Deep Transformation

Ep. 115 (Part 1 of 3) | Brad Reynolds, author of Embracing Reality: The Integral Vision of Ken Wilber and Where’s Wilber At? Ken Wilber’s Integral Vision in the New Millennium, gives us a beautiful distillation of Ken Wilber’s work, starting from the beginning and spanning decades. Not only does Brad elegantly relate the major themes of Ken’s work, he also makes clear the value of Ken’s contributions—the way this knowledge can be understood and applied to literally expand our notion of reality and evolve our consciousness. Brad deftly leads us through the subjects that Ken has developed: the spectrum of consciousness, the integration of science and religion, transcending and including what has come before, the importance of the transpersonal, and much more. We learn why Ken’s teachings are timeless and also so relevant and important today.

Brad’s scholarship, his own spiritual practice and insight, his engaging, easygoing style, and the close working relationship he had with Ken for many years make this podcast a goldmine for learning the essence of Ken’s theories, for deepening our appreciation of the magnitude of Ken’s understanding, and above all, the topics covered here point the way for us to evolve as human beings. We come to understand that integral is much more than a theory: it’s a practice, a call to grow and transcend, to become more inclusive, more responsive—to live our true potential. Brad eloquently brings it home just how much we need integral thinkers and leaders right now, with regressive developmental trends on the rise. Especially pertinent in our polarized society, integral shows us how to take all that is valuable within ostensibly conflicting worldviews and integrate it for the benefit of all. Recorded January 3, 2024.

“Ken’s theory is based upon the reality of his transpersonal awareness—in other words, it’s based upon practice.”

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

• Introducing author Brad Reynolds, who has synthesized Ken Wilber’s life work in his book Embracing Reality (01:01)
• What led to getting involved with Ken Wilber? How Ken treated the subject of human evolution with extraordinary depth to include stages of development and the contributions of mystical traditions (03:16)
• Ken’s teachings are timeless partly because he encourages people to take up spiritual practice—something that will always be very important (10:57) 
• What are Ken’s main contributions? Evolution and development of consciousness using a spectrum model (12:55)
• Using psychedelics as an entheogen in the 70s: trying to understand the manifold secrets of spirituality (13:32)
• Ken’s pre-trans fallacy is an excellent critique of scientific materialism, modernity & postmodernity, exploring the development of mysticism and having it transcend and include rational, magical & mythical thinking (17:57)
• The beauty of using the spectrum model (21:56)
• How our center of gravity influences us and the attractor aspect of higher levels of development that awaken us to new possibilities (23:28)
• Ken’s Phase 1: The spectrum of consciousness, how different psychologies and contemplative traditions address different levels of the spectrum (25:01)
• Ken’s Phase 2: The evolution revolution and Ken’s satori experience that the entire spectrum itself is grounded in divine consciousness (27:09)
• How did Ken address the stages of development, or fulcrums, to new and higher worldviews? (31:48)
• Ken subdivided even the transpersonal stages and identified their place on the developmental arc in a way no one had ever done before (34:46)
• Ken not only outlined stage-specific pathologies but the therapies that would work best for each (35:58)

• Brad Reynolds’ website: https://integralartandstudies.com
• Brad Reynolds, Embracing Reality: The Integral Vision of Ken Wilber*
• Brad Reynolds, Where’s Wilber At?: Ken Wilber’s Integral Vision in the New Millennium*
• Brad Reynolds, God’s Great Tradition of Global Wisdom: Guru Yoga-Satsang in the Integral Age*
• Ken Wilber, Up From Eden: A Transpersonal View of Human Evolution*
• Louise Leakey, paleontologist & anthropologist with National Graphic Explorations
• Institute of Human Origins
• Adi Da, spiritual teacher
• Ken Wilber, A Sociable God: Toward a New Understanding of Religion*
• California Institute of Integral Studies
• Ken Wilber, Sex, Ecology, Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution*
• Aldous Huxley, The Perennial Philosophy*
• Ken Wilber, The Spectrum of Consciousness*
• Huston Smith, The World’s Religions*
• Ken Wilber, The Atman Project: A Transpersonal View of Human Development*
• Ken Wilber, Odyssey: A Personal Inquiry into Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychology, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Winter 1982, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 57-90, see also Brad’s introduction to Embracing Reality, section titled “Ken Wilber’s Personal Odyssey“
• Ken Wilber, Eye to Eye: The Quest for the New Paradigm*
• Piaget’s 4 Stages of Cognitive Development & Theory
• Ken Wilber, Jack Engler & Daniel Brown, Transformations of Consciousness: Conventional and Contemplative Perspectives On Development*

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

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Brad Reynolds did graduate work at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) before leaving to study under Ken Wilber for nearly a decade (1995-2004), and published two books reviewing Wilber’s work: Embracing Reality: The Integral Vision of Ken Wilber (Tarcher, 2004) and Where’s Wilber At?: Ken Wilber’s Integral Vision in the New Millennium (Paragon House, 2006). He recently published a book reviewing the world’s wisdom traditions called God’s Great Tradition of Global Wisdom: Guru Yoga-Satsang in the Integral Age (Bright Alliance, 2021). Brad is also a graphic artist, laying out books and designing a wide variety of graphics for publication as well as continuing his work in Integral Philosophy and the study of world religions.

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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 114 | Presidential candidate Marianne Williamson is astonishing in her openness, authenticity, and candor in this moving conversation that enlightens on a spiritual level as well as a political one. First, we learn why she is running for president, and how she thinks she can help America. As Marianne explains it, her talent lies in translating what is happening so people can grasp the full picture. “Everybody sees it,” she says, talking about our money-driven culture and corrupt political system, “but not everybody can put the pieces together.” She adds that if people were to fully understand what is going on, it would create a space for transformation to occur. Marianne’s remarkable ability to consider all sides of an issue and look beyond symptoms to the root cause of some of our greatest problems is also evident, from calling on liberals to assume their share of responsibility for allowing this country to decline morally in the way that it has to her understanding of the political and psychological forces driving the Israel-Hamas war.

More than a political talk, Marianne reveals a psychological and spiritual portrait of the United States, referencing the brilliant vision of our founding fathers, Martin Luther King’s goal of Beloved Community, and telling a stirring story of the way Abraham Lincoln’s second inauguration reflects the high morality of the populace at that time. On a personal level, Marianne’s uncompromising path towards growth and transformation is both clear and inspiring—she talks about the importance of taking 100% responsibility for one’s experience, about practicing what you preach, living a life of service, and the reality of love. The only thing that is missing from any situation, Marianne tells us, is what we can do about it. Recorded January 9, 2024.

“We don’t need just another technocrat or political car mechanic…we’re on the wrong road.”

