Spiritual Illuminations with Jeff Carreira: Recent Episodes
Jeff Carreira
Join spiritual teacher Jeff Carreira to explore mind-bending philosophical conceptions and profound spiritual insights. This podcast features interviews with some of the most innovative thinkers of our time as well as spiritual teachings from Jeff that explore the miracle of meditation and the journey of awakening. More at jeffcarreira.com
Jeffrey Kripal explores how extraordinary experiences—mystical, paranormal, or anomalous—require new interpretive frameworks beyond traditional science and religion. He proposes “thinking-with” experiencers to co-create meaningful narratives that make space for paradox and subjectivity. With Jeff Carreira, ... Read More
Tarot reader Julia Eve reflects on her intuitive practice in light of the podcast The Telepathy Tapes, finding deep resonance between her symbolic work and the telepathic abilities of autistic children. She and Jeff Carreira ... Read More
Shelli Renée Joye shares her lifetime journey weaving mysticism, science, and consciousness into a coherent framework she calls “tantric psychophysics.” Drawing from electrical engineering, Eastern traditions, and modern quantum theory, she discusses collective consciousnesses or ... Read More
When we decided this month's issue of The Artist of Possibility Magazine would be focused on Ecology, Nature, and Spirituality, I immediately wanted to speak with Timothy Morton. Timothy is one of my favorite ecological ... Read More
When we decided this month's issue of The Artist of Possibility Magazine would be focused on Ecology, Nature, and Spirituality, I immediately wanted to speak with Nora Bateson. Nora Bateson is one of my favorite ... Read More
It was a pleasure to speak with Christopher J. Miller about his understanding of what it means to be a spiritual artist. Chris is an artist, author, teacher, and produces The Spiritual Artist Podcast where ... Read More
In this interview I spoke with Aterah Nusrat about her research aimed at deepening her understanding of the relationship between spirituality and health and well-being, with planetary health and well-being. Nusrat is clear that until ... Read More
In this interview I had the pleasure to speak with my dear friend Mary Adams about her involvement with The Extinction Rebellion and how she sees her current work as an activist as a natural ... Read More
In this workshop I focus on one of the key themes in my new book, Transdimensional Spirituality: Cultivating Mystical Vision and Illuminating the Soul. I explore the spiritual path of the Earthbound self, from its earliest spiritual yearnings to the attainment of luminous absorption with source consciousness.
Jeff Carreira speaks with Athena Laz, a spiritual mentor, lucid dream teacher and psychologist.
Jeff Carreira speaks with Dr. Lawrence Edwards, who has taught meditation for over 40 years and is the founder of the Anam Cara Meditation Foundation.
Jeff Carreira speaks with spiritual teacher EJ Gold about the nature of spiritual work and the function that spiritual schools play in facilitating individual and collective awakening. As the conversation unfolds Jeff shares about how his own spiritual has been influenced by EJ’s spiritual teachings and especially as contained in the books The Human Biological Machine, Life in the Labyrinth and The Invocation of Presence.
Jeff Carreira speaks with author, Phil Moore about The Future of Children Rewirement Training. By the end of the 3-day live virtual training you will have an expanded toolbox of ideas and initiatives that you can apply in your classroom, family or community immediately, which will provide the life skills and preparation for these children to confidently & skillfully navigate the world of the unknown.w: https://futureofchildrentraining.com/
Spiritual growth is often thought of in terms of awakening to our true nature and divine source of our being, but spiritual growth is more than just awakening to the truth of who we are. Awakening reveals the inner source of our being and initiates our start of the path of spiritual growth. Our divine source is said to be whole and complete already, but that source flows into the world through us and we are often limited by fear and pain.In this conversation Lauralee Kelly and I share how we can heal our pain and become a more perfect vehicle for the inherent wholeness of our divine essence.You will discover why even consistent access to awakened awareness is not enough to find true fulfillment in life. You will explore the four most common obstacles to wholeness and how they can be healed and transcended.1. False beliefs and negative identifications. 2. Lack of sufficient inner resources. 3. Inappropriate boundaries. 4. Unwillingness to forgive yourself or others.
CONNECT WITH LAURALEEw: https://www.lauraleekelly.com
In this dialog Jeff Carreira speaks with award-winning filmmaker, writer and educator Nora Bateson about how we as human beings engage together in community and the underlying dynamics that make them healthy. You will see how a community is a mutual learning environment and discover why our overly-individualistic cultural tendencies make it difficult for us to find the sense of community that we crave. By the end of the discussion it will be clear that thriving communities need to be spacious enough to allow members to take action freely.CONNECT WITH NORAw: https://batesoninstitute.orgw: https://batesoninstitute.org/warm-data-labs
In this dialog I speak with Hans Höhener who devoted a great deal of his life to studying and translating works by and about the Indian mystic Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. The discussion begins with an account of the path through spiritual literature that brought Hans to encounter Sri Aurobindo through the writing of one of the great sage’s disciples Satprem. As the conversation continues we discuss the vision of the Supramental Energy and how Sri Aurobindo and The Mother worked to bring that divine energy into manifestation on Earth.
In this dialog Jeff Carreira speaks with Dr. Erin Prophet, the daughter of two famous spiritual leaders, Mark and Elizabeth Clare Prophet. Her father started the group as The Summit Lighthouse in 1958. After his death in 1973, Erin’s mother became the spiritual leader of the group, which has also been known as Church Universal and Triumphant (founded 1974). In the late 1980’s Elizabeth began predicting that a global "karmic" reckoning was near, based on her interpretation of both Eastern and Western scriptures. Church members infamously built huge underground shelters that they supplied and briefly occupied in anticipation of a variety of disasters. As her mother’s daughter, Erin had a unique vantage point from which to view it all. In this conversation we discuss her book Prophet's Daughter: My Life with Elizabeth Clare Prophet Inside the Church Universal and Triumphant and attempt to unweave the subtle complexity of both the miracle and madness of spiritual communities.
Mary Adams talks further with Jeff Carreira about the time she spent with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj in Mumbai, India in 1973.
In this conversation we hear about what drove her to leave Australia and head to India in search of enlightenment, why she traveled across the country to meet a little-known spiritual teacher, and how she came to spend nearly every day for weeks sitting and walking with one of the greatest nondual teachers of the modern age.
