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Ep. 186 (Part 2 of 2) | In this lively, mind and heart-opening conversation, Miranda Macpherson, contemporary spiritual teacher and author, shares the extraordinary wisdom she has gained from experience—both from the initial life-changing transmission of boundless love she received in Ramana Maharshi’s cave, and from the subsequent need for integration of the deeper truths that were revealed upon being called back “down the mountain,” back to the West to teach and serve. For her, the trick of navigating ordinary life without reconstructing an ego boiled down to three words: What’s needed now?
Miranda discusses how to show up in the world of today and not let resistance to right action win. “Wake up and love,” she offers. “Take inventory, ask, is there anything in the way of me being openhearted and awake in this moment?” She explains a practice she developed called ego relaxation, emphasizes the power of devotion—the source of strength, love, courage, and motivation—and shares several of the key questions she asks herself in her own practice to keep her receptive to existential grace. Miranda’s inspiring teachings are infused with her foundational sense of divine benevolence; “Grace is alive!” she tells us. And being human, we can embody grace; we can become “grace delivery devices.” Recorded November 1, 2024.
“Being human is a grace delivery device.”
Topics & Time Stamps – Part 2After the ascent the descent; "coming down the mountain" (01:28)The power of devotion (04:12)A mantra carries with it the love, spiritual energy, and devotion of countless beings before us (06:28)The power of pilgrimages (08:58)Miranda’s practice now: Can I open my heart to all the suffering, let it be understood more completely, and be transformed? (12:22)Wake up and love: ask "Is there anything in the way of me being openhearted and awake in the now?" (15:44)Practicing with our blind spots (18:46)Multitasking is a disaster for spiritual practice (20:22)Ramana Maharshi’s transmission in the cave: Be nothing, do nothing, get nothing… be as you are. Rest in God. (22:24)Ego relaxation as a practice (23:40)Showing up and resting in God at the same time (26:50)The divine dance—here we are, learning how to be the best human beings we can be (30:41)The divine force always brings forth what is needed, but the gate is humility and surrender (34:24)What helps us into a posture of humility? (35:39)Appreciating Roger Walsh: do-er and be-er, curious and humble (38:15)Being human is a “grace delivery device;” embodying grace—grace is alive! (40:35)The importance of yes, of thank you (43:38)
Resources & References – Part 2Miranda’s website: MirandaMacpherson.com, The Living Grace Global SanghaMiranda Macpherson, The Way of Grace: The Transforming Power of Ego RelaxationA. H.... -
Ep. 185 (Part 1 of 2) | In this lively, mind and heart-opening conversation, Miranda Macpherson, contemporary spiritual teacher and author, shares the extraordinary wisdom she has gained from experience—both from the initial life-changing transmission of boundless love she received in Ramana Maharshi’s cave, and from the subsequent need for integration of the deeper truths that were revealed upon being called back “down the mountain,” back to the West to teach and serve. For her, the trick of navigating ordinary life without reconstructing an ego boiled down to three words: What’s needed now?
Miranda discusses how to show up in the world of today and not let resistance to right action win. “Wake up and love,” she offers. “Take inventory, ask, is there anything in the way of me being openhearted and awake in this moment?” She explains a practice she developed called ego relaxation, emphasizes the power of devotion—the source of strength, love, courage, and motivation—and shares several of the key questions she asks herself in her own practice to keep her receptive to existential grace. Miranda’s inspiring teachings are infused with her foundational sense of divine benevolence; “Grace is alive!” she tells us. And being human, we can embody grace; we can become “grace delivery devices.” Recorded November 1, 2024.
“There’s always more evolution, openness, clarification, expansion, and possibility—because God is exponential.”
Topics & Time Stamps – Part 1A prayer for all of us—for the human family and the highest possibilities (01:03)Introducing interfaith minister, spiritual teacher, author, and leader of the Living Grace Global Sangha, Miranda Macpherson (02:53)What brought Miranda to the spiritual path? (03:56)Miranda’s early prayer of resistance (I’m done here!) and the subsequent explosion of boundless love (08:37)Miranda’s opportunity at a young age to learn what a soul grapples with, hanging out with adults in a psych ward (12:14)Were there mentors to help Miranda after her opening? (17:01)How much harder it must be for teenagers to copy with existential crisis today (21:59)The G word: what is the authentic language of our own soul? (24:17)The fear we all have of remembering the ancient, forgotten song (25:14)Ultimately it asks for full surrender; then there is only God (27:18)It’s in the edgiest places that the biggest openings often happen (28:38)For every realization you have to ask, what is its wisdom? How can it be expressed & embodied so its only impact is a blessing? (30:20)Are there more people waking up now? (33:39)Not knowing what anything is for: being receptive to existential grace (38:17)Being absorbed into the depth of the nonconceptual: pure being in its thunderous, unshakable, silent depth (39:48)The experience in the cave obliterated everything—all spiritual concepts were erased (42:46)How to navigate ordinary life without reconstructing an ego (43:46)
Resources & References – Part 1Miranda’s website: MirandaMacpherson.comThe Living Grace Global SanghaMiranda Macpherson, -
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Ep. 184 (Part 2 of 2) | In the tenth dialogue of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, Hameed Ali addresses what co-host Roger Walsh calls perhaps Inner Journey Home’s most profound chapter of all, the chapter on True Nature, as well as subjects he writes about in his autobiographical fragment, Luminous Night’s Journey. In the second turning of the Diamond Approach teaching, we transition from exploring individual true nature to boundless true nature—the absolute, ground of all manifestation. Following the mystery of truth, you come to absolute truth, Hameed tells us, and you find a mystery that not only liberates but makes everything happen. Hameed describes the absolute as the radiant blackness before the light, its luminosity awareness, and relates how, in the absolute, the feeling of intimacy is palpable. Here, the soul recognizes “I am home.”
Hameed relates how being and nonbeing are integrated, and about how time and space emerge out of true nature. Every moment is a new creation, he explains, not formed by the past or present, but new, instant to instant, from nonbeing to being. Hameed says true nature is the essence of freedom, and that in these troubled times the important thing is to recognize “I am free” and ultimately indestructible, and to be ourselves, grounded by the truth of our inner nature. Towards the end of the conversation, co-host John Dupuy asks Hameed, “What motivates you? Why aren’t you simply hanging out being true nature?” Hameed laughs and responds, “I am.” Recorded April 10, 2025.
“The idea is to be free. Inwardly.”
