The Daily Evolver

In this segment I review my new favorite horror film: “The Witch: A New England Folktale”. Created by young filmmaker Robert Eggers, it feels like something new in the genre, no only in how it was made, but it also in terms of where it takes the viewer. I nominate it for consideration as a work of integral art — as well as for your Halloween horror movie weekend (but watch it with the subtitles).

In a political system that is so polarized and seemingly rife with conflict between irreconcilable views, how do we make the best and most integrally-informed choices possible?

In this episode I review the movie “Dunkirk”, a wonderful new film by Christopher Nolan which I offer for consideration as a work of lntegral art. As I say in the podcast (and accompanying transcript), “Dunkirk” expresses traditional values in a postmodern voice. The resulting integration is both cool and drenched with meaning. The effect is that we lower our guard to become directly vulnerable to the predicament of the soldiers fighting the battle onscreen. I was thrilled by the movie and left feeling enlarged, as if I had experienced not just the suffering and heroism of the characters, but the suffering and heroism of humanity. Thus inspired, I offer this review to propose that “Dunkirk” achieves and transmits an emergent, post postmodern aesthetic. And to encourage you to see it!

In this segment I respond to a listener who makes a urgent request for relief from a bad case of “Trumpinosis” (fear and loathing of our President). I end the episode by sharing 15 minutes of a video of spiritual teacher Byron Katie as she helps a woman metabolize her distress at Trump. It’s a brilliant integral transmission. You can see the whole thing at “I’m Afraid of Trump – The Work of Byron Katie”

If Buddhism is a religion of peace, what explains the ethnic cleansing in Myanmar, where the Rohingya Muslims minority is being killed and driven out by Buddhist militias, incited by Buddhist monks?

The Transpersonal Workout — I think I have stumbled upon a way to transform my morning workout from something I dread and suffer through, to something that has become quite meaningful and rewarding. In the process I have upped my weights, reps and results – and leave not just physically but spiritually strengthened.

Male domination of women is nothing new. Though modernity and postmodernity seek to dismantled it, pockets of patriarchy continue to flourish in the strangest places, even liberal Hollywood. Till last week …

In the wake of the Trump election, many progressives are realizing that one way forward is to reach out to their political opponents, at least to establish a basic human connection. Today Jeff looks at four recent attempts to do that: by comedian Sarah Silverman, philosopher George Lakoff, Vox political correspondent Liz Plank and New York Times columnist David Brooks. Corey also adds some of his own integral tips for good interpersonal hygiene.

Hey Folks, Today I’d like to share a conversation I had with one of my favorite evolutionary teachers, Patricia Albere, about her beautiful new book: Evolutionary Relationships: Unleashing the Power of Mutual Awakening. Patricia is the founder of The Evolutionary Collective, a group of committed integral practitioners who are investigating relationship itself as a means of spiritual awakening. I hosted Patricia as she started the Collective several years ago at Boulder Integral. I loved working with her; Patricia has a special, right-on-schedule realization, and the gift of real spiritual leadership in sharing it with others. Here’s the blurb I wrote for her book: “Patricia Albere has been conducting basic research into what it is to evolve in mutuality with other people. This book is a report from the frontiers of her explorations. What she has discovered is that love is not just an emotion but an evolutionary force, a force that drives all the fragments of the universe – including us – toward greater connection and wholeness.” You can find out more about Patricia’s new book Evolutionary Relationships here. And if you are seriously interested in the practice of mutual awakening, consider buying the book by Sunday, 10/8/17 and you’ll get complimentary tuition to her four-part course, Mutual Trust.

In this episode I attempt once again to plumb the shallows of Donald Trump's mind. I was spurred by an article in The Atlantic magazine about children who have been diagnosed with “callous and unempathetic traits.” In many ways Trump fits the profile of these children, who to a surprising degree do not respond to disapproval or punishments, but do respond to praise and rewards. The article reports on interesting new treatments that are helping these kids grow into better adults. Unfortunately, at age 71 Trump may be a lost cause. In the last part of the podcast I look at some of the ramifications of his psychological profile, specifically as it relates to North Korea.

If God didn’t want us to eat animals, why did He make them out of meat?

How much consciousness do animals possess?

Rivers are people, my friend. And they’ve lawyered up.

This week the topic was obvious: Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, the dual storms that battered Texas and Florida in the last couple weeks. In this episode we look at how the climate debate has exacerbated the polarization of our culture, particularly between traditionalists and postmodernists. How is it that the political right and left can have such radically different views of what’s happening with our global climate, and what, if anything, should be done about it? Are we deadlocked? Can we fight our way forward? And why can't science just settle things? As always integral theory helps us sort things out. I hope you enjoy the podcast!

