Natureza Gabriel is an ancestral neuroscience pioneer, the developer of Autonomics, and the founder of Hearth Science—an organization & community offering tools, trainings, and practices that help people cultivate nervous system fluency and deepen their experience of well-being.

At the heart of his work is Autonomics: an animist cartography of living autonomic physiology. This framework has been shaped by over three decades of collaboration with more than one hundred mentors and advisors across 25 healing traditions and 24 cultures, many indigenous. It is considered one of the first accurate maps of the living Autonomic Nervous System in modernity.

His Autonomics trainings have been sought out by the United Nations, a division of NATO, global social and ecological movements, and elite firms in executive coaching and leadership development.

He is the author of many books, including Restorative Practices of Well-Being, Finding Home in Your Nervous System, Autonomic Triage, and The Neurobiology of Connection.

In this episode, we speak about the origins of Gabriel’s autonomic model and how it diverged from Polyvagal Theory, the 13 autonomic states, what entails a healthy nervous system, the limits of HRV and the future of diagnostics, practices to rebalance the nervous system, the limitations of modernity, and pathways towards civilizational wellness.

🔗[Links & resources] 🔗

• Gabriel’s personal site
• Gabriel’s autonomic trainings
• Gabriel’s clinic
• Restorative practices portal
• The Neurobiology of Connection by Natureza Gabriel
• Ground: How Modernity Disconnected from the Earth, Why it Matters & How to Fix It by Natureza
• Finding Home in Your Nervous System by Natureza Gabriel
• Awakening Human Connection by Natureza Gabriel
  
  

🕰️[Time stamps] 🕰️

0:00 - Introduction
3:52 - The origins of autonomics (bridging neuroscience and autonomic physiology)
7:53 - Stephen Porges, polyvagal theory and moving beyond a two-system autonomics
21:44 - The 13 Autonomic States
31:31 - Neuroception, Neurology & Neurochemistry
34:55 - What is a healthy autonomic nervous system?
42:39 - The limits of HRV and the future of autonomic diagnostics
49:17 - The importance of restorative practices
52:00 - How to rebalance a hyper-activated nervous system
1:01:09 - How to rebalance a shut-down nervous system
1:05:47 - The importance of community in healing and processing grief
1:11:45 - The limitations of modernity
1:14:55 - Ground: How modernity disconnected us from the Earth
1:24:10 - The challenges of running a company in a culture of domination
1:33:52 - How do we bridge power & wisdom? (Becoming a mycelium network)
1:45:10- The disconnection that underlies the techno-optimist worldview
1:48:33 - Pathways towards civilizational wellness

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Pema Dragpa is a dharma teacher, author, and ordained Tibetan Buddhist
Lama. He graduated with honors in Philosophy and Religious Studies from New York University in 2002.

Since 2004, Dragpa has served as a resident teacher at Padma Samye Ling, a meditation retreat center founded by the Nyingma Dzogchen masters, Ven. Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche and Ven. Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche. In 2010, he was formally ordained as a Lama by the Venerable Khenpo Rinpoches.

He is also a senior editor of more than 25 books on Buddhist philosophy and the author of An Integral View of Tibetan Buddhism: Preserving Lineage Wisdom in the 21st Century.

Dragpa regularly travels to lead Padmasambhava Buddhist Center events, where he bridges traditional Tibetan wisdom with contemporary approaches to meditation and the path of awakening.

In this episode, we discuss an integral approach & developmental stage, balancing spirituality & money, disagreements with Ken Wilber, unity in diversity & the shadow of Integral, core tenets of Vajrayana Buddhism, the intersection of politics & spirituality, and so much more.

