Episodes

If we were to set about to deliberately design a path that would bring us to our deepest essential self, could we do any better than the design of the soul on our lives? What does the mysterious journey of living really mean? What fierceness drives us deeper into ourselves? And what do we find there when we arrive? What persistent longing serves to write the poetry of our lives? When does the soul stand outside of us and when is it invited in? Byron Katie asks who we would be without our stories...

Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul, a number one New York Times bestseller, as well as 18 other award-winning books, published in 25 languages, is coming back to the Authentic Living show to tell us how we can develop a religion of our own. We are currently in an evolutionary phase with regard to what we will do with religion. And Moore posits the theory that part of this shift is caused by a loss of identification with soul. His latest book, A Religion of One’s Own, coming out in January ...

We get a lot of double-speak when it comes to the past. Some tell us to forget about it: The past is over and done with, just don’t go there. Others tell us that the past is the key to the present. Which one is it? Or is it either? Most of us know that dwelling in the past is not very conducive to a happy life—but then we do it anyway. And most of us know that trying not to think about it is pretty useless too. So, what are we to do with the past? Does it have any useful purpose? At this point t...

Have you heard about the river that runs under the city? Yeah. It’s there. It’s a true story. You have to be willing to spelunk down into the darkness to find it, but it carries the whole city. It runs through the dark caverns of shadowed soul and it comes from and leads to the exact same place. Everybody talks about it here. It’s story has been passed down from one generation to the next for centuries—or maybe it’s just another ghost story told by the fire on a camp-out. How can you find out? W...

For the third time, we are interviewing the gentle and powerful poet and author, Joyce Rupp. She is well known for her work as a writer, a spiritual “midwife, and a retreat and conference speaker—having led retreats throughout North America and in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. She is a member of the Servites (the Servants of Mary) community and the author of several books, including The Cup of Our Life, Fragments of the Ancient Name and her latest, my soul feels lean: poems of...

Taoism teaches that it is the natural in us that is our power. And yet our society teaches that the natural in us is to be feared, for it is wild, untamed energy that will get us and others into heaps of trouble. But as we talk about the differentiated aspects of the psyche, the ego and the soul, what we discover is that that natural self turns out also to be mystically united with the transcendent. As we walk into the deeper regions of the inner human, we discover the transpersonal—which is als...

So many of us, who consider ourselves to be more or less spiritual beings; so many of us, who consider ourselves to be Christian, or Muslim, or Buddhist, or Taoist, or any other religion, believe that being good means helping and healing others. In fact helping and healing others is a defining characteristic of a good person regardless or religion or spiritual path. What will we do when we really get it that we can’t help or heal anyone? Ever. The concept of reception is a very difficult one for...

So, we’ve spent the past 2 shows talking about the reality of real life in a dualistic world with its darkness and its blindness. Today we’re focusing on that elusive bliss—evidence for many of enlightenment. Bliss, joy, ecstasy—these largely synonymous terms have not historically been used much in any secular way. Yet, in today’s social world we hear them used to either mock or poke fun at the bliss-seekers, or as a way of describing a fulfilling career. Regardless, most of us think of bliss as...

Must we have the dark to see the light? Is that the only purpose of darkness? Must we have the evil to see the good? What is the point? During this show we are going to explore the purpose of life from the perspective of darkness: The silence of the ethers when you are screaming for an answer; death that comes when life is what was wanted; the essential ingredient necessary to evil. These are the things that many who practice the tenets put forth in books like The Secret don’t want to talk about...

My mother used to have a saying. She had a lot of those. But one she used to say a lot was: She/he wouldn’t know truth if it flew up and hit her/him in the face. And you know, sometimes she was right. Truth is, as they say, relative. But is it, really? Is there an absolute truth? Or, do we have enough light to just see the truth that is relative to the moment—ready ever to let that go for a higher truth in another moment? Well, if there is an absolute truth, I would say that it runs deeper and g...

Okay, now that I have your attention—let’s talk about intimacy. Real intimacy—of which sex is but a small, though important, part. Primary relationships—these are those had between a husband and wife, or two partners, whether of the same or opposite sex. Primary relationships work when intimacy is the primary endeavor of the relationship. They work less well or stop working altogether, when intimacy is not the primary endeavor of the relationship. So, what do we mean by intimacy if we don’t just...

Marianne Williamson is coming back to the Authentic Living show for the second time this week to talk to us about her latest book, The Law of Divine Compensation: On Work, Money and Miracles. Most of us already know several of Marianne’s other books, including A Return to Love, The Age of Miracles, Everyday Grace, A Woman's Worth, Illuminata, Healing the Soul of America and The Gift of Change, for as Time Magazine puts it, Yoga, the Cabala and Marianne Williamson have been taken up by those seek...

