New Dimensions

Becoming an elder can be a time of great creativity and contribution.This deep dialogue explores what it means to be to be proactive in approaching aging and becoming an elder in the 21st century. Percy’s research points out that growing older does not mean we can no longer actualize new and healthier futures. These years may be our most influential ones yet. Percy is the author of Becoming an Elder: Practicing the Wisdom Arts.Interview Date: 8/3/2019   Tags: Diana Percy, elderhood, eldering, mortality, obituaries, Sir Laurens Van der Post, meaning, Viktor Frankl, friendships, Matthew Fox, Order of the Sacred Earth, Intergenerational vision, volunteering, humor, personal mastery, Personal Transformation

Lama Palden Drolma presents the Tibetan meditation practice, Tonglen, in a way that is accessible to Westerners. It combines breath, awareness, imagination, and an energetic transformation process that opens our hearts to reveal and cultivate kindness, love, compassion and wisdom. This practice can be used in our everyday life in an “on-the-spot” meditation. Lama Palden Drolma is the author of Love on Every Breath: Tonglen Meditation for Transforming Pain into Joy (New World Library 2019) Interview Date: 7/16/2019     Tags: MP3, Lama Palden Drolma, Tonglen, Niguma, Dilgo Khyentse, Chenrezig, three jewels, Buddha, Sanga, Dharma, sin, Matthew Fox, mantra, Kalu Rinpoche, 16th Karmapa, Meditation, Personal Transformation, Buddhism

Nepo’s creative works, books, poems, workshops are all about creating a sacred place where the experience of honest truth can happen. Even in our deepest moments of suffering, he encourages us to seek out slivers of light seeping through the broad slats of darkness. His genius is to discover metaphors as a way of understanding and making meaning of our lives. Mark Nepo is the author of many audio learning projects and over 20 books including Reduced To Joy (Cleis Press 2013), Seven Thousand Ways To Listen: Staying Close To What Is Sacred (Free Press 2012), The One Life We’re Given: Finding the Wisdom That Waits in Your heart (Atria Books 2016), The Way Under the Way: The Place of True Meeting (Sounds True 2016) and Drinking from the River of Light: The Life of Expression (Sounds True 2019)Interview Date: 8/10/2019     Tags: Mark Nepo, metaphors, cancer, grief, Gail Warner, Pine Manor Retreat Center, Doc Palmer, creativity, immersion, whales and dolphins, suffering, telling stories, Rilke, being present, ambition and dreams, making plans, Winston Churchill, assumptions, conclusions, Pandora music app, George Bernard Shaw’s tailor, Personal Transformation, Spirituality, Writing, Art & Creativity, Philosophy

Here we climb the attic steps and kneel before an old trunk, lift the lid and allow ancient tales to rush out and pierce our hearts and souls with their wisdom. Our guide in this quest is Martin Shaw who invites us to look at folktales not as therapy, not as giving advice but as tributaries that lead us to the bigger river of essential truths that nourish our lives.His books include A Branch from the Lightning Tree: Ecstatic Myth and the Grace in Wildness, (White Cloud Press 2011), Snowy Tower: Parzival and the Wet, Black Branch of Language (White Cloud Press 2014), Scatterlings: Getting Claimed in the Age of Amnesia (White Cloud 2016) and The Night Wages: Bidden or Unbidden Initiations Come, (Cista Mystica Press 2019). Interview Date: 6/4/2019    Tags: MP3, Martin Shaw, Captain Beefheart, Robert Bly, Odyssey, Ulysses, Nostos (returning home), longing, Psyche and Eros, Medusa, Charles Eisenstein, Mythology, Philosophy

Inner peace, as expressed by love, exists as goodness itself and is the strongest alternative to helplessness, resentment, hate, insanity, bitterness, and crazy violence. Here, we focus our attention on the capacity for a generous love that embraces such virtues as kindness, courage, forgiveness, gratitude, dignity for all, and hope. Stephen G. Post, Ph.D. is among a handful of individuals awarded the distinguished service award by the National Alzheimer's Association. In 2001 he founded The Institute for Research on Unlimited Love, which researches and distributes knowledge on kindness, giving and spirituality. Post served as a co-chair of the United Nations Population Fund Conference on Spirituality and Global Transformation. He's a professor in the Department of Preventative Medicine at Stony Brook University and founder and director of the Stony Brook Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care and Bioethics. He's a leader in medicine research and religion and the author of several books. Interview Date: 8/22/2025    Tags: Stephen Post, Buddhist chant Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, John Eccles, original mind, supreme mind, creativity, freedom, intuition, Mircea Eliade, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, loyalty, compassion, kindness, Sean Keener, Jacques Rousseau, empathic, freedom, Dostoevsky, Hinduism, Golden Rule, volunteering, mirth, Personal Transformation, Psychology, Work/Livelihood