Topics & Time Stamps – Part 2Beingness is what Hameed calls presence; everything is both being and non-being (00:52)Being in the world but not of this world (04:12)The effects of studying Reichian therapy and breathwork on Hameed’s experience and way of teaching (06:32)The body needs to be open and at ease to experience presence; this is why yoga is widely practiced in East Indian traditions (09:17)Is having an ego a necessary stage for waking up? (13:01)Space and time are created by true nature, even though it is timeless (14:43)True nature is the essence of freedom; it is “radically unqualifiable” (19:38)The depths of our experience set the limit on our intellectual understanding (22:53)In these troubled times, the important thing is to recognize “I am free” and be ourselves, grounded by the truth of our inner nature (25:07)Profound equanimity allows deeper compassion to emerge (28:29)The values of true nature are fundamental and eternal; how do we manifest these all the time? (29:20)After all the amazing, mind-shattering realizations, life becomes ordinary and simple (32:21)What motivates Hameed now? (35:24)
Resources & References – Part 2A. H. Almaas (Hameed Ali), founder of The Ridhwan School, home of The Diamond... -
Ep. 183 (Part 1 of 2) | In the tenth dialogue of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, Hameed Ali addresses what co-host Roger Walsh calls perhaps Inner Journey Home’s most profound chapter of all, the chapter on True Nature, as well as subjects he writes about in his autobiographical fragment, Luminous Night’s Journey. In the second turning of the Diamond Approach teaching, we transition from exploring individual true nature to boundless true nature—the absolute, ground of all manifestation. Following the mystery of truth, you come to absolute truth, Hameed tells us, and you find a mystery that not only liberates but makes everything happen. Hameed describes the absolute as the radiant blackness before the light, its luminosity awareness, and relates how, in the absolute, the feeling of intimacy is palpable. Here, the soul recognizes “I am home.”
Hameed relates how being and nonbeing are integrated, and about how time and space emerge out of true nature. Every moment is a new creation, he explains, not formed by the past or present, but new, instant to instant, from nonbeing to being. Hameed says true nature is the essence of freedom, and that in these troubled and times the important thing is to recognize “I am free” and ultimately indestructible, and to be ourselves, grounded by the truth of our inner nature. Towards the end of the conversation, co-host John Dupuy asks Hameed, “What motivates you? Why aren’t you simply hanging out being true nature?” Hameed laughs and responds, “I am.” Recorded April 10, 2025.
“In the absolute, everything dissolves; the absolute is the universal solvent.”
Topics & Time Stamps – Part 1Introducing the 10th dialogue in the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, focusing on The Inner Journey Home‘s chapter, True Nature (00:55)What is the phenomenological experience of presence? (02:07)The soul can feel like presence—but more often it is structured by our history and appears as our ego self (05:14)Presence is the true nature of everything: perfect, complete, totally blissful (06:24)Love of truth naturally appears in the heart along the inner journey (09:04)The concern with talking about true nature is if you describe it, people look for something that isn’t it (11:57)Hameed wrote Luminous Night’s Journey to elucidate the experience of the soul, the absolute, and how soul and absolute are integrated (13:48)In the second turning of the teaching, we transition from individual true nature to boundless true nature: the absolute, the ground of all manifestation (18:11)The visible and invisible, manifest and unmanifest (19:58)Everything happens not from present to future, but from nonbeing to being (21:04)Everything dissolves in the absolute: it is the universal solvent (21:41)The absolute is the luminous, radiant blackness before the light (24:57)In the absolute, the soul recognizes “I am home” (26:47)Looking into the absolute, there is nothing; looking away from it, you see the manifest (28:48)The concept and experience of cessation (30:44)Hameed’s distinction between consciousness and awareness (32:40)Awareness = luminosity + emptiness (34:25)Emptiness is not empty space, it’s being and nonbeing unified (36:39)
Resources & References – Part 1 -
Ep. 182 (Part 2 of 2) | Robert Lawrence Kuhn, producer of the popular PBS series Closer to Truth, which explores consciousness, the mystery of existence, and related topics with an open-minded approach, recently authored a remarkable article: “A Landscape of Consciousness,” in which he surveyed over 200 theories about what consciousness is. Robert tells how he inhabited each theory for a few days while writing it up, and discovered that unlike with other fields of knowledge, a study of consciousness produces more theories the more we know, rather than narrowing the field down. He emphasizes we need to be expansive with our universe of understanding of what consciousness is, and realize that how we engage with the Big Questions of life depends upon our particular theory of consciousness.
Robert tells how the Big Questions, notably what is consciousness and why is there something rather than nothing, have called him all his life, leading him to create the Closer to Truth series, to explore these questions with the leading minds of our time. What Robert didn’t know to begin with, but marvels about now, is how the passion for delving into the most fundamental, existential questions we face as humans unifies people around the world, from every demographic, providing a unique and wonderful point of integration. This is a fascinating, warm, engaging conversation that draws us ever farther into an exploration of the mysteries of life, where we glimpse what lies at the core of humanity. Recorded April 17th, 2025.
“It’s not that we have too many theories of consciousness, it’s that we have one too few.”
Topics & Time Stamps – Part 2The challenge of putting these theories into a digestible form (00:54)Understanding our personal theories of consciousness as extensions of our worldview (03:14)Our own theories often evolve from materialism to panpsychism to idealism (07:11)How the title Closer to Truth for the PBS/YouTube series came about (11:59)It’s easier to entertain materialist or atheist theories in environments constructed by humans—exposed to the natural universe, you encounter awe, wonder, connection (14:04)The concept of awe and transcendence in art and how it reflects our nature of mind (16:16)What has exploring these theories of consciousness done to Robert? (17:59)The closer we look, the more we end up in bottomless mystery (23:36)How exploring the Big Questions unifies people—cutting across religion, race, culture (25:28) Acknowledging the limits of knowledge—epistemic humility—appreciating the mystery, and universality (29:54)The deeper your understanding goes, the richer your appreciation and awe (31:16)
Resources & References – Part 2Robert Lawrence Kuhn, creator, producer, and host of the PBS series, Closer To TruthRobert Lawrence Kuhn, “A Landscape of Consciousness,”article in Progress in Biophysics & Molecular Biology, August 2024Paul Davies, quantum physicist, director of BEYOND: Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science, “The universe is about something.” -
Ep. 181 (Part 1 of 2) | Robert Lawrence Kuhn, producer of the popular PBS series Closer to Truth, which explores consciousness, the mystery of existence, and related topics with an open-minded approach, recently authored a remarkable article: “A Landscape of Consciousness,” in which he surveyed over 200 theories about what consciousness is. Robert tells how he inhabited each theory for a few days while writing it up, and discovered that unlike with other fields of knowledge, a study of consciousness produces more theories the more we know, rather than narrowing the field down. He emphasizes we need to be expansive with our universe of understanding of what consciousness is, and realize that how we engage with the Big Questions of life depends upon our particular theory of consciousness.
