Category: Spirituality

Rainn Wilson: Chewing on Life’s Big Questions

Rainn Wilson is a multitalented actor, comedian, producer, and activist who is best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on the American version of The Office, but is also renowned for roles in cult favorites such as Juno, Super, and Galaxy Quest. He has cofounded the digital media company SoulPancake and the nonprofit organization Lidé. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Rainn about the Baha’i faith that he was raised in and eventually returned to as an adult, as well as the reasons why he once again opened to that spiritual path. They talk about the founder of the Baha’i faith, Baha’u’llah, and the persecution both he and his followers faced as Baha’i evolved into what it is today. Rainn also discusses the search for God as the greatest mystery and what it means to seek the unknowable. Finally, Tami and Rainn converse on art as an expression of faith and how that expression can be used in service of the betterment of humanity. (67 minutes)

John Lockley: Sangoma

John Lockley is a traditional healer, or sangoma, from the Xhosa lineage in South Africa, the same tribe that gave us Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He runs “Ubuntu” (humanity) workshops worldwide, helping people connect to their ancestors, the earth, and one another. His mission in the Western world could be summed up in the Xhosa word “Masiyembo”—involving a profound remembering of the human spirit. As John says, “When people can remember their dreams and connect to their life purpose, then their true vocation surfaces; namely being in service and acting as guardians to our planet.” With Sounds True, John has published Leopard Warrior: A Journey into the African Teachings of Ancestry, Instinct, and Dreams. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, John speaks with Tami Simon about his startling journey to becoming a sangoma and what he learned while caught between two cultures in apartheid-era South Africa. They speak on what it means to honor one’s ancestors and how life takes on a new richness with that practice. Finally, John sings a blessing song called “The Great Spirit,” inviting listeners to share in its calling. (69 minutes)

October New Releases and Giveaway

BOOKS TO SOOTHE YOUR SOUL

 

 

Raising Resilience by Christopher Willard, PSYD

In every spiritual tradition, we find teachings on the virtues and qualities that we most want to pass on to our kids—such as generosity, kindness, honesty, determination, and patience. Today, a growing body of research from neuroscience and social psychology supports these teachings, offering insights into cultivating these virtues in ourselves and in our families. Raising Resilience is a practical guide for parents and educators of children from preschool through adolescence, detailing ten universal principles for happy families and thriving children.

 

 

 

It’s Ok That You’re Not OK by Megan Devine

In It’s OK That You’re Not OK, Megan Devine offers a profound new approach to both the experience of grief and the way we try to help others who have endured tragedy. Having experienced grief from both sides—as both a therapist and as a woman who witnessed the accidental drowning of her beloved partner—Megan writes with deep insight about the unspoken truths of loss, love, and healing. She debunks the culturally prescribed goal of returning to a normal, “happy” life, replacing it with a far healthier middle path, one that invites us to build a life alongside grief rather than seeking to overcome it.

 

 

 

The Complete Peaceful Warrior’s Way by Dan Millman

For millions of readers, Dan Millman’s Way of the Peaceful Warrior has ignited life-changing shifts. And in the decades since he wrote this iconic book, his work continues to evolve. In this in-depth audio learning program, Dan shares the full scope of his insights and tools for those seeking practical wisdom leading to a peaceful heart and warrior’s spirit.

How to Consciously Live the Peaceful Warrior’s Way—a Spiritual Path in the Modern World.

 

 

 

 

Looking for some eye and ear inspiration?

 

WIN OUR NEW RELEASE BUNDLE: The Complete Peaceful Warrior’s Way, It’s Ok That You’re Not OKRaising Resilience

TO ENTER: Simply reply in the comments with why you’d like to win! We’ll select two winners by 10/31.

Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche: Rebel Buddha Says, “Go Kin...

Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche is a celebrated Buddhist teacher, artist, poet, and author whose many books include Rebel Buddha, Wild Awakening, and Emotional Rescue. He is the founder of Nalandabodhi, an international association of Buddhist teaching and cultural centers. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Rinpoche about his ongoing efforts to develop a genuine dharma tradition unique to the West, as well as the ways he adapts his teachings for Western sensibilities and problems. Speaking from his decades of experience, Rinpoche shares anecdotes of his own teachers and comments on the modern conception of the teacher/student relationship. Finally, Tami and Rinpoche talk about the current turbulence in the world and what it might mean for spiritual seekers of all stripes. (55 minutes)

Megan Devine: The Howl at the Center of Grief

Megan Devine is a mental health counselor who has become known as one of the most promising emerging voices in the field of grief therapy. With Sounds True, she has released the new book It’s OK That You’re Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn’t Understand. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami speaks with Megan about It’s OK That You’re Not OK and the tragedy that inspired the book—the accidental drowning of her partner. With this in mind, Tami and Megan discuss “the wild howl at the center of grief,” the challenge of shouldering things that only we can carry, and why “letting go” is a myth. They also talk about what you can do for someone enduring the grieving process and why it can be best simply to lend an understanding ear. Finally, Megan unravels the concept of “fixing” grief and why there is an intrinsic connection between grieving fully and loving well. (69 minutes)

Write. Reflect. Dream: Recommended Reads

Content to Soothe the Soul of Your Inner Writer

 

Practice You by Elena Brower

From yoga luminary and artist Elena Brower, Practice You, is a sacred text of your own design.

