Campbell and executive producer and originator of the three part PBS series, The Promise of Play. He is the author of: Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination and Invigorates the Soul (co-author Christopher Vaughan) (Avery 2010) Interview Date: 2/3/2014    Tags: Stuart Brown, M.D., play, Charles Whitman, rigidity in thinking, compulsiveness, depression, addictions, Brian Sutton Smith, Norbert Rosing, National Geographic special, sled dogs, play languages, play signals, rough and tumble games, bullies, beauty, awe and wonder, play and the brain, Peter Gray, neoteny, video games, John Wooden, Bob Fagan, grizzly bear play, Mark Beckoff, optimism, joy, awe, wonder, joyfulness, Roger Guillemin, Psychology, Personal Transformation, Self Help

Robin shares how industrial agriculture has distanced us from the hands that grow and process our food. She explores why eating from your bioregion is good for you, good for your community, and good for the planet. As we commit, in some small way, to eating within a radius of where we live, we help turn the tide toward sustainable living and reconnect to community. Vicki Robin has been a pioneer at the forefront of the sustainable living movement. She has helped launch many sustainability initiatives including: The New Road Map Foundation, The Simplicity Forum, The Turning Tide Coalition, Sustainable Seattle, The Center for a New American Dream, Transition Whidbey, and more. In the 1990’s she served on the President’s Council on Sustainable Development’s Task Force on Population and Consumption. Her books include Your Money or Your Life (Co-Author Joe Dominguez) (Penguin Books 2008, revised) and Blessing the Hands That Feed Us: What Eating Closer to Home Can Teach Us About Food (Viking 2014)Interview Date: 1/17/2014   Tags: Vicki Robin, food systems, nourishment, relational eating, nature, farms, farmers, food, organic food, agriculture, place-based eating, 10-mile eating experiment, ten mile eating experiment, food democracy, corporate controlled agriculture, industrial food system, fertility of the soil, fertility of soil, hope, resilience, Food Twenty Twenty, Food 2020, community, Community, Environment/Nature/Ecology, Social Change/Politics

In this time of constant distractions and disappointment we become exhausted and heartsick as our good work is ignored. Wheatley speaks with fierce honesty as she gives us the map of where we are. She also gives us tools that enliven and reinvigorate us in our work and relationships. Margaret Wheatley is an internationally acclaimed writer, speaker, and teacher. She is co-founder and President Emerita of The Berkana Institute, a charitable foundation that works with people around the world who strengthen their communities using the wisdom and wealth already present in their people, traditions, and environment. Her books include Leadership and the New Science (Berrett-Kohler 1998), Perseverance (Berrett-Kohler 2010), Turning To One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope in the Future (Berrett-Kohler 2009), So Far from Home: Lost and Found In Our Brave New World (Barrett-Kohler 2012) and Who Do We Choose To Be: Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership, Restoring Sanity (Berrett-Kohler 2017)Interview Date: 12/11/2012  Tags: Meg Wheatley, Margaret Wheatley, distraction, concentration, reflection, culture of opinions and instant judgment, happiness, time, reflection, contemplation, emergence, reductionist science, emergent culture, entanglement, DNA, epigenetics, brain, internet, research on internet, technology, values, lost in wilderness, hope, friendship, path of warriors, bureaucracies, islands of sanity, being present, humor, laughter, motivation, spirit, relationship, Business, Philosophy, Personal Transformation, Self Help, Work/Livelihood, Social Change/Politics, Community, Relationship/Partnership

Octopuses are highly intelligent, show their cleverness in myriad ways, and love to play. Montgomery describes befriending several of them over a number of years and shares how they can make remarkable connections with individual people. This is a most fascinating dialogue about the meeting of two very different minds, human and octopus.Tags: Sy Montgomery, devilfish, Wilson Menashi, scuba diving, the Octopus Church in Mo’orea, octopus, Animals, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Science

Whether you are a Christian, a Jew, belong to any other denomination, or have no religious affiliation, you may be surprised to know that the Bible represents generations who have resisted tyranny in impossible circumstances when the future looked bleak. She also highlights the many women in the Bible who were first to resist the tyranny of unjust rulers. Jennifer Butler is an ordained Presbyterian minister with her Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary. She is the founding Executive Director of Faith in Public Life and former chair of the White House Council of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Butler is a staunch advocate for women’s rights and human rights and is passionate about the need to counter religious extremism. She served in the Peace Corps from 1989 to 1991 in a Mayan village in Belize, Central America, where she discovered she had a talent as a community organizer. She is the author of Who Stole My Bible: Reclaiming Scripture as a Handbook for Resisting Tyranny (Faith in Public Life 2020).Interview Date: 11/30/2020    Tags: Jennifer Butler, Bible, sexism, Muslim women protest, Sinai covenant, Moses, Ten Commandments, Sabbath, hyper capitalism, John of Patmos, pandemic, George Floyd, Cherokee nation, Trail of Tears, Ibram Kendi, racism, Exodus book in Bible, Shiprah, Puah, Pharaoh, Charlotte Gordon, Hagar, Dolores Williams, Creation Museum, evolution, Jim Henderson, Jim Hancock, Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, Pontius Pilate, Jesus, Good Samaritan, King Solomon, Religion, Social Change/Politics

How can fundraising be fun? Wiersma’s enthusiasm for gathering together while contributing to the larger community is infectious. She’s a mighty force for positive good. Tune in and discover how to come up with ideas and creative ways to raise money so that you too can be a catalyst for good and be energized to create awe-inspiring events in your community. Betsy is a consummate organizer and has been at it since she was a teenager. Missing the camaraderie of her biological sisters when she moved from the Midwest to Colorado she gathered a “chosen” sisterhood of friends who’s motto is to “Do good and have fun.” In 2005 she, with her friends, began the CampExperience <tm>  Network which is a three day retreat for women consisting of brief presentations by some awesome and accomplished women, delightful activities, and raising money for charities in unique and entertaining ways. Wiersma was honored as one of the top 25 women in Colorado by the Women’s Chamber of Commerce and is recipient of the Francis Wisebart Jacobs award (known as Colorado’s” Mother of Charities”) for philanthropy. In 2019 Betsy was a Speaker at TEDx Colorado, Cherry Creek Women on the topic “Choose Your Family, Change Your Life.” She is the author of Exceptional Events: Concept To Completion (Second Edition) (Kari Strolberg) (Chip Books 2003) and The STEW: Smart Talk Exceptional Women: Art & Insights by Women For the World (Vervante, Inc. 2020) Interview Date: 11/16/2020   Tags: Betsy Wiersma, fundraising, craftlete, aspen trees, mentoring, sisterhood, CampExperience Network, sisterhood, giving to charity, fundraising events, summer camp for women Art & Creativity, Women’s Studies, Community

Meade, once more, shares with us a cornucopia of myths, including Jason and the Argonauts, as we explore this dangerous and narrow passage we are entering in our collective history. He points out that, even with opposing viewpoints, we are all traveling together in one ship and that mythic imagination will carry us successfully forward during these threshold times. Meade describes the landscape leading up to the Presidential election of 2020, “We are worn down, worn out. Burned out and exhausted—COVID crisis, political crisis, climate crisis… economic crisis, and equal opportunity and justice for all. We are divided and socially distanced We have to look for underlying unities and that requires, more than anything, imagination -- the kind of imagination that suggests that we are all connected somehow -- All connected to the soul of the world. And where [we are] secretly connected to the deep self.”  Michael Meade is a renowned storyteller, author, scholar of mythology, and student of ritual in traditional cultures. He is the author of many books including: Why the World Doesn't End: Tales of Renewal in Times of Loss (GreenfirePress 2012) and The Water of Life: Initiation and the Tempering of the Soul (GreenFire Press 2019) Interview Date: 11/6/2020    Tags: Michael Meade, soul, mythic imagination, sacrifice, wisdom, 2020 Presidential Election, Jason and the Argonauts, uncertainty, vertical imagination, interconnectedness, oceans, collective anxiety, Golden Fleece, communitas, soul, rite of passage, the heroic, vitality, core imagination, the world tree, the tree of forgetfulness, collective awakening, vaccine, Mythology, Social Change/Politics, Philosophy, media, community, Art & Creativity

Sim Van der Ryn has been leading the way for a more regenerative, resilient, and sustainable future as a pioneer of the green building movement. This movement emphasizes the value to our health and well-being of a direct connection to nature. Designing in collaboration with nature is a major tool toward creating a vital new architecture for an empathic world. Van der Ryn has been a leading proponent of the green building movement (even before it was known as that), and for more than a half a century has been leading the way to a more regenerative, resilient, and sustainable future. His books include The Integral Urban House: Self-Reliant Living in the City (Random House 1982) and Design for an Empathic World: Reconnecting to People, Nature, and Self (Island Press 2013)Interview Date: 1/22/2014   Tags: Sim Van der Ryn, nature deficit disorder, regenerative architecture, Christos’ fence, People’s Park, Occupy movement, resilience, green building, closed environments, toxic environments, watercolors, water coloring, five principles of eco-design, biomimicry, Bill McDonough, Jason McLennan, Bucky Fuller, Buckminster Fuller, mimic nature’s process, incidental contact, natural light, Monterey hospital, Real Goods Trading Company, water conservation, ecological architecture, Community, Environment/Nature/Ecology, Social Change/Politics

Hassouri goes through the reactions of shock, resistance, grief, acceptance, and finally pride when her 13-year old child tells her that she is transgender. What would happen if society weren't so strict with gender roles and thought more in terms of a gender spectrum? What would we look like as a society if we didn't assign binary roles to the different genders? Paria Hassouri, M.D. is a pediatrician, mother of three, and a transgender rights advocate. She’s a proud Iranian-American and has written articles that have appeared in multiple media outlets including the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and the Huffington Post. is She is the author of a memoir: Found in Transition: A Mother’s Evolution During Her Child’s Gender Change (New World Library 2020) Interview Date: 10/26/2020  Tags: Paria Hassouri, transgender, trans, bisexual, gay, LGBTQIA, gender spectrum, autism spectrum, binary world, cisgender, Social Change/Politics, Parenting, Relationship/Partnership/Sexuality

This program explores a pervasive ailment of our age which is Nature Deficit Disorder. “The more high-tech our lives become, the more nature we need.” Louv also adds, “Conservation is no longer enough. For everything we receive from nature, we need to give back, we need to nurture nature, as much as it nurtures us.” Richard Louv’s writings and books have helped launch an international movement to connect children, families, and communities to nature. He is cofounder and chair emeritus of the nonprofit Children & Nature Network. In 2008 he was awarded the Audubon Medal which he shares with such notables as Rachel Carson, E.O. Wilson, and Sir David Attenborough. Richard Louv is the author of many books including:Last Child in the Woods (Algonquin Books 2008), The Nature Principle: Reconnecting with Life in a Virtual Age (Algonquin Books 2012) and Our Wild Calling: How Connecting with Animals Can Transform Our Lives—and Save Theirs (Algonquin Books 2019) Interview Date: 10/8/2020    Tags: Richard Louv, generation amnesia, Nature Deficit Disorder, Glenn Albrecht, Symbiocene Era, Ecozoic Era, Anthropocene Era, E.O. Wilson, Thomas Berry, Rouge River Ford Motor Plant, William McDonough, Singapore, Douglas Tallamy, Homegrown National Park, native plants, wildlife corridors, social capital, Jon Young, 8 Shields, Sit Spots, Children & Nature Network, octopus, Paul Dayton, reciprocity, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Social Change/Politics, Science

When a realization flashes into our consciousness that we are aging, we tend to tighten up with fear. Negative images of our parents, grandparents, and friends loom before us. Anderson counsels us to move from that gripping fear into curiosity. She shares poignant stories about elders and luminaries such as Marion Woodman. This is a deeply personal and moving conversation. Sherry Ruth Anderson writes and teaches about spiritual development, with a special interest in women's experience and aging as awakening. Her documentary film "A Woman's Descent to the Sacred “ was an official entry in the Mill Valley Film Festival in 2011. She’s the author of The Feminine Face of God (coauthor Patricia Hopkins) (Bantam 1991), The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People are Changing the World (coauthor Paul Ray) (Crown 2001) and Ripening Time: Inside Stories for Aging with Grace (Changemakers Books 2013)Interview Date: 10/3/2013    Tags: Sherry Ruth Anderson, aging, diminishment, death, ripening, lifespan, fear, forgetting, fearful, curiosity, growing older, Marion Woodman, elders, presence, deep listening, circles, nursing homes, vulnerable, vulnerability, voluntarism, laughter, Dustin Hoffman, Maurice Sendak, generosity, authenticity, Personal Transformation, Spirituality, Women’s Studies, Death & Dying, Community

Since the 1960s Paul Winter has been in the vanguard of musicians who express special appreciation for the natural music of our world, including wolves, whales, birds, wind and water. His inclusivity combines everything from Bach to Bossa Nova, and his albums, Common Ground and Callings, are cultural landmarks, as is his album Missa Gaia/Earth Mass. Our New Dimensions theme music, "Icarus," is performed by the Paul Winter Consort. Paul Winter’s albums include: Common Ground (1989), Wolf Eyes: Retrospective (1989), Callings (1989), Canyon Lullaby (1998), Prayer for the Wild Things (1994), Missa Gaia/Earth Mass (1994), Miho: Journey to the Mountain (2010), Light of the Sun (2020)Interview Date: 10/9/2020   Tags: Paul Winter, improv, jazz, music ensemble, Jackie Kennedy, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Roger Payne, Humpback whale, wolves, orcas, I.M. Pei, Miho Museum, Paul Spong, Mickey Hoolahan, Ralph Towner, David Darling, Grand Canyon, Soviet Space Bridge, Art & Creativity, History

Poet, spiritual thinker and author of Seven Thousand Ways to Listen, Nepo explores the many ways that deep listening is a matter of being changed by leaning into all we don't understand. Intuitive listening requires us to still our minds until the beauty of things older than our minds can find us. He describes this kind of listening as "a process by which what matters moves between us." He is the author of many books including Reduced To Joy (Cleis Press 2013) and More Together Than Alone: Discovering the Power and Spirit of Community in Our Lives and in the World (Atria Books 2018) Interview Date: 12/6/2013     Tags: MP3, Mark Nepo, giving and receiving, deep listening, what matters, personal mythology, web of relationship, friendship, witnessed, trust, paradox, Beethoven, outwaiting the clouds, truth, ocean, eternity, endure and endear, beauty, John Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn, John Paul Lederach, Personal Transformation, Health & Healing, Self Help 

Moeller describes herself as a former “self help junkie” but when her home and all of her belongings burned in a raging wildfire she realized that she had only dipped her toes into the waters of living the life she longed to be living. After the fire, she was inspired to quit waiting for things to be “perfect” before acting on her passions. In this dialogue we explore the many reasons we wait for our life to begin, such as waiting for enough money, waiting for the right time, waiting to be smart enough, or to have the right relationship. Kristen Moeller is a coach, speaker, workshop leader, author, and radio show host. She is the author of Waiting for Jack: Confessions of a Self-Help Junkie: How to Stop Waiting and Start Living Your Life (co-author Jack Canfield) (Morgan James Publishing 2010) and What Are You Waiting For? Learn How To Rise to the Occasion of Your Life (Viva Editions 2013)Interview Date: 5/3/2014    Tags: Kristen Moeller, wildfire, giving and receiving, letting people help, receiving help, rehab, recovery, enlightenment, non-attachment, fluidity, Elizabeth Gilbert, self-acceptance, mourning, grief, dogs, Beagle Rescue project, Christian the lion, failure, dogs, Personal Transformation, Self Help, Spirituality, Community, Animals

We are an unruly republic of independent entities, a multiplicity of selves. In this dialogue we explore how we discover, honor, and work with each of these selves. You’ll discover how awareness heals as we become aware of the reality of our own selves and the selves of others. James Fadiman, Ph.D. is a former president of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, a Professor of Psychology, and one of the foremost researchers in microdosing studies. He’s the cofounder of the Sofia University, rooted in transforming the transpersonal, and has been researching healthy multiplicity for more than 20 years. He's the author of many books including Your Symphony of Selves: Discover and Understand More of Who We Are (coauthor Jordan Gruber J.D.) (Park Street Press 2020). Jordan Gruber was awarded a J.D., Juris Doctor degree, and has forged and sculpted authoritative volumes in forensic law, financial services and self development. He founded the enlightenment.com website. He is the author of The Bounce: The Complete SuperBound® Guidebook to 21st-Century Rebound Exercise (coauthor Joy Daniels) (SuperBound 2020)Interview Date: 9/14/2020    Tags: Jordan Gruber, James Fadiman, single self assumption, sub-personality, sub-personalities, a multiplicity of selves, angry self, AA, addiction, addicted self, schizophrenia, multiple selves, Psychology, Dreams, Personal Transformation

Hersch Wilson is a volunteer firefighter-EMT who is committed to revealing how first responders can guide us in ways to act more effectively in our own lives. With insightful and practical wisdom he advises, and it is his experience, that it is helpful to approach life’s inevitable emergencies with the intention to remain calm and act creatively. He is the author of: Play to Win!: Choosing Growth Over Fear In Work And Life (coauthor with his late father, Larry Wilson) (Bard Press; Revised Edition 2004) and Firefighter Zen: A Field Guide To Thriving In Tough Times (New World Library 2020)Interview Date: 9/25/2020   Tags: MP3, Hersch Wilson, Talmud, the pandemic, Otis Maxfield, M.D., CISD, critical incident stress debriefing, FOMO, fear of missing out, adrenalized, grief, grieving, courage, pandemic 2020, fear, being useful, King Midas, happiness, Personal Transformation, Health & Healing

Through cannabis medicine, Bonni Goldstein, M.D. has helped thousands of suffering patients find relief from chronic, difficult-to-treat conditions. Here she explains the current state of scientific research and offers actionable advice in using various forms of medical cannabis including information about the combination of TCB and CBD compounds and their effects. Bonni Goldstein is a physician, pediatric ER doctor, and cannabis specialist. She is the medical director of Canna–Centers Wellness & Education, a Los Angeles-based medical practice that helps patients use cannabis for serious and chronic illnesses. She has successfully treated thousands of adult and pediatric patients with cannabis medicine. She is a board member of the International Association for Cannabis as Medicine and is medical advisor to Weedmaps.com. Dr. Goldstein was awarded the 2017 Medical Professional of the Year by Americans for Safe Access. She is the author of Cannabis is Medicine: How Medical Cannabis and CBD are Healing Everything from Anxiety to Chronic Pain (Little Brown Spark, 2020)Interview Date: 9/4/2020   Tags: Bonni Goldstein, epilepsy, THC, CBD, cannabinoid receptors, anxiety, The Society of Cannabis Clinicians, www.cannabisclinicians.org, Nsaids, nonsterioidal anti-inflammatory drugs, ibuprofen, naproxen, inflammation, THCA, CBDA, Alzheimer’s, licensed cannabis dispensary, chemovar strain, terpenes, essential oils in cannabis, myrcene, microbial contaminants, residual solvents, Health & Healing

Finley explores the most effective use of prayer beyond making wishes and petitions to the Divine. He says, “Prayer can help us discover that which is already living in us and is everything that we ever wanted, hoped, or actually imagined was possible.” He also outlines the 5-prayers for self-transformation. Guy Finley is a spiritual teacher and author. He is the Founder and Director of Life of Learning Foundation, a nonprofit center for transcendent self-study located in Merlin, Oregon. He also hosts the Foundation’s Wisdom School — an online self-discovery program for seekers of higher self-knowledge. He offers free online classes open to all every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Each class also includes a Question and Answer session with Guy. Guy Finley is the author of over 45 books including The Secret of Letting Go (Llewellyn Publications 2008) and The Lost Secrets Of Prayer: Practices For Self-Awakening (Llewellyn Publications 1998)Interview Date: 8/22/2020     Tags: Guy Finley, prayer, good and evil, reaction, resistance, silence, The Lord’s Prayer, awareness, disorder, chaos, consciousness, Personal Transformation, Philosophy, Spirituality

This is a most candid and revealing conversation on the subject of systemic racism and culture. Here the two women converse about what we've learned, what continues to scare us, and our hope for the future. When asked how white people can become better allies to people of color, Ronita gives a sweeping list of things that people can do. Ronita Johnson has worked at the intersection of DEI which stands for diversity, equality, inclusion, and has been convening sacred circles for over 30 years. She cut her teeth in the corporate world as a first diversity manager in a large corporate organization in the 80s. Skilled in the practice of dialogue, she creates safe spaces for listening, learning, and self-reflection to bring conscious that which lies in shadow. In 2010, after a successful diversity consulting career, Ronita retired to devote all her energies to convening circles. She hosts online and in person circle gatherings, organic in nature and focused on authentic conversations toward excavating truth around life giving topics that matter. She, along with Justine Toms, are founding conveners of the Millionth Circle. She is also an original convener of Women Eradicating Racism and convener facilitator of Becoming Anti Racists. Dhr is the author of Coming To Forgiveness: A Daughter’s Story Of Race, Rage And Religion (Ronita Johnson & Associates 2012)Interview Date: 8/26/2020   Tags: Ronita Johnson, white privilege, Jacob Blake, unequal treatment, Eric Garner, George Floyd, Ibram X. Kendi, 13th Amendment, stop and frisk, for profit prisons, school to prison pipeline, W. Kamau Bell, Shades of America, New Orleans 9th ward, Jim Crow laws, John Lewis, Social Change/Politics

Kate Marianchild has trained herself as an amateur naturalist watching wildlife, leading nature walks, and giving slide presentations. Here she shares the delight that comes from walking slowly or sitting quietly in nature, including how we might go about discovering our local eco-system. She is a “Citizen Scientist” who shares the delight that comes from walking slowly or sitting quietly in nature. She is the author of:Secrets of The Oak Woodlands: Plants & Animals Among California’s Oaks (Heyday 2014) Interview Date: 2/23/2017 Tags: Kate Marianchild, acorn woodpeckers, western scrub jay, corvids, titmouse, Oak Woodlands, newts, manzanita, keystone species, California ground squirrels, wasps, ants, poison oak, woodrat, Christmas bird count, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Personal Transformation

Van Gelder launched a 12,000 mile trip across America to explore the many dynamic movements taking root around the country. She collected a myriad of stories and examples that give us hope for our future. She observes that the sustainable systems change that is required in these threshold times is now being modeled on local levels across the country. Sarah van Gelder is cofounder and editor-at-large of the award-winning YES!Magazine. She writes and speaks internationally on environmental, social, and economic alternatives and on community-based change. She is the editor of: Sustainable Happiness: Live Simply, Live Well, Make a Difference (Berrett-Koehler Publishers 2015), This Changes Everything: Occupy Wall Street and the 99 Percent Movement (Berrett-Koehler publishers 2011). She is the author of The Revolution Where You Live: Stories from a 12,000-Mile Journey Through a New America. (Berrett-Koehler Publishers 2017) Interview Date: 3/11/2017    Tags: Sarah van Gelder, poverty, wealth, inequality of wealth, Otter Creek Montana, Coal strip mining, Bakken Oil fields, fracking, Turtle Mountain Chippewa, community, potlucks, isolation, DIT, Do It Together, Halima Cassells, swap meets, extractive economies, sharing economies, Greensboro N.C., farmers markets, Whitesburg Kentucky, Appalshop, Archimedes, Community, Social change/Politics, History, Indigenous Wisdom

From traveling across Russia on the Trans-Siberian railroad to the “Golden Rule” in religion, Fuller takes us on a wide and deep adventure, always returning to the idea that learning to ask better questions is one of the keys to truly improving our lives and improving society. Robert Fuller, Ph.D. is a physicist and former president of Oberlin College. He has consulted with Indira Gandhi, met with Jimmy Carter regarding the President's Commission on World Hunger, and worked to defuse the Cold War in Russia when it was known as the USSR. As Fuller reflected on his career he realized that he had been, at different times in his life, a somebody and a nobody. His periodic sojourns into “Nobodyland” led him to identify rankism - the abuse of the power inherent in rank. His books include Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank (New Society Publishers 2003), Dignity for All: How to Create a World without Rankism (co-author Pamela A. Gerloff) (Berrett-Koehler Publishers 2008), Religion and Science: A Beautiful Friendship? (e-book, Smashwords 2012),The Rowan Tree (CreateSpace 2013), Theo: The White Squirrel (co-author Claire Sheridan) (Amazon Digital Services 2016), Questions and Quests: A Short Book of phorisms (Amazon Digital Services 2017) and The Theory of Everybody (Robert Fuller 2017) Interview Date: 2/5/13     Category: Tags: Bob Fuller, Citizen Diplomacy Movement, dignity, Robert Fuller, Robert Works Fuller, Community, Global Culture, Peace/Nonviolence, Philosophy / Psychology, Science, Social Change / Politics

Goldberg urges us to look for spiritual practices that fit our personal needs, predilections and circumstances. He advocates bringing the best of ourselves to our life and work by combining our outer work in the world with our inner work of spiritual development. He also encourages us to develop a spiritual routine yet remain flexible. Philip Goldberg has been studying the world's spiritual traditions for more than 50 years. He's a workshop leader, spiritual counselor and meditation teacher, and an ordained interfaith minister. He also co-hosts the Spirit Matters Podcasts. He leads American Veda tours and blogs regularly on Elephant Journal and Spirituality & Health. He is the author of many books, including American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation How Indian Spirituality Changed the West. (Harmony 2013), The Life of Yogananda: The Story of the Yogi Who Became the First Modern Guru (Hay House, 2nd Edition 2020) and Spiritual Practice for Crazy Times: Powerful Tools to Cultivate Calm, Clarity, and Courage (Hay House 2020)Interview Date: 8/10/2020  Tags: Philip Goldberg, spiritual bypassing, spiritual activism, Thomas Merton, John Lewis, Paramahansa Yogananda, Mahatma Gandhi, mindfulness, Huston Smith, Bhagavad Gita, Jill Bolte Taylor, mantra, TM, Transcendental Meditation, Meditation, Personal Transformation, Spirituality

Here we delve deeply into the narcissistic personality: What is it and what strategies we might employ to work with the narcissists who are close to us. Campbell describes three types of narcissists: grandiose, vulnerable, and personality disorder. All narcissists have some form of thinking that they are better than other people and deserve special treatment. W. Keith Campbell, Ph.D. is a professor of psychology at the University of Georgia, and is a nationally recognized expert on narcissism, society, and generational change. Both his work and lectures expose the rise of narcissism and individualism more generally, and its influence on every level of society. His books include When You Love A Man Who Loves Himself, How To Deal With A One Way Relationship (Sourcebook 2005) and The New Science Of Narcissism : Understanding One Of The Greatest Psychological Challenges Of Our Time-- and What You Can Do About It. (Sounds True 2020)Interview Date: 8/4/2020    Tags: W. Keith Campbell, Narcissus, narcissism, George S. Patton, Omar Bradley, Goldwater rule, DSM, Donald Trump, entitlement, clinical disorder, grandiose narcissism, empathy, Psychology, Health & Healing, Social Change/Politics

To keep our car running in good order, we routinely have it serviced. Our relationships deserve no less attention. Dr. Campbell offers practical advice for sustaining our love relationships. Here we learn methods for turning common relationship conflicts into opportunities to foster love, trust, and intimacy. Susan Campbell, Ph.D. trains and coaches therapists and individuals throughout the US and Europe. She works with singles, couples, and work teams to help them communicate responsibly and with respect. She is the author of Getting Real: Ten Truth Skills You Need to Live an Authentic Life (H.J. Kramer 2001), Saying What’s Real: 7 Keys to Authentic Communication and Relationship Success (H.J. Kramer 2005) and Five-Minute Relationship Repair: Quickly Heal Upsets, Deepen Intimacy, and Use Differences to Strengthen Love (with John Gray) (H. J. Kramer 2015)Interview Date: 3/18/2015      Tags: Susan Campbell, healing and repairing relationships, relationship, time-out, relationship vision statement, fear response, reactive feeling, core feeling, core fear, triggers, nervous system, pause agreement, meditation, self-calming, staying on your side of the net, source of distress, repair process, blame, reaction, clearing the air, communication, empathy, Relationships, Psychology, Personal Transformation,meditation

Koniver suggests that standing barefoot outside on the ground is the most enjoyable healing modality she knows of. There is a great healing waiting for you through the practice of touching the earth directly. Koniver calls it an Earth Prescription, a formula for living as vital as food and water for our body and soul. Dr. Laura Koniver is an artist, author, holistic physician, and an internationally recognized grounding advocate. She is the author of From the Ground Up (Do Life Right, Incorporated 2012) and The Earth Prescription: Discover The Healing Power Of Nature With Grounding Practices For Every SeasonInterview Date: 7/10/2020     Tags: Laura Koniver, grounding, hospitals, Community Hospital of Monterey Peninsula, Schumann frequency, electro hypersensitivity, EMFs, Health & Healing, Personal Transformation

Fungi live their lives largely hidden from view and over 90% of their species remain undocumented. Sheldrake says that the fungal kingdom is more closely related to the animal kingdom. Here he takes us into his research on the ecological significance of fungi and its importance to all life on planet earth. Merlin Sheldrake, Ph.D. is a biologist and writer with a background in plant sciences, microbiology, ecology, and the history of philosophy of science. He received his Ph.D. in tropical ecology from Cambridge University for his work on underground fungal networks in tropical forests in Panama, where he was a pre-doctoral research fellow at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. He's also a musician and a keen fermenter. He is the author of Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, & Shape Our Futures (Random House 2020)  Interview Date: 5/19/2020         Tags: Merlin Sheldrake, fungi, photosynthesis, mushrooms, largest terrestrial organism on the planet, Armillaria solidipes, honey fungus, mycelium, mycorrhizal fungi, endophytes, microbiome, algae, polyphonic music, LSD experiments, Albert Hofmann, wood wide web, viruses, Rovin Wall Kimmerer, Natasha Myers, Karla Hustak, Lynn Margulis, intimacy of strangers, involution vs. evolution, IKEA labyrinth, cosmic networks, Anna Tsing, Chernobyl, Ecovative Design, David Abrams, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Science, Indigenous wisdom

Here Sullivan talks about the power of trees in guiding us in understanding ourselves as well as our ancestral roots. She also shares the power of communal chanting that is a bridge of past and present that moves us deeply on a soul level as it connects us to Spirit. Shannon Sullivan is an interfaith spiritual teacher and teacher of meditation. She has broad experience with many spiritual traditions from around the world as well as her communion with nature. Trees in particular have a deep significance for her and she's developed a series of teachings and meditations using the metaphor of trees. One of her teachings involves healing our ancestral roots. Interview Date: 5/12/2020    Tags: MP3, Shannon Sullivan, Reiki therapy, energy work, chakras, family trees, forgiveness, ofrenda, chanting, Kintsugi, Health & Healing

Rebecca Solnit discusses how all of us are connected to one another as though we are threads woven into the fabric of the world. Storytelling is often our way of tracing these threads, starting with our personal stories and exploring outward. The effects of our stories can be subtle and powerful. Solnit explains how we make our stories and how our stories make us. She is the author of fifteen books about art, landscape, public and collective life, ecology, politics, hope, meandering, reverie, and memory. She is a recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship, a National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Lannan Literary Award. She works with the group 350.org on climate issues and is a contributing editor to Harper’s and regular contributor to the political site Tomdispatch.com. Her books include An Encyclopedia of Trouble and Spaciousness  (Trinity University Press 2014), A Field Guide to Getting Lost (Penguin Books 2006), Men Explain Things To Me (Haymarket Books 2014) and The Faraway Nearby (Penguin 2014) (a lyrical memoir) Interview Date: 1/22/2015        Tags: Rebecca Solnit, fabric, thread, weave, fabric of the world, storytelling, storyteller, stories, books, reading, writing, domestic violence, civil rights, discrimination, guns, college rape, mattress, medical terminology, medical language, Zen Buddhism, tourist, Susan Sontag, Monks, Military, debt, giving, receiving, Martin Luther King, Henry David Thoreau, Tolstoy, Gandhi, Iceland, Anne Chamberlain, paper island, red thread, Alzheimer’s, Art & Creativity, Writing, Philosophy, Personal Transformation

Linda Carroll shares her insights into the reality of maintaining a lasting, loving relationship. She describes the stages of relationships, each with distinct characteristics and accompanying lessons. There’s an evolution happening within each relationship that forces us to make important decisions about ourselves and the trajectory of our personal growth.  Linda Carroll, M.S. is a licensed therapist and has worked as a couples therapist for more than 30 years. Her work is deep and varied, based on Voice Dialogue, Holotropic Breath Work, and Angeles Arrien’s The Fourfold Way as well as The Diamond Heart Work of A. H. Almaas. She is a certified IMAGO therapist, private coach to couples and families, and leader of workshops and retreats. She works with a limited number of couples in a new style of “concierge therapy” for which she travels to their home or office for 2 to 6 days a year for private, all-day sessions. Linda lives in Corvallis Oregon. She is the author of Remember Who You Are: Seven Stages in a Woman's Spiritual Path (Conari Press 2008), Her Mother's Daughter (Doubleday 2006)  and Love Cycles: The Five Essential Stages of Lasting Love (New World Library 2014)Interview Date: 12/1/2014       Tags: Linda Carroll, long term love, couples therapy, marriage, aging, generosity, love stages, relationship stages, love cycles, betrayal, longevity, communication skills, relationship roadmap,  soulmate, commitment, my everything, rituals of good will, differentiation, wholehearted love, voice dialogue, holotropic breath work, Angeles Arrien, Fourfold Way, A. H. Almaas, Diamond Heart, Imago therapy, concierge therapy, Relationship/Partnership/Sexuality,Psychology, Personal Transformation, Self Help

Gelb suggests that we can tap into the lively energy we enjoyed as a child by raising our qi or vital energy. He shares some simple practices that can immediately turn our low energy into exuberance and suggests several ways to enhance our creativity, such as the use of mind maps and knowing the difference between a fixed mindset and a creative mindset.  Michael Gelb, Ph.D. is a leading world authority on the application of genius thinking to personal and organizational development. A pioneer in the fields of creative thinking, accelerated learning, and innovative leadership, Gelb leads seminars for organizations such as DuPont, Merck, Microsoft, Nike and many others. He is the author of Innovate Like Edison: The Success System of America’s Greatest Inventor (co-author Sarah Miller Caldicott) (Dutton 2007), How To Think Like Leonardo da Vinci (Dell 2000). Brain Power: Improve Your Mind as You Age (co-author Kelly Howell) (New World Library 2012) and Creativity On Demand: How to Ignite and Sustain the Fire of Genius (Sounds True 2014)Interview Date: 7/26/2014    Tags: Michael Gelb, Ph.D., creativity, imagination, chi, qi, qi gong, qigong, chi gong, tai chi, vital energy, martial arts, Lou Reed Metal Machine, mind mapping, fixed mindset, creative mindset, neuroplasticity, Darya L. Zabelina and Michael D. Robinson “Child’s Play”, creative tool-kit, the incongruity theory, Arts & Creativity, Health & Healing, Self Help, Personal Transformation

Jones gives practical advice as to how we can engage in deep inner work through focused journaling. She shares exercises that can act as powerful tools in reframing the pieces of our past and our life stories so that suffering becomes meaningful and can boost our healing, empowerment, growth, and transformation. Catherine Ann Jones is an award winning playwright, screenwriter and a Fulbright Scholar to India, studying shamanism. She holds a graduate degree and teaches depth psychology and archetypal mythology. As a screenwriter, Jones has contributed to such television series as “Touched by an Angel,” and wrote the teleplay “The Christmas Wife.” She teaches writing workshops. She is the author of: Heal Your Self With Writing (Divine Arts 2013) and The Way of Story: The Craft & Soul of Writing (Michael Weise Productions 2007).Interview Date: 2/28/2014     Tags: Catherine Ann Jones, memory, traumatic events, body dialogues, inner voice, intuitive voice, authentic self, allies, shamanism, Pre-Hindu Dravidian people in India, artist, synchronicity, personal metaphors, archetypes, deep listening, active listening, Writing, Personal Transformation, Self Help, Shamanism, Mythology, Arts & Creativity 

This is a time for us to step away from the dogmas of the religions of our youth and set our spiritual compass according to our personal values and philosophy as we search for a religion that feeds our souls. Moore says “we need not settle for an off the rack” religion but can discover one that is rooted in our own unique experience. Thomas Moore, Ph.D. was a monk for twelve years, and a university professor. He is a musician and a psychotherapist and lectures widely on holistic medicine, spirituality, psychotherapy, and the arts. He has a Ph.D. in religion from Syracuse University. He’s the author of Care of the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life (HarperPerennial 1994), The Soul of Sex: Cultivating Life as an Act of Love (Harper Perennial 1999), Dark Nights of the Soul (Gotham 2005), A Religion of One’s Own: A Guide to Creating a Personal Spirituality in a Secular World (Gotham 2014) Interview Date: 1/15/2014      Tags: MP3, Thomas Moore, Ph.D., reading tea leaves, Joseph Campbell, marriage, scrying, Thomas Merton, Paul Tillich, community, religion, fellowship, ritual, imagination, soul, dreams, darshan, James Hillman, Emily Dickinson, parenting, two monks crossing the stream story, mystic, Edgar Mitchell, natural magic, rationalism, intuition, sisters of wyrd, fate, destiny, follow your wyrd, follow your bliss, Religion, Spirituality, Arts & Creativity, Personal Transformation, Self Help

Ardagh talks about awakening which suggests motion and an on-going unfoldment. Awakening Coaching goes beyond focusing on the achievement of goals. It emphasizes the pursuit of your deepest longing. For example we might have a goal to be earning more money. Awakening Coaching would guide us to the deeper question of what more money in our life would give us. Arjuna Ardagh is a writer, public speaker and founder of the Awakening Coaching Training in Nevada City, California. It’s a training program dedicated to the awakening of consciousness within the context of ordinary life. His books include: The Translucent Revolution (New World Library 2005), Leap Before You Look: 72 Shortcuts for Getting Out of Your Mind and into the Moment (Sounds True 2008), Last Laugh (Hay House 2013), Better Than Sex: The Ecstatic Art of Awakening Coaching (Awakening Coaching 2013) and Radical Brilliance: The Anatomy of How and Why People Have Original Life-Changing Ideas (SelfXPress 2018) Interview Date: 6/7/2014     Tags: Arjuna Ardagh, coaching, enlightenment, awakening, mystical moments, unconscious habits, Radical Awakening, resistance, spaciousness, clusters of resistances, prana, absolute presence, Personal Transformation, Self Help

Here scholar, theologian, and teacher Father Matthew Fox explores the writings and wisdom of this electrifying saint and speaks of Aquinas’ timeless wisdom to a postmodern world. Fox encourages all spiritual warriors and activists to grow our vision and our courage. He speaks of some of the positive things that the coronavirus has brought to us as we shelter in place.  Father Matthew Fox is a priest and was a member of the Dominican Order of the Catholic Church for thirty-four years. For speaking out on women’s rights, gay rights, and Native American rights, he was silenced for a year and later expelled from the Dominican Order under the papacies of John Paul II and Benedict XVI. He then joined the Episcopal Church to work with young people to create postmodern forms of ritual and worship known as the “Cosmic Mass” that incorporates dance, DJ, VJ, rap, and other postmodern art forms. He is the co-founder of the Order of the Sacred Earth and, since Mother’s day 2019, has offered free daily meditations. He holds a doctorate in History and Theology of Spirituality and is founder of the University of Creation Spirituality. He is the author of more than thirty-five books including Original Blessing (Tarcher 2000), Hildegard of Bingen: A Saint for Our Times (Nameste Publishing 2012), Occupy Spirituality (co-author Adam Bucko) (North Atlantic Press 2013) and The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times (iUniverse 2020)Interview Date: 4/30/2020  Tags:  Matthew Fox, Plato, Platonism, dualism, nondualism, non-dualism, Platonists, theology, Thomas Aquinas, Aristotle, Augustine, Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Dominic, Dominican order, misogyny, feminism, joy, original sin, creation centered, coronavirus pandemic, Heartmath, Pagan, Paganism, interfaith, magnanimity, Rabbi Heschel, anger, Julian of Norwich, History, Spirituality, Religion, Philosophy, Social Change/Politics

Shaw helps us get acquainted with the kinds of folktales and myths that can be helpful in navigating these turbulent times. He says, “They are always trying to dig into the mud of the encounter with the notion that possibly there's a little bit of gold in there. There's some information that, over time, could turn into wisdom.”  Martin Shaw, Ph.D. is a scholar of myth and an acclaimed storyteller. He's a wilderness rites-of-passage guide and is internationally regarded as one of the most exciting proponents of the mythic imagination. He tells "prophetic stories" that speak deeply to the challenges we face today, in the world and in our personal lives. He has devised and led the Oral Tradition course at Stanford University, is a visiting fellow at Shumacher College, and the Director of the Westcountry School of Myth, a learning community in Dartmoor in the far west of the United Kingdom. His books include A Branch from the Lightning Tree: Ecstatic Myth and the Grace in Wildness (White Cloud Press 2011), Snowy Tower: Parzival and the Wet, Black Branch of Language (White Cloud Press 2014), Scatterlings: Getting Claimed in the Age of Amnesia (White Cloud 2016), The Night Wages: Bidden or Unbidden Initiations Come (Cista Mystica Press 2019) and Courting the Wild Twin (Chelsea Green Publishing 2020) Interview Date: 4/23/2020       Tags: Martin Shaw, The Odyssey, transcending, underworld, depression, despair, Percival, Grail King, The Lindworm story, alchemy, Gioia Timpanelli, Robert Bly, educated heart, James Hillman, Gaston Bachelard, Hermes, Arts & Creativity, Personal Transformation, Mythology, Philosophy

In this time of global uncertainty good poems can soften the heart and help us face another day with curiosity, wonder and hope. It gives us another lens to view the world and helps bring what is often unseen into view. Poetry opens us to feel our connection to one another and to nature. It gives us the opportunity to recalibrate our perspective on our place in the world.Jane Hirshfield is the author of nine books of poetry and two collections of essays. She has edited and co-translated four books presenting the work of world poets from the past. Her books have received the Poetry Center Book Award, the California Book Award, and the Donald Hal-Jane Kenyon Prize in American Poetry. Her poems appear in a wide range of prestigious outlets. A resident of Northern California, she is a chancellor emerita of the Academy of American Poets. She presents her work at literary and interdisciplinary events worldwide. She has authored many books including The October Palace (HarperCollins 1994), The Lives of the Heart (Harper Collins 1997), Women in Praise of the Sacred (HarperCollins 1994), Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry (Perennial 1998), After (Harper Collins 2006), Given Sugar, Given Salt (Harper Collins 2001), Come, Thief (Knopf 2011), Ten Windows: How Great Poems Transform the World (Alfred A. Knopf 2015), The Beauty: Poems (Alfred A. Knopf 2015) and Ledger (Alfred A. Knopf 2020)Interview Date: 4/16/2020       Tags: MP3, Jane Hirshfield, despair, praise, ghazal, resilience, coronavirus, humility, self-quarantine, poetry, Shikantaza meditation, activism, Badlands, beekeepers, interdependence, Kent State Wick Poetry Center, memory, reminiscing, Arts & Creativity, Meditation, social change/politics, science

After collapsing from exhaustion, Huffington began to question what true success really means in this age of hyperconnectivity. In her terms, success is more than the accumulation of money or power. It’s about the quality of our well-being. It’s about the wisdom and wonder that manifests in our lives as well as the contribution we make to others. Arianna Huffington is the chair, president, and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, a nationally syndicated columnist, and author of many books. In May 2005, she launched The Huffington Post, a news and blog site that quickly became one of the most widely-read, linked to, and frequently-cited media brands on the Internet. In 2012, the site won a Pulitzer Prize for national reporting. Originally from Greece, she moved to England when she was 16 and graduated from Cambridge University with an M.A. in economics.  Her books include Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder (Crown 2014); Third World America: How Our Politicians Are Abandoning the Middle Class and Betraying the American Dream (Broadway Books 2011) and On Becoming Fearless...in Love, Work, and Life (Little, Brown and Company 2007)Interview Date: 2/14/2014     Tags: MP3, Arianna Huffington, techno stress, hyperconnectivity, The Third Metric, well-being, wisdom, wonder, giving, volunteering, email, apnea, sleep, keystone habits, meditation, inner critic, Iain Thomas, techno stress, gratitude, social entrepreneur, mindfulness, coincidence, death, eulogies, stretching time, kindness, generosity, death and dying, burnout, Personal Transformation, Self Help, Technology, Business

Hanson encourages us toward the upper reaches of our human potential as he reveals, in detail, the 7 practices: steadiness, lovingness, fullness, wholeness, nowness, allness, and timelessness and helps us to be clear, strong, centered, and stable no matter what’s swirling around us (like a ninja warrior) with these practices. Rick Hanson, Ph.D. is a psychologist with a deep interest in neuroscience and mindfulness. He is a senior fellow of the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California Berkeley and creator of the year-long course The Foundations of Well-Being. He is the author of many books including Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom (New Harbinger 2009); Just One Thing: Developing a Buddha Brain One Simple Practice at a Time (New Harbinger 2011), Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence (Harmony Books 2013), Meditations to Change Your Brain - CD Set (Sounds True 2009), Resilient: How to Grow an Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength and Happiness (Harmony Books 2018) and NeuroDharma: New Science, Ancient Wisdom, and Seven Practices of the Highest Happiness (Harmony Books 2020)Interview Date: 2/24/2020     Tags: Rick Hanson, nervous system, four noble truths, suffering, spiritual bypassing, brain science, negative bias, cortisol, conscious evolution, common truth, common welfare, common justice, Steadiness, lovingness, fullness, wholeness, nowness, allness, timelessness, eddy in a river, Śūnyatā, emptiness, illusion, Yosemite, El Capitan, ever-unfolding edge of universe, helpless outrage, emergent edge, Dalai Lama, bodyguard, Buddhism, Meditation,Personal Transformation, science

Prager shares many stories and practical examples of words that heal. She empowers us to be more effective in helping others in need as she explores the power of Verbal First Aidtm. She shares particular words and phrases that are most effective in assisting the healing process when someone is in fear, shock, stress, or trauma. Judith Prager, Ph.D., CHt, is a clinical hypnotherapist with a PHD in psychology and a practices in the Los Angeles area. As a consultant to Cedars-Sinai Medical center, she developed a “Guided Imagery for Surgery” series of pre-intra-and post-operative and ICU creative imagery CDs that has been used with significant results in a pilot program in the Cardio-thoracic Surgery Unit. She’s trained physicians, nurses, and first responders across the U.S. in hypnotic language for pain and stress relief in emergencies and interactions with children. She presents keynotes and talks at conferences and medical centers. She is the author of Journey to Alternity: Transformational Healing through Stories and Metaphors (iUniverse 2000), What the Dolphin Said (Self published 2017), and The Worst Is Over: Verbal First Aid to Calm, Relieve Pain, Promote Healing and Save Lives (revised edition) (Judith Acosta) (Self Published 2014)Interview Date: 4/3/2020       Tags: MP3, Judith Prager, Judith Acosta, nightmares, Deepak Chopra, imagination, listening, sheltering in place, energy fields, energy medicine, isolation, talking with kids, grief, earthquake in Szechuan, PTSD, Verbal First Aidtm, suggestions in altered states, Brenda Peterson, Stephen King, Gabrielle Giffords, dolphins, Personal Transformation, Psychology, Parenting, Health & Healing, Death & Dying

