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.
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.
[UPDATED EPISODE] Please note, this episode was originally released with a teaching from another recording. If you would like to ensure you’ve heard “E145: From Personal Preference to Universal Harmony,” please delete any existing downloads of this episode and re-download. We apologize for any inconvenience.
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 if the challenges we face—both personal and collective—are signs of humanity crawling up the reed, preparing for a metamorphosis as dramatic as a dragonfly’s transformation?
This week on Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Richard Rudd—a teacher, mystic, award-winning poet, and founder of the Gene Keys. Richard shares the story of his remarkable three-day awakening at age 29, when he experienced what he now understands as glimpses through “the future human”—a state of pure light, intelligence, and complete absence of fear. This experience led him to develop the Gene Keys, a synthesis of ancient wisdom traditions with modern understanding that helps people transform shadow patterns into creative gifts.
Join Tami and Richard to explore:
Richard’s extraordinary awakening and memories of both past and future consciousness
The dragonfly as an allegory for humanity’s evolutionary metamorphosis
Why 2026-2027 may mark a critical turning point—”the year of the closing door”
The Gene Keys system: transforming 64 shadow patterns into gifts and divine attributes
The art of contemplation as gentle, patient transformation
Why fear increases as old paradigms decline—and what’s emerging beneath the surface
Strange attractors and signs that systems are preparing for quantum leaps • Heart intelligence versus AI and the resistance of remembering what’s real
How doubt, corruption, conflict, and other shadows contain hidden gifts of inquiry, equilibrium, and peace
If you’re sensing both the collapse of old structures and the emergence of something new, this conversation offers poetic wisdom for navigating the threshold between worlds.
Listen now to discover the contemplative path through transformation.
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.
Have you ever pushed a thought aside or stuffed an emotion away deep inside? Most of us have! Michael Singer teaches that this is an act of will stemming from a simple intention: to feel better. In this podcast, he discusses the incredible power of our human will and how we use it, (for better or worse) in this deep exploration of intention and the pathway to self-realization and spiritual freedom.
Kimberly Ann Johnson is a sexological bodyworker, Somatic Experiencing® practitioner, yoga teacher, postpartum advocate, and single mom. She helps women heal from birth injuries, gynecological surgeries, and sexual boundary violations. She is the author of the book Call of the Wild: How We Heal Trauma, Awaken Our Own Power, and Use It for Good, as well as the early-mothering classic The Fourth Trimester.
Kimberly Ann Johnson joins Sounds True founder Tami Simon to speak about her new audio learning program, Reclaiming the Feminine: Embodied Sexuality as Spiritual Practice—and the journey many of us need to make to work through shame, heal from patriarchal oppression, and begin to prioritize ourselves and our need for pleasure. Kimberly and Tami discuss the code of ethics of the sexological bodyworker; the shroud of shame that surrounds sexuality in many cultures, and the vital task of “unshaming” work; dealing with the pressure to “want to want to have more sex”; determining and expressing your genuine wants and needs; the concept of feminist sex; the social nervous system—the first branch of determining safety and how we relate with others; building your arousal capacity; “jaguar work” and healthy aggression; a self-care lovingkindness practice; and much more.
Elizabeth Stanley is a Georgetown University professor and the creator of Mindfulness-based Mind Fitness Training (MMFT)®, an approach taught to thousands in civilian and military high stress environments. A U.S. Army veteran with service in Asia and Europe, she holds degrees from Yale, Harvard, and MIT. She is the author of the book, Widen the Window: Training Your Brain and Body to Thrive During Stress and Recover from Trauma. In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with Elizabeth Stanley about her 8-session online course, Mindfulness-Based Mind Fitness Training: A Trauma-Sensitive Online Course to Build Resilience and Thrive During Stress. They also discuss why MMFT is a practice we can all benefit from; the value of expanding our “window of tolerance”; the relationship between personal agency and trauma; the “thinking” brain versus the “survival” brain; when stress becomes trauma; the importance of recovery from stressful situations; and more.
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.
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.
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.
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.
True understanding of consciousness comes not through philosophical thinking or external experimentation but from the direct experience of Self. When awareness is no longer distracted by thoughts, emotions, and sensory inputs, you can remain in the seat of objective observation and directly experience the true nature of consciousness. Ancient yogis achieved this state through practices that quieted the mind and withdrew attention from external distractions. This led to a profound merger with the universal source of consciousness. True spiritual evolution involves turning inward to explore consciousness directly.
We live on an extraordinarily amazing planet compared to any others we have seen. Yet, despite this, we are prone to complaining on a daily basis. Personal dissatisfaction arises from judging and resisting reality and suppressing past emotional pain. This creates the buildup of lifelong inner blockages that cause even more suffering and dissatisfaction. By releasing these blockages and transcending the limitations of the personal mind, we can achieve spiritual growth and experience true contentment and joy.
While some physical suffering is unavoidable, most psychological suffering is self-created. We do this through resisting reality and clinging to preferences, attachments, and past experiences. By learning to let go of these stored emotional responses and fully accepting each moment without judgment, you can overcome this inner suffering. Embracing the present with openness allows for a life rich in genuine experiences filled with love and deep compassion for yourself and others.
People shape their aspirations based on their past experiences, clinging to what they liked and resisting what they disliked. This leads to a life filled with anxiety and the need to control. You can break free from this cycle by letting go of blockages from the past and engaging with life as it unfolds. To help you do this, your experiences in life can be wonderful teachers. Ultimately, they teach you that the pursuit of external acceptance and material success pales in comparison to inner peace and self-discovery. There is something very beautiful hiding inside of you—go find it.
Life is extraordinarily simple: we are conscious beings living on a tiny planet spinning through vast empty space for a very short period of time. We did not create our bodies nor the rest of nature that surrounds us, yet we try to own and manipulate them, believing our happiness depends on controlling life. But true happiness comes from learning to handle reality, then working with it to create something beautiful. This involves practicing openness, letting go of past blockages, and refusing to build a self-concept out of personal likes and dislikes. By doing so, we rediscover our natural shakti flow and evolve into beings who can live with love and freedom instead of suffering.
Suffering arises because we try to make reality match our conditioned preferences, which are based on past experiences stored in the mind and heart. By identifying with these inner patterns, we become reactive, disturbed, and unable to find lasting peace. Liberation comes from stepping back into the seat of awareness, handling reality without resistance, and consistently letting go of stored impressions so they no longer control our lives.
The mind is not inherently a problem—it becomes one when used to narrowly define reality based on our extremely limited personal experiences. This limited frame of reference leads to suffering, judgment, and a compulsive need to control life to match our preferences. Spiritual freedom comes from recognizing the vastness of existence, surrendering the egoic mind, and appreciating the miraculous nature of reality as it is.
Life’s deepest purpose is not to get what you want or avoid what you don’t want, but to use every moment between birth and death to evolve spiritually. By being open to life’s challenges, instead of resisting and storing them as blockages within you, your entire life can be a fantastic journey to liberation. True spiritual evolution comes from using life as a school for growth, facing each moment without resistance, and ultimately merging individual consciousness with its source—Eternal Conscious Ecstasy.
Pain is a physical sensation, while suffering is a psychological struggle created by resisting reality and holding onto past experiences. By learning to relax and allow emotions to pass through without attachment, you can reduce suffering and open yourself to joy and inner peace. True freedom comes from learning to let go of preferences and expectations and embracing life as it unfolds rather than always resisting it. Learning to first accept reality and then working to raise it leads to a state of inner peace, fulfillment, and Self-Realization.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
