Deep Transformation

Ep. 145 (Part 1 of 3) | Award-winning author, Zen priest and teacher, Kung Fu master, and professional advisor and trainer, Keith Martin-Smith, took a good look at the diversity, equity, and inclusion movement when he began to notice the damage it was causing people he knew under the guise of progress, or equity. Putting his keen mind to the task, Keith identified seven key areas where the DEI movement goes markedly astray from the values it aspires to. Coming from an integral understanding, Keith does more than simply point out where the movement has backfired. We learn that postmodern thinking is how we became aware of the “subtle soup of racism [and bias] in the cultural field itself”—beyond the concrete, obvious social injustices that activists fought in the 20th century. This more subtle field of bias is responsible for the inequalities we see in society today, which is what the DEI movement would like to tear down. But the ways in which DEI acts to make this happen, ironically, are characterized by exactly the things that DEI is against: intolerance, inequity, undiversity, tribalism, and anti-liberalism.

In his wise, articulate, and gracious way, Keith makes sense of why the diversity, equity, and inclusion movement has become a political flashpoint, raising the hackles of not only rightwing conservatives but also liberal progressives. Sympathetic to the values of DEI, Keith is all about helping to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive movement. When asked how the values of DEI could be fulfilled to make it the harmonious, effective, correcting movement it aspires to be, Keith responded, “with conversations like this, for one thing,” adding, “we need to realize that everyone has a portion of truth—we just need to connect everyone’s portion of truth with their heart.” Recorded June 6, 2024.

“Everybody cares…they just care about different things. Consensus and change come from being willing to listen to what people care about and finding space to honor that.”

(For Apple Podcast users, click here to view the complete show notes on the episode page.)

• Introducing award-winning author, professional advisor & trainer, martial arts master, Zen priest & teacher Keith Martin-Smith (01:12) 
• How Keith came to articulate what has gone wrong with the diversity, equity & inclusion movement (01:49)
• The divisiveness of DEI and the need to bring in an integral understanding (06:22)
• The difference between concrete, overt injustices and systemic injustice (08:27)
• The subtle soup of racism in the cultural field that we have become aware of in the postmodern period (11:19)
• All the punches at DEI are being thrown from an early rational or prerational worldview (15:26)
• What are the seven deadly sins of DEI? (18:15)
• DEI’s simplistic view of privilege, considering race, sex & gender, but not class, education & family of origin (19:00)
• What are healthy responses to having been given privilege (as opposed to shame and guilt)? (23:37)
• DEI proponents lecturing us about privilege don’t talk about their own privilege (26:50)
• The effect of neglecting class in DEI’s reductionist view of privilege (29:56)
• The problematic (undiverse) way the DEI movement treats diversity (34:31)
• Concrete racism versus subtle racism/microaggressions (37:49)
• Because Asians are doing so well, they are excluded from the diversity discussion (39:56)
• Intolerant tolerance and the why the 2017 women’s march movement fell apart (41:49)
• Robin diAngelo, white fragility, systemic internalized racism (43:49)
• Dismissing views you don’t agree with (46:57)
• Holding privilege with humility and the importance of genuinely listening (49:05)
• The purity test requiring people to toe the DEI party line (50:11)

• Keith Martin-Smith’s website: https://www.keithmartinsmith.com
• Keith Martin-Smith, A Heart Blown Open: The Life and Practice of Zen Master Jun Po Denis Kelly Roshi*
• Keith Martin-Smith, When the Buddha Needs Therapy*
• Keith Martin-Smith, The Seven Deadly Sins of DEI (Integral Life video presentation)
• Keith Martin-Smith, Reintegrating DEI: Beyond the Culture Wars (Integral Life video presentation)
• Reggie Ray, spiritual teacher, founder of the Dharma Ocean foundation
• Jordan Peterson, psychologist, author, popular media commentator
• Terri O’Fallon’s model of developmental stages
• Susanne Cook-Greuter, Ego Development: Nine Levels of Increasing Embrace
• 2017 Women’s Mar
• Nikole Hannah-Jones, New York Times reporter, creator of The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story*
• Ibram X. Kendi, author, professor, anti-racist activist, How To Be an Antiracist*
• Robin diAngelo, White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism*

* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.

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Keith Martin-Smith is the award-winning author of five books, most recently When the Buddha Needs Therapy, about which Ken Wilber said, “This is a terrific book, fully embracing a truly Integral perspective and highly recommended.” He is also an ordained Zen priest, a Northern Kung Fu lineage holder and recognized sifu, and a professional advisor and trainer. More at KeithMartinSmith.com.

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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 144 (Part 2 of 2) | In the second A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series conversation, Hameed Ali describes how the practice of inquiry can aid us on our spiritual journey, illuminating our understanding of our personal experience and our soul. He uses the example of inquiring into a sense of worthlessness to illustrate what happens as we begin to investigate the terrain of our consciousness. There comes a point when the inquiry leads beyond where a psychologist would normally end—when it slips from psychological into spiritual inquiry. “If you stay with the wounding, something will emerge: a sense of inherent value. You recognize ‘I am presence’ and this presence has value—all the way to nondual presence and beyond.” 

In introducing us to the Diamond Approach’s inquiry technique, Hameed covers a rich array of topics: the dynamism of consciousness; the importance of scientific objectivity in our exploration of inner experience; modern psychology’s revelation of how our sense of self develops; the essential qualities of curiosity and love of truth; and how understanding the ways in which the past influences the present disentangles it. Hameed is a masterful teacher—with just a few words he can illuminate vast territories of spiritual landscape for the purpose of helping his students learn to live their lives from a deeper, liberated condition. Rather than aiming to transcend our experience, Hameed assures us there is a way through, an unraveling we can do, as we discover never-ending realizations about individual consciousness and the nature of reality. Recorded July 4, 2024.