Many gems of wisdom unfold here such as, “Being spiritual is inhabiting our humanness so thoroughly that the part of the universe that lives in me comes out and connects with the part of the universe that lives with you.” Other topics discussed are: being present and being absent as well as considering the difference between what we stand for and what we stand on. Mark Nepo is a poet, philosopher and a most eloquent spiritual teacher. In 2015, he was given a Life-Achievement Award by AgeNation and in 2016 was named by Watkins: Mind Body Spirit as one of the Most Spiritually Influential Living People. He was part of Oprah Winfrey’s The Life You Want Tour in 2014 and has appeared several times with Oprah on her Super Soul Sunday program on OWN TV. As a cancer survivor, Mark devotes his writing and teaching to the journey of inner transformation and the life of relationship. He is the author of many audio learning projects and over 20 books including Reduced To Joy (Cleis Press 2013), Seven Thousand Ways To Listen: Staying Close To What Is Sacred (Free Press 2012), The One Life We’re Given: Finding the Wisdom That Waits in Your heart (Atria Books 2016), The Way Under the Way: The Place of True Meeting (Sounds True 2016), Drinking from the River of Light: The Life of Expression (Sounds True 2019), The Book of Soul: 52 Paths to Living What Matters (St. Martin’s Essentials 2020)Interview Date: 1/14/2020     Tags: MP3, Mark Nepo, wholehearted, halfhearted, integral, integrity, values, Wizard of Oz, presence, absence, listening, illusion, maya, circles, Friedrich Nietzsche, Japanese dog named Hachikō, belief, immersion, excellence, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Chinese philosopher, Mencius, Personal Transformation, Spirituality, Philosophy, Psychology

She was a talker, he, the silent type. How did they bridge their differences in temperaments and skills as they thirsted through deserts, forded icy rapids, stumbled through snow, and met up with a mountain lion? Hear the amazing highs and intense lows as every part of their physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual bodies were challenged.Interview Date: 10/2/2013      Tags: mp3, Gail Storey, Porter Storey, trekking, Pacific Crest Trail, nature, wilderness, Sierra, camping, bicycling, monkey mind, resupplying on the trail, trekking in snow, hiking, hike, emotions, encounter with a mountain lion, bicycling tandem, Appalachian Trail, desert, water, mountains, Ecology/Nature/Environment, relationship, Community, Personal Transformation 

We are on the cusp of a radical paradigm shift in worldviews. It is as if two tectonic plates are rubbing up against one another. One is called “Datastan” – the paradigm that quantifies, counts, measures, and commoditizes everything. The other is “The Republic of Stories” where diversity, the artist, individual stories, and every contribution matters. Arlene Goldbard is a writer, speaker, consultant, workshop leader, and cultural activist whose focus is the intersection of culture, politics, spirituality, the arts and artists. She is a fierce advocate for the power of human creative expression. Her books include Creative Community: The Art of Cultural Development (New Village Press 2006), The Culture of Possibility: Art, Artists & the Future (Waterlight Press 2013) and The Wave (Waterlight Press 2013) Interview Date: 6/11/2013    Tags: MP3, Arlene Goldbard, datastan, Republic of Story, Corporate Nation, No Child Left Behind, prisons, unemployment, Move to Amend, hope, Story Teller Corp, Trash Dance, graffiti, billboards, customer service, storytelling, Katherine Boo, poverty, confirmation bias, art, artist, music, occupy movement, Roadside Theater, Augusto Boal, Social Change/Politics, Art & Creativity, Business, Community

Cousineau tantalizes us with his understanding of how night is a powerful companion for creativity. The quiet rhythm of the night is a holy experience of soul. He describes how language and culture arose around the fires of our ancestors talking into the night. By sharing stories and poems he takes us from the contemplative, starry night to the enlightenment of early dawn. Phil Cousineau is a freelance writer, filmmaker, photographer, art and literary tour leader, teacher of creativity, a lifelong lover of the night, and an all-around Renaissance man. He’s published over 30 books and has over 25 documentary film writing credits. He is also host and co-writer of "Global Spirit," a nationally broadcast television series. He's a guest host for New Dimensions Radio. His books include Wordcatcher (Viva Editions, Cleis Press 2010), Beyond Forgiveness: Reflections On Atonement (Jossey-Bass 2011), Stoking The Creative Fires (Red (Wheel/Wiser 2008), Burning the Midnight Oil: Illuminating Words For the Long Night’s Journey Into Day (Viva Editions 2014) and The Book of Roads: Travel Stories from Michigan to Marrakech (Viva Editions 2015).Interview Date: 12/20/2013   Tags: MP3, Phil Cousineau, Zorba the Greek, storytelling, Nikos Kazantzakis, creative fire, Detroit, Van Gogh, Miles Davis, R.B. Morris, Poem Night Train Home, Richard E. Byrd, Alexander Eliot, Edward Hopper’s painting, Nighthawks, P. J. Curtis’ The Last Prince of Thormond, noctuaries, Driving Jack at Midnight, tea, tea houses, tea court, tea bag, creativity, art & painting, poetry, Art & Creativity,mythology, philosophy

Page advises us to tend the soil of our body and says, “Your soil is made up of your belief systems, your perceptions.” She believes illness isn’t just a physiological episode and tells us to listen to the intuitive messages from our soul telling us it is time to change. When we keep ignoring these messages, our bodies will stop us in our tracks by getting sick. Christine Page, M.D. received her medical degree from the University of London in 1978. She’s an international seminar leader on healing and empowerment. In 1984, she founded one of the first integrative health centers within the British National Health Service, followed by a highly successful holistic private practice which included homeopathy, counseling and energy-related medicine. She also began a 10-year educational career, teaching doctors, nurses and other medical personnel about complementary therapies including mind/body and energy medicine. She became a well-known bridge builder and played an important role in the acceptance of alternative therapies in the British Health System. She is the author of Frontiers of Health (Rider 2010) and The Healing Power of the Sacred Woman: Health, Creativity, and Fertility for the Soul (Bear & Company 2013) Interview Date: 11/13/2013       Tags: MP3, Christine Page, breast cancer, reading energies, cancer, illness, beliefs, belief, guilt over being ill, divine feminine, menstrual cycles, moon time, princess Diana, Queen Bee metaphor, Mother Cow metaphor, Dragon Queen metaphor, Goddess, Health & Healing, Personal Transformation, Spirituality, Women’s Studies, Community, death & dying

Don Oscar tells us that ritual begets relationship, nature begets purpose, and Love begets life. This gentle shaman has captured the essence of how we can sustain our sacred earth walk by practicing the ritual of the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition. This powerful practice can serve to help us build a life-long relationship with the sacred dimensions of life and all our relations. Oscar Miro-Quesada is a respected kamasqa curandero and shamanic adept from Peru, and has been guiding cross-cultural, ethnospiritual apprenticeship expeditions to sacred sites of the world since 1986, with special emphasis on Peru and Bolivia.  He’s been a popular faculty member at numerous U.S. colleges and universities.  He originated the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition of cross-cultural shamanism, and is the founder of the Heart of the Healer Foundation.  His works and programs have been featured on CNN, Univision, A&E and the Discovery Channel.  He is the author of Lessons in Courage, Peruvian Shamanic Wisdom for Everyday Life (co-author Bonnie Glass-Coffin) (Rainbow Ridge Publishing 2013) and Healing Light: An Apprenticeship in Peruvian Shamanism, A 6-CD Audio Set (Sounds True 2015)Interview Date: 8/26/2013       Tags: MP3, Oscar Miro-Quesada, sacred reciprocity, shamanism, Pachakuti Mesa Tradition, ritual, dark matter, Wednesday night link, Sixto Paz Wells, dogma, Heart of the Healer Foundation, Indigenous Wisdom,Spirituality, Personal Transformation, Shamanism

You will be inspired by Malden’s candor and clarity as she speaks about her experience of living through the debilitating disease and death of her husband and work partner. She likens this time in her life to being strapped in a roller coaster that you never bought a ticket for. Carla Malden has been a screenwriter and published author. She began her career as the assistant to renowned director Elia Kazan. With her husband and screen writing partner, Laurence Starkman, she co-wrote many screenplays and produced and wrote several award winning short films. She is author of When Do I Start? (coauthor, her father, Academy Award winning actor Karl Malden) (Limelight Editions 2004), Afterimage, A Broken Hearted Memoir of a Charmed Life (Skirt! 2011)Interview Date: 9/6/2012  Tags: MP3, Carla Malden, grief, soulmate, soul mate, cancer, grieving, widowhood, Death & Dying, Health & Healing, Writing, Personal Transformation, Self Help

Gandhi once said, “The most violent weapon on Earth is the table fork.” Dr. Will Tuttle asks us to consider one of the primary driving forces behind a whole network of problems we face as human beings is the mentality of violence, exploitation, exclusion and privilege that is required for us to eat animal foods.   Will Tuttle, Ph.D., is a professional pianist, composer, and teacher who holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. For more than two decades he has presented at progressive churches, vegetarian and human potential conferences, and intentional communities throughout the United States. He trained in Korea as a Zen Buddhist Monk and has worked extensively in Tai Chi, Yoga, and meditation. He also works with his artist wife Madeleine Tuttle who contributes to his presentations, books, and albums. He is the author of many books including: Your Inner Islands: The Keys to Intuitive Living (Will Tuttle - revised 2017), The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony (Lantern Books 2005), He also has many original piano albums including: Ascension: A Journey Beyond and Islands of Light.Interview Date: 1/12/2020    Tags: Will Tuttle, vegan, veganism, vegetarian, vegetarianism, plant based eating, Stephen Gaskin, The Farm, grass fed meat, free-range chickens, animal agriculture, ahimsa, non-harmfulness, compassion, Donald Gilbert, intuition, Buddhist five precepts, Buddhist four immeasurable, microbiome, complex carbohydrates, sacred feminine, Health & Healing, Meditation, Spirituality, Social/Change/Politics, Peace/Nonviolence

Anat Baniel has created an extraordinary and effective process that leads to the improvement of brain functioning and that, in turn, translates to an improvement in motor and cognitive skills of the special needs child or adult. She has found the key to engaging the miraculous capacities of the brain to change and heal.  Anat Baniel was born in Israel and worked with the great master of movement Moshe Feldenkrais, who frequently taught classes in her parents’ home. She has established an international reputation for her work with children with special needs. A clinical psychologist who, since the early 1980s, has refined her method for working with children, she now runs the Anat Baniel Method facility in Marin county in Northern California. She’s the author of: Kids Beyond Limits: Breakthrough Results for Children with Autism, Asperger’s, Brain Damage, ADHD, and Undiagnosed Developmental Delays (Perigee Books 2012)Interview Date: 4/24/2012     Tags: Anat Baniel, Anat Baniel Method, attention to movement, awakening the brain, brain, healing special needs children, mp3, special needs children, tummy time, Health & Healing

The RAIN Process (Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture) reminds us to pause and reconnect with a wise and compassionate presence allowing us to align our lives with our hearts. It can assist us when we get lost in unconscious, mental, emotional reactivity, fear, and are living on “autopilot.” RAIN is a healing process available to us that opens us to our inner radiance.   Tara Brach, PhD, is an internationally known teacher of mindfulness, meditation, emotional healing, and spiritual awakening. Tara is the senior teacher and founder of Insight Meditation Center of Washington, DC. and she produces a weekly podcast. She is the author of many books including Radical Compassion: Learning to Love Yourself and Your world with the Practice of RAIN (Viking 2019), Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha (Bantam 2004) and True Refuge: Finding Peace and Freedom in Your Own Awakened Heart (Bantam 2016) Interview Date: 1/24/2020    Tags: Tara Brach, RAIN Process, Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture, mindfulness, fear, shame, anger, somatic, allowing, Viktor Frankl, grasping, compassion, pushing away, frustration, beliefs, reactive trance, ocean of lovingkindness, Jarvis Masters, Ruby Sales, white privilege, Personal Transformation, Meditation

Here we stare down our present situation without flinching but with radical hope as Williams reminds us that love and beauty is felt in chaos and heartbreak. Healing is going beyond anger; It’s a process of eroding and evolving at once. We must let go of our certainty to come back into a place of communion and communication with each other and with the earth.  Terry Tempest Williams is a naturalist, environmentalist, and award-winning author. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and her work is widely taught and anthologized around the world. In 2014, on the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act, Ms. Williams received the Sierra Club’s John Muir Award honoring a distinguished record of leadership in American conservation. She currently is the writer in residence at Harvard Divinity School and divides her time between Cambridge, Massachusetts and Castle Valley, Utah. She is the author of many books including: Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place (Pantheon 1991), Red: Patience and Passion in the Desert (Vintage Books 2002), An Unspoken Hunger: Stories from the Field (Vintage Books 1995), Leap (Vintage 2001), Red: Patience and Passion in the Desert (Vintage Books 2002), The Open Space of Democracy (The Orion Society 2004), Finding Beauty in a Broken World (Pantheon 2008), When Women Were Birds (Sarah Crichton Books: Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2012), The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America’s National Parks (Sarah Crichton Books, Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2016), Erosion: Essays of Undoing (Sarah Crichton Books, Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2019) Interview Date: 12/13/2019   Tags: Terry Tempest Williams, erosion, Bears Ears National Monument, Grand Staircase-Escalante, coal production, fossil fuel industry, Diné Bikéyah, democracy, climate change, Grand Canyon, Weather Reports, Kit Jennings, Powder River Basin, Willie Grayeyes, Frontier Mormons, Tim DeChristopher, oil and gas leases, oil & gas leases, oil & gas leasing, oil and gas leasing, Dan Dixon Tempest, Hieronymus Bosch’s triptych of The Garden of Earthly Delights, Blake’s Tiger, tiger burning bright, Jonah Yellowman, Yeibichi dances, Castleton Tower Utah, anger, love, grief, Earth, certainty, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Meditation, Spirituality, Social Change/Politics, Personal Transformation, Peace/Nonviolence, Community

Next to birth, death is one of our most profound experiences. Dying is not without its pain but it can be meaningful and we can decide to be more aware and more conscious in how we orient ourselves toward the inevitable end of our lives. Dr. Miller advises us to be clear on our “goals of care” and to “participate.”B.J. Miller is a hospice and palliative medicine physician who has worked in many settings, inpatient, outpatient, hospice facility and home. He now sees patients and families at U.C.S.F. Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. Miller speaks all over the country and beyond on the theme of living well in the face of death. He’s also the founder of the Center for Dying and Living.  BJ Miller is co-author, with Shoshana Berger, of A Beginners Guide to the End: Practical Advice for Living Life and Facing Death (Simon & Schuster 2019) Interview Date:12/3/2019     Tags: BJ Miller, hospice, medical directives, advance directives, advance care planning, silver tsunami, Health care systems, chronic pain, suffering, acute suffering, acute pain, resistance, palliative care, hospice, pain management, death certificates, prognosis, Steve Scheier, prognosis declaration, Death & Dying, Personal Transformation

Mackey writes both prose and poetry and has published many novels and books of poetry. She reveals her writing and creative process and how each kinds of writing requires a different approach and describes her process of “creative trance” that helps her to move into her own unconscious. She takes us from Western Kentucky to the Brazilian Rainforest.Mary Mackey is a novelist, screenwriter, and poet. She’s Professor Emeritus of English and former Writer-in-Residence at California State University, Sacramento. During her twenties, she lived in the rain forests of Costa Rica. Recently, she’s been traveling to Brazil incorporating her experiences in the tropical rainforests into her fiction and poetry. She's the author of The Year the Horses Came (HarperSanFrancisco 1993), The Horses at the Gate (Amazon Digital Services 2011), The Fires of Spring (Amazon Digital Services 2011), The Village of Bones: Sabalah’s Tale (Earthsong Series)  (Create Space Independent Publishing 2016) and Immersion (iUniverse 2013)Interview Date: 11/27/2019    Tags: Mary Mackey, poetry, Eric Hoffer Book Award, Harvard, creative trance, automatic writing, Amapa, Richard Evans Schultes, ethnobotany, the Amazon, Jaguars, Western Kentucky, the Brazilian rain forest poems, writer’s block, publishing,  Art & Creativity, Women’s Studies, writing

Unlike our knees and hips, our brains improve with age. This dialogue includes: neuroplasticity, how improving our brain power can prevent Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, why optimism is good for the brain and enhances resilience, the benefits of challenging the brain to do something new, the benefits of meditation on the brain. Michael Gelb, Ph.D. is a leading world authority on the application of genius thinking to personal and organizational development. A pioneer in the fields of creative thinking, accelerated learning, and innovative leadership, Gelb leads seminars for organizations such as DuPont, Merck, Microsoft, Nike and many others. He is the author of Innovate Like Edison: The Success System of America’s Greatest Inventor (co-author Sarah Miller Caldicott) (Dutton 2007), How To Think Like Leonardo da Vinci (Dell 2000), and Brain Power: Improve Your Mind as You Age (co-author Kelly Howell) (New World Library 2012).Date recorded: 2/20/2012       Tags: Michael J. Gelb, Michael Gelb, aging, Alzheimer's, brain, dementia, meditation, mental powers, mind, naps, wine, brain power, neuroplasticity, neurogenesis, optimism, pessimism, optimistic, pessimistic, humor, rewiring your brain, brain grooves, hemisinc, Mozart effect, binaural training, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, brain-sync, brain sync, Business, Health & Healing, Personal Transformation, Science

Johnson is an African American daughter of a preacher. She grew up initially in Louisiana and later in Northern California. Here she tells her story of a severe childhood which left her feeling shame, guilt, bitterness, and a general sense of unworthiness. She shares her journey from a devastating childhood to one of forgiveness and wholeness. She is the author of Coming To Forgiveness: A Daughter’s Story of Race, Rage, and Religion (Ronita Johnson & Associates 2012)Interview Date: 4/6/2012       Tags: abuse, African American, church, circles, daughter, deep listening, forgiveness, Personal Growth

Lake offers a frank inquiry into the causes leading to our current global peril and provides a deep well of hope and profound insight. She regales us with many stories of her adventures in nature including taking inner city young people to the desert where, for the first time in their lives, they experienced the full measure of the night sky filled with stars. She is the author of Uprisings for the Earth: Reconnecting Culture with Nature (White Cloud Press 2010) Interview Date: 1/11/2012        Tags: Osprey Orielle Lake, water, climate, change, new narrative, new story, television, TV, nature, stars, deep ecology, children, vision quest, fracking, Thomas Paine, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Indigenous Wisdom, Social Change/Politics

The death of someone close to us can trigger questions such as: What is death? Why do people die? Why did this happen to me?  Allen Klein has experienced such a loss and the deeply personal inquiry triggered by his grieving process lead him to see anew the preciousness of life and the therapeutic power of humor.  Allen Klein is the former Director of Life and Death Transitions in San Francisco. He's a recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor. He's the author of many books including The Healing Power of Humor (Tarcher/Putnam 1989), The Courage to Laugh, Change Your Life: A Little Book of Big Ideas (Tarcher 1998), Learning to Laugh When You Feel Like Crying: Embracing Life After Loss (Goodman Beck Publishing 2011) Interview Date: 12/17/2011         Tags: Allen Klein, forgiveness, grief, grieving, hospice, humor, isolation, laughter, letting go, loss, smile, smiling, Death & Dying, Health & Healing, Personal Transformation, Self Help

When Jan was about to quit graduate school her friend and mentor asked her three questions: “Are you eating and drinking moderately? Are you doing something for your physical well-being? Do you have a spiritual practice?” Her answer to all of them was no. She then said to Jan, “Before you quit school take two weeks and get those things under control and call me.”  That put Phillips in pursuit of her spiritual practice, which involves deep listening and resulted in a flood of creative outpouring as her imagination was fueled. This far-ranging conversation ranges from quantum physics to fear, from “erosphere” to “infosynthesis.” Phillips vibrates with enthusiasm and practical advice for our positive, evolutionary future.  Jan Phillips is an award-winning photographer, writer, multimedia artist, and national workshop leader. She is co-founder and Executive Director of the Livingkindness Foundation, a global network for grassroots philanthropists. She is the author of many books and CDs including The Art of Original Thinking (9th Element Press 2006), Marry Your Muse (Quest Books 1997), God is at Eye Level--Photography as a Healing Art (Quest Books 2000), Born Gay (Jan Phillips 2003),No Ordinary Time: The Rise of Spiritual Intelligence and Evolutionary Creativity – A Book of Hours for a Prophetic Age (Livingkindness Foundation 2011)Interview Date: 11/4/2011       Tags: Jan Phillips, spiritual practice, listening, awe, childhood bliss, joy, being present, fear, infosynthesis, prophetic action, homosentiens, erosphere, negativity, diversity, inherited beliefs, Personal Growth

The Greeks have given us a wealth of complex folklore and myths that are full of meaning for our lives. Among them are the stories of the Goddess Artemis and her human counterpart, Atalanta. They give us clues as to how to navigate the zig-zags of life. While demonstrating that life never unfolds in a straight line, the Greek myths give us inspiration to live into our fullness. Bolen declares, “Everybody has setbacks, everybody has suffering, everybody loses and wins at certain times of their lives.” She advises us to not give up; to call on the strengths of the Artemis archetype is to persevere without becoming bitter. Bolen encourages us to persist with what gives our life meaning and purpose.  Bolen is the author of many books, including Goddesses in Every Woman: Powerful Archetypes in Women's Lives (Harper Paperbacks 2004), Crones Don't Whine: Concentrated Wisdom for Juicy Women (Red Wheel/Weiser 2003),The Millionth Circle: How to Change Ourselves and The World--The Essential Guide to Women's Circles (Conari Press 1999), Urgent Message from Mother: Gather the Women, Save the World (Conari Press 2008), Like a Tree: How Trees, Women, and Tree People Can People Can Save the Planet (Conari Press 2010), Artemis: The Indomitable Spirit in Everywoman (Conari Press 2014), The Tao of Psychology: Synchronicity and the Self (reissued HarperSanFrancisco 2005), Close to the Bone: Life-Threatening Illness as a Soul Journey (Conari Press 2007)Interview Date: 7/9/2014       Tags: MP3, Jean Shinoda Bolen, Jean Bolen, Artemis, Goddesses, Atalanta, Dr. Benjamin Spock, raising babies, Calydon Boar, Meleager, Athena, masculine, feminine, Hippomenes, Aphrodite, Three golden apples, heroines, walking the labyrinth, Millionth Circle, Circles, trafficking of girls and women, Fifth Women’s World Conference, 5WCW, Mythology, Women’s studies, social change 

Even though Valentine was beyond busy with a premature baby she said yes to co-founding a global business that partners and builds alliances with women artisans around that world to rewrite their futures through jewelry making and fabric art. Threads Worldwide offers a way for many mutually beneficial partnerships to blossom and share in the wealth. Interview Date: 9/27/2019       Tags: MP3, Kara Valentine, premature baby, Threads Worldwide, next indicated step, anxiety, depression, greater purpose, joy makes life sustainable, fair marketplace, artisan partners, together we rise, trunk shows, Business, Art & Creativity, Social Change/Politics, Personal Transformation, Global Culture, Community, Women’s Studies

Post shares a prophetic dream he had as a teenager that became his life’s guiding force. He shares how Divine Mind is the underlying, ultimate reality that resides both within and without all existence. This deep dialogue is filled with awesome stories to fill your heart with inspiration and wonder. He is the author of Why Good Things Happen to Good People: How to Live Longer, Healthier, Happier Life by the Simple Act of Giving (Broadway Books 2008), The Moral Challenge of Alzheimer Disease: Ethical Issues from Diagnosis to Dying (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2nd edition 2000) and God and Love on Route 80: The Hidden Mystery of Human Connectedness (Mango 2019)Interview Date: 10/31/2019       Tags: MP3, Stephen G Post, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Oversoul, nonlocal mind, Dr. Rod Welles, Divine Mind, prophetic dreams, the Blue Angel, Sir John Eccles, Paul Davies, synchronicity, Larry Dossey, ordinary mind, morphic field of love, Alice in Wonderland, Rockwell cover of Post magazine, Golden Rule, Personal Transformation, Spirituality, Meditation, Dreams