In today’s episode I am the guest of Stephen T. Harper as he kicks off his new podcast, “What’s Your Theory?”, where he interviews people who have “good answers to big questions about how the world works.” And do I have a theory for him! One of the key tenets of integral theory is that human consciousness and culture evolve, and that’s where Steve and I focus. With his enthusiastic curiosity and flex-flow mind, Steve helps me map the “evolution of the interior” from the dawn of humanity to the present day where integral theory is so helpful for making sense of our world. While this podcast is an introduction to integral theory, we use plenty of up-to-the minute topics and headlines to tell the story. Established students of integral theory will get an overview and refresher, and newbies will get a good basic understanding of a foundational integral principle. If you have friends who are interested in an integral on-ramp, this is a conversation you might consider sharing with them as well.

In this episode of Shrink and Pundit, integral psychotherapist Dr Keith Witt and I talk about how intimacy, longevity and happiness are programmed into the human genome, and accessible to all of us. But at a cost. Keith recently participated in an extraordinary conference called Plenitude near Sintra, Portugal. The conference brought together experts from around the world to explore a multidimensional approach to aging well. Join us in our discussion of some surprising and not so surprising data about the current state of longevity research and how it relates to intimacy and happiness from an AQAL perspective.

In this podcast we’ve spliced together the audio from three Facebook Live videos I’ve done over the last couple weeks. I’m really liking these quickie videos as they are giving me a chance to comment on current events in real time, which is particularly handy now that the news is coming at us so fast. Here are the three topics I explore in this podcast: 02:36 Trump is Irredeemably Red 19:18 Loyalty vs Law 37:53 The Uncivil War

In this podcast, Beena and I discuss what she and her team are learning about how adults grow through the predictable stages of adult development while still remaining true to their own journey. We examine how we can consciously participate in our own evolution and growth in a way that creates a more fulfilling, healthy, conscious and fruitful life.

In this episode I am the guest of my longtime friend and integral comrade, Jason Lange, on his new podcast Do The Evolution. We hit some juicy territory in our conversation so I’m sharing it with you here on The Daily Evolver. There are certain questions that evolutionary thinkers ask themselves and each other constantly: What does integral consciousness feel like? How is it different from the postmodern worldview? Can we develop integral capacities through intention and practice? How does integral thinking apply to everyday life and of course … sigh … Trump? Having a good conversation on topics like these is itself a form of integral practice, and I felt literally expanded by this one with Jason. I hope you do too!

Diane Musho Hamilton is at the forefront of one of the most significant spiritual emergents in contemporary culture: the realization of the power of our everyday relationships, even troubled ones, as a means of awakening. For many progressive spiritual practitioners it no longer feels like enough to merely follow an individual meditation practice, as valuable as that is. We want to apply our enlarged selves, skillfully and in real time, to the circumstances of our complex lives, and particularly to our relationships with others. The spiritual potency of relationship is a subject Diane Musho Hamilton explores in her new book, The Zen of You and Me: A Guide to Getting Along with Just About Anyone. Diane grounds her teaching in the enduring cosmic polarity between difference and sameness. It is the sameness we share with others that provides comfort and safety, and the differences we have with them that bring liveliness and creativity. As integralists we are called to integrate these polarities into a deeper mutuality. Diane’s approach is particularly relevant to the contemporary social challenge of relating to our American family as it continues to polarize both culturally and politically. I always feel a little bit wiser after a conversation with my dear friend Diane. I hope you do too!

Life is wounding. For some of us our wounds are inflicted in the form of major traumas such as a serious injury, painful divorce, career failure or act of abuse or violence. More often, however, we are merely called on to suffer the slings and arrows of everyday life, which can also leave their mark. Contemporary psychology has revealed two major insights into trauma. One is that trauma is pervasive: two-thirds of Americans report experiencing a major trauma in their lives. The other is that trauma is toxic, often kicking off lifetime patterns of depression, anxiety and addiction. One study showed that people who suffer six or more of ten different categories of adverse events lived on average twenty years less that people who had had experienced none of those categories of adverse events. Whether large or little, some trauma is inevitable and necessary for healthy development. Shocks and setbacks shape who we are and can provide the opportunity to develop resilience and a larger perspective.

In this podcast I ask Integral philosopher Steve McIntosh a question on the mind of many integral practitioners: how do we relate to the nationalist passions that are arising in many developed countries around the globe? Nationalism is often expressed as “love it or leave it” nativism, or in the case of the election of Donald Trump as a promise to take America back to an era of perceived past greatness. On the other hand many Green-stage postmodernists reject patriotism entirely. As Steve says, “it is like nails on a chalkboard for people of postmodern consciousness to contemplate the good that America has done in its history.”

Steve Bannon is Donald Trump’s favorite philosopher. Trump sometimes jokes that he doesn't know “whether Bannon is alt-right or alt-left,” but either way Bannon has given voice to the visceral impulse of populist nationalism that Donald Trump has expressed for decades. So what does Bannon believe? A pillar of his worldview is contained in a school of history called Strauss-Howe generational theory, developed by William Strauss and Neil Howe, which states that human events can be loosely organized in terms of recurring eighty year cycles, or saecula, which unfold in four twenty year turnings.

