Deep Transformation offers dialogues with cutting-edge thinkers, artists, contemplatives, and activists who combine big-picture, integrative perspectives with profound, contemplative depths. With these remarkable people, we explore the great questions of our time, such as how best to live, and how best to heal, learn, create, and contribute in our era of unprecedented challenges and opportunities.
Visit our website at https://deeptransformation.io/ to learn more.
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The Wonderful Ideals But Flawed Applications of DEI: Intolerant Tolerance, Undiverse Diversity, Unliberal Liberalism, and More
Episode 145
Thursday, August 29, 2024 β’ Duration 55:28
Ep. 145 (Part 1 of 3) | Award-winning author, Zen priest and teacher, Kung Fu master, and professional advisor and trainer,Β Keith Martin-Smith, took a good look at the diversity, equity, and inclusion movement when he began to notice the damage it was causing people he knew under the guise of progress, or equity. Putting his keen mind to the task, Keith identified seven key areas where the DEI movement goes markedly astray from the values it aspires to. Coming from an integral understanding, Keith does more than simply point out where the movement has backfired. We learn that postmodern thinking is how we became aware of the βsubtle soup of racism [and bias] in the cultural field itselfββbeyond the concrete, obvious social injustices that activists fought in the 20th century. This more subtle field of bias is responsible for the inequalities we see in society today, which is what the DEI movement would like to tear down. But the ways in which DEI acts to make this happen, ironically, are characterized by exactly the things that DEI is against: intolerance, inequity, undiversity, tribalism, and anti-liberalism.
In his wise, articulate, and gracious way, Keith makes sense of why the diversity, equity, and inclusion movement has become a political flashpoint, raising the hackles of not only rightwing conservatives but also liberal progressives. Sympathetic to the values of DEI, Keith is all about helping to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive movement. When asked how the values of DEI could be fulfilled to make it the harmonious, effective, correcting movement it aspires to be, Keith responded, βwith conversations like this, for one thing,β adding, βwe need to realize that everyone has a portion of truthβwe just need to connect everyoneβs portion of truth with their heart.β Recorded June 6, 2024.
βEverybody caresβ¦they just care about different things. Consensus and change come from being willing to listen to what people care about and finding space to honor that.β
* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.
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Keith Martin-SmithΒ is the award-winning author of five books, most recentlyΒ When the Buddha Needs Therapy, about which Ken Wilber said, βThis is a terrific book, fully embracing a truly Integral perspective and highly recommended.β He is also an ordained Zen priest, a Northern Kung Fu lineage holder and recognized sifu, and a professional advisor and trainer. More at KeithMartinSmith.com.
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Podcast produced by Vanessa SantosΒ andΒ Show Notes byΒ Heidi Mitchell
Exploring the Depths of the Soul: Bridging Ancient Wisdom & Modern Psychology Using the Practice of Inquiry with A. H. Almaas (Part 2)
Episode 144
Thursday, August 22, 2024 β’ Duration 39:47
Ep. 144 (Part 2 of 2) | In the secondΒ A. H. Almaas Wisdom SeriesΒ conversation, Hameed Ali describes how the practice of inquiry can aid us on our spiritual journey, illuminating our understanding of our personal experience and our soul. He uses the example of inquiring into a sense of worthlessness to illustrate what happens as we begin to investigate the terrain of our consciousness. There comes a point when the inquiry leads beyond where a psychologist would normally endβwhen it slips from psychological into spiritual inquiry. βIf you stay with the wounding, something will emerge: a sense of inherent value. You recognize βI am presenceβ and this presence has valueβall the way to nondual presence and beyond.βΒ
In introducing us to the Diamond Approachβs inquiry technique, Hameed covers a rich array of topics: the dynamism of consciousness; the importance of scientific objectivity in our exploration of inner experience; modern psychologyβs revelation of how our sense of self develops; the essential qualities of curiosity and love of truth; and how understanding the ways in which the past influences the present disentangles it. Hameed is a masterful teacherβwith just a few words he can illuminate vast territories of spiritual landscape for the purpose of helping his students learn to live their lives from a deeper, liberated condition. Rather than aiming to transcend our experience, Hameed assures us there is a way through, an unraveling we can do, as we discover never-ending realizations about individual consciousness and the nature of reality. Recorded July 4, 2024.
