Elevating Consciousness

James Baker is an inner work practitioner and founder of Intentional Society. After spending 15 years in software development he became disillusioned with the corporate world and decided to pursue his passions. He launched Intentional Society - an online transformational community centered on developmental and relational practices. After over 150 weekly gatherings the community has grown into a unique space for personal transformation and interpersonal exploration. In this episode, we speak about the role of relational practices in human development, playing with power dynamics, breaking through social conventions, navigating the relationship between safety and growth, becoming developmentally aware, and the paradoxical dance between being and becoming. 🔗 [Links & resources] 🔗Intentional Society (online transformational community)  Follow James on Twitter  Becoming Developmentally Aware by Artem Zen Already Free by Bruce Tift 📝 [Show notes] 📝0:00 - Introduction 1:30 - From software development to human transformation 7:13 - What is Intentional Society and the premises it’s built on10:21 - Interpersonal development and relational practices 13:09 - Major takeaways from over 150 weekly gatherings 18:48 - Moving from modern to post-modern to metamodern perspectives21:24 - Playing with power dynamics 24:10 - Breaking through social conventions and stretching boundaries 29:55 - The Three Principles of Intentional Society 34:45 - Navigating the relationship between safety and growth (Meta-Safety)43:18 - Transforming our relationship to judgmental thoughts45:40 - What intentional society members have in common 49:52 - Becoming Developmentally Aware53:39 - The paradoxical dance between being and becoming (unfolding) 1:02:55 - The future of transformational online communities 1:10:27 - Cultural evolution vs. individual development 1:13:25 - The increasing need for an ecology of practices 1:19:15 - A message of fundamental okayness *Subscribe to the Insighter substack to get in-depth articles on the theory and practice of human transformation through a post-conventional lens *Follow me on Twitter (x) *Follow me on Instagram *For Contact, questions or ideas email me at artem@artemzen.com

Layman Pascal is a prominent thinker in the Liminal, Metamodern, Game B, and Integral spaces. His work explores post-metaphysics, nonduality, metamodernism, integral metatheory, new shamanism, the future of religion, developmental philosophy, and meta-progressive politics. He is also the co-host of the mind-bending Integral Stage podcast. This episode was a live event recorded during Limicon 2024 and explored some of Layman’s ideas from his two popular essays “The Metamodern Business Burea” & “Make Game A Pay for the Wall”. After our dialogue, we opened the floor for participants to ask questions and share reflections. We navigated a wide range of topics including transforming the money & meaning relationship on a personal and societal level, developing a more conscious approach to business, new economic experiments, starting liminal business crews, bridging left and right brain ways of knowing, our relationship to dopamine and so much more. 🔗[Links & resources] 🔗The Metamodern Business Burea by Layman Pascal - https://laymanpascal.substack.com/p/the-metamodern-business-bureau-mmbbMake Game A pay for the Wall by Laman Pascal - https://laymanpascal.substack.com/p/make-game-a-pay-for-the-wall?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2Layman’s substack - https://laymanpascal.substack.com/Integral Stage podcast - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaA4zkLRnR3lGm8Y7c5TvdwLinchpin by Seth Godin - https://www.amazon.com/Linchpin-Are-Indispensable-Seth-Godin/dp/1591844096📝 [Show notes] 📝0:00 - Introduction 2:40 -Transforming the money & meaning relationship on a personal and societal level 5:52 - Making the Metamodern Business Burea come alive 10:39 - Early examples of liminal business crews and what’s missing 13:42 - Developing a more conscious approach to business and economics education16:45 - New economic experiments 20:16 - Finding clients who can pay for your services 27:52 - Do we need to be more careful, or more courageous, in our sources of material wealth?33:23 - How we can influence the wealthiest families in the world to distribute their money? 36:50 - Do liminal & metamodern thinkers go over people’s heads?38:16 - Finding your role in the liminal ecosystem (simplifying and complexifying) 41:08 - Connecting people with complementary skill sets and starting businesses44:25 - Nominating liminal business leaders, failing forward, and learning from elders 49:30 - Group reflections 49:52 - It doesn’t need to be perfect we just need to take action 52:31 - Finding the right words to connect the liminal/metamodern space to the conventional world 57:07 - Bridging left and right brain ways of knowing 1:00:00 - Finding the economic model hidden in the inspiration and locating people & spaces at the edge of Game A  1:03:27 - How to do better business, why do we need marketing, bullshit jobs & our relationship to dopamine  1:13:22 - Mapping coherence and navigating divergence 1:16:32 - What’s next?*Join the "Top Insights" list and get insightful links, in-depth book summaries, and transformational frameworks delivered monthly to your inbox  -  https://artemzen.ck.page/topinsights*Follow me on Twitter (x) - https://twitter.com/artemzen*For Contact, questions or ideas email me at artem@artemzen.com

