Chris Grosso The Indie Spiritualist

On this episode of The Indie Spiritualist, Chris chats with Ilona Ciunaite about fear, truth, and helping each other along the spiritual path. Ilona’s search for truth started in 2002, when for the first time she “experienced the silence of the thinking mind, a sweet sense of being, contentment, peace,” and “feeling at home.” In 2010 she discovered Jed McKenna’s books, which were a shock to her belief system and catapulted her “out of hypnosis” and toward the realization that all she believed was not truth. It wasn’t until the initial deconstruction was done, after months of painful self-inquiry, that Ciunaite felt at peace: there was an emptiness, a not knowing, a not believing anything about anything. Then the last step was taken and the separate self was seen to be an illusion. Together Ciunaite and Nezhinsky published a book, Gateless Gatecrashers, that consists of conversations leading to self-realization, and which can be downloaded for free at Liberation Unleashed. Liberation Unleashed is a global movement of people helping others to see through the illusion of self. Ciunaite has had hundreds of conversations with people from all around the globe. Her main focus and work is helping people end their seeking by inviting them to question their fundamental assumptions and look at their own experience. She does not give answers, only questions. In this way a seeker may see what is going on for themselves and free their minds from conditioned patterns to explore whatever comes next. Ciunaite holds live meetings and group sessions in the UK. All of her work can be found on her blog Marked, Eternal and on The Gate forum. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chris sits down with author Matthew Fox to talk about spirituality, activism, and mystic Thomas Merton. Matthew Fox is the author of over 30 books including Meister Eckhart, The Hidden Spirituality of Men, Christian Mystics, and most recently A Way to God. A preeminent scholar and popularizer of Western mysticism, he became an Episcopal priest after being expelled from the Dominican Order by Cardinal Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI. You can visit him at http://www.matthewfox.org. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on The Indie Spiritualist, Chris talks to Kelvin Young from Advocacy Unlimited. Kelvin Young is the Assistant Executive Director of Advocacy Unlimited/Toivo Director and believes that healing begins from within. After many years of battling with drug addiction, anxiety, and depression, he began his healing process in prison. While incarcerated, Kelvin learned about the transformative powers of meditation, which helped him look within to find inner peace in a very hostile and restrictive environment. Chris and Kevin talk about the struggles along the path to recovery and what Toivo is doing to help others heal. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chris speaks with Dr. David Berceli about his innovative approach to therapy for patients suffering from trauma and addiction.   See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chris sits down with Brad Warner to share his wisdom and experiences as a Soto Zen priest as well as his new book, “Don’t Be a Jerk: And Other Practical Advice from Dogen, Japan’s Greatest Zen Master.” Brad Warner is the author of Don’t Be a Jerk and numerous other titles including Sit Down & Shut Up, Hardcore Zen, and Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate. A Soto Zen priest, he is a punk bassist, filmmaker, Japanese-monster-movie marketer, and popular blogger based in Los Angeles.   See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chris sits down with spiritual teacher Sally Kempton to discuss the divine feminine, compassion and bouncing back from hard times. Sally Kempton is a powerful teacher of applied spiritual wisdom, known for her capacity to kindle meditative states in others and to help students work with meditative experience as a framework for practical life-change. She teaches teleclasses, retreats, and workshops, and is on the faculty at Esalen and Kripalu. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chris brings on Damien Echols to discuss Ceremonial Magick and the spiritual path. They explore the practice and the important role it has had in Damien's life. Damien Echols is a ceremonial magician and artist who lives in NYC with his wife and cats. He spent 18 years on death row for a crime he did not commit and wrote the book "Life after Death" about his experiences. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on the Indie Spiritualist, Chris has an insightful conversation with the spiritual teacher and author, Gabor Maté, about trauma, addiction, and recovery. What do we get out of our addictions? How does trauma cause us to disconnect from ourselves and dismiss our own experience? Gabor raises these important questions and provides guidance to rise above our suffering and self-abuse so that we may better care for ourselves and our loved ones.   