Almost Awakened

Spiritual Atheist is a ground-breaking ‘philosophical memoir’ that draws on the author’s knowledge of cutting-edge neuroscience, physics, and psychology; his insights into wisdom traditions like Taoism, Kabbalah, Advaita Vedanta, Buddhism, Zen, and Sufism; and twenty years experience leading hundreds of major organizations, and tens of thousands of individuals, to transform themselves. Unable to find lasting happiness with religion, reason, pills, therapy, partying, wealth, success, or entrepreneurship, the author discovered the life-changing and heart-expanding benefits of ‘spiritual’ enlightenment. But not satisfied with New Age ideology, he spent years meticulously joining the dots between science and spirituality to form a rigorous philosophy for the ‘spiritual but not religious’ who want to flourish in their inner lives, relationships, and careers.RESOURCES: https://switchonnow.com/https://smile.amazon.com/Nick-Seneca-Jankel/e/B00L115YX0 https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickjankel

Britt & Bill once again invite Jana Spangler and Anthony Miller on to dive deep into the idea of Doubt. This is the second of three parts using Brian McLaren’s book “Faith After Doubt” as the framing for this conversation. And along the way they hope to address the following. Doubt as Descent Doubt as Dissent Doubt as Love Doubt as a Human Problem Faith, Beliefs, and Revolutionary LoveRESOURCES:Part 1 – https://youtu.be/3iFBEtHQZqIJon Paulien Stages of Faith – http://www.thebattleofarmageddon.com/stages_of_faith.pdfPerry’s Stage of Cognitive Development – https://mormondiscussionpodcast.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/12/Perry-Scheme.pdf

Most of us believe inside our mind that we are being objective, fair, and reasonable. And at the same time we sort of grasp we are not and that our mind leans towards beliefs, conclusions, and taking sides on various issues. Today we discuss biases and how they affect us and how we can best avoid them which in turn helps us be more present in reality. RESOURCES: Brian McLaren on biases – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/learning-how-to-see-with-brian-mclaren/id1532685433 wiki List of cognitive biases – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases Another list of Biases – https://thedecisionlab.com/biases Three Ways To Avoid Bias In Decision-Making – https://www.forbes.com/sites/jarretjackson/2020/08/26/three-ways-to-avoid-bias-in-decision-making/?sh=5a7fe890a715 MindTools How Avoid Biases – https://www.mindtools.com/a0ozgex/cognitive-bias Outsmart your own Biases –  https://hbr.org/2015/05/outsmart-your-own-biases

A dive into Greek Mythology and archetype for this episode. Chiron was the wisest of all centaurs, who can teach a lot about our wounds. It is in our wounds that we are healed.

Hartley and Reel sit down with Theologian and Philosopher Thomas Jay Oord to discuss Theology. Namely how Religion helps us connect with our inner and outer world. How humans are social creature who crave connection and whose minds seeks meaning constantly. Oord, Hartley, and Reel facilitate a conversation where we look into the Idea of GOD and if can can create a framing for God that allows us to dismiss the unhealthy facets of belief and religion. And if we take out all the unhealthy, if there is anything left of GOD worthy of continued belief. Thomas Jay Oord is a theologian, philosopher, and multidisciplinary scholar who directs a doctoral program at Northwind Theological Seminary and the Center for Open and Relational Theology. He formerly taught for sixteen years as a tenured professor at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho and before that a philosophy professor at Eastern Nazarene College. Oord is the author or editor of more than thirty books and hundreds of articles. He is known for his contributions to research on love, open theism, process theism, open and relational theology, postmodernism, the relationship between religion and science, Wesleyan, holiness, Nazarene theology. Oord is consistently ranked among the most influential academic theologians of our time. (Wikipedia)

Britt & Bill once again invite Jana Spangler and Anthony Miller on to dive deep into the idea of Doubt. Using Brian McLaren’s book “Faith After Doubt” as the framing for this conversation. And along the way they hope to address the following.* Doubt as Loss – How did you experience doubt as a loss?* Doubt as Loneliness – How did doubt bring loneliness?* Doubt as Crisis  -How did doubt bring crisis?* Doubt as Doorway – What did doubt open up for you?* Doubt as Growth – What growth did you experience because of doubt? Resources: Introduction to Stages of Faith – https://christoffaith.org/2018/04/7386/ Jon Paulien Stags of Faith – http://www.thebattleofarmageddon.com/stages_of_faith.pdf Ages & Stages: Robert Keeley – https://faithformationlearningexchange.net/uploads/5/2/4/6/5246709/faith_development__faith_formation_-_keeley.pdf Ken Wilber: Spiral Dynamics – https://mormondiscussions.org/discussion/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/12/IntegralMapBest.jpg Perry’s Scheme of Cognitive Development – https://mormondiscussions.org/discussion/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/12/Perry-Scheme.pdf Fowler’s Stages of Faith – https://psychologycharts.com/james-fowler-stages-of-faith.html

