Sacred Stream Radio

On this episode, Dena Merriam, Founder of the Global Peace Initiative for Women (GPIW), joins Laura Chandler for an engaging conversation on diverse topics such as climate crisis, the Me Too movement, past lives, and the significance of the sacred feminine in the world today. Dena is the author of two books, including her latest, The Untold Story of Sita: An Empowering Tale for Our Time, a retelling of the Ramayana texts of Classic Indian Literature from the perspective of the primary female character, Sita. The book delivers an important message for our times, offering a new understanding of feminine wisdom and the intelligence of the natural world.

In addition to her work with the GPIW, Dena served as Vice Chair of the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders held at the United Nations in New York in the year 2000. She has been a devotee of the spiritual master Yogananda for over 40 years, and is a long time practitioner of Kriya Yoga meditation. Dena received her master's degree from Columbia University in sacred literature, and has served on the boards of many prestigious organizations, including the Harvard Center for the Study of World Religions and the Interfaith Center of New York. For more information on Dena and the GPIW, visit gpiw.org.

Our featured musical artist is Hindustani classical vocalist Jaya Vidyasagar. Jaya has studied with many accomplished teachers and is a beloved performer. She has appeared in several videos and musical collaborations. To learn more or to purchase her music, visit jayavidyasagar.com.

This episode is a retrospective of some of the highlights of the past year. You'll hear excerpts from Laura Chandler's interviews with bestselling authors Dawson Church and Christina Rasmussen, Grammy nominee Barbara Higbie, and renowned channel and author Paul Selig. Our featured music includes songs from Barbara Higbie, Dan Walters, and master sarod player Rajeev Taranath, as well as Sacred Stream's very own Katie Rudman and her duo, Heddwen.

The episode begins with Dawson Church, the bestselling author of The Genie in Your Genes: Epigenetic Medicine and the New Biology of Intention and Mind to Matter: The Astonishing Science of How Your Brain Creates Material Reality. Dawson and Laura discuss Quantum physics, the science behind manifestation, and Dawson's contagious enthusiasm for meditation.

Celebrated grief educator and founder of The Life Reentry Institute, Christina Rasmussen, met with Laura in April to discuss her second book, Where Did You Go?: A Life-Changing Journey to Connect with Those We've Lost. In this segment, she explains what drew her to work in the field of grief and the personal tragedy that was the catalyst for her book. They also have an unexpected visitor.

Acclaimed author and channel Paul Selig returned to the podcast this year to talk about his latest book, Beyond the Known: Realization. Paul received his Master's Degree from Yale and served on the faculty of NYU for over 25 years. A spiritual experience in 1987 left him clairvoyant and he has channeled seven books by a group he calls The Guides. He and Laura talk about the changes that are to come on the planet and what The Guides are offering to help us prepare.

This final segment is from Laura's interview with Grammy-nominated, Bammy award-winning composer, pianist, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, Barbara Higbie. She is both a successful solo artist and popular session player with fourteen albums to her credit, and has performed on more than 100 albums, including Carlos Santana's 2007 release. In this excerpt, Barbara's cheerful demeanor is on full display as they talk about her early success, the difficulties she faced as a woman in the industry, and how things have changed today.

This episode features a talk by Isa Gucciardi on the Oracle Traditions found in Buddhism and Shamanism. In this talk, originally given at the Science and Nonduality Conference in San Jose, CA, Isa gives an overview of some of the remarkable lineages found in Buddhism and Shamanism and the methods of accessing wisdom through channeling as described in these traditions.

Isa Gucciardi is the Founding Director and Primary Teacher at the Foundation of the Sacred Stream, and the author of Coming to Peace and Return to the Great Mother. She holds degrees in cultural and linguistic anthropology, comparative religion, and transpersonal psychology, and is the creator of the highly-effective therapeutic model, Depth Hypnosis. Isa teaches and speaks nationally and internationally. She maintains a private practice with institutions and individuals in Depth Hypnosis and Coming to Peace processes. Isa speaks five languages and has lived in eleven countries. She is the mother of two children and lives with her partner in San Francisco.

On this episode, Laura Chandler interviews Rajeev Taranath, one of India's foremost classical musicians and a master of the sarod. At 87 years old, his career has spanned over four decades and drawn accolades from critics and audiences throughout the world. Rajeev is a distinguished disciple of the late legendary maestro Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, and was part of Khan's musical family that included the great sitarists Ravi Shankar and Shrimati Annapurna Devi. Laura and Rajeev talk about Rajeev's expansive career, perspectives on music and creativity, and his call to Indian Classical Music.

Rajeev has received many honors, including India's highest government award in the arts, the esteemed Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2000. He has written music for several films and received critical acclaim for his deep introspective style. Edward Rothstein of The New York Times states, "Rajeev Taranath's sarod improvisations mixed the spiritual and the spirited…and proceeded into an exuberant rhythmic celebration." A noted linguist, Rajeev speaks eight languages fluently. Currently living in Mysore, India, Rajeev travels worldwide teaching and performing. To learn more about Rajeev, visit rajeevtaranath.com.

On this episode, Laura Chandler is joined by researcher and author, Dawson Church. Dawson is the author of the bestselling book and breakthrough in epigenetics, The Genie in Your Genes. His latest release, Mind to Matter: The Astonishing Science of How Your Brain Creates Material Reality, explores the cultivation of peak brain states in daily life.

In this lively interview, Laura and Dawson discuss the astonishing science behind how our minds create matter. Dawson points to numerous examples of studies demonstrating this, and offers ways of harnessing the power of our minds through meditation, EFT, and cultivating positive thoughts. He also shares some inspiring stories of people profoundly changing their lives by adopting the simple practices in his book.

Dawson founded the National Institute for Integrative Healthcare to study promising evidence-based psychological and medical techniques. He is the editor of Energy Psychology: Theory, Research, and Treatment, and a blogger for HuffPost.

For more information on Dawson, visit dawsonchurch.com, or join his growing group of fans on Facebook.

Our featured music today is from songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Christopher Tait. Chris has written and performed for Electric Six since 2002, and is the founder of Passenger — a Detroit-based non-profit dedicated to helping musicians who are struggling with addiction issues. Chris was a curator for Beats/Apple Music in Culver City, CA, and has composed for film, commercials, and video games.

On today's episode, Laura Chandler is joined by writer, empath, and one of the foremost spiritual channels of our time, Paul Selig. Paul has just released his latest channeled book, Beyond the Known: Realization, which is the 6th in a series described as a "program for personal and planetary evolution as humankind awakens to its own divine nature." In this episode, Paul explains his relationship to the guides, the process of channeling, and shares insights from the guides about the new book.

Paul received his Master's Degree from Yale and served on the faculty of NYU for over 25 years. A spiritual experience in 1987 left him clairvoyant. Deepak Chopra describes his work as, "authentic, straightforward truth straight from the source field." His breakthrough works of channeled literature – including I Am the Word, The Book of Mastery, and The Book of Truth – have quickly become the most important and celebrated expression of channeling since A Course in Miracles rose to prominence in the 1970s.

For more information about Paul, visit his website, paulselig.com.

Today's guest is Grammy-nominated, Bammy award-winning musician, Barbara Higbie. A composer, pianist, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, Barbara has performed on more than 100 albums, including Carlos Santana's 2007 release. She has 14 solo recordings to her credit as well as contributions to 10 compilations that have sold in the millions. A master collaborator and successful solo recording artist, Barbara was the first woman signed to Windham Hill Records, and had major commercial success with her chart-topping band, Montreux. She has also released music with Olivia Records and her own Slow Baby Records, and after nearly 40 years in the industry, she shows no signs of slowing down.