This physicist and mystic combine their wisdom and experience to encourage us at this time of “choice point” for humanity. They describe what occurs in our brain when surprises happen and how that provides the opportunity to instantly change a long-standing habit. Hade describes the importance of knowing our core values in order to be resilient.William Arntz is a physicist and filmmaker and creator of the film, “What the BLEEP Do We Know!?” Deirdre Hade is a modern-day mystic, poet and leading visionary in the ancient arts of the wisdom traditions, and creator of “The Radiance Journey” a path to mystical knowledge that unites the magical with the material. Together, husband and wife team William Arntz and Deidre Hade explore how science merges with mystical prophecy to help us navigate the upheaval and ever-changing surprises in these post-modern times. Arntz and Hade are the co-creators of the book: The (not so) Little Book of Surprises (Waterside Press2016), with the award winning photography of Endre Balogh.Interview Date: 9/5/2017      Tags: Deirdre Hade, William Arntz, What The Bleep Do We Know, illumination, mysticism, scientism, curiosity, intuition, Sodom and Gomorrah, faith, Age of Surprises, habits, neuroplasticity, resilience, core virtues, core values, despair, fear, awe, soul, angelic presence, archangels, Philosophy, Science, Spirituality, intuition/psychic

Karma is incompletely understood and frequently misapplied. For those who wish to understand karmic law more deeply, here we explore the parallels between different spiritual traditions, spiritual insights, and doctrines regarding karma, as they relate to individual responsibility for leading our best lives. Philip Goldberg is an acclaimed author, public speaker, and spiritual counselor. He has studied and taught about the world's spiritual wisdom for more than 50 years. Goldberg teaches private online courses on the Bhagavad-Gita, The Upanishads, and other topics. He hosts the Podcast, “Spirit Matters with Philip Goldberg” at mindbodyspirit.fm. His  books include American Veda: from Emerson to the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation, How Indian Spirituality Changed the West (Harmony 2010), The Life of Yogananda: The Story of the Yogi Who Became the First Modern Guru (Hay House 2018), Spiritual Practice for Crazy Times: Powerful Tools to Cultivate Calm, Clarity, and Courage (Hay House 2020) and Karmic Relief: Harnessing the Laws of Cause-and-Effect for a Joyful Meaningful Life (Monkfish 2025) Interview Date: 8/8/2025     Tags: Philip Goldberg, consequences, Upanishads, Vedanta, Bhagavad Gita, Book of Job, H.H. the Dalai Lama, Ram Dass, Hinduism. Metta Practice, Yoga Sutras, The Golden Rule, Rabbi Hillel, Aquarian Age, Armageddon, Buddhism, Personal Transformation, Psychology

Sam Daley-Harris provides powerful structures of support so that our courage is what drives us, not our fear. He encourages us to move beyond only donating money, signing petitions, or writing letters to the editor. He tells us that deep effectiveness in citizen advocacy is about deep engagement and participating in a cause that you care about. Daley-Harris founded RESULTS and the RESULTS Educational Fund in 1980. RESULTS is an international grassroots, citizen’s lobby committed to healing the break between people and government, and creating the political will to end hunger and the worst aspects of poverty. He is the author of Reclaiming Our Democracy: Every Citizen’s Guide to Transformational Advocacy (revised edition) (Rivertown Books 2024) Interview Date: 8/1/2025      Tags: Sam Daley-Harris, Alex Steffin, citizen engagement, deep listening, grassroots lobbying, community building, climate change, citizen empowerment, legislative advocacy, Marshall Ganz, Rusty Schweickart, Hunger Project, deep listening, Vintage Vanguard, affordable housing, low-income housing, U.N. Children's Fund, Senator John Curtis, Tom Greenaway, Ellie Sparks, Citizens Climate Lobby, Bill McKibben, Community, Personal Transformation, Social Change/Politics

In honor of broadcast journalist and commentator Bill Moyers, who passed on June 25, 2025, we present this New Dimensions Archive Edition, recorded on October 4 1996 and hosted by MIchael Toms. Moyers was widely respected for accessible, provocative television programs that explore a broad spectrum of contemporary topics with depth and sensitivity. In this New Dimensons Archive Edition he discusses his original approach to broadcast journalism and his series “Genesis: A Living Conversation,” consisting of ten lively discussions about stories in the first book of the Bible. In these programs, he describes why these are among the most powerful stories in Western Civilization, and the fascinating process of uncovering their deeper, often controversial meanings. Moyers says, “Stories are the way we organize our response to the world…Listening to others, and having them listen to you, is a way to grow your own faith.”

