Dr. Marc Gafni: Evolutionary Sensemaking Video Series
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I AcceptEvolutionary Spirituality: Towards an Engaged Evolutionary Mysticism – Dr. Marc Gafni & Andrew Cohen in Video Dialogue
Arguably our most significant interpretive framework for the nature of reality is the modern scientific discovery that the world and the universe are not, as the ancients believed, static or cyclical. The universe, and everything in it, is evolving. Cosmic and biological evolution are foundational truths of existence, and the implications are profound and multi-dimensional, extending outwards in every direction. In the 21st century, the context for any path or practice of enlightenment must surely embrace this knowledge and perspective. It is perhaps the most important shift in our understanding of enlightenment in the 2500 years since the Buddha first attained it.
Andrew Cohen and Dr. Marc Gafni are pioneers in the field of evolutionary spirituality, each with their own unique perspective on this newly emergent tradition. They share a strong foundation in an evolutionary approach to spiritual awakening, while emphasising distinctly different but intersecting dimensions of the path and practice. Both Marc and Andrew have produced pioneering bodies of work in this field, and formulated many of its core tenets. Their teachings uphold and demystify the foundational principles of traditional, modern and postmodern wisdom streams, weaving them together into an integral whole, and ultimately pointing toward a new evolutionary mysticism – what might even be considered a “religion of tomorrow”.
The aim of these dialogues is to celebrate the creative and dynamic evolutionary tension between these two perspectives – to catalyse awakening to higher states and stages of consciousness, giving rise to liberating insights and life-affirming perspectives in a unique tapestry of coherence and meaning, and an inspiring example of emergent spirituality in action.
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Episode 1
Episode 2: Evolutionary Relationships
From the Invitation by Dr. Marc Gafni to Episode 2: Evolutionary Relationships
I am wildly excited to, for the first time in a public forum, engage in an in-depth discussion with my dear friend and colleague Andrew Cohen on what the evolution of relationships – which is the evolution of intimacy, which is the evolution of love – means in our time.
- What is the future of relationships?
- What is an evolutionary relationship?
- What do we mean by what we call a whole-mate relationship?
- What is the place of romantic relationships?
- What is the place of shared creativity in a relationship?
- What are our new models for sexuality in relationships?
- What are the core forms of relationship that all of us need to engage?
- What are the First Values and First Principles that guide them?
Why is it true that no Enlightenment, no transformation, can be considered real, until it goes through the crucible of relationship and intimacy?
Let me share some deeper dharmic thoughts with you, which might help explain why this dialogue is deeply important, exciting and necessary.
“Reality is relationship.”
“Reality is evolution.”
“Reality is the evolution of relationships.”
These are the first lines of the forthcoming book that I have written with my dear evolutionary partner Barbara Marx Hubbard entitled The Future of Relationships: from Role Mate to Soul Mate to Whole Mate.
What is already apparent from the first three lines is that “relationship is not only a human category. Relationship is structural to Kosmos from the first nanoseconds of the Big Bang. In precisely the same way, evolution – Reality as a series of transformations and the transformation of relationships – is structural to Kosmos from the first nanoseconds of the Big Bang.”
When you put those two realizations together you get the following ostensibly simple but in fact insanely profound sentence:
“Reality is the evolution of relationship. Indeed the history of Reality can be most properly told as a history of the evolution of relationship.”
“By relationship however we do not mean casual or surface interactions between separate parts. Rather, by relationship we mean intimacy.” Intimacy as I define it in our forthcoming book The Intimate Universe, based on an enormous amount of information from the interior and exterior sciences, is “shared identity.”
Indeed, we’ve articulated an intimacy formula.
“Intimacy = shared identity in the context of [relative] otherness X mutuality of recognition X mutuality of pathos X mutuality of value X mutuality of purpose.” [read more in this article]
[A fuller unpacking of the intimacy formula appears in a forthcoming volume with Dr. Marc Gafni and Dr. Zachary Stein The Six Propositions and in the aforementioned forthcoming volume The Intimate Universe with Barbara Marx Hubbard and Dr. Zachary Stein.]
