Showing results by publisher "New Dimensions Foundation" in Politics & Social Sciences

Characterized by petty rivalries, self-indulgence and lack of responsibility, our actions fail to fulfill what Robert Bly describes as our true soul longing. With characteristic irreverence and storytelling from various cultures, Bly tells us what we should be doing about green-haired adolescents and idle elders, not to mention televisions and computers. His insightful focus illuminates the truths and possibilities of a culture caught in an adolescent phase of development.

Bly describes the three necessary and sequential life phases symbolized by three colors - the "red, white and black," in the Grimm Brothers' fairy tale "Iron John." He casts a penetrating light on these male life stages, describing complications that arise, for example, when a boy skips the red and goes directly to the white. He also discusses how these stages, when fulfilled, affect men's relationships with women.

An extraordinary visit with one of America's leading poets provides a unique exploration of the mystery of maleness. Bly uses fairy tales to illuminate the dark recesses of the psyche, and the result is a powerful intimation of the male experience and potential. From the soft, feminine male persona to the deeply buried wildman, Bly takes us on a journey through unmapped territory of the masculine. For men and women this is a conversation not to be missed.

Farmer, ecologist, and writer Berry provides some rich and fertile ground for recreating life and culture. He speaks of enduring values, the wholeness of life and the interdependence of all creatures, especially humankind. Berry's self-discipline, ethical sense and human compassion come through as he leads us from the microcosm of his Kentucky hill farm to the macrocosm of a sane and reasoned planetary vision based on personal integrity, faithfulness, and love.

The awesome potential of the human brain can only be tapped by providing the best possible learning environment at the earliest possible age. Scientific research has shown that television damages the full neural development of children's brains, crippling their capacity for symbol and metaphor. Pearce envisions a society in which our brains and spirits can develop to their highest potential.

This gifted storyteller poignantly shares the memories of those mentors and teachers who profoundly influenced her life. She speaks of her voluntary muteness as a child. Even in this silence, "Mama" (Angelou's grandmother) spoke prophetically to the child's unbelieving ears: "You'll speak about the glorious nature of the human spirit and what we can be striving for."

New Dimensions is an original and powerful forum for inspired and inspiring voices and views on a wide range of timely and timeless topics. Activism, art, education, science, psychology, philosophy, health, spirituality, global transformation, cross-cultural traditions, the interconnectedness of all life … All these and more are featured in this award-winning one-hour interview program that has been broadcast on public radio since 1973. For more information and over a thousand hours of downloadable programs visit newdimensions.org

Are there universal human ethics? Mark Matousek discusses his research on the subject of ethical wisdom through interviews with social scientists, spiritual leaders, ex-cons, altruists and philosophers. He describes the five innate moral and ethical categories he finds to be hardwired into humans, and how our emotional impulses effect our ethical behavior.

Living your dream and following your heart are possible for anyone willing to engage life with passion, according to Sinetar, an organizational psychologist, who has studied many people who have become successful doing what they love. Self-esteem, overcoming resistance, accepting and forgiving oneself, taking risks, and more are addressed in this visionary yet practical view of merging life and work.

There are enormous gifts in growing older and wiser, and Angeles Arrien is working to help bring that awareness to our culture at large, to those of us who've passed the 50-year milestone - and also to those who are headed in that direction. Arrien identifies the opportunities we have in the second half of our lives to move beyond obligation and say yes to our natural rhythms and deepest desires.

Topics explored in this dialogue include: how you can address the greatest challenge of our times, the role of the arts in deep ecology, how the shift from linear thinking to systems thinking in the sciences affects us now and in the future, understanding the complexity of living systems and life itself, why creativity is the driving force of evolution, what religion and deep ecology have in common, what's really behind the information age, and the mathematics of complexity.

In the context of 9/11, anthropologist, educator and award-winning author Angeles Arrien shares her deep wisdom and invites us to explore the significance of change and how to view it in our lives in creative and practical ways. Arrien suggests that the great journey of life is made up of phases and changes, and that there are always signals and signposts to guide us.

Drunk with the Divine, Rumi wrote 20,000 poems of mystical, ineffable love of God. "There is a ferocity in his longing that maybe we don't understand," says Barks. Listen in and understand a little better. A wondrous, exhilarating look at the exultant poetry of Jelaluddin Rumi, the 13th century Sufi poet, with Coleman Barks.

Making a living while following one's bliss is too often seen as an impossible dream, too idealistic, and pragmatically unattainable. Not so, according to Nancy Anderson, who provides a wealth of wisdom and myriad ways to discover your passion and follow your heart to a financially and personally rewarding career. She emphasizes the need to choose work that you love in order to lead a fully productive, integrated life - a life filled with happiness and satisfaction.

As the founder of the Mo Tzu Project, Bob Fuller travels the planet as a citizen diplomat, searching out the roots of conflict in the hope of learning what can be done to make peace a reality, not just a dream. He has the rare ability to cut through the usual rhetoric we hear, and reveal, clearly and concisely, perspectives that often are so basic and simple we cannot imagine why they aren't more widely accepted.

The Afghan-Soviet War could be called an "invisible war", since it is largely unnoticed in the West. Yet more than five million Afghans are refugees, and estimates of the dead range from one to two million. Here two principals of the Mo Tzu Project, a citizens diplomacy endeavor, who have recently visited the Afghan refugee camps on the Afghan-Pakistani border, report the facts as they have observed them.

Do you ever find yourself a little mumblemouthed? Or do you go to the dictionary to look up a word, only to get sidetracked when other, more interesting words catch your eye? If so, you share Phil Cousineau’s dynamic relationship with words. For him they’re playthings, enchantresses, magical sounds that can stir your heart, and mementos that tell fascinating stories about the lives of the ancestors who created them. The way we use them has more power than we may realize.

We've all felt the sting of rankism - at the hands of a dictatorial boss, a condescending teacher, an arrogant doctor, or an imperious bureaucrat. And most of us have inflicted it on someone else. We are, all of us, both victims and perpetrators of rankism, and Robert Fuller argues that it's time for a novel, all-encompassing strategy to confront it in all its guises.

What makes power tick and how does it become entrenched and abused? Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, so the saying goes. What lies beneath power? In this dialogue, Robert Fuller points to a hidden form of discrimination that everyone knows but no one sees: discrimination based on rank.

Activism, art, education, science, psychology, philosophy, health, spirituality… All these and more are featured in this lively, short (10-20 minute) companion to the diverse, award-winning one-hour New Dimensions program that has been broadcast on public radio since 1973. For more information and over a thousand hours of downloadable programs visit newdimensions.org.