222: Mystery and Motivation

Awareness Explorers episode 222: Mystery and Motivation In this episode we discuss motivations for spiritual practice, contrasting suffering-based motivation with curiosity and the desire for truth, especially around anomalous and miraculous experiences. • Includes a guided meditation helping you to remember events in your life that might be outside of the way you normally look at the material world, and showing you how an open heart is a doorway to mystery and wonder. To learn more about Jonathan's new book, Opening to the Miraculous: True Stories and Investigations into the Weird and the Wonderful, please visit:  OpenMiracles.com Don't forget to subscribe for more ingenious ways to tap into the ever-present stillness and joy of our true nature. To learn more about Awareness Explorers, and to listen to all of our podcast episodes, please visit:  https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/ If you want to listen to the meditations alone, you can find all of our meditations excerpted either in this playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAVvivvVVGNfQgJxbWB6dF6Z Or on our Awareness Explorers website:  https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/meditations To Support Awareness Explorers, please consider clicking the "Donate" button on any AwarenessExplorers.com page, or becoming a Patreon supporter:  https://www.patreon.com/awarenessexplorers NOTE: If you are a Patreon supporter and have not been receiving our bonus material, please check to make sure that the email address you have on Patreon is an active one. To learn more about Jonathan Robinson and Brian Tom O'Connor, please visit  https://findinghappiness.com/ and  https://www.playawarenessgames.com/ You can listen to all of our episodes on this YouTube playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAXyaArC4OyY0y84CZ8uSb_n Enjoy, Jonathan and Brian   Photo by Yann Stenson on Unsplash

Awareness Explorers episode 221: Rupert Spira Encore We're on vacation! So today we're offering an Encore presentation of our interview with our first guest, Rupert Spira, in 2018. In this episode we talk to Rupert Spira about happiness, and how he leads people to the recognition of our true nature as awareness. • Includes a guided meditation from Rupert for going beyond our normal notion of self into the experience of pure awareness. To learn more about Rupert Spira, please visit: https://rupertspira.com/ To listen to the meditation from this episode alone, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EBWfCT2Lv4 Don't forget to subscribe for more ingenious ways to tap into the ever-present stillness and joy of our true nature. To learn more about Awareness Explorers, and to listen to all of our podcast episodes, please visit: https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/ If you want to listen to the meditations alone, you can find all of our meditations excerpted either in this playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAVvivvVVGNfQgJxbWB6dF6Z Or on our Awareness Explorers website: https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/meditations To Support Awareness Explorers, please consider clicking the "Donate" button on any AwarenessExplorers.com page, or becoming a Patreon supporter: https://www.patreon.com/awarenessexplorers NOTE: If you are a Patreon supporter and have not been receiving our bonus material, please check to make sure that the email address you have on Patreon is an active one. To learn more about Jonathan Robinson and Brian Tom O'Connor, please visit https://findinghappiness.com/ and https://www.playawarenessgames.com/ You can listen to all of our episodes on this YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAXyaArC4OyY0y84CZ8uSb_n Enjoy, Jonathan and Brian

