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Deep Practice. Peak Experience.
Profound Understanding. Powerful Contribution.

Deep Transformation dialogues with cutting-edge thinkers, contemplatives, and activists to explore the great questions of our time—and all time. Join us to explore how to live life to the fullest, to create and to contribute in a new era of unprecedented challenges and opportunities.

With Roger Walsh & John Dupuy

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Deep and intelligent

I love the thoughtfulness and depth this podcast offers. I am especially excited that you are doing some in-depth and ongoing interviews with AH Almaas! Roger and John are able to ask great questions that help reveal the incredible teachings Hameed has to offer. Thank you for enriching my life.

~ Bobchesters on Apple Podcasts (🇨🇦)

Thank you for bringing consistently thoughtful, provocative, and awakening guests to the show. The yin/yang dance (or mercurial/mars) of Roger and John's ways of processing information adds a beautiful layer of teachings to the programs.

~ Anonymous from buymeacoffee.com

Dear Roger and John, your decades of crystalizing lived Integral approaches shines so clearly! Your recent conversation with Brad Reynolds was such an elegant, pristine sweep of Wilber's work, delivered succinctly and comprehensively in a way that offers freshly available hand holds for deeper exploration of Wilber's extraordinary insights. I celebrate your big heartedness and the dignified commitment you both regularly demonstrate to honor the intricate beauties of varied perspectives, yet without avoiding or exaggerating the messy complexities of actual living. Big gratitude!

~ dragpa (sent through Facebook Messenger)

Praise for Brad Reynolds – Ken Wilber’s Map of Everything: A Guide to the Brilliance & Span of Wilber’s Work from Philosophy to Psychology, Spirituality and Science

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Deeply thoughtful, insightful and provocative.

Have been listening for the past year or so. So any good episodes. Hosts are gracious and allow guests lots of room while still being engaged enough for a lively conversation. Topics are broad and deep - obviously centering around spiritual topics, personal and spiritual growth, etc - but also extending into relevant adjacent areas (like the amazing conversation with Daniel Schmactenberger on the meta crisis and much much more). Also loved all the interviews with A H Almaas, Cory DeVos and Beena Sharma, among others.

HIGHLY recommended.

 ~ patrickwal on Apple Podcasts (🇺🇸)

This video or any video from Andrew are just direct, clear magnificent and soooo beneficial, they are one of my favorite, thank you for promoting and explaining such a profound practices.

~ @user-yo3mp8ek1t (on YouTube)

Praise for Andrew Holecek – The Remarkable Practice of Dream Yoga: How Lucid Dreaming Makes Sleep Endlessly Fascinating and Leads to Lucid Living (and Lucid Dying)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Broad and Meaningful

What a wonderful podcast with interviews from a broad spectrum of people who have really plumbed the depths of human potential. The warmth and friendly nature of the hosts brings these topics down to earth. This is my new go to podcast to refresh and enliven my brain on the commute home. Thank you both so much!

~ Moniseur Qui on Apple Podcasts (🇺🇸)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Worth It

Just finished the first episode. Excellent conversation that had good pace, light humor, deep thoughts, clear explanations and plenty of heart and humility. A really winning blend of all those qualities in a winning way. Very nourishing to not just hear a dry intellectual recitation of theory, but to have it expressed and lived in a full body manner during the delivery by all involved.

From the trailer, “Feeling over fed and undernourished? So are we. So we made this podcast.”

Mission accomplished. An excellent multi course home cooked meal worthy of our time. Dive in!

~ Studio Teacher Scott on Apple Podcasts (🇺🇸)

Praise for Jeff Salzman – Polarization, Being Woke, the Universal Agenda, Mindfulness Going Bad, and the Integral Vision

Above and beyond enjoying your coffee, I’d like you to be happy and well, free from affliction and at peace. I am experiencing an upswing now, that your fine podcast has contributed to. Since listening to it, I have gotten through a bit more than half of the Dhamapada. In addition, I am doing well with my endurance regimen, which has stabilized many symptoms of my spinal cord deficit for the time being. I bicycled to a nice spot by the Salt river in the Tonto National Forest to hear and learn birdsong melodies, which I’ll use for original classical guitar compositions and disseminating concepts of bird conservation/extinction and ecosystem services acquired from the Cornell University ornithology lab’s online program, while introducing the songs to general audiences who urgently need to be reached. I experienced the iridescence of twilight’s spectrum on my way back home.

