The Integral Stage (Layman Pascal / Bruce Alderman)

To shake things up a little on The Integral Stage, we are dropping down a few chakras to explore all the ins and outs of awakened sexuality, conscious relationship, and sensuously embodied spiritual practice. For episode 22, Layman is joined by Catherine Auman and Greg Lawrence of The Transpersonal Center in LA, to talk about the tantric arts, transpersonal dimensions of development, sexuality as a doorway to mystical or psychedelic experience, psychic integration before and after extended lovemaking, the science of creating a soulmate, the importance of friendship for intimate tantric sexuality, life as lovemaking, and much more. Professional website: https://www.thetranspersonalcenter.com/ Explore The Integral Stage on the Fathom app https://hello.fathom.fm/ Support The Integral Stage on Patreon!   / theintegralstage   Special thanks and big love to Shai Newman, the Limited Hangout guys, Brandon LaChance, Mike McElroy, Brandon Norgaard, Brendan Graham Dempsey, Francesca, and all of our other Patreon supporters!

For this episode, Layman hooks up with Metamodern writer and process theologian, Jared Morningstar, to talk about Islam -- its ritual practices, its history, its internal and external movements and divisions, its theological and metaphysical insights, its social challenges, its relationship to ecology and care for the earth, its potential futures, and much more.  

Jared is a writer and educator with academic interests in philosophy of religion, Islamic studies, comparative religion, metamodern spirituality, and interfaith dialogue whose work in these areas seeks to offer robust responses to issues of inter-religious conflict, contemporary nihilism, and the "meaning crisis" among other things. You can find his work on YouTube and Medium. 

Jared works for the Center for Process Studies and the Cobb Institute where he supports these organizations promote a process-relational worldview and flourish in a digital world through aiding in a variety of marketing and communications tasks. He also works for the Psychedelic Medicine Association where he helps communicate the latest insights in psychedelic research for mental health conditions to an audience of clinicians and other healthcare professionals. Jared is also the founder and director of 'Alif: Traditional Wisdom in Review, a digital Islamic studies publication which seeks to build intellectual and spiritual bridges between the Islamic tradition and Western cultural, religious, and philosophical sources.   

Professional Website https://jaredmorningstar.com/ 

Please like, subscribe, and consider supporting The Integral Stage on Patreon to make more of these conversations possible! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage 

Special thanks and big love to Shai Newman, Brandon LaChance, Mike McElroy, Brandon Norgaard, Brendan Graham Dempsey, Francesca, and all of our other Patreon supporters!

John Vervaeke joins Bruce Alderman and Layman Pascal to explore possible points of contact and confluence between their respective approaches to religion and spirituality.  For the seventh episode, they reflect on the koanic and emotional dimensions of Christ's cry from the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"; grief and the feeling of God-forsakenness in a time between worlds; the failure of legacy religions to grapple adequately with our greatest challenges; the death and resurrection of tradition; propositional truths as limiting and enabling constraints; and in light of all of these concerns, some possible expansions and additions to our ecologies of practice.

"Awakening from the Meaning Crisis" Playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLND1JCRq8Vuh3f0P5qjrSdb5eC1ZfZwWJ

Voices with Vervaeke: Metamodern Wisdom about Religion with Layman Pascal: https://youtu.be/bPy6W-c5_9Y 

Vervaeke and Hall Begin to Design the Religion That is Not a Religion: https://youtu.be/nl48eFZGRq8 

Please like, subscribe, and consider supporting The Integral Stage on Patreon to make more of these conversations possible! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage

Layman welcomes Andrés Bernal, a lecturer at CUNY Queens College, to discuss Modern Monetary Theory -- how he became interested in it, its major claims, its main proponents and detractors, and what it would take to begin to put it in action.  Andrés discusses his work with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; the development and implementation of the Green New Deal; the potential for South American countries to lead the way in monetary and economic reform; the role of AQAL, existential philosophy, and spiritual practice in his activism and the formation of his ideas; and much more.  Andrés was born in Bogota, Colombia and immigrated to the United States as a child. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley with a focus on Existentialism, Political Economy, and Social Theory; and a Master of Arts from the University of San Diego's School of Leadership and Educational Sciences with a specialization in group learning and development and organizational leadership under the mentoring of renowned scholar-practitioner Zachary Green of Group Relations International.   Andrés has over a decade's worth of experience in youth leadership development and community building and serves as the Director of Political Education for the Young Progressives of America. In the Summer of 2017, Andrés began supporting the Congressional campaign of former colleague Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a policy advisor and organizer. His work facilitated the incorporation of the Federal Jobs Guarantee policy onto the official campaign platform and helped in the vetting process of various academic resources. Alexandria would go on to become the youngest woman in history to be elected to the United States Congress.   Currently, Andrés resides in New York City where he is a Lecturer of Urban Studies at CUNY Queens College and Doctoral student at The New School For Public Engagement, Division of Policy Management and Environment. His research focuses on the Green New Deal as a site of political communication and policy analysis. Andrés is a leading voice and proponent associated with the heterodox school of economic thought known as Modern Monetary Theory. He is a Research Fellow at the Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity and a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Missouri Kansas City Department of Economics.

https://www.andres-bernal.com/

Layman is joined by evolutionary enlightenment teacher, Andrew Cohen.  

Andrew recounts his early experiences with his teacher, H.W.L. Poonja, and he explores with Layman the questions of what factors might serve to amplify transmission in certain people or places; the nature and role of subtle energy in relation to transmission dynamics; transmission in intersubjective or group contexts; the role of pomp and mythopoetic symbology in postmodern and metamodern transmission contexts; evolutionary enlightenment and the evolutionary impulse; the relationship dynamics of enlightened teachers with one another, and what might be done to overcome competitive ego dynamics and foster greater collaboration; Andrew's experiences with American Baul spiritual teacher, Lee Lozowick; and much more.  

Andrew Cohen is an American-born, internationally known integral spiritual teacher and writer, and the founder of Evolutionary Enlightenment.  He has been teaching meditation for over three decades, and created the magazine, What is Enlightenment? -- one of the most successful publications ever in its genre.  His teaching work grapples with the challenges of bringing the revelation of enlightenment to a contemporary Western audience, integrating postmodern cultural and scientific understanding with an original and sophisticated non-dual philosophy.  After his organization, EnlightenNext, dissolved in 2013, he went on sabbatical for several years, but now has returned to teaching and is leading an online spiritual community called Manifest Nirvana.  Links and Resources  

https://www.andrewcohen.com/ 

https://www.manifest-nirvana.com/

For the forty-seventh episode of the Integral Stage Author Series, Layman meets with Dr. Nava Israel to discuss her "Cone" model, which describes a common pattern through which often well-meaning solutions to problems end up transforming into dogmatic systems that rob individuals of their freedoms and worsen their problems. Layman invites Dr. Nava to unpack the inner workings of the systems that oppress and control individuals under the guise of wisdom, necessity, kindness, greatness, unity, or progress. Nava Israel is a lifelong innovator, entrepreneur, author, researcher, facilitator, speaker, educator, a business and academic consultant, and a social and cultural innovator with a PhD in epidemiology. Beyond formal titles, she is a philosopher at heart with an insatiable curiosity for all forms of science, critical thinking, human behaviour, patterns, social justice, true and deep healing, our place in the universe, and the intersections of all the above.
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Nava-Israel-Ph.D./author/B0D7XVDDQL

For the 39th episode of the Integral Stage Authors Series, Layman cozies up in a yurt with Simon Cox to talk about his recent book, The Subtle Body: A Genealogy.

Simon tells Layman about his history studying martial arts, including six years under a kung fu master on Wudang Mountain in China, and the path that led him to a deep, graduate-level comparative exploration of conceptions of the subtle body in Taoist and Tibetan Buddhist / Bon traditions. What are the similarities and differences between Eastern models of the subtle body and those we have inherited from the Neo-Platonists? How have these models been conflated in past scholarship? What did Crowley bring to the subject? What are the practical and onto-epistemological implications of a deep understanding of subtle body tradition and practice? What are some promising paths of future research? What does this tradition have to contribute to the rising interest in neo-animism in our time, or even the strange stories about interdimensional beings now circulating in the halls of Congress following the recent UAP hearings? Join Layman and Simon as they explore these questions and many more. Simon Cox, Ph.D., is an independent scholar and translator who works primarily in Chinese, Tibetan, and Greek. His research focuses on mysticism and the body. He is also a teacher of Chinese Martial Arts at the Okanagan Valley Wudang center, and a collaborator at the Esalen Institute. The Subtle Body https://www.amazon.com/Subtle-Body-Ge... Okanagan Valley Wudang https://www.okanaganvalleywudang.com/ Follow The Integral Stage on Fathom! https://hello.fathom.fm/ Remember to like, subscribe, and support The Integral Stage on Patreon to make more of these conversations possible!   / theintegralstage   Special thanks and big love to Shai Newman, the LIMITED HANGOUT guys, Brandon LaChance, Mike McElroy, Brandon Norgaard, Brendan Graham Dempsey, Francesca, and all of our other Patreon supporters!

Layman meets with integrative psychotherapist, spiritual practitioner, and musician, Willow Pearson Trimbach, to talk about her early experiences of the significance of dreams; her concept of dreams as nested and ongoing; the importance of protecting the unconscious; the relationship of the natural states to the classically sacred dimensions of reality; the nature of the dreaming self and its relation to the waking self; her use of the concept of the caesura - a kind of bidirectional membrane - to indicate the nonseparateness of waking and dreaming life; and much more.  

Dr. Pearson is a licensed clinical psychologist. She is also a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and a nationally board-certified music therapist (MT-BC). In fall 2017, Dr. Pearson joined the full-time faculty in the Clinical Psychology Department at NDNU. In May 2018, Dr. Pearson became Director of Clinical Training. Previously, she taught doctoral students at Alliant International University in San Francisco, undergraduate and graduate students at Naropa University, and graduate students at John F. Kennedy University. Dr. Pearson’s 18 years of licensed clinical work includes experience in private practice, as well as at medical centers and hospitals (serving inpatients and outpatient clients), community clinics, and mental health centers. In these settings, she has worked with adults, children, adolescents, couples and groups. 

Her clinical background includes training in psychoanalytic, psychodynamic, integral, relational, humanistic, cognitive behavioral, expressive arts, somatic, existential, contemplative and transpersonal therapy, and brief approaches with children, adolescents, adults, couples, and groups. Across a range of clinical settings, Dr. Pearson has provided crisis intervention, assessment, brief therapy, group therapy, music therapy and depth psychotherapy, from an integral relational perspective. Dr. Pearson’s private psychotherapy practice is in Oakland, on the border of Emeryville, in the East Bay.  

Professional website https://drwillowpearson.com/ 

The Spiritual Psyche in Psychotherapy (book) 

The Integral Stage's "Metapodcast" series focuses on podcasting podcaster, hosting hosting & exploring the people who are trying to bring forth higher, deeper & more transformative perspectives through online medium.  My first conversation with Jim Rutt (former CEO of Network Solutions, former chairman of the Santa Fe Institute) focused on his ban from facebook and the problems surrounding higher complexity discussions and low-complexity algorithms.  In this second chat, we explore the alternative social network he's put together for the "Game B" community and the stages and facets of the possible future that sees unfolding.  

https://www.jimruttshow.com/

This is from The Integral Stage's "Love the System" series -- devoted to what we call the Lower Right Quadrant.  That means algorithms, justice, collective intelligence, protocols, procedures, methods, networks, societies, voting systems, economics, etc.  In this episode Layman Pascal sits down with Brian Robertson the founder of the Holacracy protocol for redesigning workspaces and organizations into more intelligent, more distributed systems that bypass the problems of both "authority" and "consensus."  

holacracy.org

In Postnormal Worldviews, Layman is joined by eco-village explorer and Fourth Way practitioner, Markus Feenstra, to inquire into the question of normalcy, how it gets socially established, and what processes, practices, and sensitivities allow for the establishment of new normals; the problem of mismatches between the 'normal' and what we might sense intuitively as what is deeply right; the shamanoid role of the edge-dwellers; the Gurdjieffian possibility for a third position between the exoteric and the esoteric, the mesoteric, and how mesoteric individuals contribute to the evolution of culture; and much more. Markus Feenstra is a resident of the Earthsong Eco-neighborhood in Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand, and the co-developer of a fractal theory of change and underpinning worldview that assists people committed to enhancing the wellbeing of all beings to renormalize themselves, so they may better embody their gifts for the world in their natural ways of being.

