The New Dimensions Café

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) and Better Than Sex: The Ecstatic Art of Awakening Coaching (Awakening Coaching 2013)Interview Date:  6/7/2014     Tags: Arjuna Ardagh, awakening, limitless consciousness, Awakening Coaching Training, direct experience of the nature of consciousness, guru, coach, Michael Phelps, Bob Bowman, stories we make up about ourselves, unified field, Leonard Cohen, acquisition,  contribution, happiness, meaning, money, income, 7 Innate Brilliances, Quantum Physics, quirky electrons, Silence of the Lambs movie, Personal Transformation, Spirituality, Philosophy

Rev. Dr. 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 (Namaste Publishing 2012), Letters to Pope Francis (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 2013), Occupy Spirituality (co-author Adam Bucko) (North Atlantic Press 2013), Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth (HarperOne 1991), The Coming of the Cosmic Christ (HarperOne 1988), Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times (New World Library 2014), Confessions: The Making of a Post-Denominational Priest (HarperSanFrancisco 2015), A Way to God: Thomas Merton's Creation Spirituality Journey (New World Library 2016), Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action (coauthors Skylar Wilson, and Jennifer Listug) (Monkfish 2018), Sheer Joy: Conversations with Thomas Aquinas on Creation Spirituality (Ixia 2020) and The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times (iUniverse 2020)Interview Date: 4/30/2020       Tags: Matthew Fox, Thomas Aquinas, St. Francis of Assisi, indigenous thinking, Aristotle, nondualism, feminism, Mary, Magdalene, resurrection, Daily Meditation with Matthew Fox, waking up, eco-theology, ecotheology, preserve things in the good, anthropocentric narrowness, goodness, joy, justice, awe, wonder, wisdom, Rabbi Heschel, Descartes, knowledge, information, History, Philosophy, Social Change/Politics, Spirituality, Religion

Martin Shaw, Ph.D. is a storyteller and mythologist. 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. Hs 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), Courting the Wild Twin (Chelsea Green Publishing 2020)Interview Date: 4/23/2020         Tags: Martin Shaw, our wild twin, Robert Bly, Questing Beast, Poets, The Lindworm story, Tatterhood story, fairy tales, desire, Hermes, listening, multitasking, Danny Deardorff, initiation, William Blake, storytelling, coronavirus, lock down, staying in place, Rumi, Lorca, duende, Arts & Creativity, Mythology, Writing, Soul

Jane Hirshfield is the author of nine books of poetry and two collections of essays, and 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), 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)Interview Date: 4/16/2020        Tags: Jane Hirshfield, poetry, pandemic, sheltering in place, illusion of normality, muse, uncertain times, isolation, beauty, suffering, space station, Robert Rauschenberg, refugee crisis, Art & Creativity, Social Change/politics

At the time of this interview, Arianna Huffington was the chair, president, and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group. She has been a nationally syndicated columnist, and is the 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), On Becoming Fearless...in Love, Work, and Life (Little, Brown and Company 2007).Interview Date: 2/15/2014  Tags: MP3, Arianna Huffington, success, wealth, The Third Metric of Well-Being, Wisdom, Wonder, Giving, sleep, habits, meditation, group support, technology, Personal Transformation, Meditation

Judith Prager, Ph.D., CHT, is a clinical hypnotherapist with a Ph.D. in psychology and a practice 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)To learn more about the work of Judith Prager go to www.judithprager.comHost: Justine Willis Toms     Tags: MP3, Judith Prager, Judith Acosta, stopping bleeding with verbal suggestions, coronavirus pandemic, sheltering in place, fear, isolation, laughter, teenagers, anger, frustration, punishment, figuring ways to be together while sheltering in place, wolf howling in Mill Valley, exercise, Personal Transformation, Psychology, Parenting, Health & Healing

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), 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) and The Book of Soul: 52 Paths to Living What Matters (St. Martin’s Essentials 2020)Interview Date: 1/14/2020         Tags: MP3, Mark Nepo, wisdom, quest for wisdom, joy, curiosity, wonder, sage, Naropa, embodied wisdom, Martin Heidegger, Nazis, being hypocritical, sphere of influence, shortcomings, The awakened teacher within, Personal Transformation, Spirituality, Philosophy, Psychology

Gail Storey was formerly administrative director of the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. She is a writer, hoop dancer and comic performance artist. Porter Storey, M.D. has been a full time hospice physician since 1983. He is a national leader in hospice and palliative medicine.  Together they bicycled on their tandem from Maine to San Diego, and years later trekked the Pacific Crest Trail. Gail is the author of The Lord's Motel (Persea Books 2011), God's Country Club (Persea Books 2011) and I Promise Not to Suffer: A Fool for Love Hikes the Pacific Crest Trail (The Mountaineers Books 2013) (winner of the Barbara Savage Award). Porter is the editor of: The Primer of Palliative Care, 4th edition (American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine 2010)Interview Date: 10/2/2013      Tags: Gail Storey, Porter Storey, M.D., Pacific Crest Trail, trekking, river rafting, falling into river, flooding in Boulder, Colorado,  Personal Transformation, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Relationship/Partnership/Sexuality

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. Interview Date: 6/11/2013        Tags: Goldbard, paradigm shift,  Datastan, Stories, availability cascade, attention, resilience, possibility, Czechoslovakia Velvet , Berlin, Estonia, Banyan, endangered languages, Boal, education, Ravitch, Occupy Movement

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) and Burning the Midnight Oil: Illuminating Words For the Long Night’s Journey Into Day (Viva Editions 2014)Interview Date: 12/20/2013   Tags: MP3, Phil Cousineau, night, Blue Mosque Reverie, Sultan Ahmet Mosque, creativity, Rilke, Circling the ancient tower, dominoes, café, numinous, Edward Hopper, Charles Bukowski, pay attention, paying attention, iconic images, storytelling, Arts & Creativity, Writing