Almost Awakened

Bill Sits down with Brittney Hartley and Anthony Miller and they tackle part 3 in a series that seeks to help the Almost Awakened Audience sense the great resources and tools to a life well lived by exposing you to Buddhism and it contemplative nature. We are using as a backdrop the 12 part presentation by Jack Kornfield titled “Buddhism for Beginners” The goal of this series is to help you to be a more authentic & healthier version of yourself. In part 3 we discuss the 7 Factors of Awakening often referred to as the Seven Factors of Enlightenment which involves the ways we bring perspective and mindset into our present experiencesBrittney Hartley is the author of Mormon Philosophy Simplified. She has a masters degree in the Future of American Religion and is in training as a spiritual director with the Center for Non-religious Spirituality. Her work focuses on rebuilding spiritual health after religious trauma. Anthony Miller is an entrepreneur and education enthusiast in Billings, Montana, with Masters degrees in Business Administration and in Financial Services. After a lifetime of faithful membership in the church, he experienced a faith transition after he stumbled across the Gospel Topics Essays and similar materials in 2016, while he was searching for resources to support his adult gay son. Anthony blogs at UnpackingAmbiguity.com and is a frequent contributor to post and progressive Mormon support communities. Bill Reel is the Founder and Executive Director of Mormon Discussion Inc. a non-profit whose mission it is to provide resources and support to humans who are deconstructing unhealthy spiritual systems and to help those individuals reconstruct a new world view that values Authenticity and Vulnerability.  Bill is the author of “Faith Development Explained” a document designed to help people understand their own awakening.  

Bill sits down with his wife Amanda and they discuss “TRUE LOVE” or rather the hard work one will do to wrestle with their own ego in an attempt to make safe space for their partner to be their authentic self. And that True Love allows others to be their real self

Bill Sits down with Jana Spangler and Anthony Miller as they present part 2 in a series that seeks to help the Almost Awakened Audience sense the great resources and tools to a life well lived by exposing you to Buddhism and it contemplative nature.  We are using as a backdrop the 12 part presentation by Jack Kornfield titled “Buddhism for Beginners” The goal of this series is to help you to be a more authentic & healthier version of yourself.In part 2 we discuss the 4 Noble Truths which involves 1.) An awareness that suffering exists 2.) That suffering is caused by grasping at making the world different than it is or resisting the world as it is via our attachment to an ideal or expectation of how we would prefer the world to be 3.) That suffering ends when we let go of said attachment, resistance, and grasping and 4.) The the 8 Fold Path discussed in Part 1 is the way to achieve a cessation of suffering in any given present moment.Jana Spangler is a Certified Integral Professional Coach with Symmetry Solutions who specializes in coaching individuals, couples, and families who are affected by shifting religious belief. She is an educator in subjects of faith, spiritual connection and development, and relationships. She attended The Living School under the direction of Fr. Richard Rohr, where she studied Contemplative Christianity and other wisdom traditions and how they can support the transforming work of love in ourselves, our communities, and the world. Anthony Miller is an entrepreneur and education enthusiast in Billings, Montana, with Masters degrees in Business Administration and in Financial Services. After a lifetime of faithful membership in the church, he experienced a faith transition after he stumbled across the Gospel Topics Essays and similar materials in 2016, while he was searching for resources to support his adult gay son. Anthony blogs at UnpackingAmbiguity.com and is a frequent contributor to post and progressive Mormon support communities. Bill Reel is the Founder and Executive Director of Mormon Discussion Inc. a non-profit whose mission it is to provide resources and support to humans who are deconstructing unhealthy spiritual systems and to help those individuals reconstruct a new world view that values Authenticity and Vulnerability and Awakeness.  Bill is the author of “Faith Development Explained” a document designed to help people understand their own awakening.  

Bill Sits down with Jana Spangler, Brittney Hartley, and Anthony Miller and they embark on a series that seeks to help the Almost Awakened Audience sense the great resources and tools to a life well lived by exposing you to Buddhism and it contemplative nature. We are using as a backdrop the 12 part presentation by Jack Kornfield titled “Buddhism for Beginners” The goal of this series is to help you to be a more authentic & healthier version of yourself. In part 1 we discuss the Eight Fold Path which involves a wisdom in how we both perceive the world as well as how we respond rather than react to the world.Jana Spangler is a Certified Integral Professional Coach with Symmetry Solutions who specializes in coaching individuals, couples, and families who are affected by shifting religious belief. She is an educator in subjects of faith, spiritual connection and development, and relationships. She attended The Living School under the direction of Fr. Richard Rohr, where she studied Contemplative Christianity and other wisdom traditions and how they can support the transforming work of love in ourselves, our communities, and the world. Brittney Hartley is the author of Mormon Philosophy Simplified. She has a masters degree in the Future of American Religion and is in training as a spiritual director with the Center for Non-religious Spirituality. Her work focuses on rebuilding spiritual health after religious trauma. Anthony Miller is an entrepreneur and education enthusiast in Billings, Montana, with Masters degrees in Business Administration and in Financial Services. After a lifetime of faithful membership in the church, he experienced a faith transition after he stumbled across the Gospel Topics Essays and similar materials in 2016, while he was searching for resources to support his adult gay son. Anthony blogs at UnpackingAmbiguity.com and is a frequent contributor to post and progressive Mormon support communities. Bill Reel is the Founder and Executive Director of Mormon Discussion Inc. a non-profit whose mission it is to provide resources and support to humans who are deconstructing unhealthy spiritual systems and to help those individuals reconstruct a new world view that values Authenticity and Vulnerability.  Bill is the author of “Faith Development Explained” a document designed to help people understand their own awakening.  

Today Bill brings some Buddhism in and discusses the cause of suffering or grasping at how we want the world to be rather than sit with how it is. He explains why argument and conflict start and how they spiral and how good humans can learn to sit with the disturbances early in those conflicts and alter the path those humans are on. Once you understand that the conflict is inside of you and not outside, you are prepared to act differently, leading to avoiding most of the conflict that arises within you.

This conversation is held that involves the following 5 questions as well as other interesting places we take the conversation along the way.1. What is more dangerous for the future of humanity, nihilism or dogmatism? What are the dangers of each? 2. What are the most important aspects of developing a spiritual life out of nothing? 3. How do you involve young children in a spiritual life outside of religion? 4. How do we transfer over spiritual institutions to a secular world (chaplains, churches, pastors, etc.). How do secular leaders make a living doing spiritual work in the world? 5. How do you build communities around secular morals? What are the new innovations in this field? How are people filling spiritual voids after religion?RESOURCES:Esther Perel Where Should We BeginJordan Peterson & Sam Harris Debates

The excitement surrounding the GME Gamestop Stock story for the last week has been palpable. So In today’s Episode of Almost Awakened I explain as simply as I can what the hell is going on with GME Gamestop stock. How did this train get going? What has potentially pumped the stock up, what potentially made it crash down, and what caused it to level off and where are we at today. And as we watch in upcoming days, what will happen to GME and the stocks such as AMC, BB, NOK right behind it? Its going to be fun to watch.RESOURCES:https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/business/gamestop-wall-street-bets.htmlReddit Wall Street Betshttps://www.thestreet.com/video/gme-stock-surge-reddit-change-stock-market-pyschologyhttps://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/28/robinhood-interactive-brokers-restrict-trading-in-gamestop-s.htmlhttps://www.cnn.com/business/live-news/wallstreetbets-reddit-vs-wall-street/index.html100%+ short interest in GameStock stock (GME) – fundamental & technical deep value analysis

Today with sit down with Veronica Funess, Intimacy Coach in Training and we discuss sexual shame that exists within society. We discuss how healthy negotiation of sexuality can look. We discuss kinks, fantasies, and how to incorporate your most vulnerable and healthy self into a healthy relationship with your partner.Veronica is a Graduate in Gender & Women’s studies with minors in Business Administration and Communication. She is passionate about helping others improve their relationships and honor their erotic selves. Veronica is training at the Somatica Institute and Studied Gender and Women’s Studies at The University of Arizona. Past experience includes providing and directing peer education and facilitation for sexual violence and healthy relationships programming, market research and PR internships, and client and customer service positions: boutique fitness membership advising, and serving and bartending at an elevated NYC Vegan comfort food bar.  A reminder when it comes to negotiating sexuality “Within ethical and legal constraints, we all have the right to push for what we want from our partner (and to suffer the consequences for pushing too hard). Similarly, we also have the right to deny our partner’s requests (and to suffer the consequences for shutting them down). But we need to remember that nothing in a relationship happens in a vacuum—it is influenced by what came before, as well as what else is going on in the relationship. So generosity can be rewarded (and bad behavior can be punished) in more ways than one. Therefore, we have to keep the bigger picture in mind—what price am I willing to pay for this? If it’s worth it, then it’s worth it, but since life and relationships involve compromise and sacrifice, we have to consider the potential ripple effects.”RESOURCES:Somatica InstituteThe Erotic MindComing TogetherSex At DawnMating in CaptivityVeronica Funess Linked InVeronica Funess Instagram Page

My friend Phil McLemore comes back on the podcast and this time to debate the question of “What is the life well lived”? We talk about societies and individuals and how freedom versus control makes or inhibits space to be a growing responsible healthy adult who is happy with their life and producing a positive wake through how they move through life. We touch on drugs and sex due to the strong sentiments felt about this two topics and their polarizing nature to set the stage for this deep conversation around what leads to a life well lived and what leads to a wake of trauma, destruction, and self deception. This is one of the best if not the best conversation I have ever been part of and I hope you the listener will benefit from the push and pull as the two of us debate from somewhat different perspectives (and at times extremely different positions) what it means to “Live a Life well lived”Resources: Phil Mclemore and some of his written work Becoming the Beloved PDFHindering the Saints PDFThe Yoga of Christ PDFMormon Mantras PDF

I sit down with my friend, Professor, Podcaster, and Author Jon Westover and we discuss his new book, “The Alchemy of Truly Remarkable Leadership: Ordinary, Everyday Actions That Produce Extraordinary Results”. We talk about what makes a good leader. What toxic leadership looks like. How good leaders foster principles like trust, diversity, inclusivity, and belonging. and Most importantly, I think, how good leaders create an environment for people around them to achieve and succeed. Jon truly is a great leader and you can tell that his words are congruent with his internal character. The world is a better place with humans like Jon around.RESOURCES: Jon’s LinkedIn ProfileJon’s BookJon’s articles on Forbes Jon’s Podcast