CHITHEADS - Embodied Philosophy

Riccardo Manzotti has a PhD in Robotics and degrees in The Philosophy of Mind and Computer Science. He teaches Psychology of Perception at IULM University, Milan (Italy), and has been a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at MIT. He has specialized in AI, artificial vision, perception, and, most of all, the issue of consciousness. After working in the field of artificial vision, he focused his research on the nature of phenomenal experience, how it emerges from physical processes and how it is related to objected perceived. His book The Spread Mind has just been published.

Riccardo Manzotti on the Spread Mind & Modern Physics (#64)

Michael’s spiritual path began 23 years ago with Zen and subsequently included a master’s degree in theology from Harvard, long-term stays at two monasteries, and profound engagements with Vedanta, Tibetan Buddhism, Sufism, Kashmir Shaivism, and Christian mysticism. He was especially influenced by Nisargadatta, Mooji, and Rupert Spira. During a five-year period of purification and intensive self-inquiry, his search came to an end with an Awakening that revealed the infinite and eternal nature of the Self. His body and mind then underwent a radical transformation that established the seamlessness and aliveness of all experience. Drawing always from his direct experience, Michael speaks with great clarity and compassion about the undivided nature of Life or Consciousness, always pointing to reality in a way that is free from dogma, ritual, or adherence to any particular tradition. He draws skillfully from the world's wisdom traditions and also integrates Jungian psychology, literature, music, and art into his work to address the full range of human potential. He offers meetings, retreats, and private sessions here in the United States and abroad. His book--Boundless Awareness: A Loving Path to Spiritual Awakening and Freedom from Suffering--will be published by Non-Duality Press / New Harbinger in March 2018 (though you can now pre-order the book on Amazon).   

Michael’s spiritual path began 23 years ago with Zen and subsequently included a master’s degree in theology from Harvard, long-term stays at two monasteries, and profound engagements with Vedanta, Tibetan Buddhism, Sufism, Kashmir Shaivism, and Christian mysticism. He was especially influenced by Nisargadatta, Mooji, and Rupert Spira. During a five-year period of purification and intensive self-inquiry, his search came to an end with an Awakening that revealed the infinite and eternal nature of the Self. His body and mind then underwent a radical transformation that established the seamlessness and aliveness of all experience. Drawing always from his direct experience, Michael speaks with great clarity and compassion about the undivided nature of Life or Consciousness, always pointing to reality in a way that is free from dogma, ritual, or adherence to any particular tradition. He draws skillfully from the world's wisdom traditions and also integrates Jungian psychology, literature, music, and art into his work to address the full range of human potential. He offers meetings, retreats, and private sessions here in the United States and abroad. His book--Boundless Awareness: A Loving Path to Spiritual Awakening and Freedom from Suffering--will be published by Non-Duality Press / New Harbinger in March 2018 (though you can now pre-order the book on Amazon).  In this episode we discuss....the role of literature in spiritual practice  the vibratory potency of words in both literature and religious texts how the awakening process can be supported through the recognition of beauty the difference between the punctuated periods of bliss and the process of awakening the difference between boundless awareness and bound awareness  Join Thousands in our Tribe And receive the latest audio, written and video content to your inbox. Email Address Sign Up Thank you!

Dr Jude Currivan is a cosmologist, planetary healer, futurist, author and previously one of the most senior business women in the UK. Having grown up as the daughter of a coal miner in the north of England, she has since journeyed to nearly seventy countries around the world and for the last nearly twenty years has lived in the sacred landscape of Avebury. She has experienced multidimensional realities since early childhood and worked with the wisdom keepers both incarnate and discarnate of many traditions.

