Sounds of SAND

Sounds of SAND invites listeners into a contemplative journey through the infinite cycles of existence - from its raw beauty to its deepest mysteries, from its intricate complexity to its profound wonder. Through intimate conversations, thought-provoking interviews, poetic readings, and carefully curated music, we weave together ancient wisdom with lived experience, creating a tapestry of sound that honors the great questions of being

Sounds of SAND is a religion podcast hosted by Science and Nonduality, with 182 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Science and Nonduality hosts Sounds of SAND, a religion show with 182 episodes published.

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  Sounds of SAND

  The Unbroken Thread: Pir Zia Inayat Khan

  Aug 20, 20261h 3m

  Pir Zia on the secret history of the world From a nondual perspective, aren't the world's great spiritual traditions expressions of a single living wisdom? In this intimate conversation, Pir Zia Inayat Khan explores the inspiration behind Tears from the Mother of the Sun , a sweeping mythic chronicle of sages, exiles, and revelations spanning continents and planes of existence. Drawing on sacred stories from Persia, India, Egypt and beyond, the book weaves the world's legends into a vision of humanity's shared spiritual inheritance. Together we discover the place of myth in a modern world, the imagination as a path of knowing, and the role of our deepest stories in restoring a sense of belonging to one another, to the Earth, and to the mystery that animates us all. Topics 00:00 Welcome 00:03 Growing up in a universalist lineage 00:06 Ferdowsi, Soroush, and the frame of the book 00:11 Why the world's traditions belong to one story 00:14 History as a living stream: the three worlds 00:16 The Mongols, violence, and unification 00:19 "I was a hidden treasure": the beginning of history 00:22 Syzygy, and the question of AI 00:29 Honoring the Earth inside our devices 00:34 Isis, Osiris, and the birth of music at Gaza 00:43 Grief, contraction, and the opening of the heart 00:49 Rabia, Noor Inayat Khan, and the green shoots Pir Zia Inayat Khan Pir Zia Inayat Khan, PhD, is a scholar of religion and teacher of Sufism in the universalist Sufi lineage of his grandfather, Hazrat Inayat Khan. He is president of the Inayatiyya and founder of Sulūk Academy, a school of Sufi contemplative study and practice. He divides his time between Richmond, Virginia and Suresnes, France. pirzia.org Inayatiyya Sulūk Academy The book Tears from the Mother of the Sun: A Secret History of the World , Inner Traditions, 2026, with full-color paintings by Amruta Patil Amruta Patil , writer, painter, and India's first female graphic novelist, author of Kari , Adi Parva , Sauptik , and Aranyaka Also by Pir Zia Immortality: A Traveler's Guide Mingled Waters: Sufism and the Mystical Unity of Religions Saracen Chivalry: Counsels on Valor, Generosity and the Mystical Quest Dream Flowers: The Collected Works of Noor Inayat Khan Caravan of Souls: An Introduction to the Sufi Path of Hazrat Inayat Khan (editor) Figures and ideas in the conversation Lineage Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882–1927), who brought universal Sufism to the West Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan , who convened interspiritual dialogues and conversations with modern science, including with David Bohm Noor Inayat Khan , storyteller, author of children's tales and retellings of the Jātaka tales, and SOE wireless operator in occupied France. Killed at Dachau in 1944. Her last word was liberté . Persia and the frame of the book Ferdowsi , author of the Shahnameh , who died in Tus believing his life's work had come to nothing Soroush, the tutelary daimon who narrates the book The Ishraqi or Illuminationist tradition Sufi teaching The Hadith Qudsi: I was a hidden treasure and I longed to be known, so I created the world that I might be known Rabia al-Adawiyya , who carried a torch to burn down paradise and water to quench the fires of hell, so that God would be loved for God's own sake Najm al-Din Kubra , killed on the battlefield during the Mongol invasion Qabz and bast , contraction and expansion Ar-Rahman, Ar-Rahim , and rahma as the action of the womb History, empire, and emanation Genghis Khan and the Palace of Myriad Peace at Karakorum Akbar and the interreligious debates at Fatehpur Sikri , under the policy of sulh-i-kul , peace with all Tahqiq , experiential knowing, as against taqlid , following what one has heard Avicenna and the three contemplations of emanation Syzygy , the alignment of beings into a molecule of spiritual work Isis and the birth of music The story of Isis and Osiris as told by Plutarch , in which Isis buries Osiris at Gaza and blesses a boy named Palestinos, who becomes the first musician Sirius , whose rising signals the Nile flood, understood as the tears of Isis Also mentioned Descending into Light: A Pilgrimage to the Center of the Earth , a seven-week series with Pir Zia and Yuz Ata, October 11 to November 22, 2026 Rumi & The Fire of Radical Love: A Path Through Global Rupture , a four-part SAND course with Omid Safi. Sessions on August 30 and September 6 still to come. The Eternal Song , SAND's collection of twelve films Support this gathering

