Authentic Living

The words “being present” have recently become common vernacular. But what do they really mean? Most people mean, by presence, that we are attendant, that we notice; we are aware and responsive. What we don’t always know and are not always present with is the fact that presence is something that heals us, that holds us, that awakens us to the deeper nature of who we are. And practicing presence, yes, means being attendant, aware and responsive—but of and to that deeper essence. What we don’t often know is that our mental and physical illnesses are often made up of lack of presence—that somehow we are floating around outside of our own awareness and we do not connect self to Self. So, today, we are going to be talking about both the floating around and the presence that heals. Don’t miss it.

How do we know that we are on the truest path? Can we discern a truer path through certain spiritual practices? Can Prayer help? Runes, iChing, Tarot, or other methods of alignment? We all want to be in the flow of universal energy. We want to know that we know what we know. We want to feel secure in our knowing. This show is going to be all about that inner knowing. Be here. You’ll be glad you were.

Isn’t that just like how we think? Always questioning ourselves as to which way is “right?” What if those questions about right and wrong just keep us stuck at a level of consciousness that will not take the next step? What if there is a path that rises above right and wrong, a path uses every so-called “wrong” as another note in the song, another story in the tale, another opening in the energetic harmonic? What if we’ve got this thing of right and wrong all wrong? Tune in today to learn how to move to the next level.

While many spiritual leaders are teaching that we should stay uninvolved in the real dilemmas of the world, there are others who are teaching that we are responsible as spiritual advocates for our part in bringing about the essential evolutions of the collective mind. Some are teaching that we should turn off the TV and spend our time in a constant state of bliss by affirming that all of the life out there is just an illusion. Well, I say, if it’s an illusion, it is a collective one, one for which each person is responsible. If we, who understand Oneness, we, who understand the power of love, we, who understand the deep presence of the divine within us; if we back out, if we do nothing, we are responsible for enabling the continuance of the illusion. Tune in today to learn what we mean by spiritual advocacy.

What do we do when, along the way of our journey, we encounter that deep psychic complex that reaches beyond all we know, and brings us to our knees with a loud I can't. What about those anxieties, those fears, those angers, those impulses that seem to be beyond our ability to stop them, to heal them, to overcome them? Well today we are going to be talking about that very thing. We are going to explore the wisdom of how to heal that which is beyond help. You don't want to miss this show.

We’ve all heard the media reports about cult leaders causing tremendous harm to their followers. But that’s not the kind of false prophecy we are going to be talking about today. Prophecy is truth telling with regard to the nature of the divine and the self. False prophecy is lying with regard to the nature of the divine and self. We all have false prophets within us. And today we are going to differentiate the false from the true prophets within us. Where are we lying to ourselves with regard to the nature of the divine and the self? For to the degree to which we are lying to ourselves, that is the degree to which we lack clear direction, clear guidance about our lives. Don’t miss this one.

Why do we have a body? I mean, if we really are soul, why didn’t we just come here as soul? Is it true that the body is our tempter, our evil-doer, our sickness, our death? Or is there something else going on in the body? Well, our guest for today is going to tell us all something about the wisdom of the body. With her latest book, “The Body Heals Itself” she exposes some of that profound wisdom, teaching, in specific, the various messages the body gives us as it brings us to deeper and deeper levels of consciousness. Having any kind of trouble with your body? Be here for this fascinating discussion.

For years, those of us who serve in the mental health field were taught never to mention anything of a religious or spiritual nature. But now many are researching the elements of spirituality inherent in the therapeutic process, and many are researching the benefits of utilizing those natural spiritual elements of therapy. We are finally being encouraged by ethics boards and the core competencies of our field to provide a spiritual assessment and to check for spiritual problems as a part of our efforts to assist our clients. We are beginning to understand such terms as transpersonal, spiritual crisis, spiritual abuse and spiritual wounds. During this show we are going to discuss and explain the spiritual elements of therapy which will result in greater healing. Don't miss it.

When do we say enough is enough? In this day in which our economic crisis seems to be swallowing huge chucks of what we have previously valued, we are ramping up our schedules and our stress levels trying to get back to how it used to be. And in the process we are forgetting all about our earlier plans to pursue happiness and peace. Wayne Muller, bestselling author of Sabbath, as well as three other books: Legacy of the Heart; How, Then, Shall We Live?; and Learning to Pray, is going to challenge us with the question: What if we already have enough? His latest book, A Life of Being, Having and Doing Enough is the topic of our conversation this week and presents that very same challenge. At some point, rest, retreat and reflection become the answer. At some point we have to say, Enough already! Is today your day?

We are so excited this week to have Dr. Clarissa Pinkoa Estés (Dr. E, as she is affectionately known) back on our show for the fifth time. Bestselling author of “Women Who Run with the Wolves,” which sold over a million copies; and the multi-volume audio series “The Dangerous Old Woman,” and her most recent book, “Untie the Strong Woman: Blessed Mother’s Immaculate Love for the Wild Soul,” which we will be talking about today; Dr. E is also an internationally recognized scholar, award-winning poet, diplomate senior Jungian psychoanalyst, and cantadora (keeper of the old stories in the Latina tradition). Her warmth and wisdom have captivated millions with humor, enlightened discussions and profound insights. The feminine in all of us—male and female—is moved and grown every time she touches us with her stories and gifts from the soul. You are not going to want to miss this one.

With so much information floating around out there in the spiritual world about how to manifest abundance and, in the secular world about how to attain your goals, it’s difficult to consider such concepts as staying in the moment. Michael Brown, our guest today, helps us bridge the gaps. Author of two books we’ll be talking about today, “The Presence Process” and “Alchemy of the Heart,” as well as a DVD entitled “Awakening to Innocence / Inner Sense,” Michael can teach us all how to both release the imprinting of our childhood and begin to experience the now of authenticity. In Michael’s own words “The Presence Process is not about changing who or what we are. This is impossible. Instead, it is about releasing our attachment to our manufactured identity so that we may gently return to an awareness of our authentic Presence.” Who are you, really? Come listen to Michael and explore the inner terrain of yourself.

Joan Borysenko is back this week for the third time to talk with us about guilt, for guilt can be a major block to our resilience factor. Her latest book, “It’s Not the End of the World: Developing Resilience in Times of Change” will be combined with one of her earlier books, “Guilt is the Teacher, Love is the Lesson” in an in-depth discussion of this devilish master craftsman of our lives. In the extreme, many of us live whole lifetimes driven by guilt and responsibility for other people’s stuff. But most of us worry over guilt at least some of the time. It works us over and compels us at times to do things that are not only unnecessary but often come down to downright interference with other people’s lives. And it eats at us from the inside out, through that niggling little voice that just won’t seem to let go until we finally give into it. Well this week, we are going to help it let go. Don’t miss this important discussion.

Maybe we can de-stress in these times by turning down the volume of the terrible news we are getting almost daily. But the answer to real peace runs deeper than that.  Many of us have heard that what is happening “out there” is “just an illusion." But is it?  Perhaps, since we are living here on planet earth we need to consider having at least one foot here, even as the other is walking in another dimension. The answer here is to step into the truth. To step into the truth of our nature. To step into the truth of the power and presence of who we truly are. To learn to trust the process of divinization that is always a part of our unfolding evolution. Tune in to this important message to learn how to find peace in the time of turmoil.

When life events, difficult circumstances and relationships come our way, we tend to get all caught up in what is going to happen next, and what strategy we can use to make it turn out the way we want it to. To do any less than that, it seems, would be to lay down and let life roll over you. But there is a way to be fully involved, yet fully surrendered to a deeper more authentic process that is happening always throughout all of our life events, circumstances and relationships. We can learn to trust the process. That’s what this show is going to be all about. Don’t miss it.

We are currently living in some very difficult times. Times of darkness, times of betrayal, times of fear, times in which we cannot trust the people in power to do the compassionate and humane thing. How do we learn to thrive in the midst of those flames? Eckhart Tolle talks about the difference between pain and suffering, and what we shall see, in today’s discussion, is that the difference is the difference between despair and thriving. These circumstances in which we find ourselves today are demonstrating to us the shadow of American consciousness. And we must learn how to walk through those shadows, turning on the light of consciousness in our own minds all along the way. Working with shadow material is one of the most effective ways to thrive in the midst of darkness. Tune in to learn more.

There is a form of religion that has, over the past 10 years or so, taken over larger and larger portions of the American psyche. It is a religion made up more of fear of evil than love of and from the divine. It is a religion made up more of laws and judgement than compassion and redemption. It is a religion which allows plenty of room for hate, and recrimination of other people--and it is led by a leadership that Jesus would have called vipers and white-washed sepulchers. These modern-day Pharisees are, according to Jesus, keeping people from entering the kingdom of heaven. So, this is a difficult subject, but we are going to bravely go where many are afraid to go: We are going to offer a more authentic version of this religion.

Generally speaking, we think of morality as a good thing. People should, we think, honor certain codes of behavior in order to prove that they are good people, and in order to maintain order in the world. But what we don't commonly know is that morality can often be a poor substitute for authenticity. We don't know it, but we are commonly doing the right thing, instead of doing the true thing. Yep, that's right, there can be a big difference between what's right and what's true. And today's show is going to point out that difference, as well as explore how authenticity gets us closer to a true spirituality than does morality. Don't miss this important show.

We live in a social environment now in which hate is overt, active and visible. Not so very long ago, in fact, just prior to the election of our current President, hate was hidden, covert, and only active in a passive/aggressive fashion. But there are many people out there today who are trying to tell us that hate is a good thing. That it is an essential survival skill. That, of course, we hate, for how could we feel any other way toward people of other races, other cultures, other skin colors and other sexual orientations, and gender identities. But hate is a response to fear. And fear is a response to ignorance. There is so much that we fear that we really have no reason to fear. So what do we do with all of this? We learn to find the love beneath the hate. This show is going to show us just how we can do that. Don't miss this important discussion.

We have lived for so long and so deeply entrenched in the good/evil paradigm that we truly believe that striving to be good, and fighting the so-called good fight against evil is the business of being a person. Indeed, we think it is the business of life. But what if we knew that the ONLY thing we need to do is peace. What if peace were how we survive? What if peace were how we negotiate with others? What if peace is how we form relationships? What if peace is the body? What if peace is the soul? What if peace is the big IT. Well, maybe it is. And we are going to figure all that out this week. This big fat deal of peace. Don't miss it.

Demetra George, our guest for today was one of the first Astrologers to publish an astrology book that included the asteroids into the configuration of the natal chart. Demetra always loved the great myths of the Greek gods and goddess, told to her by her Greek grandparents as bedtime stories. As she started using the asteroids in people’s charts, she would tell them the myths of a particular asteroid significant in their charts and hear, “You just told me the story of my life!” Her book, “Asteroid Goddesses” offered a significant change in thinking with regard to astrology, moving the feminine into the forefront of any reading. Her latest book, just out in November, and our topic of discussion today, is “Astrology and the Authentic Self.” If you are even mildly interested in astrology, Demetra George’s work can help you learn to use it as a tool to find your own authenticity. Don’t miss this one!