Spirit Matters

This episode's guest is Michael Schauch (www.michaelschauch.com). Michael is an alpinist—meaning he climbs high mountains—and an award-winning author who, in his words, “lives to explore the depths of nature and the human spirit and share the beauty of connection he discovers along the way.”A resident of Canada—specifically the mountains of British Columbia—he is a world-traveler and explorer and a Buddhist practitioner who has, for fifteen years, served as a mentor and supporter of Tibetan Buddhist youth in Kathmandu, Nepal, and to young members of his local community in Canada. He also holds an MBA from Queens University and is a member of the Explorers Club—probably a combination you don’t find very often.He has been published in numerous magazines and his books have been praised by reviewers and well-known spiritual leaders. Those books include A Story of Karma: Finding Love and Truth in the Lost valley of the Himalaya and his new release, Anatta: Heart of Wisdom, which is mainly what we spoke about in this conversation. We touched on a range of topics, including the spiritual value of time in nature, why he says "The way to resove conflicts with others is to first resolve conflicts within ourselves," and why he quotes his friend, who said, "Those moving about in crazy ways only appear to be crazy until you can hear the music." You'll find much to draw upon moving forward. Learn more about Michael here:  www.michaelschauch.com. NOTE: We recorded this episode before the devastating floods that destroyed parts of Nepal and the lives of many Nepalese and pilgrims. I wish we could have discussed the tragedy.    This podcast is a part of the MindBodySpirit.fm Podcast NetworkVisit us at www.mindbodyspirit.fm

Mirabai Starr ⁠(https://mirabaistarr.com/) returns for her third visit to Spirit Matters. Mirabai is an award-winning author of creative non-fiction and contemporary translations of sacred literature. She taught philosophy and world religions at the University of New Mexico-Taos for 20 years and now teaches and speaks internationally on contemplative practice and inter-spiritual dialog.I first became aware of Mirabai because of her books about – and translations of – some of the pre-eminent Christian mystics—John of the Cross, Julian of Norwich, Teresa of Avila—and later interviewed her about her other excellent books, such as ⁠Wild Mercy⁠, which is about female mystics from different traditions, ⁠Caravan of No Despair⁠, which is about her own heart-wrenching loss and the transformation that can come from grief, a subject she’s helped a great many people deal with in workshops and online programs, and ⁠Ordinary Mysticism: Your Life as Sacred Ground⁠.She’s back now with a revised and expanded edition of her 2012 book, ⁠God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam⁠. As always with Mirabai, the conversation offers much to learn and much to feel.This podcast is a part of the MindBodySpirit.fm Podcast NetworkVisit us at www.mindbodyspirit.fm

Cynthia Abulafia is an author, an academic, and a devotee of the Goddess. She is, in her words, committed to giving language to the divine feminine and restoring the experience of embodiment as the heart of spiritual practice. A longtime student and teacher of non-duality, she guides people through kundalini awakenings and spiritual emergence with grounded tools rooted in embodiment, breath, and the context of sacred texts and traditions. Her debut book, Embodying the Goddess: How to Awaken Curiosity and Reverence on the Spiritual Path, which was released in January 2026, was "inspired by 20 years of kundalini awakening, 20 years of study in non-duality traditions, and the work of the great philosopher Utpaladeva (900s CE)." In it, Cynthia challenges the “transcendence bias” of patriarchal spirituality and offers a path of radical integration. If you're curious about the divine feminine, the phenomenon of kundalini awakening, and about grounding nonduality in the apparent dualism of embodiment, this is the conversation for you.    This podcast is a part of the MindBodySpirit.fm Podcast NetworkVisit us at www.mindbodyspirit.fm

Rabbi Rami Shapiro is our returning champion. This is his third appearance on Spirit Matters (fourth if you count the time he interviewed me about Karmic Relief). Rami is a self-proclaimed “Jewish practitioner of perennial wisdom.” He was ordained by Hebrew Union College and earned a Ph.D. in religion from Union Graduate School. He’s the co-director of the One River Foundation, writes the column “Roadside Assistance for the Spiritual Traveler” for Spirituality and Health magazine. And he’s written more than 40 books on religion and spirituality. They include: Holy Rascals – Advice for Spiritual Revolutionaries; The Tao of Solomon (which is about Ecclesiastes); Judaism Without Tribalism; and Zen Mind, Jewish Mind. And now he has another book to discuss with us: Love and the Bible: And the Meaning of Everything. We spoke about that book, about the place of love in our spiritual lives, about love, sex, and relationality in all mystical traditions ... and more.This podcast is a part of the MindBodySpirit.fm Podcast NetworkVisit us at www.mindbodyspirit.fm

If you've ever contemplated the link between spirituality and music, or between consciousness and musical improvisation, this is the episode for you. My guest is Ed Sarath, a longtime professor of music at the University of Michigan—specifically, in the Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation department at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance. He is also director of the university’s Program in Creativity and Consciousness Studies, and President of the International Society for Improvised Music. And he’s the author of scholarly books, including Music Theory Through Improvisation: A New Approach to Musicianship Training; Improvisation, Creativity, and Consciousness: Jazz as Integral Template for Music, Education, and Society; Black Music Matters: Jazz and the Transformation of Music Studies. He has also has published in numerous academic journals. Ed designed the BFA program in Jazz and Contemplative Studies, which was the first to include a significant meditation and consciousness studies component. And he teaches classes such as Creativity, Consciousness and the Future; Black Music Matters; and Music School of the Future. As a performer and composer, he has collaborated with leading artists across a wide range of genres. And as a teacher and public speaker, he has presented at music schools, conservatories, conferences, and symposia around the world. His latest passion is the International Consortium for Academic and Societal Transformation, which he founded.This podcast is a part of the MindBodySpirit.fm Podcast NetworkVisit us at www.mindbodyspirit.fm