Deep Transformation

Ep. 39 (Part 3 of 3) | Lucid dreaming expert, author, “curiouist,” and integralist Andrew Holecek explains how lucid dreaming opens the door to a greatly expanded understanding of our minds, our perception of reality, and human potential altogether. If we consciously explore our night lives practicing dream yoga, we can learn how to discard our habits, purify our karma, and discover beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are co-creators of our experience. What we do in dream yoga is not limited to nighttime action; it weaves back into our daytime lives, and ultimately our experience of dying.Andrew describes how dreams are a powerful way to discover emptiness and openness, and fall into reality—like falling into love—our primordial contraction cast away. Besides being a life-changing discourse on the incredible potential of dream yoga, Andrew Holecek’s cheerful, well-informed, easy way of talking and teaching about lucid dreaming—relating it also to the wisdom traditions, our sense of identity, and human evolution—makes this a real pleasure to listen to. Recorded on April 13, 2022.“Lucid dreaming is metacognitive dreaming: the next iteration of human evolution.”(For Apple Podcast users, click here to view the complete show notes on the episode page.)Topics & Time Stamps - Part 3How can one begin? First, realize the potentiality of lucid dreaming and become an oneironaut (01:40)The importance of intentionality, and, installing pop-ups in your unconscious mind (04:19)Meditation practice is a super technique to help attain lucidity at night (and in the daytime) (07:18)How you can purify your karma and habits in your dreams (09:51)Transforming the mother of all our habits: reification (12:40)Purifying habits by night purifies habits by day (14:44)His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teaching on dream yoga (19:09)Dream yoga is a powerful way to discover emptiness, emptiness = openness = love; meditation habituates us to openness, and when falling into reality, the primordial contraction is removed (22:00)How the self sense comes undone when we fall asleep, a concordant experience with dying (26:11)Andrew leads a short (game changing) dream yoga practice: 3-fold impurity—and, where is the dreamer? (29:55)Resources & References - Part 3Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Tibetan Buddhist meditation masterMilarepa, “phenomena are all the books one needs”Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, 2nd president of India, “Reality overflows our miserable concepts”Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell*Andrew Holecek, Dreams of Light: The Profound Daytime Practice of Lucid Dreaming*Andrew Holecek, Dream Yoga: Illuminating Your Life Through Lucid Dreaming and the Tibetan Yogas of Sleep*Andrew Holecek, The Power and the Pain: Transforming Spiritual Hardship into JoyAndrew Holecek, Preparing to Die: Practical Advice and Spiritual Wisdom from the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition*Andrew Holecek, The Lucid Dreaming Workbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Mastering Your Dream Life*Dream Yoga: The Tibetan Path of Awakening Through Lucid Dreaming (Sounds True audio learning course)Night Club: Where Meditators and Lucid Dreamers Meet, Andrew Holecek community* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.---Andrew Holecek has completed the traditional three-year Buddhist meditation retreat and offers seminars internationally on lucid dreaming, the art of dying, and meditation. He is the author of many books, including The Lucid Dreaming Workbook, Preparing to Die,  Dream Yoga: Illuminating Your Life Through Lucid Dreaming and the Tibetan Yogas of Sleep; Dreams of Light: The Profound Daytime Practice of Lucid Dreaming, and The Power and the Pain: Transforming Spiritual Hardship into Joy. Dr. Holecek is a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the author of scientific papers on lucid dreaming. His work has appeared in Parabola, Lion’s Roar, Tricycle, Utne Reader, Buddhadharma Magazine, Light of Consciousness, and many other periodicals. He holds degrees in classical music, biology, and a doctorate in dental surgery. ---Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Lucid dreaming expert, Andrew Holecek, discusses the incredible potential of dream yoga in expanding our understanding of the mind and reality. Topics include intentionality in lucid dreaming, transforming habitual patterns, the Dalai Lama's teachings on dream yoga, emptiness and love in dreams, and exploring the non-dualistic nature of reality.

Andrew Holecek, author and lucid dreaming expert, discusses dream yoga as a way to explore our minds, perception of reality, and human potential. He highlights how dreams can lead to a discovery of emptiness and openness, and how dream yoga weaves into our daytime lives and experience of dying. Andrew's cheerful and well-informed teaching on lucid dreaming and its connection to wisdom traditions and human evolution makes this podcast a pleasure to listen to.