Robert tells how the Big Questions, notably what is consciousness and why is there something rather than nothing, have called him all his life, leading him to create the Closer to Truth series, to explore these questions with the leading minds of our time. What Robert didn’t know to begin with, but marvels about now, is how the passion for delving into the most fundamental, existential questions we face as humans unifies people around the world, from every demographic, providing a unique and wonderful point of integration. This is a fascinating, warm, engaging conversation that draws us ever farther into an exploration of the mysteries of life, where we glimpse what lies at the core of humanity. Recorded April 17th, 2025.
“Consciousness is perhaps the single most unifying question that humanity can explore.”
Topics & Time Stamps – Part 1Introducing Robert Lawrence Kuhn, author, public intellectual, producer of the PBS series Closer to Truth, which explores fundamental questions of existence (01:02)How did it feel to be writing “A Landscape of Consciousness,” a 175k-word article that surveys over 200 theories about what consciousness is (02:50)Now Robert is building a website with notated theories of consciousness that allows for theories to grow and change (11:33)Consciousness theories, unlike other fields of knowledge, grow the more we know (14:59)All the “big questions” are dependent on your theory of consciousness (18:57)Why is there something rather than nothing? What is consciousness? Two fundamental questions that have been with Robert all along (23:17)Nine levels of nothing and the deep nature of phenomenal consciousness (25:36)Why Robert didn’t include his own theory in his survey, and then did—in 71 words (26:58)What does the explosion of consciousness theories say about consciousness? (30:27)The self-referential paradox of understanding consciousness (35:04)How to structure and organize the amalgam of theories (37:08)Roughly half the theories went into materialism categories (39:02)Challenge theorists conclude we can never understand consciousness (41:03)Robert’s theory categories: materialism, non reductive physicalism, quantum, integrated information, panpsychism, monism, dualism, idealism, illusory, anomalies and altered states (42:18)What kind of knowledge do psychedelics and altered states offer? (49:20)
Resources & References – Part 1Robert Lawrence Kuhn, creator, producer, and host of the PBS series, Closer To TruthRobert Lawrence Kuhn,... -
Ep. 180 (Part 2 of 2) | In this podcast, John Prendergast, spiritual teacher, depth psychotherapist (retired), and prolific author, eloquently lays out the territory we encounter on the spiritual path as we move towards opening to our deepest ground. John defines deepest ground as “ungraspable and unfathomable, something we can know intimately as a quality of awareness, unbounded and open.” “When we touch into this,” he continues, “we move from a place of love, peace and groundedness.” In working with students and clients over four decades, John says the presence or absence of ground has been the most important theme.
John has a gift for communicating exactly what is most useful for a spiritual practitioner to hear: taking an integral and nondual approach different from traditional psychotherapy, he invites us to evoke presence—welcome the experience, welcome the fear of annihilation—let go of ordinary knowledge and allow a translucent, transformative space to emerge around ordinary mind. Blending archetypal wisdom and guidance with spacious emptiness, John explains that opening to unbounded awareness supports the process of individuation and actualization; he also weaves in an intriguing version of the hero’s journey, where the hero emerges from the underground, not as a figure of accomplishment and victory, but as a simple, humble being, void of ego. The rich wisdom and gentle guidance offered here is invaluable, worthy of listening to many a time. Recorded November 7, 2024.
“We are on the wave of life waking up to itself through humanity.”
Topics & Time Stamps – Part 2Gaining an experiential understanding of the archetypal teachings of Carl Jung to better understand multidimensional ground (01:19) Jungian archetypes are subtle ground; Ramana Maharshi’s focus is no ground (05:09)Trusting the wisdom of our own psyches (09:07)Blending archetypal wisdom and guidance with spacious emptiness (12:07)The collective unconscious: linking consciousness to our ancestors (14:29)Multidimensional healing: healing ancestral lineages (15:20)Eastern transcendence and Western focus on living life: opening to unbounded awareness supports the process of individuation and actualization (16:51)The living question: What is life asking of you? (21:20)The first encounter is with darkness, stillness, emptiness; then comes a sense of pure potentiality and an upwelling current of life (22:41)What does engaged nonduality look like? Existential crisis and climate change (27:18)Frequency holders and/or frequency actors (31:56)Invitation to nondual communities: what is the natural response to this genuine existential threat? (33:02)The hesitancy people feel about bringing out the light of awareness (34:37)Opening the heart to collective suffering (35:30)Our love of truth will bring us to our deepest ground: let that be our guide (37:18)
Resources & References – Part 2Carl Jung, Memories, Dreams, ReflectionsCarl Jung, The Red Book: A Reader’s Edition -
Ep. 179 (Part 1 of 2) | In this podcast, John Prendergast, spiritual teacher, depth psychotherapist (retired), and prolific author, eloquently lays out the territory we encounter on the spiritual path as we move towards opening to our deepest ground. John defines deepest ground as “ungraspable and unfathomable, something we can know intimately as a quality of awareness, unbounded and open.” “When we touch into this,” he continues, “we move from a place of love, peace and groundedness.” In working with students and clients over four decades, John says the presence or absence of ground has been the most important theme.
John has a gift for communicating exactly what is most useful for a spiritual practitioner to hear: taking an integral and nondual approach different from traditional psychotherapy, he invites us to evoke presence—welcome the experience, welcome the fear of annihilation—let go of ordinary knowledge and allow a translucent, transformative space to emerge around ordinary mind. Blending archetypal wisdom and guidance with spacious emptiness, John explains that opening to unbounded awareness supports the process of individuation and actualization; he also weaves in an intriguing version of the hero’s journey, where the hero emerges from the underground, not as a figure of accomplishment and victory, but as a simple, humble being, void of ego. The rich wisdom and gentle guidance offered here is invaluable, worthy of listening to many a time. Recorded November 7, 2024.
“Transcendence is a beautiful first step… but there’s a very important process of embodying awareness more and more deeply, in the physical body, in the subtle body.”