βThe soul is a living embodiment of the life force.βΒ
Basic trust: fundamentally we are an indestructible nature, but our basic trust can get whittled away (00:50)
Feeling the love inherent to reality (05:27)
Resources & References β Part 2
Democracy in Decline? Making Sense of the Supreme Court, the Trump Trials, and Threats to Public Morality
Episode 135
Thursday, June 20, 2024 β’ Duration 51:12
Ep. 135 (Part 1 of 2) | Criminal justice professor and constitutional law expertΒ Mark FischlerΒ does a brilliant job of deepening our understanding of the challenges facing our democracy, our legal system, and our public morality. How did the democratic process and the values it representsβequality and liberty for allβcome to be teetering on the brink? Mark illuminates the fact that the Constitution is not a set-in-stone document, but eminently open to interpretation, and explains that its interpretation is a direct reflection of the worldviews of the Supreme Court justices. In fact, the whole process of democracy needs to be aligned with a certain level of development in order to deliver. Mark points out that democracy hasnβt served all of us, and urges us to explore who and in what ways it has failed, that we may work to correct its flaws and continue to uphold and expand the values foundational to democracy to include respecting and protecting the rights of all beings.
Mark contrasts the moral integrity of revered public figures such as Socrates and Dr. King, who honored the rule of law despite that it went against their own self interest, with the disregard for the law so prevalent among political figures today, and points out that democracy can be subverted not only by malicious intent, but also by misplaced idealismβwhen people feel that supporting a charismatic leader or ideology is more important than supporting the principles of democracy. With regard to the Trump trials, the question arises, is any human above the law? Mark also shares where he finds hopeβin his own university students with their openness to a deeper ethical understanding and responsibility and willingness to undertake civic action. Mark urges all of us who care about democracy to become engaged now. His wise, integral, highly informed insights about the current state of the legal system and of democracy, here and around the world, are revelatory, alarming, and inspiring in turn. Recorded May 22, 2024.
βDemocracy really only functions properly when there is a foundational rule of law.β
(For Apple Podcast users,
Topics & Time Stamps β Part 1Resources & References
Opening to Grace: Welcoming the Gifts of Inspiration & Transformation
Episode 45
Thursday, September 29, 2022 β’ Duration 55:55
Ep. 45 | Miranda Macpherson, spiritual teacher, author, and leader of the Living Grace Global Sangha, received a life changing transmission of divine grace while meditating in a cave in India in 2005. Subsequently, she developed the practice of Ego Relaxation to guide others in becoming receptive to subtle forms of grace that bring the clarity we need to live the most noble and healing of lives. In this conversation, Miranda discusses questions such as βWhat is the cause of our being and all being? How do we recognize that grace is already our primordial ground? What limits our capacity to be here, as we are, in this moment?β And she describes how using inquiry aids us in forming a relationship with grace.
Miranda is a spirited, nondual, unabashedly feminine teacher who dares to use the word God. Hers is an inspirational path and teaching leading to the development of profound trust. Miranda describes how her own total trust developed through periods of undoing, sorting out, a period of relinquishment, and finally allowing the dissembling of all that was familiar. Not leading with our intellect is what we need to learn. As Miranda says, βWhat the world needs is more graceful human beings.βΒ Recorded at the Science and Nonduality Conference, October 2019, with Dr. Roger Walsh, John Dupuy, and Douglas Prater.Β
βBe nothing, do nothing. Get nothing, become nothing. Seek for nothing. Relinquish nothing. Be as you are. Rest in God.β
Note: This podcast was recorded live and includes, at times, some extraneous noises in the background. Please excuse them -- we felt the conversation was very valuable and well worth sharing with our audience. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
What is grace? The agency of our transformation (01:50)
The path of βgentle effortβ vs ego effort (05:11)
Resources & References
Nonduality and Beyond: The Exhilarating Adventure of Discovering the Nature of Reality & How Awakenings Can Unfold Endlessly with A. H. Almaas (Part 2)
Episode 44
Thursday, September 22, 2022 β’ Duration 43:31
Ep. 44 (Part 2 of 2) | A.H. Almaas (Hameed Ali), renowned author and co-creator of the Diamond Approach, a complete spiritual path that flows out of his direct personal experience and realization, informed by the great wisdom traditions and practices, describes here his own process of inquiry and some of what he has come to discover in his lifelong pursuit to understand the nature of reality and know the truth.Β
Hameed tells us answers come in the form of experiences rather than words and that there is no end to what we can realize about our true nature and reality itself. He talks about experiencing the authentic presence of being; the dynamics of realization; the paradox of practice; the importance of curiosity; and the joy of discovery. What makes time possible and what makes timelessness possible? What happens when we die? Throughout the conversation, Hameed transmits a quiet exuberance, humor, profound wisdom, and deep peace. This is a remarkable, inspiring, sometimes astonishing dialogue that will illuminate and exhilarate your understanding of the nature of reality and our potential as human beings. Recorded August 10, 2022.
