20 DEC 2022 · The East Indian sage Ramana Maharshi was once asked, “How should we treat others?” He replied, “There are no others.” From the perspective of the sage, the universe is one being. It is for similar reasons that the values of respect, kinship, and love are inseparable in aboriginal culture, as are gratitude, humility, and sacred obligations to original instructions rooted in traditional stories (the Lore). Join us as we share traditional aboriginal stories and wisdom of how to practice respect, kinship, love, and more, from the authors of The Dreaming Path: Indigenous Thinking to Change Your Life.

20 SEP 2022 · Native Americans in professional healing professions may creatively incorporate Native ways in their work, but the path is not easy. The same is true for those coming from a Western background that realize there is something lacking in modern medicine and are attracted to Native ways of healing. Western and Native approaches to healing may seem incompatible—linear-mechanical, biological or genetic causes versus interdependent, community and natural world imbalances—but there is a way to integrate them, to see and walk in two worlds. Not easily and not without pushback perhaps, but there is a way. Our two guests, one Native, one non-Native, have both been powerfully influenced and transformed by Indigenous wisdom and also other ways of knowing and have done the work to integrate and implement a more holistic vision of medicine. Join us as we explore how to integrate healing traditions on the next Circle for Original Thinking podcast.

21 APR 2022 · EPISODE Part 2: The renowned physicist and philosopher David Bohm once said, “The great strength of science is that it is rooted in actual experience. The great weakness of contemporary science is that it admits only certain types of experience as legitimate.” Life after death, or the survival of post-mortem consciousness, is one of the areas modern science has tended to shun despite the fact that there is a mountain of evidence that supports it. The volume of evidence is indisputable, from over 1700 solved reincarnation cases, plus countless other examples of out of body experiences, messages received in dreams, and much more, including so-called near death experiences (which are often after clinical death has been noted). The evidence is there, so the question becomes: “Why do we not believe it? “ Is it because it upends our current paradigm based on the notion of a fundamentally material universe and consciousness being an epiphenomenon of matter? Or is it because our understanding of time, space, and consciousness is too limited? Our two guests think it is both – and fortunately, Jeffrey Mishlove and Leo Ruickbie, are willing, and able, to stretch the scientific paradigm to a broader vision. Mishlove and Ruickbie are the newly awarded Grand Prize and 3rd place winner of the Robert Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies essay contest that asked for hard evidence beyond a reasonable doubt for the existence of the afterlife. Join us as they share some of that evidence with you today, and more, as we explore a new science of life after death.

15 APR 2022 · The renowned physicist and philosopher David Bohm once said, “The great strength of science is that it is rooted in actual experience. The great weakness of contemporary science is that it admits only certain types of experience as legitimate.” Life after death, or the survival of post-mortem consciousness, is one of the areas modern science has tended to shun despite the fact that there is a mountain of evidence that supports it. The volume of evidence is indisputable, from over 1700 solved reincarnation cases, plus countless other examples of out of body experiences, messages received in dreams, and much more, including so-called near death experiences (which are often after clinical death has been noted). The evidence is there, so the question becomes: “Why do we not believe it? “ Is it because it upends our current paradigm based on the notion of a fundamentally material universe and consciousness being an epiphenomenon of matter? Or is it because our understanding of time, space, and consciousness is too limited? Our two guests think it is both – and fortunately, Jeffrey Mishlove and Leo Ruickbie, are willing, and able, to stretch the scientific paradigm to a broader vision. Mishlove and Ruickbie are the newly awarded Grand Prize and 3rd place winner of the Robert Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies essay contest that asked for hard evidence beyond a reasonable doubt for the existence of the afterlife. Join us as they share some of that evidence with you today, and more, as we explore a new science of life after death.

4 MAR 2022 · With the advent of the nuclear age, Western science reached the pinnacle of invention, but lacked a critical understanding of its underlying wisdom or purpose. Carl Jung framed the problem as “modern man in search of a soul.” When the Western mind turned outward, searching for what was missing, it first turned to the East. A trickle of Eastern gurus soon became a flood, and by the late 1960s, all sorts of gurus, roshis, rinpoches, and other teachers were promising some form of mastery of life - if only one followed their path. Many Americans embarked upon this quest for spirituality, mostly in California, and later across the nation. Our guests, Dan Millman and Ron Boyer, were at the forefront of the California movement. They not only embraced Eastern wisdom; they took an active part in remaking Western psychology–at the time mired in psychoanalysis and behaviorism–into a humanistic “third force” of psychology that expanded the discipline to include religion, spirituality, and self-actualization. Along the way, they discovered not only the benefits, but also the pitfalls, of embarking on a spiritual path. This is their story.

