Contemplify

“Quoting the ancient I Ching, [Gail] writes about “coming to rest in motion.” She should know: a world traveler and social activist, Gail brings the steady calm she finds in the mountains to her work at peacemaking in a troubled world. ” - Elizabeth Lesser cofounder Omega Institute   I feel like an absurd lover torn between two beloveds. But rather than being drawn to different people, I’m torn between landscapes. My primary loves are the lakes and trees of Minnesota, but I have also deeply fallen for the desert mountains and mesas of New Mexico. And still if I drift into memories, I recall other landscapes that pierced my heart. When it comes to landscapes, Gail Straub is my people. Gail Straub is the author of The Ashokan Way: Landscape's Path into Consciousness. In the book and in our conversation Gail shares her wisdom on the dance of landscape and consciousness, her friendship with poet-philosopher (and one of my personal heroes) John O’Donohue, the role the Ashokan reservoir has played in her social activism, and her growth into a wisdom elder. The contemplative gift of The Ashokan Way is that Gail is a generative model of how to attune to a practice that requires focused and embodied attention to develop an intimacy with something larger than yourself. Gail Straub, co-founder and Executive Director of Empowerment Institute, is one of the world’s leading authorities on women’s empowerment. As part of this focus, she co-founded IMAGINE: A Global Initiative for the Empowerment of Women to help women heal from violence, build strong lives, and contribute to their community. This initiative applies the Institute’s empowerment methodology to the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goal “to promote gender equality and empower women.” IMAGINE initiatives are under way in Afghanistan, Brazil, India, Jordan, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan and South Africa.These are just some of Gail’s accolades. I am not going to list them all because after this conversation you should head over to her website, empowermentinstitute.net to learn more and possibly support her work.

I have only purchased one app for my phone. I find cell phones to be a necessary nuisance, helpful enough that I keep one, annoying enough that I keep it on silent. I don’t bemoan or resent anyone who has finally found love with their device. I get it. I just find it terribly distracting to the notes of life that I want to pay attention to. Then a friend forwarded me an article on a mobile app called WeCroak. I immediately realized I had been introduced to the perfect app. The gist is this, after handing over a buck to WeCroak, you download the app and then five times a day you receive the following notification: Don’t forget, you’re going to die. Five times a day. The only other feature beyond this mortal reminder is that when you tap on the reminder, a quote appears from a poet, philosopher, author, etc, such as: ‘Let me respectfully remind you: Life and Death are of supreme importance. Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost. On this night, the days of our life are decreased by one. Each of us should strive to awaken. Awaken! Take heed! Do not squander your life.’ (Evening Gatha) My guest today is one of the creators of the WeCroak app, Hansa Bergwall. Hansa runs a PR agency and is a poet. Our conversation runs the gamut of from Hansa’s inspiration for WeCroak to quotes from RuPaul and Stoic Philosophers on death and impermanence, why I find this app to be most helpful in work meetings, and we try to crack the code why most of the users of WeCroak are under 35. You can learn more about WeCroak at wecroak.com and follow Hansa on Twitter (@buzznature).

Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu (スティーヴン・マーフィ重松) is a subtle and winsome teacher. I had the privilege of being in the student seat last fall at a conference where he was teaching. The first words I remember him speaking were in reference to the Japanese word ‘ma’, which he translated as the space that is the space between things. Inviting each attendee to take on the practice of listening by feeling and holding the spoken words before responding. I remember letting out a big sigh of relief (and of celebration) and recognizing that he was not a typical presenter seeking to bombard listeners, but to create space. It takes a subtle artist to create space within another person, Murphy-Shigematsu is such a person. He expands the meaning of mindfulness into the embodiment of heartfulness, and structures his latest book, From Mindfulness to Heartfulness: Transforming Self and Society with Compassion in such a way to ground the reader in the basic elements of heartfulness and ways to cultivate heartfulness from which compassion action can spring forth.

Frank Ostaseski knows death. Not in a metaphorical or figurative way, but through concrete presence. Frank has held hands, laughed with, cried with and learned from those who were welcomed in the doors of the Zen Hospice Project during their final days on the planet. As you will soon find out, he honors them through magnanimous storytelling and wisdom from the depths of experience. Frank is a sought-after Buddhist teacher who co-founded the Zen Hospice Project in 1987 and founder of the Metta Institute in 2005 to train countless healthcare clinicians and caregivers and building a national network of educators, advocates and guides for those facing life-threatening illness. If that weren’t enough, he’s been highlighted by Oprah Winfrey, Bill Moyers and H.H. the Dalai Lama. And Frank was gracious enough to share his teachings and presence with us on Contemplify. Using his life-altering book, The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully, as a launchpad we delve into Frank’s story, his mentor Stephen Levine, the power of the five invitations themselves, how those facing death became his greatest teachers, what he learned from the monsters in his son’s closest and so much more. Buy the book, read this book (if you’re in a book club, consider delving into it and using these discussion questions). You can learn more about Frank at fiveinvitations.com or follow him on Twitter (@fostaseski) or Facebook (@frankostaseski).