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

• Introducing bestselling author and 2024 presidential candidate Marianne Williamson (01:10)
• On the importance of practicing what you preach, living a life of service (02:06) 
• We’re living in a very mean-spirited time: people smear, lie, and ruin others very casually (03:50)
• The division now is more between decent and indecent than left and right (04:55)
• The effects of social media and the argument Trump created of “why not?” Now everything is a mud bath (06:18)
• The commodification of our culture: everybody sees it (07:06)
• Marianne is running for president because she can translate what’s happening to people, thereby creating a space where things can actually transform (07:58)
• The lack of values we need to concern ourselves with is neoliberalism—by our own passive permission, we are on some level acquiescing, making way for demagogues (10:17)
• We made a businessman (Trump) a god and now we see the consequences (13:44)
• The American people are not the problem (15:22)
• Take 100% responsibility for your experience or you won’t be able to change it (16:45)
• Running for president, waking up to the ugliest things you can imagine, has been Marianne’s greatest spiritual crucible: what an opportunity to forgive herself and others (18:31)
• How Marianne addresses symptoms and problems but also their underlying psychological and spiritual roots: “We’ve got to address root cause” (24:01)
• The Israel-Hamas War and unprocessed trauma: if your own trauma is unprocessed you are incapable of being present for the suffering of others (26:50)
• Dr. Martin Luther King on the political externalization of the goal of desegregation versus the ultimate true goal of Beloved Community—then and now in Israel and Palestine (29:03)
• John’s comparison of Marianne and Abraham Lincoln (32:00)
• Why politicians have become wooden and inauthentic (33:22) 
• What Marianne has learned personally and a message to the people (35:49)
• The second election of Abraham Lincoln: amazingly, the people voted against their best interest to free slaves
• An idea grows stronger when it is shared—and the Deep Transformation podcast (41:02)

• Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of “A Course in Miracles”*
• Helen Schucman, A Course of Miracles* (Foundation for Inner Peace)
• Martin Luther King’s legacy: The Coalition of Conscience
• Physicist Sir James Jeans, The Mysterious Universe*
• Deep Transformation episode #104, Shachar Erez: Coping with the Horrors of War: An Israeli Therapist Shares the Agony, Grief & Uncertainty of Wartime, Insights on Alleviating Trauma, and the Grace of Integral-Spiritual Practice
• Dr. Martin Luther King’s vision of The Beloved Community
• Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life* 
• Abraham Lincoln’s deeply spiritual second inaugural speech

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

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Marianne Williamson is a bestselling author, political activist, and spiritual thought leader. For over three decades, she has been a leader in spiritual and religiously progressive circles. She is the author of 15 books, four of which have been #1 New York Times bestsellers. In 1989, Marianne founded Project Angel Food, a non-profit organization that has delivered more than 16 million meals to ill and dying homebound patients. She has also worked throughout her career on poverty, anti-hunger, and racial reconciliation issues. In 2004, she co-founded The Peace Alliance and supports the creation of a U.S. Department of Peace. Marianne ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020 and is currently a candidate in the 2024 presidential election.

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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 113 (Part 2 of 2) | Bruce Alderman, poet, mystic, and spiritual explorer, is also an integral scholar and pioneer of the emerging field of metatheory, looking at how to put our disparate fields of information—spiritual, psychological, philosophical, environmental, scientific—together and integrate them into a useful whole. Here Bruce tells the tale of how he was drawn into an experiential exploration of different worldviews, how he came to find the value in navigating different spiritual traditions, and how he discovered how to integrate mystical experiences, Asian spiritual teachings, and Western education, science, and psychology. Bruce’s unique understanding of interreligious relationships and their potential for meeting current challenges informs his call to the global community of spiritual practitioners to dialogue, critique, deeply listen, and reap the benefits of reflecting back to the other a view that takes them deeper in their understanding of their own position. Bruce also shares a brilliant vision of leadership training practices for developing the skills leaders will need to navigate the unfolding global crises of our time. This program will take form in the upcoming Blue Sky Leaders program at the California Institute of Integral Studies.

Bruce is beautifully eloquent on many levels, sharing insights on intensifying our intimate experience of Being, trusting our dialogue with Being to bear fruit, and finding coherence while holding multiple paths. Bruce describes his turn towards scholarship and academia as “dancing on the subtle plane,” and thinking as one spiritual practice among many—a practice of union. There are so many gems of wisdom here, relayed in Bruce’s gently humorous, humble, and erudite manner. Bruce also inspires on how each of us can become a change agent simply by being integrous with who we are. Recorded December 6, 2023.

“We can each become change agents just by being integrous with who we are.”

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

• The wild knot as symbol for a human being or culture: we are threads of a relationship that don’t have a final terminus (00:53)
• The challenges of our time and the need for entangled deep listening (01:59)
• A leadership training program that includes ongoing contemplative inquiry & practice, and also looks at cultural, political, ecological & spiritual dynamics and new cosmologies (02:26)
• Hyperobjects: you can’t see climate change, economic collapse, or evolution from a local point of view—it demands collective vision to perceive and apprehend it (04:13) 
• Bruce’s vision for leadership development and the Blue Sky Leaders program empower people to serve in the great issues of our time (06:13)
• The bodhisattva ideal is both empowering and self-canceling (10:07)
• The metaphor of light, salt, and leaven for anyone wanting to be a change agent and serve the flourishing of life (13:23)
• Krishnamurti’s idea of “living in learning” and a program that is “deliberately developmental” (16:42)
• What are the specific practices essential for cultivating leaders to navigate the crises that are unfolding? (22:00)
• We evolved to be optimally functional on a much smaller level—without proper grounding, facing world problems can cause existential crisis (26:13) 
• Holding a loving center, living and learning together (28:28)
• Back to interreligious practice: how interfaith dialogues and encounters have typically been handled: exclusivist, inclusivist, pluralist (33:24)
• In making room for multiple paths of spiritual practice, there is a danger of moving into instrumentalism, thinking practices are mere recipes (36:31)
• The grit to do the practices and the humility of opening to grace (39:36)
• What are Bruce’s practices today? (40:21)
• Bruce’s TSK practice (attuning to time/space/knowledge) that leads him to deep integration (41:35)
• Nonfinality: how each awakening leads to yet another, sacred secularity (45:35)
• How did Bruce enter into his exquisite scholarship? Philosophy and academic work is just another way to dance on the subtle plane (49:41)

