Recently got this ping from Dharma friend Kyle Shive whom I’ve enjoyed very much studying, practicing and talking deep dhamma with in real life and online:
I started my Zen channel today! Like and subscribe. I’m gonna start doing a video once a day. Taking old Zen stories and giving them a little modern twist: https://youtu.be/2bvXLo5TrYU
Here’s some recent ones from Kyle with extra resonance at the moment of writing this:
As demonstrated above, Kyle is a crack voice artist and creator. Hire Kyle directly via Fiverr.com to get affordable, professional American male voice overs.
This isn’t for those with huge egos. Nor for those subject to delusions of grandeur. It’s for those who belittle themselves. And for those who’ve been belittled. Who think and feel, “why bother; my day to day life is insignificant and greatness is only for a select few.”
Imagine showing up for every interaction like you were:
delivering life altering news like doctors do everyday; birth, cancer, loved ones dead after surgery, etc.
on the level of the president, or world leader announcing a nationwide disaster or war
part of one of the biggest pranks or hoaxes of all time
contributing to many listeners most vivid and lasting memories
meeting the architect of the matrix (movies) where depending on how it goes the entire reality itself hangs in the balance
granted significant fame soon after, guaranteed
assured to fall into ill-repute and infamy soon thereafter
experiencing the airing of War of the Worlds radio drama in reverse where instead of hearing an announcement beforehand that this was just a make-believe drama, where most people missed this key point, and took it to be real, you actually interact as if this was just another fancy production to be consumed and forgotten about but found out later no, it was just as important as an alien invasion
were tipped off that somebody’s goons were waiting to take you out afterwards; how would you then show up to your last interaction under such circumstances?
Now it’s time to eat my own dog food. How can I and my guests also bring such gravitas to the interviews, podcasts and chats I put out publicly without being cringingly over the top corny, cheesy or eye-rolling?
There’s obviously bigger implications too. Due to the boredom starting to surround information overload, and instantaneous communication tech everywhere all the time, it’s more important than ever to cut through all this noise, regularity, and the mundaneness of I’ve-seen-and-heard-it-all-before.
How can we show up better right now, in this moment, even in the very instance of reading this? And what of this can we take forward to apply again and again to build upon the betterment each moment offers of opportunities?
I somewhat recently started recording chats with folks online again and recording them, but for the time being, much of them just for my YouTube channel. I may or may not go back and add them to my traditional podcast feed later
Amrit Singh and I talk about spiritual practices, Kundalini Yoga, service work, working with anger, India, Sikhism, lost dogs, coaching, and his upcoming teachings on Kundalini Yoga. [Note: I was mistaken on what the temple was I visited in Chicago; it’s actually the Baháʼí House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois]
Christian de la Huerta [please excuse my lack of pronunciation] a spiritual teacher, personal transformation coach and leading voice in the breathwork community and I discuss how to go about systematically teaching and even just speaking about presence and embodied heart-centered consciousness
Tim went from a Certified Public Accountant to an Ordained Minister to a Master of Multiple Ancient Arts & Sacred Sciences (Meditation, Reiki, T’ai Chi, Yoga & Qigong) and to being the most prolific author of children’s books alive today. We chat a little about this as well as creativity, challenges, some life stories and plenty more
Zane Landin and I talk about internal communications, writing, PR, National Geographic, the link between self-love and mental health, moving, logic and emotion elevating into a balance of wisdom and love, respect, worthiness, bridging generational divides, importance of dialog, fear, labels, diversity, division, intersectionality, finding purpose, and more
Artist Michaell Magrutsche and I talk about his work and approach to the art world, the techniques of popular artists like Banksy and Jeff Koons, system-based methods and approaches, how creativity works and how to tap into it more, awareness, nature and the like
The Meditation Conversation podcast host Kara Goodwin and I talk about how to use the heart(-mind) to amplify the lightbody and how to use loving-kindness to amplify the heart. We also talk heart openings, heart “pain”, light and dark, stress, compassion, worthiness, humility, gurus, seeing and knowing for oneself, open inquiry, investigation, discernment, standing in the power of one’s light, forgiveness, spiritual codependency, shame, blame, guilt, beginners mind, etc.