The Trump Presidency is an evolutionary correction for a culture whose leading edge “is in a 50-car pileup.” This is the thesis of Ken Wilber’s excellent new eBook, Trump and a Post-Truth World, and the kickoff point of a wide ranging conversation I had with Ken last week. Here's Ken's argument: Every now and then, evolution itself has to adjust course, in light of new information on how its path is unfolding, and it starts (apparently spontaneously but with this deeper morphic field actually operating) by making various moves that are, in effect, self-correcting evolutionary realignments. The leading-edge of cultural evolution is today—and has been for four or five decades—the green wave (“green” meaning the basic stage of human development known to various developmental models as pluralistic, postmodern, relativistic, individualistic, beginning self-actualization, human-bond, multicultural, etc.—and generically referred to as “postmodern”).

Inaugurated with bogus crowd claims and tales of voter fraud, the post-truth presidency of Donald Trump is upon us. Trump lives in a Red “warrior” worldspace alive with apparitions, rumors, conspiracies, and above all, scheming enemies. Placed in the context of cultural evolution Trump’s view actually represent a pre-truth mentality, typical of the world prior to modernity where warlords and monarchs ruled unconstrained by the divisions of power. This is a world where “might is right”, a world of plunder where the goal not just to defeat the enemy but to take their oil. A world where we don’t just build a wall, we make the Mexicans pay for it. (Take heart though; in an actual Red world Trump would not just make them pay for it, he would make them build it, as slaves. So there is that.) Modernity is fighting back against pre-truth thinking with objective facts, evidence and a plea for regular order, but it has been hobbled by the post-truth worldview of postmodernity, where all truth claims are suspect and feelings are privileged over facts. For a brilliant analysis of this phenomenon, check out Ken Wilber’s new essay Trump and a Post-Truth World on Integral Life. Also, look for my interview with Ken on the topic which will be posted in the coming days. The Trump presidency begs a crucial question: can a government that has evolved beyond Red consciousness contain a leader who hasn’t? If so, Trump may be the disruptive force we need to break up some calcified habits and thinking. If not … well, there are only 206 weeks left in his first term! In this podcast I look at how integralists can understand and relate to the fight over pre-modern, modern and postmodern conceptions of truth, and how a new integration of the three can help us build a more authentically inclusive world.

Ok, folks, we’ve had 45 consecutive mornings of waking up and wrapping our heads around the fact that Donald J. Trump is going to be the next president of the United States of America. What do we know now that we didn’t know before? To the degree that we can discern a pattern, we see that Trump will govern the same way he campaigned: as a disrupter. And he is doubling down on that approach with a team and cabinet of disrupters. What will happen? Here is where I’m grateful for my Buddhist training in “don’t know mind,” a practice of watching one’s mind try to make sense of something that is unknown. The fruit of the practice is the realization that you are more happy and effective, and life is more rich and vivid, when you recognize that every moment is unknowable and thus full of possibility.

The Shrink and the Pundit is an ongoing discussion between Jeff and his longtime friend, Dr. Keith Witt, a leading Integral psychotherapist. In this podcast they explore the topic of self-love. Dr. Keith traces the relationship that each of us has with our own “self-sense” from birth (actually gestation), when we fall from the paradise of the womb and begin the process of growth into ever new worlds of conditional love. That pattern continues until we reach higher stages of development, where a more integrated sense of self is able to love what has previously been in shadow. Listen in as Jeff and Dr. Keith discuss how to cultivate “a warm sense of oneness with yourself as being good, caring and beautiful.”

My colleagues Diane Hamilton and Terry Patten are here at my home, preparing for the Integral Living Room gathering which begins tomorrow. They arrived a day early, yesterday (November 8), so we could celebrate Hillary Clinton's victory together. Ha ha! Instead we, like millions of people, are trying to come to terms with the victory of Donald Trump. Suddenly we are embarking on a new adventure together -- one that Diane, Terry and I, at least, would never have chosen. We recorded a conversation of our process to share with you, in case it might help you make sense of things as well.

Defeat Trump! Not because he is a big alpha figure who would bust up the establishment. Not because he's vulgar. Not because lacks a coherent policy vision. Those things can actually be evolutionarily potent in their proper measure. No, the real problem with Donald Trump is that in important lines of development he is arrested at the level of a five-year-old. Keep nukes out of the hands of children. Make sure to vote!

This episode was recorded on Monday, October 10th, the day after the second Presidential debate (the debate preceded by Trump’s press conference with four women who accuse Bill and Hillary Clinton of abuse). In it Jeff chats with Integral besties Diane Musho Hamilton and Terry Patten and test drives his theory that this campaign, as appalling as it is, is a powerful engine of cultural evolution and is moving us to a more intelligent and humane place.

If there's one thing that people on both ends of the political spectrum can agree on, it's this: the system is rigged. But an integral view asks, “which system?” A historical survey reveals that over time humanity has created a series of political/economic systems, each designed to right the wrongs of the previous system. Essentially, the workings of any system is seen as corruption by people at the next stage of development. This bigger “System” of cultural evolution continues to create “systems” that are ever more equitable and humane. In this podcast Jeff explores what corruption looks like now, and how it relates to the US presidential election.

