Sacred Stream Radio

In this episode, Laura Chandler concludes her extensive interview with Margarita Melville–activist, educator, and member of the Catonsville Nine. Laura met with Margarita in her hotel room in Chula Vista, CA, where they discussed Margarita's dedication to the Guatemalan people, her time in prison as a result of the Catonsville Nine action, her marriage to former Maryknoll priest Thomas Melville, and how marriage was part of their revolutionary plans.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Catonsville Nine, when nine Catholic activists burned draft files using homemade napalm to protest the Vietnam War on May 17, 1968. They were tried and convicted in federal court and sentenced to a total of 18 years in prison. At age 88, Margarita still exhibits the passion and energy that has been the signature of her life. She tells the story of the murders of student activists that she worked with and her own narrow escape from Guatemala after being betrayed to authorities for her participation in the resistance. Margarita also discusses politics today and how her view of spirituality and Christianity has grown over the years. And she has a special message for the young activists today.

Melville was born in Mexico of American parents in 1930 and entered the Maryknoll order in 1949. In 1954, she was assigned to Guatemala where she taught students from elementary to university levels. She worked with university students on labor and literacy issues and was expelled in 1967 for involvement in the "internal politics" of the country. She left the Maryknolls and married former priest Thomas Melville in Mexico in 1968. The Melvilles returned to the United States in 1968 to work to change U.S. Latin American policy. She became involved with the Catonsville Nine as a way to bring attention to the plight of the people of Guatemala and sought to draw parallels between U.S. actions in Latin America and Southeast Asia. After serving prison time for her part in the raid, she earned a Ph.D. and became Head of Ethnic Studies at University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of several books and articles, and retired from Berkeley as Associate Dean in 1995.

To find out more about the Catonsville Nine and the 50th anniversary commemoration with Margarita and Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, visit catonsville9.org.

This episode features music from Lisa Kellman's outstanding album, Nostalgias. Lisa is a San Francisco vocalist, activist, and herbalist. You can learn more about her and her music on our website, sacredstream.org.

Marjorie (Margarita) Melville is an activist, educator, and former Maryknoll nun. Along with her husband Thomas, she is the co-author of Whose Heaven, Whose Earth—written about their time in Guatemala and the circumstances that led to their decision to join the resistance. At age 88, she is still very active, living in Mexico, but making the five-hour drive once a month to San Diego to visit friends and family. Laura caught up with her at the Vagabond Inn in Chula Vista, California. In part one of this two-part episode, Margarita talks about her time as a Maryknoll nun, her activism in Guatemala, and the Catonsville Nine action that resulted in her spending time in prison.

Melville was born in Mexico of American parents in 1930 and entered the Maryknoll order in 1949. In 1954, she was assigned to Guatemala where she taught students from elementary to university levels. She worked with university students on labor and literacy issues and was expelled in 1967 for involvement in the "internal politics" of the country. She left the Maryknolls and married former priest Thomas Melville in Mexico in 1968. The Melvilles returned to the United States in 1968 to work to change U.S. Latin American policy. She became involved with the Catonsville Nine as a way to bring attention to the plight of the people of Guatemala and sought to draw parallels between U.S. actions in Latin America and Southeast Asia. After serving prison time for her part in the raid, she earned a Ph.D. and became Head of Ethnic Studies at University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of several books and articles, and retired from Berkeley as Associate Dean in 1995.

On this episode, host Laura Chandler catches up with acclaimed author and channel Paul Selig in the offices of Smoothjazz Global, in Monterey, CA. Paul was in town for an extended teaching schedule at The Esalen Institute in Big Sur. He was near the end of his five-week stint when he and Laura got together to discuss his latest book, The Book of Truth, his approach to channeling, and how it all started. Paul's channeling style is unique. He makes it clear that what comes through him is not him, but a group of Guides with their very own agenda. His books are channeled and published verbatim with no editing, except for spelling errors. The rapidity at which the material comes through Paul, and the palpable energy in the room when he channels, has convinced many people of his authenticity. In this interview, the Guides make an unexpected appearance to answer a question Laura asked Paul about the work.