11 FEB 2022 · The Bear is My Father: The Wisdom of a Muscogee Creek Elder Marcellus Bear Heart Williams Marcellus Bear Heart Williams is what I call a living ancestor. A living ancestor is a person whose wisdom has not departed, but instead taken up residence in the hearts of those who loved him, and even perhaps in those that never met him – someone like myself. Living ancestors are not deceased, as in inert or forgotten. Their energy has not been destroyed; their spirit and work in the world is ongoing. Join us as we invite into the conversation the spirit of Bear Heart, his wife, Reginah Waterspirit, and Tim Amsden, the editor of the newly released book on Synergetic Press, The Bear is My Father, the brilliant companion piece to The Wind is My Mother, that came out in 1996.

4 FEB 2022 · If all the world’s a stage, and men and women are merely players, what can an artistic director of opera, a musical composer, and an educational designer and therapist tell us about how life is or should be? As it turns out, a lot. On this edition of the Circle for Original Thinking, we go behind the curtain to get a glimpse what it takes to get an opera company up and running, the artistic process, the place of art, music, and psychology in our lives. We delve into the artistic minds behind The Theory of Everything, an original opera commissioned by the Encompass Opera company. We explore why opera moves us; how a composer and librettist work together, the intersection of leading edge science and Indigenous ways of knowing, and more. What can contemporary opera reveal about the state of modern society? How can it change minds, hearts, and values? To find out, join Nancy Rhodes, John David Ernest, and Roger Jeff Cunningham on the next edition of Circle for Original Thinking.

23 AUG 2021 · To say humanity is living unsustainably is a massive understatement. In the words of Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation, humanity is like a jockey, whipping its horse faster and faster to get to the finish line, not realizing that the finish line is a brick wall. The proliferation of nuclear weapons did not make us change. The ecological movement of the 60s and 70s, ushered in by Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, helped awaken us, but not enough. After some modest improvements, the soil, air, and waters remained polluted. The rainforests continued to be cut down at an alarming rate. Temperatures continued to rise, along with the seas. It seemed we were beyond hope for change and now living in the Age of Consequences. Then, a tiny virus did what no social movement had done. It shut everything down. The incessant pressure of human economic activity ground to a halt. Amid the human death toll, the natural world was granted a reprieve.  In the midst of the pandemic, a police officer kept his foot on George Floyd’s neck, causing him to die, but giving birth to a renewed social justice movement. Social justice and ecological justice are invariably connected; the Floyd murder was a metaphor for what humanity had been doing to Mother Earth. We had been keeping our foot on her neck, paving over the natural world to pursue our short-sighted economic interests. It was Mother Earth that could not breathe. If we did not change, much of the natural world would die. In this edition of Circle for Original Thinking, we explore how we might learn to live in a different way, renew our relationship with the more-than-human world, honor the wisdom of nature and of our ancestors, and reimagine education to be an agent of change rather than merely a reflection of the current society. We have never lived through a time exactly like this. But we have lived through crises before. We know from experience that every crisis presents both danger and opportunity. The opportunity now seems clear. We must gather all our resources, the perennial wisdom of the past and the most brilliant minds of the present, to make a course correction. Our guests today are Jim Garrison, current president of  Ubiquity University, and Will Taegel, former dean of Ubiquity. Join us as we address humanity in crisis on the next episode of Circle for Original Thinking. Dr. Will Taegel walks in two dimensions. One reflects his lifelong connection with the Indigenous Mind/Heart and the other his psychological and scientific research. While both his doctorates concentrate on the synergy of ecopsychology and the matrix of field physics, he counts his shamanic training described in his book Walking With Bears as the most important of his life. Walking With Bears completes a trilogy of books that includes Wild Heart and Mother Tongue; all address a human return to Earth-based consciousness. Will is the former Dean for the Wisdom School of Graduate Studies, Ubiquity University, Austin, Texas. He is an experienced psychotherapist with a demonstrated history of working in the education management industry, and holds a Doctor of Ministry focused in Family Systems Therapy and Spirituality from University of California at Berkeley. Dr. James Garrison is founder and president of Ubiquity University. He originally served as founding president of Wisdom University, which he led from 2005 – 2012, after which it transitioned into Ubiquity. He has spent his entire professional life in executive leadership, including as founder and president of both the Gorbachev Foundation/USA from 1992 – 1995 and State of the World Forum from1995 – 2004 with Mikhail Gorbachev serving as convening chairman. He attended University of Santa Clara for his B.A. in History, Harvard for his Masters in the History of Religion,