Sophy Burnham, otherwise known as the “angel lady” comes to the authentic living show today to talk to us about one of her favorite topics, and the title of her latest book: The Art of Intuition. From one of the world’s profound mystics today, you can learn about how to cultivate your inner wisdom. Sophy is an award-winning playwright, novelist, and nonfiction writer. Three of her books appeared on the NY Times and other Bestseller lists and her work has been translated into twenty-two languages...

Why don’t we have wings? I mean, think about it. We can do just about everything else, but we can’t fly, I mean, not without an airplane. Why not? Well, it could be because we are meant to grow our own set. And the kind of wings I’m talking about are inner-wings. They are the wings that allow us to assume our own empowerment, to fly into the heights of beingness, into the fullness of presence, into the power of transcendence while keeping our feet solidly planted on terra firma. But how do we do...

We don’t generally think of awakening as a process of accepting what is. But our guest today has been working in Great Britain to awaken a generation of spiritual inquirers to the experience of abiding presence and peace in our ever-shifting world through that very process. Jeff Foster answers questions like “How can we find an effortless ‘yes’ to this moment?” “How do we stop running from ‘the mess of life’—our predicaments, our frustrations, even our search for liberation—and start flowing wit...

The problem with all of our talk about manifesting, is that we don’t ever consider asking what it is within us that manifests. Jesus once said “I can do nothing of my own initiative.” And yet with all the talk out there about how to manifest, we much more often hear about all the things we should initiate, all of the exercises we can do to elicit from ourselves the essential ingredients to the initiation of manifestation. But what if manifestation is actually conducted by the power of the divine...

How do people deliberately create the life they want—without creating it out of the intention of duality? Duality resides within us as a force, an energy to which we’ve given a lot of power. It tells us what to do based on the agenda that we are separate from the divine and each other. So, when we create on purpose, which part of us is creating? Can we just think that we want something and maintain a positive mindset about it and it will come to us? Anodea Judith and Lion Goodman are here today ...

We’ve heard of the spirit of Christmas past, present and future. But what is the spirit of a new beginning? What is a new beginning? Here we are just a few weeks into the end of the Mayan calendar—have we begun again? Are their transformative powers at work? And what does it mean to begin a new year, to develop a new habit, to change a way of thinking? How does a beginning happen? Well it happens—or it doesn’t—because of its spirit. There is a spirit base to a true new beginning because it is co...

Marianne Williamson is coming back to the Authentic Living show for the second time this week to talk to us about her latest book, The Law of Divine Compensation: On Work, Money and Miracles. Most of us already know several of Marianne’s other books, including A Return to Love, The Age of Miracles, Everyday Grace, A Woman's Worth, Illuminata, Healing the Soul of America and The Gift of Change, for as Time Magazine puts it, Yoga, the Cabala and Marianne Williamson have been taken up by those seek...

This is that time of year when we talk about it. We sing about it. We even pray about it. But no one really believes that we are actually going to have peace on earth, right? I mean, look around man! You can’t really believe that this crazy place is going to one day be all peace, love and joy, right? We are not those people. We are not the people who can facilitate this. We are people who are weak, sinful, and definitely incapable of joining forces to bring about a peaceful outcome. Naaah. It’s ...

When Don Miguel Ruiz was a young boy, his grandfather told him many stories from the Toltec Tradition. One of these was the story of the sleeping giant—who represents unaware humanity. He was told then that one day in Mexico, the giant would awaken and from there, he would rouse the entire world. Don Miguel comes to the Authentic Living show this week to tell us about the upcoming “Awakening the Giant” event happening in Teotihuacan between starting Dec. 7th and going through the Winter solstice...

We are so excited this week to have Dr. Clarissa Pinkoa Estés (Dr. E, as she is affectionately known) back on our show for the fifth time. Bestselling author of “Women Who Run with the Wolves,” which sold over a million copies; and the multi-volume audio series “The Dangerous Old Woman,” and her most recent book, “Untie the Strong Woman: Blessed Mother’s Immaculate Love for the Wild Soul,” which we will be talking about today; Dr. E is also an internationally recognized scholar, award-winning po...

If you had the choice, right now, as to whether you would live or die, what reason would you give for staying alive? What do we live for? Or do we just live? Or perhaps, we just survive. These are not questions about life-purpose. These are questions about the now-ness of living. What makes us want to get up in the morning? What drives us home at night? What are we doing in the now of living that is all about being alive? This is the question for today. And it has everything to do with living au...

We are so excited this week to have Marianne Williamson on the Authentic Living Show to talk to us about her latest NY Times Bestseller, A Course in Weight Loss: 21 Spiritual Lessons for Surrendering Your Weight Forever. Most of us already know several of Marianne’s other books, including The Age of Miracles, Everyday Grace, A Woman's Worth, Illuminata, Healing the Soul of America and The Gift of Change, for as Time Magazine puts it, Yoga, the Cabala and Marianne Williamson have been taken up by...