Alchemical Dialogues - from Lead to Gold

This episode of  Alchemical Dialogues  features host Henry Cretella in conversation with Micha-El (Alan Berkowitz) on the life and teachings of Paul Brunton, and the intersections of Sufism, Vedanta, and other contemplative traditions. The discussion begins with Henry describing how he first encountered Brunton’s book  The Short Path to Enlightenment , which he initially bought simply because of t...

Part 2 continues panel discussion by exploring the lived experience of unity, spirituality, and what it means to feel 'at home' in the universe, beginning with reflections on whether healing and awakening dissolve the sense of separation. Andy, drawing from his 12-step recovery background, describes spirituality as a relationship with a higher power understood personally, sharing that his connecti...

Alchemical Dialogues and Unraveling Religion co-hosts Joel Lesses and Henry Cretella convene a panel exploring spirituality, recovery, philosophy, and science through lived experience, centered on the theme of transformation as an embodied, ongoing process. Part 1 Ben, a therapist and former addiction counselor, reflects on his journey through trauma, psychosis, and recovery, including an ego...

God (Tao) says, 'be what I made you to be!' God (Tao) is found in relationships. Does God want us to know Him (or ourselves) most intimately? Dependent Co-arising? 'Simultaneously, I and all beings attain the Way' (Awaken to Reality) ~Buddha 'Essentially, outside of me, nothing exists' Verse 18 What does it mean to let go? What do we let go of? To be human is to be attached? Closes with Verse 81,...

In this exploration of the Tao Te Ching and other traditions, the conversation opens to introductions  of the five Panelists and an invocation of hope of others to investigate the Tao Te Ching. Bob, Brian, Rich, Henry and Joel share Verse 1 and questions arise: What is Reality? Is the Tao Reality? What is the Tao? What does the term Anti-foundational mean? Reversal Yin/ Yang in relation to Tao. Pa...

Naomi Shihab Nye  opens the talk reading a new, recently penned poem,  Current Affairs.  Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish  then introduces himself and segways into the realities of his experiences growing up in Gaza, the  Jabalia Camp , what he has seen and witnessed, the loss of his three daugthers and niece in 2009 from an Israeli tank shell (i.e.,  I Shall Not Hate ) and his...

Part 2 the Panels opens to discuss: 'What makes us come alive?' 'What is your 'note' in life?' (Rumi's 'be your note.') Discussion turns to Rumi's quote  'when I was young I wanted to change the world, when I grew older I wanted only to change myself.' How do we attune to spiritual teachers?  How do we know who our spiritual teachers are meant to be? Moments that open and we lose sense o...

Part 1 of this discussion examines psychology, philosophy, religion, spiritually, science, and medicine, a panel of five (5) people opens with the question, 'where am I?' and 'what is going on [in the world]?' and refers to James Hillman, ideas and action as an artificial distinction, are they the same thing? How are they interlinked? The poet Major Ragain is quoted,  'contemplation alters th...

On February 7th, 2023, Chris Meek interviewed Joel for the podcast Next Steps Forward, and explored: Does God Exist? How does meditation reveal God? What is the nature of evil? Where does God exist? Can we experience God directly? Why are we here on earth? What is the purpose of life? Why does God ask us to struggle? Does morality matter? Is there life after death? What is a koan? Next Steps Forwa...

In today’s The Labyrinth podcast, Lisa Carley interviews retired psychiatrist Henry Cretella to share both his philosophy and personal experience with surrender. We begin our conversation with Eckart Tolle’s view that surrender requires an expansion (and often suspension) of our rational mind. From there, we discuss the general nature of surrender and the role of intuition. We move into sharing st...