0:04

Hey, it's Jeff. So I have now

0:06

officially pushed my new book, Good

0:08

Stress, out of the Literary Birth

0:10

Canal. No big surprise. It's a

0:12

girl. Seriously, though, I am extremely

0:15

grateful for everyone who has supported

0:17

it. This book chronicles my journey

0:19

from Wealth and Hellness to Health

0:21

and wellness. It distills all of

0:23

my podcast interviews, a ton

0:25

of me search. and more

0:27

than a dollop of mad

0:30

cap self- experimentation into a

0:32

practical and philosophical guide for

0:34

well-being. So I go deep

0:36

into the protocols of fasting,

0:38

cold and heat therapy, light

0:40

therapy, and exercise. I also

0:42

apply these self-imposed deliberate stressors

0:44

to the psychosocial. I provide

0:46

a roadmap for social fitness

0:48

and a model for jumping

0:50

into the ice bath of

0:52

stressful conversations. Of course, one caveat.

0:54

Plenty of dad jokes, so beware.

0:57

And if you like this podcast

0:59

and my writing, and are inclined

1:01

to support my work, well, I'd

1:03

be more than grateful. Now, if

1:06

you order GoodStress now at GoodStress.com,

1:08

you'll get a ton of great

1:10

free bonuses, including $900 worth of

1:12

commune courses, from my favorite doctors

1:14

like Markheim and Capromante and Zach

1:17

Bush, as well as my GoodStress

1:19

online course and great yoga instruction

1:21

from my better three quarters Skyler.

1:24

And if you like the

1:26

Lilt of My Voice, yours

1:28

truly narrates the audiobook. You

1:30

can purchase the audiobook on

1:32

Audible. And check this out,

1:34

if you're a Spotify premium

1:37

member, you can listen to

1:39

the audiobook for free as

1:41

part of your membership. That's

1:43

pretty, pretty, pretty good. Okay. Now,

1:45

on with the show. Welcome

1:59

to the coming in podcast. My name

2:02

is Jeff Krasnow. As we approach

2:04

700 episodes on the commune podcast,

2:06

we are now republishing some of

2:08

our most popular interviews and

2:10

excerpts with teachers who now

2:13

have full-length courses on the

2:15

commune course platform. So this

2:17

excerpt is from Danielleport's

2:19

commune training called Spiritual

2:22

Essentials. You'll hear Daniel

2:24

discuss a moment of clarity

2:26

where she realized... that her

2:29

dedication to self-help had

2:31

become an exercise in

2:33

self-criticism and a mile high

2:35

spiritual checklist. I can relate

2:38

to that. So if you feel like

2:40

you might be ready for

2:42

a process of spiritual rediscovery

2:44

or decluttering, well

2:47

this episode is for you.

2:49

Get ready for Danielleleport right

2:51

after the break. Hey,

3:06

it's Jeff. So we often think of

3:08

wellness as something external, what

3:10

we eat, how we move.

3:13

But inside our bodies is

3:15

an amazing repair system driven

3:17

by stem cells. They're constantly

3:19

working to renew and restore.

3:21

But as we age, that

3:24

repair system doesn't work as

3:26

well as it used to.

3:28

But what if there was

3:30

a way to support it?

3:32

Well, enter stem regen. Founded

3:34

by stem cell scientist and

3:37

health pioneer Christian Drapo, stem

3:39

region offers unique supplements designed

3:41

to naturally support your body's

3:44

ability to release more stem

3:46

cells into circulation. More stem

3:49

cells means more repair, more

3:51

recovery, and more vitality. It's

3:54

like giving your body the

3:56

boost it needs to stay

3:58

resilient, rejuvenating. and ready

4:01

to take on

4:03

whatever life throws

4:05

your way. So

4:08

right now, commune

4:10

podcast listeners can

4:12

get 20% off

4:15

their first order

4:17

at stemregen.co./commune with

4:19

the code commune

4:21

pod. That's commune

4:24

pod for 20%

4:26

off at stemregen.co./commune.

4:28

Unlock more of

4:31

your body's innate

4:33

repair system. with

4:35

STEM

4:51

to talk about consciousness. Who are you,

4:53

lady? Talk about the spiritual things. It's

4:55

probably useful to know what informs

4:57

my perspective. my perspective.

5:00

I have never had a

5:02

near-death experience. I do not

5:04

come from a lineage of

5:06

gurus. I'm not ordained in

5:08

any religion. I have not

5:11

made any formal vows, not to

5:13

any kind of organized religion.

5:15

I have not done a

5:17

three-year retreat. I am not a

5:20

PhD, nor do I play one

5:22

on Instagram. I used to run

5:24

a think tank. I ran a

5:26

think tank in Washington DC for

5:28

future studies. That was weird. I

5:30

had first level security clearance of

5:32

the Pentagon. I have had plenty

5:34

of therapy. Please buy my course

5:36

so I can pay for all

5:39

my therapy. I have had Youngian

5:41

therapy. I have had just alt

5:43

therapy. I've had a Jewish Buddhist

5:45

psychotherapist. He is one of my

5:47

favorites. Most of my girlfriends have had

5:49

a ton of therapy, which means I

5:51

have gotten therapy by proxy, you know,

5:53

you say. So what did she tell

5:55

you about him projecting onto you? Oh

5:57

my God, that's brilliant. And then you

5:59

go... home and you use the

6:02

technique on your people, you

6:04

know? I have experienced

6:06

a bona fide dark night of

6:08

the soul. Panic attacks,

6:10

anxiety, suicidal ideation

6:13

for a period of my

6:15

life. My psychotherapist called it

6:18

a living death, could not

6:20

have agreed more. There has

6:22

been loss and divorce and

6:24

I have been on the

6:26

receiving end of cancel culture.

6:29

I've worked with a lot

6:31

of shamans and energy healers.

6:33

There's one healer in particular

6:36

who has been my greatest teacher

6:38

and she lives a very private

6:40

monk-like life. And her teaching,

6:42

her name is V.S. V.S.

6:45

Her teaching and training

6:47

informs almost all of

6:49

my esoteric perspective now.

6:51

We work together to

6:53

create our meditation and

6:55

ritual kits from karma

6:57

to energy cleansing. So...

6:59

Her wisdom and perspective

7:01

is woven into all

7:03

of the spiritual essentials.

7:05

I've had some very

7:07

significant, very moving mystical

7:10

experiences in my life,

7:12

but I don't really

7:15

talk much about them

7:17

to anybody, mostly because there

7:19

aren't words. So I may

7:22

have, you know, touched the

7:24

infinite a few times, but

7:26

bottom line. I love bottom

7:28

line is I'm still here

7:30

and I got to do my

7:33

laundry and I post a lot

7:35

to Instagram so

7:37

here we are I consider

7:39

myself a seeker but

7:41

I'm actually trying to

7:43

be less of a seeker and

7:45

just trying to be more

7:48

not be more but just

7:50

be just be By practical definition,

7:52

I'm a writer, but I don't

7:54

even really consider myself a writer,

7:56

even though I've written five books,

7:58

many, many courses. So... a seeker

8:00

who talks about what I found.

8:03

So everything you're going to hear

8:05

is my lived experience. That's the

8:07

only thing I can do to

8:09

be of service, really. Tell you

8:11

about my journey. Let you know what

8:13

I found. Everything you're about

8:15

to hear is what I've been

8:18

taught and what I resonate with.

8:20

It's the stuff that has actually

8:22

worked for me. You're going to

8:24

hear a lot of different

8:26

philosophical... spiritual,

8:29

theological influences, and spiritual

8:31

essentials. You will be

8:33

hearing from Christian Amurdi.

8:35

Of course, The Miracles

8:37

has really helped me

8:39

transition from Christianity

8:42

to cosmic Christianity,

8:44

Adiyashanti, Tantra,

8:47

Buddhism, Buddhist

8:49

non-Pamachodron, Parmahasana-Yogananda,

8:51

Catholicism, Rumi, and I

8:53

will find a way to work in Leonard

8:56

Khan. He's my love in

8:58

another dimension. I was a super

9:00

religious kid. I was raised

9:02

Catholic. I wanted to marry

9:04

Jesus. And I bolted from

9:07

Catholicism and went straight into

9:09

the new age. Louise Hay

9:11

and Wayne Dyer. But what

9:14

was really happening was I

9:16

just replaced the model of

9:18

punitive Christian deities in the

9:21

sky with wellness culture. So

9:23

I just swapped out the Ten

9:25

Commandments and I replaced it with

9:27

the terror of Karma, which we're

9:30

going to talk a lot about

9:32

in this program, by the way,

9:34

Karma. So around the time when

9:36

I was managing a bunch of

9:38

futurists, working in Washington DC, running

9:41

this think tank, really started to

9:43

dawn on me that self-help

9:45

could be another form of self-criticism.

9:48

So eventually I wrote a book

9:50

called White Hot Truth. which you

9:52

can get on audio still. I'm

9:55

most well known for writing a

9:57

book, a methodology called The Desire

9:59

Mat. About 400,000 people have

10:01

gone through the desire map

10:04

process. It turned into a

10:06

day planner system. It turned

10:08

into a coaching and facilitating

10:11

program, a curriculum that's used

10:13

in 30 plus countries. And

10:15

that program evolved into what's

10:18

now called the heart-centered leadership

10:20

program. So we have 400

10:22

coaches and facilitators and youth

10:25

counselors and yoga teachers and

10:27

HR directors who are

10:29

heart-centered workshop outlines and

10:32

conversation starters. And some of

10:34

that content is going to show

10:36

up here in spiritual essentials. All

10:39

of my work, particularly with the

10:41

Desire Map, used to revolve around

10:43

the question, how do you want to

10:45

feel? I love that question. It's

10:47

a useful question. It's a

10:49

developmental question. On the spiritual

10:51

path, you got to ask

10:54

yourself that question. But that's

10:56

not where we stop. How you want

10:58

to feel is not the end game.

11:00

So the question, how do you want

11:02

to feel moved into what do you

11:05

want to embody? What do you want

11:07

to embody? And that's really the

11:09

essence of my latest book, how

11:12

to be loving, how to be

11:14

loving as your heart is breaking

11:16

open and the world is waking

11:18

up. I'm full of contradictions.

11:21

I have dropped mushrooms and

11:23

in the same week I

11:25

refuse pankillers. I have popped

11:27

blue-green algae to pull all

11:29

nighters. I have meditated while having

11:32

a coffee colonic. And let me

11:34

tell you, if you can meditate

11:36

with a tube up your butt,

11:39

you are definitely headed toward

11:41

enlightenment. I temporarily broke up

11:43

with a new age, and

11:45

I started to date new

11:48

physics, because, you know, everything

11:50

happens for a reason. I have been

11:53

the very humble recipient

11:55

of some... healing miracles.

11:57

I have also been duped and

11:59

her harassed by a

12:02

so-called energy worker. I

12:04

have knelt at the feet

12:07

of some masters.

12:09

I have asked Tibetan

12:12

Buddhist Lama from

12:14

Toronto to teach

12:16

me about the heart

12:19

of the matter. And

12:21

he just told

12:23

me to recite

12:26

100,000 Prashna Parameda

12:28

sutras. And I

12:30

had to see that somewhere

12:33

between the yoga classes and

12:35

the sutras and the support

12:37

calls with my shaman and

12:39

the guide of visualizations

12:42

that my spiritual path

12:45

had become another to-do

12:47

list. And I saw that there

12:49

was a conflict

12:51

between sincere spiritual

12:54

aspiration and the

12:56

compulsion to improve. And

12:58

I was tired. I

13:00

was still really devoted to knowing

13:02

more, always more, but mostly I

13:05

was tired. One morning I had an

13:07

early therapy session, as one does,

13:09

on the phone, and after that

13:11

I had a meeting with my

13:13

business lawyer, followed by an interview

13:16

with a magazine editor who wanted

13:18

me to give their readers just

13:20

five easy tips for enlightenment, like

13:22

you know, just the quickies that

13:25

everybody can do. That's how it

13:27

goes in this business. And that

13:29

day was ending and I was

13:32

soaking in my hot bath, you

13:34

know, with some concoction, of course,

13:36

of essential oils and mineral

13:39

sea salts. And I recounted all

13:41

that I had done that week

13:43

to be better. Really all that

13:45

I had been doing for decades to

13:48

keep my energy in shape. and I

13:50

thought about what was written in my

13:52

day planner. Pick up the protein, book

13:54

the cabin for the writing retreat. There

13:57

was more energy work and more yoga

13:59

classes scheduled in. And I looked

14:01

at myself in the

14:03

bathroom mirror and I leaned

14:05

in and my eyes asked me,

14:08

my soul asked me, but

14:10

do you feel free? But

14:12

do you feel free? Do you

14:14

feel free? Because freedom

14:16

is it. Freedom is

14:18

the whole point. So

14:21

many teachers of mysticism

14:23

throughout time concur that

14:26

the reason for spiritual.

14:29

Endevereing is

14:31

liberation, and only liberation.

14:34

Liberation from fear.

14:36

Liberation from restrictive

14:39

ideologies. Liberation from

14:41

illusion. Liberation from

14:44

suffering. Liberation from

14:47

the anxiety of

14:49

not being your true self.

14:51

So, free. Are you feeling

14:53

it? Is everything that

14:55

you are doing to

14:57

be well and liberated

15:00

really helping you to

15:02

be well and liberated?

15:04

Because if liberation

15:06

is a chore, then you aren't

15:08

really free, are you? You

15:11

can't seek approval on your

15:13

way to sovereignty. Freedom

15:15

is not something that

15:17

you need to earn. Joy

15:20

does not come from a

15:22

checklist. It does not come

15:24

from trying to avoid going

15:27

to hell or getting canceled.

15:29

So now that I'm where

15:31

I'm at on my personal path,

15:34

I wonder, you know,

15:36

could I have just

15:38

accepted myself? Much more

15:40

fully, much sooner? Could I

15:42

have pared down on all

15:45

the practices and saved a

15:47

lot of money on therapy

15:49

and workshops? Totally, maybe.

15:51

I don't know, because

15:54

you know, no mud,

15:56

no lotus. Hey,

16:05

it's Jeff, and as an

16:07

athlete I've been told my

16:09

entire life to make sure

16:12

that I get enough electrolytes,

16:14

but it's only recently that

16:16

I have truly understood what

16:18

electrolytes are and the many

16:21

essential physiological functions that they

16:23

fulfill. Okay, so you ready

16:25

for electrolytes 101? Here we

16:28

go. When essential minerals like

16:30

sodium, potassium, chloride, and magnesium

16:32

dissolve in a fluid, they

16:34

form electrolytes. Positive or negative

16:37

ions needed to maintain vital

16:39

bodily functions. For example, sodium

16:42

ions are used by the

16:44

brain to send electrical signals.

16:47

Hello electrolytes through your neurons

16:49

in order to communicate with

16:51

other neurons and the cells

16:54

throughout your body. So electrolytes

16:56

are key for brain health.

16:59

Sodium also retains water and

17:01

maintains proper hydration levels and

17:04

fluid balance. in your cells

17:06

through a process called osmosis.

17:09

Now calcium and potassium are

17:11

needed for muscle contraction. They

17:14

facilitate muscle fibers to slide

17:16

together and move over each

17:18

other as the muscle shortens

17:20

and contracts. A magnesium is

17:22

also required in this process

17:25

so that the muscle fibers

17:27

can relax after contraction. A

17:29

magnesium is a total other

17:31

beast. It plays a role

17:33

in protein synthesis, sleep, and

17:35

blood sugar balance, and hundreds

17:37

of other functions. It's for

17:39

all these reasons and more

17:41

that I add element to

17:43

my water. Element is a

17:46

tasty electrolyte drink mix with

17:48

a thousand milligrams of sodium.

17:50

200 milligrams of potassium and

17:53

60 milligrams of magnesium. And

17:55

guess what? No sugar. Element

17:57

is sweetened with Stevia. a

18:00

plant-based sugar substitute that won't

18:02

spike glucose levels. A 20-ounce

18:04

serving of many popular sports

18:07

drinks that I'm sure you

18:09

know can contain 36 grams

18:11

of sugar. It's absurd that

18:14

those products are marketed as

18:16

healthy when they contain almost

18:18

as much sugar as a

18:21

soda. Many listeners know that

18:23

I still play competitive tennis.

18:25

Before I started using element,

18:28

I was prone to fatigue

18:30

and cramping during long matches

18:32

due to the loss of

18:35

sodium. No longer. I'm right

18:37

there, moving like a panther

18:39

at the end of a

18:42

grueling three-set match. The right

18:44

now, element is offering commune

18:46

listeners a free sample pack

18:49

with any purchase. That's eight

18:51

single serving packets. 3. With

18:53

any element order. This is

18:55

a great way to try

18:58

all eight flavors or share

19:00

element with a

19:02

salty friend. Get

19:05

yours at drink

19:08

element.com/commune. This deal

19:11

is only available

19:14

through my link.

19:16

You must go

19:18

to D-R-I-N-K-L-N-T. Try it

19:21

totally risk-free. If

19:23

you don't like

19:25

it, share it

19:27

with a friend and

19:29

they will give

19:31

you your money back.

19:34

No questions

19:36

asked. You've

19:38

got nothing to lose.

19:40

So go to

19:43

drink element.com

19:45

slash commune. underneath so

19:48

much of our self-helping,

19:50

a lot of self-loaving. So we

19:53

just replace old obsessions with

19:55

new addictions, and we get

19:57

stuck in the self-help ground.

