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COMMUNICATING THE WISDOM THAT'S CHANGING THE WORLD
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We invited Jonathan Ellerby, author of Return to the Sacred: Ancient Pathways of Spiritual Awakening (Hay House 2009) and the CD set, Your Spiritual Personality: Finding the path That's Right for You (Sounds True 2009) to share some thoughts with us in this newsletter. You will hear the full "New Dimensions" interview with him in July. In the meantime please tune into the New Dimensions Café interview we did with him, Choosing Hope Over Fear with Jonathan Ellerby, Ph.D. The Best Spiritual Practice: Does Practice Really Make Perfect? by Jonathan Ellerby, Ph.D. It seems almost silly to have to say it, but to improve at anything practice is almost always essential. Right? Even if you want to get good at doing nothing, you still need to do a lot of it! Most people know that if you want to be physically fit, you need regular exercise. If you want a university degree, you'll need to study and apply yourself. If you want to be an excellent musician, actor, doctor, parent, friend, boss, or carpenter, you have to be prepared for a process of trial and error, constant intention, and practice, practice, practice. Why then do people not realize that this same rule applies to our spiritual life? These days I find that many people expect spiritual growth to come ease. Of course, I am more than happy to recommend my new book or my new CD set to help people on their spiritual journey –but, I'd be deceiving you and myself if I thought that one book, one CD program, or even an article or blog could change a person completely and forever. Could it make an impact? Yes. Could it make a change completely and forever? Not likely, you need to practice what you've learned for that to happen. Did you ever notice how people who do yoga or meditation or even prayer on a regular basis call it a "practice"? That's because they know that while each individual session has power, a long series of individual sessions add up to more than the sum of the parts. We have "a practice," because in the moment we are experiencing it, it teaches us and gives us an experience of peace and connection. We also know that the real work happens when you get up and head into your day – that is when you practice what you learned in your practice! That's why we need to go back to the practice again and again. Athletes have the off-season to practice; that is their time out. Happy, balanced, loving people have a spiritual practice, and that is their time out from the busy demands of life. Remember, spirituality is an experience – not just an idea or a belief. It is not enough to have the right concept, you have to be able to live it. That is spiritual growth. It's a way of being, and that requires a practice. A practice is a regular activity that helps you connect with your highest intentions: inner peace, compassion, a feeling of interconnectedness, joy, pure consciousness, or union with God. It could be prayer, going to church, meditation, Tai Chi, yoga, singing in a choir, walking in nature, helping others, going on retreat or studying with a master. In my book Return to the Sacred, I highlight and explain twelve practices that seem to be universal to all cultures throughout time. This is where lots of people get confused. "How do I pick a practice? What if I don't like my religion of origin? What if my friends all love yoga and I hate it, what is wrong with me?" The best spiritual practice is the one that works for you. The foundation of my CD set "Your Spiritual Personality" is the idea that we all have different spiritual personalities. The same way some people love to read and others love to run; some love chocolate and some love vanilla; not every practice is for everyone. What matters is that you pick something that makes a difference for you, and stick with it! In time, a spiritual practice will not make you perfect, but it will give you the wisdom and grace to manage all that life presents. Jonathan Ellerby's work and training has taken him deeply into the worlds of Indigenous Healing, corporate culture, and Integrative Medicine. He has traveled the world to meet and study with spiritual teachers from more than 40 cultural traditions. With a doctoral degree in Comparative Religion, and ordination as an Interfaith Minister, he is the spiritual Program Director for the acclaimed Canyon Ranch Health Resorts and the author of Return to the Sacred: Ancient Pathways of Spiritual Awakening (Hay House 2009) and the CD set, Your Spiritual Personality: Finding the path That's Right for You (Sounds True 2009) |
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May 2009 Broadcast Schedule
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| The Broadcast Week Beginning Wednesday, May 6-12, 2009
