New Dimensions

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

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

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