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  Sounds of SAND

  Arborescence: Robert Moor

  Aug 13, 202658 min

    Robert Moor is a journalist and essayist whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, The Atlantic, Emergence, and The New York Times. His first book, On Trails , won the National Outdoor Book Award and the William Saroyan International Prize. He lives in Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia. His new book is ' In Trees' . Topics 00:00 Welcome, and the new SAND course 00:04 A tree is a verb, not a noun 00:06 Branching, brains, and why AI has no roots 00:13 Pruning, gnarling, and the beauty of wounds 00:16 The Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya 00:19 From On Trails to In Trees 00:22 Tree thinking and the tree of contents 00:27 Intelligence without anthropomorphizing 00:34 Cedars, Haida Gwaii, and deep time 00:38 Branching futures, many apocalypses, and grief 00:47 Hierarchy, the rhizome, and the Korowai 00:52 Rootedness and relationality Robert Moor In Trees: An Exploration (Simon & Schuster, April 2026) On Trails: An Exploration Robert Moor at Hill Nadell Literary Agency Books mentioned Songs for Relinquishing the Earth by Jan Zwicky. Originally hand-sewn by the author on recycled stock and distributed by request; later won the Governor General's Award for Poetry. Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connections to Trees by Nalini Nadkarni The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard The Light Eaters by Zoë Schlanger Thus Spoke the Plant by Monica Gagliano The Secret Life of Trees by Colin Tudge, source of the "big plant with a stick up the middle" definition Indigenizing Philosophy through the Land by Brian Burkhart Sand Talk by Tyson Yunkaporta A Thousand Plateaus by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, source of the rhizome A Secular Age by Charles Taylor, source of the buffered and porous self “ Ancient Green ” by Robin Wall Kimmerer The Garden of Forking Paths by Jorge Luis Borges A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson People mentioned Patrick von Aderkas , tree biologist at the University of Victoria, who described a tree as "a growth form" Jeff Lichtman , neuroscientist and Dean of Science at Harvard Robert J. O'Hara , who coined the term "tree thinking" Umeek (Richard Atleo) , Nuu-chah-nulth hereditary chief and philosopher, author of Tsawalk: A Nuu-chah-nulth Worldview Michael Pollan , on the distinction between sentience, intelligence, and consciousness John McPhee , on structural experimentation in nonfiction Stephen Tamatea King , the first known tree sitter, who climbed totara trees in New Zealand in the 1970s Joanna Macy , "there is no away to throw things to" Places and peoples Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve , Haida Gwaii The Korowai of Papua, treehouse dwellers with almost no hierarchy Nuu-chah-nulth communities of Vancouver Island The Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya, a Ficus religiosa replanted from the offspring of the original Lucy , the Australopithecus afarensis fossil in Ethiopia Purgatorius , the ground-dwelling ancestor of mammalian life From SAND Liberation Psychology: Roots, Memory, and Practice , the new nine-month course with Dr. Samah Jabr, Dr. Eduardo Duran, Linda Thai, Daniel Foor, Dr. Jennifer Mullan, and Dr. Bayo Akomolafe. Scholarships available for 20 to 30 percent of seats. Sila , a nonlinear documentary following Inuit women through 300 years of Danish colonialism, available to watch now The Eternal Song film series Previous episodes with Monica Gagliano and Tyson Yunkaporta Contact SAND podcast@scienceandnonduality.com Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member