This conversation offers a fascinating exploration of the miraculous potential and dramatic dangers of the guru/disciple relationship and intensive spiritual practice. By examining the extraordinary life choices of Tim Dyson you will see what draws people to engage in extreme forms of spiritual practice, what can happen when it goes well, what happens when it goes wrong, and what we can learn from it all.
As a teenager in England Tim sought meaning in the anarchist messages of punk rock until a health crisis, caused by his punk rock lifestyle brought him to the spiritual path. His path began when he worked with two Chinese masters of chi gong. This proved to be a stepping stone to becoming one of the closest disciples of a Balinese kundalini master. Tim then devoted 12 years of his life participating in intensive spiritual practices at his teacher’s ashram in Bali.
w: timothydyson.com
Jeff Carreira writes transdimensional fiction. His novels use the powerful medium of story to illuminate the mysterious ways in which we can awaken to the invisible realms and hidden truths that always lie just beyond the familiar world around us. His stories challenge our fundamental notions about what is real, by presenting characters who find themselves having experiences, or being in circumstances, that force them to question everything they ever thought. What they discover, in a variety of ways, is that reality is much different than they could have imagined.
About Kosmos: In book two of The e-Ternity series, Brian learns to live with Kosmos, his cosmic self, and finds a true kindred spirt who joins him on a spiritual quest to save humanity's future.
Transdimensional Fiction Transdimensional Crossing Transdimensional Awakening e-Ternity Dreamed Awake Kosmos
Jeff Carreira writes transdimensional fiction. His novels use the powerful medium of story to illuminate the mysterious ways in which we can awaken to the invisible realms and hidden truths that always lie just beyond the familiar world around us. His stories challenge our fundamental notions about what is real, by presenting characters who find themselves having experiences, or being in circumstances, that force them to question everything they ever thought. What they discover, in a variety of ways, is that reality is much different than they could have imagined.
About Kosmos: In book two of The e-Ternity series, Brian learns to live with Kosmos, his cosmic self, and finds a true kindred spirt who joins him on a spiritual quest to save humanity's future.
Transdimensional Fiction Transdimensional Crossing Transdimensional Awakening e-Ternity Dreamed Awake Kosmos
Jeff Carreira writes transdimensional fiction. His novels use the powerful medium of story to illuminate the mysterious ways in which we can awaken to the invisible realms and hidden truths that always lie just beyond the familiar world around us. His stories challenge our fundamental notions about what is real, by presenting characters who find themselves having experiences, or being in circumstances, that force them to question everything they ever thought. What they discover, in a variety of ways, is that reality is much different than they could have imagined.
About Kosmos: In book two of The e-Ternity series, Brian learns to live with Kosmos, his cosmic self, and finds a true kindred spirt who joins him on a spiritual quest to save humanity's future.
Transdimensional Fiction Transdimensional Crossing Transdimensional Awakening e-Ternity Dreamed Awake Kosmos
Jeff Carreira writes transdimensional fiction. His novels use the powerful medium of story to illuminate the mysterious ways in which we can awaken to the invisible realms and hidden truths that always lie just beyond the familiar world around us. His stories challenge our fundamental notions about what is real, by presenting characters who find themselves having experiences, or being in circumstances, that force them to question everything they ever thought. What they discover, in a variety of ways, is that reality is much different than they could have imagined.
About Kosmos: In book two of The e-Ternity series, Brian learns to live with Kosmos, his cosmic self, and finds a true kindred spirt who joins him on a spiritual quest to save humanity's future.
Transdimensional Fiction Transdimensional Crossing Transdimensional Awakening e-Ternity Dreamed Awake Kosmos
Jeff Carreira writes transdimensional fiction. His novels use the powerful medium of story to illuminate the mysterious ways in which we can awaken to the invisible realms and hidden truths that always lie just beyond the familiar world around us. His stories challenge our fundamental notions about what is real, by presenting characters who find themselves having experiences, or being in circumstances, that force them to question everything they ever thought. What they discover, in a variety of ways, is that reality is much different than they could have imagined.
About Kosmos: In book two of The e-Ternity series, Brian learns to live with Kosmos, his cosmic self, and finds a true kindred spirt who joins him on a spiritual quest to save humanity's future.
Transdimensional Fiction Transdimensional Crossing Transdimensional Awakening e-Ternity Dreamed Awake Kosmos
Jeff Carreira writes transdimensional fiction. His novels use the powerful medium of story to illuminate the mysterious ways in which we can awaken to the invisible realms and hidden truths that always lie just beyond the familiar world around us. His stories challenge our fundamental notions about what is real, by presenting characters who find themselves having experiences, or being in circumstances, that force them to question everything they ever thought. What they discover, in a variety of ways, is that reality is much different than they could have imagined.
About Kosmos: In book two of The e-Ternity series, Brian learns to live with Kosmos, his cosmic self, and finds a true kindred spirt who joins him on a spiritual quest to save humanity's future.
Transdimensional Fiction Transdimensional Crossing Transdimensional Awakening e-Ternity Dreamed Awake Kosmos
Jeff Carreira writes transdimensional fiction. His novels use the powerful medium of story to illuminate the mysterious ways in which we can awaken to the invisible realms and hidden truths that always lie just beyond the familiar world around us. His stories challenge our fundamental notions about what is real, by presenting characters who find themselves having experiences, or being in circumstances, that force them to question everything they ever thought. What they discover, in a variety of ways, is that reality is much different than they could have imagined.
About Kosmos: In book two of The e-Ternity series, Brian learns to live with Kosmos, his cosmic self, and finds a true kindred spirt who joins him on a spiritual quest to save humanity's future.
Transdimensional Fiction Transdimensional Crossing Transdimensional Awakening e-Ternity Dreamed Awake Kosmos
Jeff Carreira writes transdimensional fiction. His novels use the powerful medium of story to illuminate the mysterious ways in which we can awaken to the invisible realms and hidden truths that always lie just beyond the familiar world around us. His stories challenge our fundamental notions about what is real, by presenting characters who find themselves having experiences, or being in circumstances, that force them to question everything they ever thought. What they discover, in a variety of ways, is that reality is much different than they could have imagined.
About Kosmos: In book two of The e-Ternity series, Brian learns to live with Kosmos, his cosmic self, and finds a true kindred spirt who joins him on a spiritual quest to save humanity's future.
