Mikayla Humphrey has questions. She was raised as a Jehovah's Witness, and knocked on thousands upon thousands of doors. At 17 she could no longer endure its cultish control over her life. Sadly Mikayla has not spoken to her immediate family since leaving the church nearly a decade ago... it's an official JW doctrine to "shun".

She is a phoenix arising from the ashes. As a fervent reader of a variety of spiritual philosophies, Mikayla enjoyed my book, "Original Sin Is A Lie" and we have continued to have several theological chats about the nature of it all. We decided to record a Q&A style convo as a unique episode of Karmic Relief Podcast.

We cover:

- The illusory nature of this world

- Nondual cosmology hypotheses

- "World denialism" vs. "world antagonism"

- Door-knocking stories from her Jehovah's Witness childhood

- How the ego loves "special-ness"

- The JW doctrine that _you will never die_ + overcoming a new awareness of impending physical death

- Our mutual adoration of Mollie Adler and her podcast "Back from the Borderline"

- Debunking Biblical infallibility as an essential first step in the open-minded spiritual path

Subscribe to Karmic Relief Podcast on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/@iambobpeck

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/karmicreliefpod

Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/show/7es7cjNdcSel032NLXr4wK?si=cf96e7379ab14052

More about Bob Peck

https://www.linktr.ee/bobpeck

Theme Music Scott Standley - "You Got It"

https://www.scottstandley.com

Design by Paige Hasaballah & Bob Peck

https://deltavenus.art

Rubén Cantú is always innovating. Ever since growing up in a modern day cult-like Christian community, "La Luz Del Mundo" (“The Light of the World”), Rubén has been pushing for positive change. Look they might not be evil, but anyone who says "WE are the chosen people headed to be with God and no one else is", that’s a cult to me. That never sat well with Rubén as he continued his work in the world: on behalf of social impact, local community entrepreneurship, and no shortage of Austin Texas projects in creativity and activism, he has ALWAYS been guided by love. Ultimately that’s the gateway to Eternity—not fear, not division, but Love. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation earlier this summer at a park in east Austin. What we cover:

- The simplicity and joy of a humble upbringing

- Growing up in "The Light of the World / El Luz Del Mundo" Church, a community that deludes itself with the self-image of 'chosen people'

- Getting sick of the "same food" aka unhealthy religion over and over again, and wiping the slate clean -- "Who am I if I'm no longer a part of this community?"

- What is "The One Thing" you can do to improve everything else in your life?

- "If people want to know God, have a direct relationship with Love itself."

- Love is the absence of fear.

- "Love expands our consciousness beyond our cultural conditioning"

- How love and faith informs our daily work, in particular Ruben's focus in social impact entrepreneurship

- Be open to the unfolding of your path

- Our appreciation and critiques of the University of Texas at Austin

- "When you stay silent in the face of injustice, you allow for those who breed on fear to continue to reign..." whereas justice combined with Love can transform the world.

Connect with Rubén:

https://www.instagram.com/rubencantoo/

Subscribe to Karmic Relief Podcast on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/@iambobpeck

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/karmicreliefpod

Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/show/7es7cjNdcSel032NLXr4wK?si=cf96e7379ab14052

Apple Podcasts

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/karmic-relief/id1515029592

More about Bob Peck

https://www.linktr.ee/bobpeck

Theme Music Scott Standley - "You Got It"

https://www.scottstandley.com

Design by Paige Hasaballah & Bob Peck

https://deltavenus.art

El Divine Niño gives me hope. I first saw Esteban Palacio's work on my For You page back in early 2022 and I was blown away. He has a tangible presence within spirituality that is simultaneously deep and also lighthearted. He's accessible, he's relatable, and it's because despite being a fresh-faced twentysomething, he's gone through so much.