Hey gang, I couldn't stay away another minute. There's just too much happening with this crazy, mixed up election. So here is a new Daily Evolver podcast I recorded over last couple days, to share some of the evolutionary impulses I see arising out of this astonishing play of events. I focus on a new Integral sensibility that I see emerging among the Democrats. Their convention in Philadelphia was a beautiful example of a Green multicultural gathering, with every creed, color and progressive identity well-represented, including the first woman presidential nominee of a major party. I expected all that. What I didn’t expect was a gathering that was also lit up by Amber traditionalist values, old-fashioned values such as patriotism, humility, faith and optimism. But there they were: the flags, the prayers, and the sense of promise, even progress — all Integrated into a green, postmodern worldview that used to have antibodies to each of these things.

Years ago, a love relationship changed the course of Patricia Albere's life. "We entered into a very intensive awakening that we shared…and together we were being purified and processed by whatever this thing was." The Sufis refer to it, she says, as red sulfur, an intense awakening that can't be stopped. "It's like an orgasm that just keep going and going." <br /> <br /> Peter, her lover, died suddenly in a car accident, but Patricia was forever changed and her curiosity about this experience of mutual awakening has just kept growing. Can it be practiced with groups? Can it be cultivated? Yes, and yes. <br /> <br /> For the past several years Patricia's been at the helm of an extraordinary spiritual experiment called the Evolutionary Collective, which is asking these questions and exploring the territory of a post-autonomous enlightenment, transcendence in the interpersonal realm. <br /> <br /> Patricia has brought many years of spiritual practice into her facilitation, from the years she spent with Werner Erhard to her studies with A.H. Almaas and years spent in the Rajneesh community. <br /> <br /> Jeff's and Patricia's relationship goes way back to the early days of Boulder Integral, and it's a pleasure to eavesdrop on their conversation. Sometimes Patricia seems to emanate the sacred feminine, in the space between the words. So listen with your heart. <br /> <br /> We hope you enjoy it. You can find more about Patricia Albere and her work at mutual-awakening.com and evolutionarycollective.com. <br /> <br /> Send your questions and comments for the show to [email protected]. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.<br />

Jeff begins this episode with a heartfelt reminder of just how valuable integral theory is for opening our hearts and understanding our world. It helps us to see and accommodate more of reality, to make sense of competing worldviews and conflicting truth claims. "All schools of human wisdom find their place in the bigger integral view," he says.<br /> <br /> Jeff invited special guest Theo Horesh on to the show to talk about candidate Bernie Sanders and the progressive movement he's leading. Theo is an integrally-informed author and thought leader. He’s been a political activist since the days of Ralph Nader and the Green Party, and is especially savvy about using social media to organize (check him out on Facebook).<br /> <br /> Jeff and Theo talk about:<br /> <br /> -Money in politics and income inequality: Sander's message of a moral economy<br /> -Sander's policy proposals are not radical or untested: the European model of socialism<br /> -The critique of Sanders: he's not integral<br /> -Bernie or bust: supporting Sanders as a referendum on Hillary Clinton<br /> -Are the two parties obsolete? What does the future of American democracy look like?<br /> <br /> Also in this podcast:<br /> <br /> -Pre-trans fallacy: a conservative Muslim scholar condemns America with help from the classic song "Baby, It’s Cold Outside"<br /> <br /> -The perfect example of two first tier stages talking at each other: Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski confronts Donald Trump about his careless use of words<br /> <br /> Send your questions and comments for the show to [email protected]. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.

For many of us in progressive, postmodern cultures, our spiritual evolution follows a similar trajectory: we move from the conventional religion of our childhood (which in the West is theistic) to secular humanism, which eventually gives way to postmodern explorations of Eastern philosophy and practice (which tend to be nondual in nature). From a developmental perspective, this journey represents movement through the traditional, modern and postmodern stages. <br /> <br /> For some the journey continues with a new receptivity to God's love—a welcome next step to a post-postconventional relationship with the divine. Steve explores this idea in depth in his 2015 book The Presence of the Infinite. <br /> <br /> This upwards spiral is fueled by what Steve calls an interdependent existential polarity – between the nondual and the theistic – and he wants to teach us how to consciously use it to deepen our relationship to Ultimate Reality: to God and to Emptiness. <br /> <br /> Listen as Jeff and Steve discuss how this formulation of an integral, evolutionary spirituality lends itself to a method, a practice that can evolve consciousness. <br /> <br /> Steve and Jeff will be exploring the nondual/theistic spiritual path at an upcoming gathering, The Integral Incubator, taking place this August at The Integral Center in Boulder. Check it out if you're interested in deepening your spiritual insight and practice. <br /> <br /> Send your questions and comments for the show to [email protected]. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.

