Ep. 186 (Part 2 of 2) | In this lively, mind and heart-opening conversation, Miranda Macpherson, contemporary spiritual teacher and author, shares the extraordinary wisdom she has gained from experience—both from the initial life-changing transmission of boundless love she received in Ramana Maharshi’s cave, and from the subsequent need for integration of the deeper truths that were revealed upon being called back “down the mountain,” back to the West to teach and serve. For her, the trick of navigating ordinary life without reconstructing an ego boiled down to three words: What’s needed now?

Miranda discusses how to show up in the world of today and not let resistance to right action win. “Wake up and love,” she offers. “Take inventory, ask, is there anything in the way of me being openhearted and awake in this moment?” She explains a practice she developed called ego relaxation, emphasizes the power of devotion—the source of strength, love, courage, and motivation—and shares several of the key questions she asks herself in her own practice to keep her receptive to existential grace. Miranda’s inspiring teachings are infused with her foundational sense of divine benevolence; “Grace is alive!” she tells us. And being human, we can embody grace; we can become “grace delivery devices.” Recorded November 1, 2024.

“Being human is a grace delivery device.”

• After the ascent the descent; "coming down the mountain" (01:28)
• The power of devotion (04:12)
• A mantra carries with it the love, spiritual energy, and devotion of countless beings before us (06:28)
• The power of pilgrimages (08:58)
• Miranda’s practice now: Can I open my heart to all the suffering, let it be understood more completely, and be transformed? (12:22)
• Wake up and love: ask "Is there anything in the way of me being openhearted and awake in the now?" (15:44)
• Practicing with our blind spots (18:46)
• Multitasking is a disaster for spiritual practice (20:22)
• Ramana Maharshi’s transmission in the cave: Be nothing, do nothing, get nothing… be as you are. Rest in God. (22:24)
• Ego relaxation as a practice (23:40)
• Showing up and resting in God at the same time (26:50)
• The divine dance—here we are, learning how to be the best human beings we can be (30:41)
• The divine force always brings forth what is needed, but the gate is humility and surrender (34:24)
• What helps us into a posture of humility? (35:39)
• Appreciating Roger Walsh: do-er and be-er, curious and humble (38:15)
• Being human is a “grace delivery device;” embodying grace—grace is alive! (40:35)
• The importance of yes, of thank you (43:38)

• Miranda’s website: MirandaMacpherson.com, The Living Grace Global Sangha
• Miranda Macpherson, The Way of Grace: The Transforming Power of Ego Relaxation
• A. H....

Ep. 185 (Part 1 of 2) | In this lively, mind and heart-opening conversation, Miranda Macpherson, contemporary spiritual teacher and author, shares the extraordinary wisdom she has gained from experience—both from the initial life-changing transmission of boundless love she received in Ramana Maharshi’s cave, and from the subsequent need for integration of the deeper truths that were revealed upon being called back “down the mountain,” back to the West to teach and serve. For her, the trick of navigating ordinary life without reconstructing an ego boiled down to three words: What’s needed now?

Miranda discusses how to show up in the world of today and not let resistance to right action win. “Wake up and love,” she offers. “Take inventory, ask, is there anything in the way of me being openhearted and awake in this moment?” She explains a practice she developed called ego relaxation, emphasizes the power of devotion—the source of strength, love, courage, and motivation—and shares several of the key questions she asks herself in her own practice to keep her receptive to existential grace. Miranda’s inspiring teachings are infused with her foundational sense of divine benevolence; “Grace is alive!” she tells us. And being human, we can embody grace; we can become “grace delivery devices.” Recorded November 1, 2024.

“There’s always more evolution, openness, clarification, expansion, and possibility—because God is exponential.”

• A prayer for all of us—for the human family and the highest possibilities (01:03)
• Introducing interfaith minister, spiritual teacher, author, and leader of the Living Grace Global Sangha, Miranda Macpherson (02:53)
• What brought Miranda to the spiritual path? (03:56)
• Miranda’s early prayer of resistance (I’m done here!) and the subsequent explosion of boundless love (08:37)
• Miranda’s opportunity at a young age to learn what a soul grapples with, hanging out with adults in a psych ward (12:14)
• Were there mentors to help Miranda after her opening? (17:01)
• How much harder it must be for teenagers to copy with existential crisis today (21:59)
• The G word: what is the authentic language of our own soul? (24:17)
• The fear we all have of remembering the ancient, forgotten song (25:14)
• Ultimately it asks for full surrender; then there is only God (27:18)
• It’s in the edgiest places that the biggest openings often happen (28:38)
• For every realization you have to ask, what is its wisdom? How can it be expressed & embodied so its only impact is a blessing? (30:20)
• Are there more people waking up now? (33:39)
• Not knowing what anything is for: being receptive to existential grace (38:17)
• Being absorbed into the depth of the nonconceptual: pure being in its thunderous, unshakable, silent depth (39:48)
• The experience in the cave obliterated everything—all spiritual concepts were erased (42:46)
• How to navigate ordinary life without reconstructing an ego (43:46)

• Miranda’s website: MirandaMacpherson.com
• The Living Grace Global Sangha
• Miranda Macpherson,

Ep. 184 (Part 2 of 2) | In the tenth dialogue of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, Hameed Ali addresses what co-host Roger Walsh calls perhaps Inner Journey Home’s most profound chapter of all, the chapter on True Nature, as well as subjects he writes about in his autobiographical fragment, Luminous Night’s Journey. In the second turning of the Diamond Approach teaching, we transition from exploring individual true nature to boundless true nature—the absolute, ground of all manifestation. Following the mystery of truth, you come to absolute truth, Hameed tells us, and you find a mystery that not only liberates but makes everything happen. Hameed describes the absolute as the radiant blackness before the light, its luminosity awareness, and relates how, in the absolute, the feeling of intimacy is palpable. Here, the soul recognizes “I am home.”

Hameed relates how being and nonbeing are integrated, and about how time and space emerge out of true nature. Every moment is a new creation, he explains, not formed by the past or present, but new, instant to instant, from nonbeing to being. Hameed says true nature is the essence of freedom, and that in these troubled times the important thing is to recognize “I am free” and ultimately indestructible, and to be ourselves, grounded by the truth of our inner nature. Towards the end of the conversation, co-host John Dupuy asks Hameed, “What motivates you? Why aren’t you simply hanging out being true nature?” Hameed laughs and responds, “I am.” Recorded April 10, 2025.

“The idea is to be free. Inwardly.”

• Beingness is what Hameed calls presence; everything is both being and non-being (00:52)
• Being in the world but not of this world (04:12)
• The effects of studying Reichian therapy and breathwork on Hameed’s experience and way of teaching (06:32)
• The body needs to be open and at ease to experience presence; this is why yoga is widely practiced in East Indian traditions (09:17)
• Is having an ego a necessary stage for waking up? (13:01)
• Space and time are created by true nature, even though it is timeless (14:43)
• True nature is the essence of freedom; it is “radically unqualifiable” (19:38)
• The depths of our experience set the limit on our intellectual understanding (22:53)
• In these troubled times, the important thing is to recognize “I am free” and be ourselves, grounded by the truth of our inner nature (25:07)
• Profound equanimity allows deeper compassion to emerge (28:29)
• The values of true nature are fundamental and eternal; how do we manifest these all the time? (29:20)
• After all the amazing, mind-shattering realizations, life becomes ordinary and simple (32:21)
• What motivates Hameed now? (35:24)

• A. H. Almaas (Hameed Ali), founder of The Ridhwan School, home of The Diamond...