Are You In There?

God is playing a game of hide and seek where he is hiding pretending to be you and I. This is an essential story in the Vedanta Philosophy, a central Eastern Spirituality Teaching. Alan Watts was one of the main figures who introduced Eastern spiritual ideas to the West. Join us as we try to decipher how to get out of the state of ‘hallucination’ as described by Alan Watts, and how to find who you...

Finding one's soul is the essence of all Spirituality. 19th-century spiritual teacher G.I. Gurdjieff designed a training programme whereby he taught his disciples how to find the soul. Published in 1945, 'In Search of The Miraculous' is nowadays one of the most in-depth records of Gurdjieff's spiritual teaching that we have. Join us as we try to decipher how to get out of the state of 'inner slave...

The chief miracle of life is for a human to find their soul. This is the message that comes to us from today's book, the great classic, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. In this video, we analyse the existential crisis of Levin, one of the main characters in the novel and a reference to Tolstoy himself. We learn how Levin finally overcomes his existential crisis by finding a deeper part of himself. Th...

If you want inner peace, do THIS: make time for introspection!... This is the advice that a guy called Thomas from Kempis is giving us. Now long dead, Thomas, was a German monk in the Middle Ages, and he wrote a book that, ever since, has been a fundamental spiritual scripture for many people. What is the advice he gave in his book? It's a really simple one: make time for introspection... How do w...

Stop taking your thoughts so seriously! This is the lesson that comes to us from the great novel 'Kafka on the Shore,' by Murakami. In this video, we analyse the behaviour of one of the characters in the novel, who is an embodiment of a set of spiritual values, that you too can put into practice. What are these values? It starts with learning to trust in life and letting go of our preferences. (00...

If you want happiness, do THIS: learn to reawaken!... What?... Learn to Reawaken. In the spring of 1845, 27-year-old Henry David Thoreau went to the woods at Walden Pond and resided there for the following 2 years, completely excluded from society. He wanted to understand how exclusion from society could help him live the most fully. In the following years after returning from the woods, he wrote...

Today's teaching comes to us all the way from ancient china, form the mouth of one of the greatest philosophers to ever live: Chuang Tzu. This is the advice that comes to us from this Spiritual classic: learn to let go of judgment, comparison and competition. Wisdom comes when you discover that deeper part of yourself that doesn't need protection. Join us as we try to decipher what Chuang...

Today's book tells us that if we want to make good decisions, we need to start by doing this: learning to be at the front of the train of our awareness... What?!... This is the advice that comes to us from this great 70's classic: learn to be at the front of the train of your awareness. Stop thinking and return to the present moment. Return to the real Universe. In this episode, we discuss...

"How to be happy?" is a question we seldom ask consciously. This is because we have convinced ourselves that we already know the answer: I get what I want and I avoid what I don't want. The lesson in today's book -- Awareness, by Anthony De Mello -- reminds us that happiness isn't at all about getting what you want or not, but rather about learning to live each moment fully....

Welcome to the second season! Join Alex, a psychotherapist, as he shares nuggets of wisdom from books that have deeply influenced him. Books like these contain the urgently needed transformational tools that we are all looking for. What can we learn from books like these? What lessons can we take with us, which when put into practice, will lead us to greater happiness, fulfillment and inner peace?...

"It is not length of life, but depth of life." - Ralph W. Emerson What an incredible journey this has been! Join us, as we close this first season with one last episode on the art of finding yourself. I start this season finale by explaining why I have decided to make this one the last episode of the season. I argue that it is not more and more content what we need, but rather learning t...

“Don't turn away. Keep your gaze on the bandaged place. That is where the light enters you.” - Rumi This episode invites you on the journey of navigating the landscape of your emotions, as we unveil how they serve as catalysts for personal and spiritual growth. We start off by spinning a tale of a king on a quest for wisdom and balance, who after approaching a wise sage for guidance, receives...

"Be strong then, and enter into your own body: there you have a solid place for your feet." In this episode, we use a poem by the mystic poet Kabir to guide us deeper into ourselves and our understanding of the important questions of life: where can I find happiness? where can I find security? where can I find myself? Kabir's poem takes us on a complete journey through the promises...

A Greek Philosopher by the name of Epictetus once wrote: "Don't hope that events will turn out the way you want; welcome events in whichever way they happen: this is the path to peace." In this episode we explore the subtle art of surrender, which means acceptance of the present moment circumstances as they present themselves. We explore how letting go of our judgements and desires c...

Ram Dass once said: "Everything changes once we identify with being the witness to the story, instead of the actor in it." In this episode, we keep the focus of our attention on the ego and how it operates. We do this because we've learned that the most direct way of disidentifying with the ego is to observe it in operation. Where does it operate? In your field of consciousness: in...

The Tao Te Ching has an interesting line in it, which says "First realize that you are sick, then you can move toward health." Have you ever wondered, "Who am I, really?" In this episode, this question becomes a catalyst for a detailed exploration of the complex realm of the ego. We argue that in order to find who you are, you need to first know who you are not! What is the ego...

"How often do you actually pay attention inside? If you're like most people, the answer is never at all!" In this episode, we talk about the Hindu Philosophy of the Four States of Consciousness, listed as follows: dreamless sleep, dreaming sleep, ordinary wakefulness, and lastly, the so-called 'turiya', simply translated as 'the fourth state of consciousness'. In...

Abraham Lincoln said: “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” If we have the task of finding ourselves, meditation is a necessary tool to do that. I would like to encourage you to build a meditation routine where you meditate every day in the morning, before starting your day. I'm sure you can easily wake up 15 minutes earlier! This is a 15-m...

Eckhart Tolle says that presence is a 'body state', not a 'head state'. An important part of our journey to find ourselves is to regain awareness of the aliveness, the life force that dwells in our bodies. What force heals your wounds? What intelligence orchestrates your digestive system, your immune system, etc.? One of the greatest tragedies in life is to lose touch with the ener...

Look at yourself in the mirror and ask: "Are You In There?" ... Keep doing this until you come up with an answer... "Yes, I am here!..." The fact that you are there, that you exist, is so self-evident that we hardly take any time whatsoever to reflect on it, yet the answers to life's most important questions lie all there. In the premiere episode of "Are You In There?&...

Are we really living in the present? Or are we just too distracted by our minds... prisoners of our past, future, worries, anxieties, and anticipations? Join me, Alex, as we journey through an in-depth exploration of our relationship with the present moment. We'll uncover how we regularly fall prey to a pattern of ' present moment blindness ', a psychological trap inherited from our co...

This is the second part of a two-part Introduction to Meditation course. In this episode, we navigate the fundamental principles of meditation and mindfulness that form the bedrock of successful meditation practice, as well as the attitudes essential for a fruitful practice. The principles introduced are the following: Patience, Presence, Non-judgement, Beginner's Mind & Acceptance . Each...

A man called G.I. Gurdjieff once said: 'If you wish to get out of prison, the first thing you must do is realize that you are in prison. If you think you are free, you can't escape.' In this episode, we'll explore the nature of the mind, the 'stickiness' of our thoughts, the urgent pull they have on our attention, and how they create some kind of mental prison in our...

This is the first part of a two-part Introduction to Meditation course. The basics of meditation are explained in a simple and engaging way. This is not just theories, but also hands-on guidance to help you start your independent meditation practice. I'm sure that after you listen to these two episodes, you won't have a single question about how to meditate, and you'll be ready to hop...