~ Michael Weiss from buymeacoffee.com

Deep Transformation | Listen Notes

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Photo of Roger Walsh
Photo of Roger Walsh

Roger Walsh, M.D., Ph.D. DHL

Roger’s day jobs include being a University of California professor (of psychiatry, philosophy, anthropology, and religious studies), as well as a writer and researcher whose work has received over 20 national and international awards. Roger is also a meditation student, teacher, and researcher, a Tibetan Buddhist lama, and was formerly a circus acrobat, a world record high diver, and a spectacularly unsuccessful standup comedian.

Photo of John Dupuy

John Dupuy, M.A.

Professional wilderness guide, award-winning author, CEO of iAwake Technologies, pioneer applying Integral Theory to the field of addiction & recovery, dedicated tennis player...In his other lives, John has been a singer/songwriter, military police investigator, cowboy, and psychedelic guide. John is passionate about the grit, grind, glory, and grace of daily Integral practice.

Photo of John Dupuy

LATEST PODCAST EPISODES

Ron Interpreter (Part 1) – Ancestral Wisdom for Spirituality, Recovery & Life: An Integration of Native Traditions, Psychedelic Experiences & Integral Theory

By Heidi Mitchell | October 10, 2024

Ep. 151 (Part 1 of 2) | Life coach, recovery coach, and plant medicine ceremonialist Ron Interpreter has created a multidimensional, whole person healing modality that integrates Navajo spiritual teachings and traditions with Ken Wilber’s Integral Model and Integral spirituality. Humanity is shifting, Ron explains, and is now looking to the teachings of the ancestors and Indigenous practices that can bring a sense of authenticity, purpose, and meaning to our lives. Native spirituality teaches us how we can relate to the elements of earth, fire, water and air in terms of remedies and medicines, and also in terms of beliefs and emotional connections. Plant medicine and other mind-altering ceremonies provide us with the means to get beyond the psychological limitations we put on ourselves, attain higher states of consciousness, and receive answers to our deepest questions.

With a calm, articulate fervency, Ron shares the ancestral wisdom he teaches to people in recovery or who are suffering from trauma, including special ops forces and veterans: the Native concepts of taking responsibility, being accountable, forging a relationship with God or Spirit, and living from a profound understanding of what it means to be a human being. “We are in the creation of self—how do we practice ourselves?” Ron asks. The Indigenous teachings that Ron brings forward provide a deep sense of grounding in Nature and Spirit, as we come to a better understanding of our place in the universe and the practices that can open us up to living in a sacred way, in connection with divine being. Recorded August 1, 2024.

>> Read more and listen to the full episode

A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series (Dialogue 3, Part 2) – What is Consciousness? The Key to Experiencing Our True Nature

By Heidi Mitchell | October 3, 2024

Ep. 150 (Part 2 of 2) | In the third dialogue of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, Hameed Ali brings us to a deeper understanding of individual consciousness, our true nature, in relation to pure consciousness. Once we come to know what consciousness is, he says, our spiritual experience truly begins. The conversation flows through many illuminating teachings: how true nature manifests itself in many ways—there is no one way, no final way; reality is only what we perceive it to be—there is no hard and fast reality “out there;” and the ego is not some sort of developmental mistake—it only becomes a problem if we become fixated on it. Psychology helps us see how the soul became the ego, Hameed explains, and psychodynamics reflect how our individual consciousness becomes imprinted by experience, the effects of which can be unraveled through spiritual inquiry.

When asked how he is able to write so remarkably clearly and concisely, fine-cut like a diamond, Hameed explains that the teachings articulate themselves as he writes by becoming his direct experience in the moment. He is not channeling, nor is his individual self expressing an opinion, the teaching simply expresses itself by becoming his true nature. This conversation is inspiring on many levels as consciousness becomes more graspable and because, as Roger says, Hameed’s teaching is grounded in our being capable of realizing being. At the end, Hameed gives a beautifully resonant account of why we love freedom. Once again, Hameed’s profound teachings come as a transmission and are a joy to receive. Recorded August 8, 2024.

