The New Dimensions Café

Oren Jay Sofer teaches meditation, mindfulness, and nonviolent communication in secular and Buddhist contexts. He received his degree in comparative religion from Columbia University and is a Certified Trainer of Nonviolent Communication as well as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner for the healing of trauma. He serves as a member of the Spirit Rock Meditation Center Teacher’s Council in Northern California. He is the author of Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication (Shambala Publications 2018) and Your Heart Was Made for This: Contemplative Practice for Meeting a World in Crisis with Courage, Integrity & Love (Shambala Publications 2023)

Interview Date: 10/24/2023    Tags: Oren Jay Sofer, engaged Buddhism, suffering, Four Noble Truths, happiness, freedom, activism, despair, beloved community, patience, visualization, Buddhism, Personal Transformation, Social Change/Politics

Nicki Scully has been teaching shamanic arts and Egyptian mysteries since 1983 and is the founder of Shamanic Journeys, Ltd., which specializes in spiritual tours to sacred sites in Egypt. She has written many books including Power Animal Meditations, Alchemical Healing, Shamanic Mysteries of Egypt (co-author Linda Star Wolf) (Bear & Company 2008), Planetary Healing: Spirit Medicine for Global Transformation (co-author, her husband Mark Hallert)(Bear & Company 2011), Sekhmet: Transformation in the Belly of the Goddess (Bear & Co 2017). She’s the creator of the CD set Becoming an Oracle (Sounds True 2009). 

Tags: Nicki Scully, Sekhmet, Egyptian Mythology, Ma’at, enough is enough, fierce compassion, goddess, alchemical healing, Mythology, Shamanism, Spirituality, Personal Transformation

Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. developed depth hypnosis and the “Coming to Peace” process after years of academic training and studying in the field with shamanic and spiritual teachers. Her studies include linguistic anthropology, comparative religion, and transpersonal psychology, all of which form the basis of her approach to healing and wholeness. She founded the Foundation of the Sacred Stream, a school for consciousness studies in Berkeley, California, to house the training programs. In addition to training hundreds of people to be spiritual counselors, she has taught thousands of students seeking personal growth through the Foundation’s other academic programs of applied shamanism, applied Buddhist psychology, integrated energy medicine, and empowered living. She is the author of Coming to Peace: Resolving Conflict Within Ourselves and With Others (Sacred Stream 2016)

Tags: Isa Gucciardi, Coming to Peace Process, Insight Inquiry, hurricane Harvey in Houston, TX, depth hypnosis, karmic patterns, negative intentionality, attachments, positive, Psychology, Shamanism, Spirituality, Buddhism

Robert Thurman is an eminent scholar of Asian and Tibetan history and Buddhist art and sciences. For over 50 years he has been a close student, colleague, and personal friend of the Dalai Lama. He’s professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies in the Department of Religion at Columbia University, and co-founder with his wife Nena, and President of the Tibet House U.S., a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Tibetan civilization. He is author of many books including Man of Peace: The Illustrated Life Story of the Dalai Lama of Tibet (graphic novel co-creator) (Tibet House 2016) and Love Your Enemies: How to Break the Anger Habit & Be a Whole Lot Happier (co-author Sharon Salzberg) (Hay House 2013)

Tags: Robert Thurman, violence, peace. China, industrial consumerism, industrial militarism, nonviolence, elections, Muhammad, Islam, materialism, Red Tara, women's power, feminine power, vote, anger, Shantideva, interrupting, creatively rude, humor, skillful means, Sarah Drew, Gaia Codex, Peace, Non-Violence, Global Culture, Ecology, Nature, Environment, Buddhism

Carlyn Montes De Oca is an acupuncturist, plant-based nutritional consultant, and animal-human health expert. A former film editor for Lucas films and spokesperson for the Guardian Campaign at In Defense of Animals. She is the founder of The Animal-Human Health Connection and the author of Dog As My Doctor, Cat As My Nurse (She Writes Press 2017)

Tags: Carlyn Montes De Oca, nature in our homes, dogs and cats, Chinese Medicine, environment, Parkinson’s disease, wildlife, antidote to disliking a person, hero’s journey, Joseph Campbell, animal companions, rescue animals, animal communication, Animals, Health & Healing, Personal Transformation

Ron Pevny is the founder and director of the Colorado-based Center for Conscious Eldering. He’s a certified Sag-ing® Leader with Sag-ing® International and conducts workshop and retreats across North America. He is the author of Conscious Living, Conscious Aging: Embrace & Savor Your Next Chapter (Atria Paperback 2014)

