Episode Description:“For human evolution to continue, the conversation must deepen.” – Margaret Mead“I am Michael Beckwith, and it’s been my joy to be a part of Living Dialogues with my brother Duncan. Beautiful, and I appreciate the format and I appreciate your consciousness. I found it to not only be inspiring, but a continued regeneration of the soul. It is what’s happening now.” – Michael Beckwith, founder of the Agape International Spiritual Center and author of Spiritual Liberation: Fulfilling Your Soul’s Potential (with an Afterword by Robert Thurman – see Dialogue 59). From the beginning of Living Dialogues I have observed that we are all called to awaken to the creative potential and celebratory power of our true nature. We are meant to generate evolutionary change so as to keep pace with our continuously evolving universe. Another way I have expressed this is that our conscious, alive universe is permeated throughout with a self-revealing impulse that wants to express itself through us. This applies in all realms of inner and outer life, in our heartfelt dialogues within ourself and with the many realms, political, cultural, family, economic, and so on within which we live.In encountering each other, Michael Beckwith and I experienced ourselves from the beginning as brothers, whose similar views of life, arrived at independently, were those of “soul friends” (anam caras in John O’Donohue’s phrase – see Dialogues 87 and 88 and definition at the end of this description*). In the opening of our dialogue, I welcomed Michael as a powerful force for change, who combines – as we do in Living Dialogues -- spiritual, educational, scientific, governmental, economic, social, and political elements. He responded: “Duncan it is my joy to be with you to weigh in one the issues of the day, and to just speak from the heart with you”, and I continued in saying: “Beautiful, because that’s actually what we do here on Living Dialogues is speak from the heart, we weigh in on issues of the day, and we also talk about our deep consciousness and the importance of dialogue, both inner and outer”.And that is exactly what we did, allowing the dialogue to flow freely from the evocation of our own open, deep listening and that of yourselves. Whatever your background, you will find much of interest here on many topics, and enjoy the flow.*The Meaning of Anam Cara: Anam Cara refers to the Celtic spiritual belief of souls connecting and bonding. In Celtic spiritual tradition, it is believed that the soul radiates all about the physical body, what some refer to as an aura. When you connect with another person and become completely open and trusting with that individual, your two souls begin to flow together. Should such a deep bond be formed, it is said you have found an anam cara or “soul friend”.Your anam cara always accepts you as you truly are, holding you in beauty and light. In order to appreciate this relationship, you must first recognize your own inner light and beauty. This is not always easy to do. The Celts believed that forming an anam cara friendship would help you to awaken your awareness of your own nature and experience the joys of others.According to John O’Donohue, Irish poet, philosopher, and spiritual writer and author of Anam Cara – A Book of Celtic Wisdom: “We are joined in an ancient and eternal union with humanity that cuts across all barriers of time, convention, philosophy and definition. When you are blessed with an anam cara, the Irish believe, you have arrived at that most sacred place: home.”We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth…. and we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself....For the world has changed, and we must change with it…This is the source of our confidence – the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny. This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed – why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration…" -- Barack Obama Inaugural Address, January 20, 2009And as we say on Living Dialogues:“Dialogue is the Language of Evolutionary Transformation”™.Contact me if you like at www.livingdialogues.com. Visit my blog at Duncan.personallifemedia.com. ”. (For more, including information on the Engaged Elder Wisdom Dialogue Series on my website www.livingdialogues.com, click on Episode Detail to the left above and go to Transcript section.)

Among other heartful visionary conversations you will find of particular interest on these themes are my Dialogues on this site with John O’Donohue, Robert Thurman, Eckhart Tolle, Ted Sorensen, Stanislav Grof, Angeles Arrien, Sobonfu Some, Matthew Fox, David Mendell, Deborah Tannen, Gangaji, Caroline Myss, Michael Dowd, Duane Elgin, George Lakoff, and Joseph Ellis, among others [click on their name(s) in green on right hand column of the Living Dialogues Home Page on this site].

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