The Spiritual Forum

Episode 184 - Life Explained with Hans Wilhelm

Hans Wilhelm is a mystic, author, and illustrator of over 200 books for all ages – including some together with Byron Katie. His books have sold over 40 million copies and are translated into 30 languages. Hans has recently created over 130 short YouTube videos in which he visually explains the spiritual laws of the universe. These short videos (~8 minutes each) help bring clarity to many of life’s spiritual questions and they remind us of our divine nature and why we are here. Accessible for free to everyone at lifeexplained.com, they have been watched by over 17 million viewers. In this episode Hans shares his spiritual path and we delve into the contents of three of his videos: “The Amazing Earth School,” “Forgiveness,” and the “Law of Projection.” Also mentioned in this episode are “The Christ Spark” and “Family.”
In this episode we talk about many things including:
What our primary fear is
The armor of gratitude
What forgiveness really is
How projection works
The mirror nature of our adversaries
How to look at evil
How to release ourselves from victimhood
website: lifeexplained.com
video index: https://www.lifeexplained.com/video-index
children’s books: https://www.lifeexplained.com/shop

Episode 183 - The Road to Eden, Whole Planet Spirituality

In this episode, Rev. Carol shares the essence of her opening remarks at The Road to Eden Whole Planet Spirituality Forum & Retreat at Unity Village, which set the stage for the weekend. What/where is Eden? Why does it matter? What is Whole Planet Spirituality? Most of us sense that the world of normalized violence that we live in today is not aligned with our divine natures. Rev. Carol shares her thoughts on this and also shares some early Unity history and a brief sampling of some of the forgotten teachings of Unity founders, Charles and Myrtle Fillmore. The Fillmores lived in alignment with their values and were in action in the world as ambassadors of love and peace at all levels, for all beings. They are exemplars of Eden travelers and Whole Planet Spirituality.
Next year’s Whole Planet Spirituality retreat at Unity Village is set for October 19-22, 2023.
Here are the Charles Fillmore quotes shared in this podcast:
“The master on the spiritual plane is not a slave driver. He does not use force. The only law that he recognizes is love. To this law he must be true in all its ramifications throughout the universe of forms. He must love every creature, every beast in the field, every fowl of the air. His love must flow forth in protecting streams when any creature is in danger of violence or destruction. He must recognize all life as God’s life, destined by a wise arrangement to be in its right place wherever he finds it. Thus he cannot in any way sanction the killing of animals for food.”
 “Flesh-Eating Metaphysically Considered,” 1910
“But in the matter of animal slaughter, who countenances it or defends it, after his eyes have been opened to the unity of life? Yet every time we eat meat we are accessories of those who committed the overt act. We stand, in the sight of the moral law, exactly where the receivers of stolen goods stand in the civil law.” 
From “Education and Temperance,” November, 1933
“There is a relation between thinking and eating, and as you grow spiritually the character of your food and all that pertains to eating may have to be changed in conformity with the new order of things. If you will leave meat and all animal products out of your food you will see a change for the better.”  Atom-Smashing Power of Mind
“We need never look for universal peace on this earth until men stop killing animals for food. The lust for blood has permeated the race thought and the destruction of life will continue to repeat its psychology the world round, until men willingly observe the law in all phases of life, ‘Thou shalt not kill.’”
From “The Vegetarian,” May, 1920
NOTE: The rate of animal slaughter in the USA is 1 million per hour. If humans were decimated at that rate, it would be equivalent to the populations of New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio and San Diego (the eight most populous US cities) disappearing in a single day. And then again the next day. Every day. That is a lot of killing.

Episode 182 - Recovering From Fundamentalism

Amethyst Mahoney is an ex-fundamentalist and former psychologist turned Tarot reader and coach. She spent decades reading and researching religious texts and helping others overcome self-doubt while understanding the history and multiple interpretations of the Bible. Amethyst is passionate about helping people find freedom from fundamentalism without succumbing to toxic spirituality or spiritual bypassing. She is also the founder of Spiritual Badass and the author of the Life Map System. In this episode we have a lively conversation about a lot of things including:
• Religious trauma
• Spiritual bypass
• The hidden ways fundamentalism permeates our culture
• The original blessing
• Keeping a connection with God while finding a new path
Spiritual Badass https://spiritualbadass.info/
The Life Map System book at thelifemapsystem.com

Episode 181 - Leaving Religion, Questioning Everything & Finding the Self

Alan Abrahams was an ultra Orthodox Jew living in London. For many years he taught Jewish philosophy and spent most of his spare time studying Jewish literature. During his 20’s, Alan had a transformative experience at a retreat where all his worries and anxieties instantly fell away, and he saw what lay behind our personal mind. This experience changed him and he felt happy for no reason at all. Fast forward to his early thirties and together with his wife and children, Alan made the tough decision to leave his job and religion. That was the beginning of a journey that challenged him beyond anything he could ever have imagined. In this episode Alan shares his remarkable journey of awakening that caused him to question everything and ultimately land in a place that authentically reflected his true Self. Through it all he miraculously remained connected to his family. Alan also shares his remarkable spiritual practice of simply listening.