• The wild knot in knot theory
• Timothy Morton, Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World*
• Blue Sky Leaders program, CA Institute of Integral Studies
• What’s the Future (WTF) and What Can We Do About It? Integral Conference, Sedona 2022
• Roy Bhaskar, English philosopher of science who initiated the philosophical movement of critical realism
• Robert Kegan, An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization*
• A.H. Almaas, creator of The Diamond Approach
• Interview with Sean Kelly, Becoming Gaia (YouTube video), Becoming Gaia: On the Threshold of Planetary Initiation*
• James Bugental, On Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy (Interview on Psychotherapy.net)
• Time, Space & Knowledge (Nyingma Institute), Time, Space & Knowledge: A New Vision of Reality*
• Raimon Panikkar, Sacred Secularity
• Hameed Ali (A.H. Almaas) on the Deep Transformation podcast: Nonduality and Beyond: The Exhilarating Adventure of Discovering the Nature of Reality and How Awakenings Can Unfold Endlessly
• Michael Dowd, Thank God for Evolution*
• Henryk Skolimowski, The Participatory Mind: A New Theory of Knowledge and of the Universe*
• George Lakoff & Mark Johnson, Metaphors We Live By*
• Bruce Alderman, Generative (En)Closures, Bubbles and Magic Circles: A Chat about Integral Postmetaphysical Spirituality and Religion–Bruce Alderman with Edward Berge and Layman Pascal
• Bruce Alderman, Associate Director, Blue Sky Leaders program, CA Institute of Integral Studies
• Bruce Alderman, Teacher in the Consciousness, Psychology, and Transformation Program at National University
• Bruce Alderman, co-host and producer, The Integral Stage YouTube channel

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

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Bruce Alderman, M.A., is affiliate faculty in the JFK School of Psychology in the Consciousness, Psychology, and Transformation program at National University, and the Associate Director of the Blue Sky Leaders program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. He received his master’s degree in Integral Psychology, with an emphasis on Transpersonal Counseling Psychology, from John F Kennedy University in 2005. Prior to working at NU and CIIS, Bruce taught and studied abroad in Asia for several years, including teaching courses on creative writing and inquiry at the Rajghat Besant School, a Krishnamurti school in Varanasi, India. He has published essays in the Journal of Integral Theory and Practice and Consciousness Journal, as well as in several anthologies on Integral philosophy and spirituality, and recently self-published a book of collected poetry. For the past 4 years, he has produced and co-hosted The Integral Stage YouTube channel and podcast.

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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 112 (Part 1 of 2) | Bruce Alderman, poet, mystic, and spiritual explorer, is also an integral scholar and pioneer of the emerging field of metatheory, looking at how to put our disparate fields of information—spiritual, psychological, philosophical, environmental, scientific—together and integrate them into a useful whole. Here Bruce tells the tale of how he was drawn into an experiential exploration of different worldviews, how he came to find the value in navigating different spiritual traditions, and how he discovered how to integrate mystical experiences, Asian spiritual teachings, and Western education, science, and psychology. Bruce’s unique understanding of interreligious relationships and their potential for meeting current challenges informs his call to the global community of spiritual practitioners to dialogue, critique, deeply listen, and reap the benefits of reflecting back to the other a view that takes them deeper in their understanding of their own position. Bruce also shares a brilliant vision of leadership training practices for developing the skills leaders will need to navigate the unfolding global crises of our time. This program will take form in the upcoming Blue Sky Leaders program at the California Institute of Integral Studies.

Bruce is beautifully eloquent on many levels, sharing insights on intensifying our intimate experience of Being, trusting our dialogue with Being to bear fruit, and finding coherence while holding multiple paths. Bruce describes his turn towards scholarship and academia as “dancing on the subtle plane,” and thinking as one spiritual practice among many—a practice of union. There are so many gems of wisdom here, relayed in Bruce’s gently humorous, humble, and erudite manner. Bruce also inspires on how each of us can become a change agent simply by being integrous with who we are. Recorded December 6, 2023.

“We of the global community of spiritual practitioners owe it to each other to dialogue, critique, and deeply listen.“

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

• Introducing spiritual pioneer, polymath, and master of metatheory, Bruce Alderman (01:38)
• How Bruce was drawn into an experiential exploration of different worldviews (04:06)
• Bruce’s first mystical experiences (07:17)
• Traveling in Asia, studying music & meditation, not wanting to have to choose one tradition to the exclusion of others (08:37)
• How to integrate mystical desert experiences, Asian spiritual teachings, and Western education, science, psychology? (11:16)
• Finding the value in navigating different spiritual traditions and coming face to face with the contradictions between them (14:45)
• Practicing more than one path at once can cause anguish, incoherence, and also has distinct benefits, and how some traditions can hold the one and the many at the same time (19:55)
• As A. H. Almaas also came to, the recognition of co-ultimacy of multiple ultimates (22:20)
• Opening oneself to as much as one can: psyche and existence are self-awakening (23:56) 
• Hungry for the stories and experiences of humankind and all of their engagements with Being (25:59)
• The concept of generative enclosure: that consciousness is embedded in the environment and embodied in the body—our experience of the world is mediated by our own context (29:47)
• Spiritual practice, focusing our enclosures, can invite an intensification of our own experience of being (31:32) 
• Generative (en)closures, bubbles, and magic circles (33:29)
• Language is an enactment of being (34:22)
• Metaphysics tends to look at things with nouns, but what’s coming forward is prepositional modes of being/thinking, intercontextuality, and adverbial thinking—recognizing that being unfolds in different ways at different times (35:34)
• With/in (with, in, and within) a holographic, nondual recognition, the world is in you and you are in the world, I am with you, you are in me, I am in you (37:46)
• We of the global community of spiritual practitioners owe it to each other to dialogue, critique, and deeply listen (41:33)
• There’s no one final point: we call the idea of an ultimate holon the ass holon (44:26)
• Leadership: we can each become agents of transformation, healing, and insight by being integrous with who we are (46:25)
• The Blue Sky Leaders program is designed around the question, How do we navigate the deep challenges of our time? (47:29) 
• Different styles of leadership: emperor or servant-based (50:36)
• Ryan Nakade’s platinum man model: making it a practice to be able to reflect back to the other a view that takes them deeper in their understanding of their own position (52:24)

• Bruce Alderman, Generative (En)Closures, Bubbles and Magic Circles: A Chat about Integral Postmetaphysical Spirituality and Religion–Bruce Alderman with Edward Berge and Layman Pascal
• Bruce Alderman, Associate Director, Blue Sky Leaders program, CA Institute of Integral Studies
• Bruce Alderman, Teacher in the Consciousness, Psychology, and Transformation Program at National University
• Bruce Alderman, co-host and producer, The Integral Stage YouTube channel
• Thomas Merton, Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist & scholar of comparative religion, An Introduction to Christian Mysticism: Initiation Into the Monastic Tradition*, The Wisdom of the Desert* et. al.
• Jiddu Krishnamurti & David Bohm, The Ending of Time: Where Philosophy and Physics Meet* 
• Jiddu Krishnamurti, The Awakening of Intelligence*
• Ken Wilber, Sex, Ecology, Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution*
• Bruce Alderman, Opening Space for Translineage Practice (Journal of Integral Theory and Practice)
• Bruce Alderman, Sophia Speaks: An Integral Grammar of Philosophy
• A.H. Almaas, creator of The Diamond Approach, see also Deep Transformation podcast episode #43, Nonduality and Beyond: The Exhilarating Adventure of Discovering the Nature of Reality and How Awakenings Can Unfold Endlessly
• Tarthan Tulku, Time, Space & Knowledge (Nyingma Institute), Time, Space & Knowledge: A New Vision of Reality*
• Augustine, The Confessions of Saint Augustine*
• Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life*
• Bruno Latour & Michel Serres, Conversations on Science, Culture, and Time*
• Roy Bhaskar, English philosopher of science who initiated the philosophical movement of critical realism
• Edgar Morin, On Complexity*
• Ken Wilber, Nonduality archives (Integral Life website) 
• David Bohm and the Holographic Universe (Futurism article)
• Raimon Panikkar, Sacred Secularity
• Metamodern community: Perspectiva website
• Ryan Nakade, Straw Man, Steel Man, and All Those Other Men (YouTube video)