Transdimensional Fiction Transdimensional Crossing Transdimensional Awakening e-Ternity Dreamed Awake Kosmos
The Gift of Spiritual Abundance: Five Principles for Being Happy and Fulfilled Right Now by Jeff Carreira reveals five principles that can bring you immediate happiness and fulfillment. You will learn how to shift your fundamental relationship to life from one that assumes lack, to one that recognizes fullness. If you apply the simple yet profound principles in this book, they will radically transform your life for the better. The central realization that you will explore is the fact that true happiness and real fulfillment can only be found now. Reading this book allows you to uncover the unconscious patterns of thinking that keep you waiting for a better future, so you can discover the plentitude and goodness of life exactly as it already is.
More books in this series (The Spiritual Teachings of Jeff Carreira): The Art of Conscious Contentment: A Handbook for Meditation and Spiritual Freedom The Experience of Luminous Absorption: The Foundation of Spiritual Life The Mystery of Collective Awakening: Questioning Identity and Connecting in Oneness
The Gift of Spiritual Abundance: Five Principles for Being Happy and Fulfilled Right Now by Jeff Carreira reveals five principles that can bring you immediate happiness and fulfillment. You will learn how to shift your fundamental relationship to life from one that assumes lack, to one that recognizes fullness. If you apply the simple yet profound principles in this book, they will radically transform your life for the better. The central realization that you will explore is the fact that true happiness and real fulfillment can only be found now. Reading this book allows you to uncover the unconscious patterns of thinking that keep you waiting for a better future, so you can discover the plentitude and goodness of life exactly as it already is.
More books in this series (The Spiritual Teachings of Jeff Carreira): The Art of Conscious Contentment: A Handbook for Meditation and Spiritual Freedom The Experience of Luminous Absorption: The Foundation of Spiritual Life The Mystery of Collective Awakening: Questioning Identity and Connecting in Oneness
In this conversation, Jeff Carreira speaks with Dan Millman about his latest book, Peaceful Heart, Warrior Spirit: The True Story of My Spiritual Quest, which shares the reflections on the extraordinary experiences that shaped Dan Millman’s evolution from youthful dreamer to spiritual teacher, written to inspire readers on their own quests.
Dan Millman teaches “the peaceful warrior’s way” in the United States and around the world. Author of eighteen books published in twenty-nine languages, Millman is a former world-champion athlete, university coach, martial arts instructor, and college professor. His bestseller Way of the Peaceful Warrior was adapted into a feature film starring Nick Nolte. Millman and his wife, Joy, live in Brooklyn, NY. w: https://www.peacefulwarrior.com
In this conversation Jeff Carreira speaks with author and former rockstar, Gary Lachman about his book Dark Star Rising: Magik and Power in the Age of Trump, and the reality of magic in the world today. The conversation explores how Gary's post-modern attitudes have led to the revitalization of magic in the world, and includes discussion about the twentieth century magician Aleister Crowley, psychologist Carl Jung, the English philosopher Collin Wilson, and other pioneers of modern magic.
Gary Lachman is the author of twenty-one books on topics ranging from the evolution of consciousness, to popular culture and the history of the occult. Before becoming a full-time writer Lachman studied philosophy, managed a new age bookshop, taught English Literature, and was a founding member of the pop group Blondie. In 2006 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Lachman was born in New Jersey, and has lived in London since 1996.
In this episode Jeff Carreira offers a profound and comprehensive introduction to his teachings on meditation.
This is a rare opportunity for those of you who are newer to Jeff’s work to start your practice in the perfect way. Of course, those who have been practicing with him for years will find plenty to inspire and illuminate their meditation as well.
You will discover that Jeff’s simple practice of The Art of Conscious Contentment has direct roots in the practice of Self-Inquiry that was developed and taught by the great Indian sage Ramana Maharshi.
The practice also has close parallels to the contemplative tradition taught in the Christian text called The Cloud of Unknowing, the Mahamudra practice of Tibetan Buddhism, and the just sitting practice of Zazen.
In this dialog Jeff Carreira speaks with James Bampfield about their similar experiences as part of spiritual practice communities with a reputation for extreme practice. They explore the benefits and challenges of intense spiritual work, the explosive love of life that comes with deep realization, and the pitfalls that both teachers and students must avoid on the path.
More about James: https://jamesbampfield.org/
In this seminar with Jeff Carreira you will discover the secret to transforming your life.
Many of us have experienced spiritual awakenings. We have had moments, sometimes big, other times small, when we saw everything differently. These glorious glimpses of a new possibility often become pivotal moments in our lives and they almost always include intimations of how much better life can be for us and everyone else.
After these experiences we are filled with hope. We just know that everything will be different, yet too often, after a while we realize that our old ways have caught up with us again. We find ourselves embedded in the life we were living before our awakening and our hopeful enthusiasm begins to fade.
One of the great challenges of spiritual work is that we always wake up in the middle of a life that was created and fueled by our less awake self. The life that we find ourselves in after our awakening does not reflect our new vision. It is mired in the fears and limitations of our previous outlook.
Changing our lives is difficult because so much of who we are and what we do rests in unconscious habits that are hard to break. The secret that I want to share with you in this seminar has to do with one of the most important habits that we can change.
Our life is built on a foundation of habitual ways of perceiving, feeling and acting, but not all of these habits are as important as the others. Some lie very deep inside us and they are the root of many other habits. If we change one of these we will start the process of changing all the ones that rest on top of that one.
One of the deepest habits in our psyche is the habitual place that our awareness rests in consciousness. In our culture, we are often trained to rest our awareness in a place that experiences itself as small, burdened, and struggling in a world of lack and deficiency. From this disempowered place we are taught to use our will to make things happen forcefully.
In our moments of awakening, we discover a different view of reality. From there we recognized that life is full of abundance and possibility and that it provides for us in almost magical ways. From this place of power, we see that we don’t need to make things happen. Instead, we can align with the forces of existence in a process of co-creative manifestation.
In this seminar you will see that learning to rest in our true power is one of the key habits that allow us to live a life of abundance and fulfillment.
In this seminar Jeff Carreria explores insights from his new book Higher Self Expression to discover how to live an awakened life as an Artist of Possibility.
Artists of Possibility are spiritually open souls who recognize that the purpose of their life is to share the depths of their own realization.
