Why this Site?

In 2024, I’m highlighting some work that’s “most alive” for me, in my looking into the state of the world, and the possibilities for 20 or 200 years from now.

What has stuck with me most from Kuuyux Ilarion Merculieff [GCILL] is that it is a time for women to step into leadership roles and for men to support them. Riane Eisler’s ideas of Domination and Partnership in Society [<< link to podcast with Nate Hagens] differentiate two forms of power, and how both show up in various forms in any human interactions. Domination and partnership each come with a world-view. Domination seems to go along with a sickness sometimes named windigo or wetiko. Partnership grows connection in its living expression, and seems to me so necessary for the increasingly tumultuous decades we and coming generations are so likely to have ahead of us.

Joanna Macy has helped me face “the great unraveling” without falling into despair, and helped highlight “the great turning” and the joy of living into what could be.

I’m moving Gabriel Kram and Nic Askew to the start of the list, because I think each speaks to something that could have a deep cultural impact. Gabriel for his call for developing a “Living Autonomics.” Humans in modern cultures live divorced from an innate lived sense of safety and connection. What are the pathways to bring us to remembering that way of being? Nic Askew’s Inner View Method is both simple and profound. My sense is that he has found a way of engaging a deep unrecognized human capacity, brought forth by his bringing deep presence, and nothing else.

Gabriel Kram [ Restorative Practices ] is bringing together indigenous wisdom with leading edge science – in particular, Polyvagal Theory (how neural platforms of fight/flight, freeze or safety color how we move through the world) into “Living Autonomics“. His intended audience is therapists (and individuals with like interests). The (visitor) content on the Practices page changes occasionally; is full of gems. Other efforts: “Hearth Science is building the superior diagnostic and clinical tools that will define the ancestral future of medicine and mental health.” The Original Fire has current writing.

Nic Askew‘s Soul Biographies library has short black and white films, mostly one person talking, with music and some written words added. Some of my favorites are “Amo La Vida” (10 minutes) or an excerpt, “Gratitude” (3 minutes). “Nowhere” shares searching for words to describe a transcendent experience, while conveying volumes through exquisite facial communication. As suggested on the site, watch these full screen.

Ilarion Merculieff founded the Global Center for Indigenous and Leadership and Lifeways, and gathered “13 Indigenous Elders … to co-create a message for humankind,” out of which came a 14 minute video at the Wisdom Weavers of the World site. His book, Wisdom Keeper: One Man’s Journey to Honor the Untold Story of the Unangan People, tells of the enslavement of his people, yet also his experience of being raised in a traditional way. As a young child he was free to go before dawn to the seaside cliffs and watch the birds filling the air, realizing that they would collide if they were thinking about it. Children were never shown how to do things, there were no “why” conversations. His mentor spoke less than 300 words to him over the years they were together.

You can find him on YouTube. His now-partner Yael saw a video of him, and wanted to translate it into Hebrew. They eventually met, fell in love, and are now together in Alaska. I find the Womb-Circle Guidelines and the recordings from some past circles linked at Restoring the Feminine quite interesting.

Joanna Macy and her Work That Reconnects. In her 90’s and still active, she has helped generations face and think clearly about how to approach hard issues without being overwhelmed. I learned of the Buddhist concept of “dependent co-arising” from her. This video, released Sept 2021, speaks to how to live sanely and openly in a time of rapid change and increasing difficulty.

  • Dr. Gabor Maté came to my attention through the Wisdom of Trauma movie and associated discussions. It helped me recognize how important trauma-work is for everyone, and how desperately all aspects of our society need to be trauma-informed.
  • Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a neuroscientist who had a stroke that shut down her left brain for years, so she lived with only right-brain consciousness. Her book Whole Brain Living describes four “characters” that are built into our brain circuitry, the left and right brain aspects of our thinking and emotional brains. It seems to me that getting to know how we manifest each of these “characters” could be transformative. Her “Brain Huddle” is an interesting way to bring all of them into important decision-making. I like this interview.
  • Service Space is an all-volunteer organization that provides a variety of forms of service. DailyGood has “news that inspires.” Their About Us page links to “On Service“, “On Gift Ecology“, “Public Talks“, “Social Media” and more. KarmaTube “is dedicated to bringing inspirational stories to light…” In 2022 I participated in multiple Pods, a week to month long guided conversation with a group of people from around the world that you come to know through interacting around all the information presented and the questions to guide reflections.
  • I’ve found personal benefit following Hareesh / Christopher Wallis – scholar, author, teacher. If you’re drawn to a nondual view, I’d recommend him. His Tantra Illuminated site provides a range of courses and a new home for conversations now on Facebook. I have taken his free online Foundations course. I like his “Near Enemies” series, first written about on his site. He inspired my blog post on Pratibha.

Some more that have not called to me quite as strongly, but definitely recommended.

  • Pachamama Alliance (source of talks by Arkan Lushwala, linked on my Community page)
  • Fleet Maull has taught meditation to people in, and working in, prisons; now works more widely. He helps organize and present at online gatherings around multiple topics.
Seven Chakras

This page previously began with Chakras and Bodies, now its own page, then contained what’s now at Math. My growing focus recently has been on the need for recognizing and working towards what Joanna Macy calls The Great Turning. I added the above bulleted list and a Community page to reflect this.

The About page tells of the spiritual traditions that have helped shape living my life. Also the diverse fields that have drawn my attention and focus over the years.

Below are some “featured” blog posts.

Paired N-Grams to base 13

  • Innate
    Within, at our core, there is an innate naturalness in life living itself, through us. We burden the process with our thoughts of “who we are”, “what we should do” Those thoughts, so hard to let go. They’re the masks … Read More
  • Neti, neti
    Neti, neti translates to English as Not this, not that. Dzogchen (“Great Perfection”, in Tibetan Buddhism) describes a constant, still presence that is our true nature. All the ways we establish a separate identity take us a step away from … Read More
  • Prescient
    J.G. Bennett was one of my father’s “gurus” – not in person, but through the ideas passed along through mentors. I’ve also learned much from him via books and people who have worked with him or studied his ideas. Concern … Read More
  • God
    For me, a word, no matter what word, Can only be an approximation of that which the word is intended to signify/indicate. Language can attempt to express shared understandings among language-users, but can only be a message to describe something … Read More


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