Sylvie Barbier & Rufus Pollock are the co-founders of Life Itself – a collective of pragmatic utopians committed to practical action for a radically wiser, weller world.

Sylvie is a French-Taiwanese ritual artist whose work synthesises Eastern and Western philosophies and aesthetics. Her performance art pieces are contemporary rituals, where the audience is invited to take an active and interactive role.

Rufus is an entrepreneur, activist, author, and long-term Zen practitioner who has founded several successful for-profit and nonprofit initiatives. His 2018 book Open Revolution is about making a radically freer and fairer information age, and has been translated into multiple languages.

Rufus and Sylvie's lives come together both as a couple and through the work they are doing with Life Itself, which includes creating practice hubs and developmental spaces, driving research on the meta-crisis and pathways towards a Second Renaissance, and building partnerships across disciplines by connecting thinkers, artists, communities, and organisations exploring post-conventional ways of life.

In this conversation, we explore how Sylvie and Rufus's inner work paths converged and led them to co-found the Life Itself collective. We get into the real difficulty and vulnerability of walking a post-conventional path and why shadow work remains criminally underrated. We dig into Game A vs Game B, two fundamentally different ways of seeing reality (Wisdom vs Power), and how framing the meta-crisis through the lens of symptoms, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment might be our clearest map yet for navigating it. We also explore which seeds of culture we're choosing to nourish, what actually makes people change their minds, and the surprising role art may play in collective transformation.

🔗[Links & Resources]🔗

• Life Itself collective
• Life Itself YouTube channel
• Sylvie Barbier's personal site
• Follow Sylvie on Substack
• Rufus Pollock's personal site
• Follow Rufus on Substack
• Second Renaissance

🕰️[Time Stamps]🕰️

0:00 - Introduction
3:04 - How Sylvie and Rufus’s journeys came together
11:12 - Founding the Life Itself collective and the Second Renaissance movement
17:07 - Running transformational practice hubs
21:18 - The need for continuity and rootedness
25:18 - The difficulty and vulnerability of the post-conventional path
36:26 - Shadow work is still underrated, and a modernist in rehab
41:05 - Game A vs Game B
46:16 - What a Roman Watching Christians Die in the Colosseum can teach us
49:15 - The idea behind the Over the Mountains podcast
52:44 - Which seeds are we deciding to nourish? / Creating Pockets of Culture
57:40 - Two ways of seeing reality (Wisdom vs Power)
1:09:10 - The need for holistic development
1:17:52 - Creating more good faith dialogue and what makes people change their minds
1:24:40 - Framing Meta-crisis conversations through symptoms, diagnosis, prognosis, & treatment
1:34:16 - Art’s role in collective transformation

*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

Stephen Zerfas is the CEO and Co-founder of Jhourney — a tech startup scaling transformative meditation through a data-driven lens, guiding complete beginners into deeply absorbed meditation states known as the Jhanas, in less than a week.

Stephen discovered the first three jhanas through his own practice and, upon learning of their profound history, made it his mission to bring them to as many people as possible. He has since trained with leading jhana teachers, including Leigh Brasington and Delson Armstrong.

Thus far, Jhourney has served over 1,300 alumni with a 60-70% success rate in helping participants access the jhanas on weeklong retreats.

Before founding Jhourney, Stephen worked as a software engineer at Lyft and a management consultant at Bridgespan, a Bain affiliate. A University of Notre Dame graduate, he lives in the Bay Area with his wife and daughter.

The following conversation was recorded live during Limicon - a digital conference for people in the liminal, game b, and metamodern adjacent spaces.

In it, we speak about what the Jhanas are, how Stephen discovered them through self-experimentation, and why he decided to found a tech-company that teaches them. Later, Stephen guides us through a towards Jhana meditation, and we close with a group discussion on whether morality is — or must be — part of such a meditation practice.

🔗[Links & Resources]🔗

• Jhourney's website
• Subscribe to Stephen on Substack
• 90 second video capturing the intensity of the jhanas from people recorded on retreat
• A Jhourney retreat reflection
• Meditation safety podcast
• How to cry on cue
• The Mind Illuminated by Culadasa

🕰️[Time Stamps]🕰️

0:00 - Introduction
2:49 - The contemplative corner of the liminal web
6:12 - How Stephen discovered the Jhanas on his own
12:22 - The guesswork problem of meditation and starting Jhourney
17:23 - What are the Jhanas?
20:26 - Are these universally discovered states?
22:44 - What do the Jhanas feel like?
24:15 - Super well-being and taking the technology of meditation seriously
27:07 - Main barriers to accessing the Jhanas
34:50 - Orienting to the meditation: Reflect like a scientist, play like a child
38:10 - Towards Jhana guided meditation
1:18:19 - What role does morality play in meditation?
1:28:09 - The biggest concerns of Jhana meditation practice

*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

Daniel Garner is a writer, philosopher, and one-half of O.G. Rose – the philosophical and literary voice he shares with his wife, Michelle Garner.

Their work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize as well as the Uno Press lab prize and has been featured in literary publications such as The Iowa Review, The William and Mary Review, and Broken Pencil.

Daniel has been involved in the writing of over a dozen books, including The Conflict of Mind, The Map is Indestructible, the Belonging Again series, and a creative fiction work, Under the Wing.

When not writing or thinking on the deepest questions of our times, he manages the Mead Lake Lodge wedding venue, teaches piano using visuals from the DLG Pattern Method, and raises four children.

The following conversation was recorded live during Limicon - a digital conference for people in the liminal, game b, and metamodern adjacent spaces.

In it, we explore how belonging can be created beyond conformity or isolationism in a pluralistic and hyper-fragmented world — and what it asks of us across different scales, from the local to the national to the global. We highlight the importance of lack and negativity, forces so often overlooked in spiritual spaces; examine weak versus costly perennialism and the limits of any single system, model, or medium; and sit with the difference between talking about belonging and living it.

🔗[Links & Resources]🔗

• O.G. Rose’s personal site
• Subscribe to O.G. Rose’s Substack
• Watch O.G. Rose’s YouTube channel
• Belonging Again: An Explanation by O.G. Rose
• Belonging Again: An Address by O.G. Rose
• Triumph of the Therapeutic by Phillip Rieff

🕰️[Time Stamps]🕰️
0:00 - Intro
2:45 - The central problem of belonging
12:27 - Regressive forms of Belonging
16:37 - How belonging differs on a local, national, and global level
21:15 - Cheap Vs Costly Perennialism and evolving structures
30:18 - Negativity, lack, and radical difference
37:29 - The limits of any one system, model, or medium
41:51 - Hegel's absolute knower, the Deleuzian individual, the Nietzschean child, and the debate between Freud and Jung
46:10 - The irony of not belonging in a conversation about belonging and the importance of intelligibility
57:24 - The social coordination mechanism
1:03:01 - Somewheres and anywheres
1:06:41 - Democratizing media
1:11:41 - Racism as the problem of givens and releases
1:20:06 - Nature as a pathway to diversity and belonging
1:25:18 - The pros and cons of digital history
1:30:11 - The difference between talking about belonging and living it
1:35:37 - Finding belonging in different mediums and structures
1:41:45 - Daniel’s insights from running Eunoia, an in-person gathering space
1:49:03 - We are all doomed without adequate social coordination

*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

Richard Flyer is a community weaver and entrepreneur who has devoted his life to exploring how spirituality, local relationships, and practical action can renew communities, building eco-system networks from the ground up.

Deeply influenced by Sarvodaya Shramadana’s grassroots mobilization of 15,000 Sri Lankan villages, Richard champions bottom-up regeneration rooted in local relationships, spiritual practice, and everyday service.

His work spans founding Vecinos Unidos in San Diego, leading the San Diego Food Bank, supporting syntropic agroforestry in Hawaii, building symbiotic networks (Living Local Economy, Food Systems, Arts and Culture, and Neighbor Networks) in Reno and launching the Symbiotic Culture Lab to activate 50,000 micro-bioregional community networks by 2033.

From early mystical experiences of a “Luminous Web” of interconnection to research with pilot whales and years immersed in nature, Richard’s life has been a living experiment in bringing the transcendent into the immanent—“bringing Heaven to Earth”— through practical, face-to-face community building grounded in love, service, and shared responsibility.

He is the Author of Birthing the Symbiotic Age: An Ancient Blueprint To Unite Humanity which draws from five decades of hands-on experiments across cultures, faith traditions, and organizational contexts to help communities move from separation toward connection.

In this episode, we speak about Richard’s early spiritual experiences and how they impacted his community building efforts, we also explore how to navigate the polarities of individual and collective, healing the culture of separation, the difference between values and virtues, driving change bottom up, re-sacralizing reality and unpack what Richard calls – The ancient blueprint – the practical applications of transcendent principles needed to birth a symbiotic culture.

🔗[Links & resources] 🔗

• Richard’s site & Substack
• Birthing a Symbiotic Age by Richard Flyer
• Dr. Ari
• Small Is Beautiful by E.F. Schumacher
• A Secular Age by Charles Taylor

🕰️[Time stamps] 🕰️

0:00 - Introduction
3:53 - Richard’s vision of a symbiotic culture
8:14 - Do we need spiritual experiences to expand our circle of care?
20:00 - Integrating spirituality into community building
31:16 - The influence of Dr.Ari and the Sarvodaya movement
35:39 - Becoming a Spiritual Gangster: Diffusing violence through loving awareness
46:01 - Healing the culture of separation
58:43 - The worldview that devalues value and disconnects us from the transcendent
1:05:03 - Virtues and the objective sacred
1:10:00 - Navigating inclusivity & exclusivity in community and culture building
1:16:55 - The difference between values & virtues and connecting to foundational community needs
1:24:49 - Truth and love are inseparable and beyond our political beliefs
1:32:50 - Syncretism, perennialism and what brought Richard to Christianity
1:49:04 - How do we include atheists and materialists in this conversation?
1:58:02 - Artem reflects on how Richard’s work is impacting him

*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

Daljeet Peterson is an astrologer, Human Design analyst, and author exploring how ancient and modern systems of meaning can guide us through times of transformation.

His work bridges astrology, Human Design, and the Gene Keys as complementary maps of consciousness—tools for aligning with one’s deeper purpose and participating more consciously in the collective evolution of our species. A former television editor turned cosmic cartographer, Daljeet brings a storyteller’s sensibility to the study of archetypes, weaving together myth, history, and contemporary culture.

He’s the author of Collective Souls: Generations, Astrology, and the Future of America, which explores how generational astrology reveals the hidden cycles shaping our nation’s destiny—and the emerging potentials of a new Aquarian era. You can find his writings and upcoming offerings on his Substack called Mutable Fire.

In this episode, we explore how astrology was discovered, its foundational principles, common misconceptions, and how to distinguish good astrology from bad astrology. We also touch on Human Design, & the Gene Keys, and how they tie into Astrology. Finally, Daljeet shares some of the main ideas from his new Book Collective Souls, advocating for intergenerational communication and understanding of time that is chronological and astrological.

🔗[Links & resources] 🔗

• Daljeet’s site
• Subscribe to Daljeet’s Substack
• Collective Souls by Daljeet Peterson
• Daljeet’s Astrology 101: Blueprint of the Soul series
• Cosmos & Psyche by Richard Tarnas

🕰️[Time stamps] 🕰️

0:00 - Introduction
4:38 - Daljeet’s journey into astrology
8:22 - How astrology was discovered
16:27 - Is astrology a religion?
21:55 - Common misconceptions of astrology
26:06 - How to distinguish good astrology from bad astrology
28:58 - The foundational principles of astrology
39:52 - What is the mechanism behind planetary effects?
45:00 - The limits of falsifiability, science, and left-brain ways of knowing
51:22 - Unpacking Human Design & Gene Keys
1:01:56 - Holding modalities with curiosity and humility
1:06:27 - Collective Souls: Generations, Astrology, and the Future of America
1:13:00 - The unique gifts & challenges of the four generations (Baby boomers, Gen X, Millennials & Gen Z)
1:20:51 - Calls to action for the four generations

*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

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

*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

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

*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

Peter McEwen is an ordained Nyingmapa 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