Podcast 273: No Ordinary Time with Jan Phillips

Jan PhillipsI love how author Jan Phillips writes, she is articulate and always has something inspirational to say.  Her new book entitled “No Ordinary Time-The Rise of Spiritual Intelligence and Evolutionary Creativity“.  Is about awakening and honoring the creator within all of us. It is a calling to stop, listen and take the necessary time to reconnect with a higher spiritual power that exist and is in service to us all.

These are “No Ordinary Times”  as Jan states. We are are witnessing and participating in an evolutionary leap unlike anything in our history.  There is evidence in the human family of an upward shift in consciousness, and maturing spirituality, a connectedness that grows more intimate and global by the day.  And that uplift is countered by the dissolution of myths that no longer serve us and demise of institutions that have under-pinned our culture since the beginning of history.

This book is a call to mindfulness, a reminder that evolutionary action begins with stillness, that visionary ideas arise from spiritual practice.  It is a book for people conscious in their power and ready to co-create new sacraments and ceremonies to celebrate the Divine dwelling within us.

The books form is based on the medieval “Book of Hours” and is designed to get the reader to read, reflect and make a deep spiritual connection to the higher power.  There are stories, poems and contemplative questions to ponder as one journeys through the text.  This truly is a book that will wake you up, and start you thinking about your patterns and thinking that have gotten where you are, as well as help you rise above your current beliefs and test new ground for conscious evolution.
I hope you enjoy my interview with author and thought leader Jan Phillips.  Her new book “No Ordinary Times” is a wonderful read and hopefully a book that will help you to see your life in a whole new light.  If you would like to learn more about author Jan Phillips please click here to be directed to her website.

Podcast 265: Fried- Why You Burn Out and How to Revive with Joan Borysenko

 

Joan BorysenkoI know that many people go through times in their lives when they feel Fried, and burned out.  This is certainly not an uncommon feeling, especially when things have veered off course.  In my interview with author Joan Borysenko  about her new book entitled “Fried-Why You Burn Out and How to Revive“,  we discuss the challenges associated with these feelings and what one can do to revive.

As Joan states “Fried” may seem like an innocuous enough word since so many of us use it these days to describe our frenzied, speed-oriented, exhausted state of mind. But innocuous it is not.  Feeling fried is an alarm that life has veered off course.  It’s shorthand for losing our way individually and culturally in a world spinning so fast that it feels like we’re about to be launched into outer space.

In our interview together we discuss the work of author and psychologist Herbert Freudenberger who first popularized the condition in his book “Burnout: The Hight Cost of High Achievement“.  As Joan discribes in her book, and atributes to the work of Freudenberger ” Falling short of your ideal in a way–perceiving a gap between what you think is require of you and the reality of what you can produce can be disheartening to the point where your entire sense of self crumbles.

Joan certainly know the challenges of burn out herself, having gone through it several times and reverting to using antidepressants to combat the overwhelming feeling of depression. She soon learned that the use of drugs to treat the condition was only temporary and was not a permanent solution to the things she needed to change in her life to sustain a life of balance and harmony.   As Joan states knowing what to limit in your life and what to seek more of isn’t always easy to figure out, let alone implement.
Joan also reveals that burnout can have its roots in childhood, and the seeds germinate many years later and can be carried into adulthood.  They grow in emotional soil polluted by helplessness that was deeply rooted in the nervous system during childhood.  Given the right conditions–a bad economy, a mismatch of values at work, frequent rejection, and abusive or loveless relationship, those seeds of burnout and depression often germinate many years later.

If you are interested in learning more about burn out and want to know more about how to cope with it, then I highly recommend that you read Joan’s new book “Fried-Why You Burn Out and How to Revive“.  You can learn more about Joan’s book and become involved in her community of Facebook followers sharing their experiences by clicking here to be directed to her Facebook page.

Enjoy this great interview with a wonderful author and friend.

Podcast 264: Loyalty To Your Soul with Ron and Mary Hulnick

Ron and Mary HulnickI had the distinct honor to interview two spiritual teachers of mine  who have had a significant impact on transforming my life for the positive, and countless thousands of other University of Santa Monica graduate students in the study of Spiritual Psychology.