Episode 180 - Let There Be Space Time!

An MIT educated physicist and lifelong Catholic, Thomas Sheahen, PhD serves as a unique bridge between science and religion. He is the author of the recently published book, Everywhen – God, Symmetry and Time, which expands the reader’s thinking about the nature of God and the time-space reality we live in. What came before “In the beginning?” What happens “after” life? Everything we know is constrained by time, but God/the Divine isn’t. In this episode we discuss these questions as well as:
• The time transcendent nature of God
• How science supports religious faith
• The mistake that Creationism and Darwinism both make
• What “let there be light!” means
• The need to remain humble
• The false gods of science
© the spiritual forum 2022
Thomas Sheahen's book: https://www.amazon.com/Everywhen-Symmetry-Dr-Thomas-Sheahen/dp/195671510X

TSF Episode 179 - It’s All Energy! Learning to Heal Your Own Body

After being steered down multiple dead ends in the medical community, Dr. Jess Bell, an osteopathic physician with over 20 years of experience, was guided to find her own solutions. She founded Energetic Osteopathy™, which bridges traditional osteopathic treatment and energy medicine, and ultimately teaches people how to work inside their own bodies energetically. In this episode we hear how Jess came to be aware of a much greater source of healing than she had learned from her medical training. We have a lively conversation that includes:
• The natural ability we all have to heal our own bodies
• The co-dependent relationship we have with medical professionals
• The healing energy of love and power of the heart
• The energetic upgrade that is happening within people and on the planet
Dr. Jess's website: https://www.centersforenergetichealing.com/
Online self-healing community: https://selfhealingimmersion.com
Receive one month free membership: one month FREE membership: https://selfhealingimmersion.com/plans/202084?bundle_token=6c0cc1ddfbbff7d0b6c86951caeed945&utm_source=manual
NOTE: In this episode Rev. Carol mentions the healing story at the Pool of Bethesda. Here is the full scripture in John chapter 5:
Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”  “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

Episode 178 - An End to Upside Down Thinking with Mark Gober

“Everything I thought I knew about reality had to be reconsidered.” – Mark Gober
How many people in your world can say that? A Princeton grad, former Silicon Valley tech group partner and investment banking analyst, Mark Gober questioned his fundamental reality (i.e. the reality we all live in) resulting in his four books: An End to Upside Down Thinking (2019), An End to Upside Down Living (2020), An End to Upside Down Liberty (2021), and An End to Upside Down Contact (2022). In this episode we cover a range of topics including:
The materialistic paradigm we all live in
The nature of consciousness - it precedes the material
The iterative process of awakening
The four categories of spiritual practice
Compassion with discernment
The importance of individuality
The unfortunate suppression of science involving consciousness
It’s a very lively and enlightening conversation. Gober currently serves on the board of the Institute of Noetic Sciences and the School of Wholeness and Enlightenment, and hosts the remarkable podcast, "Where Is My Mind?"
© the spiritual forum 2022
For books and podcast: https://markgober.com/
Institute of Noetic Sciences: https://noetic.org/
School of Wholeness and Enlightenment: https://www.soweglobal.com/
In this episode Rev. Carol mentions a 'video' on 9/11. It was actually a five-hour documentary called, September 11: The New Pearl Harbor. It can be found on YouTube. Learn more here: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3828916/

Episode 177 - Ambiguous Grief: Losing a Loved One Who Is Still Alive

Ambiguous grief is the emotional state that occurs with the loss of a loved one, but not to physical death -- when someone is still living yet their relationship with us has changed. This can show up as loss due to divorce, addiction, cognitive decline, incarceration, familial estrangement and more. After Stephanie Serazin had her own experience with ambiguous grief, she sought out her own healing which led to further research, discoveries about hope, and co-authoring the Ambiguous Grief Process Model. In this episode we talk about grief as a portal to our higher self, the gift and trap of hope, our societal propensity to not share grief, and the family dynamics that ensures challenges are kept private. Called to action by Spirit, Stephanie now works to bring awareness to ambiguous grief as a nuanced, natural, and navigable response to loss. She is the founder of the Rise Up Rooted Community and her book, SoulBroken, will be published in October, 2022.
“Grief is the price we pay for love. So if you’re grieving any loss, say to your heart, ‘Well done.’” — Stephanie Serazin
RiseUprooted.net
stephaniesarazin.com
Soulbroken: A Guidebook for Your Journey Through Ambiguous Grief: https://www.amazon.com/Soulbroken-Guidebook-Journey-Through-Ambiguous/dp/1538709759