Awareness Explorers episode 220: Shadow Work In this episode, we explore various approaches to shadow work, that is, becoming conscious of hidden parts of the psyche and bringing them to awareness, which helps reveal and release emotions stored in the body that might otherwise cause trouble in life and relationships. • Includes a guided meditation focused on dissolving resistance to unwanted emotions by fully experiencing feelings in the body and dropping associated storytelling. Mentioned in this episode: Adyashanti's instructions for "Working with Negative Emotions" is included in the set from Sounds True called "Guided Meditations" "The Work" documentary about a group therapy retreat in Folsom Prison: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Work_(film) https://releasing.dogwoof.com/the-work Angelo DiLullo's Group Transformation Process Mindvalley Blog  "75 shadow work prompts for healing and growth" Internal Family Systems (IFS)  https://ifs-institute.com/ Effortless IFS with Sid Friedman Voice Dialogue  https://www.voicedialogueinternational.com/ https://www.voicedialogueinternational.com/global/IVDA/select_Bridgit_Dengel_Gaspard.htm Scott Kiloby Transformative Emotion Work  https://kiloby.com/ Sam Roff: Secrets To Great Shadow Work (Regulate Unstable Energy)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTxwFD5P_Pk Don't forget to subscribe for more ingenious ways to tap into the ever-present stillness and joy of our true nature. To learn more about Awareness Explorers, and to listen to all of our podcast episodes, please visit:  https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/ If you want to listen to the meditations alone, you can find all of our meditations excerpted either in this playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAVvivvVVGNfQgJxbWB6dF6Z Or on our Awareness Explorers website: https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/meditations To Support Awareness Explorers, please consider clicking the "Donate" button on any AwarenessExplorers.com page, or becoming a Patreon supporter:  https://www.patreon.com/awarenessexplorers NOTE: If you are a Patreon supporter and have not been receiving our bonus material, please check to make sure that the email address you have on Patreon is an active one. To learn more about Jonathan Robinson and Brian Tom O'Connor, please visit  https://findinghappiness.com/ and  https://www.playawarenessgames.com/ You can listen to all of our episodes on this YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAXyaArC4OyY0y84CZ8uSb_n Enjoy, Jonathan and Brian   Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Awareness Explorers episode 219: Fooled into Dualism In this episode, we explore how language, culture, and survival instincts create a dualistic view of the world, which is at odds with the underlying reality of interconnectedness and oneness. • Includes a guided meditation helping us to see beyond the dualistic nature of language, and to sense how everything is interconnected, and nothing, including you, is truly separate from everything else. Don't forget to subscribe for more ingenious ways to tap into the ever-present stillness and joy of our true nature. To learn more about Awareness Explorers, and to listen to all of our podcast episodes, please visit:  https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/ If you want to listen to the meditations alone, you can find all of our meditations excerpted either in this playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAVvivvVVGNfQgJxbWB6dF6Z Or on our Awareness Explorers website:  https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/meditations To Support Awareness Explorers, please consider clicking the "Donate" button on any AwarenessExplorers.com page, or becoming a Patreon supporter:  https://www.patreon.com/awarenessexplorers NOTE: If you are a Patreon supporter and have not been receiving our bonus material, please check to make sure that the email address you have on Patreon is an active one. To learn more about Jonathan Robinson and Brian Tom O'Connor, please visit  https://findinghappiness.com/ and  https://www.playawarenessgames.com/ You can listen to all of our episodes on this YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAXyaArC4OyY0y84CZ8uSb_n Enjoy, Jonathan and Brian   Photo by 愚木混株 Yumu on Unsplash

Awareness Explorers episode 218: Scott Flynn, Guest Explorer In this episode we talk to Scott Flynn, about how non-dual teaching helps people let go of their false sense of individual identity by recognizing that the ego is just a collection of thoughts that can be dissolved through self-inquiry and resting in one's true nature. • Includes a guided meditation helping us to turn our attention to the experience of "I Am" and to see that "I Am" is what you've been searching for your entire life. "I Am" is who you are, and who you are is unconditional love and acceptance. To learn more about Scott Flynn, please visit:  https://www.scott-flynn.com/ YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@scott-flynn Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/scott_flynn_nonduality Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61584487106400 For a set of images illustrating Scott's funnel gestures, please see…  https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/scott-flynn-funnel-gesture Or watch the YouTube video version:  https://youtu.be/jdFFCWqWWTA Don't forget to subscribe for more ingenious ways to tap into the ever-present stillness and joy of our true nature. To learn more about Awareness Explorers, and to listen to all of our podcast episodes, please visit:  https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/ If you want to listen to the meditations alone, you can find all of our meditations excerpted either in this playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAVvivvVVGNfQgJxbWB6dF6Z Or on our Awareness Explorers website:  https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/meditations To Support Awareness Explorers, please consider clicking the "Donate" button on any AwarenessExplorers.com page, or becoming a Patreon supporter:  https://www.patreon.com/awarenessexplorers NOTE: If you are a Patreon supporter and have not been receiving our bonus material, please check to make sure that the email address you have on Patreon is an active one. To learn more about Jonathan Robinson and Brian Tom O'Connor, please visit  https://findinghappiness.com/ and  https://www.playawarenessgames.com/ You can listen to all of our episodes on this YouTube playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAXyaArC4OyY0y84CZ8uSb_n Enjoy,  Jonathan and Brian

Awareness Explorers episode 217: Tracy Lease, Guest Explorer In this episode, we talk to Tracy Lease, a yoga, Pilates, Qigong, and mindfulness teacher who discusses the integration of body awareness practices with spiritual development. • Includes a guided moving meditation from Tracy combining breath awareness with gentle movement to help listeners experience the connection between physical relaxation and expanded awareness. To learn more about Tracy Lease, please visit:  https://fulllifeyogastudio.com/ For examples of tensegrity models discussed in this episode, see: "8 Incredible Structures Around the World That Use Tensegrity to Defy Gravity"  https://mymodernmet.com/tensegrity-architecture/ Don't forget to subscribe for more ingenious ways to tap into the ever-present stillness and joy of our true nature. To learn more about Awareness Explorers, and to listen to all of our podcast episodes, please visit:  https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/ If you want to listen to the meditations alone, you can find all of our meditations excerpted either in this playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAVvivvVVGNfQgJxbWB6dF6Z Or on our Awareness Explorers website:  https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/meditations To Support Awareness Explorers, please consider clicking the "Donate" button on any AwarenessExplorers.com page, or becoming a Patreon supporter:  https://www.patreon.com/awarenessexplorers NOTE: If you are a Patreon supporter and have not been receiving our bonus material, please check to make sure that the email address you have on Patreon is an active one. To learn more about Jonathan Robinson and Brian Tom O'Connor, please visit  https://findinghappiness.com/ and  https://www.playawarenessgames.com/ You can listen to all of our episodes on this YouTube playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAXyaArC4OyY0y84CZ8uSb_n Enjoy,  Jonathan and Brian

Awareness Explorers episode 216: Types of Thought In this episode, we discuss different types of thoughts and how to distinguish between helpful and harmful thinking patterns. We cover practical thoughts versus emotional ruminations, the importance of intuitive wisdom versus egoic thinking, and how to recognize beneficial thoughts that come from outside the normal mind. • Includes a guided meditation leading you through a suite of games to quiet the intrusive mind, as well as a practice to open your heart to intuitive guidance. Don't forget to subscribe for more ingenious ways to tap into the ever-present stillness and joy of our true nature. To learn more about Awareness Explorers, and to listen to all of our podcast episodes, please visit:  https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/ If you want to listen to the meditations alone, you can find all of our meditations excerpted either in this playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAVvivvVVGNfQgJxbWB6dF6Z Or on our Awareness Explorers website:  https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/meditations To Support Awareness Explorers, please consider clicking the "Donate" button on any AwarenessExplorers.com page, or becoming a Patreon supporter:  https://www.patreon.com/awarenessexplorers NOTE: If you are a Patreon supporter and have not been receiving our bonus material, please check to make sure that the email address you have on Patreon is an active one. To learn more about Jonathan Robinson and Brian Tom O'Connor, please visit  https://findinghappiness.com/ and  https://www.playawarenessgames.com/ You can listen to all of our episodes on this YouTube playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAXyaArC4OyY0y84CZ8uSb_n Enjoy, Jonathan and Brian Photo by Quilia on Unsplash 