Spring communicates telepathically with Dr. Frances Vaughan about what life is like on the other side of death. They cover subjects such as spirit guides, suicide, who is “God?”, how death is a continuing learning process, can we collaborate with loved ones who have died and do they want to be contacted? This deep dialogue explores these subjects and much more. Cynthia Spring is a media producer and for 20 years was deeply involved in local ecology in the San Francisco Bay area. Her most recent book is a collaboration beyond the veil of death between herself and the late Dr. Francis Vaughan who passed from this life in 2017. Books by Cynthia Spring include: The Wave and The Drop: Wisdom Stories About Death and Afterlife. (Wisdom Circles Publishing 2018)and Seven Questions About Life After Life: Book One (Frances Vaughan)(Wisdom Circles Publishing 2019)Interview Date: 9/30/2019         Tags: MP3, Cynthia Spring, Matthew McKay, Willis Harman, Ketut Liyer, soul, Awakening Intuition, telepathy, Jane Roberts, Seth Speaks, Helen Greaves, angels, spirit guides, Bob Monroe, Robert Monroe, Raymond Moody, NDEs, Near Death Experiences, Mary Neal, social justice, collective consciousness, suicide, right to die, Stephen Schwartz, Russell Targ, psychic abilities, intuition, Personal Transformation, Death & Dying, Parapsychology/Paranormal, Intuition/Psychic, social change/Politics, 

Even though it may seem like the end of things, Meade reminds us there are always beginnings embedded in the endings. He takes us on a mythological journey that tips the world towards renewal and says, “Why not find our own thread even in the midst of uncertainty and pain and learn how to weave and create?” Michael Meade is a renowned storyteller, author, scholar of mythology, and student of ritual in traditional cultures. He has scoured the world to bring to us meaningful folk tales that tap into ancestral sources of wisdom and acts as a guide to connect them to the stories we are living today. Meade is the founder of Mosaic Multicultural Foundation. He distributes regular podcasts and his many books include: The Genius Myth (GreenfirePress 2016), Why the World Doesn’t End: Tales of Renewal in Times of Loss (GreenfirePress 2012), Fate and Destiny: The Two Agreements of the Soul (GreenFire Press 2012) and Awakening the Soul: A Deep Response to a Troubled World (GreenFire Press 2018)Interview Date: 8/13/2012     Tags: Michael Meade, renewal, recreation, destruction, apocalypse, cosmic cycle, myth, old woman in the cave, creation,  lived time, evolution, devolution, wisdom, thread of eternity, elders, Book of Revelation, revelation of tragedy, innovation, nature, recreation stories, initiation, genius, confidence, courage, games, on-line games, virtual worlds, Jane McGonigal, elder bloom, Mythology, Global Culture, Philosophy, Social Change/Politics, Death & Dying

This deep dialogue is dense with pertinent information about our food supply that is critical to the overall health of all people and most especially children. Honeycutt is a wealth of knowledge that has direct impact on all of us. She is a living example that together we can make a huge difference in the way people eat, their health, and the health of the planet. Zen Honeycutt is the mother of three boys and Founding Executive Director of Moms Across America, a national coalition of unstoppable moms. Their motto is “Empower Moms, Healthy Kids.” She is the author of Unstoppable: Transforming Sickness and Struggle Into Triumph, Empowerment and a Celebration of Community (Create Space 2018)Interview Date: 9/12/2019    Tags: Zen Honeycutt, Robyn O’Brien’s TED talk, food supply, Roundup, Patriotism on a Plate, Jeffry Smith’s movie, Genetic Roulette. California Proposition 37, food labeling, GMOs, glyphosate, BT Bacillus thuringiensis, HT herbicide tolerant seeds, Caius Rommens, Pandora’s Potatoes the Worst GMOs, autoimmune disease, allergies, glyphosate as a drying agent, autism, wheat, learning disorders, behavioral disorders, bacteria in gut, fungus in gut, C Diff, clostridium difficile, bacteria overgrowth, microbiome, sauerkraut, kombucha, apple cider vinegar, Cheerios, Bayer AG, Advancing Eco Agriculture, Regenerative Agriculture, Impossible Burger, Social Change/Politics, Health & Healing, Ecology/Nature/Environment

More and more of us spend enormous spans of our time captured, optimized, or appropriated as a financial resource by the technologies we use daily. We are caught in a dynamic where our value is determined by our productivity. Odell encourages us to contemplate the attention economy and notice how it is dominating cultures worldwide and how to resist it. Jenny Odell is a multi-disciplinary artist and writer based in Oakland, California who teaches at Stanford University. She has been an artist-in-residence at such places as the San Francisco dump, Facebook, the Internet Archive, and the San Francisco Planning Department. She has exhibited her art all over the world. She is the author of How To Do Nothing: Resisting The Attention Economy (Melville HousePublishing 2019)Tags: Jenny Odell, Morcom Rose Garden, Ghost Ship Fire, usefulness, uselessness, Chuang Tzu, Old Survivor Tree, birdwatching, attention, John Cage, siloed senses, Eleanor Coppola’s Windows art map, Applause Encouraged art experience, twitter, library, libraries, social media, internet, Thomas Merton, The Giving Tree, email, Jia Tolentino, Trick Mirror, hyper individualism, Against Creativity, Oli Mould, Social Change/Politics, Art & Creativity, Philosophy, Technology, Money/ Economics

Nepo’s creative works, books, poems, workshops are all about creating a sacred place where the experience of honest truth can happen. Even in our deepest moments of suffering, he encourages us to seek out slivers of light seeping through the broad slats of darkness. His genius is to discover metaphors as a way of understanding and making meaning of our lives. Mark Nepo is the author of many audio learning projects and over 20 books including Reduced To Joy (Cleis Press 2013), Seven Thousand Ways To Listen: Staying Close To What Is Sacred (Free Press 2012), The One Life We’re Given: Finding the Wisdom That Waits in Your heart (Atria Books 2016), The Way Under the Way: The Place of True Meeting (Sounds True 2016) and Drinking from the River of Light: The Life of Expression (Sounds True 2019)Interview Date: 8/10/2019         Tags: Mark Nepo, metaphors, cancer, grief, Gail Warner, Pine Manor Retreat Center, Doc Palmer, creativity, immersion, whales and dolphins, suffering, telling stories, Rilke, being present, ambition and dreams, making plans, Winston Churchill, assumptions, conclusions, Pandora music app, George Bernard Shaw’s tailor, Personal Transformation, Spirituality, Writing, Art & Creativity, Philosophy

Our brains are set with a negative bias. Hanson gives us a simple practice that resets our brains to more joy, fulfilling relationships, and more peace of mind and heart. He is a neuropsychologist who writes and teaches extensively on personal growth and contemplative practice. He is a co-founder of the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom, and editor of the Wise Brain Bulletin. His books include Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom (New Harbinger 2009), Just One Thing: Developing a Buddha Brain One Simple Practice at a Time (New Harbinger 2011), Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence (Harmony Books 2013) and Meditations to Change Your Brain - CD Set(Sounds True 2009) Interview Date: 12/2/2013     Tags: Rick Hanson, Ph.D., brain, brain science, neuroscience, brain’s negative bias, negative bias of the brain, positive thinking, structure of the brain, limbic system, subcortex, brainstem, avoiding harm, psychotherapy, grasping, resisting, clinging, craving, satisfaction, safety, connection, anger, helplessness, avoiding harm, approaching rewards, attaching to others , Personal Transformation, Science, Health & Healing, Self Help 

Many explorers are seeking a depth of healing that is more experiential through expanded states of consciousness. Some modalities of this are sweat lodges, vision quests, breath work, and where is it legal, psychedelics in Mexico. Here we explore the experiential therapeutic applications of expanded states of consciousness that lead to healing and transformation. Françoise Bourzat is a consciousness guide and counselor. She has a master’s degree in Somatic Psychology and is a Certified Hakomi Practitioner. After traveling the world, she became an apprentice to an indigenous Mazatec woman leading healing ceremonies with sacred mushrooms in the high mountains of Southern Mexico. Drawing from years of her close apprenticeship with this Mazatec curandera, as well as her training in other indigenous traditions, Françoise has developed a comprehensive approach that bridges Western and indigenous modalities. She trains therapists and facilitators and teaches at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She also lectures internationally. Shes the co-author with Kristina Hunter of Consciousness Medicine: Indigenous Wisdom, Entheogens, and Expanded States of Consciousness for Healing and Growth. (North Atlantic Books 2019).Interview Date: 7/6/2019   Tags: Françoise Bourzat, heroin, compassion, mushroom ceremonies, psychedelics, entheogens, hallucinogens, vision quest, sweat lodge, transdance, altered states, Ralph Metzner, MAPS, MDMA, PTSD, Roland Griffith, ibogaine, Julieta Casimiro, personal transformation, Indigenous wisdom, Shamanism, Health & Healing

This 2500 year old sacred text of India is a divine song and trusted guide for happiness, meditation, and spiritual inner growth. It unfolds as a dialogue of Master and Disciple, a friendly chat between Prince Arjuna, a warrior and a highly evolved spiritual seekerand, God incarnate Lord Krishna. It serves as a reflection of our internal “battlefield of the soul.” Isaac Bentwich M.D. is a longtime practitioner and teacher of Yoga and Meditation. Trained as a physician in Western and Ayurvedic medicine, he founded three life-science technology companies, leading revolutions in medicine, genomics, and environment conservation. He is the author of Gita: A Timeless Guide for Our Time (Harmonia Publications 2018)Interview Date: 6/29/2019         Tags: Isaac Bentwich, Bhagavad Gita, Prince Arjuna, Lord Krishna, Vedanta, yoga, training the mind, joy, lotus blossom, Personal Transformation, Religion, Spirituality

Becoming an elder can be a time of great creativity and contribution.This deep dialogue explores what it means to be to be proactive in approaching aging and becoming an elder in the 21st century. Percy’s research points out that growing older does not mean we can no longer actualize new and healthier futures. These years may be our most influential ones yet. Percy is the author of  Becoming an Elder: Practicing the Wisdom Arts.Interview Date: 8/3/2019     Tags: Diana Percy, elderhood, eldering, mortality, obituaries, Sir Laurens Van der Post, meaning, Viktor Frankl, friendships, Matthew Fox, Order of the Sacred Earth, Intergenerational vision, volunteering, humor, personal mastery, Personal Transformation

Fear can create chronic anxiety, depression, and disconnection. However, Manly shares a hidden aspect of this same fear that affords us the opportunity to live a life with fear as an ally rather than a foe. In her research and work as a psychotherapist she has discovered a way out of destructive fear and how we can turn it into transformational healing. She  is the author of: Joy From Fear: Create the Life of Your Dreams by Making Fear Your Friend. (Familius 2019).Interview Date: 7/30/2019         Tags: MP3, Carla Manly, fear, mirror neurons, jealousy, addiction, pornography, psychotherapy, empathy, Psychology, Health & Healing, Personal Transformation

Don Oscar tells us that ritual begets relationship, nature begets purpose, and Love begets life. This gentle shaman has captured the essence of how we can sustain our sacred earth walk by practicing the ritual of the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition. This powerful practice can serve to help us build a life-long relationship with the sacred dimensions of life and all our relations.He’s been a popular faculty member at numerous U.S. colleges and universities.  He originated the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition of cross-cultural shamanism, and is the founder of the Heart of the Healer Foundation.  His works and programs have been featured on CNN, Univision, A&E and the Discovery Channel. He is the author of Lessons in Courage, Peruvian Shamanic Wisdom for Everyday Life (co-author Bonnie Glass-Coffin) (Rainbow Ridge Publishing 2013) and Healing Light: An Apprenticeship in Peruvian Shamanism, A 6-CD Audio Set (Sounds True 2015)Interview Date: 8/26/2013    Tags: MP3, Oscar Miro-Quesada, sacred reciprocity, shamanism, Pachakuti Mesa Tradition, ritual, dark matter, Wednesday night link, Sixto Paz Wells, dogma, Heart of the Healer Foundation, Indigenous Wisdom,Spirituality, Personal Transformation

Mindfulness is not about holding the busy world at bay, it’s to cultivate a more alive, responsive, effective and warm-hearted way of being within the world as it already exists and within a life you already live. This deep dialogue explores how to find composure right in the midst of the storm and ways to integrate mindfulness into our daily life.Marc Lesser’s books include Less: Accomplishing More by Doing Less (New World Library 2009), Know Yourself, Forget Yourself (New World Library 2013) and Seven Practices of a Mindful Leader: Lessons From Google and a Zen Monastery Kitchen (New World Library 2019).Interview Date: 6/7/2019        Tags: MP3, Marc Lesser, mindfulness, Norman Fischer, Tassajara Zen Center, Macmindfulness, loving kindness, sympathetic joy, listening, Michael Pollan, self-sufficient, collaboration, acceptance, simplicity, radical responsibility for yourself, Shunryu Suzuki Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, blame, showing up, compassion, Robert Gass, ground truth, Meditation, Philosophy, Personal Transformation, Buddhism, Work/Livelihood

Lama Palden Drolma  presents the Tibetan meditation practice, Tonglen, in a way that is accessible to Westerners. It combines breath, awareness, imagination, and an energetic transformation process that opens our hearts to reveal and cultivate kindness, love, compassion and wisdom. This practice can be used in our everyday life in an “on-the-spot” meditation.  Lama Palden Drolma is the author of Love on Every Breath: Tonglen Meditation for Transforming Pain into Joy (New World Library 2019) Interview Date: 7/16/2019         Tags: MP3, Lama Palden Drolma, Tonglen, Niguma, Dilgo Khyentse, Chenrezig, three jewels, Buddha, Sanga, Dharma, sin, Matthew Fox, mantra, Kalu Rinpoche, 16th Karmapa, Meditation, Personal Transformation, Buddhism

Here we climb the attic steps and kneel before an old trunk, lift the lid and allow ancient tales to rush out and pierce our hearts and souls with their wisdom. Our guide in this quest is Martin Shaw who invites us to look at folktales not as therapy, not as giving advice but as tributaries that lead us to the bigger river of essential truths that nourish our lives.His books include A Branch from the Lightning Tree: Ecstatic Myth and the Grace in Wildness, (White Cloud Press 2011), Snowy Tower: Parzival and the Wet, Black Branch of Language (White Cloud Press 2014), Scatterlings: Getting Claimed in the Age of Amnesia (White Cloud 2016) and The Night Wages: Bidden or Unbidden Initiations Come, (Cista Mystica Press 2019). Interview Date: 6/4/2019        Tags: MP3, Martin Shaw, Captain Beefheart, Robert Bly, Odyssey, Ulysses, Nostos (returning home), longing, Psyche and Eros, Medusa, Charles Eisenstein, Mythology, Philosophy

Having had two spinal surgeries and dealing with his own chronic pain issues, Dr. Hanscom describes three causes of pain: structural, soft tissue, and fired up neurological brain pathways. He’s developed a program that lessens the need for spinal surgery. It offers a way to cope with pain and the anxiety, depression and anger that accompany it. Hanscom is the author of Back in Control: A Spine Surgeon’s Roadmap Out of Chronic Pain (Vertus Press 2017)Interview Date: 4/13/2013       Tags: MP3, David Hanscom, chronic pain, back pain, surgery, DOCC, Defined Organized Comprehensive Care. Mind/Body Syndrome, sleep, stress, anxiety, anger, neurological pathways, Hoffman Institute, attitude, isolation, socially isolated, book Feeling Good by David Burns, anxiety disorder, writing, spine fusions, spine surgery, degenerative disc disease, meditation, habits, Health & Healing, Writing, Self Help, Meditation, Science

Murray inspires us to take our mindfulness practice into our garden, whether it be in pots on our patio or plots in our backyards. You’ll want to learn the language of the land, understand the wisdom of the weeds, and home in on the blessings of compost with this sweet conversation. Hear her tale of her blindfolded walkabout in the New Zealand bush. She is the author of: Mindfulness in the Garden: Zen Tools for Digging In the Dirt (Parallax Press 2012) Interview Date: 1/12/2013       Tags: Zachiah Murray, mindfulness, garden, gardening, walkabout, New Zealand Bush, walking meditation, landscape gardening, nature, gardening, Thich Nhat Hanh, weeding, gathas, anger, forgiveness, watering, pests in the garden, hand watering the garden, when seeds don’t grow, challenges, conflict, frustration, native plants, pruning, trees, compost, Personal Transformation, Philosophy, Self Help, Spirituality, Meditation, Ecology/Nature/Environment

Here Houston takes us on a whirlwind tour of the authentic American myth of the Wizard of Oz. She answers the question of what it means to have a brain, a heart, and to act with courage. Using the characters of the scarecrow, tin man, lion, and Dorothy, Houston inspires us to follow our deep yearning in order to develop and contribute to a better world with our full human capacities. She’s the author of nearly thirty books, including A Mythic Life (HarperSanFrancisco 1996), A Passion for the Possible (HarperSanFrancisco 1997) and The Wizard of Us: Transformational Lessons From Oz (Beyond Words 2012)Interview Date: 12/10/2012     Tags: allies, archetype, brain, creativity, extended families, field of poppies, Glenda the good witch of the north, gross happiness index, human potential movement, it takes a village, Jean Houston Ph.D., Frank Baum, myth, neuroplasticity, rainbow, Renaissance, social artistry, social artists, the arts, the scarecrow, thinking heart, Wizard of Oz, yellow brick road, Mythology, Personal Growth, Philosophy/Psychology, Self-Help, Spirituality

Evolution builds on what came before using it as a platform to transcend to a new level of complexity. McIntosh points out that we need not be repulsed by the values of either traditionalism or modernism. He encourages us to reclaim the best of earlier values and to include them in a higher level. He is the author of Integral Consciousness: The Future of Evolution (Paragon House 2011), Evolution's Purpose: An Integral Interpretation of the Scientific Story of Our Origins (Select Books 2012) and The Presence of the Infinite: The Spiritual Experience of Beauty, Truth, and Goodness (Quest 2015)Interview Date: 9/18/2012    Tags: agency, cosmological evolution, dialectic spiral, emergence, evolution, human consciousness, modern worldview, Paul Ray, physics, polarized culture, Post-modern worldview, purpose, social structures, Steve McIntosh, the Big Bang, The third Big Bang, traditional worldview, History, Philosophy / Psychology, Science, Social Change / Politics, Spirituality

Even though it may seem like the end of things, Meade reminds us there are always beginnings embedded in the endings. He takes us on a mythological journey that tips the world towards renewal and says, “Why not find our own thread even in the midst of uncertainty and pain, and learn how to weave and create?”Meade's many books include The Genius Myth (GreenfirePress 2016), Why the World Doesn’t End: Tales of Renewal in Times of Loss (GreenfirePress 2012), Fate and Destiny: The Two Agreements of the Soul (GreenFire Press 2012) , Awakening the Soul: A Deep Response to a Troubled World (GreenFire Press 2018)Interview Date: 8/13/2012         Tags: Michael Meade, renewal, recreation, destruction, apocalypse, cosmic cycle, myth, old woman in the cave, creation, destruction, lived time, evolution, devolution, wisdom, thread of eternity, elders, Book of Revelation, revelation of tragedy, innovation, nature, recreation stories, initiation, genius, confidence, courage, games, on-line games, virtual worlds, Jane McGonigal, elder bloom, Mythology, Global Culture, Philosophy, Social Change/Politics, Death & Dying

Nelson-Isaacs tells us that synchronicity is defined as a meaningful coincidence that is personal and that it is nature’s language for communicating directly with us. He writes: “As you develop your personal sense of the meaning of events in your life, you enter into a cosmic dance with the divine that is totally unique to you.” He’s the author of Living in Flow: The Science of Synchronicity and How Your Choices Shape Your World (North Atlantic Books 2019).Tags: Sky Nelson-Isaacs, synchronicity, cognitive illusion, quantum mechanics, fear, LORAX Process, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, flow, control, grief, joy, disempowerment, meaningfulness, purposefulness, Science, Personal Transformation, Philosophy

Despite ever more sophisticated medical technology and more expensive healthcare, chronic diseases are increasing. If mainstream medicine is doing its job, why are the rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease rising instead of decreasing? This deep dialogue with Roberto Tostado explores how many of us are choosing a toxic lifestyle and what can we do to transform it into a healthy one. He is the author of WTF* (or What the Food) Is Wrong with Our Health? A Rebel Physician’s Manifesto for Reversing Disease and Increasing Smiles (Roberto Tostado, MD 2019)  Interview Date: 5/27/2019         Tags: Roberto Tostado, nutrition, pharmaceuticals, prescription drugs, genetic propensity, Aldous Huxley, opioid epidemic, obesity, metabolic diseases, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, toxins, GMOs, sugar, protein, good oils and fats, liver, Optimum Health Institute, Thyroid testing, hypoglycemia, coconut oil, Alzheimer’s, salt, inflammation, anti-oxidants, farmers markets, iBody Wellness Center, regenerative medicine, Health & Healing 

Kaliko shares Hawaii’s history, culture, and the revitalization of its language. He talks of his experience of learning several languages and how doing so changed him into a different person. He shares the story of the revered cultural hero Aunty Nona who, after decades of restrictions, brought the sacred hula back from the repression of Western missionaries. Interview Date: 4/24/2019   Tags: Kaliko Beamer-Trapp, Aunty Nona Beamer, lei, Tongans, Arts & Creativity, History 

Gustin explores how we create our personal myths. This begins when, as toddlers, we start to use language.Our thoughts do a great job of defining us as a discrete individual with a particular narrative about who we think we are but this can contribute to a negative self-concept. She emphasizes the concept of “selfing” as an on-going process rather than as a fixed identity. She is the author of: The No-Self Help Book: 40 Reasons to Get Over You Self & Find Peace of Mind (Non-duality Press 2018) Tags: Kate Gustin, language, consciousness, no self, selfing, no-self, conscious, ground of being, Max Planck, identity, eating, PTSD, EMDR, rational mind, Philosophy, Personal Transformation, psychology

The two sides of the brain have different perspectives of the world and they lead us to make very different choices. Olson’s research shows that we need to blend these two for three-dimensional thinking. He discusses how we can tell when we are functioning from our right brain or our left brain. He’s the author of The Whole-Brain Path to Peace: The Role of Left- and Right-Brain Dominance in the Polarization and Reunification of America (Origin Press 2011)Interview Date: 1/30/2012     Tags: Personal Transformation, Science, Health & Healing, Self Help 

Patrice Vecchione is a teacher of poetry. In this interview she shares stories and poems of immigrant children and of the healing properties of poetry. One cannot help but share the sadness of a young person losing touch with their home culture. You’ll be inspired to make a difference in your community to include this large and mostly unheard population. She is the author of several books including Writing and the Spiritual Life: Finding Your Voice by Looking Within (McGraw Hill 2001), Step Into Nature: Nurturing Imagination and Spirit in Everyday Life (Beyond Words Publishing 2015), The Knot Untied: a Book of Poetry (Palaquin Press 2013) and Ink Knows No Borders: Poems of the Immigrant and Refugee Experience (coauthor Alyssa Raymond) (Seven Stories Press 2019)Tags: Patrice Vecchione, poetry, migrant children, empathy, compassion, Craig Santos Perez, Chamorro, Mohja Kahf, Javier Zamora, Safia Elhillo, Emi Mahmoud, Darfur, Writing, Social Change, Politics 

The feminine mystical experience that resides in both men and women can guide us through these turbulent times. Starr says, “The primary practice is about learning to be present with things as they are and there are spiritual technologies available to us across the spiritual traditions that help us to cultivate that depth of heartful presence in everything we do.” She is the author and editor of many books including Dark Night of the Soul: St. John of the Cross (Riverhead 2003), The Interior Castle: St. Teresa of Ávila (Riverhead 2004), Devotion, Prayers & Living Wisdom (Sounds True - six-volume Christian mystics series 2008), God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity & Islam (Monkfish 2012) and Wild Mercy: Living the Fierce and Tender Wisdom of the Women Mystics (Sounds True 2018)Tags: Mirabai Starr, feminine wisdom, interspiritual, women saints, nondualism, Bhakti path, Miranda Macpherson, Teresa of Avila, Neem Karoli Baba, grief, sangha, Dharma, Buddha, Three jewels of spiritual expression, triple gem of spiritual practice, Shabbat, women’s march of 2017, namaste, Tikkun Olam, bereavement, Spirituality, Philosophy, Religion, Buddhism, Women’s Studies