Artists of Possibility reach into the subtle energies of creation and bring new possibilities to light.
I wrote the book Higher Self Expression as a guidebook for Artists of Possibility.
It offers a detailed exploration of creative genius and spiritual expression and is especially aimed at those of us who have been called to the life of a creative mystic.
This seminar was a follow-up to From Attainment to Realization: Exploring the Miracle of Self-Realization. It was a chance to spend time together and deepen into the miracle of non-dual release. It starts where the first call left off – in recognition of Truth’s radical demand that we leave all of our cherished ideas behind as we enter direct contact with her grace.
During this seminar where you will explore the mystery of awakening in dialog and in silence, the doors of perception will open, giving you a glimpse of the impossible possibility that brought everyone together in the first place.
**Please note: The second half of this recording is Jeff responding to questions from the live call. The questions have been edited out for privacy reasons, but the answers on their own still make sense, and offer much wisdom.
In this seminar we explore the profound transition from spiritual attainment to spiritual realization in the way that it was taught by the Indian sage Ramana Maharshi.
Sri Ramana taught that with diligent practice we can build a strong habit of remembering who we really are as the pure light of awareness that is the True Self. Once this habit has developed in us, the experience of inner peace and ease of being will become the natural resting place of our attention. We will then find that we can effortlessly sit in stillness and meditation without being swept up into the turbulent habits of the mind.
You will discover that Ramana Maharshi described this habit of attainment as the furthest point we can reach through our own effort. But that does not mean it is as far as you can go.
As we sit in peaceful meditation eventually something profound will happen. Our awareness will slip into a profound recognition of who we are. At that point it will be unforgettably obvious that open awareness is who we are. We are not a thing that is aware, we are the awareness itself. The distinction between practicing and not practicing disappears and we feel like we are in a constant state of meditation.
The seminar was offered on the occasion of the release of my new book, The Miracle of Self-Realization. This book is available only electronically and it is the first in a series of similar small eBooks. I will use this Reflection Series of books to explain and illuminate all of the ideas and individuals that have inspired my teaching work.
More about my book here: The Miracle of Self-Realization
This year our world has endured difficult times that have challenged all of us.
Over these months I’ve periodically had moments of what feels like divine guidance. In these moments, I seem to be lifted to greater clarity and they ignite a compelling desire to share what has become clear to me.
As it became obvious that the COVID-19 pandemic was not going to end quickly, I offered a two-hour workshop called 'Opening Your Heart to the Challenge of Crisis'. This workshop was born out of a recognition that profound inner growth could be won by finding the courage to open up in the face of hardship.
I was then compelled to offer a second two-hour workshop called 'Embracing the Opportunity of Unprecedented Times'. This time I was moved by an inspiration to use the turbulence of our world to fuel deep transformation. We did not have to go back to the world as it was. We could create a better world.
I had no idea that just two days after that event, the tragic killing of George Floyd would ignite civil unrest that continues to this day.
Recently, I was struck again by an inspiration that I feel compelled to share. This time it is the fact that our original calling – the one that has guided our spiritual life from the beginning – the one that ignited our fire for inner freedom – is exactly what our world needs.
So now I am offering a third workshop, this time called 'Staying True to Your Calling in a Chaotic World'.
As the pandemic continues to spread fear and suffering, as civil unrest and political turmoil generate panic and mistrust, we might be tempted to think that there is nothing that we can do.
Please don’t despair. There is something you can do! And in fact, you were already doing it. You simply need to continue – or accelerate your efforts.
The things that inspired us to the spiritual path in the first place – Inner Freedom, Deep Compassion, Expanded Vision, Sacred Realization and the possibility of living in harmonious union with all life on this planet – are all still exactly what this world needs.
Yes, we must continue to fight for social justice and the well-being of all, but our victories will only be lasting if they are coupled with a paradigm shift into wholeness and Divine Union.
I know that holding onto our higher ideals and aspirations is difficult as the world around us seems to fall into deeper turmoil.
I also know that those ideals came to us as a call from the Divine herself, because they are what this planet needs from us.
Join me and together we will find the strength and courage to stay true to our deepest inner calling and in so doing, give our greatest gift to this world in need.
In this conversation we speak with Claude Needham about the transformational role-playing game he has developed called Dream Life. In this podcast you will discover how the game combines and examines different elements of our dreams to uncover hidden aspects of ourselves and reveal new avenues for further growth. The conversation expands into an exploration of the history of gaming and the power that certain games have to act as tools for spiritual awakening and transformation.
In this dialog graduate of Jeff Carreira's Meditation and Awakening Teacher Training, Tim Werts, speaks with Jeff Carreira about his path of spiritual awakening and Christian scripture.
Tim was raised a Christian in a small town in South Carolina. In his twenties he moved away from the church as he pursued a successful career. When a powerful spiritual awakening initiated Tim to the spiritual path, he began to pursue philosophical study and meditation. After two decades of spiritual pursuit Tim was on a retreat when he began to get a stream of insight and understanding about the deeper meaning of Christian scriptures. Tim and I talk about his journey and the meaning of some of some important scriptures.
More about Tim: mysteryschoolforanewparadigm.com/timwerts
Maura R. O’Connor, a bright and compassionate humanitarian, ecologist and journalist talks with Jeff Carreira about some of the philosophical questions that she raises in her book Resurrection Science: Conservation, De-Extinction and the Precarious Future of Wild Things. In this discussion you will hear a fresh voice calling into question many of our common assumption about ecological conservation and environmentalism.
Underlying the entire conversation is a deep recognition that there is no way to be uninvolved. Through her investigation into various efforts to save species from extinction Maura shows us just how complex our involvement with the world actually is.
I am so happy to offer you this opportunity hear from from a young woman who will undoubtedly make a significant contribution to our understanding of ourselves in the years and decades to come.
During this free seminar I share the most profound miracle that my spiritual life has blessed me with.
What is the miracle of meditation? The miracle is realizing that you have the power to liberate your awareness from the illusion of separation and isolation into the reality of unity and wholeness - and you can do this using nothing but your own focused attention and conscious surrender.
I discovered this miracle in a dramatic way during a two-month silent meditation retreat in the summer of 2001. During the months of July and August, I was engaged with spiritual practice from 4:00am to 10:00pm everyday.
