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Posts Tagged ‘Future of Humanity’
Kimberley Lafferty (Part 1) – The Path of Wisdom, Heart, and Ethics: A Developmental Perspective on the Journey of Awakening
“Applying a developmental understanding and developmental education is essential to any situation that we have.”
Ep. 174 (Part 1 of 3) | Longtime spiritual practitioner, gifted teacher, Tibetan Buddhist lama, and developmental psychology specialist Kimberley Lafferty integrates contemporary psychology and wisdom tradition in this lively, luminous conversation about the process of awakening, the evolution of ethics, and the extraordinary capacities that come online as we mature into later stages of development. What do developmental perspectives have to add to our understanding of human nature and to spiritual practice? Our meaning-making shifts radically as we develop, Kimberley says, and because of that our reality itself shifts. This is why communicating with people with very different points of view can fail so miserably—one person’s reality is simply not the same as the next person’s reality. We need to discern, what is their meaning-making reality in this moment? What is ours?
Throughout, Kimberley grounds the discussion in practical, real-life scenarios; she also shares intriguing research on later stage development that has found that as we mature, our senses evolve: our hearing evolves to deep attunement; our seeing evolves to witnessing, our capacity of touch evolves to embody presence. It’s exciting and inspiring to see the road ahead, to acquire new insights and tools to improve communication across cultural (and age) divides, to have the concept of bodhicitta unpacked so deftly and common misperceptions about emptiness corrected—and to witness Kimberley’s wise and zesty approach to life: “What connects us all is our luminous, aware consciousness,” she says, “and if we can lean into the messiness, I think we can find our way through.” Recorded October 3, 2024.
Read MoreA. H. Almaas Wisdom Series (Dialogue 5, Part 2) – Boundless Potentials: Opening to the Endless Creativity of Our Being and the Universe
Ep. 159 (Part 2 of 2) | In the 5th dialogue of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, spiritual teacher and author Hameed Ali discusses the dynamic, ever changing, infinitely creative nature of the universe, and explains that our individual souls are in some sense a microcosm of this energy, with endless potentials and possibilities. We can experience creative dynamism, Hameed says, as “a sense of infinite energy, pulsing and throbbing, where we see the whole universe in continual emergence, every moment new.” Although the soul has boundless potential, we tend to take the limited approach that what we already know is the extent of things; the key to loosening the limits we place upon ourselves is to practice inquiry and remain open to all directions of possibilities. Each individual experiences the dynamism in a different way and expresses the potentiality of reality in a different way, says Hameed. When we are in touch with our true nature, we share in the creativity of the divine.
In this conversation, Hameed also talks about death: how we can be curious about it, how it is the ultimate in finality, one more possibility of reality, and that he doesn’t presume to know it, only that true nature is the source of time and does not die. Life can be experienced like a fountain rather than a flowing river, Hameed relates. And the more our ego structures are released, the more we can open to its beautiful array of endless possibilities. Another profoundly intriguing, subtly humorous, and absolutely enlightening conversation with Hameed Ali. Recorded October 10, 2024.
Read MoreA. H. Almaas Wisdom Series (Dialogue 5, Part 1) – Boundless Potentials: Opening to the Endless Creativity of Our Being and the Universe
Ep. 158 (Part 1 of 2) | In the 5th dialogue of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, spiritual teacher and author Hameed Ali discusses the dynamic, ever changing, infinitely creative nature of the universe, and explains that our individual souls are in some sense a microcosm of this energy, with endless potentials and possibilities. We can experience creative dynamism, Hameed says, as “a sense of infinite energy, pulsing and throbbing, where we see the whole universe in continual emergence, every moment new.” Although the soul has boundless potential, we tend to take the limited approach that what we already know is the extent of things; the key to loosening the limits we place upon ourselves is to practice inquiry and remain open to all directions of possibilities. Each individual experiences the dynamism in a different way and expresses the potentiality of reality in a different way, says Hameed. When we are in touch with our true nature, we share in the creativity of the divine.
