Deep Transformation

Ep. 245 | Robb Smith, social innovator, integral philosopher, and founder of the Institute of Applied Metatheory (IAM), is incredibly illuminating as to the forces and flux at work in the world now and how big picture thinking can help us through this time of transition. Rob’s passion, and the focus of IAM, is working on long-arc, socially impactful ecosystem configurations. “I like the thorny stuff,” he says, “the stuff that hasn’t been figured out yet.” Big-picture perspectives keep getting better, Robb tells us. They have become tractable tools for helping social impact entrepreneurs create systems that benefit society as a whole...

Ep. 244 | In the second dialogue of The Jeweled Path Series, Karen Johnson and Hameed Ali continue to animate the Diamond Approach teaching with their remarkable stories and insights, loosely following the structure of Karen’s biography of the Diamond Approach, The Jeweled Path. Karen and Hameed delve into the subject of inquiry: the unique way it is practiced on the Diamond Path, it being a rare marriage of mind and heart, and the compelling way it opens the door for presence to make itself known. As Hameed puts it, “This type of inquiry pierces the veils of all the ways...

Ep. 243 | In this outstandingly useful and timely conversation, Dr. Roger Walsh (more often the co-host of the Deep Transformation podcast) is our expert guest, sharing his passion for brain health and his knowledge about what we can do to keep our brains active, high-functioning, and well. With a Ph.D. in neuroscience and several awards for brain research, Roger was also on the first research team to discover the older brain’s neuroplasticity, and he has been excited about the possibilities and developmental implications of this ever since. Whether we’re talking about the body’s physical capabilities or the br...

Ep. 242 | What a gift to have Karen Johnson and A. H. Almaas (Hameed Ali) together in conversation to explore their extraordinary journeys of awakening and share the remarkable ways presence found to transform their hearts and minds—all of which culminated in the contemporary spiritual path known as the Diamond Approach. Karen’s book, The Jeweled Path (the basis for this Jeweled Path Series), chronicles Karen and Hameed’s spiritual adventures from the beginning: what happened in their childhoods, how they first met, the emerging realization that what they were experiencing was shaping into a unique path of awakening that o...

Ep. 241 | A deeply engaging conversation in which Alexander Love, adult development expert and coach, and author of the soon-to-be-published trilogy Evolutionary Gestures, introduces us to the post-tragic perspective, with all of its potential to nourish, ground, and open us to a world of possibilities. Alexander explains that post-tragic is not a developmental stage per se, but a dimension available to anyone willing to do the work. It’s part of a triad—pre-tragic innocence, tragic disillusionment, and post-tragic possibilities—encountered in every wisdom tradition, the hero’s journey, and every good story. Post-tragic is not about leaving the tragedy (trauma...

Ep. 240 | Co-host Roger Walsh found the novel concepts that A. H. Almaas presents in The Inner Journey Home’s Appendix G so intriguing, he asked Hameed for one last discussion to complete Deep Transformation’s systematic exploration of Hameed’s magnum opus. In Appendix G (and in this conversation), Hameed says that while there are many valid paths of awakening, different paths do not culminate in the same realization or experience. In other words, the Chinese proverb that says there are many ways to the top of the mountain, but the view is always the same is not accurate. Each s...

Ep. 239 | Renowned gerontologist and author Dr. Kerry Burnight is passionate about changing the way we think about aging. Growing older isn’t a bad thing, she emphasizes, let’s look at what gets better as we get older! Early in Dr. Kerry’s career, she marveled at how elderly people with the same degree of physical health could be absolutely miserable or happily engaged with life, and she dug into finding out why. Her research revealed four pillars of aging that together make all the difference in the quality of our well-being. Kerry urges us to adopt these practices as soo...

Ep. 238 | In this brilliantly articulated and illuminating conversation, renowned international facilitator Thomas Hübl shares his deep understanding of the dynamics of collective trauma as well as practical wisdom about how we can heal the large, often inherited, wounds we carry. Thomas conveys the magnitude of problems created by shoving our collective wounds out of sight and mind, perhaps the worst consequence of which is when we do this, we are destined to repeat the same horrors over again. What we need, Thomas explains, is to develop an architecture that would provide a healing space to deal with our w...