Paul is a writer, empath, and, conscious channel. He 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." For more information about Paul, visit his website, paulselig.com.

The featured musical guest is award-winning composer, vocalist, and electric cellist, Jami Sieber. Jami creates gorgeous sonic landscapes that have earned her fans across the globe. She tours nationally and internationally, and her work has been featured in films and in the popular video game, Braid. Find out more about Jami on her website, jamisieber.com.

On this episode, Laura Chandler dives into the Sacred Stream archives for a 2015 interview with homeopath Lori Nairne, who died unexpectedly this past August. In this talk, Lori explains how homeopathy works and focuses on the many uses of the popular remedy, Arnica. Also on this episode is an excerpt from a homeopathy class Lori taught at the Sacred Stream in which Lori looks at remedies for anxiety. And Isa Gucciardi stops by the studio to talk a little about Lori and some of what is coming up at the Sacred Stream Center in 2018.

Lori Nairne was a homeopath, emergency room nurse, social justice activist, and adjunct instructor at the Sacred Stream. Lori's work as a teacher and homeopath helped many people. She empowered them to be active participants in their own healing and not just follow the western medical model without question. She also helped many people with her over 40 years of work as a social justice activist. Among the many projects she helped found or participated in are Legal Action for Women, PROStitutes Collective, the Haiti Action Committee, Wages for Housework Campaign, Queer Strike, and Global Women's Strike. She was also part of delegations to the 1977 National Women's Conference in Houston, the UN Decade for Women in Nairobi in 1985, and Beijing in 1995, and the World Social Forum in Caracas in 2006.

This episode's featured artist is The Allure and their debut album, Kiss. Laura Chandler teamed with producer and composer Walter Liskiewicz (Waldino) to create this chill jazz breakthrough record. It met with rave reviews upon its release and reached the top fifty on Indie SmoothJazz charts.

On this edition of the Sacred Stream Radio Podcast, host Laura Chandler speaks with Buddhist thought leader and author Robert Thurman about his latest work, Man of Peace: The Illustrated Life Story of the Dalai Lama of Tibet. Catching up with the high-energy scholar is always a wild ride. In this candid episode, Laura chats with Bob on a trip down California Hwy 280, en route to his talk at Googleplex in Mountain View. He opens up about many topics including the Tibetan diaspora, Chinese history, contemporary politics, the role of the Dalai Lama in the world today, and his optimism about the future.

Robert Thurman is a recognized worldwide authority on religion and spirituality, Asian history, world philosophy, Buddhist science, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He is an eloquent advocate of the relevance of Buddhist ideas to our daily lives. In doing so, he has become a leading voice of the value of reason, peace, and compassion. He is the bestselling author of many books, including Infinite Life and Why the Dalai Lama Matters. His latest release is Man of Peace, a beautiful graphic novel about the life of the Dalai Lama. Bob holds the Je Tsongkhapa Chair at Columbia University and is the co-founder of Tibet House, the Dalai Lama's cultural center in the US. He was named one of TIME magazine's 25 most influential Americans and has been profiled by The New York Times and People magazine. Visit bobthurman.com for more information, the Bob Thurman Podcast, upcoming appearances, and more.

The featured music in this episode is from Nigh, the latest record from composer and multi-instrumentalist Dan Walters. Walters displays mastery of his craft and provides the perfect soundscape for a soulful listening experience. Nigh is available for purchase in the Sacred Stream Store. For more information on Dan and his work, visit danwaltersmusic.net.

This month on the Sacred Stream Radio Podcast, host Laura Chandler speaks with internationally acclaimed scholar, activist, educator, and spiritual theologian, Matthew Fox. In this episode, Reverend Fox talks about the importance of Christian mysticism and how the early Christian mystics were focused on creation spirituality and often found themselves at odds with the dominant paradigm of the church. He discusses his own dismissal from the Catholic church by Cardinal Ratzinger for the alleged heresies of being a feminist, referring to God as both masculine and feminine, for working too closely with Native Americans, and his belief in original blessing. Fox also discusses his latest work, books, the opening of his institute, and the painful effects of consumer capitalism on the spirit and how to mitigate them.