During that retreat I kept a journal and in my entry for the first day I wrote, “It is obvious, if I make effort, I will be awake.” That was the miracle. The power to be awake was already mine.
I was elated because I knew that I could let go of the habitual patterns of my mind. For the next sixty days I experienced greater and greater freedom. It was like arriving in my life for the first time - the ultimate homecoming.
During this Miracle of Meditation seminar, you will learn and practice some of the most crucial insights I have to offer.
These insights will illuminate the path that leads beyond the illusion of isolation, separation and fear, to the realization of unity, wholeness, and love.
The possibility of this radical awakening is always present in the experience of each and every moment, as long as you know how to look.
In this seminar, I offer meditation instruction and guidance that will direct your attention in ways that give you access to your own true inner potential for freedom.
In this episode, recorded over a decade ago, Jeff Carreira speaks with the biographer Robert D. Richardson, who died last month. In this conversation he discusses his writings on Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and William James. Richardson devoted 10 years to researching and writing each of these three biographies and each presents a detailed picture that brings the personalities of these men and their achievements vividly to life. In the wake of his recent passing, we want to honor Robert D. Richardson by offering this interview for you to listen to and enjoy.
In this episode, Jeff Carreira speaks with Peter Connor. Peter is a futures trader, spiritual adept and optimal performance coach, who recognizes that our current economic system is inadequate. As this fascinating conversation unfolds, Peter explains why he sees our current economic system only valuing human beings according to what they can produce, and why he believes that the new system that wants to emerge must recognize the inherent creative value of every human being.
In this episode, Jeff Carreira speaks with author Reggie Walker about his book 'Life Is Funny but It Ain’t No Joke: A Journey of Awakening Through Wisdom Sayings'.
After a powerful realization ignites an identity crisis, Reggie embarks on a quest for truth that ultimately leads to a profound spiritual awakening. In this far ranging discussion, Reggie shares about his early life in Philadelphia, his involvement in the civil rights movement of the 1960’s, his journey of awakening, and the message of hope and unity that he has for all of us today.
Resources * [Reggie's Book] Life's Funny But It Ain't No Joke by Reggie Walker * [Reggie's Website] harmanitypress.com
In this seminar recording with Jeff Carreira, you will learn how a paradigm works by exploring some of the ways that you have been worlded to experience reality in particular ways.
Those of us who are committed to establishing a new paradigm of being in the world must learn to unworld ourselves by letting go of all of our interpretations of reality and conceptual models of the world.
Once we have freed our awareness from preconceptions we can engage in the most exciting creative endeavor imaginable – re-worlding ourselves into a completely different experience of reality.
In this participatory seminar you will engage in the unworlding practice of mediation and then explore a re-worlding practice that will challenge one of your most foundational assumptions about reality.
In this seminar Jeff Carreira encourages you to let go of all your ideas about the future and open to the possibility of radical and total freedom NOW! You will discover that surrender is the only spiritual practice there is. And that the essential key to an awakened life is embracing exactly the way things already are.
One day not long ago, I woke up with the idea for this workshop in my mind. The feeling was so strong it was as if I was being summoned to give it. It is so clear to me that we have been given a tremendous opportunity.
Yes, these times are hard and even tragic. Many of us are suffering with illness, lost livelihood, and a host of other hardships that will undoubtedly worsen.
In the midst of these challenges a momentum is building behind the desire to get back to the way things were.
The first thing I want to say is that we don’t have to go back to the way things were, we can make things better!
The precious gem in the rubble of all this is the opportunity for change that we now have.
In this workshop, we will explore the energy of transformation that is abounding right now. We will harness the power of immediate possibility to envision, and even more importantly begin, a new life together.
In This Workshop You Will:
- realize that fundamental habits that govern us have already been broken and the door to transformation is wide open.
- awaken to a vision of possibility that is energetically potent enough to propel you through the challenge of change.
- practice the art of total relaxation and ease yourself through habits of fear, tension and self-concern, clearing the way to a new future.
- discover the inner powers of immediate realization that can initiate a new and magnificent life together right now.
This is not magical thinking, this is real magic!
I’m a meditation teacher and mystical philosopher, and I’ve had the privilege to help many people live the life of their dreams. My life has been filled with magic and transformation, and it has left me certain that life is magnificent and that we have the capacity to manifest the miraculous.
In these challenging times so many human habits that have been established over hundreds of years have been disrupted. Neuroscience tells us that it takes about 30 days to break a habit, and we’ve had twice that time.
There has never in our lifetime been an opportunity for change like the one we have right now.
I can understand the urgency we feel to return to normal, but we also have an opportunity to springboard into dramatic changes both personally and culturally.
I also want to be clear that this is not about making altruistic sacrifices to cure the ills of the world, although many of us will be called to do that.
My intention for this two hour workshop is that you leave it firmly grounded in a new life - one that reflects your deepest joys and aspirations, and is fuelled by the confidence of knowing that your happiness is not separate in any way from the wellbeing of the world.
This seminar with Jeff Carreira is designed for those of us who have spent months, years and even decades doing spiritual work and developing our inner self.
Perhaps without realizing it, we have been cultivating the qualities of an open heart and an open mind that is exactly what is needed now.
In short, we were training for a moment like this.
In these times of global challenge, there is an almost overwhelming temptation to succumb to the pressures of fear and panic - but we don't have to!
In times of crisis, it is possible to go in the opposite direction. Even under pressure we can open rather than shrink. By opening in this way we discover the twin powers of vulnerability - we become more sensitive to what is happening at the same time that we expand our perspective on it.
This combination of increased sensitivity and widening perspective allows us to see clearly within a context that allows for truly creative responses to emerge.
In this episode Jeff Carreira talks with mystical philosopher, Tim Freke about his visionary new understanding of the nature of reality and the purpose of life.
Tim Freke is the author of 35 books that include a number of bestselling and award-winning titles. Through his books and live events, Tim has touched the hearts and minds of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. In his work, Tim combines evolutionary science and deep spirituality to offer a visionary new understanding of the nature of reality and the purpose of life.
What is Art? Why is it important? and How do we know it when we see it?
Works of art are not just attractive objects. Artists are cultural innovators. They present us with images, sounds, performances and objects that challenge our unconscious assumptions about life and reality. Art is a kind of philosophy and philosophy is a form of art.
