Naomi Shihab Nye opens the talk reading a new, recently penned poem, Current Affairs.

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish then introduces himself and segways into the realities of his experiences growing up in Gaza, the Jabalia Camp, what he has seen and witnessed, the loss of his three daugthers and niece in 2009 from an Israeli tank shell (i.e., I Shall Not Hate) and his pride in his Palestinan heritage, family, and community.

He shares his deep belief and conviction 'nothing is impossible in life.' He also expresses:

• Medicine as a great human equalizer
• Toward human rights, once people step away from the border of the hospitals, they become categorized and labeled 'Palestinian' or 'Israeli'
• If you believe in Humanity, we must all stand for all
• Human Rights is deeply tested in Gaza, people must stand up for human rights
• Advocate not for peace but for dignity, justice, freedom, and human rights for all: peace will follow when these conditions are cultivated

Naomi shares her family history and the experiences of relocating after the Nakba. Naomi also shares:

• As a poet, every voice is important in the world, every voice represents humanity.
• Regarding Gaza, this is an overwhelming tragedy of sorrow
• The importance of actions based on one's convictions
• The power of the military industry complex to overide the voice of the majority and humanity's collective voice
• How can we be heard, how can we be listened to?
• Who is listening?

The idea, our obligation is to our humanity, looking within our selves we recognize our humanity

Dr Abuelaish shares his experiences as an author.

The priority of Palestinians toward education.

Human Rights, respect and dignity for all.

What is our modern sense of responsibility and obligation toward our fellow humans, what is our modern sense of meaning, mission, and purpose.

A human being is a human being [only] through another person.

Truth telling as means of healing.

The situation is Gaza and West Bank harms Israel deeply as well.

Naomi shares Hibu Abu Nabab's poem, Not Just Passing.

The political power and politics contrbuting to the crisis in Gaza and the West Bank.

Dr. Abuelaish reviews the history of Gaza since 2000.

And, Naomi closes with her poem, For Gaza

The children are still singing

They need & want to sing

They are carrying cats to safe places

Holding what they can hold

Red hair brown hair yellow

They will wear the sweater

Someone threw away

They will hope for something tasty

You won't be able to own them

Their spirits fly to safer worlds

They planted seashells in the sand

They never committed a crime

A president pardons turkeys

He pardons his own son

He doesn't pardon children

The children are still singing.

Naomi Shihab Nye was born in St. Louis, Misso...

Part 2 the Panels opens to discuss:

• 'What makes us come alive?'
• 'What is your 'note' in life?' (Rumi's 'be your note.')

Discussion turns to Rumi's quote 'when I was young I wanted to change the world, when I grew older I wanted only to change myself.'

How do we attune to spiritual teachers?

How do we know who our spiritual teachers are meant to be?

Moments that open and we lose sense of time, time falls away:

• Activity
• When meeting new people, old karmic connections?
• In our Dharma, our work
• Henry's discussions, Sohbet, mystical discussions on mystical subjects, with his teacher.
• How do we find what makes us home in the world?
• How do we cultivate spiritual discernment in Life?
• The World as ourself
• Is there preparation to receive 'flow' states?

The Panel also explores:

• Where does the spiritual path begin?
• What are the implications of having a guide or spiritual teacher?
• Teachers seeing into their students
• Tears as an indicator of one's spiritual path
• Sufism as a path of 'heart'
• Karma of helping others as way of being helped

The importance of 'others before self.'

We end with two poems from Ikkyu:

Raincoat and Straw Hat

Woodcutters and fishermen know just how to use things. What would they do with fancy chairs and meditation platforms? In straw sandals and with a bamboo staff, I roam three thousand worlds, Dwelling by the water, feasting on the wind, year after year.

I Hate The Smell of Incense A master's handiwork cannot be measured But still priests wag their tongues explaining the 'Way' and babbling about 'Zen.' This old monk has never cared for false piety And my nose wrinkles at the dark smell of incense before the Buddha.

Part 1 of this discussion examines psychology, philosophy, religion, spiritually, science, and medicine, a panel of five (5) people opens with the question, 'where am I?' and 'what is going on [in the world]?' and refers to James Hillman, ideas and action as an artificial distinction, are they the same thing? How are they interlinked?

The poet Major Ragain is quoted, 'contemplation alters the course of rivers.'