Cousineau explores how perfectionism leads to burnout, stress, and anxiety. She introduces the concept of "inner algorithms" as coping patterns formed in stressful situations. She advocates for a mind-body approach to overcoming perfectionism, highlighting the importance of self-compassion and the EVOLVE method. Tara Cousineau, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist at Harvard University’s Counseling and Mental Health Services. She’s professionally trained in mind-body medicine, energy psychology, mindfulness, self-compassion, and other psychological methods. She is the author of The Kindness Cure: How The Science Of Compassion Can Heal Your Heart And Your World (New Harbinger Publications 2018) and The Perfectionist’s Dilemma: Learn the Art of Self Compassion and Become a Happy Achiever (Alcove Press 2025)Interview Date: 7/18/2025         Tags: Tara Cousineau, Kindfulness, kindsight, joy, social media, procrastination, mindfulness, inner algorithms, Byron Katie, talk therapy, body therapy, IFS, Internal Family Systems, Richard C Schwartz, procrastination, Scarlett O’Hara, Tara Brach, mantras, Rick Hanson, Donna Eden, EFT. Emotional Freedom Technique, “Tapping,” Personal Transformation, Psychology

Are we living in and collectively participating in a planetary nervous system? Are we all creative participants guiding Earth’s destiny? Here, we focus on the noosphere, which represents the third major evolutionary layer enveloping Earth, following the geosphere (inanimate matter) and the biosphere (biological life).   Brian Thomas Swimme, Ph.D. is Professor of Evolutionary Cosmology at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. He is the Director of the Third Story of the Universe at The Human Energy Project He is the host of the Emmy-award winning PBS special "Journey of the Universe," written with Mary Evelyn Tucker. He is also the host of the 35-part video series "Story of the Noosphere," created for the Human Energy Project.   Monica DeRaspe-Bolles is a doctoral student at the California Institute of Integral Studies in the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program. Her area of research is the “Third Story of the Universe” and the potential emergence of a new structure of experience fostering cosmogenic awakening. She is a collaborator with Brian Swimme on the video series “Story of the Noosphere.” They are the co-authors of the book The Story of the Noosphere (Orbis Books 2024)Interview Date: 7/11/2025      Tags: Brian Thomas Swimme, Monica DeRaspe-Bolles, Noosphere, geosphere, biosphere, James Webb telescope, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Vladimir Vernadsky, Jiffy time, Arno Penzias, Robert Wilson, universal mind, planetary mind, Zarathustra, entelechy, diversification, conscious recall, Personal Transformation, Philosophy, Science, Community

Alderman highlights the rapid expansion of information exposure over the past 50 years, leading to an "algorithmic undertow" that channels individuals into echo chambers. Here we explore how to become digitally mature and mindfully intentional in our engagement with the increasingly fragmented social landscape. Bruce Alderman, MA, is an affiliate faculty professor at John F. Kennedy University in the Consciousness and Transformative Studies and Holistic Counseling Psychology departments. He is the Associate Director of the Blue Sky Leaders Certificate Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies His essays and white papers have been published in many prestigious publications and anthologies on consciousness studies, and he is co-creator, producer, and occasional host of the YouTube series The Integral Stage.Interview Date: 6/13/2025     Tags: Bruce Alderman, Penn Gillette, algorithmic undertow, echo chambers, information bubbles, Roy Bhaskar, demi realities, critical realism, digital realities, Bohemian dialog, David Bohm, Jainism, Anekāntavāda, non one-sidedness, non one-pointedness. critical realism, integral theory, Ken Wilber, integral theory, Personal Transformation, Philosophy, Psychology, technology

This 2500 year old sacred text of India is a divine song and trusted guide for happiness, meditation, and spiritual inner growth. It unfolds as a dialogue of Master and Disciple, a friendly chat between Prince Arjuna, a warrior and a highly evolved spiritual seekerand, God incarnate Lord Krishna. It serves as a reflection of our internal “battlefield of the soul.” Isaac Bentwich M.D. is a longtime practitioner and teacher of Yoga and Meditation. Trained as a physician in Western and Ayurvedic medicine, he founded three life-science technology companies, leading revolutions in medicine, genomics, and environment conservation. He is the author of Gita: A Timeless Guide for Our Time (Harmonia Publications 2018)Interview Date: 6/29/2019     Tags: Isaac Bentwich, Bhagavad Gita, Prince Arjuna, Lord Krishna, Vedanta, yoga, training the mind, joy, lotus blossom, Personal Transformation, Religion, Spirituality

Kaliko shares Hawaii’s history, culture, and the revitalization of its language. He talks of his experience of learning several languages and how doing so changed him into a different person. He shares the story of the revered cultural hero Aunty Nona who, after decades of restrictions, brought the sacred hula back from the repression of Western missionaries. Interview Date: 4/24/2019  Tags: Kaliko Beamer-Trapp, Aunty Nona Beamer, lei, Tongans, Arts & Creativity, History 

