New Dimensions

We all have an innate brilliance. Here Ardagh shows a path in which we can make the expression of our innate brilliance more predictable, less of a random accident and more of a probability. He demonstrates how we are capable of greatness and must snap out of our trance of self-indulgence to serve the greater good in these threshold times. Arjuna Ardagh is a writer, public speaker and founder of the Awakening Coaching Training in Nevada City, California. His books include The Translucent Revolution (New World Library 2005), Leap Before You Look: 72 Shortcuts for Getting Out of Your Mind and into the Moment (Sounds True 2008), Last Laugh (Hay House 2013), Better Than Sex: The Ecstatic Art of Awakening Coaching (Awakening Coaching 2013), Radical Brilliance: The Anatomy of How and Why People Have Original Life-Changing Ideas (SelfXPress 2018)Tags: Arjuna Ardagh, Kute Blackson, Brilliance Cycle, Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, revelation, Four quadrants of Brilliance Cycle, addiction, pollical activism, isolation, f

Elisabet Sahtouris, Ph.D. is an internationally acclaimed evolution biologist and futurist. She is optimistic about the future and points to biology saying, “Life gets creative in a time of crisis.” She explains how the survival of bacteria, which have been on the planet for over four billion years, has given us a model of how we may evolve into a mature species.  She’s co-author, with the late Willis Harman, of Biology Revisioned. Her books include: Earth Dance: Living Systems in Evolution (iUniverse 2000), A Walk Through Time: From Stardust to Us (coauthors Brian Swimme & Sidney Liebes)(John Wiley & Sons 1998) and Biology Revisioned (coauthor Willis Harman) (North Atlantic Books 1998)Tags:Elisabet Sahtouris, climate, economy, energy, evolution, evolutionary, evolution biologist, biology, science, archebacterial, bacteria, ecosystems, debt money, materialist, scientists, new consciousness, competition, cooperation, Hokkaid Foundation of Science Symposium, entanglement theory, photosynthesis, evo

Thanks to cell phones, photography is now the great democratic medium, one of the most important means of communication of the 21st century. This is a new order, in which images are made, seen, and shared immediately and globally without curation or censoring by editors or governments. We can participate in shaping the reality of this order.  David Ulrich is a college level professor and co-director of the Pacific New Media Foundation in Honolulu, Hawaii. His photographs have been exhibited internationally in more than 75 one-person and group exhibitions. He is the author of: The Widening Stream: The Seven Stages of Creativity (Beyond Words 2001) and Zen Camera: Creative Awakening With a Daily Practice in Photography (Watson-Guptill 2018)Tags: David Ulrich, empathy, Paul Strand, movie Harold and Maude, universal love, cell phone camera, visual pollution, Annie Leibovitz, photographing Barack Obama, Zen, Walt Whitman, imagination, Arts & Creativity, Spirituality, Philosophy, Meditation

Anne Scott, the founder of Dream Weather Foundation, gives guidance as to how to tap into the wisdom that speaks to us through our dreams, how to interpret them, and how to start a dream circle of your own. She is the author of Serving Fire: Food for Thought, Body, and Soul (Celestial Arts 1994), The Laughing Baby (Celestial Arts 2001) and Women, Wisdom, and Dreams: The Light of the Feminine Soul (Nicasio Press 2008)Tags: Anne Scott, dream, dreams, longing, circles, feminine principle, depression

Moss says that there are two basic mistakes we make in this stage of the evolution of consciousness: We identify with our thoughts and we flee from our feelings. He gives specific instructions on how to examine our thoughts to identify stories we tell ourselves, and he makes a distinction between feelings and emotions.Tags: Richard Moss, presence, ego, story, awareness, contraction, dark feelings, shadow, continuum of feeling, practice focused spacious awareness, Personal Growth

Rachel Kaplan describes the Urban Homesteading Movement as a food movement, but also a movement of people, who are about conservation of energy, water, and waste. It is a movement of learning to live with less impact on the earth, and with a greater sense of what it means to be part of the place where we live, and to be thinking ecologically.Tags:  Rachel Kaplan, compost, composting, gardening, garden, earth worms, dirt, water, composting toilets, chickens, natural building, bamboo, community, environment, nature, co­housing, interdependence, farms, farming, farmers, Animals, Community, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Family/Community, Social Change/Politics