From the Bhagavad Gita:

• Freedom from action is not accomplished by abstaining from action, so how is it accomplished?
• Relinquishing the fruit of action

Ghandi's, 'through service, I find myself.'

The Panel begins to examine the Taoist concept of non-action, Wu Wei.

How do we cultivate Wu Wei?

The Panel explores Univerisal Truths.

• Natural action arises, we have a deep intrinsic calling, how do we find and express it?
• What is our reason for being here?
• To receive the Divine Will is a part of choiceless action.

Biographies of Panel:

Dr. Bob Insull is an New York State Licensed Psychologist with more than 60 years experience teaching, training, and treating in the arena of human behavior. In his clinical practice, he has worked across the developmental stages (children to golden-agers), across the diagnostic spectrum (chemical dependency, severe mental illness, relationship issues, depression, anxiety, and PTSD), and treatment settings (clinics, inpatient psychiatric centers, and private practice). During the closing years of his practice, he became interested in the area of psychological trauma and worked with survivors in individual and group settings. He has been retired from active practice for about 15 years and spends his time engaged in self-discovery on the Sufi Path and social-change activities with his church.

Brian Mistler is a Missouri-hillbilly curious about Reality. He has lived as a computer scientist, psychologist, running and growing businesses, and helping entrepreneurs, hospitals, and healthcare providers. Mid-life Brian had a partially debilitating nerve injury and soon after met a true Vedanta teacher who spent 30+ years in India and trained under Swami Chimayananda, Sawmi Dayananda, and others. This refocused his study of the classic non-dual wisdom as presented in the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads. Learn more at http://www.stillcenter.media. Hari Om Tat Sat. Peace, peace, peace.

Richard Grego is Professor of philosophy and cultural history at FSCJ. His research interests focus on cross cultural themes in religion and science - including philosophy of mind, comparative world religions/world civilizations, and the metaphysical - theological implications of theoretical physics and cosmology. His publications have included studies in the history - philosophy of science and conceptions of nature in the history of western philosophy, as well as cross-cultural perspectives on mind/ consciousness in western philosophy - psychology and the neo-Vedanta Hindu tradition. Prior to his academic career, he was a criminal investigator - polygraph examiner for the Florida Office of the Public Defender and in the private sector Instructor at the Criminal Justice Institute and International Academy of Polygraph Science in Florida, and national Academic Director of the Criminal Defense Investigation Training Council.

Joel David Lesses is President and Executive Director of Education Training Center, Inc. and his work experience is in education, psychology, and counseling for people marginalized by trauma, addiction, and psychological distress. He is deeply vested in addressing the effects of mental health distress and its marginalization including, incarceration, homelessn...

On February 7th, 2023, Chris Meek interviewed Joel for the podcast Next Steps Forward, and explored:

Does God Exist? How does meditation reveal God? What is the nature of evil? Where does God exist? Can we experience God directly? Why are we here on earth? What is the purpose of life? Why does God ask us to struggle? Does morality matter? Is there life after death? What is a koan?

Next Steps Forward is a podcast hosted by Chris Meek, the Mission Statement of the podcast:

Personal empowerment, commitment to our own well-being and the motivation to achieve more than we ever thought possible are the ingredients of a better life. And, they’re all within our reach. Next Steps Forward with Chris Meek delves into each aspect of the three keys that add energy, excitement, direction and purpose to everything that we do. Each week, Chris hosts leaders from the worlds of business, sports, entertainment, medicine, politics and public policy as they engage in thought-provoking discussions to help us all take the next step forward on our own journeys to our better selves and greater service to others.

Biography

Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of SoldierStrong, Chris Meek has been recognized for his philanthropy with the President’s Call to Service Award, March of Dimes Franklin Delano Roosevelt Outstanding Corporate Citizen Award, Syracuse University’s Orange Circle Award, the ACT-IAC “Game Changer” Award, and was named a “Face of Philanthropy” by the Chronicle of Philanthropy. He discusses resiliency, empowerment, and leadership through adversity on his weekly podcast, “Next Steps Forward with Chris Meek,” via VoiceAmerica network’s Empowerment Channel. Next Steps Forward is his first book.