Here Yogacharia O’Brian describes the four principles of Yogic philosophy: Higher purpose, true wealth, pleasure and joy, and awakening to our true nature as enlightened. In her comforting and gentle way, she shares many stories and describes several metaphors that help us to understand the true nature of spiritual enlightenment.  She is the author of many books including The Moon Reminded Me (a book of poetry)(Homebound Publications 2017), Living the Eternal Way: Spiritual Meaning and Practice in Daily Life (Center for Spiritual Enlightenment Press 2009) and The Jewel of Abundance: Finding Prosperity through the Wisdom of Yoga (New World Library 2018)Tags: Ellen Grace O’Brian, Roy Eugene Davis, the Vedas, Hinduism, Kriya Yoga, Pantanjali, Paramahansa Yogananda, Yoga Sutra, Hatha Yoga, abundance, prosperity, material wealth, true wealth, spiritual wealth, creativity, pleasure, follow your bliss, joy, enlightenment, an awakened life, discipline, discernment, willpower, truthfulness, contentment, happiness, Spirituality, Personal Transformation

In these days of fake news, it is more difficult to know whom to trust and what to believe. We have entered, what Singh describes as, a post-–trust era. Here we shine a light on how we can be more mindful of the role we play, sometimes unwittingly, in condoning and promoting fakery and how we can become more alert to how vulnerable we are to falling prey to fakeness. Shiv Singh's books include: Social Media Marketing for Dummies (coauthor Stephanie Diamond) (For Dummies 2014), Savvy: Navigating Fake Companies, Fake Leaders and Fake News in the Post-Trust Era (coauthor Rohini Luthra, Ph.D.)(Ideapress Publishing 2019).Tags: Shiv Singh, post-truth era, post-trust era, fact, fiction, Morton Deutsch, media silos, fake news, negative bias, Deb Roy, twitter, negative news, digital advertising, Edwin Rutsch, judgements, prejudices, newsguardtech.com, snopes.com, politifact.com, dog-whistling extremist points of view, artificial intelligence, AI, driverless cars, Media, Social Change, technology, personal transformation

Diana Raab is an expert in journaling. She encourages each of us to make it part of our daily lives.  Journaling can clear your mind, improve your mental status, and can help you find your joy. She shares some very specific suggestions about how to write poetry. Raab is an advocate of the healing power of writing and teaches nation-wide workshops and in the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program. She’s an award-winning memoirist and poet. She is the author of many books including Healing with Words: A Writer's Cancer Journey (Loving Healing Press 2010), Regina’s Closet: Finding My Grandmother’s Secret Journal (Beaufort Books 2007), Writers and Their Notebooks (editor) (University of South Carolina Press 2010), Writers on the Edge: 22 Writers Speak About Addiction and Dependency (co-editor with James Brown) (Modern History Press 2012), Writing for Bliss: A Seven-Step Plan for Telling Your Story and Transforming Your Life (Loving Healing Press 2017).Interview Date: 3/22/2012  Tags: Diana Raab, addictions, depression, journal, journaling, suicide, poetry, Personal Growth, Religion, Self-Help, Spirituality, Work / Livelihood

In working with people in the helping professions who are most in danger of burnout or traumatic stress, Wicks has made many discoveries on how we can live our fleeting days with meaning, peace, compassion, and contentment. His reflections include many unforgettable stories that will live in your heart for years to come.  Robert J. Wicks, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and serves as a professor in the graduate programs in pastoral counseling at Loyola University, Maryland.  In 1994, he was responsible for the psychological debriefing of relief workers evacuated from Rwanda during their bloody civil war. In 2006, he delivered a presentation on self-care to health care professionals responsible for Iraqi war veterans with multiple amputations and severe head injuries at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland and Walter Reed Army Hospital. He's the author of many books including Riding the Dragon: 10 Lessons for Inner Strength in Challenging Times (Sorin Books 2012), Bounce: Living the Resilient Life (Oxford University Press 2009). Prayerfulness: Awakening to the Fullness of Life (Sorin Books 2009) and Streams of Contentment: Lessons I Learned on My Uncle's Farm (Sorin Books 2011)Interview Date: 11/3/2011  Tags: Robert J. Wicks, Robert Wicks, Amish, 3 calls, self-understanding, pruning, transformation, surrendering, surrender, signature strengths, ordinariness, Anam Cara, joy, wonder, tyranny of hope, Thomas Merton, Fr. Flavian Burns, faithfulness, Henri Nouwen, self-care protocol, silence, reliance, Philosophy, Spirituality, Self Help, Psychology, Personal Transformation

Ghareman describes the dilemma of women today who are especially culturally rewarded to say yes to most every request made of them. Most of us have dozens of stories about how we self-sabotage ourselves instead of building a more balanced life.. How can we say a soft but effective no? What are some skillful ways for us to move from stress to contentment? What is true frugality?  Azarm Gharman, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist, and holds advanced degrees in chemistry and business administration, and has conducted many professional training workshops. She is the author of Longing for a Land: A Persian Woman’s Story of Individuation (Mazda Connections 2005) and Six Life Secrets of Content Women: A Guide for Emotional Self-Care (Mazda Connections 2010)Interview Date: 6/7/2011  Tags: Azarm Ghareman, frugal, frugality, Iran, Persia, Self-care, self care, time, wellness, inner critic, archetypes, witch, fairygodmother, fairy godmother, gratitude, grief, mourning, emotional, first aid, Womens' Studies, Personal Transformation, Psychology, Self Help

Huebl describes two competencies that can improve the art of living. The first one is silence so we may know ourselves more intimately. The second one is movement: voluntarily letting go of the old version of ourselves and moving with the ever changing flow of life. This leads to a highly innovative and creative life. Thomas Huebl is a spiritual teacher and workshop presenter who has dedicated his life to the task of exploring consciousness and supporting people worldwide in this exploration. He founded The Celebrate Life Festival and The Academy of Inner Science. He resides in Germany. He is the author of The Power of We: Awakening in the Relational Field (CD) (Sounds True 2014)Interview Date: 4/1/2012  Tags: Thomas Hübl, Thomas Huebl, transparent communication, competent perception, silence, movement, symptoms of separation, spiritual competency, spiritual intelligence, inner science, education, competency of stillness, competency of movement, intuition, collective patterns of consciousness, consciousness, inner, intelligence, Philosophy, Education, Spirituality, Personal Transformation

Is time speeding up? It seems so as we fill our lives with so many “labor saving” devices. The 21st century mantra could very well be: There isn’t enough time. Here we explore how we can free ourselves from the tyranny of time, as we step out of the fast lane on to the off ramp, in order to enjoy a saner and more balanced relationship with time. Lama Surya Das, a renowned Western Buddhist meditation teacher and scholar, teaches and lectures around the world, conducting dozens of meditation retreats and workshops each year. He is the founder and spiritual director of the Dzogchen Foundation and founder of the Western Buddhist Teachers Network. He is the author of many books, including Awakening the Buddha Within (Broadway 1997), Buddha Is as Buddha Does (HarperOne 2008) and Buddha Standard Time: Awakening To the Infinite Possibilities of Now (HarperOne 2011)Interview Date: 6/20/2011Tags: Lama Surya Das, time, Dzogchen, nowness, stress busters, artificial time, natural time, linear time, awareness, letting go, meditation, mindfulness, mindful prayer, technology, techno-addiction, full-connection, meditation, cyclical time, perception, presencing, Buddhism, Spirituality

For over a decade, Edwin Rutsch has hitchhiked, bicycled, traveled and worked his way around our precious planet. He interacted with a wide variety of cultures and peoples from all walks of life and learned to see and feel a common humanity shared by people around the world. During his explorations he came to see the importance of empathy in human connections.He is a computer expert, a filmmaker, and the founding director of The Center for Building a Culture of Empathy. This center serves as one of the leading organizations of the global empathy movement and focuses on bridging social and political divides by designing a free online empathy training course and holding face to face and virtual empathy cafés.Tags: Edwin Rutsch, Helen Riess, empathy, Carl Rogers, eye contact, active listening, empathic listening, curiosity, Empathy Cafes, Empathy Tent, Empathy Circles, empathy boot camp, peace, nonviolence, conflict, collaboration, Barbara Fredrickson, positive emotions, Social Change/Politics, Personal Transformation, Relationship/Partnership/Sexuality, Self Help

Here, prize-winning author and teacher of writing Houston takes us through the life journey that led her to buy a piece of ranch land in the southwest corner of Colorado. She knew nothing about ranching but with the help of many people and animals her wandering life became tethered to the land. She also gives insight into the process of writing. Her books include Cowboys Are My Weakness (W.W. Norton 2011), Deep Creek: Finding Hope in High Country (W.W. Norton 2019), Contents May Have Shifted (W.W. Norton 2012)Tags: Pam Houston, Terry Tempest Williams, Irish Wolfhounds, Creed Colorado, donkeys, Fenton Johnson, wildfires, Milky Way, metaphor, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Animals, Writing 

What we eat, drink, breathe, our stress levels, our use of pharmaceuticals, our interaction with the immediate physical and social environment are all essential factors in genetic expression. Here Pelletier describes epigenesis as the new science that focuses on the changes we make in our lifestyle that can make a difference in the expression of our genes. He is the author of many books including Mind as Healer, Mind as Slayer: A Holistic Approach to Preventing Stress Disorders (Dell Publishing 1977) and Change Your Genes Change Your Life: Creating Optimal Health with the New Science of Epigenetics (Origin Press 2018)Tags: Kenneth Pelletier, Human Genome Project, epigenetics, disease management industry, health enhancement system, individualized medicine, diet, intestinal tract biochemistry, biomic chemistry, genetic profile, complete blood chemistry, biome test, intestinal test, 23andMe, health assays, Arivale, Dr. Leroy Hood, DNAFit, Thorne nutraceutical, nutrigenomics, Mediterranean diet, stress, exercise, interval training, telomere, Health & Healing 

It is Norberg's experience that energetic patterns are established by the primary inhabitants of a house and that the houses themselves seem to have contracts to maintain these patterns. Part of his work is to renegotiate contracts with our homesas well as to clear out negative energies. He is the author of Healing Houses: My Work as a Psychic House Cleaner (North Mountain Publishing 2010)Tags: Sheldon Norberg, Academy of Intuition, energy patterns, five elemental washes, ghosts, medicine, Feng Shui, negative, psychic energy patterns, Parapsychology, Self Help

Oftentimes the death of someone we love shifts reality as we’ve known it and brings forth an opening just wide enough for us to begin seeking a deeper truth, a multi-dimensional one, and this inquiry can take us closer to a more expansive understanding of our own timeless consciousness. It is said that the next frontier is that of the exploration of consciousness and that the material world may reflect only small portions of the universe. Christina Rasmussen has a way of putting us in direct contact with that multi-dimensional universe, one in which we can meet with those who have died through what she calls Temple Journeys. She has taught thousands to have an experience these journeys and says these are not guided meditations or visualizations, “[The Temple Journeys] are a framework that allows the invisible world to be seen so we can trust enough to allow our brain to let go of this reality and for consciousness to grab us and show the expansive nature of our existence.” You’ll find this deep dialogue both exciting and enlightening. Christina Rasmussen is author of  Second Firsts: Live, Laugh, and Love Again (Hay House 2013) and Where Did You Go? A Life-Changing Journey to Connect with Those We’ve Lost. (HarperOne 2018). r: 3666Tags: Christina Rasmussen, Temple Journeys, Neuroscience, Michael Talbot, The Holographic Universe, Robert Lanza, Beyond Biocentrism, three-dimensional reality, multi-dimensional universes, the material dimension, entanglement, brain science, spooky action at a distance, hologram, synchronicity, Dean Radin, The observer effect, waves and particles, double slit experiment, imagination, Death & Dying, Science, Parapsychology/Paranormal, Personal Transformation

The medical choices we have regarding our health are multitudinous. Three main choices are Western, Eastern, Natural medicine. So how do we wade through the variety of options and how might they work together? Elson Haas, MD is dedicated to empowering each of us with the knowledge and resources we need to make the best choices for our health.Elson Haas, M.D. is an integrative medicine practitioner with more than four decades of experience. He’s the Founder and Director of Haas Health Online and the Preventative Medical Center of Marin (PMCM). He is the author of: Staying Healthy with the Seasons (Celestial Arts 2003), Staying Healthy Shopper’s Guide (Celestial Arts, 1999), The False Fat Diet: The Revolutionary 21-Day Program for Losing the Weight You Think Is Fat  (Ballantine, 2000), The Detox Diet, Third Edition: The Definitive Guide for Lifelong Vitality with Recipes, Menus and Detox Plans (Ten Speed Press 2012) and Staying Healthy with Nutrition: The Complete Guide to Diet and Nutritional Medicine (revised) (Celestial Arts 2006) and Staying Healthy with NEW Medicine: Integrating Natural, Eastern and Western Approaches for Optimal Health (Elson Haas 2016).Tags: Elson Haas, prescription drugs, exercise, Natural Medicine, Eastern Medicine, Western Medicine, insulin, thyroid, hormones, surgery, pain, Ken Pelletier, epigenetics, sleep, nutrition, regular exercise, managing stress, quality sleep, healthy attitude, Mediterranean diet, detoxification, genetic disorders, immune disorders, germs, inflammation, macrobiotics, vegan diets, vegetarian diet, Health & Healing

Every living system goes through a life cycle: birth, creativity, flowering, harvesting, and then death. Wheatley points out that we are at the end of a cycle and she warns us, “It’s important that we understand where we are in the pattern of collapse and not to throw up our hands in despair . . .but to understand, now that this is happening, who do I choose to be?” Her 's books include: Leadership and the New Science  (Berrett-Kohler 1998), Perseverance (Berrett-Kohler 2010),Turning To One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope in the Future (Berrett-Kohler 2009), So Far from Home: Lost and Found In Our Brave New World (Barrett-Kohler 2012) and Who Do We Choose To Be: Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership, Restoring Sanity (Berrett-Kohler 2017)Tags: Margaret J. Wheatley, Meg Wheatley, Sir John Glubb, materialism, consumerism, General Gordon R. Sullivan, After action review, compassion, Joanna Macy, Shambhala warriors, activistm, Theodore Roosevelt, Order of the Sacred Earth, Chogyam Trungpa, John Daido Loori Zen Roshi, General William T. Sherman, Dalai Lama, Vaclav Havel, hope, Community, Community, Meditation, Philosophy, Buddhism, Social Change/Politics

Jennings is both a Buddhist practitioner and a psychologist. Here she talks about when it’s appropriate to bring our psychological struggles to our Buddhist teacher and when it is appropriate to bring them to a therapist, and the general differences between them. She also reveals the importance of the Buddhist concept of “friendly curiosity.” Her books include Mixing Minds: The Power of Relationship in Psychoanalysis and Buddhism (Wisdom Publications 2011) and To Heal a Wounded Heart: The Transformative Power of Buddhism and Psychotherapy in Action (Shambhala 2017)Tags: Pilar Jennings, psychotherapy, Tibetan Sakya practice, enlightenment, friendly curiosity, 9/11 New York, Muir woods, nature, mother, Kisa Gotami, Buddhism, Community, Meditation, Personal Transformation, Philosophy, Psychology, Religion

Here Gober talks about how materialism is giving way to a new scientific paradigm where matter is derived from consciousness. He has compiled extensive research and gives numerous examples from many reputable physicists that turn the reigning scientific paradigm upside down and he indicates what this implies for our everyday lives. Mark Gober is a senior member of the Sherpa Technology Group in Silicon Valley, California, a firm that advises technology companies on mergers and acquisitions and business strategy. He previously worked as an investment banker analyst in New York. Mark graduated Magna Cum Laude from Princeton University and has collected and surveyed a large body of research of various scientific papers and books about consciousness, biological processes, psychic phenomena, near-death experiences, and quantum physics. He is the author of: An End to Upside Down Thinking: Dispelling the Myth That the Brain Produces Consciousness, and the Implications for Everyday Life (Waterside Press 2018)Tags: Mark Gober, scientific materialism, scientific anomalies, Galileo, Carl Sagan, Copernicus shift, telepathy, Kenneth Pelletier, Uri Geller, Faraday Cage, remote viewing, ESP, consciousness, brain, Dr. Pim van Lommel, NDEs, Near Death Experiences, Dr. Bernardo Kastrup, Rupert Spira, Bruce Lipton, epigenetics, DNA, Dean Radin, quantum entanglement, Albert Einstein, double slit experiment, movie Defending Your Life, psychic mediums, Mind Dynamics, healing at a distance, Science, Death & Dying, Parapsychology/Paranormal, Personal Transformation, Philosophy, Intuition/Psychic, 

We have the ability to live longer but ultimately death is a reality and advanced medicine is not well set up to prepare us for a peaceful death. Here is specific advice, with resources for the patient and caregivers, about dying with dignity. Butler advises us to not wait for a health crisis to consider our wishes about dying and to have conversations with friends and loved ones in advance.She is the author of Knocking on Heaven’s Door (Scribner 2014) and The Art of Dying Well: A Practical Guide to a Good End of Life (Scribner 2019)Tags: Katy Butler, dementia, conveyor belt medicine, Western medicine, pacemaker, resilience, advance directive, medical directive, active living, active dying, Dementia Directive, pharmaceuticals, chemotherapy, palliative chemotherapy, hospice, lotsahelpinghands.org, sharethecare.org, DNR, do not resuscitate, dying in the ER, death certificates, Death & Dying, Health & Healing, spirituality

In this program Graham shows us that it is possible to train our brains, our bodies, and our hearts to access our intuitive wisdom which helps us get through the tough times and become more conscious in the process. This training is supported by research scientists who have found that combining mindfulness and neuroscience, including neuroplasticity, can lead us to more resilience and well-being. She describes the five intelligences of the body and mind.Linda Graham is the author of Bouncing Back: Rewiring Your Brain for Maximum Resilience and Well-Being (New World Library 2013) and Resilience: Powerful Practices for Bouncing Back from Disappointment, Difficulty, and Even Disaster (New World Library 2018)Tags: Linda Graham, resilience, resilient, response flexibility, neuroplasticity, prefrontal cortex, brain science, somatic intelligence, shame, Natalie Rogers, mindfulness, mindful self-compassion, compassion, Barbara Frederickson, negative emotions, imagination, trust, safety, oxytocin, Shelly E. Taylor, Diana Fosha, tend and befriend, Mark Coleman, gratitude practice, journaling, overwhelmed, attention, Science, Personal Transformation, Self Help, relationship

What are the four purposes of life and what are the twelve required core courses in life’s school? These questions are highlighted in this edition of New Dimensions with Dan Millman. He is the author of many books including  Way of the Peaceful Warrior (H.J. Kramer 1994) (adapted into a major film starring Nick Nolte and Amy Smart) and The Four Purposes of Life: Finding Meaning and Direction in a Changing World (New World Library 2011)Tags: Arising moment, Career calling, Dan Millman, Four Purposes, gymnastics, life path, Personal Growth, Philosophy/Psychology, Self-Help, Work/Livelihood

Cognitive neuroscientist Julia Mossbridge, Ph.D. has been researching and documenting evidence that precognition is possible. She has also set up an extensive website that provides practical tools and techniques you can use to develop your own powers of precognition. Dr. Mossbridge is the author of: Unfolding: The Perpetual Science of Your Soul's Work (New World Library 2002), The Calling: A 12-Week Science-Based Program to Discover, Energize, and Engage Your Soul’s Work (Reveal Press 2019), The Garden: An Inside Experiment (CreateSpace 2017), The Premonition Code: The Science of Precognition, How Sensing the Future Can Change Your Life (coauthor Theresa Cheung) (Watkins 2018)Tags: Julia Mossbridge, precognition, premonition, artificial intelligence, AI, Dean Radin, informational time travel, time, Ludwig Boltzmann, Ruth Kastner, Parapsychology, Paranormal, Intuition, Psychic, Science

Dr. Vallee does not come to conclusions about UFOs or what they may be. However, what his research shows is that reports of such phenomena have been occurring since antiquity. Jacques Vallee, Ph.D. is one of today's most widely respected researchers of unexplained aerial phenomena. He earned a Masters Degree in Astrophysics while living in France and holds a Ph.D. in computer science from Northwestern University. His life experience was the model portrayed by François Truffaut in the Steven Spielberg award winning film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He is the author of numerous books, including Passport to Magonia, his seminal work, and Wonders in the Sky: Unexplained Aerial Objects from Antiquity to Modern Times (co-author with Chris Aubeck) (Tarcher/Penguin 2010)

As the 1950s came to a close, a new era of social, spiritual, sexual, political and psychological revolution was beginning. Here, in this provocative dialogue, you will meet some of the wild characters, who made the 1960s the most memorable decade of the 20th century. Lattin says, "[The] big question at the time was: are these experiences people are having the same as a mystical experience or religious experience? People would report the same kind of things, like a sense of wonder, awe, transcendence, and empathy. . . The important question is what do you do with the experience, and how does it affect the way you live your life? Are you living your life with more awareness and compassion after the experience?" This engrossing program tells the story of how it all began. You will be entertained and perhaps even shocked. Don Lattin is a journalist covering alternative and mainstream religious movements. His work has appeared in dozens of U.S. magazine and newspapers. He's been a commentator on many T.V. news programs. He is the author of many books including Jesus Freaks: A True Story of Murder and Madness on the Evangelical Edge (HarperOne 2008), Following Our Bliss: How the Spiritual Ideals of the Sixties Shape Our Lives Today (Harper Collins 2004), Shopping for Faith: American Religion in the New Millennium (coauthor) (Jossey-Bass 2002), The Harvard Psychedelic Club: How Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Huston Smith, and Andrew Weil Killed the Fifties and Ushered in a New Age for America (HarperOne 2010).