Several years after the original Integral UFOlogy series was published, the Integral UFOlogy panel reconvenes to discuss the latest UAP news and disclosures, and the latest developments in their own research and experiences in these areas. Panelists: Sean Esbjorn-Hargens, Stuart Davis, Chris Dierkes, Giorgio Piacenza, Layman Pascal, and Bruce Alderman. Original Panel Discussion:    • Integral Ufology Panel Discussion   RESOURCES and REFERENCES Sean Esbjorn-Hargens' Exo-Studies Master Course: https://www.exostudies.org/ Stuart Davis' media Man Meets Mantis:    • MAN MEETS MANTIS   Stuart's episode on Weird Studies podcast: https://www.weirdstudies.com/37 The IS Language:    • Creating The IS Language   The Art of Is:    • THE ART OF IS   Aliens and Artists: https://www.aliensandartists.com/ Explore The Integral Stage on the Fathom app https://hello.fathom.fm/ Support The Integral Stage on Patreon!   / theintegralstage   Special thanks and big love to Shai Newman, the Limited Hangout guys, Brandon LaChance, Mike McElroy, Brandon Norgaard, Brendan Graham Dempsey, Francesca, and all of our other Patreon supporters! Credits Intro and Outro Music: Remix of Sparkspitter's "Pretty Wave"

In Episode 25, Layman meets with Forrest Wilson, host of The Forrest Wilson Experience, to talk about healthy, generative relationships to money; the internal and external conditions needed to shift to new, more value-centered, eudaimonic economies; the importance of the cultivation of, and a living relationship with, financial intelligence; and much more. Forrest Wilson is the host of The Forrest Wilson Experience podcast. After his father passed away in his early twenties, Forrest decided to let go of the idea he had for his life based on the expectations, conditioning, and cultural constructs he took on as a young person and dive deep into healing, developmental, and awakening journeys. After nearly a decade of playing in the unseen world, Forrest has found connection to a tremendous passion for supporting a humanity to live life more fully. By embodying a way of being that is palpably alive, clear, penetrative, and illuminating, Forrest invites folks around him to play all out. Forrest Wilson website https://www.forrestbwilson.com/

In this special, quasi-Author Series video, Layman meets with Patrick Gac to discuss an innovative, natural-cycle based divinatory system that Patrick argues is compatible with and informed by some of the leading theory in our liminal worldspace, from John Vervaeke's 4-E cogsci to Bobby Azarian's cosmology.

Agromancy, meaning "divination of the fields", is a card deck based system that generates mandalas. The Degtras Project https://www.facebook.com/Degtras86/ Fathom app https://hello.fathom.fm/ Support The Integral Stage on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage

The Integral Stage has done several interviews with Gregg Henriques (also Layman & Bruce have both been guests on Gregg's podcast) -- generally focusing on his model of psychology and his more general attempt to produce a unified theory of knowledge (UTOK).  This time Layman and Gregg sit down to explore the concept of interpersonal resonance, the deepening of human and emotional relationships within the broader spaces of integrative metatheory communities & the ways we might be able to blend more deeply. 

What is Black Metamodernism?  What distinguishes metamodernism from modernism, postmodernism, and hypermodernity?  In this special Integral Stage episode, Layman sits down with metamodernist thinker and writer, Germane Marvel, to explore these questions, and to take a deep dive into Germane's thoughts on diunital cognition; the role of emotional intelligence in both/and thinking; nihilism and the meaning crisis; the concepts of meta-existence and metatheology; metamodern spirituality, Taoism, and Ifa; the nature of light surpremacy; and the contributions of the global south to the resolution of the postmodern aporia.  

Germane Marvel's Medium page https://medium.com/@germanemarvel   

Layman's write-up of Marvel's work https://www.whatisemerging.com/profiles/black-metamodernism

Fathom app https://hello.fathom.fm/ 

Support The Integral Stage on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage 

Special thanks and big love to Shai Newman, Brandon LaChance, Mike McElroy, Brandon Norgaard, Brendan Graham Dempsey, Francesca, and all of our other Patreon supporters!

For the eighth episode, after discussing the translative (horizontal) and transformative (vertical) functions of religion, and the importance of (re-)rooting religious imagination and practice in a robust ecological sensibility going forward, they turn to an extended exploration of the likely most salient principles in the design of effective religious ritual.  Is the purpose of ritual more to open us to discovery and the enactment of new insight, or to allow us to "conform to a masterpiece," to let ourselves be made in the image of something higher?  

The queer, liminal, and shamanic all point in their own ways to working fruitfully with 'betweens' and 'crossings,' and yet the possible relations between these worlds and their sensibilities are seldom discussed in the liminal / metamodern communities. Layman sits down with Rachel Hayden to explore these overlaps and to consider what might follow from their more conscious integration. Rachel tends to fret about what to write on a bio. Fortunately, her Personal Medicine of doing tai chi to become calmer is helping her at the moment. She has long been fascinated with mind-body practices, and uses many of these regularly - tai chi, Eastern and Western meditation and philosophy, and karate, to name a few. These have gotten her through some rough patches, kept her generally healthy, and pointed her toward greater insight and meaning. One of her other favorite things is music - listening, playing guitar, singing, and writing songs. Three years ago Rachel switched from being primarily a bodywork therapist and co-op grocery manager to being primarily a peer supporter. It has become part of who she is, and is probably the job she has loved the most, being with people through life's ups and downs. Being a queer trans woman herself, she often works with LGBTQIA+ people and others who are marginalized by society. Rachel became a CPMC to deepen and expand her approach to peer support, and help people find connections to their inner wisdom. She has a profound faith in authentic Personal Medicine, having realized its power in her own life. Remember to like, subscribe, and consider supporting The Integral Stage on Patreon to make more of these conversations possible! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage Special thanks and big love to the Limited Hangout guys, Shai Newman, Brandon LaChance, Mike McElroy, Brandon Norgaard, Brendan Graham Dempsey, Francesca, and all of our other Patreon supporters!

Layman meets with the founding framer of The Reconstitution project, Ari Allen, to talk about the genesis and goals of The Reconstitution: a collective experiment in revising the United States' Constitution and drafting a series of amendments responsive to some of the deepest challenges confronting the country, its people, and its governing bodies:  polarization and corruption, the influence of money in elections, limitations to meaningful participation in government and self-governance, imbalances in representation, the status of corporations and the need to address corporate influence on democratic process, the role of advertising in a free society, and much more. Ari reflects on the historical justification for such an experiment, what he has learned through convening this imaginal Constitutional Convention, and how the resulting document might be used going forward, to foster dialogue, stimulate creative thinking, and hopefully catalyze meaningful change.  

Ari Allen earned his JD from Georgetown Law and has worked at Sidley Austin, representing clients on Capitol Hill during the 2008 financial crisis and the subsequent Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform.  He holds a Masters in Psychology degree from the California Institute of Integral Studies, and currently works in the education technology industry.  He is also a writer, philosopher, and a DJ.  

The Reconstitution Project https://www.thereconstitution.com/ 

Follow The Integral Stage on Fathom!   https://hello.fathom.fm/ 

2Subscribe, and support The Integral Stage on Patreon to make more of these conversations possible! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage 

Special thanks and big love to Shai Newman, Brandon LaChance, Mike McElroy, Brandon Norgaard, Brendan Graham Dempsey, Francesca, and all of our other Patreon supporters!

For the 29th episode of the Integral Stage Authors series, Layman is joined by friend of the channel and creator of the Unified Theory of Knowledge (UTOK), Dr. Gregg Henriques, to talk about his new book, "A New Synthesis for Solving the Problem of Psychology: Addressing the Enlightenment Gap."  

In their dialogue, Gregg clarifies how the new synthesis he proposes critically examines mainstream academic psychology and highlights its fragmented nature; offers a new vision for the field, a unified system of knowledge for understanding both animal and human behavior; and explores how this vision makes sense of the relations between matter, mind, and social and scientific knowledge.  What is the Enlightenment Gap, how is it related to the hard problem of consciousness, and how does UTOK reorganize the onto-epistemological field to make room for genuine progress and consilience?  What impacts will this new model have on the practice of therapy?  

Dr. Henriques is a Full Professor and a core faculty member in James Madison University's Combined-Integrated Clinical and School Psychology Doctoral Program.  He is also a leader in the Unified Psychotherapy Movement, which attempts to use meta-theory to achieve an effective integrative scheme for the various psychotherapy paradigms.  

https://www.amazon.com/Synthesis-Solving-Problem-Psychology-Enlightenment/dp/3031184920

In the second episode of this Integral Stage reboot of Point/Counterpoint, Bonnitta Roy challenges Layman Pascal again to a debate, this time on the nature and existence of free will.  Inspired by Rick Repetti's writings on free will, they take up the philosophical question of determinism vs. indeterminism, and consider what possibilities might exist beyond that impasse.  

Bonnitta and Layman fail pretty badly to have an actual ("side-taking") debate, but they do have a great discussion on free will in light of complexity science; Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Reich; contemplative experience; integrative metaphysics; magickal practice, and more.

For episode 9, Layman sits down with Alexander Love for a rich conversation about his life and healing journey, love and forgiveness, creativity, integral and Taoist thought, and a book he is working on on what he calls the five evolutionary gestures. Alexander Love is an acupuncturist, life coach, and craniosacral therapist. With gentleness, lightness and depth, he invites us to listen to the voice of our inner wisdom & potency and allow that to move us outward into the world and make a difference. The call to embark on this journey invites us to recognize that we matter beyond measure. Our individual voices, when allowed to speak from the depths of our intrinsic beauty, weave a complex melody of an emblazoned, sacred heart inscribed and aflame with the majestic mystery of life. https://www.eoswellnesscenter.com/alexander-love

In the third episode of our Integral Authors series, Layman Pascal talks with Theo Horesh about his new book, The Fascism This Time.  Theo reflects on the similarities of the rightwing populist movements sweeping the globe to earlier fascist uprisings, and explores together with Layman the integral ways we might understand their emergence and respond to the deep challenges to modern democracy that they represent.  

The Fascism This Time https://www.amazon.com/Fascism-this-Time-Global-Democracy/dp/0578732939

Layman meets with Martin Ucik to talk about his new book, Integral Relationship Practice.  At 800 pages, and with abundant exercises and illustrations, the book is a manual for singles and couples who are interested in the theory of integral relationships, but also in the deep understanding that can only be gained through embodied practices and experiences.  

From the book's description: "[Integral Relationship Practice] is for those who realize that to become fully human means to develop the capacity to be simultaneously whole in ourselves AND part of healthy, sustainable love relationships and nuclear families, who then form the foundation for thriving communities and flourishing societies. And it is for those who understand that cultural and biological evolution are intertwined—that we need to raise conscious children if we want to raise consciousness on the planet to create a better world and a peaceful, sustainable future for humanity. This manual is also intended for helping professionals who want to support their clients in co-creating healthy love relationships, and for group facilitators who feel called to lead events, workshops, and trainings in which the participants sharpen their relationships skills together with others in their local communities through experiential exercises."  

Martin Ucik is the author of Integral Relationships: A Manual for Men and Sex, Purpose, Love: Couples in Integral Relationships Creating a Better World, which Ken Wilber calls “terrific,” as well as Sex Purpose Love.  He now trains Integral relationship practitioners, professionals, and group facilitators, and offers private trainings and consultations for singles and couples.  

