675. John Churchill

Posted on February 1, 2023 by Rick Archer

Born in London, Dr. Churchill’s interest in psycho-spiritual development, Integral theory, Contemplative studies, Western Esotericism, and Mahayana Buddhism began in his adolescence,. During this time, John received the esoteric Planetary Dharma transmissions that would in time unfold as his contribution to a planetary fourth turning teaching.

Dr. Churchill spent 15 years training and teaching “Great Seal” meditation in an Indo-Tibetan Mahayana lineage under the mentorship of the late senior Western teacher, translator, respected author, and clinical psychologist Dr. Daniel P. Brown.

He is also a founding member of the Integral Institute led by esteemed Transpersonal/Integral philosopher, Ken Wilber.

John has received advanced training in: attachment therapy, hypnosis, positive psychology for peak performance, and the “Pointing Out” style of Mahamudra meditation.

For the last 25 years, John has developed a a Fourth Turning Planetary Dharma practice which includes the somatically based contemplative practice path; Embodying the Open Ground, that integrates psychodynamic healing, adult development and meditation.

John holds a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from William James College, and is a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Married to his partner, Nicole since 2000, they are Co-Founders of Samadhi Integral, and Co-Directors of Karuna Mandala.

Book: Becoming Buddha: Buddhist Contemplative Psychology in a Western Context

Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group

Transcript of this interview

Interview recorded January 29, 2023.

Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

663. Brian Thomas Swimme

Posted on September 24, 2022 by Rick Archer

Brian Thomas Swimme did his doctoral work in gravitational dynamics in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Oregon. From the publication of The Universe Is a Green Dragon to the Emmy Award–winning PBS documentary Journey of the Universe, Swimme has articulated the cosmology of a creative universe, one in which human intelligence plays an essential role.

For three decades as a professor in the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, he taught evolutionary cosmology to graduate students in the humanities. Currently he is director of the Third Story of the Universe at Human Energy, a nonprofit public benefit organization.

A detailed description of his books and media works can be found at storyoftheuniverse.org.
About the documentary, Journey of the Universe.
Human Energy presents Story of the Noosphere

Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group.

Transcript of this interview

Interview recorded September 18, 2022

Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

604. Ilia Delio

Posted on July 4, 2021 by Rick Archer

Ilia Delio, OSF holds the Josephine C. Connelly Chair in Christian Theology at Villanova University. Her area of research is Science and Religion with interests in artificial intelligence, evolution, quantum physics, and the import of these for Christian doctrine and life. She holds a doctorate in Pharmacology from Rutgers University, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and a doctorate in Historical Theology from Fordham University. She is the author of over twenty books including Making All things New (Catholicity in an Evolving Universe), a finalist for the 2019 Michael Ramsey Prize and The Unbearable Wholeness of Being: God, Evolution, and the Power of Love, for which she won the 2014 Silver Nautilus Book Award and a 2014 Catholic Press Association Book Award in Faith and Science. Her latest book is Re-Enchanting the Earth: Why AI Needs Religion. She is the founder of the Center for Christogenesis, an online educational resource for promoting the vision of Teilhard de Chardin and, more broadly, the integration of science and religion in the 21st century.

Some of the main points discussed in this conversation.

What is God?
As we enter the mystery of God, language fails us, and the mystery grasps us all the more.
The mystery of God is the same mystery at the heart of physics.
There’s nothing outside the existence of God. God is existence itself.
God’s love is so infinite that there is nothing in this creation that’s un-loveable or unloved by God.
This is a finite creation. Wherever there are boundaries there is the possibility of suffering. Suffering and death are part of the life cycle.
Reincarnation discussion. Are multiple incarnations sequential or simultaneous?
A deep experience of the mystery of God supports the freedom to speculate, dream, and imagine.
Science and religion need one another in order to fully understand the world.
The necessity and drawbacks of specialization and the complexification of knowledge.
If our hearts are grounded in holy mystery we become more fully God-like in our actions.
Humanity won’t have a sustainable future unless we renew the deeper dimension in our lives.
Cyborgs and transhumanism
The mutually beneficial relationship between spiritual and material technologies.
A profound spiritual transformation is underway.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s idea of a new religion of the earth, retaining the wisdom of the past but creating something new for the future.
Wherever in the universe intelligent life exists, it will search for ultimate intelligence.
Intelligent design
The core energy of the universe – God – is love. The force that creates stars is the same force that manifests as love in humans.
Love is the highest knowledge. In the evening of life, we shall be judged on love alone.
Making love the lens through which we see all of life.
“The more I am in union with another, the more I am in touch with myself because it’s the core of myself that’s in union.”
What might the world be like if everyone were enlightened?