For decades spiritual and self help literature has encouraged people to go within to heal old wounds, nourish egos and coddle one's inner child. Myss says, "I think we’ve developed an idea that approaching God could be done any way we want and that it doesn't require prayer, reflection, or contemplation. We've substituted therapy for devotion." She points out that the intellect is not a spiritual practice. In order to live a life of meaning we must go beyond a life of acquisitions and move into a life of devotion. Her own path has taken her deeply into the world of Saint Teresa of Avila, the 16th Century Spanish Carmelite nun and mystic Saint whose profound writings continue to have an impact on any serious seeker. Myss exhorts and inspires us to participate in the search for this ultimate spiritual reality as expressed by Teresa of Avila.  Caroline Myss’ books include Invisible Acts of Power: Channeling Grace in Your Everyday Life (Free Press 2004), Sacred Contracts: Awakening Your Divine Potential (Harmony 2001), Why People Don't Heal and How They Can (Harmony 1997), Anatomy of the Spirit: The Seven Stages of Power and Healing (Harmony 1996), Archetypes: Who Are You? (Hay House 2013) and Energy Anatomy: The Science of Personal Power, Spirituality, and Health (CD set) (Sounds True 2001)Tags: Saint Teresa of Avila, mystical experience, therapy, devotion, The 60’s, sacred contracts, career, grace

Jane Hirshfield points out that many people turn to poetry at great life transitions. She says, “You know when people fall in love, or when they lose love, or lose someone they loved, that is when they want a poem. When they get married, they want a poem. These great transitions are larger than the normal, ordinary consciousness. And what poems do is give us a vocabulary for understanding things, which isn’t available through any other use of language.” Her poetry alludes to far ranging subjects such as time, nature, and even science. Here she reads some of her poems, and talks of the inspiration from which they come, and why they speak to us and move us beyond our rational minds and our busy intellect through their metaphors and images. She shares with us why poetry, and other art forms like music, speak so deeply to the heart and soul. (hosted by Justine Willis Toms) Her poetry books include The October Palace: Poems (HarperCollins 1994), The Lives of the Heart: Poems (HarperCollins 1997), Women in Praise of the Sacred: 43 Centuries of Spiritual Poetry by Women (HarperCollins 1994), Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry (Perennial 1998), After: Poems (HarperCollins 2006), Given Sugar, Given Salt: Poems (HarperCollins 2001), Come, Thief: Poems (Knopf 2011), Ten Windows: How Great Poems Transform the World (Alfred A. Knopf 2015), The Beauty: Poems (Alfred A. Knopf 2015)

Masters illustrates what he means by spiritual bypassing and the addiction to being positive. He describes how our resistance to pain makes the pain worse and suggests we soften around the pain, which can begin to remove the drama around our suffering. He clarifies how we can develop the skill to create some room around pain. His books include: Divine Dynamite: Entering Awakening's Heartland (Tehmenos Press 2006), Transformation Through Intimacy: The Journey Toward Mature Monogamy (Tehmenos Press 2007), Meeting the Dragon: Ending Our Suffering by Entering Our Pain (Tehmenos Press 2008), Spiritual Bypassing: When Spirituality Disconnects Us From What Really Matters (North Atlantic Books 2010)Tags: Robert Masters, Spiritual bypassing, Spiritual by-passing, True spirituality, Authentic spirituality, Metaphysical, valium, Anger, Blind compassion, Fierce compassion, Shadow work, Boundaries, Psychotherapy, Magical thinking, Spirituality, Health & Healing, Intuition/Psychic, Meditation, Personal Transformation

People are living longer but this new longevity is not equivalent to an extension of old age or years added on at the end of life. Bateson describes a whole new stage of aging: Adulthood II. It is a time endowed with wisdom, health, and energy. It is a time to become the needed visionaries society is calling for.  She is the author of many books and papers, including Composing a Life (Grove Press 2001), With a Daughter’s Eye: A Memoir of Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson (Harper Perennial 1994), Willing to Learn: Passages of Personal Discovery (Steerforth 2010). Composing a Further Life: The Age of Active Wisdom (Knopf 2010)Tags: Mary Catherine Bateson, Aging, Adulthood II, ageism, friendship, post-reproductive women, intergenerational relationships, longevity, Social Change/Politics, Community, Family/Community, Philosophy

Thisdeep dialogue is rich with metaphors, bringing a sharp focus to imaginative healing possibilities for these threshold times. Meade regales us with many myths that illustrate how we can heal the multiple cracks in the world by finding our own gifts, our own ways to work meaningfully in the world, and how we can pour our gold into the cracks of the world. He distributes regular podcasts and his many books include The Genius Myth (GreenfirePress 2016), Why the World Doesn’t End: Tales of Renewal in Times of Loss (GreenfirePress 2012), Fate and Destiny: The Two Agreements of the Soul (GreenFire Press 2012), Awakening the Soul: A Deep Response to a Troubled World (GreenFire Press 2018)Tags: Michael Meade, soul, Hamlet, truth, backlash, dharma, war in Vietnam, fasting, Gandhi, Satyagraha, solitary confinement, eldering, the Goddess Clotho, River of Forgetfulness, Aletheia, initiation, rites of passage Mythology, Social Change, Politics, Indigenous Wisdom, Philosophy, Community

In this dialogue we explore the perils and pitfalls of partnering as well as how to improve our skills to help our partnerships thrive. Cathy and Gary Hawk propose that we are the directors of our own play and as directors we can choose where to point our attention and focus in order to be effective and get the results we are looking for in our life. They are the co-authors of Creating the Rest of Your Life: An Atlas for Manifesting Success and Excellence in Life and Work (Brilliance Press 2007), Get Clarity, The Lights-On Guide to Manifesting Success in Life and Work (Get Clarity Press 2011) and Get Clarity for Powerful Partnering: From Power Struggles to Co-Creative Adventures (co-author Theresa Byrne) (Amazon Digital Services 2018)Tags: Cathy Hawk, Gary Hawk, Cathy and Gary Hawk, collaboration, partnership, feedback, communication, above the line, positive thoughts, negative thoughts, vision maps, vision boards, intention, chaord, chaordic, chaotic, chaos, confusion, resistance, choice point, trust, curiosity, Personal Transformation, Relationship, Partnership, Self Help, Work, Livelihood 

What are the practices that allow for wisdom to arise? Alan Briskin believes wisdom can emerge when individuals come together for a common purpose, even - or especially - when those individuals bring divergent viewpoints to the table. His powerful message offers a blueprint for how we can create working relationships that optimize our ability to act wisely and effectively. His books include The Stirring of Soul in the Workplace (Berrett-Koehler 1998), The Power of Collective Wisdom and the Trap of Collective Folly (co-authors, Sheryl Erickson, Tom Callanan, and John Ott)(Berrett-Koehler 2009), Daily Miracles: Stories and Practices of Humanity and Excellence in Health Care (co-author Jan Boller) (Sigma Theta Tau International; 1st edition 2006)Tags: Alan Briskin, soul, work, right livelihood, job, corporation, organizations, prisons, shadow, Hercules, punishment, conformity, collective, individual, business communities, Business, Personal Transformation, Self Help, Social Change/Politics, Spirituality

Moving away from busy behavior takes more than trying to just make a quick change. Tally explains why quick fixes aren’t sustainable. In order to truly reclaim our days from the hectic pace of busyness we need to find the value behind what we want to change. She shares some concrete processes to help us reclaim our overscheduled lives. Yvonne Tally leads meditation and de-stressing programs for corporations, individuals, and private groups in Silicon Valley. She is an NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming) master practitioner. She also co-founded Poised Inc., a Pilates and wellness training studio and is the founder of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Scarves, a charity that provides headscarves to cancer patients. She is the author of Breaking Up with Busy: Real-Life Solutions for Overscheduled Women (New World Library 2018)Tags: Yvonne Tally, multitasking, busyness, anxiety, stress, cortisol, time, overscheduled, decluttering, clutter, values, friendship, pausing, NLP, Neuro-linguistic programming, mindfulness, perfectionist, Self Help, Personal Transformation, Meditation

Jonathan Robinson helps us discover how we may be become more effective communicators to create more empathy, intimacy, and understanding in all our relationships. One of the keys to fostering deep trust and intimacy is asking questions while being vulnerable enough to openly share details of what we are thinking and feeling. The techniques and stories Robinson shares here are like sacred medicine. Robinson is the author of many books including Life’s Big Questions: 200 Ways to Explore Your Spiritual Life (Conari 2011), Communication Miracles for Couples (Conari 2012), Shortcuts to Success: The Absolute Best Ways to Master Your Money, Time, Health, and Relationships (Red Wheel/Weiser 2000), Shortcuts to Bliss: The 50 Best Ways to Improve Relationships, Connect with Spirit, and Make Your Dreams Come True (Conari 2011), Find Happiness Now: 50 Shortcuts to Bring More Joy, Balance and Love into Your Life (Conari 2014), The Technology of Joy: The 101 Best Apps, Gadgets, Tools and Supplements for Feeling More Delight in Your Life (Self Published 2016, More Love Less Conflict: A Communication Playbook for Couples (Conari Press 2018)Tags: Jonathan Robinson, blame, intimacy, understanding, empathy, Oprah Winfrey, attitude,communicating, communication, trust, making assumptions, Spirituality, Relationship, Philosophy, Personal Transformation, Sexuality, Self-help

Fox, Wilson, and Listug share the vision of a co-creative “Order of the Sacred Earth (OSE)” as an antidote to the many negative forces that surround us. Many people are forming “pods” and joining this order by creating rituals, taking the vow “I promise to be the best lover and defender of Earth I can be,” and connecting with one another through a hub website. Fr. Mathew Fox is a wisdom elder, a theologian, an Episcopal priest, and author of 35 books on spiritualty and culture, including Original Blessing and Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times. Skylar Wilson is a Rites of Passage guide who has worked as a mentor for both teenagers and adults. As a relatively younger person in his 30s, he’s been training leaders in gatherings of intergenerational mentoring and is the founder of Wild Awakenings, which leads wilderness immersion programs. Jennifer Berit Listug is in her late 20s and is a Rites of Passage guide who recently became a mother. She is the co-director of Wild Awakenings and also works in book publishing and as a writing coach for authors. These three guests are co-directors of the Order of the Sacred Earth and co-authors of the book Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action (Monkfish 2018)Tags: Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, Jennifer Berit Listug, cosmic mass, River Matthew, digital natives, mentorship, mentoring, mentors, elders, birthing, birth, Order of the Sacred Earth, W.H. Murray, Zohara M. Hieronimus, Standing Rock Pipeline, occupy movement, healthy masculine, Spirituality, Environment, Community, Dreams

Attorney Stewart Levine loved the legal profession because of the ideals it represented. But when he realized the practice of law rarely allowed him to consider human values along with property values, he took down his shingle and became an expert in resolving conflicts in a way that preserves relationships as well as legal rights.  He is the author of Getting to Resolution: Turning Conflict into Collaboration (2nd edition, revised & expanded, Berrett-Koehler 2009). Tags: Stewart Levine, Family, Community, Conflict resolution, Listening, Telling Your Story, Agreement, Disagreement, Responsibility, Legal System, Lawyer, Lawyers, attorneys, justice, judicial system, collaboration, Social Change/Politics, Self Help, Relationship/Partnership/Sexuality, Personal Transformation, Peace/Non-Violence, Family / Community

Gary Gach is a lifelong meditator. He’s been an actor, bookshop clerk, dishwasher, hospital administrator, office temp, stevedore, teacher, and typographer. He points us toward increasing our mindfulness by drawing on our formal meditation throughout the day. He brings to light that being fully present in our daily life will help us keep our appointment with life, which leads us to live a more purposeful, meaningful life. Tags: Gary Gach, Thich Nhat Hanh, mindfulness, smile, breathe, unconscious decisions, beliefs, Ajahn Chah, gaining mind, heart mind, heartfulness, sky meditation, mouth yoga, resilience, community, engaged spirituality, Personal Transformation, Spiritually, Self Help, Death and Dying, Meditation

We all have an innate brilliance. Here Ardagh shows a path in which we can make the expression of our innate brilliance more predictable, less of a random accident and more of a probability. He demonstrates how we are capable of greatness and must snap out of our trance of self-indulgence to serve the greater good in these threshold times. Arjuna Ardagh is a writer, public speaker and founder of the Awakening Coaching Training in Nevada City, California. His books include The Translucent Revolution (New World Library 2005), Leap Before You Look: 72 Shortcuts for Getting Out of Your Mind and into the Moment (Sounds True 2008), Last Laugh (Hay House 2013), Better Than Sex: The Ecstatic Art of Awakening Coaching (Awakening Coaching 2013), Radical Brilliance: The Anatomy of How and Why People Have Original Life-Changing Ideas (SelfXPress 2018)Tags: Arjuna Ardagh, Kute Blackson, Brilliance Cycle, Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, revelation, Four quadrants of Brilliance Cycle, addiction, pollical activism, isolation, facts, opinions, effective, grace, Personal Transformation, Self Help

Anodea Judith substitutes the word “charge” for energy. “Charge” as it relates to our life-force energy can be blocked or be freely flowing. It also relates to our chakra system, which comprises the organizational centers in the body. Here she takes us through the seven chakra centers and how we can work more effectively with them.Tags: Anodea Judith, chakras, habits, beliefs, trauma, awareness, consciousness, brain, positive charge, negative charge, seven centers of the chakra system, third chakra power center, defiance, bullies, active listening, group speak, the Crusades, Hitler, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., hate crimes, positive vision, Philosophy, Psychology, Relationship, Personal Transformation, Health & Healing

Guy Finley is the founder and Director of the Life of Learning Foundation. He explores deescalating painful disagreements and fights in our relationships and gives us tools to transform anger and blame into healthy and fulfilling communication. He shows us a way to stop old, negative patterns in their tracks and leads us into a landscape in which we can deepen the loving bond between ourselves and our partners. He is the author of many books including  The Secret of Letting Go (Llewellyn Publications 2008), The Secret of Your Immortal Self: Key Lessons for Realizing the Divinity Within (Llewellyn Publications 2015), The Essential Laws of Fearless Living (Red Wheel/Weiser 2008), Forever Free CD set (Llewellyn Publications 2009), Life is Real Only When You Are (Audible Audio Edition 2014) and Relationship Magic: Waking Up Together (Llewellyn Publications 2018)Tags: Guy Finley, life-long learner, life-long learning, lifelong learning, Aesop’s Fable, fear, McKeever the dog, patience, blame, anger, coercion, Sir Laurens Van der Post, Spirituality, Relationship, Philosophy, Personal Transformation

Elisabet Sahtouris, Ph.D. is an internationally acclaimed evolution biologist and futurist. She is optimistic about the future and points to biology saying, “Life gets creative in a time of crisis.” She explains how the survival of bacteria, which have been on the planet for over four billion years, has given us a model of how we may evolve into a mature species.  She’s co-author, with the late Willis Harman, of Biology Revisioned. Her books include: Earth Dance: Living Systems in Evolution (iUniverse 2000), A Walk Through Time: From Stardust to Us (coauthors Brian Swimme & Sidney Liebes)(John Wiley & Sons 1998) and Biology Revisioned (coauthor Willis Harman) (North Atlantic Books 1998)Tags:Elisabet Sahtouris, climate, economy, energy, evolution, evolutionary, evolution biologist, biology, science, archebacterial, bacteria, ecosystems, debt money, materialist, scientists, new consciousness, competition, cooperation, Hokkaid Foundation of Science Symposium, entanglement theory, photosynthesis, evolution of life on Earth, Achaea, efficiency, resilience, living systems, growing food, food supply, desert farming, zero point energy field, plenum, Science, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Global Culture, History, Money/Economics, Social Change/Politics

When pain takes up residence in our lives there is no one-size-fits-all solution, no quick fix. Shockley has lived with pain over a long period of time and she can attest to the fact that when we create a new relationship with our bodies, our emotions, our minds, and our spirits, our healing can truly unfold. She is the author of The Pain Companion: Everyday Wisdom for Living with and Moving Beyond Chronic Pain (New World Library 2018)Tags: Sarah Anne Shockley, TOS, Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, chronic pain, bubble of pain, journaling,  Health & Healing, writing, psychology 

The Egyptian Goddess Sekhmet is known as “She Who Comes in Times of Chaos.” She transforms fear and rage into alchemical gold. Whether this is actual or metaphorical, Scully teaches us how to tap into these healing energies and spin them into creative solutions that benefit yourself, your community, and the planet. Nicki Scully has been teaching shamanic arts and Egyptian mysteries since 1983 and is the founder of Shamanic Journeys, Ltd., which specializes in spiritual tours to sacred sites in Egypt. She has written many books including Power Animal Meditations, Alchemical Healing (Bear & Company 2001), Shamanic Mysteries of Egypt (co-author Linda Star Wolf) (Bear & Company 2008), Planetary Healing: Spirit Medicine for Global Transformation (co-author, her husband Mark Hallert)(Bear & Company 2011) and Sekhmet: Transformation in the Belly of the Goddess (Bear & Company 2017)Tags: Nicki Scully, Sekhmet, Egyptian Mythology, Thoth, Ma’at, alchemical healing, neturu, gratitude, divine intervention, Isis, Akashic records, Sphinx, Mythology, Shamanism, Spirituality, Personal Transformation

Thanks to cell phones, photography is now the great democratic medium, one of the most important means of communication of the 21st century. This is a new order, in which images are made, seen, and shared immediately and globally without curation or censoring by editors or governments. We can participate in shaping the reality of this order.  David Ulrich is a college level professor and co-director of the Pacific New Media Foundation in Honolulu, Hawaii. His photographs have been exhibited internationally in more than 75 one-person and group exhibitions. He is the author of: The Widening Stream: The Seven Stages of Creativity (Beyond Words 2001) and Zen Camera: Creative Awakening With a Daily Practice in Photography (Watson-Guptill 2018)Tags: David Ulrich, empathy, Paul Strand, movie Harold and Maude, universal love, cell phone camera, visual pollution, Annie Leibovitz, photographing Barack Obama, Zen, Walt Whitman, imagination, Arts & Creativity, Spirituality, Philosophy, Meditation

Anne Scott, the founder of Dream Weather Foundation, gives guidance as to how to tap into the wisdom that speaks to us through our dreams, how to interpret them, and how to start a dream circle of your own. She is the author of Serving Fire: Food for Thought, Body, and Soul (Celestial Arts 1994), The Laughing Baby (Celestial Arts 2001) and Women, Wisdom, and Dreams: The Light of the Feminine Soul (Nicasio Press 2008)Tags: Anne Scott, dream, dreams, longing, circles, feminine principle, depression

Moss says that there are two basic mistakes we make in this stage of the evolution of consciousness: We identify with our thoughts and we flee from our feelings. He gives specific instructions on how to examine our thoughts to identify stories we tell ourselves, and he makes a distinction between feelings and emotions.Tags: Richard Moss, presence, ego, story, awareness, contraction, dark feelings, shadow, continuum of feeling, practice focused spacious awareness, Personal Growth

Rachel Kaplan describes the Urban Homesteading Movement as a food movement, but also a movement of people, who are about conservation of  energy, water, and waste. It is a movement of learning to live with less impact on the earth, and with a greater sense of what it means to be part of the place where we live, and to be thinking ecologically.Tags:  Rachel Kaplan, compost, composting, gardening, garden, earth worms, dirt, water, composting toilets, chickens, natural building, bamboo, community, environment, nature, co­housing, interdependence, farms, farming, farmers, Animals, Community, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Family / Community, Social Change/Politics

Susan Piver knows the joy of loving, the devastating groundlessness of betrayal, and the deep crushing loss when love goes away. But she also knows how to turn that trauma into something sacred, to learn the truth of who and what is most valuable in your life. She shows us how to gain authority over our pain and release its hold.Tags: Susan Piver, Intimacy, Heartbreak, Loss, Practice of Tranquility, Practice of Loving Kindness, Betrayal, Love, Personal Transformation, Meditation, Relationship/Partnership/Sexuality, Self Help, Spirituality

Wesselman shares the spiritual knowledge he gathered from working with the late Hale Makua, a revered Hawaiian Kahuna wisdom keeper. Included are insights such as: the 3 directives of a spiritual warrior, the 7 life roles and how they are expressed in both positive and negative forms, the difference between a shaman and a medicine person, and the ancestral grand plan.Tags: Hank Wesselman, shamanism, Hale Makua, shaman, kahuna, transpersonal, medicine people, Pele, Aloha, Kapus, Ancestral Grand Plan, Metatron, Glastonbury, Spirituality, Community, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Global Culture, Indigenous Wisdom, Mythology, Personal Transformation, Psychology, Shamanism, Science, Soul/Spirit Guides/Angels/Spirit

Life is not a destination; it is a fluid movement. It takes practice to overcome the daily stresses that make us dense, concretized, and armored. Baraz gives us many steps that we can take to help life move through us as a blessing, and shares several simple but effective meditations to help each of us be more present and more joyful in our life.Tags: James Baraz, Mindfulness, Happiness, Joy,  "The Kumbaya Factor", Breathe, Intention, Compassion, Storytelling, Caring, Gladness, Gratefulness, Spirituality, Arts & Creativity, Buddhism, Education, Global Culture, Health & Healing, Meditation, Personal Transformation

In the midst of our present polarization and alienation from one another, Patten exhorts us to understand that “we are in this lifeboat together and the fiercest thing we can do is to say, I’m living in a new republic of the heart. I’m a revolutionary. You are not going to separate yourself from me. I refuse to be in separation from you.”Tags: Terry Patten, York Center Community Co-op, Church of the Brethren, Adi Da Samraj, Integral Institute, despair, climate change, overshoot, activism, neurocardiology, Candace Pert, human intelligence systems, evolutionary emergence, empathy, fear, anger, tipping point, new tribalism, interdependence, David Bohm, Bohmian dialogue, shared inquiry, imaginal cells, epistemic humility, Psychology, Peace/Nonviolence,Social Change/Politics 

This deep dialogue explores the importance of community and how we can cultivate connectedness with others. Nepo speaks of two tribes: one that fears the differences in people and one that welcomes what can be learned by those differences. He gives advice as to how to keep our hearts open beyond our own opinions and how to tap into our innate nature of kindness.Tags: Mark Nepo, Irvin Laszlo, heart cells, Chinese philosopher Mencius, kinship, Emile Durkheim, technology, Howard Zinn, Paris Commune 1871, Wright Brothers, anarchy, Elder Shafir, psychology of poverty, flicker of dignity, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, kindness, Elie Wiesel, Psychology 

Studies show that humans are becoming more and more an “indoor species.” We are living in a culture that is hooked up to digital media 24/7. This deep dialogue with L’Amoreaux addresses how to mindfully navigate this technologically saturated environment. Having family conversations about values and how to be better informed about the technology we’re using is the first step.Tags: Claudia L’Amoreaux, Siggraph, computer graphics, cell phones, Oxford Junior Dictionary, digital searches, Eli Pariser, Tristan Harris, Common Sense Media, YouTube settings, Odysseus and the Sirens, screen time, solitude, mindfulness, conversation, Sherry Turkle, Danah Boyd, Teenagers, David Whyte, curiosity, Technology, Parenting, Personal Transformation

In telling her own story of letting go of several households of furnishings, Lisa Tracy is enormously helpful to us as we grapple with the "stuff" of our lives. Letting “stuff” go is like letting go of the stories of our lives.Tags: Lisa Tracy, home, mother, grandfather, furniture, Camp Verde, Lexington Virginia, storytelling, military, Malenta Tunnel, Corrigedor, Francis Moore Lappe, moving, Self Help, Community, History, Personal Transformation, Travel, Writing

DeSilver describes how writing from the body rather than the head is a visceral experience that connects us with our intuition. He says, “Everybody is a creative person. It’s a matter of where you have been putting your attention.” This conversation is filled with encouragement that will help you on your road to being a better writer.Tags: Albert Flynn DeSilver, silent retreat, Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones, Beryl Markham, Carl Sandberg, poetry, imagination, intuition, Robert Bly, Walt Whitman, devotion, discipline, Ann Waldman, Vow to Poetry, free writing, photography, talent, courage, dictionary, Writing, Self Help, Art & Creativity, Meditation, community, personal transformation

When Irving’s father signed on as an agricultural missionary in Haiti, she was transported from a sparsely populated desert in California into the lush terrain of the densely populated island of Haiti. She describes with great insight the challenge of building a deep democracy in a culture in crisis.Tags: Apricot Irving, memoir, Haiti, Christopher Columbus, Taino people, wailing at funerals, beauty, NGOs, earthquake in Haiti, Steve James M.D., democracy, Einstein, History, Writing, Health & Healing, Parenting, community

As we deal with the many successes and challenges of life, Sluyter guides us in understanding the benefits of natural meditation and shares that tuning into our inner luminous silence is actually what we are at our deepest core level. He says that love is a lack of otherness and reminds us that fear and love cannot occupy the same place at the same time. Tags: Dean Sluyter, dharma, silence, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, luminous silence, emptiness, fear, addiction, anxiety, anger, Miles Davis, Rupert Spira, fear and hope, fear and love, karma yoga, grief, prisons, Vajrasattva practice, Aikido, silly walks, Personal Transformation, Self Help, Meditation, Buddhism, Death and Dying 

People are living longer but this new longevity is not equivalent to an extension of old age or years added on at the end of life. Bateson describes a whole new stage of aging: Adulthood II. It is a time endowed with wisdom, health, and energy. It is a time to become the needed visionaries society is calling for. She’s the author of Composing a Further Life: The Age of Active Wisdom.Tags: Mary Catherine Bateson, Aging, Adulthood II, ageism, friendship, post-reproductive women, intergenerational relationships, longevity, Social Change, Politics, Community, Family, Philosophy