Dr Jude Currivan is a cosmologist, planetary healer, futurist, author and previously one of the most senior business women in the UK. Having grown up as the daughter of a coal miner in the north of England, she has since journeyed to nearly seventy countries around the world and for the last nearly twenty years has lived in the sacred landscape of Avebury. She has experienced multidimensional realities since early childhood and worked with the wisdom keepers both incarnate and discarnate of many traditions. Jude integrates leading edge science, research into consciousness and universal wisdom teachings into a wholistic wholeworld-view. This underpins her work aimed at enabling transformational and emergent resolutions to our collective planetary issues, raising awareness and empowering fundamental change and sustainable solutions to global problems. She holds a PhD in Archaeology from the University of Reading in the UK researching ancient cosmologies and a Masters Degree in Physics from Oxford University specialising in cosmology and quantum physics. She is the author of six non-fiction books currently available in 15 languages and 25 countries including CosMos – a co-creator’s guide to the whole-world co-authored with Dr Ervin Laszlo. Her first fictionalised e-book Legacy is available at amazon. Her latest is The Cosmic Hologram- In-formation at the Center of Creation, the first book of the Transformation trilogy. She is currently writing book two Gaia: Her-Story. Her international corporate career culminated in her being the Group Finance Director of two major international businesses. She has extensive experience and knowledge of world events, international politics and global economic and financial systems and has spoken on transformational reforms in the UK, US, Europe, Japan and South Korea. For the last seventeen years she has also travelled around the world in service to planetary and collective healing, some of which is described in her books The 8th Chakra, The 13th Step and most recently HOPE – Healing Our People & Earth. In 2010 she was presented with a CIRCLE Award by WON  Buddhism International cited for her 'outstanding contribution towards planetary healing and expanding new forms of consciousness'. In 2014 she was invited to become a member of the Evolutionary Leaders Circle that includes Deepak Chopra, Barbara Marx Hubbard and Jean Houston. Jacob Kyle, Host of CHITHEADS Join Thousands in our Tribe And receive the latest audio, written and video content to your inbox Email Address Sign Up Thank you!

Jacob Kyle sat down with Bob Thurman and Isa Gucciardi at the 2017 Science and Nonduality Conference in San Jose, California, after attending their workshop, "Shamans and Siddhas". Scroll down to listen to their wide-ranging conversation on peace and the Dalai Lama.  

Jacob Kyle sat down with Bob Thurman and Isa Gucciardi at the 2017 Science and Nonduality Conference in San Jose, California, after attending their workshop, "Shamans and Siddhas". Scroll down to listen to their wide-ranging conversation on peace and the Dalai Lama. About Bob Thurman:A recognized worldwide authority on religion and spirituality, Asian history, world philosophy, Buddhist science, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Robert Thurman is an eloquent advocate of the relevance of Buddhist ideas to our daily lives. In doing so, he has become a leading voice of the value of reason, peace and compassion. He was named one of Time magazine’s 25 most influential Americans and has been profiled by The New York Times and People Magazine. Thurman travels internationally lecturing to universities, companies, conferences and think tanks. He is a gifted communicator who can make complex concepts understandable introducing challenging ideas with intelligence and humor in a down to earth and comprehensible way. He reasons passionately that H. H. the Dalai Lama, a true man with no worldly rank, is the most practical leader of world leaders, with principles that must be heeded by them to avert the worst outcomes of our present global crisis: nonviolent dialogue in place of war, environmental restoration in place of consumerist exploitation, inter-religious mutual affirmation in place of ideological competition, hope and determination in place of cynicism and denial. When these are widely implemented, we cannot fail to have a world renaissance of an amazing peace, beauty, compassionate justice, and shared joy! About Isa Gucciardi:Isa Gucciardi is the Founding Director and lead teacher of the Foundation of the Sacred Stream. The workshops and training programs of the Foundation are part of her larger vision for helping people who are interested in stepping into greater consciousness and leading happier lives. Her primary focus is on teaching, writing, and curriculum development. Isa is also the creator of the groundbreaking therapeutic model, Depth Hypnosis, which is born from her studies in transpersonal psychology, cultural and linguistic anthropology, comparative religion, hypnotherapy, and transformational healing. Isa has lived in eleven countries and she speaks five languages. The mother of two children, she is a potter and gardener, a stained glass artist, a piano enthusiast, and an herbalist. In addition to her busy teaching schedule, she has an active Depth Hypnosis counseling and consulting practice in San Francisco. In this episode, we discuss:Shamans and Siddhas. The role of the Siddha in Tibetan Buddhism. How to address the perception of ”real” from the “imagined” in the practice of shamanic journeying. The role of imagination in spiritual practice. The inspiration for Bob’s new book "Man of Piece", a graphic novel about the life of the Dali Lama. The role of the Dali Lama in guiding the world towards peace. Isa’s book “Coming to Peace”.  Different shamanic conflict resolution methods outlined in her book. The need for individuals to find inner peace. How that process is vital for universal peace. The "Universal Orgasm" of PEACE! Jacob Kyle, Host of CHITHEADS Join Thousands in our Tribe And receive the latest audio, written and video content to your inbox. Email Address Sign Up Thank you!

