Join SAND co-founders Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo in conversation with Aboriginal elders and authors Uncle Paul Callaghan and Uncle Paul Gordon for a colorful community conversation, “On the Dreaming Path,” where we’ll explore some of the profound teachings shared in their latest book.

"Uncle" Paul Callaghan is an award-winning author and accomplished speaker. He has qualifications in a very diverse range of disciplines and a PhD in creative practice. He is also an Aboriginal story teller from the land of the Worimi people who has spent many years “out bush” listening and learning. He has life experience in many industries, Aboriginal culture and heritage and Aboriginal community services.

"Uncle" Paul Gordon is a Ngemba man. Born in Brewarrina, he grew up on the Barwon River in Northwestern New South Wales, Australia. Since 1983 he has spent most of his time with the Old Men learning about country and lore. Uncle Paul has dedicated his life to teaching and working with communities throughout Australia to support learning through lore and culture. For the past 15 years, he has been leading camps and workshops for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to reconnect to culture. As a traditional knowledge holder and custodian of Aboriginal lore, he continues to share as part of his obligation to thousands of years of Aboriginal culture.

The underpinning foundation of the book is his journey through depression and the role Aboriginal culture, spirituality and philosophy had in not only enabling him to recover, but also empowering him to live life by his truth rather than everybody else’s expectations. The book has a number of exercises and models based on his experience aimed at assisting people from all walks of life to build the courage and skills to live a life of purpose, choice and wellbeing. You will find it is a combination of styles including textbook, self help, Aboriginal history, Aboriginal philosophy, Aboriginal spirituality and an autobiography of his journey through depression.

The Dreaming Path: Indigenous Thinking to Change Your Life

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Welcome to the Sounds of SAND podcast and our final episode of the year. Today we present an Anthology episode culling poetry, song, talks and conversations from this podcast as well as Science and Nonduality conferences and events from the past decade.

As the world around us quiets down and a blanket of stillness descends, we find ourselves at the heart of an ancient cultural and spiritual celebration – the winter solstice. People through out time have revered this moment of deep winter for its mystical powers of regrowth, healing, and hope that it’s always darkest before the light returns.

Indeed many ancient civilizations noticed that the days were getting longer in the days just after the Winter Solstice. They celebrated the coming of longer days, the return of the sun in ancient Greece and Rome, Pagan religions and even the birth of Jesus in the Christian Religion all occurring in late December.

These days with the polycrises of environmental collapse, cultural fragmentation, economic inequality and the brutal violence of wars in places like Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan we are all entangled in the dark blanket of shared grief.

We’ll hear from SAND speakers like Maya Luna, Lama Rod Owens, Gabor Mate, Adyashanti, Mirabai Star, and Michael Meade who touch into themes of the dark night of the soul, silence, and a prayer for light to return to our collective consciousness.

You can find the full list of speakers with timestamps in the Topics section.
 

Please join us and settling in as we take a sonic journey as the season of silence is upon us. If you’re listening in the Southern part of the world, where the long days of summer are now expanding, I hope this episode finds you when deep winter arrives in June.

Thank you for listening and being the shared light of awareness.

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A live recording from a recent SAND Community Gathers (Sept. 2023) hosted by Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo (co-founders of SAND). Along with their guest, Francis Weller, they explore themes of emptiness, individualism, self-help, separation, religion, belonging, relationality, and Francis's deep work with grief.

Francis Weller, MFT, is a psychotherapist, writer and soul activist. He is a master of synthesizing diverse streams of thought from psychology, anthropology, mythology, alchemy, indigenous cultures and poetic traditions. Author of The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief; The Threshold Between Loss and Revelation, (with Rashani Réa) and In the Absence of the Ordinary: Essays in a Time of Uncertainty, he has introduced the healing work of ritual to thousands of people. He founded and directs WisdomBridge, an organization that offers educational programs that seek to integrate the wisdom from indigenous cultures with the insights and knowledge gathered from western poetic, psychological and spiritual traditions.

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Peter Russell is on the faculty of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, a fellow of The World Business Academy and The Findhorn Foundation, and an Honorary Member of The Club of Budapest, and President of Science and NonDuality.

In 1982 he coined the term "global brain" with his 1980s bestseller of the same name in which he predicted the Internet and the impact it would have.