Tags: Ron Pevny, aging, saging, retirement, depression, living with purpose, comparison, aliveness, joyful expression, volunteering, gratitude, Personal Transformation, community, creativity

Mark Matousek is a teacher, spiritual seeker and award-winning author of many books. He leads transformative workshops, intensives, and guided writing sessions that mentor participants to reach their artistic and personal goals by using writing as a tool for insight, innovation, and clarity of purpose. He’s the founder of the Seekers Forum, an online community for self-inquiry. His books include: Sex Death Enlightenment: A True Story (Riverhead 2000), The Boy He Left Behind: A Man's Search for His Lost Father (Riverhead 1997), When You're Falling, Dive: Lessons in the Art of Living (Bloomsbury 2009), Ethical Wisdom: The Search for a Moral Life (Anchor Books 2011), Writing to Awaken: A Journey of Truth, Transformation, and Self-Discovery (Reveal Press 2017) and Lessons from an American Stoic: How Emerson Can Change Your Life (HarperOne 2023)

Interview Date: 10/24/2023.  Tags: Mark Matousek, personal bias, cultural conditioning, angle of vision, journaling, writing to awaken, religious dogma, power of being in nature, Personal Transformation, Philosophy, Social Change/Politics

Duane Elgin, Ph.D.(hon) is a visionary futurist, educator, and Citizen-Voice Activist who received the Goi Pace Award in Japan in recognition of his contributions to a global vision that fosters a “more sustainable and spiritual culture”. Duane is currently the Co-director of the Choosing Earth Project. He is the author of many books including Awakening Earth: Exploring the Evolution of Human Culture and Consciousness (William Morrow 1993), Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Way of Life That Is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich (Harper 2010), The Living Universe: Where Are We? Who Are We? Where Are We Going? (Barrett Koehler Publishers 2009), Promise Ahead: A Vision of Hope and Action for Humanity’s Future the Living Universe (William Morrow 2000) and Choosing Earth: Humanity’s Journey of Initiation through Breakdown and Collapse to Mature Planetary Community (Revised Edition) (Duane Elgin 2022)

Interview Date: 10/20/2023.    Tags: Duane Elgin, collective adolescence, maturing adult collective, population overload, collectively growing up, aliveness, collective initiation, community, Ubuntu, communication, widening our lens of perception, mass media encourages separation and division, no safe havens, Earth is our collective greenhouse, Personal Transformation, Psychology, Community, Social Change/Politics, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Global Culture

Trebbe Johnson is the founder and director of the global community Radical Joy for Hard Times, and she’s devoted to finding and making beauty in hurt places. She has camped alone in the Arctic wilderness; studied classical Indian dance; worked as an artist’s model, has been a street sweeper in an English village, and is an award-winning multimedia producer. She’s led wilderness rites of passage and contemplative journeys in clear-cut forests, Ground Zero in New York, in EPA’s toxic Superfund sites, the Sahara Desert, and other places. She participates in Global Earth Exchange—bringing people around the world together to go to places they care about that have been damaged or endangered: share stores, listen to the land, and make a simple gift of beauty for the place out of materials the place itself offers. She is the author of several books including Radical Joy for Hard Times: Finding Meaning and Making Beauty in Earth’s Broken Places. (North Atlantic Books 2018) and Fierce Consciousness: Surviving the Sorrows of Earth and Self (Calliope Books, 2023).

Interview Date: 10/6/2023  Tags: Trebbe Johnson, grief, beauty, facing what is difficult, despair, beauty is a life-saver, funeral directors, Sedonia Cahill, transcending downwards, mindfulness, skilled hunter of consciousness, cunning trackers of beauty, Personal Transformation, Health & Healing, Ecology/Nature/Environment

Carl Greer, Ph.D., Psy.D. is a practicing clinical psychologist, Jungian analyst and shamanic practitioner. He teaches at the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago and is on staff at the Replogle Center for Counseling and Well-Being. He is the author of Change Your Story, Change Your Life: Using Shamanic and Jungian Techniques for Healing (Findhorn Press 2017) and Change Your Story, Change Your Life: Using Shamanic and Jungian Tools to Achieve Personal Transformation (Findhorn Press 2014)

Tags: Carl Greer, archetypes, dreams, synchronicities, wonder, coincidence, C.J. Jung, agape, love, writing your health story, inventory of health, Health, Healing, Psychology