Topics & Time Stamps – Part 1Introducing John Prendergast, Ph.D., retired psychotherapist, spiritual teacher, and author, whose most recent book is Your Deepest Ground (00:57)What is our deepest ground? (01:55)What is the difference between presence and ground? (04:29)The fear of losing control, of annihilation, that comes up in the process of healing and awakening (06:47)Using the myth of the underground descent, but emerging not as a hero, but simple and humble—devoid of egoic will (09:29)A translucency of the body/mind emerges: a core illumination (13:18)Meditation, self-inquiry, and time with authentic teachers are what have brought John to luminosity (15:09)The connection to one’s teacher: for John, this was Jean Klein and Adyashanti (16:25)Back to returning to the world—not as a hero, but where there’s no sense of accomplishment and hierarchy disappears (17:55)The tyranny of the enlightenment drive (20:42)Willfulness gradually transforms into willingness (24:07)Individual guidance can come as the small, still voice but also in kinesthetic form (25:25)Are there specific practices that facilitate opening to our deepest ground? (27:24)Evoking presence: John leads an invitation to welcome the experience, welcome the fear of annihilation (29:14)The difference between John’s work and traditional psychotherapy (31:31)Beyond welcoming, John teaches a self-inquiry practice that asks, “Do I really want to know what is true?” (36:15) Working not just on personal limiting beliefs but existential limiting beliefs—e.g., “I am a separate self” (39:19)Recognizing the limitation of rational thought, a transformative space emerges around ordinary mind... -
Ep. 178 (Part 2 of 2) | In the ninth dialogue of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, Hameed gives a fascinating account of how four distinctly different wisdom teachings came to him in succession, directly from true nature, embodied in the form of diamonds. “In the beginning, I didn’t know…what the hell were these? Is it my imagination?” Hameed laughs. But then his colleagues and students experienced the diamondness too. Like angels of revelation, each diamond vehicle brings a different type of wisdom: the first diamond vehicle, Guidance, brings clarity and initiated the practice of inquiry; the second embodies the wisdom that pleasure is what we are, bringing an understanding of pleasure from a spiritual perspective; the third diamond vehicle holds the wisdom of how to conduct our lives from a place of truth, and the fourth the wisdom of true knowledge—knowing by being—the knowing that is needed for awakening.
Not only do we hear marvelous stories of how the diamond-shaped wisdom messengers appeared to Hameed, but he also imparts a wonderfully comprehensive yet succinct rendering of the teachings they brought, and the conversation flows from embodying wisdom to embodying pleasure, the inward turn, and why bliss must be combined with emptiness for enlightenment to occur. Also, how to live a life of truth with the inner compass provided by the third diamond teaching, the pitfalls of the ego’s tendency to accommodate others, how being is inseparable from knowing, and lots more. A very full, warm, rich conversation, filled also with humor, sparkle, and delight. Recorded January 30, 2025.
“The Diamond Dome brings in the wisdom of true knowledge—spiritual knowledge, knowing by being—the knowing that is needed for awakening.”
Topics & Time Stamps – Part 2Emptiness has a bliss to it (00:49)The death tantra and sexual tantra paths to enlightenment (01:06)Emptiness/fullness, being/non-being, unity/particularity: two sides of reality (03:18)We lose track of the particularity when we focus on unity only (05:22)There are many different levels of particularity: ego, body, soul… Each diamond vehicle is a particularity (09:39)The Citadel, the third diamond vehicle, is the essential conscience, the wisdom of how to conduct your life from the perspective of true nature (10:05)Accommodating is part of the behavior of the ego, but in accommodating, most of the time you are selling yourself, compromising (13:20)Living a life of truth brings in the unity and the particularity (15:37)You transition when you become willing to sacrifice comforts, relationships, the supports of the ego, to align only with truth (17:56)On this path, the vehicle first appears then manifests each of its aspects—different shaped diamonds within a diamond (21:31)For Hameed, first Diamond Guidance appeared, then Markabah, then the Citadel, then the Diamond Dome (24:24)The Diamond Dome brings in the wisdom of true knowledge—spiritual knowledge, knowing by being—the knowing that is needed for awakening (25:41)This vehicle brings the knowledge of each aspect; basic concepts are clearly delineated (29:27)True nature informs the individual mind with basic concepts (34:38)Each vehicle highlights certain parts of the ego as obstacles to realization; the dome highlights self-identity, the “I-ness” of the ego (36:26)To embody the Diamond Dome the ego needs to experience cessation (37:43)
Resources &... -
Ep. 177 (Part 1 of 2) | In the ninth dialogue of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, Hameed gives a fascinating account of how four distinctly different wisdom teachings came to him in succession, directly from true nature, embodied in the form of diamonds. “In the beginning, I didn’t know…what the hell were these? Is it my imagination?” Hameed laughs. But then his colleagues and students experienced the diamondness too. Like angels of revelation, each diamond vehicle brings a different type of wisdom: the first diamond vehicle, Guidance, brings clarity and initiated the practice of inquiry; the second embodies the wisdom that pleasure is what we are, bringing an understanding of pleasure from a spiritual perspective; the third diamond vehicle holds the wisdom of how to conduct our lives from a place of truth, and the fourth the wisdom of true knowledge—knowing by being—the knowing that is needed for awakening.
Not only do we hear marvelous stories of how the diamond-shaped wisdom messengers appeared to Hameed, but he also imparts a wonderfully comprehensive yet succinct rendering of the teachings they brought, and the conversation flows from embodying wisdom to embodying pleasure, the inward turn, and why bliss must be combined with emptiness for enlightenment to occur. Also, how to live a life of truth with the inner compass provided by the third diamond teaching, the pitfalls of the ego’s tendency to accommodate others, how being is inseparable from knowing, and lots more. A very full, warm, rich conversation, filled also with humor, sparkle, and delight. Recorded January 30, 2025.
“For enlightenment to happen, emptiness has to be combined with bliss.”
Topics & Time Stamps – Part 1Introducing the 9th dialogue in the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series: How did the Diamond Approach teaching come to Hameed? (00:53)First came a pure, transparent presence like liquid diamond: clarity itself (04:46)The diamond also came with a sense of precision, of sharp discrimination, of objectivity (08:07)Hameed’s vision of the diamond vehicles: like a fleet of ships in black space (11:05)The first diamond vehicle, guidance, brought about the practice of inquiry (12:06)Hameed’s near-death experience: looking down upon his body it was a body of diamonds; two diamonds called him back: love and joy (13:23)Recounting this experience to friends later, the diamond vehicle filled the room—the sacred manifest (17:08)Manifest in this one body was the guidance for the teaching, like an angel of revelation but shaped like a spaceship made of diamonds (19:46)Each diamond vehicle brings a different kind of wisdom (20:58)Diamond wisdom can be used as guidance in the scientific field (22:36)It’s not just a teaching, but a presence that embodies the teaching; embodying the presence is learning the teaching (25:11)The second diamond vehicle is the vehicle of pleasure, understanding pleasure from the spiritual perspective: the teaching of the inward turn (27:04)Pleasure turns out to be a whole realm, where all aspects appear in their pleasurable form (34:38)Inner guidance is where the truth is from instant to instant, telling you to look here, not there (35:58)Hameed differentiates pleasure from bliss, because pleasure is something ordinary human beings know (37:39)Embodying the wisdom that pleasure is what we are (40:08)All the vehicles are expressions of the essence of consciousness,... -
Ep. 176 (Part 3 of 3) | Longtime spiritual practitioner, gifted teacher, Tibetan Buddhist lama, and developmental psychology specialist Kimberley Lafferty integrates contemporary psychology and wisdom tradition in this lively, luminous conversation about the process of awakening, the evolution of ethics, and the extraordinary capacities that come online as we mature into later stages of development. What do developmental perspectives have to add to our understanding of human nature and to spiritual practice? Our meaning-making shifts radically as we develop, Kimberley says, and because of that our reality itself shifts. This is why communicating with people with very different points of view can fail so miserably—one person’s reality is simply not the same as the next person’s reality. We need to discern, what is their meaning-making reality in this moment? What is ours?