As well as the Open Wisdom Wednesdays I hold live from time to time on Insight Timer:
A kind of rambling Wisdom App chat addressing the WSJ.com article “ChatGPT Heralds an Intellectual Revolution” but now I feel even more reassured about our human wisdom after getting this ChatGPT answer to “Why is our experience inextricably linked to our body and its place in the world?”:
ChatGPT DALL-E Bot, [Mar 4, 2023 at 11:28:41 AM]:
Our experience is inextricably linked to our body and its place in the world because our body is the primary means through which we interact with the world around us. Our senses, such as touch, sight, smell, taste, and hearing, allow us to perceive and interpret the environment we are in. Our physical body also plays a crucial role in shaping our experiences. For example, our height, weight, and physical abilities can affect how we navigate through space and interact with others.
Furthermore, our experiences are shaped by cultural and societal norms that are often tied to our physical bodies. For instance, gender roles and expectations are often based on biological sex differences. Similarly, racial and ethnic identities can influence how we are perceived by others and how we navigate social spaces.
In summary, our experience is closely tied to our body because it is through our physical form that we engage with the world around us and navigate social structures that shape our lives.
UPDATE JULY 15, 2023: Back in Denmark. New gallery added below. And these word of prose by Graham Brown that seem a fitting share via a friend at Chithurst:
Here, at the end of the world, all afternoon it’s soaked and poured. Grey clouds looming like a paradoxical blessing. We close our eyes in order to see, we don’t know the question but keep asking. The mind waffles, and the heart is resilient. The heart that just wants to open and open, the heart that longs to Leap out of itself, to embrace the beloved. And the mind says stop being such a pray and the heart replies Fuck You. Keep breathing. Nestled up in this tiny hut against the great ambiguity, and the karmic consequences of drinking too much tea. I nip out between the shrubs while the sky floods
Thick beads of rain Plopping On this happy lucky Wally
Due to travel and practice plans starting off in England in mid April I may be offline for awhile, especially during living at monasteries and on retreat. In the meantime there’s some scheduled blog posts auto-publishing as well as any new material if and when time and connectivity allows. Wendy and I still plan to do a Meditation Q & A in May, but likely not in June. I plan to respond to emails and messages if and when I can. May you all be and practice well.
In this eighth installment of the ongoing live series with Wendy Nash inquiring into meditation practice on and off the cushion we explored external and internal war and conflict due to Anzac Day each year in Australia on 25 April. We also discuss (witnessing) violence, non-harm (in relationships), ill will, how complicated war can be, unwillingness to change, “mental forecasting,” ambiguous loss, internal dialog, meeting our needs and feelings, working with death in contemplation/meditation and its wisdom, working with pain in meditation, safety, how hedonic tone can drive behavior, (how) anger (feels bad, can stem from righteousness, provide false empowerment and how its energy can be transformed and applied skillfully)
Due to ongoing technical challenges, for now we’ll forego trying to patch into Insight Timer live as it is not designed for multiple remote sources. Join these Q & A’s when they happen live via:
*There’s naturally an ongoing open call for meditation (related) questions for the (roughly) monthly “Meditation Q & A” either by the various social media means listed; integratingpresence[at]protonmail.com or just showing up on or Wisdom App to type/ask live.*
Background
Regular, current and past visitors to Integrating Presence may recall the monthly series “Ask Us Anything” I did with Denny K Miu from August 2020 until January 2022 — partially including and continuing on with Lydia Grace as co-host for awhile until March 2022.
For a fewmonthsthereafter I did various Insight Timer live events exploring potential new directions and/or a continuation of the Ask Us Anything format while weaving in other related teachings to these events.
