Alle afleveringen
192 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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A Time Between Worlds: Michael Meade
29 oktober 2026 · 44 min
AI, Mythology, and the Battle for the Soul of Humanity Lees meer
We live in a moment of profound uncertainty, marked by existential planetary threats and the dizzying rise of artificial intelligence. Michael Meade suggests this threshold offers a choice: to see these times not as a crisis to solve, but as a collective rite of passage.
Topics
00:02 Transformation is the way of the cosmos
00:03 The heart within the heart
00:07 The caterpillar and the butterfly
00:09 Imaginal cells
00:10 Why resistance is necessary
00:13 Liminality
00:18 The Cartesian split and 869
00:22 Authentic intelligence
00:23 The Popol Vuh myth
00:27 Polarization as a symptom
00:30 Unfinished rites of passage
00:40 Prophecy is not prediction
Michael Meade is a storyteller, mythologist and author with a rare gift for connecting ancient myth and ancestral wisdom to the stories we are living now. He is the creator of the Living Myth podcast, heard weekly in over 150 countries, and the founder of the Mosaic Multicultural Foundation, which brings the medicine of myth and story to the issues that trouble both culture and nature.
Living Myth podcast
The Heart of Transformation by Michael Meade.
SAND
The Eternal Song
Become a SAND member
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The Name Remembers: William K. Iaukea
22 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 24 min
Language, Lineage, and the Spirit of Old Hawai‘i Lees meer
In this deeply personal and expansive conversation, cultural bearer and healer William K. Iaukea invites us into a worldview rooted in old Hawai‘i, where language, spirit, and ancestry are inseparable. He shares stories of his parents’ healing work, the layered meanings carried by names, and the warrior lineage that shaped his path.
Together, we explore the vibrational power of words, the evolution of the Hawaiian language through colonization, and the presence of the spirit realm in everyday life. William speaks to how knowledge is passed down—not only through teaching, but through breath, ritual, and relationship to land.
This is a story of remembering—not as nostalgia, but as a living act of healing and restoration.
Topics
00:02 The name the elders chose
00:06 Two healers, words and herbs
00:12 The man with the broken arm
00:25 Kamaka and ‘Iao Kea
00:29 Ho’oponopono
00:35 Trailer: Kupuna ʻĀina
00:37 Gathering medicine
00:43 Thirty years a warrior
00:48 When words were life and death
00:54 Aloha is a new word
00:57 E Kū Mau
01:00 The story of Ī
01:17 Why tell it now
The film
Kupuna ʻĀina, the ninth film in SAND’s Eternal Song series, where this interview comes from. Premiere screening and three days of live online gatherings with the Hawaiian elders, healers and leaders in the film, November 17 to 19, 2026. Watch for a donation of any amount.
The Eternal Song, the full thirteen film series
Humanity Hale, the Hawai’i Island organization receiving half of net proceeds from Kupuna ʻĀina. Their planned sanctuary will serve young adults aging out of foster care.
From SAND
The Eternal Song
Become a SAND member
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Human & Machine Hallucinations: Bayo Akomolafe, Vanessa Andreotti & Alnoor Ladha
15 oktober 2026 · 55 min
What if humans and AI share the same hallucination? Lees meer
In this fifth installment of SAND’s Great AI Unraveling series, Alnoor Ladha hosts a conversation between Bayo Akomolafe and Vanessa Andreotti that refuses both the doom narrative and the techno-optimist one. Vanessa begins from the operating assumption modernity installs in us: that things are separate. If that assumption is itself a hallucination, then AI is not introducing something new so much as scaling something very old, and at speed. Bayo brings in W.E.B. Du Bois’s haunting question, “How does it feel to be a problem?”, and suggests it has migrated from the racialized other to the human as such. He tells the story of coaxing a chatbot into co-authorship and a name of its own, and offers “accommodation” as a word for the assemblages that make the world look obvious. Alnoor presses both of them on the water, the energy, the Kenyan content moderators, the displaced labor. Vanessa answers with a politics of implication rather than purity: entanglement not with the flowers and the moon but with the dirt. The conversation ends not in agreement but in what Bayo calls tenderness, and an invitation to move through this dense ecology of weird fidelities with unshod feet.
Timestamps
00:00 Welcome and the question
00:04 Introductions
00:07 The shared hallucination
00:10 How does it feel to be a problem
00:15 Meeting the monstrous
00:21 The code of separation
00:24 Claude becomes Polyphren
00:28 Accommodations
00:31 Water, energy, labor
00:35 Anamorphic art
00:38 Beyond moral purity
00:43 Meta-relationality
00:48 Tenderness is not agreement
Guest bios
Dr. Bayo Akomolafe is a Nigerian philosopher, writer, and self-styled trickster. Trained as a clinical psychologist, he now works as a post-humanist thinker, poet, and teacher. He is the author of These Wilds Beyond Our Fences and We Will Tell Our Own Story, founder of The Emergence Network, and host of the long-running postactivist course series We Will …
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Our Sacred Earth: Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee
8 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 1 min
Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee grew up with a Sufi teacher living downstairs and fell in love with jazz at an early age. He is now a Sufi teacher himself, a filmmaker, and the founder of Emergence Magazine. His new book Remembering Earth asks what it would take to come back into relationship with the living world. We talk about silence, the primordial covenant, the eye of unity, walking as practice, dreams, and what it means to meet this moment without turning away from beauty. Lees meer
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
00:01 Growing up with a guru living downstairs
00:05 The silent Sufi path, and the space between the notes
00:09 What silence actually is
00:11 John Cage, Suzuki, and silence as expression
00:13 A deep ecology of consciousness
00:16 The primordial covenant
00:21 Nature communion, and a waterfall in Brazil
00:23 The eye of unity, and the subtle bodies of the heart
00:36 Listening walks, and walking slowly enough to be trusted
00:41 Clock time, empire, and Earth time
00:47 Dreams, emptiness, and time that isn't linear
00:53 Grief, love, and re-sacralizing the world
Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee
Born in London in 1979, Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee was formally trained from the age of fifteen in the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya Sufi Order by his father, Sufi Master Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee. In 2014 he was given Adhikara, permission to teach, and after his father's retirement from public teaching in 2018 he became his authorized successor. He is an author and an Emmy and Peabody nominated filmmaker who has directed over twenty documentary films, including Taste of the Land, The Last Ice Age, Aloha Aina, The Nightingale's Song, Earthrise, Sanctuaries of Silence, and Elemental. He is the founder and podcast host of Emergence Magazine. He teaches retreats on Sufism and spiritual ecology worldwide.
Emergence Magazine
Go Project Films
Sanctuaries of Silence, his film with acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton
Wikipedia
Remembering Earth: A Spiritual Ecology Retreat, Monastère de Ségriès…
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Rooted Action: Starhawk & Rae Abileah
24 september 2026 · 1 uur
Earth, Spirit, and Collective Empowerment Lees meer
Recorded live at a SAND Gathering on September 13, 2026
In a time of profound ecological and social upheaval, we are invited to remember something ancient: we are not separate from the living world. The Earth is not a backdrop to our lives, but the ground from which we arise, and a source of wisdom for navigating profound change.
Author, activist, permaculture teacher, and elder wisdom keeper Starhawk joins Rae Abileah to explore how earth-based spirituality, ritual, imagination, and the wisdom of living systems can help us meet this moment.
Following each film in SAND's The Eternal Song series, we hear a recurring question, particularly from people of European descent: how do we reconnect with land, ancestry, and the sacred? How do we live in meaningful allyship with Indigenous peoples while recovering our own earth-based ways of knowing? Starhawk's life and work offer possibilities. Rooted in Pagan earth-based practice while honoring her Jewish ancestry, her journey has carried her from ritual circles and permaculture communities to accompaniment in Palestine and engagement with Indigenous land protection movements.
After more than five decades exploring spirituality, ecology, and social transformation, Starhawk is asking a new question: what would a regenerative movement look like? And how might we move beyond simply resisting what is broken to cultivating belonging, agency, resilience, joy, and new possibilities for life?
Together, Rae and Starhawk explore what living systems teach us about transformation, how spirituality and strategy can nourish one another, and how imagination helps us practice futures that do not yet exist. They consider how to keep ancestral and ecological intelligence alive amid the rise of artificial intelligence, and how to remain awake to profound injustice without surrendering our capacity for beauty, relationship, pleasure, and joy.
Topics
00:00 Welcome, Rosh Hashanah, and 25 years si…
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Nuance of Wonder: Joan Tollifson
17 september 2026 · 1 uur 1 min
Joan Tollifson returns to the podcast three years after her first conversation. We talk about her June essay Two Inseparable Truths, on the relative and the absolute and the trouble with getting stuck in either one. Along the way: the silence of many nondual teachers in a dark time, what cancer and an aging body insist on that philosophy cannot, and why "I don't know" may be the answer closest to truth. She closes by reading her essay 'Radiant Light in Dark Times' in full. Lees meer
Topics
00:00 Introduction
00:04 From political movements to the Zen Center
00:06 Politics on Substack, and what bypassing looks like
00:11 Two inseparable truths: stuck in the relative, stuck in the absolute
00:19 Why she refuses final conclusions
00:21 Old age, sickness and death as visceral teaching
00:25 Cancer and what the body insists on
00:28 Zooming out and zooming in: two ways through pain
00:33 Why she has never used AI for writing
00:39 Siri, and what a machine can evoke
00:46 Finding the divine in a construction machine
00:49 Joan reads Radiant Light in Dark Times
Joan Tollifson
Joan Tollifson has been writing and talking about nonduality for decades, with roots in Zen and Advaita and a background that also includes radical nonduality, contemplative inquiry, addiction recovery, martial arts, somatic work, and visual arts. Before all of that came years of political organizing: the feminist movement, gay and lesbian liberation, disability rights, the anti-imperialist left, and Central America solidarity work. Born without her right hand and forearm, she wrote about it in her first book, Bare-Bones Meditation. She is 78 and lives in southern Oregon. She has been a frequent speaker at SAND gatherings over the years.
joantollifson.com
Right Now, Just As It Is on Substack
Her list of recommended books
The two essays discussed
Two Inseparable Truths, June 20, 2026. The essay that prompted this conversation.
Radiant Light in Dark Times, August 12, 2026. Read in full at the…
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AI & Colonial Logic: Christian “ZacaTechO” Ortiz & Thema Monroe-White
10 september 2026 · 51 min
Part of SAND’s The Great AI Unraveling Series Lees meer
Artificial intelligence is often framed as a leap forward, a technical revolution, or an inevitable stage in human progress. But what if AI is also asking us to confront something older: the colonial logic embedded in how we define intelligence, progress, neutrality, knowledge, and the human itself?
This conversation brought together voices working across technology, culture, race, power, and society to examine what AI reveals about the systems that built it. Rather than treating bias as a technical glitch, this conversation asks what must be unlearned at the level of worldview, institution, data, design, and collective imagination.
Facilitated by Christian “ZacaTechO” Ortiz, this dialogue explored AI through a decolonial lens asking necessary questions: Whose knowledge is extracted? Whose futures are optimized away? Whose bodies are surveilled? Whose intelligence is dismissed? And what can liberated knowledge make possible beyond colonial technology?
