061 Jonathan Gustin – Becoming Whole: Emotional Maturity, Spiritual Awakening and Soul Purpose
Release Date: 01/30/2021
State of Emergence
Philosopher, pro-activist and author Jeremy Lent explores the underlying nature of our civilizational crises and how a greater understanding of the physical, biological, noetic & cultural interconnectedness of reality can inspire us into a new level of devotion to life itself. Jeremy’s book The Patterning Instinct traced patterns of thought that led human civilization to its sustainability crisis and his new book, The Web of Meaning offers an integrative worldview for a sustainable, flourishing future.
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Poet, teacher and interfaith chaplain Fred LaMotte shares the inner processes and revelations from which his luminous poetry arises and explores a place beyond words and beliefs where there is simply presence and dwelling in the tender receptivity of the miracle of each moment. Fred is an author, a graduate of Yale and Princeton Theological Seminary, a director of Religious Studies and Community Service, a college instructor in World Religions, an interfaith chaplain and a meditation teacher.
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Futurist, teacher, and author Peter Russell explores how the exponential acceleration of complexity in our civilization may exceed our capacities as a species, and how a radical letting-go of our efforts to counteract that destiny can dissolve whatever gets in the way of us showing up fully, sanely, and gratefully. Peter is a leading thinker and writer on consciousness and spirituality, he is on the faculty of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, and his beautiful new book is Letting Go of Nothing.
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Social psychotherapist and political entrepreneur Indra Adnan explores the politics and power dynamics of “waking up” to our meta-crisis and to one another. She shares her pioneering work as Founder of The Alternative UK creating “community agency networks” and considers how we can shift from narratives of trauma, disconnection and collapse into a radical certainty of our solutions. Indra has consulted to the World Economic Forum, Indian and Danish governments and NATO, amongst others. Her new book
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In a new and unedited conversation with evolutionary biologist and social theorist David Sloan Wilson, Terry and David continue to explore evolution’s design principles and practices that can enable social experiments and cooperative communities to succeed and grow. They consider the virtues and exploitations of competition, multiple layers of competition, genetic vs. cultural steams of evolution, the role of symbols in evolving our cultural narratives, and the political economist Elinor Ostrom’s eight
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Evolutionary biologist & social theorist David Sloan Wilson clarifies the science of “multi-level selection” and how interpersonal cooperation and altruism are central to evolution. He shares the specific conditions that are required to nurture prosocial behavior in groups, as well as those that would qualify humans as a “superorganism” that prioritizes the wellbeing of the whole. David is the author of several books including a new novel, Atlas Hugged. He teaches at Binghamton University and is Pre
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Spontaneous poet, culture activist & shamanic bard Stephen Jenkinson explores the disarming ordeal of bearing witness to death up close, including Terry’s uncertain situation — probable lung cancer with no diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment plan. They wonder together about the overwhelming nature of beauty and the vividness that dying well can bring to living. Stephen co-founded Orphan Wisdom, has authored four books and is now recording with musician Gregory Hoskins, most recently DARK ROADS and ROUGH
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A rebroadcast of a tender and deeply grounding conversation with psychotherapist and soul-activist Francis Weller, whose presence, wisdom and “soul obligation to register the rips and tears of the world” remains powerful medicine. He and Terry share their griefs and rediscover fierceness to protect all they love. Francis' work as a soul-centered psychotherapist synthesizes insights from psychology, anthropology, mythology, alchemy, and indigenous cultures in healing rituals for those working with grief.
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Chess Grandmaster & philosopher Jonathan Rowson explores our global meta-crisis from new angles — as a crisis of civilizational purpose, a lack of a meaningful global ‘We’, and its various socio-emotional, epistemic, and spiritual features. Jonathan is a sensemaking entrepreneur and the Director of Perspectiva. He is an applied philosopher with degrees from Oxford, Harvard, and Bristol Universities, and the author of The Moves that Matter, Spiritualise, and the brilliant essay "Tasting the Pickle.”
info_outlineState of Emergence
Chess Grandmaster & philosopher Jonathan Rowson explores our global meta-crisis from new angles — as a crisis of civilizational purpose, a lack of a meaningful global ‘We’, and its various socio-emotional, epistemic, and spiritual features. Jonathan is a sensemaking entrepreneur and the Director of Perspectiva. He is an applied philosopher with degrees from Oxford, Harvard, and Bristol Universities, and the author of The Moves that Matter, Spiritualise, and the brilliant essay "Tasting the Pickle.”
info_outlinePurpose guide and psychotherapist Jonathan Gustin joins Terry to explore the vital processes of discovering and actualizing our soul’s purpose, in clear and practical terms, to benefit our world in crisis. Jonathan builds upon our recent episode with Bill Plotkin by offering important distinctions between purpose, vocation, and pleasure. He also describes what he calls integral awakening, using his “three worlds” model of consciousness, in which the “lower world” represents our descent to soul, our discovery of our true name and place beneath personality, and our ongoing process of becoming a unique gift to whole.
Jonathan is a purpose guide, psychotherapist, and teacher. He is the founder and lead teacher of the Purpose Guides Institute, which guides people to embody their purpose as a gift to life and trains purpose guides to facilitate the transformation of humanity to a “soul-embodied species.” Jonathan serves as adjunct faculty at John F. Kennedy University in the Consciousness and Transformation Studies program and he has taught meditation in a variety of environments, from universities and prisons to corporate businesses and hospital systems. Jonathan has also co-taught alongside Joanna Macy, George Leonard, and Bill Plotkin.
Here are some additional questions we explore:
- How can the “three worlds” model of consciousness (lower world, middle world and upper world) clarify a lifetime of maturation?
- How is our unique purpose both an expression of and a gift to the whole?
- How does the “imaginal matrix” function as the “spiritual soil” for our soul growth?
- Is our deepest fulfillment really found in “giving ourselves away” and being “thoroughly used by life?”
- Do friendships, communities, or even species have collective purposes? How does collective purpose evolve amidst crises?
For more information on Jonathan Gustin and Terry Patten, check out the following resources:
- Intro to Purpose Discovery - A Free 90 minute Live Mini-Workshop with Jonathan Gustin
- Purpose Guides Institute website
- The Purpose Octagon
- Terry’s nonprofit website A New Republic of the Heart
- Terry’s book, A New Republic of the Heart: An Ethos for Revolutionaries
- Terry Patten’s website
Also:
You’re invited to a major online teaching event on Wednesday, Feb 3 at 12 Noon PST: "Spiritual Friends Amidst Cultural Madness: The Power of Our Grateful Generosity." Terry will share new insights about navigating our fragmenting world and how a key leverage point for making a real difference is our capacity for generosity and friendship. He will also be joined by the co-creators of our "social experiment" community at A New Republic of the Heart — and together we will offer a glimpse into the ways we are experimenting at the leading-edge of spiritual friendship. Click here to register or receive the recording.