βReality really has much more up its sleeve than any human being can imagine.β
On death: each of us has a particular consciousness that is undying; death is not the end, but how we live our life will influence how we die and afterwards (00:53)
Is an initial activationβa βclose encounter of the third kind with true natureββa requirement to enter the Ridhwan School? (07:49)
What is βrunaway realization''? Thereβs no end to what you can realize about reality or yourself (09:18)
The importance of true curiosity (12:30)
The experience of pure, absolute time: what makes time possible and timelessness possible? An example of Hameedβs own inquiry process (13:29)Β
Resources & References - Part 2
Nonduality and Beyond: The Exhilarating Adventure of Discovering the Nature of Reality & How Awakenings Can Unfold Endlessly with A. H. Almaas
Episode 43
Thursday, September 15, 2022 β’ Duration 42:03
Ep. 43 (Part 1 of 2) | A.H. Almaas (Hameed Ali), renowned author and co-creator of the Diamond Approach, a complete spiritual path that flows out of his direct personal experience and realization, informed by the great wisdom traditions and practices, describes here his own process of inquiry and some of what he has come to discover in his lifelong pursuit to understand the nature of reality and know the truth.Β
Hameed tells us answers come in the form of experiences rather than words and that there is no end to what we can realize about our true nature and reality itself. He talks about experiencing the authentic presence of being; the dynamics of realization; the paradox of practice; the importance of curiosity; and the joy of discovery. What makes time possible and what makes timelessness possible? What happens when we die? Throughout the conversation, Hameed transmits a quiet exuberance, humor, profound wisdom, and deep peace. This is a remarkable, inspiring, sometimes astonishing dialogue that will illuminate and exhilarate your understanding of the nature of reality and our potential as human beings. Recorded August 10, 2022.
βReality really has much more up its sleeve than any human being can imagine.β
Roger introduces Hameed Ali (A. H. Almaas) and the Diamond Approach (01:09)
The practice of direct inquiry into the fundamental nature of reality: the answers come in experiences rather than words (05:10)
Trusting reality to take us to what is good for us; reality is self revealing (08:14)
The βparadox of practiceβ: recognizing our inherent helplessness and hopelessness (10:19)Β
Hameedβs initial opening: recognizing the authentic presence of being (13:06)
Each awakening has a particular view: nonduality and beyond (15:09)
Resources & References - Part 1
Vertical Development's Many Gifts: How Continuous Adult Development Becomes Possible, the Potentials It Unlocks & How Understanding It Makes New Sense of Our World and Our Selves with Beena Sharma (Part 3)
Episode 42
Thursday, September 8, 2022 β’ Duration 46:44
Ep. 43 (Part 3 of 3) | Beena Sharma, president of the Vertical Development Academy (VeDA), gives a beautifully cogent explanation of the 8-stage, full spectrum model of adult psychological development, Vertical Development, illuminating us not only to the characteristics of each stage of development, but the implications and ramifications of each stage, the process of human development as a whole, and how this model can help us face our current metacrisis. Beena describes how βeach stage is a way of seeing the world and oneself, a constellation of our beliefs and assumptions,β and we discover that our development takes form in patterns of evolving worldviews, a progression of capacities with which we make sense of the world.
On an individual level, Beena asks, βWhere is your foot nailed to the floor? Where are parts of you still ahead of you? How can this framework help you make a shift?β And collectively, βWhat does it mean for the human being to evolve? What makes us think humans at this time are at the end of the evolutionary ladder?β Vertical development focuses on the evolving ego, and interestingly, takes us to the stage where we realize the ego itself is only a constructβand beyond. As well as a brilliant unpacking of the vertical development model, this is a profound, warm-hearted conversation, about human evolution and possibility, the dance of the dual and the nondual, the infinitude of the psyche, and what it means to come home to oneself. Recorded July 13, 2022.
"Everything is a dance of the dual and the nondual."
Keeping the question in mind: βIs this framework getting in the way of me connecting with the person in front of me? (02:54)
What light does this model of adult development shed on religions and spiritual leaders? (04:33)
Resources & References - Part 3
Vertical Development's Many Gifts: How Continuous Adult Development Becomes Possible, the Potentials It Unlocks & How Understanding It Makes New Sense of Our World and Our Selves with Beena Sharma (Part 2)
Episode 41
Thursday, September 1, 2022 β’ Duration 55:11
Ep. 41 (Part 2 of 3) | Beena Sharma, president of the Vertical Development Academy (VeDA), gives a beautifully cogent explanation of the 8-stage, full spectrum model of adult psychological development, Vertical Development, illuminating us not only to the characteristics of each stage of development, but the implications and ramifications of each stage, the process of human development as a whole, and how this model can help us face our current metacrisis. Beena describes how βeach stage is a way of seeing the world and oneself, a constellation of our beliefs and assumptions,β and we discover that our development takes form in patterns of evolving worldviews, a progression of capacities with which we make sense of the world.
