Love is an inner energy that flows naturally when the heart is open, but people block it by holding onto past pain and resisting reality. The external world does...
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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.
Join the New York Times bestselling author of The Untethered Soul, The Surrender Experiment, and Living Untethered for this free series of curated teaching sessions, recorded at his Temple of the Universe yoga and meditation center.
Success, money, relationships, or reputation cannot be the sole meaning of life—because all these can come and go, especially at death. People walk through life trying to be conditionally okay by making it match their preferences and protect their ego. The real meaning of life is self-realization through evolution—learning to handle reality as it unfolds rather than resisting it. Every one of life’s experiences—pleasant or painful—is calling on us to expand our boundaries. Growth comes not from controlling life but from increasing one’s capacity to handle it with awareness, honesty, and openness.
Something shifts when you encounter Robin Wall Kimmerer’s work. The food in your bowl starts to look different. The tree at the corner of your block becomes something more than scenery. The world, quite suddenly, feels alive with relationship.
This is how her writing impacted Tami, and this week Tami and Robin—botanist, MacArthur Fellow, National Humanities Medal recipient, enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, and author of the beloved Braiding Sweetgrass—talk about what it means to move through the world not as a consumer of natural resources, but as a participant in a web of living gifts.
Join Tami and Robin to explore:
Why Robin calls this moment in history “the Age of Remembering”—and what humanity is being called to reclaim
The profound difference between a commodity and a gift, and how that shift in perception changes everything
Brain chauvinism—why we’ve dismissed the intelligence of plants, rocks, and the more-than-human world, and what science is now revealing
The landmark sweetgrass experiment that proved humans can be partners to plants, not just threats
How to practice reciprocity with the earth, from small daily acts to systemic advocacy
Plant Baby Plant—Robin’s new movement offering a counter-narrative to extraction culture
How to hold grief, outrage, and love for the living world simultaneously—without surrendering to despair
In a time when the relationship between humans and the earth feels broken, Robin Wall Kimmerer offers something rare: a vision of healing rooted in science, indigenous wisdom, and the simple, radical act of giving your gifts back to the world.
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.
Spiritual growth is about removing the inner blockages that prevent us from experiencing the joy, love, and spiritual energy that are always present. The problem is that the mind becomes disturbed because it accumulates stored impressions—samskaras—from past experiences that were never fully processed. These impressions shape our preferences, fears, desires, and judgments, causing us to react to life through the lens of our past. Suffering arises when we expect the outside world to conform to our internal preferences. It naturally dissolves when we let go of these blockages, allowing clarity, peace, and spiritual awakening to flourish.
The natural world has provided inspiration to poets, artists, and creatives of every ilk. And that includes inventors and innovators like Dr. Jeff Karp. In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with the renowned biomedical engineer and founder of The Karp Lab about his new book, LIT (Life Ignition Tools): Use Nature’s Playbook to Energize Your Brain, Spark Ideas, and Ignite Action, and how you yourself can turn to the natural world as an ally for problem-solving, unexpected insight, and profound transformation on a daily basis.
Enjoy this incredibly inspiring conversation exploring: The work of the “bioinspirationalist”; how sandcastle worms inspired a new approach to vascular reconstruction in humans; the LIT state and how we can open ourselves up to limitless possibilities in any situation; the pendulum swing between “dull moments” and the times we are totally lit up; the life force within everything; the importance of changing up our routines; LEB (low energy brain); the “press pause” tool of LIT; working with intention; elevating your baseline feeling of wellness and fulfillment; viewing the world through the lens of energy transfer; how we are all contributing to evolution; the practice of cycling through your senses; appreciating our interconnectedness; creating space; aligning your thoughts and actions with your core values; turning negatives into positives; finding rituals and practices to enter into the LIT state; mining the treasures of neurodiversity; and more.
Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.
