Awareness
It is not love that conquers hate, but awakening.
Similarly, it is not truth that conquers lies, but disbelief.
THE STRUGGLE (1969}
Image Screenshot James Baldwin Biography by David Leeming
A Moment Set Aside | Max Cooper & Rob Clouth (Official Video by Dimitri Thouzery)
“James Baldwin has become a black prophet of our time, one of the first to be listened to—if not always heard—by white men. He doesn’t look like a prophet. He is frail and slight, with an intense exaggeration of a face. “James Baldwin is a little man, physically,” writes Kenneth Clark, “with tremendous emotional and intellectual power. He radiates a nervous sensitive involvement with all aspects of his environment . . . one has the impression that he is incapable of communicating anything other than the total truth which he feels and thinks at that particular time.” To communicate, his words are carefully selected, savored, deliberately delivered, then allowed to fall in bursts. They are his weapons of truth, his descriptions of reality. It is a difficult language he speaks; his dictionary is himself, his grammar is his life. Such a language must be self taught. He uses it to speak to a people “to-tally unlettered in the language of the heart; totally distrustful of whatever can not be touched; panic stricken at the very first hint of pain. . .” And yet, he says later on this record, to speak further to these people, “. . pain which signals an ache is a pain which can save your life.” It is part of his function as a writer, he has said, to speak for those who can not; he also writes for those who have not always been able to listen. Here on this record is a personal description of growing up, charted riot by age nor by marks on a wall, but by self-knowledge arduously learned. The graphic design of his life has been sketched, in part in his own books with his own pen.
“James Baldwin was born in 1924 in Harlem Hospital, the oldest of nine children, the first son of a proud and bitter and rigid clergyman from New Orleans. David Baldwin died in 1943 when his son was nineteen; at fourteen he had already become a Holy Roller preacher in Har-lem’s storefront churches and was taking no small pride in being a better draw than his father. He graduated from De Witt Clinton High School in 1942 he was editor of the Literary Magaziiie there and, already master of the spoken, learning the ways of the written word. The next year was the year his father died; the year he left home and began to work at becoming a writer. The next five years were spent living in Greenwich Village; by day working as a handy-man, office boy, dish washer, waiter; by night, writing.
“Reviews and essays appeared in the Nation, New Leader, Commentary. He met Richard Wright, who helped him win, in 1945, the Eugene K. Saxton Memorial Award. In 1948 he won a Rosenwald Foundation grant and went to Paris, where he learned that, an alien in his own coun-try, he was to be at home in strange lands. The books began appearing: “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” “Notes of a Native Son,” “Giovanni’s Room,” “Another Country,’ “Nobody Knows My Name,” “The Fire Next Time,” “Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone”—and the plays, “The Amen Corner” and “Blues for Mr. Charlie.” James Baldwin. They call him a black writer. He is a writer who is black. And the problem, he says, is white. He writes about what it’s like to be a black man in America, and, more, about what it’s like to be a human being. He writes with love and with sorrow, with anger and with despair, with honesiy and with eloquence. And we listen and, perhaps, begin to hear.”
JAMES BALDWIN | THE STRUGGLE
PRODUCED AND DIRECTED BY NATHANIAL MONTAGUE | NARRATED BY JAMES BALDWIN
Image Screenshot from the Sounds True Podcast with Tami Simon, host of Insights At The Edge
Tami Simon engages in a profound conversation with David Whyte, the bestselling author of ten poetry books, three prose works, and the celebrated Sounds True audio program “What to Remember When Waking.”
David Whyte shares his unique perspective on the revelatory power of poetry, which can surprise us with new understanding and take hold of our being. Throughout the discussion, Tami and David explore various facets of life’s journey, including the importance of having courageous conversations, the generative potential of “a well-felt sadness,” and the art of reframing regret.
David Whyte introduces his concept of invitational leadership, which involves seven key steps, and delves into the notion of “robust vulnerability” – the willingness to choose the path we truly care about. The conversation also touches upon the themes of anguish, anxiety, and learning to be comfortable with the unknown. Whyte emphasizes the significance of letting go and “apprenticing ourselves to our own disappearance” as we navigate the constant invitation to engage with life.
Whether you’re a lover of poetry, a seeker of personal growth, or a curious explorer of life’s profound questions, this podcast offers a wealth of wisdom and inspiration from one of the most insightful voices of our time.
—Sounds True
Image Screenshot from Point of Relation Podcast, Pádraig Ó Tuama & Thomas Hübl on Healing Spiritual Trauma
Can creative expression help us return to ourselves after we’ve experienced spiritual trauma?
Thomas sits down with Pádraig Ó Tuama, a distinguished Irish Poet, theologian, and host of the podcast Poetry Unbound, for a profound exploration of spiritual trauma. Pádraig shares about the specific heartbreak of being betrayed by a spiritual community, drawing from his own intense experiences as a young gay man whose sexuality was demonized by his church.
Pádraig and Thomas discuss the intertwining of religious identity with politics and colonial history, particularly in Ireland, and share practical, philosophical, spiritual, and artistic approaches to healing from this type of trauma. At the heart of this conversation is the regenerative power of creativity and how art, poetry, and other forms of self-expression are essential to reestablishing a healthy relationship to your identity and your personal faith after trauma.
Pádraig also reads his poem “The Exorcism” from his “Seven Deadly Sonnets” collection.
WHAT REINCARNATES? ANDREW HOLECEK ON LIFE AFTER DEATH (PART 1)
WHO REINCARNATES? ANDREW HOLECEK ON WHAT HAPPENS AFTER DEATH (PART 2)
Exploring death and what may come after might feel uncomfortable, but Andrew Holecek has a gift for bringing wonder and assurance to these topics. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, host Tami Simon welcomes Andrew Holecek, scholar, author, and teacher of Tibetan Buddhism and non-dual wisdom traditions.
Together, they dive into the mysteries of reincarnation and the “gap between lives.” Drawing from Tibetan teachings on the bardos, dream yoga, and the art of dying, Andrew shares practical insights on how these ancient teachings are not just about what happens after death, but also about navigating the transitions and challenges we face here and now.
What happens after we die, and how our beliefs about death affect how we live
How cultivating lucidity transforms our dreams, waking lives, and dying process
The nature of awareness and the influence of habits, and more
What happens when we die? If reincarnation is real, do we have to come back to all this suffering? And do we get to keep our memories and personality…or do we become a mere echo of our current self?
In “What Reincarnates? Part 2,” Tami Simon concludes her interview with Andrew Holecek, renowned Tibetan Buddhist scholar and expert on lucid dreaming and conscious dying.
Join them to delve into the mysteries of death, rebirth, and the nature of consciousness.
Here, Andrew shares Buddhist teachings, his personal insights, and practical advice on:
Preparing for death, transforming fear, and embracing the unknown
How to stay open and prepare the way for a good death and rebirth
“Dark retreat” practice, open awareness meditation, psychedelics, and more
Sounds True was founded in 1985 by Tami Simon with a clear mission: to disseminate spiritual wisdom. Since starting out as a project with one woman and her tape recorder, we have grown into a multimedia publishing company with more than 80 employees, a library of more than 1500 titles featuring some of the leading teachers and visionaries of our time, and an ever-expanding family of customers from across the world. In more than three decades of growth, change, and evolution, Sounds True has maintained its focus on its overriding purpose, as summed up in our Mission Statement.”
—Sounds True Podcast
Andrew Holecek on Science and Spirituality
The Seekers Forum is an online community founded by author and teacher Mark Matousek, known for his Writing to Awaken method of self-inquiry as well as his two award-winning memoirs and other books. At The Seekers Forum, topics related to creativity, spiritual practice, and ethical well-being are explored through writing and discussion. Find out more at https://theseekersforum.com
Andrew Holecek is an author and spiritual teacher who offers talks, online courses, and workshops in the United States and abroad. As a long-time student of Buddhism, he frequently presents this tradition from a contemporary perspective – blending the ancient wisdom of the East with modern knowledge from the West. Drawing on years of intensive study and practice, he teaches on the opportunities that exist in obstacles, helping people with hardship and pain, death and dying, and problems in meditation. Known as an expert on lucid dreaming and the Tibetan yogas of sleep and dream, he is an experienced guide for students drawn to these powerful nocturnal practices.
Andrew Holecek is the author of many books and offers seminars internationally on meditation, lucid dreaming, and dream yoga. He is the author of Dream Yoga: Illuminating Your Life Through Lucid Dreaming and the Tibetan Yogas of Sleep, the audio learning course, Dream Yoga: The Tibetan Path of Awakening Through Lucid Dreaming, The Lucid Dreaming Workbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Mastering Your Dream Life, (See all of his books). Dr. Holecek is a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, and the author of scientific papers on lucid dreaming.
Andrew Holecek – Lucid Dreaming and The Remarkable Practice of Dream Yoga
Andrew Holecek – The Remarkable Practice of Dream Yoga: How Lucid Dreaming Makes Sleep Endlessly Fascinating and Leads to Lucid Living (and Lucid Dying)
“Lucidity is a code word for awareness.”
Lucid dreaming expert, author, “curiouist,” and integralist Andrew Holecek explains how lucid dreaming opens the door to a greatly expanded understanding of our minds, our perception of reality, and human potential altogether. If we consciously explore our night lives practicing dream yoga, we can learn how to discard our habits, purify our karma, and discover beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are co-creators of our experience. What we do in dream yoga is not limited to nighttime action; it weaves back into our daytime lives, and ultimately our experience of dying.
Andrew describes how dreams are a powerful way to discover emptiness and openness, and fall into reality—like falling into love—our primordial contraction cast away. Besides being a life-changing discourse on the incredible potential of dream yoga, Andrew Holecek’s cheerful, well-informed, easy way of talking and teaching about lucid dreaming—relating it also to the wisdom traditions, our sense of identity, and human evolution—makes this a real pleasure to listen to. Recorded on April 13, 2022.