Category: Spirituality

Light Watkins: Putting Your Heart-Voice into Action

What is spiritual minimalism? How do we “declutter” ourselves so we can hear and take action on the voice of our hearts? In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with meditation teacher and author Light Watkins about his new book, Travel Light, and his “inside-out” approach to pushing past your limits to find and fulfill your purpose. 

Tune in for a lively conversation that offers encouragement, inspiration, and practical insight, as Tami and Light discuss meditation as a tool to create space and hear the calling of your heart; taking action on your “why”; curiosity and trust; the heart as our personal GPS; leaving our comfort zones to begin our Hero’s Journey; the universe as your personal trainer; the “scary yes” and recognizing the feeling tone of the heart; the subtle disguises of the ego; the practice of split-testing your inner voices; rewiring your personality for greater alignment with your values; authenticity and service to others; doing less to accomplish more (really!); creating adventure instead of drama; and more.

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.

A.H. Almaas: Love in Its Boundless Dimension

We come into this world with a basic trust in the goodness of life. And our trials, tribulations, and traumas cover up that trust, or shatter it completely. In this discussion of his new book, Nondual Love, Tami Simon speaks with author and teacher A.H. Almaas about spiritual self-inquiry and the path toward reclaiming our sense of the boundless benevolence of the universe. 

Take a deep, relaxing breath in a quiet, comfortable place and dive in to this inspiring, expansive conversation exploring: the Diamond Approach to spiritual realization; inner work as the quest to understand the content of consciousness; how truth is a continuum; the nature of experience and knowing; satchitananda; the Buddhist concept of selflessness; universal love and Sufism’s “ocean with no shores”; permanent realization; the ego and the inner Jabba the Hutt; “living daylight” and the overcoming of fear; how full embodiment frees us from our “diamond issues”; relaxation as the first step in experiencing nondual reality; asking yourself, “what’s in the way?”; and more.

To learn more about the Diamond Approach, visit https://www.diamondapproach.org/

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.

Chris Bache: Diamonds from Heaven: Exploring the Mind ...

What is the meaning of life? Can we really understand the nature of time and space or the structure of the universe? Is reincarnation real? Get ready for an extremely edgy episode of Insights at the Edge! Listen in as Tami Simon speaks with educator and author Chris Bache about his book LSD and the Mind of the Universe and the vast implications of the period in which we’re living. 

This fascinating and gripping podcast delves into the purification of awareness and surrendering the ego; embracing pain and suffering; the overlapping enterprises of spiritual awakening and cosmic exploration; our collective evolution and midwifing the future human; the accelerated and intense process of development unfolding in humanity; reincarnation and the phenomenon of “deep time”; the multiple modalities of existence in our universe; spiritual traditions with an “up and out” perspective; the birth of “the diamond soul”; potentiating our enormous and divine creative power; dharmakāya, the clear light of absolute reality; the continual work of integrating experiences of cosmic proportions; taking a gentler approach to personal and spiritual growth; and much more.

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com

Tibetan Buddhist Practice for Developing Compassion

Realizing Emptiness and Connection

Take a few minutes to sit peacefully with your eyes closed or looking down. Observe your breath as you breathe in and out.
    Allow yourself to breathe naturally, without any modification of the breath.
    For a few minutes, simply observe your breath in its most natural state, as it passes through your nostrils.
    If you find that you are distracted by your thoughts or sounds, no problem; just go back to observing your breath.

    In your mind, see a table. In English, it is described by the word “table.” This table is made up of many pieces: a top, legs, glue, nails, and varnish. The legs and top are made up of wood from a tree. Before the tree was cut down it grew as a result of many variables—sunlight, seeds, rain, earth, and wind, to name just a few. And before it was a tree, it was a seed from another tree, and another tree before that. What about the nails or the varnish? Those items can also be traced backward to the people, companies, and components that went into their production. And the people who created the components also came into being from their parents, and their parents before them. We now see that everything around us—all phenomena—were caused by something that preceded it and can be traced back to a beginningless time. Next time, pick another thing, place, or person and go through the same logic. As you go about your day, notice everything around you and apply the same logic. When you walk around your work or home environment, notice that everything is empty of inherent existence. Everything has a name that refers to a thing that comes together for a time.

Zen teacher Norman Fischer said:
    In the end everything is just designation: things have a kind of reality in their being named and conceptualized, but otherwise they actually aren’t there in the way we think they are. That is, connection is all you find, with no things that are connected.[. . .] It’s the very thoroughness of the connection—without gaps or lumps in it—only the constant nexus wherever you turn—that renders everything void. So everything is empty and connected or empty because connected. Emptiness is connection.
This is an excerpt from The Tibetan Book of the Dead for Beginners: A Guide to Living and Dying by Lama Lhanang Rinpoche and Mordy Levine.

Rainn Wilson: Standing for a Spiritual Revolution

How do we reimagine society and build it anew upon a foundation of love, unity, and compassion? This is the central question Rainn Wilson explores in his new book, Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution. In this podcast, Tami Simon sits down with the actor and comedian to learn, in Rainn’s words, “Why the hell is the actor who played Dwight in The Office writing a book about spirituality?”

Enjoy this inspiring conversation that is at once funny, clever, and sincere, as Tami and Rainn discuss the cultural critique of people on a spiritual path; connecting with others from both our brokenness and wholeness; God, higher powers, and belief in a great mystery; the radiant word “devotion”; finding your authentic voice; the need for a spiritual revolution in our times; creating a new mythology; the potential pitfall in being “spiritual but not religious”; the Latin word “religio”—to bind together; the Baha’i faith; Rainn’s advice to don’t just protest—build something; the maturation of humanity; keeping hope alive and fighting for joy; and more.

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com

Mark Nepo: The Half-Life of Angels

How do we know our own authenticity? How can we return to our hearts when we find we’ve left them? As we evolve and change along our journey, how do we relate to the “former selves” in our past? In this podcast, Tami Simon and poet-philosopher Mark Nepo address these questions and more, as they discuss his creative process; his new book, The Half-Life of Angels; and how we can each touch the ever-present and wholly miraculous “spark of becoming” waiting to guide our lives. 

Tune in as Tami and Mark talk about the introspective nature of the creative process; the metaphor of the soul as an inlet; congruency; how the heart shatters but inevitably heals; becoming a student to the mystery of life; the meaning of the word “admit,” and the practice of return; seeing through the lens of the miraculous; the intersection of meditation and creativity; the art of re-visioning; how a commitment to truthfulness grows in concentric circles; living from the deep versus diving and coming back up; the shift from being driven to being drawn; impermanence and perseverance; how the life of expression is one of discovery, relationship, and inquiry; why “there’s always a teacher next to you”; “becoming the poem”; and more.

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.

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