19:59

on Hawk Day, you know, like

20:02

I'm not good enough yet, but

20:04

I'll get better. I'll get better

20:06

at bettering myself. Am I better

20:08

yet? It's crazy. And we just

20:10

repeat it. You know, there's a

20:12

Zen sentiment that we are perfect

20:14

and there is room for

20:17

improvement. It's both. Of course

20:19

we want to improve. We

20:21

want to be better at

20:23

all things. That's an evolutionary

20:25

impulse. But what's behind the

20:27

compulsive drive to improve? Criticism.

20:30

Trust me, I know,

20:32

I am a highly

20:35

self-critical, self-improvement author. The

20:37

criticism is the programming. It

20:39

is baked into the psyche. It's

20:41

criticism that we absorb from

20:43

how we are raised. It's

20:45

the trauma that we carry

20:47

over from lifetimes. You know,

20:49

that one time that you're

20:52

burned at the stake for

20:54

being inquisitive that time? It's

20:56

the old patriarchy. still messing

20:58

with your self-esteem. It seeps

21:00

in from every single photoshopped

21:03

image that's telling you that you

21:05

should be thinner, that you should

21:08

be curvier, but only in the

21:10

right places. You should be wider.

21:12

You should be browner. You should

21:14

be perfectly quaffed. You should be

21:17

perpetually positive as you balance your

21:19

workout time and your thriving career.

21:21

And you feed your well-behaved children

21:23

non-genetically modified food. And if you're

21:26

not making time for all of

21:28

these things, well, you must not

21:30

want it badly enough. Maybe what

21:33

you need is another workshop on

21:35

finding your passion. There's lots

21:37

of problems in that. But

21:39

the big problem is

21:42

that lots of believed

21:44

criticism makes for lots

21:46

of efforting to improve

21:48

endless efforting, relentless efforting,

21:50

ruthless efforting, ruthless efforting.

21:53

So what happens when all of the

21:55

life balance hacks don't actually

21:57

get you the results that you want

21:59

or When we do get what

22:01

we set out to achieve, but we feel

22:04

empty when we get there, we just

22:06

criticize ourselves even more

22:08

harshly. All right, we're going to

22:11

be visited a few times

22:13

in spiritual essentials by Pema

22:15

Chodron. She says on self-help

22:17

culture, the problem is that

22:19

the desire to change is

22:21

fundamentally a form of aggression

22:23

toward yourself. The other problem is

22:26

that our hang-ups, unfortunately

22:28

or fortunately, contain our

22:31

wealth. Our neuroses and our

22:33

wisdom are made out of

22:35

the same material. If you

22:37

throw out your neuroses, you

22:39

also throw out your wisdom.

22:41

So have you noticed that

22:43

a lot of women around you

22:46

who are reading the same books

22:48

and listening to the

22:50

same summits on, you

22:52

know... infinite goddess power and

22:55

unconditional harmonious love for

22:57

an unfolding universe and times

22:59

of change for the

23:01

modern woman. Those women

23:03

are all knocking themselves

23:05

out to do the right

23:07

spiritual thing, to be more

23:10

loving, more flexible, more giving.

23:12

There's a lot of powerful

23:14

potential there, right? But the

23:16

exhaustion of trying to be

23:19

good is going to get in the

23:21

way... of peace. The real power, the

23:23

divine power, is getting masked

23:25

by all that's driving. It's

23:27

like when a friend called me

23:29

to tell me about her divorce

23:32

and she said, you know, we're

23:34

going to do a conscious uncoupling.

23:36

I just downloaded the audios on

23:39

it. I said to her,

23:41

yeah, but you're leaving him

23:43

because he's like totally unconscious.

23:45

What you need is a

23:47

conscious lawyer for some women

23:49

on the path. There's some

23:52

serious rage and some

23:54

sorrow that's being buried

23:56

beneath the guided imagery

23:58

and all the platitude. about

24:00

managing your pain. We're going to

24:02

be talking a lot about this

24:04

form of spiritual bypassing.

24:07

Excessive, excessive self-improvement,

24:09

delays getting real.

24:12

So instead of, you know,

24:14

medicating with Marlboros and

24:16

Martinez, maybe we're just

24:18

doing it with metaphysics

24:20

and microbiome cleanses if

24:22

that's even a possible

24:24

thing. So unlike a

24:26

substance addiction that... we have

24:28

to drown our pain. The side

24:30

effects of neurotic psychoanalyzing

24:34

are really difficult to spot.

24:37

You know, you don't end

24:39

up in more rehab from

24:41

too much therapy. You just

24:43

end up in more therapy. And

24:46

there's good news. We're dawning,

24:48

we're growing, we're expanding, you

24:50

know. For so many of

24:53

us, our spiritual devotion is

24:55

so pure-hearted, we're not bypassing

24:58

anything. We're using our spirituality

25:00

to deal directly with every

25:02

part of our lives, the

25:05

painful parts and the blissful

25:07

parts and the mystery of

25:10

everything in between. You

25:12

know, we're dancing. We're learning

25:14

new moves. We're dancing with

25:16

the divine itself. And part

25:18

of that dance is we

25:20

test and we exploit ourselves

25:22

profusely. And it's not because

25:24

we're weak or defective. It's

25:27

because that's what students of

25:29

life do. We sign up

25:31

to learn, right? So we

25:33

give our power away, and

25:35

then we learn how undeniably

25:37

powerful we are as we

25:39

take it back. Powerful retrieval.

25:42

you know it's an

25:44

initiation just for the

25:46

brave-hearted bad choices bad choices

25:48

are how we learn to be

25:51

discerning how we learn to make

25:53

good choices we're experimenting we're living

25:55

into our truth we're growing upward

25:58

we're seeing if the 10 Commandments

26:00

works for us or if

26:03

the Buddha's eightfold path is

26:05

going to add up to

26:07

anything. We're sampling Hinduism. We're

26:10

pagan curious. We're spiritually promiscuous.

26:12

Or maybe, you know, we're

26:15

just totally buttoned up until

26:17

just that right type of

26:19

truth or that perfect practice

26:22

or protocol shows up and

26:24

then we commit to it.

26:27

with everything we've got. It's

26:29

brilliant. It's always going to

26:31

be a good time to

26:34

do a devotional refresh. Our

26:36

practice is still effective. Are

26:38

they still necessary? Is what's

26:41

worked for a long time

26:43

still really working? You know,

26:46

if we lived in... traditionally

26:49

more tribal environments, we might

26:51

be put through a series

26:53

of more esoteric initiations, you

26:55

know, to build our inner

26:57

strength, men that go into

27:00

caves, women that learn to

27:02

see in the dark. But

27:04

here we are, you know,

27:06

instead for most of us,

27:08

our initiations, they come with

27:10

less ritual. They're much less

27:13

formal. So life might give

27:15

us a series of, you

27:17

know, domineering. bosses to teach

27:19

us how to sense deception.

27:21

Now we learn how to

27:24

see in the dark. Or

27:26

maybe we get a health

27:28

diagnosis and that spurs us

27:30

to reach into multiple modalities

27:32

and dimensions to heal the

27:35

disease and we learn that

27:37

we are alchemists. Or maybe

27:39

there's a child that comes

27:41

into our lives with special

27:43

needs and we learn how

27:46

telepathic we really are. So

27:48

our initiations may look more

27:50

pedestrian, but they're just as

27:52

divinely orchestrated. and just as

27:54

effectual as any right of

27:57

passage taken by ordained monks

27:59

or medicine women. We're all

28:01

being initiated. The business of

28:03

spirituality because it's become a

28:05

business. I'm in it. I'm

28:08

in the Make Your Life

28:10

Better industry and it is

28:12

an industry. So many books

28:14

and blogs and supplements and

28:16

so many opinions about how

28:18

to up your mojo and

28:21

purify your psyche. And I

28:23

thought often, you know, I

28:25

wonder if I become jaded

28:27

from seeing all the motivational

28:29

stuff, because it pains me

28:32

that some of the truly

28:34

masterful spiritual teachers of our

28:36

time cannot get a book

28:38

publishing deal because they don't

28:40

have enough likes on their

28:43

Instagram page. They don't even

28:45

know what Instagram is. The

28:47

self-help space has become another

28:49

form of entertainment. And in

28:51

too many cases, it's the

28:54

loudest voices that are the

28:56

ones that get listened to.

28:58

And so many consumers are

29:00

mistaking volume and repetition for

29:02

wisdom. And I'm going to

29:05

contradict myself a bit. Loud

29:07

cheerleading is not entirely a

29:09

bad thing, right? Even if

29:11

it's shallow, even if it's

29:13

shallow. You know, it's an

29:15

expression of encouragement. It's a

29:18

step. It's a step toward

29:20

looking... toward having a more

29:22

meaningful life. There's no straight

29:24

lines to wisdom. And it's

29:26

going to get weird, and

29:29

it's going to get inspiring

29:31

all at the same time.