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

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Bruce Alderman, M.A., is affiliate faculty in the JFK School of Psychology in the Consciousness, Psychology, and Transformation program at National University, and the Associate Director of the Blue Sky Leaders program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. He received his master’s degree in Integral Psychology, with an emphasis on Transpersonal Counseling Psychology, from John F Kennedy University in 2005. Prior to working at NU and CIIS, Bruce taught and studied abroad in Asia for several years, including teaching courses on creative writing and inquiry at the Rajghat Besant School, a Krishnamurti school in Varanasi, India. He has published essays in the Journal of Integral Theory and Practice and Consciousness Journal, as well as in several anthologies on Integral philosophy and spirituality, and recently self-published a book of collected poetry. For the past 4 years, he has produced and co-hosted The Integral Stage YouTube channel and podcast.

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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 111 (Part 2 of 2) | Colette Baron-Reid and Dr. Bob Weathers shine a bright light on the big picture state of addiction in our fragmented culture today—how people have become addicted to disconnection, dissociation, and identifying as victims in addition to substance use and other more traditional addictions—as well as sharing the essential elements and practices that have made their sustained long-term recovery possible. Dr. Bob explains that the first step in addressing addiction is to humanize the conversation around it and why. Our tendency toward addiction is universal, embedded in human nature itself, for one. And research shows that people who have suffered childhood trauma are five to ten times more susceptible to becoming addicts—their stress threshold five to ten times lower than other people’s, their stress hormones five to ten times higher. Studies also show that addiction is the most highly stigmatized mental disorder of all. It is humbling to realize what addicts are up against, calling us to compassion, understanding, and action.

Both Colette and Bob are solidly grounded in long-term sobriety and deeply dedicated to helping others out of their suffering. Top down, intellectual information is clearly not adequate to sustain recovery—so what is? Spiritual connection, social connection, shadow work, healing shame, surrendering. As Colette says, “In recovery, you discover there is something greater than yourself, your pain, your story, and your limitations—this is the solace.” There comes a turning point when it stops being all about us, and the desire to serve arises. With service comes the all-important experience of belonging. As Bob relates, “It’s not just about not drugging or drinking—I want a vital life.” And what is missing on a global, universal level? Again, connection and community. Recorded August 28, 2023. 

“Gratitude is the abracadabra that creates our reality. Forgiveness is essential too.”

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

• Trauma feeds directly into addiction: studies show childhood trauma victims are 5 to 10 times more at risk for addiction (00:59)
• Shadow work is absolutely required to sustain sobriety (05:07)
• Dealing with the shame element of shadow (06:58)
• Surrendering, letting go, opening up to other individuals and to your higher power (09:40)
• Living in 24-hour compartments (13:52)
• The effects of COVID on addiction: living in uncertainty and disconnection and how fear isolates us (15:07)
• Ideology addiction (20:40)
• The spiritual aspect of recovery (22:37)
• Colette’s practices today: conscious connection with a higher power, therapy, EMDR, cultivating humor, and more (25:39)  
• Bob’s recovery practice and how it evolved (30:09)
• The bedrock of forgiveness practice and gratitude practice (31:29)
• Service and love: you matter (37:23)

• CDC’s Adverse Childhood Experience studies 
• John Bradshaw, Healing the Shame that Binds You*
• The Serenity Prayer (Celebrate Recovery website)
• Carl Jung, The Archetypes and The Collective Unconscious* (opus contra naturam)
• The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous
• Guy du Plessis, addiction specialist, Ideology Addiction (on Medium)
• Bill W, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous
• James Finley, clinical psychologist, spiritual therapist, author of The Healing Path,* podcast host: Turning to the Mystics, see also James Finley on the Deep Transformation podcast: Sacred Psychotherapy: Bringing Depth & Spirit to Healing, Suffering & Trauma
• Noah Levine, Refuge Recovery: A Buddhist Path to Recovering from Addiction*
• John Dupuy, Integral Recovery: A Revolutionary Approach to the Treatment of Alcoholism and Addiction*
• The Freedom of Forgiveness, guided meditation with brainwave entrainment technology, created by Dr. Bob Weathers in collaboration with iAwake Technologies
• The Gift of Gratitude – Recovery Edition, guided meditation with brainwave entrainment technology, created by Dr. Bob Weathers in collaboration with iAwake Technologies 
• Energy Flows, brain wave enhancing guided meditations for aligning the 7 energy centers, created by Colette Baron-Reid in collaboration with iAwake Technologies
• Colette Baron-Reid’s website: https://www.colettebaronreid.com
• Colette’s podcast: Inside the Wooniverse, see also Deep Transformation episode #7, Living in Partnership with the Universe (YouTube version)
• Dr. Bob Weathers, recovery coach: https://www.drbobweathers.com, see also Deep Transformation episode #98, The Future of Addiction & Recovery

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

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Colette Baron-Reid (she/her) is a bestselling author, internationally acclaimed Oracle expert, spiritual intuitive, personal transformation thought leader, business strategist, artist, and educator. She’s the founder of The Oracle School Experience®, OraclePalooza® and the DreamQuest Platinum Mastermind. Colette is also the host of Inside the Wooniverse, a weekly podcast series featuring authentic and playful conversations with some of the world’s most interesting sages, scientists and celebrities. Author of 15 best-selling Oracle card decks, with over a million sold worldwide and 7 books published in 27 languages, Colette’s greatest joy is teaching people they can have a direct and personal dialog with the Universe to help them create their most fulfilling lives.

Dr. Bob Weathers is a highly regarded addiction educator, recovery coach, author, and public speaker. Over the course of his professional career, “Dr. Bob” has provided tens of thousands of hours of therapeutic counseling and recovery coaching to satisfied clients. He has also committed over four decades to teaching, training, and inspiring graduate-level mental health providers at several southern California universities, including helping to develop their nationally accredited addiction studies certificate and mindfulness-based clinical training coursework. His two most recent books on addiction recovery are currently in press with Cambridge University Press.