On an individual level, Beena asks, βWhere is your foot nailed to the floor? Where are parts of you still ahead of you? How can this framework help you make a shift?β And collectively, βWhat does it mean for the human being to evolve? What makes us think humans at this time are at the end of the evolutionary ladder?β Vertical development focuses on the evolving ego, and interestingly, takes us to the stage where we realize the ego itself is only a constructβand beyond. As well as a brilliant unpacking of the vertical development model, this is a profound, warm-hearted conversation, about human evolution and possibility, the dance of the dual and the nondual, the infinitude of the psyche, and what it means to come home to oneself. Recorded July 13, 2022.
βThe earlier the stage, the greater the gift; the later the stage, the greater the promise.β
In this framework, an arc represents the egoβs process of development, with the self-determining stage being the top of the arc (01:38)
Self-questioning stage: you realize you are not as independent as you thoughtβyou are conditioned, shaped, and molded by your context (02:30)
Resources & References - Part 2
Vertical Development's Many Gifts: How Continuous Adult Development Becomes Possible, the Potentials It Unlocks & How Understanding It Makes New Sense of Our World and Our Selves with Beena Sharma
Episode 40
Thursday, August 25, 2022 β’ Duration 57:52
Ep. 40 (Part 1 of 3) | Beena Sharma, president of the Vertical Development Academy (VeDA), gives a beautifully cogent explanation of the 8-stage, full spectrum model of adult psychological development, Vertical Development, illuminating us not only to the characteristics of each stage of development, but the implications and ramifications of each stage, the process of human development as a whole, and how this model can help us face our current metacrisis. Beena describes how βeach stage is a way of seeing the world and oneself, a constellation of our beliefs and assumptions,β and we discover that our development takes form in patterns of evolving worldviews, a progression of capacities with which we make sense of the world.
On an individual level, Beena asks, βWhere is your foot nailed to the floor? Where are parts of you still ahead of you? How can this framework help you make a shift?β And collectively, βWhat does it mean for the human being to evolve? What makes us think humans at this time are at the end of the evolutionary ladder?β Vertical development focuses on the evolving ego, and interestingly, takes us to the stage where we realize the ego itself is only a constructβand beyond. As well as a brilliant unpacking of the vertical development model, this is a profound, warm-hearted conversation, about human evolution and possibility, the dance of the dual and the nondual, the infinitude of the psyche, and what it means to come home to oneself. Recorded July 13, 2022.
βThe earlier the stage, the greater the gift; the later the stage, the greater the promise.β
Introducing teacher and developmental coach Beena Sharma (01:45)
The most exciting discovery in psychology is that psychological development and maturity can continue far beyond our 20s, and beyond our conception of βnormalityβ (02:51)
Resources & References - Part 1
The Remarkable Practice of Dream Yoga: How Lucid Dreaming Makes Sleep Endlessly Fascinating & Leads to Lucid Living (and Lucid Dying) with Andrew Holecek (Part 3)
Episode 39
Thursday, August 18, 2022 β’ Duration 46:13
Ep. 39 (Part 3 of 3) | Lucid dreaming expert, author, βcuriouist,β and integralist Andrew Holecek explains how lucid dreaming opens the door to a greatly expanded understanding of our minds, our perception of reality, and human potential altogether. If we consciously explore our night lives practicing dream yoga, we can learn how to discard our habits, purify our karma, and discover beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are co-creators of our experience. What we do in dream yoga is not limited to nighttime action; it weaves back into our daytime lives, and ultimately our experience of dying.
Andrew describes how dreams are a powerful way to discover emptiness and openness, and fall into realityβlike falling into loveβour primordial contraction cast away. Besides being a life-changing discourse on the incredible potential of dream yoga, Andrew Holecekβs cheerful, well-informed, easy way of talking and teaching about lucid dreamingβrelating it also to the wisdom traditions, our sense of identity, and human evolutionβmakes this a real pleasure to listen to. Recorded on April 13, 2022.