For now, it’s enough to say that “the evolution of relationship is the evolution of intimacy.”
In fact, one could accurately say that “evolution is not, as commonly understood, the movement from simplicity to complexity, but rather evolution is the progressive deepening of intimacies.”
“Evolution is the evolution of relationships.”
“This is true from the first nano seconds of the Big Bang when gazillions of quarks rain on planet Earth and the only quarks that would survive are those who are able to establish a stable structure of relationship. Those that are able to create between them a configuration of intimacy that can find its way to the unbearable pressures of the first nanoseconds of relationship.”
“From the singularity of relationships – intimacy continues to evolve.“
“There are two drivers to the evolution of relationships.”
- The inherent, erotic, creative impulse of Kosmos that desires, seeks, moves towards ever deeper contacts and ever greater wholes. That is to say: ever deeper, wider and more intense configurations of intimacy – relationships.
- The second driver for the evolution of relationships is crisis. Crisis is an evolutionary driver.
- All genuine crises are a crisis of intimacy or said slightly differently: all genuine crises are a crisis of relationships.
These core structures of Reality – evolution, relationship and intimacy and the play between them – are evolving First Values and First Principles of Reality. They are the plotlines in the great story of value that Dr. Zachary Stein and Dr. Marc Gafni call CosmoErotic Humanism.
The Evolution of Relationships is the source code of Reality. We are at a moment – in this time between worlds – when we need to participate together in evolving the source code of consciousness and culture.
And we need to do it personally!
This dialogue is not about relationships and their evolution. It is about OUR Relationships, and their evolution. You and me, all of us, in our personal and collective lives. How do we, as the leading edge of evolution itself, evolve Our Relationships?
How do we birth, from the inside of Our Relationships, the New Human and the New Humanity, that all of Reality and our deepest hearts, souls and bodies yearn for.
It is only such an evolution of relationship that can respond to what we have called the Meta Crisis of existential and catastrophic risk that hovers over our world.
For the Meta Crisis at its very core is a Global Intimacy Disorder.
We must evolve our intimacies – generating new forms of evolutionary intimacy, personally and collectively.
That is the overarching moral imperative, urgent necessity and the great agony and ecstasy of our time.
Episode 3: Evolutionary God
Episode 4: Evolutionary God (Part 2)
Episode 5: Karma, Destiny & Free Will
Episode 6: God Loves Stories
Episode 7: Evolutionary Spirituality, Desire & Need
Episode 8: The Evolution of God — “Evolutionary Perennialism” meets “Evolutionary Enlightenment”
CosmoErotic Humanism: First Principles and Values – Video Dialogue at The Stoa with Drs. Zak Stein and Marc Gafni
In this dialogue, facilitated by Peter Limberg from The Stoa, Marc and Zak provide an overview of an emerging philosophy. Topics include neo-perennialism, Eros, ethics, evolutionary metaphysics, and the future of civilization.
Parallax-Video-Dialogue: Eros & Libido in a Time Between Worlds
Alexander Bard, Zak Stein, & Marc Gafni in Dialogue, Hosted by Tom Amarque
Parallax Spiritual Book Club Video Dialogue with Dr. Marc Gafni Round 2: The Murder of Eros
Andrew Sweeney in Dialogue with Dr. Marc Gafni on The Murder of Eros
Round 2 of a dialogue with Marc Gafni hosted by Andrew Sweeny
Andrew Sweeny writes about this dialogue:
Dr. Marc Gafni is a Rabbi, an integral philosopher, and—and by his own description—an outrageous lover, as any good philosopher should be.
I spoke to him about his book A Return to Eros and the need for eros in spirituality, politics, and life.
In this conversation, I will query him about ‘the murder of eros’, based on the final chapter in his book—and ask him how spirituality and religion can integrate the erotic, beyond mere hedonism or repression. As Marc says, ‘We need to take sex seriously.’
Evolving Public Culture
How We Respond to Post Truth And Fake News Matters
We stand at a moment in time when the weaponizing of sex and the manufacturing of scandals is used to undermine leaders and manipulate politics, religion and culture via digital communications at a faster rate than any other time in history. The recent emergents of a post-truth society and fake or distorted news now generate more engagement than truth on social media and are having an enormous impact on the shaping people’s viewpoints and beliefs.
If you use the internet for any form of communication including…
- Writing emails
- Posting and commenting on social media
- Sharing articles and blog posts
- Creating or viewing videos
- Participating in live broadcasts (FB Live, Google Hangouts etc..)
- Reading the news
…then you are participating in digital culture.
The question is, does your participation contribute to the awakening and evolution of culture, or does your participation contribute to the perpetuation of false negative memes and distortions of the truth?
It’s not an easy question to answer, because most of us believe that our actions are well intentioned…. for instance:
- You share an article with friends because you think it’s about an important topic and worthwhile read but you have not taken the time to see if the information in it is verified…
- You make a critical comment on a social media post because you want to engage in a conversation that’s meaningful to you but you have made assumptions about what’s true in the story you are commenting on…
- You sign a petition to take a stand against something such as sexual abuse, but are unaware that your own confirmation bias has lead you to believe the information being shared is fact…
- You write a blog post or article about a cause or topic that you’re passionate about but you haven’t verified the information from both sides of the story before publishing it…
You see, if you don’t understand the basic tenets for discerning whether or not a post or an article is fact or simply opinion, stated as fact…and if you don’t take the time to weigh your opinions with basic moral and ethical standards before you press ‘publish’ or ‘post’, then you unconsciously become an instrument for the advancement of a post-truth society. In a post-truth America, justice, integrity, and basic goodness are sacrificed on the altar of click bait, political smear campaigns and corrupt grasping for profit or power.
Our response to post-truth and fake news was to create a series of blog-posts dedicated to restoring the fundamental principles of human dignity, fair process and integrity in the digital age. It’s called Evolving Public Culture.
The invitation of Evolving Public Culture is to become an activist for a planetary awakening by contributing to the conversation and choosing to take a bold stand for truth, integrity and justice.
Read some of our blog-posts below:
Integral Theory
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Invitation to “Seduce Thyself: The New Delphic Oracle” – with Dr. Marc Gafni
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Dr. Marc Gafni and Aubrey Marcus in a Video Dialogue: Secrets of the CosmoErotic Universe
Aubrey Marcus:
“When it was recommended that I do a podcast with Rabbi Dr. Marc Gafni, I knew nothing about him. I dove straight into his body of work and my life will never be the same. This is perhaps the most paradigm shifting podcast I have ever recorded. It tells the tale of the greatest love story of all–the story of the cosmo-erotic universe Herself. In this paradigm shifting masterclass, we learn how a force he calls Eros is the fundamental substrate of creation all the way down to the first principles of subatomic matter. Gafni’s wisdom stretches back deep into the secrets of the Temple of Solomon and the mystic Kabbalist tradition. Our conversation touches a wide range of topics, including the nature of the Goddess, the democratization of enlightenment, and rewriting our sexual narratives.”
Dr. Marc Gafni on Spiritual Practice – Podcast with James Bampfield
In this beautiful conversation, Dr. Marc Gafni and James Bampfield speak about Enlightenment and Intimacy.
“Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.” – Dr. Marc Gafni
Eros, Intimacy, & Relationships: Interview with Dr. Marc Gafni
Interview with Dr. Marc Gafni
In this video, Dr. Marc Gafni explores the New Universe Story, including the Narratives of Unique Self, Ordinary Love, Outrageous Love, Unique Self Symphony, and the Erotic and the Holy.
The Future Faces of Spirit: On Value, Unique Self & CosmoErotic Humanism with Marc Gafni & Layman Pascal
Dialogue with Dr. Marc Gafni in The Integral Stage with Layman Pascal
What paths lie ahead for religion and spirituality in the 21st Century? How might the insights of modernity and post-modernity impact and inform humanity’s ancient wisdom traditions? How are we to enact, together, new spiritual visions – independently, or within our respective traditions – that can respond adequately to the challenges of our times?
