Recorded live at a SAND Community Gathering (March 2026).
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:
- 00:00 Welcome and Intentions
- 01:30 Opening Prayer and Invocation
- 08:38 Ashe and Grace in the Fire
- 12:26 Guided Breath and Heart Presence
- 16:14 Moderator Sets the Context
- 18:44 Pat on Accountability and Betrayal
- 23:00 Bayo on Rage and Virtue
- 28:52 Tara on Cult Silence and Bystanders
- 35:46 V on Sacrifice and Reporting Systems
- 44:53 Matthew on Critique and Accountability Research
- 50:40 Key Question Abusive Teachers
- 52:50 Residential School Aftermath
- 54:51 Prep School Indoctrination
- 56:25 Deep Truth From Flaws
- 58:12 Tourettes And Moral Switch
- 01:01:01 Charisma And Inner Circles
- 01:04:34 Privilege Patriarchy Power
- 01:08:03 Architecture Of Silence
- 01:13:12 Anger Grief And Courage
- 01:18:08 Indigenous Survival And Trickster
- 01:22:56 Speaking Out And Fugitivity
- 01:27:09 Spirituality’s Inward Turn
- 01:32:52 Accountability And Healing
- 01:35:53 Closing
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