The Integral Stage Expanded Universe (ISEU)

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 integrat...

21st CENTURY HUNTER GATHERERS For episode 7, Layman sits down in the Mumbai branch of the Liminal Café with author and podcaster, Hemant Gupta, to talk about his life and work - in particular, his writings and reflections on the new 'hunter gatherer' roles many of us find ourselves in, in an information ecology which is still in its wilderness stages; and a distinctive, quadratic heuristic...

For the third episode of The Soul of AI, Layman sits down with Fionn Wright, the creator of an integrative metatheory that draws on Chinese as well as Western integral models, to explore how AI might be leveraged to develop ecosystems of tools and practices for midwifing a Metamodern culture through and beyond the looming poly-crisis. They discuss the importance of tuning these tools, or at least...

Layman sits down with Steve March, the founder of Aletheia coaching, to talk about the challenges and rewards of reading Heidegger; his radical focus on the phenomenology of the "everyday" world; his concept of breakdowns in obviousness, and the opportunities such events afford us individually and collectively; being-unto-death; the influence of Heidegger and the concept of 'ontologi...

Layman meets with two of the co-founders of ChinookX Technologies, Trevor Jang and Lee White, to talk about their efforts to establish and insure indigenous data sovereignty for tribal groups on the west coast of Canada, and to discuss the possibilities and the process of the decolonization of the internet. ChinookX Technologies website https://chinookx.ca/

Layman 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 "desce...

The question of the promise and peril of AI is a proper one for our long-running Love the System series, but we thought it deserved its own spot as a sub-series due to the rapid development and proliferation of Large Language Models and other ground-breaking AI technologies over the past six months. It may be too early to tell yet, but with the clear power of this emergent technology, its potentia...

Layman meets with the co-creators of the we{collective} social media platform, James Weir and Laurence Currie-Clark, to talk about their vision for a collectively owned, holarchically-organized, play-and-learning focused social media platform, and to reflect on the technological and AI revolutions that appear to be upon us. WeCo social media platform https://weco.io/ Follow The Integral Stage on F...

Layman meets with Dr. Karen Jaenke, a holistic educator and dreamworker, to talk about the somatic dimensions of dreamwork, the nature of the subtle body, the importance of dreamwork for navigating the metacrisis, and her unique integration of the insights and practices of Eugene Gendlin, Arnold Mindell, and Robert Bosnak. Dr. Jaenke is the former Chair of the Consciousness and Transformative Stud...

For the inaugural episode of The Soul of AI, Layman sits down with Soryu Forall, an ordained Zen monk and the head teacher at the Monastic Academy in Vermont, to talk about the ethical and spiritual challenges that confront us with the advent of this civilization-transforming, and potentially civilization-destroying, technology. Soryu discusses what he sees as an emerging (fanatical) religion of d...

In 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 eleventh episode, Layman, John, and Bruce explore the question of subtle energy - - its nature, its scientific or religious status, and the roles that subtle energy c...

Layman is joined by expressive arts therapist, transformative educator, artist, and author, Dr. Sally Adnams Jones, to talk about Eros, Yin-Yang polarity, gender non/duality, boundaries and consent, agency and communion, and the integral Tao of creativity. Sally Adnams Jones is Director of TransformArta and has taught art education at The University of Victoria, Canada. Her Ph. D. research explore...

In 2021, Layman conducted a Salon of the Banned interview with Son of Korg and Ezekiel-73 about their experimental online magazine, the Limited Hangout, which was dedicated to exploring a host of paranormal, parapolitical, and "conspiracy"-related themes from an integral perspective. That experiment is now coming to a close, so Son of Korg and Ezekiel-73 (who outs himself in this video)...

CATALYZING CONNECTION: A CONVERSATION MID-STREAM For episode 6 at the Liminal Café, we drop in mid-stream on a conversation between Tim Adalin and Layman Pascal. Although we drop in on the couch as eavesdroppers after the conversation has already begun, we can pick up soon enough that this is a rich conversation on conversation itself ... on cultivating the field, working with emergent criticality...

Cognitive neuroscientist and science writer, Bobby Azarian, returns to the Integral Stage for a deep and wide-ranging discussion of the emerging scientific paradigm -- the complexity science paradigm arising out of the intersections of physics, biology, neuroscience, and information theory -- that will likely shape self, culture, and society for the next century. If the universe is now known to be...

Bruce joins Layman Pascal under the Wayne mansion to explore Layman's infamous Facebook group, Pascal's Integral Batcave, and the art of metaphilosophical meme-ing.   Pascal's Integral Batcave https://www.facebook.com/groups/162945624115898 Follow The Integral Stage on Fathom!    https://hello.fathom.fm/   Like, subscribe, and support The Integral Stage on Patreon to make more...

In the Integral community, we tend to show too little love to the Lower Right quadrant.  In this new series, Love the System, Layman Pascal and his guests will take deep dives the nature of living and man-made systems, and explore the most promising systemic approaches to managing the challenges of our day.   In Episode 22, Layman meets with James Redenbaugh, the founder and creative dir...

Recently, we released a discussion titled, "Things That Integral Has Not Done Well," looking at a number of missteps the integral community and leadership has made, and at some of its most controversial associations with spiritual figures.  Among the figures discussed was Andrew Cohen, and he joins us today to respond to that video, to offer some counter critiques, and to discuss possible thi...

In 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 tenth episode, Bruce, Layman, and John reflect on the groundbreaking work of 4E cognitive scientists, Francisco Varela and Evan Thompson, especially their pers...

For the 30th episode of the Integral Stage Authors series, Layman sits down with evolutionary enlightenment teacher, Andrew Cohen, to talk about his most recent book, "When Shadow Meets the Bodhisattva: The Challenging Transformation of a Modern Guru."   Ten years after his public fall from grace and the dissolution of his spiritual community, Andrew talks about the lessons learned -- his und...

For the 29th episode of the Integral Stage Authors series, Layman is joined by friend of the channel and creator of the Unified Theory of Knowledge (UTOK), Dr. Gregg Henriques, to talk about his new book, " A New Synthesis for Solving the Problem of Psychology: Addressing the Enlightenment Gap ."   In their dialogue, Gregg clarifies how the new synthesis he proposes critically examines mainst...

Layman 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...

Spiritual teacher, Nikola Anandamali Ristic, returns to talk about his new book, " Spirit X: Playful Presence ," a practical, experientially oriented follow-up to "Spirit X."  This spiritual guidebook consists of 10 meditations, 17 prayers and 10 contemplations, and is enriched with images to evoke reading with the whole being and the Heart.   Layman and Nikola explore the meaning and im...

Layman 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://he...

In 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 cro...