Integral Relationship Practice book https://www.amazon.com/Integral-Relationship-Practice-Professionals-Facilitators/dp/B0B5KVD6DH/

Integral Relationship website https://integralrelationship.com/ 

Please consider supporting The Integral Stage on Patreon to make more of these conversations possible! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage

In The Surplus Spiritual Enjoyments of Rayan Magon, Layman sits with University of Toronto Pearson Scholar, Rayan Magon, to talk about the insights Lacanian psychoanalysis might bring to the issues of neurodiversity and postmodern spiritual practice.  Does Lacan, with his distinctively elusive language, have something profound to teach us about the deep structures of our many ways of being in the world, or is he even saying anything at all?  

Rayan and Layman open up the concepts of jouissance in relationship to the austic experience of energetic excess; the Big Other; the Logos, and languaging the sacred; the Borromean knot, and the real and symbolic orders; objet petit a; the ego ideal versus the ideal ego, and much more, to see what insights they might yield for both psychospiritual and even theological understanding.  

Rayan Magon on Neurodiversity, Empathy, and Life https://youtu.be/MzD9yWP_p0c 

Rayan Magon's TEDx Talk: How Self-Realization is the Key to Freedom https://youtu.be/TYvd9kavekc

In this episode of The Future Faces of Spirit, Andrew Cohen joins Bruce Alderman & Layman Pascal for a trialogue on his pioneering efforts in developing an integrative, evolutionary spirituality that is responsive to the unique challenges of our times.  

Andrew is candid about the successes and shortcomings of his earlier work with the EnlightenNext community, and focuses in our conversation here on working productively with the genuine insights, breakthroughs, and lessons learned over the past 30 years, emphasizing the ongoing importance of spiritual awakening, the nature of intersubjective nonduality, the challenges of our contemporary meaning crisis, the indispensability of clear intention and earnestness in transformative practice, and the value of an evolutionary understanding and a metaphysics of becoming for engaging *with* the world instead of pursuing a mystical retreat from it.  

Andrew Cohen is an American-born, internationally known integral spiritual teacher and writer, and the founder of Evolutionary Enlightenment.  He has been teaching meditation for over three decades, and created the magazine, What is Enlightenment?, one of the most successful publications ever in its genre.  His teaching work grapples with the challenges of bringing the revelation of enlightenment to a contemporary Western audience, integrating postmodern cultural and scientific understanding with an original and sophisticated non-dual philosophy.  After his organization, EnlightenNext, dissolved in 2013, he went on sabbatical for several years, but now has returned to teaching and is leading an online spiritual community called Manifest Nirvana.  

https://www.andrewcohen.com

https://www.manifest-nirvana.com/

Layman huddles in a Finnish grove with Robin Hummel (Bassareus) to talk about his new book, Alchemy of the Psyche. Robin discusses his journey leading up to the book, and together they explore the nature of archetypes, the difference between direct and indirect approaches to interacting with the archetypes, the importance of ritual, shadow work, and much more. https://www.lulu.com/shop/bassareus/alchemy-of-the-psyche/hardcover/product-v88dkze.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Several months ago, seasoned integral content creators watched with a mix of amazement and dismay as the integrally informed video, "Levels of Thinking," on a relationship and dating advice channel called Hoe_Math, blew up and got numbers in a couple weeks that no integral video in history has ever approached. Poor Corey DeVos needed to go get therapy, and I'm still recovering. So Layman wanted to find out who the guy behind the viral video is. Check it out. Hoe_math channel    / @hoe_math   Follow The Integral Stage on Fathom! https://hello.fathom.fm/ Remember to like, subscribe, and support The Integral Stage on Patreon to make more of these conversations possible!   / theintegralstage   Special thanks and big love to Shai Newman, the LIMITED HANGOUT guys, Brandon LaChance, Mike McElroy, Brandon Norgaard, Brendan Graham Dempsey, Francesca, and all of our other Patreon supporters!

For the 37th episode of the Integral Stage Authors Series, Layman meets again prolific metamodern author and friend of the channel, Brendan Graham Dempsey, to talk about his latest book, "Metamodernism: Or, The Cultural Logic of Cultural Logics." In this much needed work, Brendan surveys the variety of "metamodernisms" that have emerged in recent years and, using some integrative distinctions, argues for their deep kinship and complementarity. Brendan Graham Dempsey is a writer whose work focuses on the meaning crisis and the nature of spirituality in metamodernity. He earned his BA in Religious Studies from the University of Vermont and his MA in Religion and the Arts from Yale University. He lives in Wolcott, Vermont. Metamodernism: Or, The Cultural Logic of Cultural Logics https://www.amazon.com/Metamodernism-... Follow The Integral Stage on the Fathom app https://hello.fathom.fm/ Support The Integral Stage on Patreon!   / theintegralstage   Special thanks and big love to Shai Newman, the Limited Hangout guys, Brandon LaChance, Mike McElroy, Brandon Norgaard, Brendan Graham Dempsey, Francesca, and all of our other Patreon supporters!

On The Meta-Podcast (formerly Integral Podcasters), we talk with podcasters, YouTubers, and other media producers who are trying to offer, or who can't help but offer, more integrative perspectives. Who are these people, what do they collectively understand and point towards, and how can they be interlinked, mutually supported, clarified, and amplified? For episode 41, Layman is joined again by Dr. Sally Adnams Jones and Dr. Jen Peer Rich, this time to talk about their experience with successfully running and concluding their Radical Emergence podcast project. What did they accomplish, what did they learn from it that can inform our larger community, and what do they plan to do next? Radical Emergence Podcast https://radicalemergence.org/

You may have noticed that, as with "Integral" back in the day, the label "Metamodern," is a bit of contested real estate. It appears to mean something pretty specific to the cultural metamodernists, Vermeulen and van den Akker, who first applied it back in 2010 to certain emergent post-postmodern sensibilities in art and media.  But does it mean the same thing to the Hanzi Freinachtian political metamodernists, or to the integrally influenced Metamodern Spirituality crowd?  

In this special Integral Stage dialogue, Layman Pascal meets to speak -- and, perchance, debate -- with Metamodern cultural theorist Greg Dember about the historical emergence and cultural situatedness of the term, the validity of its accumulating associations and uses, and possible ways forward to avoid misuses of the term while still allowing for proper evolution, expansion, and development.  They take time to carefully distinguish it from postmodernism, to explore a number of artworks and films that most clearly embody it, and to consider the multiple forms of spirituality to which it might give rise.  

What Is Metamodernism? (by Greg Dember & Linda Ceriello) https://whatismetamodern.com

What is Metamodern? (YouTube channel) https://www.youtube.com/c/WhatIsMetamodern

 After Postmodernism: Eleven Metamodern Methods in the Arts https://medium.com/what-is-metamodern/after-postmodernism-eleven-metamodern-methods-in-the-arts-767f7b646cae

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Our research into the philosophical premises of whatever is going under the names of "Cosmo-Erotic Humanism" and "David J. Temple" continues with a first pass into Tears -- a book that uses the Jewish Rite of Rosh Hashanah to explore the necessity of the return of ritual and the importance of that religion plays beyond philosophy and spirituality.

For the sixth episode of the Fire from Heaven series, we are joined by Frank Marrero, a long-time student of Adi Da and the curator of several web resources on Adi Da's teachings including the incomparable Beezone.  Frank talks with Layman Pascal about his experiences of transmission with Adi Da, his understanding of the nature of consciousness, and some of the unique characteristics of the spiritual transmission process.  

Additional Resources and Links:  

Frank Marrero:  http://www.frankmarrero.com/

The Beezone Library:  https://www.beezone.com/ 

A Monkey's Tale on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Monkeys-Tale-Divine-Person-Beloved/dp/0967326591/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=A+Monkey%27s+Tale+Marrero&qid=1585389957&sr=8-1

For episode 22, Layman welcomes David Fuller, the founder of Rebel Wisdom, to the Integral Stage to discuss the troubling lack of high-level discussion and informed sensemaking around charged social or foreign policy issues, even in our purported "higher discourse" communities.  David leads with a rant on the contentious and often misinformed debates about Syria, and together they explore the challenges of informed and responsible sensemaking in our contemporary media environment -- where we all frequently suffer from the lack of access, time, and/or skill to meaningfully navigate our polluted and war-torn information ecologies.  

Throughout the discussion, David also reviews the "journey" of Rebel Wisdom over the past several years, from an early focus on Jordan Peterson and the IDW to a broadened field of engagement within the 'meta-community,' and answers some common criticisms about the platform's conservative leanings.  David Fuller is a multi-skilled journalist and filmmaker - having worked for the UK's top news programme Channel 4 News for ten years as reporter, producer and director. He was the first mainstream TV journalist to cover the renaissance of psychedelic science back in 2008, and has consistently focused on the revolutionary ideas and technologies on the fringes of the culture, and attempted to shift the cultural conversation. He began making documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4 in 2011, primarily for the Emmy award-winning series ‘Unreported World’. His documentary ‘The Invisible People’, about the plight of disabled Syrian refugees in Lebanon was shortlisted for the "Royal Television Society awards in 2015. This experience, combined with his intense interest in the evolution of ideas and philosophy (he studied philosophy at University in Manchester) – led to the birth of Rebel Wisdom – through which he and his partner, Alexander Beiner, have explored philosophical, transformational and cultural topics, making films about the problems with Sensemaking, the crisis of Meaning, and the necessity for inner growth. He also blogs frequently about politics and the inner world, and has written for publications including the Guardian and Buzzfeed.  

Professional website http://davidfuller.tv/ 

Rebel Wisdom website https://rebelwisdom.co.uk/

Bruce Alderman sits down with Lee Nichol to discuss some of the intricacies of David Bohm's work.  In our broader integrative meta-community, and here on The Integral Stage as well, there has been a lot of concern recently with what John Vervaeke calls the 'meaning crisis.'  Back in the late 70s and 80s, dimensions of this crisis were already quite apparent to a number of thinkers, from David Bohm and Krishnamurti, to Fritjof Capra, Joanna Macy, Ken Wilber, Henryk Skolimowski, and others.  David Bohm's work is especially consonant with John Vervaeke's project.  From his position as a scientist, a quantum physicist in his case rather than a cognitive scientist, Bohm began to reflect on, and attempt to address, the breakdown in meaning he was witnessing -- the fragmentations in consciousness and culture that were leading to untold, and perhaps largely unnecessary, conflict and suffering in the world.  And like Vervaeke, for Bohm, one of the primary ways forward -- toward the cultivation of greater wisdom and insight -- was through the practice of dialogue.  Not just regular conversation, but a deeply somatically rooted process of inquiry and transjective encounter.  From fairly early on in his work on dialogue, Bohm was joined by Lee Nichol, a teacher at one of Krishnamurti's schools, and a deep thinker in his own right.  Over the years, Lee helped Bohm to refine and implement the practice of dialogue, and since Bohm's death, he has attempted to take the practice further -- most recently, through exploration of, and experiments with, Bohm's notion of holomovement or the holoflux.  In the discussion that follows, we will get into just what Bohm meant by holoflux, and how it relates to the process of dialogue, and to the deep transformative work needed to begin to address the roots of our present meaning crisis.  

Entering Bohm's Holoflux free e-book Entering Bohm’s Holoflux by Lee Nichol - The Pari Center

Beyond Bohm: Contemplation and Creativity course Beyond Bohm: Contemplation and Creativity - The Pari Center

In this special Integral Stage episode, Layman meets with feminine empowerment and leadership teacher, and Integral Semantics facilitator, Adriana Forte, to talk about the menstrual cycle -- the ways it is misunderstood, repressed or denied; its cosmic, biological, and psychospiritual dimensions; and the power and transformation that can attend aligning more closely and consciously with its rhythms.  Together they explore the dimensions and dynamics of cyclical life; the importance of attending to cycles in embodiment practice; indigenous wisdom on the menstrual cycle; the stages of reclamation of menstrual consciousness; the 'magic' and subtle states associated with the menstrual cycle; the possible forms future society might take when we learn to better align with individual and natural cycles; and much more.  

