Jeff joins us from Houston. He is the current Associate Dean of the Faculty and Graduate Programs in the School of the Humanities and the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University. He is also the Associate Director of the Center for Theory and Research at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. In this conversation we explore the “3rd space” that Jeff occupies and a wide array of topics therein and all connected to the esoteric: a term that is important to Jeff. We discuss Jeff’s position on the physical world vs the immaterial world, Belief vs Beliefs, the importance of the Humanities and the porosity of the human being. We delve immediately into the Paranormal and learn how old religious heterodoxy allowed what we could accept and what we should ignore and linked to how many scientists (social and otherwise) are “in the closet” about these experiences. We discuss how our culture is trying to change itself today as we share our experiences without the societal / cultural shackles of our recent ancestors. We learn more about his thoughts on religion as a mechanism to tap into paranormal forces and then attribute to an external deity. We discuss being in your own story, creating your own story versus believe that you are your own story. We talk about religion as an art, the self, reincarnation, the importance of acting, the persona – and the Friendly Neighbourhood Spiderman.   Soo much to talk about and too little time!   To DONATE to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: https://behindgreatness.org. As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors. Behind Greatness IG: @behindgreatnesspodcast & @inspire_north   Jeff, Website: http://jeffreyjkripal.com Books: https://www.amazon.com/Jeffrey-John-Kripal/e/B001IODIT2%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share    

John chats with us from his place in Toronto. John comes from a family – like many of us – that left their country in poverty to make a better life in a new place. John tells us about growing up, living and working in a cocoon of a 2km radius … until he began to poke a hole in his bubble. In the 90s, John worked relentlessly for his firm fulfilling his billable hours, but spending 1000 hours / year trying to build a business with future tech-giants like Microsoft and Oracle. But before they were giants John bet his future on this space, perplexing all of his superiors … until the tech space exploded and he became the authority in the country in this industry. We discuss being on top of the world … until his firm became embroiled global scandal and he lost everything. We discuss in detail a horrific accident, near-death, his comatose state … until Pavarotti, a stage, a white light and the perennial chip on his shoulder brought us to this conversation. Talk about piercing holes in the universe….   To DONATE to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: https://behindgreatness.org. As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors. Behind Greatness IG: @behindgreatnesspodcast & @inspire_north   John, Website: https://www.maverixpe.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joruffolo/ TW: https://twitter.com/ruffoloj

Orlando joins us from his home city of Miami. In a followup to last week’s scintillating talk with Luis Zuniga, we continue with Orlando in talking about living under a totalitarian regime and the peoples’ fight against the same. Orlando’s family lineage in Cuba traces back to 1492. Orlando explains how he and his Organization are trying to pierce through the communist armour of Cuba’s regime to get the message of hope, liberty and democracy to the Cuban people on his home island. We discuss infiltration of radio airwaves, the “escape” story of his own family, the grave political dangers of pork, evictions, the sacrifices of his parents and grandparents and the humiliating and punishing treatment of those who simply try to leave and those who rise up against. Orlando also stresses with us how tourism dollars into Cuba are directly deposited into military bank accounts and not necessarily into hospitals and schools and for the general welfare of the people. We learn from Orlando how the ideological cloak of the regime has started to wear and tear in modern times and how a continued push to show those living under crushing communist rule that beliefs are stronger than many think them to be. To DONATE to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: https://behindgreatness.org. As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors. Behind Greatness IG: @behindgreatnesspodcast & @inspire_north Orlando, Website: www.directorio.org Assembly of the Resistance website: www.republicadecuba.org Personal website: www.gutierrezboronat.com

Luis joins us from Miami, Florida. Luis is a former Plantado. Born and bred in Cuba, Luis was a young teen during Fidel Castro’s revolution against the military dictatorship in Cuba at the time. However, he found out as a young university student just how oppressive Castro’s version of “liberation” was (and is) living under his communist rule starting in the early 1960s. Refusing “political integration” as a university student, Luis brings us through his harrowing story fighting back against Castro’s totalitarian regime. Fighting meant that he was imprisoned for his beliefs for almost 2 decades of his life. He describes the appalling conditions, the tortures, the beatings, the “re-education” programs, the solitary confinement, the maimings, the escapes, the mine fields, and the rescue attempts. And none of this affected his resolve. Today, at 75 years young, he continues the fight against communism through The Assembly of Cuban Resistance. We discuss the current conditions in Cuba and the continued stranglehold that the government has on its people and that the military has on the entire tourist industry. Sensitive ears, beware. Luis brings us hard truth – and enlightening lessons.   A very special thanks to Torchia Communications https://torchiacom.com/.   Luis, FB - Assembly of Cuban Resistance: https://www.facebook.com/cubaresist FB- Directorio: https://www.facebook.com/directoriodemocraticocubano Media Release: https://www.canadiannetworkoncuba.ca/index.php/events/1035-july-10-statement-of-the-canadian-cuban-friendship-association-toronto-   To DONATE to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: https://behindgreatness.org. As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors. Behind Greatness IG: @behindgreatnesspodcast & @inspire_north    

Santiago joins us from Vienna. He is from Bogota, Colombia and spends his time between Austria and his native land. He is a founder and director of Jaguar Siembra – a not for profit outfit in Colombia dedicated to preserving Indigenous knowledge and sharing indigenous wisdom through film about this supremely unique place on the planet in northern Colombia: “La Linea Negra” in Santa Marta. This conversation is packed with what’s important to our guest – and to our podcast. Santiago warns us about the travails from our disconnection from our food sources, he explains the sacredness of the Jaguar (see episode with Amy Jo Johnson for more) and the community in music. He also educates us on ancient places on earth and their connection to sound and to ancient wisdom. We discuss his mission in communicating through art and why it’s important for him to use the power of film cut through the noise to share the sacred knowledge from a piece of the earth that has been untouched by modernity since forever. And yes, Metallica once again makes a cameo in this discussion.    To DONATE to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: https://behindgreatness.org. As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors. Behind Greatness IG: @behindgreatnesspodcast & @inspire_north   Santiago, Website: www.jaguarsiembra.com IG: @jaguarsiembra FB: https://www.facebook.com/jaguarsiembra  

We chat with Diane, who is joining us from Oregon. Diane is an artist and dancer … and she is also a practising neuroscientist, psychiatrist, clinician and author. She is a polymath, whose life has been enriched by unique near death experiences - at age 4, age 13 and again in her 20s. We learn about Diane’s challenge of the materialistic model that scientists are trained to follow and why this is important for her – and for science. Diane is also known for her pioneering work in parapsychology, through the study of telepathy and savant skills in autistic children. She discusses with us the primacy of consciousness and consciousness “as a cloud”, the information field vs the sensory field, reincarnation, out-of-body experiences, the dreaming state and the limitations of language on our ability to think. She brings us through a wonderful retelling of her experience with ducks and making sense of chaos through artistic experience. A fascinating discussion, with a fascinating human being.   To DONATE to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: https://behindgreatness.org. As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors. Behind Greatness IG: @behindgreatnesspodcast & @inspire_north   Diane, Website: https://drdianehennacy.com/ Books: https://drdianehennacy.com/?page_id=13  

Leslie joins us from NYC. She studied ornithology in her graduate studies in Massachusetts, moved to humanitarian work for Burma to radio show production in California to then freelance investigative journalism.   As a journalist she was able to publish her early work relating to UFOs in the Boston Globe in 2001 – and was struck by the deafening silence of response to her piece. But some did take notice …. She published a best selling book several years later and began to be invited by high level political officials and defence bureaucrats to help them understand what she was investigating and indeed finding. In 2017 she had found out about ATIIP, a secret program within the Pentagon to investigate UFOs. With the help of Luis Elizondo – a recently resigned lead in this program - she was shown documentation and videos on this program. She then worked with 2 journalist colleagues, Ralph Blumenthal and Helene Cooper and revealed these details through the NY Times (including the tic tac video). From there everything changed – the tide changed in Congress and with the general public interest in UFOs in the US, and the world around. We talk about radically changing beliefs by following curiosities. We discuss her work on her last book and the Netflix series that it inspired (and filmed by BreakThru Films) and how/why she was drawn by reincarnation cases and suggestion that we survive death. We discuss her beliefs on after-death, her personal experience with mediums, her experience with her deceased brother and her wish to delve more into the study of consciousness and human super-powers. She explains her gratitude for being able to spend the time and space to pursue truth and to help “shine the light on the irrationality of the skeptical mindset”.   To DONATE to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: https://behindgreatness.org. As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors. Behind Greatness IG: @behindgreatnesspodcast & @inspire_north   Leslie, Website: https://www.lesliekean.com/ TW: https://twitter.com/lesliekean?lang=en