“The soul is a living embodiment of the life force.” 

(For Apple Podcast users, click here to view the complete show notes on the episode page.)

• Basic trust: fundamentally we are an indestructible nature, but our basic trust can get whittled away (00:50)
• Feeling the love inherent to reality (05:27)
• Marrying ancient knowledge of the soul with advancements in modern psychology (06:09) 
• Psychology provides us with answers about how our sense of self develops but not about what gets structured—the soul (09:35)
• Individual consciousness is impressionable, otherwise learning would not be possible (12:31)
• The self is nothing but the soul structured through the ego stages of development (14:28)
• Psychodynamics and the self-liberating quality of the soul (15:29)
• We need our sense of self in order to survive—and in order to become become illuminated, we need a body (17:21)
• To stay with the ego self is arrested development, but we can develop further to become conscious of consciousness itself (19:53)
• We can understand the terrain of experience rather than simply transcend it—we can go through it, unravel it, and open up different dimensions of reality as we go (21:40)
• As we inquire we go deeper, bringing liberation into ordinary life (24:58)
• The emphasis in the East is on liberation—the emphasis in the West is on how to fulfill life (26:06)
• What many nondual teachings don’t understand is the individual soul (27:14)
• The enlightenment drive: motivation beyond ego (30:38)
• Beyond the enlightenment drive: pure being coming through individual consciousness (34:45)

• The Ridhwan School, home of the Diamond Approach, founded by A. H. Almaas (Hameed Ali)
• A. H. Almaas, The Inner Journey Home: Soul’s Realization of the Unity of Reality*
• A. H. Almaas, Runaway Realization: Living a Life of Ceaseless Discovery*
• Ramana Maharshi, Hindu sage and liberated being, Who Am I?: The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi*
• Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
• Bodhicitta

The A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series will generally follow the sequence of Hameed’s magnum opus, The Inner Journey Home* (which John describes as psychoactive and spiritually, psychologically, and intellectually transformative), so listeners may want to get a copy of this book, to study and follow along on this exhilarating path of awakening.

* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.

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A. Hameed Ali (A. H. Almaas) was born in Kuwait in 1944. At the age of eighteen, he moved to the U.S. to study at the University of California in Berkeley. Hameed was working on his Ph.D. in physics when he reached a turning point in his life and destiny that led him to inquire into the psychological and spiritual aspects of human nature rather than the physical nature of the universe. He left the academic world to pursue an in-depth journey of inner discovery, applying his scientific precision and discipline to personal, experiential research. This included study with different teachers in different modalities, extensive reading, and continuous study of his own consciousness in an effort to understand the essential nature of human experience and reality in general.

Hameed’s process of exploration led to the creation of the Ridhwan School and, with his colleague Karen Johnson, resulted in the founding and unfoldment of the Diamond Approach. He is the author of 20 books, including Nondual Love: Awakening to the Loving Nature of Reality, Love Unveiled: Discovering the Essence of the Awakened Heart, Keys to the Enneagram: How to Unlock the Highest Potential of Every Personality Type, The Unfolding Now: Realizing Your True Nature through the Practice of Presence, and more. 

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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 143 (Part 1 of 2) | In the second A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series conversation, Hameed Ali describes how the practice of inquiry can aid us on our spiritual journey, illuminating our understanding of our personal experience and our soul. He uses the example of inquiring into a sense of worthlessness to illustrate what happens as we begin to investigate the terrain of our consciousness. There comes a point when the inquiry leads beyond where a psychologist would normally end—when it slips from psychological into spiritual inquiry. “If you stay with the wounding, something will emerge: a sense of inherent value. You recognize ‘I am presence’ and this presence has value—all the way to nondual presence and beyond.” 

In introducing us to the Diamond Approach’s inquiry technique, Hameed covers a rich array of topics: the dynamism of consciousness; the importance of scientific objectivity in our exploration of inner experience; modern psychology’s revelation of how our sense of self develops; the essential qualities of curiosity and love of truth; and how understanding the ways in which the past influences the present disentangles it. Hameed is a masterful teacher—with just a few words he can illuminate vast territories of spiritual landscape for the purpose of helping his students learn to live their lives from a deeper, liberated condition. Rather than aiming to transcend our experience, Hameed assures us there is a way through, an unraveling we can do, as we discover never-ending realizations about individual consciousness and the nature of reality. Recorded July 4, 2024.

“What does it mean that ‘I am spiritual in nature’ and what psychological constellation prevents us from knowing this?”

(For Apple Podcast users, click here to view the complete show notes on the episode page.)

• Introducing Hameed Ali (A. H. Almaas), founder of the Diamond Approach, the Ridhwan School, and author of The Inner Journey Home and many more (00:59)
• Why inquiry is essential for transformation, beginning with an investigation of our own subjective, personal experience (04:13)
• Consciousness is a whole terrain of sensations, emotions, thoughts, reactions, images (09:47) 
• First we need to become aware of what is obstructing our awareness, then inquire into why that block is there (10:54)
• Exploring the content of the self: start from the premise we don’t know everything that is going on and be open to finding out (12:57)
• Two essential ingredients for inquiry: curiosity and a love of the truth for its own sake (14:26)
• As you get better at inquiry, you learn not to interfere with the experience, to have no end in mind (18:05)
• Although practiced in the present, inquiry does not deny the impact of the past—it’s open to all time and space (21:35)
• Inquiring into the wound of worthlessness can bring up fear, then hurt—so we inquire into the fear (24:17)
• Everything is a question—nothing is left as ultimate truth (25:51)
• Deficient emptiness can turn into spaciousness (27:48)
• Roger’s synopsis of the elements of inquiry that Hameed has discussed so far (30:18)
• If you stay with the wounding, something will emerge: a sense of inherent value (35:46)
• What does it mean that I am spiritual nature and what psychological constellation prevents us from knowing this? (37:51)
• Curiosity is connected to the quality of joy—it brings a sense of adventure to the inquiry (39:54)

