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.
People suffer because they try to control the outside world to fix the disturbances they carry inside. Fear and desire are natural emotions, but when we resist or cling to them and project them into the future, they distort perception and drive poor decisions. True wisdom comes from letting experiences pass through without leaving lasting impressions, allowing decisions to arise from clarity rather than from fear or desire.
What if the secret to better writing isn’t more technique—but more truth?
This week, Tami Simon speaks with Anne Lamott—beloved author of Bird by Bird, Traveling Mercies, and more than twenty books—and her husband Neal Allen, writer and spiritual coach, about their new collaborative book, Good Writing: 36 Ways to Improve Your Sentences. Together, they unpack the craft of writing as both a technical discipline and a deeply human practice.
Join Tami, Anne, and Neal to explore:
The three-draft process: from the “child’s draft” to the “dental draft”—and where the real work of writing begins
How to find your natural writing voice and stop trying to sing someone else’s song
Writing as melody, rhythm, and harmony—and what the Beatles can teach us about our own creative strengths
Why the rules of good writing are really about respect: for the reader, for truth, and for your own story
The power of writing “toward the really real”—and why plain-spoken, heart-centered writing connects more deeply than literary pyrotechnics
Rule 33: writing the hard stuff—life, death, mystery, and the things that are difficult to say but essential to try
Why writing is collaborative, not solitary—and how talented editors and trusted readers can save your work (and your skin)
Whether you’re a lifelong writer or someone who has always wanted to tell your story, Anne and Neal offer practical tools and generous encouragement to help you get your words on the page—and make them matter.
Listen now and start writing toward the really (really) real.
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.
Consciousness is the experiencer of all things, and spiritual growth means realizing you are that consciousness, not what you are conscious of. When our awareness is consistently distracted by objects, be they outside or in, we begin to identify with them, which creates lasting inner impressions. From these, we form the ego with its constant attempts to control life. Liberation comes through inwardly relaxing, letting go, and remaining in witness consciousness, allowing stored disturbances to dissolve and restoring us to the natural state of freedom and oneness.
The natural state of the mind is like calm, still water, teaches Michael Singer. The practice of spiritual surrender—to “relax and release” our resistance to whatever arises in our experience—is the pathway to enjoying serenity of mind no matter what the universe throws your way. In this podcast, Michael Singer uses the analogy of an aquatic bird maintaining its balance on rough water to illustrate what to do and what not to do if we want to stay poised and upright when life gets turbulent.
john a. powell is the director of the Othering & Belonging Institute and a professor of law, African American studies, and ethnic studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He previously directed the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at the Ohio State University, and the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota. He is also the author of Racing to Justice: Transforming Our Conceptions of Self and Other to Build an Inclusive Society. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with john about how to create a culture of deep belonging. They discuss what it takes to become “belonging activists,” a process that begins with empathetic and compassionate listening. john also explores the large and small ways othering occurs in our society. Finally, Tami and john talk about the spiritual lessons we can learn from suffering.
Sister Joan Chittister is an American theologian, Benedictine nun, and the author of more than 50 books. For over 40 years, she has passionately advocated on behalf of peace, human rights, women’s issues, and church renewal. This week’s podcast shares with you an excerpt from Sister Joan’s audio program, Catching Fire: Being Transformed, Becoming Transforming, a seven-hour conversation with Tami Simon intended to spark the fire of the divine within each one of us.
Spirituality is inner evolution—adaptability to reality instead of struggling with the outside world because you can’t handle it. Begin by relaxing and releasing inner resistance the moment it comes up, rather than storing life’s events as past negative impressions. This will gradually harmonize your inner energy flow with the unfolding of life. Willful action, when needed, will come from a state of inner clarity, and over time, this elevated state will become a permanent state of being rather than a passing experience.
The essence of spiritual growth is learning to work directly with your inner energy rather than trying to affect it indirectly by controlling outer circumstances. When the outer world does not meet your preferences, your inner energy gets disturbed, and you either try to suppress it (which creates blockages) or reactively express it (which can cause its own problems). Instead, by relaxing in the face of the disturbed energy, welcoming it, and allowing it to rise and purify—the energy can be transmuted into spiritual growth. Practiced steadily in everyday life, this returns you to the seat of the Self, where joy is natural because the energy flow is unblocked.