Founder, Executive Director and President of the Board of Directors Integrative Restoration Institute Richard Miller, PhD is a clinical psychologist, author, researcher, yogic scholar and spiritual teacher. For over 40 years, Richard Miller has devoted his life and work to integrating the nondual wisdom teachings of Yoga, Tantra, Advaita, Taoism and Buddhism with Western psychology. Among his mentors were Jean Klein, T.K.V. Desikachar and Stephen Chang. Richard is the founding president and CEO of the Integrative Restoration Institute, co-founder of The International Association of Yoga Therapy and founding editor of the professional Journal of IAYT. He is also a founding member and past president of the Institute for Spirituality and Psychology and a senior advisor for the Baumann Foundation for the study of Awareness and its impact on well-being. Author of Yoga Nidra: The Meditative Heart of Yoga, Richard serves as a research consultant studying the iRest Yoga Nidra protocol that he has developed (Integrative Restoration ~ iRest, a modern adaptation of the ancient nondual meditation practice of Yoga Nidra) researching its efficacy on health, healing and well-being with diverse populations including active-duty soldiers, veterans, college students, children, seniors, the homeless, the incarcerated, and people experiencing issues such as sleep disorders, PTSD, chemical dependency, chronic pain, and related disorders. In addition to his research and writing projects, Richard lectures and leads trainings and retreats internationally.

Founder, Executive Director and President of the Board of Directors Integrative Restoration Institute Richard Miller, PhD is a clinical psychologist, author, researcher, yogic scholar and spiritual teacher. For over 40 years, Richard Miller has devoted his life and work to integrating the nondual wisdom teachings of Yoga, Tantra, Advaita, Taoism and Buddhism with Western psychology. Among his mentors were Jean Klein, T.K.V. Desikachar and Stephen Chang. Richard is the founding president and CEO of the Integrative Restoration Institute, co-founder of The International Association of Yoga Therapy and founding editor of the professional Journal of IAYT. He is also a founding member and past president of the Institute for Spirituality and Psychology and a senior advisor for the Baumann Foundation for the study of Awareness and its impact on well-being. Author of Yoga Nidra: The Meditative Heart of Yoga, Richard serves as a research consultant studying the iRest Yoga Nidra protocol that he has developed (Integrative Restoration ~ iRest, a modern adaptation of the ancient nondual meditation practice of Yoga Nidra) researching its efficacy on health, healing and well-being with diverse populations including active-duty soldiers, veterans, college students, children, seniors, the homeless, the incarcerated, and people experiencing issues such as sleep disorders, PTSD, chemical dependency, chronic pain, and related disorders. In addition to his research and writing projects, Richard lectures and leads trainings and retreats internationally. In this episode, we discuss:The practice and benefits of Yoga Nidra The components and concepts behind Richard's iRest practice and methodology  How Yoga Nidra helps people with PTSD  The koshas and how we identify with different circumstances in our life How Yoga Nidra helps us to positively reframe our relationship with these conditions  How Yoga Nidra helps us to reawaken to our bodies, emotions and thoughts Jacob Kyle, Host of CHITHEADS Join Thousands in our Tribe And receive the latest audio, written and video content to your inbox. Email Address Sign Up Thank you!

Laura Amazzone is a teacher, writer, intuitive healer, yogini and initiated priestess in the Shakta Tantra and Kaula Sri Vidya traditions of India and Nepal. She is the author of the award-winning book, “Goddess Durga and Sacred Female Power.” She has published numerous articles within the fields of Hinduism, Tantra and Women’s Spirituality in many different encyclopedias, anthologies, journals and also online publications. Laura teaches in the Yoga Philosophy Program at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. She offers a diverse array of authentic and undiluted lineage-based rituals and spiritual practices as well as pilgrimages to Nepal that promote spiritual empowerment and divine embodiment.  