26 JUL 2021 · We live in an era when nearly every governor, state congressperson, or mayor supports maximum economic growth.  It doesn’t matter what party you are from – or whether you support lower taxes or more social programs. Economic growth covers up all sins. Increasingly, it does not matter what country you are from. Economic growth is promoted as the way forward, the way to becoming more prosperous, the way to becoming a more “developed” nation. But economic growth is not the answer. In the words of Oren Lyons, we are acting like jockeys, whipping our horses to go faster and faster, unaware that the finish line is a brick wall.  How do we get people to understand: We cannot grow infinitely on a finite planet. How do we get people to understand that without fertile soil, clean air and water, all life is endangered, including human life. When will we remember that humans are made of light, air, water, and earth – that what we do to the elements we do to ourselves?  Why has the Western developed world - ever since the industrial revolution - been relentlessly pursuing progress? Why do we put our short-term economic goals first while ignoring the despoilation of the planet? It is not out of malice. It is not entirely out of fear, racism, or greed. It is more that we don’t know a different way. We had a dream – a belief that increased goods and services made for a higher standard of living – and that was all that mattered. We have been chasing that dream ever since. In our dream, we don’t count our blessings. What we have now is insufficient. We want more - the more the better, and the faster we get there and the more convenient the better.  Fortunately, my two honored guests know this is not the only way to live. They have met people who have another dream and it has changed the way they live. All over the world, Indigenous peoples carry a dream that sees all of creation as our relatives – a dream that respects the right of everything to exist. A dream that sees a way to live life differently, a way to perceive differently, a way to look at the world in a joyful, ecstatic manner – a way to be fully alive!  What will it take to change our dream?  How do we dance and sing a new reality into being? Join us as we delve into this with John Perkins and Bill Pfeiffer.  BIOS Bill Pfeiffer aka “Sky Otter” is the founder of Sacred Earth Network (SEN) which continues to implement leading edge visions for over 25 years. In that time, Bill has made Russia a second home having traveled there 44 times assisting the environmental and indigenous movements through SEN. This has given him a rare cross-cultural perspective. He has also led hundreds of spiritual ecology workshops, including men’s and breath work.  He has 25 years of experience in Re-evaluation Counseling and Vipassana meditation, and has undergone extensive training with Siberian shamans. Bill has partnered with and designed experiential workshops with Joanna Macy, John Perkins, Llyn Roberts, Cathy Pedevillano, and John Seed. He has also spent much time in the US Southwest learning about Native medicine ways and the crucial importance of the petroglyphs and pictographs. His  book, “Wild Earth, Wild Soul: A Manual for an Ecstatic Culture” has been met with high acclaim. I’ve read the book and reviewed it for Amazon. The first 50 pages alone are an important summary of Western civilization and what needs to change. John Perkins, a kindred spirit, wrote the Foreword. John Perkins began his career as a “Chief Economist” at a major international consulting firm, advising the World Bank, United Nations, IMF, U.S. Treasury Department, Fortune 500 corporations, and countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. He worked directly with heads of state and CEOs of major ...

14 JUN 2021 · This week, Glenn Aparicio Parry shares directly with listeners some of his own thoughts about current events, putting them in a larger historical context. An uplifting but realistic peek at the founding of the United States, the history of the Republican and Democratic parties, emphasizing how much they have changed over time and could change again, perhaps even become defunct and have a new party form. The questions he examines are:  “Why stay optimistic during troubles times?” and “Is the world transforming in a positive way?” He reflects on human culture: Are we a destructive force that imagines we are separate and transcendent from nature? Or can we learn to listen and be directed by the wisdom that is found in the land? Can we merge ecological and social justice? Can we remember how to love nature, so that we love each other? Join us for a special podcast with Glenn Aparicio Parry.