An awakening is taking place planet-wide and it is a channeling of healing, peace, and higher consciousness. Stocker suggests that we are not alone in this evolution of awareness. Each one of us is divinely designed toward love. He calls this “holy electricity” and shares ways to activate this potential. Ricardo Stocker, Ph.D. grew up in Argentina, moved to Europe when he was 25 years old and now lives in California. He studied at Emerson College in England, Prescott College in Arizona, and at the Saybrook University in Oakland, CA. He’s a counselor, homesteader, musician, and professor of Psychology and Communication at Mendocino College. He is the author of Our Compassionate Kosmos: Awakening to the Presence of Celestial Love (Balboa Press 2016)Tags: Ricardo Stocker, night sky, original sin, Big Bang Theory, Rupert Sheldrake, gravity, speed of light, impermanence, vertical intelligence, horizontal intelligence, guardian angel, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Jesus, father mother god, holy electricity, prana, meditation, grace, age of Pisces, age of Aquarius, the Kalpas, Kali Yuga, negative corporate media, silence, compassion, exuberant universe, optimism, Philosophy, Personal Transformation, Self Help, Psychology, spirituality

Buddhist teacher Namgyel points out that “everything leans.”She frames this statement with the reminder, “[W]e live in a world where ‘it all depends’ and everything is influencing everything else. We might think we know something at one moment but everything is always interrupting and influencing and so it’s always changing. Life, as we know it, is very dynamic.” Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel is a Buddhist teacher and teaches throughout the U.S. and Europe. She’s the wife of Tibetan Buddhist master Dzigar Kongtrul and has studied and practiced in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition since 1985. After many years of solitary retreat, Dzigar Rinpoche appointed Elizabeth as Retreat Master at Longchen Jigme Samten Ling, retreat center in southern Colorado. Her books include It's Up to You: The Practice of Self-Reflection on the Buddhist Path (editor) (Shambhala 2006), Light Comes Through: Buddhist Teachings on Awakening to Our Natural Intelligence (editor) (Shambhala 2009), The Power of an Open Question: The Buddha's Path to Freedom (Shambhala 2010) and The Logic of Faith: A Buddhist Approach to Finding Certainty Beyond Belief and Doubt (Shambhala 2018)Tags: Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel, faith, faithing, logic, grace, suffering, spiritual comparisons, the church, dogma, Sam Harris, Thomas Merton, spiritual doubts, joy, wakefulness, Joanna Macy, Chernobyl, Mother Teresa, disciples, awe, everything leans, the Buddha, awakening, Dave Chappelle, atom, reify, karma, evolution, Buddhism, Spirituality, Philosophy, Personal Transformation

Liberman asserts, “Anything that catches your eye is actually looking for you.” He speaks about living in a choiceless way and following what attracts your eye. He says, “Life provides a way for us to continually experience meeting things, responding to things, completing things and in the process we gain an authentic security in our ability to meet everything.”Tags: Jacob Liberman, belief, truth, Arthur Zajonc, perception, energy, physics, David Bohm, frozen light, insight, precognition, intuition, meditation, breath, Science, Spirituality, Meditation

This dialogue with the daughters of Alan Watts takes a deep dive into the colorful and controversial life of this late philosopher and popularizer of Zen Buddhism and other Eastern philosophies. Through his collected letters they show how he was always learning something new, how he was clear that wisdom is not a static thing and his views will always be under revision.Tags: Alan Watts, Joan Watts, Anne Watts, Joan & Anne Watts, Joan and Anne Watts, Christmas Humphreys, Toby Humphreys) Buddhist Society of London, LSD, genetic code, Mandalas, Native Americans, Buddhist term tathāgata, psychedelics, History, Philosophy, Psychology

Kaufman grew up in the Bronx, the Jewish son of a Holocaust survivor. He recounts a most poignant tale of his trek to follow the footsteps of his mother’s escape from the Nazis. His two traveling companions are inexplicably sons of Nazis. With disarming candidness, he shares his story of sinking into alcoholism and his road to sobriety and writing.Tags: Alan Kaufman, Holocaust, Israel, alcoholism, addiction, Jim Brodey, Holocaust survivor, Second Generation Writers, Jewish, Jews, poetry, 12 step program, recovery, sobriety, History, Writing, Alcoholism, Personal transformation

Scientist Radin separates magic into three categories: divination, force of will, and theurgy (evoking spirits - God force - through ceremony). Toms and Radin share some fascinating “magical” stories from their own lives. Radin posits that ”The secret power of the universe is not made out of matter and energy and physical stuff but is probably made out of consciousness.”Tags: MP3, Dean Radin, divination, intention, force of will, optimism, pessimism, positive thinking, affirmations, synchronicity, confidence, coincidence, attachment, letting go of outcome, Quantum Zeno effect, I Ching, precognition, second law of thermodynamics, Max Planck, Health & Healing

Ora Nadrich shares a series of fundamental and effective questions we can ask ourselves when we pay attention to our negative thoughts. Her “Says Who!” Method can transform fear-based and worried thoughts into thoughts that serve our well-being and support positive action. Tags: Ora Nadrich, Jungian analysis, fear-based thoughts, worry, negative thoughts, neural pathways, busyness, monkey mind, isolation, beliefs, mindfulness, thoughts as a cheering squad, road rage, Pollyanna, baby steps, Spirituality,Personal Transformation, Self Help, Psychology, Relationship

This dialogue is filled with practical wisdom to support us in growing calmness and well-being so we may be more effective and resilient in our lives. Hanson assures us that the core of our being is “calm strength.” It is the background of who we are; it is a fundamental quality, the “wallpaper of our mind.”Tags: MP3, Rick Hanson, resilience, resilient, neuropsychology, resistance, persistence, developmental psychology, calmness, calm, Foundations of Well-Being, desire, neuroscience, brain, motivation, liking something, wanting something, brain science, motivational brain circuit, dopamine, neurochemicals, empathy, mirror neurons, empathic, generosity, Forrest Hanson, Health & Healing, Psychology, Science, Personal Transformation, Self Help

Sometimes our activity for positive change in the world makes a visible leap and other times the impact of our work takes a seemingly long time to show any results. As Loeb points out, “You draw hope from the knowledge that whatever it is that you do, something unexpected is going to happen. And, it often happens at the periphery of your vision.”Tags: Paul Rogat Loeb, Paul Loeb, Vaclav Havel, Velvet Revolution, Keystone Pipeline, Rosa Parks, Raymond Parks, Dr. Benjamin Spock, Anti-Nuclear Proliferation, grassroots movements, Clarence Jordan, Koinonia Farm, Tiananmen Square, Tank man, Tolstoy, David Roberts, Grist Magazine, Climate Change, hope, optimism, renewable energy, Jay Inslee, Governor of Washington State, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Dan Savage, Gay Rights Movement, getting out the vote, Walter Wink, Jesus and Alinsky, Bible stories, Turn the other cheek, nonviolent resistance, minimum wage, bike lanes, Cuiritiba Brazil, Bill McKibben, Peace/Nonviolence

A few subjects covered in this dynamic dialogue include: How did Tadd discover her ability to be a clairvoyant? How did Tadd discover her spirit guides? What process can we use to move from anxiety to calmness? How can we manifest true fulfillment beyond mere happiness? What is the relationship between destiny and choice? How our deepest fears are linked to a core wound.Tags: Ellen Tadd, spirit guides, clairvoyance, chakras, inspiration, crown chakra, third eye, spiritual bypass, original sin, original imbalance, destiny, choice, affirmations, deep listening, deepest fear, desire, Personal Transformation, Meditation, Intuition, Psychic, Spirit Guides, Angels, Spirit, Spirituality

Shakti, the feminine lifeforce energy that marries with our well-honed masculine skills, can fuel our creative endeavors.Our inner resources are like a tree, needing to be grounded like roots, giving and receiving love from the heart like the trunk of the tree. Connecting with spirit can be akin to the branches reaching upwards.  Tags: Lisa Schrader, sacred feminine, Shakti, tree of life, soul work, inner wisdom, showing up, masculine energy, beauty, pleasure, stress, sexuality, tantra, shame, resourced, self love, bisexuality, static masculine, static feminine, dynamic feminine, powerlessness, empowerment, oxytocin, Spirituality, Women's Studies, Personal Transformation, Meditation

Every day, it appears, the news about climate change is worse, as is the precarious balance of global politics. When it seems we are bent on destruction Bruce Lipton and Steve Bhaerman see our dire state as evidence of an evolutionary shift, as profound as the transformation of a caterpillar to a butterfly. Bruce Lipton, Ph.D. is an internationally recognized cellular and stem cell biologist and the recipient of the 2009 Goi Peace Award. He is an internationally recognized leader in bridging science and spirit. Steve Bhaerman is an author, humorist, and workshop leader. He’s also known as Swami Beyondananda, the “Cosmic Comic.” Tags: Bruce Lipton, Steve Bhaerman, Swami Beyondananda, Biology, Caterpillar, Butterfly, Imaginal Cells, Love, Fractal Mathematics, America, Baboons, Bonobos, Iain Couzin, Darwin, Social Change, Politics, Ecology, Nature, Environment, Global Culture, Science

Millions of people have reported having a dream or intuition that later came true. There is compelling data  from a growing mountain of research and fascinating theories about what it all means. Collectively, Dossey sees this information as one more clue that we’re all connected, each of us part of a great continuum that extends beyond space and time.Tags: Larry Dossey, ESP, premonition, consciousness, remote viewing, J. B. Rhine, 9/11 stories, John William Dulnne, David Bohm, Dreams, Health & Healing, Intuition, Psychic, Parapsychology, Paranormal, Science, Spirituality

How may we focus on what is important to us? How can we avoid technology overload? Why do certain things grab our attention and not others? With so many things now demanding our attention - emails, cell phones, text messages - many of us are overwhelmed by a plethora of distractions. Our lives may be described as the sum of what we focus on.Tags: Winifred Gallagher, psychology, focus, attention, meditation, brain, motivation, will power, Science, Psychology 

A lifelong Christian monastic who now lives in a cabin in the desert, Bielecki offers practical suggestions that will help you break out of the everydayness of your spiritual practice, bring laughter and play into your relationship with the sacred, and rediscover the wildness in your own life.Tags: Bible, Christianity, Desert Foundation, Jesus, mp3, Mysticism, Sabbath, Saint Teresa of Avila, Saints, Scriptures, spirituality, Tessa Bielecki

Williams connects two catastrophic events: living downwind of nuclear testing in the deserts of Utah, and the record-breaking flooding of the Great Salt Lake. These events have deeply affected her sense of the need for refuge. She poetically conveys to us her personal perspectives on grief, love, and the spirituality of nature, lake and desert.Tags: Terry Tempest Williams, atomic testing, nuclear power, Great Salt Lake, Utah, cancer, nature, grief, spirituality, creativity, family, relationship, poetry, ancestors, Ecology, Nature, Environment, Social Change, /Politics, Personal Transformation, Relationship, Partnerships, Self Help

Travel with Susan Moon to get an inside view on the perils and joys of aging. With humor and deep insight, she encourages us to move forward in our aging with courage and hope. She talks about coping with “senior moments”, facing the death of loved ones and why long-term friendships matter. She is the author of This is Getting Old: Zen Thoughts on Aging with Humor and Dignity.Tags: Susan Moon, Personal Transformation,  Buddhism,  Community,  Death , Dying,  Aging , Senior Moment, Eldering, Growing Old, Personal Growth, Buddhism, Community, Death & Dying

The stories we tell ourselves about our childhood and our present life are like clothing we put on. But do these tales tell us who we truly are? Gangaji says, "For better and worse, our stories become the reference points for defining who we are, who we are with, and what it all means." How do we separate ourselves from this narrative and uncover the truth of our lives?Tags: Gangaji, Stories, storytelling, suffering, personal narrative, nature of inquiry, fear, habits of mind, questions, reversal of fortune, Papaji, Sri H.W.L. Poonja, emotion, emotions, feeling, feelings, Spirituality, Meditation, Personal Transformation, Psychology, Religion, Self Help

Homer survived being trapped without Cooper for days after 9/11 in an apartment near the World Trade Center.  Listen as Cooper shares how his unswerving loyalty, his infinite capacity for love, and his joy in the face of all obstacles inspired her daily and transformed her life.Tags: Gwen Cooper, cat, veterinarian, 9/11, love, animal companions,  Animals, Relationship, Partnership, Sexuality

In these times of intense political polarization, civic despair is rampant. How does this affect our democracy and how can we counteract this apathy? Daley-Harris has been working tirelessly to provide trainings for ordinary citizens to empower effective political action and to help citizens be most effective in reshaping the issues they most care about. Sam Daley-Harris is the author of Reclaiming Our Democracy: Healing the Break Between People and Government, the 20th Anniversary Edition.Tags: Sam Daley-Harris, grassroots activism, Francis Moore Lappe, Lawrence Lessig, Citizen’s Untied, democracy, R. Buckminster Fuller, campaign financing, Citizen’s Climate Lobby, AUMF, Pat Swindall, MicroCredit legislation, Micro Credit, Grameen Bank, Social change/Politics, Media, Self Help

The world is changing and we must learn to move and change with it.  Each of us must cultivate our leadership capacities and assume responsibility to manifest creative solutions. Callaway shares how we can cultivate our own leadership qualities.Tags: ambiguity, bionomics, brain, business management, collaboration, deep breathing, economics, health care, intuition, leadership, living systems, Marguerite Callaway, Marguerite Moore Callaway, polarized, politics, Rick Hansen, science, solutions, time, western mind, Business, Personal Growth 

What is of utmost importance to Fuller are the questions we bring to our life process. He says, “Once you’ve formed a question, it almost guarantees you will find the answer.” In this far-ranging conversation, he shares some provocative thoughts on the coming inevitability of robots becoming a more dominant species than homo sapiens and why we must befriend them. Robert Fuller is the author of The Theory of Everybody.Tags: Robert Fuller, questions, Isidor Isaac Rabi, cloud of possibility, polarization, mal-recognition, recognition, the dignity movement, rankism, socialism, communism, capitalism, competition, collaboration, interconnectedness, robots, AI, artificial intelligence, quantum physics, entanglement, spooky action at a distance, mind, Elon Musk, Social change/Politics, Personal Transformation, Philosophy, Education

As a research scientist who is also interested in spirituality, Tart would like to see the scientific method applied to inform a deeper understanding of religious and spiritual phenomena. Here he explores the difference between scientism and science. He also shares his own personal psychic experience. Charles Tart, Ph.D. is the author of The Secret Science of the Soul: How Evidence of the Paranormal is Bringing Science and Spirit Together.Tags: Charles Tart, skeptics, pseudoskeptics, Dean Radin, Newtonian shields, quantum physics, nonlocality, spooky action at a distance, intellectual functioning, emotional functions, body instinctive functioning, materialism, psychical research, predictions, telepathy, parapsychology, esp, clairvoyance, remote viewing, precognition, psychokinesis, altered states, psychic healing, hypnosis, Western Creed, Science, Spirituality, Personal Transformation, Meditation, Parapsychology/Paranormal, Intuition/Psychic

Beginning with her experience of psychic phenomena from early childhood, Currivan was led on a quest of a life-long exploration of the nature of reality. Her research has come to show that information is as real as anything we call physical reality. Here we explore the reality of informational physics and why this matters in our daily lives. Jude Currivan is the author of The Cosmic Hologram: In-formation at the Center of Creation.Tags: Jude Currivan, informational physics, quantum physics, black holes, quantum mechanics, Max Planck. Holograms, Ludwig Boltzmann, entropy, the “Big Bang”, pixellation, Planck’s scale, Lewis Carroll, the Red Queen Dilemma, flickering, love, Science, Spirituality, Personal Transformation

Healer Nicki Scully tells us how it is time for us to move from healing ourselves to healing the planet. We can do this collectively by joining together in circles, in phone-bridges, and in our own personal meditations. Now is the time for us to make a quantum leap in consciousness. We must co-create this movement; we must allow spirit to come in through our hearts and minds. Scully says, “Now is the time of tremendous opportunity for people to put their hearts and minds together. If all of the individuals join in circles, and all the circles join, and we’re all focusing on planetary healing, this uniting of minds and hearts can give us a tremendous opportunity for quantum leap [in consciousness].” Tags: alchemy, cancer, co-crafting evolution, co-creation, fear, harmonic convergence, heart breath, intelligent evolution, mp3, Nicki Scully, quantum leap in consciousness, shamanic healing, shamanism, spirit medicine, Global Culture, Health & Healing, Personal Growth, Self-Help

Depth hypnosis and the “Coming to Peace” process provide a pathway for healing conflict and coming to a place of reconciliation and wholeness. This process can involve one’s personal inner conflicts as well as the larger dynamics of family systems. Gucciardi says, “The truth is that the symptom is the tip of the iceberg . . .The symptom becomes the path to healing in depth hypnosis.”Tags: Isa Gucciardi, depth hypnosis, Huichol Indians, Bedouins, deep listening, Iroquois Confederacy, ho’oponopono process, inner wisdom, inner guidance, unconscious motivations, circle work, duality, polarization, forgiveness, Ubuntu, Psychology, Shamanism, Spirituality, Buddhism

Here we explore how we can abide in equanimity with the displays of hatred and polarization in these most challenging times. There is one person who models for us the highest form of radical peace, His Holiness the Dalai Lama. In this dialogue we explore how we too may embody peace and nonviolence as we find peacewithin ourselves and with the world. Tags: Robert Thurman, despair, happiness, suffering, love, strong force, Kundan, nonviolence, Tibet, genocide, China, Jesus, Matthew Fox, ethics, karma, generosity, Bucky Fuller, elections, voting, Buddhism, Spirituality, Peace/Nonviolence, Religion, Social Change, Politics

This physicist and mystic combine their wisdom and experience to encourage us at this time of “choice point” for humanity. They describe what occurs in our brain when surprises happen and how that provides the opportunity to instantly change a long-standing habit. Hade describes the importance of knowing our core values in order to be resilient.Tags: Deirdre Hade, William Arntz What The Bleep Do We Know, illumination, mysticism, scientism, curiosity, intuition, Sodom and Gomorrah, faith, Age of Surprises, habits, neuroplasticity, resilience, core virtues, core values, despair, fear, awe, soul, angelic presence, archangels, Philosophy, Science, Spirituality, intuition/psychic, 

Judith takes us on a historical journey and moves us into the present era. She has hope for the future and points out that there is an under-reported grassroots movement taking place today, but warns, “We need to be careful not to judge it as a system that doesn’t work just because it’s young… we have to move through the chaos and find a new organizing principle.” Tags: Anodea Judith, rational thinking, mythical thinking, chakras system, human kind’s stages of survival, static masculine, static feminine, dynamic masculine, dynamic feminine, butterfly and caterpillar, photosynthesis, single celled microbes became multi-celled organisms, consumers, imaginal cells, Arab spring, power dynamic, homeostasis, Jesus, democracy, internet, neocortex of the planet, three brains, limbic, reptilian, neocortex, twitter, facebook, Gaia, Occupy movement, web connection, ideagora, green technologies, heartmath, Global Culture, Psychology, History, Social Change/Politics, Personal Transformation, Spirituality

Any life-threatening medical diagnosis is a traumatic event and can invoke a complex mix of fear, sorrow, anger and confusion. The capacity to deal with such a trauma both during and after treatment involves a massive amount of energy and courage. Here we explore the emotional healing of survivorship. Cheryl Krauter is the author of Surviving the Storm: A Workbook for Telling Your Cancer StoryTags: Cheryl Krauter, survivor, cancer, deep listening, trauma, Maya Stein, How to Climb a Mountain poem, health advocate, fear, depression, grief, caregivers, tyranny of positive thinking, health support groups, Health & Healing, Personal Transformation

Cats and dogs bring to us many gifts including companionship and unconditional love. Carlyn Montes De Oca points out that “These furry companions are scientifically proven stress-busters in, perhaps, this most stressed-out age that humanity is ever known.” Here we explore how our cats and dogs can be our health and wellness allies. She is the author of Dog as my Doctor, Cat as my Nurse.Tags: Carlyn Montes De Oca, guardian, guardianship, cancer, petting, cholesterol, depression, stress, anxiety, EQ, emotional quotient, empath, Cesar Millan the dog whisperer, pen pals, prison programs and animals, forgiveness, prayer of ho’oponopono, Animals, Health & Healing, Personal Transformation

Here we explore the mind/body connection with pain, and the mechanism of chronic pain, with a spine specialist surgeon who has over 30 years experience in the care of chronic back pain. He advocates something he calls DOC, which stands for Direct Your Own Care, and he only performs surgery on patients he feels are certain to find relief through surgery. He is the author of Back in Control: A Surgeon’s Roadmap Out of Chronic Pain.Tags: David Hanscom, chronic pain, adrenalized nervous system, adrenalin, cortisol, anxiety, URTs, unpleasant repetitive thoughts, structural pain, nervous system pain, pain circuits, pain pathways, neuroplasticity, myelin, nerve cells, meditation, expressive writing, spinal fusion, sleep, mindfulness, Health & Healing, Personal Transformation

McDonough describes what is meant by the idea of “Cradle to Cradle,” and says “Things are designed to either go back to biology or back to technology without contaminating each other.” He tells us that we can and must design things to go back into an intelligent material pool for human benefit without contaminating the environment. Tags: bionutrients, cold fusion, Cradle to Cradle, e=mc2, ecology, effective, efficiency, environment, environmentalism, environmentalist, human rights, Make it Right project, nature, Pacific garbage patch, population, sewage plants, social equity, technology, technonutrients, triple top line, William McDonough, Business, Ecology, Nature, Environment, Personal Growth, Science, Self-Help, Social Change, Politics, Technology

Pevny shares the three phases of coming into elderhood: severance, neutral zone, and reincorporation. We need to sever ourselves from old identities in healthy and honoring ways. Then we enter a neutral zone where the seeds of possibility are gestating. He encourages us to deepen our spirituality so that we can move into reincorporation.Ron Pevny is the founder and director of the Colorado-based Center for Conscious Eldering. He’s a certified Sag-ing® Leader with Sag-ing® International and conducts workshop and retreats across North America. He is the author of Conscious Living, Conscious Aging: Embrace & Savor Your Next Chapter (Atria Paperback 2014)Tags: Ron Pevny, aging, saging, elderhood, eldering, elders, Stephen Foster, Meredith Little, vulnerability, fear, rite of passage, isolation, inner journey, inner guidance, cohousing, elder wisdom circles, Saging International, R. Buckminster Fuller, Bucky Fuller, Joseph Campbell, Jack Williamson, Intergenerational Writing, Patricia Sun, gratitude, grace, rites of passage, Jan Richardson poem “The Map You Make Yourself”, vision board, creative expression, dreams, solitude, synchronicity, Personal Transformation, Health & Healing, Community

What if despite aging, injuries, health conditions and illnesses you could not only return to a state of health you enjoyed previously, but even improve on it? Greer explores feelings and thoughts both conscious and unconscious that are intertwined and can influence your physical health. He encourages us to explore our own health story. Carl Greer, Ph.D., Psy.D. is a practicing clinical psychologist, Jungian analyst, and shamanic practitioner. He teaches at the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago and is on staff at the Replogle Center for Counseling and Well-Being. He is the author of Change The Story of your Health: Using Shamanic and Jungian Techniques for Healing (Findhorn Press 2017) and Change Your Story, Change Your Life: Using Shamanic and Jungian Tools to Achieve Personal Transformation (Findhorn Press 2014)Tags: Carl Greer, energy work, energy medicine, inner healer, changes habits, overeating, dieting, losing weight, personal power and weight, shamanic journeys, rituals, sacred ceremonies, fire ceremony, sacred listening, deep listening, depression, anxiety. Health & Healing, Psychology, Shamanism

Being with a person who is close to death may be difficult and confusing. Oftentimes it is mystifying to discern what they are talking about because their speech pattern can sound nonsensical. Lisa Smartt has done extensive research regarding the words spoken by many at this threshold and she advises us to be open to the experience our loved ones are having.She is a linguist, educator, and poet. She’s founder of The Final Words Project, an ongoing study devoted to collecting and interpreting the mysterious language at the end of lives. She lives in Athens, Georgia, and is the author of Words at the Threshold: What We Say as We’re Nearing Death (New World Library 2017) Tags: Lisa Smartt, nonsensical speech, paradoxical nonsense, signature metaphors, survival of consciousness, life after death, Raymond Moody, end of life care, Maggie Callanan, Patricia Kelly, coma, Death & Dying, Parapsychology, Paranormal