29:33

You know, the Saints and

29:35

the salesmen, they all have

29:37

their role to play. And

29:40

if you think that you

29:42

have a helpful message of

29:44

your own to share, then

29:46

you get yourself a blog,

29:48

get yourself an Instagram handle,

29:51

just claim five minutes at

29:53

your next staff meeting, and

29:55

you just preach. because your

29:57

truth might be the light

29:59

that lifts someone up that

30:02

day. We need to hear

30:04

your voice. a lot of

30:06

voices. We need to include

30:08

all of them. We need

30:10

to hear the ideas that

30:13

come from people's hearts, you

30:15

know. We know that humanity

30:17

is in trouble. We know

30:19

that the ecosystem is in

30:21

trouble, over-consumption, and the bees

30:23

are struggling. It's unsafe to

30:26

drink a lot of water,

30:28

and we sell humans to

30:30

other humans. we still kill

30:32

in the name of a

30:34

life-giving God. So many of

30:37

us are numbed out and

30:39

gluttonous and greedy. We're suffering.

30:41

And we're waking up, because

30:43

where there is darkness, there

30:45

is always light. There is

30:48

always more light. So it's

30:50

inevitable. It's a fact. We

30:52

are rising. I can feel

30:54

us loving with a new

30:56

kind of urgency. We're getting

30:59

deeper. And we're getting deeper.

31:01

So some of us are

31:03

going to live according to

31:05

our spirit guides or to

31:07

the Kabbalah. Some of us

31:10

will live according to the

31:12

Tao. Are two ecstatic poetry.

31:14

Some of us going to

31:16

go to spin class, we're

31:18

going to study scripture, we're

31:21

going to drink green juice

31:23

all day long, we're going

31:25

to do yin, we're going

31:27

to make some love, we're

31:29

going to marathon, we are

31:31

going to mother, we are

31:34

going to dance, we are

31:36

going to four count, breathe

31:38

our way to higher love.

31:40

So I don't think we're

31:42

gambling on this spiritual thing

31:45

paying off, not us. I

31:47

think an infinite, infinite number

31:49

of us are all in

31:51

and we are answering the

31:53

call to double down on

31:56

loving kindness. And this is

31:58

going to require. a

32:00

devotional refresh, some simplifying

32:02

so that we can

32:04

expand. So here's the

32:07

spiritual essential. It's not

32:09

how we seek spiritual

32:11

growth. You can practice

32:13

in any way that

32:15

your heart calls you

32:17

to practice. We need

32:19

to examine the why

32:21

behind the practice. Our

32:23

spiritual fulfillment stems from

32:25

our motives. Are those

32:27

motives coming from the

32:29

ego? or from the

32:31

soul. We do not need

32:34

to focus on fixing ourselves.

32:36

You do not need to

32:39

fix yourself. Just focus on

32:41

living from your heart, from

32:44

love, and anything that's not

32:46

in alignment with that loving

32:49

kindness, that light, it's gonna

32:51

fall away. Hey,

32:58

it's Jeff, and if you're

33:00

taking protein powder, you need

33:02

to hear this. The Clean

33:05

Label Project recently tested 160

33:07

top-selling protein powders in the

33:09

United States and found that

33:11

nearly half 47% exceeded the

33:13

Proposition 65 safety thresholds for

33:15

lead. That's definitely not what

33:18

you want from products that

33:20

are supposed to support your

33:22

health. So particularly if it's

33:24

something you're consuming daily. And

33:26

that's why I love Puri's

33:29

P.W.1 way protein. Every batch

33:31

is third party tested by

33:33

the clean label project against

33:35

200 plus contaminants. No product

33:37

is ever sold unless it

33:39

passes these tests. I recently

33:42

interviewed their founder and CEO.

33:44

Oliver, this dude is for

33:46

real. He is so committed

33:48

to transparency and purity in

33:50

his product. So Puri is

33:52

the only protein in the

33:55

United States that has the

33:57

clean label project transparency certification

33:59

achieved because they make all

34:01

their third-party test results available.

34:03

via a Q.R code on

34:05

the label, who does that?

34:08

So you can see for

34:10

yourself just how clean the

34:12

P.W.1 really is. Every serving

34:14

has 21 grams of minimally

34:16

processed clean high quality weight

34:19

protein powder from pasture raised

34:21

cow's milk. No hormones, no

34:23

GMOs, no pesticides. I personally

34:25

love the bourbon vanilla flavor,

34:27

no artificial ingredients, or overly

34:29

sweet aftertaste like some other

34:32

proteins I've tried. So make

34:34

sure your protein powder is

34:36

not hiding nasty chemicals. Switch

34:38

to PW1. I know you'll

34:40

love it as much as

34:42

I do. So I worked

34:45

with Puri on an amazing

34:47

deal for you. Get 20%

34:49

off or if you choose

34:51

the already discounted subscription, you

34:53

get almost a third off

34:55

the price. only when you

34:58

visit my exclusive URL Puri.com/commune.

35:00

That's p-u-o-r-i.com/commune and use my

35:02

promo code, Commune. So go

35:04

now to get this amazing

35:06

discount. That's p-u-o-r-i.com/Commune. Doing

35:09

this for the heart

35:11

cues, but let's just

35:13

do it today. Heart

35:15

cue. Focus on your

35:17

heart center. Have your

35:19

breathing be natural. By

35:21

natural, I mean you

35:23

inhale and exhale through

35:25

your nose. Mouth is

35:27

closed. You focus on

35:29

the warmth of your

35:31

heart, kind of golden

35:33

frequency. And then we

35:35

set the intention to

35:38

have the most expanded

35:40

point of view. so

35:43

that these ideas settle

35:45

in where they need

35:47

to. You can breathe

35:50

your eyes to open.

35:52

All right. Let's talk

35:55

about devotion, specifically about

35:57

devotion and comparison. specifically

35:59

about letting go of

36:02

comparing your spiritual path

36:04

to anybody else's spiritual path

36:07

because that's just crazy

36:09

making. This was my personal

36:11

trip for a long time

36:13

and it was extra trippy

36:15

because I was always comparing

36:17

my path to like the

36:19

spiritual extremists, the radicalists, right?

36:21

So I wasn't looking at

36:23

what the householders were doing

36:25

and the moms. But, you

36:27

know, I would look at

36:29

like these aesthetic Hindus offering

36:31

up their entire existence in

36:33

prayer and pilgrimage and just

36:36

drive myself bonkers with my

36:38

level of dedication. It's

36:40

like, I'd look at the Sadus.

36:42

Anybody know about the Sadus? These,

36:44

um, these guys who live off...

36:46

really the alms, the

36:48

generosity of the community.

36:51

Dreadlocked, body painted, loincloth,

36:53

long nails, you know,

36:55

and they do these

36:58

extreme physical acts in

37:00

order to transcend their bodies.

37:02

They tie a cloth on

37:04

the end of their penis

37:06

and hang bricks off of

37:09

it. Hardcore. And so I

37:11

would like criticize myself for

37:13

wanting like a softer yoga

37:15

mat. Question my whole pain

37:18

tolerance. I would look into

37:20

like orthodox monks who kneel

37:22

for so long on cliffs

37:24

and outcroppings of rocks that

37:27

they become crippled and think

37:29

wow I really need to

37:31

give her you know. And then I

37:33

look at my own community. My

37:35

friend who gave up sugar for

37:37

a year she did not even

37:40

have catch up. How can you live?

37:42

spiritual life without catch-up. And

37:44

I would just feel guilty for every

37:46

time open the fridge, vegan, not vegan,

37:49

all the things. If I wasn't chanting

37:51

in my car, I felt like I

37:53

wasn't making the most of my drive

37:55

time, you know. I understand. I

37:57

think I understand. How... renouncing

38:01

the ego and bodily

38:03

form is very useful

38:05

at potentially attaining enlightenment,

38:07

you know, to truly

38:10

experience that we are

38:12

more than the senses

38:14

of seeing and feeling.

38:17

And that's really where we're

38:19

all headed. So to let go

38:21

of all of these

38:23

desirous fixations, all these

38:26

body limitations. to let

38:28

go of seeing yourself

38:30

as biologically located, that's

38:32

a great aspiration. And

38:34

I suspect that in some other

38:37

incarnation, I have been one

38:39

of those monks on their knees

38:41

to the point of being crippled.

38:43

Okay, so I'm about to name

38:46

drop to tell you a story.