• The Ridhwan School, home of the Diamond Approach, founded by A. H. Almaas (Hameed Ali)
• A. H. Almaas, The Inner Journey Home: Soul’s Realization of the Unity of Reality*
• A. H. Almaas, Runaway Realization: Living a Life of Ceaseless Discovery*
• Ramana Maharshi, Hindu sage and liberated being, Who Am I?: The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi*
• Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
• Bodhicitta

The A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series will generally follow the sequence of Hameed’s magnum opus, The Inner Journey Home* (which John describes as psychoactive and spiritually, psychologically, and intellectually transformative), so listeners may want to get a copy of this book, to study and follow along on this exhilarating path of awakening.

* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.

---

A. Hameed Ali (A. H. Almaas) was born in Kuwait in 1944. At the age of eighteen, he moved to the U.S. to study at the University of California in Berkeley. Hameed was working on his Ph.D. in physics when he reached a turning point in his life and destiny that led him to inquire into the psychological and spiritual aspects of human nature rather than the physical nature of the universe. He left the academic world to pursue an in-depth journey of inner discovery, applying his scientific precision and discipline to personal, experiential research. This included study with different teachers in different modalities, extensive reading, and continuous study of his own consciousness in an effort to understand the essential nature of human experience and reality in general.

Hameed’s process of exploration led to the creation of the Ridhwan School and, with his colleague Karen Johnson, resulted in the founding and unfoldment of the Diamond Approach. He is the author of 20 books, including Nondual Love: Awakening to the Loving Nature of Reality, Love Unveiled: Discovering the Essence of the Awakened Heart, Keys to the Enneagram: How to Unlock the Highest Potential of Every Personality Type, The Unfolding Now: Realizing Your True Nature through the Practice of Presence, and more. 

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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 142 (Part 2 of 2) | Award-winning author of The Web of Meaning and founder of the Deep Transformation Network, Jeremy Lent, relates how his discovery of systems thinking opened the door to a whole new way of making sense of the world and illumined his in depth exploration of what creates meaning. In looking into what forms concepts like God, soul, humanity, nature, and science, Jeremy came to understand the thinking that has led to the existential crisis we face now, then began to explore what it would take to break out of the worldview that has caused so much destruction on so many levels. Jeremy integrates systems thinking with concepts from evolutionary biology, neuroscience, ecology, and traditional and indigenous wisdom, forming a holistic view of science, where “maybe the distinction between science and spirituality isn’t really valid.”

Jeremy’s heartfelt intention is to act as translator—to make it enjoyable for people to explore difficult concepts like consciousness and evolutionary biology they might otherwise steer away from—as well as be a catalyst for large-scale transformation. His vision of a potential future “ecological civilization” builds on the evolutionary success of life itself—ecosystems living in mutual symbiosis—and includes the idea of “islands of coherence” which would provide a bridge from a disintegrating society to a new and flourishing one. Systems thinking, like indigenous wisdom, recognizes the deep connectedness of all things, a realization, Jeremy points out, that leads to the knowing that nothing is inevitable and the choices we make matter. Jeremy leaves us with a sense of agency and of liberation, as well as a sense of responsibility to work together in the shaping of a life-affirming, sustainable future. Recorded June 20, 2024.

“Based on a deep understanding of systems thinking, there is nothing inevitable about any of this.”

(For Apple Podcast users, click here to view the complete show notes on the episode page.)

• Can flourishing-of-the-commons ideas be scaled beyond small, local ventures? (01:25)
• Polycentric self-organization: a large region in Syria has instituted a form of government called democratic confederalism (03:53)
• Where are the most strategic places to intervene? (08:45)
• Becoming a transformation catalyst—amplifying the entire system of people moving toward a life-affirming future (09:59)
• Neoliberalism is a great model for successfully transforming a culture’s dominant ideas and creating fundamental change (13:13)
• Is there any hope of a rapid evolutionary leap to a more beautiful, more functional system? (17:18)
• Breaking through to the next level will require self-organizing and setting conditions for prosocial behavior on a global level (21:23)
• Understanding that the choices we make matter gives us a sense of agency, liberation, and responsibility (24:46)
• It’s important to move away from attachment to outcome—just do the right thing to do (28:18)
• The necessary perspectival shifts will only occur in people at a post-conventional stage of development (30:51)
• Animate intelligence is an intuitive system that allows people to feel their heart (33:24)
• Creating a life-affirming future (37:14)
• Rupert Sheldrake’s morphogenetic fields (39:05)
• From a systems perspective, these are principles of connectivity (42:18)

• Jeremy Lent’s website: https://www.jeremylent.com/
• Jeremy Lent, founder of the Deep Transformation Network
• Jeremy Lent, The Web of Meaning: Integrating Science and Traditional Wisdom to Find Our Place in the Universe*
• Jeremy Lent, The Patterning of Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity’s Search for Meaning*
• Elinor Ostrom, Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action*
• David Sloan Wilson, This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution*
• Christiana Figueres & Tom Rivett-Carnac, The Future We Choose: The Stubborn Optimist’s Guide to the Climate Crisis*
• Sandra Waddock, Transforming Towards Life-centered Economies: How Business, Government, and Civil Society Can Build a Better World*
• Ilya Prigogine’s small islands of coherence
• Neoliberalism, the Mont Pelerin Society, the Overton Window
• The Fermi paradox
• Antonio Damasio’s theory of consciousness, The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness*
• Gerald Edelman’s primary consciousness, The Remembered Present: A Biological Theory of Consciousness*
• Rupert Sheldrake, Morphic Resonance and Morphic Fields: An Introduction

* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.