Practice You is a map to your highest self; a field guide of your own creation. The pages of this Journal are full of potent prompts and inviting spaces, awaiting your contemplation and discoveries.

Within these pages you will find a series of Explorations, one for each of nine aspects of being.  Each exploration offers instructions and inquiries to help you design new attitudes, fresh perspectives, and stay on track with your intentions.

 

 

 

Writing as a Path to Awakening: A Year to Becoming an Excellent Writer & Living an Awakened Life by Albert Flynn DeSilver

Stories, dynamic meditations, and innovative writing exercises to spark creativity and spiritual awakening.

The best writers say their work comes from a source beyond the thinking mind. But how do we access that source? “We must first look inside ourselves and be willing to touch that raw emotional core at the heart of a deeper creativity,” Writes Albert Flynn DeSilver. In Writing as a Path to Awakening, this renowned poet, writer, and teacher shows you how to use meditation to cultivate true depth in your writing—so your words reveal layers of profound emotional insight and revelation that inspire and move your readers.

 

 

 

 

The Desire Map by Danielle LaPorte

Your bucket list. Quarterly objectives. Strategic plans. Big dreams. Goals. Lots of goals and plans to achieve those goals—no matter what. Except …

You’re not chasing the goal itself, you’re actually chasing the feeling that you hope achieving that goal will give you.

Which means we have the procedures of achievement upside down. We go after the stuff we want to have, get, or accomplish, and we hope that we’ll be fulfilled when we get there. It’s backwards. And it’s burning us out.

With The Desire Map, Danielle LaPorte brings you a holistic life-planning tool that will revolutionize the way you go after what you want in life. Unapologetically passionate and with plenty of warm wit, LaPorte turns the concept of ambition inside out and offers an inspired, refreshingly practical workbook for using the Desire Map process:

 

Art of Attention by Elena Brower and Erica Jago

Yoga begins with physical well-being. But it can also transport us—through meditation, self-awareness, and movement—into a lifelong exploration of presence, elegance, and deeper life purpose. With Art of Attention, Elena Brower and Erica Jago show us the way. Distilled from their acclaimed workshops and training programs, this multifaceted book can be used as:

• A step-by-step workshop for merging movement-based mindfulness with traditional yoga

• A “tool kit” of asanas, meditations, self-inquiry questions, and healing practices for creating your own daily spiritual practice

• An uplifting source of visual beauty and wisdom teachings for inner reflection and elevation

 

 

 

Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg

Experience a modern classic on writing as you’ve never heard it before. With nearly one million copies of Writing Down the Bones in print, Natalie Goldberg has helped change the way writing is practiced in homes, schools, and workshops across America. Through her heartfelt personal reflections and her ingenious Zen-based exercises, Goldberg makes writing available to you as a tool for personal expression, self-exploration, and healing.

Goldberg offers new commentary about the creative, spiritual, and practical dimensions of writing. Join her as she looks back on her life, sharing the story of how her meditation studies with Zen master Katagiri Roshi inspired her to develop practices for “writing down the bones”: the essential, awakened speech of the mind. Here is a treasury of tested ideas, suggestions, and exercises that help new writers get started, and seasoned writers keep going.

 

The Writing Life by Julia Cameron and Natalie Goldberg

In The Writing Life, Cameron and Goldberg join forces for the first time in this revealing dialogue that speaks to our common search for an everyday spirituality.

Join these two creative giants as they explode cherished misconceptions about who should write, and why they should do it, opening the door to the writer’s world for everybody, not just a chosen few. Goldberg and Cameron take us inside their personal lives as committed writers and spiritual seekers, and explore the following questions: How can writing best be practiced? What is the difference between therapeutic writing and writing for publication? How do we conquer the twin dragons of mood and time? Is it dangerous or inspirational to dabble in different arts such as music, painting, and writing? How is addiction related to the writer’s life?

Edgy, surprising, and useful for its hard-won advice, The Writing Life is an invitation to a life-transforming act that requires no more than a pen, some paper, and the will to get started.

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