Jeff begins the podcast by playing an excerpt from a commencement speech given by President Obama at Howard University recently, which had a distinctly integral feeling to it. Before challenging the graduates, Obama puts their place in history in context:<br /> <br /> "If you had to choose one moment in history in which you could be born, and you didn't know ahead of time who you were going to be ... What nationality, what gender, what race, whether you'd be rich or poor, gay or straight, what faith you'd be born into ... You wouldn't choose 100 years ago. You wouldn't choose the '50s, or the '60s or the '70s. You'd choose right now."<br /> <br /> It's an uplifting introduction based on the big picture, the arc of history, so often lost to us amid our daily toils as the cable news hijacks our amygdalae. "People realize," says Jeff, "that for all of our problems, that this is indeed the best time to be alive and that it's getting better."<br /> <br /> Such a vision of progress is a stark contrast to the everyday attitude of first tier consciousness, which is predominantly motivated by fear and lack, or "a sense of not being enough, as sense that something went wrong," Jeff says. "Human beings drove this thing into a ditch and now we need to fix it or we're doomed." <br /> <br /> Which brings us to our main story: a fresh look at Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in their respective roles as the presumptive nominees of their parties. While Clinton still has Sanders breathing down her neck and nudging her left, she has begun to reach out to his supporters. Alas, so has Trump, who may or may not go out of his way to unite the GOP but will definitely try to scoop up as many of those Sanders supporters as he can. Not an entirely mad plan, Jeff thinks. <br /> <br /> We'll be spending a lot of time with these people in the coming months, these out-sized figures in the collective American psyche—each loved and reviled passionately by factions of the population. What are their values, their developmental centers-of-gravity? Can they still surprise us? Jeff looks at the criticism and praise heaped on each of them, and puts their candidacies in the context of the giant moneyed machine that is Washington D.C. <br /> <br /> You'll also hear another familiar voice in the podcast–a certain conservative hockey mom from Wasilla that has a way with words, and she's talking up Trump! <br /> <br /> Send your questions and comments for the show to [email protected]. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.

As humans evolve we are able to empathize with more and more life forms, beginning with other people and eventually extending to other species that may be very different from us–from elephants to insects. <br /> <br /> Jeff talks about new research into the interiors of tiny critters and explores the idea that consciousness is an irreducible aspect of reality. The Wilberian notion that consciousness extends all the way up and all the way down, from humans to atoms, is rich for exploration. <br /> <br /> Jeff is joined by a special guest who is working to implement basic rights for the elephants that have been held captive in temples and zoos and ill-treated for generations. Due to the controversial nature of her activism she has requested to remain anonymous. We’ve called her Annie. <br /> <br /> When we reach a green, postmodern consciousness, the idea of stealing a baby animal from its family and training it for our own amusement–a process called phajaan–literally "crushing"–is abhorrent. Thank God for green!<br /> <br /> Working only through social media, Annie has already begun to make an impact by educating people and encouraging her followers to write and take videos of elephant abuse. <br /> <br /> Also, Jeff reviews the movie "The Witch", which he likes. It tells the story of a family dealing with an evil force in God-fearing New England decades before the 1692 Salem witch trials. <br /> <br /> Plus, Trump has clinched the GOP nomination for president and Jeff wonders what exactly he's tapping into. Is Trump's populist brand of politics post-ideological or pre-ideological?<br /> <br /> Send your questions and comments for the show to [email protected]. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.<br />

Carl von Clausewitz famously said “war is the continuation of politics by other means.” From a developmental standpoint, Dr. Keith points out, it’s the other way around: politics is actually war by other means. The 1800 election between Adams and Jefferson was the first ever peaceful transition...

In this week's Daily Evolver live Jeff takes an in-depth look at the beautiful and mysterious desert kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which he refers to as "our Arab frenemy". President Obama spent several days there last week—his 4th visit, more than any sitting president. <br /> <br /> Saudi Arabia is our biggest customer in terms of arms sales, and we rely heavily on their oil. And yet, recent legislation would provide U.S. citizens with recourse to sue Saudi Arabia for culpability in the September 11 attacks (Obama says he'll veto it). There is also a growing chorus of voices demanding the US government declassify 28 pages of a congressional investigation said to detail Saudi relations with, and support for, the Al Qaeda terrorist network before September 2001. Most Americans know that of the 19 hijackers who carried out the 9/11 attacks, 15 were citizens of Saudi Arabia. <br /> <br /> Needless to say, the relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia is complicated. <br /> <br /> The Saudi peninsula was populated by Bedouin nomads for thousands of years. Jeff takes us through some history of how these people went from humble nomadic goat herders to the richest per-capita nation on the face of the earth. Obviously, oil plays a starring role in that story. <br /> <br /> So what happens when a Red, warrior people suddenly have such wealth and power to wield in the world? Well for one thing, it creates a struggle between their red, warrior values such as ethnocentrism, patriarchy, and jihad, and the new, modern cultural values like science, commerce, and individual freedoms that want to come online. Jeff uses integral theory to shed some light. <br /> <br /> Jeff also speaks with Bence Ganti about the 2nd Integral European Conference taking place in Hungary this week. Bence explains the multiple wisdom streams that will be converging: Ken Wilber's AQAL Theory, Don Beck's Spiral Dynamics, the "Teal movement" inspired by Frederick Laloux, circling practice, and Stan Grof's transpersonal psychology. <br /> <br /> As the refugee crisis continues, it's a particularly poignant time to think about what it means to be a European. Bence and Jeff talk about how integral theory can help illuminate, and maybe even ameliorate, the humanitarian crisis engulfing the continent. <br /> <br /> Send your questions and comments for the show to [email protected]. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.<br />

