Dr. John Churchill - A Full Spectrum Path to Planetary Awakening

Aug 29, 2025

Dr. John Churchill is a psychologist and dharma teacher, known for founding Planetary Dharma, which merges contemplative traditions with psychodynamic healing. He discusses the concept of the Fourth Turning, emphasizing a cultural synthesis in spirituality. John shares insights on balancing tradition with progressive approaches, critiques of past teachings, and the importance of self-image and imaginal practices. He also touches on the role of psychedelics in spiritual development and plans for creating a new contemplative culture through an academy.

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INSIGHT

Fourth Turning As Civilization Praxis

The fourth turning synthesizes prior Buddhist turnings into a culture-sized, time-aware praxis.
It focuses on process practice, integrating music, geometry, ethics and science into a holonic civilization-level dharma.

INSIGHT

Soul-Centered Complexity

The fourth turning requires a higher complexity to synthesize the whole psyche and cultural knowledge.
It centers the soul/sambhogakaya and aligns practice with planetary and cosmological timing.

ANECDOTE

Retreat Felt Alive And Imaginal

Artem described the Planetary Dharma intro retreat using music, visualization, mudras and heart-centered practices.
He noted these elements made the online retreat feel alive and imaginally rich.

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Dr. John Churchill is a psychologist, dharma teacher, and the founder of Planetary Dharma – an integrally informed community embracing the vows and path of the Bodhisattva, committed to elevating human consciousness and collective transformation.

John holds a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from William James College and is also a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine. His journey into Buddhist psychology began as a monk at Samye (sam-yay) Ling Monastery in Scotland, where he undertook an in-depth study of Buddhist contemplative practice. He later spent 15 years training and teaching “Great Seal” (Mahamudra) meditation within an Indo-Tibetan Mahayana lineage under the mentorship of Dr. Daniel P. Brown.

John is a founding member of the Integral Institute, led by transpersonal philosopher Ken Wilber, and has received advanced training in attachment therapy, hypnosis, positive psychology for peak performance, and the “Pointing Out” style of Mahamudra meditation. He is also the author of Becoming Buddha: Buddhist Contemplative Psychology in a Western Context.

For the past 25 years, John has been developing what he calls the Fourth Turning Planetary Dharma—a full-spectrum psychospiritual approach that integrates the great Indo-Tibetan traditions with psychodynamic healing and adult development.

In this episode, we discuss the vision of a 4th turning dharma, John’s differences with his teacher Dan Brown, navigating the traditional vs progressive polarity in spirituality, connecting to sacred world, moving into the transrational, transitioning from Buddhism to Sacred Humanism, and so much more.

🔗[Links & resources] 🔗

🕰️[Time stamps] 🕰️

0:00 - Intro
3:29 - Unpacking the four turnings of Buddhism
9:58 - Further distinguishing the fourth turning
16:09 - Artem’s experience participating in the Planetary Dharma introductory retreat
17:27 - Planetary Dharma’s emphasis on the imaginal and self-image
25:25 - John’s differences with his mentor and teacher Dan Brown
37:56 - Navigating the traditional vs progressive polarities in spirituality
49:01 - Transitioning beyond Buddhism into Sacred Humanism
55:15 - Why modern minds are disconnected from Sacred World
1:02:46 - The pre-trans fallacy and navigating the trans-rational
1:16:17 - The role of psychedelics on the psychospiritual path
1:28:00 - What’s needed to build out a fourth turning academy
1:37:40 - The constraints of a householder and the future of Dharma
1:50:37 - Planetary Dharma offerings

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