Authentic Living

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!

Currently many people are seeking a spiritual practice that offers real results, such as, personal transformation and life change. Today we are talking to Greg Marcus, PhD, practitioner and coach of American Mussar. His book 'The Spiritual Practice of Good Actions: Finding Balance Through the Soul Traits of Mussar' will be the topic of our discussion as he leads us to understand some of the specific practices that are meant to bring everyday life into alignment with spiritual values. Mussar is a thousand-year-old Jewish practice of spiritual growth based on mindful living. Don't miss this excellent example of the implementation of spiritual practice.

What does it mean to forgive? Does it mean that we absolve? That we allow them to “get away with it?” If you are thinking in these terms, then you are not yet ready to forgive. Forgiveness is a process. And it really has nothing to do with the person you are forgiving—unless you are forgiving yourself. In fact, we don’t even start out that process aiming toward forgiveness. Typically, we start it off in pain. Nanice Ellis comes back to the Authentic Living Show again this year, on the day before Thanksgiving, to talk with us about that process and its power to transform. Nanice is the author of seven books, and is a Master NLP Practitioner and Coach, whose wisdom comes from a deep well of experience. If you are worried about your family dinner tomorrow—tune into this show. You’ll be glad you did.

For the first time in the history of the world, we are beginning to explore intimacy as the essential ingredient to healthy, whole relationships. But intimacy is not really all about sex. It’s about “dancing core to core”—as Judith Blackstone, PhD puts it in her lovely book The Intimate Life: Awakening to the Spiritual Essence in Yourself and Others. Judith is an innovative, and internationally recognized teacher of nonduality. She is the developer of the Realization Process, a method of embodied nondual awakening, and a practicing psychotherapist. This book, like her others, The Empathic Ground, The Enlightenment Process and The Subtle Self, opens its readers to a deeper more true essential beingness. So, our show this week is going to be about how to awaken to that beingness both alone and in relationship. Want to know how? Don’t miss this show.

On several previous shows we have referred listeners to meditation as one of the most effective of ways to get in touch with the authentic Self. Today, we are going to be examining some meditation tools created by Michel Pascal, and used by Google, Harvard University and other major organizations to reduce stress. We will explore this from the angle of spirituality as well as physicality, mind and body. Many people say that meditation is too hard, and takes too much time. But our guest today proves neither of those to objections valid. His book, Meditations for Daily Stress, offers ten easy practices for immediate well-being. If you are stressed, or have trouble meditating, this show is for you. Don’t miss it.

To date, most religions have wanted to claim their own God. In the West the Christian religion has claimed that their God is the only God. That every other God is actually a false god. But what if, like Pope Francis says, we are all meeting the same God in different ways. What if, in fact, each religion, each language of each religion, each ritual, each path, each prayer is but a different language meant to reach but one divine entity, a universal entity who knows we each have different ways of finding our truest spirituality? Would that be such a terrible thing? Or is it that our bias is keeping us from allowing that possibility? Today we are going to learn about an interfaith/interspiritual God. Don't miss it.

Our guest today is Dr. Larry Dossey, author of several books including: The Power of Premonitions; The Extraordinary Healing Power of Ordinary Things; Healing Beyond the Body; Reinventing Medicine and his latest and the topic of our discussion today: One Mind: How Our Individual Mind is Part of a Greater Mind and Why It Matters. Dr. Dossey is an internal medicine physician, former Chief of Staff of Medical City Dallas Hospital, former co-chairman of the Panel on Mind/body Interventions, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of Health. And he is the executive editor of the peer-previewed journal, Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing. Dr. Dossey lectures all over the world and has appeared on TV and radio including the Oprah show.

Over the past 20 years or so, there has arisen among spiritual teachers a certain mythology that has sunk its teeth into the psyche of the New Age, New Thought, Human Potential Movement adherents along with those who call themselves spiritual but not religious. It is the idea that fear opposes love. This idea is translated to mean that when one loves, one should not feel fear, and vice versa. It is based in the Biblical tenet that perfect love casts out fear. But we've got some real misunderstanding about what this means, and we've added a lot of shoulds and personal judgment, that can be damaging. Let' talk about love and fear today. Don't miss it.

It is true that one of the things we fear the most is our own fear. We want it to go away and leave us alone. We want to feel safe, warm and cared for. We want to trust life. But fear just keeps getting in the way. We may try to outweigh it by being tough, strong and loud. We may try to erase it with drinking/drugging. We may cave to it by living in a small little hole for a lifetime. But fear--it is the monster in the closet. So, what can we do. This show will wisely offer solutions to the problem of fear. Particularly in this time when a majority of the country is living in fear--we need to know what to do about fear. Don't miss this important show.

So, you are trying…right? You are working really hard on your career and financial goals, working really hard on that relationship, working really hard on meditating and thinking only positive thoughts. But you keep slipping. You keep wondering why you are slipping. And every time you slip, you feel more uncertain, more shameful and more resistant to trying. But you have to keep trying, right? Because to not try means your…what? A failure? A jerk? But what if you could achieve the results you wanted without trying. And what if there were results you haven’t even considered that come from not trying? Yeah, right. What are you selling…right? Well, let’s just stay in “What if” for a moment and consider what the sacred texts and what initiations from mystic practices around the globe have to say about trying. Don’t miss this eye-opening show.

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.

We generally belief that “livin’ the good life” means having lots of money to buy all the things that give us pleasure. That’s because we don’t know that pleasure is not the same as joy. We also believe that avoiding difficult (currently called “negative”) emotions is a way to develop a good and happy life. That’s because we do not understand that there’s no such thing as a good or bad emotion—nor do we understand that those emotions that seem the most difficult are frequently the ones that lead us to the capacity for the greatest joy. Coming alive is not a linear upward path to ascendance in which we bliss-out perpetually. Coming alive is the capacity to feel the blood running through your veins, to know the deep crannies and caverns of your existence intimately, so that you begin to sense joy, see joy, breathe joy—by knowing the peace in it ALL. Tune in to learn more about how to come alive.

We go around all the time telling each other and ourselves that we should “be” more loving. Be more kind. Be more respectful. But how do we make these shoulds into reality. The truth is that anytime we put the word “should” in front of the word love, it ceases to be love and becomes instead a duty, an ought to, a have to. We think that we should be more loving, and we chastise ourselves when we are not. But we don’t understand the nature of love. This show is going to facilitate a greater understanding of the nature of love, and help us understand the very important transformative process of becoming love.

Today there are many Americans who are frightened, angry and being chased around by some of the more primal emotions regarding survival. Short of everyone in the country immigrating to Canada, what can we do about these emotions? Many tell us that we should somehow make these emotions go away because they are negative. But what if there is no such thing as a negative or a positive emotion? What if we've been labeling these emotions based on societal demands for compliance for a flat-line of emotional responses? Is it possible that these difficult emotions can actually facilitate our growth? Our healing? Our ability to self-direct? Tune in to find out.