In my interview with authors Ron and Mary Hulnick we get the opportunity to discuss their new Hay House book entitled ” Loyalty To Your Soul-The Heart of Spiritual Psychology“.   This book at it’s essence distills the teachings of the Spiritual Psychology, a two year graduate course and it does an amazing job of covering so many of the valuable lessons of the course.

There are 22 Principals of Spiritual Psychology covered in the book, and while Ron, Mary and I only have time to cover a few you will certainly want to purchase a copy of the book so that you can learn more, believe me it is well worth you investment of money and time.

A key point of the Spiritual Psychology course is something that Ron and Mary call your “Learning Orientation to Life“.   Most people in life are on the “goal line” of life.  Acquiring more things in the physical world reality, home, cars, more money etc.  While this is part of our physical world reality, it is not the most important.  We will soon get tired of just seeking the next new thing in life, and ultimately it will not fulfill our soul.  On the other hand if our orientation to life is on the learning line, we are focused on our spiritual evolution.

Ron and Mary state in Principle #5 ” Physical-world reality exists for the purpose of spiritual evolution.  If you understand this point, it changes your life perspective and will have major positive implications for your lifetime. Wins on the Goal Line stay here, while wins on the Learning Line go with you.  It’s the Learning Line that leads Home to God where progress is spiritual evolution is made.

Mary and I discuss that consciousness functions on three levels, physical, mental and emotional.  On each of these levels we have either positive or negative experiences.  As we grow in our consciousness evolution we seek to ascend to what is referred to as our Authentic Self Level.   At this level of understanding and peace is where we know Unconditional Love.

Your Authentic Self knows the curriculum you have come here to learn. It knows what ego work you’re here to complete.  It also knows that until your ego work is done, your spiritual agenda in the physical world will serve you by continually providing experiences that will tend to trigger your unresolved issues.  These experiences are actually spiritual opportunities to learn, grow and complete what must be done.  The Authentic Self cooperates with this structure, for it knows what it’s here to do and how this physical form supports it spiritual progression.
If you are at all interested in exploring your personal spiritual growth, and want a book that will provide you with so many of the answers you have probably been seeking then I highly recommend Ron and Mary’s Hulnick’s new book ” Loyalty To Your Soul”.  You can also visit the books website by clicking here, or you can learn more about the Spiritual Psychology Master’s program by clicking here to be directed to the USM website.

Please enjoy this wonderful interview with two of the most amazing spiritual teacher I have ever encountered.

Podcast 260: The Power and the Pain: Transforming Spiritual Hardship into Joy with Andrew Holecek

Andrew HolecekA good friend recently recommended that I interview Andrew Holecek, and I am certainly glad that I did.  Andrew’s new book entitled “The Power and the Pain: Transforming Spiritual Hardship into Joy” is a gift to all that read it.

In his book, Andrew directs or attention to the two key points of the Buddhist spiritual journey: suffering and the obstacles and opportunities that suffering presents us with as we try to understand and transcend it.  Essentially, it is a book about the hardships of the journey that sometime takes us by surprise, and wear us down, or even discourage us from continuing. We all have been in this position, and sometimes it seems like we will never emerge from the hardship.  But somehow with persistence and belief, we do.

In my interview with Andrew we discuss the the Four Nobel Truths that are articulated so clearly in the Buddhist philosophy: 1) Life means suffering 2) The origin of suffering is attachment 3) The cessation of suffering is attainable  4) The path to the cessation of suffering.

If you understand these basic truths, then you will understand that we are all going to suffer and that much of our personal suffering is due to our attachment to the material world and our beliefs about it.  What is clearly available to us, but frequently we are blinded to the truth is that their is a path to the cessation of suffering.

The Buddha summarized them thus: ” I teach one thing and one thing only: suffering and the end of suffering.” Suffering is not only the overt hardship of things like disease and disaster but also the everyday experiences of dissatisfaction, anxiety, and unhappiness.  If we simply open our eyes and acknowledge what we see and feel, we will discover the truth of suffering in its many guises.
If you are interested in reading a wonderfully well written book on the philosophy and paths to the end of suffering, then Andrew’s new book “The Power and the Pain” is a wonderful read.  The depth of his work is transformational as well as easy to read and understand.  If you would like more information about Andrew and his work, please visit his website by clicking here.  Please enjoy this wonderful interview with a great author.

