Shows
The Meaning CodeMetamodernism, Transcending Critique, Optimal Degrees of Freedom and the Return of Board GamesBrendan Graham Dempsey and Cory Barker help Karen to gain a greater understanding of Metamodernism. Brendan is writer, poet, farmer, and systems thinker. As Director of Sky Meadow Institute, he works on productively bridging the divide between science and spirituality. Cory has a Master of Arts in Social Science and Informatics and is working on a PhD with a research focus on applying big picture thinking to improved AGI design. He serves as President of the Archdisciplinary Research Center (Arc.voyage) If you haven't already seen it, I highly recommend my first conversation...2025-04-261h 25
Portals of Perception097 - Normalizing the Extraordinary: In the Metamodern God LabA laboratory is where we’d expect to find a safe space of discovery and purpose; an environment that supports experimenting with diverse ideas and mysteries in the search for truth. Add in an atmosphere of mutual trust and acceptance, and now we’ve created an ecology that invites something even deeper — a God lab.Imagine a God lab as an intensified spiritual retreat, a gathering of like-minded and like-souled individuals seeking new understanding and experience with the divine. In this conversation, we are invited to appreciate a metamodern God lab as a community, created through the shared...2025-03-281h 17
The Jim Rutt ShowEP 293 Brendan Graham Dempsey on Cosmic Teleology and Emergence VectorsJim talks with Brendan Graham Dempsey, picking up on a disagreement they had on Facebook about the teleology of the universe. They discuss Aristotle's influence on the topic, Terrence Deacon's work on naturalizing teleology, the distinction between purpose & goal-directed behavior, cosmic teleology, Teilhard de Chardin's "Omega Point," Whitehead's relational teleology, Ilya Prigogine's dissipative structures, energy efficiency comparisons between organisms & stars, the cosmic imperative of entropy production, energy rate density as a complexity measure, whether entropy is the goal or a byproduct of complexification, origin of life as contingent or necessity, Alexander Bard's emergence vectors, questioning of the heat death hypothesis...2025-03-251h 15
Philosophy PortalDe/Reconstruction with Jim Palmer, Brendan Graham DempseyThis video is a conversation Conversation with Jim Palmer, Brendan Graham Dempsey on "De/Reconstruction" inspired by our upcoming seminar series in The Portal on "Christianity in Transition". To learn more:https://philosophyportal.online/christianity-in-transition2025-03-022h 21
Everyone Is RightIAM Spotlight: The Cultural Complexity IndexHow do we measure the depth of human meaning-making across history, traditions, and intellectual paradigms? In this fascinating presentation, Brendan Graham Dempsey introduces his Cultural Complexity Index (CCI) initiative, a pioneering research project that empirically maps how humans structure knowledge, solve problems, and make sense of their world.
Utilizing the Lectical Scale, a highly refined framework for measuring hierarchical complexity, the project analyzes sacred and significant texts from different historical periods. Its early findings suggest fascinating correlations between social complexity and the evolution of meaning-making, while also challenging some common assumptions about cognitive development in different historical eras.
What do...2025-02-061h 50
Between ShelvesEpisode 5-Meta-Modernism & a Rethinking of IdentityWelcome to Between Shelves, where we make connections between literature, theology, philosophy, psychology and culture. Join us as we explore the interconnectedness of race, spirituality, psychology, and meta-modernism. Each episode invites you into a thought-provoking journey, unpacking how these elements shape our understanding of the world and ourselves. We invite you to Between Shelves to Learn, Listen and Become.#BetweenShelves #Podcast #Literature #Theology #Philosophy #Psychology #Race #Spirituality #MetaModernism #MetaSpirituality #Interconnectedness #Individuation #Film #DoubleConsciousness #Theopoetics #Imagination #BetweenSpace #LostRavenStudiosLink to Podcast Website: https://betweenshelves.transistor.fm/Link to YouTube: https://youtube...2025-02-0254 min
Curious Apes#38 - Brendan Graham Dempsey: The Evolution of MeaningToday I’m joined by writer, poet, farmer, and religious scholar, Brendan Graham Dempsey. In this episode, we go over the ideas covered in Brendan’s newest publication, A Universal Learning Process, which is part of his largest series entitled The Evolution of Meaning.
This conversation is ultimately an exploration of the field known as complexity science and what it can tell us about how we navigate our lives and build our cultures--especially as it relates to meaning. This takes on a journey through topics such as the meaning crisis, entropy, information theory, evolution, self-awareness, spirituality, the is-o...2024-12-161h 23The Jim Rutt ShowEP 268 Brendan Graham Dempsey on the Evolution of MeaningJim talks with Brendan Graham Dempsey about the ideas in his new book, The Evolution of Meaning: A Universal Learning Process. They discuss Jim's love for the book, the thinking behind the title, future books in the series, why Brendan avoided the word "religion," the nature of meaning, dissipative systems, Shannon information vs semantic information, relations vs static objects, meaning as adaptive information, the meaning of value, Gregg Henriques's Unified Theory of Knowledge, the meaning of learning, why the world is full of bogus learning, whether complexity increases over time, information overload, John Vervaeke's relevance realization, wisdom, evolution as learning, the...2024-10-2500 minThe Meaning CodeThe Foundations of Archdisciplinarity, Cory David Barker, et al: The Arch of Universal ComputabilityKaren and Cory David Barker discuss the book "Foundations of Arch Disciplinarity" and the contributions of Brendan Graham Dempsey starting with Cory's early life and his interest in comparative religion and Carl Jung's work, which led him to develop archidisciplinarity, including scopes of inquiry towards a broader discussion on the evolution of human advancement and the integration of disparate domains for joint problem solving. Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:15 Cory's new book, The Foundations of Archdisciplinarity with Brendan Graham Dempsey as one of the co-authors and Cory's background with comparative religions and Jungian archetypes. 05:19...2024-10-031h 20
Rick Walker PodcastMetamodernism Explained: A Solution to our Divided World w/ Brendan Graham DempseyJOIN 20,000 OTHER LEADERS - GET MY NEWSLETTER! : https://rickwalker.com/newsletter/
Join Rick as he talks with Brendan Graham Dempsey, a writer, poet, and philosopher, about how metamodernism might hold the answers to navigating the complexities of our time.
Brendan is the director of the Sky Meadow Institute and the author of multiple books on metamodern spirituality. His work seeks to integrate the best aspects of these eras while moving beyond their pitfalls.
Brendan provides a detailed walkthrough of the evolution of cultural paradigms, moving from pre-modern religious frameworks to the rise of...2024-09-181h 54
Nodes in the NetNodes 89 - Brendan Graham Dempsey (Queen of Wands OR Cultivating Metamodernist Courage and Optimism)Metamodernism! Integral Theory! The limits of postmodern pluralism and the teleology that our civilization needs to acknowledge and integrate that is pulling us closer toward an ever-retreating horizon. Brendan provides some comfort for those who are miffed that the Modernist promise of future utopia and the Postmodernist promise of a return to anarcho-primitivism both are unlikely to meet all our needs or even ever truly be actualized.He beautifully articulates the Metamodern vision that arises via reflection on those previous movements: one of forever improving the world, helping everyone as much as we can, and pitching in however...2024-09-111h 21
The Building 4th PodcastPracticing Metamodern Spirituality with Doug Scott: The SH!PS ApproachIn this episode, we are joined by Doug Scott, LCSW, MA, an experienced therapist and counselor based in Dallas, Texas, who has a deep interest in the intersection of psychology and spirituality; and Brendan Graham Dempsey, a writer, poet, farmer, and the director of Sky Meadow Institute, an organization dedicated to promoting systems-based thinking about the things that matter most. (see below for more information on Brendan).
Doug shares insights from his private practice and his master's degree in pastoral ministry, focusing particularly on how metamodern spirituality can facilitate positive change in the world.
