The Integral Stage

LIFE ITSELF, THE SECOND RENAISSANCE, AND HUMAN TRANSFORMATION IN A TIME OF META-CRISISFor episode 14, Layman sits down with Rufus Pollock and Sylvie Barbier to talk about the Life Itself and Second Renaissance communities and organizations, the importance of mapping the meta-communities, the role of art in cultural transformation, and the upcoming Harvard conference on the meta-crisis.Rufus Pollock is a Founder of Open Knowledge, an award-winning international digital non-profit. Formerly a Shuttleworth Fellow, the Mead Fellow in Economics at Cambridge University.Sylvie Barbier is a French-Taiwanese performance artist, entrepreneur and educator. She co-founded Life Itself to build a wiser future through culture, space and community.Life Itselfhttps://lifeitself.org/Second Renaissancehttps://secondrenaissance.net/intro

We continue our exploration of the backstory and intellectual journey to "Cosmo-erotic Humanism" with a further exploration of the relentless Rabbi's book on Tears. This time we focus on questions related to God's Voice, Laughter in Hell, Bondage & the Abraham/Isaac tale.

For the 50th (?) episode of the Integral Stage's Author Series, Layman meets with novelist and linguistic philosopher, Lisa Maroski, to explore her ideas around the enactive power of language and speech, and her experiments in finding new forms of language to more deeply embody liminal and nondual sensibilities.From the book's description:In Embracing Paradox, Evolving Language: Expressing the Unity and Complexity of Integral Consciousness, L.E. Maroski proposes that humanity is poised on the cusp of a transformation of consciousness that requires not only a shift in values and perspectives, but also a shift in a basic technology we take for granted-language. Because we use language to create social structures and institutions, including education, governance, and our most intimate relationships, the structure of our language contributes to the way we structure those creations. Maroski questions the cultural assumptions that are built into the structure of language-primarily English-and invites the reader to imagine and ultimately to help develop novel structures of language that arise from different assumptions. To do so, she shows how we can draw inspiration from paradoxical topological forms, such as the Möbius strip and Klein bottle, as they embody both unity and duality/multiplicity. By seeing our reality not simply in terms of either/or but also in terms of both (many)/and, perhaps our feelings of fragmentation and the stultifying oppositions that have polarized society can transform into appreciation for the wholeness of all existence.L.E. Maroski blends philosophy, psychology, and science with the spiritual to describe her vision for a new type of language and to provide stepping stones for possible ways to express the paradoxical wholeness of Life. In Embracing Paradox, Evolving Language, her words ring out as a clarion call to visionaries who seek to bring into existence a world of many worlds that works for everybody.Embracing Paradox, Evolving Languagehttps://www.amazon.com/Embracing-Paradox-Evolving-Language-Consciousness/dp/1961334100

A MONK, A SHAMAN, AND A SCIENTIST WALK INTO A BAR AT THE EDGE OF THE APOCALYPSE...Layman sits down with meditation and planetary dharma teacher, John Churchill, to enjoy a Double Venti Alchemist's Elixir and a rich, wide-ranging conversation exploring the shape of emergent integrative spiritualities at the edge of the Apocalypse.Born in London, Dr. Churchill's interest in psycho-spiritual development, Integral theory, Contemplative studies, Western Esotericism, and Mahayana Buddhism began in his adolescence, eventually leading him to spend several years as a Buddhist monk at Samye Ling Monastery in Scotland. During this time, John received the esoteric Planetary Dharma transmissions that would in time unfold as his contribution to a planetary fourth turning teaching. Dr. Churchill spent 15 years training and teaching “Great Seal” meditation in an Indo-Tibetan Mahayana lineage under the mentorship of the late senior Western teacher, translator, respected author, and clinical psychologist Dr. Daniel P. Brown. He is also a founding member of the Integral Institute led by esteemed Transpersonal/Integral philosopher, Ken Wilber.Planetary Dharma websitehttps://www.planetarydharma.com/

My upcoming Parallax course Integral Theory for Idiots starts July 6th. I thought it would be intriguing to compare the audio of a course description that I wrote and the alternative descriptions put together by three different free online AIs -- Claude, Deepseek & Perplexity. The tone they favor and the particular elements they "chose" to emphasize are very interesting...

