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This week we talk to A.H. Almaas about spiritual awakening

A. H. Almaas is the pen name of A. Hameed Ali, creator of the Diamond Approach to Self-Realization. The Diamond Approach is a contemporary teaching that developed within the context of both ancient spiritual teachings and modern depth psychology theories.

In This Interview, A.H. Almaas and I Discuss…

• The One You Feed parable
• The different layers of consciousness
• The angelic and animal nature
• How the animal side is focused on our survival- the drive to survive
• Being is our fundamental essence
• Self Realization- when our Being and our identity becomes the same thing
• The primary method of The Diamond Approach- direct experience of being
• The process of inquiry
• Engaging in some practice that questions what we assume to know about ourselves
• How taking things at face value shortchanges ourselves of deeper knowledge
• How the separate sense of self is not an illusion, but it is only one of the ways to view reality
• Being open to other ways of experiencing reality
• What Essence is
• The components of the Diamond Approach
• Whether there is suffering beyond simple ego attachment
• How there is much more potential in ourselves than we realize
• How the most important thing is to be interested in the truth of reality

A.H. Almaas Links

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This week we talk to Norman Rosenthal about transcendental meditation

Dr. Norman Rosenthal is a world-renowned psychiatrist, public speaker and best-selling author who is known for his innovative research and inspirational writings. He is currently clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University School of Medicine. He is most known for his discovery of Seasonal Affective Disorder.

He is currently clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University School of Medicine. His new book is Supermind: How to Boost Performance and Live a Richer and Happier Life Through Transcendental Meditation. 

In This Interview,Norman Rosenthal and I Discuss…

• The One You Feed parable
• Transcendental Meditation vs Mindfulness meditation
• His latest book, Supermind: How to boost performance and live a richer and happier life through Transcendental Meditation
• That whatever we practice, we succeed at 
• Seasonal Affective Disorder: What it is and how he discovered it
• That you cannot become a master sailor in calm seas
• The wonderful state of consciousness called Transcendence 
• Whether a wandering mind is an unhappy mind
• The default mode network
• Supermind: what it is and how to know if it applies to you
• Why to practice Transcendental Meditation

Norman Rosenthal Links

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This week we talk to Kira Astrayan about overcoming loneliness

Kira Asatryan is certified relationship coach, author, blogger, loneliness expert, and speaker. She loves to speak publicly on the topic of loneliness, as it’s a problem of epidemic proportions in our modern times. She maintains a private coaching practice in San Francisco where she helps couples, and individuals develop closeness – the antidote to loneliness – in their relationships.

She has struggled with loneliness her whole life and has come to find that there are many others out there like her.

She has spent her coaching career researching, pondering, and reflecting upon what specifically makes relationships feel good or bad.

In This Interview, Kira Asatryan and I Discuss…

• The One You Feed parable
• Her book, Stop Being Lonely; Three simple steps to developing close friendships and deep relationships
• The new type of loneliness in modern society
• How closeness means direct access to another person’s inner world
• How knowing and caring are the two things that create closeness
• The importance of seeing others from their perspective and letting them see you from your perspective
• The role of being interested in and invested in another’s well-being
• That instead of fostering closeness, that worrying about someone can sometimes push them away
• What it is about technology that can cause distance even when we’re around other people
• That love is not a reliable solution to loneliness
• That deep down, we’re all very much the same
• How if you share something about yourself that is a bit deeper than surface level, it can often prompt the other person to do the same
• The difference between questions that are “too hard” vs questions that are “too soft”
• The place for and power of posing the question “What does that get you?”
• The Want, Assume, Misunderstand cycle
• The importance of having an inviting mindset and true curiosity when asking someone a question
• What it means to separate the person from the problem
• The four skills we need to have in order to foster closeness

Kira Asatryan Links

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This week we talk to Russell Simmons about being a giver

Russell Simmons is an American entrepreneur and author. He began his entrepreneurial career in his youth, but on the wrong side of the law, selling marijuana to make money while an active member of a local gang.

He then partnered with Rick Rubin to create Def Jam Records, and signed artists like the Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Public Enemy and Run-D.M.C. He is also The Chairman and CEO of Rush Communications, he cofounded the hip-hop music label Def Jam Recordings and created the clothing fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and Tantris.

In This Interview, Russell Simmons and I Discuss:

• The One You Feed parable
• How good givers are great getters
• Giving before you get
• Dissociating ourselves from the results of our labors
• How success and fame don’t necessarily make us happy
• Improving our health through veganism
• Improving the health of the planet through veganism
• Corporate greed
• The horrors of factory farming
• His experience with Occupy Wall Street
• The corruption in politics
• His daily yoga practice
• Combining yoga, meditation, and veganism
• Remaining useful and active as we age
• How he meditates
• Watching our thoughts and not being afraid of them
• His two phases of meditation
• How innovation comes from stillness
• What led him to yoga
• The lesson that has taken him the longest to learn
• How he enjoys morning meditation more than late night drinking and drugs
• Choosing cloudiness or clarity

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This week we talk to Benjamin Shalva about spiritual cross training

Benjamin Shalva is a rabbi, writer, and yoga instructor, he leads spiritual cross-training seminars and workshops around the world. He received his rabbinical ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City and his yoga teacher certification from the Yogic Physical Culture Academy in Los Cabos, Mexico. Shalva serves on the faculty of the Jewish Mindfulness Center of Washington and the 6th & I Historic Synagogue in Washington, DC, leads musical prayer services for Bet Mishpachah in Washington, DC, and spends his summers as the camp rabbi of Tamarack Camps in Michigan. His writings have been published in the Washington Post, Elephant Journal, and Spirituality & Health magazine. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he lives in Reston, Virginia, with his wife and their children.

In This Interview, Benjamin Shalva and I Discuss:

• The One You Feed parable
• His book, Spiritual Cross-Training: Searching through Silence, Stretch & Song
• How he has been searching all of his life
• That spiritual work produces nothing tangible
• That spiritual growth is slow yet real & discernable in our lives
• Spiritual connection & growth, like friendship, is built through time, energy & attention
• What “spiritual cross-training” is
• His spiritual experience with the 3 modalities of silence, stretch & song
• How sticking to just one spiritual practice, over time becomes hobby
• The importance of “diving deep” into your chosen 2-3 spiritual practices
• How to deal with ego & ambition when it shows up in your spiritual practice
• How inviting the ego voice in his head to join him in his spiritual practice has been a useful tool in his life
• How what you resist, persists
• That, in the spiritual journey “…when we’ve exhausted all other options, we always have one weapon left in our arsenal….laughter”