When it comes to building the Great Turning, it’s natural to have questions: What is my individual role in it all? How do we win? Who do we fight? While Jess wrestles with her desire for a “prescription” of what to do, Joanna invites us to “live the questions” instead. In this episode, we learn about the three dimensions of the Great Turning and the way forward: community, relationship, and solidarity.
In this episode:
There are no perfect road maps, but if we come together in courage and community, the way will emerge
The climate crisis is not just an environmental issue but a spiritual crisis of disconnection
We recommend starting a podcast club with friends or family to do these practices together. Links and assets to help prompt reflection and build community can be found with every episode on WeAreTheGreatTurning.com.
The world’s great wisdom traditions all speak on the value of surrender. In this episode, Michael discusses what it takes to grow beyond spiritual resistance.
Shakti is conscious energy, the essence of the universe, and true spirituality is about realizing oneself as awareness beyond the personal mind and emotions. Thoughts and emotions are merely vibrations shaped by past impressions, and liberation comes through letting go and refusing to be pulled down into them. By staying open and centered, Shakti naturally pulls one upward into higher states of clarity, love, and wisdom—and ultimately into merger with God-consciousness.
Spiritual freedom is not freedom for yourself, but freedom from yourself. As you gradually cease to strive to get what you want and avoid what you don’t want, life transforms into a harmonious unfolding of the Tao, where peace and joy arise naturally from being in alignment with reality. As you cease to be bound by the personal, —you come to realize the true beauty of who you really are.
The root of all human suffering is ego—defined as our personal preferences, desires, and resistance to reality. Consciousness—our true self—is inherently divine, ever-present, and unchanging. It gets pulled down into lower vibrations by mental and emotional attachments to past experiences. The path to liberation involves recognizing the futility of resisting what has already happened and the importance of releasing our stored blockages. Over time, this allows us to enter a state of joy, peace, and harmony with the universe.
The spiritual journey explores the fundamental question of identity—not who you think you are, but who you truly are: consciousness itself. Ego, the false concept of self, is created when the mind clings to certain events and forms rigid preferences, desires, and identities around them. True freedom lies in ceasing to store these inner impressions and letting the energy of Shakti rise unimpeded into a state of unconditional joy and well-being.
True spirituality isn’t about mystical experiences or lofty ideals—it’s about honestly facing and working with the reality of your inner world. The journey begins by realizing you’ve been reacting, resisting, and clinging to disturbing experiences, and then defining an ego that struggles to be relatively okay inside. Real growth begins when you start letting go of internal disturbances instead of learning to live with them. Through surrender, acceptance, and inner relaxation, you can rediscover your natural state of unconditional love and well-being. This is the real spiritual path—practical, grounded, and available to anyone willing to do the inner work.
Doing the best you can every moment with what’s in front of you is the entire path to liberation. Outcomes don’t define you; the inner growth you earn by showing up wholeheartedly does. Life is your teacher; just do your very best and what comes back are your lessons, not your punishments or rewards. Let go of goal-orientation and approval-seeking. Keep welcoming life’s experiences, and you’ll trade neurosis and control for openness, energy, and joy.
True spirituality is about aligning with reality—what is actually happening—rather than resisting or clinging to what the mind likes or dislikes. By storing emotionally charged impressions of past experiences (samskaras), we create inner resistance, which becomes the root of suffering and distraction from our divine nature. The path to liberation lies in relaxing instead of resisting, allowing all of life to pass through without suppression, thereby purifying the inner being and becoming a force for peace in the world.
This spiritual teaching uses the metaphor of ego-consciousness as an upside-down glass submerged in the ocean. The water (consciousness) within the glass is really the same as all the water outside the glass, but it sees itself as separate because it is looking through the barrier of the glass. This causes one to identify with a small, isolated sense of self instead of the infinite ocean of being. Ultimately, you are invited to stop identifying with the contents inside the “glass” and instead realize you are, and have always been—the ocean itself.