In this short episode, Jeff speaks with Bence Ganti about the 2nd Integral European Conference taking place in Hungary next week, at beautiful Lake Balaton. Bence explains the multiple wisdom streams converging at this event: Wilberian integral theory, Don Beck's Spiral Dynamics, the teal movement inspired by Frederick Laloux, circling practitioners, and Stan Grof's transpersonal psychology.<br /> <br /> As the refugee crisis continues, it's a particularly poignant time to think about what it means to be a European. Bence and Jeff talk about how integral theory can help illuminate, and maybe even ameliorate, the humanitarian crisis engulfing the continent.<br /> <br /> Tickets are still available for IEC 2016, "Reinventing Europe". Find out more at http://integraleuropeanconference.com/.<br /> <br /> "Mutuality and love...that's the essence of Integral." –Bence Ganti<br /> <br /> Send your questions and comments for the show to [email protected]. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.

Jeff often talks about how politics offers us opportunities to do integral practice, because politics has a lot of juice. "It really reaches down to our lower strata of development, down to our power and security chakras, which determine how we see the world," he says. <br /> <br /> Interestingly, and perhaps for the first time ever, we have presidential candidates whose developmental centers-of-gravity span four entire stages of development. Hence, they each speak to different parts of ourselves. <br /> <br /> Trump, for instance, has classic Red (warrior) tendencies. Red is chaotic, unpredictable, and often sees the world as divided into predator and prey, perpetrators and victims. Trump doesn’t talk about policy ideas or his vision for the country. He brags, and postures, and says "I'm going to be the best jobs president God ever created." No need to explain how. When asked why he would torture, he replied they did it to us first. Which is perfectly reasonable to an eight year old. <br /> <br /> Senator Ted Cruz represents the traditional, Amber stage of development. "This is a strata that is well occupied by candidates in history. This is Republican territory. This is social conservatives, religious, nationalistic, pro-American to the point of being anti-immigrant." Traditional is an absolutistic mindset—you're either on the side of God, or the side of the devil. There’s no middle ground. <br /> <br /> Kasich most likely represents the modern, Orange stage of development. These are not the die-hard believers. It's harder to get people fired up at this stage—they're just so rational. Which may explain why Kasich is losing (though polls say he would give Clinton and Sanders a run for their money in a national election). Hillary may even be a modernist, with post-modern and even integral tendencies. It's a bit harder to pin her down. <br /> <br /> Jeff brings integral author and teacher Terry Patten on to the show to talk about the Clinton/Sanders race. Terry is one of the few people in the integral/evolutionary world that is an activist in the political realm, (in 2012 he created a PAC to raise money for Obama in the integral community). With Hillary’s victory in New York, Jeff wonders if we can begin to look past the Bernie-Hillary rivalry and embrace the Bernie-Hillary reconciliation. <br /> <br /> Sanders has brought a challenge from the progressive wing (Green altitude) of the Democratic Party that is akin to a political revolution. The Democratic Party cannot unite behind Hillary without Hillary embracing some essence of Bernie's message. He has to be reckoned with, says Terry. "I have hopes that a Clinton presidency can actually be a unifying force in the nation, but she's not going to get there unless she first acknowledges and really validates this revolution that Bernie has fought and won." <br /> <br /> All that, plus your comments and questions. <br /> <br /> Send your questions and comments for the show to [email protected]. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.

In "Wicked and Wise", Alan and Ken use climate change as an example of a wicked problem. “Integral coherence”, or applying the integral map in a coherent fashion, is the essence of the solution. In the podcast, Jeff and Alan discuss climate change, the problems of globalization and democracy, getting CEO’s to do the right thing, and even Donald Trump!

Dr. Keith has been working with men for decades as a psychotherapist. When he talks about masculinity, he focuses on the Warrior archetype, and beyond that, what he calls the “Man of Wisdom”. The Warrior is that part of us that is willing to...