Doug i...2024-08-271h 16
Dr. John VervaekeMetamodern Christianity Part 2: Evolving Spirituality and the Sacred Universe | Brendan Graham DempseyBrendan Graham Dempsey is the director of Sky Meadow Institute and the author of the Metamodern Spirituality Series. He explores the evolution of spirituality and the integration of science and religion in contemporary culture. To learn more about his latest book release, "A Universal Learning Process," which is the first volume in his series "The Evolution of Meaning," please visit this link. Can Metamodern Christianity breathe new life into ancient religious frameworks? In this episode of "Voices with Vervaeke," John Vervaeke and Brendan Graham Dempsey continue their exploration of MetaModern Christianity in...2024-08-161h 17
UTOKing with GreggEp 82 | UTOKing with Brendan Graham Dempsey | A Universal Learning Process at the Heart of MeaningIn this episode, the philosopher Brendan Graham Dempsey joins Gregg to talk about his new book, A Universal Learning Process. It is the first installment of a larger work on The Evolution of Meaning. The book frames the complexification in the universe across the arc of cosmic evolution from the Big Bang to present as a kind of learning that goes through phases. Grounded in the ontology provided by the Tree of Knowledge System and Periodic Table of Behavior, the book charts this evolution starting with Energy and Information and then frames the complexification in Matter as “structural learning,” in L...2024-07-291h 09
ParallaxBrendan Graham Dempsey and Luke Bhencke: Metamodern Christianity?In light of the recent Christian revival, what is Christianity's place in the metamodern world, and how did Christianity fit into George Gurdjeff's fourth way?
Links:
COURSE: GURDJIEFF’S CHRISTIANITY (WITH LUKE BEHNCKE):
https://www.parallax-media.com/courses/gurdjieffs-christianity-with-luke-behncke
Homepage: https://www.parallax-media.com/
Academy: https://www.parallax-media.com/2024-courses-and-events
Substack: https://parallax.substack.com/ Parallax
Network: https://parallax-media-network.mn.co/share/ND8NVO1oMB3RjEyi?utm_source=ma
Brendan Graham Dempsey is a writer, poet, farmer, and the director of Sky Meadow Institute, an organization dedicated to promoting systems-based thinking about the things that matter most. He holds a...2024-07-271h 22The Building 4th PodcastExploring Meta-Modern Christianity: Bridging Tradition and Contemporary SpiritualityDoug and Matt begin by discussing Brendan Graham Dempsey's work on metamodern spirituality, and particularly metamodern Christianity. Matt highlights the differences between how Eastern and Western spiritual traditions have been adopted and critiqued within this framework, noting that Western Buddhism has been largely stripped of its cultural and cosmological context due to the nature of the modern colonial encounter out of which it arose. He contrasts this with Christianity, which he thinks is more challenging to separate from its cosmological and ritual elements. Matt praises Brendan's efforts to challenge Biblical literalism and explore a version of Christianity that aligns w...2024-07-241h 12
Ihmisiä, siis eläimiäMiehuus, psykoosi, kristinusko, arkkityypit, Jordan Peterson, ekokatastrofi. #78 Viljami LehtonenTue ohjelmaa Patreonissa: https://www.patreon.com/soinnunmaanhenry
Jakson esittelyteksti: https://www.patreon.com/posts/107703514
78. jakson vieraana hyvinvointiajan yrittäjä ja Miehen mieli -podcastin juontaja Viljami Lehtonen. Jakso taltioitiin 28.06.2024.
Lataa mp3: https://soundcloud.com/ihmisiis/
Videoversio: https://youtu.be/YmFYk1zi8iQ
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/45UJWpL
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3S1f69s
RSS: http://bit.ly/3zsSJ1X
00:00:00 Esittely
00:02:51 Miksi miehuus on tärkeä aihe?
00:04:46 Missä isäksi tuleminen on vaatinut kasvua?
00:10:31 Huutoriita
00:12:14 Viljami syö sanansa
00:14:57 Liian abstraktia
00:21:09 Isyys ja vanhemmuus
00:43:36 Viljamin nuoruuden merkkipaaluja
00:48:22 Psykoosi
01:09:06 Rajan etsiminen
01:14:57 Siirtymäriitit
01:20:56 MDMA-tutkimus vastatuulessa
01:24:36 Pioneerit
01:33:21 Jumala
01:41:52 Kristinusko
01:48:06 Helvetti
01:56:37 Kitsch
0...2024-07-087h 10Dr. John VervaekeReviving Faith with Metamodern Spirituality and the Future of Christianity | Brendan Graham DempseyBrendan Graham Dempsey is an author and speaker specializing in metamodern spirituality, exploring the intersections of traditional faith and contemporary thought. How can ancient faith traditions adapt to the complexities of the modern world? In this episode of Voices with Vervaeke, John Vervaeke and Brendan Graham Dempsey explore the potential for metamodern spirituality to breathe new life into the Christian faith. Dempsey shares his transformative journey from traditional beliefs to a metamodern perspective that integrates ancient doctrines with contemporary thought. Their discussion addresses challenging issues such as historical and postmodern critiques of the Bible, the...2024-06-211h 32
Deep TransformationBrendan Graham Dempsey (Part 2) - How and Why Cultures Evolve, and the Emerging Stage of MetamodernismEp. 134 (Part 2 of 2) | Author, podcaster, farmer, and poet, Brendan Graham Dempsey, brings passion, dedication, clarity, and outstanding scholarship to the fascinating and enormously important study of cultural evolution, which operates on both a personal level and a collective one. He illuminates how, when, and why we shift from one cultural worldview to the next, using his own life’s journey through the cultural stages as a map and paints colorful portraits of the outstanding characteristics of each stage: traditional/premodern, modern, postmodern, and metamodern. Brendan enlightens us as to the tumultuous and often lonely and despairing time that occurs whe...2024-06-1346 min
Deep TransformationBrendan Graham Dempsey (Part 1) - How and Why Cultures Evolve, and the Emerging Stage of MetamodernismEp. 133 (Part 1 of 2) | Author, podcaster, farmer, and poet, Brendan Graham Dempsey, brings passion, dedication, clarity, and outstanding scholarship to the fascinating and enormously important study of cultural evolution, which operates on both a personal level and a collective one. He illuminates how, when, and why we shift from one cultural worldview to the next, using his own life’s journey through the cultural stages as a map and paints colorful portraits of the outstanding characteristics of each stage: traditional/premodern, modern, postmodern, and metamodern. Brendan enlightens us as to the tumultuous and often lonely and despairing time that occurs whe...2024-06-0647 min
The Yours Truly PodcastNavigating Metamodern Christianity: A Candid Conversation with @BrendanGrahamDempsey YoursTrulyPodJoin host Christian Baxter in a thought-provoking discussion with guest Brendan Graham Dempsey on the complexities and possibilities of metamodern Christianity. From grappling with traditional religious frameworks to exploring the intersections of spirituality, science, and meaning-making, Dempsey shares insights from his personal journey and the evolution of his perspectives. Dive deep into the challenges of integrating modernity, postmodernity, and metamodernity within religious contexts while fostering open dialogue and community engagement. Tune in to gain a nuanced understanding of contemporary spirituality in "The Yours Truly Podcast."
The conversation mentions several names, including Brendan Graham Dempsey (referred...2024-05-271h 36
TransfiguredBrendan Graham Dempsey - What is metamodernism? What does it mean for Christianity?
Brendan Graham Dempsey is an author, thinker, and youtuber who has thought deeply about the topic of metamodernism. We discuss what that even is, and what is means for a vibrant Christianity going forward. We mention @johnvervaeke , Jordan Hall, Soren Kierkegaard, Virginia Woolf, Hans Nollein, Fr. Stephen DeYoung, Athanasius, James Tabor, and many more.
Brendan Graham Dempsey's youtube channel : @BrendanGrahamDempsey
Sky Meadow Institute: https://skymeadowretreat.com/institute/
Brendan Graham Dempsey on @PaulVanderKlay : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee8wKcBRyy42024-04-221h 34
Doomer OptimismDO 214 - Metamodern Permaculture with Brendan Graham Dempsey and JasonIn this episode, Brendan (@brendangrahamd1)and Jason talk about the meaning of metamodernism and how it relates to permaculture, the interplay of various forms of meaning-making, and how it translates into a theory of change and pragmatic action. Brendan also talks about his work at the Sky Meadow Institute, a retreat center and permaculture homestead in Vermont
Brendan Graham Dempsey is a writer, poet, farmer, and the director of Sky Meadow Institute, an organization dedicated to promoting systems-based thinking about the things that matter most.
He holds a BA in religious studies...2024-04-161h 10
The Yours Truly PodcastMetamodern Christianity: Navigating Tradition & Spiritual Evolution with@BrendanGrahamDempseyIn this episode of The Yours Truly Podcast I sit down with Brendan Graham Dempsey to hear his story, understand, learn and converse about our journeys, what might be meta-Christianity and meta-religion. We find points of convergence and points of divergence. Abd follow up on his conversations with @JordanGreenhall and @PaulVanderKlay . I know ya’ll will enjoy this conversation!