Esteban's work as Divine Niño is based on Jung, the perennial philosophy across traditions, indigenous & Vedic wisdom, and a childlike sense of play. His brand is The Divine Child after all. A Canadian with Colombian roots, Esteban and I riff on a wide variety of spiritual & conscious topics including:

- Overcoming family tragedy to help realize the spirit

- The one golden thread connecting all religions

- How our own internal psychological processes play out in the external world

- Our cultural incarnation: embodying and detaching

- Connecting with the Divine You

- Jung as a forefather and intensely devotional mystic

- The challenges of a diagnosing a mental disorder

- Healing from addiction

- Content creation: is one person going to be helped by this?

- Spirituality without discernment as dangerous

Work with Esteban:

https://www.losninos.space/

Subscribe to Karmic Relief Podcast on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/@iambobpeck

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/karmicreliefpod

Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/show/7es7cjNdcSel032NLXr4wK?si=cf96e7379ab14052

Apple Podcasts

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/karmic-relief/id1515029592

More about Bob Peck

https://www.linktr.ee/bobpeck

Theme Music Scott Standley - "You Got It"

https://www.scottstandley.com

Design by Paige Hasaballah & Bob Peck

https://deltavenus.art

Alison Canavan is a UCLA-trained Mindfulness Facilitator from the Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behaviour and a Master NLP Practitioner. She’s my friend, from Dublin Ireland who made her all the way over to Central Texas. She runs a successful private practice as a health and wellness coach and delivers motivational talks on health and wellbeing all over the world, specializing in mental health and addiction. Alison began her career as an international model for nearly two decades but in recent years all of her focus is on mental emotional and spiritual wellbeing for herself and others.

- The many negatives of an international supermodel

- "Deciding", or "cutting away from" (Latin) our own negative patterns

- The many pros of getting sober

- Mythbusting meditation in noticing our thoughts

- How mindfulness up-levels parenting & eliminating generational trauma

- "Am I awake or asleep in the dream?"

- Intentionality in the day-to-day

- Service and flow to overcome depression

- The science of mindfulness and the HeartMath Institute

Work with Alison:

https://alisoncanavan.com/

Subscribe to Karmic Relief Podcast on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/@iambobpeck

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/karmicreliefpod

Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/show/7es7cjNdcSel032NLXr4wK?si=cf96e7379ab14052

Apple Podcasts

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/karmic-relief/id1515029592

More about Bob Peck

https://www.linktr.ee/bobpeck

Theme Music Scott Standley - "You Got It"

https://www.scottstandley.com

Design by Paige Hasaballah & Bob Peck

https://deltavenus.art

Daniel Tyack is a walking example that a radical transformation is possible for anyone, at any moment. He came back from being the lowest of low a few years ago. Losing his job, his wife, so many aspects of his incarnation came crumbling down, but he was able to tune into who he truly is, and a profound evolution occurred.

Daniel was a church worship band guitarist for many years, until.. the anti-institutional mind that he is couldn't take it anymore. His contemporary spiritual practice of both inclusive universalism and defiance of dogmas comes rocketing out of his own inner experience.

In this episode, we cover:

- From worship band guitarist to spiritual emotional alchemist

- Escaping the constant anxiety of Churchianity

- Early Christian varieties in its development

- "Take the gems and run" aka Jesus' wisdom has value

- Emotional alchemy in the present moment

- How awareness can utilize stressful states to reprogram into peace

- Forgiveness of self to enable forgiveness of others

Work with Daniel 1-on-1 and his process of emotional alchemy via his website:

www.danieltyack.com

Subscribe to Karmic Relief Podcast on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/@iambobpeck

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/karmicreliefpod

Apple Podcasts

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/karmic-relief/id1515029592

More about Bob Peck

https://www.linktr.ee/originalsinisalie

Theme Music Scott Standley - "You Got It"

https://www.scottstandley.com

Design by Paige Hasaballah & Bob Peck

https://deltavenus.art

Madeline Vu is integrating all of it. Mind, Body, Spirit, and The Planet—she is holistically aware of a wide variety of psychological systems, spiritual healing modalities, and environmental issues. She makes it seem possible—we really can acknowledge all parts of ourselves and our planet, in a loving way.

