The Integral Stage

In TYPOLOGIES OF MEDITATION, Professor Rick Repetti joins Layman & Bruce again for an open dialogue on philosophy, meditation, and the philosophy of meditation.  In this episode, they discuss typologies of meditation -- considering the nature of meditation, its transformative functions, its possible psychological and neurological mechanisms, its possible evolutionary roots, and how to conceive of the relationship of the many forms of meditation and contemplative practice across world religious traditions.  What kinds of taxonomies can make sense of the field?  The dialogue opens more questions than it answers -- a first pass at identifying the complexity of the field and some of the challenges ahead to approaching the topic scientifically and philosophically. Andrew Rawlinson's "Model of Experiential Comparative Religion" https://digitalcommons.ciis.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1303&context=ijts-transpersonalstudies  Rick Repetti, Ph.D., is a professor of philosophy at CUNY/Kingsborough, a meditation teacher, a philosophical counselor, and an author.  Buddhism, Meditation, and Free Will by Rick Repetti https://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Meditation-Free-Will-Repetti/dp/036758848X/ Rick's professional website https://www.rickrepetti.com/  Please consider supporting The Integral Stage on Patreon to make more of these conversations possible! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage

Daniel Görtz, a political philosopher and key figure in metamodernism, joins to discuss his work, '12 Much Better Rules for Life.' He unpacks the value of friendship in counteracting modern life's transactional nature. Görtz emphasizes embracing life's messiness over the pursuit of peak experiences. The conversation navigates the balance between persistence and the art of quitting, stressing its role in personal growth. They also tackle the complexities of happiness, victim culture, and the quest for justice, offering new insights into societal dynamics.

For the twenty-fourth episode of the Integral Stage's Author Series, Layman sits down with the very animated, Adyahanzi, to talk about his latest book, Emergentism, which he co-authored with that rather sneaky post-Kierkegaardian writer, Brendan Graham Dempsey.  As a cave-dwelling hermit, Adyahanzi doesn't get out much -- you might be able to tell that from his unkempt beard and his enthusiastic oracular bursts -- but he's found a good listener in Layman, and soon spills all the book's secrets.     "The new sciences of complexity have completely revolutionized our understanding of the universe as well as our place in it. At a time when nihilism and meaninglessness are affecting more people than ever, the new cosmic story of complexification comes as a genuine revelation. Evolution, we now know, is not some senseless meandering, but part of an ever-deepening learning process by which the universe is waking up to itself. And, as highly complex, conscious beings, we have a unique role to play in this cosmic drama."   Emergentism book: https://www.amazon.com/Emergentism-Religion-Complexity-Metamodern-Spirituality/dp/B0BF28PC2L/ 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.   Professional website: www.BrendanGrahamDempsey.com

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?  

For this special Integral Stage episode, Layman and Bruce sit down with Steve March, the founder of Aletheia Coaching, to talk about the revolutionary promise of memory reconsolidation techniques to effect lasting transformation in coaching and therapy, and to discuss the history, theory, and practice of his "integral unfolding" work.  In recent decades, neuroscientists have uncovered mechanisms for naturally unlocking affective memories, and either modifying or erasing emotional conditioning.   While some psychotherapists and EMDR practitioners have put this knowledge into practice, it is still quite new in the coaching world.  Steve discusses how these insights undergird his unique, contemplatively oriented program, which creatively integrates perspectives and techniques from Internal Family Systems, the Diamond Approach, Integral Theory, process therapy, and nondual traditions such as Mahamudra and Dzogchen.   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/

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

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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

Layman meets with M. Rako Fabionar, director of the Innovative Learning and Living Institute (ILALI), to talk about his work with indigenous communities along the Pacific coast of the United States, and more generally around the world.   Rako recalls early formative experiences with his Filipino relatives, his work on issues of justice and equity for indigenous communities in university, and his training in the healing arts by teachers of the African Dagara lineage; and then together they explore a range of issues and concerns affecting the Salmon Nation and many other indigenous communities up and down the Pacific coast.  How have these communities integrated and been impacted by modern and postmodern conditions and values?  How has Rako's extensive work with these communities impacted his understanding, and use of, various developmental schemas?  What might contemporary metamodern and integral communities learn from various indigenous practices such as land listening?  What sorts of imaginal, ritual healing, and subtle energetic practices are used by these communities?  What most distinguishes Pacific Coast communities from each other, and what unites them?  And much more.   M. Rako Fabionar is a consultant, facilitator, and healer who creates learning environments for people to experience deeper connection, insight, and well-being. He is sought after for his powerful presence and capacity to support folks during times of transition. Rako has created transformative programs and equity focused initiatives for businesses, universities, retreat centers, and NGOs for twenty years. He has trained social entrepreneurs, cultural workers, activists, spiritual teachers, and political leaders within the USA, Central America, UK, and Middle East. Rako has also worked closely with leadership from Google, Dignity Health, Adobe, Facebook, Skywalker Ranch, Impact Hub, IONS, and Climate Action Network International. Rako’s graduate studies focused on multi-generational social change. He also brings to his work insights from his professional training in organizational design, and years of spiritual practice, including initiation into two indigenous lineage traditions.   Innovative Learning and Living Institute https://www.ilali.global/  Salmon Nation https://salmonnation.net/  Guild of Future Architects https://futurearchitects.com/