Soul's Code

Tony Samara’s code for a daily spiritual dose: selfless service and treating your body as a temple

Tony Samara, founder of the eponymous, non-profit organization, The Samara Foundation for the Evolution of Human Consciousness, lived for several years in a Zen Buddhist monastery.

After leaving the monastery, Tony traveled to the jungles of the Amazon and the Andes, where he lived and studied among a community of shamans.

Soul’s Code: What secrets did you learn from the healers and holy men?

Tony: I worked with many shamans in the jungles and mountains of South America. It is difficult to put into words all the learnings, but one could summarize the essence as being a profound respect for nature and its inherent cycles that help sustain life. That humans can utilize nature to enhance their joy, gives this realm meaning.

An urban mystic, psychotherapist and star student of the late, great Milton Erickson does a deep-dive on love, relationships and the real way to heal from a break-up

THE TAO OF A WOMAN: AN EXCERPT FROM THE NEW BOOK BY MICHELE RITTERMAN — After a therapy session, I hand my client a post-it note that highlights what we have accomplished. These mysterious hypnotic mantras find their way to a wallet, an iPhone, or a fridge door . . . I know you will discover something more than I can know:

Relationships

We are social creatures, yet in our competitive, aggressive and nano-second-centric world, it is not easy to relate to each other, much less to sustain our bonds.

Good love stays close to our bones and whispers to us the secrets about who we are. Good love has synchronicity and a rhythm.

The toll of road rage is harmful to yourself and other living things. One spiritual driver steers his emotions with a lesson from A Course in Miracles, Guy Finley and Leo Tolstoy

GUEST COLUMN: BRYAN WALTON — The dense traffic was inching along the highway and once again I was resigned to being home late that night. In the rear view mirror I caught a glimpse of a vehicle, about six cars back, sneak out onto the shoulder and accelerate past the slowly moving convoy. As the SUV drove by, I felt a wave of anger and resentment towards the inconsiderate driver.

But, almost immediately, I had a twinge of guilt for having such intense negative feelings; I consider myself a nice guy, laid-back, and tolerant. The guilt must have had an effect on me: within a couple of minutes, the feelings dissipated and I was back to my normal self.

Claire Elek’s paintings have names like, “The Hero’s Journey into the Bone Forest.” In a Soul’s Code exclusive, Elek reveals her own heroine’s path of self-discovery

The color-infused canvases of Toronto-based artist, Claire Elek, will float you into a world resplendent with dreamy, mythical images.

She has the depth of a spiritual teacher when talking about shamanism, Jungian theology and female archetypes — and not surprisingly, they are powerful influences in her paintings.

A catalyst for Elek’s highly-collectible art (one of her drawings is owned by Canadian author Margaret Atwood) were her Gauguin-like travels through South America and Southeast Asia.

With meditation and practice you can learn to commune with pets and all of God’s creatures

GUEST COLUMN: KAREN ANDERSON — For as long as I can remember I have always loved animals. When I was young I remember spending the day with my animal friends, sharing all of my hopes and dreams with them.

At that age, I had the ability to understand what the animals were experiencing and feeling, and thought everyone could do so. I was able to sense their happiness, sadness and sometimes even their pain.

Many years later, after my communicating abilities had long-since faded, I was deep in meditation when spirit guides came to me and unveiled the path I would soon take.

Cultural psychology, sociology, and evolution all prove the theory of Spiral Dynamics — here’s your free lesson

GUEST COLUMN: MICK QUINN AND DEBORA PRIETO — My personal opinion is that, from an absolute point of view, we are all one, and equal. However, from a relative point of view the story is a bit different. In the past, I always had trouble trying to reconcile the fact that I am the same as the Buddha. . .as well as a maniacal dictator.  We definitely don’t regularly behave like one over the other, but everyone has the potential for both types of behavior.  Studying Spiral Dynamics (SD) is what helped me find peace with this issue.

You may have heard of a concept called “meme.” It’s a word tossed around by many, such as Richard Dawkins in his three-decade-old book The Selfish Gene, and by the mystic and author Caroline Myss. But meme is just part of what is included in the theory of SD. In what follows, we’ll share with you a primer on the history and evolution of SD, as well as explain how this knowledge can benefit you personally and professionally.

Call it a peak experience, meditation or tuning in. To one Aussie teacher, “it” felt like a bliss called love

GUEST COLUMN: NHYS GLOVER — Once while teaching a personal development class  in Australia, I asked my students to relate the feeling of one of those moments in their lives when their cup was running over with joy.

They stared blankly at me.

“You don’t know this feeling? Not even when something really good happened in your life?” I asked incredulously.

They all shook their heads. I was gob-smacked. To live life without having those moments of intense joy or happiness seemed like no life at all.

I wondered how people could survive without those moments. I wondered what life would be like without them. I can’t even imagine.

Our thoughts can create a personal heaven or hell. A psychic guide offers four ways to tune your inner voice to a higher frequency.     

GUEST COLUMN: PHYLLIS KING — When people ask me about their love life, money, or career, often the answer is not about whom they are going to meet, if they’ll make money, or whether they should change careers.

More often, the answer lies somewhere between one’s self-perception and how he or she relates to the human experience.

I am constantly reminding people about the truth of life we too often forget: remembering begets the empowerment to allow good to happen in life.

What we give our attention to is what we bring into our lives.

Look at your life: your circumstances as well as your feelings every moment of every day, and this will tell you exactly the quality and content of your thoughts and beliefs.

An animal communicator talks about the complexities surrounding the decision to let your friend pass on

GUEST COLUMN: KAREN ANDERSON — One of the most difficult decisions we will ever make is when to say goodbye to our beloved animal companions.

Those of you who have struggled with this painful decision know the ups and downs of your emotions, the guilt, the uncertainty and the sadness of it all.

You are not alone in your pain. I receive many calls from distraught humans in the same situation who just want to be sure the time is right.  Although their situations are each different and unique, the ultimate result is the same.

They have made the decision to end their animal’s life. . .

The solution to today’s most popular problem: Improved spiritual care will improve health care

BY DAVID RICKEY — The long ranging and raging debate over Health Care Reform reveals a more fundamental problem: human beings, even in the more educated and “enlightened” countries, may not be ready for the next major shift in spiritual evolution.

The questions asked on all sides — “How much will it cost me? Will I lose my freedom to choose? Will I get the care I need when I need it?” — demonstrate how we remain caught up in ego-centric concerns.

Only a few seem to be asking, “How can all people share in the benefits of medical care?”