Throughout, Kimberley grounds the discussion in practical, real-life scenarios; she also shares intriguing research on later stage development that has found that as we mature, our senses evolve: our hearing evolves to deep attunement; our seeing evolves to witnessing, our capacity of touch evolves to embody presence. It’s exciting and inspiring to see the road ahead, to acquire new insights and tools to improve communication across cultural (and age) divides, to have the concept of bodhicitta unpacked so deftly and common misperceptions about emptiness corrected—and to witness Kimberley’s wise and zesty approach to life: “What connects us all is our luminous, aware consciousness,” she says, “and if we can lean into the messiness, I think we can find our way through.” Recorded October 3, 2024.
“How can I reconstruct myself to be truth, goodness, and beauty?”
Topics & Time Stamps – Part 3What are some of the capacities that come online as people mature? (01:26)At late stage development, people awaken to individual construction; this is meta-awareness or 5th person perspective (03:40)It’s like waking up in a lucid dream and realizing you’re dreaming (06:00)How can I reconstruct myself to be truth, goodness, and beauty? (07:24)Development is a balloon, not a ladder (10:15)How developmental theory illuminates broader perspective taking: the capacity of skillful means (13:12)Siddhis (transpersonal powers) start to come on: precognitive capacities, the capacity of empathy (16:24)What challenges come about as we develop? (17:40)What connects us is our luminous, aware consciousness—if we can lean into the messiness, we can find our way through (22:43)What are humans becoming? The possibility of becoming trans-human (25:28)In later stages, our senses evolve: our hearing evolves to deep attunement; our seeing evolves to witnessing, to see through time and space, our capacity of touch evolves to embody presence (28:49)Seeing polarities rather than opposites: polarities are the building blocks of how we construct reality (31:50)Bodhicitta taps us into our ultimate nature (35:12)Correcting misperceptions of the bodhisattva vow (40:34)The tradition of debate in the Tibetan-Buddhist tradition (42:30)You are not alone; there is spiritual support available (45:36)
Resources & ReferencesKimberley Lafferty’s website: The Confluence Experience (Education,... -
Ep. 175 (Part 2 of 3) | Longtime spiritual practitioner, gifted teacher, Tibetan Buddhist lama, and developmental psychology specialist Kimberley Lafferty integrates contemporary psychology and wisdom tradition in this lively, luminous conversation about the process of awakening, the evolution of ethics, and the extraordinary capacities that come online as we mature into later stages of development. What do developmental perspectives have to add to our understanding of human nature and to spiritual practice? Our meaning-making shifts radically as we develop, Kimberley says, and because of that our reality itself shifts. This is why communicating with people with very different points of view can fail so miserably—one person’s reality is simply not the same as the next person’s reality. We need to discern, what is their meaning-making reality in this moment? What is ours?
Throughout, Kimberley grounds the discussion in practical, real-life scenarios; she also shares intriguing research on later stage development that has found that as we mature, our senses evolve: our hearing evolves to deep attunement; our seeing evolves to witnessing, our capacity of touch evolves to embody presence. It’s exciting and inspiring to see the road ahead, to acquire new insights and tools to improve communication across cultural (and age) divides, to have the concept of bodhicitta unpacked so deftly and common misperceptions about emptiness corrected—and to witness Kimberley’s wise and zesty approach to life: “What connects us all is our luminous, aware consciousness,” she says, “and if we can lean into the messiness, I think we can find our way through.” Recorded October 3, 2024.
“If we have no traditional spiritual boundaries to teach our children, we end up raising narcissists.”
Topics & Time Stamps – Part 2Ethics involve intention: looking into the mind at the moment of intention (00:53)How to explain misuse and abuse of power in a spiritual organization? (04:18)What is missing for many teachers and healers is ethical training (11:11)How do warrior ethics make sense? Spirituality at an ethnocentric developmental stage (12:58)Misunderstanding emptiness: the emptiness of ethics; there is no ethics (17:20)A spiritual tradition can be complemented by modern understanding & practices—what do we need to update? (19:21)The importance of a developmental understanding and spiritual education (20:46)We need to teach our children that what they do matters (23:09)The feeling of deep belonging that comes with a lineage, belonging to a mystical family, having them at your back (25:09)What do developmental perspectives have to add to our understanding of human nature and to contemplative practices? (28:16)The connection between spiritual experiences and later stages of development: meaning-making radically shifts throughout our life span—because of that our reality itself shifts (31:52)What stage is presenting right now? In me. In you. In others? (33:58)Leveraging the strengths of each perspective and stage (37:29)
Resources & ReferencesKimberley Lafferty’s website: The Confluence Experience (Education, Community, Experiences)12-month living immersion in the STAGES matrix with Terri O’Fallon... -
Ep. 174 (Part 1 of 3) | Longtime spiritual practitioner, gifted teacher, Tibetan Buddhist lama, and developmental psychology specialist Kimberley Lafferty integrates contemporary psychology and wisdom tradition in this lively, luminous conversation about the process of awakening, the evolution of ethics, and the extraordinary capacities that come online as we mature into later stages of development. What do developmental perspectives have to add to our understanding of human nature and to spiritual practice? Our meaning-making shifts radically as we develop, Kimberley says, and because of that our reality itself shifts. This is why communicating with people with very different points of view can fail so miserably—one person’s reality is simply not the same as the next person’s reality. We need to discern, what is their meaning-making reality in this moment? What is ours?
Throughout, Kimberley grounds the discussion in practical, real-life scenarios; she also shares intriguing research on later stage development that has found that as we mature, our senses evolve: our hearing evolves to deep attunement; our seeing evolves to witnessing, our capacity of touch evolves to embody presence. It’s exciting and inspiring to see the road ahead, to acquire new insights and tools to improve communication across cultural (and age) divides, to have the concept of bodhicitta unpacked so deftly and common misperceptions about emptiness corrected—and to witness Kimberley’s wise and zesty approach to life: “What connects us all is our luminous, aware consciousness,” she says, “and if we can lean into the messiness, I think we can find our way through.” Recorded October 3, 2024.
“Applying a developmental understanding and developmental education is essential to any situation that we have.”