The Liminal Café is where the locals of the liminal web gather for coffee and conversation. In this new series, Layman chats with the people and patrons who, for some curious reason, find themselves drawn to this sketchy corner of the internet...NAGARJUNA, DELEUZE, AND WHITEHEAD ADVANCED RHIZOMATICALLY INTO A BARFor episode 11, Layman joins Kazi Adi Shakti in the Amaravathi branch of the Liminal Café for a wide-ranging, paradigm- and continent-crossing exploration of the development of a Process Buddhism.Kazi is an artist and theorist whose theoretical work primarily consists in the study and creative synthesis of process thought, Madhyamaka Buddhism, Western Marxism and Eco-feminist ethics. She graduated with a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art, where she majored in Interdisciplinary Sculpture with a focus on computer modeling, 3D scanning and digital fabrication and currently works as a scanning specialist and digital artist in the 3D digitization industry.Kazi's blog, Holo-Poiesishttps://holo-poiesis.com/

It might be totally appropriate, and even wise, to fear integral postmetaphysics. But in this inaugural episode of our new Integral Stage series, Who's Afraid of Integral Postmetaphysics?, Layman and Alexander Love will try to convince you otherwise...Alexander Love is an acupuncturist, life coach, and craniosacral therapist. With gentleness, lightness and depth, he invites us to listen to the voice of our inner wisdom & potency and allow that to move us outward into the world and make a difference. The call to embark on this journey invites us to recognize that we matter beyond measure. Our individual voices, when allowed to speak from the depths of our intrinsic beauty, weave a complex melody of an emblazoned, sacred heart inscribed and aflame with the majestic mystery of life.https://www.eoswellnesscenter.com/alexander-love

For the forty-seventh episode of the Integral Stage Author Series, Layman meets with Dr. Nava Israel to discuss her "Cone" model, which describes a common pattern through which often well-meaning solutions to problems end up transforming into dogmatic systems that rob individuals of their freedoms and worsen their problems. Layman invites Dr. Nava to unpack the inner workings of the systems that oppress and control individuals under the guise of wisdom, necessity, kindness, greatness, unity, or progress. Nava Israel is a lifelong innovator, entrepreneur, author, researcher, facilitator, speaker, educator, a business and academic consultant, and a social and cultural innovator with a PhD in epidemiology. Beyond formal titles, she is a philosopher at heart with an insatiable curiosity for all forms of science, critical thinking, human behaviour, patterns, social justice, true and deep healing, our place in the universe, and the intersections of all the above. https://www.amazon.com/stores/Nava-Israel-Ph.D./author/B0D7XVDDQL

Layman continues the discussion with Marc Gafni and Zak Stein about their jointly authored book, First Principles and First Values, this time focusing on some of the core philosophical arguments. They are publishing the book pseudonymously under the name, David J. Temple.

For episode 10, Layman sits down again with Ēlen Awalom, this time to talk about unhealthy and healthy gender models, and the roles of attachment, trauma, and development in contemporary gender relations. Ēlen Awalom is an Eritrean-American Somatic Experiencing practitioner, writer, entrepreneur and cultural commentator. She lives and works in DC where she is the founder of The Almaz Institute, an organization that provides trauma-sensitive leadership and communication trainings steeped in the most cutting edge insights from developmental and somatic psychology. In a previous life she was an exhibiting Afrofuturist visual artist, women’s dating coach focused on developing securely attached relationships, political activist and serial tech entrepreneur who successfully raised millions of dollars from Google Ventures. Ēlen's Professional website https://www.elenawalom.com/

In this special episode, Layman meets with human woman, Jill Nephew, to explore the intricacies of projection and shadow, image and truth, public identities and dopplegangers, in our highly mediated, complexly entangled, and increasingly manipulable digital information spaces. Jill Nephew is the founder of Inqwire, PBC a company on a mission to help the world make sense. The Inqwire technology is designed to enhance and accelerate human sensemaking abilities. The designing of the system required her to attempt to answer a fundamental question: how does technology interact with the mind's ability to do individual and collective sensemaking, and what are the principles that technology should follow to maximize these abilities? Jill's background includes developing tools, platforms, and meta-data-based software languages to help people find solutions to complex, real-world problems. She developed algorithms and models in the area of constraint-based optimization, drug binding, motion control, disease kinetics, protein folding, atmospheric pollution, human articulated movement, complex fluids, and most recently sensemaking. Personal website https://jillnephew.com/index.html

For the thirteenth episode of The Soul of AI, Layman sits down with shaman and spiritual teacher, Evelyn Paul, to explore a shamanic take on the emergence and nature of AI, and to discuss some of her shamanic journeys that have shaped her insights into the topic.

For episode 9, Layman sits down with Alexander Love for a rich conversation about his life and healing journey, love and forgiveness, creativity, integral and Taoist thought, and a book he is working on on what he calls the five evolutionary gestures. Alexander Love is an acupuncturist, life coach, and craniosacral therapist. With gentleness, lightness and depth, he invites us to listen to the voice of our inner wisdom & potency and allow that to move us outward into the world and make a difference. The call to embark on this journey invites us to recognize that we matter beyond measure. Our individual voices, when allowed to speak from the depths of our intrinsic beauty, weave a complex melody of an emblazoned, sacred heart inscribed and aflame with the majestic mystery of life. https://www.eoswellnesscenter.com/alexander-love