In this seminar Jeff Carreira explores ideas about the nature and function of art from such luminaries as Leo Tolstoy, John Dewey and the contemporary philosopher Alva Noe. You will discover the central role that artistic endeavors have always played in shaping human culture and you will undoubtedly see yourself as an artist in ways you never imagined.
In this teaching given during a recent meditation retreat, Jeff Carreira describes five inner attitudes and qualities of consciousness - stillness, emptiness, generosity, timelessness, selflessness and not knowing - that creates the space around our practice that allow miracles to happen both during meditation and in our lives.
In this teaching given during a recent meditation retreat, Jeff Carreira shares three powerful insights that will have a profound impact on your practice and your journey to awakening.
In this teaching given at the start of a recent meditation retreat, Jeff Carreira shares essential guidance for the meditation instructions that he calls The Practice No Problem. The wisdom he shares sets a the biggest possible context for opening to spiritual freedom. No prior meditation experience is necessary to practice these simple instructions and experience the power they have to liberate you from limiting perspectives into unimaginable possibilities.
In this teaching given during a recent retreat, Jeff Carreira shares his thoughts about the role of spiritual practice in these times, and how we might move beyond the challenges circumstances humanity currently finds itself in.
His unique perspective and own conviction offers tremendous hope for whats possible for all of us in radically transforming ways.
In this dialog singer songwriter and kirtan musician, David Newman speaks with Jeff Carreira about his inner relationship with his guru, - the late Neem Karoli Baba and how he went from law school, to starting a yoga studio, to singing kirtan. As the discussion progresses we compare the Bhakti path of love with the Jnana path of wisdom and what happens when we come to the true end of seeking.
About David Newman David Newman’s greatest gift is his willingness to listen to his inner voice and open his heart to be of service to others. David guides and inspires fellow travelers on their paths, through his uplifting music and the valuable insights that he shares through his writings and teachings.
David's Website: davidnewmanmusic.com (Photo credit: Davidnewman108)
Timothy Morton of Rice University is Speculative Realist. That means he is a philosopher who believes in the power of wild speculation about the nature of reality. Morton is driven by his concerns around global warming and he believes that the solutions to our ecological crisis will never be found within the bounds of normal thinking. We need to learn to see beyond our current mental attitudes and the inherent limitations of the human experience. The global challenges we face were produced because human beings became a globally influential force while still seeing reality exclusively from our point of view.
In this talk you will explore what it means to experience beyond the human perspective and why it is crucial to the future that we do.
The philosophical history of the past few hundred years reveals how cultures revolve between periods of progressive growth followed by times of Romantic upheaval. These romantic revolutions call for a return to more traditional sources of meaning and value. The original romantic movement was born in the late 18th Century in response to the failure of the French Revolution and the hardships of the Industrial Revolution.
In this lecture you will learn about the nature of Romantic Revolutions and explore the similarities between the English poets of the 18th Century, the Transcendentalists of the 19th Century, the hippies of the 1960’s and Hipsters of today.
You will see that the original romantic movement is still alive and well even if it periodically goes underground for a time.
In this short but potent teaching, Jeff Carreira responds to a retreatant's question 'What about Love? Is Love a quality of existence or awareness?"
Transcript
“Love is not a quality of existence or awareness.
Love, existence, awareness and life are all words signifying the same thing. To turn any of these into a quality of any of the others is diminish both.
Love is not a quality of awareness. Love is awareness. Awareness is not a quality of Love. Awareness is Love.
Relative love, the love that an idea of being someone, holds for another, an idea of being someone or another idea of something, is a reflection of a much bigger Love, an infinite Love.
Love is what opens our eyes every morning to a new day. Love is the force is that propels us moment, to moment, to moment.
Love is what pumps blood through our veins. Love is what propelled us into this life. Love is what sustains us. Love is life, is existence, is awareness. The love that the idea of being someone can hold for one thing and not another is a reflection of the infinite Love that is.
Who is it that asks a question about Love? And is the one who asks the question, separate from the Love that they ask about?
Ultimately Love is not something that exists separately from other things. Love cannot be a quality of something else. Love is…..
We experience love from the point of view of the separate sense of self.
The love that we experience as love is a shadow cast by a Love so vast it cannot be seen. That Love is existence itself. That Love is awareness itself. That Love is Life itself and that Love is who we are.
When we sit together in the truth of who we are, we sit together in Love.”
Spiritual Teacher and Non-Dual Psychotherapist Jeffrey Eisen talks with Jeff Carreira about spiritual evolution as a process that begins with coming home to non-dual awareness. All life ‘knows by Being’ (aperceptual consciousness), while the human brain has evolved to ‘know about life’ as well (perceptual consciousness). This evolution has layered itself upon our foundational ‘knowing by Being’ until most of us are convinced that what we know about is reality.
Our spiritual evolution awaits us when we can ‘still’ our ‘knowing about’ to remember and experience our ‘knowing by Being’. What we find in that Stillness is not only our potential to partner these ways of knowing, but also our evolutionary past, including lifetimes of experiences which continue to color our ‘knowing by Being,’ giving us our underlying human personality, character, and difficulties.
Dr. Eisen introduces us to PsychoNoetics, an intentional clearing practice that can 1) help us reach Still Mind, usually with the assistance of a practitioner, 2) release our karma, our knowing by Being, our sense of identity accrued from living in past lives and through the evolutionary process itself, and 3) when we develop our own practice, catapult us into new potentials that bring our ‘knowing’ into focus to change ourselves and the world around us. I have known Jeffrey for a decade and we have had many opportunities to dialog about spiritual matters, and this discussion is a clear and fascinating introduction to his work.
Resources * Dr Jeffrey Eisen's website: drjeffeisen.com
In this teaching given during a recent virtual retreat titled 'From Practice to Attainment', Jeff Carreira reveals the difference between teaching to the path and teaching to fruition. He provides a taste of the fruition path of meditating as the truth of who we are and resting in awareness beyond everything else.
The 'From Practice to Attainment' retreat was held in the Mystery School for a New Paradigm Members Circle.
