What if the bravest thing you can do right now is refusing to close your heart? This week, Tami Simon speaks with Tara Brach—beloved meditation teacher, clinical...
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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.
Spirituality is not about what you do, but why you do it—and most of our actions stem from a place of inner discomfort, driven by clung-to past experiences. This inner resistance distorts our perception and leads us to believe we must manipulate life to feel okay. A much clearer state of being is realizing that we are divine consciousness experiencing God’s creation. The path to liberation is learning to relax and honor our experiences in life so we can act from a place of unconditional wellbeing, love, and inspiration.
True spirituality is not about getting what you want or fixing the outside world, but learning to be okay inside by letting go of preferences, stored pain, and inner resistance. Reality unfolds through universal causes, not personal desires, and suffering comes from pitting yourself against what is. Enlightenment comes from witnessing your inner experiences without suppression, honoring all emotions, and living in harmony with, and selflessly serving, whatever life presents to you.
What does enlightenment look like in Christian tradition? How do we cultivate the kind of presence that transforms ordinary moments into sacred encounters?
This week on Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon shares a rebroadcast of one of her most cherished interviews—a conversation recorded at Mount St. Benedict’s Monastery in Erie, Pennsylvania with Sister Joan Chittister, just before her 83rd birthday. Sister Joan is an American Benedictine nun, theologian, and author of more than 50 books who has spent over 40 years advocating for peace, human rights, women’s issues, and church renewal.
Join Tami and Sister Joan to explore:
The Christian path from contemplation to unity and “seeing the world through God’s eyes”
Sister Joan’s mystical experience of light as a teenager and how it shaped her entire spiritual life
The sacrament of the present moment and what true presence actually requires
Why opening your heart sometimes means closing it to certain things
How spiritual traditions are evolving and what religion offers in an increasingly secular age
The prayer Sister Joan repeats before every talk: accepting “whatsoever deaths thou shall choose to send me”
Why consciousness—not mindfulness techniques—is the foundation of contemplative living
This is a conversation about what a lifetime of monastic practice reveals, the electricity of divine presence, and how struggle itself becomes the crucible for transformation.
Want to go deeper? Listen to the complete seven-hour conversation in the audio series Catching Fire at soundstrue.com
Daniel Goleman is an internationally known psychologist, science journalist, and the author of the books Emotional Intelligence (over 5 million copies in print in 40 languages), Social Intelligence, and Ecological Intelligence. He is cofounder of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. With Sounds True, he is a faculty member of the Inner MBA nine-month immersion program. In this podcast, Sounds True founder Tami Simon speaks with Dan about the insights in his landmark book, Emotional Intelligence, and where we’ve come since its publication in 1995. They discuss the physiology and origin of emotions; the relationship between thought and emotion; constructive worry versus destructive worry; self-awareness and the practices that support it; temporary states versus abiding traits; the four domains of emotional intelligence; perseverance, drive, and high performance; cultivating unflappable equanimity; and more.
Saje Dyer is a writer and speaker and the author of Good-bye, Bumps!: Talking to What’s Bugging You. She was a featured speaker in the 2014 Game Changer Global Summit. She is also the daughter of the bestselling author and teacher Dr. Wayne Dyer. In this podcast, Sounds True founder Tami Simon speaks with Saje about her new book, The Knowing: 11 Lessons to Understand the Quiet Urges of Your Soul (coauthored with her sister, Serena Dyer Pisoni). Tami and Saje discuss her relationship with her “famous dad,” the lessons she learned growing up in the Dyer family, signs that Wayne knew his time on earth was coming to an end, and Saje’s deep sense of the many ways her dad is still here with her.
In every social interaction, we convey signals of trust and accessibility to those around us. In other words, whatever’s happening within your nervous system is seen and felt by others. Dr. Stephen Porges’s groundbreaking Polyvagal Theory has led to a revolution in mental health, showing us that when you bring conscious awareness to your own inner state, you can choose to self-regulate (and ultimately to co-regulate), stop the cycle of fight-flight-freeze, and become a source of empathic connection and mutual safety for yourself and the people in your life.
Join Tami Simon in conversation with Dr. Porges and Karen Onderko, coauthors of the new book Safe and Sound to learn about: the origins of Polyvagal Theory; the minimization of bodily feelings and emotions in mental health care; the evolutionary hierarchy of our brainstem’s survival mechanisms; the concept of co-regulation; the neurobiology of trust; neuroception and the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP); why the intonation qualities of vocalization are more powerful than the words we say; the amazing vagus nerve; applying the SSP for trauma healing; self-compassion and honoring the body’s wisdom; the transformative potential of a felt moment of safety; how to remain open and accessible without becoming overwhelmed by vulnerability; breathwork, qigong, and other neural exercises that facilitate the social engagement system; 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 and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.
Your life is the fleeting moments between your birth and death. During this time, true fulfillment does not come from external achievements but from an internal state of unconditional joy and love. Because we condition our happiness on outside circumstances, it often leads to suffering, attachment, and endless striving for some satisfaction. By letting go of stored past disturbances that have blocked your natural well-being, you can unlock a state of unconditional happiness and appreciate each moment as it unfolds.