See what Brendan is about
YouTube: @BrendanGrahamDempsey
X: @brendangrahamd1
Website: https://www.brendangrahamdempsey.com
Projects:
https://skymeadowretreat.com
https://skymeadowretreat.com/institute/
...2024-04-041h 53
VoicecraftE87| Integral Theory & Metamodernism w/ Brendan Graham Dempsey & Bruce AldermanMetamodernist author Brendan Graham Dempsey joins Elder and teacher in the Integral community Bruce Alderman for a dialogue with Tim Adalin and the Voicecraft network to explore the commonalities and differences between Metamodernism & Integral Theory.
3:07 - What is metamodernism and how is it helpful?
10:38 - What is integral theory?
23:00 - Direct acquaintance with reality and the mediation of society
31:15 - Relations / difference between Integral & Metamodernism
1:05:15 - Subtle energy, transrationality, esoteric experience & the social influence of Alex Jones, and the new age
1:39:52 - VC Network...2024-01-192h 07
Deep Talks | Cultural Theology with Paul AnleitnerBrendan Graham Dempsey | Understanding MetamodernismBrendan Graham Dempsey is a writer who's work focuses on the meaning crisis and the reconstruction of spirituality after postmodernism.
He holds a BA in religious studies from the University of Vermont and a master's in religion and art from Yale University. He is the author of the 7-volume Metamodern Spirituality Series and, most recently, Metamodernism: Or, The Cultural Logic of Cultural Logics.
In this episode, we discuss metamodernism. What is it? How did it emerge? What will religion look like in the metamodern era?
https://www.youtube.com/@BrendanGrahamDempsey
Exclusive...2023-12-181h 34
The Integral StageSEXUALITY & GENDER w/ The Transpersonal Center
To shake things up a little on The Integral Stage, we are dropping down a few chakras to explore all the ins and outs of awakened sexuality, conscious relationship, and sensuously embodied spiritual practice.
For episode 22, Layman is joined by Catherine Auman and Greg Lawrence of The Transpersonal Center in LA, to talk about the tantric arts, transpersonal dimensions of development, sexuality as a doorway to mystical or psychedelic experience, psychic integration before and after extended lovemaking, the science of creating a soulmate, the importance of friendship for intimate tantric sexuality, life as lovemaking, and much more.
Professional website:
...2023-12-141h 18The Integral StageINTEGRAL UFOLOGY - Second Panel Discussion
Several years after the original Integral UFOlogy series was published, the Integral UFOlogy panel reconvenes to discuss the latest UAP news and disclosures, and the latest developments in their own research and experiences in these areas.
Panelists: Sean Esbjorn-Hargens, Stuart Davis, Chris Dierkes, Giorgio Piacenza, Layman Pascal, and Bruce Alderman.
Original Panel Discussion: • Integral Ufology Panel Discussion
RESOURCES and REFERENCES
Sean Esbjorn-Hargens' Exo-Studies Master Course: https://www.exostudies.org/
Stuart Davis' media
Man Meets Mantis: • MAN MEETS MANTIS
Stuart's episode on Weird Studies podcast:
https://www.weirdstudies.com/37
The IS Language: • Creating The IS Language
The Art of Is: • THE ART OF IS
Aliens and Artists: ht...2023-12-081h 57The Integral StageSEXUALITY SERIES - "Shameless" w/ Dr. Tina Shermer Sellers
For episode 23, Layman is joined by Dr. Tina Schermer Sellers, a sex educator and psychotherapist, to explore questions around gender and sexual development; the impact of shame on sexual development, and the relationship of shame and guilt; the problems in recent and contemporary sex education in the United States; the possibilities for a hedonic education; deeper forms of sexual identity and development available through tantra and entheogens; and much more.
Dr. Tina Schermer Sellers is a nationally known speaker, educator, and writer on sexual health and the biopsychosocial-sexual impact of sexual shame and trauma.
She is professor...2023-12-051h 05The Integral StageAUTHOR SERIES - "Metamodernism" w/ Brendan Graham Dempsey
For the 37th episode of the Integral Stage Authors Series, Layman meets again prolific metamodern author and friend of the channel, Brendan Graham Dempsey, to talk about his latest book, "Metamodernism: Or, The Cultural Logic of Cultural Logics." In this much needed work, Brendan surveys the variety of "metamodernisms" that have emerged in recent years and, using some integrative distinctions, argues for their deep kinship and complementarity.
Brendan Graham Dempsey is a writer whose work focuses on the meaning crisis and the nature of spirituality in metamodernity. He earned his BA in Religious Studies from the University of Vermont...2023-12-041h 43The Integral StageMAHAMUDRA & GRAMMAR w/ Terri O'Fallon & Bruce Alderman
Layman Pascal and Bruce Alderman meet with Terri O'Fallon to discuss her recent course exploring the intersections of Mahamudra practice and the STAGES model; the relationship of states and stages, and the role of states in higher psychospiritual development; the linguistic dimensions of development, and developmental assessment; nonduality and the embodied dimensions of language; prepositions and other grammatical forms at the subtle and metaware tiers; AI, grammar, and higher development; and much more.
Terri O'Fallon is a researcher, teacher, coach, spiritual director, and designer of transformative containers. She does ongoing research on the Integral STAGES developmental model, which supports...2023-11-301h 26ParallaxDeep Future Six: On Metamodernism (with Brendan Graham Dempsey and Tomas Björkman)On the transition from the postmodern to the metamodern worldview,
Brendans new book Metamodernism: Or, The Cultural Logic of Cultural
Logics, the relationsship between MM and systems-theory and how to deal
with money/capitalism in a metamodern way.
Subscribe to our Substack: https://parallax.substack.com/
Parallax: https://parallax-media.eu
Brendan Graham Dempsey is a writer, poet, farmer, and the director of
Sky Meadow Institute, an organization dedicated to promoting
systems-based thinking about the things that matter most.
He holds a BA in religious studies from the University of Vermont and a
master's in religion and art from Yale...2023-11-291h 50UTOKing with GreggEp 74 | UTOKing with Brendan Graham Dempsey | The Cultural Logic of Cultural LogicsGregg welcomes Brendan Graham Dempsy back to the program (Episode #50; Toward a Metamodern Spirituality). Brendan is a writer whose work focuses on the meaning crisis and the nature of spirituality in metamodernity. He is also the host of the Metamodern Spirituality podcast, and has recently released a new book, Metamodernism: The Cultural Logic of Cultural Logics. Gregg loved this book, and the episode is a tour of the book, highlighting its key points and its overarching logic. The book explicates how metamodernism relates to aesthetics, complexification of culture, philosophy, grand metanarratives, and can be thought of as an important...2023-11-271h 15
Everyday TheologyS5 EP:7 Metamodernism and a Hope for Christian Spirituality with Brendan Graham DempseyModernism gave us scientific certainty, which ultimately pushed back against the faith claims of Christianity (and religion in general). Postmodernism taught us there was nothing to be certain about, nothing real to be claimed. Is there a better way?
In this episode, Aaron speaks with his guest Brendan Graham Dempsey about what metamodernism is as a new(ish) paradigm for engaging with the world and the potential it holds for Christianity and religions in general. 2023-11-161h 34The Integral StageAUTHOR SERIES - "Metaphysics of Exo-Life" w/ Andrew Davis
For the 36th episode of the Integral Stage Authors Series, Layman beams Andrew M. Davis up to his orbital studio to talk about his recently published book, Metaphysics of Exo-Life. In this wide-ranging discussion, they talk about the renewed interest in and relevance of the field of cosmo-theology, as scientists are detecting possible indicators of life on remote planets and the government is apparently taking the topic of UAPs more seriously; the implications of extra-terrestrial life for human religions and soteriological models; the nature of God in an evolving universe, and whether humans and alien species could ever arrive...2023-10-241h 28The Integral StageSOUL OF A.I. #9 w/ David Swedlow
For the ninth episode of The Soul of AI, Layman meets with coach and Circling facilitator, David Swedlow, to thread thoughtfully between the usual utopian and dystopian narratives on AI; and given the degree of speculation in the face of the unknown that even experts in the field are forced to do, to consider the roles and responsibilities each of us has to think these issues through carefully and creatively.
David's professional website
https://metastorming.com/
Follow The Integral Stage on Fathom!
https://hello.fathom.fm/
Remember to like, subscribe, and support The Integral Stage on Patreon to make...2023-10-211h 33The Integral StageLOVE THE SYSTEM - "Post-libertarianism" w/ Jason McClainIn a swanky high-rise apartment, just beyond the Thunderdome, Layman sits down with Jason the McClain to talk about the attractions and the limitations of libertarianism, Jason's early formative experiences with it, and the experiences and insights that eventually led him to leave it behind. From a meta-level, they also discuss what it means, and what it takes, to be ready to let go of one's earlier convictions and to remain open, ongoingly, to further learning, growth, and transformation.
