1. You have spent more than four decades studying everything from quantum physics, to psychology to mediation and everything in between. What sparked this interest and encouraged you to step on the path of discovering the mysteries of human existence?
Jonathan: There is something within nearly all of us that seeks to discover our meaning and purpose, and I, like many others, have been on a life-long quest for answers to many questions about how the universe works, where we came from, and where we are headed. When I was about 8 years old, I remember a friend saying to me that some people believe that we are all a dream in the mind of God. Something about hearing that statement at such a young age always stayed with me and caused me to wonder about its implications. From that time on I set my intention to explore the nature of reality and find answers to such questions. I was fortunate to have a father who was interested in such matters and was always open to exploring philosophical, metaphysical, and spiritual subjects.
2. Where did your searching for answers lead you?
Jonathan: Science was always an easy subject for me, so in college I studied chemistry, physics, biology, and earth sciences, but after five years of studying those subjects, I realized all I was seeking to understand was not to be found there. As a result I turned to studying world religions and psychology in graduate school. However, after spending more than 13 years in colleges and universities and accumulating several degrees, I still had not unraveled the great mysteries of life to my satisfaction. This led me to the next phase of my seeking, which included delving into mysticism and spiritual quests outside of organized religions.
3. What did you discover outside of your formal education?
Jonathan: Once I was willing to let go of preconceived ideas and beliefs and began a meditation practice, I found a flood of spontaneous awakenings and revelations that were beyond anything I had heard or read about at that time. At last, many pieces to the puzzle of life began to fit together, and I was also able to help others through a remarkable intuitive ability that was unfolding in me that enabled me to tap into the subtle nature of a person’s consciousness. Through this ability I discovered I was able to almost miraculously facilitate people clearing blocks, limitations, and emotional reactions, as well as help them awaken to a more fulfilled, happy, and enlightened state of consciousness.
4. Did you include more about these discoveries in your new book, The Soul Solution?
Jonathan: The book emphasizes the reader’s own spiritual journey into healing, personal transformation, and enlightenment. The Soul Solution reveals deep spiritual wisdom and self-guided practices that have taken me decades to refine. They are all designed to transform and enlighten a person in order to create deep love, fulfillment, and harmony. It does this through spiritual teachings that open the heart to the soul’s deep love. This bridges the broad gap between seeking and searching for enlightenment and actually attaining it.
5. What makes your book The Soul Solution unique among other spiritual books?
Jonathan: A great many books address the wonders of a life of mastery and enlightenment, but very few guide you on how to attain it. This book, like my audio programs, provides easy “how to” guidance on becoming an empowered and enlightened person through melting the core of ego defenses and blockages that keep a person from achieving peace, happiness, and self-realization.
6. What part does the ego play in allowing or hindering people from tapping into the reservoir of their true potential and living a life that would otherwise seem possible only in their dreams?
Jonathan: The ego, as the word is used in a spiritual context, refers to an aspect of a person that operates primarily through the mind and fives senses and exists separately from the soul or spiritual aspects of a person. The ego is a survival mechanism mostly driven by insecurities and fear of its own demise, which gives rise to a plethora of mental and emotional issues. It is what causes a people to feel anger, guilt, fear, depression, futility, abandonment, and everything else negative, as well as to feel like they are stuck with less than they hoped their life would be. You could say the ego is the real root of all the problems a person has personally, interpersonally, and spiritually.
7. How does the ego create so many problems?
Jonathan: The ego creates personality traits and identities by drawing conclusions and forming beliefs based on the past. These identities are so strong that people believe the identities are who they are. It is like putting on a costume for Halloween and thinking and feeling you are the person portrayed by the costume. The identities are ego-created aspects of a personality but are not the truth of who a person is. These identities are what cause a person to be afraid, anxious, angry, moody, needing more power or control, feeling stuck and trapped, wanting more possessions, being opinionated, rude, critical, doubting, hating life, and much more. In fact, if you consider all the things that are problematic with people and societies, you will find the ego at the source. I have often said this world is of the ego, by the ego, and for the ego, but it doesn’t need to be this way. When a person integrates the soul, the ego drives disappear and all the beauty and goodness of the soul emerges.
8. How do we deal with the ego and all the problems it creates?
Jonathan: Attempts to treat ego-based issues with conventional approaches such as talk therapy or medications that mask symptoms don’t adequately address the underlying causes and as a result the conditions often resurface. Most people experience conditions repeating in their lives many times, but by combining the techniques on the programs I have recorded as well as the processes I utilize in my workshops, retreats, and phone sessions, a person can eliminate the causes and reveal the inherent true nature of the soul. The entire process is what I call the “soul solution” which is a combination of processes to bring the soul to the surface and replace the ego. Since my book guides one through this process I titled it The Soul Solution.
9. What is the nature and purpose of the soul?
Jonathan: The soul is what is left when the ego is gone. It is sometimes called the True Self because it is really who we are. It is an individualized expression of the divine spirit that pervades all existence and it embraces the highest qualities we admire in saints and holy ones. The purpose of the soul originates with the creator’s desire to express love and divine qualities in ever expanding ways, and the soul is a vehicle for that expression. As we connect with the soul deeper and deeper, we find it becomes a more prominent presence in our life and replaces the influences of the ego. My book The Soul Solution describes how to engage this process.
10. On your website you offer hundreds of audio programs to help people achieve commonly shared goals: love, health, abundance. and spiritual awakening. Your programs work very effectively and rapidly in comparison to other methods. How do these programs work in bringing about results?