Darcia Narvaez is a professor of psychology whose work explores the neurobiology of moral development, evolved parenting practices, and small-band hunter-gatherer societies. In 2020, she was identified as one of the top 2 percent of scientists worldwide in a recent analysis of 8 million scientists around the world. She is the president of Kindred World a non-profit dedicated to creating a wisdom-based worldview and the founder of the Evolved Nest a Kindred World initiative that integrates findings across various fields that bear on child development, child raising, and adult behavior while promoting optimal health and wellbeing, cooperation and sociomoral intelligences. She is the author of several books including the award-winning Neurobiology and the Development of Human Morality. In this episode, we speak about the optimal environment for early child development and how our modern culture falls short of this, navigating order & chaos in parenting, the surprising truth about nature & nurture, how the collaboration and competition dynamic is related to left & right brain views of the world, contrasting views of wisdom, and so much more. 🔗 [Links & resources] 🔗Darcia’s personal site - https://darcianarvaez.com/The Evolved Nest (site) - https://evolvednest.org/Neurobiology and the Development of Human Morality by Darcia Narvaez - https://www.amazon.com/Neurobiology-Development-Human-Morality-Interpersonal/dp/0393706559Breaking the Cycle of Competitive Detachment (short film) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jATflgNvl-EReimagining Humanity (short film) - ​​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_JR5fcrKkI&list=PLKSc66Q_SuJPviwCKee4mMaXyVm0TUFtM&index=21The Evolved Nest (short film) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo54PdNnNPg&list=PLUh7caZTn4oAV5K6Pg8GLpK7GgMtxs_Tl&index=2&t=9s( full list on YouTube page) 📝 [Show notes] 📝0:00 - Introduction 2:01 - An overview of Darcia’s work 5:22 - The role of safety in morality 7:29 - The optimal environment for early child development15:42 - The importance of breastfeeding & co-sleeping 18:00 - How the modern world falls short of the evolved developmental niche 25:45 - Navigating Order & Chaos in Parenting 35:39 - What is the relationship between nature & nurture? 41:32 - How life for indigenous people was different than it is in the modern world 44:19 - Was war always a part of humanity?54:18 - Relating the collaboration & competition dynamic to left and right brain views of the world 1:02:27 - Contrasting views of wisdom 1:07:58 - Resources & tools for creating a more wholesome life1:14:07 - Learning to regulate our nervous systems through play 1:17:10 - Why returning to the evolved nest is critical for the world *Join the Elevating Consciousness list and get the latest interviews with emerging thinkers in the liminal space straight to your inbox -https://artemzen.ck.page/elevatingconsciousness*Join the "Top Insights" list and get insightful links, in-depth book summaries, and transformational frameworks delivered monthly to your inbox  -  https://artemzen.ck.page/topinsights*Subscribe on Youtube to watch the podcast - youtube.com/

Bruce Tift, a psychotherapist and author, discusses the relationship between psychotherapy and awakening, levels of psychological and spiritual maturity, understanding anxiety, the cycle of struggle, acceptance, codependent dynamics, and the practice of circling for intimacy and self-awareness.

Richard Bartlett is a community organizer, entrepreneur & coach who helps people grow high-trust communities & decentralized organizations. Back in 2011, he was a part of the Occupy Wall Street movement, a pivotal moment that set him on the path to becoming a key player in Enspiral - an organization that shares money, power & information to help its members do meaningful work. He went on to found Loomio, a software that helps companies seamlessly navigate the intricacies of decentralized organization. Later he founded the Hum, a non-hierarchical management consultancy that’s rewriting the rules of how we work together. His latest venture is a community-building network and movement known as Microsolidarity. In this episode, we speak about essential modalities & practices for community builders, building trust and accelerating personal growth through community, navigating the polarity of autonomy and belonging, collective intelligence, how to integrate vulnerability into the workplace, creating decentralized organizations and so much more. 🔗 [Links & resources] 🔗Rich’s personal site - https://richdecibels.com/Microsoldarity network and community building practice - https://www.microsolidarity.cc/Rich’s Consultancy The Hum - https://www.thehum.org/📝 [Show notes] 📝0:00 - Introduction 2:32 - How Rich’s upbringing led to his work with community building & team organization 6:50 - The importance of integrating traditional values 8:44 - Creating a pluralistic community with a capacity to hold many perspectives 19:16 - What is Microsolidarity?27:45 - How group size changes relational dynamics 30:35 - Essential modalities and practices for community builders36:25 - Insights from Enspiral and working in community 44:33 - Building trust and accelerating personal growth through community 47:22 - The challenges of visionary leadership54:51 - Navigating the polarity of autonomy and belonging 59:28 - Michael Levin, the superorganism, collective intelligence, and the illusion of being self-made1:08:40 - How to integrate vulnerability into the workplace1:17:20 - Creating decentralized organizations 1:26:40 - Additional resources for community builders*Join the Elevating Consciousness list and get the latest interviews with emerging thinkers in the liminal space straight to your inbox -https://artemzen.ck.page/elevatingconsciousness*Join the "Top Insights" list and get insightful links, in-depth book summaries, and transformational frameworks delivered monthly to your inbox  -  https://artemzen.ck.page/topinsights*Subscribe on Youtube to watch the podcast - youtube.com/c/ArtemZen?sub_confirmation=1*Follow me on Twitter (x) - https://twitter.com/artemzen*Follow me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/artem.zen*For Contact, questions or ideas email me at artem@artemzen.com