Ep. 36 | Philosopher, author, and social entrepreneur Tomas Björkman’s claims are convincing: our culture needs to go through a new developmental paradigm shift. Either it will grow more complex—or crumble, as empires have crumbled in the past. The collective worldview needs to change, and to that end Tomas’ focus is on the relationship between growing our personal psychological maturity and societal change, a relationship Nordic countries recognized to their great advantage towards the end of the nineteenth century. Extrapolating from his vast experience with business leadership, where inner psychological maturity turns out to be a foremost aspect of success, Tomas extends this knowledge, applying it to all of society, and emphasizes the importance of supporting a lifelong inner process of development for every individual. The only hope for our shared future seems to lie in wiser decision making by individuals who have expanded both mind and heart to encompass the greater complexities of our time. Recorded on December 2019, with Dr. Roger Walsh, John Dupuy, and Douglas Prater.“Conscious effort on large-scale consciousness development actually worked.”(For Apple Podcast users, click here to view the complete show notes on the episode page.)Note: This podcast was recorded live and includes, at times, some extraneous noises in the background. Please excuse them -- we felt the conversation was very valuable and well worth sharing with our audience. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.Topics & Time StampsIntroducing Tomas Björkman: philosopher, author, entrepreneur (02:28)Tomas’ unique contribution: cultivating psychological maturity individually and collectively, in order to co-create a new culture and survive as a species (03:39)Inner psychological maturation is one of the most important aspects of a good businessman, a good leader; this knowledge needs to be applied to all of us and society as a whole (05:12)The importance of getting the corporate culture right, societal culture right, and support inner psychological development (06:37)Our worldview in the West hasn’t changed since the Enlightenment, the Age of Reason: it’s time for another deep shift to encompass greater complexity (09:49)Looking at culture (and consciousness) as a complex, self-organizing, evolving system: we have reached the bifurcation point (14:47)The Nordic secret: Scandinavian countries realized the connection between the maturity of our inner world and our society at the end of the 1800s, becoming the happiest, richest, most stable countries in the world (24:24)The establishment of retreat centers for young people to find their inner compass and creating a critical mass of self-authoring people (28:20)Maturing from the socialized mind to the self-authoring mind, from conventional to postconventional (30:15)Consciously navigating psychological transformation and the self-transforming mind (34:24)The corporate realization that to succeed in business, you need your employees to mature to the level of self-authoring mind: Deliberately Developmental Organizations (37:54)The German idealistic philosophers’ reaction against Enlightenment philosophy and the evolution of mind and heart: Bildung (39:30)What constitutes depth of relationship? Inner development, deepening of relationship, and a multicultural society created by conscious effort (48:24)Growing together: how to hold and scaffold the building of a multicultural society (54:34)Changing our collective worldview will have to be a collective movement (59:01)The effects of the popularization of contemplative practice on the development of psychological maturity (01:04:31)Resources & ReferencesTomas Björkman, The World We Create*Tomas Björkman & Lene Andersen, The Nordic Secret*Tomas Björkman, The Market Myth*Oak Island (Ekskäret) Foundation in Sweden: http://ekskaret.se, “giving momentum to the right kind of changes”Tomas’ website: http://www.tomas-bjorkman.comCo-founder (with Jonathan Rowson) of Perspectiva, systems-soul-society.com, an interdisciplinary nonprofit organization based in London, developing responses to our epistemic metacrisisCo-founder, CoCreation.Loft, making space for conscious development of individuals and societyCo-initiator of the Emerge network (with Jonathan Rowson), responding to the most urgent challenges of our time, connecting pioneers, seekers, innovators and their initiatives, sowing the seeds of a new civilization29k, a Swedish open-source, non-profit tech platform making mental health treatment and personal development free and accessible to everyoneBifurcation theoryHanzi Freinacht, The Listening Society*, https://metamoderna.orgHanzi Freinacht, Nordic Ideology*, https://metamoderna.orgDaniel Görtz, https://newrepublicoftheheart.org/person/daniel-gortz/Emile Fries, https://www.linkedin.com/in/emil-ejner-friis-56948585/Robert Kegan, developmental psychologist, The Evolving Self*Ken Wilber, The Integral Vision*Don Beck & Christopher Cowan, Spiral Dynamics*Deliberately Developmental Organizations: Making Business Personal by Robert Kegan, Lisa Lahey, Andy Fleming & Matthew MillerRobert Kegan & Lisa Lahey, An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization*Ellen Key, feminist and inner development advocate, author of the Swedish book BildningAldous Huxley, Island** As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.