Authentic Living

Isn't that what we all want—to get what we want? And if I told you today that all you would have to do to get what you want is to do A, B and C, you'd probably do it, right? Well, that's what's been happening—with all kinds of strategies, from commercials for toothpaste to marriage proposals, people are always promising to give us what we want. There are two primary problems with this: 1) most of us don't know what we really want; and 2) there is no bargain with the universe which will absolutely guarantee that after we have done A, B and C we will definitely have what we want. These promises leave out the possibility of the wondrous mystery of life. There is, however, a trust we can offer to ourselves, a trust that defines the divine as desire. And we absolutely can own that trust. Tune in today to find out how.

There is not one single shred of any endeavor humans ever make that is not touched by the myth of morality. Myth? Why am I calling this a myth? Because the entirety of the good/evil polarity is based on a misperception about who we are. Because we believe that we are separate from the divine, we have devised a plan to be reunited, which involves us being good enough for such a reunion. And of course if we are "bad" then we just don't get to be reunited with the divine. Regardless of faith we all have this deep sense of separation from the divine. And morality is at least part of the plan to do something about that separation. But because we truly are not separate from the divine, we can get out of the morality game. Want to know how? Tune in.

What is the purpose of your life? Do you know? Do you think you should know? What if you knew that you could not know the purpose of your life until it is over? Would that change your feeling about your life? Your judgments of its value? Many of us have been taught that we must know our life's purpose so that we can get in line with it. The superfluous "they" tell us that there is one specific purpose for each life and if we do not get in touch with it, we will live a failed life. Therefore, many will forestall their own plans until they get clear on a purpose. Many college students are trying to divine their life's purpose before deciding on a major. Many at 30, 40, 50 and even later, are still saying, "I wish I could talk to someone who could tell me my life's purpose." Well today, we are going to talk about your life's purpose. Don't miss it.

Most of us know that the United States Supreme Court has agreed to resolve the national debate over gay marriage once and for all, beginning in May of this year. The slow, and lately more rapid, cutting edge of this issue comes as a result of the number of people who have come, over time to be intimately acquainted with a GLBT person. Everybody knows someone who is GLBT—even if we don’t know we know them. That knowing begins to create an openness. The political arguments never tell the whole story—it is told by becoming intimately acquainted with the story of someone—someone we could love if we knew them. Meagan O’Nan is one of those people who has a story to tell, a story that allows us to see the person behind the label. Her book is called Courage and she tells us that agreeing to disagree is no longer enough. Gay rights is just one of the many areas of bias and discrimination that run rampant through our country, and our world. Today we open the door to a further discussion.

Here we are again at another new beginning. At least it is one that most of us recognize as a new beginning. The problem, however, with new beginnings is that we think we have to throw out the old to have the new. We think of it in very black and white, purist terms. But what if you knew that you didn't have to eliminate anything to have something new? Things don't die when new things are born. Rather things are integrated when new things are born. But what does this mean? What does it mean to integrate something old to find something new? Aren't we just supposed to think of something we want, stop thinking negative and start thinking positive as we work toward our new goals? Well here it is the 8th of January. Is that still working for you a little over a week into the New Year? What is the difference between a drive to a new goal, and a drive that comes from integrated material? Today we are going to learn how to begin again. Be here—you don't want to miss this.

In our third week of our Countdown to Heaven, we are talking to Bruce Lipton, bestselling author of The Biology of Belief about his latest book, The Honeymoon Effect: The Science of Creating Heaven on Earth. We all understand either the actuality of the honeymoon effect, or the dream of it. But most of us see it as temporary—because we have to get back to "real life." The Honeymoon Effect is a state of bliss, passion, energy and health resulting from huge love. But we cannot imagine that we can have that on a regular basis. But Lipton tells us that the Honeymoon Effect is not a chance event that happened to us because the right circumstances collided, but rather it is a personal creation. In fact, he tells us that love is the most potent growth factor for human beings. How can we manifest this heaven on earth? Tune it to find out—and to hear the clip from Oprah's upcoming Super Soul Sunday. Don't miss it.

Most of us have been taught that when we meditate, one of the things we might hope to achieve is an altered state of consciousness in which we feel elevated emotional connections such as bliss and ecstasy. And we also know that when we use substances such as alcohol, LSD, cocaine, crack, marijuana, narcotics, benzodiazepines, and others, we will probably experience an altered state of consciousness. What does this mean? It means that reality seems to shift—we see and feel things differently so that the difference now seems more real than the previous reality. At this point we may begin to wonder what is real. Seeking altered states of consciousness has become a national obsession to the point of a national addiction epidemic. But others seek the same through meditation. Is this the real point of meditation? If not, what is the point of meditation? And what is the truest state of consciousness? This show will answer these questions. Don't miss it.

Neale Donald Walsch is a modern day spiritual messenger whose work continues to touch the world in profound ways. With an early and deeply felt connection to spirituality, Neale spent the majority of his life searching for spiritual meaning before beginning his very public Conversation with God, a NY Times Bestselling series that has touched and inspired millions around the world. In addition, he has published 16 other works, and a number of video and audio programs. Neale's work has redefined God and shifted spiritual paradigms around the globe, and because of that redefining process and the response to it, he built the Conversations with God Foundation, a non-profit educational organization dedicated to inspiring the community of the world to move from violence, confusion and anger, to peace, clarity and love. And this week we'll be talking to Neale about change, based on his bestselling book "When Everything Changes, Change Everything." Don't miss it!

An interesting age-old phenomenon of human psychological/spiritual processing is that we tend to look for the light. Indeed, we look for light even when everything is really dark—often ending up creating an illusion of light, when seeing the dark would be a much smarter thing to do. We fear the dark, assuming that within it are all manner of monsters, even demons who will devour us if we but see them. We tend to think that the darkness—in whatever form we imagine it—is the worst possible thing. But what if the truest light can only be found in the dark? What if sitting in the dark is the only possible light? What if seeing the monsters is imperative to our evolution? Well then, while we are running from the dark, pretending that we've found the light, we miss the truest light. This show is going to be all about learning to be with, sit with, walk in the dark. Since it is so very prevalent in our lives—this might be a good time to listen.

Joan Borysenko is back this week for the third time to talk with us about guilt, for guilt can be a major block to our resilience factor. Her latest book, "It's Not the End of the World: Developing Resilience in Times of Change" will be combined with one of her earlier books, "Guilt is the Teacher, Love is the Lesson" in an in-depth discussion of this devilish master craftsman of our lives. In the extreme, many of us live whole lifetimes driven by guilt and responsibility for other people's stuff. But most of us worry over guilt at least some of the time. It works us over and compels us at times to do things that are not only unnecessary but often come down to downright interference with other people's lives. And it eats at us from the inside out, through that niggling little voice that just won't seem to let go until we finally give into it. Well this week, we are going to help it let go. Don't miss this important discussion.