Joel David Lesses founded the Education Training Center as a means of counseling those marginalized by trauma, addiction and psychological distress, and its effects including incarceration, homelessness and institutionalization. He is dedicated to reframing mental health distress as a potential spiritual marker. Joel has lived in Nepal and Israel and is also a poet expressing the landscape of the mystical elements of our human beings. He believes world religion, poetry, spirituality, and meditation encompass the most vital aspects of our mind and life. The crux of his own personal journey are the questions and answers to his own koan or inquiry: “what is the matter with me?” revealing the individual and universal aspects of our inherent and potent creativity. Everything is flux, everything is poetry. His other passions include the intersection of poetry, spirituality, science, and phenomenology shared and disparate in the human experience, with the transformative power of self-inquiry and introspection through contemplative and meditative practices. Joel holds the belief that the fundamental transformation of individuals and our collective comes through barreling inward, relentlessly asking the questions, “Who am I?” or “What am I” or “What is the matter with me?” The latter being a question which after years of examination, shattered a false sense of self, the work of integration of that experience being an ongoing work in progress.

In today’s The Labyrinth podcast, Lisa Carley interviews retired psychiatrist Henry Cretella to share both his philosophy and personal experience with surrender. We begin our conversation with Eckart Tolle’s view that surrender requires an expansion (and often suspension) of our rational mind. From there, we discuss the general nature of surrender and the role of intuition. We move into sharing stories about times when we felt a deep intuition/calling to stretch the boundaries of our limited rational frameworks and take a leap. The podcast ends with Hazrat Inayat Khan's essay on the future of humankind.

Bio of Lisa Carley

Hosting the podcast, 'The Labyrinth,' Lisa Carley is passionate about India, existential and phenomenological philosophy/psychology, and maternal mental health. She chooses to explore her passion through travel, connection with others, and writing. She holds a degree in English Literature from SUNY Albany, and has worked toward a Psy. D. in Clinical Psychology with a Masters in Existential Humanistic Psychology from Saybrook, is a mother, student of Philosophy and English, artisan, and poet.

Recorded for Alchemical Dialogues podcast, Henry Cretella hosts Lisa Carley regarding mental health and spirituality and Lisa's lived experience. Avoiding and easing unnecessary suffering is a worthwhile goal, but so is the less often discussed opportunity for transformation that distress provides.

Mystics teach that the heart and mind open through suffering.

The good news is that we don’t have to look for upsets, they find us quite easily.

Join Henry Cretella and Lisa Carley as we discuss her journey through mental illness and how it led to her personal heart-mind opening and impacted her life for the better.

It’s a journey of courage to explore and change, using all the tools that are available to understand and ease the pain while never closing the door that has been unlocked.

Host of her podcast, 'The Labyrinth,' Lisa Carley is passionate about India, existential and phenomenological philosophy/psychology, and maternal mental health. She chooses to explore her passion through travel, connection with others, and writing. She holds a degree in English Literature from SUNY Albany, and has worked toward a Psy. D. in Clinical Psychology with a Masters in Existential Humanistic Psychology from Saybrook, is a mother, student of Philosophy and English, artisan, and poet.

This conversation with Lisa Carley, host of the podcast The Labyrinth and Unraveling Religion's Joel Lesses explore the podcast 'The Labyrinth' and its slogan 'Destination Unknown' and its relationship to the 'Unraveling Religion' podcast, whose own slogan 'What You Are Is More Than What You Want.'

These two old friends share a deep vision of hope and work toward a brighter future as they deconstruct meaning, mission, and purpose, and the mechanisms of what comprises the most vital aspects of life and relationship. In this brief discussion, Lisa and Joel outline the parallel journey of spirituality and curiosity that forms the basis of their timeless bond.

In Part 3 Lisa, Rich, and Joel examine the secret to the existential dilemma and how to resolve it.

The answer, 'service.'

Also, surfing and meditation and the story of Reb Zusha, a Hasidic Master.

A Jewish Kabbalistic look at death, judgment, and Heavenly Decrees, ultimately who judges us?

Does human life have spiritual veils and what do they hide?

Also discussed is American Zen Buddhism and the two most influential books in American Zen, 'Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind' and 'The Three Pillars of Zen.'

From Zen Mind, Beginner Mind, 'The basic teaching of Buddhism is the teaching of transcency or change.' and 'That everything changes is the basic truth for each existence.'

What actually determines the quality of our life: is it what we receive from others, or what we give to others?

What is our relationship to Death?

What are we forced to let go of in life and what returns to us in the future?

These explorations build into a final poem Lisa wrote and reads.