What do you say when you tried atheism — genuinely tried it — and it just didn't hold? When the mystery of your own consciousness, the fact that humans...
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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.
The mind is not the brain but a subtler field of vibrations that consciousness becomes distracted by and clings to. It identifies with these mental and emotional impressions and creates a false self (ego) resulting in a life of inner conflict and misperceived reality. True liberation comes from witnessing these vibrations without resistance and allowing experiences to pass through, revealing the expansiveness of pure, undistracted Consciousness.
How do we move beyond fear and separation to experience our true divine nature—especially in times of collective upheaval and uncertainty?
This week, Tami Simon welcomes Paul Selig, a channeler, author, and teacher who has brought through 13 extraordinary books from non-physical guides he describes as teaching from “the upper room.” Born an atheist and trained at Yale, Paul experienced a spontaneous kundalini awakening in 1987 that left him clairvoyant and fundamentally changed his understanding of reality. Since then, he has served as what he calls a “spoken stenographer” for teachings on consciousness, awakening, and our capacity to align with the divine.
Join Tami and Paul to explore:
Paul’s dramatic awakening experience and emergence as a channel
What it feels like to receive and transmit channeled wisdom
The “upper room”—a vibrational state beyond fear and separation
How to recognize when we’re acting from fear versus divine knowing
The clearing process that accompanies spiritual awakening
Why this particular time calls for radical transformation of old structures
The powerful attunement: “I am in God, I am of God, I am with God”
How to maintain trust and openness when part of us still holds back
Practical ways to realign with source amidst chaos and uncertainty
If you’re navigating this time of collective change and seeking a deeper connection to your divine nature, this conversation offers both inspiration and practical guidance for claiming the upper room—that aspect of consciousness where we already dwell in union with all that is.
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.
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.
James Hollis is a licensed Jungian analyst and the author of many books on personal development and the search for meaning. His works include What Matters Most, Why Good People Do Bad Things, and Through the Dark Wood. With Sounds True, he has published Living an Examined Life: Wisdom for the Second Half of the Journey. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with James about what it means to “grow up” in a contemporary society that infantilizes its citizens. They talk about how to recognize the summons of our deep psyche and the steps we must take in order to answer it. James explains that the greatest obstacles to attaining spiritual maturity are fear and lethargy, and describes the inevitable periods of darkness that we will encounter along the way. Finally, James and Tami discuss why it’s important to our development that we choose meaning over happiness. (67 minutes)
Even when you’ve devoted yourself to spiritual work, it can be difficult to maintain mindful awareness. In this episode, Michael speaks on the difficulty of maintaining consciousness and equanimity when we seem hardwired to be hooked by outside stimuli.
Ari Weinzweig is the cofounder of Zingerman’s Community of Businesses, which includes Zingerman’s Deli and more than a dozen other food-based businesses in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He has also published a series of books detailing his unique philosophies on leadership and transformation, titled A Lapsed Anarchist’s Approach. With Sounds True, Ari is a featured presenter in the Inner MBA program. In this episode, Tami Simon speaks with Ari about his decision to forgo the franchise model and run his businesses from the heart—not unlike making art or writing poetry. They discuss the “visioning” process that Zingerman’s uses to grow in positive ways while staying true to their organizational roots. Ari also shares his personal recipe for transforming the beliefs that drive our behavior, both in business and in life.
Spiritual growth is not separate from daily life but an integral part of it. It is about recognizing the sacredness of every moment and maintaining a divine state regardless of life’s circumstances. Life’s challenges and discomforts serve as opportunities to grow and evolve. The ultimate goal is to free yourself from attachments, expectations, and self-imposed limitations and return to the natural state of Self-Realization. By letting go of mental and emotional constraints, you can effortlessly ascend to a higher state of being.
Most human suffering stems from being addicted to the mind and its narratives. The mind uses past experiences to shape expectations and to resist reality. You must shift from identifying with thoughts and ego to realizing yourself as pure consciousness—the observer behind all experiences. True spiritual freedom comes from embracing reality without resistance and allowing inspiration to flow through you. The mind, while a powerful tool, should serve the deeper self rather than dictating your life. Joy, wisdom, and clarity arise naturally when you stop trying to control life and instead accept and let go.
The Law of Attraction is real, but it operates at a much higher level than merely to fulfill your personal desires. Michael shares some personal anecdotes and spiritual insights, which highlight the interconnectedness of reality and the power of appreciation versus attraction. True fulfillment in life comes from transcending your ego-based desires rather than trying to manipulate circumstances to satisfy them. By rising above the personal and aligning with the universe’s natural flow, you can experience deeper awareness, energy, and unity with all creation.
The most fundamental decision you can make about life is either I can handle it or I can’t. Suffering stems from the inability to process life’s experiences, leading to avoidance, resistance, and the need for control. Instead of trying to manipulate external conditions to feel OK, true growth comes from learning to handle whatever arises. The key to spiritual development is to stop storing past negative experiences, welcome challenges, and develop the ability to accept and engage with life as it unfolds. Spirituality is not about getting what you want—it’s about reaching inner wholeness and having a positive impact on the world around you.
