Loch Kelly, M.Div., LCSW is the author of, Shift into Freedom: The Science and Practice of Open-Hearted Awareness. He is an educator, licensed psychotherapist and recognized leader in the field of nondual meditation who was asked to teach Sutra Mahamudra by Mingyur Rinpoche and nondual meditation by Adyashanti. Loch has worked in community mental health, established homeless shelters and counseled family members of 9/11. He is the founder of the non-profit Open-Hearted Awareness Institute. Loch collaborates with neuroscientists at Yale, UPenn and NYU to study how awareness training can enhance compassion and wellbeing. Visit lochkelly.org.
Episode Outline:
- Living A Fully Intimate Human Life — The unique premise of Loch Kelly’s book is that wellbeing is not found by calming the mind, changing our thoughts or adjusting our attitudes, but by actually shifting into a level of mind that is already calm and alert.” That “awakening and living from open-hearted awareness is the next stage of human development” “helping you discover how to live a fully intimate human life.” Our conversation begins with Loch expanding on this description.
- Accessibility Is Key – Loch and I talk about the importance of presenting “spiritual” material in a way that’s accessible to both those who are religious, and those who have no interest in religion, and even traditional “spirituality” at all.
- Awareness Is Awake – Loch discusses what he calls, “Awake Awareness” and explains how we can access that.
- Form Is Emptiness And Emptiness, Form – Loch and I discuss integrating both the Absolute and relative, or from and formlessness, into our spiritual practice and experience.
- It’s Not An “It” — Loch talks about the fact that Awake Awareness, though readily accessible as our natural state of being at any given moment, is difficult for most people to recognize and experience. He also shares a practice for listeners to experience it.
- Local Awareness – Loch talks about “local awareness” as being an expression of Awake Awareness, and how accessing that state can help us to unhook from our traditionally discursive minds.
- The Difference Between Local Awareness And Attention – Loch discusses the importance of understanding the difference between local awareness and attention and shares a practice for listeners to experience the difference.
- Suffering, Awakening And Addiction/Recovery – Loch and I discuss the role suffering can play in an individuals awakening, ways that we unnecessarily suffer, and a direct method for seeing through the root of suffering.
Recommendations:
Loch’s Website: www.lochkelly.org
Loch’s Books: Shift into Freedom: The Science and Practice of Open-Hearted Awareness
Loch’s Audio: Shift into Freedom: A Training in the Science and Practice of Open-hearted Awareness
Other Books: