The New Dimensions Café

Guy Finley is a spiritual teacher and author. He is the Founder and Director of Life of Learning Foundation, a nonprofit center for transcendent self-study located in Merlin, Oregon. He also hosts the Foundation’s Wisdom School — an on-line self-discovery program for seekers of higher self-knowledge. He offers free online classes open to all every Wednesdays and Sundays. Each class also includes a Question and Answer session with Guy. He is the author of over 45 books including The Secret of Letting Go (Llewellyn Publications 2008) and The Lost Secrets Of Prayer: Practices For Self-Awakening (Llewellyn Publications 1998).Interview Date: 8/22/2020   Tags: Guy Finley, driving in traffic, driving on the freeway, prayer, consciousness, resistance, evil, opposition, ceaseless perfection of the soul, presence of God, witnessing myself, Personal Transformation, Philosophy, Spirituality.

Ronita Johnson has worked at the intersection of DEI which stands for diversity, equality, inclusion, and has been convening sacred circles for over 30 years. She cut her teeth in the corporate world as a first diversity manager in a large corporate organization in the 80s. Skilled in the practice of dialogue, she creates safe spaces for listening, learning, and self-reflection to bring conscious that which lies in shadow. In 2010, after a successful diversity consulting career, Ronita retired to devote all her energies to convening circles. She hosts online and in person circle gatherings, organic in nature and focused on authentic conversations toward excavating truth around life giving topics that matter. She, along with Justine Toms, are founding conveners of the Millionth Circle. She is also an original convener of Women Eradicating Racism and convener facilitator of Becoming Anti Racists. She is the author of Coming To Forgiveness: A Daughter’s Story Of Race, Rage And Religion (Ronita Johnson & Associates 2012). She created and acts in the one woman show Forgivable. Interview Date: 8/26/2020  Tags: Ronita Johnson, White Fragility, racism, tender box, oppression, inequality of races, diversity, inclusion, antiracism, internal racism, The Millionth Circle, diversity is a coded word, Ubuntu, Sam Cooke, Change is Gonna Come, Jim Crow, black woman walking in a white neighborhood, resilience, empathy, I don’t see color, I describe myself first as black, internalized prejudice, being an ally to people of color, microaggressions, Social Change/Politics

Kate Marianchild is a “Citizen Scientist” who shares the delight that comes from walking slowly or sitting quietly in nature. She is the author of Secrets of The Oak Woodlands: Plants & Animals Among California’s Oaks (Heyday 2014).Interview Date: 2/23/2017   Tags: Kate Marianchild, topophilia, adaptive survival skills, movie Lion, Yosemite, Scott Sampson, John Lane, Ann Meyer Maglinte. Oak Woodlands, Ecology, Nature, Environment, Science, Animals

Sarah van Gelder is cofounder and editor-at-large of the award-winning YES!Magazine. She writes and speaks internationally on environmental, social, and economic alternatives and on community-based change. She is the editor of:Sustainable Happiness: Live Simply, Live Well, Make a Difference (Berrett-Koehler Publishers 2015), This Changes Everything: Occupy Wall Street and the 99 Percent Movement (Berrett-Koehler publishers 2011) and The Revolution Where You Live: Stories from a 12,000-Mile Journey Through a New America. (Berrett-Koehler Publishers 2017)Interview Date: 3/11/2017   Tags: Sarah van Gelder, grassroots activism, Dr. Victor Garcia, worker owned businesses, Jubilee year, Tamera Village Spain, place based community, reclaiming local power, Community, Political change/Politics, History, Indigenous Wisdom

Robert Fuller, Ph.D. is a physicist and former president of Oberlin College. He has consulted with Indira Gandhi, met with Jimmy Carter regarding the President's Commission on World Hunger, and worked to defuse the Cold War in Russia when it was known as the USSR. As Fuller reflected on his career he realized that he had been, at different times in his life, a somebody and a nobody. His periodic sojourns into “Nobodyland” led him to identify rankism - the abuse of the power inherent in rank - and ultimately to write the book Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank. He has become a recognized leader of the dignity movement to overcome rankism and keynoted a Dignity for All conference hosted by the President of Bangladesh. His many other accomplishments include co-authoring the text book Mathematics of Classical and Quantum Physics. His books include: Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank (New Society Publishers 2003), Dignity for All: How to Create a World without Rankism (co-author Pamela A. Gerloff) (Berrett-Koehler Publishers 2008), Religion and Science: A Beautiful Friendship? (e-book, Smashwords 2012), (novel) The Rowan Tree (CreateSpace 2013), (children’s book) Theo: The White Squirrel (co-author Claire Sheridan)  (Amazon Digital Services 2016), Questions and Quests: A Short Book Aphorisms (Amazon Digital Services 2017), The Theory of Everybody (Robert Fuller 2017)Interview Date: 2/5/2013   Tags: Robert Fuller, rankism, Marshall Plan, indignity, dignity, racism, Truth and Reconciliation Commission, predation, somebodies and nobodies, Social Change/Politics