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Jeremy Lent is an author and speaker whose work investigates the underlying causes of our civilization’s existential crisis, and explores pathways toward a life-affirming future. His award-winning books, The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity’s Search for Meaning and The Web of Meaning: Integrating Science and Traditional Wisdom to Find Our Place in the Universe, trace the historical underpinnings and flaws of the dominant worldview, and offer a foundation for an integrative worldview that could lead humanity to a flourishing future. He has written extensively about the vision and specifics of an ecological civilization and is founder of the Deep Transformation Network, an online global community exploring pathways for a deep transformation toward a life-affirming future on a regenerated Earth. Author website: jeremylent.com

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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 141 (Part 1 of 2) | Award-winning author of The Web of Meaning and founder of the Deep Transformation Network, Jeremy Lent, relates how his discovery of systems thinking opened the door to a whole new way of making sense of the world and illumined his in depth exploration of what creates meaning. In looking into what forms concepts like God, soul, humanity, nature, and science, Jeremy came to understand the thinking that has led to the existential crisis we face now, then began to explore what it would take to break out of the worldview that has caused so much destruction on so many levels. Jeremy integrates systems thinking with concepts from evolutionary biology, neuroscience, ecology, and traditional and indigenous wisdom, forming a holistic view of science, where “maybe the distinction between science and spirituality isn’t really valid.”

Jeremy’s heartfelt intention is to act as translator—to make it enjoyable for people to explore difficult concepts like consciousness and evolutionary biology they might otherwise steer away from—as well as be a catalyst for large-scale transformation. His vision of a potential future “ecological civilization” builds on the evolutionary success of life itself—ecosystems living in mutual symbiosis—and includes the idea of “islands of coherence” which would provide a bridge from a disintegrating society to a new and flourishing one. Systems thinking, like indigenous wisdom, recognizes the deep connectedness of all things, a realization, Jeremy points out, that leads to the knowing that nothing is inevitable and the choices we make matter. Jeremy leaves us with a sense of agency and of liberation, as well as a sense of responsibility to work together in the shaping of a life-affirming, sustainable future. Recorded June 20, 2024.

“Every aspect of our world today is founded ultimately on the worldview of reductionism…If we were to design or co-create a civilization built on a sense of deep connectedness, it would look very different.”

(For Apple Podcast users, click here to view the complete show notes on the episode page.)

• Introducing Jeremy Lent, award-winning author, integrator, founder of the Deep Transformation Network (01:15)
• What does meaning come from? Where do mainstream concepts like God, soul, humanity, and nature come from? (02:58)
• What’s considered valid science turns out to be reductionism and Jeremy’s subsequent discovery of systems science & complexity science (05:25)
• Jeremy’s intention is to act as translator—make it a joy for people to explore concepts like consciousness and evolutionary biology (08:50)
• The concept of reductionism (09:36)
• Where reductionism goes wrong and why systems thinking is so important: studying the relationship between things (12:19)
• Richard Dawkins attributes everything to our genes, but the reality is far more complex (13:53)
• What the modern worldview of reductionism has done to our society (16:59) 
• Jeremy’s new book, Ecological Civilization, applies the principles of ecology that life itself evolved to every aspect of our civilization (18:43)
• The difference between the metacrisis and the polycrisis: is there something meta, above all the crises, that we need to be aware of? (20:44)
• The reductionist worldview creates a separatist world that allows for resource exploitation: capitalism is the economic manifestation of a worldview of profound separation (22:29)
• Moving beyond the dichotomy of individual good and common good (26:57)
• Individual flourishing, fractl flourishing, holon flourishing (30:38) 
• The evolution of life itself: learning to cooperate in mutually beneficial symbiosis (34:00)
• How do we break out from the zero sum game we are stuck in? (35:18)
• Our dominant system is beginning to unravel: weaving together small islands of coherence while the dominant civilization crumbles (39:16)
• What are examples of “attractors,” sources of coherence for us to build on? (41:52)

• Jeremy Lent’s website: https://www.jeremylent.com/
• Jeremy Lent, founder of the Deep Transformation Network
• Jeremy Lent, The Web of Meaning: Integrating Science and Traditional Wisdom to Find Our Place in the Universe*
• Jeremy Lent, The Patterning of Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity’s Search for Meaning*
• Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene*
• Fritjof Capra, The Turning Point: Science, Society, and the Rising Culture*
• Systems theory
• Reductionism originally started with Descartes
• Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations*
• Ayn Rand, author, developer of objectivism
• Jason Hickel, Less Is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World*
• Fredric Jameson, “Someone once said that it is easier to imagine the end of the world than to imagine the end of capitalism…”
• Ilya Prigogine’s small islands of coherence
• The Commons with David Bollier (The Permaculture Podcast on YouTube)
• Elinor Ostrom, Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action*

* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.