Her titles over the past 14 years include writer, non-profit leader, design director, leadership coach, and tech executive. Nowadays she's focused on integration. Madeline is a Certified Practitioner of Focalizing (CPF) / Trained by Nick Werber of The Focalizing Institute. She has also studied as a clairvoyant healer and as a Reiki Master under the Usui lineage.

Madeline is a Vietnamese-American who had to break patterns both in herself and her family's generational trauma, not through cessation or negation but through expansion. Her deep spiritual & psychological study in multiple schools of thought has led her to new plateaus. The knowledge settles, and it becomes embodied wisdom.

In this episode we cover:

-The hazards of cultural conditioning

-Vietnam's religious & mythological tapestry

-Navigating Catholicism, Buddhism, and beyond

-"Spiritual bodies" and the utility of clairvoyance

-Somatic therapy & Somatic experiencing

-Mary Magdalene and her importance

-"Regenerative" living over "sustainable"

Work with Madeline:

https://www.madelinevu.com/

Subscribe to Karmic Relief Podcast on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/@karmicreliefpod

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/karmicreliefpod

Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/show/7es7cjNdcSel032NLXr4wK?si=cf96e7379ab14052

Apple Podcasts

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/karmic-relief/id1515029592

More about Bob Peck

https://www.linktr.ee/originalsinisalie

Timothy Conway is who I want to be. He is a scholar of religion and theology as well as a deeply experiential mystic for over five decades. He sat with Nisargadatta and he has a Masters and PhD in Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies. He wrote one of my favorite books of all time Women of Power And Grace. Listen to his bio.

“Timothy Conway (“a figure in the dream, pointing to the Divine Dreamer”) has studied and practiced the nondual essence of our sacred tradi­tions since the early 1970s. He has met many enlightened masters, esp­ec­i­ally in Advaita Vedanta (Sri Nisarga­datta Maharaj, Sri Ramana Maharshi’s immediate followers, and others) and various lines of Buddhism, as well as spiritual adepts in Daoism, Sufism and mystic Christianity and Judaism. Timothy has freely shared the “pathless path” of deep spirituality since the late 1980s.”

We cover a lot of ground, and he literally starts the conversation by dismissing his academic accomplishments.. on his site his education section begins with “much ado about nothing”...

In this episode we cover:

-Going Beyond Words

-Paradoxical phrasing that is both affirmative and negating

-The ethics of veganism (ahimsa)

-Your "ego-ji" is quite the instrument!

-Defying Anatta

-The challenge of catching a moment

-Being in love with all sentient beings because the Divine Nature is Love

-The harmony between instant enlightenment and gradual awakening

Take in the masterful, scholarly mystic Timothy Conway on his website:

https://www.enlightened-spirituality.org/

Subscribe to Karmic Relief Podcast on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/@karmicreliefpod

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/karmicreliefpod

More about Bob Peck

https://www.linktr.ee/originalsinisalie

Theme Music Scott Standley - "You Got It"

https://www.scottstandley.com

Design by Paige Hasaballah & Bob Peck

https://deltavenus.art

From Vegas prize fights to providing clean water to over 52,000 people. Transitioning human beings out of slavery and into freedom. Empowering our brothers and sisters with "opportunity, which is greater than charity". Fighting for the Forgotten!

Beyond his impressive MMA career, Justin Wren has dedicated his life to making a positive impact. Inspired by a life-changing trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Justin founded Fight for the Forgotten to focus on providing clean water, education, and empowerment to Pygmy communities in Africa. He advocates for indigenous rights and is a powerful voice for marginalized communities.

I'm very grateful to know Justin personally here in Austin, TX. He is a sincere, warm, vibrant man who has found his purpose. The first time we met he explained his charity in great detail, in particular how they are not showing up for the photo op and then abandoning these people. The fact that Fight for the Forgotten has over 85 working water wells (out of 89 builds) is an extraordinary percentage when it comes to long-term efficiency of implementing resources in the developing world. They are also focused on "capacity-building" which trains the Pygmies and the local indigenous people to create and maintain these resources themselves. He is not the white savior. As he states in our interview, it is a highly collaborative project in the sense that Justin has learned so much from the Pygmies. His work is not a one-way handout but rather a two-way mutual exchange of compassion and solidarity.

Support Justin Wren and his efforts to empower the Pygmy people at:

https://www.fightfortheforgotten.org/

Follow Justin on IG @thebigpygmy

Subscribe to Karmic Relief Podcast on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/@karmicreliefpod

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/karmicreliefpod

More about Bob Peck

https://www.linktr.ee/originalsinisalie

Theme Music Scott Standley - "You Got It"

https://www.scottstandley.com

Design by Paige Hasaballah & Bob Peck

https://deltavenus.art

Let's get de-programmed! Let's re-learn to trust ourselves. Abundance, and nonduality. The Creative Process, and Astrology, Yogananda, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Disappearance of the Universe.

Laurén Janelle Green is a force of nature. She is an ex social media manager, astrologer, intuitive, writer, speaker, entrepreneur, spiritual coach, and universalist philosopher. We met through showing up on each other's For You Pages on TikTok back in '22, and I have learned so much from her. Her upbringing made my work relevant for her spiritual path, and her work is constantly relevant to answering my questions in the continual unfolding.

Laurén does an incredible job uncovering our internal beauty, our unique gifts, to let us thrive. She coaches a select few humans to "build a brand from a divine feminine perspective, grow a soul-led online community, and or just heal." What a fantastic triplet of outcomes! Enjoy our conversation across the philosophical buffet line.

How to work with Laurén:

https://bio.site/laurenjanelleco

Subscribe to Karmic Relief Podcast on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/@karmicreliefpod

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/karmicreliefpod

More about Bob Peck

https://www.linktr.ee/originalsinisalie

Theme Music Scott Standley - "You Got It"

https://www.scottstandley.com

Design by Paige Hasaballah & Bob Peck

https://deltavenus.art

Aubrey Marcus is a fellow Austinite, spiritual teacher, entrepreneur, podcaster, psychonaut, philosopher, poet, and Instagram archer. He is the founder of Onnit, a globally disruptive brand based on a holistic health philosophy he calls Total Human Optimization. Onnit remains an industry leader with products optimizing millions of lives, including many top professional athletes around the world. Aubrey currently hosts the Aubrey Marcus Podcast, a motivational destination for conversations with the brightest minds in athletics, business, mindset, and spirituality with over 100 million listens. He is the author of the NYT Bestselling book "Own The Day, Own Your Life" and has been featured on the cover of Men’s Health and other publications. He has also produced several documentaries including Awake In The Darkness, Dragon of the Jungle, Ayahuasca, and Huachuma. He is currently the visionary behind the donation based coaching platform Fit For Service which recently hosted the transformational music festival, Arkadia.

Almost a year ago, I was a guest on the Aubrey Marcus Podcast. I am still not completely sure how, but it was a series of synchronistic events that led to a "before and after" for my writing career. I had been on a podcast or two before that, but after the AMP release, I've been on dozens. Aubrey generously shines his megaton spotlight on the occasional up-and-comer like yours truly and I am grateful.

We have a lot in common. We both believe in the power of psychedelic plant medicine. We both appreciate wisdom from a wide variety of spiritual traditions, the interfaith mystics in particular. And we both believe that "original sin" is a big 'ol lie. I wanted to give Aubrey the opportunity to mythbust common misconceptions around spirituality and New Age, as well as a few criticisms I see about him--by people who don't him or know his work intimately. We had a great time and I hope you enjoy.

Catch all things AM at https://www.aubreymarcus.com

Subscribe to Karmic Relief Podcast for weekly episodes every Thursday:

https://www.youtube.com/@karmicreliefpod

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/karmicreliefpod

Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/show/7es7cjNdcSel032NLXr4wK?si=cf96e7379ab14052

Apple Podcasts

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/karmic-relief/id1515029592

More about Bob Peck

https://www.linktr.ee/originalsinisalie