In a telephone interview, Robert Rabbin discusses the power of authentic self-expression. (Includes all 8 parts.)

Part 1 — Breaking Out of the Self-Suppression Habit

• Do our ideas about spiritual teachers cause us to reach for an imagined, idealized state, that we can never achieve?

• There is a very important distinction between natural, familiar, and habitual. What is it?

• Why do typical workplaces ask you to leave everything that makes you human outside the door?

• We banish ourselves from our own home, then try to find our way back home. What's going on?

• How do we get lost and confused?



Part 2 — Authenticity - An Entirely Different Paradigm for Living

• We don't lack specialized knowledge. What is it that we do lack?

• Is there a point to experiencing playfulness in life?

• How can we be free to live an original, authentic life?

• Why, when we're "lost and confused," — that is, disconnected from our creative source — are we vulnerable to formulas or prescriptions that we think will restore us to a meaningful and fulfilling life?

• Can any belief ever heal you from the self-inflicted wound of moving against your own creativity and authentic self-expression?



Part 3 — Playing with the Crayons of Existence

• Do the systems we hope will liberate us ultimately help us to stay small and conformed?

• Why do we feel most passionate when we can move in the world without a fixed identity?

• Is the idea that "everything is consciousness" true, or dogma?

• How can we know the difference between false comfort and the real comfort we find in the freedom of self-expression?

• There is a simple, universal urge we can count on. What is it?

• What do we really mean when we say "That's just not who I am "?



Part 4 — Honestly and Energetically Interrogating Our Own Stories

• Why do we tell ourselves the stories we do? Do they matter?

• Does the "antidote" we're seeking usually come to us in the form of a dogma or ideology?

• What is one of the most common ways we create numbness in our lives?

• How do many corporations literally block the fuel line to people performing well?

• Why don't most of us have fulfilling, gorgeous, exciting relationships?



Part 5 — Can We Live Without Being Defined by an Identity?

• Could spiritual teachers survive the challenges of reality TV?

• What's wrong with only hanging out with like-minded people?

• Are we using stories to place something between us and the immensity of life?

• Where is our deep sense of connection to life?

• Who am I, and where do I belong?



Part 6 - The Power of Our Beliefs and Stories

• Why are stories and beliefs so powerful in our lives?

• What are the motives for creating and living in a story?

• What is the purpose of meditation?

• How can we connect to subtle dimensions of possibility?


Part 7 - Flirting with a Life That is About Opening to Receive

• Joseph Campbell said sometimes we have to let go of the life we want in order to receive the life that's waiting for you. Why is this significant?

• How can we get a different perspective on our dilemmas?

• How can we access a different kind of knowing that leads to clarity?

• Is there really a "higher self"?



Part 8 - Moment to Moment Truth Telling

• Is "What do I want" the best question we can ask ourselves?

• How does our understand of time relate to some of the problems we have in life?

• What is the value in moment to moment truth telling?

• We feel constant agitation to take the next step and do the next thing. Can we escape that agitation?