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Jeremy Lent is an author and speaker whose work investigates the underlying causes of our civilization’s existential crisis, and explores pathways toward a life-affirming future. His award-winning books, The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity’s Search for Meaning and The Web of Meaning: Integrating Science and Traditional Wisdom to Find Our Place in the Universe, trace the historical underpinnings and flaws of the dominant worldview, and offer a foundation for an integrative worldview that could lead humanity to a flourishing future. He has written extensively about the vision and specifics of an ecological civilization and is founder of the Deep Transformation Network, an online global community exploring pathways for a deep transformation toward a life-affirming future on a regenerated Earth. Author website: jeremylent.com

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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 140 (Part 2 of 2) | Author, psychiatrist, professor, and Deep Transformation podcast co-host Roger Walsh was drawn to explore the remarkable world of shamanism—a tradition of opening to altered states, intuition, and profound insights and wisdom—when he found it was the one great world tradition he didn’t understand. He was intrigued by Romanian scholar Mircea Eliade’s description of the core feature of a shaman being “ecstatic flight,” and recognizing the lack of any easy to understand book on the subject, Roger was inspired to pursue this subject in depth and write the book himself! In his book and in this conversation, Roger provides us with a brilliant, big picture perspective, pointing out that at the heart of shamanism (and every great world tradition) are psychospiritual technologies—actual practices—that lead us to the doorway of the Great Mystery, and that service is the culmination of each tradition, both as a means to and an expression of one’s realization.

The dialogue is warm, open, and personal—Roger shares his experience of realizing the vastness of the inner world for the first time (“I felt like I’d lived my entire life on the top six inches of a wave on top of an ocean I didn’t even know existed!”), his realization that “as a culture, we are sleepwalking through life, unaware of the resources, capacities and gifts we bear within us,” and his coming to terms with the Great Mystery. John, too, shares his experiences within the Native American spiritual tradition: the power of the vision quest, prayer, drumming in ceremony, death medicine, and enduring trials in service to one’s people. Roger’s wonderful curiosity, integrity, graciousness, and keen intellect are all in evidence as he discusses the indeterminacy of spirit, mediumship, journeying, and death, and as he marvels at the bottomless, boundless mystery that both surrounds us and is us. Recorded June 27, 2024.

“Not only does the Great Mystery surround us, but we are Mystery—our own being is Mystery.”

(For Apple Podcast users, click here to view the complete show notes on the episode page.)

• The ethos of service at the heart of shamanism (00:55)
• Service is the culmination of shamanism—and every world tradition—both as a means to and an expression of one’s realization (02:20)
• Opening to the Great Mystery: we really don’t know what is going on (05:06)
• Castaneda’s 4 challenges to becoming a person of knowledge, particularly the challenge of clarity (09:08)
• Transconceptual intuition and Ken Wilber’s vision-logic (12:11)
• What about death? (16:21)
• Shamans were our first general practitioner, spiritual guide, tribal counselor, psychopomp, all rolled into one (18:04)
• How did humans discover this tradition? (20:04)
• What is a spirit? A construct of the psyche? An independent intelligence? (21:41)
• The powerful effects of mediumship throughout human history (24:07)
• The spiritual practice of journeying (27:55)
• Bottom line: shamans tap into the depths of the psyche and take us to the doorway of Mystery, leaving us there with remarkable potentials and possibilities (29:49)

• Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers, The Power of Myth*
• Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan*
• Ken Wilber’s vision-logic (Integral Life website)
• The Oracle of Delphi
• William Blake, British mystic
• Pearl Curran, who channeled the spirit of Patience Worth
• Helen Schucman, A Course of Miracles* (Foundation for Inner Peace)
• Charles Tart, Body Mind Spirit: Exploring the Parapsychology of Spirituality*
• Roger Walsh, The World of Shamanism: New Views of an Ancient Tradition* (2nd edition)
• Roger Walsh, Essential Spirituality: The 7 Central Practices to Awaken Heart and Mind*
• Roger’s website: https://drrogerwalsh.com

* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.

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Dr. Roger Walsh, M.D., Ph.D. DHL, is an author and longtime professor of psychiatry, philosophy, anthropology, and religious studies. Roger’s research and writings span several areas, to include the nature of psychological health and well-being, meditation and contemplative practices, religion and spirituality, wisdom and other virtues, Integral studies, and the psychological roots of our current global crises. He is deeply immersed in contemplative practices as student, researcher, and teacher.

Roger’s books include Paths Beyond Ego (one of Common Boundary’s “Most Influential Books”), Meditation: Classic and Contemporary Perspectives (“Outstanding Academic Book of the Year Award”), Essential Spirituality: The Seven Central Practices with a foreword by the Dalai Lama, and The World of Shamanism. He is currently editing The World’s Great Wisdom: What Sages Say about Living Wisely and Well. 

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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 139 (Part 1 of 2) | Author, psychiatrist, professor, and Deep Transformation podcast co-host Roger Walsh was drawn to explore the remarkable world of shamanism—a tradition of opening to altered states, intuition, and profound insights and wisdom—when he found it was the one great world tradition he didn’t understand. He was intrigued by Romanian scholar Mircea Eliade’s description of the core feature of a shaman being “ecstatic flight,” and recognizing the lack of any easy to understand book on the subject, Roger was inspired to pursue this subject in depth and write the book himself! In his book and in this conversation, Roger provides us with a brilliant, big picture perspective, pointing out that at the heart of shamanism (and every great world tradition) are psychospiritual technologies—actual practices—that lead us to the doorway of the Great Mystery, and that service is the culmination of each tradition, both as a means to and an expression of one’s realization.

The dialogue is warm, open, and personal—Roger shares his experience of realizing the vastness of the inner world for the first time (“I felt like I’d lived my entire life on the top six inches of a wave on top of an ocean I didn’t even know existed!”), his realization that “as a culture, we are sleepwalking through life, unaware of the resources, capacities and gifts we bear within us,” and his coming to terms with the Great Mystery. John, too, shares his experiences within the Native American spiritual tradition: the power of the vision quest, prayer, drumming in ceremony, death medicine, and enduring trials in service to one’s people. Roger’s wonderful curiosity, integrity, graciousness, and keen intellect are all in evidence as he discusses the indeterminacy of spirit, mediumship, journeying, and death, and as he marvels at the bottomless, boundless mystery that both surrounds us and is us. Recorded June 27, 2024.