ON VALUE, THE UNIQUE SELF, AND COSMOEROTIC HUMANISM
For episode 39, Layman meets with Marc Gafni to talk about his thoughts on an emerging World Spirituality, grounded in ritual and practice; the need for an integral orientation to encourage “dual citizenship,” embracing a global spirituality while also preserving and developing historical religious traditions; spirituality as the ground of value for human becoming; Marc’s notion of the Unique Self and its relationship to enlightenment; cosmic history as intimate conversation; and Marc’s recent work with Zak Stein on developing a Cosmo-Erotic Humanism. Dr. Marc Gafni is a visionary thinker, social activist, passionate philosopher, and author of ten books. He is the co-founder of The Center for Integral Wisdom, and a rabbinic lineage holder in Bible, Talmud, and Kabbalah. He self-describes as a “citizen” of both Integral World Spirituality and classical Hebrew practice. He has been an editor of the Journal of Integral Theory and Practice on issues of Integral spirituality and a faculty member of J.F.K. University. In 2014, Dr. Gafni co-initiated the Success 3.0 Summit and Rise Up movie, with John Mackey and Kate Maloney whose method and movement is to bring together key thought leaders and change-agents to collaboratively evolve a bold new Integral vision of Success, rooted in the entrepreneurial values of Wake Up, Grow Up, Show Up, and Evolutionary Love.
On the New Politics of Eros: Six Key Dimensions Broken in Democracy with Marc Gafni & Layman Pascal
Dialogue with Dr. Marc Gafni in “The Integral Stage” with Layman Pascal
Layman Pascal is joined by Dr. Marc Gafni, the co-founder of the Center for Integral Wisdom and the author of multiple books and essays on integrative spirituality and spiritual activism.
Marc presents his vision of what a planetary politics could and should be, and together they explore the question of AI and the enormous challenges manipulative algorithms pose not only to informed voting, but to sensemaking in general; the emergence of techno-feudalism; the problems with voting protocols rooted in rivalrous dynamics, and the possibilities for liquid democracy or a synergistic democracy; the viability and role of nation states in a globally interconnected and interdependent society; the dynamics of intimacy, and the importance of shared first principles and a shared story; and much more.
Dr. Marc Gafni is a visionary thinker, social activist, passionate philosopher, and author of ten books. He is the co-founder of The Center for Integral Wisdom, and a rabbinic lineage holder in Bible, Talmud, and Kabbalah. He self-describes as a “citizen” of both Integral World Spirituality and classical Hebrew practice. He has been an editor of the Journal of Integral Theory and Practice on issues of Integral spirituality and a faculty member of J.F.K. University. In 2014, Dr. Gafni co-initiated the Success 3.0 Summit and Rise Up movie, with John Mackey and Kate Maloney whose method and movement is to bring together key thought leaders and change-agents to collaboratively evolve a bold new Integral vision of Success, rooted in the entrepreneurial values of Wake Up, Grow Up, Show Up, and Evolutionary Love.
Parallax Spiritual Book Club Video Dialogue with Dr. Marc Gafni on A Return to Eros
Andrew Sweeney in Dialogue with Dr. Marc Gafni on A Return to Eros
A Time Between Stories – A Video Dialogue Series with Dr. Marc Gafni & Andrew Cohen
Enjoy this FREE 6-Part Series
Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
Video 4
Video 5
Video 6
Dr. Marc Gafni: Video Series on Responding to Public Culture
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I AcceptThe Salon: Responding to Existential Risk
Healing the Global Intimacy Disorder
with Dr. Marc Gafni
The Salons were gatherings organized by Shareef Malnik & Gabrielle Anwar, former Co-Chairs of the Think Tank of the Center for Integral Wisdom, together with the President of the Think Tank, Dr. Marc Gafni.
Dr. Marc Gafni did eight incredible Salons online, which were framed around a powerful set of responses to the realization of “it is not too big to fail” – aka, catastrophic and existential risk.