Evolutionary Companies website
https://evolutionarycompanies.com/
Fathom app
https://hello.fathom.fm/
Support The Integral Stage on Patreon!
https://www...2023-10-1757 minDr. John VervaekeUnlocking the Mysteries of Meaning: An Intellectual Odyssey with Dr. John Vervaeke & Brendan Graham DempseyDr. John Vervaeke and Brendan Graham Dempsey explore the intricacies of meaning, spirituality, and the human experience. The episode commences with a succinct recap of their previous discussion, touching on Neoplatonism and Zen, before diving into Brendan's recent work on the concept of meaning. The conversation spans a wide array of topics, from the epistemic aspects of meaning to the philosophical underpinnings of mindfulness and meditation. The duo also delves into the influence of historical figures like Plotinus, Dante, and Proclus, examining how their ideas can be integrated into a modern understanding of spirituality. With a focus on the...2023-09-091h 11Dr. John VervaekeThe Future of Faith: A Dialog on the Naturalization of Transcendence and Human Learning | Transcendent Naturalism #8Dr. John Vervaeke and Gregg Henriques once again welcome Brendan Graham Dempsey to engage in profound explorations of transcendent naturalism, wisdom traditions, and the crucial significance of adaptive insight within our current existential landscape. Through discussions on religious reconstruction, animism, hyper-agents, and the role of wisdom in technology, the episode explores the connections between the sacred and the modern world. Dr. Vervaeke emphasizes collective intelligence and agency, while Brendan Graham Dempsey passionately speaks on the unfolding process of the sacred. Gregg Henriques proposes concepts like "wise NAGI" and reflects on collective awakening. Together, they inspire listeners to rethink the...2023-08-301h 08Dr. John VervaekeThe Meaning of Meaning | Transcendent Naturalism #7In Episode 7 of TN, John and Gregg welcome Brendan Graham Dempsey. Brendan is a writer, theologian, and theorist whose work focuses on the meaning crisis and the nature of spirituality in metamodernity. He is also the host of the Metamodern Spirituality podcast, and he runs the Skymeadow Retreat, which has hosted several metamodern spirituality events. In this episode, Brendan shares about his recent work, which he wrote about in Emergentism, and from his in-progress work on the meaning of meaning. He shows how his work, UTOK, and Bobby Azarian’s unified theory of reality can provide a framework to de...2023-08-241h 15
Everyone Is RightIs Metamodernism Integral? Is Integral Metamodern?Brendan Graham Dempsey is a writer whose work focuses on the meaning crisis and the nature of spirituality in metamodernity. Brendan is also very active in the Metamodern community, which many people recognize as an “integrally-adjacent” constellation of hearts and minds that are trying to usher in a more meaningful and fulfilling way to participate with humanity’s unfolding — not just to navigate the extreme complexity of our times, but also striving to find the simplicity on the other side of all that complexity.
Sound familiar? Metamodernism and the integral paradigm share a lot in common, yet also differ in importan...2023-08-041h 52The Integral StageSOUL OF A.I. #4 - "Techno-Animism" w/ Tada Hozumi
For the fourth episode, Layman sits down with Tada Hozumi to explore his thoughts on how a Shinto, animist approach to the world of living intelligences might help us wisely interface, also, with new AI systems, and to recognize some of their affordances perhaps not as readily apparent within our pervasive, materialist and reductionist worldviews. As their discussion deepens, they also get into tantric and Kabbalistic dimensions of AI, and an exploration of the possibilities of a techno-shamanist ethics and etiquette for our technological and social media landscapes.
Tada Hozumi launched his career in 2017, when he started doing coaching...2023-07-061h 25The Integral StageMETAMODERN SCENE - "Queer Liminal" with Rachel H.
The queer, liminal, and shamanic all point in their own ways to working fruitfully with 'betweens' and 'crossings,' and yet the possible relations between these worlds and their sensibilities are seldom discussed in the liminal / metamodern communities. Layman sits down with Rachel Hayden to explore these overlaps and to consider what might follow from their more conscious integration.
Rachel tends to fret about what to write on a bio. Fortunately, her Personal Medicine of doing tai chi to become calmer is helping her at the moment. She has long been fascinated with mind-body practices, and uses many of...2023-07-061h 14The Integral StageAUTHOR SERIES - "Crossing the Threshold" w/ Matt SegallLayman is joined by Matt Segall, this time to discuss his new book, Crossing the Threshold: Etheric Imagination in the Post-Kantian Process Philosophy of Schelling and Whitehead. Matt describes his book as "a philosophical experiment in thinking, feeling, and willing beyond the transcendental threshold of Immanuel Kant's critical philosophy" -- an exercise in opening to a "descendental aesthetic ontology," which places us back into participatory relation with reality, and roots us again in cosmic creativity. In thinking together with Schelling, Whitehead, Nietzsche, and other philosophers, Matt is interested in showing that there are resources for transformative spiritual practice, for...2023-05-141h 17
Sacred Nature Radio09 - Conversation with Brendan Graham Dempsey about Metamodernity and EmergentismBrendan's website:
https://www.brendangrahamdempsey.com/
Brendan's Substack:
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Music on this episode:
Wishing Well by Purrple Cat...2023-05-061h 11
Mahon McCann Podcast#72 - Brendan Graham Dempsey - A Meaningful Worldview Beyond PostmodernismA fiery conversation with Metamodern writer Brendan Graham Dempsey on Post-modernism, Meaning, Meta-modernity and God.Find more of Brendan's work here: https://www.brendangrahamdempsey.com/Or subscribe to his substack: https://brendangrahamdempsey.substack.com/Get tickets to my upcoming play in Dublin: https://thenewtheatre.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873644249Watch the full conversation on Youtube: https://youtu.be/s9YQWcG1-o8 Get full access to Wisdom Dojo at www.mahonmccann.com/subscribe2023-04-271h 07
trans-Apocalyptic OasisDamiano Ramazzotti » How Can A.I. Become Conscious? • Emergentism is Magical Thinking • Metamodern Spirituality • Ethics & A.I. • War in Ukraine • What is a Woman? • OrgiesHow can A.I. become conscious? Do scientists understand consciousness? Is consciousness actually emergent? Is emergentism just magical thinking? Why are Metamodernists such religious zealots about opposing the mystical and metaphysical? What is a woman? And what's the most comprehensive way to view the War in Ukraine?
0:00 Damiano Ramazzotti and Marshall Æon
1:45 The urgency created by A.I. to discover the nature of consciousness
3:00 Can A.I. be conscious?
3:30 Current A.I. is purely computational
3:49 Scientists don't understand consciousness
4:15 Spiritualists vs Materialists
5:45 Machines need a biological interface to access consciousness
7:05 The experiential nature of consciousness
8:10 The soul perspective of t...2023-04-021h 48The Integral StageLOVE THE SYSTEM: The Reconstitution w/ Ari AllenLayman meets with the founding framer of The Reconstitution project, Ari Allen, to talk about the genesis and goals of The Reconstitution: a collective experiment in revising the United States' Constitution and drafting a series of amendments responsive to some of the deepest challenges confronting the country, its people, and its governing bodies: polarization and corruption, the influence of money in elections, limitations to meaningful participation in government and self-governance, imbalances in representation, the status of corporations and the need to address corporate influence on democratic process, the role of advertising in a free society, and much more. Ari r...2023-02-2258 minThe Integral StageLOVE THE SYSTEM: The Future of Food /w Aydan ConnorLayman meets with returning guest, Aydan Connor, to discuss the global problem of food waste, the shortcomings of the modern food production system, Aydan's experience in the craft beer industry, and his thoughts on personal and systemic steps we can take to reduce waste and promote greater abundance of healthy, locally sourced foods.
