Authentic Living

If we were to set about to deliberately design a path that would bring us to our deepest essential self, could we do any better than the design of the soul on our lives? What does the mysterious journey of living really mean? What fierceness drives us deeper into ourselves? And what do we find there when we arrive? What persistent longing serves to write the poetry of our lives? When does the soul stand outside of us and when is it invited in? Byron Katie asks who we would be without our stories? I wonder who we would be without our codes, rules, morals, shoulds, ought-tos and have tos? It is unsettling to image a life without these guides, but are they really leading us to our deepest essence? So, the pebble has been tossed into the lake and the ripple is running outward—this show will be both the pebble and the ever extending ripple. Don't miss it.

We get a lot of double-speak when it comes to the past. Some tell us to forget about it: The past is over and done with, just don't go there. Others tell us that the past is the key to the present. Which one is it? Or is it either? Most of us know that dwelling in the past is not very conducive to a happy life—but then we do it anyway. And most of us know that trying not to think about it is pretty useless too. So, what are we to do with the past? Does it have any useful purpose? At this point the word "lessons" begins to be thrown about, carrying with it connotations of both "punishment" and "reward" with a little karma thrown in for good measure. But really is that all there is? Today, we're going to be talking about the past and it's, typically buried, treasures. Don't miss this one.

Have you heard about the river that runs under the city? Yeah. It's there. It's a true story. You have to be willing to spelunk down into the darkness to find it, but it carries the whole city. It runs through the dark caverns of shadowed soul and it comes from and leads to the exact same place. Everybody talks about it here. It's story has been passed down from one generation to the next for centuries—or maybe it's just another ghost story told by the fire on a camp-out. How can you find out? Well, today we are going to talk about just that. We're going to learn whether this river of omniscience is the real deal or just a fabled illusion. And if it's real, we're going to find out how to find it, and to allow it to flow to and through us. You really don't want to miss this one.

For the third time, we are interviewing the gentle and powerful poet and author, Joyce Rupp. She is well known for her work as a writer, a spiritual "midwife, and a retreat and conference speaker—having led retreats throughout North America and in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. She is a member of the Servites (the Servants of Mary) community and the author of several books, including The Cup of Our Life, Fragments of the Ancient Name and her latest, my soul feels lean: poems of loss and restoration—about which we will be interviewing her today. Poetry is such a powerful expression of the deepest urges of our beingness, and so it is that her poetry will lead us to a powerful discussion about how to work with loss. Don't miss this show.

Taoism teaches that it is the natural in us that is our power. And yet our society teaches that the natural in us is to be feared, for it is wild, untamed energy that will get us and others into heaps of trouble. But as we talk about the differentiated aspects of the psyche, the ego and the soul, what we discover is that that natural self turns out also to be mystically united with the transcendent. As we walk into the deeper regions of the inner human, we discover the transpersonal—which is also quite natural. Yet we've divided life up into natural, miracle and supernatural for so many centuries that it is extremely difficult for us to imagine that who we already are, underneath all the fakery, scamming and spamming that we've been taught to do to survive, is both natural and divine—a union of opposites. So today we are going to take a journey into the natural world of authentic power and learn what your natural power can do in an unnatural world. Don't miss it.

So many of us, who consider ourselves to be more or less spiritual beings; so many of us, who consider ourselves to be Christian, or Muslim, or Buddhist, or Taoist, or any other religion, believe that being good means helping and healing others. In fact helping and healing others is a defining characteristic of a good person regardless or religion or spiritual path. What will we do when we really get it that we can't help or heal anyone? Ever. The concept of reception is a very difficult one for us to accept particularly in the Western world where being "out there," "doing," "seeking," "hunting," "giving," "helping," "healing" are the ways that we prove to ourselves and our worlds that we are worthy. But if worthiness doesn't really have to be earned, then we can consider the concept of reception. For, what if everything that is truly worthy is received—which means that our giving means only what it means to us, unless the other person chooses to receive it. Don't miss this one.

So, we've spent the past 2 shows talking about the reality of real life in a dualistic world with its darkness and its blindness. Today we're focusing on that elusive bliss—evidence for many of enlightenment. Bliss, joy, ecstasy—these largely synonymous terms have not historically been used much in any secular way. Yet, in today's social world we hear them used to either mock or poke fun at the bliss-seekers, or as a way of describing a fulfilling career. Regardless, most of us think of bliss as a state. A state is a place for the psyche to rest for a while—like taking a vacation in the state of Hawaii. When joy is related to career, if the career is doing what we want it to do, we have joy, and if it isn't, we don't. When it's related to meditation, it's a state to which we arrive after getting our minds in the right place. But what if bliss is who we actually are? What if bliss is our primordial essence? Don't miss this show. It could change your life.

Must we have the dark to see the light? Is that the only purpose of darkness? Must we have the evil to see the good? What is the point? During this show we are going to explore the purpose of life from the perspective of darkness: The silence of the ethers when you are screaming for an answer; death that comes when life is what was wanted; the essential ingredient necessary to evil. These are the things that many who practice the tenets put forth in books like The Secret don't want to talk about. In fact they tell us not to even have a so-called "negative" thought. But if we never think about the dark, aren't we keeping the dark in the dark? What if it has beautiful gifts for us too, more beautiful at times, even than those gifts we get from the light. So, today we are going spelunking into the dark, murky, slippery underground caves of life. Get your gear and bring your cameras. You are going to want some good shots of this.

My mother used to have a saying. She had a lot of those. But one she used to say a lot was: She/he wouldn't know truth if it flew up and hit her/him in the face. And you know, sometimes she was right. Truth is, as they say, relative. But is it, really? Is there an absolute truth? Or, do we have enough light to just see the truth that is relative to the moment—ready ever to let that go for a higher truth in another moment? Well, if there is an absolute truth, I would say that it runs deeper and goes further than any one religion or tradition can encapsulate. And if that is true, then how do we know when we've run into—or been hit in the face by—truth? This show is going to delve into this muddy issue and give it some clarity. But not only that, for it is also going to illustrate some ways that we can know when we've been hit by truth. And along that way we'll discover something about the mystery of knowledge itself. Don't miss it.

Okay, now that I have your attention—let's talk about intimacy. Real intimacy—of which sex is but a small, though important, part. Primary relationships—these are those had between a husband and wife, or two partners, whether of the same or opposite sex. Primary relationships work when intimacy is the primary endeavor of the relationship. They work less well or stop working altogether, when intimacy is not the primary endeavor of the relationship. So, what do we mean by intimacy if we don't just mean sex? Remember the Na'vi in the movie Avatar? They said it well. They said, "I see you." What they meant was that they really saw the other person. Saw them for who and what they really were. Saw all the way down to their souls. Intimacy allows both parties in a primary relationship to really see each other. How do we learn to see and be seen this way? Do you want a solid relationship that has lastability? Don't miss this show.