>> Read more and listen to the full episode

A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series (Dialogue 3, Part 1) – What is Consciousness? The Key to Experiencing Our True Nature

By Heidi Mitchell | September 26, 2024

Ep. 149 (Part 1 of 2) | In the third dialogue of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, Hameed Ali brings us to a deeper understanding of individual consciousness, our true nature, in relation to pure consciousness. Once we come to know what consciousness is, he says, our spiritual experience truly begins. The conversation flows through many illuminating teachings: how true nature manifests itself in many ways—there is no one way, no final way; reality is only what we perceive it to be—there is no hard and fast reality “out there;” and the ego is not some sort of developmental mistake—it only becomes a problem if we become fixated on it. Psychology helps us see how the soul became the ego, Hameed explains, and psychodynamics reflect how our individual consciousness becomes imprinted by experience, the effects of which can be unraveled through spiritual inquiry.

When asked how he is able to write so remarkably clearly and concisely, fine-cut like a diamond, Hameed explains that the teachings articulate themselves as he writes by becoming his direct experience in the moment. He is not channeling, nor is his individual self expressing an opinion, the teaching simply expresses itself by becoming his true nature. This conversation is inspiring on many levels as consciousness becomes more graspable and because, as Roger says, Hameed’s teaching is grounded in our being capable of realizing being. At the end, Hameed gives a beautifully resonant account of why we love freedom. Once again, Hameed’s profound teachings come as a transmission and are a joy to receive. Recorded August 8, 2024.

>> Read more and listen to the full episode

Cindy Wigglesworth – Spiritual Intelligence: 21 Skills That Underlie Our Capacities for Wisdom, Compassion & Love in Action

By Heidi Mitchell | September 19, 2024

Cindy Wigglesworth, trailblazer in the field of spiritual intelligence, has created an assessment tool that identifies our spiritual strengths and weaknesses—qualities that fall outside the traditional IQ or emotional intelligence (EQ) parameters—in order to provide a guide for determining which skills we as individuals need to develop in order to show up in the world as love in action. Early on, Cindy recognized the profound benefits that both spiritual practice and EQ assessments had in her leadership development work, wishing only there was a map similar to what EQ offers but going one step higher, to lead people in the realm of spiritual development. So she created a multidimensional self-assessment tool to do just that, wrote the book SQ21: The 21 Skills of Spiritual Intelligence, and founded the global leadership development network Deep Change.

Cindy’s dedication, brilliant intellect, integral understanding, and the effects of a lifetime of spiritual motivation and practice are abundantly evident in this warmly personal, articulate, and inspiring conversation about spirituality and how we can come to embody the values we aspire to. It’s easy to love people in the abstract, Cindy points out, but how we actually behave is what’s critical. What would love see? she asks, when talking about the practice of reframing. As co-host John Dupuy said, this conversation is like “an infusion of spiritual vitamins.” It’s also very timely—Cindy reflects that spiritual intelligence skills and learning how to sustain faith are more important than ever in these times of polarization and crisis. Recorded July 18, 2024.

>> Read more and listen to the full episode

Keith Martin-Smith (Part 3) – The Wonderful Ideals But Flawed Applications of DEI: Intolerant Tolerance, Undiverse Diversity, Unliberal Liberalism, and More

By Heidi Mitchell | September 12, 2024

Ep. 147 (Part 3 of 3) | Award-winning author, Zen priest and teacher, Kung Fu master, and professional advisor and trainer, Keith Martin-Smith, took a good look at the diversity, equity, and inclusion movement when he began to notice the damage it was causing people he knew under the guise of progress, or equity. Putting his keen mind to the task, Keith identified seven key areas where the DEI movement goes markedly astray from the values it aspires to. Coming from an integral understanding, Keith does more than simply point out where the movement has backfired. We learn that postmodern thinking is how we became aware of the “subtle soup of racism [and bias] in the cultural field itself”—beyond the concrete, obvious social injustices that activists fought in the 20th century. This more subtle field of bias is responsible for the inequalities we see in society today, which is what the DEI movement would like to tear down. But the ways in which DEI acts to make this happen, ironically, are characterized by exactly the things that DEI is against: intolerance, inequity, undiversity, tribalism, and anti-liberalism.