Laura Amazzone is a teacher, writer, intuitive healer, yogini and initiated priestess in the Shakta Tantra and Kaula Sri Vidya traditions of India and Nepal. She is the author of the award-winning book, “Goddess Durga and Sacred Female Power.” She has published numerous articles within the fields of Hinduism, Tantra and Women’s Spirituality in many different encyclopedias, anthologies, journals and also online publications. Laura teaches in the Yoga Philosophy Program at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. She offers a diverse array of authentic and undiluted lineage-based rituals and spiritual practices as well as pilgrimages to Nepal that promote spiritual empowerment and divine embodiment. In this episode we discuss...What value can be derived from gendered iconography?  Background about the goddess Durga Themes in Laura’s book and how they cultivate female empowerment How the goddesses can be understood as fields of energy Misperceptions of goddesses as archetypes How/Why the brahmanical is a patriarchal lineage The Durga Puja and its role in Nepal’s culture How one can establish their own approach to cultivating a connection with the divine mother  Jacob Kyle, Host of CHITHEADS Join Thousands in our Tribe And receive the latest audio, written and video content to your inbox. Email Address Sign Up Thank you!

Dean Radin, PhD, is Chief Scientist at the INSTITUTE OF NOETIC SCIENCES (IONS) and Associated Distinguished Professor of Integral and Transpersonal Psychology at the CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF INTEGRAL STUDIES(CIIS). He occasionally gives lectures in the Department of Psychology at Sonoma State University and has served on doctoral dissertation committees at Saybrook University and CIIS. His original career track as a concert violinist shifted into science after earning a BSEE degree in electrical engineering, magna cum laude with honors in physics, from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and then an MS in electrical engineering and a PhD in psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. For a decade he worked on advanced telecommunications R&D at AT&T Bell Laboratories and GTE Laboratories. For three decades he has been engaged in frontiers research on the nature of consciousness. Before joining the research staff at IONS in 2001, he held appointments at Princeton University, University of Edinburgh, University of Nevada, Interval Research Corporation, and SRI International.  

Dean Radin, PhD, is Chief Scientist at the INSTITUTE OF NOETIC SCIENCES (IONS) and Associated Distinguished Professor of Integral and Transpersonal Psychology at the CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF INTEGRAL STUDIES(CIIS). He occasionally gives lectures in the Department of Psychology at Sonoma State University and has served on doctoral dissertation committees at Saybrook University and CIIS. His original career track as a concert violinist shifted into science after earning a BSEE degree in electrical engineering, magna cum laude with honors in physics, from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and then an MS in electrical engineering and a PhD in psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. For a decade he worked on advanced telecommunications R&D at AT&T Bell Laboratories and GTE Laboratories. For three decades he has been engaged in frontiers research on the nature of consciousness. Before joining the research staff at IONS in 2001, he held appointments at Princeton University, University of Edinburgh, University of Nevada, Interval Research Corporation, and SRI International. He is author or coauthor of over 250 scientific and popular articles (some 80+ in peer-reviewed journals), three dozen book chapters, and three popular books including the award-winning and bestselling The Conscious Universe (HarperOne, 1997), Entangled Minds (Simon & Schuster, 2006), and a 2014 Silver Nautilus Book Award, SUPERNORMAL (Random House, 2013). These books have been translated into 14 foreign languages, so far. His technical articles have appeared in journals including Foundations of Physics and Physics Essays to Psychological Bulletin and Journal of Consciousness Studies; he was featured in a New York Times Magazine ARTICLE; and he has appeared on dozens of television shows ranging from the BBC’s Horizon and PBS's Closer to Truth to Oprah and Larry King Live. He has given over 400 interviews and talks, including presentations at Harvard, Stanford, Cambridge, Princeton, Virginia Tech, the Sorbonne, the University of British Columbia, for industries including GOOGLE, Johnson & Johnson, Rabobank, and for various government organizations including the US Navy, DARPA, and the National Academy of Sciences. In 2010, he spent a month lecturing in India as the National Visiting Professor of the Indian Council of Philosophical Research, a program sponsored by India's Ministry of Human Resource Development. In 2013 and 2014, he gave invited lectures in Kuala Lumpur at the INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE, an organization supported by the Central Bank of Malaysia. In 2015 he spoke at the AUSTRALIAN LEADERSHIP RETREAT, a confidential program of briefings and discussions for Australian government, business, education, and military leaders. In this episode we discuss...Parapsychology The book of the Siddhi and the record/meaning of their "super powers” described in the yoga sutras How the mind to mind connection and telepathy is studied in the laboratory Forced choice conscience experiments (methods include resentment, implicit precognition)  The need for humans to expand their understanding of physical reality to allow for space/time phenomena to occur How separation is an illusion  How society is beginning to shift from the Newtonian view towards a world view that includes quantum physics  Jacob Kyle, Host of CHITHEADS Join Thousands in our Tribe And receive the latest audio, written and video content to your inbox. Email Address Sign Up Thank you!