38:48

I had a private meeting

38:50

with His Holiness, the Dalai

38:52

Lama. It was myself and

38:54

five other friends we'd all

38:57

travel to Dharamsala in India

38:59

and he spoke so sweetly

39:01

about your path being the

39:03

path and if you're Buddhist

39:06

just be Buddhist and if

39:08

you're born Catholic just be

39:10

Catholic the whole point of

39:12

any path is that you

39:15

get to loving kindness and

39:17

it really had me rethink

39:19

the romanticism of looking

39:21

outside of really my

39:24

lot in life, my spiritual

39:26

lot in life. So I'm

39:28

a householder and I'm a

39:30

mom and I'm an entrepreneur

39:33

and I'm a spiritual mutt

39:35

and I love my male

39:37

partner and I love being

39:39

a mom and I

39:41

earn money and sometimes

39:44

I'm vegan and sometimes

39:46

I'm vegan and sometimes

39:48

I'm vegan and sometimes

39:50

I'm vegan and sometimes

39:52

I'm not. Jesus, the

39:55

Christ, is the

39:57

love of my life.

40:00

I dig Netflix and

40:02

chocolate and this is

40:04

my path and I

40:06

am convinced that compassion

40:08

is the new way. The human

40:10

is the holy and the soul

40:13

is animating our bodies,

40:15

our lives. I'm always

40:17

really grateful when I

40:20

come across stories of

40:22

spiritual characters who have

40:25

actually stepped out of

40:27

the bounds of their spiritual

40:30

sect in really life affirming

40:32

ways like very inspired by

40:34

Thomas Merton Because I thought

40:37

he was really hot. I

40:39

love a hot monk He

40:41

was this really much respected

40:44

Trappist monk and American

40:46

and he fell in love

40:48

with a nurse who was

40:50

tending to him and I

40:52

read a lot about his

40:54

romantic religious struggle which I

40:56

can really relate to.

40:58

He talked about how

41:00

humbled and confused he

41:02

was by what he

41:04

called his weakness, his

41:06

vulnerability, his passion, and he

41:09

ended their relationship

41:11

and committed himself,

41:14

recommitted himself to his

41:16

vows. I read lots of

41:18

stories about nuns who left

41:21

the convent for romantic love.

41:23

I was in my 12th year. 10th,

41:26

12th year of really

41:28

devout vegetarianism. When I

41:30

heard that the Dalai

41:32

Lama himself, lifelong vegetarian,

41:34

had started eating beef

41:36

at his doctor's insistence,

41:38

really made me want a

41:40

cheeseburger. A good friend of mine

41:43

was on a retreat with a

41:45

Zen Roshi who just given apparently

41:47

this genius teaching on the purity

41:49

of the mind and on the

41:51

break she caught him sneak in

41:53

a smoke behind the temple and

41:55

he was totally unfazed and he

41:57

just struck took another drag off

41:59

a sick it and said to

42:01

her, you know, you can't

42:03

take any of it too

42:06

seriously. That I think was

42:08

probably the best takeaway of

42:10

that workshop. So what I

42:12

know in my bones is

42:14

that for most of us,

42:17

the greatest growth comes from

42:19

that mucky fertile mess, beautiful

42:21

chaos called relationships. And when

42:23

you do the hard work,

42:25

the beautiful work of loving

42:28

someone, the way they deserve

42:30

to be loved, you got

42:32

it. You're on the path.

42:34

When you go down into

42:36

the sensuality of being present,

42:39

you're on the path. When

42:41

you get into the surprising

42:43

amount of self-hatred that you

42:45

are going to find in

42:47

the basement of your psyche.

42:50

You're there. When you get

42:52

into the suffering of feeling

42:54

helpless, when you get into

42:56

the toxicity and the ignorance

42:58

of social structures, you're on

43:01

the path. When you show

43:03

up to help yourself and

43:05

to help others, you're on

43:07

the path. My experience has

43:09

been that my life, as

43:12

much as I've wanted to

43:14

ascend, you know, the everyday,

43:16

the relationships, just wrench me

43:18

back down. back into my

43:20

body back into my home

43:23

just like a million other

43:25

homes a zillion other people

43:27

on earth those homes and

43:29

our lives filled with minutiae

43:31

and temperaments and just you

43:34

know soft Tiny experiences of

43:36

both joy and pain so

43:38

all the practices the meditation

43:40

We're going to talk about

43:42

it. The yoga, the eating

43:45

clean. You might find that

43:47

with some of your practices.

43:49

there's going to be this

43:51

push-pull, you know, this despise

43:53

and adore, just like with

43:56

all of our relationships, right?

43:58

You're going to be curious

44:00

about, you're going to lean

44:02

in, and then you're going

44:05

to resist. And I find

44:07

that for some spiritual practices,

44:09

my resistance is really an

44:11

indicator of that's not my

44:13

right practice. And then for

44:16

others, if I... Stay with

44:18

it. Don't leave before the

44:20

opening. That resistance of the

44:22

practice melts into affection. And

44:24

that affection melts into commitment.

44:27

So if we can just

44:29

get on the same page

44:31

for a second and all

44:33

agree that some form of

44:35

contemplation is good. That moving

44:38

your body and eating healthy

44:40

is potentially a spiritual calling.

44:42

I have some thoughts for

44:44

us on going prodigal with

44:46

your practices and then coming

44:49

home to the practice. All

44:51

right, so for a lot

44:53

of us, we don't really

44:55

give enough credibility to the

44:57

spiritual practices we are already

45:00

doing. We can identify, we

45:02

can see that, oh, some

45:04

of the things I'm doing

45:06

are actually very ritualistic and

45:08

meaningful. You know, a lot

45:11

of us have regular habits

45:13

that are... bringing us closer

45:15

to the soul, to the

45:17

light. And we should declare

45:19

those for what they are.

45:22

They are spiritual rituals. It

45:24

could just be that quiet

45:26

moment that you give yourself

45:28

before you head into a

45:30

meeting, you know, that breath

45:33

you take before you pivot.

45:35

What you're really doing there

45:37

is maybe communing with your

45:39

higher guidance, you know. It

45:41

could be that girl time

45:44

you have in your living

45:46

room with hummus and olives

45:48

and laughs, like women who

45:50

have been gathering intents and

45:52

temples for millennia. Could be

45:55

working in the garden. You

45:57

are serving Mother Gaia. It

46:00

might be important to you

46:02

what you call your practice,

46:04

you know? Maybe you're not

46:06

a quote meditator, but I'm

46:09

going to try and compel

46:11

you into meditation later on.

46:13

But every morning, maybe you

46:15

sit down and you read

46:17

scriptures with your girl gray

46:19

tea, or you're writing in

46:21

your journal. That is a

46:24

contemplative practice. You could call

46:26

it that. Might inspire you

46:28

to keep doing it. Maybe

46:30

prayer is more your style.

46:32

and call it a prayer

46:34

practice because it is. And

46:36

then we keep in mind

46:39

as we walk our path,

46:41

there's no competition. So I've

46:43

been doing yoga on and

46:45

off, this is the operative

46:47

term here, on and off

46:49

for 30 years. And I

46:52

have not, well except for

46:54

one time, what I was

46:56

gonna say was I have

46:58

never attended an advanced level

47:00

class. And that's not because

47:02

I have progress so far

47:04

on my own is because,

47:07

you know, I'm like a

47:09

permab beginner. There was the

47:11

one time I misread the

47:13

schedule and I accidentally attended

47:15

this advance class. It was

47:17

like, it was so hilarious

47:19

because it was so humiliating.

47:22

Anyway, that's my yoga path.

47:24

Nobody else. Not even your

47:26

spiritual teacher or director. No

47:28

one can quantify the value

47:30

of your practices for you.

47:32

It's totally up to us,

47:35

right? You might get more

47:37

out of a one-time silent

47:39

retreat than another practitioner gets

47:41

from months years of meditation.

47:43

This might just be how

47:45

you're built wired and blessed,

47:47

right? One sincere prayer for

47:50

one of us could be

47:52

as effective as hours of

47:54

prostrations from another monk, someone

47:56

who needs to burn stuff

47:58

off, right? And remember. We

48:00

call it spiritual practice. It's

48:02

practice. It's about an ongoingness.

48:05

It's not about permanence. It's

48:07

not about perfection. There's a

48:09

sweet little story about Krishna

48:11

Murdi and one of his

48:13

students. Krishna Murdi, another hot

48:15

prophet that I really love,

48:18

the student said to him,

48:20

you know, teacher, I find

48:22

it impossible to be aware

48:24

all the time. And Krishna

48:26

Murdi said to him, well,

48:28

Don't be aware all the

48:30

time. Just be aware in

48:33

little bits. Little bits is

48:35

a spiritual path. So even

48:37

with steady devotion, like real

48:39

commitment to your growth, you

48:41

know, your practices are probably

48:43

going to ebb and flow.

48:45

It's like, you know, some

48:48

days you're going to be

48:50

riding high, you're going to

48:52

feel like, you know, you

48:54

are merging with Shiva himself.