Fear can create chronic anxiety, depression, and disconnection. However, Manly shares a hidden aspect of this same fear that affords us the opportunity to live a life with fear as an ally rather than a foe. In her research and work as a psychotherapist she has discovered a way out of destructive fear and how we can turn it into transformational healing. She is the author of: Joy From Fear: Create the Life of Your Dreams by Making Fear Your Friend. (Familius 2019).Interview Date: 7/30/2019     Tags: Carla Manly, fear, mirror neurons, jealousy, addiction, pornography, psychotherapy, empathy, Psychology, Health & Healing, Personal Transformation

Mindfulness is not about holding the busy world at bay, it’s to cultivate a more alive, responsive, effective and warm-hearted way of being within the world as it already exists and within a life you already live. This deep dialogue explores how to find composure right in the midst of the storm and ways to integrate mindfulness into our daily life.Marc Lesser’s books include Less: Accomplishing More by Doing Less (New World Library 2009), Know Yourself, Forget Yourself (New World Library 2013) and Seven Practices of a Mindful Leader: Lessons From Google and a Zen Monastery Kitchen (New World Library 2019).Interview Date: 6/7/2019    Tags: MP3, Marc Lesser, mindfulness, Norman Fischer, Tassajara Zen Center, Macmindfulness, loving kindness, sympathetic joy, listening, Michael Pollan, self-sufficient, collaboration, acceptance, simplicity, radical responsibility for yourself, Shunryu Suzuki Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, blame, showing up, compassion, Robert Gass, ground truth, Meditation, Philosophy, Personal Transformation, Buddhism, Work/Livelihood

Despite ever more sophisticated medical technology and more expensive healthcare, chronic diseases are increasing. If mainstream medicine is doing its job, why are the rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease rising instead of decreasing? This deep dialogue with Roberto Tostado explores how many of us are choosing a toxic lifestyle and what can we do to transform it into a healthy one. He is the author of WTF* (or What the Food) Is Wrong with Our Health? A Rebel Physician’s Manifesto for Reversing Disease and Increasing Smiles (Roberto Tostado, MD 2019) Interview Date: 5/27/2019      Tags: Roberto Tostado, nutrition, pharmaceuticals, prescription drugs, genetic propensity, Aldous Huxley, opioid epidemic, obesity, metabolic diseases, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, toxins, GMOs, sugar, protein, good oils and fats, liver, Optimum Health Institute, Thyroid testing, hypoglycemia, coconut oil, Alzheimer’s, salt, inflammation, anti-oxidants, farmers markets, iBody Wellness Center, regenerative medicine, Health & Healing 

Sun explores breaking the cycles of fear and hurt by making conscious choices and connecting to one's own power and intuition. She sees current global challenges as indicators of an evolutionary leap in consciousness urging us to explore the integration of intuitive and rational thinking, also known as right brain/left brain thinking. Patricia Sun is a scientific mystic, philosopher, spiritual teacher, and consciousness pioneer. She has traveled the world empowering people to tap into their inherent creative capacity, resulting in new ways of thinking. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 3-1/2 years from the University of California, Berkeley, with degrees in Social Sciences and Psychology and Conservation and Natural Resources. She concentrates directly on creative solutions: "re-creating" thought patterns and "re-perceiving" experience. She’s considered to be a teacher's teacher and leads workshops and gives private consultations.Interview Date: 5/23/2025.    Tags: Patricia Sun, genius, imagination, interconnectedness of life, paradox, rational mind, intuition, right brain, left brain, perspective, despair, collective consciousness, astrology, Niels Bohr, love, imaginal cells, duality, creativity, either/or thinking, trust, Health & Healing, Personal Transformation, Philosophy, Psychology

Guzmán shares her personal experience of growing up in a politically divided family. She highlights the need for in-person interactions, attention, and containment in dialogues. She also discusses the role of media in perpetuating polarization and the potential for small-scale conversations to impact larger institutions like politics and media. Mónica Guzmán is a journalist and entrepreneur and is the Senior Fellow for Public Practice at Braver Angels, a grassroots, cross partisan, organization working to depolarize America. She is cofounder of the newsletter The Evergrey out of Seattle Washington and is the proud liberal daughter of conservative parents and is a dual US/Mexican citizen. She is the author of I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times (BenBella Books 2022).Interview Date: 5/15/2025    Tags: Mónica Guzmán, listening, storytelling, uncertainty, assumption, biases, curiosity, Murial Rukeyser, Braver Angels, depolarizing America, attention, attention economy, Personal Transformation, Social Change/Politics, Community