Constantina Rhodes is an acclaimed scholar of Sanskrit and the spiritual traditions of India, as well as a Certified Intuitive Consultant and Certified Instructor of Intuitive Development. Constantina holds a doctorate in South Asian Languages and Religions from Columbia University. She was a full professor with tenure at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida before moving back to New York City, where she teaches in the Program in Religion at Hunter College of the City University of New York. She has served on the steering committee of the Society for Tantric Studies; was an inaugural member of the Tantric Studies Group of the American Academy of Religion; and has held prestigious elected office as President of the American Academy of Religion. Constantina has practiced yoga and meditation for most of her life. She spent two years living and studying in India, and over the course of several decades she has received mantra initiation in the lineages of Transcendental Meditation, Integral Yoga, and Siddha Yoga. She is a Level II Usui Reiki practitioner and draws upon healing energy within her sessions. As a Certified Intuitive Consultant, Constantina engages in an ancient art that both enhances and is enhanced by her longtime meditation practice.  In this episode we discuss...Introduction to the goddess Lakshmi The four abodes of Lakshmi, where do you find her within spiritual texts and practice? (karma, arta, dharma, moksha)  Alakshmi (Lakshmi’s sister) her qualities and how they can be interpreted in our daily lives Lakshmi’s identifying iconography The meaning of the word Lakshmi = the form of auspiciousness The various forms of Lakshmi including the Vedic, Paranic and Tantric How we can recognize abundance through the lens of Lakshmi  Lakshmi’s relationship with song and sound.  Jacob Kyle, Host of CHITHEADS Join Thousands in our Tribe And receive the latest audio, written and video content to your inbox. Email Address Sign Up Thank you!

Constantina Rhodes is an acclaimed scholar of Sanskrit and the spiritual traditions of India, as well as a Certified Intuitive Consultant and Certified Instructor of Intuitive Development. Constantina holds a doctorate in South Asian Languages and Religions from Columbia University. She was a full professor with tenure at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida before moving back to New York City, where she teaches in the Program in Religion at Hunter College of the City University of New York. She has served on the steering committee of the Society for Tantric Studies; was an inaugural member of the Tantric Studies Group of the American Academy of Religion; and has held prestigious elected office as President of the American Academy of Religion. Constantina has practiced yoga and meditation for most of her life. She spent two years living and studying in India, and over the course of several decades she has received mantra initiation in the lineages of Transcendental Meditation, Integral Yoga, and Siddha Yoga. She is a Level II Usui Reiki practitioner and draws upon healing energy within her sessions. As a Certified Intuitive Consultant, Constantina engages in an ancient art that both enhances and is enhanced by her longtime meditation practice.   