Ep. 237 | In the 19th dialogue of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, an exploration of the final chapter of The Inner Journey Home, Hameed Ali looks at the evolution of Western culture and how it happened that soul, world, and God became divided as the culture developed. Hameed explains this was a necessary evolutionary step, an inherent part of our development, and though we lost our spiritual footing in the process (with secularization came a “gaping emptiness, meaninglessness, a lack of true fulfillment”), the separation of science and Church freed science and later psychology to take off on their own...

Ep. 236 | In The Call of the Cosmos, cosmologist and astronomer Stephan Martin brings a new and revelatory perspective into play on Deep Transformation, sharing his profound knowledge of the evolving cosmos and its relationship with consciousness. To cover the immensity of the mystery we are involved in, Steve explains, we need to look at both the inner dimension—consciousness—and the outer mystery, the cosmos. Steve does a remarkable job of explaining the psychological, spiritual, and ethical implications of living in an evolving universe, and draws fascinating parallels between cosmic evolution and human evolution, and the manifestation of being and...

Ep. 235 | In the 18th dialogue of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, Hameed Ali delves into the fascinating subject of how the physical world is related to the absolute. From a nondual perspective, reality includes the physical world, he explains; the world cannot be reduced to an illusion. Material reality is every bit as compelling as the spiritual perspective, he continues. How we perceive it depends on where we find our stance, what we are immersed in—in the formless or the world of form. Hameed recognizes and honors physical reality, while describing material objects as expressions, or glimmerings, of...

Ep. 234 | Renowned thought leader, speaker, and prolific author Warren Farrell has a passion for getting the truth out about issues that matter deeply—issues with enormous human consequences that might begin to heal if people better understood the forces driving these trends: the boy crisis, fatherlessness, the cultural tendency to vilify men, and the lack of healthy and effective communication between men and women. Warren has authored several data-driven bestselling books that go right to the heart of these matters, and in this conversation his expertise is clearly evident, right alongside his dedication to do everything he can to sh...

Ep. 233 | In the last episode of the Path of Love Series with A. H. Almaas, Hameed explores the themes he introduced in the later chapters of his new book, The Inner Beloved. Hameed clarifies the role of mind on the path of heart (the mind is bedazzled and awed; the heart open), and details what happens when we reach the beloved, like “falling in love with everything” and experiencing the absolute as a “coming home” (even though there’s no one there!). We learn that, on the path of love, no matter what we do or don’t do, a heart-driv...

Ep. 232 | In this potent and profound conversation, Zen teachers, Integral Facilitators, and conflict mediators, Diane Musho Hamilton and her student and co-author Gabriel Wilson, eloquently reveal the practical benefits of a life founded on contemplative practice. What they bring home so effectively—both in this conversation and in their new book, Waking Up and Growing Up—is how much we have to gain from an interface of traditional Zen and contemporary knowledge. “Buddhist practice is the most genius way to work with human suffering,” Diane says, and grounded in awareness of the fundamental oneness is where we want to be when...

Ep. 231 (Part 2 of 2) | In Part 2 of Deep Transformation’s third dialogue in the Path of Love Series with A. H. Almaas, Hameed Ali relates what happens on the path of return, after we have experienced dissolving into the radiance of the absolute. In following the path of heart (as opposed to the path of mind), we discover that in addition to pure emptiness, the absolute has (in its beingness aspect) a quality of consciousness that is pure intimacy. “The beloved is intimate with all things in the universe: intimate with people, with the rocks, with the stars… because its nature...

Ep. 230 (Part 1 of 2) | The third dialogue in the Path of Love Series with A. H. Almaas opens with co-host Roger Walsh commenting that in reading Hameed’s most recent book, The Inner Beloved, he is struck by how different the Diamond Approach’s path of love is from those in other traditions. Hameed explains that, indeed, his path is different in that it addresses the sequence of events on the path of love systematically, using contemporary psychological language to describe the difficulties and barriers that arise, and further, that he includes not only obstacles that come up in the mind...

Ep. 229 (Part 2 of 2) | In part 2 of our What is Real Greatness Series podcast with Margaret Cullen, author of Quiet Strength, Margaret continues to enlighten us about equanimity: its power, its wisdom, and its practice. She relates some of the history of equanimity—first considered a supreme virtue in Stoicism, then passed on to Sufism and Judaism—and explains that throughout time, equanimity (and humility) have always been an integral part of people who have made a true difference in the world. Margaret talks about how humor can break the spell of our trance (“when we lose equanimity, we get caught...

Ep. 228 (Part 1 of 2) | In part 1 of our second What is Real Greatness Series podcast, Margaret Cullen, author of the newly published book Quiet Strength: Find Peace, Feel Alive, and Love Boundlessly Through the Power of Equanimity, explains there is far more power in the virtue of equanimity than we may have thought. Because equanimity is associated with non-reactivity, people often confuse it with a neutral sort of feeling, a dampener of emotions, when actually, equanimity allows us to expand our capacity to feel; it widens our tolerance and empowers us to be comfortable with change. “Equanimity is big enough to...

Ep. 227 (Part 2 of 2) | In Part 2 of Deep Transformation’s second Path of Love Series dialogue, A. H. Almaas explains that the inner beloved is at work in our hearts, pulling us irresistibly nearer as we venture forward on the path of love. The force comes and pulls us, he says, melts us and overwhelms us—sometimes with wounding and sometimes with ecstasy. Our great love for the inner beloved ultimately dissolves our attachments to other, smaller beloveds, which can be big things—family, friends, teachers—or little things: ice cream, cake, our favorite movie star. But our heart isn’t going to...

Ep. 226 (Part 1 of 2) | In Part 1 of Deep Transformation’s second Path of Love Series dialogue with A. H. Almaas, we learn what a spiritual journey on the path of love entails: particularly, emptying our heart so it can discover the deepest inner truth, the inner beloved. “Most of the path of love has to do with emptying the heart with love and yearning combined to burn through all the idols which stand for the inner beloved,” Hameed says. “The heart knows it loves something deeper than itself… and it pains it that it is separate from it.” There are other paths...

Ep. 225 (Part 2 of 2) | In Part 2 of our eloquent, passionate, and humorous, dialogue with comedian John Fugelsang, author of the important and irreverent book, Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds, we come to understand what fundamentalism is, and what it signifies for our culture, our politics, and our future. John outlines five common features that characterize fundamentalism across religious traditions, pointing out that fundamentalist Christians have more in common with fundamentalist Muslims than they do with moderate and liberal Christians. “I go after fundamentalists of all...

Ep. 224 (Part 1 of 2) | John Fugelsang, author of the brilliant, irreverent book, Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds, talks eloquently about the difference between true Christianity as taught by Jesus and the hateful teachings of Christian nationalists and televangelists who are in it for the power and the money. John grew up with a clear notion of what Christianity should look like; his parents lived their faith grounded in peace, love, empathy, and service, dedicating their lives to helping people in need, no matter their co...

Ep. 223 | Four solid years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, integral thinkers Kateryna Yasko and Vytautas Bučiūnas relate what life in Ukraine is like—emotionally, physically, spiritually. Far from what you might expect of a conversation about the state of Ukraine after four years of war—far from being battered and downtrodden—this is a story of resilience, resourcefulness, courage, and accelerated human development. Kateryna likens Ukraine to a living laboratory of transformation—with everyone united in the fight to preserve democracy and their identity as a nation, “the social fabric is strong, the resilience is astonishing…he...

Ep. 222 (Part 2 of 2) | A. H. Almaas’ teachings on spiritual love and the inner beloved are based on his own experience, he explains in Part 2 of the first dialogue in the Path of Love Series. “In this path, experience is almost everything,” he says. Spiritual experience created the Diamond Approach—it isn’t a philosophy. What makes Hameed’s path of love unique and different from other paths of love, like the Sufi and the bhakti paths? First off, it is the methodology: the practice of inquiry. Inquiry combines both mind and heart, Hameed explains. It adds a means of discernment...