“We do it completely, fully, with all our heart. Why? Because we love the Mystery. Not because we understand the Mystery, not because we know what it is, not because we have all the answers, but because our heart has been ripped open by the Mystery and all we can think to do, is give ourselves to it.” ~ Jeff Carreira
Bonnitta Roy, founder of Alderlore Insight Center, associate editor & Integral Review Journal and program coordinator for the Masters in Consciousness Studies The Graduate Institute, talks with Jeff Carreira about Jeff's book 'The Soul of a New Self: Embracing the Future of Being Human'.
This dialog is part of a five part series that was conducted in 2015 when the book was published, in which Jeff speaks with deep and original thinkers who influenced some of his ideas while he was writing.
"It's like a radical new American enlightenment because its not just working with what we have, but its switching some of the very foundational assumptions... out of which a whole new set up possibilities can cascade...” ~ Bonnitta Roy (on the ideas in Jeff's book)
Resources * Alderlore Insight Center: alderloreinsightcenter.com * The Graduate Institute: learn.edu * Jeff's Book: 'The Soul of a New Self: Embracing the Future of Being Human'.
Chela Rhea Harper, professional musician, creativity coach and meditation teacher, talks with Jeff Carreira about creative flow and how she discovered the secret to letting go into our inherent creative genius. Along the way they discuss spiritual awakening, the conditions that lead to flow states, and the creative drive of the universe.
As a touring musician from 2012 - 2016, Chela playing bass guitar in three different heavy metal and rock bands - Coal Chamber, White Empress, and The Awakening. Today she is recording a studio album and working as a creativity coach.
“I was so determined and committed to the expression and the beauty of the music, that when I opened my mouth I felt so free and so in flow... and that feeling became a driving force in my life.” ~ Chela Rhea Harper on her first encounter with creative flow at the tender age of 8.
Resources * Chela's Website: Creative Awareness.
In this teaching given during a 4 part awakening course, Jeff Carreira reveals how spiritual liberation radically changes your relationship to life. He shares how the spiritual liberation you’ve won plays a crucial role in the larger evolution of human consciousness and the transformation of life on this planet.
“As soon as you are available - ready, willing, open, receptive - believe me, she (the Divine) finds you quick. The path just opens and thats the end.” ~ Jeff Carreira
An Intimate Portrait of one of the Twentieth Centuries Greatest Realizers
Mary Adams talks with Jeff Carreira about the time she spent with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj in Mumbai, India in 1973.
Mary had the auspicious good luck to find herself in the great sages company before his spiritual classic I Am That had been published in the west. For nearly three weeks she walked with Nisargadatta through the crowded streets of Mumbai (then called Bombay) and met with later in his house, usually one-on-one, to receive private guidance and spiritual instruction. In this beautiful and fascinating conversation you will learn about what it was like to be in this great beings presence and how his teaching affected the course of Mary’s life. You will also explore the nature of the realization that was resonating in the air all around this great teacher. The dialog competes with some selections on why awakening to the truth of who you really are is just as important today as it was all those decades ago, and how modern seekers can find or create the conditions that allow for its fruition.
“All it took was a Guru, and for the seeker to be utterly ernest. You didn't have to do anything else, you didn't have to know anything, you just had to be sincere.” ~ Mary Adams (quoting Nisargadatta)
In this teaching given during a recent retreat, Jeff Carreira introduces Ramana Maharshi and what the great sage taught about sleep during meditation. Jeff goes on to describe his own struggles with sleep in mediation. The episode ends with a dramatic story of how those struggles came to an end with an experience that revealed the underlying consciousness that is always awake even during sleep. This story will change the way you think about sleep in mediation indefinitely.
“This is what we are practicing in meditation. We are just learning how to be available for Grace.” ~ Jeff Carreira
Bruce Sanguin, author of The Emerging Church: a model for change and a map for renewal and a United Church minister and a pioneer of evolutionary spirituality, talks with Jeff Carreira about Jeff's book 'The Soul of a New Self: Embracing the Future of Being Human'.
This dialog is part of a five part series that was conducted in 2015 when the book was published, in which Jeff speaks with deep and original thinkers who influenced some of his ideas while he was writing.
In this dialog Bruce and Jeff talk about how our deep shared habit of seeing ourselves as separate and isolated individuals can be transcended so that we can discover the truly inter-connected nature of all of reality.
Resources * Bruce's Book: The Emerging Church: A Model for Change and a Map for Renewal. * Jeff's Book: 'The Soul of a New Self: Embracing the Future of Being Human'.
In this dharma talk given during a recent retreat Jeff Carreira speaks about the necessity of question the identity of being the mediator performing the practice. We habitually see ourselves as the self that meditates. The one born on our birthday that has our name. In truth there is a much bigger consciousness that is the true source of our awareness and ultimately it is that awareness that meditates. In this teaching Jeff asks us to let go o f our separate sense of self and allow the source of all awareness to be the only one meditating.
“You have to stop thinking of yourself as being the one meditating. You arn't meditating...” ~ Jeff Carreira
“I am here to teach to the consciousness behind all of you, to try to encourage it to liberate itself from you! You are not the one who is going to be free in the end.” ~ Jeff Carreira
Photo Credit: John Baker and Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, in Jenner, California, during a three-week retreat in the spring of 1971. [photo courtesy of John Baker]
John Baker, one of the editors who worked closely with Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in the writing of Trungpa’s spiritual masterpiece Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism talks openly and honestly with Jeff Carreira about his deep devotion to the spiritual path and his teacher. In a lively exchange we learn about the early days of this great Tibetan master’s arrival in America and the beginning of his teaching in Boulder, Colorado. Along the way we discuss many subtle of the spiritual path and the challenges of true discipleship.
“When I talk about him giving 'pointing out' instructions, that makes it sound like it's a lesson, but it wasn't. It was the relationship he opened up between him and the me, him and the student, and once that happens every time you're with him, it's happening again." ~ John Baker on his relationship with Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Resources * Learn more about John Baker: johnbakercoaching.com * [Book] Cutting through Spiritual Materialism by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
In this experiential seminar, originally given live, Jeff Carreira speaks about Radical Inclusivity. Radical Inclusivity can be thought of as the discovery of an inside that has no outside. It is also a way of accessing and understanding the spiritual experience more often called non-duality. Non-Duality means literally not-two. It is the experience of Oneness, or what the American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce called Firstness. In moments of non-dual awareness people report recognizing that there is no separation and all of reality appears to be an indivisible profoundly interconnected whole.
