Philosopher, pro-activist and author Jeremy Lent joins Terry in a deep and vulnerable exploration of where we are right now as a species, the underlying nature of our ecological and civilizational crises and how we frame our work to catalyze emerging potential for a rapid collective transformation toward a sustainable future. They consider how a greater understanding of the interconnectedness and wholeness of life — both its evolutionary history and the always-active physical, biological, noetic and cultural patterns animating our reality — can inspire us into a new level of devotion to life itself, and its flourishing. They then explore how such devotion involves trusting and treasuring the difficult passages of our lives — personally and collectively. In fact, Jeremy points out that he’s come to treasure them especially — as they often become the gateways of transformation and new possibility.
Here are some of the questions that Jeremy and Terry explore in the episode:
- What are the differences between “deep adaptation” and “deep transformation”, and what role could each play in responding to our ecological crisis?
- How can we “trust, let go, and welcome each moment as a sacred treasure, especially the difficult ones?”
- How can we practice identifying with the flourishing of Life — with the processes and potentials animating all forms — and be catalyzed by Life’s evolutionary will to live?
- How does the practice of “beginner’s mind” benefit our collective project of re-envisioning culture and systems — and how can we practice it in our own lives?
- What kinds of relationships, communications, and social experiments can enable us, and many millions of others, to become more firmly grounded in our inherent love of life?
Jeremy Lent is an author and speaker whose work investigates the underlying causes of our civilization’s existential crisis, and explores pathways toward a life-affirming culture. His award-winning book, The Patterning Instinct, traced the patterns of thought and deep historical foundations that have led human civilization to the current dominant worldviews and crises of sustainability. Now his new book, The Web of Meaning: Integrating Science and Traditional Wisdom to Find Our Place in the Universe, offers a very rich and solid foundation for an integrative worldview that could be the basis for a sustainable, flourishing future.
For more information on Jeremy Lent and Terry Patten, check out the following resources:
- Jeremy Lent’s new book, The Web of Meaning: Integrating Science and Traditional Wisdom to Find Our Place in the Univers
- Jeremy’s previous book, The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity’s Search for Meaning
- Jeremy’s website
- Our podcast website, stateofemergence.org
- Terry Patten’s nonprofit, A New Republic of the Heart
- Terry Patten’s personal website
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