Topics & Time Stamps – Part 1Introducing Kimberley Lafferty, teacher-practitioner specializing in developmental psychology and Indo-Tibetan Buddhism (01:02)What drew Kimberley into Buddhism? Suffering! And an awakening experience (02:36)The Dalai Lama’s path is what spoke to Kimberley’s feeling of losing her compass and Integral Theory kept her grounded in modernity (07:11)The 3 interpenetrating principal paths of Tibetan Buddhism: ethics, bodhicitta (the path of the warrior heart), and wisdom itself (09:17)Unpacking the concept of bodhicitta (13:54)Metacognition: an ability we grow into in the later stages of ego development (16:52)The richness of Tibetan Buddhism begins with the understanding that everything changes (21:37)How do kindness and compassion follow from a realization of emptiness? (25:50)There is emptiness and there is Clear Light, they are not the same (27:09)If emptiness is the canvas and karma is the paint: how do I repaint for the future? (31:08)Ethics and karma: everything we think, say, and do is the material cause for the next moment of our reality (32:54)Ethical training starts with be kind, do no harm, because God (or Santa) is watching (35:00)As we evolve, our ethics become more subtle and expand to include all people and the responsibility of becoming a light in the world (36:23)Stepping into our divinity, our gifts and creativity (41:09)Vajrajana ethics invite us to think about who is doing the giving, the recipient, and the gift (43:35)
Resources & ReferencesKimberley Lafferty’s website: -
Ep. 173 (Part 2 of 2) | In this 8th dialogue in the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, Hameed Ali gives a clear, colorful description of the three stages we go through on the spiritual path: the journey to presence, the journey with presence, and the journey in presence. “There’s much more to the journey than just being free of suffering,” he says, “in the journey with presence, there’s a whole universe to discover—unexpectedly we find there is a whole realm of splendor, beauty, freedom, and liberation.” In the third journey, the journey in presence, the stage of actualization, we are swimming in the ocean of presence or we are the presence itself. Hameed relates how impeccability, strong and pure like stainless steel, is an important part of actualizing presence, embodying our essence in our daily lives. “The ‘I am’ can function in the world as a person,” he explains, “I can be the vastness, an infinite, black, luminous night, completely formless, but still walk in the street as a person.”
Hameed also talks about the “pearl beyond price”—the individuated self that brings a functional capacity to the isness, which is why it is of incomparable price—and the point of existence, point of light, or pure I-ness. He discusses the individuation of the soul and the realization that the nature of the soul is the nature of everything: this is the nondual experience. This dialogue is another treasure trove of spiritual transmission by Hameed—with humor, clarity, precision, and beautiful metaphor, his teachings, even as deeply profound and mysterious as they are, come as wonderful revelations for us to grasp onto, leading us forward on the inner journey home. Recorded January 3, 2025.
“Presence is the ground of all reality.”
Topics & Time Stamps – Part 2What is the I in ‘I am that’? A point of light, presence, existence (00:53)I-am-that are three different things (04:25)At some point, the point of light and the pearl beyond price become unified (06:56)The ego self is insecure: that’s why there is selfishness (09:04)With the realization of I am that, the “that” changes (12:30)The “I am” can function in the world as a person: I can be the vastness, formless & infinite, but still walk in the street as a person (14:01)In the source dimension, all people are nothing but organs of perception for the absolute (15:05)What brought Hameed back from the absolute? (17:46)Each teaching has their ultimate, but there is more than one ultimate (19:24)There’s much more to the journey than just being free of suffering (20:31)Ignorance never ends (21:26)Is there a best way to study spirituality? (22:57)The essentialization of the soul: recognizing that presence is our true nature, essence is a living consciousness (25:21)Realizing the ground of being: the nature of the soul is the nature of everything; this is the nondual experience (27:18)The issues that come up on the journey: psychodynamic, structural, existential & epistemological (33:17)
Resources & ReferencesA. H. Almaas (Hameed Ali), founder of The Ridhwan School -
Ep. 172 (Part 1 of 2) | In this 8th dialogue in the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, Hameed Ali gives a clear, colorful description of the three stages we go through on the spiritual path: the journey to presence, the journey with presence, and the journey in presence. “There’s much more to the journey than just being free of suffering,” he says, “in the journey with presence, there’s a whole universe to discover—unexpectedly we find there is a whole realm of splendor, beauty, freedom, and liberation.” In the third journey, the journey in presence, the stage of actualization, we are swimming in the ocean of presence or we are the presence itself. Hameed relates how impeccability, strong and pure like stainless steel, is an important part of actualizing presence, embodying our essence in our daily lives. “The ‘I am’ can function in the world as a person,” he explains, “I can be the vastness, an infinite, black, luminous night, completely formless, but still walk in the street as a person.”
Hameed also talks about the “pearl beyond price”—the individuated self that brings a functional capacity to the isness, which is why it is of incomparable price—and the point of existence, point of light, or pure I-ness. He discusses the individuation of the soul and the realization that the nature of the soul is the nature of everything: this is the nondual experience. This dialogue is another treasure trove of spiritual transmission by Hameed—with humor, clarity, precision, and beautiful metaphor, his teachings, even as deeply profound and mysterious as they are, come as wonderful revelations for us to grasp onto, leading us forward on the inner journey home. Recorded January 3, 2025.
“The experience of presence is the defining experience of this path.”
Topics & Time Stamps – Part 1Introducing the 8th dialogue of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, which focuses on the 15th chapter of The Inner Journey Home: “The Inner Journey” (00:56)Hameed outlines 3 stages of the inner journey: the journey to presence, the journey with presence, the journey in presence (03:00)First, the individual soul, structured through early life experience, begins (with practice) to recognize presence (09:50)Second is the journey with presence: working with the theory of holes before opening to spaciousness (12:22)The second stage is the fun part—when everything is completely new and somewhat miraculous (14:56)Experiencing the true potential of a human being: unexpectedly we find there is a whole realm of splendor, beauty, freedom & liberation (17:59)The third journey is actualization, when we are swimming in the ocean of presence or we are the presence itself: self-realization; the self is the presence (19:55)Impeccability: living in a way that is faithful to our true nature (21:12)Roger’s summary of Hameed’s points: presence is not static, learning about true nature is an ongoing, marvelous surprise, viewing spiritual maturation along a spectrum, and how realizing presence brings with it the deep desire that all beings experience it (23:34)In other traditions, there isn’t much discussion beyond the realization itself (25:56)The world is never “fixed” (28:55)Part of the soul’s maturation is individuation; personal-ness turns out to be a quality of presence (30:10)The pearl beyond price (the individuated self) is known also to the gnostics, the Sufis, the Taoists… it is protected by a fearsome monster (the ego) (33:28)The point of light,... -
Ep. 171 (Part 2 of 2) | An emotionally powerful and deeply inspiring conversation with renowned embodiment and trauma educator Mark Walsh from the U.K. and Ukrainian psychologist and trauma trainer Kristina Obluchynska, where we learn about effective ways of treating trauma in the middle of an ongoing war, what trauma therapists are left holding, and how beautiful is the human spirit when it embraces right action. When Russia commenced its full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago, Mark went to Ukraine, located willing psychology students, educated them in body-oriented trauma therapy and training, and with Kristina and several other trainees co-founded Sane Ukraine, with the urgent mission of preventing an epidemic of trauma disorders in Ukraine. Beginning with applying trauma first aid and teaching resilience skills in places like the local railroad station where people were coming in from the front lines, and in bomb shelters, Kristina and several other psychologists have now educated thousands of people about trauma—active duty soldiers, veterans, survivors, wives of combatants, and first-line responders such as doctors, teachers, and social workers—and trained hundreds of them to become trauma trainers themselves.
It is an honor to bear witness to Mark’s courageous actions and the humble heroism of Kristina and her team in the face of the devastation being leveled on Ukraine and Ukrainians. “We don’t grieve,” Kristina tells us, “because grief comes after safety. We don’t even use the word safe anymore,” she continues, “only relatively safe.” Mark points out that modern warfare is not just running around with guns—drones hunt civilians and if you move, they kill you. “Do we all have PTSD?” the soldiers ask. With Sane Ukraine, there is someone to answer their questions and teach them what they can do to help themselves and each other. Resilience comes from relationship—from connection to self, others, nature, and spirit. Does the concept of post traumatic growth even apply considering the intensity of this war? co-host Roger wonders. At the end of this extraordinary, heartfelt conversation, when asked what we could do to help, Kristina advises, “Help the army. We are talking here about healing, but what we really need is to survive.” Recorded January 9, 2025.
“It’s not reasonable for young women to be talking about mass rape and torture in dark bomb shelters . . . There’s a darkness that will be there perhaps forever.”
Topics & Time Stamps – Part 2Surviving Bucha (00:57)The pros and cons of group work (03:23)Does the concept of post traumatic growth apply in the intensity of this war? (05:40)Singing traditional songs helps foster the belief that we will survive this (09:50)How does Mark help trainers to find strength? Love people unconditionally and continually (12:31)There are actually less mental health problems in Ukraine than in the UK or the US (16:35)What has been most inspiring for Mark? The girls—and the purity of the work (17:24)The hardest thing? The huge grief (18:53)What are Kristina’s practices to keep sane? (20:05)What is the hardest for Kristina? The guilt is the worst (23:38)What is most inspiring for Kristina? The ability to do something for people who have been in the war (25:02)What is the difference between pre-Ukraine Mark and post-Ukraine Mark? (26:33)The pre-war Kristina and the post-war Kristina: everything is possible (28:12)How can listeners help? Sane... -
Ep. 170 (Part 1 of 2) | An emotionally powerful and deeply inspiring conversation with renowned embodiment and trauma educator Mark Walsh from the U.K. and Ukrainian psychologist and trauma trainer Kristina Obluchynska, where we learn about effective ways of treating trauma in the middle of an ongoing war, what trauma therapists are left holding, and how beautiful is the human spirit when it embraces right action. When Russia commenced its full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago, Mark went to Ukraine, located willing psychology students, educated them in body-oriented trauma therapy and training, and with Kristina and several other trainees co-founded Sane Ukraine, with the urgent mission of preventing an epidemic of trauma disorders in Ukraine. Beginning with applying trauma first aid and teaching resilience skills in places like the local railroad station where people were coming in from the front lines, and in bomb shelters, Kristina and several other psychologists have now educated thousands of people about trauma—active duty soldiers, veterans, survivors, wives of combatants, and first-line responders such as doctors, teachers, and social workers—and trained hundreds of them to become trauma trainers themselves.
It is an honor to bear witness to Mark’s courageous actions and the humble heroism of Kristina and her team in the face of the devastation being leveled on Ukraine and Ukrainians. “We don’t grieve,” Kristina tells us, “because grief comes after safety. We don’t even use the word safe anymore,” she continues, “only relatively safe.” Mark points out that modern warfare is not just running around with guns—drones hunt civilians and if you move, they kill you. “Do we all have PTSD?” the soldiers ask. With Sane Ukraine, there is someone to answer their questions and teach them what they can do to help themselves and each other. Resilience comes from relationship—from connection to self, others, nature, and spirit. Does the concept of post traumatic growth even apply considering the intensity of this war? co-host Roger wonders. At the end of this extraordinary, heartfelt conversation, when asked what we could do to help, Kristina advises, “Help the army. We are talking here about healing, but what we really need is to survive.” Recorded January 9, 2025.
“There is nothing that can prepare human psychology for modern warfare.”
Topics & Time Stamps – Part 1Introducing Mark Walsh, trauma trainer, author, founder & CEO of Embodiment Unlimited, and Kristina Obluchynska, clinical psychologist & trauma therapist, who together co-founded Sane Ukraine to provide training in trauma therapy and resilience skills to professionals, soldiers, combatants’ families and more (01:03)What compelled Mark to get involved in Ukraine and found Sane Ukraine? (02:33)How did Kristina get involved with Mark’s trauma training? (06:29)It requires 3 hours a day of body/mind practice to keep trainees in a state where they can learn something in between running to the bomb shelters (08:30)Trauma training started happening in person all over the place: Lviv is now the world’s most trauma-informed city (11:11)When Kristina and her team were invited to do combat resilience training, they were told, “We have 2,000 soldiers, please do something for them!” (13:11)Training psychologists, social workers, veterans, and wives of combatants (14:01)Elements of the 3-day training: tactic, tactic medicine, psychological resilience (15:42)Combatants ask, “Do we all have PTSD?” (17:44)What are... -
Ep. 169 (Part 2 of 2) | Integral psychologist Keith Witt can’t get enough of the magic and beauty that happens in relationships as people begin to develop what he calls “a post-issue consciousness.” He explains that when our executive self, our wise self or witness, kicks in and forges a caring connection with the places where we hold our hurt and our traumas, then integration and healing start to happen, eventually with almost no conscious energy expenditure. “My job is to help people develop the witness,” Keith says, so they can observe their defensive or destructive states and reach for compassionate understanding, for themselves, for their partner, and for others.
Keith tells us the three foundations of the modern marriage are friendship, a love affair, and an ability to resolve issues that come up, and says the shift to a post-issue relationship happens when all three facets become intentional. “Post-issue couples don’t let things get in the way of their love,” he says. Throughout the conversation, Keith shares a goldmine of therapeutic wisdom on the subject of relationships, including the client/therapist relationship, and in true Integral fashion, he includes perspectives from all sorts of interesting angles, such as our evolutionary development, neural development, and moral and spiritual development. This discussion is warm, friendly, cheerful, lively, and chock full of useful information and insights. Keith’s excitement about the evolutionary directionality of human relationships is contagious and inspiring. Recorded August 16, 2024.