---Tomas Björkman is an author, social entrepreneur, and the founder of Ekskäret Foundation in Stockholm. He is also the co-founder of the research institute Perspectiva in London, of the Co-creation Loft, the media platform Emerge in Berlin and the 29k.org personal development platform. He is a member of the Club of Rome and a fellow of the Royals Swedish Academy of Engineering Science. He is the author of three books: The Market Myth (2016), The Nordic Secret (together with Lene Rachel Andersen, 2017), and The World We Create (2019). He divides his time between London, Stockholm, and Berlin.---Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 35 (Part 2 of 2) | Frederik Coene, a European Union diplomat stationed in Kyiv and world authority on Russia and Eastern Europe, describes the current situation in Ukraine—"a cocktail of emotions"—and outlines what it would take for us to find a true solution to the conflict and create sustainable peace. Frederik brings the multiple perspectives of Integral theory to bear: he discusses how developmental stages play into the ways Russians and Ukrainians are thinking, acting, and reacting, and emphasizes the need to get beyond black and white thinking, foster compassion, and take responsibility for our thoughts and our actions. How do we cultivate the willingness to understand each other, to have a dialogue? Because as Frederik says, “the war may be fought on the battlefield, but peace is only going to come through dialogue.”The fruits of Frederik’s own personal transformative practice and understanding of the Enneagram and Spiral Dynamics flow into his work as a diplomat/bureaucrat, pointing the way towards change. Besides effectively deepening our understanding of what’s going on in Ukraine and Russia now, this talk is a real inspiration for those interested in weaving together personal growth, professional responsibility, and dedication to service. A humble, open, and wise transmission. Recorded on June 29, 2022.“If we want to find a true solution, sustainable and lasting peace…we can no longer be guided by our heads alone. We have to include the heart.”(For Apple Podcast users, click here to view the complete show notes on the episode page.)Topics & Time Stamps - Part 2How the Enneagram fosters self-transformation, awareness of your own reactivity, and gets you out of black and white thinking (01:02)If we are skilled at taking multiple perspectives into account, how do we narrow it down and make a good judgment? (05:50)Practical wisdom: how do we skillfully and benevolently respond in the world? (07:14)And how this works in Ukraine now; when to take responsibility for actions and break the rules (09:01)Bureaucracy and its purpose; and the purpose of the Enneagram (12:28)Back to the situation in Ukraine now: a cocktail of emotions (16:20)Frederik’s personal self-transformation in the last 7 years with Ukraine as a catalyst (24:51)We need to merge head and heart if we want to find a sustainable peace (27:16)How do we cultivate the willingness to understand each other, to have a dialogue? (29:47) Roger reads aloud excerpts from Frederik’s Facebook postings addressed to Russians and to Ukrainians (32:59)The deep wisdom questions: what am I called to do? How can I make myself a more effective instrument of service? (36:10)Resources & References - Part 2Frederik Coene, The Caucasus - An Introduction*Frederik Coene, Euro-Atlantic Discourse in Georgia*YouTube 1420, live street interviewsClare Graves, adult developmental stages psychologist foundational to Spiral DynamicsDon Beck & Christopher Cowan, Spiral Dynamics*Enneagram, a model of the human psyche taught as a typology of nine interconnected personality typesDon Riso & Russ Hudson, The Wisdom of the Enneagram*Richard Rohr & Andreas Ebert, The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective*iAwake’s Funnel to Help, Heal, and Support the Ukrainian People* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.---Dr. Frederik Coene is an EU diplomat based in Ukraine and heads the team in charge of all EU-funded development programmes in the country. His previous assignments were in Tajikistan, Georgia, and Belarus, and prior to that he worked for humanitarian NGOs in Chechnya and Abkhazia. He holds an MA in economics, an MA in Caucasian and Central Asian Studies, and a PhD in Political Science. In his free time, he works on integrating stages of development with the Enneagram and Spiral Dynamics into a single framework using ancient Vedic wisdom on transpersonal development. He also conducts research and lectures on the topic of human sexuality and the Enneagram/Spiral Dynamics.---Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 34 (Part 1 of 2) | Frederik Coene, a European Union diplomat stationed in Kyiv and world authority on Russia and Eastern Europe, describes the current situation in Ukraine—"a cocktail of emotions"—and outlines what it would take for us to find a true solution to the conflict and create sustainable peace. Frederik brings the multiple perspectives of Integral theory to bear: he discusses how developmental stages play into the ways Russians and Ukrainians are thinking, acting, and reacting, and emphasizes the need to get beyond black and white thinking, foster compassion, and take responsibility for our thoughts and our actions. How do we cultivate the willingness to understand each other, to have a dialogue? Because as Frederik says, “the war may be fought on the battlefield, but peace is only going to come through dialogue.”The fruits of Frederik’s own personal transformative practice and understanding of the Enneagram and Spiral Dynamics flow into his work as a diplomat/bureaucrat, pointing the way towards change. Besides effectively deepening our understanding of what’s going on in Ukraine and Russia now, this talk is a real inspiration for those interested in weaving together personal growth, professional responsibility, and dedication to service. A humble, open, and wise transmission. Recorded on June 29, 2022.“If we want to find a true solution, sustainable and lasting peace…we can no longer be guided by our heads alone. We have to include the heart.”(For Apple Podcast users, click here to view the complete show notes on the episode page.)Topics & Time Stamps - Part 1Introducing Dr. Frederik Coene, world authority with multiple perspectives on Russia and Eastern Europe (01:52)Life in Ukraine right now: no safe place, where violence might occur is completely unpredictable (04:20)How the Russians use fear to control people (07:34)Living in survival mode we fall into black and white thinking and how that affects our decision making (08:28)What makes the war in Ukraine distinctive is that it affects people around the globe: inflation, food scarcity, resources (12:19)What is not being seen? Both the complexity of the Ukrainian side and the complexity of the Russian side (14:16)Looking at the Russian perspective with a degree of empathy is necessary for a lasting, sustainable solution (16:47)What are they thinking in Russia? (20:00)The spiritual perspective: everyone has a soul, even Putin. Can we hold compassion for everyone (even Putin)? (26:53)Gaining inner strength from a daily gratitude practice; no matter how horrible the war and how great the suffering (33:19)Bureaucracy and Spiral Dynamics’ levels of development (37:45)Raising consciousness in the blue bureaucracy and the experience of teaching the Enneagram to bureaucrat colleagues (39:36)Resources & References - Part 1Frederik Coene, The Caucasus - An Introduction*Frederik Coene, Euro-Atlantic Discourse in Georgia*YouTube 1420, live street interviewsClare Graves, adult developmental stages psychologist foundational to Spiral DynamicsDon Beck & Christopher Cowan, Spiral Dynamics*Enneagram, a model of the human psyche taught as a typology of nine interconnected personality typesDon Riso & Russ Hudson, The Wisdom of the Enneagram*Richard Rohr & Andreas Ebert, The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective*iAwake’s Funnel to Help, Heal, and Support the Ukrainian People* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.---Dr. Frederik Coene is an EU diplomat based in Ukraine and heads the team in charge of all EU-funded development programmes in the country. His previous assignments were in Tajikistan, Georgia, and Belarus, and prior to that he worked for humanitarian NGOs in Chechnya and Abkhazia. He holds an MA in economics, an MA in Caucasian and Central Asian Studies, and a PhD in Political Science. In his free time, he works on integrating stages of development with the Enneagram and Spiral Dynamics into a single framework using ancient Vedic wisdom on transpersonal development. He also conducts research and lectures on the topic of human sexuality and the Enneagram/Spiral Dynamics.---Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 33 | Zvi Ish-Shalom is a professor of Jewish mysticism, an author, an ordained rabbi, and the guiding light of Kedumah, a teaching out of time and space, whose primary calling is to translate wisdom from the primordial ground of being into a discernible wisdom stream. In this remarkable conversation, Zvi describes how he found ways to map and interpret his own profound mystical experiences, how the teachings arise from the ground of being, about how they might become accessible to us all, regardless of religion or spiritual tradition, and how they are especially relevant for young people today, seeking to find a structure for their spiritual journey. His familiarity with the realm of mystical experience is extremely engaging—he tells of discovering the vow taken by our soul before we were born and dropping the barriers between us and God, surrendering to the divine. Roger Walsh found Zvi’s book The Kedumah Experience “the most profound spiritual text he’s ever read in the Jewish tradition,” and listeners will almost certainly be excited to read Zvi’s latest book, published since the recording of this podcast, The Path of Primordial Light: Ancient Wisdom for the Here and Now.  Recorded at the Science & Nonduality Conference, October 2019, with Dr. Roger Walsh, John Dupuy, and Douglas Prater.“Being willing to lose everything for truth...when we orient that way, the most profound revelations and depths occur.”(For Apple Podcast users, click here to view the complete show notes on the episode page.)Note: This podcast was recorded live and includes, at times, some extraneous noises in the background. Please excuse them -- we felt the conversation was very valuable and well worth sharing with our audience. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.Topics & Time StampsRoger’s discovery of Zvi Ish-Shalom’s book while touring Israel: the most profound spiritual text he’d ever read in the Jewish tradition (02:00)The gnostic intermediary: how Zvi revives the culture, infusing a fresh understanding of the Jewish mystical tradition (04:43)Zvi’s personal story, starting with deep states of connection praying in the synagogue in Brooklyn (07:40)How Zvi found ways to map and interpret his profound mystical experiences, establishing cause and effect (13:45)Remembering one’s life purpose, the vow taken by your soul before embodiment (17:47)Zvi’s Kedumah experience: the concept of primordial Torah, or the ground of our being, and how the teaching arises (19:57)How to transmit the Kedumah teachings to the secular world? (22:32)The radical experiential perspective in which the Kedumah is rooted is what makes it so timely for us today (28:17)Revivifying the Jewish lineage wisdom stream through the lens of Kedumah: bringing in living expressions of the mystery (31:26)The way in which a profound analytical study of the texts creates an opening and becomes a process of illumination, deepening, and distilling truth in an ever more discriminating way (37:35) What the new Kedumah paradigm offers young people who are searching for structure for their spiritual journey  (43:27)The practice of dialectical inquiry (havruta) to discover the truth of reality embedded inside the texts and how to reveal it (48:20)Comparing the Torah scroll to the human being: working to unpack the truth of the human experience (51:06)Greek philosophy was used as a practice to investigate human life, metaphysics, and open to the transcendent as well (53:15)Socrates and the fundamental wisdom of seeking truth for its own sake (56:37)How does Zvi teach contemplative prayer and meditation? Building the embodied capacity for integration and allowing ourselves to surrender to the divine (59:07)Zvi’s “journey of silence” (01:03:03)Resources & ReferencesZvi’s website: Primordialight (formerly Kedumah.org)Zvi Ish-Shalom, The Path of Primordial Light: Ancient Wisdom for the Here and Now*Zvi Ish-Shalom, The Kedumah Experience: The Primordial Torah*Zvi Ish-Shalom, Sleep, Death, and Rebirth: Mystical Practices of Lurianic Kabbalah*Roger Walsh, The Transmission of Wisdom: The Task of Gnostic IntermediariesHasidic philosophy: Jewish law + Jewish legend + the Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) The Talmud, central text of Rabbinic JudaismTorah study, the study of Judaism’s religious textsKabbalistic texts, originally part of an ancient, mystical, oral traditionHavruta, traditional Rabbinic approach to Talmudic studyThe Apology of Socrates by Plato, Socrates, Who Was Socrates Really?* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.---Zvi Ish-Shalom, Ph.D., is core faculty at Naropa University, and is the guiding teacher of Kedumah, the Primordial Transmissions, and the Soulship. Zvi is the author of The Kedumah Experience: The Primordial Torah; Sleep, Death, and Rebirth: Mystical Practices of Lurianic Kabbalah; and most recently The Path of Primordial Light: Ancient Wisdom for the Here and Now.---Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 32 (Part 2 of 2) | Socio-psychotherapist and political consultant Indra Adnan brings forth a compelling, fresh, and powerfully practical alternative vision for our politics and our world, based on bringing people and communities together in relationship to effect real planetary transformation. Indra states that the solutions to our problems exist; we just need to be able to access them, and it is at the cosmo-local community agency networks (CANs) level that we can develop responses to current crises like climate and social justice most effectively. Indra discusses how the internet has dissolved the line between the private and the public space, especially for women and the underprivileged, and asks us to imagine what the public space would look like if all our voices were heard. Rather than focusing on our disconnectedness, Indra suggests we focus on the miracle of our connectedness in this moment and drop the dividing lines that keep us stuck in disadvantageous, unempowered lives. In this conversation, the possibilities of putting Indra’s alternative vision into effect are palpable—this is a remarkable reimagining of how things could be where political agency works from the bottom up to effect systemic transformation for the benefit of all. Recorded May 18, 2022.“Let’s drop the boundaries that we have created for ourselves! Let’s drop the things that divide us from others.”(For Apple Podcast users, click here to view the complete show notes on the episode page.)Topics & Time Stamps - Part 2Women going into politics have been obliged to be better men than men (01:15)Indra most inspired by social workers’ (mostly women) intuitive understanding of people’s real needs and how they unreservedly give themselves to the task of problem solving (02:35)The Big Society (community focused) program in British politics (04:10)What is soft power? The power of narrative or storytelling to generate attraction and therefore relationship, as in the power of the American dream to attract relationship from all over the world (05:58)What is the story we’re telling about our reality? (10:60)The ladder nature of Integral stages of development may be trapping us in old language about what development looks like (11:40)When the women in the London Integral circle walked away, and the need to apply the Integral model rather than simply study it and talk about it (12:12)The radical equality of everyone and formative agency: different agencies need to be held in a fluid state rather than in ladder format (16:57)Does Integral need to evolve to serve a wider landscape? (19:47)What is the design of the public space that could honor the full human being, where all the different voices would be heard? (24:22)The axis of a new politics: back to the I, the we, the world; at the heart of the vision is a new way of looking at who we are (26:34)The internet, the fractal emergence of a new vision holding our creative potential and political agency, and  the soft power of how we tell the story (29:52)What gives Indra hope? The miracle of connectedness in this moment (32:37)The power of paying attention to the interaction in this particular moment: that is the life changing, world changing energy that we are looking for and that we need (36:15)Resources & References - Part 2Indra Adnan and Pat Kane, Re-imagining Social WorkBritish politician David Cameron, author of For the Record, and political agency in the Big Society programJoseph Nye, Head of Kennedy School of Government, advisor to Bill Clinton, Understanding Soft PowerRobert Kegan, The Discerning Heart: The Developmental Psychology of Robert Kegan*Ken Wilber’s stages of developmentTerry Patten, A New Republic of the Heart: An Ethos for Revolutionaries*Integral European ConferenceIntegral leaders Diane Hamilton, Terry Patten, Steve McIntosh Indra Adnan, The Politics of Waking Up: Power and Possibility in the Fractal Age*Indra Adnan, founder of The Alternative Global, a socio-political platform serving systemic transformation* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.---Indra Adnan is founder and co-initiator of The Alternative Global, a socio-political platform serving systemic transformation. AltGlobal publishes a Daily Alternative news blog, develops cosmo-local agency networks (CANs) and connects planetary regeneration projects. Indra is concurrently a socio-psychotherapist, writer, and consultant on soft power. Clients have included the Danish and Brazilian governments, World Economic Forum, and NATO. Her book The Politics of Waking Up: Power and Possibility in the Fractal Age was a Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year in 2021.---Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 31 (Part 1 of 2) | Socio-psychotherapist and political consultant Indra Adnan brings forth a compelling, fresh, and powerfully practical alternative vision for our politics and our world, based on bringing people and communities together in relationship to effect real planetary transformation. Indra states that the solutions to our problems exist; we just need to be able to access them, and it is at the cosmo-local community agency networks (CANs) level that we can develop responses to current crises like climate and social justice most effectively. Indra discusses how the internet has dissolved the line between the private and the public space, especially for women and the underprivileged, and asks us to imagine what the public space would look like if all our voices were heard. Rather than focusing on our disconnectedness, Indra suggests we focus on the miracle of our connectedness in this moment and drop the dividing lines that keep us stuck in disadvantageous, unempowered lives. In this conversation, the possibilities of putting Indra’s alternative vision into effect are palpable—this is a remarkable reimagining of how things could be where political agency works from the bottom up to effect systemic transformation for the benefit of all. Recorded May 18, 2022.“Let’s drop the boundaries that we have created for ourselves! Let’s drop the things that divide us from others.”(For Apple Podcast users, click here to view the complete show notes on the episode page.)Topics & Time Stamps - Part 1Introducing Indra Adnan: political innovator, socio-psychotherapist, writer, and consultant on “soft power” to clients such as NATO, the World Economic Forum, and the Brazilian and Danish governments, initiator of an alternative vision for creating systemic transformation (01:16)How Indra’s contemplative practice began, creating her own spiritual beliefs, and asking, Where is my power? What control do I have over my life? (4:11)Meeting Nichiren Buddhism in Indonesia (06:49)The phenomenon of empowerment in action: Look again. Re-imagine. Something else is possible. (07:57)What is it we are settling for now? Crises on every side and dependency on politicians in a two-party, competitive system, where the two parties are invested in each other’s failure (11:45)The solutions to our problems are already available (so why do we not have access to them?), and how community agency networks (CANs) are taking shape as responses to climate and social justice crises (13:38)Cosmo-local CANs can be the new system, providing a new way for the people’s voice to hear itself and be heard (15:20)Concept of the 3 realms: the I, the We, and the World—we can all be all 3 of these things, which is essential to understanding how we can have political agency by taking down the barriers between these 3 ways of being (16:13)The politics of waking up: there is waking up to the oneness, to engi, but in her book, Indra is talking about a different waking up: waking up to our capacity for connecting, for mobilizing, #softpower (18:33)The new space created by the internet and modern technology has created a radical shift of agency, the woke phenomenon (21:42)The way women see the possibilities and the future is becoming more and more distinct, i.e. the relational way of being women have always depended on is finding its way into the public space, into community, into politics (23:34)How Roger sees the possibilities of this age: a collaborative birthing that will turn out as a function of how we approach it (31:56)What can men do? Men have to make space for women to show up. This can mean giving up their place, their seat, their moment in the spotlight (34:06)It may be time for men to step into the yin and look at themselves and their relations (37:18)Resources & References - Part 1Indra Adnan, The Politics of Waking Up: Power and Possibility in the Fractal Age*Indra Adnan, founder of The Alternative Global, a socio-political platform serving systemic transformationNichiren BuddhismWhat is cosmo-localism?Engi, or Pratītyasamutpāda in SanskritKaren O’Brien, You Matter More Than You Think: Quantum Social Change for a Thriving World*Marilyn French, Beyond Power: On Women, Men and Morals** As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.---Indra Adnan is founder and co-initiator of The Alternative Global, a socio-political platform serving systemic transformation. AltGlobal publishes a Daily Alternative news blog, develops cosmo-local agency networks (CANs) and connects planetary regeneration projects. Indra is concurrently a socio-psychotherapist, writer, and consultant on soft power. Clients have included the Danish and Brazilian governments, World Economic Forum, and NATO. Her book The Politics of Waking Up: Power and Possibility in the Fractal Age was a Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year in 2021.---Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

In this podcast, Alexander Beiner discusses sensemaking and truth finding in a culture that has lost its coherence, and the role of psychedelics in healing our culture. He explores the need to go beyond intellect and use embodied practices like meditation. What if deep group processes informed political decision making? Will commodification of psychedelics subvert their benefits? Beiner asks important questions and offers insights into the potential of these substances.