Bruce joins us from his home in California. Bruce was a pioneer cell biologist and one of the few scientists in the world working with cloning stem cells back in the late 1960s. And he dared asking questions. During his early research work at Stanford, he started to realize that what scientists were learning and teaching others about genetics and genetic determinism was faulty. He came to understand that we are in fact the masters, not the victims of our genes. Ostracized by his peers early on for his pioneering work, Bruce was finally vindicated when 23 years later in the early 1990s, his work in Epigenetics became recognized by modern science. Bruce discusses at length with us the importance of understanding the programs that we are inculcated with early on in our lives and how these programs unfortunately run the majority of our lives. We discuss how our consciousness has direct input into the culture of our cells … how our cells are formed based on our environment and what and how we “feed” them. We talk about cells as the “antennas of self” -- how our bodies are receptors of our own broadcasts. We also discuss the importance of creating and of breaking through our old programs and taking on new programs that don’t perpetuate disharmony. And to our giddy pleasure we also touch upon the importance of dreams: disconnecting from the machine and doorways.   To DONATE to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: https://behindgreatness.org. As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors. Behind Greatness IG: @behindgreatnesspodcast & @inspire_north   Bruce, Books: https://www.brucelipton.com/store/?product-category=bruce-lipton-authored Website: https://www.brucelipton.com/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/BruceHLiptonPhD/ TW: https://twitter.com/biologyofbelief IG: https://www.instagram.com/brucelipton/ YT: https://www.youtube.com/user/biologyofbelief  

Ramy joins us from his home in Toronto. Ramy has spent a career honing his gifts and capabilities in building a successful career in management consulting and corporate C-level leadership. From the outset of this conversation, Ramy is more than happy to get into what matters to him: investing in others’ lives. We discuss his belief in making impact and making a difference with others, a mindset he imported from his upbringing and early career life in a more ancient part of the world - in North Africa and the Middle East. We discuss the cultural differences between living in the East and the West: the central role that relationships played in his everyday life and how the concept of time is viewed in building those relationships. We chat about his thoughts on the importance of logic, structure, the concept of building a set of skills in our society and discipline … and we see Ramy politely tolerate some of your host’s naïve questions (;)). Ramy stresses his need to be present for others and the continuous struggle between focus on the self vs community engagement. A solid, “structured” conversation, with a healthy sprinkling of right brain musings.   To DONATE to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: https://behindgreatness.org. As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors. Behind Greatness IG: @behindgreatnesspodcast & @inspire_north   Ramy, Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramy-dimitry-6260121b/

Tim grew up in London (Ontario), a small city between Detroit and Toronto. He had a happy childhood, but needed to live a closeted existence as his environment was hostile. After moving to the big city as a young adult, he quickly began to flourish. He lived a life surrounded by art and the artistic endeavour and lived within the irreverent energy that it exuded. Not considering himself an ‘artist’, this early adulthood life experience shaped his ambitions to the core nonetheless. He soon began to understand how irreverence in the arts brought people together, created culture and helped changed beliefs. Over his career, he has become a globally recognized social entrepreneur in this space. We discuss how modernism in architecture began to focus away from people and give way to towers, plazas - and the car – and how we lost our way in creating places for people and stories and the emotional connection to both. We chat about the “activation” of a place, multisensorial dimensions and art as urban acupuncture. In line with our discussion with the late Hazel Henderson (ep 61), Tim talks about focusing on a bigger pie – not a bigger slice of what we already have.    To DONATE to the Behind Greatness podcast, please visit here: https://behindgreatness.org. As a charity, tax receipts are issued to donors. Behind Greatness IG: @behindgreatnesspodcast & @inspire_north   Tim, Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-jones-8ba9b11a0/?originalSubdomain=ca TW: https://twitter.com/timjones0001