48:56

You might be fasting and

48:58

you're feeling the pulse of

49:00

the higher realms. And you

49:03

know, on other days, you

49:05

are just going to be

49:07

doing what it takes to

49:09

not feel like shit. So

49:11

you got to be your

49:13

kind of devotee, your kind

49:16

of light worker. Worship what

49:18

you love and love the

49:20

way that you worship. Hey,

49:29

it's Jeff. So why

49:31

does our energy or

49:33

workout recovery or even

49:36

our joints start to

49:38

feel older in our

49:40

30s and 40s, and

49:42

when you're 54, like

49:44

me? Well, a big

49:46

reason for this is

49:48

senescent cell accumulation. Senescent

49:50

cells are also known

49:52

as zombie cells, because

49:54

they linger in your

49:56

body long after their

49:58

useful function, wasting your

50:00

energy and nutrition. and

50:02

contributing to many forms

50:04

of accelerated aging. and

50:06

just feeling our prime

50:08

fading away into the

50:10

distance. So, how can

50:12

we slay our zombie

50:14

cells? I've got the

50:16

answer. Qualia senelitic. So

50:18

qualia senelitic is a

50:20

clinically tested formula with

50:22

nine vegan plant-drive compounds

50:24

that help your body

50:26

naturally eliminate senescent cells,

50:28

helping you feel years

50:30

younger in just months.

50:32

And the best part,

50:34

you can take qualia

50:36

senelitic. just two days

50:38

a month. It can

50:40

literally transform how well

50:43

you age. So go

50:45

to qualialife.com/commune right now

50:47

to try qualia's analytic

50:49

backed by a hundred

50:51

day money back guarantee

50:53

and use promo code

50:55

commune to get 15%

50:57

off. That's qualia.com/commune with

50:59

the code commune. to

51:01

feel years younger with

51:03

qualia senelitic. Enlightenment for

51:05

me my path is

51:07

left to my day-to-day,

51:09

a singing kettle. It's

51:11

my boy singing. It's...

51:13

the hummingbirds and the

51:15

hummingbird feeder. It's hungry

51:17

bellies and hungry hearts

51:19

and it's the hungry

51:21

guy on the corner

51:23

of first and commercial.

51:25

It's making rice with

51:27

friends and it's love

51:29

notes and it's rapture

51:31

in the marketplace. It's

51:33

being aware of the

51:35

veins in my heart

51:37

and tunnels of choices.

51:39

everyone leading to the

51:41

light every single day.

51:43

And I walk my

51:45

path with both profundity

51:47

and practicality. And my

51:50

son, when he was

51:52

little, he flunked one

51:54

of his swim glasses.

51:56

And I was handing

51:58

my towel at the

52:00

community center pool, you

52:02

know, all shivering and

52:04

cranky. And I just

52:06

said, okay, honey, just

52:08

breathe in the light.

52:10

What color light do

52:12

you need? And he

52:14

said, Mom, praying about

52:16

green light is not

52:18

going to make me

52:20

feel any better. Please

52:22

just get my backpack

52:24

and let's go home.

52:26

Got it. That's

52:28

practical spirituality. And after years

52:31

of wanting to ascend, I'm

52:33

just really grateful to be

52:35

here. And I hope you

52:37

can say the same. So

52:40

how do we nourish our

52:42

devotion? How do you double

52:44

down? How do you confirm

52:46

your commitment? I think it

52:49

begins with devoting to the

52:51

higher ideal. It's just it's

52:53

this commitment. I want to

52:55

embody loving kindness. You want

52:58

to bring those virtues through.

53:00

And then the devotion, the

53:02

path, is going to take

53:04

on a more specific expression.

53:07

The so-called life purpose is

53:09

bigger and the specificity of

53:11

that begins to take shape.

53:13

So, so, commit to the

53:16

higher and the goal. starts

53:18

to make itself known. So

53:20

I'm committed to compassion. Oh,

53:22

then maybe my life purpose

53:25

is about protecting animals or

53:27

employing people who make delightful

53:29

things or I'm committed to

53:31

Inclusive love divine love going

53:34

to get to know my

53:36

neighbors. I'm going to work

53:38

on healing land masses. I'm

53:40

going to do community work.

53:43

You see the big filters

53:45

through to the micro. How

53:47

do you keep going with

53:49

your devotion? Buddhist nun, Pamichodron,

53:52

always in a very warm,

53:54

plain-speaking way, talks about how

53:56

many of us spend years

53:58

taking good care of ourselves

54:01

and we do the exercise

54:03

and we do the diet

54:05

regimes and we get our

54:07

massages. and we do the

54:10

spiritual practices and all the

54:12

various forms of meditation, but

54:14

when we're really challenged by

54:16

life, we still don't have

54:19

that true self-love to draw

54:21

on. She says, all those

54:23

years don't seem to have

54:25

added up to the inner

54:28

strength and kindness for themselves

54:30

that they need to relate

54:32

with what's happening. When we

54:34

start to develop unconditional acceptance

54:37

of ourselves, then we really

54:39

start taking care of ourselves

54:41

in a way that pays

54:43

off. A way that builds

54:46

inner strength instead of outer

54:48

dependencies. Really, take this in,

54:50

if you can, a way

54:52

that builds inner strength instead

54:55

of outer dependencies. That's why

54:57

we're here to get clear

54:59

on what our spiritual essentials

55:01

are. a way that expands

55:04

us, a spiritual path that

55:06

expands us so that we

55:08

can accommodate more pain and

55:10

more joy. A way that

55:13

actually grows us doesn't contract

55:15

us, doesn't punish us. You

55:17

know, deep growth happens when

55:19

self-care is a celebration of

55:22

our goodness and value. That's

55:24

really the thesis of spiritual

55:26

essentials. You know, I'm not

55:28

interested in supporting spiritual growth.

55:31

That's a fixation on what

55:33

needs to be fixed. I'm

55:35

interested in a life affirming

55:37

attentiveness that steers us inward

55:40

for the answer. Because I

55:42

think what happens? when you

55:44

are looking to the heart

55:46

is eventually you're going to

55:49

stop looking for signs outside

55:51

from the universe, you know,

55:53

signs from the universe that

55:55

we're loved and we're smart.

55:58

We look within and then

56:00

we... find signs everywhere, inside

56:02

and outside, that we are

56:04

love itself. We're gonna give

56:07

it again. We do not,

56:09

you do not need to

56:11

focus on fixing yourself. We

56:13

focus on living from the

56:16

heart and anything that is

56:18

not in alignment with that

56:20

light just begins to fall

56:22

away. Okay, this would not

56:25

be a program on... spiritual

56:27

essentials unless we brought in

56:29

some H.P. Blavatski, Helena Blavatski.

56:31

Beautiful quote on the science,

56:34

really the science of surrender.

56:36

So this is from her

56:38

way out there book called

56:40

The Secret Doctrine. She said,

56:43

the Lord Buddha has said,

56:45

that we must not believe

56:47

a thing said merely because

56:49

it is said, nor traditions

56:52

because they have been handed

56:54

down from antiquity, nor writings

56:56

by sages, nor the mere

56:58

authority of our teachers or

57:01

masters. But we are to

57:03

believe when the writing, the

57:05

doctrine, or the saying is

57:07

corroborated by our own reason

57:10

and consciousness. So we got

57:12

to talk about gurus. So,

57:14

guru is a Sanskrit word.

57:17

First half of it,

57:19

the goo means darkness.

57:21

It's the kind of

57:24

darkness where there is

57:26

no light. It's just

57:28

ignorance and confusion. Goo.

57:30

Goo darkness. Roo means

57:32

light. The light in

57:34

which there is no

57:36

darkness. The opposite of

57:38

darkness. Light and clarity.

57:40

So your guru sandwich,

57:42

the definition means to

57:45

light the darkness, to

57:47

light the darkness. Someone

57:49

who teaches how darkness

57:51

can be illumined, a

57:53

master who sheds light

57:55

on your... density, your

57:57

ignorance, your lack of

57:59

wisdom. By the way,

58:01

I learned about this

58:04

definition from Goudu Singh.

58:06

He's a third generation

58:08

American yogi, one of

58:10

my dearest friends. And

58:12

Goudu Singh and I

58:14

have had lots of

58:16

conversations about the dynamics

58:18

of devotion. We really

58:20

got into the topic

58:22

of Goudu's, Gouda type

58:25

figures and what I

58:27

would consider, you know,

58:29

blind devotion. So, you

58:31

know, my question to

58:33

him was, does devotion,

58:35

really true devotion, require

58:37

that one give themselves

58:39

over to another person's

58:41

authority? Because, come on,

58:44

that cannot be right,

58:46

you know. And of

58:48

course, Gouda saying, you

58:50

know, gets the drift,

58:52

he always gets the

58:54

drift. He talks about

58:56

devotion being the science

58:58

of surrender. It's a

59:00

state without blocks or

59:02

barriers. Devotion isn't directed

59:05

toward any one person

59:07

or anything. And when

59:09

you don't have those

59:11

barriers, when you're not

59:13

fixated on the leader,

59:15

when you're really open

59:17

in your devotion, then

59:19

what happens with openness?