Peter Russell Interviews his AI Clone

Peter’s new book, Forgiving Humanity: How the Most Innovative Species Became the Most Dangerous

Peter’s Course on SAND, Enjoying Meditation

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SAND co-founders Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo join Euphrasia “Efu” Nyaki for a community conversation on holistic healing from trauma. Efu has developed a method that integrates ancestral wisdom from her Snail Clan in Tanzania, somatic therapy, and family constellations. Her approach helps resolve PTSD, depression, addiction, chronic illness, and more by releasing trauma at the physical, emotional, and spiritual levels.

Euphrasia (Efu) Nyaki was born and raised on the slopes of mountain Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, where she gained the essence and vital healing energy from her ancestors. The strength of her ancestors lead her to earn a Bachelor of Science degree, train as a science teacher, and later to train as a healer using holistic methods. Efu enjoys helping others and for this reason joined an International Catholic Missionary community called Maryknoll sisters of Saint Dominick. Having arrived in Brazil as a missionary in 1993, Efu worked for 5 years with women who suffered from violence using mental health programs in the periphery of the city of João Pessoa, Brazil. In the year 2000 she co- founded two NGOs, and in the past 20 years, Efu has offered bodyworker and herbal medicine trainings for community leaders. For the past 10 years Efu has been teaching Family Constellation (trans-generational trauma healing) and Somatic Experiencing® (SE™) for trauma resolution in Brazil and other parts of the world. Efu was also asked by Dr. Peter A Levine, the developer of SE™, to join his Legacy Faculty to assist him and teach his Master Classes.

Efu’s new book:

Healing Trauma through Family Constellations and Somatic Experiencing: Ancestral Wisdom from the Snail Clan of Tanzania (Sacred Planet)

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Without either diploma or culture, Éric Baret has no special competence. Touched by the non-dual tradition through Jean Klein's teaching, he suggests that one turn towards listening, free of any notion of gain. Nothing taught, no teacher. Meetings for the joy of being nothing.

Let the Moon Be Free: Conversations on Conversations on Kashmiri Tantra

Articles and writings from Éric on SAND’s Website

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Episode Transcript

No statement, no words can speak to the immense human suffering, the devastation and the horrendous humanitarian crisis intensifying in the Middle East. The current tragedy is awakening existential fear, acute grief and deep despair. Unspeakable atrocities have left many in a state of deep shock and in need of support.

Gabor Maté, M.D. is a renowned speaker, and bestselling author who is is highly sought after for his expertise on a range of topics including addiction, stress and childhood development. Rather than offering quick-fix solutions to these complex issues, Dr. Maté weaves together scientific research, case histories, and his own insights and experience to present a broad perspective that enlightens and empowers people to promote their own healing and that of those around them.

Roots Run Deep Resources for Palestine / Israel

Full Video Recording of this Episode

Part two of this Roots Run Deep series live online with Dr. Gabor Maté, Dec 15, 9am PT

Lama Rod Owens is a Black Buddhist Southern Queen. An international influencer with a Master of Divinity degree in Buddhist Studies from Harvard Divinity School with a focus on the intersection of social change, identity, and spiritual practice. Author of The New Saints: From Broken Hearts to Spiritual Warriors and Love and Rage: The Path of Liberation through Anger and co-author of Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love and Liberation, his teachings center on freedom, self-expression, and radical self-care. Highly sought after for talks, retreats, and workshops, his mission is showing you how to heal and free yourself.

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In this live SAND Community Gathering SAND co-founders Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo discuss Thomas’ new book Attuned: Practicing Interdependence to Heal Our Trauma.

Thomas Hübl is a renowned teacher, author, and international facilitator whose lifelong work integrates the core insights of the great wisdom traditions and mysticism with the discoveries of science. Since the early 2000s, he has been leading large-scale events and courses that focus on the healing and integration of trauma, with a special focus on the shared history of Israelis and Germans. Over the last decade, he has facilitated dialogue with thousands of people around healing the collective traumas of racism, oppression, colonialism, genocides in the U.S., Israel, Germany, Spain, and Argentina.

Learn more about Thomas’ new book is Attuned: Practicing Interdependence to Heal Our Trauma—and Our World.

Alixa García is a Colombian born, globally-raised, multi-disciplinary artist, activist, and cultural activator whose work is imbued in ritual, spirit, and deep reverence for our Great Mother, Great Lover, our Earth. She is an award-winning activist, poet, and filmmaker. She is also a professional writer, visual artist, musician, and facilitator. Her work has been published by Whit Press, AK Press, Hatchett, & Daraja Press.

Instagram and Linktree

Alixa’s upcoming course on A Course on the Imaginal: Cultivating the Visionary Self

Mentioned in the Episode the late artist and performer Tigre Bailando

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