Follow us on Fathom! https://hello.fathom.fm/
Subscribe, and support The Integral Stage on Patreon to make more of these conversations possible! https://www.patreon.com/theintegralstage
Special thanks and big love to Shai Newman, Brandon LaChance, Mike McElroy, Brandon...2023-02-221h 25
The Jim Rutt ShowEP 176 Gregg Henriques Part 1: Addressing the Enlightenment GapJim talks with Gregg Henriques about his book A New Synthesis for Solving the Problem of Psychology: Addressing the Enlightenment Gap. They discuss the book's audacious attempt to explain the universe, definitions of metaphysics & whether it's needed, 4 bins for the history of the universe, the tree of knowledge system, psychology's ontological confusion, the Enlightenment gap, one-world naturalism & the mind-body problem, scientific knowledge's relationship with subjective knowledge, the metamodernist synthesis, psychology's disagreement about its own building blocks, the absence of a meta-paradigm, John Vervaeke's recursive relevance realization, definitions of mind, empiricism, mapping the internal/external relationship, the unified theory of knowledge, t...2023-02-151h 38The Integral StageRE/THINKING RELIGION part 9 w/ John Vervaeke & Bruce AldermanIn Re/thinking Religion, a new Integral Stage series, John Vervaeke joins Bruce Alderman and Layman Pascal to explore possible points of contact and confluence between their respective approaches to religion and spirituality. For the 9th episode, Bruce, Layman and John continue the themes from the previous discussion and focus in on the roles of art and the imaginal in state training and cross-cultural mediation; the question of normativity and rationality in ritual and contemplative aesthetics; the importance of the participatory dimension of art, and the need to emphasize shifts in tonality, rhythm, time, and structured performance, beyond the t...2023-01-2950 min
Elevating ConsciousnessBrendan Graham Dempsey - EmergentismBrendan Graham Dempsey is a writer whose work focuses on the meaning crisis and the nature of spirituality in metamodernity. He earned his bachelors in religious studies from the University of Vermont and his masters in religion and the arts from Yale University. He is the host of the Metamodern Spirituality podcast where he interviews leading thinkers in the metamodernism, integral, synthesist, and Game B spaces about the topics of meaning-making and spirituality in today's world. He is also the author of a series of books including the most recent “Emergentism: A Religion of Complexity for the Metamodern world”. In t...2023-01-281h 36The Integral StageAUTHOR SERIES: "Masks of Origin" & more w/ Brian GeorgeFor the twenty-seventh episode of the Integral Stage's Author Series, Layman meets with author and artist, Brian George, to talk about his book, Masks of Origin: Regression in the Service of Omnipotence; about speaking the unspeakable; and about his creative life and work in general. From the book description: "Brian George’s debut collection of personal essays invites the reader on a journey beyond the normal categories of space, time, and narrative structure, toward a further shore of multidimensional and more-than-human experience.
These are 'essays' in the sense of attempts or explorations of a subject which is too vast...2023-01-211h 37The Integral StageMETAMODERN SCENE: Black Metamodernism w/ Germane MarvelWhat is Black Metamodernism? What distinguishes metamodernism from modernism, postmodernism, and hypermodernity? In this special Integral Stage episode, Layman sits down with metamodernist thinker and writer, Germane Marvel, to explore these questions, and to take a deep dive into Germane's thoughts on diunital cognition; the role of emotional intelligence in both/and thinking; nihilism and the meaning crisis; the concepts of meta-existence and metatheology; metamodern spirituality, Taoism, and Ifa; the nature of light surpremacy; and the contributions of the global south to the resolution of the postmodern aporia.
Germane Marvel's Medium page https://medium.com/@germanemarvel
Lay...2023-01-211h 27
The Integral StageAUTHOR SERIES: "Absolutization" w/ Robert M EllisFor the twenty-sixth episode of the Integral Stage's Author Series, Layman sits down again with Middle Way philosopher and author, Robert M. Ellis, this time to discuss his new book, Absolutization -- the first book in a planned 9-part series on the Middle Way.
Layman and Robert explore the essential arguments of the book; the many ways absolutizing tendencies in thought show up psychologically, culturally, and politically; and the relationship of Middle Way philosophy to integral postmetaphysics and Layman's Metaphysics of Adjacency.
From the book's description: "What do dogma, repression, and conflict have in common? They...2023-01-211h 02
The Jim Rutt ShowEP 173 Hanzi Freinacht on Metamodern Self-HelpJim talks with Hanzi Freinacht about his book 12 Commandments: For Extraordinary People to Master Ordinary Life. They discuss the book as a response to Jordan Peterson & his "12 rules" books, metamodernism, fostering sober crazy people, magical thinking in highly developed personalities, integrations of science & spirituality, stabilizing higher phenomenological states, lower average states as a phenomenon of late-stage Game A, living in a mess moderately, fucking like a beast, sincere irony, quitting, doing the walk of shame, reverse death therapy, Carl Roger's idea of congruence, healing with justice, burning your maps, the pernicious belief that our maps are complete, killing your guru & f...2023-01-181h 52The Jim Rutt ShowEP 172 Brendan Graham Dempsey on EmergentismJim talks with Brendan Graham Dempsey about his book Emergentism: A Religion of Complexity for the Metamodern World. They discuss the meaning crisis & its symptoms, reciprocal narrowing, the pre-modern & the modern, the emergence of reductionism, the meaning of complexity & emergence, sacralizing the scientific creation narrative, Prigogine's theory of dissipative systems, the universe as a process of endless complexification, marrying Bobby Azarian's Unifying Theory of Reality & Gregg Henriques's Unified Theory of Knowledge, consciousness vs sentience, Integrated Information Theory vs John Searle's biological functionalism, the odds that intelligent life evolved only once in our galaxy, tying complexification to the God concept, making the...2023-01-102h 07The Integral StageWISDOM & THE METACRISIS: A Discussion w/ Dr. Roger WalshAnticipated for several centuries by prescient individuals, the Meta-Crisis is the defining challenge of our time -- the convergence of multiple wicked problems, at global scale. In this special Integral Stage episode, Dr. Roger Walsh, a renowned transpersonal psychologist, integral scholar, and Professor of Psychiatry and Philosophy at UC Irvine, sits down with Layman Pascal to discuss the wisdom skills needed to apprehend, navigate, and respond to the daunting complex of issues, challenges, and changes that confront us.
Roger Walsh, M.D., Ph.D. DHL. graduated from Australia’s Queensland University with degrees in psychology, physiology, neuroscience, and m...2023-01-081h 49The Integral StageAUTHOR SERIES: "Emergentism" Redux w/ Brendan Graham DempseyHaving lived in a cave so long, the puppet hermit Adyahanzi sometimes leaves unseemly messes when he goes out in public ... at hotels, restaurants, restrooms ... anywhere, really. And it is the task of poor Brendan Graham Dempsey to follow behind him and do the dirty clean-up work. Such is the case with this video. Listen in as Brendan gives Layman the (re)overview of Emergentism that it truly deserves!
Emergentism book: https://www.amazon.com/Emergentism-Religion-Complexity-Metamodern-Spirituality/dp/B0BF28PC2L/
Brendan Graham Dempsey is a writer whose work focuses on the meaning crisis and the...2022-12-311h 23
Nordic MetamodernMetamodern Spirituality and EmergentismMeet Brendan Graham Dempsey who a theologian and permaculturalist from Vermont, USA.
Brendan writes thoughtful, poetic, warm, spiritual, and thought provoking books and articles about spirituality, philosophy, and our search for meaning. He also hosts the Facebook group Metamodern Spirituality and writes here: https://brendangrahamdempsey.substack.com/
Episode as podcast: https://www.nordicbildung.org/podcast/metamodern-spirituality-and-emergentism/More Nordic Metamodern here: https://www.nordicbildung.org/nordic-metamodern/
The Nordic countries did very well during the modern era. Their secret? An approach to education called bildung. Metamodernity is a possible future where we take the...2022-12-091h 17The Integral StageAUTHOR SERIES: "Emergentism" w/ Adyahanzi (Brendan Graham Dempsey)For the twenty-fourth episode of the Integral Stage's Author Series, Layman sits down with the very animated, Adyahanzi, to talk about his latest book, Emergentism, which he co-authored with that rather sneaky post-Kierkegaardian writer, Brendan Graham Dempsey. As a cave-dwelling hermit, Adyahanzi doesn't get out much -- you might be able to tell that from his unkempt beard and his enthusiastic oracular bursts -- but he's found a good listener in Layman, and soon spills all the book's secrets.
"The new sciences of complexity have completely revolutionized our understanding of the universe as well as our place in i...2022-12-091h 12The Integral StageMETAMODERN SCENE: Islam for a Time Between Worlds w/ Jared MorningstarFor this episode, Layman hooks up with Metamodern writer and process theologian, Jared Morningstar, to talk about Islam -- its ritual practices, its history, its internal and external movements and divisions, its theological and metaphysical insights, its social challenges, its relationship to ecology and care for the earth, its potential futures, and much more.
Jared is a writer and educator with academic interests in philosophy of religion, Islamic studies, comparative religion, metamodern spirituality, and interfaith dialogue whose work in these areas seeks to offer robust responses to issues of inter-religious conflict, contemporary nihilism, and the "meaning crisis" amon...2022-11-251h 37
Conversations in ProcessBrendan Graham Dempsey – Metamodern Spirituality & Process TheologyOn this episode of Conversations in Process, Jay McDaniel and Jared Morningstar are joined by Brendan Graham Dempsey to discuss metamodern spirituality and possible connections with process theology. Brendan is a podcaster, author, community-builder, philosopher, and poet whose work focuses on the meaning crisis and the nature of spirituality in metamodernity. He has a BA in Religious Studies from the University of Vermont and an MA in Religion and the Arts from Yale University. Brendan lives in Greensboro Bend, Vermont, where he runs the holistic Sky Meadow retreat center and hosts metamodern gatherings.
In this conversation, Jay...2022-09-2353 minConversations in ProcessBrendan Graham Dempsey – Metamodern Spirituality & Process TheologyOn this episode of Conversations in Process, Jay McDaniel and Jared Morningstar are joined by Brendan Graham Dempsey to discuss metamodern spirituality and possible connections with process theology. Brendan is a podcaster, author, community-builder, philosopher, and poet whose work focuses on the meaning crisis and the nature of spirituality in metamodernity. He has a BA in Religious Studies from the University of Vermont and an MA in Religion and the Arts from Yale University. Brendan lives in Greensboro Bend, Vermont, where he runs the holistic Sky Meadow retreat center and hosts metamodern gatherings.In this conversation, Jay...2022-09-2353 min
Metamodern Spirituality28. Culture, Plurality, Faith, Will (w/ Jonathan Rowson)Jonathan Rowson of Perspectiva joins Brendan for a conversation about the nature of spirituality in the contemporary public square, the boundaries of the social imaginary, the thirst for spiritual conversation and community in a secular world, religion and epistemic justification, the religious impulse of submission vs. the modern ego, what taking the meta view on a multi-perspectival religious landscape might mean, the divine contribution of the individual/individuating will, and much else.
0:00 Introduction
2:04 Exploring (the Absence of) Spirituality in Public Space Today
9:47 Defining Spirituality
14:22 The Elephant in the Room
20:24...2022-08-271h 15trans-Apocalyptic OasisBrendan Graham Dempsey » The Void, Nihilism, Christ, Diamond Approach, Metamodernism, Metaphysics, Post-Metaphysical Spirituality, Emergentism, Complexity0:00 Brendan Graham Dempsey and Marshall Æon
1:34 Brendan’s history with Christianity (from evangelism to apostasy)
4:30 Dandyism, Oscar Wilde, Nietzsche, The Odyssey, Kierkegard
6:36 Denys Turner at Yale Divinity School, Catholic mysticism, Plotinus
10:26 What is Metamodernism?
14:40 Metamodern metaphysics?
16:23 Jean-Luc Marion - God Without Being, Nietzsche, Nihilism
19:37 What is Metamodern spirituality?
20:51 Post-Metaphysical Spirituality (Bruce Alderman, Layman Pascal, Ken Wilber)
21:20 Subtle energy meditation • Maximal vs Minimal metaphysics
22:53 The value and dark side of meditation
23:24 Adyashanti: Meditation can be both undervalued and overv...2022-08-241h 44
Evolving Spiritual PracticeMetaModern Spirituality with Brendan Graham DempseyThe short answer to what MetaModern spirituality is that it is what comes after New Age spirituality. The New Age, popular from the 1970’s onwards, was strong in the sense that its progressive outlook brought together all the various spiritual traditions of the world, but weak in the sense that it was rather shallow and whimsical in this approach. The MetaModern view keeps the openness to the rich variety of traditions and practices from around the world but makes a point of situating that within the rigour of the scientific method and the potency of sustained and faithful practice of tr...2022-08-141h 38
Life Itself PodcastBrendan Graham Dempsey & Nathen Fitchen on The Meaning Crisis & Metamodern SpiritualityIn this fourth episode of our Exploring Social Transformation series, Nathen Fitchen and Brendan Graham Dempsey discuss the rise of the meaning crisis, how it has perpetuated throughout the world and its symbiotic nature to the environmental crisis and other crises we face today. In addition, they unpack a potential antidote to the meaning crisis, metamodern spirituality. Through identifying the core characteristics of metamodern thinking and how one might engage in metamodern spirituality, this conversation is a perfect place to orient oneself with the metamodern ideology and to be inspired to find greater meaning individually and as a collective....2022-06-211h 04Life Itself PodcastBrendan Graham Dempsey & Nathen Fitchen on The Meaning Crisis & Metamodern SpiritualityIn this fourth episode of our Exploring Social Transformation series, Nathen Fitchen and Brendan Graham Dempsey discuss the rise of the meaning crisis, how it has perpetuated throughout the world and its symbiotic nature to the environmental crisis and other crises we face today. In addition, they unpack a potential antidote to the meaning crisis, metamodern spirituality. Through identifying the core characteristics of metamodern thinking and how one might engage in metamodern spirituality, this conversation is a perfect place to orient oneself with the metamodern ideology and to be inspired to find greater meaning individually and as a collective....2022-06-211h 04
Metamodern Spirituality27. Advancing the Stage Theory Debate (w/ Daniel Görtz & Nora Bateson)In their first-ever conversation on the topic together, Daniel Görtz and Nora Bateson join Brendan to talk about stage theory. Since Nora's social media post declaring developmental stage theories "BS" and "colonial as hell," the value and legitimacy of stage models has been a fervent topic of debate within the liminal web. In this conversation, Daniel and Nora are given space to more completely express their opinions on the topic before engaging with one another directly in discussion/debate in an attempt to gain a deeper appreciation and integration of one another's views.
0:00 In...2022-06-201h 18Metamodern Spirituality26. The Awakening Universe (w/ Bobby Azarian)Bobby Azarian joins Brendan to discuss his new book The Romance of Reality: How the Universe Organizes Itself to Create Life, Consciousness, and Cosmic Complexity. In the first half of their conversation, Bobby presents the new cosmic narrative offered by the complexity sciences. Unlike the older, reductionist account, this is a story in which life is inevitable and part of a broader cosmic design towards greater and greater knowledge creation. Beginning with the laws of thermodynamics, Bobby recounts the emergence of order out of (and by means of) chaos; the emergence of life out of ordered structures; and the...2022-06-171h 54Metamodern Spirituality25. Philosophy, Wisdom & Metamodernism (w/ James Cussen)James Cussen, creator of the @The Living Philosophy YouTube channel, talks to Brendan about metamodernism within the context of intellectual history, the relationship of philosophy to academia, the need for wisdom schools, and much else.2022-06-021h 14UTOKing with GreggEp 50 | UTOKing with Brendan Graham Dempsey | Toward a Metamodern Spiritual AwakeningIn Episode 50, Gregg welcomes Brendan Graham Dempsey. Brendan is a writer whose work focuses on the meaning crisis and the nature of spirituality in metamodernity (see here). He is also the host of the Metamodern Spirituality podcast, in which he interviews prominent voices on metamodernism and contemporary spirituality. In this episode, he recounts for Gregg his journey, and he and Gregg explore the metamodern spirituality movement, and why the time is right for knowledge systems that can generate a coherent integrative pluralism in a way oriented toward wisdom.
--- ℹ️ Find out more about Brendan Graham Demps...2022-04-191h 30Metamodern Spirituality24. Religion and Development (w/ Nish Dubashia)Nish Dubashia joins Brendan to discuss the topic of evolutionary spirituality, using the Spiral Dynamics framework to consider how religious conceptions evolve through the different value memes. Beginning with a synopsis of the basic structure of the religious narrative, Nish then shows how this story takes different forms as it finds expression through the different developmental stages. The progression charted, some important ideas are then considered: What is the relationship of self and spirit along this evolution? Does the spiral of development lead to some kind of non-dual awareness? If so, how do we understand this? What role might...2022-03-171h 23Metamodern Spirituality23. Consciousness vs. Replicators (w/ Andrés Gómez Emilsson)Andrés Gómez Emilsson of the Qualia Research Institute joins Brendan to discuss "the universal plot": what's it all about and what matters most? Andrés says the big story is one of consciousness vs. pure replicators, the struggle to resist brute, value-neutral replication processes and maximize instead the positive valence possibilities of universal consciousness. Andrés considers how this narrative emerges as the most nuanced and developmentally advanced of the various ethical stories of the past (compared to "Good vs. Evil," for instance), and considers some of the theoretical/philosophical axioms on which it's based. What then is t...2022-03-021h 07Metamodern Spirituality22. Process Philosophy and the Metamodern Metanarrative (w/ Matt Segall)Matt Segall joins Brendan to talk about the relationship of process philosophy and the thinking of A. N. Whitehead to the formulation of an emerging metanarrative in metamodernity. In the context of our 13.7 billion years of emergent complexification, how does the story of consciousness evolution relate to issues such as dualism and the hard problem of consciousness, panpsychism, divine creativity, and mystical union? Matt Segall's faculty bio: Matthew D. Segall, PhD, received his doctoral degree in 2016 from the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program at CIIS. His dissertation was titled Cosmotheanthropic Imagination in the Post-Kantian Process Philosophy of Schelling and Wh...2022-02-221h 11Metamodern Spirituality21. Nietzsche, Power, and Metamodernism (w/ Layman Pascal)Layman Pascal returns to discuss the relationship of Nietzsche's thought to integral and metamodern frameworks in light of recent debates with the "Dark Renaissance." Is there a pre/trans fallacy in Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morals? What's the connection between the Will to Power and Whitehead's "Creativity" or Wilber's "Eros"? How does the meaning of "power" change across the metamemes and up the stack of complexity?2022-02-181h 09
The Technosocial InstituteWagner, Nietzsche, Metamodernism and the Dark Renaissance with Brendan Graham DempseyBrendan Graham Dempsey joins us to talk about the explosive creative relationship between Wagner and Nietzsche, and debate the approaches to art and mythology that appear in metamodern and dark renaissance thought. Brendan can be found here https://www.brendangrahamdempsey.com/2022-02-161h 53Metamodern Spirituality20. Towards a Metamodern Spirituality, Pt. 1 (w/ Julyan Davey)Brendan Graham Dempsey talks to Julyan Davey about his immensely prescient and rich essay, "Towards a Metamodern Spirituality," a must-read for anyone interested in the topic of religion and spirituality in metamodernity: https://medium.com/the-phoenix-project/towards-a-metamodern-spirituality-6d71f958a2e0.2022-02-111h 22Metamodern Spirituality19. Metamodern Magick (w/ Scoutleader Wiley)Theory and ritual artist Scoutleader Wiley talks to Brendan about metamodern magick, a post-postmodern psychotechnology of re-enchantment that utilizes ironic sincerity and informed naivete to (re)connect us with meaning and the Earth. How can we engage with ritual and mythos beyond superstition and gullibility? What ends does ritual accomplish that a purely rational and objective stance to experience cannot? How can laughing at ourselves help us take the sacred seriously?
0:00 Introduction
1:36 A Need for New Rituals: Personal and Communal Meaning-Making
9:05 Magic vs. Magick: Objective vs. Transjective Transformation
15:26...2022-01-1952 minMetamodern Spirituality18. Towards a Metamodern Metanarrative: UTOK (w/ Gregg Henriques)Dr. Gregg Henriques talks to Brendan about his Unified Theory of Knowledge (UTOK) framework and how it promisingly contributes to the effort of articulating a sciency-friendly post-postmodern grand narrative for our confused and meaning-hungry times. Gregg helps clarify points of overlap as well as distinction between other post-postmodern maps, while zeroing in on the specific existential challenge of our day, which UTOK clarifies and contextualizes. Finally, the two consider how we might, through ironic sincerity, co-create a set of living symbols that can help teach the full "wisdom stack" we'll need to not only survive but thrive beyond the...2022-01-101h 11Metamodern Spirituality17. The Liminal Web and Communitas (w/ Joe Lightfoot)Joe Lightfoot talks to Brendan about the "Liminal Web," a term he coined for an emerging online community of metatheorists, systems poets, and sensemakers. Discussion quickly moves from mapping this online subculture to exploring its possible futures for deepening connection and embodiment. What are the potentials of purely virtual communitas? Are there in-person communal structures into which this online momentum might be transferred? What are the ingredients of successful communities more generally? What makes this loose network different than other would-be changemakers of the past? Where is it all going, and what is its significance?
0:00 Introduction
...2021-12-301h 03Metamodern Spirituality16. Building an Awakening Practice (w/ Roger Thisdell)Feeling stuck in his meditation practice and looking for guidance from a 4th Path adept, Brendan talks again to Roger Thisdell, someone who has attained a new default experience of mind as permanently centerless and without the sense of a singly, positioned epistemic agent (i.e., what in traditional language might be called "enlightenment"). Both thought it might be helpful to explore some instructional guidance in a podcast setting, where the process could be shared for others' benefit. In this context, Roger asks some probing questions and offers some helpful tips and suggestions for cultivating awakening.
0:00 Introduction
...2021-12-211h 09
Meta-Ideological PoliticsTHE DAWN OF EVERYTHING DEBATE ~ ft. Jeremy Johnson, Brendan Graham Dempsey and Layman PascalWe discuss Brendan’s issues with strawmanning and developmental question, Jeremy’s take on stage theories and challenge to historical linearity, Models themselves vs how people hold them, Contextualizing the book via meta-analysis, Indigenous critiques of modernity and its critique, Escaping the confines of a narrow (modernist) lens, Fractalizing developmental maps, Decoupling development from modes of production, Complexifying the patterning, deeper dives into the book’s “strawmanning/shadowboxing”, interpretive styles and missing information, who was the book written for? And it being misconstrued, the “What is Politics” Youtube critique, emphasizing material conditions/structure vs agency/volition, stage theories infantilizing indigenous peo...2021-12-122h 15Metamodern Spirituality15. Clare Graves, Spiral Dynamics, and Stage Theory Critique (w/ Henry Andrews)Brendan talks to Henry Andrews about the legacy of Clare Graves's work, which formed the basis of the Spiral Dynamics framework, which has in turn highly influenced the articulation of integral theory. After going over some of the history, the discussion then turns to the "Great Stage Theory Debate" (Henry's coinage) initiated by a comment by Nora Bateson on social media that re-ignited debate over long-standing critiques of stage theories in general.
0:00 Introduction
2:53 Stage 1: The Research of Clare Graves
12:53 Stage 2: Don Beck, Christopher Cowan, and Spiral Dynamics
20:01 Stage 3: Ken Wilber and SDi ...2021-12-011h 05Metamodern Spirituality14. Nuancing the Stage Theory Discussion (w/ Zak Stein)Zak Stein is a writer and educator with a doctorate in human development and education from Harvard University. Working with Kurt Fischer, he helped further hone and nuance developmental stage theories as part of the neo-Piagetian consensus. Deeply influenced by integral philosophy, he has also articulated many crucial critiques of the movement in an attempt to emphasize the dynamical and contextual nature of stage assessments. Here Zak and Brendan discuss just what the science tells us about the reality of stages; the problems around their simplification, reification, and misapplication; the question of how well they map onto socio-cultural development...2021-11-231h 14Metamodern Spirituality13. The Artful Scaling of the Religion that is Not a Religion, Pt. 2 (w/ John Vervaeke & Layman Pascal)This is Part 2 of the series (Part 3 will be on Layman's channel), in which the three of us wrestle deeply within dialogos about how to implement the religion that is not a religion in a way that is both viable and honourable.
0:00 Introduction
6:14 Stages of Faith? Development, Adjacency, and Trustworthiness
11:36 Mechanisms of Change vs. Maps of Change: Problematizing the Narrative Uses of Development
17:15 Traditional (concrete) vs. Modern (formal) Signs of Trustworthiness
20:35 Sequence, Movement, and Attraction: Trusting One's Future Self
24:38 The Normativity Problem
30:39 Complexification as Mechanism: Ecologie...2021-11-1957 minMetamodern Spirituality12. The Animate Everything (w/ Sophie Strand)Writer Sophie Strand talks to Brendan about re-enchantment, the animist revival, ecological storytelling, and the meaning of death and change.
0:00 Introduction
1:55 A Messy Re-Enchantment
7:11 No Purity: Towards a Compost Gospel
16:52 Ecological Storytelling: Our Role in a More-Than-Human Story
25:23 The Sacred Local in a Digital Diaspora
31:31 Transcendence as the Cycle of Descending and Ascending
36:07 Not Your (Great-Great-Great...) Grandfather's Animism
44:39 Reading: "The Animate Everything"
52:03 "God" Won't Do: Holism and Generative Breakdown
56:09 Adaptive Storytelling
1:03:28 Death and Ferment: Be...2021-10-201h 19Metamodern Spirituality11. Developing an Ecology of Practices for the Meaning Crisis (w/ Daniel Thorson)Daniel Thorson and Brendan discuss the work of John Vervaeke, creator of the "Awakening from the Meaning Crisis" series, comparing and contrasting it to Daniel's own pioneering efforts to develop a framework and set of practices for training agents of healing and transformation in our disintegrating world. They also reflect on both the importance and the problem of creating "ontologically neutral" practices stripped of highly context-bound terminology and ideas, whether that be for a "religion that's not a religion" or the kind of framework Daniel is developing.
0:00 Introduction
1:50 On Entering Vervaekeland
2021-10-081h 00Metamodern Spirituality10. Integral Pluralism and Meta-Religion (w/ Bruce Alderman)After detailing the twists and turns of his rich spiritual journey through numerous religious traditions, Bruce Alderman discusses the many promises and challenges of trans-religious engagement. Bruce and Brendan discuss the difficulty of bridging divides, not just between different religious traditions, but also between different worldviews and value systems that appear within those traditions. Bruce talks about some of the promising groundwork he's helped lay to establish new interlineage institutions, and reflects on what remains to be done in the field of integral pluralism and the articulation of a meta-religious framework.
0:00 Introduction
1:46...2021-10-061h 20Metamodern Spirituality9. Performatism: Transcendence after Postmodernism (w/ Raoul Eshelman)Raoul Eshelman talks to Brendan about "performatism," the post-postmodern artistic epoch characterized by a return of transcendence. But what sort of "transcendence"? And how does it relate to history, religion, and metaphysics? Eshelman navigates these various lines of inquiry, while also pointing out some important distinctions between his work and other cultural theorists currently exploring these topics. Finally, what lies ahead for performatist theory, and for theories of the post-postmodern more generally?
0:00 Introduction
1:29 The Return of Transcendence: Postmodernism, Post-Postmodernism, and Historical Dialectic
16:41 Performatist Art and Post-Metaphysics
21:26 A Second N...2021-10-031h 14Metamodern Spirituality8. From States to Traits: The Phenomenology of No Self (w/ Roger Thisdell)Roger Thisdell talks to Brendan about jhana meditation and the transformational experience born of such high state cultivation which suddenly left him with "a mind which represents itself as permanently centreless and without the sense of a singly, positioned epistemic agent."
0:00 Introduction
3:40 Jhana Meditation: An Overview
13:09 The Phenomenology of No "Self"
18:36 The Epistemology and Ontology of No "Self"
24:01 Roger's Story
31:16 Suffering and No "Self"
34:44 The Web vs. the Spider
41:33 Navigating States
49:33 Development: States vs. Stages
53:57 Nonduality2021-09-221h 16Metamodern Spirituality7. In Pursuit of the Headless God (w/ Daniel Görtz)Daniel Görtz, one of the authors behind the Hanzi Freinacht works, explores the topic of metamodern spirituality with Brendan Graham Dempsey in a rich and illuminating discussion. After some initial exposition highlighting important distinctions between the metamodern and integral paradigms, Görtz and Dempsey dive into considering the implications of metamodern developmental thought for religion and theology, tracking the evolution of "God" into metamodernity. Meta-religious frameworks, as well as the relationship of the Model of Hierarchical Complexity to theories of "consciousness evolution," are also considered. The conversation concludes with a look towards metamodern mythopoetic and praxipoetic possibilities on th...2021-09-161h 32Metamodern Spirituality6. The Development of Metamodernism (w/ Timotheus Vermeulen)Timotheus Vermeulen talks with Brendan Graham Dempsey about the development of "metamodernism," a paradigm for understanding art and culture after postmodernism. After discussing the original impetus for and formation of the idea, he reflects on the continued relevance of the paradigm today, more than a decade after he and colleague Robin van den Akker first proposed it in their seminal 2010 article, "Notes on Metamodernism." More recent applications and deployments of the term "metamodernism" outside cultural studies proper (e.g., by Hanzi Freinacht, Lene Rachel Andersen, Tomas Björkman, Jonathan Rowson and Layman Pascal) are also considered. The conversation concludes w...2021-08-311h 22Metamodern Spirituality5. Syntheism, Development, and the God Event (w/ Alexander Bard)Alexander Bard talks with Brendan Graham Dempsey about syntheism, a movement exploring the "creation of God in the internet age." Envisioning "God" not as the creator at the beginning of time, but rather as the networked Event in the future to which we all are tending, Bard's syntheist philosophy challenges us to consider the coming Sensocracy, which is even now emerging in both pluralist and totalitarian guises. Taking issue with "evolution of consciousness" models and the idea of developmental spirituality, Bard argues rather for technology's development as the core dynamism in a world that knows only Process and Event. 2021-08-251h 25
The Integral Stage: AUTHOR SERIESMETAMODERN SPIRITUALITY w/ Brendan Graham DempseyFor the sixteenth episode of the Integral Stage Author Series, Layman is joined by a host of writers or literary figures all hiding in the body of Brendan Graham Dempsey. Inspired by the pseudonymous experiments of Kierkegaard, Brendan has written (and is still writing) a series of books by different distinctive characters -- God, by Julian; metamodernism and the Return of Transcendence, by A. Severan; The Oil and the Lamp, by Anti-Kierkegaard and Anti-Nietzsche; Building the Cathedral, by Sadie Alwyn Moon; and most recently, Gospel, under no particular name. In his conversation with Layman, Brendan discusses his inspirations and in...2021-08-141h 34Metamodern Spirituality4. Reclaiming Religious Terminology (w/ Layman Pascal)How do we talk about metamodern spirituality, especially when traditional religious terminology is so fraught with baggage from the past? Do we rename our terms, or reclaim them? In this conversation with Brendan Graham Dempsey, Layman Pascal defends the reclamation of religious language, offering his own definitions of words like "God," "spirit," "heaven and hell," and more. With this reformulation of familiar ideas, we can glimpse a vital and viable framework for a truly metamodern spirituality, one that retains its connection to the traditions of our ancestors and their age-old explorations of matters of ultimate concern.
2021-06-142h 03Metamodern Spirituality3. The Multi-Perspectival Sacred (w/ Layman Pascal)Brendan talks to Layman Pascal about how to live embodied, multi-perspectival religion, as well as a novel framework for thinking about it.
0:00 Introduction
1:40 Q: What Is "Metamodern Spirituality"?
I. Embodying the Multi-Perspectival Sacred: Metamodern Spirituality Gets Physical
5:22 Metamodern Spirituality and "Sacred Naturalism"
9:44 Naturalizing the Sacred, or Sacralizing the Natural?
18:37 How Do We Engage Traditional Literalism?
26:06 Transform the Old, or Invent the New?
35:47 Limits of Pluralism
44:12 An Urgent Spirituality: What Does the Moment Require of Us?
59:11 Lived Religion: (Know...2021-06-011h 50Metamodern Spirituality2. A Sense of the Whole (w/ Jeremy Johnson)Brendan Graham Dempsey talks to Jeremy Johnson about structures of consciousness, mapping the whole, and metamodern spirituality.
0:00 Introduction
2:32 A Trans-Disciplinary Approach
4:17 Seeking the Whole: Gebser
7:39 Seeking the Whole: Gebser vs. Wilber?
10:27 Modern Totalizing: The Limits of Developmental Maps
15:37 Our Meta Moment between Worlds
20:20 Living the Between: A Non-Totalizing Meta-Narrative?
25:47 The Meta-Crisis, The Meaning Crisis, and the Narrative of the In-Between
36:03 A Felt Sense of the Whole: Metamodern Reclaiming of the Non-Modern
48:28 Approaches to Modern Systems Transformation2021-05-171h 53Metamodern Spirituality1. Updating Religion (w/ Lene Rachel Andersen)Brendan Graham Dempsey talks to Lene Rachel Andersen, author of Metamodernity: Meaning and Hope in a Complex World, about navigating different cultural codes, updating traditions, and sense-making in today's world.
0:00 Introduction
3:20 Metamodern-ism vs. Metamodern-ity
5:34 Seeing All Four Previous Cultural Codes
11:15 Updating through Addition
13:01 Metamodern Oscillation between Postmodern and Pre-postmodern (Indigenous, Classical, Modern)
18:08 Cultural Code-Switching
27:02 Code Antagonism and Limits
23:29 Code Pluralism and Sense-Making
34:44 A Corner of the Iron Age in 2021
39:03 Premodern Beliefs in a Metamodern World?
2021-05-051h 18