#74 Engaged and Aspirational Bodhicitta: Lama Tsomo

A recording of excerpts from a SAND Community Gathering hosted by Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo. Trauma has a severe impact that extends far beyond the individual survivor. It ripples through families, communities, and generations in ways both seen and unseen. Yet there is a path forward — through courageously sharing our stories and tapping into the body’s innate wisdom. In this episode, Peter openly shares his own courageous journey to resolve severe childhood trauma, by using the very techniques he developed. He shows a pathway whereby giving voice to our stories can help reclaim our dignity, wholeness, and ignite an inner spark of healing. Peter A. Levine, Ph.D., is the renowned developer of Somatic Experiencing. He holds a doctorate in Medical and Biological Physics from the University of California at Berkeley and a doctorate in Psychology from International University. The recipient of four lifetime achievement awards, he is the author of several books, including Waking the Tiger, which has now been printed in 33 countries and has sold over a million copies. His new book is An Autobiography of Trauma: A Healing Journey Topics: 00:00 — Introduction 02:43 — Writing the new Autobiography 09:05 — Uncovering Layers of Trauma 19:52 — Trauma & Intimate Relationships 26:20 — Meeting Albert Einstein & Past Life Trauma 34:00 — Relationships with Parents 43:00 — Connections to Ancient Traditions 50:10 — Indigenous Healing Practices 57:12 — Closing Support the mission of SAND the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member. Also mentioned in this episode is SAND’s Fundraiser to help relocate a family from the genocide in Gaza.

Reem (DRĖĖĖMY) Abdou is a native Egyptian international interdisciplinary sound artist, embodiment and meditation guide, curator, cultural worker, and community building founder of the inclusive global impact agency for women+ & BIPOC holistic artists: The Collective BAE. As an intentional DJ and spoken word poet, her work harnesses music, movement, and meditation to activate real shifts at the intersection of transformational creativity, social and healing justice, and ecosystem consciousness. Links: www.dreeemy.com instagram.com/dreeemy www.collectivebae.com   Upcoming projects: Join The BAE (RE)MEMBERSHIPS: An Ecology of Care for Conscious Creatives. We'll be launching a full training course this May. The release of the 2nd EP: SALTWATERS in the Mother & Water project. It will be released this May. Topics: 00:00 — Introduction 03:00 — Ancestry & Dream work 06:45 — Communities 11:19 — Bass Yoga 17:19 — Gradients & Binaries 23:17 — Ecologies of Care 32:33 — Sacred Activism 36:51 — Post-COVID Shift 45:31 — Egyptian Lineage 53:44 — Upcoming Projects Support the mission of SAND the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member:

Rev Deborah L Johnson (Rev D) is a dynamic organizer, strategist, facilitator, public speaker, andspoken word artist, known for her ability to bring clarity to complex and emotionally chargedissues with humor and compassion. As an organizational consultant specializing in culturaldiversity, she serves the public, private, non-profit, and military sectors. Her clients haveincluded, MCA Universal, ATT, Apple Inc, Hewlett Packard, Kaiser Permanente, US Coast GuardAcademy, Ford Foundation, SBC Communications, UCSF, Prudential, and Kodak. Rev Deborah isa successful co-litigant in two landmark civil rights cases in California. The first resulted in theinclusion of sexual orientation in the state’s Civil Rights Bill in 1984 setting a national precedent,while the second staved off repeal of the state’s Domestic Partnership in 2005. For her social justice work, she has been featured in numerous books and films including Showtime’s Jumpin’ The Broom and has received many lifetime achievement awards including induction into the Board of Preachers at the MLK Jr. Chapel of Morehouse College. RevD's Upcoming Courses: Yes to OnenessThe 6-session “YES to Oneness” workshop is preventative medicine for divisiveness. Guided by divine downloads from my books The Sacred YES and Your Deepest Intent, we’ll go on a spiritually transformative experience.  How to DepolarizeThe 3-session “How to Depolarize” workshop provides diagnostic techniques and treatment plans for divisiveness. It is an interactive skills building practicum based on my 40+ years as a movement organizer, corporate DEI consultant, spiritual leader, and successful co-litigant in two landmark civil rights cases. This workshop expands upon the concepts I recently presented at Harvard Divinity School.   Topics: 0:00 — Introduction  2:51 — Reconnecting Post-Pandemic 4:29 — Keeping Hope Alive 7:41 — On Nonduality 12:27 — Balancing Social Justice 19:59 — Everything is in Vibrations of Possibilities 25:58 — Interfaith / Omnifaith Exploration 33:14 — Reconnecting to our Natural State 40:06 — Knowing Truth 45:10 — Advice for Burnout and Connection 50:42 — Learning and Growing in Community Support the mission of SAND the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member

A recording of excerpts from a SAND Community Gathering hosted by Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo. Trauma has a way of separating us from parts of ourselves. Painful experiences cause protective parts to take over, isolating our inner wounds in an effort to help us survive. Yet, avoiding our emotional injuries rarely leads to true healing. In this conversation, Internal Family System (IFS) founder Richard Schwartz outlined how to transform our relationship with the wounded parts holding our unresolved injuries. Richard C. Schwartz, PhD, is the creator of Internal Family Systems, a highly effective, evidence-based therapeutic model that de-pathologizes the multi-part personality. His IFS Institute offers training for professionals and the general public. He is currently on the faculty of Harvard Medical School, and has published five books, including No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model. Dick lives with his wife Jeanne near Chicago, close to his three daughters and his growing number of grandchildren. Topics: 00:00 – Introduction 02:00 –  Intro to Internal Family System (IFS) 16:48 – IFS work with Maurizio 29:16 – Ancestor and Legacy Work 38:12 – Altered States of Consciousness in IFS Work 44:20 – Exiled Parts That Become Cultural Patterns Support the mission of SAND the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member.

In this episode we bring you excerpts from an online SAND Community Gathering with Gabor and Daniel Maté hosted by Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo from February 2024. Also present in this episode is Betsy Polatin offering guided meditation and grounding exercises as everyone navigates these difficult conversations. Lastly SAND presenter Deran Young ends the episode with a question on Racialized Trauma. You can watch the full video conversation here No statement, no words can speak to the immense suffering, devastation and horrendous humanitarian crisis intensifying in the Middle East. The current tragedy awakens existential fear, acute grief and deep despair. It also creates a rift among friends and families. Many are in a state of deep shock and in need of support, and the obstacles to communicating with loved ones only intensify the anguish. In this Q&A session, Dr. Gabor Maté and his son Daniel discussed ways to listen and communicate across different perspectives and narratives. Gabor Maté, M.D. is a specialist on trauma, addiction, stress and childhood development. After 20 years of family practice and palliative care experience, Dr. Maté worked for over a decade in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side with patients challenged by drug addiction and mental illness. For his groundbreaking medical work and writing he has been awarded the Order of Canada, his country’s highest civilian distinction, and the Civic Merit Award from his hometown, Vancouver. Gabor is also the creator of a psychotherapeutic approach, Compassionate Inquiry, now studied by thousands of therapists, physicians, counselors, and others in over 80 countries.   Daniel Maté is a composer, lyricist, and playwright for musical theatre based in BC and New York. He has been active since 2007, when he graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with an M.F.A. in Musical Theatre Writing. He also holds a B.A. in Psychology and Philosophy from McGill. Daniel received the prestigious Edward Kleban Prize for Most Promising Lyricist in American Musical Theatre, a Jonathan Larson Foundation Grant, and the ASCAP Foundation’s Cole Porter Award for Excellence in Music and Lyrics (for his song cycle The Longing and the Short of It.) He has presented his work at the historic Kennedy Center in Washington, DC and New York’s Lincoln Center, and was an invited participant in the inaugural Johnny Mercer Writers Colony.   Betsy Polatin, MFA, SEP, an internationally recognized breathing/movement specialist and best- selling author, has been teaching for 45 years. Her unique and intuitive perspectives are greatly influenced by the study of movement, breath, and trauma, as well as the teachings of spiritual and meditation masters. She speaks at conferences around the world. As a well-known educator, she’s had numerous articles published in the Huffington Post, and is the author of The Actor’s Secret and Humanual.   Deran Young is a licensed therapist specializing in racial trauma and legacy burdens. She is also a Co-Author of the New York Times Best Seller, You Are Your Best Thing, a retired military officer, & founder of Black Therapists Rock. Black Therapists Rock is a non profit organization with a network of over 30,000 mental health professionals committed to reducing the psychological impact of systemic oppression and intergenerational trauma. She obtained her social work degree from University of Texas, where she studied abroad in Ghana, West Africa for two semesters creating a high school counseling center for under-resourced students. Deran has visited over 37 different countries and her clinical experience spans across four different continents. Her passion for culture and people has led her to become a highly sought after diversity and inclusion consultant working with companies like BBERG, Facebook, Linked In, and YWCA. She resides in the Washington DC area with her 10 year old son.   Topics:   00:00:00 – Introduction 00:04:10 – Gabor Maté Introduction 00:09:56 – Daniel Maté Introduction 00:18:48 – Gabor’s Learning During this Violence since October 7 00:21:23 – Betsy Polatin Grounding Practice 00:24:31 – Gabor Responds to Comments in the Chat, speaking to ALL suffering 00:26:47 – Question: "What is the most effective way to break through Zionists Friends" 00:35:58 – Question: “How to Respond to Friends and Circles on Social Media” 00:38:34 – Question: “Responding to Israeli Sufferings from October 7” 00:51:12 – Betsy Calming Exercise 00:54:33 – Question: “Legacy of Dehumanization in this Conflict” 00:59:43 – Question: “Speaking Out in Jewish Communities” 01:04:52 – Question: “Addressing the War Machine(s)” 01:10:27 – The Misconceptions About Safety and Comfort in these Discussions 01:14:48 – Deran Young on Racialized Trauma 01:19:56 – Betsy Closing Meditation Support the mission of SAND the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member

Mauro Zappaterra obtained his MD and PhD degrees from Harvard Medical School. He completed his PhD doing work with neuronal stem cells and the effects of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in brain development and in the adult. He is published in numerous scientific articles on the CSF and his work was chosen as the cover image for the prestigious Neuron Journal.  He was also featured in the New England Journal of Medicine in teaching medical students about living with life threatening diseases and in Psychology Today on an article titled “Joy: The art of loving life."   Topics: 0:00 — Introduction 2:14 — Mauro’s Background 9:37 — Exploring Holistic Medicine at Harvard 17:31 — Evidence Based Medicine 19:00 — Sound and Light Therapy 24:10 — Day to Day Practice 28:22 — Chronic Pain 45:08 — Frontiers of Alternative Healing 54:10 — CSF Guided Meditation Support the mission of SAND the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member

"This is a spiritual test, this is a spiritual war, as much as it is a material one. People say, ‘As above, so below.’ How we are interfacing with the physical realities of this moment, the ways that we are leveraging our daily energy are either making us complicit with life's desecration or helping us to affirm life and the spirit of resistance. The battle that we are in is right now!"— Layla K. Feghali on the violence in Gaza, Sounds of SAND, Ep. #76We are now over four months into a worsening genocide in Gaza — with over 30,000 murdered and over 2 million now enduring military-enforced famine enacted by Israel, the US, and their global allies. There is no way a 90-minute teaching can impact the depth of sorrow, injustice, betrayal, and state-sponsored violence unfolding in Palestine. And yet, we share a moral obligation to resist the life-desecrating forces at work. In this gathering, our three guests share of their personal attempts as Earth-honoring ritualists and educators to embody core values and take tangible action in a time of genocide. Calls to Action to Support these GoFundMe Campaigns:  SAND’s GoFundMe to help Amina & her family Layla Feghali’s connection to Ahmed Al Munirawi’s campaign Layla Feghali’s connection to Reem Shaheen’s campaign   Guests:Daniel Foor is a doctor of psychology, experienced ritualist, and the author of Ancestral Medicine: Rituals for Personal and Family Healing. He is a practicing Muslim and initiate in the Òrìṣà tradition of Yoruba-speaking West Africa who has also learned from Mahayan Buddhism and the older ways of his English and German ancestors. Daniel was a U.S. Fulbright scholar in Cairo, Egypt as a student of Arabic language, and he is passionate about generational healing and training leaders and change makers in the intersections of cultural healing, animist ethics, and applied ritual arts. He lives with his wife and daughters near his adoptive home of Granada, Spain in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Taya Mâ Shere is a ritual artist embracing embodied, earth-honoring devotion as liberatory spiritual practice. She serves as a professor of Organic Multi-Religious Ritual at Starr King School for the Ministry and co-weaves Makam Shekhina, a Jewish and Sufi Muslim multi-religious community committed to counter-oppressive spiritual practice. Taya Mâ hosts the acclaimed podcast, Jewish Ancestral Healing and The Sarah & Hajar Series: Sacred Practice and Possibility at the Intersections of Judaism and Islam. She is currently tending Ceasefire movement chaplaincy and From the Deep, an emergent mystery school of earth-reverent ritual and counter-oppressive devotion. She co-founded the Kohenet movement and  is co-author of The Hebrew Priestess: Ancient and New Visions of Jewish Women’s Spiritual Leadership. Her five albums of sacred chant have been heralded as “cutting-edge mystic medicine music.”Layla K. Feghali is an ethnobotanist, cultural worker, and author who lives between her ancestral village in Lebanon and her diasporic home in California, where she was born and raised. Her dedication is the stewardship of our earth’s eco-cultural integrity and the many layers of relational restoration, systemic reckoning, and healing that entails. Feghali offers a line of plantcestral medicine and other culturally-rooted offerings, with an emphasis on Southwest Asia and its diasporas. Her recent book, The Land in Our Bones, documents cultural herbal and healing knowledge from Syria to the Sinai, while interrogating colonialism and its lingering wounds on the culture of our displaced world.   Topics:   00:00:00 — Introduction 00:05:43 — Daniel Foor 00:21:44 — Taya Mâ Shere 00:35:44 — Layla K. Feghali 01:00:28 — Guided Practice 01:10:22 — Questions from the Event Chat 01:20:29 — Yeye Luisha Teish 01:23:48 — Closing Statements   Support the mission of SAND the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member

This SAND Community Gathering was recorded live on February 10, 2024 with Omid Safi and SAND co-founders Zaya and Maurzio Benazzo.  For the full video version of this conversation, please visit: https://scienceandnonduality.com/event/love-with-justice/ Omid Safi is a scholar of the Islamic mystical tradition of Radical Love and serves as a professor of Islamic studies at Duke University. Ten times nominated for professor of the year awards, Omid has published extensively on the foundational sources of Islam and Sufism. He has authored Memories of Muhammad and Radical Love: Teachings from the Islamic Mystical Tradition.  He has offered the annual Martin Luther King lecture and appeared as an expert on Islam in the New York Times, Newsweek, Washington Post, Al-Jazeera, PBS, NPR, NBC, BBC and CNN. Omid teaches online courses on Muslim mysticism and has his own podcast Sufi Heart.  He also offers spiritually oriented contemplative journeys and retreats for the general public. Information about the books, podcast, courses, and tours can be found at illuminatedcourses.com. SAND’s Helpful Resources on Israel/Palestine Support the mission of SAND the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member Topics:00:00:00 – Introduction00:03:37 – Sufi Prayer and Omid’s Bio00:06:44 – Setting a Context for the Discussion00:22:32 – ”Whataboutism”00:34:56 – Teachings from the Heart00:46:38 – Balancing Love, Fear, and Righteous00:59:19 – Responses from Spiritual Teachers on Gaza01:10:36 – Remembering Mother Earth01:14:42 – Letting Go of “You and I” / Nonduality01:16:58 – Celebrating Life