In this conversation, Hameed also talks about death: how we can be curious about it, how it is the ultimate in finality, one more possibility of reality, and that he doesn’t presume to know it, only that true nature is the source of time and does not die. Life can be experienced like a fountain rather than a flowing river, Hameed relates. And the more our ego structures are released, the more we can open to its beautiful array of endless possibilities. Another profoundly intriguing, subtly humorous, and absolutely enlightening conversation with Hameed Ali. Recorded October 10, 2024.
Read MoreSean Esbjörn-Hargens (Part 3) – The Boundless Riches of Nonduality: Understanding Nondual Experiences Across Traditions and Over Time
Ep. 157 (Part 3 of 3) | Integral polymath Sean Esbjörn-Hargens is the first comparative scholar to undertake exploring and differentiating the myriad varieties of nonduality. A longtime spiritual practitioner within several nondual traditions, Sean wanted to find out how we can understand the relationship between reality, consciousness, and practice. When he delved into an analysis of different traditions’ experience of nonduality, Sean was surprised and excited by what he found: 40 distinct nondual traditions, ancient and new, from both East and West, fascinating in their differences, their similarities, their uniqueness, and their depth. Sean’s hope is that his comparative study of nondual traditions will open the door to a global, cross-tradition dialogue that will supersede centuries of misunderstanding and conflict among people arguing that their realization is the only correct and/or best interpretation of reality.
Enthusiasm and excitement flow throughout the conversation as Sean reveals the provocative patterns he uncovered in nonduality’s history, like the mysterious flourishing of nondual traditions for a 300-year period starting in the 11th century. He covers specific distinctions he has mapped: the primary polarities across traditions (goal, path, context, practices), the different qualities that are emphasized (emptiness + omnipresence, emptiness + bliss, and more), and the six possible subject/object orientations of the traditions. Informed by A. H. Almaas’ awareness that there is no endpoint to spiritual realizations and Ken Wilber concluding that nonduality evolves (nonduality = emptiness + view; emptiness doesn’t change, but view does), along with his own findings of ever deepening and broadening nondual realizations, Sean wonders, “What will our nondual traditions look like in a thousand years? In two thousand years?” And, “What are some of the nondual seeds from other traditions that we are not watering?” Hang on to your hats for a thoroughly enjoyable and eye opening ride through a goldmine of information about the many faces of our nondual traditions. Recorded September 12, 2024.
Read MoreSean Esbjörn-Hargens (Part 2) – The Boundless Riches of Nonduality: Understanding Nondual Experiences Across Traditions and Over Time
Ep. 156 (Part 2 of 3) | Integral polymath Sean Esbjörn-Hargens is the first comparative scholar to undertake exploring and differentiating the myriad varieties of nonduality. A longtime spiritual practitioner within several nondual traditions, Sean wanted to find out how we can understand the relationship between reality, consciousness, and practice. When he delved into an analysis of different traditions’ experience of nonduality, Sean was surprised and excited by what he found: 40 distinct nondual traditions, ancient and new, from both East and West, fascinating in their differences, their similarities, their uniqueness, and their depth. Sean’s hope is that his comparative study of nondual traditions will open the door to a global, cross-tradition dialogue that will supersede centuries of misunderstanding and conflict among people arguing that their realization is the only correct and/or best interpretation of reality.
Enthusiasm and excitement flow throughout the conversation as Sean reveals the provocative patterns he uncovered in nonduality’s history, like the mysterious flourishing of nondual traditions for a 300-year period starting in the 11th century. He covers specific distinctions he has mapped: the primary polarities across traditions (goal, path, context, practices), the different qualities that are emphasized (emptiness + omnipresence, emptiness + bliss, and more), and the six possible subject/object orientations of the traditions. Informed by A. H. Almaas’ awareness that there is no endpoint to spiritual realizations and Ken Wilber concluding that nonduality evolves (nonduality = emptiness + view; emptiness doesn’t change, but view does), along with his own findings of ever deepening and broadening nondual realizations, Sean wonders, “What will our nondual traditions look like in a thousand years? In two thousand years?” And, “What are some of the nondual seeds from other traditions that we are not watering?” Hang on to your hats for a thoroughly enjoyable and eye opening ride through a goldmine of information about the many faces of our nondual traditions. Recorded September 12, 2024.