“Shamans were our first general practitioner, spiritual guide, tribal counselor, psychopomp—all rolled into one.”

(For Apple Podcast users, click here to view the complete show notes on the episode page.)

• Introducing Deep Transformation podcast co-host Roger Walsh, professor, psychiatrist, and author of The World of Shamanism and Essential Spirituality, among others (01:18)
• Roger’s book, The World of Shamanism—on the oldest spiritual tradition we know of, found all around the world (04:09)
• How was Roger drawn to write about shamanism? (06:36)
• Realizing at the heart of the world’s great religious traditions are psychospiritual technologies—actual practices—to induce the same states of consciousness the founders had discovered (09:31)
• Shamanism was the one tradition Roger couldn’t understand—after waiting for a good book on it to come out, Roger decided to write it himself (10:46) 
• John’s experiences with Durwin White Lightning and Wallace Black Elk of the Lakota tribe, and the shamanic effects of connecting with nature (13:35)
• Roger’s investigation of shamanism included intensive training with Michael Harner, gnostic intermediary who introduced shamanism to the western world (18:38)
• Through direct experience and a lot of study, including the integral framework of Ken Wilber, Roger brings a big picture perspective to shamanism (22:54)
• Native American spirituality, death medicine, and the transformative power of the sweat lodge (23:39)
• The power of the rhythm of the drum in ceremony (27:27)
• The suffering in our world today reflects the artificial environments in which we live (30:17)
• The shamanic tradition is closely wedded to nature; going through endurances in the wild to help your people (35:08)
• John’s experience with vision questing and wolves (37:15)

• Roger Walsh, The World of Shamanism: New Views of an Ancient Tradition* (2nd edition)
• Roger Walsh, Essential Spirituality: The 7 Central Practices to Awaken Heart and Mind*
• Roger's website: https://drrogerwalsh.com
• Mircea Eliade, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy*
• Wallace Black Elk, Black Elk: The Sacred Ways of a Lakota*
• Michael Harner, founder of Core Shamanism, author of The Way of the Shaman*
• Charles Lawrence on the Deep Transformation podcast: Everything is Sacred: Native American Wisdom on Following Your Destiny, Living Joyously, Dying Fearlessly & Dancing in a World Beyond Everyday Consciousness

* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.

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Dr. Roger Walsh, M.D., Ph.D. DHL, is an author and longtime professor of psychiatry, philosophy, anthropology, and religious studies. Roger’s research and writings span several areas, to include the nature of psychological health and well-being, meditation and contemplative practices, religion and spirituality, wisdom and other virtues, Integral studies, and the psychological roots of our current global crises. He is deeply immersed in contemplative practices as student, researcher, and teacher.

Roger’s books include Paths Beyond Ego (one of Common Boundary’s “Most Influential Books”), Meditation: Classic and Contemporary Perspectives (“Outstanding Academic Book of the Year Award”), Essential Spirituality: The Seven Central Practices with a foreword by the Dalai Lama, and The World of Shamanism. He is currently editing The World’s Great Wisdom: What Sages Say about Living Wisely and Well. 

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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 138 (Dialogue 1, Part 2 of 2) | In this rich and engaging conversation, the first episode of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, Hameed Ali gives us a beautiful overview of the Diamond Approach, which is a brilliant integration of teachings and a path of awakening born out of his own direct experience and informed by his deep understanding of the world’s great spiritual traditions and modern psychology. Here, Hameed details the many facets of the Diamond Approach that make it unique among spiritual paths, which leads down several intriguing avenues of exploration: What is the Diamond Approach’s understanding of the soul? How does spiritual guidance work? What are the four turnings that give context and structure to students on this spiritual path? Hameed delves, too, into the importance of inquiry on our road to discovering our true nature, love’s role in allowing us to trust reality, and the importance of realizing that the ultimate lives within each individual.

Hameed also shares personal aspects of his journey: how he was guided from the precise field of physics to the field of psychology, how he came to the revelation of the human soul, and what he attributes to why he has been so receptive to spiritual openings and realizations throughout his life. The Diamond Approach is not only about discovering the nature of absolute reality—it is also about realizing ultimate consciousness in ordinary life, to experience the beauty and richness of a life lived in simple freedom and enjoyment. As Hameed says, “Know, by engaging the path, it is possible to be free.” Recorded June 13, 2024.

“To get into the spiritual universe and find the richness, the beauty, and the freedom, you need to go deep – you need to go vertical not horizontal.”

(For Apple Podcast users, click here to view the complete show notes on the episode page.)

• What has allowed Hameed to be so unusually receptive to spiritual realizations and teachings? (00:51)
• How Hameed was guided from physics to psychology (03:13)
• How psychology got integrated into the Diamond Approach (07:36)
• Unique to the Diamond Approach is Hameed doesn’t throw away any of what he has experienced, even as things continue to change (08:47)
• The four turnings are a way of organizing the teaching for students, giving context and framework (10:38)
• Applying knowledge of the spiritual deep to physics (11:45)
• Inquiry: the process of dissolving obstacles and discovering reality (15:16)
• The first of the four turnings: experiencing realizations as a free and timeless individual—ordinary spirituality (18:25)
• The second turning is nondual: one is the vastness, the ocean of awareness (20:09)
• The third turning: the realization of nonlocality, the whole universe is in a grain of sand and I am the grain of sand (21:26)
• The fourth turning includes many realizations—one of which is the realization of “nobody here” (22:30)
• The fifth turning begins with indeterminacy (24:01)
• The turnings came to Hameed as a sequence, but there is no limit to potential awakenings (25:18)
• This path is not for everybody and the importance of validating each spiritual path (27:18)
• Inquiry is a skill of consciousness (29:35)
• For true realization you need to go deep—not horizontal but vertical (31:45)
• The motivation is different for different people, but the important thing is to feel the fire, the passion…and know, by engaging the path, it is possible to be free (33:07)