Awareness Explorers episode 215: Luciano Melo, Guest Explorer In this episode we feature Luciano Melo, a PhD researcher on awakening who shared his transformative journey from depression into non-dual awakening, and how these experiences led to a complete deconstruction of his sense of self before integrating back into a state of wholeness. To learn more about Luciano Melo, please visit:  Omni-Integration.net For a good description of Jeffrey Martin's Locations of Fundamental Wellbeing discussed in this interview:  https://insanebraintrain.blogspot.com/2015/01/jeffrey-martin-locations-of.html or The Martin Matrix, a Comprehensive Map of Persistent Non-Symbolic Experience:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCfeamM07dk The book by Henry Shukman mentioned in this episode is One Blade of Grass: https://henryshukman.com/writing/one-blade-of-grass Don't forget to subscribe for more ingenious ways to tap into the ever-present stillness and joy of our true nature. To learn more about Awareness Explorers, and to listen to all of our podcast episodes, please visit:  https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/ To Support Awareness Explorers, please consider clicking the "Donate" button on any AwarenessExplorers.com page, or becoming a Patreon supporter:  https://www.patreon.com/awarenessexplorers NOTE: If you are a Patreon supporter and have not been receiving our bonus material, please check to make sure that the email address you have on Patreon is an active one. To learn more about Jonathan Robinson and Brian Tom O'Connor, please visit  https://findinghappiness.com/ and  https://www.playawarenessgames.com/ You can listen to all of our episodes on this YouTube playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAXyaArC4OyY0y84CZ8uSb_n Enjoy, Jonathan and Brian ~~~~~~~    

Awareness Explorers episode 214: Approaches to Spiritual Growth In this episode, we discuss different models of spiritual growth, exploring the advantages and disadvantages of each, and sharing our personal experiences across multiple approaches, including books, coaching, religion, satsang, peer support, AI chatbots, retreats, 12-step programs, YouTube teachings, transmissions, communes, and workshops. • Includes a guided meditation helping you to intuitively assess which models might be most suitable for your personal spiritual journey. Don't forget to subscribe for more ingenious ways to tap into the ever-present stillness and joy of our true nature. To learn more about Awareness Explorers, and to listen to all of our podcast episodes, please visit:  https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/ If you want to listen to the meditations alone, you can find all of our meditations excerpted either in this playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAVvivvVVGNfQgJxbWB6dF6Z Or on our Awareness Explorers website:  https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/meditations To Support Awareness Explorers, please consider clicking the "Donate" button on any AwarenessExplorers.com page, or becoming a Patreon supporter:  https://www.patreon.com/awarenessexplorers NOTE: If you are a Patreon supporter and have not been receiving our bonus material, please check to make sure that the email address you have on Patreon is an active one. To learn more about Jonathan Robinson and Brian Tom O'Connor, please visit  https://findinghappiness.com/ and  https://www.playawarenessgames.com/ You can listen to all of our episodes on this YouTube playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAXyaArC4OyY0y84CZ8uSb_n Enjoy, Jonathan and Brian Photo by Call Me Fred on Unsplash 

Awareness Explorers episode 213: Eric Zimmer Guest Explorer In this episode we talk to Eric Zimmer, host of the podcast, "The One You Feed," about his new book, How a Little Becomes a Lot: The Art of Small Changes for a More Meaningful Life, his approach to personal transformation combining both inner spiritual practices and outer behavioral changes, and how to balance both acceptance and change. We also discussed the importance of community and social connections in spiritual development. • Includes a guided meditation from Eric moving us through three different modes of experience—body sensations, sounds, and breathing—and then noticing them at the same time, and letting the three merge into one field of awareness. To learn more about Eric Zimmer, please visit:  https://www.oneyoufeed.net/ Don't forget to subscribe for more ingenious ways to tap into the ever-present stillness and joy of our true nature. To learn more about Awareness Explorers, and to listen to all of our podcast episodes, please visit:  https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/ If you want to listen to the meditations alone, you can find all of our meditations excerpted either in this playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAVvivvVVGNfQgJxbWB6dF6Z Or on our Awareness Explorers website: https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/meditations To Support Awareness Explorers, please consider clicking the "Donate" button on any AwarenessExplorers.com page, or becoming a Patreon supporter:  https://www.patreon.com/awarenessexplorers NOTE: If you are a Patreon supporter and have not been receiving our bonus material, please check to make sure that the email address you have on Patreon is an active one. To learn more about Jonathan Robinson and Brian Tom O'Connor, please visit  https://findinghappiness.com/ and  https://www.playawarenessgames.com/ You can listen to all of our episodes on this YouTube playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAXyaArC4OyY0y84CZ8uSb_n Enjoy, Jonathan and Brian