Read MoreSean Esbjörn-Hargens (Part 1) – The Boundless Riches of Nonduality: Understanding Nondual Experiences Across Traditions and Over Time
Ep. 155 (Part 1 of 3) | Integral polymath Sean Esbjörn-Hargens is the first comparative scholar to undertake exploring and differentiating the myriad varieties of nonduality. A longtime spiritual practitioner within several nondual traditions, Sean wanted to find out how we can understand the relationship between reality, consciousness, and practice. When he delved into an analysis of different traditions’ concept of nonduality, Sean was surprised and excited by what he found: 40 distinct nondual traditions, ancient and new, from both East and West, fascinating in their differences, their similarities, their uniqueness, and their depth. Sean’s hope is that his comparative study of nondual traditions will open the door to a global, cross-tradition dialogue that will supersede centuries of misunderstanding and conflict among people arguing that their realization is the only correct and/or best interpretation of reality.
Enthusiasm and excitement flow throughout the conversation as Sean reveals the provocative patterns he uncovered in nonduality’s history, like the mysterious flourishing of nondual traditions for a 300-year period starting in the 11th century. He covers specific distinctions he has mapped: the primary polarities across traditions (goal, path, context, practices), the different qualities that are emphasized (emptiness + omnipresence, emptiness + bliss, and more), and the six possible subject/object orientations of the traditions. Informed by A. H. Almaas’ awareness that there is no endpoint to spiritual realizations and Ken Wilber concluding that nonduality evolves (nonduality = emptiness + view; emptiness doesn’t change, but view does), along with his own findings of ever deepening and broadening nondual realizations, Sean wonders, “What will our nondual traditions look like in a thousand years? In two thousand years?” And, “What are some of the nondual seeds from other traditions that we are not watering?” Hang on to your hats for a thoroughly enjoyable and eye opening ride through a goldmine of information about the many faces of our nondual traditions. Recorded September 12, 2024.
Read MoreA. H. Almaas Wisdom Series (Dialogue 3, Part 2) – What is Consciousness? The Key to Experiencing Our True Nature
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 MoreA. H. Almaas Wisdom Series (Dialogue 3, Part 1) – What is Consciousness? The Key to Experiencing Our True Nature
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 MoreCindy Wigglesworth – Spiritual Intelligence: 21 Skills That Underlie Our Capacities for Wisdom, Compassion & Love in Action
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 MoreKeith Martin-Smith (Part 3) – The Wonderful Ideals But Flawed Applications of DEI: Intolerant Tolerance, Undiverse Diversity, Unliberal Liberalism, and More
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 MoreKeith Martin-Smith (Part 2) – The Wonderful Ideals But Flawed Applications of DEI: Intolerant Tolerance, Undiverse Diversity, Unliberal Liberalism, and More
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 MoreKeith Martin-Smith (Part 1) – The Wonderful Ideals But Flawed Applications of DEI: Intolerant Tolerance, Undiverse Diversity, Unliberal Liberalism, and More
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 MoreMark Fischler (Part 2) – Democracy in Decline? Making Sense of the Supreme Court, the Trump Trials, and Threats to Public Morality
Ep. 136 (Part 2 of 2) | Criminal justice professor and constitutional law expert Mark Fischler does a brilliant job of deepening our understanding of the challenges facing our democracy, our legal system, and our public morality. How did the democratic process and the values it represents—equality and liberty for all—come to be teetering on the brink? Mark illuminates the fact that the Constitution is not a set-in-stone document, but eminently open to interpretation, and explains that its interpretation is a direct reflection of the worldviews of the Supreme Court justices. In fact, the whole process of democracy needs to be aligned with a certain level of development in order to deliver. Mark points out that democracy hasn’t served all of us, and urges us to explore who and in what ways it has failed, that we may work to correct its flaws and continue to uphold and expand the values foundational to democracy to include respecting and protecting the rights of all beings.