🔗[Links & resources] 🔗

• An Integral View of Tibetan Buddhism: Preserving Lineage Wisdom in the 21st Century by Pema Dragpa
• Listen to Pema Dragpa’s dharma talks
• Padmasambhava Buddhist Center
• Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche
• Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche
• John Churchill on the Elevating Consciousness Podcast
• Ken Wilber

🕰️[Time stamps] 🕰️

0:00 - Introduction
3:32 - Pema Dragpa’s journey into Tibetan Buddhism
7:20 - A deep taste of samsara and the impact of the Khenpo Rinpoches
16:18 - The monastic vs the householder path
18:51 - Balancing spirituality with money and practical concerns
26:56 - Unpacking the Integral view/stage
33:01 - Disagreements with Ken Wilber (Is Vajrayana Integral?)
43:26 - An integrative approach to transformation
47:47 - Unity in diversity and the shadow of Integral
56:36 - John Churchill’s Sacred Humanism
59:33 - There is no definitive answer, system, or theory (experimenting in fail-safe mode)
1:09:31 - The importance of communities of practice & syncing up with lineage wisdom
1:15:49 - Be wary of a Purtian Dharma
1:16:34 - The core tenets and frames of Vajrayana Buddhism
1:24:11 - Pema shares a Tibetan prayer
1:28:54 - We need more ways of being in touch (healthy integrative mode)
1:32:04 - The importance of going deep in one tradition
1:33:17 - The fourth turnings of Buddhism simplified
1:34:09 - The perfect practice for a degenerative age
1:42:24 - Do we need more politically engaged spiritual teachers?
1:47:53 - Making change at a meso scale
1:50:56 - Integral, the notion of absolute truth & freedom from samsara
1:57:32 - Final message

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Peter McEwen is an ordained Nyingma yogi, meditation coach, and founder of an organization called The Field, where he teaches tantric methods to practitioners navigating contemporary life demands.

Since 1993, he's studied under Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Tulku Orgyen P'huntsok, Lama Pema Dorje Rinpoche, and Bruce Tift, and has completed the traditional Varjayana three-year retreat curriculum.

Peter writes The Current on Substack, sharing essays and tools from thirty years of integrating contemplative practice with daily life.

His work focuses on embodied presence and nervous system fluency, offering methods that survive the actual pressures of work, relationships, and daily complexity.

Grounded in three decades of traditional training, Peter brings Vajrayana into direct conversation with the realities of modern life.

In this episode, we discuss Peter’s initial experiences of awakening, balancing personal, interpersonal & spiritual work, Tantra, Tummo, Deity Yoga, and how to get the most out of practice as a householder.

🔗[Links & resources] 🔗

• Peter’s personal site
• The Field meditation training
• Upcoming Tummo course
• Subscribe to Peter’s Substack
• Bruce Tift on the Elevating Consciousness podcast
• Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
• Tulku Orgyen P'huntsok
• Lama Pema Dorje Rinpoche
• Johnny Miller
• Donald Hoffman

🕰️[Time stamps] 🕰️

0:00 - Introduction
2:38 - Initial experiences of awakening and getting into Buddhism
8:01 - Balancing personal, interpersonal & spiritual work
23:17 - The impact of working with Bruce Tift
27:15 - What is Tantra?
34:59 - Selecting the appropriate practice for your developmental stage
44:32 - What is Tummo and how does it work? (Inner fire practice)
54:45 - Peter guides a Tummo meditation
1:10:25 - How Tummo focuses the mind
1:12:28 - Visualization vs feeling in Tummo
1:16:00 - What is Deity yoga & how does it work?
1:22:22 - Do traditional Deity forms work for Western minds?
1:28:51 - How to get the most out of practice as a householder
1:41:49 - Peter’s upcoming Tummo course

*Subscribe to my YouTube channel to watch the video versions of the Elevating Consciousness Podcast

*Subscribe to the Insighter Substack to get in-depth articles on the theory and practice of human transformation through a post-conventional lens

David Rug is a metaphysician, civilizational theorist, and visionary storyteller on a journey of transmuting childhood wounds of social fragmentation into memetic medicine for the human family.

Sensitized to the pains of social division and disconnect early in life through his parents' divorce and the increasingly political fracturing of his family field, he set out on a quest to understand the root causes of conflict and miscommunication. While completing his bachelor's degree in physics at Heidelberg University, he discovered GameB and adjacent movements. Through the extraordinarily clear thinking shared by thought leaders in that space, he realized there was, in effect, a "physics of communication"—principles that could be understood and applied to address the challenges he cared most about.

This insight led him to found Project Liminality—an open-source communication and co-creation layer designed to reshape how we share and organize around ideas. A central focus of this work is developing the InterBrain, a novel digital medium aimed at flipping the vector of conflict and fragmentation toward unity and wholeness.

His work combines systems thinking, visionary storytelling, and a deep exploration of the kinds of shared ideas and narratives that can inspire humanity to unite in addressing our greatest challenges and creating the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.

In this episode, we speak about false progress, psychological warfare, developing a memetic immune system, returning to the spoken word, going from personal knowledge management to collective knowledge gardening, and David’s Interbrain project, which aims to bridge ancient wisdom with modern technology to end fragmentation.

🔗[Links & resources] 🔗

• Support Project Liminality and the Building of the Interbrain
• Project Liminality YouTube channel
• The Interbrain - How Collective DreamWeaving Can Heal the World
• Dialectical thinking
• Jordan Hall in conversation with David Rug

🕰️[Time stamps] 🕰️

0:00 - Introduction
3:15 - Early experiences of fragmentation and discovering the liminal web
13:47 - The polarities of fragmentation and finding the third attractor
21:10 - The solution has to come from a higher dimension of consciousness
25:22 - False progress, psychological warfare, and developing a memetic immune system
34:52 - A Course in Miracles, Fear vs Love, Specialness vs Uniqueness
41:54 - Building trust networks, returning to the spoken word, and problems of scale
51:21 - From personal knowledge management to collective knowledge gardening
1:08:35 - Reflecting on David’s big insights ( the primacy of symbols, written vs spoken word )
1:14:50 - The practicalities of the Interbrain (how it would work)
1:26:30 - Critiques and challenges of building the Interbrain
1:31:21 - Moving from independence to deep interdependence
1:36:42 - Revolutionizing journalism & politics
1:44:06 - The process of DreamWeaving
1:52:55 - Support David’s work

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Dr. John Churchill is a psychologist, dharma teacher, and the founder of Planetary Dharma – an integrally informed community embracing the vows and path of the Bodhisattva, committed to elevating human consciousness and collective transformation.

John holds a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from William James College and is also a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine. His journey into Buddhist psychology began as a monk at Samye (sam-yay) Ling Monastery in Scotland, where he undertook an in-depth study of Buddhist contemplative practice. He later spent 15 years training and teaching “Great Seal” (Mahamudra) meditation within an Indo-Tibetan Mahayana lineage under the mentorship of Dr. Daniel P. Brown.

John is a founding member of the Integral Institute, led by transpersonal philosopher Ken Wilber, and has received advanced training in attachment therapy, hypnosis, positive psychology for peak performance, and the “Pointing Out” style of Mahamudra meditation. He is also the author of Becoming Buddha: Buddhist Contemplative Psychology in a Western Context.

For the past 25 years, John has been developing what he calls the Fourth Turning Planetary Dharma—a full-spectrum psychospiritual approach that integrates the great Indo-Tibetan traditions with psychodynamic healing and adult development.

In this episode, we discuss the vision of a 4th turning dharma, John’s differences with his teacher Dan Brown, navigating the traditional vs progressive polarity in spirituality, connecting to sacred world, moving into the transrational, transitioning from Buddhism to Sacred Humanism, and so much more.

🔗[Links & resources] 🔗

• Learn more about Planetary Dharma
• Follow Planetary Dharma on Instagram
• Follow Planetary Dharma on Facebook
• Planetary Dharma’s Medicine Dharma Course
• Dan Brown
• Ken Wilber
• A.H. Almaas
• Hamilton Souther
• Lama Mike Crowley

🕰️[Time stamps] 🕰️

0:00 - Intro
3:29 - Unpacking the four turnings of Buddhism
9:58 - Further distinguishing the fourth turning
16:09 - Artem’s experience participating in the Planetary Dharma introductory retreat
17:27 - Planetary Dharma’s emphasis on the imaginal and self-image
25:25 - John’s differences with his mentor and teacher Dan Brown
37:56 - Navigating the traditional vs progressive polarities in spirituality
49:01 - Transitioning beyond Buddhism into Sacred Humanism
55:15 - Why modern minds are disconnected from Sacred World
1:02:46 - The pre-trans fallacy and navigating the trans-rational
1:16:17 - The role of psychedelics on the psychospiritual path
1:28:00 - What’s needed to build out a fourth turning academy
1:37:40 - The constraints of a householder and the future of Dharma
1:50:37 - Planetary Dharma offerings

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Ali Tataryn is a counselor, somatic educator, and coach who guides clients through somatic-emotional release and helps them map their internal emotional landscapes for healing and self-development.

She is the founder of Relational Dojo, a welcoming space where kind humans come together to co-create curious and courageous conversations. Ali is also the co-founder of Sacred Somatic Events, a sober somatic dance experience that warmly invites participants into full-spectrum self-expression.

Her primary training is in Counseling, Expressive Arts, and Somatic Education. Ali has completed over 260 hours of Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training and is a trained as T3 Circling Facilitator through the Integral Center.

She is also a meditation teacher certified under Upasaka Culadasa and Junpo Roshi, with extensive personal practice in the Namgyal-Kagyu tradition under teachers such as Lama Lodro, Lama Sidney, Lama Rodney Devinish, and her mother, Dr. Darlene Tataryn. Ali proudly collaborates with her father, clinical psychologist Dr. Douglas J. Tataryn, facilitating and coaching through his Bio-Emotive Framework.

In this episode, we explore Ali’s journey growing up with parents deeply immersed in emotional and spiritual work, her path as an actress and how acting became a form of spiritual practice, navigating identity as an artist, the Bio-Emotive framework and the art of emotional processing, how relational, emotional, and spiritual work come together and so much more.

🔗[Links & resources] 🔗

• Ali’s personal site
• The Bio-Emotive Framework
• Follow Ali on Substack
• Follow Douglas Tataryn on Substack
• How to Process Emotions with Douglas Tataryn on the Elevating Consciousness Podcast
• Diane Musho Hamilton
• Leonard Cohen
• What is Circling by Artem Zen

🕰️[Time stamps] 🕰️

0:00 - Introduction
4:00 - Growing up with cycle breakers
7:06 - Good enough parenting and an imperfect life
10:08 - Navigating the self vs other polarity
16:18 - How does a bodhisattva deal with a narcissist?
22:00 - Reconnecting to the good, true, and the beautiful
24:50 - Acting as a spiritual practice vs acting as a career
37:45 - Becoming aware of suffering
40:27 - The thin line between awakening & Psychosis
44:25 - Navigating identity as an Artist
57:02 - The Bio-Emotive Framework & the art of emotional processing
1:08:07 - Emotions are not logical but they are lawful
1:10:57 - Balancing intellectual with emotional and relational development
1:15:49 - Circling (relational work) vs emotional processing vs deconstruction
1:31:43 - What is between me and love/truth?

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Delson Armstrong is a maverick meditation teacher and author. At the age of 16, disillusioned with conventional life, he embarked on a pilgrimage to the Himalayas, where he spent 6 to 8 hours a day practicing various forms of meditation, studying sacred texts, and receiving guidance from masters across multiple lineages.

Through this intensive training, Delson developed the rare ability to enter nirodha-samāpatti—a meditative state marked by the complete cessation of perception and feeling—for extended periods of time. These claims have been rigorously examined through neuroscience research, with findings published in a 2023 paper titled Cessation of Consciousness in Meditation.

He is also the author of A Mind Without Craving and a five-volume series on dependent origination. Delson currently teaches the Optimal Mind System, a synthesis of diverse practices designed to align the body, mind, energy, heart, and consciousness to catalyze deep insight and transformation.

Although deeply informed by traditional models of awakening, Delson takes a universal approach and does not adhere to any single doctrine or path. He believes that idealized systems rooted in specific cultural norms and structures must be reimagined and innovated to meet the needs of our modern world.

In this episode, we explore Delson’s experience working with and integrating different traditions and spiritual practices, how coming across integral theory has helped him recontextualize the spiritual path, whether it’s possible to end suffering, the relationship between psychedelics & meditation, the pro’s and con’s of being open about spiritual attainments, creating healtheir dynamics with spiritual teachers and going beyond spiritual idealization.

🔗[Links & resources] 🔗

• Delson’s personal site
• Listen to Delson’s Dharma talks on his YouTube channel
• A Mind Without Craving by Delson Armstrong
• Dependent Origination series by Delson Armstrong
• Delson Armstrong, Guru Viking interviews
• Tales from Nibbana with Dor Konforty & Delson Armstrong
• Ending Guru Worship for True Liberation by Delson Armstrong

📝[Show Notes] 📝

0:00 - Introduction
2:43 - Artem’s experience following Delson’s journey
7:02 - Sutra, Tantra, and going beyond traditional teachings
13:29 - The impact of cultural context on spiritual practices
22:28 - The fallacy of the superior path
27:50 - Letting go of idealistic views
33:31 - The Impact of Integral Theory (Integrating no self and true self)
37:12 - Is there an end to suffering?
50:47 - Delson’s desire to master and integrate a wide variety of teachings
56:42 - Rigpa vs Cessation
1:02:38 - The micro-phemenology of cessation
1:04:21 - The relationship between psychedelics, spirituality, and meditation
1:22:00 - The pros and cons of being open about spiritual attainments
1:29:11 - Creating healthier dynamics between spiritual teachers and students
1:37:44 - Final message

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Dor Konforty is a neuroscientist, entrepreneur, investor, and awakening teacher dedicated to distilling the first principles of the dharma and bringing them to every aspect of human life. He spent most of his twenties conducting interdisciplinary brain research in academic settings, and his thirties as an entrepreneur and CEO in the decentralization space—applying his neuroscience background to envision more collaborative, non-zero-sum human networks.

In parallel, he has devoted thousands of hours to meditation practice as well as growth and relational modalities, training closely with pragmatic dharma teachers such as Culadasa, Daniel Ingram, and Delson Armstrong, and personal development coaches like Joe Hudson and Kim Barta.

He is the founder of The Awakening Fund, a venture that invests in technologies aimed at making meditation unnecessary. Dor is also the author of The Heart Illuminated, a spiritual successor to Culadasa’s The Mind Illuminated. Drawing on over fifteen years of multidisciplinary experience, the book lays out a clear and systematic path towards awakening through a completely modern lens.

In this episode, we explore Dor’s book The Heart Illuminated, his time studying with pragmatic dharma teachers—Culadasa, Daniel Ingram, Delson Armstrong, and Dan Brown—and dive into topics such as integrating emptiness with fullness, investing in awakening technologies that aim to make meditation unnecessary, aligning artificial intelligence with dharma, and navigating the complexities and controversies that can arise in relationships with spiritual teachers.

🔗[Links & resources] 🔗

• Dor’s personal site
• The Heart Illuminated by Dor Konforty
• Dor’s investment venture, The Awakening Fund
• Follow Dor on Twitter/X
• The Mind Illuminated by Culadasa
• Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha by Daniel Ingram
• Delson Armstrong
• Dan Brown

📝[Show Notes] 📝

0:00 - Introduction
3:43 - Dor's journey into meditation
7:09 - The unique contribution of “The Mind Illuminated”
10:04 - Working closely with Culadasa and inspiration for writing “The Heart Illuminated”
21:49 - The iterative writing process and gathering feedback from community
24:58 - Understanding the multiplicity of the mind (sub minds, parts, agents, modules, and coordinators)
31:32 - Integrating awakening (emptiness) with healing (fullness)
39:22 - Is awakening about creating a better life?
47:00 - Meeting Daniel Ingram and doing a 23-day Fire Kasina retreat under his guidance
55:30 - The Power of dark retreats and sensory deprivation
57:40 - Friendship with Delson Armstrong
1:01:20 - Sutra, Tantra, metasystemicity, and stages of development
1:12:16 - The contributions of Dan Brown and Dustin Diperna
1:16:43 - Investing in awakening technologies and making meditation unnecessary
1:26:02 - Aligning artificial intelligence with Dharma
1:36:18 - Navigating the Culadasa controversy

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