Consciousness is eternal, infinite, and the fundamental essence of life. You become lost by focusing your awareness on your thoughts, emotions, and outside experiences. This distracts you from your true nature. In the end, true spirituality lies in recognizing that you are not the sum of your experiences; you are the indwelling consciousness that had the experiences. By letting go of the false identification with your ego, you can reconnect with the universal consciousness and experience true freedom.
True spiritual growth comes from ceasing to constantly focus on yourself—I, me, and mine. Instead of getting caught up in personal likes and dislikes, you can learn to serve the moment in front of you with your full heart and soul, without expecting anything in return. To do this, you must gradually become comfortable with both positive and negative experiences by letting go of inner resistance. Understand that spiritual practice is not about seeking rewards, but about deep surrender to the present moment and serving that moment as your gift to God.
Spirituality is not about blind faith but about our deep understanding of the truth: suffering arises because we resist or cling to specific experiences and then struggle to avoid them or make them happen again. Our personal preferences are shaped by past events that could have unfolded differently, and liberation comes from recognizing this and ceasing to cling to past impressions. As we release these inner blockages, Shakti flows freely, revealing our true nature as divine consciousness, untouched by circumstance.
In this talk, Michael explains that the mind need not be an obstacle to spiritual growth but can actually be a great tool when used properly. This involves realizing you are not your thoughts, any of your thoughts—rather, you are the awareness observing them. By remaining centered in this awareness, free from the pull of personal thoughts and emotions, one can experience great states of natural joy, love, and divinity.
The most basic function of mind is to receive messages from the senses so the indwelling consciousness can experience the outer world. Suffering begins when consciousness fixates on certain experiences and refuses to let them pass. These fixations become stored impressions that form the ego mind, distorting the perception of reality. Liberation comes not from controlling life to match the ego, but from letting go of identification with the personal mind so experiences pass through freely and actions arise from clarity and compassion instead of ego.
The mind, like the ocean, can be calm or disturbed, but the same consciousness is observing both states. Rather than trying to fix or overreact to a disturbed mind, one can learn to step back and observe the disturbance without feeding it. Ultimately, ceasing to thrash around in the disturbed mind allows the mental energies to settle down naturally. This process of letting go of the impulse to struggle leads to greater inner peace and spiritual growth over time.
Your psyche becomes fragmented because of suppressed emotions and unintegrated past experiences. These suppressed energies block the natural upward flow of Shakti, which leads to psychological suffering and confusion. Trying to fix internal issues by changing the outside world only results in temporary relief and greater entanglement. True spiritual growth comes from releasing the suppressed parts of yourself, practicing non-resistance, and refusing to store more disturbances. By doing this, you become whole, integrated, and attuned to the divine energy within, realizing you were always a great being all along.
The mind becomes disturbed due to unfinished emotional energies from past experiences, which lead to fixation, worry, and suffering. There are three possible ways to deal with these energies: suppression, expression, and transmutation. The path of transmutation involves consciously relaxing whenever the energies come up, allowing them to pass through instead of resisting them. When allowed to pass freely, the vibration of the energies can rise and fear can become peace, anger can become compassion, and judging others can become love.
The steps on the stairway to heaven are not paved with temporary highs or fleeting inspirational experiences. True spirituality begins with self-honesty about your fears, insecurities, and the mental and emotional patterns that dominate your daily life. The path to liberation involves relaxing, releasing, and staying seated in witness consciousness as you pass through your daily challenges. God’s creation is not here to be complained about but to be honored for the deep inner growth your life provides you. The strength to relax in the face of inner disturbance and to act from one’s deepest truth is what raises you step by step toward the divine.
The mind’s noise is not the real issue—it is simply the surface ripples created by the fears suppressed in the heart. Your spiritual path is to relax, let go, and repeatedly dive inward past the mind into the heart, where the buried fears can finally be released. This ultimately leads to the constant upward flow of Shakti merging you into unconditional love and liberation.