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  Sounds of SAND

  Superfluity of AI: Lyla June, Kathy Wan Povi Sanchez & Ashley Nicole Leitka

  Aug 6, 20261h 16m

  The third conversation in "The Great AI Unraveling", recorded live with our community on July 10, 2026. Throughout time, humanity has experimented with playing God, and each time we have been humbled by forces larger than ourselves. Many Indigenous Nations consciously chose not to pursue certain technologies, recognizing that not every innovation serves life, and that wisdom lies in understanding the boundaries of nature and those of our human condition. As artificial intelligence promises ever greater efficiency, productivity, and control, we are invited to ask a deeper question: Which problem are we really trying to solve? Beneath the relentless pursuit of more—more knowledge, more power, more convenience—lies a profound inquiry into sufficiency, relationship, and meaning. Guests Dr. Lyla June Johnston (aka Lyla June) is an Indigenous musician, scholar, and community organizer of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) and European lineages. Her messages focus on Indigenous rights, supporting youth, traditional land stewardship practices and healing inter-generational and inter-cultural trauma. She blends her study of Human Ecology at Stanford, graduate work in Indigenous Pedagogy, and the traditional worldview she grew up with to inform her music, perspectives and solutions. Her doctoral research focused on the ways in which pre-colonial Indigenous Nations shaped large regions of Turtle Island (aka the Americas) to produce abundant food systems for humans and non-humans. Ashley Nicole Leitka comes from the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma and the Oglala and Sicangu Lakota nations. She lives on Absentee Shawnee land in so-called Oklahoma and is the Director of the Department of Sovereignty and Self-Determination at Honor the Earth. Kathy Wan Povi Sanchez is a native spirit-rooted social activist, community educator, traditional blackware potter, and fluent Tewa language speaker from the Tewa Pueblo of San Ildefonso in New Mexico. For more than two decades, she has been a guiding force within Tewa Women United, advancing environmental justice, cultural revitalization, healing, and social transformation. A respected elder, teacher, and mentor, Kathy developed the acclaimed Two World Harmony Butterfly Model and Trauma Rocks, innovative frameworks that support cross-cultural understanding and intergenerational healing. Her lifelong work bridges Indigenous wisdom, environmental stewardship, community empowerment, and the protection of cultural and spiritual traditions. Through local, national, and international advocacy, she continues to inspire pathways of healing, resilience, and right relationship with the Earth and one another. Topics 00:00:00 — Welcome and The Great AI Unraveling 00:04:00 — Superfluity: what if we don't need it 00:08:00 — The maple syrup story 00:12:00 — Kathy Wan Povi Sanchez on natural law 00:19:00 — Data centers on Native land 00:24:00 — Falsely generated demand and cognitive decline 00:27:00 — The data center toolkit and Stop Data Colonialism 00:30:00 — AI as ancestral intelligence: the Butterfly Model 00:38:00 — Why ceremony is never filmed 00:39:00 — Water, energy, and the growth curve 00:48:00 — Surveillance, ICE, and biometrics 00:57:00 — Yvette Running Horse Collin on Lakota science 00:58:00 — Einstein, Hiroshima, and being humbled 01:01:00 — Choosing oral tradition 01:08:00 — Love is the greatest technology 01:10:00 — A litmus test for any technology Resources & Links Lyla June — lylajune.com Tewa Women United — tewawomenunited.org Honor the Earth Honor the Earth data center toolkit Stop Data Colonialism, national coalition and manifesto Big Tech Is Now Targeting Native American Land for Massive Data Centers , The New York Times, July 2026 Yvette Running Horse Collin on Lakota science, interviewed in Science ACLU campaign on Flock surveillance cameras   Ashley Nicole Leitka and Dallas Goldtooth in conversation The Great AI Unraveling series #1 AI risks, societal impacts, and apocaloptimism: Tristan Harris #2 Reclaiming the Conversation and the Commons: Tiokasin Ghosthorse and Pooja Prema Upcoming guests: Christian "Zacatecho" Ortiz, Bayo Akomolafe, Vanessa Machado de Oliveira, Alnoor Ladha, Baratunde Thurston, and Thema Monroe-White Contact SAND podcast@scienceandnonduality.com Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member

