Emerge: Making Sense of What's Next

I've decided to put this project on hold and dedicate myself more fully my work and training at the Monastic Academy. In this episode I share some of the thinking and feeling that went into my choice. If you'd like to support me in my training and work you can do so through Patreon. A few recent pieces I've read that are relevant to this episode: Cutting Through Spiritual Colonialism Mindfulness: Developing Agency in Urgent Times --- Support this podcast:...

In the first episode after my 75 day silent retreat I sat down with Zak Stein to speak about the the current cultural moment and how we can respond to the chaos and uncertainty of the world with love and integrity. This is part two of a two part episode. In this episode we discuss: - An overview of Zak’s metapsychology - How the psyche is a triple of development, ensoulment, and transcendence and why one must work on all three - How much of the talk about ‘sense making’ is missing two...

In the first episode after my 75 day silent retreat I sit down with Zak Stein to speak about the the current cultural moment and how we can respond to the chaos and uncertainty of the world with love and integrity. This is part one of a two part episode. We discuss: - My experience coming out of retreat into a 'post-covid' world - How strange and problematic it is that people speak with confidence about the world right now - How our media ecology forces us to take on perspectives even...

Soryu Forall is the founder and head-teacher of the Monastic Academy. Soryu has a decade of intensive monastic training, a degree in Economics from Williams College, and extensive experience in social and environmental justice. He was ordained in 1998 at Sogen Temple under the tutelage of the Zen Master Shodo Harada. The day this recording goes live I'll be beginning an 80(ish) day silent solo retreat here on the land of the Monastic Academy. By the end of this episode, I hope you'll...

Andrew J Taggart is a practical philosopher, Zen Buddhist, and entrepreneur. Recently Andrew wrote an article called 'Psychotechnologies of Self-Transformation' that led me to reach out to him and schedule a conversation. This episode was recorded a few months ago, but it occurs to me as exactly the right time to release it. If you are feeling panicked about the Corona Virus, I'd encourage you to slow down, get a hot cup of tea (or go for a walk outside) and enjoy this warm-spirited...

Jonathan Reams works at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), serves as Editor-in Chief of Integral Review, and is a co-founder of the Center for Transformative Leadership and of the European Center for Leadership Practice. He brings awareness based leadership development practices to his work, focusing on how the inner workings of human nature can develop leadership capacities for today’s complex challenges. His recent research and practice has focused on subjects such...

Robert Kegan is a psychologist who teaches, researches, writes, and consults about adult development, adult learning, and professional development. His work explores the possibility and necessity of ongoing psychological transformation in adulthood. He is perhaps most well known as the author of The Evolving Self, In Over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life, and An Everyone Culture. In this conversation we talk about: What is a good definition of an 'adult'? The phasic vision of...

In this episode, I'm speaking with Mark Feenstra. Mark is co-founding a consulting and training ecosystem and incubator, called New Mainstream, which focuses on large scale change that starts with ourselves and the possibility of a new mainstream. Mark is also in the process of founding a land-based community to ground the possibility of actualizing a new mainstream, initially in Golden Bay, New Zealand. Over the last year or so I’ve been lucky enough to have a number of conversations with...

On this episode I'm joined once again by meditation teacher and author Rob Burbea. For this conversation Jamie Bristow and I talk with Rob about his approach to emptiness, and how it can be a route beyond postmodern nihilism and into a vibrant and sacred participation in the world. We talk about: An overview of the ‘ways of looking’ approach to emptiness, the participatory nature of perception & the world, how perception gets fabricated through our participation, the limitations of a purely...

Jamie Bristow joins the show to respond to critiques against the mindfulness revolution and to make the case for mindfulness as a key metamodern cultural technology. Jamie is Director of The Mindfulness Initiative, the world's first policy institute about mindfulness. Jamie now works with politicians around the world to help them make capacities of mind and heart serious considerations of public policy. Topics discussed include: Jamie's Article on OpenDemocracy --- Support this...

A solo episode where Daniel shares his vision for the next turn in the inquiry of the Emerge podcast. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/emerge/support

David Fuller, Mike Gilliland and I spend time jamming on the conversational space that we have been participating in, and attempt to make sense of where this all might be going... --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/emerge/support

This week I'm speaking with Ronan Harrington about Extinction Rebellion. We talk about the strategic dilemmas of Extinction Rebellion, and how it functions as a practical exploration of metamodern theory. Previous Emerge episode with Ronan We chat about: - The limits of philosophical conversation and the need for practical movement building - The challenge of moving from collective awareness to collective action - The possibility of inspiring an ethos of sacrifice as a portal to...

In this episode I'm speaking with Guy Sengstock. Guy is the creator/discoverer of Circling, a relational meditation practice that is quickly spreading across the world. In this conversation, we cover such topics as: - Guy’s take on what Circling is - How Circling has revealed itself over the years to Guy - What it means to obey what we discover in our practice(s) - How we know to get interested in something - The mystery at the heart of the practice of Circling - Where the sacred and...

In this episode, I'm speaking with writer, educator and futurist Zak Stein. We discuss 'Metapsychology', Zak's attempt to answer the question 'what is the human?' brought up in our previous conversation about a vision for metamodern education. This is part two of a two part conversation. It's recommended that you listen to my previous conversation with Zak on Education and the Meta-Crisis before you listen to this episode. Apologies for the sound quality on this episode, it's a little...

In this episode I'm speaking once again with writer, educator and futurist Zak Stein. We discuss 'Metapsychology', Zak's attempt to answer the question 'what is the human?' brought up in our previous conversation about a vision for metamodern education. This is part one of a two part conversation. It's recommended that you listen to my previous conversation with Zak on Education and the Meta-Crisis before you listen to this episode. Apologies for the sound quality on this episode, it's a...

Today on Emerge I’m speaking with Euvie Ivanova and Mike Gilliland, hosts of the Future Thinkers podcast. In this conversation we explore the concept of Sovereignty, how we are practicing it in our lives, and why it’s such a significant tool in service of the evolution of consciousness. Topics include: -What is sovereignty -What is sense-making, and why it is broken for so many people right now - How to diagnose corrupted sense-making, and what to do about it - Questions to ask...

This week I'm speaking with Mette Böll (Boell). Mette is a biologist by training, specializing in the evolution of complex social systems, mammalian play behavior and philosophy of nature. Mette has a Ph.D. in organizational ethology from the Center for Semiotics, Aarhus University, and holds additional degrees in contemplative leadership and the philosophy and history of science. She uses her training in these diverse areas to research how moods and feelings are transmitted in social...

This week I'm speaking with Christopher Life. Christopher Life is the founder of OneNation, a new American political party dedicated to installing an all-win paradigm and rebirthing our democratic systems. Christopher and I talk about systems change as the next great social issue, the two party system as a hegemonic duopoly, OneNation as a generative alternative to the current system, omni-win vs win-lose, how the omni-win vision is the center of the shift needed to remake all the systems...

This week I'm speaking with Daniel Schmachtenberger. Daniel is a founding member of The Consilience Project, aimed at improving public sensemaking and dialogue. The throughline of his interests has to do with ways of improving the health and development of individuals and society, with a virtuous relationship between the two as a goal. Towards these ends, he’s had particular interest in the topics of catastrophic and existential risk, civilization and institutional decay and collapse...