Mark contrasts the moral integrity of revered public figures such as Socrates and Dr. King, who honored the rule of law despite that it went against their own self interest, with the disregard for the law so prevalent among political figures today, and points out that democracy can be subverted not only by malicious intent, but also by misplaced idealism—when people feel that supporting a charismatic leader or ideology is more important than supporting the principles of democracy. With regard to the Trump trials, the question arises, is any human above the law? Mark also shares where he finds hope—in his own university students with their openness to a deeper ethical understanding and responsibility and willingness to undertake civic action. Mark urges all of us who care about democracy to become engaged now. His wise, integral, highly informed insights about the current state of the legal system and of democracy, here and around the world, are revelatory, alarming, and inspiring in turn. Recorded May 22, 2024.
Read MoreMark Fischler (Part 1) – Democracy in Decline? Making Sense of the Supreme Court, the Trump Trials, and Threats to Public Morality
Ep. 135 (Part 1 of 2) | Criminal justice professor and constitutional law expert Mark Fischler does a brilliant job of deepening our understanding of the challenges facing our democracy, our legal system, and our public morality. How did the democratic process and the values it represents—equality and liberty for all—come to be teetering on the brink? Mark illuminates the fact that the Constitution is not a set-in-stone document, but eminently open to interpretation, and explains that its interpretation is a direct reflection of the worldviews of the Supreme Court justices. In fact, the whole process of democracy needs to be aligned with a certain level of development in order to deliver. Mark points out that democracy hasn’t served all of us, and urges us to explore who and in what ways it has failed, that we may work to correct its flaws and continue to uphold and expand the values foundational to democracy to include respecting and protecting the rights of all beings.
Mark contrasts the moral integrity of revered public figures such as Socrates and Dr. King, who honored the rule of law despite that it went against their own self interest, with the disregard for the law so prevalent among political figures today, and points out that democracy can be subverted not only by malicious intent, but also by misplaced idealism—when people feel that supporting a charismatic leader or ideology is more important than supporting the principles of democracy. With regard to the Trump trials, the question arises, is any human above the law? Mark also shares where he finds hope—in his own university students with their openness to a deeper ethical understanding and responsibility and willingness to undertake civic action. Mark urges all of us who care about democracy to become engaged now. His wise, integral, highly informed insights about the current state of the legal system and of democracy, here and around the world, are revelatory, alarming, and inspiring in turn. Recorded May 22, 2024.
Read MoreBrendan Graham Dempsey (Part 2) – How and Why Cultures Evolve, and the Emerging Stage of Metamodernism
Ep. 134 (Part 2 of 2) | Author, podcaster, farmer, and poet, Brendan Graham Dempsey, brings passion, dedication, clarity, and outstanding scholarship to the fascinating and enormously important study of cultural evolution, which operates on both a personal level and a collective one. He illuminates how, when, and why we shift from one cultural worldview to the next, using his own life’s journey through the cultural stages as a map and paints colorful portraits of the outstanding characteristics of each stage: traditional/premodern, modern, postmodern, and metamodern. Brendan enlightens us as to the tumultuous and often lonely and despairing time that occurs when our prior stage has been deconstructed and we find ourselves between worldviews in a liminal space where sensemaking fails. As he puts it, we live in certain worlds to help us navigate reality. But then things change, and we bump up against the limits of things. Now the time has come to update our sense of the world; we are invited to expand and grow.
We come to understand why it is necessary for cultures to evolve—to accommodate ever increasing complexity—and why culture wars and confusion result from misunderstanding a worldview that infiltrates your psyche before it’s ready. Brendan explains why postmodernism does not serve us now, introducing and inviting us to the new, emerging worldview of metamodernism, where there is hope in positivity, affirmation, and aspirational idealism. Hope, and the promise of coming together in a new understanding among peoples, a prerequisite for dealing with the challenges of the global crises that affect us all. Brendan brings a big heart, keen mind, and a lot of verve to these complex subjects, which come alive under his brilliant tutelage. As he points out, deconstructing the psyche can help save the world, adding, this is a lot of what the metamodern community is trying to get the word out about. Recorded May 1, 2024.
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