• A. H. Almaas, The Inner Journey Home: Soul’s Realization of the Unity of Reality*
• Object relations theory
• A. H. Almaas, Space Cruiser Inquiry: True Guidance for the Inner Journey*
• The Ridhwan School, home of the Diamond Approach, founded by A. H. Almaas
• A. H. Almaas, Runaway Realization: Living a Life of Ceaseless Discovery*

Note: The A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series will generally follow the sequence of Hameed’s magnum opus, The Inner Journey Home* (which John describes as “psychoactive and spiritually, psychologically, and intellectually transformative”), so listeners may want to get a copy of this book, to study and follow along on this exhilarating path of awakening.

* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.

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A. Hameed Ali (A. H. Almaas) was born in Kuwait in 1944. At the age of eighteen, he moved to the U.S. to study at the University of California in Berkeley. Hameed was working on his Ph.D. in physics when he reached a turning point in his life and destiny that led him to inquire into the psychological and spiritual aspects of human nature rather than the physical nature of the universe. He left the academic world to pursue an in-depth journey of inner discovery, applying his scientific precision and discipline to personal, experiential research. This included study with different teachers in different modalities, extensive reading, and continuous study of his own consciousness in an effort to understand the essential nature of human experience and reality in general.

Hameed’s process of exploration led to the creation of the Ridhwan School and, with his colleague Karen Johnson, resulted in the founding and unfoldment of the Diamond Approach. He is the author of 20 books, including Nondual Love: Awakening to the Loving Nature of Reality, Love Unveiled: Discovering the Essence of the Awakened Heart, Keys to the Enneagram: How to Unlock the Highest Potential of Every Personality Type, The Unfolding Now: Realizing Your True Nature through the Practice of Presence, and more.

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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 137 (Dialogue 1, Part 1 of 2) | In this rich and engaging conversation, the first episode of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, Hameed Ali gives us a beautiful overview of the Diamond Approach, which is a brilliant integration of teachings and a path of awakening born out of his own direct experience and informed by his deep understanding of the world’s great spiritual traditions and modern psychology. Here, Hameed details the many facets of the Diamond Approach that make it unique among spiritual paths, which leads down several intriguing avenues of exploration: What is the Diamond Approach’s understanding of the soul? How does spiritual guidance work? What are the four turnings that give context and structure to students on this spiritual path? Hameed delves, too, into the importance of inquiry on our road to discovering our true nature, love’s role in allowing us to trust reality, and the importance of realizing that the ultimate lives within each individual.

Hameed also shares personal aspects of his journey: how he was guided from the precise field of physics to the field of psychology, how he came to the revelation of the human soul, and what he attributes to why he has been so receptive to spiritual openings and realizations throughout his life. The Diamond Approach is not only about discovering the nature of absolute reality—it is also about realizing ultimate consciousness in ordinary life, to experience the beauty and richness of a life lived in simple freedom and enjoyment. As Hameed says, “Know, by engaging the path, it is possible to be free.” Recorded June 13, 2024.

“Regardless of how transcendent or vast, nondual or whatever, is the ultimate nature, the important thing is how it lives as an individual human being living an ordinary human life and enjoying this life the way it can be enjoyed—to the fullest of its possibilities.”

(For Apple Podcast users, click here to view the complete show notes on the episode page.)

• Introducing the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, exploring the complete path of awakening developed by Hameed Ali—the Diamond Approach (01:06)
• John speaks to how this podcast series is based on Hameed’s life’s work, summarized in his transformative book The Inner Journey Home (04:46)
• The Inner Journey Home: a brilliant integration of teachings as well as a first person account of divine grace (07:34)
• What is the Diamond Approach and why is it unique? (09:34)
• The inner body is the lens that, as it turns, sees reality in a different way and reveals different teachings (12:13)
• The Diamond Approach recognizes the validity of many different spiritual traditions and that there are multiple possible realizations (15:00)
• After a Nyingma empowerment workshop, Hameed realized a different universe than the Dzogchen universe (16:28)
• How does spiritual guidance work? It guides the consciousness in how to be open to the next revelation (17:25)
• A universal commonality the Diamond Approach has with all spiritual teachings is that there is a true spiritual nature to all being, all life (18:44)
• The Diamond Approach emphasizes that this life has its own value (21:37)
• The individual is not an illusion—the human soul is an expression of fundamental reality manifesting as individual consciousness (24:07)
• Spiritual realization can’t happen without a human being to experience it (26:46)
• What is the Diamond Approach’s understanding of the soul? (27:32)
• Hameed discovered the soul later in the teachings—after the true nature of fundamental consciousness and the absolute (30:28)

• The Ridhwan School, home of the Diamond Approach, founded by A. H. Almaas (Hameed Ali)
• A. H. Almaas, The Inner Journey Home: Soul’s Realization of the Unity of Reality*
• A. H. Almaas, Runaway Realization: Living a Life of Ceaseless Discovery*
• Ramana Maharshi, Hindu sage and liberated being, Who Am I?: The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi*
• Nyingma, oldest of the 4 major schools of Tibetan Buddhism
• Kashmir Shaivism and Shaivism’s tattvas
• Sufi master Ibn Arabi, “God needs a soul just as much as a soul needs God”

Note: The A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series will generally follow the sequence of Hameed’s magnum opus, The Inner Journey Home* (which John describes as “psychoactive and spiritually, psychologically, and intellectually transformative”), so listeners may want to get a copy of this book, to study and follow along on this exhilarating path of awakening.

* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.

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A. Hameed Ali (A. H. Almaas) was born in Kuwait in 1944. At the age of eighteen, he moved to the U.S. to study at the University of California in Berkeley. Hameed was working on his Ph.D. in physics when he reached a turning point in his life and destiny that led him to inquire into the psychological and spiritual aspects of human nature rather than the physical nature of the universe. He left the academic world to pursue an in-depth journey of inner discovery, applying his scientific precision and discipline to personal, experiential research. This included study with different teachers in different modalities, extensive reading, and continuous study of his own consciousness in an effort to understand the essential nature of human experience and reality in general.

Hameed’s process of exploration led to the creation of the Ridhwan School and, with his colleague Karen Johnson, resulted in the founding and unfoldment of the Diamond Approach. He is the author of 20 books, including Nondual Love: Awakening to the Loving Nature of Reality, Love Unveiled: Discovering the Essence of the Awakened Heart, Keys to the Enneagram: How to Unlock the Highest Potential of Every Personality Type, The Unfolding Now: Realizing Your True Nature through the Practice of Presence, and more.

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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 136 (Part 2 of 2) | Criminal justice professor and constitutional law expert Mark Fischler does a brilliant job of deepening our understanding of the challenges facing our democracy, our legal system, and our public morality. How did the democratic process and the values it represents—equality and liberty for all—come to be teetering on the brink? Mark illuminates the fact that the Constitution is not a set-in-stone document, but eminently open to interpretation, and explains that its interpretation is a direct reflection of the worldviews of the Supreme Court justices. In fact, the whole process of democracy needs to be aligned with a certain level of development in order to deliver. Mark points out that democracy hasn’t served all of us, and urges us to explore who and in what ways it has failed, that we may work to correct its flaws and continue to uphold and expand the values foundational to democracy to include respecting and protecting the rights of all beings.

Mark contrasts the moral integrity of revered public figures such as Socrates and Dr. King, who honored the rule of law despite that it went against their own self interest, with the disregard for the law so prevalent among political figures today, and points out that democracy can be subverted not only by malicious intent, but also by misplaced idealism—when people feel that supporting a charismatic leader or ideology is more important than supporting the principles of democracy. With regard to the Trump trials, the question arises, is any human above the law? Mark also shares where he finds hope—in his own university students with their openness to a deeper ethical understanding and responsibility and willingness to undertake civic action. Mark urges all of us who care about democracy to become engaged now. His wise, integral, highly informed insights about the current state of the legal system and of democracy, here and around the world, are revelatory, alarming, and inspiring in turn. Recorded May 22, 2024.

“It’s time for us to take absolute responsibility for our democracy: if you have a democracy, you need to be engaged and involved.“

(For Apple Podcast users, click here to view the complete show notes on the episode page.)

• Democracy only functions properly when there is a foundational rule of law, and the moral integrity of Socrates (01:08)
• Trumpian politics/political chicanery vs conservative or progressive politics (05:25)
• Roe vs. Wade and how we have lost the ability to have a sincere conversation about postnatal care (08:19)
• We are suffering as a people from our inability to enter into a dialectic (09:23)
• We are not the only democracy at risk: the rise of authoritarianism, populism & demagoguery around the world (12:28)
• Is there any precedent for a president to be immune from prosecution? (13:27)
• What is an “official act”? January 6th and interpreting if an act is official or criminal (16:41)
• Back to democracy at risk: what are democratic values about? (22:19)
• How is democracy subverted? (23:54) 
• Misplaced idealism can undermine democracy and subvert the rule of law (27:23)
• Educated citizenry and moving through levels of development to where we recognize the equal dignity of everyone (29:55)
• With the internet, there are no consistent, shared news sources, no awareness of civic responsibility (32:52)
• We need to own that democracy has not worked for everybody (37:09)
• So much depends on our intention: is it about me and mine or the wellbeing of all? (41:13)
• What gives Mark hope? Mark’s students and their openness to a deeper ethical understanding and responsibility (43:27) 
• It’s time for us to take absolute responsibility for our democracy: if you have a democracy, you need to be engaged and involved (44:25)

• The Integral Justice Warrior series, co-hosted by Mark Fischler and Corey deVos (on the Integral Life website)
• Linda Greenhouse, Pulitzer Prize winner who reported on the Supreme Court for The New York Times from 1978 to 2008, author of The U.S. Supreme Court: A Very Short Introduction*, Justice on the Brink: A Requiem for the Supreme Court*, The Burger Court and the Rise of the Judicial Right*, and more.
• The Federalist Society and Originalism
• The Warren Court, 1953-1969
• Justice Scalia’s Contradictory Originalism (New Yorker article)
• Plato, Crito’s dialogue with Socrates
• Sinclair Lewis, It Can’t Happen Here*

* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.

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Mark Fischler is a Professor of Criminal Justice and current program coordinator for the criminal justice and criminology programs at Plymouth State University. Prior to joining the Plymouth State faculty, he practiced law, representing poor criminal defendants for the New Hampshire Public Defender’s Office. Mark left the law after being guided by the Universe to focus on his Spiritual Awareness for almost two years. Upon his return, he was called to become a teacher and accepted a job at Plymouth State in 2003. 

Since then, Mark has worked extensively with alternative theoretical models in law, constitutional law, and higher education, and has published on integral applications to teaching, being a lawyer, and legal theory. In his time at the university, he’s been a chair, Dean, and Interim VP. His focus in the classroom is ethics and criminal procedure and constitutional law. He is well respected for a teaching philosophy that emphasizes recognizing the humanity and dignity of each student. Professor Fischler was awarded the outstanding teaching award at his university in 2014. He currently offers a weekly Spiritual Inquiry class for college students.

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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell