Somewhere between the human being you know yourself to be and something you can only call mystery—that's where this one lands. In this Point of Insight, Tami Simon follows...
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Tami Simon’s in-depth audio podcast interviews with leading spiritual teachers and luminaries. Listen in as they explore their latest challenges and breakthroughs - the leading edge of their work.
Tami Simon’s in-depth audio podcast interviews with leading spiritual teachers and luminaries. Listen in as they explore their latest challenges and breakthroughs – the leading edge of their work.
There are times when people experience deep love, joy, and inspiration. But these states disappear the moment we close ourselves because life does not match our expectations. We end up storing every uncomfortable experience inside, and these suppressed impressions create the fears, judgments, and egocentric thoughts and emotions that block our natural openness. Spiritual growth is not about achieving something new but about letting go of stored inner disturbances so that the natural state of love and energy can flow freely again.
We live in a world accelerating faster than the human mind was built to handle. So what do we do with that?
This week, Tami Simon speaks with Peter Russell—author, speaker, and leading thinker on consciousness and spirituality, with degrees in theoretical physics, psychology, and computer science from Cambridge—about his new book, How to Meditate Without Even Trying, featuring a foreword by Eckhart Tolle. Decades after coining the term “global brain” and predicting the internet, Russell turns his visionary lens on the present moment: a world of staggering technological power and equally staggering stress.
Join Tami and Peter to explore:
From global brain to global mind: how AI represents the next threshold in humanity’s collective evolution
Why exponential change is not going away—and the hidden costs it’s placing on our personal and planetary systems
Forgiving Humanity: why the crises facing our species may be the inevitable result of accelerating development, not human failure
Accepting the possibility of extinction—and how that acceptance can paradoxically free us to live and serve more fully
The shift from “saving the world” to navigating these times with grace, compassion, and groundedness
Why meditation is more necessary now than ever—and how effortlessness, not discipline, is the key
“Letting in” before letting go: a practice for metabolizing emotion and releasing tension at its root
The tension in thinking—and how noticing it during meditation changes how we think outside of it
Whether you’re overwhelmed by the pace of the world or simply looking for a steadier way to move through it, Peter Russell offers both perspective and practice.
Listen now and find your way back to the quiet.
This conversation offers genuine transmission—not just concepts about awakening, but the palpable presence of realized teachers exploring the growing edge of spiritual understanding together. Originally aired on Sounds True One.
Human suffering comes from trying to control the outside world so that our inner state feels good, all of which is based on impressions from our past experiences. Spiritual growth begins when we stop clinging to these impressions and instead learn to handle whatever reality presents. By letting experiences pass through without resistance, inner energy rises naturally, eventually dissolving the personal self and leading to liberation.
Dr. Elaine Aron is a clinical depth psychologist and the author of the seminal 1997 book The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You. With Sounds True, she has published the new audio learning program The Highly Sensitive Person’s Complete Learning Program: Essential Insights and Tools for Navigating Your Work, Relationships, and Life. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Dr. Aron about what it means to be a highly sensitive person and recent research into the phenomenon. They consider whether the trait is genetic or adaptive, as well as the various ways sensitive behaviors manifest in day-to-day life. They also discuss how best to approach romantic relationships with highly sensitive people and the possible social advantages of sensitivity. Finally, Dr. Aron shares the connection between extreme sensitivity and intuition, as well as attitudes necessary for embracing the entirety of your unique, sensitive self.(50 minutes)
Terri Cole is a licensed psychotherapist and global leading expert in personal empowerment. For two decades, she has worked with some of the world’s most well-known personalities, from international pop stars to Fortune 500 CEOs. She has a gift for making complex psychological concepts accessible and then actionable. With Sounds True, Terri Cole is the author of Boundary Boss: The Essential Guide to Talk True, Be Seen, and (Finally) Live Free. In this podcast, Sounds True founder Tami Simon speaks with Terri about how absolutely critical it is to have good boundaries. Terri shares the personal journey that brought her into this work, explores where our boundary blueprints come from, and gives us her five keys for self-mastery. Together Tami and Terri discuss why having healthy boundaries might very well be the apex of how humans can learn to put truth and truth-telling at the very center of our lives.
Brett Lyon, PhD, SEP, and Sheila Rubin, MA, LMFT, RDT/BCT, are the founders of the Center for Healing Shame and co-creators of the Healing Shame Lyon-Rubin Method. Through their in-person and popular online trainings, they’ve taught hundreds of psychotherapists throughout the world how to more effectively identify and work with shame. With Sounds True, Brett and Sheila have created a new audio series designed for the general public called Healing Shame: How to Work with This Powerful, Mysterious Emotion—and Transform It into an Ally. In this podcast, Sounds True founder Tami Simon speaks with Bret and Sheila about how we can learn to understand and appreciate shame in a deeper way. This healing conversation covers the different types of shame we encounter, normalizes our experiences of shame, and explores how shame, though painful, can actually be a helpful emotion.
Life can be lived at varying levels, though most people are trapped in the cycles of seeking desires and avoiding fears. The key to deeper living lies in addressing internal blockages and embracing life’s unfolding with acceptance. This frees you to connect with the natural flow of inner energy, or Shakti, which results in a profound sense of love, joy, and unity with existence.
All of life’s experiences are manifestations of energy at one level or another. By viewing challenges as energy, you can learn to channel them in a constructive manner. To do this, you must practice allowing uncomfortable energies to flow instead of suppressing or resisting them. Through methods like mindfulness, meditation, and conscious self-reflection, you can release past energy blockages and stop creating new ones. Ultimately, this process leads to spiritual growth, inner peace, and the ability to live passionately and positively in the present moment.
Society is focused on setting external goals for career, relationships, and wealth, but this does not always lead to satisfaction. True well-being arises from working through internal disturbances rather than avoiding them through external compensation. This is achieved by letting go of past emotional blockages and being open to the richness of life’s experiences, both positive and challenging. Ultimately, this path leads to a deeper state of consciousness and liberation, fostering joy and harmony both within yourself and in your relationships with others.
Consciousness is the fundamental essence of your being, distinct from the physical and psychological objects it is conscious of. But your conscious awareness gets so distracted by external objects, thoughts, and emotions, that it becomes identified with them. This identification forms the ego, the false sense of “I.” The spiritual path involves letting go of distractions and false identifications in order to remain in the true “seat of self,” a state of pure awareness and joy. The ultimate realization is reconnecting with the source of consciousness, leading to unity with the divine and a life of peace and ecstasy.
Spiritual growth involves realizing that our lower self is the ego-driven construct that arises from past experiences, emotional reactions, and stored mental patterns. Most people live disconnected from their true self and are constantly entangled in their thoughts, emotions, and external perceptions. True spirituality is the realization that one’s higher self is the consciousness observing these transient experiences, not the experiences themselves. This leads to liberation from identification with the ego. The ultimate goal is to return to the seat of consciousness and achieve a state of peace, love, and unity while engaging with life as a fully conscious, nonreactive being.
There are two very different approaches to achieving a beautiful, love-filled life. The first is externally focused—seeking joy, love, and peace through outside circumstances, people, or actions. The second is inward, asking why these very natural states are blocked internally and taking responsibility for removing those blockages. Love and joy are inherent to everyone but are obscured by stored emotional pain, fears, and responses conditioned by past experiences. By letting go of these internal blockages and facing life’s challenges with openness rather than resistance, you can cultivate love and inner freedom as your unconditional state of being.