Dr. Christopher Key Chapple is the Doshi Professor of Indic and Comparative Theology and Director of the Master of Arts in Yoga Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. His research interests focus on the renouncer religious traditions of India: Yoga, Jainism, and Buddhism. He has published several books on these topics with SUNY Press, including Karma and Creativity (1986), Nonviolence to Animals, Earth, and Self in Asian Traditions (1993), Reconciling Yogas (2003), and Yoga and the Luminous: Patanjali’s Spiritual Path to Freedom (2008). He has also edited and co-authored several books on religion and ecology, including Ecological Prospects: Religious, Scientific, and Aesthetic Perspectives, Hinduism and Ecology, Jainism and Ecology, Yoga and Ecology, and In Praise of Mother Earth: The Prthivi Sukta of the Atharva Veda. His most recent books are Poet of Eternal Return and Sacred Thread. Chris serves as academic advisor for the International Summer School of Jain Studies and on the advisory boards for the Forum on Religion and Ecology (Yale), the Ahimsa Center (Pomona), and the Jaina Studies Centre (SOAS, University of London). In 2002 he established the first of several certificate programs in the study of Yoga at LMU’s Center for Religion and Spirituality and founded LMU’s Master of Arts in Yoga Studies in the fall of 2013.  

Dr. Christopher Key Chapple is the Doshi Professor of Indic and Comparative Theology and Director of the Master of Arts in Yoga Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. His research interests focus on the renouncer religious traditions of India: Yoga, Jainism, and Buddhism. He has published several books on these topics with SUNY Press, including Karma and Creativity (1986), Nonviolence to Animals, Earth, and Self in Asian Traditions (1993), Reconciling Yogas (2003), and Yoga and the Luminous: Patanjali’s Spiritual Path to Freedom (2008). He has also edited and co-authored several books on religion and ecology, including Ecological Prospects: Religious, Scientific, and Aesthetic Perspectives, Hinduism and Ecology, Jainism and Ecology, Yoga and Ecology, and In Praise of Mother Earth: The Prthivi Sukta of the Atharva Veda. His most recent books are Poet of Eternal Return and Sacred Thread.  Chris serves as academic advisor for the International Summer School of Jain Studies and on the advisory boards for the Forum on Religion and Ecology (Yale), the Ahimsa Center (Pomona), and the Jaina Studies Centre (SOAS, University of London). In 2002 he established the first of several certificate programs in the study of Yoga at LMU’s Center for Religion and Spirituality and founded LMU’s Master of Arts in Yoga Studies in the fall of 2013. In this episode we discuss...A brief history of yoga and politics in the US Chris’s opinions and perspective of today’s commercialized version of “yoga”  The influence of 9/11 on the wider yoga community The benefits of studying a language like sanskrit How Chris integrates a philosophical and social justice approach to his yoga practice The various elements and how they influence one’s life experience What inspired Chris to write his book focused on the connection between ahimsa with ecology The beauty of ritual and how ritual invites the experience of meaning How ritual helps yoga practitioners establish an ecological relationship with their practice 5 elements vs. 4 elements The teaching of no-self (Buddhism) vs. the big S self (Hinduism)  Jacob Kyle, Host of CHITHEADS Join Thousands in our Tribe And receive the latest audio, written and video content to your inbox. Email Address Sign Up Thank you!

Jonathan Dickstein is a PhD student in Religious Studies at the University of CaliforniaSanta Barbara. He researches South Asian religions, Animals and Religion, and Comparative Ethics. He earned a MA in Religious Studies from the University of Colorado-Boulder and a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. Jonathan is currently working on two projects. The first is a comprehensive study of the figure of ??vara in the P?tañjalayoga??stra, and the second looks at violence and the moral standing of nonhuman animals in Indian Philosophy. Jonathan is an Intermediate level Iyengar Yoga instructor who offers classes and workshops on philosophy and ethics in addition to ?sana and pr???y?ma. Jacob Kyle, Host of CHITHEADS Join Thousands in our Tribe And receive the latest audio, written and video content to your inbox. Email Address Sign Up Thank you!

Jonathan Dickstein is a PhD student in Religious Studies at the University of CaliforniaSanta Barbara. He researches South Asian religions, Animals and Religion, and Comparative Ethics. He earned a MA in Religious Studies from the University of Colorado-Boulder and a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. Jonathan is currently working on two projects. The first is a comprehensive study of the figure of ??vara in the P?tañjalayoga??stra, and the second looks at violence and the moral standing of nonhuman animals in Indian Philosophy. Jonathan is an Intermediate level Iyengar Yoga instructor who offers classes and workshops on philosophy and ethics in addition to ?sana and pr???y?ma.