Susan Piver knows the joy of loving, the devastating groundlessness of betrayal, and the deep crushing loss when love goes away. But she also knows how to turn that trauma into something sacred, to learn the truth of who and what is most valuable in your life. She shows us how to gain authority over our pain and release its hold.Tags: Susan Piver, Intimacy, Heartbreak, Loss, Practice of Tranquility, Practice of Loving Kindness, Betrayal, Love, Personal Transformation, Meditation, Relationship/Partnership/Sexuality, Self Help, Spirituality

Wesselman shares the spiritual knowledge he gathered from working with the late Hale Makua, a revered Hawaiian Kahuna wisdom keeper. Included are insights such as: the 3 directives of a spiritual warrior, the 7 life roles and how they are expressed in both positive and negative forms, the difference between a shaman and a medicine person, and the ancestral grand plan.Tags: Hank Wesselman, shamanism, Hale Makua, shaman, kahuna, transpersonal, medicine people, Pele, Aloha, Kapus, Ancestral Grand Plan, Metatron, Glastonbury, Spirituality, Community, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Global Culture, Indigenous Wisdom, Mythology, Personal Transformation, Psychology, Shamanism, Science, Soul/Spirit Guides/Angels/Spirit

Life is not a destination; it is a fluid movement. It takes practice to overcome the daily stresses that make us dense, concretized, and armored. Baraz gives us many steps that we can take to help life move through us as a blessing, and shares several simple but effective meditations to help each of us be more present and more joyful in our life.Tags: James Baraz, Mindfulness, Happiness, Joy,  "The Kumbaya Factor", Breathe, Intention, Compassion, Storytelling, Caring, Gladness, Gratefulness, Spirituality, Arts & Creativity, Buddhism, Education, Global Culture, Health & Healing, Meditation, Personal Transformation

In the midst of our present polarization and alienation from one another, Patten exhorts us to understand that “we are in this lifeboat together and the fiercest thing we can do is to say, I’m living in a new republic of the heart. I’m a revolutionary. You are not going to separate yourself from me. I refuse to be in separation from you.”Tags: Terry Patten, York Center Community Co-op, Church of the Brethren, Adi Da Samraj, Integral Institute, despair, climate change, overshoot, activism, neurocardiology, Candace Pert, human intelligence systems, evolutionary emergence, empathy, fear, anger, tipping point, new tribalism, interdependence, David Bohm, Bohmian dialogue, shared inquiry, imaginal cells, epistemic humility, Psychology, Peace/Nonviolence,Social Change/Politics 

This deep dialogue explores the importance of community and how we can cultivate connectedness with others. Nepo speaks of two tribes: one that fears the differences in people and one that welcomes what can be learned by those differences. He gives advice as to how to keep our hearts open beyond our own opinions and how to tap into our innate nature of kindness.Tags: Mark Nepo, Irvin Laszlo, heart cells, Chinese philosopher Mencius, kinship, Emile Durkheim, technology, Howard Zinn, Paris Commune 1871, Wright Brothers, anarchy, Elder Shafir, psychology of poverty, flicker of dignity, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, kindness, Elie Wiesel, Psychology 

Studies show that humans are becoming more and more an “indoor species.” We are living in a culture that is hooked up to digital media 24/7. This deep dialogue with L’Amoreaux addresses how to mindfully navigate this technologically saturated environment. Having family conversations about values and how to be better informed about the technology we’re using is the first step.Tags: Claudia L’Amoreaux, Siggraph, computer graphics, cell phones, Oxford Junior Dictionary, digital searches, Eli Pariser, Tristan Harris, Common Sense Media, YouTube settings, Odysseus and the Sirens, screen time, solitude, mindfulness, conversation, Sherry Turkle, Danah Boyd, Teenagers, David Whyte, curiosity, Technology, Parenting, Personal Transformation

In telling her own story of letting go of several households of furnishings, Lisa Tracy is enormously helpful to us as we grapple with the "stuff" of our lives. Letting “stuff” go is like letting go of the stories of our lives.Tags: Lisa Tracy, home, mother, grandfather, furniture, Camp Verde, Lexington Virginia, storytelling, military, Malenta Tunnel, Corrigedor, Francis Moore Lappe, moving, Self Help, Community, History, Personal Transformation, Travel, Writing