North Burn is a meditation teacher and practitioner. For the past fifteen years, he has devoted himself full-time to practice, primarily in Insight Meditation and Soto Zen schools, as well as other immersive settings. Collectively, he has spent five years in monastic communities, two years in silent intensive retreats, and several years in solitude and self-directed study. Some of the teachers who have influenced him the most include Joseph Goldstein, Greg Scharf, Leslie James, and Tenshin Reb Anderson Roshi. In 2016, after the encouragement of his teachers, he began teaching meditation retreats. During the pandemic, he came up with the inspiration to start Boundless Refuge an annual 3-month silent retreat dedicated to transforming suffering into peace by practicing the middle way.  When not teaching or organizing retreats, he devotes substantial energy to meditation practice, engaging with spiritual mentors, and continuing his study of various spiritual modalities and traditions.In this episode, we speak about the benefits of long retreats & intensive meditation practice, Sutric vs Tantric perspectives on Dharma, the pros & cons of being open about spiritual attainments, integrating stories into spirituality, the relationship between psychedelics & meditation, and so much more.*Join the Elevating Consciousness list and get the latest interviews with emerging thinkers in the liminal space straight to your inbox -https://artemzen.ck.page/elevatingconsciousness*Join the "Top Insights" list and get insightful links, in-depth book summaries, and transformational frameworks delivered monthly to your inbox  -  https://artemzen.ck.page/topinsights*Subscribe on Youtube to watch the podcast - youtube.com/c/ArtemZen?sub_confirmation=1*Follow me on Twitter (x) - https://twitter.com/artemzen*Follow me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/artem.zen*For Contact, questions or ideas email me at artem@artemzen.com

David Loy is a professor, writer, and Zen teacher in Sanbo Zen tradition. He began zen practice in 1971 and finished the formal koan curriculum in 1988. For many years he has taught as a professor of Buddhist and comparative philosophy. Although he has retired from academia he continues to lecture internationally focusing primarily on the intersection of Buddhism and modernity and what they can learn from each other.Unless he is traveling, every Friday morning he guides an online meditation followed by a brief dharma talk. He is the author of many books including Lack & Transcendence, Ecodharma, and Nonduality: In Buddhism and Beyond. In this episode, we speak about the fundamental problem of human existence through the lens of psychotherapy, existentialism & Buddhism, the limits of philosophy, integrating personal with collective transformation, addressing the meaning crisis, and so much more. *Join the Elevating Consciousness list and get the latest interviews with emerging thinkers in the liminal space straight to your inbox -https://artemzen.ck.page/elevatingconsciousness*Join the "Top Insights" list and get insightful links, in-depth book summaries, and transformational frameworks delivered monthly to your inbox  -  https://artemzen.ck.page/topinsights*Subscribe on Youtube to watch the podcast - youtube.com/c/ArtemZen?sub_confirmation=1*Follow me on Twitter (x) - https://twitter.com/artemzen*Follow me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/artem.zen*For Contact, questions or ideas email me at artem@artemzen.com

Charlie Awbery, a meditation teacher and longtime Vajrayana practitioner, discusses the difference between sutric and tantric views in Buddhism, the challenges and benefits of meditating with eyes open, the concept of awakening and alignment in different Buddhist traditions, the distinctions between traditional and evolving Vajrayana, the practice of TREC-Chaud in Buddhism, transformative teaching and facilitation, exploring group dynamics in shared experiences, and creating contemporary Vajrayana in Buddhism.

River Kenna, an inner work practitioner and mythodynamics researcher, shares his journey from mental chatter to inner peace through somatic meditation. They discuss somatic resonance, imaginal practice & dream work, mythopoetic cognition, systematic vs. spontaneous mode, and devotional productivity.

Rosa Lewis is a spiritual teacher and inner work practitioner. During an intense journey of awakening and healing, she experienced long periods of altered states and even psychosis. Eventually, she was able to return to a functional state but her experience of reality was forever transformed. Her work is greatly influenced by Carl Jung and tantric Buddhism. Everything she teaches comes from direct insight and integrates Buddhist emptiness, shadow work, tantric embodiment, archetypal and imaginal work, mysticism, and heartfulness. She is currently working on a framework for whole being awakening that integrates theory and practice and helps humans develop in a way that is holistic, inspiring, alive, and in touch with the depths of being. In this episode, we speak about, Rosa’s experience with spiritual psychosis, inclusive & exclusive perspectives on Awakening, the whole being awakening model, hierarchy & power dynamics in spiritual communities, embodying the brahma viharas and imaginal work.