Almost Awakened

Today Bill discusses Mental Illness and specifically Schizophrenia. Bill uses as the back drop his uncle, who was the first case of mental illness he had ever encountered, a close person who Bill was responsible to help who had some showing of such disturbances, and a recent movie, “Words on Bathroom Walls”, he watched that deeply and honestly displayed the difficulties of Schizophrenia and mental disorder and challenges. Bill ends the discussion asking us all to sit with the challenge of such lives of those who live out these nightmares and those responsible for caring for them.RESOURCES:https://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/what-its-like-to-have-schizophrenia#1https://www.verywellmind.com/the-internal-experience-of-schizophrenia-2953095https://www.jnj.com/personal-stories/i-have-schizophrenia-what-its-really-like-living-with-the-mental-illnesshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-H7iJMo4fchttps://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/not-the-whole-person/201710/what-its-really-live-schizophreniahttps://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-disorders/schizophrenia-signs-and-symptoms.htmhttps://www.bridgestorecovery.com/blog/what-its-like-to-live-with-schizophrenia-separating-myths-from-facts/

Glenn and Bill tackle an audio series created by Michael Singer, author of the untethered soul, and use it as a springboard for their own Almost Awakened conversation. This is part 3 and the final part in this multipart series and the conversation in this part covers the actual process one needs to implement to deal with your internal disturbances, that are based on your lifetime of experiences, when they arise. The formula is to RELAX and RELEASE. That when a sensation begins within you because your expectations of what this present moment should look like, how others sghould interact with you or what the outside world should show up as, you just RELAX and RELEASE. We talk about what this looks like and what it means. But in the end it deeply involves you SURRENDERING your expectations of how the world outside of you shows up and you SURRENDER your need to coerce and manipulate the outside world into showing up differently. RESOURCES: Video Describing the “Relax and Release” MethodThe Key to the “Relax and Release” MethodHow to free yourself from negative thoughtsMichael Singer “The Great Breakthrough”OTHER RESOURCES FOR FUTURE GROWTH:https://www.amazon.com/Fifth-Agreement-Practical-Self-Mastery-Toltec/dp/1878424610https://www.amazon.com/Sex-Dawn-Stray-Modern-Relationships-ebook/dp/B007679QTGhttps://www.amazon.com/Waking-Up-Spirituality-Without-Religion/dp/1451636024https://www.amazon.com/Change-Your-Mind-Consciousness-Transcendence/dp/1594204225https://www.amazon.com/Mating-Captivity-Unlocking-Erotic-Intelligence/dp/0060753641

Glenn and Bill tackle an audio series created by Michael Singer, author of the untethered soul, and use it as a springboard for their own Almost Awakened conversation. This is part 2 in a multipart series and the conversation in this part covers ideas such as the baggage we carry with us due to the good and bad experiences that have filled our life. How that baggage or “charges” are preventing us from living present and being at peace. That we are not our thoughts and we are not our feelings and we are not the world outside of us unfolding before us. And once we grasp these charges within us are deeply connected to how we react and respond within the world and often it happens in ways we are not happy with and which are not healthy. This episode is the bridge to the next conversation where we address how to show up in the world different so that we can release these charges and find more inner peace.

Today Bill monologues about human development and some of the human behaviors he notices in others. How we move back and forth between doing good by others and shitting on them. How we manipulate in order to calm our own disruptions. How we struggle to let others be them. And how when we tell stories about others we often do the universe an injustice. Closing song was “Hallucinogenics” by Matt MaesonGood Kisser on netflixLetting others be themselves 1Letting others be themselves 2compersion

Glenn and Bill tackle an audio series created by Michael Singer, author of the untethered soul, and use it as a springboard for their own Almost Awakened conversation. This is part 1 in a multipart series and the conversation in this part covers ideas such as you are not your body, thoughts, or experiences but instead is just the observer behind your senses. That this moment does not belong to you. The marvelous process of how the universe started and how the earth formed and how all life flowed out from this. How we came out of the world rather than come into the world. How awareness affects our agency or “free-will” and if we even have “free-will”. And we end talking about how when our awareness changes we now have opportunities to show up in our world differently. RESOURCES:How the elements were created – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neMEo8ZrwuI&t=11sThe Journey of planet Earth birth to this present moment – https://youtu.be/uHUTbq-j0UUYou are not your thoughts – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QXmmP4psbAThe Creative Energy of the Universe – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcPWU59LuocDeterminism vs Free Will – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCGtkDzELAIThe Peacock Spider’s Mating Ritual

