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Deep Transformation

Deep Transformation

By: Roger Walsh and John Dupuy
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Deep Transformation offers dialogues with cutting-edge thinkers, artists, contemplatives, and activists who combine big-picture, integrative perspectives with profound, contemplative depths. With these remarkable people, we explore the great questions of our time, such as how best to live, and how best to heal, learn, create, and contribute in our era of unprecedented challenges and opportunities. Visit our website at https://deeptransformation.io/ to learn more.Copyright 2026 Roger Walsh and John Dupuy Personal Development Personal Success Philosophy Social Sciences Spirituality
Episodes
  • The Practice of Equanimity: Cultivating a Heart Big Enough to Hold Everything

    The Practice of Equanimity: Cultivating a Heart Big Enough to Hold Everything
    Apr 9 2026
    Ep. 229 (Part 2 of 2) | In part 2 of our What is Real Greatness Series podcast with Margaret Cullen, author of Quiet Strength, Margaret continues to enlighten us about equanimity: its power, its wisdom, and its practice. She relates some of the history of equanimity—first considered a supreme virtue in Stoicism, then passed on to Sufism and Judaism—and explains that throughout time, equanimity (and humility) have always been an integral part of people who have made a true difference in the world. Margaret talks about how humor can break the spell of our trance (“when we lose equanimity, we get caught in a trance, believing in something that has us prisoner—humor breaks the spell”), and, in the spirit of “The Serenity Prayer” (“Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference”), she encourages us to make peace with what we can realistically do and let the rest go.While Part 1 of this dialogue focuses on the power of equanimity in relation to the big picture and what is going on now politically, in Part 2 Margaret looks at practicing equanimity in personal relationships and in our individual lives. She marvels at Thoreau’s equanimous approach to his own death, and shares that she has found forgiveness to be the most important equanimity tool in relationships. “We reclaim our wisdom when we say ‘I’m sorry,’” Margaret explains. Margaret’s deep and nuanced understanding of the power and practice of equanimity is inspiring and illuminating, and bringing this virtue to our attention as a pragmatic tool we can use is also incredibly timely, leaving us with a sense of hope and empowerment. Recorded January 14, 2026.“What aids in my equanimity more than anything else is self-forgiveness.”Topics & Time Stamps – Part 2Welcome teacher, what am I supposed to be learning? (00:59)How humor can break the spell that holds us prisoner (03:03)The relationship between equanimity and peace (05:17)The praise and blame algorithm has exponentially increased our reactivity (08:14)Equanimity was a supreme virtue in Stoicism; the Stoics passed it on to the Sufis, who passed it on to Judaism (11:11)Thoreau’s equanimous approach to death (12:24)Nature’s effect on one’s equanimity (13:29)Equanimity is an integral part of true change makers, also humility (14:27)What practice would Margaret most recommend to cultivate equanimity? (17:19)Making peace with what you can do and letting the rest go (21:03)Practicing equanimity in relationships (22:13)Using self-forgiveness as an equanimity tool (23:44)In relationships, softening where we’re most triggered helps more than imposing ideals of how we should be (26:25)One key flavor of equanimity is non-defensiveness (28:51)Resources & References – Part 2Margaret Cullen, Quiet Strength: Find Peace, Feel Alive, and Love Boundlessly Through the Power of EquanimitySwami Beyondanda on the Deep Transformation podcast: Laugh Yourself Sane, Enlighten Up & Awaken to Cosmic Comic ConsciousnessMaimonides introduced the concept of equanimity to JudaismStoicism, a philosophical movement & practical guide to living originating in ancient GreeceWhen asked about facing death, Thoreau said, “One world at a time.” Henrietta Christian Wright, American Men of LettersSri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of YogaSufi teacher Habīb Boerger, “Rather than making the ego your boss, make it your personal assistant”The Serenity Prayer (Reinhold Niebuhr’s original version)Richard Davidson & Daniel Goleman, Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and BodyPaul & Eve Ekman’s Cultivating Emotional Balance training“We could not help contrasting the equanimity of Nature with the bustle and impatience of man. His words and actions presume always a crisis near at hand, but she is forever silent and unpretending.” – Henry David Thoreau---Margaret Cullen, a Licensed Psychotherapist (MFT), has been at the cutting edge of translating contemplative trainings into universal and accessible formats in mainstream settings ranging from elite military to maximum security prisons. She was one of the first certified Teachers of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR); is the founder of Mindfulness-Based Emotional Balance; and is co-developer of Compassion Cultivation Training at the Stanford School of Medicine (with Thupten Jinpa). Margaret also co-developed Mindfulness Based Attention Training for military spouses with neuroscientist Amishi Jha at the University of Miami, and is the founder of Compassion Corps, offering free compassion and mindfulness programs to under-resourced communities around the world. Margaret is a Fellow of the Mind & Life Institute.---Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell
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    37 mins
  • The Power & Wisdom of Equanimity: Getting Beyond Reactivity to Inner Calm & Clarity

    The Power & Wisdom of Equanimity: Getting Beyond Reactivity to Inner Calm & Clarity
    Apr 2 2026
    Ep. 228 (Part 1 of 2) | In part 1 of our second What is Real Greatness Series podcast, Margaret Cullen, author of the newly published book Quiet Strength: Find Peace, Feel Alive, and Love Boundlessly Through the Power of Equanimity, explains there is far more power in the virtue of equanimity than we may have thought. Because equanimity is associated with non-reactivity, people often confuse it with a neutral sort of feeling, a dampener of emotions, when actually, equanimity allows us to expand our capacity to feel; it widens our tolerance and empowers us to be comfortable with change. “Equanimity is big enough to include our broken, despairing hearts,” Margaret says. “We can hold a vision of equanimity that is completely inclusive of the human experience.” Practicing equanimity allows us to deepen our love—for the world and for others—without becoming attached.Margaret shares practical ways we can access equanimity—ways we can achieve conceptual clarity or a “wedge of spaciousness” when a moment has been hijacked by out-of-control emotions; how we can learn to turn directly and fully to what is arising in the moment; and how we can unhook from reactivity by not taking things too personally. “How can we respond heroically to the times we live in?” co-host John Dupuy asks. Margaret shares what she has learned teaching military units and special forces to cultivate equanimity—equanimity can save lives—and describes a compassion cultivation training program that has been established for police officers in California. Takeaways from this discussion may have important, powerful, timely effects on your life—and all of our lives; as John put it, “Never before have we had such a need for the medicine Margaret brings us.” Recorded January 14, 2026.“How do we care about this world that is in so much trouble without feeling overwhelmed? The answer is equanimity.“Topics & Time Stamps – Part 1Introducing podcast #2 in our What is Real Greatness Series with Margaret Cullen, psychotherapist, meditation & compassion cultivation trainer, author of Quiet Strength: Find Peace, Feel Alive, and Love Boundlessly Through the Power of Equanimity (00:48)What is equanimity and how did Margaret begin to experience it? (03:07)Coming to understand we don’t have control over the happiness of our loved ones (07:27)Finding a way to deepen our love without attachment (11:21) How can we respond heroically to the times we live in? (13:21)Equanimity is wisdom; wisdom is equanimity (17:16)Equanimity is big enough to include our broken, despairing hearts—we can hold a vision of equanimity that is completely inclusive of the human experience (18:11)Ways to access equanimity: perspective taking (22:12)Remembering the reality of impermanence (26:18)Unhooking from reactivity: Am I taking things too personally? (26:31)Cultivating equanimity in the military can make a huge difference—it can save lives (30:55)Compassion cultivation training program for police officers (32:51)The reframing technique & the power of turning directly to what is arising in the moment (37:31)Emotions are packed with important information for us; we gradually learn we can turn towards an emotion and survive it (38:28)Studies show that when subjected to provocative stimuli, practiced meditators actually feel more than other people (40:03)Resources & References – Part 1Margaret Cullen, Quiet Strength: Find Peace, Feel Alive, and Love Boundlessly Through the Power of EquanimityMargaret Cullen founded Compassion Corps, offering free compassion & mindfulness training to under-resourced communities around the world; co-developed Compassion Cultivation Training at Stanford University, and is a founding faculty of the Compassion InstituteChögyam Trungpa, preeminent teacher of Tibetan Buddhism, founded Naropa UniversitySharon Salzburg, co-founder of the Barre Insight Meditation SocietyDr. Dan Siegel’s window of tolerance is described in ​​The Developing Mind: How Relationships and the Brain Interact to Shape Who We AreJoseph Goldstein, co-founder of the Barre Insight Meditation Society, on Deep Transformation: Living on the Spiritual EdgeAmishi Jha & Elizabeth Stanley, pioneers of bringing mindfulness into the militaryCourageous Heart, compassion cultivation training program for police officers in CaliforniaChief Ryan Johansen & former officer Chris Orrey on Deep Transformation: Enlightened Ways to Make Policing Work For EveryonePaul & Eve Ekman’s Cultivating Emotional Balance trainingRichard Davidson & Daniel Goleman, Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and BodyJames Baraz on the Deep Transformation podcast: Awakening Joy---Margaret Cullen, a Licensed Psychotherapist (MFT), has been at the cutting edge of translating contemplative trainings into universal and accessible formats in mainstream settings ranging from elite military to maximum security prisons. She was one of the first ...
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    44 mins
  • The Awe & Ecstasy of Surrendering to the Inner Beloved