Reverend Fox is a best-selling author of over 35 books and has devoted 45 years to developing and teaching the tradition of Creation Spirituality. Rooted in ancient Judeo-Christian teaching, Creation Spirituality embraces today's science and spiritual traditions as well as eco-justice, social justice, gender justice, and the arts. Fox has significantly contributed to revivifying awareness of great Christian mystics such as Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart, and Thomas Aquinas. He has instructed at many universities including Stanford and Holy Names. This fall, the new Fox Institute of Creation Spirituality will be opening in Boulder, Colorado, offering masters and doctoral degrees. On Saturday, September 9, Reverend Fox will be joining Buddhist writer and academic, Robert Thurman, for a talk on Cultivating Peace in Difficult Times at the Sacred Stream Center in Berkeley, CA. For more information about Matthew Fox, visit foxinstitute-cs.org.

The featured music is from the women's vocal ensemble, Vajra Voices (with Director Karen Clark) from the album O Eterne Deus: Music of Hildegard von Bingen. Find out more about Vajra voices at vajravoices.com.

This month Laura reaches back into the Sacred Stream archives for an interview she did with Thupten Jinpa when he was on his book tour for A Fearless Heart. The interview was impromptu and took place at Laura’s kitchen table, where she talked to Jinpa about his work with H.H. Dalai Lama, CCare, the Compassion Studies, and his perspective on generating more compassion in the world. This episode also contains a talk Jinpa gave at the Sacred Stream Center on Language and Reality. The featured music is from the Monks of Gaden Shartse Dokhang, Jinpa’s former monastery, and their album, The Sacred Chants of Tibet.

Thupten Jinpa is the primary English translator to H.H. the Dalai Lama has translated and edited more than 10 books by the Dalai Lama. His own works include numerous contributions to various collections and academic journals and several works in Tibetan language. His latest works are Songs of Spiritual Experience: Tibetan Buddhist Poems of Insight and Awakening (co-edited with Jas Elsner), and Self, Reality and Reason in Tibetan Philosophy: Tsongkhapa’s Quest for the Middle Way.

At present he is the president of the Institute of Tibetan Classics in Montréal, Canada, and the editor-in-chief of the translation project The Library of Tibetan Classics, being developed by the Institute. He is on the advisory board of various educational and cultural organizations such as the Mind and Life Institute (USA), The Orient Foundation (UK & India), The Meridien Trust (UK), Global Ethics and Religion (USA), and Manjushri Buddhist Online Community. He is also a Visiting Research Scholar at the Stanford Institute for Neuro-Innovation and Translational Neurosciences at Stanford University.

Isa Gucciardi (author, educator, creator of the therapeutic model Depth Hypnosis, and founding director of Foundation of the Sacred Stream) responded to the conflict she saw all around her by developing a method of conflict resolution to help families and couples. In her new book Coming to Peace, Isa transforms her years of experience working with people in this way into highly accessible wisdom about the roots of conflict and peace. In today’s episode of the Sacred Stream Radio Podcast, she chats with Laura about Coming to Peace. This episode’s featured musician is Lisa Kellman and her record Nostalgias.

Isa holds degrees and certificates in transpersonal psychology, cultural and linguistic anthropology, comparative religion, hypnotherapy, and transformational healing. She has spent over thirty years studying spiritual, therapeutic, and meditative techniques from around the world. She has worked with master teachers of Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism and Sufism, as well as expert shamanic practitioners from the traditions of Hawaii, indigenous North and South America, Siberia, and Nepal. Dr. Gucciardi speaks five languages, and has lived in eleven countries. In addition to directing the Foundation of the Sacred Stream and teaching many of its courses, she maintains an active Depth Hypnosis and Applied Shamanism healing practice in San Francisco.

Once we have become conscious of our issues, we must then go beyond our conscious understanding to truly transform them. In today’s episode, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. discusses how altering consciousness through hypnosis, meditation, and the shamanic journey can lead to deep and long lasting healing. From this perspective, Isa offers a brief introduction to several of the programs offered by Foundation of the Sacred Stream.

Depth Hypnosis Practitioners approach working with clients who are teens with respect for the initiatory process the teen is going through. In today’s episode, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. talks about working with teens in this way.