59:21

You absorb all the

59:24

knowledge that is available

59:26

from that moment, from

59:28

that when you're in

59:30

a state of devotion

59:32

you have way fewer

59:34

defenses and therefore you

59:36

absorb things more absolutely

59:38

more fully which is

59:40

to say it's not

59:43

so much about the

59:45

guru themselves it's a

59:47

lot bigger than that

59:49

and this is really

59:51

I think A paradigm-busting

59:53

concept for a lot

59:55

of worshippers. who have

59:57

hung their hopes on

59:59

being illuminated by a

1:00:01

singular master or thinking

1:00:04

that any individual in

1:00:06

human form has all

1:00:08

of the answers? Because

1:00:10

they don't. And I

1:00:12

also fully honor the

1:00:14

intimacy of the guru-disiple

1:00:16

relationship and how many...

1:00:18

true blessings that can

1:00:20

bring into one's consciousness

1:00:23

for sure. I mean

1:00:25

so many masters have

1:00:27

walked and do walk

1:00:29

this earth who are

1:00:31

vibrating the highest frequency

1:00:33

of divine love. What

1:00:35

a blessing to encounter

1:00:37

them. But we have

1:00:39

to consider like the

1:00:41

subtleties of the guru

1:00:44

follower relationship. Because I

1:00:46

don't think that that

1:00:48

dynamic is going to

1:00:50

be the hallmark of

1:00:52

the age of Aquarius.

1:00:54

I think it's one

1:00:56

of the structures that

1:00:58

is being disassembled. You

1:01:00

know, gurus and spiritual

1:01:03

authorities are typically positioned

1:01:05

to be the recipients

1:01:07

of the wisdom that

1:01:09

the normies don't have

1:01:11

access to and to

1:01:13

be the dispensers of

1:01:15

that wisdom. And so,

1:01:17

you know, obviously this

1:01:19

is going to create

1:01:21

this setup where the

1:01:24

devotee needs to be

1:01:26

deemed worthy of receiving

1:01:28

the wisdom. But there

1:01:30

is wisdom to be

1:01:32

gleaned from everywhere if

1:01:34

one's heart is open.

1:01:36

So that guru-disiple relationship

1:01:38

can position people on

1:01:40

the outside of their

1:01:43

own wisdom. divine love

1:01:45

even. And that creates

1:01:47

a setup for us

1:01:49

trying to earn our

1:01:51

way in. And that

1:01:53

is the spiritual striving

1:01:55

that I myself am

1:01:57

working to do. that

1:01:59

we are gathered here

1:02:02

in spiritual essentials to

1:02:04

try and melt away,

1:02:06

you know? Trying to

1:02:08

earn your way in,

1:02:10

earn divine favor, earn

1:02:12

access, earn the blessing

1:02:14

is a very different

1:02:16

energy than intentionally, consciously

1:02:18

opening ourselves up to

1:02:20

more knowledge that can

1:02:23

definitely be dispensed by

1:02:25

great masters, right? So

1:02:27

that former way of

1:02:29

earning is externally motivated

1:02:31

and this latter way

1:02:33

that I'm talking about

1:02:35

is internally inspired. You

1:02:37

know, you feel your

1:02:39

own flame and you

1:02:42

want to join your

1:02:44

light with others. Way

1:02:46

different way of living.

1:02:48

Working, working for approval.

1:02:50

takes up a lot

1:02:52

of energy. It doesn't

1:02:54

matter whether you're trying

1:02:56

to get the approval

1:02:58

from your athletic coach

1:03:00

or your business coach

1:03:03

or your guru. It

1:03:05

can be a huge

1:03:07

distraction from seeing the

1:03:09

gifts that you already

1:03:11

hold in your own

1:03:13

being. an imagination practice.

1:03:15

We're going to see

1:03:17

ourselves in the presence

1:03:19

of a guru, okay?

1:03:22

So see yourself sitting

1:03:24

in front of a

1:03:26

truly great, spiritually gifted

1:03:28

master, an avatar, a

1:03:30

guru. It can be

1:03:32

someone from history. It

1:03:34

can be someone you

1:03:36

know. It could be

1:03:38

an angelic deity that

1:03:40

you imagine. And you're

1:03:43

facing them. You're in

1:03:45

silence. Your eyes are

1:03:47

closed. All right. And

1:03:49

now, imagine that you're...

1:03:51

trying to earn something

1:03:53

from them in their

1:03:55

presence. You want, you're

1:03:57

craving for this blessing.

1:03:59

So you're probably projecting

1:04:02

out this energy that,

1:04:04

you know, it's like,

1:04:06

see me. You see

1:04:08

me? I'm worshiping you.

1:04:10

I'm here sitting at

1:04:12

your feet. Can you

1:04:14

feel my goodness? Can't

1:04:16

you feel how earnest

1:04:18

I am? So please

1:04:20

bless me. Do you

1:04:23

feel me? And that

1:04:25

cloying kind of anxiety.

1:04:27

is arising in you.

1:04:29

You know, so you're

1:04:31

pulling for attention. You

1:04:33

want your hunger for

1:04:35

approval, which by the

1:04:37

way is a very

1:04:39

human inclination. You want

1:04:42

to feed your hunger

1:04:44

for approval. And you

1:04:46

focus, you're focusing on

1:04:48

how much you want

1:04:50

to be given something.

1:04:52

You're really in a

1:04:54

state of lack. And

1:04:57

this is the exhaustion formula,

1:05:00

right? This creates fatigue, really

1:05:02

messes, that clinging, see me,

1:05:04

see me, really messes with

1:05:06

your ability to concentrate. And

1:05:09

I think that reaching is

1:05:11

going to block your ability

1:05:13

to receive that which you

1:05:15

want most. The blessings are

1:05:17

meant for you. There are

1:05:20

so many blessings to be

1:05:22

given and received by all

1:05:24

of us to each other.

1:05:29

All right, take a

1:05:31

breath. We're going to

1:05:33

shift the energy. So

1:05:35

you're still with this

1:05:37

great illuminated figure, right?

1:05:39

But you're going to

1:05:41

shift your intention of

1:05:44

getting attention, right? So

1:05:46

you're just sitting across

1:05:48

from this great being

1:05:50

and you're not trying

1:05:52

to get anything from

1:05:54

them. There is an

1:05:56

inkling. of a sense

1:05:58

of equality. You're

1:06:02

not seeking approval. You

1:06:05

don't need any information.

1:06:07

You just simply open.

1:06:10

In fact, the intensity

1:06:12

of your devotion is

1:06:15

actually a devotion to

1:06:17

be open. Your energy

1:06:20

is saying like, I'm

1:06:23

here to be open.

1:06:25

I open to this.

1:06:28

This is surrender, the

1:06:30

capital. surrender. You're present.

1:06:33

You're spacious. You have

1:06:35

a kind of faithful

1:06:38

awareness. And then what

1:06:40

happens? You can receive

1:06:43

whatever wants to be

1:06:45

given to you. And

1:06:48

what's even more beautiful

1:06:50

and important is you

1:06:53

can sense that what

1:06:56

you're receiving already exists

1:06:58

within you. Right?

1:07:00

This openness enables the exchange

1:07:03

of power. No one can

1:07:05

give you fire to Kerry.

1:07:08

But when the conditions are

1:07:10

right, they can stoke the

1:07:13

fire that's already inside you.

1:07:15

You, your light, you're the

1:07:18

guru. What are we surrendering

1:07:20

to ultimately? We're surrendering to

1:07:23

the opportunity. to become more

1:07:25

of our selves, more aware

1:07:27

of our own Buddha nature,

1:07:30

of our divine essence. There's

1:07:32

going to be some power

1:07:35

struggles if you bring in

1:07:37

masters, right? Devotion, power, leader,

1:07:40

follower, so much can go

1:07:42

wrong. There are spiritual superhumans.

1:07:45

I would stay away from

1:07:47

them. And there are luminous

1:07:50

leaders. There are some people

1:07:52

who work for the light

1:07:55

and there are others who

1:07:57

say they're light workers but

1:07:59

they work in the shadows.

1:08:02

So I believe that there

1:08:04

are skilled esoteric technicians who

1:08:07

can pull objects out of

1:08:09

thin air and out of

1:08:12

your body, gold chains and

1:08:14

tumors and otherwise. And it's

1:08:17

not with that kind of

1:08:19

you know David Copperfield a

1:08:22

slight of hand, but it

1:08:24

is through the true manipulation

1:08:27

of energy and dimensions where

1:08:29

some people know how to

1:08:31

bring the abstract into dense

1:08:34

formation. And in keeping with

1:08:36

that, I wholeheartedly believe that

1:08:39

there are gifted humans who

1:08:41

do things that we consider

1:08:44

magical and miraculous, walking through

1:08:46

walls and by locating and

1:08:49

performing psychic surgery and curing

1:08:51

the supposedly incurable, multidimensional manipulation,

1:08:54

highly possible, inexplicable so-called miracles.