In this talk we will explore the nature of awakening to Oneness and you will see how even the merest glimpse of this radical perspective on reality can change your entire life.
“It's a misnomer to think you can have a non-dual experience, because whatever a non-dual experience is, it's certainly not something that someone could have.” ~ Jeff Carreira
Resources * Book: Radical Inclusivity: Expanding Our Minds Beyond Dualistic Thinking by Jeff Carreira
John Walker, independent scholar, occultist and poet talks with Jeff Carreira about the science of spirit that was developed by the late 19th century occultist and philosopher Rudolf Steiner. As a graduate student Steiner was assigned the task of sorting through Goethe’s scientific papers that had been all but forgotten. Steiner’s close reading of the great poets scientific work dramatically influenced his own thinking and he dedicated his life to developing a science of the spirit that was based on keen observation of life.
Jeff had the pleasure of knowing John when he was still with us, and one of the things that he know John wanted was for these recordings to be released free of charge to the public so that those interested in Steiner could hear them.
“The emphasis of anthroposophy is to always be able to maintain ones freedom in relationship to a thought of another, so that one does not become enslaved to the idea of authority in anyway.” ~ John Walker
In this experiential seminar, originally given live, Jeff Carreira speaks about William James, Jeffrey Kripal and the history of paranormal experience. William James was the first president of the American Psychical Society who spent a great deal of time studying supernatural abilities. Mainstream American culture today tends to assume that paranormal experiences are fringe events experienced by strange people. Jeffrey Kripal, a modern academic, is putting together the pieces of a secret history of the paranormal and the sociological and economic reasons why it has largely been ignored. Kripal’s contention is that we all have more mystical and paranormal experience than our current belief system allow us to recognize. In his own way Kripal is continuing James’ intellectual pursuits. You won’t necessarily walk away believing in UFO’s or remote viewing, but you after listening to this recording you will know that the world is more mysterious than we are taught to imagine.
“Just because the history of the paranormal is unknown, doesn't mean it didn't happen.” ~ Jeff Carreira
“Mystical experiences happen all the time. And the only reason we dont think we have them is is that we have are culturally conditioned to dismiss them..” ~ Jeff Carreira
Resources * Book: William James at the Boundaries: Philosophy, Science, and the Geography of Knowledge by Francesca Bordogna * Book: Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death by Deborah Blum * Book: Authors of the Impossible: The Paranormal and the Sacred * Learn more about Jeffry Kripal: kripal.rice.edu
Dorothy Walters, author of Unmasking the Rose: A Record of a Kundalini Initiation talks with Jeff Carreira about the awakening power of Kundalini. Dorothy has been studying Kundalini and working to support the growth of others for over three decades. Here Jeff and Dorothy discuss the reality of Kundalini and its value for awakening and the challenges of working with this kind of energy. They also discuss dangers of energetic transference, the pros and cons of working with teachers, the experience of awakening, and the profound potential of proper use of the energetic path to spiritual illumination.
“One of the great errors of the spiritual path is to assume there is a goal, an ultimate state to be reached, a final ‘enlightenment.’ For most of us (the few highest beings such as Buddha being exceptions) enlightenment or final realization does not take place—nor should it.” ~ Dorothy Walters
Resources * Dorothy's website: kundalinisplendor.blogspot.com * Dorothy's book on amazon: Unmasking the Rose: A Record of a Kundalini Initiation
In this mind-bending philosophy talk, Jeff Carreira flips our most fundamental ideas about ourselves upside down. We are taught to imagine that we were born a somebody who was given a name. In this talk you will see that it just might be the case that your name is just a word that has been wrapped itself around a set of beliefs about being someone. In this talk you will see how the practice of meditation can help us question our own existence. This talk introduces a thought-provoking vision of how identify forms that challenges all of your assumptions about yourself.
“Your identity is a story about you, that you assume is pointing to an actual person that that story is about.” ~ Jeff Carreira
Jeffrey Kripal, author and professor of philosophy and religious thought at Rice University talks with Jeff Carreira about his ground breaking work in Religious Studies. Following in the tradition of William James, Kripal is looking for spiritual illumination at the edges of the main stream. Kripal recognizes that the status quo resists new insights and unusual experiences and keeps them from being recognized by hiding and discrediting them. These experiences can be found though, especially if you look for them in places where you don’t expect to find them.
Listen to this interview to find out about how spiritual experiences are showing up in unusual places and about the courageous individuals who never stop trying to give voice to the impossible.
“The world is not simply composed of physical causes strung together in strictly materialistic and mechanical fashion requiring, say, a physics for their complete explanation. The world is also a series of meaningful signs requiring a hermeneutics for their decipherment.” ~ Jeffrey Kripal
“The history of psychical phenomena is an untapped source of insight into the sacred." ~ Jeffrey Kripal
Resources * Learn more about Jeffry Kripal: kripal.rice.edu * Kripal's body of written work: kripal.rice.edu/written.html
In this talk given during a teaching event in New York City, Jeff Carreira speaks about how conditioned we are to see ourselves as separate entities wedded to physical bodies. He then guides a thought experiment that calls our fundamental sense of self into question and opens up a vision of our true cosmic being.
“I am not the kind of teacher who wants to say that our individuated self is unreal, or that our body is unreal, or that our consciousness is unreal. I simply want to say that as real as they may be, none of them is the limit to the infinite being that we are.” ~ Jeff Carreira (Divine Union - Losing Yourself to find your Self: An Essay)
Nora Bateson, award-winning filmmaker, writer, facilitator and educator, and President of the International Bateson Institute, talks with Jeff Carreira about her profound work aimed at supporting people into a new conception of reality and a new consciousness. Expanding on the work of her father the brilliant 20th Century philosopher Gregory Bateson, Nora is seeking to discover how human beings can embrace and perceive the depth of relatedness of our world. Jeff and Nora discuss the need to embrace the significance of context in all of our perceptions and elucidate why they believe that aesthetic considerations are critical for the emergence of a new worldview.
“By aesthetic, I mean responsive to the pattern which connects.” ~ Gregory Bateson (Mind and Nature, 1979)
Resources * Nora's film: An Ecology of Mind: A Daughters Portrait of Gregory Bateson * Nora's blog norabateson.wordpress.com * Gregory Bateson biography: Obituary (1904-1980)