The Soul-Directed Life

Joyce Rupp is a beloved Christian writer and retreat leader, with numerous best-sellers including The Star in My Heart, Open the Door, and (my fave!) Prayers to Sophia. Today, Joyce brings us Boundless Compassion, a transformative process to develop and deepen compassion. Come, let your heart be opened.

Pouria Montazeri grew up with Rumi. He wrote, directed, and filmed the award-winning Shams and Rumi: The Fragrance of Axis Mundi. Join us for a deep and often surprising dive into Rumi's teachings on prayer in the original Persian.

Thomas Merton was Jim Finley's novice master for six years. After Jim left the monastery, he wrote Merton's Palace of Nowhere to give us on the outside a taste of the peace he found on the inside. On the 40th anniversary of this perennial best-seller, Jim joins us to share Merton's guidance on prayer.

Theme: Is there a Universal Ground of Prayer? David Nicol, Ph.D., is the founder of the Gaiafield Project and Institute for Subtle Activism. He is also cofounder of Be the Peace, a global meditation event that occurs annually on International Day of Peace, September 21. He teaches on subtle activism at the California Institute of Integral Studies, for the Shift Network, and for the Institute for Subtle Activism.

Theme: Is there a Universal Ground of Prayer? Arna Lāhela Johnson grew up on the shores of Hakipu'u on the windward side of O'ahu. Early on, her kuleana (purpose, role, responsibility) was revealed to her as a caretaker/keeper of ancient knowledge, a Kahu. Lāhela joins us to share the deep healing wisdom of the ancient Hawaiian prayer of forgiveness, Ho'oponopono, and discuss an expanded experience of the prayer in alignment with the call for harmony in 2018.

You know and love Rabbi Rami Shapiro's books, including The Sacred Art of Lovingkindness, and his radical translations of Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs. He cuts to the quick in just a few sentences in his Spirituality and Heath columns. He's been called a "holy rascal," so of course his latest book is titled Holy Rascals. Listen in as Rabbi Rami joins Janet Connor for some fascinating conversation on what it means to be a "holy rascal" and if you might be in the same catagory.

Theme: Is there a Universal Ground of Prayer? Mark Nepo is a poet, philosopher, writer, teacher (and, many would say, spiritual rock star). He's written dozens of books, including the New York Times No. 1 best seller The Book of Awakening. In Things That Join the Sea and the Sky, Mark shares excerpts from his own journals, revealing his beating heart-and ours.

Theme: Is there a Universal Ground of Prayer? The universe is alive. Everything is conscious. Everything is in communication-even, or especially, numbers. Because they were here first, right? Everything is constructed of numeric vibrations. So the date of your birth, the numerology in your name, your address, the recurring time on the clock ... it's all sacred communication. Alana Fairchild, a living oracle and embodiment of the divine feminine, joins us from her home in Australia to bring the messages of the numbers alive.

Theme: Is there a Universal Ground of Prayer? Michael Lennox as a brilliant astrologer. When you read his daily Astro-Alerts, you begin to enter Michael's awareness that the planets, moons, and stars are living beings in conversation with one another and with us. The universe is alive! And when you choose to enter into that conversation, everything changes.

Theme: Is there a Universal Ground of Prayer? Tara Cousineau, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist with expertise in mother-daughter relationships. After her own daughter was assaulted in school, Tara had an epiphany: Only kindness can cure our culture rampant with cruelty. Tara joins us to share the in-depth research on the efficacy of compassion in her first book, The Kindness Cure, a book highly recommended by Rick Hanson, Sharon Salzberg, and many more.

The key to living a soul-directed life is the ability to listen to the wisdom of your innate, divinely-guided intuition-the voice of your soul. But, oh! Those internal negative voices! They can be so loud and distracting. In her newest book, The Intuitive Dance, medical intuitive and holistic energy practitioner Atherton Drenth guides us to build, protect, and clear our sacred energy.

Penney Peirce is a world-renowned expert on intuition and perception. Her famous trilogy: The Intuitive Way, Frequency: The Power of Personal Vibration, and Leap of Perception: The Transforming Power of Your Attention, transformed countless lives. What's next? Transparency. Peirce guides us masterfully into how to become transparent and, in the process, transform our opaque world.

In an hour-long special, PBS labels Ervin Laszlo "A Modern-Day Genius." Laszlo is a systems theorist, Nobel Peace Prize nominee, and author of 90 books including Science and the Akashic Field. Professor Laszlo joins us from his home in Italy to discuss The Intelligence of the Cosmos which answers the ultimate question, "Why are we here?"

October Theme: How do we live The 9 Containers of Love? Girish is an eclectic musician with roots in jazz, world, and sacred music, and the author of a thrilling new book, Music and Mantras. After living for five years in a Hindu monastery, Girish began to share the beauty of mantras. Today he is a world-renowned Kirtan musician. If you want to know what happens in your body, mind, and soul when you chant your prayers, this conversation is for you.

October Theme: How do we live The 9 Containers of Love? Estelle Frankel is a scholar and teacher of Jewish mysticism, a practicing psychotherapist, and the author of an important book, The Wisdom of Not Knowing. Instead of being afraid of the unknown, Estelle calls us to embrace uncertainty, even relish that space of darkness.