Jonathan: One of the remarkable advantages about the age we live in and something we mostly take for granted is that this is the first time in human history with recorded audio programs that can put teachings, visualizations, affirmations, and meditations literally at your finger tips. In the past, you would have to search out teachers to lead you through these processes personally, and in most cases accomplished teachers were difficult to find. If you were lucky enough to find one, you might take a lifetime to get even a fraction of the information that is available today in written and audio formats.
The many programs I have produced enable people to benefit from my lifetime of research and practices, which can save them years if not decades of searching on their own. Besides my extensive studies and personal explorations, I have done more than 30,000 individual sessions with people from all walks of life and through them have refined the teachings and techniques that make achieving goals attainable. In some cases, it took me years to discover and refine the techniques as well as to formulate the specific ways my affirmations and intentions are worded. I have found that this accelerates clearing blocks and help a person attain higher states of mastery and enlightenment. The wording of the affirmations and the guidance through the visualizations and meditations facilitates upward shifts in a person’s consciousness, which affects improvement at all levels of a person’s life.
11. In your own journey of transformation and enlightenment, what has been your biggest obstacle?
Jonathan: The biggest obstacle I have had to work through in life is figuring out what is relevant and what is irrelevant. There is no single source of information or guidance a person can go to that unravels the many convoluted beliefs and mythologies that have been woven into religions and philosophies. There are, however, nearly endless sources of teachings on every aspect of self-improvement, spirituality, and enlightenment, but separating the “wheat from the chaff” can be a daunting and time-consuming endeavor. It is easy to get lost in the morass of stories, descriptions, and practices, many of which can be a waste of time.
Science does a pretty good job with explanations in the physical realm, but when you get into realms of the mind, consciousness, and spirituality, you find a lot of theories and ideologies. My goal was to cut through the fog and become conscious of the perceptions, projections, needs, and stories we live with and to discover the factors that shape our experiences. The process includes looking at our beliefs, emotions, judgments, reactions, and opinions. All of which compose our working through all of this is called “self-discovery,” which gradually reveals deeper and deeper realizations answering such questions as “Who am I, really?” “Why am I here?” “What is my purpose?” “What happens when this life is over?” and “What is inside of me that wants to know all of this?”
Many people never ask these questions because they may assume they are unanswerable. Some are satisfied with the answers other people give them, but the answers are only relevant when a person discovers them for him or herself, and, for the most part, the answers are not arrived at through analytical thought. The discovery comes through a shift in awareness that is similar to inspiration, which arises from within consciousness and reveals realizations and expanded understanding. I have been dedicated to finding the most practical aspects of teachings and transformations, for I have always believed this unless it carries a practical application to a person’s life, a teaching is only a curiosity.
12. What advice can you give others who are consciously working to transform their lives with positive and thoughtful intentions?
Jonathan: Never, never, never, never, give up! When you set your foot on a path to attain mastery or spiritual discovery the journey can often feel like digging yourself out of a deep pit. Malcolm Gladwell describes in his book, Outliers, there are studies that indicate it takes at least 10,000 hours of practice to attain mastery at anything. If you do the math you will quickly see this equates to many years of dedication. There may be times when you question if you will ever arrive at where you want to be, but know that the only way you will arrive is if you consistently put forth everything necessary to move forward. The good news is the entire journey can be easier and quicker if you have a teacher who has already attained mastery in the areas where you are headed.
13. Over the years you have helped millions of people transform their lives through your audio programs, classes, and workshops. Can you share a particular story of transformation that sticks out above the rest?
Jonathan: I have received quite literally thousands of letters and emails telling me of profound and incredible breakthroughs, successes, and awakenings people have had using my programs, workshops, and phone sessions, so it would be hard to pick one that is the most dramatic because many of them are very impressive. There is one experience, however, that stands out because it was one of the first experiences I had with an amazing healing that led to the discovery of my intuitive ability.
I remember the day well more than thirty years ago when a frantic father called telling me he was at Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles and his newborn baby was seriously ill and could die. The only possible hope was an immediate operation and blood transfusion. I was a considerable distance from the hospital, so I told him not to worry because I would pray and do a healing treatment that would be as effective as if I were there personally.
I immediately began an energetic healing treatment on the baby and, remarkably, I found I was actually able to clearly see the baby in my mind’s eye. It was as if I were actually there with the baby, and I saw his little body become brighter and brighter with light. I knew he had been healed.
Four hours later the father called me again to say that as the doctor and nurses were wheeling the baby into the operating room, the doctor noticed the baby was no longer having difficulty breathing and color was returning to him. The father related how the doctor observed the baby return from near death to a healthy state in fifteen minutes. The baby did not even need any further treatment and was discharged later that day. The father reported that the doctor said they had all witnessed a miracle.
14. That is an amazing story. Was this a turning point for you?
Jonathan: It most certainly was. I learned three important observations from this and many other similar experiences. One, I didn’t need to be present for a person to experience healing, clearing, or raising consciousness. Two, I am able to intuitively “see” a person’s energy field and tune into a person’s consciousness even at a distance which reveals the causes of a person’s issues and problems. Three, I am able to accelerate clearing obstacles or troubles causing a person concern, as well as to facilitate raising their consciousness to beautiful and enlightening levels.
Because I could now “see” the mental and emotional energy patterns that block or limit what a person wants, I realized I would be able to help them much more effectively than I could through mere talk forms of therapy. Just as importantly, I also realized that this applies to more than healing. I found that I could discover and clear blocks to a person’s success and spiritual growth. In fact, what really excites me the most is that I can utilize my gifts to help people experience spiritual awakenings and live a more enriched and enlightened life. As I work with them either on the phone or when they attend one of my retreats, people are often amazed that they can actually feel the energy around them lightening and shifting. What is also remarkable is how my audio programs transmit the transformational energies along with the words.