It is our imperative and joy – part of our commitment to our children and to ourselves – to take our seat at the table – in enacting the covenant between generations – through the Center for Integral Wisdom, beginning with these Salons.
Part of that vision is to insure that there will be a flourishing tomorrow for our children. That is our commitment to the covenant between generations. We begin in this salon by pointing towards the risk and then responding with great hope through the vision of what Dr. Marc calls, the New Story of CosmoErotic Humanism.
It is our great joy to share the recordings of these special gatherings of The Salons with you.
Salon 1 – Facing Catastrophic and Existential Risk: The Need for a New Story
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I AcceptSalon 2 – Only a New Shared Story of Value Will Create Global Coherence
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I AcceptSalon 3 – Reality Is the Progressive Deepening of Intimacies: The Global Intimacy Disorder and the Intimate Universe
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I AcceptSalon 4 – The New Existential Risk: Not the Death of Humanity but the Death of Our Humanity: Between Social Self, Separate Self and Unique Self
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I AcceptSalon 5 – My Story is Chapter and Verse in The Universe: A Love Story
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I AcceptSalon 6 – The Three Primordial Principles of Cosmos: First Person, Second Person and Third Person
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I AcceptSalon 7 – Introducing the Three Eyes: The Eye the Senses, the Eye of the Mind and the Eye of the Heart
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I AcceptSalon 8 – She comes in Threes: The Prepersonal, the Personal and the Transpersonal
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I AcceptApprobations for Dr. Marc Gafni’s Radical Kabbalah – by Ken Wilber
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Foreword by Howard Bloom – The Future of Relationships
Foreword by Howard Bloom
Forthcoming book: The Intimate Universe by Barbara Marx Hubbard and Dr. Marc Gafni
To understand the book you hold in your hands, you have to understand two people: Barbara Marx Hubbard and Marc Gafni. Both of them are magic.
To reveal that magic, let me first tell you the tale of how I met Barbara Marx Hubbard, who was later to introduce me to Marc. It was 2005, and I was at a space conference at the Airport Sheraton in Los Angeles. This was not a conference I’d wanted to attend. I’d been pressured into showing up by people from NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the National Space Society. Why had I refused to go? At first, I had been too embarrassed to explain. The fact was that I only attend conferences where I’m speaking. There’s a reason. If I am just another face in the crowd, that fact depresses me.
I told that to Feng Hsu, the senior risk analyst from NASA who had made himself part of the pressuring team. Feng volunteered to fly up from Houston to keep me company. And he made a promise. He would assign another babysitter to me, David Livingston, the host of the Space Show. Livingston, he assured me, had heard every one of my broadcasts on the highest rated overnight talk radio show in North America, Coast to Coast, was a huge fan, and knew everyone in the space community. Feng was not kidding around. Not only did he team up with me when we attended lectures and peppered the lecturers with questions or criticism, but David Livingston was a genius at important introductions.
Afterword to Your Unique Self – by Ken Wilber
Afterword to Your Unique Self: The Radical Path to Personal Enlightenment
by Ken Wilber
We live in extraordinary times. In the history of all humanity, there have only been five or six major world transformations: somewhere around 500,000 years ago, humans began to emerge as a distinct species, with an archaic worldview which separated us from the great apes. Around 50,000 years ago, the archaic worldview gave way to a magical worldview, anchored in foraging, hunting, and gathering. Then, around 10,000 years ago, farming was discovered. Simple farming, with a hand-held hoe, called horticulture. Concurrently, the worldview of simple magic gave way mythic-magic–more complex, and more sophisticated.
Around 4,000 B.C.E., the animal-drawn plow was discovered, and horticultural gave way to agrarian, while mythic-magic gave way to fully-developed mythic, with its traditional fundamentalistic values. The mythic world ruled until right around the Renaissance in the West, where myth began to give way to reason, which exploded during the Enlightenment. The rational worldview, along with its scientific materialism, and with its modern values, became in many ways the official worldview of the modern West. Until, that is, the 1960’s, which saw the last major world transformation–this time from modern to postmodern, from monolithic reason to postmodern pluralism and the “cultural creatives”.