βLucid dreaming is metacognitive dreaming: the next iteration of human evolution.β
Marrying ancient knowledge of the soul with advancements in modern psychology (06:09)Β
Psychology provides us with answers about how our sense of self develops but not about what gets structuredβthe soul (09:35)
Individual consciousness is impressionable, otherwise learning would not be possible (12:31)
The self is nothing but the soul structured through the ego stages of development (14:28)
Psychodynamics and the self-liberating quality of the soul (15:29)
We need our sense of self in order to surviveβand in order to become become illuminated, we need a body (17:21)
To stay with the ego self is arrested development, but we can develop further to become conscious of consciousness itself (19:53)
WeΒ canΒ understand the terrain of experience rather than simply transcend itβwe can go through it, unravel it, and open up different dimensions of reality as we go (21:40)
As we inquire we go deeper, bringing liberation into ordinary life (24:58)
The emphasis in the East is on liberationβthe emphasis in the West is on how to fulfill life (26:06)
What many nondual teachings donβt understand is the individual soul (27:14)
The enlightenment drive: motivation beyond ego (30:38)
Beyond the enlightenment drive: pure being coming through individual consciousness (34:45)
The Ridhwan School,Β home of the Diamond Approach, founded by A. H. Almaas (Hameed Ali)
The A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series will generally follow the sequence of Hameedβs magnum opus,Β The Inner Journey Home*Β (which John describes as psychoactive and spiritually, psychologically, and intellectually transformative), so listeners may want to get a copy of this book, to study and follow along on this exhilarating path of awakening.
* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.
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A. Hameed Ali (A. H. Almaas)Β was born in Kuwait in 1944. At the age of eighteen, he moved to the U.S. to study at the University of California in Berkeley. Hameed was working on his Ph.D. in physics when he reached a turning point in his life and destiny that led him to inquire into the psychological and spiritual aspects of human nature rather than the physical nature of the universe. He left the academic world to pursue an in-depth journey of inner discovery, applying his scientific precision and discipline to personal, experiential research. This included study with different teachers in different modalities, extensive reading, and continuous study of his own consciousness in an effort to understand the essential nature of human experience and reality in general.
Hameedβs process of exploration led to the creation of the Ridhwan School and, with his colleague Karen Johnson, resulted in the founding and unfoldment of the Diamond Approach. He is the author of 20 books, includingΒ Nondual Love: Awakening to the Loving Nature of Reality,Β Love Unveiled: Discovering the Essence of the Awakened Heart, Keys to the Enneagram: How to Unlock the Highest Potential of Every Personality Type, The Unfolding Now: Realizing Your True Nature through the Practice of Presence, and more.Β
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Podcast produced by Vanessa SantosΒ andΒ Show Notes byΒ Heidi Mitchell
click here to view the complete show notes on the episode page.
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Introducing criminal justice professor and integral expert on constitutional law, Mark Fischler (01:32)
The hush money trial: you canβt disengage the politics (03:46)
Is any human being above the rule of law? (06:16)
It was ethical Republicans that got Nixon to resign; now a cult-like status exists in the party (07:36)
How people like Supreme Court Justice Alitoβs wife and Justice Thomasβ wife have bought into the Stop the Steal idea, supporting the idea that the 2020 election was false (10:15)
Impeachment is the most direct form of accountability in the Supreme Court (12:50)
Understanding the nature of the current Supreme Court and how the Constitution gets interpreted according to the justicesβ worldviews (14:12)
The Citizens United case where the Supreme Court ruled to give corporations the right to freedom of speech (17:31)
The current Supreme Court is hostile to the Union movement, to regulation around land use, to green, pluralistic valuesβitβs all about protecting individual rights (20:13)
The Constitution is not the solid document we might think, but is very open to interpretation (23:35)
The Federalist Society and the rise of originalism (24:35)
The beginning of culture wars in the Supreme Court and how Supreme Court nominee Robert Borg applied originalism to abortion (29:33)
Selective interpretation of the Constitution and originalist interpretations of the 2nd and 8th Amendments (33:58)
How should democracy be delivered? What we want to see reflected in our interpretation of the Constitution is an honoring of our interconnectivity with all sentient beings (38:19)
The Manhattan hush money case soon going to jury and why it turned into a felony case (40:55)
Does Trumpβs motivation to run for president include attempting to pardon his own crimes? Can someone pardon themself? (46:13)
* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.