For the forty-sixth episode of the Integral Stage Author Series, Layman sits down to talk with John H. Buchanan about his new autobiographical and philosophical meditation on process thought, death, psychedelics, and the journey from addiction to sobriety and meaningful living. John H. Buchanan received his master’s degree in humanistic/transpersonal psychology from West Georgia College and his doctorate from the Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts at Emory University. He has been trained and certified as a Holotropic Breathwork practitioner by Stan and Christina Grof. His book, "Processing Reality: Finding Meaning in Death, Psychedelics, and Sobriety", based upon his continuing interests in process philosophy and transpersonal psychology, was published in the fall of 2022. Buchanan has contributed a number of journal articles and book chapters on similar topics, and in 2020 was co-editor for "Rethinking Consciousness: Extraordinary Challenges for Contemporary Science". https://www.amazon.com/Processing-Reality-Finding-Psychedelics-Sobriety-ebook/dp/B0BM6KYDNH/

Layman meets with Alyssa Allegretti, to talk about her Substack-published book in progress, The Only Constant: How to Stay (Somewhat) Stable & Organized During Times of Transition & Grief. Dubbing her the Meta-Marie Kondo, Layman invites Alyssa to share her insights into the art of internal housekeeping, and the transformational significance of everyday tasks. http://www.whatisemerging.com/opinions/the-post-tragic-art-of-liminal-housekeeping https://adaptivedaydream.substack.com/p/the-only-constant-883

Our research into the philosophical premises of whatever is going under the names of "Cosmo-Erotic Humanism" and "David J. Temple" continues with a first pass into Tears -- a book that uses the Jewish Rite of Rosh Hashanah to explore the necessity of the return of ritual and the importance of that religion plays beyond philosophy and spirituality.

Layman huddles in a Finnish grove with Robin Hummel (Bassareus) to talk about his new book, Alchemy of the Psyche. Robin discusses his journey leading up to the book, and together they explore the nature of archetypes, the difference between direct and indirect approaches to interacting with the archetypes, the importance of ritual, shadow work, and much more. https://www.lulu.com/shop/bassareus/alchemy-of-the-psyche/hardcover/product-v88dkze.html?page=1&pageSize=4

On The Meta-Podcast (formerly Integral Podcasters), we talk with podcasters, YouTubers, and other media producers who are trying to offer, or who can't help but offer, more integrative perspectives. Who are these people, what do they collectively understand and point towards, and how can they be interlinked, mutually supported, clarified, and amplified? For episode 41, Layman is joined again by Dr. Sally Adnams Jones and Dr. Jen Peer Rich, this time to talk about their experience with successfully running and concluding their Radical Emergence podcast project. What did they accomplish, what did they learn from it that can inform our larger community, and what do they plan to do next? Radical Emergence Podcast https://radicalemergence.org/

Layman sits down again with Middle Way philosopher and author, Robert M. Ellis, this time to discuss his new book, The Five Principles of Middle Way Philosophy -- the second book in a planned 9-part series on the Middle Way. Layman and Robert review the essential arguments of the book, exploring how a post-traditional, universalized middle-way philosophy might show up and what it might contribute to addressing the challenges of the contemporary world. From the book's description: "This second book in the 'Middle Way Philosophy' series develops five general principles that are distinctive to the universal Middle Way as a practical response to absolutization. These begin with the consistent acknowledgement of human uncertainty (scepticism), and follow through with openness to alternative possibilities (provisionality), the importance of judging things as a matter of degree (incrementality), the clear rejection of polarised absolute claims (agnosticism) and the cultivation of cognitive and emotional states that will help us resolve conflict (integration). These are discussed not only in theory, but with links to the wide range of established human practices that can help us to follow them. Like all of Robert M. Ellis's work, this book is highly inter-disciplinary, drawing on philosophical argument, psychological models and values that prioritize practical application." Robert M. Ellis is a philosopher, writer and teacher. He has produced a series of books about the Middle Way, understood as a principle of judgement that throws us onto experience by avoiding absolutes, both positive and negative. He has also founded the Middle Way Society to support the development and practice of the Middle Way understood in this way, and he has recently opened a retreat center, Tirylan House, in rural South Wales. The Five Principles of Middle Way Philosophy: https://www.amazon.com/Five-Principles-Middle-Philosophy-Experientially/dp/1800503032/

For the forty-second episode of the Integral Stage Authors Series, Layman meets with Richard Flyer, founder of the Symbiotic Culture Lab, to talk about his new book, Birthing the Symbiotic Age. They discuss Richard's early life experiences and influences, and together explore how, as the book argues, "we can emerge from our fragmented and conflicted social networks/silos and create sustainable, interconnected ecosystem networks consisting of local leaders, organizations, businesses, and local government — in parallel to our already established systems." Birthing the Symbiotic Age https://richardflyer.substack.com/s/birthing-the-symbiotic-age-new-book Symbiotic Culture Lab https://symbioticculturelab.super.site/