Authentic Living

We Westerners got hold of this concept of Karma and turned it into a Western motif. One that has everything to do with our own dualistic thinking about good and evil. One in which if we are bad in one lifetime, then that same kind of badness will happen to us in the next life. And if we are good in a lifetime then that same kind of goodness will happen to us in the next life. This creates a kind of see-saw effect—a see-saw we never get off of. But that is not the original concept of karma—which actually has nothing to do goodness or badness. Show up for this show ready to get the real concept of Karma—a concept that has the potential to change your life.

The most fascinating truth is that both detachment and Oneness are realities of living. We talk about detachment, letting go, as if we really can let go of something or someone and, thereby, be separate from it. But the reality is that when we detach we tell the paradoxical truth of Oneness. We are never really separate from anyone or anything—though we may detach ourselves from their control over our minds. But how can Oneness really be truth if there is so much hate, so much disease, so much poverty? The shadow knows. So today we are going to be talking all about Oneness as the highest form of detachment. Be here for it.

We have arrived at adolescence in our understanding of relationship—in other words, we have a long way to go. But, well, what do we expect? Only 150 years ago, we were still often arranging marriages. We arranged for a good dowry, good property, money, inheritance, prestige, even good teeth and good hips. So this thing of marrying someone we love is new, and we have only begun the work of understanding how to do it. But you know what happens typically in adolescence: we fall in love and out of love very quickly. Unfortunately, that’s still where we are with this new understanding of marriage. But actually that process for the adolescent teaches him or her something about relationship—and so we are likewise learning. What are we learning? Tune in to find out how to have a healthy, happy, long-term relationship.

People say it all the time, right? You hear it almost every day: Let it go, man, just let it go. But what they forget to tell you is HOW to let it go. It’s easier said than done, right? If you are holding on to something, obsessed with it, ruminating over it, worried about it and generally upset over the whole thing, then letting go is going to seem like dropping from the top of the Grand Canyon. It ain’t gonna happen. We simply and profoundly will NOT let go of one thing unless we are holding on to something else. That’s why so many breakups are followed all too swiftly with another quick-start to a new relationship. We are just trying to hold on to something that makes us feel okay. We can tell ourselves we “should be okay” but we are just not. So. How to let go. That’s the topic of today’s show. Don’t miss it.

In order to answer that question we first have to understand that Self is not the same as self. Indeed, what we consider to be self or personality is commonly made up identity. Identity is formed by introjecting the projections of those who were most significant to us in our early upbringing. It is not who we actually are. Rather it is a mask and costume we put on in order to feel that we belong in our families of origin and we have by now worn for so long and for so deep that we define ourselves by it, without even knowing that it is a mask and costume. Self is who we were (and are) before we introjected those projections. Self is who we came here to be. But what has that to do with the divine? Tune in to find out.

I remember watching Star Trek on TV as a teenager and wondering what it would be like to be able to read the minds of other people. Back then that’s what I thought telepathy was all about—sneaking into the thoughts of another person without their knowledge, so that you could outwit, or out-compete them. But our guest today, Colleen Mauro is here to talk to us about the kind of intuition that she calls “Spiritual Telepathy.” Owner and Editor of the magazine “Intuition: A Magazine for the Higher Potential of the Mind,” Mauro has spent years in the study of this, one of the finer capacities of the human mind. Her book, entitled “Spiritual Telepathy: Ancient Techniques to Access the Wisdom of Your Soul” is the topic of our discussion today. She is going to inform us as to the use of this very normal human but powerful and life-altering capacity. Don’t miss this show.

Typically we don’t think of surrender as a form of empowerment. We think of surrender in terms of defeat, waving the white flag and feeling forever after that like the loser. But surrender is allowing the soul to be itself. Surrender is allowing the authentic Self to run the life. Surrender is getting in the zone. The problem is most of us don’t know how or when to do it. We don’t know how to “let go.” We don’t know how to get into the flow of our own authenticity. This show is not only going to define surrender in its deepest most essential meaning, but it is going to demonstrate the how’s and the when’s of surrender. Don’t miss it.

Why is it so very difficult for us to imagine that we are One with all, and that all is One with us? Why is it that we feel so very separate from the divine and each other? Why does any one of us ever feel lonely? Today we are going to answer those questions to the best of our ability given the mystery that is Oneness. If you suffer with feelings of guilt, shame, emptiness, loneliness, differentness, this show could facilitate a bridge to awakening for you. Don’t miss it.

If you know anything about the Buddhist philosophy, you know that one of its primary principles is detachment. We are not to attach ourselves to people, places, things, events, circumstances or situations. But how does one live one’s life without attaching to these things? Isn’t that what life is all about—really appreciating and enjoying and being part of these relationships to the accoutrements of living? If so, then what does it mean to detach? Would Western religious philosophies agree with the concept of detachment? Some say it is the key to living a happy life. So, this show might be a really important one. Tune in.

There is not one single miracle, not one single answered prayer, not one single period of bliss or peace that does not involve at least a temporary state of surrender to divine Self. That said, however, that is not how we think. Not only is the whole idea of surrender a difficult one for us to consider, but the whole idea of Self as divine is all but intolerable to many. So on today’s show we are going to explore what it means to surrender and what it means to surrender to divine Self. Everyone out there who is considering the possibility of an answered prayer, who longs for bliss or peace, who is seeking a miracle should be here for today’s show. Til then.

We have all been taught to believe in a dualistic frame of reference. All of our lives have been built upon this premise--our religions, our families, our financial institutions, our healthcare, our work ethic and our very sense of ourselves. To take a different tack is to give enormous energy to thinking and living differently in a world that requires that we stay the same. Not only the same as we were, but the same as everyone and everything else. And yet this very desire for sameness is a kind of warped attempt at a deep and abiding connection that belies the duality upon which it is based. In the hypnotic dualistic frame of reference, we are separate from any form of Divinity and from each other. And yet we continue to seek connection. Why is this? Listen to today’s show and explore who you are both from the dualistic perspective and from its opposite—the perspective of Oneness. Don’t miss this important show.