1:08:56

Yes. Magnificent, yes. the work

1:08:59

of darkness. Just because someone

1:09:01

can create so-called miracles does

1:09:03

not mean that they have

1:09:06

pure intentions. I mean, ideally,

1:09:08

we're finding someone who can

1:09:11

bend time, space, and matter,

1:09:13

and is doing that on

1:09:16

behalf of the benefit of

1:09:18

all beings. It's coming from

1:09:21

a place of love. Doesn't

1:09:23

always work that way. Metaphysical

1:09:26

skill. does not guarantee spiritual

1:09:28

integrity. Buy or beware. There

1:09:31

are some very well-branded apparent

1:09:33

light workers who are just

1:09:35

darkness peddlers in disguise. They

1:09:38

know how to plug into

1:09:40

other people's energy. and they

1:09:43

get a boost for themselves.

1:09:45

So they can create a

1:09:48

healing effect for the person

1:09:50

they're working on, but they're

1:09:53

siphoning a bit, you know?

1:09:55

It's like, I really love

1:09:58

this piece from Nietzsche, he

1:10:00

said, they muddy the waters

1:10:03

to make it seem deep.

1:10:05

So with those kind of

1:10:08

characters, you know, you might

1:10:10

get healed in one area

1:10:12

of your body or life.

1:10:15

But then something else goes

1:10:17

wrong elsewhere. It's like supercharging

1:10:20

a car battery, but draining

1:10:22

the oil at the same

1:10:25

time, you know? You get

1:10:27

this injection of energy, but

1:10:30

something's not quite right after

1:10:32

that with the overall system.

1:10:35

So what I'm getting at

1:10:37

is you don't need to

1:10:40

let the mad metaphysical skills

1:10:42

impress you necessarily. Great healing

1:10:44

and... Insight capacities are exquisite

1:10:47

yes for sure, but we

1:10:49

have to peer around the

1:10:52

curtain, if we can, to

1:10:54

see if the wizard's intentions

1:10:57

are pure of heart. It's

1:10:59

tricky stuff in this space.

1:11:02

Quality is really hard to

1:11:04

identify. You have to learn

1:11:07

to see with both your

1:11:09

heart and your intellect, right?

1:11:12

And then you need to

1:11:14

commit to your faith. while

1:11:16

still questioning ceaselessly. But really,

1:11:19

that's the function of faith,

1:11:21

you know. You don't need

1:11:24

faith if you have no

1:11:26

doubts. What's the function of

1:11:29

doubt to bolster your faith?

1:11:31

It's a good thing to

1:11:34

have doubts along the way.

1:11:36

And the bottom line is

1:11:39

that it's more important for

1:11:41

you to believe in your

1:11:44

powers of discernment than to

1:11:46

believe in someone else's healing

1:11:48

powers. We're all human. even

1:11:51

the great healers, of which

1:11:53

I have been blessed by

1:11:56

many in my life. So

1:11:58

on one hand, you know,

1:12:01

is having flaws and falling

1:12:03

into temptation and having a

1:12:06

big ego. Does that make

1:12:08

you a fraud as a

1:12:11

healer? No, not necessarily. Just

1:12:13

makes you human. This is

1:12:16

another thing. Lots of flawed

1:12:18

individual with true gifts coming

1:12:20

from a heart center place.

1:12:23

Nobody is perfect. So we

1:12:25

shouldn't expect our heroes or

1:12:28

our healers to be perfect

1:12:30

either. You know, we put

1:12:33

gurus and spiritual leaders on

1:12:35

pedestals. Really, I think, out

1:12:38

of weakness, human weakness, hope

1:12:40

of being rescued from the

1:12:43

mess that we're in. But

1:12:45

we all know that there

1:12:48

are some religious leaders who

1:12:50

are lovely, but they get

1:12:52

carried away with, you know,

1:12:55

the luxury living, human. Some

1:12:57

cultural revolutionaries. break their vows

1:13:00

of fidelity, human, lots of

1:13:02

yogis and yoginis, who have

1:13:05

very dark and disembodied days,

1:13:07

human, holy, humans. So does

1:13:10

this mean that the perfectly

1:13:12

spiritual humanitarian role model does

1:13:15

not exist? Yes, that's exactly

1:13:17

what this means. So how

1:13:20

can we have grace? for

1:13:22

the humanity of spiritual leaders,

1:13:25

while at the same time

1:13:27

holding them to impeccable standards.

1:13:29

We need to make dignity

1:13:32

and grace part of our

1:13:34

intention. We also need to

1:13:37

make our definitions of leader

1:13:39

and follower and sage and

1:13:42

seeker a lot more malleable

1:13:44

because we are all both.

1:13:47

It's essential to have visionaries

1:13:49

in the lead, but we

1:13:52

need to expect more from

1:13:54

ourselves and in some respects

1:13:57

we need to expect less

1:13:59

from those who are at

1:14:01

the so-called helm. Because when,

1:14:04

not if, but when our

1:14:06

leaders and gurus make a

1:14:09

misstep we have the wherewithal

1:14:11

to hold them accountable and

1:14:14

then to uphold the vision

1:14:16

that we both shared and

1:14:19

to create a new vision

1:14:21

that we both shared a

1:14:24

new vision and to create

1:14:26

a new vision in its

1:14:29

place. And then there's the

1:14:31

violations, right? So what happens

1:14:33

when a spiritual leader violates

1:14:36

the sacred relationship that they

1:14:38

have with their followers? This

1:14:41

gets back to my conversation

1:14:43

with Goudou Singh and most,

1:14:46

you know, well-measured spiritual advisors.

1:14:48

There is a huge karmic

1:14:51

debt waiting for spiritual teachers

1:14:53

who exploit their students. You

1:14:56

know, Christians would call this

1:14:58

a special place in hell.

1:15:01

And if you've been on

1:15:03

the receiving end of that

1:15:05

kind of abuse of power,

1:15:08

I don't know, maybe this

1:15:10

is a kind of consolation,

1:15:13

karmic retribution. I have been

1:15:15

on the other side myself

1:15:18

of breached metaphysical trust. I

1:15:20

felt extreme rage because of

1:15:23

that. And eventually, when my

1:15:25

rage receded. I

1:15:27

was able to feel

1:15:30

a lot of compassion

1:15:32

for the astral felon

1:15:34

because they had sentenced

1:15:37

themselves to some serious

1:15:39

spiritual cleanup duty. They

1:15:41

had created a towering

1:15:44

list of amends to

1:15:46

make in this dimension

1:15:48

and others, and then

1:15:51

some. So holding leaders

1:15:53

accountable for destructive behavior

1:15:55

is... intense work. It

1:15:58

can tear communities and

1:16:00

families apart. Accountability. What

1:16:02

if we thought of

1:16:04

the whistleblower's and the

1:16:07

truth crusaders and some

1:16:09

of the activists as

1:16:11

healers? What if you

1:16:14

as a freedom seeker,

1:16:16

as a truth teller,

1:16:18

saw yourself as a

1:16:21

healer as a healer

1:16:23

as a healer, as

1:16:25

a healer, saw yourself

1:16:28

as a healer? And

1:16:30

then you just keep

1:16:32

in mind that sometimes

1:16:35

love feels a lot

1:16:37

like fire. If you

1:16:39

want to hear more

1:16:42

from Danielle, she has

1:16:44

three full-length courses on

1:16:46

the commune course platform

1:16:48

titled Free and Clear,

1:16:51

The Desire Map, and

1:16:53

Spoken Soul. You can

1:16:55

watch those courses and

1:16:58

all of our courses

1:17:00

for free with a

1:17:02

14-day trial of commune

1:17:05

membership. Just go to

1:17:07

one commune.com/trial to sign

1:17:09

up for free. In

1:17:12

total, commune membership includes

1:17:14

more than 150 courses.

1:17:16

on integrated medicine, nutrition,

1:17:19

spirituality, yoga, meditation, breathwork,

1:17:21

personal growth, relationships, mindful

1:17:23

leadership, and so much

1:17:26

more. Essentially, everything you

1:17:28

need in your life

1:17:30

to be holistically well.

1:17:32

And you can access

1:17:35

all of that at

1:17:37

one commune.com/trial. Lastly, but

1:17:39

not leastly, please consider

1:17:42

leaving us a review

1:17:44

and subscribing to this

1:17:46

podcast. That's all from

1:17:49

the commune for today.

1:17:51

My name is Jeff

1:17:53

Krasno, and I am

1:17:56

here for you. You