It seems too good to be true, a utopian dream that one day a nation might measure its success based on its Gross National Happiness. Is it Camelot reborn? An idea for a new Disney Pixar film? Not at all. It's a political reality in the small Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. The country actually measures its success by the happiness of its citizens—its GNH. Those citizens are so pleased with the results that they recently resisted the king's efforts to introduce democracy—they preferred the monarch who made happiness a standard for government. Tashi Wangchuk was a pioneer in the establishment of GNH in his native Bhutan, and with photographer Anne Muller documented the results in a beautiful photo essay. Through their collaboration they hope to teach other nations, cities, and individuals how to apply the principles of GNH to the choices they make. It's easier than you'd think to get started. As Mr. Wangchuk explains, "It's not only the economy that's important. In the present situation the dollar is king, and if the economy is doing badly it seems to have a negative impact on everything else. But I don't think that's true. I think it's more important to nurture community, and being nice and being kind, compassionate to each other." By applying a few simple values-based principles, each of us can make Gross National Happiness a reality in our own lives and in our communities. Tashi Wangchuk is a conservation biologist and cultural anthropologist who has worked for the Bhutanese government and the United Nations. He pioneered the conceptual development of the root causes of Gross National Happiness for the government of Bhutan. Anne Muller is a painter, actor, director, dancer, choreographer, sculptor, and documentary photographer. Mr. Wangchuk and Ms. Muller are co-authors of Gross National Happiness of Bhutan (Pursue Balance 2008). To learn more go to www.annemullerphotography.com Topics Explored in this Dialogue:
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The Broadcast Week Beginning Wednesday, May 13-19, 2009
"We think that spirituality somehow is a separation from life, that when we remove ourselves from our ordinary human experience we become more spiritual. That's actually getting it backwards. The deeper we enter into this life of ours, in this world, the more spiritual we become." With these words Reginald Ray invites you to become more fully human, and in so doing to more deeply embrace your spirituality. He reminds us that our bodies carry the lifelong memory of emotions we were unprepared to handle, and offers techniques for deep relaxation and release as keys to awareness. His decades of experience within various Tibetan Buddhist traditions and as a student of indigenous spirituality, bring a rare perspective on the role of ancient teachings in the lives of contemporary Western students. As Dr. Ray describes the practices that have taken him deeper into his own body and thereby freed him from its limitations, you will find yourself freed from the need to deny the truest gifts of your human experience, your human spirituality. Reginald A. Ray, Ph.D., holds a doctorate from the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, and is an Acharya (senior dharma teacher) in the Shambhala Buddhist tradition. In 1974, at the invitation of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, he became the first full-time faculty member and chair of the new Buddhist Studies Department at the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado. He has studied extensively with masters of Tibetan and Zen Buddhism and with indigenous teachers from North and South America and Africa. He is the author of four books and numerous articles and CDs. His most recent book is Touching Enlightenment: Finding Realization in the Body (Sounds True 2008). To learn more about the work of Reggie Ray go to www.dharmaocean.org Topics Explored in this Dialogue:
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| The Broadcast Week Beginning Wednesday, May 20-26, 2009
Do you sometimes feel your sense of self-worth shrinking along with the balance in your bank account? Most of us do, to some degree, at least. As a child, Spencer Sherman learned to be fearful around money issues, but as a professional financial advisor he now helps others overcome their fears about money. He helps bring ease and freedom to those who don't feel secure, no matter how much they have, and to those who let emotions prevent them from making smart financial decisions. But each of us can learn to make better decisions, he says, because "there's an opportunity here, with money, for us to see that we don't have to go to the experts. We don't even need to read tons of financial books. We just have to resolve our emotion around money, and then we can all start making really good financial decisions. We know to spend less than we earn. But somehow we've let go of those basic rules of wisdom because something from the past is keeping us from following what we know to be the right thing to do with money." But it's not just about finance. For Spencer Sherman, money is a vehicle for spiritual growth. He'll show you how you can use money as a tool for daily practice, and learn to feel sufficient within yourself—regardless of your net worth. Spencer Sherman, CFP, has been named a top financial advisor by Worth magazine, Bloomberg Money Manager, and Medical Economics, and a top business leader by Philadelphia Business Journal. He lectures and teaches workshops on the emotional relationship to money, and was selected to write the chapter "Money: the Surprising Aphrodisiac" in an anthology on relationships with Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Scott Peck, Thich Nhat Hanh, and others. Mr. Sherman is the author of The Cure for Money Madness: Break Your Bad Money Habits, Live without Financial Stress—and Make More Money! (Broadway Books 2009). To learn more about the work of Spencer Sherman go to www.curemoneymadness.com Topics Explored in this Dialogue:
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The Broadcast Week Beginning Wednesday, May 27 - June 2, 2009
She was your average working mother, living your average American life, dealing with the same issues we all deal with—child care, making ends meet, trying to take care of a pressing health concern. Suddenly all the worries and fear fell away, and all that was left was the present moment and an endless state of peace and joy. Jan Frazier was awake. Oddly enough, her new, unexpected state of enlightened awareness felt more normal than anything she'd ever experienced. "It's so ordinary," she explains. "It's profoundly ordinary and plain. It's really nothing at all like what I would have supposed it would be. This new way of being was deeply familiar, and had been there all along. It really is part of human nature, but it's not at all personal. It has nothing to do with me. It feels more like the nature of reality, what everything is made of, except that in our ordinary awareness we don't perceive it because we're so caught up in our minds." Now, in the silent space her busy mind used to occupy, she embraces compassion, suffering, and joy—and then lets it go with each passing moment. She loves more completely because she's no longer shackled by a fear of loss. Most of all, she shares the story of her transformation as a testament to the truth that the same awareness is available to each of us, right here, right now. (Hosted by Justine Willis Toms) Jan Frazier is a writer and a teacher of creative writing. She has been a student of the work of Gurumayi, J. Krishnamurti, and Eckhart Tolle, among others. Her poetry and prose have appeared widely in literary journals and anthologies, and she has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She is the author of When Fear Falls Away: The Story of a Sudden Awakening (Weiser Books 2008). To learn more about the work of Jan Frazier go to www.janfrazierteachings.com Topics Explored in this Dialogue:
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Michael and I love to watch movies. It is a magical art-form. They inform, inspire, and touch the heart and soul in so many ways.
Did you know that many visionary, soulful movies are made every year but never get into the theaters? Independent, spiritual filmmakers are creating movies with heart and soul, movies that really matter. Until now, though, hardly anybody got to see them.
Spiritual Cinema Circle® is a DVD club that sends out 4 features and short films in the mail each month on DVD. You keep the DVDs. The movies you get are full-length features, both dramas and comedies, short films, and documentaries on mind-opening subjects. They are about many different subjects, but they all share common elements: All our movies are carefully-chosen to provide genuine nourishment for the heart and soul, a much-needed nutrient at a time when more and more Hollywood movies are violent, profane and devoid of meaning. These movies inspire wonder, insight, deep feeling and transcendence. Above all, they make you feel better about being a human being.
Consider joining Spiritual Cinema Circle by using the link below. You can start with a free trial.
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Small Pleasures : Finding Grace in a Chaotic World by Justine Willis Toms Justine Willis Toms' new book Small Pleasures : Finding Grace in a Chaotic World. To get your copy click here. It makes a perfect gift. |
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Join with others from around the world for the monthly |
| Let us know where you are from, we are mapping all the places around the world where people are participating. | |
 Parties with a Purpose; Celebrating what's working in our communities, for people, for business and for the environment www.greenfestivals.com |
 Expand Your Consciousness in Optimal Learning Environments www.conferenceworks.com |
 Books for the Evolving Human Spirit www.hamptonroadspub.com |
 Transform the Way You Live and Lead with Purpose, Passion, Energy, and Joy www.getclarity.com |
 Books and Audio to awaken consciousness and global social potential. www.newworldlibrary.com |
 To Help Individuals Realize Their True Relationship with Life Through Higher Self-Studies Guy Finley, Director www.guyfinley.org |
