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Podcast Episodes
The Call of the Cosmos: Aligning with Cosmic Evolution & Its Creative Impulse
“If you look at the universe through telescopes, you see stars and galaxies… However, if you engage in a relationship with the universe through, say, devotional or contemplative practices, you discover other qualities.”
Ep. 236 | In The Call of the Cosmos, cosmologist and astronomer Stephan Martin brings a new and revelatory perspective into play on Deep Transformation, sharing his profound knowledge of the evolving cosmos and its relationship with consciousness. To cover the immensity of the mystery we are involved in, Steve explains, we need to look at both the inner dimension—consciousness—and the outer mystery, the cosmos. Steve does a remarkable job of explaining the psychological, spiritual, and ethical implications of living in an evolving universe, and draws fascinating parallels between cosmic evolution and human evolution, and the manifestation of being and cosmos. Steve teaches that we can expand the concept of self from separate, small self to ecological self to planetary self, and beyond—to cosmic self.
Steve says the fundamental essence of the universe is creativity, and invites us to heed the call of the cosmos and align ourselves with cosmic creativity by expressing the whole through our individual modes of being. “What is the causal cosmic chain that leads to our allurement to do a certain thing?” he asks, adding, “13.8 billion years of cosmic evolution have led to this moment.” The universe is participatory, Steve has discovered, and we live in a relational reality. Put on your paradigm shifting hat for this lively, wise, and impassioned conversation. Your relationship with the cosmos will be illuminated for sure, and quite possibly entirely transformed. Steve is also a gifted author; you can explore more in his books Cosmic Conversations, This Playful Universe, Becoming the Change, and soon, Traveling in the Shadow of the Moon. Recorded August 21, 2025.
Exploring God, Soul & Reality: A. H. Almaas’ Mystical Theology
“When we experience the absolute, we see it as the truth of everything, the nature of everything—all are glimmerings of the absolute.”
Ep. 235 | In the 18th dialogue of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, Hameed Ali delves into the fascinating subject of how the physical world is related to the absolute. From a nondual perspective, reality includes the physical world, he explains; the world cannot be reduced to an illusion. Material reality is every bit as compelling as the spiritual perspective, he continues. How we perceive it depends on where we find our stance, what we are immersed in—in the formless or the world of form. Hameed recognizes and honors physical reality, while describing material objects as expressions, or glimmerings, of the ground of being—the physical and the ground of being inseparable, whether pure presence or pure emptiness.
And how does the relationship between creator and creation relate to the individual? Hameed presents his mystical theology: a triadic reality formed by God, the individual, and the physical world, where each maintains its own truth. Because the absolute is inherently not self-aware, it needs an individual to become aware of itself, he explains. We are its “knowing instruments.” Hameed’s mystical theology, establishing the relationship between the human being, the world, and God, or true nature, is both elevating and grounding, enlightening and somehow comforting. The essential puzzle pieces of reality fitted together, creating unity. From atoms and quarks to what happens after death and how all dimensions can possibly exist in exquisite harmony when there is so much disharmony in the world, this conversation is far ranging, stimulating, and punctuated with laughter, as Hameed, Roger, and John continue to explore The Inner Journey Home. Recorded May 14, 2026.
When One Sex Loses, Everyone Loses: Warren Farrell on the Boy Crisis, Dad-Deprivation & Healing the Gender Divide
“We’re all in this together. We’re all in the same family boat.”
Ep. 234 | Renowned thought leader, speaker, and prolific author Warren Farrell has a passion for getting the truth out about issues that matter deeply—issues with enormous human consequences that might begin to heal if people better understood the forces driving these trends: the boy crisis, fatherlessness, the cultural tendency to vilify men, and the lack of healthy and effective communication between men and women. Warren has authored several data-driven bestselling books that go right to the heart of these matters, and in this conversation his expertise is clearly evident, right alongside his dedication to do everything he can to shift the evolution of the harmful idea that women are good but men are bad.
Warren has put himself on the line time and again to stand up for fatherless boys. He puts out a clarion call to couples to communicate with care, so that a father can be involved with the raising of a child, and in his books and workshops, Warren offers concrete steps to minimize children’s trauma, such as his four must-do’s after a divorce and the caring and sharing practices he teaches couples around accepting criticism without getting defensive. Immensely insightful, immensely practical, Warren points the way forward through a territory that has become murky, difficult, and hateful. Guaranteed, you will learn things about our contemporary culture you didn’t know before, and be inspired to do what you can to heal the disastrous divide between the sexes. Recorded September 25, 2025.
Bedazzled Mind, Boundless Heart: Living as the Love We Always Longed For
“We can be in the lap of the beloved and still enjoy life—loving everything from that place.”
Ep. 233 | In the last episode of the Path of Love Series with A. H. Almaas, Hameed explores the themes he introduced in the later chapters of his new book, The Inner Beloved. Hameed clarifies the role of mind on the path of heart (the mind is bedazzled and awed; the heart open), and details what happens when we reach the beloved, like “falling in love with everything” and experiencing the absolute as a “coming home” (even though there’s no one there!). We learn that, on the path of love, no matter what we do or don’t do, a heart-driven force beyond the mind is pulling us onward. Once we arrive, we realize the beloved has always been there—which is why our heart has been longing for the beloved all along.
Hameed explains that on the path of love, nonduality becomes intimacy—reality itself is pure intimacy, he says—and in fact, the nonbeingness of the beloved is the ultimate truth of reality. In a state of mystical poverty, we discover that all we are and have ever been has been borrowed from the beloved. The culmination of this Path of Love Series ends very beautifully, the love and intimacy of the beloved pervading Hameed’s words and the images he conjures for us. “The world is simply the luminosity of the beloved,” Hameed says. In listening to him, we share in some of the wonderful sense of coming home he experienced, a little of the radiant luminosity, too, and his own ongoing excitement over the ever unfolding mystery of the divine. Recorded April 9, 2026.
Zen for a World on Fire: How Zen Helps Us to Wake Up, Grow Up & Rise to the Challenges of Our Time
“There’s nothing like sitting with what is to prepare you to be with what is.”
In this potent and profound conversation, Zen teachers, Integral Facilitators, and conflict mediators, Diane Musho Hamilton and her student and co-author Gabriel Wilson, eloquently reveal the practical benefits of a life founded on contemplative practice. What they bring home so effectively—both in this conversation and in their new book, Waking Up and Growing Up—is how much we have to gain from an interface of traditional Zen and contemporary knowledge. “Buddhist practice is the most genius way to work with human suffering,” Diane says, and grounded in awareness of the fundamental oneness is where we want to be when engaging in social or political activism, or when facing any kind of conflict. “It’s the evolution of consciousness and the attendant set of skills to support that,” she continues. We can awaken to an awareness of our true nature, and then take up the gauntlet of growing up—“straight up maturation, straight-up ego development.”
In fact, what Gabe calls Diane’s “experiment” is nothing less than evolving the 2,500-year-old tradition of Zen, preserving and innovating, holding on to the wisdom, power, and grace of the tradition while bringing in the contributions of the West: psychology, shadow work, neuroscience, emotional development, and stage-appropriate interpersonal skills. Also, how to make sense of power dynamics, work with authority, and allow being pushed out of our comfort zone. A testament to Diane and Gabe’s own inner work, this groundbreaking conversation is inspiring and impactful, punctuated with deep, personal, experiential wisdom from both guests that speaks directly to how we can best wake up, grow up, and show up in this challenging world of ours. Recorded July 24, 2025.
