Dean Sluyter I’m Wishing Again

Dean Sluyter (pronounced "slighter") is an award-winning author, meditation teacher, and speaker. 

Dean has been sharing natural approaches to meditation and spiritual awakening since 1970. With a career spanning over five decades, he has taught at a diverse range of venues, from Ivy League universities to maximum-security prisons, as well as yoga studios, corporate offices, and retreat centers across the United States and beyond. His work blends authentic teachings from Eastern and Western traditions, delivered in a down-to-earth, accessible style that emphasizes effortlessness and practicality.

Sluyter has authored six critically acclaimed books, including Natural Meditation: A Guide to Effortless Meditative Practice and The Dharma Bum’s Guide to Western Literature, both of which won Nautilus Book Awards for their contributions to mind-body-spirit literature. Other notable titles include Fear Less: Living Beyond Fear, Anxiety, Anger, and Addiction and Cinema Nirvana: Enlightenment Lessons from the Movies. His writings often explore how spiritual insights can be found in everyday experiences, literature, and popular culture, reflecting his belief that boundless awareness is always present and available to anyone.

A grateful student of various spiritual traditions—such as Advaita Vedanta, Vajrayana Buddhism, and Bhakti Yoga—Sluyter has completed numerous pilgrimages and retreats in India, Tibet, Nepal, and the West. His media appearances include National Public Radio, The New York Times, The Dr. Oz Show, and O, The Oprah Magazine, where his approachable and humorous style has earned praise. Reviewers have described his work as a rare mix of clarity, wit, and common sense.

For 33 years, Sluyter lived in New Jersey, where he taught English and developed meditation programs at The Pingry School while also volunteering as a dharma chaplain in the state prison system. He now resides in Santa Monica, California, with his wife, documentary filmmaker Yaffa Lerea. There, he continues to lead free, interactive Zoom meditation sessions multiple times a week, open to participants worldwide, and is a faculty member of the West Coast Writers Conferences. Beyond teaching, he enjoys singing with local choirs and riding his Vespa.

Sluyter also co-hosts The Filmosophers, a movie talk show available as a podcast and YouTube series, alongside his friend Chris Busch, featuring guests like David Lynch and Michael Imperioli. His lifelong mission is to make meditation and spiritual wisdom simple, fun, and universally accessible, encouraging people to discover the “boundless OK-ness” within themselves. For more about his work, you can visit his website at DeanSluyter.com.

Last night Dean sent a poem he wrote to his listserve, I sent him back a song. 

Dean Sluyter I’m Wishing Again

Verse 1
I used to wish I were an inch taller
I used to wish summer lasted two weeks longer
I used to wish my cats would always stay kittens

Chorus
I used to wish I could make love as expertly and as photogenically as the people in movies, preferably with Ursula Andress

Verse 2
I used to wish I could be the one to slip the acid to Richard Nixon, sit up all night holding his hand as he wept through his ecstatic visions, then steal away at dawn in heroic anonymity as he made the call to bring home the troops

Chorus
I used to wish for all this and more, and in five minutes I’ll probably start wishing again,

Verse 3
But right now all wishes dissolve in the hum of a distant motorboat,
the hard slats of the bench against my back,
and a jagged streak of morning sunlight,
sparkling on the lake.

Outro
Enjoy Being.

Riffusion Sound

Deep Male Voice, Spoken Word, Ukulele, Tantric drums, Jazzy solo, Atmospheric soundscape, Groovy rhythms, Bluesy riffs, Hazy texture, Layered tones,