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Mark FischlerΒ is a Professor of Criminal Justice and current program coordinator for the criminal justice and criminology programs at Plymouth State University. Prior to joining the Plymouth State faculty, he practiced law, representing poor criminal defendants for the New Hampshire Public Defenderβs Office. Mark left the law after being guided by the Universe to focus on his Spiritual Awareness for almost two years. Upon his return, he was called to become a teacher and accepted a job at Plymouth State in 2003.Β
Since then, Mark has worked extensively with alternative theoretical models in law, constitutional law, and higher education, and has published on integral applications to teaching, being a lawyer, and legal theory. In his time at the university, heβs been a chair, Dean, and Interim VP. His focus in the classroom is ethics and criminal procedure and constitutional law. He is well respected for a teaching philosophy that emphasizes recognizing the humanity and dignity of each student. Professor Fischler was awarded the outstanding teaching award at his university in 2014. He currently offers a weekly Spiritual Inquiry class for college students.
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Podcast produced by Vanessa SantosΒ andΒ Show Notes byΒ Heidi Mitchell
Humbling our sense of being the βdoerβ and recognizing the cause of our beingβand all being (06:05)
Using inquiry to form a relationship with grace: what is holding you now? (08:50)
The ground of being is more than emptiness; itβs full of life, nourishing and healing (10:42)
Recognizing the ground of grace is the beginning of ego relaxation (12:28)
Mirandaβs ego relaxation teaching practices: holistic inquiry and meditation (13:06)
The value of human relationship for awakening (16:24)
Fear is a force we need to address if we want to deepenβboth individual and cultural fear (17:55)
In the practice of ego relaxation, do nothing to fix or change yourself, but allow the mystical power of grace to do the transforming; all you need to do is stop concealing yourself (21:52)
Simply letting things be is effective because it brings to light that you are not the doer (24:32)
How to overcome the deeply ingrained message βlife is not meant to be easyβ (27:31)
Mirandaβs transmission of ego relaxation in a cave in India and her following βperiod of undoingβ (28:58)
Our egos are driven by an experience of lackβletβs relax into self-forgiveness and compassion (34:03)
What happened with Miranda when more ordinary awareness returned? (38:09)
The importance of including our animal humanityβthe emotional, the frightened, the irrational and non-linear (42:55)
The integration stage and the call to service (44:59)
How does the practice of ego relaxation contribute to helping our civilization at this time of crisis? (47:19)
Becoming open to the most subtle forms of grace (49:15)
* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.
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Miranda Macpherson is known for her depth of presence and gift for guiding others into direct experience of the Sacred. She shares a holistic approach to spiritual surrender and non-dual realization based on the practice of Ego Relaxation, inspired by Sri Ramana Maharshi, A Course in Miracles, extensive study of the worldβs wisdom traditions, and more recently the Diamond Approach. Mirandaβs books include The Way of Grace: The Transforming Power of Ego Relaxation, Boundless Love, and Meditations on Boundless Love. She is also a kirtan musician with two mantra albums, Streams of Grace and The Heart of Being.Β
Miranda brings three decades of teaching experience in what truly works to liberate unnecessary suffering and gain traction on the path of awakening. Founder of OneSpiritInterfaith Foundation in London, where she trained and ordained over 600 ministers and spiritual counselors, today Miranda leads the Living GraceGlobal Sangha and offers retreats internationally and online programs through the Shift Network.
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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell
Spiritual discourse and non-standard realization (15:57)
Becoming alive to the zen of ordinariness (20:02)
Hameedβs practice: continual inquiry and meditation (22:31)
Most of Hameedβs awakenings donβt happen in meditation (24:47)
The dynamic of realization: practice opens us to grace (25:56)
Opening to transmission (31:59)
A new kind of presence: non-standard presence is very important to opening to runaway realization (33:12)
In the depths of nondual realization something arises (36:51)
* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.
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A. Hameed Ali (A. H. Almaas) was born in Kuwait in 1944. At the age of eighteen, he moved to the U.S. to study at the University of California in Berkeley. Hameed was working on his Ph.D. in physics when he reached a turning point in his life and destiny that led him to inquire into the psychological and spiritual aspects of human nature rather than the physical nature of the universe.Β
He left the academic world to pursue an in-depth journey of inner discovery, applying his scientific precision and discipline to personal, experiential research. This included study with different teachers in different modalities, extensive reading, and continuous study of his own consciousness in an effort to understand the essential nature of human experience and reality in general. Hameedβs process of exploration led to the creation of the Ridhwan School and, with his colleague Karen Johnson, resulted in the founding and unfoldment of the Diamond Approach.
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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell
Holding on to a view becomes a delusion, regardless of the realization (18:51)
The βview of totalityβ: a metaperspective allowing for endless realizations and openings and appreciation of the boundless creativity of the universe (21:37)
Many teachings are working towards liberation and freedom from suffering, butΒ Hameed βwanted to understand reality and to know the truthβ (25:22)
Enlightenment itself evolves, it keeps moving (28:33)
The dichotomy between spiritual and material is a construct (35:10)
Discovery is part of life, part of realization (37:18)
The completion of realization is going out in the world, learning how to live it (39:04)
Huayan Buddhism, a school of Buddhism that includes the Round Teaching, an understanding of the other-dependent nature of ultimate reality, a unilocal view
* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.