On this weeks episode Bill and Britt discuss How to have “Difficult Conversations”. When a Hard Disagreement occurs, often our Egos get in the way of having hard conversations where both sides feel heard and understood. Often even small conversations with nothing at stake can have us misunderstanding each other. So today Bill & Britt share their insights into how to navigate difficult conversations. Resources For Hard Conversations:https://www.hrmorning.com/articles/difficult-conversations/https://au.reachout.com/articles/6-steps-to-help-you-tackle-difficult-conversationshttps://www.judyringer.com/resources/articles/we-have-to-talk-a-stepbystep-checklist-for-difficult-conversations.phphttps://hbr.org/2017/05/how-to-have-difficult-conversations-when-you-dont-like-conflicthttps://www.betterup.com/blog/how-to-have-difficult-conversations

Often when we hear “Brainwashing” or “Mind Control” it feels weird or a little science fiction to us. In reality, mind control refers to a specific set of methods and everyday normal appearing techniques that influence how a person thinks, feels, and acts. Our minds can easily be influenced… simply notice the billions spent in advertising. So in today’s episode Britt & Bill discuss Steven Hassan’s work with the B.I.T.E. Model which is the manipulation of (B)ehavior, (I)nformation, (T)hought,and (E)motion in order to maintain control over a person or group of people.

Bill runs solo today and decides to talk about Privilege. How privilege permits a person or group of people to redistribute negatively felt experiences or trauma and allowing others or imposing others take that additional trauma or negative experience on. He then talks about who were the system makers. Why did we choose them to be our voice? To make our systems? To create our rules? Bill points out that even when someone comes along such as Jesus to help us deconstruct the system and hold system leaders accountable, notice how the message is twisted and sabotaged so that the privileged remain at the top and now manage the message of the the one who came to disrupt the system. Bill wraps up the episode inviting us to see through all that clutter and to take our lives back by leaning into awareness, being present, and showing up in our life with focus and intention that allows you to have greater capacity to be a good actor in the world around you.

Please consider donating today. Visit https://mormondiscussions.org/ or https://mormondiscussionpodcast.org/ and Click the Donate Button and select your favorite podcast or donate to the entity generally by selecting “Mormon Discussion Inc.” Please help us help the next wave of folks who will need support OTHER WAYS TO SUPORT US Donorbox – Simply visit https://donorbox.org/umbrella-entity and simply fill out the on screen formYoutube – You can donate through our Youtube Channel by visiting https://www.youtube.com/c/MormonDiscussionsInc and clicking any of our videos and once into a video you should see a DONATE NOW section to the right or below the video.  Simply follow the on screen prompts. Amazon Smile – Don’t forget to use Amazon Smile for your amazon purchases. It is easy to change the settings on your mobile app (phone) or to create a bookmark on your bookmark bar of your laptop or desktop that automatically pulls up your amazon as a Amazon Smile link with “Mormon Discussion Inc.” as your designated Charity. https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/community/how-to-sign-up-for-amazonsmile An easy way to support Mormon Discussion Inc and its array of podcasts is to add the Amazon Smile url to your bookmark bar instead of the standard Amazon url with Mormon Discussion Inc as your designated charity. You can also change the settings of your Amazon app on your phone or other devices to have Amazon Smile with Mormon Discussion as your designated Charity. Simply 1.) Update your Amazon App in the app store, 2.) hit the three bar icon on the bottom right, 3.) click settings at the very bottom, 4.) Click AmazonSmile and follow the prompts. And Walah… every purchase now sends a few cents to Mormon Discussion Inc. and over the course of a year this adds up to $1000’s of dollars How to sign up for AmazonSmile How to use AmazonSmile on a web browser: Visit smile.amazon.com Sign in with the same account you use for Amazon.com Select your charity Start shopping! Remember to checkout at smile.amazon.com to generate donations for your chosen charity. Tip: Add a bookmark to make it easier to shop at smile.amazon.com. How to use AmazonSmile using the Amazon app on your mobile phone: Open the Amazon Shopping app Navigate to the main menu (≡) Tap on Settings and then select “AmazonSmile” Select your charity and then follow the on-screen instructions to turn ON AmazonSmile in the mobile app Once AmazonSmile has been activated in your app, future eligible app purchases will generate a donation for the charity you have selected. Note: The tablet app is not yet supported. Please visit smile.amazon.com/onthego to learn more.EBAY – You can add a charity to your ebay listings.  Simply visit https://www.charity.ebay.com/help/seller and follow the instructions there to attach us as your charity for these listings.Through Your Employer – Several Donators have programs through the company they work with where you can pick a charity and make a donation and your employer will match that donation up to a certain amount.  Send a Check – You can mail a check to us.  Simply make the Check out to Mormon Discussion Inc. and send to 90 S. Nielson Dr., Washington Utah 84780