Then, after chats with meditation coach Wendy Nash, it became clear to start a new collaboration similar to “Ask Us Anything” simply and clearly called “Meditation Q & A” especially due to the original intent of the Ask Us Anything’s being “discussions about meditation and related topics.”
(Note: If listening to this as/in a podcast (app) please visit the episode page for part two)
Randi and I talk about how the movie “A Dangerous Method” inspired us to explore: Freud and Jung, anima and animus, feminism, certain kinds of sexual normalizations, gender, identity (politics), self-censorship, status, roles, gender confusion, transhumanism, law of gender/gender principle, racial grids, hive mind, genders in past lives, emotions, heart, forgiveness, belonging, biology, womb births, etc.
In a follow up we explore the origin of forgiving, its meaning (and purpose) and how it can be turned into the art of letting go. What is the energetic significance of the art of letting go in relationships and in the building of the joint field of energy that all relationships (friends and partners) are built upon? We express ideas and impressions to begin the inner work of letting go including self-nurturing and reparenting to heal
Audio: The Art of Letting Go and Starting Anew with Self-Nurture
This is the seventh installment of the ongoing live series with Wendy Nash inquiring into meditation practice on and off the cushion. With the coming of spring in the Northern hemisphere we talked:
changeability
chances to start anew
how meditation helps us see old stuff with new understanding
how to meditate more skillfully
We also get various meditation questions and comments from participants
Due to ongoing technical challenges, for now we’ll forego trying to patch into Insight Timer live as it is not designed for multiple remote sources. Join these Q & A’s when they happen live:
*There’s naturally an ongoing open call for meditation (related) questions for the (roughly) monthly “Meditation Q & A” either by the various social media means listed; integratingpresence[at]protonmail.com or just showing up on Insight Timer live or Wisdom App to type/ask live.*
Background
Regular, current and past visitors to Integrating Presence may recall the monthly series “Ask Us Anything” I did with Denny K Miu from August 2020 until January 2022 — partially including and continuing on with Lydia Grace as co-host for awhile until March 2022.
For a fewmonthsthereafter I did various Insight Timer live events exploring potential new directions and/or a continuation of the Ask Us Anything format while weaving in other related teachings to these events.
Then, after chats with meditation coach Wendy Nash, it became clear to start a new collaboration similar to “Ask Us Anything” simply and clearly called “Meditation Q & A” especially due to the original intent of the Ask Us Anything’s being “discussions about meditation and related topics.”
In this sit-down, Randi Green and I talk about some of the implications of the future timelines. It all seems like Sci-fi and some of the topics have been covered by the movie industry. However, things are as always far more complex and the sciences are far beyond what we know of yet.
Some of the topics mentioned: AI, quantum computers, Google, D-wave, my Wisdom app talk aboutChatGPT, Kissinger, panic, Einstein-Rosen Bridges, retrocausality, infrastructure, finance, health, psychology, singularity, timelines, wormholes, bridge between future and past, stasis chambers, the cubes and their directives, terraforming, CERN, particle colliders, frequency based reality, Purdue University’sSentient World Simulation, Time Wave Continuum, Turing test, consciousness, will, El*n M*sk, Holographic Teaching Systems, Looking Glass, psyops, particles, allowances, intent, and some of the solutions from the future
In part one Randi and I touch ground with the general perception of the extra-terrestrial races and who they are as well as perspectives of reality and the races here.
Audio: Who Are The “Aliens”?In Conversation With Randi Green [Part 1]
In the part two sit-down, Randi Green and I pick up from our part 1 “Who Are The ‘Aliens’?” and talk about some of the implications of accepting that the “Aliens” (Randi calls these different groups the Factions) are here, and what they want.
The goal is not to lay out the solutions, per se, but to instigate the psychological and scientific processes that follow the acceptance of the Alien Interference.
The book “Passport to the Cosmos” by John E. Mack is mentioned as one that stands out amongst the many other important UFO Researchers that have contributed to the understanding, we have of the Alien Agenda today.
Integrating Presence 