Have you found your deepest ancient roots? No. We're not talking about your genealogy, though that can certainly be a part of it. We’re talking about the deepest collective archetypal memories found in the corpuscles of your blood and the marrow of your bones. And of how your personal psychology connects to this. These two, can unite to create a primal essence, which is at least an aspect of the authentic Self if not its entirety. It speaks to us in our dreams, in the symbols with which we resonate and in the seemingly magical synchronistic events of our lives. Making contact with these symbols facilitates our awakening to who we are. Let’s talk about that together. Don’t miss it.

Here we are again at another new beginning. At least it is one that most of us recognize as a new beginning. The problem, however, with new beginnings is that we think we have to throw out the old to have the new. We think of it in very black and white, purist terms. But what if you knew that you didn’t have to eliminate anything to have something new? Things don’t die when new things are born. Rather things are integrated when new things are born. But what does this mean? What does it mean to integrate something old to find something new? Aren’t we just supposed to think of something we want, stop thinking negative and start thinking positive as we work toward our new goals? Well here it is the 8th of January. Is that still working for you a little over a week into the New Year? What is the difference between a drive to a new goal, and a drive that comes from integrated material? Today we are going to learn how to begin again. Be here—you don’t want to miss this.

This is that time of year when we talk about it. We sing about it. We even pray about it. But no one really believes that we are actually going to have peace on earth, right? I mean, look around man! You can’t really believe that this crazy place is going to one day be all peace, love and joy, right? We are not those people. We are not the people who can facilitate this. We are people who are weak, sinful, and definitely incapable of joining forces to bring about a peaceful outcome. Naaah. It’s a nice thought and all, and we can wistfully speak of it at Christmas time, but no one in his right mind takes that stuff seriously. Well, today, we are going to take it seriously, right mind or no. We are going to really, out-loud consider it—even do a feasibility study of the possibilities and implications. Because if it’s not possible, we just need to shut-up about it. And if it is, well then, maybe we need to get busy on it. Don’t miss this one.

What do we do with the enormous suffering created by such things as deadly illness and trauma? They say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. But when the miracles come, what is it that happens within us, around us, about us? What is it that transforms us? Mark Nepo is coming back to the Authentic Living show to discuss his latest book, Inside the Miracle, in which he reveals his own miraculous recovery from cancer and all of the profound insights that came with it during, right after and in the years since. Mark is the bestselling author of The Book of Awakening, a poet, philosopher and spiritual teacher who has published 16 books, and 11 audio projects. This interview is going to be moving, profoundly insightful and it will offer powerful guidance to those suffering right now. Don’t miss it.

There are many spiritual teachers teaching that we should practice gratitude as a daily, even hourly part of our routine—so that we will maintain a positive outlook, increase our mood, decrease our stress and make us generally nicer people. Two problems with that: 1) when we add “should” to gratitude it ceases to be gratitude and becomes a duty; 2) anytime we add a “so that” to our spiritual routines, they cease to be spiritual and become conflated, contrivances meant to manipulate the gods. Gratitude is actually a form of presence. And presence is a spiritual practice that has only to do with embracing life on life’s terms. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn how to live, rather than merely survive.

If you are like most people, at some point in your life you begin to think that lasting peace or happiness will forever elude you. You may have had periods of satisfaction or contentment but deep, abiding peace seem to be impossible. This is a profound moment of possibility, because for the first time you are wondering about one of the most basic elements of the living experience—our own peace. Why is it that peace is so elusive? Is it possible for us to really have and own our peace? If so, how do we do that? Today we are going to be talking to Christopher Papadopoulas, author of “Peace And Where To Find It”, who is going to help us answer some of these very important questions. Don’t miss it.

What can you expect to happen next in your life? Will you get that job or relationship you want? Or not. What if it doesn’t happen? What will you do then? Better yet, what will you believe then? What do you imagine is supposed to happen in your life? What about what you deserve—what do you deserve to happen in your life? What if you don’t know? Are you doing something wrong? These questions and more are discussed and answered on today’s show. Don’t miss it.

Today we are very fortunate to get an opportunity to talk to bestselling author Andrew Solomon, writer and lecturer on psychology, politics, and the arts and winner of the National Book Award for The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression. He is an activist in LGBT rights, mental health, and the arts. His latest NY Times bestselling book, and the subject of our interview today, entitled Far from the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity, is also the winner of several awards, including being chosen at among the NY Times Ten Best Books of 2012. It has been called “A bold and unambiguous call to redefine how we view difference… A stunning work of scholarship and compassion (Carmela Ciuraru, USA Today) distinguished similarly by many other notables for its exceptional profundity, compassion and insight. Today we are going to take an intimate look at this entire concept of loving differentness. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to gain insight into the power of love.

We all have major life transitions, which come in many different forms. But these difficult times can be thresholds to a new adventure. How do we take the challenge to turn what appears to be a block or even a death, into a threshold? Rabbi Sherre Hirsch has come today to talk to us about her 2nd book, Thresholds: How to Thrive Through Life’s Transitions. Rabbi Hirsch is the first female Rabbi, who served for 8 years as the Rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles. She has since left the more traditional pulpit to serve a larger, more diverse “congregation.” She is now a nationally recognized personality who speaks across the country and frequently appears in the national media. She also serves as Spiritual Consultant to Canyon Ranch properties. Rabbi Sherre blends ancient tradition and modern day application to empower individuals to be their own spiritual guides. You are not going to want to miss this show.