In this episode, we explore the challenge and opportunity of loving fully, no matter what life throws at us.

Many traditions understand that it's fear that keeps us from loving openly, fully, unabashedly, wholeheartedly, unshakably and all the time. But what are the qualities of those fears? What exactly are we scared of? Few people have explored the battle between fear and love better than Don Miguel Ruiz, informed as he is by the Toltec Tradition. Ruiz is best known for his book, The Four Agreements, which has not only been a best seller, but has also actually been read by many of the people who have bought it. Why? His style is clear. His wisdom is solid. And his books are short! Today's podcast is based on another clear, solid and fairly short book of his -- The Mastery of Love -- which, in my view, is even more life-altering than The Four Agreements. It had a huge impact on my thinking, forgiving and loving, and articulated for me how fear really does block the flow of love. Call this work The Fifth Agreement: Love! When you are finished listening, let me know if it makes as much sense to you as it did to me. Enjoy!

What gifts do we bring to each other as men and women? As embodiments of masculine impulses and forces and of feminine impulses and forces? How are they different and how are they the same? There's been a whole lot of confusion over what it means to be a man or a woman and all combinations thereof, during the past 40 years. We have outgrown the latest phase of history, where the masculine dominated, with production and violent change shaping social relations. Feminism succeeded in equalizing the right of both genders to be masculine -- and now with a sense of equality, women are re-discovering that feminine power is unique. And men are being forced to realize that it is no less powerful. As men struggle to find a way of being in relationship with the feminine that is both powerfully masculine and self-aware, they are discovering the gifts of the masculine to be liberating -- both from the brute stereotypes that preceded the modern age, and from the wishy-washy "soft" man that women find so emasculated -- though wonderful feng-shui partners. This week, we begin our 3-Part exploration of the great gifts of the masculine, as we drill into the first two of the The Three Pillars of the Masculine -- Purpose, Presence and Freedom -- as I have culled them from the work of David Deida . Fully embodied, they are a gift -- to everybody. Enjoy -- and let me know what you think...

This week, we continue delving into the work of David Deida, exploring how the masculine expresses love. Deida provides a lucid corrective to both the bullying female-diminishing "First Stage" of Masculine hubris and the "Second Stage" of the needy-weenie-wussy-pleasy mendicant love of guys who are afraid to express strong individuation and directionality. Deida's famous "Third Stage" Man openly and fearlessly expresses purpose, presence and freedom, and lives in service both to this own high sense of mission in this world and to the heart-opening of those he loves. A tall order. And, ultimately, in most cases, the only real satisfying one for a man. Write me and tell me if this week resounds with you...

In this show, we wrap up our three part series based on the work of David Deida -- really only a sliver of his work, which is expansive, to say the least. Here, we explore several specific practices to help men (and in some cases, women), hone the gift of masculine presence, freedom and directionality. Men - if you've been wanting to create more sexual polarity with women -- take notes -- and do the homework. Women, if you want your man to provide more structure and a trustable container inside which you can dance your beauty -- figure out a way to get him to listen (but without TELLING him to). Therein lies one of the gifts of the feminine, which we will explore soon in more depth. Enjoy!

Part 1 of an interview with Author/Teacher Will Johnson.

Sometimes the simplest practices can bring the most extraordinary results. In this two-part series, I talk with Will Johnson, author of The Spiritual Practices of Rumi,about how to achieve "union" with your beloved. Fascinating is how Will met his own "Shams" before he had even read Rumi, and how he has since made a life of teaching this practice. Rumi, of course, is the great Sufi mystic, beatific 13th Century street-rapper, whose simple words carry an uncanny ability to jar us into sudden expansive consciousness.

Will is a deep and gentle guide into this practice which so transformed the once scholarly Rumi, and is something that is certain to deepen your relationships and free you from the small boundaries of your "I" as well. Meet Will...

This is part 2 of an interview with Author/Teacher Will Johnson.

"Love is never displaced by additional love, it is enhanced, because all of our different loves are expressions of the one embracing love."

In other words, your capacity to love is infinite. So says our guest this week, Rabbi Bradley Artson, Vice President and Dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles.

Rabbi Artson is a passionate, brilliant, warm and sensible presence on the spiritual scene, and I wanted top share his down-to-earth spirituality with you.

Listen especially to his ideas about how love recycles -- the more you give it, the more it engenders more love. He calls it "mutually reinforcing love" For example, knowing that it's possible to love a spouse strengthens our love and trust of others, and of the divine. Cherishing ourselves allows us to receive unconditional love from without.

Love doesn't compete with love. Love multiplies love.

I found this interview particularly inspiring and encouraging.

And I'm convinced you will, too!

This week I begin a fascinating discussion with my friend, the multivalent thinker and creator, Dr. Gino Yu, Director of the MulitMedia Innovation Center at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, of all things.

Dr. Yu is on the global forefront of exploring how media can raise consciousness, help us let go of our fears and unwanted emotions, and cultivate the life of love and awareness we all desire.

Of particular interest, listen for Gino’s idea: “follow the love.”

Love is always there. As he says, you don’t have to create it, you find it, which is often just a process of stripping away of what’s covering love. It’s always there. As Gino says, “all emotions are rooted in love, even those you don’t think are love.”

Yu urges us to dig beneath surface communications. Where investigators say, “follow the money,” he counsels, “follow the love.”

I found his insights on using breath to bring unwanted emotions back to love illuminating and hopeful!

This week we continue our discussion with Dr. Gino Yu of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Dr. Yu is a unique amalgam of media savant, spiritual seeker (and finder), neuroscience enthusiast, loving father and husband, visionary, composer and… rapper.

How can you communicate an inner state? How can you expect that when you say, “love” – your partner understands the word, “love” in the same way?

This week, Dr. Yu gets into the three ways we communicate our inner life: mythology, art and ritual.

What fascinates him, and what we can apply to our daily lives is that the core of all of it – mythology, art and ritual -- is the attempt to communicate one great truth, and that is this:

“The experience of right here, right now… it’s good to be alive.”

From this anchor, he argues, you will find wells of wonder, gratitude, joy… and love.

And, tying in our discussion last week, we explore what distracts us from that fundamental knowledge.

I dare you not to feel provoked and inspired!