DeSilver describes how writing from the body rather than the head is a visceral experience that connects us with our intuition. He says, “Everybody is a creative person. It’s a matter of where you have been putting your attention.” This conversation is filled with encouragement that will help you on your road to being a better writer.Tags: Albert Flynn DeSilver, silent retreat, Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones, Beryl Markham, Carl Sandberg, poetry, imagination, intuition, Robert Bly, Walt Whitman, devotion, discipline, Ann Waldman, Vow to Poetry, free writing, photography, talent, courage, dictionary, Writing, Self Help, Art & Creativity, Meditation, community, personal transformation

When Irving’s father signed on as an agricultural missionary in Haiti, she was transported from a sparsely populated desert in California into the lush terrain of the densely populated island of Haiti. She describes with great insight the challenge of building a deep democracy in a culture in crisis.Tags: Apricot Irving, memoir, Haiti, Christopher Columbus, Taino people, wailing at funerals, beauty, NGOs, earthquake in Haiti, Steve James M.D., democracy, Einstein, History, Writing, Health & Healing, Parenting, community

People are living longer but this new longevity is not equivalent to an extension of old age or years added on at the end of life. Bateson describes a whole new stage of aging: Adulthood II. It is a time endowed with wisdom, health, and energy. It is a time to become the needed visionaries society is calling for. She’s the author of Composing a Further Life: The Age of Active Wisdom.Tags: Mary Catherine Bateson, Aging, Adulthood II, ageism, friendship, post-reproductive women, intergenerational relationships, longevity, Social Change, Politics, Community, Family, Philosophy

An awakening is taking place planet-wide and it is a channeling of healing, peace, and higher consciousness. Stocker suggests that we are not alone in this evolution of awareness. Each one of us is divinely designed toward love. He calls this “holy electricity” and shares ways to activate this potential. Ricardo Stocker, Ph.D. grew up in Argentina, moved to Europe when he was 25 years old and now lives in California. He studied at Emerson College in England, Prescott College in Arizona, and at the Saybrook University in Oakland, CA. He’s a counselor, homesteader, musician, and professor of Psychology and Communication at Mendocino College. He is the author of Our Compassionate Kosmos: Awakening to the Presence of Celestial Love (Balboa Press 2016)Tags: Ricardo Stocker, night sky, original sin, Big Bang Theory, Rupert Sheldrake, gravity, speed of light, impermanence, vertical intelligence, horizontal intelligence, guardian angel, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Jesus, father mother god, holy electricity, prana, meditatio

Buddhist teacher Namgyel points out that “everything leans.”She frames this statement with the reminder, “[W]e live in a world where ‘it all depends’ and everything is influencing everything else. We might think we know something at one moment but everything is always interrupting and influencing and so it’s always changing. Life, as we know it, is very dynamic.” Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel is a Buddhist teacher and teaches throughout the U.S. and Europe. She’s the wife of Tibetan Buddhist master Dzigar Kongtrul and has studied and practiced in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition since 1985. After many years of solitary retreat, Dzigar Rinpoche appointed Elizabeth as Retreat Master at Longchen Jigme Samten Ling, retreat center in southern Colorado. Her books include It's Up to You: The Practice of Self-Reflection on the Buddhist Path (editor) (Shambhala 2006), Light Comes Through: Buddhist Teachings on Awakening to Our Natural Intelligence (editor) (Shambhala 2009), The Power of an Open Question: The Buddha's Path to

This dialogue with the daughters of Alan Watts takes a deep dive into the colorful and controversial life of this late philosopher and popularizer of Zen Buddhism and other Eastern philosophies. Through his collected letters they show how he was always learning something new, how he was clear that wisdom is not a static thing and his views will always be under revision.Tags: Alan Watts, Joan Watts, Anne Watts, Joan & Anne Watts, Joan and Anne Watts, Christmas Humphreys, Toby Humphreys) Buddhist Society of London, LSD, genetic code, Mandalas, Native Americans, Buddhist term tathāgata, psychedelics, History, Philosophy, Psychology

Kaufman grew up in the Bronx, the Jewish son of a Holocaust survivor. He recounts a most poignant tale of his trek to follow the footsteps of his mother’s escape from the Nazis. His two traveling companions are inexplicably sons of Nazis. With disarming candidness, he shares his story of sinking into alcoholism and his road to sobriety and writing.Tags: Alan Kaufman, Holocaust, Israel, alcoholism, addiction, Jim Brodey, Holocaust survivor, Second Generation Writers, Jewish, Jews, poetry, 12 step program, recovery, sobriety, History, Writing, Alcoholism, Personal transformation