On Love and The Illusion of Separateness | Elias Amidon

For decades globally renowned spiritual teacher Elias Amidon has been keenly interested in the possibility of awakening to our most enlightened nature.

This fascination has led him to live a deeply engaged life. 

Serving as Spiritual Director (Pir) of the Sufi Way,

Working for many years in peace and environmental activism,

Helping to cofound several schools including the Boulder Institute for Nature and the Human Spirit, and the graduate program in Environmental Leadership at Naropa University.

And authoring a wide array of books that often invite reflection and inquiry into the very nature of reality. 

Today we will continue our deep exploration of Love, in this penultimate episode of a mini-series that has featured some of the world's leading thinkers, researchers, teachers, storytellers, activists, and artists. 

In this conversation, we'll explore some of Elias's greatest insights into what it is that connects us all. 

A subject which he reflects on often,

Writing the following in his book, Love’s Drum: Sufi Views, Practices, and Stories: 

"Whatever we call it, this-that-does-not-perish is what connects us with everything 

- each other, the trees, the mountains, the sky, the stars, 

and all beings who have ever appeared. 

We remain the unique beings we are, 

but we recognize we're not alone in our beingness, we are with the entirety. 

I think of this withness as love.” 

Elias’s work invites us all to open to the possibility of awakening and experiencing the beauty all around us,

As we make our way home, to Love. 

A journey of return that he calls 

our birthright. 

To learn more about Elias, his retreats, courses, books, and other offerings please visit sufiway.org.

Did you find this episode inspiring? Here are other conversations from our mini-series on Love:

• On the Possibility of Meeting Hate with Love | Dr. Barbara Tint
• On Awakening, Belonging, and Love | Henry Shukman
• On Love, Storytelling, and Radical Curiosity | Baktash Ahadi
• On the Power of Love | Stephen G. Post

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