Show Notes Addictions Are Not The Problem – Gabor and I discuss how addictions are not the problem but instead are the person’s attempt to solve a problem in their life.   Growing Up – Gabor and I explore the emotional and psychological conditions of children and their environment while growing up as a key component of the root cause of addiction.   Trauma, Addiction, and the Brain – Gabor talks about the relationship between trauma, our brain, and addiction.   Making Change – Gabor breaks down how we can begin to understand and then work with the traumas in our lives for true healing.   Falling — Gabor talks about why many people who have tools, been in recovery, or on a spiritual path and work with mantras, meditation, prayer, yoga, and so forth, still fall into old self-defeating behaviors at times.   Rising – Gabor and I explore the shame, stress, self-loathing and other negative feelings that come along for those who fall back into self-defeating behaviors and what people can do to not get lost in those overwhelming negative feelings?   Watching Addiction – Gabor talks about what family members can do for a loved one who is caught in the grips of addiction.   God and Recovery — Gabor talks about what a power greater than ourselves really means and how we can begin to transcend our limited egoic selves. More About Gabor Maté Gabor Maté is a sought-after speaker and teacher, regularly addressing health professionals, educators, and lay audiences throughout North America. As an author, Dr. Maté has written several bestselling books including the award-winning In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction; When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress; and Scattered Minds: A New Look at the Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder, and co-authored Hold on to Your Kids. His works have been published internationally in twenty languages. Dr. Maté is the co-founder of Compassion for Addiction, a new non-profit that focuses on addiction. He is also an advisor of Drugs over Dinner. Dr. Maté has received the Hubert Evans Prize for Literary Non-Fiction; an Honorary Degree (Law) from the University of Northern British Columbia; an Outstanding Alumnus Award from Simon Fraser University; and the 2012 Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award from Mothers Against Teen Violence. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this episode of The Indie Spiritualist, Chris has on poet and author, J. Ivy. As a performance poet & author, Ivy’s passionate delivery always leaves spectators transfixed in a state of inspiration. His motto, “Dreams Don’t Come True, They Are True” has guided him from his hometown Chicago to hundreds of cities. J. Ivy’s new goal to get one million people to write a letter to their fathers is themed as “One Million Letters Written, One Million Hearts Healed!” This campaign’s mission is to help inspire healing through writing for children and adults who have grown up in fatherless homes, which will in turn help to prevent this hurt and imbalance from being perpetuated. Listen to Chris and J go deep about family, forgiveness, and inspiring the next generation.   Show Notes Chicago – J reminisces about his childhood years when he was still known as James Richardson and what it was like growing up in Chicago during the late seventies and early eighties. Changes – J talks about his experience of being a young teenager and watching his father’s life spiral out of control as he became an alcoholic, lost his job, his parents divorcing, and how that affected him.  Words – J shares candidly about a deep depression he experienced later on in his life, which led him to stop going to class and work, and how the art of writing helped him to find his way out of that. The Art Of Words – J & I explore various pieces of advice for aspiring writers. Thank You – J talks about the importance of gratitude in his life and how it can help to stop the negative self-talk our mind sometimes throws at us. Forgiveness – J talks about forgiveness as a teacher, and how to authentically forgive oneself and others. Dear Father – J talks about The Dear Father Letter Writing Campaign he started with his wife, whose mission is to help inspire healing through writing for children and adults who have grown up in fatherless homes, which will in turn help to prevent this hurt and imbalance from being passed on to the next generations. More About J. Ivy J. Ivy, a NAACP Image Award Winning Poet has been featured on Grammy Award Winning Platinum Albums with Kanye West, Jay-Z & John Legend.  He is the author of two books, Here I AM: Then & Now & Dear Father Breaking The Cycle of Pain published by Beyond Words/Atria/Simon & Schuster.  Find J on twitter @J_Ivy or at www.J-Ivy.com.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of The Indie Spiritualist Podcast, Chris has a compelling discussion with Ram Dass. From addiction to finding compassion for Donald Trump, Ram Dass shares his perspective on the spiritual path and using love to overcome our darkest moments.   See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.