Today I sit down with my friend Glenn Ostlund author of the book “Bathing with God“. Glenn and I both were deep believers in a specific religion. Then we both grew disenchanted with said religion. We deconstructed that religion and deconstructed other systems seemingly walked away from God and religion…. only to, unknown from each other, be on our own re-engaging the big questions and seeking learning from the best books and wisdom voices. This search led us both to awakening and to revisiting our certainties about the world and we in this 2 hour conversation cover so much ground including the multiverse, God being the creative energy in the universe and us being one expression of this energy moving through the universe, the big bang and the beginning of time, memories passed down, being present, the software newborns are born with helping them survive, lizard brain and fight or flight or freeze, Death, Ayahuasca, letting go of Ego, and collectively engage Glenn on his incredible book “Bathing with God“RESOURCES:Bathing With God BOOKBathing With God AudioStored Trauma Memories in our DNA 1Stored Trauma Memories in our DNA 2Stored Trauma Memories in our DNA 3Joe Rogan & Sean Carroll and the MultiverseJoe Rogan & Sean Carroll 1003Joe Rogan & Sean Carroll 1151Joe Rogan & Sean Carroll 1352Joe Rogan & Brian Greene 1428Banned TED Talk: The Science Delusion – Rupert SheldrakeWhat happened before the big bangTime and the Big BangPlants (Specifically Mushrooms) communicate with the world around themThe universe might be one big Neural NetworkThe software newborns are born withMichael Singer: The Untethered SoulLetting Go: The Pathway of Surrender: David R. HawkinsMichael Singer Living From A Place of Surrender

Bill and Phil McLemore sit down and have a conversation around wisdom teachings such as meditation, awareness, being present, ego, the Yoga of Christ, mind chatter, myth, evolution, free will, and death. What an amazing conversation Phil helps us create. RESOURCES:https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/pdf/146-30-45.pdfhttps://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-kriya-yoga/yoga-and-christ-ukiYPp7E9zG/https://www.thymindoman.com/the-next-chapter-of-thymindoman-com-living-in-the-gift/https://www.facebook.com/groups/meditatewithphil/http://csa-davis.org/sites/?q=node/455

Today Bill dissects a 10 minute audio clip of Alan Watts. The video can be watched HERE and it is recommended you watch the video first before listening to the commentary. The truths being shared here are crucial to the awakened life. Learning to quiet your mind chatter. Learning to see the constructs of your life as something other than reality. Learning to be present rather than lost in past and future. And lastly learning that EGO isn’t really an eternal part of you. youtube.com/watch?v=dYSQ1NF1hvw (Alan Watts on the Illusion of Time, Money, & Ego

Today Bill dives into tribalism. Why do we humans choose to be in tribes? What are the benefits and drawbacks of tribalism? What makes us humans unique and what facets of tribalism have we humans taken advantage of and at what expense? Where did tribalism come from? Can we cling to the benefits while minimizing and eliminating the drawbacks? All this and more is the jumping off point for today’s conversation, a conversation meant to simply get us started. RESOURCES:https://kevindelaplante.com/the-dangers-of-tribalism/https://sensitiveevolution.com/the-limits-of-tribalism/https://soapboxie.com/social-issues/The-Good-and-Bad-of-Tribalismhttps://www.theatlantic.com/membership/archive/2018/10/trouble-tribalism/573307/https://medium.com/@zaiderrr/why-toxic-tribalism-is-destroying-our-society-what-to-do-about-it-e05c3391d143

Today I sit down with a friend who spent roughly a year in prison. What is prison life like? How does an Almost Awakened person perceive and negotiate their time and thoughts and behavior and what observations are made about the system and people around them?RESOURCES:https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/gabrielsanchez/sara-bennett-looking-inside-women-prison-incarceration https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/07/12/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-prisoner