Lama Tsomo is a spiritual teacher, author, and co-founder of Namchak Foundation and Namchak Retreat Ranch, which preserves and shares Tibetan Buddhist practice in accessible, contemporary ways. Under the tutelage of Tulku Sangak Rinpoche, international holder of the Namchak lineage, Lama Tsomo has done extensive spiritual retreats in the U.S. and abroad and is fluent in Tibetan. Today, she is dedicated to sharing the teachings of the Namchak lineage with Western students, bringing greater happiness and meaning to life through meditation practice, community, and retreat. She is passionate about reaching young people and supporting those working for positive social change. Lama Tsomo holds an M.A. in Counseling Psychology and is the author of Ancient Wisdom for Our Times: Tibetan Buddhist Practice Series and coauthor of The Lotus & the Rose: A Conversation Between Tibetan Buddhism & Mystical Christianity and the Taking a Breath meditation journal.   Links: Namchak Website Saving Each Other Together Project Four Immeasurables Retreat Namchak’s Instagram Deepening Our Feeling for “Us”: Lama Tsomo from SAND19 Music from Today's episode: Chenrezig Sadhana – Tibetan Vajrayana Mantra Meditation Now I Walk In Beauty Libana- Fire Within Now I Walk in Beauty (sheet music) Topics: 0:00 – Introduction 2:58 – Lama Intro Story and Path to Buddhism 8:13 – Major Schools of Buddhism in the U.S. 10:35 – Balancing Mindfulness & Compassion 16:45 – The Predictions of Guru Rinpoche 24:45 – The Importance of Mantra 25:53 – The One Ocean 32:13 – Sharing in Sangha in Mantra 37:49 – Chenrezig / Avalokiteśvara chanting practice 50:53 – Working Skillfully With Equanimity 54:19 – The Importance of Sangha 58:57 – Aspirational and Engaged Boddhicitta    

From a SAND Community Gathering in January 2024. You can watch the full video of this Community Gathering here: scienceandnonduality.com/event/bloodlines/ As many of us grapple with feelings of disillusionment, outrage, impotence and grief at the horrendous tragedy unfolding in Gaza, we gathered as a SAND community for an intimate conversation with meital yaniv, an ex-israeli soldier / ex-zionist fighter and Sulaiman Khatib, Palestinian co-founder of Combatants for Peace. With meital and Souli reflecting on their personal journeys of loss and transformation, we uncovered ancestral legacies of trauma and coping, belonging and indoctrination, individual and collective grief, awakening, and resilience. Their dialog was facilitated by Rae Abileah, a Jewish faith leader, social change strategist, and writer. Through sharing our stories, and engaging in open and compassionate conversation, may we find collective healing. Sulaiman Khatib is the Co-Founder of Combatants for Peace. Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, he has been recognized internationally for his contributions to promoting peace, social justice and equality for all. In 2006, he co-founded Al-Qud’s Association for Democracy and Dialogue, a program which works with youth in order to create effective and sustainable projects focusing on the promotion of peace, democracy and civic participation in the Palestinian Territories. For the last twenty years, he has been a committed advocate for peace in the Middle East and an active member of various programs aiming to promote a peaceful solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He is the author of In this Place Together. meital yaniv was born into a sephardic and ashkenazi lineage of in/famous war heroes and pillars for the state of israel, meital is the author of bloodlines, an epic and intimate dive into the israeli apartheid regime from the perspective of an ex-israeli/ex-zionist soldier. In the book, meital yaniv traces their paternal family narrative from surviving the Holocaust of the second world war to migrating to Palestine and their subsequent indoctrination as zionist colonizers and defenders of the state of israel.  yaniv directs our attention to the cycles of history and how genocide not only repeats but grows monstrously in the crevices of state belonging. They see themselves as “a death laborer tending to a prayer for the liberation of the land of Palestine and the lands of our bodies.” Rae Abileah (she/her) is a Jewish faith leader, social change strategist, writer, and facilitator. For the past two decades, she has worked with nonprofits and social movements, from volunteer to executive director. Topics: 00:00 – Introduction 00:24 – Introduction with Gazan Musician, Haneen Sabbah singing Reem Banna (The Absence one) 04:16 – Introduction from Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo 06:52 – Rae Abileah Introduction 12:12 – Sulaiman Khatib 17:32 – Sulaiman’s Time in Jail 33:18 – meital yaniv’s Story 48:16 – Healing the Land Through Ancestors SAND's Helpful Resources on Israel/Palestine Support the mission of SAND the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member