Conversations Along The Way

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In Mr. Smith's own words: "Shayn Smith has a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and is an astrologer, healer, and musician living in Broomfield, Colorado. He began his metaphysical quest over 50 years ago through university classes in Religion, Buddhism, Hinduism and studies in the Astara mystery school. Shayn realizes, however, that there is still so much more to understand about the wonders of the universe and our role in it. He is grateful to our host, Henrik, for the invitation to unravel the mystery a little further in this episode."
Shayn and I have a sweeping conversation about our respective journeys. It's always such a pleasure to have a conversation with this kind, gentle and wise soul.

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Chris is an old friend and colleague who now produces a podcast called Dying To Tell You (dttypodcast.com // on Spotify and Apple). We talk about his podcast and reflect on our relationship to the topic of death. 

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The second iteration of "Sermon Off", the bonus content in which David and I toss out Christian and Buddhist scripture that the other has to sermonize on off the cuff. (Listen to the Sermon Off Teaser for more info.) Great fun was had by the both of us. (Includes new sound effect by Shiden Beats Music from Pixabay.)

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My friend David Roth makes his third appearance on the show, this time joining me to talk about concepts of the Afterlife found in the Swedenborgian and Buddhist traditions. We tease out similarities and differences, touching on fun little details like the Swedenborgian view of Heaven presented in the film What Dreams May Come and the tension between the rich tapestry of Buddhist cosmology and the Buddha's penchant for sidestepping questions of metaphysics.

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A conversation with a new friend named Hans, who has been co-facilitating the Berlin Men's Group for four years, doing self-initiation work with men for over a decade and recently founded Zigmal, a psychosocial support service for men in Berlin. We talk about our personal stories around and understanding of masculinity and men's work, especially in light of more recent social trends and discussions around issue of gender and sex.
Because of threats Hans has received for speaking out on this issue, I am leaving off his last name here in these notes and in the recording.

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I'm joined by my good friend Paula Friedland, a counselor, certified coach, corporate and public speaking trainer, as well as an actor and singer. We talk about the meaning and importance of art and artistic expression in our lives and its close relationship with personal growth and the spiritual quest. Our guiding questions for the conversation:
- At its core, what is art (the appreciation of it, the pursuit of it, the creation of it) about for you?
- When did you first know you were an artist?
- When did you first come to think of yourself as a spiritual seeker?
- What are the similarities and differences between these two goals/identities? 

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A conversation with my good friends at the Boulder Valley Men's Group, about the importance of men's work. The questions we discussed were:
- What does it mean to you to be a man?
- Who were your male role models and what did you learn from them?
- How did you first encounter men’s work?
- Why did it call you?
If you are interested in learning more about men's work, here are a few suggestions for where to turn. (For those of you not in the U.S., note that the first organization listed also has chapters in other parts of the world.)

Mankind Project – one of the older men's group organizations out there.  A good way to find a local group.

Spiritual Warfare Effectiveness Training – this is the program out in Pennsylvania whose weekend I attended.

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Kai Abelkis is a pioneer in the sustainability movement, which he has been a part of for 25 years. He was the first full-time sustainability professional in the health-care industry in the United States and is now the Sustainability Manager at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland. He and I discuss the following questions:
- what was your relationship to the outdoors / the environment growing up?
- what formative messages did you receive about the environment when you were young?
- when did you first realize the environment was an important issue for you?
- how do you see the link between the environment and spiritual growth? 

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David and I have a conversations around the following four questions:
- what is your earliest memory or conception of God?
- how has it evolved over the years?
- what conception of God / the Ultimate do you find most off-putting?
- what understanding of God / the Ultimate does the world need to hear more of?

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