The Soul-Directed Life

Sixth Container of Love: Mystics Jim Finley was Thomas Merton's novice. Today, he's a renowned retreat leader, Merton scholar, faculty member of The Living School (along with Richard Rohr and Cynthia Bourgeault), and master of the Contemplative Way. Jim has written many books, including Merton's Palace of Nowhere and Christian Meditation and recorded several programs with Sounds True. Jim is blessing us with a miniretreat experience, helping us discern our own moments of mystical awakening and how we can ground ourselves in the mystical awareness of God's oneness with all things.

Sixth Container of Love: Mystics Carl McColman is Lay Cistercian affiliated with the Trappist Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia. He is the author of many books, including Answering the Contemplative Call, The Big Book of Christian Mysticism, and Befriending Silence. You've heard Carl on the show many times. Today, he joins us to dive into his newest book, Christian Mystics: 108 Seers, Saints, and Sages. We won't get to 108! But I hope to talk about a few heretics I love: Marguerite Porete, Jakob Boehme, and Teilhard de Chardin.

Sixth Container of Love: Mystics Tessa Bielecki was a Carmelite monk and abbess. She now lives in a hermitage in Crestone, Colorado. She and Father Dave Denny cofounded The Desert Foundation, a circle of friends who share a passion for the desert, the Abrahamic faiths, and the spiritualities of the American Southwest. Tessa joins us from her cell (on a cell phone, of course) to bring us into communion with the brilliant, beautiful, sensuous mystic, St. Teresa of Avila, captured in her freshly revised, Holy Daring: The Earthly Mysticism of St. Teresa, the Wild Woman of Avila.

Fifth Container of Love: Teachers, Mentors, Guides When Gabriel Horn-White Deer of Autumn-was on the show this past spring, he told us stories of the Sacred Pipe filled with healing and hope. I was so moved, I asked Gabriel to be one of eight meditation leaders for The 1 of Hearts prayers on Inauguration Day. He played the drum and spoke his poem, "Bright Honor." I closed the prayer with tears streaming down my cheeks. So it is with great joy that I invite Gabriel to come sit in circle with us once more with his new book, Spirit Drumming. There will be drumming and poetry and song!

Fifth Container of Love: Teachers, Mentors, Guides Who are your best teachers? For many, it's our pets. Since 1994, Patrick McDonnell has shared the wisdom of Mooch the Cat and Earl the Dog in his award-winning MUTTS cartoon. Charles Schultz called MUTTS "One of the best comic strips of all time." But did you know that Mooch and Earl also explicate the great wisdom of Eckhart Tolle and the haiku poetry of Daniel Ladinsky? Join Patrick and me as Mooch and Earl teach us a thing or two! Be sure to visit the show's Facebook page to watch them in action.

Fifth Container of Love: Teachers, Mentors, Guides When Hank Wesselman was on The Soul-Directed Life this past December, he talked about the three-soul teaching of Hale Makua, a Kahuna shaman from the lineage of Hawaiian kings. I asked Hank to please come back and talk at length about Hale Makua, who comes to life in Hank's 2011 classic, The Bowl of Light. Makua's teachings are a revelation. So profound. So deep. So true. When Hank Wesselman speaks, Hale Makua is present. Present. Come prepared for Light!

Fifth Container of Love: Teachers, Mentors, Guides For years, Thomas Merton hovered on my periphery. Then, this past summer, Thomas Merton: A Book of Hours landed in my home and Merton became my teacher. He taught me to pray with the heartbeat of Mother Earth. He showed me that beauty and justice are equal prayers. He led me to find the natural rhythm of my day. So it is with a cup overflowing with love that I give you Jim Finley, Merton's novice at Gethsemane, and Sister Kathleen Deignan, editor of Thomas Merton: A Book of Hours. Together we will invite Thomas Merton into our midst.

Fourth Container of Love: Soul Community You know and love Jungian analyst Jean Shinoda Bolen's brilliant books on the Divine Feminine including Goddesses in Everywoman, Crossing to Avalon, Crones Don't Whine, and Artemis, and the revolutionary-evolutionary classic, The Millionth Circle: The Essential Guide to Women's Circles. Who better to help us wrap up our monthlong exploration on Soul Community! Join us for a richly textured conversation on creating, casting, and centering a circle, the radical post-patriarchal way to change the world.

Fourth Container of Love: Soul Community University professors Manfred Steger and Perle Besserman studied classic, hierarchical Japanese Zen. Their new book Grassroots Zen is the story of how one Zen group returned to the ancient Chinese tradition of community meditation practice without a leader or hierarchy. Rabbi Rami Shapiro calls this book, "A pivotal moment in the emergence of a uniquely American Zen." Join us to discover how a democratic community forms a circle of meditation-and changes their world.

Fourth Container of Love: Soul Community You've heard that when human consciousness becomes coherent, our systems will change? Can subtle changes in human coherence be detected as they are happening? Roger Nelson, founder of The Global Consciousness Project, an international, multidisciplinary collaboration of scientists and engineers sifting through massive data collected from 70 locations around the world, will report on the changes happening right now-and if groups gathering to meditate or pray move the needle.

You've heard Justine Tom's brilliant interviews on New Dimensions Radio. There's a reason she's in the Broadcasters Hall of Fame! She joins us to talk about soul circles-an essential means to access grace in chaotic times. She is a founding convener of the Millionth Circle Initiative, a founding member of a co-ed circle meeting since 1980, and a member of a circle of women gathering for more than 30 years. What makes a gathering, a circle? The very thing missing in our world-deep listening.

Third Container of Love: Sacred Space We wrap up our monthlong exploration of Sacred Space with Christine Valters Paintner, a wildly creative Spiritual Renaissance woman! Christine is a Benedictine Oblate, Celtic goddess, expressive arts guide, international pilgrimage leader, and founder of the brilliant virtual monastery, The Abbey of the Arts. In her ninth book, The Wisdom of the Body, Christine takes us on a contemplative journey into the female body where we find the wisdom of Eve, Mary, Hildegaard of Bingen, and more. Join us to connect with the beauty and wisdom of your body through poetry, movement, art, and writing.

Third Container of Love: Sacred Space Amy's new book is called Joyful Living. Gosh, we all want joy. But how. How do we create a life of joy-a sustainable life of joy? Medical Intuitive and wellness coach Amy Leigh Mercree writes that we are "wired for joy." She offers 101 ways to access that natural wiring by entering the vibration of Love in the heart. The heart. The first and greatest sacred space of all!

Third Container of Love: Sacred Space Emma Kupu Mitchell is a deep explorer of the full sensory experience of our human-divine condition. That means experiencing the living presence of the Divine in all five senses: our ears with crystal bowls, our eyes with color and light, and our bodies with yoga. Emma creates unique essential oils. They are infused not only with the energy of the flowers, but also with the healing powers of ancient temple spaces in Hawaii and the vibrations of sound. In honor of The Soul-Directed Life, Emma and her divine guides are creating a special oil for The Nine Containers of Love!

Third Container of Love: Sacred Space My writing office is so sacred, I call it my "writing chapel." But how do you sanctify a room or garden? For that, I turned to a tradition that sees and honors the sacred in all things: the ancient tradition of faery witchcraft. Storm Faerywolf has been practicing the magical arts for more than 30 years. He joins us to share the wisdom in his new book, Betwixt and Between, about how to create personal sacred spaces that lift our hearts and open our beings to the sacred mysteries.