Podcast 257: The 12 Step Buddhist with Darren Littlejohn

Darren LittlejohnIn my recent interview with Darren LittleJohn the author of “The 12 Step Buddhist” we speak about his personal bouts with addiction as well as how he has learned to cope by utilizing his practices in the Buddhist philosophy.

Darren’s program is designed to augment the AA program, but is not intended to replace AA.  His states that Buddhism isn’t a substitute for the 12 Steps.   I don’t care how devout you are, whether your’ve meditated with the Dali Lama or had an audience with the pope states Darren.   The book is his personal story, his critical analysis of treatment methods, and practical advice on how to integrate Buddhism with a 12-Step recovery program.

In our interview together Darren addresses the Buddhist concept of attachment.  We’re all attached to something else: concepts. Our concepts form our identities, our selective, distorted memories, personalities, goals, dreams, complaints, and fears. And we love to have them.  When we look at attachment from this angle, it’s obvious that we’re addicted to our thoughts.  We’re willing to go to the mat for our right to believe them, especially the ones that we think define who we are.

The bigger questions we should really ask from a Buddhist perspective is ” Who are we?”  When an addict ( or anyone for that matter) asks this question, he or she can really understand at a very deep level this concept of  attachement. At this level of awareness we understand we are spiritual beings having a human experience, allowing us to let go of many of the addictions and attachements and this can be our awakening to a new life of sobriety.

If you are dealing with addiction and are looking to find alternative methods to supplement your current treatment program, then I would recommend reading Darren’s book “The 12-Step Buddhist“.  Darrens’ book is a great guide to alternative practices such as meditation which can really have an effect on both the physical and spiritual aspects of addiction.
Please visit Darren’s website by clicking here for more information as well as informative video of Darren speaking about the practices of Buddhism and their positive effects on addiction.

Podcast 254: Epiphany: True Stories of Sudden Insight to Inspire, Encourage, and Transform with Elise Ballard

Elise BallardI recently had the pleasure of interviewing Elise Ballard the author of a new book entitled “Epiphany: True Stories of Sudden Insight to Inspire, Encourage and Transform“.  I believe that all of us have had an epiphany in our life at one time or another, the question is have we had the courage to tell someone about our epiphany?

So what is the definition of  epiphany: ” a moment of great sudden revelation; an intuitive grasp of reality through something usually simple and striking; an illuminating discovery, realization or disclosure”.  Elise emphasizes that our epiphanies change not just us, but others in our lives and frequently the world.

In her new book Elise interviews over 50 well noted actors, and leaders in her attempt to explore how their personal epiphanies changed their lives.  These stories are truly moving, and provide the reader with a sense of just how powerful their epiphanies were in changing their lives.

Elise discovered some commonalities about epiphanies–Listening:Whether they were calmly contemplating the sky, meditating or praying, clinging to hope in a crisis, desperate to heal or searching for an answer, people were listening or paying attention to signs and what was going on around them. Belief: Whenever people have an epiphany, they never doubted for an instant whatever happened for them was real.  They had absolute faith and trust in the experience. Action: Every single person who epiphany positively changed his or her life took action. Serendipity:   After people began to take action on their epiphanies, circumstances seemed to fall into place so that they could take the next steps.

So I had to ask Elise if she believed epiphanies were a spiritual occurrence, and were the people she interviewed involved in some practices that would help to create the epiphany experience.  While she would not confirm my ideas about the spiritual connection of epiphanies, she certainly did not deny it.  She did note that many of our epiphanies can occur during times of extreme stress or challenges in our lives, as if a higher power was providing us with guidance and direction.
Whatever your personal belief is about epiphanies, I would highly recommend that you read Elise Ballard’s new book “Epiphany: True Stories of Sudden Insight to Inspire, Encourage, and Transform“.  I would also encourage you to visit Elise’s website by clicking here, it is a wonderful website and she provides you an opportunity to record your epiphany as well as watch many video interviews she conducted with the people profiled in her book.  Enjoy this wonderful interview with someone who had dedicated their live to exploring and understanding our epiphanies in life.