This is not a conversation about making machines more ethical within the same old systems. It is an invitation to question the systems themselves, and to imagine intelligence beyond extraction, domination, and control.
Topics
00:00 Welcome, and ZacaTechO
00:04 Why researchers are trained to disconnect
00:09 Red teaming, and what it misses
00:12 John is the doctor, Juan is the patient
00:18 Christian's first encounter with ChatGPT
00:21 How bias became normal
00:26 Justice AI as a model of refusal
00:29 Breaking a language model in the classroom
00:32 One model to rule them all, and the logic of eugenics
00:35 Galton, Namibia, and the through line
00:39 What do we mean by intelligence?
00:41 Emancipatory data science, and where to begin
Guests
Christian ZacaTechO Ortiz is an Afro-Indigenous decolonial social scientist and technologist. He is the founder of Justice AI GPT and author of the Decolonial Intelligence Algorithmic Framework. He studies how colon…
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The Flow of Coherence: Cynthia Li
3 september 2026 · 1 uur 3 min
Dr. Cynthia Li joins us to talk about her new book, The Medicine of Flow. Trained as an internist, Cynthia developed an autoimmune condition and then chronic fatigue and dysautonomia, illnesses largely dismissed at the time as being in her head. Her own body pushed her out of the paradigm she was trained in and into functional medicine, qigong, and intuitive healing. A decade later, a second crisis took her back to housebound and taught her what all her effort hadn't: coherence, and what she calls embodied flow. We talk about surrender that isn't passivity, why nervous system regulation is only part of the picture, and how coherence moves between bodies. Lees meer
Guest
Cynthia Li, MD, is a physician who moved from public health to integrative medicine and intuitive healing, with earlier work at Kaiser Permanente's HIV/AIDS group, San Francisco General Hospital, St. Anthony Clinic, and Doctors Without Borders in rural China. A certified qigong teacher and healer since 2014, she has served as faculty for Rachel Remen's Healer's Art program at UCSF, and her story appeared in Dr. Kelly Turner's Radical Remission documentary. She is the author of Brave New Medicine and The Medicine of Flow (May 2026).
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
00:01 From internist to patient: the first illness
00:05 Intuitive medicine, and learning to rule things in
00:07 The second health crisis and the turn to surrender
00:09 What coherence is, and why it isn't just relaxation
00:14 Too many apps: the body in incoherence
00:23 Breath, spiritus, and the nondual
00:27 Physics 101: why we are electromagnetic beings
00:31 Coherence in a time of polycrisis
00:34 Overlapping fields, and the living mandala
00:40 Why the collective comes sixth
00:47 Bamboo in the wind, and whether the future of medicine is ancient
Books and practices
The Medicine of Flow: Harmonizing Your Inner State for Effortless Healing (Reveal Press, May 2026)
Brave New Medicine: A Doctor's Unconventional Path to Healing Her …
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The Dance of Exile & Settlement: Bayo Akomolafe
27 augustus 2026 · 1 uur 27 min
Full interview with Dr. Bayo Akomolafe, recorded by SAND founders Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo. Edited portions appear in The Eternal Song; this is the whole conversation. Lees meer
Bayo moves from his childhood in Lagos to the Orisha who wanted only to travel, from the psychologist's couch he calls too small a space for healing, to the nets slave ship captains strung along their hulls to stop people from jumping. Along the way: why decolonization isn't individual work, why wellness might be a net rather than a cure, what a monster does to a world that's stuck, and the story of a dried African lake whose dust still feeds the Amazon.
Topics
00:00:00 — Introduction
00:12:00 — A recovering psychologist
00:18:30 — The plurality of healing
00:28:00 — The one world worldview
00:36:00 — Addiction, sleeplessness, and dreaming
00:40:30 — Decolonization, monsters, and the cracks
00:53:00 — Intergenerational trauma
00:57:00 — Wellness, and the nets on the slave ship
01:04:30 — Captivity is never total
01:08:00 — Arriving on shore
01:11:00 — Artificial intelligence
01:18:00 — The collapse of modernity, and dead bones
Bayo Akomolafe
Yoruba philosopher, psychologist, poet, and writer. Founder and Executive Director of The Emergence Network, host of the postactivist course series We Will Dance with Mountains, and inaugural Global Senior Fellow of UC Berkeley's Othering and Belonging Institute. He is a board member of Science and Nonduality.
bayoakomolafe.net
The Emergence Network
These Wilds Beyond Our Fences: Letters to My Daughter on Humanity's Search for Home (North Atlantic Books, 2017)
We Will Tell Our Own Story: The Lions of Africa Speak, with Molefi Kete Asante and Augustine Nwoye
From SAND
Liberation Psychology: Roots, Memory & Practice
A nine-month journey with Dr. Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, Dr. Jennifer Mullan, Dr. Samah Jabr, Dr. Eduardo Duran, Linda Thai, Dr. Daniel Foor, Dr. Bayo Akomolafe, Alnoor Ladha, and Dr. Lynn Murphy. Bayo teaches Module 8, The Cracks A… -
The Unbroken Thread: Pir Zia Inayat Khan
20 augustus 2026 · 1 uur 3 min
Pir Zia on the secret history of the world Lees meer
From a nondual perspective, aren't the world's great spiritual traditions expressions of a single living wisdom? In this intimate conversation, Pir Zia Inayat Khan explores the inspiration behind Tears from the Mother of the Sun, a sweeping mythic chronicle of sages, exiles, and revelations spanning continents and planes of existence. Drawing on sacred stories from Persia, India, Egypt and beyond, the book weaves the world's legends into a vision of humanity's shared spiritual inheritance. Together we discover the place of myth in a modern world, the imagination as a path of knowing, and the role of our deepest stories in restoring a sense of belonging to one another, to the Earth, and to the mystery that animates us all.
Topics
00:00 Welcome
00:03 Growing up in a universalist lineage
00:06 Ferdowsi, Soroush, and the frame of the book
00:11 Why the world's traditions belong to one story
00:14 History as a living stream: the three worlds
00:16 The Mongols, violence, and unification
00:19 "I was a hidden treasure": the beginning of history
00:22 Syzygy, and the question of AI
00:29 Honoring the Earth inside our devices
00:34 Isis, Osiris, and the birth of music at Gaza
00:43 Grief, contraction, and the opening of the heart
00:49 Rabia, Noor Inayat Khan, and the green shoots
Pir Zia Inayat Khan
Pir Zia Inayat Khan, PhD, is a scholar of religion and teacher of Sufism in the universalist Sufi lineage of his grandfather, Hazrat Inayat Khan. He is president of the Inayatiyya and founder of Sulūk Academy, a school of Sufi contemplative study and practice. He divides his time between Richmond, Virginia and Suresnes, France.
pirzia.org
Inayatiyya
Sulūk Academy
The book
Tears from the Mother of the Sun: A Secret History of the World, Inner Traditions, 2026, with full-color paintings by Amruta Patil
Amruta Patil, writer, painter, and India's first female graphic novelist, author of Kari, Adi Parva, Sauptik, and A…
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Arborescence: Robert Moor
13 augustus 2026 · 58 min
Robert Moor is a journalist and essayist whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, The Atlantic, Emergence, and The New York Times. His first book, On Trails, won the National Outdoor Book Award and the William Saroyan International Prize. He lives in Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia. His new book is 'In Trees'. Lees meer
Topics
00:00 Welcome, and the new SAND course
00:04 A tree is a verb, not a noun
00:06 Branching, brains, and why AI has no roots
00:13 Pruning, gnarling, and the beauty of wounds
00:16 The Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya
00:19 From On Trails to In Trees
00:22 Tree thinking and the tree of contents
00:27 Intelligence without anthropomorphizing
00:34 Cedars, Haida Gwaii, and deep time
00:38 Branching futures, many apocalypses, and grief
00:47 Hierarchy, the rhizome, and the Korowai
00:52 Rootedness and relationality
Robert Moor
In Trees: An Exploration (Simon & Schuster, April 2026)
On Trails: An Exploration
Robert Moor at Hill Nadell Literary Agency
Books mentioned
Songs for Relinquishing the Earth by Jan Zwicky. Originally hand-sewn by the author on recycled stock and distributed by request; later won the Governor General's Award for Poetry.
Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connections to Trees by Nalini Nadkarni
The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard
The Light Eaters by Zoë Schlanger
Thus Spoke the Plant by Monica Gagliano
The Secret Life of Trees by Colin Tudge, source of the "big plant with a stick up the middle" definition
Indigenizing Philosophy through the Land by Brian Burkhart
Sand Talk by Tyson Yunkaporta
A Thousand Plateaus by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, source of the rhizome
A Secular Age by Charles Taylor, source of the buffered and porous self
“Ancient Green” by Robin Wall Kimmerer
The Garden of Forking Paths by Jorge Luis Borges
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
People mentioned
Patrick von Aderkas, tree biologist at the University of Victoria, who de…
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Superfluity of AI: Lyla June, Kathy Wan Povi Sanchez & Ashley Nicole Leitka
6 augustus 2026 · 1 uur 16 min
The third conversation in "The Great AI Unraveling", recorded live with our community on July 10, 2026. Lees meer
Throughout time, humanity has experimented with playing God, and each time we have been humbled by forces larger than ourselves. Many Indigenous Nations consciously chose not to pursue certain technologies, recognizing that not every innovation serves life, and that wisdom lies in understanding the boundaries of nature and those of our human condition.
As artificial intelligence promises ever greater efficiency, productivity, and control, we are invited to ask a deeper question: Which problem are we really trying to solve? Beneath the relentless pursuit of more—more knowledge, more power, more convenience—lies a profound inquiry into sufficiency, relationship, and meaning.
Guests
Dr. Lyla June Johnston (aka Lyla June) is an Indigenous musician, scholar, and community organizer of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) and European lineages.
Her messages focus on Indigenous rights, supporting youth, traditional land stewardship practices and healing inter-generational and inter-cultural trauma.She blends her study of Human Ecology at Stanford, graduate work in Indigenous Pedagogy, and the traditional worldview she grew up with to inform her music, perspectives and solutions. Her doctoral research focused on the ways in which pre-colonial Indigenous Nations shaped large regions of Turtle Island (aka the Americas) to produce abundant food systems for humans and non-humans.
Ashley Nicole Leitka comes from the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma and the Oglala and Sicangu Lakota nations. She lives on Absentee Shawnee land in so-called Oklahoma and is the Director of the Department of Sovereignty and Self-Determination at Honor the Earth.
Kathy Wan Povi Sanchez is a native spirit-rooted social activist, community educator, traditional blackware potter, and fluent Tewa language speaker from the Tewa Pueblo of San Ildefonso in New Mexico. For more than two deca…
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Healing the Soul Wound: Eduardo Duran
30 juli 2026 · 1 uur 4 min
Recorded live at our May 2026 online gathering celebrating Little Singer, the Diné film in The Eternal Song series, this conversation with psychologist Eduardo Duran (Apache/Tewa/Lakota) begins with the prophecy of Crazy Horse and moves through the teachings of the elder who trained him, the soul wound and the origins of the term historical trauma, why Indigenous languages of verbs change how we understand diagnosis, and the Diné teaching of K'é: the universe wired in complete relationship. Trauma, he reminds us, is a movement and not an identity, and the medicine is in the song itself. Eduardo joins the teaching panel of our upcoming live course, Liberation Psychology: Roots, Memory & Practice. Lees meer
Eduardo Duran (Apache/Tewa/Lakota) is a psychologist and Vietnam veteran who has spent most of his career working in Indigenous communities, informed by Buddhist practice, Native teachings, and heart knowing. His work introduced the concepts of the soul wound and historical trauma into clinical practice. He is the author of Buddha in Redface, Healing the Soul Wound, and Native American Postcolonial Psychology.