Adriana has been teaching workshops on feminine empowerment and leadership for years. In the last years she has been focusing her work and studies on Adult Development and Vertical Growth. One of her main areas of interest is on the cross-over between the feminine aspect of consciousness and Adult Development: how it shows up in the later stages (as a natural bi-product of growing up) how it flowers in men and women and how it can be used to spark/deepen the process of both waking up and growing up. She has a Bachelor Degree in Communication, a Diploma in Holistic Kinesiology and in Shamanic Womancraft. 

She is a coach and a qualified Integral Semantics Facilitator and is now training to become a scorer of the Stages Assessment (still unavailable in Portuguese). Her work (both with individuals and groups) is deeply influenced by Integral Theory (Wilber), Stages (O'Fallon), Action Inquiry (Torbert) and by the work of pioneers on Feminine Wisdom as Janine Parvati Baker and Jane Collings. She currently facilitates developmental retreats in Brazil.   

Please consider supporting The Integral Stage on Patreon to make more of these conversations possible! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage

In this episode of new Education Systems, Layman Pascal talks to Jim Rutt about potential pathways to Game B models of education.  Jim Rutt is the former CEO of Network Solutions. The New York Times once referred to him as “the Internet’s bad boy” due to his reputation for creative mischief. He sold Network Solutions at the peak of the Dot Com boom and then went into scientific research. Jim has been affiliated with the Santa Fe Institute since 2002, serving as Chairman from 2009 thru 2012.  Currently he runs the Jim Rutt Show podcast, and is the gun-totin' godfather of the Game B movement.  Links and Resources  

Jim Rutt Show Podcast https://www.jimruttshow.com/ 

What is Game B video https://youtu.be/HL5bcgpprxY 

The Story of Game B video https://youtu.be/Glgcl9AVWbA

In this Integral Stage reboot of Point/Counterpoint, Bonnitta Roy challenges Layman Pascal to debate the nature of nature.  

When we say "human nature," do we mean something different from "nature," or not?  Is there a gap between "us" and everything else?  

Welcome to Liminal Point/Counterpoint, the game show where Layman does his best to try to disagree with someone and the results become... increasingly subtle. 

A WHEEL OF PERSPECTIVES Panel Discussion on the topic of evil and the shadow, with statements by Layman Pascal, Rev. Trevor Malkinson, Gaia Orion, Meister Wagoner von Porter (of the League of Rebel Eve), and Colin E Davis & Melissa Mari.  

Cover Art:  B. Alderman, public domain image run through Prisma art filter Transitional Art Meditations:  Christopher Padgett Hunicutt and The 01Experience Music:  The 01Experience  

For further information on the panelists: 

Rev. Trevor Malkinson:  https://independent.academia.edu/Malkinson

The League of Rebel Eve (LORE): https://www.lorenyc.com/

Gaia Orion:  https://gaiaorion.com/

Shadow Tech:  https://www.shadowtechtheory.com/

The 01Experience: http://01experience.com/

Christopher Padgett Hunnicutt:  https://www.artofchristopherpadgetthunnicutt.com/

In THE ABS-TRACT (or, BRENT COOPER IS JESUS), Layman sits down with Brent to discuss his Abs-Tract project, the importance of critique, the alignments and tensions between Metamodernism and other adjacent communities, the "Fliminal Web," Metamodern politics and the problem with reactionaries, mindfulness and spiritual practice, and a number of Brent's recent writings.  At the end of the discussion, he offers a devastating critique of Layman that leaves him bloodied, gasping for breath, and asking for more.  

Brent Cooper is the Executive Director of The Abs-Tract Organization, a meta think tank and transmedia project specializing in abstraction and meta theory/ metamodernism. Abstraction is at the root of everything in life, from mental, physical, social, and material processes, spanning various fields from philosophy to art to artificial intelligence. And it is at the root of our meta-crisis of capitalism, how finance is abstracted, and politics are abstracted.  

The Abs-Tract website http://abs-tract.org/ 

Brent Cooper's Medium page https://medium.com/@brentcooper 

Please like, subscribe, and consider supporting The Integral Stage on Patreon to make more of these conversations possible! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage

In this episode of the Metamodels series, Bruce and Layman are joined by Ken Wilber, one of the greatest metatheorists of the past century, and a primary inspiration for many of us on this channel.  Armed with vision-logic machetes, Bruce and Layman take a trek into the Wilberness to explore the guiding drive or call behind Ken's metatheoretical work for the past 50 years; his thoughts on what he would be working on now if he was just launching his career; his understanding of the difference between sense-making and meaning-making in relation to the meta-crisis; the nature and scope of cognition, and the role of 'relationality' in his AQAL model; how to cultivate communities of integrity, and navigate the culture wars; his perspective on the paranormal and subtle energies; what the Integral community should do to continue thriving in his absence, whenever that day eventually comes; and much more.  Ken Wilber, a visionary thinker of inspired genius, is the developer of an integral “theory of everything” that embraces the truths of all the world’s great spiritual, scientific, and philosophical traditions. He is the most widely translated academic writer in America, with 25 books translated into some 30 foreign languages. 

Ken Wilber currently lives in Denver, Colorado, and is still active as a philosopher, author, and teacher, with all of his major publications still in print. Often referred to as the "Einstein of consciousness studies," Ken Wilber is a preeminent scholar of the Integral stage of human development. Ken Wilber is also the founder of the Integral Institute, which is the first organization fully dedicated to advancement and application of the Integral Approach in relation to contemporary global issues. It was formed in collaboration with over 200 scholars and experts, specializing in education, politics, business, medicine, psychology, spirituality, as well as, law and criminal justice.   

Integral Life website https://integrallife.com/

Please consider supporting The Integral Stage on Patreon to make more of these conversations possible! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage

Layman meets with Alyssa Allegretti, to talk about her Substack-published book in progress, The Only Constant: How to Stay (Somewhat) Stable & Organized During Times of Transition & Grief. Dubbing her the Meta-Marie Kondo, Layman invites Alyssa to share her insights into the art of internal housekeeping, and the transformational significance of everyday tasks. http://www.whatisemerging.com/opinions/the-post-tragic-art-of-liminal-housekeeping

https://adaptivedaydream.substack.com/p/the-only-constant-883

This is a brief promo we created for our YouTube channel, The Integral Stage, to mark its two-year anniversary, and now to launch also our new podcasting adventure!

Jim Rutt joins Layman Pascal on The Integral Stage to talk about his recent essay, Musk and Moderation.  

Does Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter represent a threat or opportunity for social media and the freedom of speech?  That isn't clear yet, but Jim Rutt has some advice for Musk, and he discusses it with Layman in a convivial, insult-filled exploration of the challenges of free speech in radically pluralist environments; the new oligarchs and their threat to democratic values; social media and the evolution of public squares; "decorum" moderation versus "point-of-view" moderation; opportunities to move towards GameB values; incentivizing companies to better caretake and preserve free discussion spaces; and much more.  

"Musk and Moderation" essay: https://quillette.com/2022/04/27/musk-and-moderation/

Jim Rutt is the former CEO of Network Solutions. The New York Times once referred to him as “the Internet’s bad boy” due to his reputation for creative mischief. He sold Network Solutions at the peak of the Dot Com boom and then went into scientific research. Jim has been affiliated with the Santa Fe Institute since 2002, serving as Chairman from 2009 thru 2012.  Currently he runs the Jim Rutt Show podcast, and is the gun-totin' godfather of the Game B movement.  Additional Links and Resources  

Jim Rutt Show Podcast https://www.jimruttshow.com/ 

Support The Integral Stage on Patreon to make more of these conversations possible! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage

In this episode of New Education Systems, Layman is joined by Bonnitta Roy to talk about her new experiment in serial, transformative education: The Pop-Up School.  They discuss her inspirations and intentions for the school; her life-long history as an educator; the shortcomings of many current educational models; her ideal transformational curriculum; and the importance of education for the senses, the stages of the self, grief and 'dark nights,' and much more.  

Bonnitta Roy is a process philosopher, the founder and president of Alderlore Insight Center, an associate editor for Integral Review, and a consciousness studies and transpersonal psychology professor at The Graduate Institute.  She is also the inspiration and instructor behind The Magellan Courses and the Pop-Up School.  

Please consider supporting us to help make more of these videos possible: https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage

For this special Integral Stage episode, Layman meets with process philosopher and theologian, Andrew Davis, to discuss the import and impact of Whitehead's thought on contemporary philosophy; his nondual (panentheistic) conception of the relationship of God and man; the priority of becoming over being; the ontological status of value; the nature of religion; the importance of contemplative practice, psychedelic experience, and the cultivation of flow states for the embodiment of process insights; process cosmology and the question of the multiverse; and much more.  

Andrew M. Davis is a philosopher, theologian, and scholar of world religions. He holds B.A. in Philosophy and Theology, an M.A. in Interreligious Studies, and a Ph.D. in Religion and Process Philosophy from Claremont School of Theology (CST). He is a poet, aphorist and author or editor of four books including How I Found God in Everyone and Everywhere: An Anthology of Spiritual Memoirs (2018, with Philip Clayton); Propositions in the Making: Experiments in a Whiteheadian Laboratory (2019, with Roland Faber and Michael Halewood); Depths as Yet Unspoken: Whiteheadian Excursions in Mysticism, Multiplicity, and Divinity (2020, with Roland Faber); and Mind, Value, and Cosmos: On the Relational Nature of Ultimacy (Lexington).   

For more about Andrew’s work and research interests, visit his website at www.andrewmdavis.info  

Please consider supporting The Integral Stage on Patreon to make more of these conversations possible! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage

Gurdjieff's teachings have had a significant impact on Layman's thought, but they are often mentioned more obliquely than directly in his conversations.  Recently, however, several people approached Layman to talk about Gurdjieff's influence on their own work, so we recorded a few conversations, as well as conversations with a few guests on other important historical visionaries, and a mini-series began to assemble itself.    

For this episode, "On the Surrealistic, Sci-Fi Masterpiece, 'Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson,'" Layman meets with long-time student of the Work, Trevor Stewart, to discuss the origins, historical value, artistic influences, and unique pedagogical properties of this challenging and enigmatic book. Although they focus throughout the conversation on the novel, this isn't just a book review.  Over the course of their explorations, they open up many important and often under-appreciated aspects of Gurdjieff's life and work, and touch on how this text was written, not for its time, but for a future generation that would be better prepared for it ... perhaps our own.

LUCID CUBED https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9fEwt0FSjCZ6S8_KlNAEJQ

Layman is joined by Creston Davis, Ph.D., to discuss his innovate, blockchain-modeled higher education project, The Global Center for Advanced Studies (GCAS).  They discuss the genesis and intentions for the project; the problems of the debt-strapping of so many students, and the overwork of faculty, under our current system; the promise of P2P, decentralized approaches to education going forward; the nature of truly liberative education, and the need for the promotion of post-ideological, critical thought; the potential promise and problems of the Austin University project; the difference between knowledge and wisdom, and possible approaches to the cultivation of wisdom in higher education; and much more.  

DISCLAIMER:  Regarding Creston’s statement at 3:21 that his students reported to him their frustrations with having so much student debt while being underemployed. this is not to be taken as all of Rollins’ graduates but only the ones that talked to Creston about this situation. In other words, this statement does not reflect graduates of Rollins but only the graduates that spoke about their frustrations with Creston.  Creston Davis, (Ph.D. University of Virginia, MTS Duke University) is the founder and director of The Global Center for Advanced Studies (GCAS) and the Chancellor and CEO of GCAS College Dublin.  Creston was promoted to Associate Professor at Rollins College (2012) and has published books with The MIT Press, Columbia and Duke University Press. He is the creator of and co-edits the Insurrections: Critical Studies in Religion, Politics and Culture series, an academic book series published by Columbia University Press. He currently researches future consciousness, sustainability, and advanced technologies.  