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  Sounds of SAND

  Healing the Soul Wound: Eduardo Duran

  Jul 30, 20261h 4m

  Recorded live at our May 2026 online gathering celebrating Little Singer , the Diné film in The Eternal Song series, this conversation with psychologist Eduardo Duran (Apache/Tewa/Lakota) begins with the prophecy of Crazy Horse and moves through the teachings of the elder who trained him, the soul wound and the origins of the term historical trauma, why Indigenous languages of verbs change how we understand diagnosis, and the Diné teaching of K'é: the universe wired in complete relationship. Trauma, he reminds us, is a movement and not an identity, and the medicine is in the song itself. Eduardo joins the teaching panel of our upcoming live course, Liberation Psychology: Roots, Memory & Practice. Eduardo Duran (Apache/Tewa/Lakota) is a psychologist and Vietnam veteran who has spent most of his career working in Indigenous communities, informed by Buddhist practice, Native teachings, and heart knowing. His work introduced the concepts of the soul wound and historical trauma into clinical practice. He is the author of Buddha in Redface , Healing the Soul Wound , and Native American Postcolonial Psychology . Topics 00:00:00 — Introduction 00:01:00 — The prophecy of Crazy Horse 00:04:00 — Meeting the elder 00:10:00 — Ordered to write 00:13:00 — Languages of verbs 00:19:00 — "They're there" 00:22:00 — Ceremony and the eternal song 00:26:00 — Quantum entanglement and K'é 00:30:00 — Trauma is not an identity 00:35:00 — Healing the land with prayer 00:40:00 — "Already holy, sacred, and divine" 00:44:00 — The dream had you 00:49:00 — Finding your own roots 00:55:00 — Closing gratitude Resources & Links Eduardo Duran Buddha in Redface Healing the Soul Wound: Trauma-Informed Counseling for Indigenous Communities Native American Postcolonial Psychology (with Bonnie Duran) SAND & The Eternal Song Liberation Psychology: Roots, Memory & Practice — a new live course by SAND, registration is now open Watch Little Singer — the Diné film in The Eternal Song series The Eternal Song film series Watch Sila — streaming now   Referenced in the conversation International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers Contact SAND podcast@scienceandnonduality.com Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member

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  Sounds of SAND

  Grow, Become, Love, Alone: Nicole Wordlaw

  Jul 22, 202650 min

  Clinical psychologist and longtime Buddhist meditator Dr. Nicole Wordlaw joins us to talk about her new memoir, Waking Up Alone: Navigating the Narrow Passage Through Master-Slave Narratives . Nicole came to practice to end suffering, and found instead that enlightenment as an arrival, all bliss, all peace, was one more construction of the conditioned mind. The conversation moves through the single pattern she came to see beneath white supremacy, patriarchy, and the harm spiritual teachers do to their students; writing as prayer; pain as a door; and the intergenerational line of women whose voices run through the book. A tender and unflinching conversation about telling the whole story, uprooting the internal oppressor, and the quiet, still voice that always sounds like Love. Dr. Nicole Wordlaw is a clinical psychologist and longtime practitioner of Buddhist meditation whose work bridges psychology, spirituality, and identity. The daughter of a white mother and a Black father, Dr. Wordlaw brings a deeply personal understanding of belonging and self-discovery to her writing and teaching. A Stanford University graduate with honors and distinction, she went on to earn her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from UC Berkeley. In her forthcoming book Waking Up Alone, she vulnerably shares her story of trauma and awakening, and offers gentle guidance for her readers to tune into the quiet voice of truth within. Topics 00:00:00 — Introduction 00:01:00 — Coming to Buddhism 00:02:00 — Enlightenment as construction 00:05:00 — Love meeting pain 00:06:00 — One pattern of harm 00:09:00 — Writing as prayer 00:11:00 — A naked story 00:15:00 — Somatic abolitionism 00:19:00 — A long line of women 00:23:00 — Shadow and teacher misconduct 00:24:00 — The Sangha Sutra 00:34:00 — Risking making sense to no one 00:38:00 — The Word Story 00:42:00 — The inner teacher 00:47:00 — Love is not an idea Resources & Links Dr. Nicole Wordlaw Website: nicolewordlaw.com Waking Up Alone: Navigating the Narrow Passage Through Master-Slave Narratives — out now Substack Referenced in the conversation Sounds of SAND — Somatic Abolitionism: Resmaa Menakem & Gabor Maté Sounds of SAND — The Architecture of Silence in Spiritual Culture Steve Hagen — Buddhism Plain and Simple Nisargadatta Maharaj — I Am That   Contact SAND podcast@scienceandnonduality.com Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member

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