    The Awe & Ecstasy of Surrendering to the Inner Beloved
    Mar 26 2026
    Ep. 227 (Part 2 of 2) | In Part 2 of Deep Transformation’s second Path of Love Series dialogue, A. H. Almaas explains that the inner beloved is at work in our hearts, pulling us irresistibly nearer as we venture forward on the path of love. The force comes and pulls us, he says, melts us and overwhelms us—sometimes with wounding and sometimes with ecstasy. Our great love for the inner beloved ultimately dissolves our attachments to other, smaller beloveds, which can be big things—family, friends, teachers—or little things: ice cream, cake, our favorite movie star. But our heart isn’t going to be happy until it meets the beloved face to face, Hameed assures us. Then, after emptying our heart, when we finally behold the inner beloved, love becomes the nature of the whole universe. Now our relationships are expressions of the inner beloved, and we find we love everything.What makes the Diamond Approach’s path of love unique is that it uses love and inquiry combined to penetrate the obstacles that arise along the path. Thus, obstacles are not only burnt away through sheer devotion but also understood and recognized for what they are. Hameed also explains the difference between spiritual poverty of the soul and mystical poverty of the heart, between realization of the absolute via the path of mind versus the path of love, that nonduality is an outer expression of the inner beloved, and describes his own astonishing experience of “thunder and lightning in the heart” on this path. Towards the end of the conversation, Hameed reminds us that when we feel love, that is the beginning. Take the love itself rather than the object of the love, he says, and let it get bigger, let it get deeper, see where it takes you. Recorded January 8, 2026.“The beloved is the source of love and what loves everything.”Topics & Time Stamps – Part 2The path of love also has many joys and rewards (00:30) The experience of the absolute on this path is distinctly about love (02:41)The Diamond Approach’s inquiry practice allows us to understand the obstacles that arise (05:11)Relationship can be a path on its own, but it’s not the same as the path of love, where outer relationships are disengaged from (09:30)Mystical poverty: when the heart has nothing left in it, only the inner beloved (12:53)The inner beloved is a jealous lover (13:44)When we finally behold the inner beloved, we find we love everything (14:18)Hameed’s experience of thunder & lightning in the heart (15:23)The inner beloved is the source of love, the source of the universe (17:10)Nonduality is an outer expression of the inner beloved (17:40)Love has a magnetic component to it; the inner beloved wants to be one with us (21:19)Mystical poverty is a relinquishment of all competing loves; love is what melts the attachments (23:46)Mystical poverty of the soul is not the same as mystical poverty of the heart (25:40)We need to remember the mystery of the inner beloved (28:05)The soul is an experiential lens for perceiving inner truth (28:52)When we feel love, that’s the beginning; let it get bigger, let it get deeper, see where it takes you (30:22)Love is the most powerful force in the spiritual universe (30:44)For fans of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, the Wisdom Series, based on Hameed’s book The Inner Journey Home, will be continued later this spring.Resources & References – Part 2A. H. Almaas, The Inner Beloved: The Heart’s Journey to Divine UnityPoet Longchenpa only rarely talks about love and beauty, Finding Rest in the Nature of the MindRamakrishna, Hindu mystic devoted to KaliAdvaita VedantaA Course in Miracles, a path which focuses on relationshipsSt. John of the Cross, Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night of the Soul---Deep Transformation’s Path of Love Series with A. H. AlmaasDeep Transformation’s Path of Love Series with A. H. Almaas begins with an overview of Hameed Ali’s Love Trilogy — Love Unveiled, Nondual Love, and The Inner Beloved — to orient us on the spiritual path of love unique to Hameed Ali and the Diamond Approach, then delves into the profound and deeply touching topics Hameed addresses in his most recent book, The Inner Beloved, published in February 2026. Listeners may want to get a copy of this book, to study and follow along on this extraordinary path of awakening. Also, if you are interested in taking a course on The Inner Beloved in the fall of 2026, you can register your interest here: https://da.pages.ontraport.net/inner-beloved-interest.---Special Diamond Approach Course Discount for Deep Transformation ListenersIf you are interested in taking a course offered by Diamond Approach Online, Hameed’s team at the Ridhwan School have offered a special 20% discount for Deep Transformation listeners. You can access the Course Catalog here: https://online.diamondapproach.org/catalog/. And enter the code DTP20 to receive your discount when you sign up.---Hameed Ali (A. H. Almaas) was born in Kuwait in ...
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    35 mins
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