Ep. 221 (Part 1 of 2) | Deep Transformation is excited to release the first episode in our new Path of Love Series with A. H. Almaas, in honor and celebration of Hameed Ali’s latest book, The Inner Beloved. The series begins with Hameed sharing his motivation for writing all three of the books in his Love Trilogy (Love Unveiled, Nondual Love, The Inner Beloved), namely, when he realized his prior books had omitted to teach specifically about the role of love on the spiritual path. Love is the energy, the driving force toward union with our inner nature, Hameed explains, and it...

Ep. 220 (Part 2 of 2) | In part 2 of Sliding Towards Authoritarianism, Constitutional Law expert and Ethics professor Mark Fischler unpacks the significance of the extreme lack of civic understanding in the United States and, well informed about students’ cognitive abilities and mental health status nationwide, adds the precipitous drop in achievement scores and through-the-roof diagnoses of ADHD, autism, anxiety, and depression to the mix, concluding, “You begin to see why an authoritarian world requiring only simple actions and answers would be more attractive than a democratic world that requires complexity, conversation, and the ability to see the intrinsic worth of the pers...

Ep. 219 (Part 1 of 2) | Constitutional Law expert and Ethics professor Mark Fischler joins Deep Transformation again, to help us make sense of the slide towards authoritarianism happening in the United States today. Mark’s vast knowledge of the law, the Constitution, and the Supreme Court, his deep comprehension of ethics and morality, his Integral understanding, and his profound contemplative awareness all make for an extraordinary exploration of what is going on in this country at levels we don’t often consider. Beginning with examples of events in 2025 that are representative of various facets of authoritarianism, Mark goes on to discuss how...

Ep. 218 (Part 2 of 2) | In Part 2 of the 17th dialogue in the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, Hameed Ali explores the great freedom we experience when we allow being itself to unfold through us—when we let reality take its course without our egoic selves getting in the way. When we are out of the way, Hameed explains, all the virtues come through us: responsibility, ethics, morality, compassion, caring, sensitivity, and more. These ideals are not human-made, he says, they are expressions of our true nature. In fact, Hameed adds, this is what a true human is; expressing the absolute is...

Ep. 217 (Part 1 of 2) | In the 17th dialogue of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, Hameed Ali explores the classic spiritual theme: the journey of descent. What happens after we awaken, having had a realization of the deepest kind? The path of descent, where we retain the awareness of what came with our experience of the absolute, and bring it into our life, expressing it with every aspect of our being. Many teachings talk about the ascent (the journey of awakening) and the descent, Hameed explains, but when they talk about the descent, they interpret it as an individual coming...

Ep. 216 (Part 2 of 2) | In Part 2 of Deep Transformation’s first episode in the What is Real Greatness Series, longtime spiritual teacher Jack Kornfield declares that in his experience real greatness is a greatness of heart. In Buddhism, greatness of heart is embodied in the ideal of the bodhisattva—one whose life is dedicated to the well-being of all. Embodying compassion is not a grim proposition, Jack explains, but a joy! The whole point of it being human happiness and inner freedom. Because of his deep understanding of compassion, Jack was invited to the Oslo Freedom Forum to counsel global acti...

Ep. 215 (Part 1 of 2) | The first of Deep Transformation’s What is Real Greatness Series, this conversation with world-renowned meditation teacher Jack Kornfield is filled with beautiful teachings touching into the sacred at the heart of our lives and the point of our whole spiritual journey: to remember and embody our innate capacity to awaken and experience the reality of our own innate dignity and nobility. Respecting ourselves at the deepest level is what transforms us and transforms society too, Jack explains. “Do you hold yourself with nobility and respect?” he asks. “Can you remember your own beauty and dignity? Can you...

Ep. 214 (Part 2 of 2) | Part 2 of the 16th dialogue of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series takes us on a sweet journey farther into our exploration of the nature of the absolute. Hameed Ali discusses the paradox of the absolute, being both source and cessation of all things, the nonduality of emptiness and beingness, these being two sides of the same coin, and explains why many nondual teachings do not touch upon the absolute. He makes sense of the difficult-to-fathom concept of pure emptiness, explaining that the absolute’s nature is absence—in contrast with presence—and relates that Mystery is the...

Ep. 213 (Part 1 of 2) | The 16th dialogue of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series is about the absolute, the source dimension of all manifestation, deeper than any other dimension, the vastness beyond vastness. In Part 1, Hameed gives a wonderful description of the majesty and the blackness of the absolute, and tells the story of when he first experienced being one with the absolute himself. When Roger Walsh asks him, what are the doorways to the absolute, Hameed talks about mystical poverty and also the way of the heart. “When the true beloved shines through the heart, it’s an amazing ecstas...

Ep. 212 (Part 2 of 2) | In Part 2 of the compelling conversation with SAND founders Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo, the discussion turns to the making of their 2021 documentary film about the tragic injustices inflicted upon Palestinians in the West Bank. Where Olive Trees Weep is a very beautiful, heartbreaking, and eye opening film we highly recommend to our listeners. “How do we stop the violence?” asks co-host John Dupuy. No one knows the answer, but “each of us can find a way to alleviate the suffering in Palestine now as we grapple with the question of how to stop the wounds that continue...

Ep. 211 (Part 1 of 2) | Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo are not only the founders of the longstanding and highly regarded Science & Nonduality Conference (SAND), but also brilliant filmmakers, producing stunning documentaries about the injustice and suffering occurring in Palestine and elsewhere, as well as films that feature the eternal wisdom of elders from Indigenous communities around the world. Zaya and Maurizio are clearly passionate about their work, and co-host Roger Walsh points out they do a beautiful job of intertwining the personal, professional, and spiritual into an offering that meets the needs of our time. As Maurizio says, “There is no sp...

Ep. 210 (Part 3 of 3) | In Part 3 of the 15th dialogue in the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, Hameed Ali speaks about the evolutionary aspect of the creative dynamism of the universe. He explains there is an optimizing, transformative force that is responsible for one form changing to another, like a caterpillar to a butterfly. This developmental force is in alignment with Western concepts of evolution and progress, and applies to spiritual realization, too. There is also an optimizing force specific to the human soul, Hameed tells us, that fuels the hearts that burn with the desire for liberation. This is the...

Ep. 209 (Part 2 of 3) | In Part 2 of the 15th dialogue in the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, Hameed Ali delves into the very creation of reality by the logos, the source of all life. Logos (an ancient Greek term) is often considered to mean “word,” but Hameed uses it in its deeper sense, where logos is not only the word but also the speaker—the living field of manifestation. The soul is very similar to the logos, Hameed adds, with the same sense of flow, dynamism, and creativity. Hameed points out that the universe could have been created haphazardly, but because i...

Ep. 208 (Part 1 of 3) | In Part 1 of the 15th dialogue in the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, Hameed Ali enlightens us about the dynamic, creative force that generates our reality. “Dynamism is constant,” Hameed explains, “it never stops—it is constantly creating what we experience, what we perceive.” Hameed calls this nondual dimension of true nature—of our nature—creative dynamism. How do you explain change, he asks, if it’s not happening in time, and all of reality is one fabric, nondual? The dynamism Hameed speaks of, ongoing and total, has a radical implication: the entire universe is re-created, instant by instant...

Ep. 207 (Part 2 of 2) | In this extraordinary, compelling conversation, visionary, activist, and long-time politician, former Governor of California Jerry Brown gets right to the heart of the things that matter most. From truth seeking on an individual level (the importance of inquiring into the depths of our reality), to the challenge of our democracy (getting a consensus in a population that has no coherence), to the problem of leadership (now it’s all about winning, which works on the football field but not for international relations), the fear and greed that drive the arms race (we’re not talking about the ar...

Ep. 206 (Part 1 of 2) | In this extraordinary, compelling conversation, visionary, activist, and long-time politician, former Governor of California Jerry Brown gets right to the heart of the things that matter most. From truth seeking on an individual level (the importance of inquiring into the depths of our reality), to the challenge of our democracy (getting a consensus in a population that has no coherence), to the problem of leadership (now it’s all about winning, which works on the football field but not for international relations), the fear and greed that drive the arms race (we’re not talking about the ar...