Activity in the Mormon church seems to be declining – particularly in the West – and Thomas McConkie is witnessing what he calls a "faith crisis." <br /> <br /> Many people are questioning the stories being passed down to them, especially Millennials, who are effortlessly modern or even postmodern. Gold plates with Egyptian writing on them? Lost tribes of Israel in the Americas? Where is the proof? (And what about the sexism, racism and homophobia?) <br /> <br /> Thomas, who was born and raised in the Mormon Church in Salt Lake City and comes from pioneer ancestors, left the church at thirteen. This was unprecedented in his family at the time – a major transgression. <br /> <br /> When he returned to the Mormon church twenty years later, he brought an awareness of Buddhism, integral theory and adult development with him. It became clear that this faith crisis was systemic, and not just isolated to the individual. He was moved to find a way to re-integrate his Mormonism, perhaps providing a bridge for a new generation of Latter-day Saints to authentic worship.<br /> <br /> "A faith crisis might just be a developmental shift gone unrecognized," he tells Jeff. "I hope that we can normalize this process of falling apart and coming back together again as new beings that see and experience the world in a new way."<br /> <br /> The Mormon church has a strong amber (traditional) base, but developmentally, a lot of orange, modern consciousness has emerged and is looking for evidence of the religion's supernatural claims. Is there a way of going through this stage without completely leaving your religion behind? It's unclear. Why do some people stay and some people go? <br /> <br /> "Someone who has more of an atheistic bent, how can we honor their Mormonism?" Thomas asks. "What does a 'strategist' or a teal Mormonism look like? Someone who's into turquoise, indigo and beyond, what is that experience – to relate to this tradition from those levels?" <br /> <br /> Some of the things Thomas and Jeff discuss include:<br /> <br /> • The center of gravity of Mormon culture, and how to honor those who are different<br /> • The Mormon practice of "ongoing revelation"—receiving inspiration from God<br /> • The Mormon doctrine of "eternal progression" as an early evolutionary viewpoint<br /> • What happens after we die. Does any part of us go on? <br /> • Allowing a faith crisis to be an opportunity <br /> <br /> Send your questions and comments for the show to [email protected]. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.<br />

The ability to remember the past and to imagine the future sets us apart from other animals. A zebra doesn't worry about the lion until the lion is upon it, at which time it reacts. If it escapes it will shake for hours afterwards to release the trauma, and then it's free. But humans have the special ability to imagine that lion attacking over and over again. It must give us some kind of evolutionary advantage or else we wouldn’t have developed this ability. Anxiety is part of the price we pay for our imaginations, and a self-aware consciousness. <br /> <br /> This subject is close to Jeff's heart. He describes a four-year period in which he suffered debilitating anxiety as "a black hole of self-focused rumination". He tells Dr. Keith about the medications, the treatments, screaming his head off, and what finally drew him out of that terrible place. <br /> <br /> Chögyam Trungpa used to say that anxiety is just the feeling of being a separate self. Research has shown that when we’re connected to each other our anxiety goes way down. Other things that help are assertive action and deep relaxation. <br /> <br /> Regardless, all emotions have relevance to our lives and we want to act on them in a healthy, functional way. We can begin by looking at anxiety itself with compassion, acceptance and caring intent. <br /> <br /> Some of the things that Jeff and Dr. Keith talk about in the podcast: <br /> <br /> • The different types of anxiety disorders and especially the difference between anxiety, fear, and panic<br /> • Alleviating anxiety at difference stages of development<br /> • How our culture supports dissociation in the face of unpleasant emotions<br /> • Turning toward anxiety and coming into the present moment<br /> • The two best anxiety regulating techniques ever developed <br /> <br /> We hope you enjoy The Shrink & The Pundit series. Send your questions and feedback using the orange Speakpipe button to the right, or send an email to [email protected]. <br />

In this conversation, Steve talks to Jeff about the new paper he released through the Institute for Cultural Evolution, titled "Overcoming Polarization by Evolving Both Right and Left: How Polarity Theory Provides a Path to Political Progress."<br /> <br /> Looking at the current political climate in America, Steve writes, "Polarization now extends far beyond the uncompromising logjam in the legislature. Numerous studies have shown that much of the American public is afflicted by 'affective polarization' wherein opposing political camps increasingly dislike, and even loathe, their opponents."<br /> <br /> The American political landscape is a big polar contest between the political left and right, and inside these polarities exist other, more refined polarities with values that tug and pull at each other—a "dialectic fractal". Realizing that these naturally-occurring polarities exist, and that they’re meant to be there, can make the whole system friendlier and open up space for greater cooperation. <br /> <br /> The ideas that Jeff and Steve explore in this podcast include:<br /> <br /> Why we should we care about political polarization<br /> Why centrism doesn't work<br /> How Spiral Dynamics and polarity theory shed light on the challenge<br /> How suppressing one side of a polarity empowers its shadow<br /> How the upside of one pole checks the downside of the other<br /> The practice: increasing the scope of what we are able to value<br /> <br /> Send your questions and comments for the show to [email protected]. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.<br />

