Jonathan Gustin (Part 3) – Integrating Activism and Spiritual Practice: Nonduality and the Metacrisis

By Heidi Mitchell | April 25, 2024
Jonathan Gustin Metacrisis Nonduality Spiritual Practice

Purpose guide, activist, nonduality student/teacher, and meditation teacher Jonathan Gustin is passionate about bringing the subject of the metacrisis into spiritual practice, essentially updating spiritual traditions that originated on deeply local levels to reflect the world of interrelated global crises we live in today. Jonathan proposes we delve into the relationship between nondual awakening and the metacrisis, using the metacrisis as our spiritual koan, and fostering within our contemplative practice a sense of responsibility for life that manifests in activism. Jonathan’s focus is also on guiding individuals to explore the notion of soul-level purpose—not only to discover our true purpose but embody a purpose that is consistent with love without boundaries. 

This is a warm, lively, far reaching, and enlightening discussion, tying many intriguing subjects to the overarching theme of nonduality, metacrisis, and soul-level purpose: Native American vision questing, karma yoga, skillful communication, the developmental stages of purpose, the consequences of the delusion of separateness, the difference between humancentric nonduality and ecocentric nonduality, and much more. It is deeply inspirational to approach the metacrisis (which Jonathan provides a wonderful definition of) as an investigation into our relationship with life and reality. Recorded April 4, 2024.

“The metacrisis is an investigation into our relationship with life and reality; the term itself is a koan.”

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Topics & Time Stamps – Part 3

  • A definition of the metacrisis: the polycrisis (the multiple interrelated crises) plus the consciousness in which the polycrisis arises and is ultimately made up (00:56)
  • What is beyond (meta) all the elements of the polycrisis? Consciousness (02:32)
  • We cannot engineer our way out of the metacrisis: we will have to heal, mature, and awaken ourselves individually & collectively if we are to make our way through the bottleneck we have created; furthermore, this is a permacrisis (05:11)
  • The metacrisis is an investigation into our relationship with life and reality; the term itself is a koan (09:00)
  • Default (inherited) purpose vs soul-level purpose (11:48)
  • Purpose goes through a number of developmental stages—what are the characteristics of a mature, service-oriented, worldcentric purpose? (16:17)
  • The difference between humancentric nonduality and ecocentric nonduality (20:26)
  • The embodiment piece of nonduality is key (22:31)
  • Updating our spiritual traditions and koans to 2024; asking, What is the metacrisis? (24:01)
  • Jonathan’s open letter to nondual teachers inviting them to integrate the metacrisis into their teachings (33:07)
  • Integral Conference in North America (ICON): Future Human, Denver, May 16th-19th (35:28)

Resources & References – Part 3

Join Roger Walsh at Integral Conference of North America (ICON)’s FUTURE HUMAN conference, May 16-19, 2024 in Denver!

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Jonathan Gustin Spiritual Practice Nonduality Metacrisis

Jonathan Gustin, MA, MFT, is the founder of Purpose Guides Institute. He helps people to find and embody their life’s purpose, and offers training for those who want to become Purpose Guides themselves. He is also a meditation teacher, facilitating meditation gatherings remotely as well as in-person in his hometown of Victoria, BC, Canada.  

Jonathan has been a psychotherapist and spiritual mentor for over 25 years.  He is a retired adjunct professor at JFK University and co-author of Purpose Rising with Ken Wilber, Erwin Laszlo, and Bill Plotkin. He has had the pleasure of co-teaching programs with such luminaries as Human Potential pioneer George Leonard, eco-activist Joanna Macy, eco-psychologist Bill Plotkin, and Non-Duality pioneer Adyashanti. Jonathan looks forward to igniting a global conversation on Non-Duality & The Metacrisis (with a forthcoming paper in Summer 2024). Jonathan’s Institute welcomes a new cohort each September for Purpose Discovery and Purpose Guide Training. You can join him here:

Zoom Meditation HERE

Intro to Purpose Discovery HERE

Non-duality & the MetaCrisis – A group exploration HERE

Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Besides his passion for getting the invaluable conversations on the Deep Transformation Podcast out to the world, co-host John Dupuy is also dedicated to encouraging the use of brainwave entrainment technology for its transformative effects. John has been working personally and professionally with brainwave entrainment technology since 2004, and in 2010, he co-founded iAwake Technologies to help create high quality soundtracks using this technology, which supports the healing of emotional/shadow issues, deepens meditation, mental focus, creativity, and flow states, and enhances a daily integral transformative practice.

To experience the effects for yourself, you can download a free sample of the Stealing Flow Warm-up track here, for a 25-minute, full-spectrum, whole-brain workout. We hope you enjoy it!

Posted in Awakening, Buddhism, Climate Change, Global Activism, Metacrisis, Nonduality, Spiritual Practice, Wisdom and tagged , , , , ,