In this episode, we take a look back over her career, and talk about what it was like being a woman in the music industry then and now. We also discuss her time growing up in Indiana and West Africa, and what inspires her. Selections from her latest album, Resonance, are featured throughout this episode.

To learn more about Barbara and to purchase her music, visit barbarahigbie.com.

In this episode, guest host Isa Gucciardi, interviews the venerable Tibetan Buddhist monk and teacher, Geshe Pema Dorjee. Geshe Pema Dorjee is a tireless advocate of the poor and disenfranchised in Nepal and India, especially children. He has dedicated his life to helping stop human trafficking and travels the world to raise funds for his many altruistic projects and often brings those funds to remote villages, which sometimes requires days of walking to the final destination.

Geshe Pema Dorje was the Director of the Tibetan Children's Village School in Dharamsala for many years and has helped thousands of displaced children gain an education and find their way. In 1995, he became the first Principal of the College for Higher Tibetan Studies and in 2001, His Holiness the Dalai Lama asked him to revive and promote the Bodong tradition of Tibet, and he became the founder and Director of the Bodong Research and Publication Center.

In the first segment Isa talks to Geshe Pema Dorjee about his work with the children of Tibet and his latest projects. And in the second segment, taken from a previously recorded talk, Geshela describes what it was like being a young child escaping from Tibet with his family in the 1950s, and arriving in Nepal with nothing.

To learn more about Geshela and his many worthy projects, visit buddhistcharity.org. To learn more about author and teacher Isa Gucciardi, visit isagucciardi.org.

On this episode, Laura speaks with Christina Rasmussen, acclaimed grief educator, and the author of Second Firsts and Where Did You Go? She is the founder of The Life Reentry Institute and has helped countless people break out of what she has coined the "waiting room" of grief to rebuild their lives through her Life Reentry Model. She describes grief as a catalyst for redefining identity and introduces a new model of grief based on the science of neuroplasticity. Her institute's mission is to bring forth a new way of speaking about and embracing loss within the medical, corporate, and social environments. Her work has been featured on ABC News, Washington Post, Maria Shriver, and the White House Blog.

Christina describes to Laura the processes she has discovered for connecting with loved ones that have passed and the science that supports these experiences. They also discuss the personal tragedy that was the catalyst for Christina's latest book, Where Did You Go?, and the joy that comes from this ability to change your relationship to grief. A skeptic of conventional mystical and religious descriptions, Christina instead draws on basic principles of brain science and quantum physics to explore other dimensions. You can find out more about Christina on her website, christinarasmussen.com.

This episode's featured musical artist is internationally acclaimed Sarod master, Rajeev Taranath, who is considered one of the world's leading exponents of the Sarod. He is the recipient of many awards, including the Indian government's highest accolade in the arts, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, as well as the prestigious Chowdiah Award for excellence in the field of instrumental music. For more information about Rajeev and his music, visit rajeevtaranath.com.

On this episode, hear the conclusion of Laura Chandler's interview with scholar and bestselling author, Robert Thurman, who talks about the importance of the Sacred Feminine, the ways he sees humankind progressing, and why there is reason for hope. And in the second half, Laura is joined by author and teacher, Isa Gucciardi, who regularly co-teaches workshops with Bob on the subjects of Buddhism, shamanism, and the Divine Feminine. Isa discusses her workshops with Bob and the importance of bringing the masculine and feminine aspects in each of us into balance in order to create a more peaceful, productive, and harmonious world.

To learn more about Bob or to listen to his podcast, visit bobthurman.com. For more on his classes and retreats, visit his retreat center website, menla.us, or Tibet House's website, tibethouse.us. To learn more about Isa Gucciardi, visit her websites, isagucciardi.com and depthhypnosis.com.

Our featured music is from Lisa Lynne and the Elfin Love Tribe, Instrumental Songs of Good Cheer, featuring Sony and Windham Hill recording artist, Lisa Lynne (lisalynne.com) and acclaimed composer and multi-instrumentalist, Aryeh Frankfurter (lionharp.com).