The Integral Stage Expanded Universe (ISEU)

Having lived in a cave so long, the puppet hermit Adyahanzi sometimes leaves unseemly messes when he goes out in public ... at hotels, restaurants, restrooms ... anywhere, really.  And it is the task of poor Brendan Graham Dempsey to follow behind him and do the dirty clean-up work.  Such is the case with this video.  Listen in as Brendan gives Layman the (re)overview of Emergentism that it truly deserves!   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   Support The Integral Stage on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage

In this new mini-series, Layman Pascal talks with Marc Gafni about an emerging model he is developing together with Zak Stein and others, which they call Cosmo-Erotic Humanism.   For episode one, Layman and Marc discuss the origins of this project, and Marc's work on exploring and unfolding a model of Certainty and Uncertainty for addressing the meaning crisis, grounding moral value, and wrestling with perennial theodicies.   Dr. Marc Gafni is a visionary thinker, social activist, passionate philosopher, and author of ten books.  He is the co-founder of The Center for Integral Wisdom, and a rabbinic lineage holder in Bible, Talmud, and Kabbalah.  He self-describes as a “citizen” of both Integral World Spirituality and classical Hebrew practice.  He has been an editor of the Journal of Integral Theory and Practice on issues of Integral spirituality and a faculty member of J.F.K. University.  In 2014, Dr. Gafni co-initiated the Success 3.0 Summit and Rise Up movie, with John Mackey and Kate Maloney whose method and movement is to bring together key thought leaders and change-agents to collaboratively evolve a bold new Integral vision of Success, rooted in the entrepreneurial values of Wake Up, Grow Up, Show Up, and Evolutionary Love.   Professional Website https://www.marcgafni.com/  The Center for Integral Wisdom https://centerforintegralwisdom.org/  Please consider supporting The Integral Stage on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage

EVERYTHING?  Well, maybe not everything...   But, as integral psychotherapist and leader Mark Forman will argue, there are a number of criticisms of the integral movement and community that continue to circulate, that could be put to sleep with a better understanding of many of the changes and developments within, and the many accomplishments of, the movement over the past two decades.  Do integralists think integral begins and ends with Ken Wilber?  Is the integral movement a cult?  Are integralists disembodied eggheads?  Do integralists ignore politics and social issues?  Has integral failed to impact the world?  Tune in as Mark discusses these and other questions with Bruce and Layman.   Dr. Mark Forman provides psychotherapy in San Jose and online throughout California, as well as developmental consulting for individual adults worldwide. He is the founder and lead trainer of the Certified Integral Psychotherapist (CIT) Global Training Program and actively teaches and supervises both therapists and coaches interested in the direct application of Integral Theory.  He is also the organizer of several previous Integral Theory Conferences, and the author of several books on integral psychology.   Mark Forman's Professional Website - www.drmarkforman.com   Please like, subscribe, and consider supporting The Integral Stage on Patreon to make more of these conversations possible! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage

In episode 3 of this unexpected mini-series, our Anonymous Host hops on the couch with Miss Rabbit, an integrally informed sexologist-in-training, to talk about the nuances of porn use, psychosexual development, and spirituality.  There's a lot that could be said about this very fine, simultaneously sensitive and explicit conversation, but if you'd like to know why "there's a weird analogy between gang bangs, orgies, and Integral Theory....," well, look no further.  This is the discussion for you.

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/

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