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.
Spirituality is about recognizing that you are a conscious being, separate from your thoughts, emotions, and external experiences. You suffer because you identify with the past experiences that have molded your preferences and desires. True spiritual awakening occurs when your consciousness ceases to be distracted by the ego, permitting thoughts and emotions to pass through without clinging to them. This allows the shift inward to the infinite consciousness that lies beyond personal identity.
Seeking external solutions to make up for internal issues leads to endless struggles and suffering. But going beyond the limitations of past experiences and attachments leads to inner transformation and spiritual evolution. By releasing attachments and emotional blockages, you can experience a profound state of love, joy, and freedom. Always remember, true fulfillment is not found in external circumstances but in awakening to your higher consciousness.
Life’s events are not personal; they are shaped by the force of cause and effect. Countless past causes are resulting in the moments that are unfolding in front of you. You take it personally because you are looking at life through the limited veil of your ego-mind. The personal mind was formed from the past experiences that made the strongest impressions on you. This distorts your perception of reality to your own limited frame of reference, creating unnecessary fear, anxiety, and suffering. By recognizing this truth, you can transcend your self-concept and align with the broader universe, unlocking profound love, peace, and self-awareness.
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.
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.
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.
True spirituality is not about getting what you want or fixing the outside world, but learning to be okay inside by letting go of preferences, stored pain, and inner resistance. Reality unfolds through universal causes, not personal desires, and suffering comes from pitting yourself against what is. Enlightenment comes from witnessing your inner experiences without suppression, honoring all emotions, and living in harmony with, and selflessly serving, whatever life presents to you.
Life’s events are not personal; they are shaped by the force of cause and effect. Countless past causes are resulting in the moments that are unfolding in front of you. You take it personally because you are looking at life through the limited veil of your ego-mind. The personal mind was formed from the past experiences that made the strongest impressions on you. This distorts your perception of reality to your own limited frame of reference, creating unnecessary fear, anxiety, and suffering. By recognizing this truth, you can transcend your self-concept and align with the broader universe, unlocking profound love, peace, and self-awareness.
The mind is constantly trying to solve disturbances that originate in the heart, but the mind cannot truly resolve them. These disturbances come from stored emotional impressions that must be released through awareness, relaxation, and non-resistance. Spiritual growth occurs by working at the level of the heart—allowing energy to rise, be processed, and ultimately transformed into higher states of consciousness.
There is a line—below this line you are being pulled down into your psyche and above it you are pulled up into the source of Self. You generally live below this line and identify with your thoughts and emotions. This leads to suffering and an ego-driven existence. True awakening comes from recognizing that you are not your body, thoughts, or past experiences but the consciousness that is aware of them. By letting go of ego-based attachments and conditioned responses, you can transcend suffering and experience inner peace, love, and true spiritual awakening.
Life’s events are not personal; they are shaped by the force of cause and effect. Countless past causes are resulting in the moments that are unfolding in front of you. You take it personally because you are looking at life through the limited veil of your ego-mind. The personal mind was formed from the past experiences that made the strongest impressions on you. This distorts your perception of reality to your own limited frame of reference, creating unnecessary fear, anxiety, and suffering. By recognizing this truth, you can transcend your self-concept and align with the broader universe, unlocking profound love, peace, and self-awareness.
Seeking external solutions to make up for internal issues leads to endless struggles and suffering. But going beyond the limitations of past experiences and attachments leads to inner transformation and spiritual evolution. By releasing attachments and emotional blockages, you can experience a profound state of love, joy, and freedom. Always remember, true fulfillment is not found in external circumstances but in awakening to your higher consciousness.
Spirituality is about recognizing that you are a conscious being, separate from your thoughts, emotions, and external experiences. You suffer because you identify with the past experiences that have molded your preferences and desires. True spiritual awakening occurs when your consciousness ceases to be distracted by the ego, permitting thoughts and emotions to pass through without clinging to them. This allows the shift inward to the infinite consciousness that lies beyond personal identity.
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.
Your life is the fleeting moments between your birth and death. During this time, true fulfillment does not come from external achievements but from an internal state of unconditional joy and love. Because we condition our happiness on outside circumstances, it often leads to suffering, attachment, and endless striving for some satisfaction. By letting go of stored past disturbances that have blocked your natural well-being, you can unlock a state of unconditional happiness and appreciate each moment as it unfolds.
Psychology focuses on understanding and managing the mind’s learned patterns, emotional struggles, and conditioned behaviors. Spirituality is about transcending these mental and emotional constructs to center on the consciousness which is aware of them. From this seat of witness consciousness, you can actually watch the mind create a false concept of self that is based on your past experiences. This false self leads to suffering unless the world matches how you think it should be. True spirituality involves realizing yourself as the conscious observer and learning to embrace life’s experiences as a gift from Creation. You can learn to free yourself from suffering and achieve a state of peace, love, and self-realization.