Philip Goldberg has been studying the world's spiritual traditions for more than 50 years. He's a workshop leader, spiritual counselor and meditation teacher, and an ordained interfaith minister. He also co-hosts the Spirit Matters Podcasts. He leads American Veda tours and blogs regularly on Elephant Journal and Spirituality & Health. He is the author of many books, including: American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation How Indian Spirituality Changed the West. (Harmony 2013), The Life of Yogananda: The Story of the Yogi Who Became the First Modern Guru (Hay House, 2nd Edition 2020) and Spiritual Practice for Crazy Times: Powerful Tools to Cultivate Calm, Clarity, and Courage (Hay House 2020) Interview Date: 8/10/2020     Tags: Philip Goldberg, pragmatic mysticism, inner peace, Bhagavad Gita, flexibility in spiritual practice, spiritual pantry, smiling, Thich Nhat Hanh, Meditation, Personal Transformation, spirituality

W. Keith Campbell, Ph.D. is professor of psychology at the University of Georgia, and is a nationally recognized expert on narcissism, society, and generational change. Both his work and lectures expose the rise of narcissism and individualism more generally, and its influence on every level of society. His books include When You Love A Man Who Loves Himself, How To Deal With A One Way Relationship (Sourcebook 2005) and The New Science Of Narcissism : Understanding One Of The Greatest Psychological Challenges Of Our Time-- and What You Can Do About It. (Sounds True 2020)Interview Date: 8/4/2020       Tags: W. Keith Campbell, narcissist, narcissism, personality trait, entitlement, empathy, can psychologists criticize politicians, cyber bullying, dark tetrad, narcissism, psychopathy, sadism, Machiavellianism, selfies, social media, Ice Bucket Selfies, covid-19 pandemic, chaos and change, narcissistic leaders, centralized media, zoom meetings, Facebook, social networks, Psychology, Health & Healing, Social Change/Politics

Susan Campbell, Ph.D. trains and coaches therapists and individuals throughout the US and Europe. She works with singles, couples, and work teams to help them communicate responsibly and with respect. She is the author of Getting Real: Ten Truth Skills You Need to Live an Authentic Life (H.J. Kramer 2001), Saying What’s Real: 7 Keys to Authentic Communication and Relationship Success (H.J. Kramer 2005) and Five-Minute Relationship Repair: Quickly Heal Upsets, Deepen Intimacy, and Use Differences to Strengthen Love (John Gray) (H. J. Kramer 2015)Interview Date: 3/18/2015     Tags: Susan Campbell, recurring fights in relationship, triggers in relationship, calming process, pause period, repair relationship, repairing relationship, couples therapy, Relationship/Partnership/Sexuality, Self Help, Personal Transformation

Dr. Laura Koniver is an artist, author, holistic physician, and an internationally recognized grounding advocate. She also runs on-line heath classes. She is the author of From the Ground Up (Do Life Right, Incorporated 2012), Health Flow Unleash eBook (www.intuition-physician.com) and The Earth Prescription: Discover The Healing Power Of Nature With Grounding Practices For Every Season.Interview Date: 7/10/2020     Tags: Laura Koniver, grounding, recharging our body, Schumann frequency, heartbeat of the Earth, cement sidewalks, asphalt does not ground us, grounded fish aquariums, grounding while sleeping, Health & Healing, Personal Transformation

Merlin Sheldrake, Ph.D. is a biologist and writer and with a background in plant sciences, microbiology, ecology, and the history of philosophy of science. He received his Ph.D. in tropical ecology from Cambridge University for his work on underground fungal networks in tropical forests in Panama, where he was a pre-doctoral research fellow at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. He's also a musician and a keen fermenter. He is the author of Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, & Shape Our Futures (Random House 2020).Interview Date: 5/19/2020       Tags: Merlin Sheldrake, fungi, decomposers, Roundup, soil communities, fungicides, Paul Stamets, bee colony collapse, Steve Sheppard, antivirals, Peter McCoy, amateur mycologists, Mary Hunt, microbial crowdsourcing, fungal architectures, domesticated minerals, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Science, Indigenous wisdom