Yoga isn’t merely about physical postures or meditation techniques; it is the journey toward union with the true self. It introduces the concept of koshas—layers of human existence from the physical body to the blissful body. Consciousness gets entangled in the lower bodies of thoughts, emotions, and past experiences, which leads to suffering and distraction from our inherent joy. True spiritual growth is not about seeking something external but about letting go of these stored emotional and mental blockages. Ultimately, yoga is the process of transcending these layers and experiencing our natural state of bliss, love, and oneness with the universe.
In most cases, the quality of your life is not determined by external circumstances but by your own mental dialogue. Your awareness is trapped by thoughts, desires, and past experiences, which dictate your ability to enjoy life. The key to liberation is learning to let go of these mental preferences, rather than trying to manipulate external circumstances to satisfy the mind. Through awareness and conscious practice, you can learn to embrace life’s experiences and explore the higher states of your being.
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.
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.
At its core, right understanding means focusing on the difference between consciousness and the objects of consciousness—the one and the many. If we falsely identify with an object, we must deal with the inner energy generated by that identification. Resisting that energy causes stored impressions that shape our preferences, desires, and suffering. Permitting the energy to pass through allows us to accept reality as it unfolds and honor the pain, joy, and mystery of life as a vehicle for growth and liberation. This is the essence of self-realization and the path to enlightenment.
True spirituality is not about gaining or achieving, but about becoming empty—free from the personal mind, inner impressions, and resistance that cloud the flow of divine energy. As we let go of our attachments and become okay with reality as it is, Shakti (Spirit) naturally fills the inner space we create. In this emptiness, life unfolds through us without tension or anxiety, and we become instruments of healing, clarity, and peace.
The mind is a powerful tool that is crucial for both spiritual growth and living everyday life. However, when you are drowning in the chaos of your thoughts and emotions, there is the need for distance and objectivity. If you allow your mind to cling to the effect of disturbing past experiences, you will distort the reality happening now and perpetuate suffering. The solution lies in deep acceptance and openness to embracing life’s experiences as they come, without resistance or judgment.
The fundamental spiritual question is not “How do I be okay?” It is “Why am I not okay?” Our inner discomfort is not caused solely by external events but by what we have stored inside: past disturbances, fears, and self-concepts that continually distract us from our natural state of well-being. The ego, built from these stored impressions, causes us to demand that life always match our preferences, which it never can. Spiritual freedom comes from letting go of these inner blockages so our natural state of openness and joy can shine through.
Much of our inner suffering arises from the accumulation of unresolved emotional experiences stored within. By learning to release these blockages and letting life’s events pass through without resistance, you can reconnect with your natural energy flow, which fosters love, creativity, and harmony. By practicing self-awareness and nonjudgment, and using life’s challenges as opportunities for spiritual growth, you can rediscover your true nature and live in a state of inner freedom, compassion, and fulfillment.
What creates the inner disturbances that cause us to struggle? At the root, teaches Michael Singer, lie the polarities of desire and fear: the psyche’s need to hold on to what it likes and push away what it doesn’t. In this episode, Michael reveals how inner freedom arises not from struggling with these forces but by allowing their natural flow of coming and going to pass right through us.
Living in the present moment frees you from the burden of past experiences and anxieties about the future. Emotional and psychological blockages, formed by resistance to the past, will inevitably distort your mind’s view of reality and limit happiness. By practicing mindfulness, acceptance, and inner purification, you can learn to live in the present moment and embrace life’s challenges with enthusiasm and openness rather than fear and resistance.
Transcendence is the state of fully experiencing life while maintaining inner peace, regardless of circumstances. It is not detachment or avoidance of life but rather embracing all moments as they unfold without resistance or preference. This openness enables a state of joy and inner harmony, transforming preferences and fears into acceptance and love. Ultimately, transcendence aligns you with universal consciousness, allowing life to flow freely within and through you.
Why do people experience so many problems in life? If you look objectively, you will see that problems arise because we have deeply ingrained preferences about how life should unfold. These manifest as desires and fears that are rooted in our unresolved experiences from the past. True freedom and joy can only be achieved by letting go of this stored negativity and embracing life as it unfolds. Ultimately, fulfillment comes not from controlling external circumstances but from inner alignment and openness to life’s flow.
Acceptance and surrender are key spiritual principles that focus on embracing reality as it is and using it to let go of inner resistance and turmoil. Seen in this light, life’s challenges are not problems; they are opportunities for growth and spiritual evolution. For example, karma is not a punishment but a learning tool encouraging you to evolve consciously. By practicing acceptance and surrender, individuals can achieve clarity and respond to situations thoughtfully, which fosters great spiritual growth.