Change is going to come no matter what. Pinchbeck is advocating nothing less than the need to embrace our responsibility for understanding what’s happening and play an active part in caring for the world. He feels this time in our human history can serve as our initiation to the next level of consciousness: ecologically, socially, politically, and spiritually. He is the author of: Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism Broadway Books 2003), 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl (Tarcher/Perigee 2007) and How Soon is Now: From Personal Initiation to Global Transformation (Watkins Publishing 2017)Tags: Daniel Pinchbeck, ecological crisis, methane gas, post-work society, agriculture, topsoil, farming practices, permaculture, Sahel Region in Africa, desertification, William McDonough, Cradle to Cradle, social systems, political systems, economic systems, debt, money, artificial scarcity, Bernard Lietaer, evolutionary biology, Time Republic, cryptocurrency, blockchain, private property, Rousseau, Tamera in Portugal, elder woman, Berlin wall, RegenVillages, Buckminster Fuller, participatory democracy, capitalist democracy, loomio.org, Podemos, DemocracyOS platform, psychedelics, Ayahuasca, Peyote, mushrooms, the internet, hippies, Mark Zuckerberg, Timothy Berners-Lee, cooperation, competition, Community, Ecology, Nature, Environment, Global Culture, Indigenous Wisdom, Money, Economics, Philosophy, Social Change, Politics

British biologist Rupert Sheldrake asks questions that most scientists haven't thought of, or have been discouraged from asking. He is best known for his morphic field theory, which explores aspects of reality that are unexplained in terms of current physics. In this talk, he proposes setting science free from its most constricting dogmas and unexamined assumptions. He is the author of several books including:The Rebirth of Nature; The Greening of Science and God (Bantam 1991), A New Science of Life: The Hypothesis of Morphic Resonance (J.P. Tarcher 1995), The Presence of the Past (Times Books 1995), Natural Grace: Dialogues on Creation, Darkness, and the Soul in Spirituality and Science (coauthor Matthew Fox) (Doubleday 1996), The Physics of Angels: Exploring the Realm Where Science and Spirit Meet (coauthor Matthew Fox)(HarperSanFrancisco 1996), Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home: And Other Unexplained Powers of Animals (Three Rivers Press 2001), Seven Experiments That Could Change the World: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Revolutionary Science (2nd Edition with Update on Results) (Park Street Press 2002), The Sense of Being Stared At: And Other Aspects of The Extended Mind (Crown 2003), Science Set Free (Deepak Chopra Books, 2012), also published in the UK as The Science Delusion.Tags: Rupert Sheldrake, Ph.D., morphic fields, morphic resonance, morphogenetic fields, brain, science, Social Change, Politics, Philosophy

What would lead a person to choose to live alone for a year on a small, remote island on the coast of southern Chile? What is it like to truly notice how, as humans, we are constantly shifting from a sense of isolation into the experience of freedom and belonging?  Robert Kull discusses these questions, and more. Tags: MP3  Robert Kull, Solitude,  Wilderness,  Patagonia,  Storytelling,  Journaling,  Mindfulness,  Alon,  Wind, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Buddhism, Meditation, Spirituality, Travel

When stress feels overwhelming, we struggle to find the balance we desperately need to get through it all. Borysenko guides us through the warning signs of pessimism and the pitfalls of optimism, and offers up a wealth of suggestions for how to develop what she calls “stress-hardiness”—to handle all of life’s challenges with resilience, equanimity, and inner peace.Tags: Joan Borysenko, optimism, pessimism, fear, stress, realism, realist, optimist, pessimist, faith, discernment, judgment, Ilya Prigogine, Martin Seligman, Positive Psychology, commitment, Personal Transformation, Health, Healing, Psychology, Self Help, Spirituality

Matthew Fox, Ph.D. has had his finger on the pulse of western spirituality for decades. When he casts his keen eye on the state of spirituality among men in the twenty-first century, you can be sure he’ll discern the unspoken woundedness, yearning, and passion of the modern warrior. (This program was originally Broadcast in 2008.)Tags: MP3, archetypes, arts, creativity, dark goddess, feminine, Glue Men, green man, Hunter-Gatherers, masculine, Matthew Fox, Men’s Studies, philosophy, Sacred Marriage, spirituality, warrior

Dr. Judith Orloff says intuition comes through being entirely receptive, open, playful, and as spontaneous as possible. She offers a wealth of suggestions for how you can expand your inner knowing—and in the process discover a more loving, inspired way of living.Tags: Judith Orloff, intuition, psychic, synchronicity, Déjà vu, premonitions, fear, Intuition/Psychic, Dreams, Self Help

Does our present system of economics truly serve the needs of the 21st century world? What are the stepping stones to a new economic structure? Lietaer and Dunne give many examples of successful, large scale, cooperative and complementary currencies in place today offering various communities resilience and sustainability and making for more robust economic systems. Tags: Bernard Lietaer, Jacqui Dunne, IKung people, Bali Banjar system, barter, complementary currencies, cooperative currencies, Curitiba Brazil, debt, demurrage, Deutsche Bank, Frequent Flyer Miles, Fureai Kippu, interest, social capital, WIR, World Bank, Business, Community, Global Culture, Money/Economics, Social Change/Politics 

Frankel recommends that we not make a habit of focusing on the obstacles on our life paths. Rather, we should consider the open spaces before us as our guides. She further suggests that we designate some time each month to take a “wordfast” and points out that “Silence is a precious commodity and if we don’t create space for ourselves we’re going to drown in our words.”Tags: Estelle Frankel, uncertainty, worry, anxiety, Antonio Machado, faith, fear, Judaism, Passover, Moses, Exodus, the farmer’s good luck and bad luck story, teleological questions, logotherapy, Rilke, The Tower, Yod Hey Vav Hey, YHVH, Eheyeh, Ishbitzer, courage, imagination, mourning, silence, Dr. Laura Stachel, Naomi Newman, Snake Talk, Psychology, Philosophy, Religion, Relationship

Here we explore the legacy of the late Tony Schwartz with his son, Anton. Tony Schwartz created commercials for more than four hundred corporations, five presidential campaigns, and countless social causes. He was hailed as a guru of the newly emerging “electronic media” by Marshall McLuhan. In 2007, the Library of Congress acquired Schwartz’s entire body of work.Tags: Anton Schwartz, Tony Schwartz, media, communications, Folkway Records, advertising, partipulation, Subaru ad, American Cancer Society ad, focus groups, viral media, bots, fake news, life-long learning, Media, Education, History, Social Change/Politics

Humans live in a web of relationships, and true healing is always connected to family, community, and culture. Bedrick tells us that there is no symptom that belongs only to the individual, whether that ailment is emotional, spiritual, physical, social or financial. He gives examples of how symptoms are embedded and woven into all culture.Tags: David Bedrick, process psychology, depth psychology, process oriented psychology, depression, Robin Williams, anti-depressant medication, Maxine Waters, Sioux Nation and Black Hills land, Native Americans, weight, diets, inner critic, Maya Angelou, Judaism, Holocaust, Nagasaki, Hiroshima generation, Nazi Germany, Alzheimer’s, Psychology, Personal Transformation, Self Help, Indigenous Wisdom

Lane drew a circle on a map that represented a one-mile radius from his home, and explored every facet of the place including the topography, history, ancient and current citizenry, and industry. This exploration sharpened his sense of place, and serves as a model for how we might look at our own homes, terrain, and communities. John Lane is an associate professor of English at Wofford College. His writing has been published in Orion, American Whitewater, Southern Review, Terra Nova, and Fourth Genre. He's the editor of the digital newsletter "Kudzu Telegraph."  His books include: Waist Deep in Black Water (University of Georgia Press 2004), The Woods Stretched for Miles (University of Georgia Press 1999), Chattooga: Descending Into the Myth of Deliverance River (University of Georgia Press 2005), Weed Time: Essays from the Edge of a Country Yard (Hub City Press 1996), As the World Around Us Sleeps (Briarpatch Press 1992), Circling Home (University of Georgia Press 2007), My Paddle to the Sea: Eleven Days on the River of the Carolinas (Wormsloe Foundation Series) (University of Georgia Press 2012)Tags: John Lane, community, History, Travel, Spartanburg SC, Spartanburg, South Carolina, Geography, Pacolet River, Home, South Carolina Piedmont, Clovis Point, Circling Home, Paleo Indians, Community, Ecology, Nature, Environment, History, Travel

There is much opposition to the programs reintroducing wild wolves into their natural habitat, at least some of which stems from our mythological view of wolves as standing for all that is vicious, dangerous, and savage. The recovery activity for this endangered keystone species is a long game. Here Peterson outlines this uphill endeavor on their behalf. Brenda Peterson is a novelist, nature writer, and writing teacher. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Orion Magazine, and O: The Oprah Magazine. She’s a regular commentator for Seattle NPR and the Huffington Post.  She is the author of eighteen books, including Build Me an Ark: A Life with Animals (W. W. Norton 2001), Duck and Cover (Backinprint.com 2004), I Want to Be Left Behind: Finding Rapture Here on Earth (Da Capo Press 2010), Wolf Haven: Sanctuary and the Future of Wolves in North America (coauthor Annie Marie Musselman) (Sasquatch Books 2016), Wolf Nation: The Life, Death, and Return of Wild American Wolves (De Capo 2017).Tags: Brenda Peterson, keystone species, wolves, trophic cascades theory, Christina Eisenberg, coyotes, wild dogs, OR7, Amoruk Weiss, Yellowstone, alpha wolf pair, Lobo and Blanca, Aldo Leopold, Gifford Pinchot, wolf howling, wolf song, Rick McIntyre, Mexican Gray wolf, Wolf Haven, Community, Animals, Ecology, Nature, Environment

Robert Atkinson offers a deeply thoughtful view of conscious evolution drawn from the continuous wisdom of the world’s religions. He inspires hope as he traces love’s unifying power throughout history, and encourages us not to be distracted by seeming setbacks. He says, “love is the spiritual activism of our time.”  Robert Atkinson’s books include: The Gift of Stories: Practical and Spiritual Applications of Autobiography, Life Stories, and Personal Mythmaking (Praeger 1995), The Life Story Interview (Sage 1998), Remembering 1969: Searching for the Eternal in Changing Times (Baha’i Publishing 2008), The Story of Our Time: From Duality to Interconnectedness to Oneness (Sacred Stories Publishing 2017)Tags: Robert Atkinson, sacred story, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Pete Seeger, Joseph Campbell, mandala of Earth, unity in diversity, the golden rule, Bahá'u'lláh, Bahá'í, Charles Darwin, equality of women, earth stewardship, Mythology, Religion, Science, Spirituality, 

Andrew Forsthoefel created for himself a coming of age ritual. After graduating from college, he took a year to walk 4,000 miles across America. Along the way, he experienced the hospitality and wisdom of hundreds of strangers and encountered countless remarkable stories. He reveals how he become a trustworthy listener. Tune-in and be inspired by this authentic tale. He is the author of Walking To Listen: 4000 Miles Across America, One Story At a Time (Bloomsbury 2017)Tags: Andrew Forsthoefel, fear, generosity, asking questions, racial prejudice, stealth camping, Agape House, Rainer Maria Rilke, Walt Whitman, solitude, loneliness, Home Place, Navajo Reservation, Selma, Alabama, Death Valley, listening, Community, Personal Transformation, Death & Dying, Indigenous Wisdom, Peace, Nonviolence, Travel

Bienkowski grew up in Siberia, his family exiled by the Communist regime. In a life that began with nothing, living on soup made from discarded potato peelings, he learned that true wealth and happiness come from giving, and made his way observing the true value of gratitude, forgiveness, and understanding. He worked as a clinical psychologist for forty years, often connecting with institutionalized patients previously deemed hopeless. Since his retirement, he has continued to work as a teacher, lecturer, and hospice caregiver.  He is the author of One Life to Give: A Path to Finding Yourself by Helping Others (Co-author Mary Akers)(The Experiment 2010)Tags: MP3, psychology, death, dying, dreams, personal transformation, Siberia, Poland, Soviet Union, radical gratitude, hope, listening, survival, love, fear, Naikan, Philosophy, Psychology

Van Gelder launched a 12,000 mile trip across America to explore the many dynamic movements taking root around the country. She collected a myriad of stories and examples that give us hope for our future. She observes that the sustainable systems change that is required in these threshold times is now being modeled on local levels across the country. She is the author of: The Revolution Where You Live: Stories from a 12,000-Mile Journey Through a New America. (Berrett-Koehler Publishers 2017)Tags: Sarah van Gelder, poverty, wealth, inequality of wealth, Otter Creek Montana, Coal strip mining, Bakken Oil fields, fracking, Turtle Mountain Chippewa, community, potlucks, isolation, DIT, Do It Together, Halima Cassells, swap meets, extractive economies, sharing economies, Greensboro N.C., farmers markets, Whitesburg Kentucky, Appalshop, Archimedes, Community, Social change/Politics, History, Indigenous Wisdom

Marianchild has trained herself as an amateur naturalist watching wildlife, leading nature walks, and giving slide presentations. Here she shares the delight that comes from walking slowly or sitting quietly in nature, including how we might go about discovering our local eco-system. Kate Maranchild is the author of: Secrets of The Oak Woodlands: Plants & Animals Among California’s Oaks (Heyday 2014)Tags: Kate Marianchild, acorn woodpeckers, western scrub jay, corvids, titmouse, Oak Woodlands, newts, manzanita, keystone species, California ground squirrels, wasps, ants, poison oak, woodrat, Christmas bird count, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Personal Transformation

Discover what emotions are governing your lifeand learn how to release them and heal your addictions. Cushnir explores such ideas as why your brain perceives emotions as a threat to your survival, why you don’t need to understand an emotion to be able to release it, and how you can “surf” your way through difficult emotions.Tags: Raphael Cushnir, MP3, feeling, feelings, emotion, emotions, Dark Night of the Soul, emotional resistance, sin, compulsions and addictions, addiction, compulsive behavior, gratitude, Personal Transformation, Buddhism, Philosophy, Psychology, Self Help

For decades, Diana Leafe Christian has been researching and giving workshops on ecovillages. She feels that sociocracy is one of the most effective methods of governance for serving intentional communities. It is a whole-system science that goes a step beyond consensus- governing practices. It uses transparency and inclusiveness, and creates a resilient and coherent system.Tags:  Diana Leafe Christian, intentional community, intentional communities, sociocracy, consensus governance, Earthaven Intentional Community, Ernest Callenbach, Ecotopia, NVC, Non-violent communication, Marshall Rosenberg, conflict resolution, majority rule, circles, committees, power with, power over, Community, Social Change, Politics

In her prequel to the Earthsong series of novels that take place in Neolithic times, Mary Mackey envisions when the matristic and patriarchal cultures clashed. One culture lived in collaborative partnerships with a communal way of governing. The other was a more warlike and aggressive culture. She shares the research on which she bases her stories.Tags: Mary Mackey, Neolithic history, matristic, matriarchy, matriarchal, goddess worshiping, Marija Gimbutas, empathy, compassion, Neolithic graves, Neanderthal, fairytales, Beowulf, Grendel, oral cultures, troubadours, Linear B, Cumaean Sybil, Leonard Shlain, oral tradition, email, conquistadors, Neolithic ceramics and pottery, Kurgan nomads, publishing, Writing, History, Women’s Studies

In this very practical approach, from a Buddhist perspective, Dzoghen Ponlop Rinpoche leads us to the key to understanding life and death: understanding the mind. He explains, “The original state of our mind and consciousness is totally free and full of compassion. It's like someone sitting on a heap of garbage piled on top of some land under which there is a tremendous treasure."Tags: Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, Bardo, pain, fear, Karmapa, time space, emptiness, paradox, fantasy, anger, mind, Buddhism, Spirituality

Sylvia Boorstein shares her insights on how we can be more accepting of the negative patterns in our minds, and find happiness regardless of the challenges we face. As one of the most beloved American teachers of Buddhism, she brings warmth, humor, and real-life honesty to the principles of mindfulness and spiritual practice. Tags: MP3, Sylvia Boorstein, Peace, Meditation,  Kindness,  compassion,  four noble truths,  4 noble truths,  eightfold path, Work, Livelihood, Buddhism, Peace, Non-Violence

Physicist F. David Peat points out there is something deeper at work in the universe and in our personal lives than chance or even rational thought. Through his stories he explores the relationship between science, art, creativity, and culture.Tags: David Peat, synchronicity, science, radio, quantum, philosophy, music, listening, Jung, F. Dave Peat, dialogue, David Bohm, consciousness, chaos

Ervin Laszlo talks about politics, economics, culture, consciousness, ecology, sustainability, and spirituality, all with the deftness of one who understands the unfolding of universes as well as the nature of particulate matter.Tags: Ervin Laszlo, mind, integral systems, music, sustainability, beliefs, chaos, unsustainability, universal science, cosmos, material world, evolution, politics, economics, culture, consciousness, complexity, ecology, interconnection, interdependent, physics, community, Science, Philosophy, Spiritually    

Needleman’s portraits of Washington, Jefferson and other famous historical figures ignites our imagination, and instills in us a deep reverence and appreciation for the unwavering vision that was necessary to establish our government.Tags: Jacob Needleman, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, American forefathers, Bill of Rights, America, Iroquois Confederacy, American Constitution, Nation, Slavery, Native American genocide, George Washington, Term of Presidency, America's founding principles, racism, founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin,  Philosophy, History, Social Change/Politics, Indigenous Wisdom, Spirituality

How do our thoughts create our lives and impact others? How can we shield ourselves from the harmful thoughts and emotions of others? What do the words “abra kadabra” actually mean? How can sticky notes assist us in calming anger? Join this shamanic teacher and author to find out.Tags: alchemy, intention, decrees, transmute energy, shamanic nature, reaction, reflection, Blue Egg, healing, personal transformation, psychology, self help, Sandra Ingerman, Self Help, Personal Transformation, Psychology

Bedrick is a practitioner of Process Oriented Psychology. This branch of psychology acknowledges the diversity that exists in humankind and does not attempt to “normalize” clients to fit a certain mold. Eschewing labels, it differs from much of mainstream psychology as it follows the energy and allows the client to reveal their own cure or medicine.Tags: David Bedrick, identified patient, family systems, scapegoats, process oriented psychology, psychology, Dr. Phil, ADHD, compromise, shame, losing weight, dieting, Psychology, Personal Transformation, Self Help

How might we rapidly accelerate our creativity and contributions to the world? Jonas Koffler says it is never too late to explore our innate talents and unearth hidden opportunities, and tells us that the first thing to do is to break free of self-inflicted friction that is fear-based, lacks courage, and has a sense that we’re not worthy as we hustle our way to recharging our life and creativity.Tags: Jonas Koffler, curiosity, luck, creative synthesis, pattern recognition, creative momentum, entrepreneur, Nirvan Mullick, Caine’s Arcade, inspiration, hustle, debt, perfection, adaptive resilience, learned blindness, learned helplessness, Martin Seligman, personal opportunity portfolio, Art & Creativity, Personal Transformation, Self Help

This dialogue blends the scientific study of cells with the mystical mystery they contain. We learn that cells can be our teachers, that they need community to survive, and how our emotions affect our cells. If we are worried or fearful, the body prepares us to fight or flight. The more we understand how our cells work, the more effectively we can live our lives.Tags: Sondra Barrett, cells, guided imagery, Belleruth Naparstek, community, Qigong, tai chi, epigenetics, spirals, Science, Health & Healing, Shamanism, Spirituality

This dialogue with Robyn Posin, Ph.D. explores how we may become more consistently gentle, more kind, and more tender with ourselves in this mad-paced world. How may we develop the habit of listening to that little voice inside that is so often ignored in the name of expediency?  She suggests some words we may use to coax this “little one” to come out and be heard.Tags: Robyn Posin, abandoning ourselves, anger, gentle with ourselves, rush, belly wisdom, safe container, grief, gut feeling, listening, little voices inside, Paul Rebillot, personal Altar, portable altar, nurture, sadness, procrastination, efficiency, effectiveness, efficient, effective, caretaking, deep listening, re-parenting, inner voice, Psychology, Health, Healing, Self Help, Personal Transformation

We are on the cusp of a radical paradigm shift in worldviews. It is as if two tectonic plates are rubbing up against one another. One is called “Datastan” – the paradigm that quantifies, counts, measures, and commoditizes everything. The other is “The Republic of Stories” where diversity, the artist, individual stories, and every contribution matters. Tags: Arlene Goldbard, datastan, Republic of Story, Corporate Nation, No Child Left Behind, prisons, unemployment, Move to Amend, hope, Story Teller, Trash Dance, graffiti, billboards, customer service, storytelling, Katherine Boo, poverty, confirmation bias, art, artist, music, occupy movement, Roadside Theater, Augusto Boal, Social Change, Politics, Art & Creativity, Business, Community

In this deep dialogue we look at a new theory of God based on science. Abrams suggests that we need a God that can connect us spiritually to the “real” universe and can guide our now globally conscious species toward a long-term and honorable civilization. She describes emergent phenomena as well as the effectiveness of prayer.Tags: Nancy Abrams, God, atheist, double dark theory, a higher power, Genesis, Torah,Babylonians, Babylonia, supernatural God, cosmic congress, theory of emergence, emerging God, ants, emergent phenomenon, emergent phenomena, the emergent economy, the emergent market, aspirations, self-reflection, prayer, mindmeld, R. Buckminster Fuller, Bucky Fuller, Sunrise, Sunset, origin stories, creation stories, global civilization, Golden Rule, Honor your father and mother, stardust, truth box, Newtonian physics, Einstein, quantum physics.  Science, Religion, Spirituality, 

When messages abound that tell a young person they are not enough, they tend to concentrate their energies on being prettier, smarter, or more popular. Kelly and Tom Shelstad offer wilderness programs that have proven to be of help to teenagers as they traverse the treacherous waters from childhood to adulthood in a way that supports self-esteem and self-knowledge.Tags: Kelly Shelstad, Tom Shelstad, Kelly and Tom Shelstad, backpacking, wilderness, teenagers, classroom design, daydreaming, phosphorescent algae, Facebook, social media, boredom, circle, authenticity, guide councils, circle stamina, deep listening, intuition, attention, Ecology, Nature ,Environment, Personal Transformation, Relationship , Partnership, Sexuality, Travel, Parenting

Technology can enhance our lives or it can detract from our good health and well-being. Through the wise use of technology, gadgets, cognitive enhancers and supplements, we may receive help to have more peace, love, and joy in our lives. Robinson’s advice is to use the technology that opens our heart, makes us feel peaceful, and connects us more deeply with each other.Tags: Jonathan Robinson, Peace Chair, video games, PTSD, Heartmath, Slide Show app, heart coherence device, kindness, Marty Seligman, widgets of mass distraction, supplements, smart drugs, neutropics, coffee, tingle, gratitude, Steve Jobs, virtual reality, Thync, Sedona Method, 5 Rhythms Dancing

The white lions of Africa are considered sacred and they have been trophy hunted until they no longer live in the wild. Tucker has taken on the assignment to reintroduce them into their traditional hunting lands. This is the story of her decades long battle with the government and with breeders who charge huge fees to hunters to kill the recently caged lions.Tags: Linda Tucker, white lions, canned hunting, trophy hunting, big game hunting, apartheid, Lion Queen of Timbavati, Timbavati, Global White Lion Protection Trust, Maria Khosa, Egyptian mythology, Muriel Vince, Corelight, Leslie Temple-Thurston, Brad Laughlin

You will be inspired by Malden’s candor and clarity as she speaks about her experience of living through the debilitating disease and death of her husband and work partner. She likens this time in her life to being strapped in a roller coaster that you never bought a ticket for.

Delving into many different spiritual paths can be thought of as digging many shallow wells with the hope of reaching water. However, Mirabai Starr’s experience tells her that she is using many different tools to dig a single deep well.

Macy points out, “Our earth is alive. It’s not a supply house or a sewer, it is our larger living body with vast evolving intelligence that we are totally a part of and we can draw on.” She encourages us to face the facts of our immense planetary challenges. However, rather than allowing these realities to shut us down, we can choose the practice of active hope.