T Jonathon Proctor is the creator of Being Real—Being Embodied. He works with individuals and groups to balance and integrate the “ascending” currents of awakening and the “descending” maturation of embodiment. T has a background in physical therapy and bodywork, Vipassana meditation and non-dual realization and has spent the last decade as a student of the Diamond Approach. His own journey, his work with others, and years of experience as a Hospice bereavement facilitator have inspired a deep appreciation for the individual narrative as a well of meaning; seeing self-understanding as a powerful movement of compassion. His orientation arises out of a heartfelt knowing that every aspect of our human experience is essential to the process of Awakening and Self-realization.
Embodiment is functional awakening. Being Real—Being Embodied is designed to integrate the boundless presence of Essential Being into the ordinary life of the individual. Instant awakening(s) may occur but it is a myth that total ego annihilation and transformation certainly follow. This is demonstrated in the lives of gurus and teachers who, while undeniably awakened, make a mess of their own and others’ lives.
Awakening and embodiment have a reciprocal relationship. Put in a simple way Awakening is absence and Embodiment is presence. Awakening reveals the emptiness of separate selfhood. We awaken from thoughts, emotion, relationship, history, roles and body as our ultimate identity. As these awakenings happen space becomes available for the various qualities and capacities of Being—intelligence, strength, discrimination, compassion, love and presence—to transform the individual. Embodiment calls us to transform our shadow; meaning our inner animal, wounded child, our hidden trauma, and even our drive for destruction. We are further enjoined to cultivate our capacity in the world—in work, in community, in love, and in play. The individual person becomes more real, a movement of unified reality rather than an island of ego. This is a process in time that requires devotion, sincerity, and humility. We as individual human beings live as the meaning of Being.
Website: beingrealnow.org
Transcript of this interview
Interview recorded 10/26/2014
T Jonathon Proctor in panel discussion: Birthing Radiant Being into Our Humanity
YouTube Video Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction: T. Proctor and Being Embodied
00:02:47 - The Experience of Not Being a Person
00:05:04 - Mental Pathologies and Fragmented Self
00:07:21 - Fragmentation and Integration
00:09:52 - The Power of Spiritual Practices
00:12:25 - Pathologies in Different Buddhist Traditions
00:14:41 - Overcoming Fear and Finding Stillness
00:16:53 - The Physiology of Enlightenment
00:19:31 - Embodiment and Transformation of Consciousness
00:21:59 - The Cycles of Integration and Transformation
00:23:59 - Awakening and Returning to the World
00:26:10 - Discovering My True Self
00:27:59 - The challenges of integrating spiritual practice with worldly life
00:29:53 - The Growth and Development of Awakening
00:31:43 - The Frustration of Connecting with Skeptics
00:34:01 - Awakening the Heart
00:36:19 - The Importance of Validation and Verification of Awakening Experiences
00:38:20 - The Two Specialties of Waking Up and Embodying
00:40:24 - Awakening and Enlightened Relationships
00:42:45 - Walking around with tombstones in their eyes
00:45:49 - A Global Awakening
00:47:59 - Living with a Prayer
00:50:21 - Coming Into Deeper Contact with Ourselves
00:53:01 - The capacity for integration and regulation
00:55:50 - Giving Away Your Power, Reverence, and Equality of Being
00:58:30 - The Total Equality of Being
01:00:40 - Leveling the playing field and standing on one's own responsibility
01:03:04 - Devotion and the Evolution of Religion
01:05:49 - The Importance of Embodiment
01:07:49 - Working on Relationships and Seeking the Truth of Being
01:10:09 - Introduction to batgap.com