Podcast 253: How to Thrive in Changing Times with Sandra Ingerman

Sandra IngermanThis is my second interview with Sandra Ingerman, and during this podcast we will speak about her book entitled “How to Thrive in Changing Times“.  We have all experienced challenges in our life at one point or another, and Sandra provides some simple tools to create true health, wealth, peace and joy.  This is certainly something we call all use a dose of as we bring in this New Year.

I know that everyone has heard this before, and Sandra makes a point to remind us.  One has to do with how our thoughts and words create the world we live in, and the other has to do with what we now know through science about how we can change our thought patterns.

As we navigate through 2011  I don’t think that their could be anything more important that re-framing how we speak to ourselves and to others.  Sandra is right on with her wisdom and advice in that this simple behavior shapes our world.  Just set your intentions to be more positive, and to give  yourself more self-love.   In most spiritual practices there is the teaching of as above, so below; as within, so without.  What we see in our outer world is merely a reflection of our inner state of consciousness.

Sandra asks the question in her book “How to Thrive in Changing Times”, “Are we holding on to the vision that we would like to see for our descendants and ourselves?  I would encourage you to ask this questions as you enter this New Year.   As we take a deep look inside, and do the spiritual work to transform ourselves and the world around us, we must work from the inside out states Sandra.  Too many of us only focus on the outer world. When we only focus on what is happening in the outer world, we start to feel like we are on a roller coster ride.  This yo-yoing can go on and on unless we come to the realization that our happiness, peace and joy and wealth lie within.

 

Sandra has a simple diagram in her book which is great.  New thoughts–New Behaviors–New Outcomes–New Thoughts.  So my recommendation as you enter this New Year is to listen to this great podcast with Sandra Ingerman as well as read this simple but wise book “How to Thrive in Changing Times.  If you would like more information about Sandra please click here to be directed to her website.  Enjoy your New Year, and set your intentions to re-frame your self-talk, and how you speak to others.

Podcast 250: Wisdom Films-Alchemy for the Soul, and The Beauty of Being with Gary Malkin

Gary MalkinI have had the honor of knowing Gary Malkin for a number of years.   I was originally introduced to his beautiful work through my son Sean.  Eight years ago when my son was diagnosed with Leukemia, Christmas morning under our tree was an amazing gift from Sean.

The gift was music to the spoken word, produced by Gary Malkin entitled “Graceful Passages“.  If you are not familiar with this particular CD series, I can not speak enough about the moving, touching and transformational work that Gary created. It will touch your soul like nothing else, I listened to these passages over and over again and again until they were etched in my being.

In my interview with Gary for this podcast we speak about his new Wisdom Films creation “Alchemy for the Soul and Beauty of Being“.  What Gary has created utilizing much of his work from Graceful Passages is a magnificent work of artistry and cinematography for you listening and viewing experience…and an amazing experience.

We all live in a very fast paced world, filled with constant change and lots of challenges.  I personally know that I like to take a break from what seems like a non stop lifestyle and practice my morning meditation.  It is this practice that ground me and prepares me for my day.

If you would like to experience a calming, peaceful, pleasant experience then I recommend that you play one of the passages from “Alchemy for the Soul or “The Beauty of Being“, as Gary states it is “inner-taniment” The films provide a unique opportunity to cultivate the “witness within”-that quiet inner-knowing-which can help us to experience equanimity in the midst of any storm. This state, know as “The Relaxation Response”, enhances your overall health while strengthening your capacity for compassion and inner peace.  When you’ve cultivated these qualities, you become a part of the fabric of the world’s solutions, rather than its problems.  This ‘witness within’ experience-over time-can help you, as Gandhi once said ” to become the change you wish to see in the world”.
If you want to treat yourself to a wonderfully calming, peaceful and transformational experience then get a copy of the two (2) set DVD from Wisdom Films.  If you would like more information about the product the Wisdom Films offers, please click here to be directed to their website.  Please enjoy this wonderful interview with a very compassionate artist and author…Gary Malkin.

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