Einstein's general theory of relativity got its final proof this month as scientists detected the bending of space and time that he predicted one hundred years ago.<br /> <br /> The world that Einstein showed us is so much stranger than what we could have imagined. It blew up our safe perceptions about time and space and light and gravity. But the mechanistic universe we inhabited until then wasn't wrong, it was just partial. General relativity includes and transcends Newtonian physics. <br /> <br /> So what effect does a four-dimensional reality, one that is interpenetrated with time, have on our view of the world? Is everything that has ever happened still reverberating in this very moment? Jeff looks at general relativity through the lens of integral theory and considers the implications.<br /> <br /> In the second segment Jeff is joined live in the studio by Steve McIntosh, integral author and president of the non-profit Institute for Cultural Evolution (ICE). It's a perfect time to discuss Steve's new paper "Overcoming Polarization by Evolving Both Right and Left: How Polarity Theory Provides a Path to Political Progress".<br /> <br /> Within a hour of the announcement of the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia last week, the Republican leadership announced they would not even consider a nominee put up by President Obama to replace the conservative icon. This is an illustration of just how divided and dysfunctional our political process has become. Is it any wonder that the two "revolution" candidates, Trump and Sanders, the ones that want to blow up the system, are surging in the polls? <br /> <br /> Steve and Jeff talk about progressive and conservative as indestructible polarities that need each other to grow and become better – like the poles of masculine and feminine—they'll never merge, but they do change over time, taking on the best aspects of each other. So how do we help the left and the right evolve on their own terms? Listen to the podcast, and for those that want a deeper dive, you can find Steve’s new paper here. <br /> <br /> Lastly, Jeff takes a question from a listener, Marilyn, who lives in Canada and works in Oklahoma, and is wondering if she’s taking her life in her hands every time she has a layover in Dallas.<br /> <br /> "...I find the apparent strengthening of the gun lobby, very, very troubling. I am looking for an integrally informed point of view…and some hope. Thanks for any insights you can offer on this particularly American dilemma of the Second Amendment."<br /> <br /> Why are we so different in this regard to every other advanced Western nation, including our gentle neighbors to the north? Jeff explains the American psychograph to Marilyn, and why guns are still such an important part of our identity. <br /> <br /> Send your questions and comments for the show to [email protected]. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.<br />

With Donald Trump currently leading the Republican presidential field, the race is finally getting interesting. Few people think he will ultimately prevail, but Trump can absolutely affect the outcome...

There are good reasons why, traditionally, politics and religion are not discussed in polite company. "It's because they express very deep patterns of our thinking and feeling," Jeff says, "if you start screwing with my spiritual beliefs and my politics, you're screwing with me and my whole sense of identity."<br /> <br /> In the podcast, Jeff talks about what he calls "integral political practice," the act of observing our attractions and aversions to different political ideas and even to particular candidates. In so doing we are engaging in the most potent practice of consciousness evolution: turning subject into object. He describes what he calls "the remote control test", which is noticing his instant compulsion to change the channel when Ted Cruz appears on the TV.<br /> <br /> What exactly is happening there, and more importantly, what's underneath it? Jeff plumbs the depths of his revulsion and finds some surprising truths!<br /> <br /> Also in the podcast Jeff talks to author Thomas McConkie about his new book, Navigating Mormon Faith Crisis. Tom was born and raised in the Mormon Church in Salt Lake City and comes from pioneer ancestry. He describes his own crisis of faith and the falling out with his family. "That set me on my path in Buddhism and eventually integral adult development. It was just in the last few years that it felt like a deep soul urge of mine to really, on a personal level, integrate my own Mormon identity."<br /> <br /> If you think you know about Mormonism, you might be really surprised by Jeff's conversation with Tom. Find out more about Navigating Mormon Faith Crisis here. <br /> <br /> Lastly, Jeff addresses a listener's frustration with the Big History Project, which seems to be trying to answer a lot of the same questions as integral theory, but with much less explanatory power. So why is it so successful in spreading its message to the public? <br /> <br /> "I'm a little frustrated about the inability of integral theory...to penetrate public discourse in a similar way," the caller says. So are we! In the podcast, Jeff talks about the strengths of the Big History Project, it's shortcomings, and why, for the time being, books on integral theory are still relegated to the New Age ghetto. <br /> <br /> Send your questions and comments for the show to [email protected]. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.<br />

In a healthy intimate relationship, the partners don't have to be turned on by each other all the time, says Dr. Keith, "but they do need to be turned on by each other regularly." Every couple has a balance of how much sex is needed to keep things vibrant, and it's the responsibility of each partner to make it happen. <br /> <br /> For many couples, this is something that must be learned and practiced.<br /> <br /> In the days of our grandparents, there wasn't much need for sex therapy. Sexual fulfillment was not an expectation for a traditional marriage; it was how you made babies. The dawn of modernity (orange) brought with it a value structure that focused more on the individual. With changing morals and the advent of birth control, the focus of sex became less about procreation and more about pleasure. Our personal sexual fulfillment took priority over social convention, and divorce began to skyrocket.<br /> <br /> With the dawn of the postmodern age, couples are faced with additional challenges. The main challenge is how to keep the erotic energy alive when couples are focused on minimizing male/female differences and elevating equality. 'These couples need to practice taking and being taken," says Dr. Keith, "where one person's masculine really focuses on the other person's feminine. One person leads the other person—and the other person allows themselves to be led—into the dance of eroticism." <br /> <br /> In some relationships, such as with many gay couples, the roles of masculine and feminine can even be exchanged. <br /> <br /> Some of the main topics that Jeff and Dr. Keith discuss in the podcast: The predictors of happy relationships and how to turn those into practices, the energetics of arousal: Giving masculine direction to feminine radiance, the kind of fantasizing that is productive and the kind that isn't, the relationship between sex and shadow, how to raise our children to be sexually healthy adults.<br /> <br /> Send your questions and comments for the show to [email protected]. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button on dailyevolver.com.<br />