Michael Perry is a roughneck contemplative. A term that I am hoping he will half smirk at in self-recognition from his deer stand. We got together to talk about his latest book, Montaigne in Barn Boots: An Amateur Ambles Through Philosophy, a book that mind you, made me deeply reflect on my own life and laugh out loud while reading in crowded public spaces. A combination that doesn’t happen as often as I would like. So I wondered, what would a conversation with Michael Perry be like? Perry falls into the category of conversation partner that I admire, one who can belay between foolish laughter to gut-punch vulnerability in the span of a couple minutes. As a music lover, for me to hear the connection between Mike Perry, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Justin Vernon and Phil Cook made me giddy. To learn that Justin Vernon and Phil Cook  were once a part of Perry’s band was more than my ears could take. And this is just the tip of the conversation. Mike and I delve into how a kidney stone got him interested in the philosophy of Michel de Montaigne, why one might hesitate when they write an entire chapter about shame, the known and unknown seasons of marriage, and multitude of moments where Perry makes me snicker like a schoolboy. So pick up this book, Montaigne in Barn Boots, if you also like to philosophically bob and weave between laughter, tears and sighs of recognition. Or perhaps just like the term, roughneck contemplative. You can learn more about Mike at sneezingcow.com (yep, you read that right) or follow him on Twitter (@Sneezing Cow) or Instagram (@Sneezing Cow).  

You know that old story of a successful criminal defense lawyer who quits practicing law to start a bean to bar chocolate factory? Yeah...it’s a new story for me too. But that is the story of Shawn Askinosie. Shawn is a remarkable human being. Not because Oprah Magazine named him “One of 15 Guys Who Are Saving the World” or because Forbes named his small batch, award winning chocolate factory, Askinosie Chocolate ‘One of the 25 Best Small Companies in America’ (both of which are true by the way). It’s because Shawn holds a contemplative vision for his life and business to create a more just and loving world. Askinosie Chocolate is a direct trade business that profit shares with their partners, the cocoa farmers, from around the world. Shawn and his team are recasting how a profitable business can operate in the world with integrity, passion and humility. In this conversation you will get a taste for Shawn’s values as he shares about his experience as a Family Brother at Assumption Abbey, how he recognizes the relationship between joy and sorrow, the lasting impact of his 6th grade teacher, why he wanted Askinosie Chocolate to be direct trade, profit sharing and open book management from its inception,... and what the hell he means by the phrase, ‘It not about the chocolate, it’s about the chocolate. This is just a taste of Shawn’s deeply empowering book, Meaningful Work: A Quest to Do Great Business, Find Your Calling, and Feed Your Soul. You can buy the book, Meaningful Work, wherever beautiful books are sold. To learn more about Shawn visit (and order chocolate) at askinosie.com.  

“The Sunday Letters are always a thoughtful and welcome stop during my week. You get a moment to pause, to consider and to reflect … and Jana often leaves you with a question to keep you thinking long after you’ve finished reading. I love these letters and find myself forwarding them regularly to friends and family.” - Reader, The Sunday Letters Have you ever wanted to be a writer? Maybe the type of writer with an acute eye for detail that maintains a deep connection with your readers. This is how I would describe the curator and writer of The Sunday Letters, Jana Marie. The Sunday Letters is a weekly newsletter on contemplative thinking. I don’t know about you, but Sundays continue to hold the air of naps, spiritual questions, and Swedish pancakes.This is how Jana describes Sundays - ‘In their characteristically gentle way, Sundays present us with what is so often a much-needed opportunity for stillness. A time to reconnect and re-center, they allow us the space to check in with both ourselves and others.’  It is from this still space that The Sunday Letters have been written by Jana these past 3 years. She has readers spanning the globe, one of which is this lowly podcast host. In this exchange you were learn how Jana dropped out of business school to discover a path that felt more akin to her way of being in the world, how the Stoic philosopher Seneca has been shaping her view of reality, and how The Sunday Letters came to be in the world. You can sign up for The Sunday Letters at thesundayletters.com. Learn more about Jana Marie at jmarie.ca or find her on Instagram @janajm. 

Thich Nhat Hahn is a world renowned Zen Master, author of more than a 100 books and in my opinion, a winsome meditative stroller. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr nominated him for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1967. Then in 1982, Thich Nhat Hahn founded a community called Plum Village in the south of France. In 2008, a young man was ordained a monk at Plum Village. The young man’s brother is a filmmaker, Max Pugh, who was in attendance reflected upon this experience of bearing witness to his brother’s ordination as a Buddhist monk. Later, Max Pugh would Direct and Produce the film Walk With Me: A Journey Into Mindfulness Featuring Thich Nhat Hahn. Max has crafted a remarkably meditative film about the Plum Village that his brother joined. In our conversation, Max shares how he was asked to make a rock and roll road documentary about Plum Village without the sex and drugs, how the ringing of chimes can break the unconscious noise, and what Thich Nhat Hahn taught him about being a parent. You can learn more about Max at maxpugh.com, walkwithmefilm.com or on Instagram @maxpugh1

Ali Kirkpatrick is a writer, speaker, retreat leader, part-time university instructor and business owner. But if i was going to name her post in the world it would be as an ambassador of love. Ali is taking over reins as host for Contemplify for 5 episodes in this miniseries called, Practice Without Preaching: Creating a Family Spirituality. The central beauty of this mini-series is that it holds the potential for you to reflect, question, celebrate and imagine how your family explores the spiritual terrain. Like all authentic explorations you might be challenged by what you discover...rest assured that Ali is a trustworthy guide and fellow traveler. This is episode 5 of Practice Without Preaching: Creating a Family Spirituality.

Ali Kirkpatrick is a writer, speaker, retreat leader, part-time university instructor and business owner. But if i was going to name her post in the world it would be as an ambassador of love. Ali is taking over reins as host for Contemplify for 5 episodes in this miniseries called, Practice Without Preaching: Creating a Family Spirituality. The central beauty of this mini-series is that it holds the potential for you to reflect, question, celebrate and imagine how your family explores the spiritual terrain. Like all authentic explorations you might be challenged by what you discover...rest assured that Ali is a trustworthy guide and fellow traveler. This is episode 4 of Practice Without Preaching: Creating a Family Spirituality.