The purpose of life is to release the inner blockages (samskaras) that obscure the natural flow of energy and keep us trapped in patterns of fear, desire, and resistance. External events are not punishments but opportunities to see and let go of what is stored within, transforming suffering into growth. Liberation comes through non-resistance, relaxation, and surrender—using every moment of life as a chance to purify and return to the wholeness of the Self.
All of life is Shakti, the universal conscious energy that vibrates at different rates to manifest as physical form, thoughts, emotions, and the flow of spiritual energy. Our suffering arises when we resist life’s experiences and block this flow, storing disturbances that shape the personal mind and distort our lives. Freedom comes when we stop pushing experiences down, let old disturbances rise and pass, and learn to relax in the face of life so that the inner flow of shakti can carry us back to our natural state of joy, openness, and oneness with God.
The deep spiritual teachings emphasize that the real problem is not the mind itself but our attachment to it and the impressions we’ve stored inside that distort our experience of life. We mistakenly look outward for solutions to this problem, when the real work is to release the inner disturbances that block the natural flow of energy and cause suffering. Spiritual liberation is found by turning inward, observing the mind, letting go of stored pain, and returning to the joyful, transcendent nature of consciousness itself.
The essence of spirituality is directly experiencing awareness itself. Your thoughts, emotions, body, and external objects are simply things you are aware of. They are not aware of you—you are aware of them. Spiritual growth is learning to remain centered in that awareness, letting experiences pass without clinging or resisting. This allows you to handle reality as it is, instead of as a reaction to your past, and leads to a life filled with love and inspiration.
Spiritual growth involves recognizing and releasing the ego, which is a construct of accumulated experiences and unresolved emotions. True liberation comes from allowing life’s events and emotions to flow through without resistance, enabling one to reconnect with pure, universal consciousness. By shedding the ego and embracing this state, individuals can experience a profound sense of unity and peace.
A spiritual person recognizes that they are not their thoughts, but the awareness observing the thoughts. While the impersonal mind is a powerful tool for intellectual and creative tasks, the ego mind is merely a mental construct that constantly seeks validation and control. By practicing witness consciousness and letting go of the ego, one can transcend mental noise and experience inner peace and spiritual fulfillment.
We misperceive life and spirituality by fixating on tiny fleeting experiences and projecting personal meaning onto them. We build our entire self-concept and emotional world out of a narrow slice of reality that we selectively store in the mind—what we liked, disliked, feared, or attached to—while ignoring the vastness of the universe unfolding all around us. True spiritual growth lies in learning to accept, honor, and handle reality as it is, with openness and reverence. By releasing our fixation on our own mind, we can awaken into joy, love, and freedom, becoming examples of great light that can uplift the world through our presence.
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.
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.
Liberation comes not through meditation alone but by ceasing to be distracted by the personal mind. Distractions have their root in resisted past experiences that form the basis for your preferences and desires. They end up causing great suffering and pull consciousness away from its natural, divine seat. The key to spiritual freedom lies in allowing reality to unfold without resistance and practicing letting go on a daily basis. This practice helps dissolve the ego and reveals the true self—a permanent state of peace, love, and service to others.
Consciousness is the experiencer of all things, and spiritual growth means realizing you are that consciousness, not what you are conscious of. When our awareness is consistently distracted by objects, be they outside or in, we begin to identify with them, which creates lasting inner impressions. From these, we form the ego with its constant attempts to control life. Liberation comes through inwardly relaxing, letting go, and remaining in witness consciousness, allowing stored disturbances to dissolve and restoring us to the natural state of freedom and oneness.
People suffer because they try to control the outside world to fix the disturbances they carry inside. Fear and desire are natural emotions, but when we resist or cling to them and project them into the future, they distort perception and drive poor decisions. True wisdom comes from letting experiences pass through without leaving lasting impressions, allowing decisions to arise from clarity rather than from fear or desire.
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.
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.
In its natural state, the heart contains a constant flow of love, but ego-based preferences, judgments, and fears block that flow and cause the heart to open and close conditionally. Spiritual growth comes from observing these inner reactions, relaxing instead of resisting them, and allowing stored emotional impressions from the past to release. Through consistent awareness and practice, the heart becomes increasingly open, allowing unconditional love and inner energy to flow freely.
The essence of a spiritual life is to do the absolute best you can in each moment and renounce attachment to the results. This is the core teaching of the Bhagavad Gita. When actions are motivated by the desire to gain something or avoid loss, the ego creates anxiety, disappointment, and endless striving. True fulfillment comes from giving your whole being to the moment as an act of service to the Universe, allowing growth, freedom, and inner expansion to arise naturally.