In his wise, articulate, and gracious way, Keith makes sense of why the diversity, equity, and inclusion movement has become a political flashpoint, raising the hackles of not only rightwing conservatives but also liberal progressives. Sympathetic to the values of DEI, Keith is all about helping to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive movement. When asked how the values of DEI could be fulfilled to make it the harmonious, effective, correcting movement it aspires to be, Keith responded, “with conversations like this, for one thing,” adding, “we need to realize that everyone has a portion of truth—we just need to connect everyone’s portion of truth with their heart.” Recorded June 6, 2024.

>> Read more and listen to the full episode

Keith Martin-Smith (Part 2) – The Wonderful Ideals But Flawed Applications of DEI: Intolerant Tolerance, Undiverse Diversity, Unliberal Liberalism, and More

By Heidi Mitchell | September 5, 2024

Ep. 146 (Part 2 of 3) | Award-winning author, Zen priest and teacher, Kung Fu master, and professional advisor and trainer, Keith Martin-Smith, took a good look at the diversity, equity, and inclusion movement when he began to notice the damage it was causing people he knew under the guise of progress, or equity. Putting his keen mind to the task, Keith identified seven key areas where the DEI movement goes markedly astray from the values it aspires to. Coming from an integral understanding, Keith does more than simply point out where the movement has backfired. We learn that postmodern thinking is how we became aware of the “subtle soup of racism [and bias] in the cultural field itself”—beyond the concrete, obvious social injustices that activists fought in the 20th century. This more subtle field of bias is responsible for the inequalities we see in society today, which is what the DEI movement would like to tear down. But the ways in which DEI acts to make this happen, ironically, are characterized by exactly the things that DEI is against: intolerance, inequity, undiversity, tribalism, and anti-liberalism.

In his wise, articulate, and gracious way, Keith makes sense of why the diversity, equity, and inclusion movement has become a political flashpoint, raising the hackles of not only rightwing conservatives but also liberal progressives. Sympathetic to the values of DEI, Keith is all about helping to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive movement. When asked how the values of DEI could be fulfilled to make it the harmonious, effective, correcting movement it aspires to be, Keith responded, “with conversations like this, for one thing,” adding, “we need to realize that everyone has a portion of truth—we just need to connect everyone’s portion of truth with their heart.” Recorded June 6, 2024.

>> Read more and listen to the full episode

Keith Martin-Smith (Part 1) – The Wonderful Ideals But Flawed Applications of DEI: Intolerant Tolerance, Undiverse Diversity, Unliberal Liberalism, and More

By Heidi Mitchell | August 29, 2024

Ep. 145 (Part 1 of 3) | Award-winning author, Zen priest and teacher, Kung Fu master, and professional advisor and trainer, Keith Martin-Smith, took a good look at the diversity, equity, and inclusion movement when he began to notice the damage it was causing people he knew under the guise of progress, or equity. Putting his keen mind to the task, Keith identified seven key areas where the DEI movement goes markedly astray from the values it aspires to. Coming from an integral understanding, Keith does more than simply point out where the movement has backfired. We learn that postmodern thinking is how we became aware of the “subtle soup of racism [and bias] in the cultural field itself”—beyond the concrete, obvious social injustices that activists fought in the 20th century. This more subtle field of bias is responsible for the inequalities we see in society today, which is what the DEI movement would like to tear down. But the ways in which DEI acts to make this happen, ironically, are characterized by exactly the things that DEI is against: intolerance, inequity, undiversity, tribalism, and anti-liberalism.

In his wise, articulate, and gracious way, Keith makes sense of why the diversity, equity, and inclusion movement has become a political flashpoint, raising the hackles of not only rightwing conservatives but also liberal progressives. Sympathetic to the values of DEI, Keith is all about helping to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive movement. When asked how the values of DEI could be fulfilled to make it the harmonious, effective, correcting movement it aspires to be, Keith responded, “with conversations like this, for one thing,” adding, “we need to realize that everyone has a portion of truth—we just need to connect everyone’s portion of truth with their heart.” Recorded June 6, 2024.

>> Read more and listen to the full episode

A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series (Dialogue 2, Part 2) – Exploring the Depths of the Soul: Bridging Ancient Wisdom & Modern Psychology Using the Practice of Inquiry

By Heidi Mitchell | August 22, 2024

Ep. 144 (Part 2 of 2) | In the second A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series conversation, Hameed Ali describes how the practice of inquiry can aid us on our spiritual journey, illuminating our understanding of our personal experience and our soul. He uses the example of inquiring into a sense of worthlessness to illustrate what happens as we begin to investigate the terrain of our consciousness. There comes a point when the inquiry leads beyond where a psychologist would normally end—when it slips from psychological into spiritual inquiry. “If you stay with the wounding, something will emerge: a sense of inherent value. You recognize ‘I am presence’ and this presence has value—all the way to nondual presence and beyond.”

In introducing us to the Diamond Approach’s inquiry technique, Hameed covers a rich array of topics: the dynamism of consciousness; the importance of scientific objectivity in our exploration of inner experience; modern psychology’s revelation of how our sense of self develops; the essential qualities of curiosity and love of truth; and how understanding the ways in which the past influences the present disentangles it. Hameed is a masterful teacher—with just a few words he can illuminate vast territories of spiritual landscape for the purpose of helping his students learn to live their lives from a deeper, liberated condition. Rather than aiming to transcend our experience, Hameed assures us there is a way through, an unraveling we can do, as we discover never-ending realizations about individual consciousness and the nature of reality. Recorded July 4, 2024.

>> Read more and listen to the full episode

A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series (Dialogue 2, Part 1) – Exploring the Depths of the Soul: Bridging Ancient Wisdom & Modern Psychology Using the Practice of Inquiry

By Heidi Mitchell | August 15, 2024

Ep. 143 (Part 1 of 2) | In the second A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series conversation, Hameed Ali describes how the practice of inquiry can aid us on our spiritual journey, illuminating our understanding of our personal experience and our soul. He uses the example of inquiring into a sense of worthlessness to illustrate what happens as we begin to investigate the terrain of our consciousness. There comes a point when the inquiry leads beyond where a psychologist would normally end—when it slips from psychological into spiritual inquiry. “If you stay with the wounding, something will emerge: a sense of inherent value. You recognize ‘I am presence’ and this presence has value—all the way to nondual presence and beyond.”

In introducing us to the Diamond Approach’s inquiry technique, Hameed covers a rich array of topics: the dynamism of consciousness; the importance of scientific objectivity in our exploration of inner experience; modern psychology’s revelation of how our sense of self develops; the essential qualities of curiosity and love of truth; and how understanding the ways in which the past influences the present disentangles it. Hameed is a masterful teacher—with just a few words he can illuminate vast territories of spiritual landscape for the purpose of helping his students learn to live their lives from a deeper, liberated condition. Rather than aiming to transcend our experience, Hameed assures us there is a way through, an unraveling we can do, as we discover never-ending realizations about individual consciousness and the nature of reality. Recorded July 4, 2024.

>> Read more and listen to the full episode

Jeremy Lent (Part 2) – Big Picture Systems Thinking: A Key Practice for Understanding, Transforming, and Preserving Civilization

By Heidi Mitchell | August 8, 2024

Ep. 142 (Part 2 of 2) | Award-winning author of The Web of Meaning and founder of the Deep Transformation Network, Jeremy Lent, relates how his discovery of systems thinking opened the door to a whole new way of making sense of the world and illumined his in depth exploration of what creates meaning. In looking into what forms concepts like God, soul, humanity, nature, and science, Jeremy came to understand the thinking that has led to the existential crisis we face now, then began to explore what it would take to break out of the worldview that has caused so much destruction on so many levels. Jeremy integrates systems thinking with concepts from evolutionary biology, neuroscience, ecology, and traditional and indigenous wisdom, forming a holistic view of science, where “maybe the distinction between science and spirituality isn’t really valid.”

Jeremy’s heartfelt intention is to act as translator—to make it enjoyable for people to explore difficult concepts like consciousness and evolutionary biology they might otherwise steer away from—as well as be a catalyst for large-scale transformation. His vision of a potential future “ecological civilization” builds on the evolutionary success of life itself—ecosystems living in mutual symbiosis—and includes the idea of “islands of coherence” which would provide a bridge from a disintegrating society to a new and flourishing one. Systems thinking, like indigenous wisdom, recognizes the deep connectedness of all things, a realization, Jeremy points out, that leads to the knowing that nothing is inevitable and the choices we make matter. Jeremy leaves us with a sense of agency and of liberation, as well as a sense of responsibility to work together in the shaping of a life-affirming, sustainable future. Recorded June 20, 2024.

>> Read more and listen to the full episode