The New Dimensions Café

Patricia Sun is a scientific mystic, philosopher, spiritual teacher, and consciousness pioneer. She has traveled the world empowering people to tap into their inherent creative capacity, resulting in new ways of thinking. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 3-1/2 years from the University of California, Berkeley, with two degrees, one in Social Sciences and Psychology and the other in Conservation and Natural Resources. She concentrates directly on creative solutions: "re-creating" thought patterns and "re-perceiving" experience. She’s considered to be a teacher's teacher and leads workshops and gives private consultations. Interview Date: 5/23/2025     Tags: Patricia Sun, racism, intuition, linear mind, logical mind, Niels Bohr, counterintuitive, intuitive mind, the radiant intelligence of love, dark matter. Either/or thinking, duality, black-white thinking, consciousness, right brain intelligence, evolutionary leap, gravity, duality, paradox, Health & Healing, Personal Transformation, Philosophy, Psychology , Social Change/Politics

Mónica Guzmán is a journalist and entrepreneur and is Senior Fellow for Public Practice at Braver Angels, a grassroots, cross partisan, organization working to depolarize America. She is cofounder of the newsletter The Evergrey out of Seattle Washington and is the proud liberal daughter of conservative parents and is a dual US/Mexican citizen. She is the author of I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times (BenBella Books 2022)Interview Date: 5/15/2025    Tags: Mónica Guzmán, listening, storytelling, curiosity, Braver Angels, depolarizing America, asking permission to talk about sensitive topics, asking open-ended questions, authentic conversations, Glenn Beck, open conversations lead to better understanding, gentle questions, silos of curiosity, uncertainty, misperceptions, Personal Transformation, Social Change/Politics

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. His the author of many audio learning projects and over 20 books including:· The One Life We’re Given: Finding the Wisdom That Waits in Your Heart (Atria Books 2016) and The Fifth Season: Creativity in the Second Half of Life (St. Martins' Essentials 2025)Interview Date: 5/9/2025   Tags: Mark Nepo, aging, new normal, pathologizing aging, pain, cancer, ground of being, metaphor of the iceberg, spider web over a rushing stream, being truthful, honest and open, authenticity, deep listening to one another, compassion, monorhaphis sponge, gratitude, metaphor of waves on ocean, Personal Transformation, Philosophy

Carissa Carter is the academic director at Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (the d.school) and a former geologist. Her work focuses on systems thinking, climate innovation, and design futures. Scott Doorley is the creative director at Stanford’s d.school. He has worked at the intersection of storytelling, physical space, and creative education, and has a background in film and media. They are co-authors of Assembling Tomorrow: A Guide to Designing a Thriving Future.Interview Date: 4/4/2025.   Tags: Carissa Carter, Scott Doorley, design, fiction, storytelling, awkwardness, appreciation, creativity, humility, insight, metaphors, future, Buckminster Fuller (Bucky Fuller), David Byrne Creativity, Design Thinking, Personal Transformation, Emotional Intelligence, play, creativity

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 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. He is the author of Living in Flow: The Science of Synchronicity and How Your Choices Shape Your World (North Atlantic Books 2019)Interview Date: 5/10/2019   Tags: MP3, Sky Nelson-Isaacs, synchronicity, meaningful coincidences, choices, connection, authenticity, responsiveness, LORAX Process, momentum, Science, Personal Transformation, Philosophy

Kate Gustin, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist who received her education from Princeton University and the University of California at Berkeley. She’s worked in a variety of settings such as a mental health practitioner: Outpatient psychiatry, Community Mental Health Clinics, VA Hospital, College Counseling Services, and currently in private practice in San Rafael in Northern California. She integrates the science of positive psychology and leads classes, workshops, and trainings throughout the region. Dr. Gustin offers No-Self Help – an approach to identity, relationship, and responsibility that draws on the spirituality of eastern wisdom traditions and advances in western psychology. She is the author of The No-Self Help Book: 40 Reasons to Get Over Your Self & Find Peace of Mind (Non-duality Press 2018) Tags: Kate Gustin, no-self, no self, primordial consciousness, selfing, spaciousness, lamps of light analogy, Philosophy, Personal Transformation, Psychology, Meditation

Ellen Grace O’Brian is a yogacharya (an esteemed yoga teacher) and the founder and spiritual director of the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, a meditation center and spiritual community in the tradition of Kriya Yoga, based on the teachings Paramahansa Yogananda brought to the U.S. in 1920. The Center for Spiritual Enlightenment is headquartered in San Jose, California. 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), The Jewel of Abundance: Achieve Success and Prosperity through the Principles of Yoga (New World Library 2018) Tags: Ellen Grace O’Brian, Kriya Yoga, prosperity, true wealth, abundance, affirmations, financial wellbeing, ego’s default, small self, separation from source, Ela Gandhi, spiritual resources, essential wholeness, sufficiency, inner peace, worry, Spirituality, Personal Transformation, Meditation

Patrice Vecchione is a poet, author, and artist. She teaches creative writing retreats, collage and poetry workshops. She has also worked with children, leading classes in poetry and the imagination in elementary, middle, and high schools. She's 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, immigrants, Gary Soto, bilingual, language, Javier Zamora, haiku, teaching poetry, remembering childhood, empathy, the five senses, Li-Young Lee, Writing, Social Change/Politics 

Mirabai Starr has taught philosophy and world religions at the University of New Mexico, Taos, for 20 years and now teaches and speaks internationally on contemplative practice and the interspiritual dialogue. She’s a certified bereavement counselor and travels the world speaking and giving workshops on contemplative practice and the teachings of the mystics. 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, transcendence, masculine paradigm, ascetic renunciation of the body, embodiment, earth, charlatan teacher, on fire for God, sexual abuse, guru disciple relationship, feminine leadership, collaboration, authoritarianism, circle work, spiritual discipline, efficiency and urgency, bereavement, restorative justice, feminine wisdom, Spirituality, Philosophy, Religion, Buddhism, Women’s Studies 

Tama Kieves graduated with honors from Harvard Law School but chose to leave a prestigious law firm to become a teacher and workshop leader. Her books include This Time I Dance! Creating the Work You Love (Penguin Publishing 2006), A Course in Miracles for Life Ninjas (Tarcher/Penguin 2014), A Year Without Fear: 365 Days of Magnificence (Tarcher 2015), Thriving Through Uncertainty: Moving Beyond Fear of the Unknown and Making Change Work for You (Penguin Publishing 2018) and Learning to Trust Yourself; Breaking Through the Blocks that Hold You Back (St. Martin’s Press 2025)Interview Date: 3/21/2025     Tags: Tama Kieves, The Best Tool, love, fear, infinite intellegance, career, A Course in Miracles, attention, focus, external noise, self-doubt, self-trust, camouflaged angels, mentors, limitless energy, Personal Transformation, Psychology, writing