The Global Center for Advanced Studies http://globaladvancedstudies.org 

GCAS College Dublin https://gcas.ie/

Integral Stage on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage

For the eighth episode of The Soul of AI (or maybe this is episode 7.5), Layman sits down again with Jill Nephew to talk to her about her responses to some of the previous guests' positions on AI; the problems with scaling; and to go into more detail on her concerns about the limitations and dangers of this alluring technology. Jill Nephew is the founder of Inqwire, PBC a company on a mission to help the world make sense. The Inqwire technology is designed to enhance and accelerate human sensemaking abilities. The designing of the system required her to attempt to answer a fundamental question: how does technology interact with the mind's ability to do individual and collective sensemaking, and what are the principles that technology should follow to maximize these abilities? Jill's background includes developing tools, platforms, and meta-data-based software languages to help people find solutions to complex, real-world problems. She developed algorithms and models in the area of constraint-based optimization, drug binding, motion control, disease kinetics, protein folding, atmospheric pollution, human articulated movement, complex fluids, and most recently sensemaking. Personal website https://jillnephew.com/index.html Inqwire website https://www.inqwire.io/

How do we cultivate robust, ethical, convivial human beings who have access to their full cognitive, emotional, and motivational resources?  How can we better live functional, enjoyable lives, contribute to our societies' health and evolution, keep growing internally, and maximize the potentials of our best states?  

Layman is joined by Integral practitioner, author, and therapist, Mark Forman. After discussing Mark's journey to becoming an integral psychotherapist, they explore the unique contributions of Integral Theory to psychology and therapeutic practice, the indispensability of reflective listening, the particular importance of states and stages, shadow work and the unconscious, dream work, the challenge of healthy development in the internet age, and much more.  

Dr. Mark Forman provides psychotherapy in San Jose and online throughout California, as well as developmental consulting for individual adults worldwide. He is the founder and lead trainer of the Certified Integral Psychotherapist (CIT) Global Training Program and actively teaches and supervises both therapists and coaches interested in the direct application of Integral Theory.  He is also the organizer of several previous Integral Theory Conferences, and the author of several books on integral psychology.  Please consider supporting The Integral Stage on Patreon to make more of these conversations possible! 

Professional Website www.drmarkforman.com

For the 30th episode of the Integral Stage Authors series, Layman sits down with evolutionary enlightenment teacher, Andrew Cohen, to talk about his most recent book, "When Shadow Meets the Bodhisattva: The Challenging Transformation of a Modern Guru."  

Ten years after his public fall from grace and the dissolution of his spiritual community, Andrew talks about the lessons learned -- his understanding of what went wrong; his confrontation with shadow and the need to take responsibility for what transpired; the shame and regret of failing those who had counted on him; the wise counsel he sought and received from others; and the personal and spiritual insights, and the new vision of spirituality, he developed through this process.  

Andrew Cohen is an American-born, internationally known spiritual teacher and writer, and the founder of Evolutionary Enlightenment.  He has been teaching meditation for over three decades, and created the magazine, What is Enlightenment?, one of the most successful publications ever in its genre.  His teaching work grapples with the challenges of bringing the revelation of enlightenment to a contemporary Western audience, integrating postmodern cultural and scientific understanding with an original and sophisticated non-dual philosophy.  After his organization, EnlightenNext, dissolved in 2013, he went on sabbatical for several years, but now has returned to teaching and is leading an online spiritual community called Manifest Nirvana.  Links and Resources  

When Shadow Meets the Bodhisattva https://www.amazon.com/When-Shadow-Meets-Bodhisattva-Transformation/dp/1644115905/

Personal Website https://www.andrewcohen.com/

21st CENTURY HUNTER GATHERERS For episode 7, Layman sits down in the Mumbai branch of the Liminal Café with author and podcaster, Hemant Gupta, to talk about his life and work - in particular, his writings and reflections on the new 'hunter gatherer' roles many of us find ourselves in, in an information ecology which is still in its wilderness stages; and a distinctive, quadratic heuristic he uses to nuance and think through complexity. Together they discuss what good next steps might be to bring a more globally expansive liminal community into being. Hemant Gupta is an author, illustrator, and podcaster residing in Mumbai, India. Meditations of a 21st Century Hunter Gatherer book https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BRWQ3WHS https://www.youtube.com/@ThisJourneyDialogues

Layman and Bruce continue their trialogue with Alexander Bard, this time focusing in Nietzsche and nihilism -- the types of nihilism and its stages; its role in paradigm transition; its relationship to cynicism and enlightened false consciousness; the roles of the trickster, priest, and chief; Dionysian vs. Cybelian sensibilities; sutric vs. tantric orientations; transformation in light of the dynamics of process and event; and much more.    Alexander Bard is a Swedish author, lecturer, artist, songwriter, music producer, TV personality, religious and political activist, and one of the founders of the Syntheist religious movement alongside his co-author Jan Söderqvist.

Layman meets with returning guest, Aydan Connor, to discuss the global problem of food waste, the shortcomings of the modern food production system, Aydan's experience in the craft beer industry, and his thoughts on personal and systemic steps we can take to reduce waste and promote greater abundance of healthy, locally sourced foods.    

Follow us on Fathom!   https://hello.fathom.fm/ 

Subscribe, and support The Integral Stage on Patreon to make more of these conversations possible! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage 

Special thanks and big love to Shai Newman, Brandon LaChance, Mike McElroy, Brandon Norgaard, Brendan Graham Dempsey, Francesca, and all of our other Patreon supporters!

In a previous video, Everything You Think You Know About Integral Theory Is Wrong, we met with Mark Forman to talk about and address a number of the commonly heard criticisms of Integral Theory and the Integral community.  In this follow-up discussion, we are joined by Mark Forman and Nomali Perera to take a candid look at a number of the teacher-related scandals that have impacted the community, and a number of the community's missteps over the past two decades as it transformed from a small gathering of interested individuals to a global movement.  

Dr. Mark Forman provides psychotherapy in San Jose and online throughout California, as well as developmental consulting for individual adults worldwide. He is the founder and lead trainer of the Certified Integral Psychotherapist (CIT) Global Training Program and actively teaches and supervises both therapists and coaches interested in the direct application of Integral Theory.  He is also the organizer of several previous Integral Theory Conferences, and the author of several books on integral psychology.  

Nomali Perera, MA, PCC, joined the integral world in Colorado in the early, exciting days of 2002 as a volunteer and, later, co-director of the Integral Spiritual Center at the Integral Institute. Professionally, Nomali is an executive coach, certified facilitator of Polarity Management and the Immunity to Change™ process, and is a Master Coach through Integral Coaching Canada. Currently, she’s in a year-long course in trauma-informed Compassionate Inquiry with Gabor Maté’s school.  Currently she also leads study and practice groups through the Integral Life organization.

Layman Pascal and Bruce Alderman meet with Terri O'Fallon to discuss her recent course exploring the intersections of Mahamudra practice and the STAGES model; the relationship of states and stages, and the role of states in higher psychospiritual development; the linguistic dimensions of development, and developmental assessment; nonduality and the embodied dimensions of language; prepositions and other grammatical forms at the subtle and metaware tiers; AI, grammar, and higher development; and much more. Terri O'Fallon is a researcher, teacher, coach, spiritual director, and designer of transformative containers. She does ongoing research on the Integral STAGES developmental model, which supports a MetAware tier with four later levels of development. Her latest research probes into the relationship between states and stages. Terri is a founder of STAGES International, offering programs based on the STAGES model. She holds Masters degrees in Special Education and Spiritual Direction, and an Integral Ph.D. in Transformative Learning and Change. The Royal Seal: An Introduction to Mahamudra and STAGES course https://www.stagesinternational.com/M... Stages International website https://www.stagesinternational.com/ Follow The Integral Stage on the Fathom app https://hello.fathom.fm/ Support The Integral Stage on Patreon!   / theintegralstage   Special thanks and big love to Shai Newman, the Limited Hangout guys, Brandon LaChance, Mike McElroy, Brandon Norgaard, Brendan Graham Dempsey, Francesca, and all of our other Patreon supporters!

Layman is joined by Sean Kelly to discuss his book Becoming Gaia.  

They take a deep dive into the themes of the book, discussing the possibilities of considering Gaia not only as a hyperobject, but a hypersubject; the nature of the ecological and other crises confronting us at this time; the notion of planetary shamanism and the initiatory threshold our planetary crisis represents; the key ideas of Complex Thought; the gaianthropocene and the emergence of Axial Age 2.0; how to speak to children and others about the potential losses we confront; the paradoxical nature of time; the conceptual resources and gifts offered to our time by Nietzsche, Hegel, Morin, Bhaskar, and Wilber; and much more.  

Sean Kelly received his Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of Ottawa in 1988. Before coming to CIIS, he taught religious studies at the University of Windsor, the University of Ottawa, and Carleton University (Canada). He is the author of Coming Home: The Birth and Transformation of the Planetary Era and Individuation and the Absolute: Hegel, Jung, and the Path toward Wholeness. Sean is also co-editor, with Donald Rothberg, of Ken Wilber in Dialogue: Conversations with Leading Transpersonal Thinkers and co-translator, with Roger Lapointe, of French thinker Edgar Morin's book, Homeland Earth: A manifesto for the New Millennium. 

Along with his academic work, Sean has trained intensively in the Chinese internal arts (taiji, bagua, and xingyi) and has been teaching taiji since 1990. Along with his abiding interest in the work of Jung, Hegel, and Morin, his current research areas include the evolution of consciousness, integral ecologies, and transpersonal and integral theory.  

Becoming Gaia https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Gaia-Threshold-Planetary-Initiation/dp/1947544284

In episode sixteen, Layman Pascal convenes with the six witches of High Pitch -- Bonnitta Roy, Nora Bateson, Ria Baeck, Miriam Mason Martineau, Schuyler Brown, and Ece Utkucan Anderson -- to talk about their new podcast series on the Stoa.  Together they feel into just what it is they are brewing in their magical dialogical cauldron, where boundaries are porous and much of what happens, happens between.  

The Stoa's "High Pitch" Series https://youtu.be/YBnG_rsqOEw

In episode 3 of this unexpected mini-series, our Anonymous Host hops on the couch with Miss Rabbit, an integrally informed sexologist-in-training, to talk about the nuances of porn use, psychosexual development, and spirituality.  There's a lot that could be said about this very fine, simultaneously sensitive and explicit conversation, but if you'd like to know why "there's a weird analogy between gang bangs, orgies, and Integral Theory....," well, look no further.  This is the discussion for you.

For the twenty-fifth (!) episode of the Integral Stage's Author Series, Layman gets together with Hanzi Freinacht representative, Daniel Görtz, to talk about the forthcoming, and now formerly titled, book, "12 Much Better Rules for Life."  

But while the title may be different on the date of publication, the content remains the same:  a Metamodern homage, parody, incorporation, and principled transcendence of the kind of reflections and advice found in Jordan Peterson's recent bestselling self-help publications.  If you've ever wanted to hear some really good reasons why you should live in a mess, fuck like a beast, and make a practice of quitting, this is your chance! 

Pull up a chair and listen in as Layman and Daniel take a tour of the book's rich and insightful lessons, and find out why Layman thinks this is the most enjoyable and practical of the Hanzi books.  

Daniel Görtz, PhD is a political philosopher, sociologist and author. He is a leader of “the Nordic school” of metamodernism, and one-half of the Hanzi Freinacht character. Daniel lives in Sweden and works for Metamoderna, the publisher of metamodern books, and for Glimworks, an IT-company where he is In-House Philosopher.  

Medium article introducing "12 Much Better Rules for Life" 

For the twenty-sixth episode of the Integral Stage's Author Series, Layman sits down again with Middle Way philosopher and author, Robert M. Ellis, this time to discuss his new book, Absolutization -- the first book in a planned 9-part series on the Middle Way.  

Layman and Robert explore the essential arguments of the book; the many ways absolutizing tendencies in thought show up psychologically, culturally, and politically; and the relationship of Middle Way philosophy to integral postmetaphysics and Layman's Metaphysics of Adjacency.    

From the book's description:  "What do dogma, repression, and conflict have in common? They all result from human judgement blocked from wider understanding by a false assumption of completeness. This book puts forward a theory of absolutization, bringing together a multidisciplinary understanding of this central flaw in human judgement, and what we can do about it. This approach, drawing on Buddhist thought and practice, philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, embodied meaning, and systems theory, offers a rigorous introduction to absolutization as the central problem addressed in Middle Way Philosophy, which is a synthetic approach developed by the author over more than twenty years in a series of books. It challenges disciplinary boundaries as well as offering a substantial framework for practical application."  

Robert M. Ellis is a philosopher, writer and teacher. He has produced a series of books about the Middle Way, understood as a principle of judgement that throws us onto experience by avoiding absolutes, both positive and negative. He has also founded the Middle Way Society to support the development and practice of the Middle Way understood in this way, and he has recently opened a retreat center, Tirylan House, in rural South Wales.  

Absolutization on publisher's website: https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/absolutisation/

Fathom app https://hello.fathom.fm/ 

Support The Integral Stage on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage 

Special thanks and big love to Shai Newman, Brandon LaChance, Mike McElroy, Brandon Norgaard, Brendan Graham Dempsey, Francesca, and all of our other Patreon supporters!

CATALYZING CONNECTION: A CONVERSATION MID-STREAM For episode 6 at the Liminal Café, we drop in mid-stream on a conversation between Tim Adalin and Layman Pascal. Although we drop in on the couch as eavesdroppers after the conversation has already begun, we can pick up soon enough that this is a rich conversation on conversation itself ... on cultivating the field, working with emergent criticality, and catalyzing connection across challenging boundaries. Towards the end of the conversation, they discuss the religion that is not a religion, dreams of pilgrimages and new formats for collective events, and Tim gets Layman closer than he's ever been to admitting his alien origins. Tim Adalin is the founder and producer of the Voicecraft podcast and a transformative philosopher. Tim's work focuses on the relation between participation and transformation, and integrates metaphysical and scientific modes of understanding. The primary medium of this work lives in embodied relationality with friends, family, and peers. He is concerned with the vital connections between psyche, culture, and nature, and is developing networks and communities that support wiser contexts for education, contribution, and belonging. Voicecraft Podcast https://voicecraft.io/about/

Layman meets with the co-creators of the we{collective} social media platform, James Weir and Laurence Currie-Clark, to talk about their vision for a collectively owned, holarchically-organized, play-and-learning focused social media platform, and to reflect on the technological and AI revolutions that appear to be upon us. WeCo social media platform https://weco.io/ Follow The Integral Stage on Fathom! https://hello.fathom.fm/ Please like, subscribe, and support The Integral Stage on Patreon to make more of these conversations possible! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage

Bruce Alderman, Layman Pascal &Gregg Henriques continue their trialogue on the meaning and promise of a sacred or sophianic naturalism for our time.  In part three of the discussion, they take a deep dive into the topic of shamanism -- considering the nature and function of the shaman historically, in contemporary cultural and psychotherapeutic expressions, and as an archetype for the kind of transcultural, metapsychological wisdom figure we might need to respond adequately to the meta-crisis.

Layman meets with two of the co-founders of ChinookX Technologies, Trevor Jang and Lee White, to talk about their efforts to establish and insure indigenous data sovereignty for tribal groups on the west coast of Canada, and to discuss the possibilities and the process of the decolonization of the internet. ChinookX Technologies website https://chinookx.ca/

In Re/thinking Religion, a new Integral Stage series, John Vervaeke joins Bruce Alderman and Layman Pascal to explore possible points of contact and confluence between their respective approaches to religion and spirituality.  For the second episode, we discuss the distinction between absolute and relative in traditional and modern metaphysics, the Two Worlds mythology, and the Ascender and Descender paths, and we consider some historical and contemporary approaches to reconceiving their relations.  

In the second half of the dialogue, we turn towards the emotional or 'felt' dimensions of a fundamental shift in perspectives, including David Michael Levin's notions of 'crying for a vision' and gelassenheit as the resolution of dualism; and we begin to touch on the importance for a Religion that is Not a Religion of 'moving into the lack' and fully grieving the death of God.  

John Vervaeke is a cognitive scientist, a professor of psychology at Toronto University, and the creator of the popular YouTube series, "Awakening from the Meaning Crisis."  "Awakening from the Meaning Crisis" Playlist:

Stuart introduces his Aliens and Artists project and discusses the inspiration behind it, and the interview then quickly turns into a conversation, as Layman and Stuart share experiences and reflections, riffing on shamanic consciousness, the nature of time, Western esotericism, Terrence McKenna and Alan Watts, encounters with UFOs and "alien intelligences," paranormal phenomena, nature mysticism, the effectiveness of hypnotherapy for accessing the unconscious and healing trauma, and much more.  

STUART DAVIS is a contemporary musician, songwriter, filmmaker, and podcaster. He has been performing throughout the United States and Europe since 1993. Davis regularly works with music producer Alex Gibson, who produced his last five studio albums.  In 2009, TV channel HDNet broadcast the first six-episode season of "Sex, God, Rock 'n Roll," a comedy sketch show written, directed, and hosted by Davis; a second season with Davis and co-host Kandyse McClure began airing in 2012. 

Davis is a contributing member of philosopher Ken Wilber's Integral Institute, and appears as a fictionalized character in Wilber's novel Boomeritis. His single Already Free (2008) was featured as the end theme of the Showtime series I Can't Believe I'm Still Single, and was also used in the feature film Drillbit Taylor. A precursor to the HDNet series "Sex, God, Rock 'n Roll" existed in the form of a 12-part web series, The Stuart Davis Show (2007), select episodes of which were co-written with Steven Brill.  

Stuart is currently the host of the Aliens and Artists podcast.  Links and Resources  Stuart Davis:  https://www.stuartdavis.com/Aliens & Artists podcast:  https://aliensandartists.podbean.com/Man Meets Mantis:  https://youtu.be/Zi_8W0qCUH0The Art of Is:  https://youtu.be/q3cpAS9xU8o

Layman is joined by Krishna Gauci, a spiritual teacher and a disciple of HWL Poonja, to discuss the traditional and contemporary value of satsang; his experience and understanding of the nature and dynamics of spiritual transmission; the qualities needed in students and teachers to amplify and most benefit from satsang or other 'transmissive' contexts and encounters; healthy, unhealthy, and difficult student-teacher relationships; and much more.  

Krishna Gauci was born in Monterey, California, and was raised in New York City. Thirty-four years ago, he moved to the Pacific Northwest. He presently lives in Portland with his wife, Vivian. While pursuing his spiritual endeavors, he has worked as an auto assembly line worker, a New York City taxi cab driver, a cabinetmaker, and a bus driver. Krishna has a background in the practice of Buddhist Meditation and has been a devotee of the Spiritual Master HWL Poonja (Papaji) since 1993. He has been a part of (what is now) the Trillium Awakening Community since 1998, and is a founding member of the Trillium Awakening Teachers Circle and the Institute of Awakened Mutuality. He has been holding Satsang since 2000.  

Krishna Satsang website http://www.krishnasatsang.com/ 

Trillium Awakening website https://trilliumawakening.org/ 

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Layman and Bruce enter into a trialogue on mandalas & mandalic thinking -- with contemporary syntheist philosopher, author & driving force between the Intellectual Deep Web, Alexander Bard.  This was an emergent topic from our original interview with Alexander for the Future Faces of Spirit series.  

For the ninth episode of The Soul of AI, Layman meets with coach and Circling facilitator, David Swedlow, to thread thoughtfully between the usual utopian and dystopian narratives on AI; and given the degree of speculation in the face of the unknown that even experts in the field are forced to do, to consider the roles and responsibilities each of us has to think these issues through carefully and creatively. David's professional website https://metastorming.com/ Follow The Integral Stage on Fathom! https://hello.fathom.fm/ Remember to like, subscribe, and support The Integral Stage on Patreon to make more of these conversations possible! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage Special thanks and big love to Shai Newman, the LIMITED HANGOUT guys, Brandon LaChance, Mike McElroy, Brandon Norgaard, Brendan Graham Dempsey, Francesca, and all of our other Patreon supporters!

Bruce and Layman assemble with other Austin Emerge attendees to reflect on their experiences, learnings, appreciations & criticisms, and thoughts for moving forward.  Joining the discussion are Roger Walsh, Ph.D.; Ivo Mensch; Nomali Perera; and Ēlen Awalom.

EVERYTHING?  Well, maybe not everything...  

But, as integral psychotherapist and leader Mark Forman will argue, there are a number of criticisms of the integral movement and community that continue to circulate, that could be put to sleep with a better understanding of many of the changes and developments within, and the many accomplishments of, the movement over the past two decades.  Do integralists think integral begins and ends with Ken Wilber?  Is the integral movement a cult?  Are integralists disembodied eggheads?  Do integralists ignore politics and social issues?  Has integral failed to impact the world?  Tune in as Mark discusses these and other questions with Bruce and Layman.  

Dr. Mark Forman provides psychotherapy in San Jose and online throughout California, as well as developmental consulting for individual adults worldwide. He is the founder and lead trainer of the Certified Integral Psychotherapist (CIT) Global Training Program and actively teaches and supervises both therapists and coaches interested in the direct application of Integral Theory.  He is also the organizer of several previous Integral Theory Conferences, and the author of several books on integral psychology.  

Mark Forman's Professional Website - www.drmarkforman.com  

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Layman sits down again with Middle Way philosopher and author, Robert M. Ellis, this time to discuss his new book, The Five Principles of Middle Way Philosophy -- the second book in a planned 9-part series on the Middle Way. Layman and Robert review the essential arguments of the book, exploring how a post-traditional, universalized middle-way philosophy might show up and what it might contribute to addressing the challenges of the contemporary world. From the book's description: "This second book in the 'Middle Way Philosophy' series develops five general principles that are distinctive to the universal Middle Way as a practical response to absolutization. These begin with the consistent acknowledgement of human uncertainty (scepticism), and follow through with openness to alternative possibilities (provisionality), the importance of judging things as a matter of degree (incrementality), the clear rejection of polarised absolute claims (agnosticism) and the cultivation of cognitive and emotional states that will help us resolve conflict (integration). These are discussed not only in theory, but with links to the wide range of established human practices that can help us to follow them. Like all of Robert M. Ellis's work, this book is highly inter-disciplinary, drawing on philosophical argument, psychological models and values that prioritize practical application." Robert M. Ellis is a philosopher, writer and teacher. He has produced a series of books about the Middle Way, understood as a principle of judgement that throws us onto experience by avoiding absolutes, both positive and negative. He has also founded the Middle Way Society to support the development and practice of the Middle Way understood in this way, and he has recently opened a retreat center, Tirylan House, in rural South Wales. The Five Principles of Middle Way Philosophy: https://www.amazon.com/Five-Principles-Middle-Philosophy-Experientially/dp/1800503032/

In the Integral community, we tend to show too little love to the Lower Right quadrant.  In this new series, Love the System, Layman Pascal and his guests will take deep dives the nature of living and man-made systems, and explore the most promising systemic approaches to managing the challenges of our day.  

In Episode 22, Layman meets with James Redenbaugh, the founder and creative director of Iris Co-Creative, an integrally informed, international team of website designer, artists, and branding experts.  IRIS stands for Intuitive, Relational, and Intersubjective, and Layman and James explore what is meant by each term, how they relate to creative work, and how they inform emergent ways of working in the world.  

James Redenbaugh is a director, facilitator, and designer.  He directs creative processes for paradigm-shifting organizations around the world.  He has 10+ years experience working with globally recognized thought-leaders, game-changing companies, and high-impact NGOs.  Iris Co-Creative website https://www.iris-cocreative.com/

In this episode of the Integral Stage's "Future Faces of Spirit" series, Layman & Bruce sit down with Spanish transpersonal psychologist and participatory philosopher Jorge Ferrer to discuss altered states, entities, sexuality and methods for assimilating peak experiences. 

No comment. 

Layman is joined by Charlotte Cecil and Sophie Allen, the founders of Thrivespring, an organization dedicated to fostering community resilience and disaster preparedness.  Layman introduces his new Ontario Depth Adaptation (ODA) project, and then discusses with Charlotte and Sophie the genesis and mission of their Thrivespring project, and the practical,  political, and psychological dynamics of preparedness for an uncertain future and the likelihood of systemic disruption or collapse.  

Charlotte Cecil studied emergency management at George Brown College in Toronto, Canada. She has been a volunteer responder with various response and recovery groups, and worked for many years as a security consultant in the UK. Following a life-threatening incident in her early 20s, she became interested in emergency preparedness and security, which evolved into a passion for community resilience. She strongly believes that communities which engage in inclusive resilience-building help create safer, healthier and more cohesive societies.  

Sophie Allen studied Climate Change, Development and Policy at the Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, and Environmental Hazards and Disaster Management at Kingston University, London. Her professional experience includes disaster risk reduction and response, sustainable development and volunteer management. Having been involved in a wide range of community projects, Sophie is continually inspired by what people can achieve when they work together toward a common goal.  

Thrivespring website https://thrivespring.com/ 

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For the twenty-seventh episode of the Integral Stage's Author Series, Layman meets with author and artist, Brian George, to talk about his book, Masks of Origin: Regression in the Service of Omnipotence; about speaking the unspeakable; and about his creative life and work in general.  From the book description:  "Brian George’s debut collection of personal essays invites the reader on a journey beyond the normal categories of space, time, and narrative structure, toward a further shore of multidimensional and more-than-human experience. 

These are 'essays' in the sense of attempts or explorations of a subject which is too vast, and too profound, yet also, paradoxically, too familiar (to some deepest part of us) to be exhausted by any one expression or approach. As George puts it, 'The book is not quite a collection of essays, or the fragments of an autobiography, or a record of inter-dimensional journeys, or a work of metaphysics, or a sociopolitical critique, or an attempt to formulate a contemporary mythology—although it has elements of all of these.'"  

Brian George is the author of five books of poetry and two books of essays.  He is a graduate of the Massachusetts College of Art, an exhibited artist and former art teacher at several Boston area middle schools, a former member of the Boston Visionary Cell, and a former organizer for Evolver Boston. He was a founding member of MAAP SPACE, a multimedia performance series, as well as of the Revolving Arts Salon and the current Cedar Square Arts Salon. He often tells people first discovering his work that his goal is not so much to be read as to be re-read, and then lived with.  Links  

Masks of Origin book https://untimelybooks.com/book/masks-of-origin/

Masks of Origin blog https://masksoforigin.blogspot.com/ Fathom app https://hello.fathom.fm/ Please consider supporting The Integral Stage on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage Special thanks and big love to Shai Newman, Brandon LaChance, Mike McElroy, Brandon Norgaard, Brendan Graham Dempsey, Francesca, and all of our other Patreon supporters!

Layman is joined by Jason Medland to talk about the wisdom and insight from both software engineering and long-running Western esoteric traditions, such as the Free Masons, for organizing effectively, preventing system stagnation, maintaining high-level sensemaking and moral commitment, promoting the continued growth of members, and much more.  Jason Medland is an OpenSource Software/Systems Architect, Free Mason, firearms and combat sport enthusiast, a Natural Born Psychonaught, and a Meanderthal.  

Jason's Medium page: https://jasonmedland.medium.com/ 

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Layman Pascal and Bruce Alderman offer some riffs and reflections on John Vervaeke, Gregg Henriques, and Christopher Mastropietro's excellent 12-part dialogos on the nature and function of the self, "The Elusive I."    What kind of language can mediate between objective models and subjective experiences of the self, between science and clinical practice?  What is the dance between the elusiveness of the I and anatman, or the emptiness of the self?  How does the model of the self in The Elusive I relate to the models developed in transpersonal, integral, and esoteric psychologies?  What can Kierkegaard teach us about the nonduality of the self, and what are its farther reaches of development?  What is the role of the centaur in developing character?  Under the pressure of so many conditioning forces in culture, how might we be served by practices of self-transgression as well as self-transcendence?    Layman and Bruce consider these questions and more in developing a model of the self as a self-approximating hypersubject, a prepositional wild knot, an autopoietic living system, modulated dialogically, and described in a manner that is open both to naturalistic psychology and deep participatory spirituality...

The Elusive I - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Fnmp6UVafM

In Re/thinking Religion, a new Integral Stage series, John Vervaeke joins Bruce Alderman and Layman Pascal to explore possible points of contact and confluence between their respective approaches to religion and spirituality.  For the fifth episode, they reflect on an ecological reading and extension of Nietzsche, the nature of virtue and the virtues needed for navigating the meta-crisis, and the kinds of vision and practice systems necessary to contain and process the trauma of our grief for the world.

In this new mini-series, Layman Pascal talks with Marc Gafni about an emerging model he is developing together with Zak Stein and others, which they call Cosmo-Erotic Humanism.  

For episode one, Layman and Marc discuss the origins of this project, and Marc's work on exploring and unfolding a model of Certainty and Uncertainty for addressing the meaning crisis, grounding moral value, and wrestling with perennial theodicies.  

Dr. Marc Gafni is a visionary thinker, social activist, passionate philosopher, and author of ten books.  He is the co-founder of The Center for Integral Wisdom, and a rabbinic lineage holder in Bible, Talmud, and Kabbalah.  He self-describes as a “citizen” of both Integral World Spirituality and classical Hebrew practice.  He has been an editor of the Journal of Integral Theory and Practice on issues of Integral spirituality and a faculty member of J.F.K. University.  In 2014, Dr. Gafni co-initiated the Success 3.0 Summit and Rise Up movie, with John Mackey and Kate Maloney whose method and movement is to bring together key thought leaders and change-agents to collaboratively evolve a bold new Integral vision of Success, rooted in the entrepreneurial values of Wake Up, Grow Up, Show Up, and Evolutionary Love.  

Professional Website https://www.marcgafni.com/ 

The Center for Integral Wisdom https://centerforintegralwisdom.org/ 

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John Bunzl joins Layman to take a deeper look into Simpol, following his Integral Stage presentation for the Eutopia series.  What was the origin of the Simpol idea?  How does it relate to evolutionary process?  How can it serve worldcentric and healthy nationalist interests simultaneously?  How does it manifest in all four quadrants?  How can it serve global health and flourishing, without triggering concerns about the over-reach or oppressive dynamics of a 'one world government'?  

Bunzl is a global political activist and businessman. In 2000, he founded the Simultaneous Policy (Simpol) campaign, a way for citizens to use their votes to drive politicians towards global cooperation. It has supporters in over 100 countries and enjoys the support of a growing number of Members of Parliament around the world. He has authored or co-authored a number of books including The Simpol Solution, Monetary Reform – Making it Happen!, People-centred Global Governance – Making it Happen!, and Global Domestic Politics. He has published numerous articles on global governance in the Journal of Integral Theory & Practice. He has lectured widely, including to The Schumacher Society, The World Trade Organisation, The Lucis Trust, and various universities.   

The Simpol Website:  https://www.simpol.org/

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https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage

For the 36th episode of the Integral Stage Authors Series, Layman beams Andrew M. Davis up to his orbital studio to talk about his recently published book, Metaphysics of Exo-Life. In this wide-ranging discussion, they talk about the renewed interest in and relevance of the field of cosmo-theology, as scientists are detecting possible indicators of life on remote planets and the government is apparently taking the topic of UAPs more seriously; the implications of extra-terrestrial life for human religions and soteriological models; the nature of God in an evolving universe, and whether humans and alien species could ever arrive at similar theological or moral understandings; the relevance of A.N. Whitehead’s process theology for these questions; the strengths and limitations of Steven J. Dick’s naturalistic cosmo-theology, and what Whitehead has to offer in response; and much more. Andrew M. Davis is a process philosopher, theologian, and scholar of cosmological wonder. He is program director for the Center for Process Studies where he researches, writes, and organizes conferences on various aspects of process-relational thought. An advocate of metaphysics and meaning, he approaches philosophy as the endeavor to systematically think through what reality must be like because we are a part of it. He holds B.A. in Philosophy and Theology, an M.A. in Interreligious Studies, and a Ph.D. in Religion and Process Philosophy from Claremont School of Theology. Metaphysics of Exo-Life https://www.amazon.com/Metaphysics-Ex... Fathom app https://hello.fathom.fm/ Support The Integral Stage on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage Special thanks and big love to Shai Newman, the Limited Hangout guys, Brandon LaChance, Mike McElroy, Brandon Norgaard, Brendan Graham Dempsey, Francesca, and all of our other Patreon supporters!

For the fourth episode, they turn from reflection on grieving the death of God and the loss of the transcendental sacred, to grieving the state of the world and the impending loss of the immanent sacred.  They  discuss Nietzsche's insights into the pervasiveness of affective  nihilism in modern cultures, and the strengths and shortcomings of his  prescriptions; the problem of "god surrogacy," in a world that has lost  its center; the dynamics of a culture of make-believe and the  impediments to facing collective cultural shadow; the process of  grieving the state of the world and our implication in many of its  crises, environmental and otherwise; the radical challenge of moving  beyond anthropocentrism in our social organization and self conception;  and much more.

In this episode of the Integral Stage's Fire from Heaven series, Layman continues to explore the nature, significance, perils and possibilities of "spiritual transmission" -- this time with Waking Down in Mutuality teacher-transmitters, Saniel Bonder and Linda Groves-Bonder.

http://www.sanielandlinda.com/

For episode 15 of LOVE THE SYSTEM, Layman is joined by Welf von Hören to talk about his work co-founding the company, and launching the app, Potential, which aims to transform users' phones to help them unlock better choices.  Together they explore the potential for technology to help individuals strengthen agency, set and keep intentions, outgame the attention economy, and interface with AI to make omni-win decisions.  How can social media, wisely used, help individuals and communities develop and transform?  What is the role of profiling, and how can already-pervasive data collection be refined and improved, and turned towards individuals' and communities' health and benefit?  For Integral, GameB, and Metamodern communities, what is the right relationship to money, and how can these communities be empowered to really impact the world?  

Welf von Hören is the co-Founder and CEO of Potential company, which produces an app to transform users' phones to help them unlock better choices.  He is an applied philosopher, product designer, and software engineer.  He studied at CODE University of Applied Sciences, trained with Human Systems, and co-hosts Humane Tech Berlin. 