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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 110 (Part 1 of 2) | Colette Baron-Reid and Dr. Bob Weathers shine a bright light on the big picture state of addiction in our fragmented culture today—how people have become addicted to disconnection, dissociation, and identifying as victims in addition to substance use and other more traditional addictions—as well as sharing the essential elements and practices that have made their sustained long-term recovery possible. Dr. Bob explains that the first step in addressing addiction is to humanize the conversation around it and why. Our tendency toward addiction is universal, embedded in human nature itself, for one. And research shows that people who have suffered childhood trauma are five to ten times more susceptible to becoming addicts—their stress threshold five to ten times lower than other people’s, their stress hormones five to ten times higher. Studies also show that addiction is the most highly stigmatized mental disorder of all. It is humbling to realize what addicts are up against, calling us to compassion, understanding, and action.

Both Colette and Bob are solidly grounded in long-term sobriety and deeply dedicated to helping others out of their suffering. Top down, intellectual information is clearly not adequate to sustain recovery—so what is? Spiritual connection, social connection, shadow work, healing shame, surrendering. As Colette says, “In recovery, you discover there is something greater than yourself, your pain, your story, and your limitations—this is the solace.” There comes a turning point when it stops being all about us, and the desire to serve arises. With service comes the all-important experience of belonging. As Bob relates, “It’s not just about not drugging or drinking—I want a vital life.” And what is missing on a global, universal level? Again, connection and community. Recorded August 28, 2023.

“Addiction means to be enslaved.”

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

• Introducing Oracle expert, personal transformation thought leader, and bestselling author Colette Baron-Reid; and recovery coach, addiction educator, author & speaker, Dr. Bob Weathers (01:04)
• The changing face of addiction with technology and the internet: the addiction to disconnection, dissociation, even the addiction to identify as traumatized, as a victim (04:06)
• Colette’s entire reason for being clean & sober: conscious contact to a higher power (05:47)
• Fragmentation: addiction used to be more social, but now we are becoming more and more fragmented as we become increasingly disconnected (06:19)
• Victimology and the universal nature of addiction (07:51)
• Addiction is the most stigmatized of all disorders and 46.3 million Americans over 12 years old have been identified as substance use addicted (09:18) 
• Addiction means to be enslaved: the first step is to humanize the conversation about it (10:47)
• Normality is looking more and more like developmental arrest: we’re all fearful, addicted, and so much less than we could be (12:20)
• In recovery you discover there is something greater than yourself, your pain, your story, and your limitations—this is the solace (14:13)
• What are we here to recover? Our original face before we were born (15:28)
• The importance of practice: Roger’s therapeutic life changes (TLCs) and John’s work on Integral Recovery Practice (see Roger’s article and John’s book in the Resources below) (16:25)
• There is addiction…but then there is ADDICTION—the kind that is life threatening (17:40)
• For all of us the answer is finding connection. How can we find community? (20:31)
• A shift occurs in recovery when the idea of giving back, of service, of compassion kicks in (25:04)
• Along with connection, the experience of belonging is very important—it comes as a result of altruistic intentions (27:52)
• Like trauma, addiction is an overused and under-explained term: it’s important to acknowledge nuance and degree (30:21)
• Our society is a society of addiction (36:35)

• Colette Baron-Reid’s website: https://www.colettebaronreid.com
• Colette’s podcast: Inside the Wooniverse, see also Deep Transformation episode #7, Living in Partnership with the Universe (YouTube version)
• Dr. Bob Weathers, recovery coach: https://www.drbobweathers.com, see also Deep Transformation episode #98, The Future of Addiction & Recovery
• The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous
• Johns Hopkins University “Study: Public Feels More Negative Toward People With Drug Addiction Than Those With Mental Illness”
• Roger Walsh, Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLCs) Can Be Powerful Medicines 
• John Dupuy, Integral Recovery: A Revolutionary Approach to the Treatment of Alcoholism and Addiction*
• The Self-Medication Hypothesis of Substance Use Disorders, Harvard Review of Psychiatry, Modified Group Therapy for Substance Abusers, The American Journal on Addictions, The 10-Year Course of AA Participation and Long-Term Outcomes, Substance Use and Addiction Journal
• Edward Khantzian, Some Treatment Implications of the Ego and Self Disturbances in Alcoholism
• Johann Hari, The Opposite of Addiction is Connection* (YouTube video)
• Trauma expert Thomas Hubl, see also Deep Transformation episode #24, Healing Collective Trauma: We Are All Shareholders in a Traumatized World 
• Trauma expert Gabor Mate, The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture*
• Diagnostic creep
• Energy Flows, brain wave enhancing guided meditations for aligning the 7 energy centers, created by Colette Baron-Reid in collaboration with iAwake Technologies
• The Freedom of Forgiveness, guided meditation with brainwave entrainment technology, created by Dr. Bob Weathers in collaboration with iAwake Technologies
• The Gift of Gratitude – Recovery Edition, guided meditation with brainwave entrainment technology, created by Dr. Bob Weathers in collaboration with iAwake Technologies 

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

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Colette Baron-Reid (she/her) is a bestselling author, internationally acclaimed Oracle expert, spiritual intuitive, personal transformation thought leader, business strategist, artist, and educator. She’s the founder of The Oracle School Experience®, OraclePalooza® and the DreamQuest Platinum Mastermind. Colette is also the host of Inside the Wooniverse, a weekly podcast series featuring authentic and playful conversations with some of the world’s most interesting sages, scientists and celebrities. Author of 15 best-selling Oracle card decks, with over a million sold worldwide and 7 books published in 27 languages, Colette’s greatest joy is teaching people they can have a direct and personal dialog with the Universe to help them create their most fulfilling lives.

Dr. Bob Weathers is a highly regarded addiction educator, recovery coach, author, and public speaker. Over the course of his professional career, “Dr. Bob” has provided tens of thousands of hours of therapeutic counseling and recovery coaching to satisfied clients. He has also committed over four decades to teaching, training, and inspiring graduate-level mental health providers at several southern California universities, including helping to develop their nationally accredited addiction studies certificate and mindfulness-based clinical training coursework. His two most recent books on addiction recovery are currently in press with Cambridge University Press.

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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 109 (Part 2 of 2) | Dr. James Finley, clinical psychologist, trauma specialist, scholar, poet, and author of the powerful memoir, The Healing Path, has an extraordinary breadth and depth of understanding about trauma and the alchemical effects of adding a depth dimension to therapy. Here, he shares about his own experience of trauma and healing, the therapeutic effects of introducing the depth dimension to his clients, the dynamics of anger and forgiveness, the path of longing, and how love gives itself away in the preciousness of each moment, rendering ordinary life sacred. James’ profound understanding of grace is unmistakable, beautiful, riveting—both from personal experience and as a student of Thomas Merton, who introduced him to the wisdom of the mystics at the Trappist monastery, Gethsemani.

Practically everything James says is both a poem and a revelation, so whether you are Christian, Buddhist, or atheist, this conversation offers a therapeutic wisdom and understanding of trauma that goes way beyond the norm, as well as a transmission of infinite love, bottomless mercy. At the end, James laughs at how he is talking: “I can’t believe I’m talking like this…a traumatized kid from Akron, Ohio. It’s not coming from me; it’s flowing through me. All I’m doing is passing on what was passed on to me. So as it catches fire in you, it might pass through you into others.” Recorded August 17, 2023.

“Each person I meet is an infinitely loved broken person.”

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

• A story about the root broken place: Is there an end to love? (01:22)
• The bottomless abyss of love gives itself away in the preciousness of this moment, which renders it sacred (02:58) 
• We can’t bear being unconditionally loved (04:17)
• The path of longing: one longs to be freed of suffering, but there is also the longing that is an echo of God’s longing for us (05:21)
• The “thorn in the flesh” is your teacher and reminder, and how powerlessness unites us all (07:53)
• The “set aside” prayer in James’ memoir The Healing Path and the recognition that we live in bottomless mystery (09:36)
• A deeper way to understand lies in the deep acceptance of the limits of our understanding (10:55)
• The first pillar of three-fold practice: finding a quiet place for a daily rendezvous with God, discursive meditation, journaling (12:01)
• When you ask for help, that is the prayer—the prayer from the heart (15:34)
• The second & third pillars of practice: a teacher/guidance and community (17:08)
• James’ daily meditation practice and passing on the lineage, heart to heart (20:01)
• What is James’ attitude toward death? (24:19)
• How can I learn to die of love, at the hands of love, till there’s nothing left of me but love? (28:07)
• Accepting death you have freedom from the tyranny of death in the midst of death (29:15)
• Learned helplessness can transmute into a profound capacity to surrender and merge (31:30)
• How God enters through the wounded place, and the parable of being broken and whole (35:01)
• James’ thanks and his upcoming book on the mystical depths of the Enneagram and psychological and mystical discernment (37:50)

• Thomas Merton, The Seven Storey Mountain* et al.
• The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani
• Turning to Mechthild of Magdeburg (on James’ Turning to the Mystics podcast)
• St. John of the Cross, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross,* includes The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night, The Spiritual Canticle, The Living Flame of Love, Letters, and The Minor Works
• Gabriel Marcel, French philosopher and leading Christian existentialist
• Guigo II, Lectio Divina, Turning to Guigo II (on James’ Turning to the Mystics podcast)
• T.S. Eliot, “I said to my soul, be still and wait without hope…”
• St. Teresa of Ávila, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Vol. 1,* featuring The Book of Her Life, Spiritual Testimonies, and the Soliloquies
• James Finley, Christian Meditation: Experiencing the Presence of God*
• Dan Walsh, metaphysics professor, longtime friend & mentor of Thomas Merton 
• The five stages of grief (the Elisabeth Kübler-Ross model), On Death and Dying*
• Dr. Bob Weathers, addiction educator, coach, good friend of James Finley (see Deep Transformation episode #98, The Future of Addiction & Recovery: Wherein Lies the Hope?)
• Spiritual Directors International 
• James Finley, The Healing Path: A Memoir and an Invitation*
• James Finley’s podcast: Turning to the Mystics, hosted on the Center for Action & Contemplation website
• James Finley, Merton’s Palace of Nowhere*

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

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Student of Thomas Merton and clinical psychologist, Dr. James Finley teaches how connecting to our Divine indwelling can transcend fear and shame and awaken our True Self. A faculty member at the Center for Action and Contemplation, he is the author of The Healing Path and Merton’s Palace of Nowhere, and the host of CAC’s podcast Turning to the Mystics.

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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 108 (Part 1 of 2) | Dr. James Finley, clinical psychologist, trauma specialist, scholar, poet, and author of the powerful memoir, The Healing Path, has an extraordinary breadth and depth of understanding about trauma and the alchemical effects of adding a depth dimension to therapy. Here, he shares about his own experience of trauma and healing, the therapeutic effects of introducing the depth dimension to his clients, the dynamics of anger and forgiveness, the path of longing, and how love gives itself away in the preciousness of each moment, rendering ordinary life sacred. James’ profound understanding of grace is unmistakable, beautiful, riveting—both from personal experience and as a student of Thomas Merton, who introduced him to the wisdom of the mystics at the Trappist monastery, Gethsemani.

Practically everything James says is both a poem and a revelation, so whether you are Christian, Buddhist, or atheist, this conversation offers a therapeutic wisdom and understanding of trauma that goes way beyond the norm, as well as a transmission of infinite love, bottomless mercy. At the end, James laughs at how he is talking: “I can’t believe I’m talking like this…a traumatized kid from Akron, Ohio. It’s not coming from me; it’s flowing through me. All I’m doing is passing on what was passed on to me. So as it catches fire in you, it might pass through you into others.” Recorded August 17, 2023.

“In the momentum of the day’s demands, we feel we are skimming across the surface of the depths of our own lives: we are suffering from depth deprivation.” 

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

• Introducing Dr. James Finley, clinical psychologist specializing in trauma, spiritual therapist, author of The Healing Path & Merton’s Palace of Nowhere (00:58)
• How does James bring the worlds of psychotherapy and spirituality together? (03:32)
• James’ experience of God responding during his traumatic childhood and how Thomas Merton introduced him to the mystics at the Trappist monastery (04:22)
• Teaching high school religion, writing Merton’s Palace of Nowhere about how to find our way to our true self, leading silent contemplative retreats, and becoming a clinical psychologist (07:25)
• Where trauma and the presence of God touch each other: into the broken places, the light shines through (08:54)
• There is healing without forgiveness, but there is no healing without anger (11:21)
• Standing in the clear mindedness of anger, you’re not completely free until you forgive (14:29) 
• Self-hatred and how we perpetuate the violence until we find a safe place to work it through (18:14)
• Finding refuge in zazen, forgiving abuse at home and in the monastery, and how James found his way back into mystical Catholicism and the depth dimension (20:58)
• Where faith comes in to interior healing, where the alchemy happens: being carried along by mercy equals salvation (25:00)
• Getting past the distortions of religiosity: regrounding therapy in the depth dimension, moving back and forth from the hurting place to infinite love and mercy (26:36)
• What shines forth out of love or out of tragedy: being intimately overtaken by the nearness of the unexplainable (30:11)
• When we have just lost everything, we glimpse the infinity of mercy, and a longing is born to abide in the depths so fleetingly glimpsed: this is the path (31:58)
• Where is all this trauma coming from? We are suffering from depth deprivation (33:13)
• The horizontal dimension of time is intersected by the vertical depth dimension of the infinite (35:19)
• “I know it, I know it, I know that I know it”—I can’t say what it is but I can bear witness to it (36:11)
• Psychotherapy at the depth level is meditation for two (37:27)
• Roger’s summary of points covered: forgiveness, anger, stages of working through trauma, how religion can be used in the transcendence of ego, and the tragic belief that I am the only one who is broken and suffering (37:39)

• James Finley, The Healing Path: A Memoir and an Invitation*
• James Finley’s podcast: Turning to the Mystics, hosted on the Center for Action & Contemplation website
• James Finley, Merton’s Palace of Nowhere*
• James Finley, Christian Meditation: Experiencing the Presence of God*
• The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani
• Transpersonal psychology
• Ken Wilber, Integral Psychology: Consciousness, Spirit, Psychology, Therapy*
• Ken Wilber, Integral Spirituality: A Startling New Role for Religion in the Modern and Postmodern World*
• Thomas Merton, The Seven Storey Mountain*, et al.*
• Thomas Merton, The Sign of Jonas*, “I have but one desire, the desire for solitude. To disappear into God’s face.”
• St. Teresa of Ávila, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Vol. 1 (featuring The Book of Her Life, Spiritual Testimonies, and the Soliloquies*
• St. John of the Cross, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross* (includes The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night, The Spiritual Canticle, The Living Flame of Love, Letters, and The Minor Works)
• Meister Eckhart, Meister Eckhart, from Whom God Hid Nothing: Sermons, Writings, and Sayings*
• Richard Rohr’s The Living School
• Dan Walsh, metaphysics professor, longtime friend & mentor of Thomas Merton 
• The Poems of St. John of the Cross*, translated by Willis Barnstone

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

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Student of Thomas Merton and clinical psychologist, Dr. James Finley teaches how connecting to our Divine indwelling can transcend fear and shame and awaken our True Self. A faculty member at the Center for Action and Contemplation, he is the author of The Healing Path and Merton’s Palace of Nowhere, and the host of CAC’s podcast Turning to the Mystics.

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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 107 (Part 2 of 2) | Dr. Mamphela Ramphele, global thought leader, author, medical doctor, scholar, anti-apartheid activist, and co-founder of the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa has lived her extraordinary life guided by the knowing that every one of us is part of an inextricably linked system, and to live life as an authentic human being means assuming responsibility for oneself, others, and the whole web of life. Here, she connects the dots for us in so many ways, telling the remarkable story of how the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa was born with the realization that accepting a second-class identity was only perpetuating apartheid, internally and externally, and right away, the group became aware they needed to bring forth practical manifestations of this new consciousness. Mamphela has worked to do exactly that—bring the values of expanded consciousness into being—her whole life, first as an anti-apartheid activist and doctor, in bimonthly meetings with Nelson Mandela when he was in prison, writing books on social-economic issues in South Africa, and later, working to manifest the values of compassion, dignity, and social justice on a global level as a managing director of the World Bank, co-president of The Club of Rome, and more.

When asked what hurts, Mamphela describes the terrible conditions in South Africa, which she explains could have been averted if post-apartheid leaders had chosen to act for the wellbeing of all rather than getting enmeshed in party politics. And what gives Mamphela hope? The hope she sees in the eyes of young people (and old), and the transformations already underway in small communities. As she says, “the world has lost its way…it’s all about having more rather than being more,” but Mamphela believes real change will happen in the next couple of decades, when our personal, professional, and political lives become framed by the same value system—the values of ubuntu, the traditional, indigenous wisdom values of Africa, which are not only Africa’s heritage but all of ours. Inspiring and enlightening, this conversation is a transmission from a vibrant elder who fully understands and puts into practice what it means to live an authentic, compassionate life, with courage, humor, integrity, and wisdom. Recorded November 9, 2023.

“We need to recognize we are one human family: Europe, America, and MOST of the world—not Europe, America, and the rest of the world.”

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

• We are wired to be compassionate, wired for self-respect, wired for social justice (01:40)
• The Global Compassion Coalition and reawakening our basic human compassion (03:44)
• The personal, professional, and political all have to be governed by the same value system—then we can have wellbeing economics (06:31)
• What hurts is how we gave away a wonderful opportunity and chose short-term party politics over the true transformation of society (09:04)
• What brings hope is the hope seen in the eyes of young people—even old people—and that the process of true transformation is underway in small communities (11:39)
• Ubuntu: living the ethics, principles, and compassion that are embedded in what it means to be human (14:51)
• The world has lost its way: it’s all about having more rather than being more (16:45) 
• Assuming responsibility for yourself, others, and the entire web of life is a choice (18:36)
• It helped a great deal that there was a global anti-establishment movement at the time of Mamphela and her fellow activists’ awakening (21:03)
• What are Mamphela’s practices to stay centered and keep from being overwhelmed? (22:35)
• How has Mamphela kept faith in human nature? (29:46)
• Mamphela’s shift to global activism: channeling energies where it can make a difference (Club of Rome), also modeling to young people that Africans have a rich heritage and their value system matters (33:52)
• Sustainable ecosystems are sustained by Indigenous Peoples: life is about part of an inextricably linked system (37:03)
• The need to recognize we are one human family: Europe, America, and MOST of the world—not the “rest of the world” (40:05)
• “For us to harvest the lessons of nature, we have to become indigenous again;” opening to the great wisdoms of all the ages (40:47)
• Towards New Narratives of Hope, a recommended publication about the wisdom of Africa—which is everyone’s heritage (see resources below) (41:32)

• The Global Compassion Coalition, creating and introducing new approaches to economics, politics, child development, and climate policy that have compassion and justice at their core
• Rick Hanson, psychologist & best-selling author of Buddha’s Brain* et al. (see also Deep Transformation podcast episode #5, How We Can Hack Our Brain Using Neuroscience)
• Ubuntu philosophy, the bond that all of humanity shares
• Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.”
• The Club of Rome’s mission is to apply holistic, interdisciplinary, and long-term thinking to ensure broader societal and planetary wellbeing; to move towards more equitable economic, financial, and socio-political models; ensure an inclusive human dimension to all systems change; and to emerge from emergency
• Aurelio Peccei, co-founder of The Club of Rome 
• The Limits to Growth +50 (Club of Rome website)
• Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, Jorgen Randers, William W. Behrens III, The Limits to Growth: A Report for the Club of Rome’s Project on the Predicament of Mankind* (1974)
• Towards New Narratives of Hope for Fostering Transformative African Futures (Club of Rome website)
• Mamphela’s website: Dr. Mamphela Ramphele 
• Mamphela Ramphele, Club of Rome About Page
• Mamphela Ramphele, co-founder of ReimagineSA, reimagining South Africa rooted in ubuntu
• Mamphela Ramphele, A Passion for Freedom: My Life*
• Mamphela Ramphela, Dreams, Betrayal and Hope*
• Mamphela Ramphele, Conversations with my Sons and Daughters*
• Mamphela Ramphele, Laying Ghosts to Rest: Dilemmas of the Transformation in South Africa*
• Mamphela Ramphele & Francis Wilson, Uprooting Poverty: The South African Challenge*
• Mamphela Ramphele & Francis Wilson, Children on the Front Line

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

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Mamphela Ramphele is a world-renowned figure with an outstanding career as an activist, medical doctor, academic, businesswoman, and political thinker. She has been co-president of the Club of Rome, is the co-founder of ReimagineSA, and Chair at the Desmond Tutu IP Trust. Previously, she served as a managing director at the World Bank and as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town. Mamphela obtained a medical degree from the University of Natal in 1968, where she co-founded the Black Consciousness Movement with Steve Biko and became involved in the South African Students Association (SASO). Mamphela has received numerous national and international awards acknowledging her scholarship and leading role in promoting the empowerment of women, youth, and other oppressed people in South Africa and globally, and is the author of several books and publications on socio-economic issues in South Africa.