“We have a responsibility to be our best self, our wise self, all the time… this is a good place to grow towards as an individual—and a necessary way to grow as a psychotherapist.”
Topics & Time Stamps – Part 2Having an agreed-on, go-to technique for when problems arise (01:27)The defensive state wants to attack or flee, and the stories you tell yourself to justify attacking or fleeing (03:18)Distinguishing between constructive guidance and destructive shadow (04:32)Flexibility in couples therapy: going on instinct (07:52)Discourse and dialectic is a 21st century metapsychology (10:19)The developmental process of becoming more sensitive to when you’re “off” and also to when your relationship is “off” (12:36)A flourishing relationship is a liberation (15:05)Being a transpersonal therapist means you don’t take things personally (16:47)Therapist/client relationship is a major determinant of outcome (18:56)Growing toward being our best self all of the time is a good directionality (21:46) The importance of telling the truth skillfully and compassionate understanding (23:29)The 6 foundational moral states we are born with get corrupted by defensive states (26:39)Radical acceptance: there is nothing I cannot share with my partner (29:44)Is forceful intervention ever necessary? Recovery from addiction comes before working on a relationship (32:52)Post-issue moments are our human birthright (42:31) Looking for deeper truths about the human experience in conversations like this is enacting a 21st century metapsychology (43:04)
Resources & References – Part 2Dr. Keith Witt’s website: https://drkeithwitt.com/Keith Witt, -
Ep. 168 (Part 1 of 2) | Integral psychologist Keith Witt can’t get enough of the magic and beauty that happens in relationships as people begin to develop what he calls “a post-issue consciousness.” He explains that when our executive self, our wise self or witness, kicks in and forges a caring connection with the places where we hold our hurt and our traumas, then integration and healing start to happen, eventually with almost no conscious energy expenditure. “My job is to help people develop the witness,” Keith says, so they can observe their defensive or destructive states and reach for compassionate understanding, for themselves, for their partner, and for others.
Keith tells us the three foundations of the modern marriage are friendship, a love affair, and an ability to resolve issues that come up, and says the shift to a post-issue relationship happens when all three facets become intentional. “Post-issue couples don’t let things get in the way of their love,” he says. Throughout the conversation, Keith shares a goldmine of therapeutic wisdom on the subject of relationships, including the client/therapist relationship, and in true Integral fashion, he includes perspectives from all sorts of interesting angles, such as our evolutionary development, neural development, and moral and spiritual development. This discussion is warm, friendly, cheerful, lively, and chock full of useful information and insights. Keith’s excitement about the evolutionary directionality of human relationships is contagious and inspiring. Recorded August 16, 2024.
“Evolution in humans is characterized by deeper consciousness and more compassion . . . evolution has a directionality—and it’s toward unity.”
Topics & Time Stamps – Part 1Introducing Integral psychologist and prolific author Dr. Keith Witt (01:00)What is a post-issue relationship? (03:11)What happens when couples develop emotional intelligence and are able to love each other more? (05:48)Example of an argument in a post-issue relationship (07:35)How complexity and therapeutic parts work figures into it (08:47)How do people grow internally? How do we integrate? (10:01)A healing cosmology came to Keith after he learned about Integral Theory and all the systems came together (11:59)It helps if couples have a sense of evolutionary development (14:24)Egalitarian relationships that came online in the last 50-70 years brought along new potentials for love and problem solving (18:33) What happens when we go into defensive states? (19:21)Evolution has a directionality toward deeper consciousness, compassion, unity (22:56)Liberating ourselves by not cooperating with the argument (24:20)How does the long time it takes to raise a human child affect our social learning? (25:38)Humans are ultra social: 90% chimpanzee/10% bee (28:01)Resilience and trauma programming are actually memory systems (30:57)How do people move towards a post-issue relationship? (32:44)The key is making it an intentional relationship (35:38)Self awareness: we’re often crippled based on a history of trauma (38:42)Leading couples therapist John Gottman teaches what works for happy couples to unhappy couples (39:58)Physiological arousal—once people are escalated to a certain point, they can’t think (41:58)What... -
Ep. 167 (Part 2 of 2) | In the 7th dialogue of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, Hameed Ali enlightens us as to the nature of presence. Our path begins with the recognition that spirit is presence, he explains, an insight which all spiritual traditions share; this is where most of their focus lies. But this is not the end of the story, Hameed tells us—discovering spirit is only half the work. The other half is actualizing presence by clarifying and purifying our souls. Presence works as an agent of transformation in this process; appearing in our souls as curiosity and a love of truth, it leads us home. The discussion turns to virtues, the fruition of realization, and how it is that realized teachers can behave in entirely unethical ways: “realization is no guarantee of ethical behavior.”
This conversation is packed with insights regarding many related topics: how ethics most importantly concern our relations with others, that kindness becomes spontaneous for the true master, the distinction between universal grace and specific grace, how inner spaciousness or emptiness is the other side of the coin from presence or fullness, and the question arises, “Why is it that some people are interested in going deeper and others not?” Hameed also speaks of his own experience of unilocal realization, where all time and space are found in the center of the heart and accessing information from the future is possible. It is not so much I am this or that, he says, it’s simply I am. This warm, illuminating discussion has a fascinating flow and sparks many instances of quiet laughter on all sides. Recorded December 12, 2024.
“True nature is a real magician; to know yourself as that magician is true realization.”
Topics & Time Stamps – Part 2Living ethically is conducive to realization (00:50)True mastery means your kindness is spontaneous (02:15)Ethics apply more at an ego level; spirit has its own principles (04:28)Feeling the pain of being constricted is one way the spiritual impulse arises (05:59)Why do some people want to go deeper than others? (06:40)The love of truth leads us home: the dynamic of realization (09:14)Unilocal realization: experiencing all time and space in the heart (11:10)Hameed can learn from his future self and from people who have died (12:26)Trusting ourselves, and the distinction between universal grace and specific grace (16:28)Practice helps make us grace-prone; most people need a teacher or guide (19:24)Presence is the fullness and inner spaciousness the emptiness side of things (21:50)True nature is a real magician; to know yourself as that magician is true realization (26:52) Space/time emanates from our true nature (29:02)Ethics are relative to our time and culture; but essential ethics are timeless (31:24)Selflessness and concern for the well-being of all has grown over time (33:35)
Resources & References – Part 2A. H. Almaas (Hameed Ali), founder of The Ridhwan School, home of - Visa fler