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A. Hameed Ali (A. H. Almaas) was born in Kuwait in 1944. At the age of eighteen, he moved to the U.S. to study at the University of California in Berkeley. Hameed was working on his Ph.D. in physics when he reached a turning point in his life and destiny that led him to inquire into the psychological and spiritual aspects of human nature rather than the physical nature of the universe.Β
He left the academic world to pursue an in-depth journey of inner discovery, applying his scientific precision and discipline to personal, experiential research. This included study with different teachers in different modalities, extensive reading, and continuous study of his own consciousness in an effort to understand the essential nature of human experience and reality in general. Hameedβs process of exploration led to the creation of the Ridhwan School and, with his colleague Karen Johnson, resulted in the founding and unfoldment of the Diamond Approach.
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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell
The core of Integral yogaβintegrating the spiritual and the material (09:00)
Everything is a dance of the dual and the nondual; either/or thinking manifests all the way up (09:59)
What are Beenaβs personal practices to stay sane in our confounding world today? (11:08)
Implications for our metacrisis: who are the players who have power? (14:50)
Solutions come from within small groups who can collaborate (17:17)
Paul Hawken, climate change, and the philosophy of regeneration (18:38)
What does it mean to be βlife minded?β (19:49)
How the state of the world, the current metacrisis, is a direct reflection of our individual and collective consciousness (20:16)
Corporate investment in leadership is a $161 billion dollar annual industry; leadership design is key (23:48)
Central polarity in Beenaβs life: Am I doing? Or am I being done? (31:16)
How can transformative practices be scaled? Cultivating people who are both wise and politically involved (32:34)
The deliberately developmental organizationβand the deliberately developmental civilization (34:42)
How do we make developmental programs more effective? (35:30)
Harvesting technology for good: a design issue and an issue of expanding the designersβ abilities (36:46)
Encouraging people to grow; 50-70% of people are at the conventional stages (37:32)
Resolution of the problems in the previous stage come in the new stage (06:41)
The biggest shift is between the self-determining self and the self-authoring selfβand Integral Theoryβs mean green meme (07:14)
Self-actualizing stage, where you realize itβs both all relative and there are also some absolutes, and systems thinking comes online internally and externally (10:37)
Complexity thinking skills can be taught and learned (13:56)
Self-actualizing stage continued: looking for and integrating higher wisdom, for βandβ as well as either/or thinking (18:45)
The shadow of the self-actualizing stage (22:11)
Construct-aware stage: seeing that all the ideas you have are only constructs, abstractions, there is no reality βout there;β the ego itself begins to see itβs only a construct (23:41)
This stage illuminates 3 things: existentialism, the wisdom traditionsβ concept of emptiness and liberation, and the postmodern stage of deconstructionism (28:47)
The Hindu god Shiva, half masculine/half feminine, is personified yin/yang, where all opposites are integrated, the potential of our human form to be in harmony with both emptiness and form (37:33)
Transcendent or unitive stage: falling into no boundaries, falling into the now, recognizing we are all one (39:04)
This particular adult development framework bridges psychological development with spiritual development, where other frameworks do not (40:58)
This is a βfull spectrum perspectiveβ on human development and possibility, as Ken Wilber described (42:09)
Translation: how do we bring this framework into service? (44:20)
The psyche is infinite; the fundamental humility of unknowability (46:50)
Developmental movement within stages and across the arcβpeople are either entering, consolidating, or transitioning (48:54)
What does it mean to come home to oneself? (50:29)
How Byron Katieβs The Work helps us access the construct-aware stage (52:28)
Kashmiri Saivism, "Fullness pours into Emptiness; Emptiness pervades Fullness"
Kabir, a 15th-century Indian mystic poet, composed poetry that evoked a space calledΒ nirgunΒ orΒ shunyaβsomething without qualities or boundaries, emptyβwhich challenged listeners to know it and to know themselves
* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.
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Beena Sharma currently stewards Vertical Development Academy (VeDA) as its founding president, with a vision to enhance the practice of human development. Beena has a passion around helping individuals and organizations orient themselves to the path of the evolving human being across the various stages of maturity as revealed through empirical research and sound theory. She sees the progressive unfolding of maturity in adults as a process where the narrow, the limited, and the conflicting open to a more comprehensive, a more real, a more complete intuition and perspectiveβeach stage of human maturity a temporary station of a more adequate understanding of the human condition.