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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 106 (Part 1 of 2) | Dr. Mamphela Ramphele, global thought leader, author, medical doctor, scholar, anti-apartheid activist, and co-founder of the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa has lived her extraordinary life guided by the knowing that every one of us is part of an inextricably linked system, and to live life as an authentic human being means assuming responsibility for oneself, others, and the whole web of life. Here, she connects the dots for us in so many ways, telling the remarkable story of how the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa was born with the realization that accepting a second-class identity was only perpetuating apartheid, internally and externally, and right away, the group became aware they needed to bring forth practical manifestations of this new consciousness. Mamphela has worked to do exactly that—bring the values of expanded consciousness into being—her whole life, first as an anti-apartheid activist and doctor, in bimonthly meetings with Nelson Mandela when he was in prison, writing books on social-economic issues in South Africa, and later, working to manifest the values of compassion, dignity, and social justice on a global level as a managing director of the World Bank, co-president of The Club of Rome, and more.

When asked what hurts, Mamphela describes the terrible conditions in South Africa, which she explains could have been averted if post-apartheid leaders had chosen to act for the wellbeing of all rather than getting enmeshed in party politics. And what gives Mamphela hope? The hope she sees in the eyes of young people (and old), and the transformations already underway in small communities. As she says, “the world has lost its way…it’s all about having more rather than being more,” but Mamphela believes real change will happen in the next couple of decades, when our personal, professional, and political lives become framed by the same value system—the values of ubuntu, the traditional, indigenous wisdom values of Africa, which are not only Africa’s heritage but all of ours. Inspiring and enlightening, this conversation is a transmission from a vibrant elder who fully understands and puts into practice what it means to live an authentic, compassionate life, with courage, humor, integrity, and wisdom. Recorded November 9, 2023.

“The majority of white people [in apartheid South Africa] were petrified of losing their privileges—in the same way we continue with business as usual today, in the face of climate change.”

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

• Introducing Mamphela Ramphele, physician, scholar, anti-apartheid activist, author, and global thought leader (01:32)
• Growing up in a family of educators with encyclopedias & books all over the place, asking, as a young child, what makes my country so different? (03:42)
• The day the penny dropped: as long as we call ourselves non-whites, we’re perpetuating the rule of the oppressors (06:00)
• First came a sense of power—we can change things—then the purpose: make a world where no one is identified as a “non-something”  (08:52)
• This also liberates white people from their superiority complex, which is a burden (10:51)
• The system itself funded the first meeting of South African students, the founding organization of the Black Consciousness Movement (12:32)
• The evolution of the Black Consciousness Movement: freeing mind, heart & body from mental slavery & translating the new consciousness into practical manifestations (15:02)
• The 15 students managed to get news about the Black Power movement, Martin Luther King Jr’s I Have a Dream speech, Malcolm X & Angela Davis (17:37)
• The majority of white people were petrified of losing their privileges—in the same way we continue with business as usual today, in the face of climate change (19:00)
• What did we do with the consciousness we had? Recognize we have to practice what we preach, mobilize people to restore their own dignity, and build black solidarity (21:01)
• The Soweto uprising and the mobilization of workers, parents, faith communities (22:02)
• The post-apartheid government failed to live up to the ideals that so many died for and how the African National Congress (ANC) tried to own Nelson Mandela (23:57)
• In the negotiated settlement, they should have been asking how to restructure the economy, but the new ANC missed that boat and focused on politics instead (26:01) 
• The reunification of Germany could have been a great example of lifting the downtrodden up, erasing differences and equalizing communities (28:54)
• Asking the wrong question: who will be in power? Shortsightedness and the love of power (31:35)
• The good news: a resurgence of young people who want fundamental transformation of South Africa, including refocusing politics on citizens as the sovereigns of democracy (36:44)
• A fully conscious person must understand that to be human is to be relational—what’s important is to be who you were created to be, it’s not about having more (38:20)

• Mamphela’s website: Dr. Mamphela Ramphele 
• Mamphela Ramphele, Club of Rome About Page
• Mamphela Ramphele, co-founder of ReimagineSA, reimagining South Africa rooted in ubuntu
• Mamphela Ramphele, A Passion for Freedom: My Life*
• Mamphela Ramphela, Dreams, Betrayal and Hope*
• Mamphela Ramphele, Conversations with my Sons and Daughters*
• Mamphela Ramphele & Francis Wilson, Uprooting Poverty: The South African Challenge*
• Mamphela Ramphele & Francis Wilson, Children on the Front Line
• Judith Harlan, Mamphela Ramphele: Challenging Apartheid in South Africa* (Women Changing the World)
• Steve Biko, South African anti-apartheid activist, protagonist of the film Cry Freedom 
• University of Natal, South Africa
• Steve Biko, I Write What I Like: Selected Writings*
• Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 1963 I Have a Dream speech (YouTube video with subtitles)
• Malcolm X, minister, human rights activist, Black empowerment advocate, The Autobiography of Malcolm X as Told to Alex Haley*
• The Black Power Movement
• Angela Davis, American revolutionary Marxist and feminist political activist, philosopher, academic, and author
• Horst Kleinschmidt, human rights activist, leader in the National Union of South African Students 
• Geoff Budlender, South African lawyer
• Soweto uprising, June 1976
• Nelson Mandela, first post-apartheid president of South Africa
• African National Congress (ANC), social-democratic political party in South Africa
• Helmut Kohl, German chancellor who oversaw the reunification of Germany
• Francis Wilson, South African economist
• Thabo Mbeki, 2nd president of post-apartheid South Africa
• Walter Sisulu, South African anti-apartheid activist, Secretary-General of the African National Congress (ANC)
• Desmond Tutu, South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist

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Mamphela Ramphele is a world-renowned figure with an outstanding career as an activist, medical doctor, academic, businesswoman, and political thinker. She has been co-president of the Club of Rome, is the co-founder of ReimagineSA, and Chair at the Desmond Tutu IP Trust. Previously, she served as a managing director at the World Bank and as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town. Mamphela obtained a medical degree from the University of Natal in 1968, where she co-founded the Black Consciousness Movement with Steve Biko and became involved in the South African Students Association (SASO). Mamphela has received numerous national and international awards acknowledging her scholarship and leading role in promoting the empowerment of women, youth, and other oppressed people in South Africa and globally, and is the author of several books and publications on socio-economic issues in South Africa.

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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell