![Episode 62: Crisis, Healing, Civic Engagement With Terry Patten [The Amiel Show]](https://amielhandelsman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Terry-Patten-e1562902701972.jpeg)
It’s been two weeks since Trump’s victory shocked the world. An avid reader, I’ve been exploring 101 different interpretations of why he won, what his presidency means for the future, and what actions responsible citizens can take. I know many people who are still in shock even after undertaking practices to heal the body and soul. Yet, at some point, the future calls us to make sense of this complexity.
What are the implications for my family and friends? How might the next 6-12 months play out in terms of public policy, health of our constitutional democracy, and the quality of community life? Some of us are drawn to what previously were known as worst case scenarios. Now they are plausible futures. Other prefer to hope for the best. After all, we’ve survived far worse situations, haven’t we?
Our times call for a quality of thinking and awareness that can embrace all of these perspectives. To explore this, I reached out to Terry Patten, a leading voice in integral evolutionary leadership and spirituality. Terry believes that this moment in history calls for lighthearted sobriety. According to Terry, “Denial (deciding to be optimistic without reckoning seriously with the challenges) is morally indefensible.” Yet because “despair is a self-fulfilling prophesy, optimism is an even more essential moral imperative.”
Terry and I discuss this and more in a wide ranging interview.
Terry describes three ways we can view this moment in history: the beginning of collapse, a healing crisis through which something greater will emerge, and a call to greater civic engagement.
Can we grow our minds, hearts, and bodies sufficiently to embrace all of this—and still smile in amazement at the miracle of our lives?
A bit more about Terry. He coauthored with Ken Wilber the groundbreaking book Integral Life Practice: A 21st Century Blueprint for Physical Health, Emotional Balance, Mental Clarity, and Spiritual Awakening. He hosts a free webcast called Beyond Awakening and will soon offer a free course called “Befriending Your Overstimulated Brain.” In fall 2017, North Atlantic Books will publish Terry’s new book about the practice of responsible, conscious citizenship of a civilization in crisis.
While talking with Terry I felt my mind physically stretch, my heart soften, and my feet extend deeply into the earth.
Enjoy and share widely to people you care about.
Highlights
- 6:30 Facing up to our own subtle superiority
- 14:30 Exchange with Ken Wilber about the excesses of postmodernism
- 21:30 Scenarios of ecological and social collapse
- 30:00 Why immunizing ourselves from crisis won’t work
- 35:30 The restoration of amazement even amidst collapse
- 44:00 The redemption in making a “no matter what” commitment
- 50:00 Citizenship as an American and fellowship with the world
Listen to the Podcast
Download l Listen in new window
Tweet a Quote
To be delivered a higher purpose is an existential gift.
–Terry Patten Tweet this quote
Explore Additional Resources
- Terry’s free course “Befriending Your Overstimulated Brain: How to Navigate Our Addiction to Supernormal Stimuli”
- Beyond Awakening: the Future of Spiritual Practice, a free webcast hosted by Terry that asks — How can higher consciousness enable human beings to rise to the challenge of our world’s increasingly urgent, complex and intractable crises?
- Visit Terry’s website to learn more about upcoming events as well as access his blog, and free audio and video content: http://www.terrypatten.com/
- Terry’s new book from North Atlantic Books will be released in fall 2017. This book is about the practice of responsible, conscious citizenship of a civilization in crisis.
New to Podcasts?
Get started here
Subscribe to the Show on iTunes (It’s Easy!)
- Sign into iTunes using your ID and password
- Search the iTunes store for “Amiel Show”
- If you get a screen without a Subscribe button (a screen that looks like this), click on the show logo in the lower left corner
- Click on the Subscribe button. It’s in the upper left corner of the screen.
Give Me a Rating or Review on iTunes (It’s Also Easy!)
- Sign into iTunes using your ID and password
- Search the iTunes store for “Amiel Show”
- If you get a screen without “Ratings and Reviews” (a screen that looks like this), click on the show logo in the lower left corner
- Click on “Ratings and Reviews”
- Give it a rating. Bonus for a review