Beena is a gifted master coach, consultant, teacher, and thought leader. She has been recognized nationally and internationally for her achievements in successfully conceptualizing, developing, and delivering systemic leadership development initiatives. Beena has led efforts as an executive and consultant for various agencies of the U.S. government and leading private-sector companies in healthcare and other industries in the U.S., U.K., Europe, Russia, Brazil, South Africa, and India. Beena is committed to designing and delivering exceptional learning experiences to build deep capability in individuals and organizations in service of creating a sustainable future for our civilization.
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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell
We are being evolved; we are transitional beings. Natureβs secret is the evolutionary process (05:15)
Exploring human development and the farther reaches of human possibilities: what does it mean for adults to mature? (06:52)
Jane Loevingerβs research showed patterns of evolving worldviews, a progression of capacities to make sense of the world, the trajectory revealed through the stories people tell (11:12)
Creating space for the process of development, i.e. not using words like higher and lower, saying instead earlier and later (15:26)
Maturity is coming to new understandings about what is real, giving up our assumptions, subject becomes object (18:58)
Stages of development is a psychoactive model: just understanding that further development is possible helps us grow into our potentials (21:00)
Using this framework in an ethical way: be careful not to use it in a reductionist way and label people as inferior; hold it lightly, the stages are idealizations (23:35)
What happens over the course of development? How do we get there? Vertical development is an outcome rather than a goal (27:29)
Self-centric stage: self-preservation and survival (29:32)
Group-centric: the βsocializedβ stage, where you want to fit in and belong (32:22)
Skill-centric stage: my identity is defined by what I do, not what I am (35:25)
The triumph of stepping into the next worldview, the next stage (35:55)
Loving people at whatever level they are at: βthe earlier the stage, the greater the gift; the later the stage, the greater the promise.β (39:08)
Earlier stages are not negative, but they are more limited in capacity (40:45)
The crisis in parenting, in grandparenting, in ancestoring (44:29)
Self-determining stage: now I am an independent agent, the master of my destiny, capable of choice and a healing objectivity (46:15)
This developmental process is the egoβs process of evolution, the egoβs process of creating a more complex, nuanced map of how to make sense of the world (53:22)
* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.
---
Beena Sharma currently stewards Vertical Development Academy (VeDA) as its founding president, with a vision to enhance the practice of human development. Beena has a passion around helping individuals and organizations orient themselves to the path of the evolving human being across the various stages of maturity as revealed through empirical research and sound theory. She sees the progressive unfolding of maturity in adults as a process where the narrow, the limited, and the conflicting open to a more comprehensive, a more real, a more complete intuition and perspectiveβeach stage of human maturity a temporary station of a more adequate understanding of the human condition.
Beena is a gifted master coach, consultant, teacher, and thought leader. She has been recognized nationally and internationally for her achievements in successfully conceptualizing, developing, and delivering systemic leadership development initiatives. Beena has led efforts as an executive and consultant for various agencies of the U.S. government and leading private-sector companies in healthcare and other industries in the U.S., U.K., Europe, Russia, Brazil, South Africa, and India. Beena is committed to designing and delivering exceptional learning experiences to build deep capability in individuals and organizations in service of creating a sustainable future for our civilization.
---
Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell
His Holiness the Dalai Lamaβs teaching on dream yoga (19:09)
Dream yoga is a powerful way to discover emptiness, emptiness = openness = love; meditation habituates us to openness, and when falling into reality, the primordial contraction is removed (22:00)
How the self sense comes undone when we fall asleep, a concordant experience with dying (26:11)
Andrew leads a short (game changing) dream yoga practice: 3-fold impurityβand, where is the dreamer? (29:55)
* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.
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Andrew Holecek has completed the traditional three-year Buddhist meditation retreat and offers seminars internationally on lucid dreaming, the art of dying, and meditation. He is the author of many books, including The Lucid Dreaming Workbook, Preparing to Die,Β Dream Yoga: Illuminating Your Life Through Lucid Dreaming and the Tibetan Yogas of Sleep; Dreams of Light: The Profound Daytime Practice of Lucid Dreaming, and The Power and the Pain: Transforming Spiritual Hardship into Joy. Dr. Holecek is a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the author of scientific papers on lucid dreaming. His work has appeared in Parabola, Lionβs Roar, Tricycle, Utne Reader, Buddhadharma Magazine, Light of Consciousness, and many other periodicals. He holds degrees in classical music, biology, and a doctorate in dental surgery.Β
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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell
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