Personal website https://welf.co/ 

Potential app https://potential.app/ 

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Layman sits down with Steve March, the founder of Aletheia coaching, to talk about the challenges and rewards of reading Heidegger; his radical focus on the phenomenology of the "everyday" world; his concept of breakdowns in obviousness, and the opportunities such events afford us individually and collectively; being-unto-death; the influence of Heidegger and the concept of 'ontological design' on the Aletheia coaching method; the intersection of technological and poetic attunements in this time of AI; Heidegger's problematic history and associations; and much more. Steve March became a professional coach in 2000, and in 2003, he became a coach trainer, leading coaching certification courses in the United States, Asia, and Europe. He is the founder and originator of Alethia Coaching, which offers a new paradigm in self-development that helps people move away from a focus on 'improvement', and instead uses a methodology that allows us to 'unfold' into the essence of who we already are. Aletheia website: https://integralunfoldment.com/

In 2021, Layman conducted a Salon of the Banned interview with Son of Korg and Ezekiel-73 about their experimental online magazine, the Limited Hangout, which was dedicated to exploring a host of paranormal, parapolitical, and "conspiracy"-related themes from an integral perspective. That experiment is now coming to a close, so Son of Korg and Ezekiel-73 (who outs himself in this video) return to talk about the origins and original intentions of the project; what they learned during this several-year journey; the amplification of the uncanny they experienced as COVID unfolded and fringe topics came more to the center of mainstream discourse; the challenges and gifts they experienced navigating alternative sensemaking circles; the reasons why conspiracy or parapolitical thinking now seems to be related to "Right-wing rabbit holes," and why that wasn't always the case; and much more. Limited Hangout website https://limitedhangout.wtf/

For the eleventh episode of The Soul of AI, Layman sits down with healer, artist, and AI entrepreneur and consultant, Cris Beasley, to talk about the interface of art and AI; the narcissistic dynamics that drive much of our modern structures, and bringing healing to those dynamics; "Letting the piranha eat us"; the difference between artificial intelligence and augmented intelligence; the potential for AI to take over the "synthesizing intelligence" and function of our leading-edge thinkers, and what then is left for humans still to develop and do; and much more. Cris founded a sustainable AI company nine years ago – well before it was the latest thing on the block. It was featured in a cover story of The Atlantic. She stopped Sequoia Capital from trying to build an AI that was obviously never going to work. It was obvious if you bothered to do the back-of-the-envelope math, which Amazon did not do. They attempted the same thing, failed, and wasted a few million bucks. They should've had someone like Cris on their team. Before that, she led the redesign of Firefox support, which resulted in an extra 7MM users per year finding the answer to their questions immediately. Cris was selected to be in the first cohort of ambassadors to the Interledger Foundation. Their $15k grant supported her project about Jungian emotional polarities, Becoming Dragon, which was covered in Forbes. She advises Earthcodes.org on strategy for their regenerative data cycles project, AI for Gaia, in partnership with the Biomimicry Institute. In her copious spare time, she convinces two mischievous black cats to come when they're called, paints with watercolors, makes AI-generated short films, and plays electronic music that takes you into meditative theta brainwave states. Cris Beasley portfolio https://www.crisbeasley.com/portfolio Becoming Dragon Oracle Cards http://www.crisbeasley.com/

Layman meets with Dr. Cadell Last to talk about a new philosophy anthology that Cadell co-edited with O.G. Rose, and to which Layman contributed as well: Abyssal Arrows: Spiritual Leadership Inspired by Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

Through a review of a number of the essays in this volume, they explore the potential meanings and implications of the notion of Übermensch, especially in our times; the shamanic and tantric dimensions of Nietzsche's thought; the dynamics and scope of Nietzschean education; the relevance of Nietzschean spiritual transformation and leadership in a time of AI and VR; the importance of family and childhood, often missed by revolutionary humanist and transhumanist movements; and much more. Cadell Last, Ph.D., is a philosopher with an interest in anthropology and psychoanalysis, the creator of Philosophy Portal, and the author of Global Brain Singularity; Sex, Masculinity, God; Systems and Subjects; and Enter the Alien.

In a swanky high-rise apartment, just beyond the Thunderdome, Layman sits down with Jason the McClain to talk about the attractions and the limitations of libertarianism, Jason's early formative experiences with it, and the experiences and insights that eventually led him to leave it behind. From a meta-level, they also discuss what it means, and what it takes, to be ready to let go of one's earlier convictions and to remain open, ongoingly, to further learning, growth, and transformation. Evolutionary Companies website https://evolutionarycompanies.com/ Fathom app https://hello.fathom.fm/ Support The Integral Stage on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage Special thanks and big love to Shai Newman, the Limited Hangout guys, Brandon LaChance, Mike McElroy, Brandon Norgaard, Brendan Graham Dempsey, Francesca, and all of our other Patreon supporters!

In this special episode, Layman is joined by leadership expert, Alan Watkins, and psychotherapist, Durwin Foster, to explore themes from Alan's new book, Lie-Ability: How Leaders Build and Break Trust. What are the seven dark arts of deception? From integral leadership and psychotherapeutic perspectives, how are we to address breakdowns in sensemaking and coherence in a culture where deceit has become common, and will soon be even more powerfully amplified by AI and other emerging technologies? How can we better recognize, and respond to, the tactics of dark triad personalities in our political cultures, workplaces, and spiritual communities? A physician and neuroscientist, and the CEO of Complete, Dr. Alan Watkins is recognised as an international expert on leadership and human performance. Over the years he has coached thousands of individuals to greater levels of performance, transformed organisational cultures and helped leaders discover new ways to succeed. Alan has become a confidant to many of the world’s top leaders over the past 22 years. Alan believes we can create a world with enlightened leaders in all walks of life, but this requires leaders to ‘wake up’, ‘grow up’ and make better decisions. His optimism for the potential of human beings never wavers. He is also the author of many books, including Crowdocracy: The End of Politics and Wicked and Wise: How to Solve the World’s Toughest Problems. Durwin Foster, MA, CCC, has learned the science of effective therapy through rigorous academic training. Completing a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology at the University of British Columbia, Durwin is certified at the national level through the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA). Durwin completed all required doctoral level coursework and trained in supervision, while performing research on the benefits of mindfulness training. A close student of Ken Wilber, Durwin has recently trained in Full-Spectrum Mindfulness, an approach that combines mindfulness with developmental psychology to help us wake up from our dreams of separation, while also growing into our greatest potentials.

For episode 10 of the LOVE THE SYSTEM series, Layman is joined by Dr. Marc Gafni, the co-founder of the Center for Integral Wisdom and the author of multiple books and essays on integrative spirituality and spiritual activism.  Marc presents his vision of what a planetary politics could and should be, and together they explore the question of AI and the enormous challenges manipulative algorithms pose not only to informed voting, but to sensemaking in general; the emergence of techno-feudalism; the problems with voting protocols rooted in rivalrous dynamics, and the possibilities for liquid democracy or a synergistic democracy; the viability and role of nation states in a globally interconnected and interdependent society; the dynamics of intimacy, and the importance of shared first principles and a shared story; and much more.  

Dr. Marc Gafni is a visionary thinker, social activist, passionate philosopher, and author of ten books.  He is the co-founder of The Center for Integral Wisdom, and a rabbinic lineage holder in Bible, Talmud, and Kabbalah.  He self-describes as a “citizen” of both Integral World Spirituality and classical Hebrew practice.  He has been an editor of the Journal of Integral Theory and Practice on issues of Integral spirituality and a faculty member of J.F.K. University.  In 2014, Dr. Gafni co-initiated the Success 3.0 Summit and Rise Up movie, with John Mackey and Kate Maloney whose method and movement is to bring together key thought leaders and change-agents to collaboratively evolve a bold new Integral vision of Success, rooted in the entrepreneurial values of Wake Up, Grow Up, Show Up, and Evolutionary Love.  

Professional Website https://www.marcgafni.com/ 

The Center for Integral Wisdom https://centerforintegralwisdom.org/

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Bruce joins Layman Pascal under the Wayne mansion to explore Layman's infamous Facebook group, Pascal's Integral Batcave, and the art of metaphilosophical meme-ing.  

Pascal's Integral Batcave https://www.facebook.com/groups/162945624115898

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Spiritual teacher, Nikola Anandamali Ristic, returns to talk about his new book, "Spirit X: Playful Presence," a practical, experientially oriented follow-up to "Spirit X."  This spiritual guidebook consists of 10 meditations, 17 prayers and 10 contemplations, and is enriched with images to evoke reading with the whole being and the Heart.  

Layman and Nikola explore the meaning and importance of playfulness in one's spiritual approach; the practical differences between meditation, prayer, and contemplation; the influence of Ken Wilber's work on his teaching and vision; working with fixation and negativity; simple methods for contacting presence and intrinsic happiness; the role of "place" and ecological grounding in one's spiritual practice; and much more.  

2Nikola Anandamali Ristic is a Serbia-born, California-based author, philosopher and spiritual teacher. After earning his Ph.D in philosophy and gaining rich and vast life and spiritual experience, he has fully focused on creating Spirit X, a vision of spirituality for our simultaneously challenging and inspiring times.  Nikola offers talks, classes, workshops, retreats, online content and programs, and private sessions.  He lives in Santa Cruz, CA with his wife Shawna, son Neven, cat Luna and pet rock Oso.  

Professional website https://www.anandamali.com/ 

Follow The Integral Stage on Fathom!   https://hello.fathom.fm/ Please like, subscribe, and support The Integral Stage on Patreon to make more of these conversations possible! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage

Layman continues the discussion with Marc Gafni and Zak Stein about their jointly authored book, First Principles and First Values, this time focusing on some of the core philosophical arguments.

They are publishing the book pseudonymously under the name, David J. Temple.

Layman is joined by Forrest Landry, philosopher of Immanent Metaphysics, a great lover of trinities, a possible mentat, and through his work on human assembly and ephemeral group processes, among other things, a serious contributor to both the theory and practice of more agile, more benevolent, and more satisfying group behavior.  In their conversation, they focus on some of the core concepts of human assembly and ephemeral group process, and then broaden the lens to reflect on other topics related to the meaning crisis, spirituality, attention to the wild fringes of our knowledge systems, and much more.  

Forrest Landry is a philosopher, writer, researcher, scientist, engineer, craftsman, and teacher focused on metaphysics, the manner in which software applications, tools, and techniques influence the design and management of very large scale complex systems, and the thriving of all forms of life on this planet.  His research interests and activities generally center on questions and concerns in three main related areas: 1, the manner and degree to/by which product and systems design influences culture and ecology; 2, an exploration of the nature of the interface between the organic and the inorganic, particularly as realized in the relationship between concept and computation; and 3, the manner and models by which effective personal and social governance could potentially be achieved.

Immanent Metaphysics

mflb.com/uvsm_8/index_uvsm_5.html

Human Systems

www.magic-flight.com/pub/uvsm_1/sgrp_small_group_2.pdf

Is Integral Theory a "poisoned chalice" -- wondrously made in some regards, but poisoned from within?  Has it failed in its promise and become unusable?  Bruce and Layman sit down with Daniel Görtz, one half of the metamodern avatar, Hanzi Freinacht, to discuss both the strengths of integral theory, but also the criticisms that have driven a number of people to abandon it -- whether in rejecting it altogether, or in forming counter projects (Hanzi's Metamodernism, various Integral 2.0 efforts), or just in the gradual dispersion of the "integral diaspora."  What is the future of the integral movement?  Will it fade in influence going forward, or is its full promise still yet to come?

Cognitive neuroscientist and science writer, Bobby Azarian, returns to the Integral Stage for a deep and wide-ranging discussion of the emerging scientific paradigm -- the complexity science paradigm arising out of the intersections of physics, biology, neuroscience, and information theory -- that will likely shape self, culture, and society for the next century. If the universe is now known to be self-organizing through levels of developmental emergence, and if we are, as Carl Sagan once said, "a way for the cosmos to know itself," what really are the implications of such a view for all the domains of life that matter to us? This perspective, of course, is in its general outlines very similar to the one Ken Wilber outlined in Sex, Ecology, Spirituality, but the science has developed since Wilber published SES; so Bobby and Layman explore those developments, and how they further reinforce, and in some cases update, the synthesis Wilber offered several decades ago. Bobby Azarian is a cognitive neuroscientist (PhD, George Mason University), a science journalist, and author of the book The Romance of Reality: How the Universe Organizes Itself to Create Life, Consciousness, and Cosmic Complexity. He has written for The Atlantic, The New York Times, BBC Future, Scientific American, Slate, The Huffington Post, Quartz, The Daily Beast, Aeon, and others. His research has been published in peer-reviewed journals like Human Brain Mapping, Cognition & Emotion, Acta Psychologica, and Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. His Psychology Today blog (Mind in the Machine) has received over 8 million views, making it one of the most popular blogs on the website. He has been a guest on The Joe Rogan Experience, the Michael Shermer Show, The David Pakman Show, The Jim Rutt Show, The Young Turks, the Singularity University podcast, and many others. He helped develop multiple episodes for Season 2 of the YouTube Premium series Mind Field, which won the show its first Emmy nomination. He is a pro at audio and music production, and is currently working on an educational podcast based on his new book.