Layman sits down with Nish Dubashia to talk about his recent Sky Meadow publication, A Brief History of God."A Brief History of God: From Nature Spirits to Cosmic Consciousness is a thought-provoking journey through the evolution of humanity's spiritual understanding. In this compelling exploration, Nish Dubashia traces the arc of religious and spiritual thought, from the earliest tribal beliefs rooted in ancestral spirits, to the modern search for unity and connection in a fragmented world. With clarity and depth, Dubashia reveals how our concepts of God, the self, and spirituality have shifted through the ages, shaped by culture, power, and the quest for meaning."Nish is a published author of two novels (Gifted and Dancing with Angels) and a shorter book (The Unity of Everything) containing his 1991 conversation with physicist David Bohm, and has spoken at international conferences about his “Diamond Model”; a universal pattern he believes might help us gain some understanding of cross-religious commonalities.https://www.amazon.com/Brief-History-God-Spirits-Consciousness/dp/B0FH28Q63K/

The audio is a little sketchy. And perhaps not just the audio. I had a nice time talking with Blake who is someone I banned from an online space.

His "right-wing trolling" and "problematic behavior" upset a lot of folks. Partly legitimately and partly, perhaps, because developmental, spiritual and integrative spaces may have an allergy to conservatism.

Is meta-conservatism even possible? What is a right-wing pluralist or integralist? And more importantly, what does it take to have more complex discussions among people who have different combinations of political values and concerns?

Pema Dragpa's new book, An Integral View of Tibetan Buddhism, is the inspiration for and ostensible focus of this conversation between Dragpa and Layman, but it is also just an excuse for them to get together to chat about their favorite dharma, meditation, and "transformative practice in a time between worlds" topics.Lama Pema Dragpa is a resident Dharma teacher at Padma Samye Ling (PSL), the main monastery and retreat center of the Padmasambhava Buddhist Center (padmasambhava.org). This institute was founded and directed by the Nyingma Dzogchen masters Ven. Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche and Ven. Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche, who both trained and mastered the ancient traditions of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. Lama Dragpa lives and teaches at Padma Samye Ling, and was ordained as a lama by the Ven. Khenpo Rinpoches. He is a senior editor of over 20 books on philosophy, meditation, and Buddhist tenets. Lama Dragpa graduated with honors in philosophy and religious studies from NYU in 2002, and is a certified Hospice volunteer. He has taught at Colgate University, Scranton University, and Binghamton Community College, and regularly travels to lead PBC events on traditional and contemporary Buddhist philosophy and meditationhttps://www.amazon.com/s?k=an+integral+view+of+tibetan+buddhism+pema+dragpa

Cris Beasley joins Layman in an exploration of alternative sensemaking to talk about the generative principles and practices that help her creatively navigate the challenges of life in this time between worlds.Cris founded a sustainable AI company nine years ago – well before it was the latest thing on the block. It was featured in a cover story of The Atlantic. She stopped Sequoia Capital from trying to build an AI that was obviously never going to work. It was obvious if you bothered to do the back-of-the-envelope math, which Amazon did not do. They attempted the same thing, failed, and wasted a few million bucks. They should've had someone like Cris on their team. Before that, she led the redesign of Firefox support, which resulted in an extra 7MM users per year finding the answer to their questions immediately. Cris was selected to be in the first cohort of ambassadors to the Interledger Foundation. Their $15k grant supported her project about Jungian emotional polarities, Becoming Dragon, which was covered in Forbes. She advises Earthcodes.org on strategy for their regenerative data cycles project, AI for Gaia, in partnership with the Biomimicry Institute. In her copious spare time, she convinces two mischievous black cats to come when they're called, paints with watercolors, makes AI-generated short films, and plays electronic music that takes you into meditative theta brainwave states.Cris Beasley portfoliohttps://www.crisbeasley.com/portfolio

In this Integral Stage Authors Series video, Layman gets together with Peter Mitchell and Anne Sweet to talk about the new book, The Space Between Us, and to explore the "field dynamics" of dialogue and intersubjective contemplative practice.The Space Between Us: Awakening Together in a Fractured World invites you into a radical shift in how we meet ourselves, each other, and the moment. Drawing on decades of spiritual practice and, more recently, a deep shared inquiry, Peter Mitchell explores the possibility that the most profound transformations happen not in isolation, but in relationship—within the subtle field that awakens when we meet in presence. Told through the first-hand experiences of a group discovering how coming together with vulnerability and radical honesty allows something larger to emerge, the book reveals how dialogue, shared presence, and authenticity can open the door to the Real. It shows that when we rest deeply in who we already are, the walls of identity begin to fall away. In that freedom, genuine meeting becomes possible—beyond the masks, roles, and labels we usually hide behind—offering a glimpse of the mystery that holds us all."Book

https://www.amazon.com/Space-Between-Us-Awakening-Fractured/dp/1954642725/

Group

https://www.between-us-groups.com/join-us

In this special episode, Layman meets with Steve McIntosh to talk about the overlaps between their respective approaches to post-postmodern spirituality, and in particular about the 6 Agreements that Steve proposes are necessary to move towards a genuinely pluralist, post-postmodern spiritual understanding and practice.

This is the second part of a deep dive into the nuances of the pre-tragic, tragic & post-tragic framing. It begins in speculative theory space and moves into a consideration of power, post-tragic sexual narratives, the integrity of developmental communities, self-harm, and the collective future of inquiry into the concept of the Post-Tragic. Oblique references are made to the film Fight Club, the comedian Richard Lewis, cult classic "The Room," and Spiral Dynamics. Plus, in an act of supreme magnanimity, Layman retracts his curse and saves Marc from a fiery death...

The Seven Facets of Awakened Wholeness series is a special Integral Stage / Pacific Integral co-production, highlighting dimensions of the Awakened Wholeness project which is being stewarded by Abigail Lynam and Geoff Fitch, with special support from Tucker Walsh.If episode 1 was an opportunity for oxen to graze widely in the field, episode 2 (The Principle of Integration) explores how a bolus becomes a fat, happy cow.Seven Facets of Awakened Wholeness workshop:https://www.pacificintegral.com/workshopsAbigail Lynam, PhD, is faculty for Fielding University’s PhD program in Human and Organizational Development and for Pacific Integral’s Generating Transformative Change leadership development program in Seattle and Ethiopia. Abigail’s scholarship and practice integrates the interior dimensions of human knowledge and experience (culture, worldviews, adult developmental psychology, wisdom traditions, etc.) with adult learning, leadership development, and social and ecological change work. Abigail is a skilled facilitator, developmental scorer, debriefer, and coach, teacher of awareness, shadow, and embodiment practices, and facilitator of Work that Reconnects. She lives in the Seattle area and is passionate about supporting personal, interpersonal, and collective development for healthier and more just systems.Geoff Fitch, MA, is a founding partner of Pacific Integral. Geoff is a coach, trainer, and facilitator of transformative growth in individuals and organizations. He has been studying and practicing diverse approaches to cultivating higher human potentials for twenty years. He also has twenty years experience in leadership in business.

In this new Integral Stage Author Series episode, Layman sits down with Dr. Jen Peer Rich to talk about her recently published book, The Alchemy of Being a House.In this poetic, fiercely honest memoir, Jen Peer Rich invites us inside the living house of her body shaped by early childhood cancer, trauma, chronic illness, disability, caregiving and decades of survival. Told through many rooms and different selves, this is the story of what happens when a person dares to listen to their inner voice and follow them home. Inside these pages lives Ruth, Jen’s loyal guide dog of cosmic wisdom. There are splintered selves and barking truths, mystical blueprints and healing thresholds. Through it all moves the question: What if I was never meant to be fixed—but listened to? The Alchemy of Being a House is not a linear story, it’s a circle. A memoir of multiplicity, spiritual embodiment, and transformation that resonates with anyone navigating trauma, chronic pain, intergenerational healing, or the longing to belong to oneself.Jen Peer Rich, PhD is an author, artist, and alchemist whose work explores healing, multiplicity, and the spiritual architecture of selves. Her debut memoir, The Alchemy of Being a House, is the first in The Circle of Selves Trilogy-a series of intimate, genre-defying books tracing the nonlinear path of trauma integration and homecoming. With a background in ecological philosophy and decades of lived experience as a disabled, queer caregiver, Jen brings a rare blend of insight, humor, and radical compassion to her storytelling. She writes in collaboration with her many inner selves-including Ruth, a loyal inner watchdog who speaks in barked wisdom-and lives in Florida beside a lake with her beloved wife, daughter, and rescue dogs.https://www.amazon.com/Alchemy-Being-House-Memoir-Trilogy/dp/B0FLWHZ829/

This is the first half of a discussion in which Layman and the Rabbi discuss the origins, nature, community use, philosophical necessity, and intriguing extensions of the tripartite concept of pre-tragic, tragic & post-tragic.