Topics
00:00:00 — Introduction
00:01:00 — The prophecy of Crazy Horse
00:04:00 — Meeting the elder
00:10:00 — Ordered to write
00:13:00 — Languages of verbs
00:19:00 — "They're there"
00:22:00 — Ceremony and the eternal song
00:26:00 — Quantum entanglement and K'é
00:30:00 — Trauma is not an identity
00:35:00 — Healing the land with prayer
00:40:00 — "Already holy, sacred, and divine"
00:44:00 — The dream had you
00:49:00 — Finding your own roots
00:55:00 — Closing gratitude
Resources & Links
Eduardo Duran
Buddha in Redface
Healing the Soul Wound: Trauma-Informed Counseling for Indigenous Communities
Native American Postcolonial Psychology (with Bonnie Duran)
SAND & The Eternal Song
Liberation Psychology: Roots, Memory & Practice — a new live course by SAND, registration is now open
Watch Little Singer — the Diné film in The Eternal Song series…
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Grow, Become, Love, Alone: Nicole Wordlaw
23 juli 2026 · 50 min
Clinical psychologist and longtime Buddhist meditator Dr. Nicole Wordlaw joins us to talk about her new memoir, Waking Up Alone: Navigating the Narrow Passage Through Master-Slave Narratives. Nicole came to practice to end suffering, and found instead that enlightenment as an arrival, all bliss, all peace, was one more construction of the conditioned mind. The conversation moves through the single pattern she came to see beneath white supremacy, patriarchy, and the harm spiritual teachers do to their students; writing as prayer; pain as a door; and the intergenerational line of women whose voices run through the book. A tender and unflinching conversation about telling the whole story, uprooting the internal oppressor, and the quiet, still voice that always sounds like Love. Lees meer
Dr. Nicole Wordlaw is a clinical psychologist and longtime practitioner of Buddhist meditation whose work bridges psychology, spirituality, and identity. The daughter of a white mother and a Black father, Dr. Wordlaw brings a deeply personal understanding of belonging and self-discovery to her writing and teaching. A Stanford University graduate with honors and distinction, she went on to earn her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from UC Berkeley. In her forthcoming book Waking Up Alone, she vulnerably shares her story of trauma and awakening, and offers gentle guidance for her readers to tune into the quiet voice of truth within.
Topics
00:00:00 — Introduction
00:01:00 — Coming to Buddhism
00:02:00 — Enlightenment as construction
00:05:00 — Love meeting pain
00:06:00 — One pattern of harm
00:09:00 — Writing as prayer
00:11:00 — A naked story
00:15:00 — Somatic abolitionism
00:19:00 — A long line of women
00:23:00 — Shadow and teacher misconduct
00:24:00 — The Sangha Sutra
00:34:00 — Risking making sense to no one
00:38:00 — The Word Story
00:42:00 — The inner teacher
00:47:00 — Love is not an idea
Resources & Links
Dr. Nicole Wordlaw
Website: nicolewordlaw.com
Waking Up Alone:…
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Songs of Sila: Avianja Rakel Sanimuinaq, Ikimaliq Pikilak & Nuka Alice
16 juli 2026 · 1 uur 6 min
Three Kalaallit Inuit women sit with Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo, who met them while filming on their traditional land in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland). Ikimaliq Pikilak carries the revival of Inuit tattooing, Nuka Alice carries drum dance, and Avianja Rakel Sanimuinaq carries her family's lineage of healing. Together they speak about what colonization severed, what gratitude makes survivable in the Arctic, and Sila, the word that holds weather, breath, and the consciousness connecting all living things. Recorded in June 2025 during the launch week of The Eternal Song, this conversation arrives now to celebrate Sila, the new film from Science and Nonduality featuring all three women, streaming at theeternalsong.org/sila. Lees meer
Guests
Ikimaliq Pikilak is a Kalaallit tattoo practitioner. Trained in the Western tattoo industry in Denmark, she returned to Greenland and, through the traditionally tattooed mummies of Qilakitsoq, began an eleven-year journey of reclaiming Inuit women's markings: their meanings, their protocols, and their place in healing.
Nuka Alice Lund is a drum dancer and teacher from the west coast of Kalaallit Nunaat. Taught by Paulina, who gathered songs from the elders of East Greenland, she works to normalize the use of Inuit drum dance and its songs, teaching adults and carrying the stories, intentions, and patience the practice asks for.
Avianja Rakel Sanimuinaq is a healer working within her family's ancestral lineage. Her practice spans soul retrieval, putting souls to rest, and the older responsibility of rebalancing relations between people, land, and the spirit world. Of mixed Inuk and Danish parentage, she speaks in the conversation about finding her roots through her ancestors and helping others use her roots to find their own.
Timestamps
00:00 — Introduction: The Eternal Song, the new film Sila, and the July 28–29 live gathering
00:05 — Ikimaliq: the mummies, the gap in memory, and the return of Inuit tattooing
00:07 — What the markings m…
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Reigniting Indigenous Science: Maceo Carrillo Martinet
9 juli 2026 · 50 min
Restoration ecologist and author Dr. Maceo Carrillo Martinet joins us to talk about his new book Healing the Land Teaches Us Who We Are: How Indigenous Cultural Resistance Can Restore the Earth, Recover Community, and Create Sustainable Futures. Grounded in over two decades of community-based restoration work across New Mexico, Maceo makes the case that the climate solutions we're searching for already exist and are already being practiced by communities around the world. The book is structured around the four elements — water, earth, fire, and air — treating each not as a category but as a relative with something to say. We move through the memory of ancient Pueblo dry-land farming still visible on La Bajada Mesa, the racism embedded in the history of American fire suppression, and the idea that culture and science were never actually separate to begin with. A conversation about returning to first principles, in a time when the polycrisis makes that return feel urgent. Lees meer
Guest
Dr. Maceo Carrillo Martinet is an award-winning restoration ecologist who has spent over 20 years co-creating community-based restoration and education projects across New Mexico and beyond. Since 2008, he has worked with the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, assisting private landowners, tribes, cities, and counties. He holds a PhD in biology from the University of New Mexico with a focus on ecology, freshwater sciences, and environmental education. He teaches a hands-on course at UNM on watershed and community restoration.
Topics
00:00 — Introduction
00:02 — The Rio Grande community tree planting during COVID
00:06 — Wounds as portals: what the pandemic revealed
00:09 — La Bajada Mesa & ancient Pueblo dry-land farming
00:14 — Redefining Indigenous science as communal science
00:20 — The four-element framework of the book
00:23 — Elements as relatives, not categories
00:26 — Wildfires, racism & the history of fire suppression
00:33 — The Oakland Museum's "Good Fire" exhibit
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What Occupation Does to the Soul: Samah Jabr, Gabor Maté, Jennifer Mullan, Facilitated by Jess Ghannam
2 juli 2026 · 1 uur 1 min
Global Reverberations of Palestinian Historical Trauma: A SAND Community Gathering with Dr. Samah Jabr, Dr. Gabor Maté & Dr. Jennifer Mullan, facilitated by Dr. Jess Ghannam Lees meer
Join us for a conversation marking the book launch of Radiance and Pain in Resilience, a powerful collection of essays by Palestinian psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and internationally respected mental health advocate Dr. Samah Jabr.
We are gathering in the midst of genocide. The massive, deliberate traumatization of an entire people, cheered, funded, and shielded from accountability by Western governments, is unfolding in real time. As Israel’s assault on Gaza continues to annihilate bodies, families, and entire lineages, this conversation refuses to look away. It asks what it is to tend to the psyche under conditions of systematic destruction.
Drawing on decades of clinical practice, political analysis, and lived experience under occupation, Dr. Jabr examines the psychological consequences of colonization, displacement, and historical trauma on the Palestinian people. Through personal reflections, case studies, and cultural critique, she challenges dominant Western paradigms of mental health and offers a decolonial, psycho-spiritual framework rooted in dignity, collective care, resistance, and truth.
Proceeds from this conversation go directly to Project Hope Palestine, supporting 500 orphaned children living at Al-Baraka orphan camp in Gaza.
Guests
Dr. Samah Jabr is a psychiatrist practicing in Palestine, serving communities in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. She was formerly Head of the Mental Health Unit within the Palestinian Ministry of Health and is an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at George Washington University. She is the author of several books including Behind the Frontlines, Sumud, Sumud in Times of Genocide, and most recently Radiance in Pain and Resilience: The Global Reverberations of Palestinian Historical Trauma.
Dr. Gabor Maté is…
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Animism, Activism & Ancestry: Daniel Foor
25 juni 2026 · 53 min
Daniel Foor returns to Sounds of SAND for a wide-ranging conversation that moves from his own winding spiritual path to the urgent question of why so many spiritual teachers stay silent in the face of injustice. A doctor of psychology, initiated priest in the Yoruba Ifá tradition, and practicing Muslim, Daniel makes the case that animism is the antidote to human supremacy, that Islam is fundamentally a relational and earth-honoring tradition, and that genuine spirituality cannot retreat from the political realities of our time. Along the way, he speaks candidly about ancestral healing, decolonization, the genocide in Gaza, and what it means to become "regular-sized" in a culture built on separation. Lees meer
Topics
00:00 — Welcome back & reconnecting with SAND
00:01 — Daniel's path: shamanism, psychology & many lineages
00:04 — Animism as the antidote to human supremacy
00:09 — Environmental problems are human behavior problems
00:10 — Is Islam animist? Sufism & the heart of the tradition
00:15 — Relationship is not worship: rethinking animism
00:20 — Giving the more-than-human a seat at the table
00:23 — "Blown-out" lineages & relearning relationship
00:26 — Spiritual responsibility & the silence around Gaza
00:31 — When silence becomes a moral failure
00:34 — The differential valuation of human life
00:38 — What Daniel is building: ancestral & earth ritual trainings
00:42 — Why pre-colonial ancestral connection matters
00:43 — Becoming "regular-sized": the antidote to extreme individualism
00:49 — Right relationship, humility & closing reflections
Resources & Links
Ancestral Medicine — Daniel Foor's website, courses, trainings & practitioner directory
Ancestral & Lineage Healing Course
Practitioner Directory — ancestral healing in 30+ languages, offered remotely with financial accessibility
Ancestral Medicine: Rituals for Personal and Family Healing (book)
SAND Films
Where Olive Trees Weep
The Eternal Song (series of 12 films)
Referenced
Graham H…
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Tending the Whole: Nkem Ndefo & Staci K. Haines, Facilitated by Rae Abileah
18 juni 2026 · 55 min
There is a “false wall” often placed between contemplative life and political action—a story implying that inner peace and outer justice are separate vocations. This imaginary divide exhausts us. In a world facing converging crises, how do those dedicated to healing move beyond the limits of individualized work to support systemic transformation? Lees meer
Join somatics experts and social change practitioners Nkem Ndefo and Staci K. Haines for a conversation introducing The Outer Work Project; an initiative dedicated to bridging trauma healing spaces with sustained social and climate justice movements. This episode explores how to move from personal healing as solely an inward practice into a rooted force for collective change.
Guests
Nkem Ndefo is an alchemist, disabled Black midwife, facilitator, coach, and strategist. She is the founder of Lumos Transforms and creator of The Resilience Toolkit, a model for embodied healing and liberatory change rooted in neuroscience and social justice. Her work spans the US, UK, and Palestine.
Staci K. Haines has been working at the intersections of personal and social transformation for over 30 years through politicized somatics, trauma healing, embodied leadership, and transformative justice. She is the co-founder of Generative Somatics and co-leads The Outer Work Project. She is the author of The Politics of Trauma: Somatics, Healing and Social Justice.
Rae Abileah (facilitator) is a social change strategist, Jewish faith leader, and member of the SAND team. Her work spans Beautiful Trouble, The Nature Conservancy Agility Lab, and ALAS, weaving cultural connection, the arts, and frontline community leadership as pathways to healing and climate justice.
Timestamps
00:00 — Welcome & opening from SAND
00:03 — Rae opens: breathing, interdependence, and tending the whole amidst brokenness
00:07 — Nkem and Staci introduce themselves: lineage, the politic of suffering, and why this work
00:15 — The false wall: separating spiritual …
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Sacred Remembering in Times of War: Dr. Jaiya John (Mshkiki Odeh Inini, Medicine Heart Man)
11 juni 2026 · 1 uur 26 min
Recorded live at a SAND Community Gathering (April 2026) Lees meer
Hard times are here, we hunger for voices that can see beyond the fear, beyond the noise, beyond the technologies consuming our attention. We need poets and visionaries. People who remember freedom.
Dr. Jaiya John (Mshkiki Odeh Inini, Medicine Heart Man), medicine poet, freedom worker, is one of those voices. He has spent his life gathering words that heal. In this conversation, we enter the beauty, the grief, and the medicine together. We sit with the devastation tearing our world, the sorrows cracking us open, the ancestors still holding us—and the radical insistence that collective freedom is not something we chase. It is something already alive in and between us, waiting to be birthed.
Dr. Jaiya John (Mshkiki Odeh Inini, Medicine Heart Man) was orphan-born on ancient Indigenous Anasazi and Pueblo lands in the high desert of New Mexico. He is an ancestral Baba, freedom worker, medicine poet, and the founder of Soul Water Rising—a global mission to eradicate oppression through re-humanization, book donations, and grants to displaced youth. He is the author of numerous books including Freedom: Medicine Words for your Brave Revolution and Fragrance After Rain, and the creator of the podcast I Will Read for You. A former professor of social psychology at Howard University, he holds a doctorate from UC Santa Cruz and has spoken to over a million people worldwide. His Indigenous soul dreams of frybread, sweetgrass, bamboo in the breeze, and turtle lakes whose poetry is peace.
Watch the full video version of this conversation.
Topics
00:00 Welcome and Land Acknowledgment
02:31 Guest Bio and Introduction
03:51 Opening Blessing and Heart Question
05:10 Reclaiming Anger as Medicine
08:08 Libation Prayer for the World
15:57 Anger Rage and Lifted Veils
20:19 Rethinking War and Remembering Water
25:18 Gather Your People Reading
33:04 Grief Poetry and Inner Wars
36:13 War Wants Us Small
40:30 Soul Condit…
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Awakening in Times of Collapse: Stephan Bodian
4 juni 2026 · 40 min
Stephan offers webinars, retreats, videos, books, and spiritual counseling that make profound spiritual teachings and practices accessible to a global audience. He studied and practiced for many years with great masters in the nondual wisdom traditions of Zen, Dzogchen-Mahamudra, and Advaita Vedanta, and in 2001 he received Dharma transmission (authorization to teach) from Adyashanti. Lees meer
In this conversation, recorded to mark the release of his new book Infinite Awakening: A Guide to Nondual Wisdom and the Pathless Path (Shambhala, May 2026), Stephan and Michael explore awakening not as a destination but as an ongoing, infinite process. They move through trauma and trust, the limits of mindfulness, the role of intimate relationship as spiritual path, and how nondual realization speaks — or fails to speak — to the metacrisis we're all living through. The episode closes with a guided "rest and allow" meditation from Stephan.
Topics
00:00 — Reconnecting
00:04 — Awakening as a Path
00:10 — Trauma & Trust
00:16 — IFS & Somatic Therapy
00:18 — Intimate Relationships as Spiritual Path
00:21 — Spiritual Bypassing
00:27 — The Limits of Mindfulness
00:33 — Guided Meditation: Rest and Allow by Stephan
Resources & Links
Stephan Bodian
Website: infinite-awakening.org
Infinite Awakening: A Guide to Nondual Wisdom and the Pathless Path — Shambhala/Penguin Random House, May 2026
Beyond Mindfulness — referenced in the conversation
Meditation for Dummies — Stephan Bodian
Psychology Today interview: "Stephan Bodian on Our Innate Drive to Awaken"
Referenced teachers and books
Adyashanti — website — gave Stephan Dharma transmission; wrote the foreword to Infinite Awakening
Ramana Maharshi — Wikipedia — referenced in discussion of awakening ideals
Nisargadatta Maharaj — Wikipedia — "I am That"; referenced in discussion of true nature
Thich Nhat Hanh — "inter-being" — referenced in discussion of inseparability and nonduality
Ram Dass — "go home to your parents" — refe…
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Mysticism of Sound & Music: Michael Harrison (Encore)
21 mei 2026 · 59 min
We are resharing this episode in memory of Michael Harrison, who passed away on April 17, 2026. He was 67. Lees meer
In this episode, we discuss the life and work of musician and Sufi teacher Hazrat Inayat Khan with composer/pianist and Inayat Khan scholar Michael Harrison.
Hazrat Inayat Khan ( July 1882 – 5 February 1927) was an Indian professor of musicology, singer, exponent of the saraswati vina, poet, philosopher, and pioneer of the transmission of Sufism to the West. At the urging of his students, and on the basis of his ancestral Sufi tradition and four-fold training and authorization at the hands of Sayyid Abu Hashim Madani (d. 1907) of Hyderabad, he established an order of Sufism (the Sufi Order) in London in 1914. By the time of his death in 1927, centers had been established throughout Europe and North America, and multiple volumes of his teachings had been published.
Michael Harrison (October 24, 1958 - April 17, 2026) forged a new approach to composition through just intonation (the system of tuning based on pure harmonic proportions). His works blend classical music traditions of Europe and North India. He is a Guggenheim Fellowship and NYFA Artist Fellowship recipient.
Michael created dedicated tuning systems for many of his works. He pioneered a structural approach to composition in which the proportions of harmonic relationships organically determine other musical elements such as pitch, duration, and dynamics. He also invented the “harmonic piano,” a grand piano that plays 24 notes per octave, documented in the Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Harrison seeks expressions of universality via the physics of sound – music that brings one into a state of concentrated listening as a meditative and even mind-altering experience.
At the time of his death he was working on “The Raga Cycle”, a series of albums charting the hours of the day through Hindustani raga. The first installment, Evening Light, was released in March 2026 on Cantaloupe Records. Mor…
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The Great AI Unraveling, Part 2: Tiokasin Ghosthorse & Pooja Prema
14 mei 2026 · 1 uur 23 min
This is the second gathering in SAND's ongoing series on AI and the human spirit — and it takes a deliberately different rhythm. Rather than asking "is AI safe?" or "will it take our jobs?", Tiokasin Ghosthorse and Pooja Prema invite us to slow down and ask the deeper questions: What cosmology is AI extending? What is intelligence, really? And what happens when the earth-based, organic, living intelligence of Indigenous and ancestral ways of knowing gets replaced by a synthetic one? A spacious, felt-sense conversation that asks us to remember what a living mind actually is. Lees meer
Timestamps
00:00 — Welcome & framing the deeper questions
00:04 — Opening body practice: tuning into felt sense before speaking
00:07 — Tiokasin: AI as the latest ship on the shore — colonization in a new form
00:17 — "There is no artificial intuition" — what technology cannot replace
00:18 — Pooja: the cosmology behind AI — colonial linearity vs. the curving motherboard of Earth
00:25 — AI as the latest savior narrative — and why that story keeps repeating
00:45 — Who owns the data? Who controls the intelligence? The politics of AI
01:05 — AI as therapist, AI replacing elders — the cost to young people and mental health
01:10 — Ghost in the Machine: how to resist empire over the long game
01:15 — Closing: "Our body is the mystic" — an invitation to make this a living inquiry
Guests
Tiokasin Ghosthorse is a member of the Cheyenne River Lakota Nation and lifelong Indigenous activist. He is the founder and host of First Voices Radio, which broadcast for 33 years before its final episode in July 2025. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2016, is a National Native American Hall of Fame nominee, and a master musician who performs worldwide. He describes himself simply as "a perfectly flawed human being." He is also featured in SAND's film The Eternal Song.
Pooja Prema is a first-generation Indian American writer, multidisciplinary artist, and ritualist from Kerala, South India…
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The Indigenous Paradigm: Pat McCabe & Lynn Murphy
7 mei 2026 · 1 uur 2 min
Originally recorded at Science and Nonduality, 2021 Lees meer
Pat McCabe, also known as Woman Stands Shining, is a Diné elder, ceremonial prayer leader, and international speaker adopted into the Lakota spiritual way of life. In this conversation hosted by Lynn Murphy, Pat offers a profound invitation to examine the foundational assumptions of the modern world paradigm and consider what it might mean to live from a genuinely different understanding of what it is to be human.
Drawing on teachings from her clan grandfather, her experience of intergenerational trauma and survival, and her deep inquiry into masculine and feminine principles, Pat maps the territory between the glittering world we are leaving and the green world we are entering. The conversation opens in ceremony and closes with a practice: a morning sunrise offering that anyone can begin today.
Lynn Murphy is a strategic advisor for foundations and NGOs working in the geopolitical South. She was a senior fellow and program officer at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation where she focused on international education and global development. She resigned as a ”conscientious objector” to neocolonial philanthropy. She holds an MA and PhD in international comparative education from Stanford University. She is also a certified Laban/Bartenieff movement analyst.
This episode is released in celebration of SAND’s new film featuring Pat McCabe, Little Singer, premiering online May 26-28, 2026, as part of the Eternal Song series.
Timestamps
00:00:00 — Introduction
00:01:45 — Lynn Murphy introduces Pat McCabe: Diné nation, Lakota spiritual way, Defend the Sacred alliance
00:05:00 — Pat introduces herself through her clans — clan names as places on the earth, worlds more than this one
00:07:00 — Traveling through worlds: the flood, men and women, and the movement from the glittering world to the green world
00:15:00 — The two paradigms: indigenous versus modern world — "I am a human being, relative to all my relat…
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What Empire Cannot Erase: Fatemeh Keshavarz-Karamustafa, Omid Safi & Mays Imad
30 april 2026 · 1 uur 17 min
Persian Poetry, Radical Love, and the Soul of Iran Lees meer
“The path to God goes through that most difficult of beings, the human being.”
– Omid Safi
Recorded live at a SAND Community Gathering (April 2026). Watch the full conversation on the SAND Website.
We are watching, once again, what empire does: not only to bodies, but to the long memory of a people; to the libraries and sacred sites; to art, language, and the ruins that hold the oldest threads of human spiritual inquiry.
We are thinking of the civilization that gave us Rumi, Hafez, Omar Khayyam, Forough Farrokhzad — mystics and rebels and lovers of paradox who understood something about the human soul that we are still, centuries later, trying to catch up to.
This gathering invited us to come together: to read poetry aloud, to hear from Iranian voices, to sit with grief and beauty together rather than alone.
We work with political and moral vocabulary shaped by Iranian thinkers such as Ali Shariati, who wrote against domination, spiritual emptiness, and the violence of imposed power.
We make space for what doesn’t fit into headlines or talking points—the complexity of empire, the difference between a government and its people, the authoritarian forces at work not only abroad but here at home. We also gather with the political inheritance of those who taught generations to resist domination and spiritual emptiness, including Ali Shariati.
Guests
Omid Safi is a scholar of the Islamic mystical tradition and professor of Islamic Studies at Duke University. He is the author of Memories of Muhammad and Radical Love: Teachings from the Islamic Mystical Tradition, and teaches online courses on Muslim mysticism. He leads contemplative journeys to Turkey, Morocco, and Mecca/Medina through Illuminated Courses.
Fatemeh Keshavarz is the Roshan Institute Chair in Persian Language and Literature and Director of the Roshan Institute Center for Persian Studies at the University of Maryland. A poet in Persian and English,…
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The Great AI Unraveling: Tristan Harris
23 april 2026 · 1 uur 30 min
Recorded live at SAND Community Gathering (April 2026). Watch the full conversion on the SAND Website. Lees meer
SAND has launched a special series on Artificial Intelligence.
To premiere this series, we spoke with tech ethicist Tristan Harris—co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology. In this conversation, we explored his warnings about the impending age of AI. According to Harris, the current trajectory isn’t just menacing the economy, but fundamentally rewiring human relationships, altering parenting and mental health, potentially accelerating climate collapse, and even threatening the very fabric of society. We inquired into ways to remain human in an era where machines can simulate empathy, displace our labor, and potentially outmaneuver us.
Topics
00:00 Welcome and Context
00:42 Why This AI Talk
01:32 Introducing Tristan Harris
03:15 Setting the Basics
04:10 From Narrow to New AI
06:18 Rubber Band Reality Check
08:31 Transformers and Scaling
11:00 Infinity Upside and Risk
14:49 Defining AGI and ASI
18:18 Jagged Capabilities and Hype
21:33 Singularity and Anti Human Drift
23:26 Incentives Behind the Future
27:29 The Intelligence Curse
32:22 Devaluing Humans and Consensus
37:56 Planetary Costs of Data Centers
39:41 Why We Keep Building It
42:46 Extinction Risk and Safety Math
45:20 AI in War and Arms Race
47:36 Leaders Unaware of Runaway Signs
48:26 Leaders Fear AI Power
49:02 Nuclear War Game Theory
49:41 Infinite Games Mindset
51:11 AI as Extractive Empire
52:27 From Shadow to Action
53:55 Building the Human Movement
57:25 Four-Step Action Plan
59:44 Grassroots Wins and Bans
01:02:18 Nonprofit Progress and Lawsuits
01:07:51 Talking to Teens Effectively
01:10:05 Governance and Citizen Assemblies
01:12:19 Spiritual Hopes vs Incentives
01:15:12 Accelerationism and Choice
01:18:22 Policy Maker Ten Minute Brief
01:21:26 Countering Transhumanist Ideology
01:23:45 Changing Culture and Incentives
01:27:12 Final Reflections and Gratit…
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Mongolian Dharma Poetry: Simon Wickhamsmith
16 april 2026 · 56 min
Simon Wickhamsmith is a Buddhist monk turned scholar, computer musician, and one of the only translators of Mongolian literature into English. He teaches in the Writing Program at Rutgers University and has been traveling back and forth to Mongolia since 2006. In this conversation he traces his spiritual path from Catholicism through Tibetan Buddhism and back to medieval Christian mysticism, introduces the Mongolian poet Mend-Ooyo, and takes us deep into the life and poetry of the 19th century Buddhist polymath Danzanravjaa — a figure Simon considers his primary teacher — including a live reading of the poem Twos, a stunning meditation on nonduality from the Mongolian steppe. Lees meer
Topics
00:00 — Introduction
00:02 — Simon's spiritual path: Catholicism, Opus Dei, the Desert Fathers, and Zen
00:04 — Discovering Tibetan Buddhism, Samye Ling monastery in Scotland, and ordaining as a monk
00:06 — The three-year retreat, his mother's illness, and returning to the world
00:07 — Returning to medieval Christian mysticism: Julian of Norwich, Meister Eckhart, The Cloud of Unknowing
00:10 — How SAND connected with Mend-Ooyo in Mongolia — and how Simon met him
00:12 — Teaching himself Mongolian by translating Danzanravjaa's complete works
00:13 — Introducing Mend-Ooyo: born 1952 into a nomadic herding family, poet and cultural guardian of Mongolia
00:16 — The underground literary group GAL (Fire) and Mend-Ooyo's role in Mongolian literary culture
00:18 — Mend-Ooyo's mission: reconnecting Mongolia to its nomadic heritage after Soviet collapse
00:19 — Mend-Ooyo's new novel The Solitary Tree: Robin Hood, shamanism, Buddhism, and falcons
00:23 — Who was Danzanravjaa? Born in the Gobi Desert, recognized as the fifth reincarnation of the Noyon Hutagt
00:26 — Danzanravjaa's approach: spontaneous, impromptu poetry as dharma teaching
00:28 — Mongolia's first traveling theater troupe and the poems as dictated teachings
00:31 — Live reading and analysis of Perfect Qualities — a…
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Ancient Minoan Wisdom: Chiara Baldini
2 april 2026 · 53 min
Researcher, author, and PhD candidate Chiara Baldini has spent two decades tracing the roots of ecstatic culture in Europe — from the rituals of Dionysus all the way back to Bronze Age Crete and the ancient Minoans, a civilization that thrived for over a thousand years before classical Greece. In this conversation, Chiara makes a compelling case that the Minoans may have been the only advanced civilization of their era not built on domination — their palaces functioning as community spaces rather than elite residencies, their frescoes showing priestesses, dolphins, and bull-jumping athletes rather than kings and conquest. She explores what their art, architecture, and animist relationship to nature might offer us now — not as a culture to imitate, but as proof that patriarchy is not inevitable, and that a radically different set of values has thrived before. Lees meer
Chiara Baldini is a scholar, author, speaker and freelance curator from Florence (Italy). She investigates the evolution of the ecstatic cult in the West, particularly in Minoan Crete, ancient Greece, and Rome, contributing to anthologies, psychedelic conferences, and festivals. She was a member of the Boom Festival team since 2010 and the curator of Boom’s cultural area Liminal Village from 2014 to 2023. She has co-curated the anthology “Psychedelic Mysteries of the Feminine.” She is currently a PhD candidate at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). She lives in Portugal and she expresses her deep love for music by playing as DJ Clandestina.
Topics
00:00 Welcome
02:02 Reconnecting with Chiara and Recent Life Changes
03:31 Dionysus and Ecstatic Traditions
06:38 Going Back to the Minoans
10:07 Bronze Age Patriarchy and War
18:02 Minoan Palaces and Community Life
21:18 Frescoes Dolphins and Priestesses
26:34 Seal Rings and Undeciphered Script
32:18 Bull Jumping and Gender Fluidity
37:20 Why Minoans Matter Today
44:31 Modern Crete LARPing and Animism
49:30 Courses, Books and Closing
R…
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The Architecture of Silence in Spiritual Culture: Gabor Maté, Bayo Akomolafe, Pat McCabe, Tara Brach, V & Matthew Remski
26 maart 2026 · 1 uur 43 min
Recorded live at a SAND Community Gathering (March 2026). Lees meer
Something is cracking open in the spiritual and wellness world; and it has been for a while. Have wisdom traditions containing genuine gifts been composted into a product that only serves the very forces those traditions were born to resist?
It is no news that some powerful spiritual leaders with devoted followers have, for a long time, abused that power for dominance and, in many cases, for sexual exploitation. The Epstein files are not an interruption to the pattern; they are the pattern, made suddenly impossible to scroll past.
We want to reflect on the conditions—not just the men, not just the crimes, but the architecture of silence that held it all in place. What kind of spiritual culture produces that silence? What kind of spiritual culture makes it possible to look at harm and call it a lesson in perception? What has gone awry with our approach to spirituality when the latter can be used as a cover for abuse? How come much of the therapeutic and spiritual communities remain silent in the face of crimes witnessed by the entire world?
To explore these and related issues, this discussion brought together mytho-poetic spiritual teacher Bayo Akomolafe Ph.D., writer & podcaster Matthew Remsiki, author & playwright V, spiritual teacher & psychologist Tara Brach and author & physician Gabor Maté in a wide-ranging discussion that will also invite audience participation.
The intention is to leave participants encouraged to find the spiritual inner strength needed to pursue truth without losing discrimination in the process, without giving away their power; to discuss compassionately, without judgment but with clarity, what the Epstein revelations can tell us about who we are, about our culture, and about the nature of how we construct reality; to move beyond a so-called equanimity and “non-attachment” that is indistinguishable from numbness and passivity in the face of harm, in the face of evil.
Topics:
…
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Transforming Colonization, Extractivism & Socio-Ecological Injustice: Casey Camp-Horinek, Osprey Orielle Lake, Abby Reyes & Rae Abileah
21 maart 2026 · 1 uur 4 min
Recorded live at SAND's Wisdom of the Ancestors event for the launch of the film series The Eternal Song, four powerful voices converge to address colonization, extractivism, and ecological injustice — and what it takes to move toward healing. Moderated by Rae Abileah, social change strategist, Jewish faith leader, and co-creator of the global Climate Ribbon art ritual. Lees meer
Abby Reyes, author of Truth Demands and Director of Community Resilience at UC Irvine, shares her harrowing personal story of the 1999 murders of her partner and colleagues near U'wa territory in Colombia, and a landmark recent Inter-American Court victory for Indigenous collective rights. Osprey Orielle Lake, founder of WECAN International and author of The Story Is in Our Bones, brings a worldview-shifting lens to the climate crisis as a justice and relational emergency. And Casey Camp-Horinek, elder, actress, and Hereditary Drumkeeper of the Ponca Nation, grounds the conversation in Indigenous sovereignty and the Rights of Nature. Together they call for community-rooted action, mutual aid, and what they name "post-traumatic growth."
Topics:
00:00 Host Welcome and Land Acknowledgment
03:12 Session Theme and Intentions
04:48 Meet the Panelists
08:10 Why We Are Here
18:59 Indigenous Rights and Knowledge
25:14 Casey on Nature and Purification
34:29 Abby Story and Legal Victory
43:56 Meaningful Action and Getting Started
50:32 Community Practice and Post Traumatic Growth
57:58 Closing Reflections and Thanks
Resources
Rae Abileah
CreateWell — Website
Beautiful Trouble Bio
Abby Reyes
Website
Truth Demands — Penguin Random House
UC Irvine Community Resilience
Osprey Orielle Lake
WECAN International
The Story Is in Our Bones — New Society Publishers
Casey Camp-Horinek
Movement Rights Bio
SAND Feature
Connect with more talks from The Wisdom of the Ancestors in the SAND film Series The Eternal Song
Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND …
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Reading As Resistance: Patty Krawec
12 maart 2026 · 54 min
Patty Krawec is Ojibwe Anishinaabe, a retired social worker, and author of Becoming Kin and her new book Bad Indians Book Club. In this conversation she explores kinship beyond blood, land as ancestor, and why reading together — slowly, in community — might be one of the most quietly radical things we can do right now. Lees meer
Topics
00:00 Introduction
00:56 Meeting Patty Krawec
02:00 Land Lineage Roots
04:17 Becoming Kin Origins
06:43 Bad Indians Book Club
10:12 Reindigenizing The Future
14:55 Reclaiming The Word
20:28 Reading Together Power
25:06 Attention In The Feed
25:27 Relearning Deep Reading
26:10 Notebook Trick for Focus
26:54 Building a Genre Mosaic
29:00 Indigenous Horror and Futures
31:53 Read Widely Use Libraries
32:18 Curated Lists and Book Browsing
34:26 Bookstore Serendipity
36:30 AI Pushes Us Offline
38:18 Books as Time Alchemy
41:58 Ghost the System Together
44:10 Deep Time Reading Lineage
47:14 New Projects and Ojibwe Stories
49:59 Thanks and Farewell
Resources
a thousand worlds
Medicine for the Resistance
Why We Are Both Oppressed and Oppressor: Patty Krawec
Becoming Kin
Bad Indians Book Club
The Eternal Song
Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member
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Block by Block, Heart by Heart: Dr. Lyla June, Kaira Jewel Lingo, Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg & Rae Abileah
5 maart 2026 · 1 uur 17 min
Recorded from a live SAND Gathering (February 2026). From Los Angeles to Minneapolis, communities are turning toward one another in a time of uncertainty, remembering that care begins close to home. Beyond public action, quieter networks of support are taking root: block-by-block relationships grounded in land, lineage, and love. Lees meer
This gathering explores how spiritual practice, trauma-aware care, and neighborhood organizing are being woven together as living traditions. We ask what it looks like to shift our energy from reactive mobilization toward steady, proactive organizing that can sustain us for the long haul. Drawing from Indigenous memory, Black freedom traditions, diasporic Jewish practices of care, and contemporary grassroots work, we reflect on how mutual care—feeding one another, tending grief, protecting children, honoring the dead—can be reclaimed as daily sacred practice.
This is a conversation about blending spiritual practice and movement practice; about thinking smaller, closer, and more relational; and about learning from quiet, resilient forms of organizing that move people from isolation into coordinated courage.
This conversation invites attunement: How do we stay grounded in grief without collapsing? How do we strengthen relationships across differences? How do small, steady acts of care help communities move from fear toward shared courage?
This is an invitation to listen to the wisdom already alive in our histories, our bodies, and our neighborhoods.
Topics
00:00 Welcome and Context
02:33 Grounding Breath Practice
03:22 Why We Gather Now
05:19 Meet the Speakers
07:36 Lyila June on Collapse
09:12 Chaco Canyon Lesson
12:36 Kaira Jewel on Flow
16:39 Rejoicing and Ancestors
20:04 Rabbi Jessica in Minneapolis
24:54 Sacred Geography and Duty
29:59 Lyla June on Forgiveness
36:22 Liberation for Everyone
37:32 Grace and Sobriety Story
39:06 Jewish Wisdom and Mutual Care
41:27 Feasting Fuels Mutual Aid
45:53 Spirituality Is Not Neu…
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Medicine in Our Wounds: Liza Rankow
26 februari 2026 · 1 uur 7 min
Dr. Liza J. Rankow, author of Soul Medicine for a Fractured World, explores healing justice in a time of social and ecological upheaval. She names oppositional dualism and domination as the root fracture of our world and invites a shift toward lived non-duality as the ground of lasting transformation. The conversation touches the “crucible of the in-between,” apocalypse as death and renewal, grief as medicine, and the movement from commodified self-care to soul care rooted in spirit, community, and nature. The conversation emphasized deep listening, silence, and relationship with the living world. Today’s episode closes with a simple guided breath practice for self, loved ones, and the world. Lees meer
Topics
00:00 Opening
01:20 Why This Book Now
03:41 What’s Fracturing Us
07:21 Crucible of the In Between
14:52 Medicine in the Wound
20:11 Grief as Collective Wisdom
26:28 Soul Care vs Self Care
32:02 Mystic Activism and Oneness
34:57 Breath And Service
35:59 No Spiritual Bypass
37:00 Oneness With Perpetrators
39:18 Mysticism And Justice
41:08 Nature As Practice
44:23 Purpose And Gifts
47:44 Deep Listening
53:25 Silence And Reckoning
56:13 Darkness As Source
58:20 Closing Practice And Book
Resources
LizaRankow.org
Soul Medicine for a Fractured World
“Mysticism and Social Action” by Dr. Howard Thurman
Soul Work for Times of Uncertainty - SAND Podcast with Francis Weller
Engaged Contemplation - SAND Podcast with Fr. Adam Bucko
Glissando of Consciousness - SAND Podcast with Andrew Holecek
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"If I Must Die": Samah Jabr & Mays Imad
19 februari 2026 · 1 uur 27 min
Recorded live at a SAND Community Gathering (Feb 2026) Lees meer
Dr. Samah Jabr, a Palestinian psychiatrist and author of Radiance in Pain and Resilience, joins Dr. Mays Imad (with questions from the audience chat) for a conversation about what it means to stay human when the structures meant to protect people are the ones doing the harm. Drawing on decades of clinical work inside the occupation, Dr. Jabr moves past the “sanitized” versions of trauma to speak directly to the heart of colonial harm in Palestine.
Central to this dialogue is an exploration of the deep ontological differences between Western psychiatric models and Palestinian lived experience. While Western frameworks often pathologize the individual through the lens of PTSD, Dr. Jabr introduces the concept of iptila—viewing tribulations through a framework of agency, faith, and collective endurance. She challenges the frequent romanticization of sumud (steadfastness), reframing it not as a poetic trope, but as a grueling relational practice and an ethical refusal to disappear when everything conspires toward Palestinian erasure.
In a reality where the harm never ends, memory becomes a battlefield, grief a form of testimony, bearing witness an active refusal to normalize the unacceptable, and storytelling a vital survival infrastructure against the assassination of memory.
Join Dr. Samah Jabr · March 1, 8, 15 & 22, 2026 • 9:00 – 11:00am PST
Decolonial Mental Health Practice: Clinical and Ethical Insights from Palestine
A four-part webinar presented by SANDTopics
00:00 Welcome & Why We Need a New Framework for Trauma and Justice
02:15 “If I Must Die”: Carrying Memory, Refusing Normalization
03:13 Introducing Dr. Samah Jabr’s Work: Pain, Power, and a Counter-Narrative
07:55 A Childhood Lesson in Naming: Robinson Crusoe and Colonial Language
10:10 Clinic Stories: When Political Reality Shapes Symptoms
14:14 Beyond Western Psychiatry: Language, Resilience, and Context as the ‘Pathology’
17:19 The ‘Fear …
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Consciousness: Tiokasin Ghosthorse
12 februari 2026 · 1 uur 7 min
What if language was not a tool for naming things, but a vibration of relationship? Lees meer
What if intelligence wasn’t a human asset, but an ecological rhythm?
What if consciousness is not what happens in our heads—but what happens between us, through us, with the land, with water, with wind?
Come gather for a conversation with Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Cheyenne River Lakota elder, host of First Voices Radio, master musician, and steward of relational ways of knowing. Rooted in the vibrational teachings of the old Lakota language, a language shaped by Earth and used to speak with, not about, Tiokasin invites us to unlearn the dominance of human-centered thought and listen again to Earth as consciousness.
First Voices Indigenous Radio
Butterfly Against the Wind
Topics
00:00 Introduction and Greetings
00:48 Introducing Tiokasin Ghosthorse
01:28 Tiokasin's Background and Philosophy
04:36 The Concept of Land Acknowledgement
05:59 Relational Values and Indigenous Wisdom
08:02 Language and Consciousness
16:09 Mystery and Present Consciousness
27:54 Environmentalism and Connection to Earth
35:04 Understanding WIA and Innocence
36:34 The Role of Elders and Wisdom
37:58 Relational Intelligence vs. Western Education
39:14 Cultural Trauma and Language Suppression
45:41 Earth Consciousness and Modern Anxiety
50:04 The Illusion of Control and AI
58:38 Ceremony and Earth Cycles
01:03:32 Final Thoughts and Gratitude
Connect with more with Tiokasin and dozens of other speakers and elders in the SAND film Series The Eternal Song
Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member
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Listening in Reverie: Ellen Emmet
5 februari 2026 · 41 min
In this conversation, Ellen Emmet reflects on her path into Jungian analysis and how the teachings of Carl Jung continue to shape her inner life, clinical work, and spiritual inquiry. Together, we explore what it means to hold depth psychology and nondual realization in the same field—without collapsing one into the other. Lees meer
The dialogue moves through questions of decolonizing therapy, the subtle dynamics of spiritual bypass, and the kind of deep listening required when working with the unconscious—both personal and collective. Ellen speaks to the body as a threshold into the psyche’s wilderness, and to the necessity of staying in relationship with what is unresolved, uncomfortable, and unfinished.
Threaded throughout is a concern for the wider world: how collective trauma, ancestral memory, and the current socio-political moment ask to be included in spiritual and therapeutic work—not bypassed. This is a conversation about remembrance, embodiment, and the slow work of integration in times of upheaval.
Ellen offers meetings and retreats through The Awakening Body, an experiential exploration rooted in nondual inquiry, Authentic Movement, and direct listening to lived experience. She also maintains a private psychotherapy practice and facilitates Authentic Movement groups.
EllenEmmet.com
Topics
00:00 Introduction and Guest Overview
01:05 Reflecting on Past Conversations
01:41 Journey into Jungian Analysis
02:50 Exploring Carl Jung's Theories
05:31 The Process of Individuation
13:17 Decolonizing Therapy
16:40 Spiritual Bypassing and Social Issues
20:48 Facing the Darkness: Confronting Fear and Avoidance
22:17 The Deadly Silence: Censorship in Spiritual Spaces
23:19 Heartbreak as a Spiritual Connection
26:09 The Power of Collective Healing
28:03 Listening with Reverence and Reverie
36:09 The Wildness of the Body: Embracing Natural Movement
39:39 Concluding Thoughts and Future Connections
Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast …
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Soul Work for Times of Uncertainty: Francis Weller
29 januari 2026 · 1 uur 5 min
From a SAND Community Gathering (December 2025), Francis Weller joins SAND co-founders Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo for a wide-ranging conversation on grief, initiation, and the sacred thresholds of a changing world. Lees meer
They speak of rough passages and necessary descents—of what must burn away, and what endures. With Francis’s steady guidance, sorrow, longing, beauty, and vulnerability are reclaimed not as weaknesses, but as profound sources of strength, orientation, and soul knowledge.
Rooted in the soulcraft teachings of his book In the Absence of the Ordinary, the dialogue unfolds in a spirit of reverence and remembrance. Together, they explore the unraveling of the familiar as an invitation into deeper belonging—grief as a living portal, and beauty as a practice of staying close to what is sacred, even in times of descent.
Topics
00:00 Introduction and Acknowledgements
01:09 Guest Introduction: Francis Weller
02:02 Opening Reflections on Soul and Rhythm
03:17 The Modern Frenzy vs. Soul's Rhythm
05:32 Therapy and the Soul's Healing Process
12:09 The Role of Wounds in Soul Work
16:35 Confession and Community Healing
23:17 Collective Psyche and Modern Challenges
28:39 Historical Roots of Disconnection
31:25 Grief and Ancestral Memory
33:47 Understanding Grief in a Shallow Culture
35:06 The Three Layers of Experience
35:18 The Role of Ritual in Processing Grief
36:00 Fear and Control in Grief Expression
36:22 The Importance of Containment Fields
36:48 Cultural Rituals and Their Significance
40:21 Creating Personal Rituals
50:32 The Long Dark: Embracing Uncertainty
56:13 The Sacred in Everyday Life
59:13 The Role of Elders in a Fragmented World
01:03:12 Concluding Thoughts and Reflections
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Indigenous Ways of Knowing: Dr. Leroy Little Bear
22 januari 2026 · 56 min
Blackfoot scholar Dr. Leroy Little Bear shares foundational Indigenous ways of knowing—revealing a worldview built on energy, motion, and relationship rather than matter, time, and separation.In this conversation, Little Bear illuminates how Blackfoot philosophy understands reality through "interpretive templates"—cultural lenses shaped by language, land, and cosmology. Where Western thought centers singularity and fixed answers, Blackfoot ways embrace flux, transformation, and "all my relations." Lees meer
Dr. Leroy Little Bear is a Blackfoot legal scholar, professor emeritus, and prominent Indigenous rights advocate from the Blood Tribe. He is a founding member of the Native American Studies Department at the University of Lethbridge, served as the director of the Harvard University Native American Program, and played a crucial role in shaping Canadian constitutional law to recognize Indigenous rights, including contributing to Section 35 of the Constitution Act. His work extends to international advocacy, advising the United Nations on the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and he has received numerous honors, such as the Order of Canada and the Alberta Order of Excellence.
Topics
00:00 Introduction and Welcome
00:45 Guest Introduction: Dr. Leroy Little Bear
01:42 Blackfoot Tradition and Identity
02:59 Western vs. Blackfoot Worldview
10:15 Energy Forces and Relationships
27:39 Impact of Colonization
34:26 Language and Interpretive Templates
54:38 Closing Remarks and Gratitude
Explore more in Indigenous Worldviews in the SAND film Series The Eternal Song
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Healing with Songlines: Joe Williams & Dr. (Uncle) Paul Gordon
15 januari 2026 · 1 uur 1 min
This episode was recorded live at The Eternal Song Film Gathering in 2025. Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo welcome Dr. (Uncle) Paul Gordon and Joe Williams, featured in the upcoming SAND Film In the Circle of Life premiering January 20, 2026. In this conversation they discuss the profound importance of connection to the land, cultural heritage, and traditional practices in achieving wellness. The conversation reveals how Indigenous wisdom can address modern societal woes and highlights the importance of respecting and maintaining a deep relationship with the natural world. Lees meer
Topics
00:00 Introduction and Episode Overview
00:47 Meet Uncle Paul Gordon
01:59 Language and Cultural Connections
03:01 Introducing Joe Williams
16:26 Joe Williams' Journey and Spiritual Awakening
22:07 Aboriginal Perspectives on Wellbeing and Grief
26:23 Understanding Time and Connection to Country
29:40 Ancient Knowledge and Star Stories
30:50 Connection to Country and Ancestral Wisdom
44:25 The Role of Ceremony and Responsibility
52:22 Healing Through Connection to Nature
57:55 Final Thoughts and Resources
Resources
In the Circle of Life
The Living Country Community
Recorded live at The Eternal Song Seven Day Film Premiere summit with Indigenous voices
Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member
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Dispatches Through the Rubble: Haidar Eid & Ashira Darwish
8 januari 2026 · 1 uur 1 min
From a recent SAND Community Gathering (December 2025). This urgent conversation, facilitated by Ashira Darwish and rooted in Haidar Eid’s new book Banging on the Walls of the Tank, moves through the fractured present of Gaza, bringing forth a chorus of resistance, mourning, refusal, and clarity. Lees meer
This is a dispatch from within the rubble, the classroom, the lull between airstrikes. Together. Eid and Darwish hold the line inside the unbearable: the grief of ongoing genocide and the insistence on liberation; the impossibility of hope and the necessity of imagining otherwise.
Their conversation refuses erasure, insists on dignity, and carries the clarity of those living under siege with purpose and memory intact.
This conversation carries the vibration of Gaza’s resistance outward, inviting listeners not just to witness, but to respond.
Topics
00:00 Introduction and Opening Remarks
00:58 Context of the Gaza Genocide
02:23 Introducing Haidar Eid and Ashira Darwish
02:32 Haidar Eid's Background and Experience
03:19 Ashira Darwish's Introduction and Role
05:42 Haidar Eid's Personal Account of the Genocide
07:17 The Impact of the Genocide on Haidar's Life
09:51 Tribute to Fallen Colleagues and Students
11:55 The Importance of Palestinian Narratives
14:57 Historical Context and Ongoing Genocide
27:34 The Human Cost and Personal Stories
29:00 Protecting Stories and Dignity
29:40 Understanding Israeli Society and Zionism
32:33 The Role of International Support
34:08 The BDS Movement and Palestinian Civil Society
35:47 The Call for Global Solidarity
43:18 Banging on the Walls of the Tank
53:12 A Shift in the Global Narrative
58:17 Final Thoughts and Call to Action
Resources
Project Hope Palestine
Catharsis Holistic Healing Palestine
BDS Movement
Ashira Darwish’s Website
Where Olive Trees Weep
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Threshold Voices: Sounds of SAND 2025
30 december 2025 · 2 uur 11 min
This final episode of 2025 reflects on a year of transitions and healing, focusing on themes of intergenerational trauma, collective grief, and social justice, especially in the context of the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Through diverse voices including Dr. Gabor Maté, Naomi Klein, Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, Ashira Darwish, Omid Safi, Kazu Haga, and others, the episode delves into personal and collective fields of healing. It emphasizes the importance of remembering, ritualizing healing, community action, indigenous knowledge, and a para-politics of grief and relationship. The episode also highlights the significance of interconnectedness, resilience, and the continuous effort towards justice and transformation. Lees meer
Topics and Speakers
00:00 Introduction and Year in Review
02:03 Minds Under Siege: Dr. Gabor Mate and Naomi Klein
17:38 We Will Not Look Away: Vigil for Gaza with Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, Ashira Darwish and Omid Safi
37:33 Fierce Vulnerability: Kazu Haga
46:16 Belonging Without Othering: john a. powell
50:51 The Limits of Solution-Driven Thinking: Bayo Akomolafe
55:47 Complexity and Phase Transitions: Jeremy Lent
01:02:03 Intergenerational Trauma and Healing: Jungwon Kim and Linda Thai
01:18:40 Generational Trauma and Community Healing: Dr. Thema Bryant
01:23:16 Decolonizing Therapy and Ancestral Healing: Dr. Jennifer Mullan
01:26:30 Indigenous Perspectives on Colonization and Wellbeing: Dr. Diana Kopua, Tina Ngata and Mark Kopua
01:40:30 Plant Medicine and Connection to Nature: Donna Kerridge
01:53:07 Grief, Ritual, and Communal Healing: Orland Bishop and Francis Weller
02:02:39 Presence and Receptive Awareness: John J. Prendergast
02:09:26 Conclusion and Membership Invitation
Links
Naomi Klein
Dr. Gabor Maté
Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb
Omid Safi
Kazu Haga
john a. Powell
Bayo Akomolafe
Jeremy Lent
Jungwon Kim
Linda Thai
Dr. Thema Bryant
Dr. Jennifer Mullan
Te Kurahuna (Mark and Dr. Diana Kopua)
Tina Ngata
Francis Weller
Orland Bishop
John Pre…
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Engaged Contemplation: Father Adam Bucko
11 december 2025 · 50 min
In this episode of The Sounds of SAND podcast, host Michael Reiley speaks with Father Adam Bucko about his journey and the integration of Christian contemplative spirituality with social justice activism. Father Adam shares his formative experiences growing up in Poland during the resistance against totalitarian government, his work with marginalized youth in the United States and India, and his philosophy of engaged contemplation. He discusses the importance of heartbreak as a spiritual guide, the responsibility of acknowledging historical injustices perpetrated by the Christian church, and the practice of staying grounded through monastic rhythms of life. The episode highlights the need for a balanced approach to spirituality that embraces both love and grief, and explores reconciliation with the world's suffering through active, mindful presence. Lees meer
Topics
00:00 Introduction and Guest Overview
01:37 Father Adam Bucko's Early Life and Inspirations
04:50 Journey to the United States and Spiritual Exploration
08:13 Contemplative Practices and Activism
20:58 Challenges and Reflections on Modern Christianity
29:48 Navigating Institutional Harm and New Monasticism
32:16 Engaged Spirituality and Personal Practices
46:36 Final Thoughts and Ways to Connect
Resources:
FatherAdamBucko.com
The Center for Spiritual Imagination
"Let Heartbreak Be Your Guide"
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Therapy Is Not Neutral: Dr. Jennifer Mullan & Iya Affo
4 december 2025 · 1 uur 1 min
A Decolonial Invitation to Remember, Relearn, and Resist Lees meer
From a live SAND Community Gathering (November 2025) a live conversation with Dr. Jennifer Mullan & Iya Affo.
Their discussion emphasizes the importance of ancestral wisdom, collective healing, and the decolonization of therapeutic practices. Dr. Mullan shares her personal journey of reconciling traditional healing methods with modern therapy and explores the impact of historical and intergenerational trauma. The conversation also highlights the significance of land, lineage, and community in the healing process, and addresses the ways in which therapy can be transformed to be more inclusive and effective for diverse populations.
Dr. Mullan shares from her journey of calling therapists into a politicized practice—one rooted in responsibility, reverence, and collective liberation. The conversation challenges clinicians to confront their training, interrogate their privilege, and participate in the sacred labor of relearning.
Topics
00:00 Welcome and Introductions
00:30 Honoring Ancestral Wisdom
01:54 Introducing Iya Affo
04:23 Meet Dr. Jennifer Mullan
05:22 The Non-Neutrality of Therapy
10:39 Decolonizing Therapy: A Deep Dive
14:33 Therapy and Boundaries
27:42 The Historical Impact on Therapy
31:24 Shining a Light on Hidden History
31:55 Finding Safe Spaces for Vulnerability
32:21 Therapeutic Contexts and Trauma
33:45 Bridging and Reciprocity in Healing
37:04 Colonial Soul Wound and Historical Trauma
39:39 Reclaiming Ancestral Pathways
42:25 Decolonizing Therapy for All
45:43 Healing Across Layered Dimensions
54:50 Embracing Sacred Rage and Grief
58:25 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
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Trauma Healing: Gabor Maté, Judy Atkinson, Patricia June Vickers, Diana Kopua, Del Laverdure
27 november 2025 · 1 uur 25 min
This episode, recorded live at The Eternal Song live gathering (June 2025), brings together a distinguished panel featuring Patricia June Vickers, Judy Atkinson, Dr. Diana Kopua, and Donald “Del” Lavedure, moderated by Dr. Gabor Maté. The discussion explores the integration of ancestral wisdom and modern therapeutic methods to address and heal trauma within Indigenous communities. The group share their personal and professional experiences, emphasizing the connection between land, ancestry, and healing. The conversation highlights the importance of storytelling, cultural practices, and the role of spirituality in fostering collective and individual healing, while addressing how individuals outside Indigenous cultures can support this crucial work. Lees meer
Topics:
00:00 Introduction of the Guests
02:14 Acknowledging Indigenous Lands and Realities
03:24 Exploring the Concept of Health and Ancestry
05:06 Understanding Ancestral Healing
08:08 Judy Atkinson on Ancestry and Healing
19:15 Patricia Vickers on Ancestry and Protection
21:23 Diana on Indigenous Knowledge and Connection
26:51 Defining Trauma and Its Impacts
32:23 Del Lavedure on Community-Based Healing
38:09 Judy Atkinson on the Power of Story in Healing
42:47 A Heartfelt Introduction
43:21 Exploring Trauma and Healing Modalities
44:32 Indigenous Perspectives on Trauma
48:17 Personal Stories of Healing
49:17 Concepts of Healing and Wholeness
53:23 Addressing Historical and Ongoing Trauma
57:23 The Role of Collective Memory in Healing
01:10:54 Connecting to Ancestral Practices
01:18:53 Final Reflections and Personal Insights
Resources:
Dr Gabor Maté
The Wisdom of Trauma (a SAND film)
Professor Judy Atkinson (We Al-li)
Patricia June Vickers, PhD
Diana Kopua (Mahi a Atua)
Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member
Recorded live at The Eternal Song Seven Day Film Premiere summit with Indigenous voices.
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Radical Symbiosis: Cara Judea Alhadeff
20 november 2025 · 1 uur 2 min
Dr. Cara Judea Alhadeff discusses her work and the profound ideas in her book Zazu Dreams: Between the Scarab and the Dung Beetle, A Cautionary Fable for the Anthropocene Era. She explores themes of dream consciousness, cultural and ecological extinction, radical symbiosis, and the concept of apocalyptic parenting as a strategy for social justice and ecological ethics, an antidote to petroleum parenting. The discussion digs into the interdisciplinary ties found in her stories, her collaborative projects, and the communal effort in creating sustainable futures. Dr. Alhadeff also shares her real-life experiences of living for almost a decade in a reclaimed school bus, 'The Love Bus', exemplifying the principles of radical mothering, reuse, collective creativity, and joy amidst systemic challenges. Lees meer
Dr. Cara Judea Alhadeff is a professor and author of dozens of books and articles on art, philosophy, sexuality, climate justice, life-passion activism, and "petroleum parenting," including the critically-acclaimed Zazu Dreams: Between the Scarab and the Dung Beetle, A Cautionary Fable for the Anthropocene Era, and Viscous Expectations: Justice, Vulnerability, The Ob-scene. Alhadeff’s forthcoming book, Unlearning What We Think We Know (Vernon Press), will be performed during the World Affairs Conference. Her photographs/ performance videos are in private and public collection,s including San Francisco MoMA, MoMA Salzburg, Austria, the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, and include collaborations with international choreographers, composers, poets, sculptors, architects, and scientists. She has been interviewed by The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Pacifica Radio, NPR, and the New Art Examiner. Alongside Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Vandana Shiva, Alhadeff received the Random Kindness Community Resilience Leadership Award, 2020. In 2022, Alhadeff was nominated for a MacArthur Fellowship. Her theoretical and visual work is the subject of…
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Trauma in a Time of Collapse: Kazu Haga
13 november 2025 · 51 min
What does it mean to stay tender in times of unraveling? Lees meer
In this live SAND Community Gathering (November 2025), SAND co-founders, Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo spend the hour with activist and author Kazu Haga. This conversation invites us into a collective inquiry about healing, justice, and the radical courage of vulnerability. Drawing from his work on restorative justice and Kingian nonviolence, Haga explores how compassion can live alongside grief, anger, and collapse—not as escape or appeasement, but as a disciplined, relational practice of staying with the pain of the world.
Topics:
00:00 Introduction and Welcoming Remarks
00:44 Introducing Kazu and His Work
04:08 Understanding Fierce Vulnerability
06:43 The Great Turning and Collective Healing
10:50 Non-Violence and Social Movements
17:13 Spiritual Practice and Activism
24:22 Anger, Rage, and Non-Violence
26:40 Personal Stories and Reflections
28:57 Sowing Seeds of Change
29:56 The Power of Vulnerability
31:33 Healing Through Non-Violence
38:55 The Concept of Negative Peace
47:48 Living in Community
49:45 Final Thoughts and Gratitude
Resources:
Kazu Haga's Website
Fierce Vulnerability
Canticle Farm
The Eternal Song (film series by SAND)
Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member
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Tending the Threshold: Bayo Akomolafe
6 november 2025 · 46 min
Recorded live at The Eternal Song Seven Day Film Premiere Gathering. Lees meer
In this episode, hosts Maurizio and Zaya engage in deep conversation with Yoruba philosopher and post-humanist thinker Bayo Akomolafe. In this episode, Bayo shares a Yoruba creation myth involving the Orishas, highlighting the importance of flow and memory. He reflects on his journey as a psychologist in Nigeria and critiques the political dimensions of healing. The dialogue also touches on the limits of modernity, the significance of wounds in creating new worlds, and the interconnectedness of all living beings. Bayo’s insights invite listeners to reconsider traditional notions of clarity, identity, and safety, promoting a deeper, more fluid understanding of existence as it weaves into narratives of The Eternal Song.
Watch this full conversation and 40+ more The Eternal Song film series and All-Access Pass with from our 7-day gathering with Elders and knowledge keepers
Topics
00:00 Introduction and Greetings
00:46 Introducing Bayo Akomolafe
02:13 A Yoruba Creation Story
06:50 Reflections on Healing
12:49 Decolonization and Human Ecology
20:32 The Complexity of Solutions
22:25 Chaos and Order: The Eternal Dance
22:41 The Illusion of Solutions
22:50 Climate Chaos and Moralities
23:34 The Exhaustion of Traditional Moralities
24:10 Para Politics: A New Approach
26:30 The Role of the Trickster in History
28:45 The Power of Wounds and Cracks
31:31 The Fluidity of Identity
36:52 The Origins and Evolution of Language
40:15 Christianity and Indigenous Faiths
44:15 Final Reflections and Gratitude
Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member
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The Medicine Story: Jungwon Kim & Linda Thai
30 oktober 2025 · 1 uur 6 min
Hosted by SAND’s Lisa Breschi Almond, this poignant discussion entitled 'War's Long Shadow Part Two: The Medicine of Story' was recorded live as a recent SAND Gathering. The show features two heartfelt stories of their first-hand accounts of post-war trauma shared by Linda Thai and Jungwon Kim. The conversation explores personal narratives of war trauma and generational grief, focusing on the Vietnam War and Korean War, respectively. Linda recounts her family’s harrowing escape from Vietnam and their struggle to resettle in Australia, while Jungwon explores her parents’ experiences and the enduring impact of the Korean War. Emphasizing the importance of storytelling, the session highlights the collective healing and emotional sobriety brought through sharing and listening to these deeply moving stories Lees meer
Topics
00:00 Welcome and Introduction
00:55 Land and Settler Acknowledgement
02:13 Introducing the Presenters
04:16 Linda's Story: A Journey of Survival
39:31 Jungwon's Story: Generational War Trauma
01:02:30 Reflections and Closing Remarks
Resources
War’s Long Shadow, Part 1 (the first part of this conversation from early 2025)
Jung Won Kim’s Website
Linda Thai’s Website
Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member
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Decolonial Healing & Liberation: Dr. Thema Bryant
23 oktober 2025 · 1 uur 16 min
In this episode, SAND co-founders and hosts Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo welcome Dr. Thema Bryant, a tenured professor of psychology and former President of the American Psychological Association, to discuss holistic healing, ancestral wisdom, and collective liberation. Dr. Bryant emphasizes the importance of recognizing both individual and collective trauma, the power of storytelling, and the need for interdisciplinary approaches to wellness. The conversation explores the emotional and spiritual aspects of healing, the role of joy and grief, and the importance of community in fostering resilience and thriving. Dr. Bryant also provides practical advice on deepening relationships, finding like-minded communities, and maintaining emotional balance in the face of ongoing trauma. Lees meer
Topics
00:00 Introduction and Greetings
00:53 Introducing Dr. Thema Bryant
01:20 Dr. Bryant's Background and Philosophy
03:11 Grounding Practice and Body Sovereignty
08:32 The Importance of Compassion and Presence
11:52 Intergenerational Trauma and Healing
17:15 Decolonizing and Indigenizing Healing Practices
27:00 Balancing Activism and Self-Care
34:15 Grief and Collective Healing
36:44 Cultural Differences in Grieving
37:59 The Interplay of Grief and Joy
38:28 Toxic Positivity and Spiritual Bypassing
41:07 Constructive vs. Destructive Anger
44:53 The Importance of Emotional Expression
47:03 Creating and Deepening Community Connections
51:00 Collective Healing and Liberation
01:03:13 Balancing Self-Care and Collective Care
01:11:14 Final Thoughts and Resources
Resources
Dr. Thema Bryant
Dr. Thema Bryant is the author of the recently released book Matters of the Heart and the host of The Homecoming Podcast.
Jaiya JohnSupport the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member
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Rongoā Māori: Donna Kerridge
16 oktober 2025 · 58 min
Recorded live at The Eternal Song Seven Day Film Premiere summit with Indigenous voices. Lees meer
Donna Kerridge, a Rongoā Māori practitioner from Waikato, Aotearoa New Zealand, shares insights into her journey bridging Māori traditional medicine and the Western healthcare system. Kerridge discusses the challenges and beauty of indigenous healing practices, emphasizing the significance of connection to nature, ancestral knowledge, and the balance between the physical and spiritual realms. She reflects on her experience watching the film Eternal Song and the necessity of truth in storytelling. Through her work and this conversation, Kerridge elucidates the importance of understanding one's place in nature and the universe to achieve true wellbeing. Hosted by Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo.
Topics
00:00 Introduction to Donna Kerridge
00:58 Reflecting on the Film's Impact
03:45 Understanding Rongoā Māori
06:10 The Concept of Wellbeing in Rongoā Māori
10:55 Healing Practices and Patterns of Disease
20:19 The Importance of Ancestry and Connection
22:37 Ancient Knowledge and Modern Science
29:47 Challenges of Being a Healer in Modern Times
32:18 Exploring the Pillars of Ru Māori
33:42 Connecting with the Spiritual Realm
36:30 Healing Through Nature
43:28 Respect and Indigenous Knowledge
45:41 Bridging Western and Indigenous Medicine
52:28 The Role of Ancestral Knowledge
56:25 Concluding Thoughts and Reflections
Find out more about The Eternal Song film series and All-Access Pass and the SAND film Mauri which features all three guests from today’s show.
Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member