GTC Community Calls

The following are recordings from recent GTC Community Calls.


What If We Don’t Make It?

November, 2023

Hello! My name is Jasmine. You might know me from GTC 21 or from the Gathering Team of the recent reunion retreat. This month for the community call, I'd like to invite you all to join me in a practice of inquiry that I long to explore in community: What truths, wholeness, and goodness can we access when we fully try on the perspective that we will not be able to turn the metacrisis around? That we will not, as a whole, transform enough to avoid multisystem collapse? That humans will not survive as a species?

Until somewhat recently I, perhaps like some of you, lived much of my life with an ever-present sense of urgency and anxiety about the growing threats to both people and planet. In more recent years, however, I find myself sitting with and deeply accepting the very solid probability that we just aren't going to make it. When I truly touch into this place for myself, something remarkable and alive happens: Anxiety and urgency fall away, while the kind of faculties these times seem to be most calling for come on line - a special kind of deep care and appreciation, an ever-growing capacity to be present with and show up in the face of suffering, greater contentment with a simple life of fewer needs.

What is possible if we make space to sit with this together? Please join us for a practiced-based call where we will collectively venture into this tender place, honoring the resistance and the gold we encounter along the way.

GTC Community - What’s Next?

October, 2023

After our GTC Community Gathering in August our lives have been overflowing with creative expression. There is much to share. We missed having a community call in September, we gathered to share an update on Pacific Integral, what emerged during the August Gathering, engage each other around what is next, and celebrate all that we are creating together.


Gathering in Community
Planting Seeds for the GTC Community Gathering

July, 2023

This call was a gathering in the depths of GTC community. Geoff, Abigail and Tucker gave a brief update on everything happening with Pacific Integral's work. We had an inquiry into the meaning of community and then spent time in in connection and emergent dialog together. We explored together what this community is, what it could be, and the nature of healthy community in general, while actually being together in this space of depth.


Building Lasting Connections
How GTC 15A Stays Connected and Continues to
Deepen their Transformation

June, 2023

“In our GTC15A cohort, we are always walking each other home while holding a deep realization that we are already always home within us and with each other. In 2015, our cohort graduated and dispersed across the country, but we didn't want our connection to end there. We made a commitment to stay connected and continue to hold retreats every year, even through the COVID lockdowns.

In the last eight years, we have been each others’ mentors and emergency contacts; we have been professional colleagues and even roommates; we have been each other’s relationship coaches; and we have been each other’s psychedelic space holders. The cohort has built relationships with other members’ partners and has shared Christmas parties, festivals, countless meals together, and many more things.”

In this talk, members of GTC 15A shared their strategies and experiences for building and maintaining lasting connections within their cohort. This evolved into a rich conversation about what it is to cultivate the soul of a vibrant community.


Just Presence
An invitation to a collective experiment

April, 2023

Join Thomas Dünser and Rich Harmer and our community for "Experiment 2504: Just Presence." As we invited at the end of our last call, a continuation of exploration of life-as-awareness. 

This is an invitation to just be present.
As collective with and for each other.
No intention of new teachings or new insights.
That might happen, but is a side effect.

Yes, we will use words, maybe poetry even.
Yes, you will have the option, not the obligation, to speak.
But more important is the invitation to show up, simply as you are. 
And discover what this Life that lives us all wants to say through us.

At the beginning of the call, Thomas read the poem Please Come Home, by Jane Hooper.

During the call, Rich composed a poem (!), which he read at the end of the call Experiment 2504: Just Presence, written with the GTC Alumni Community.


Living in the Metaware Territory
Connection, exploration, support for living in the open ground

March, 2023

Join us for an exploration of living in the co-existence of emptiness and fullness in the Metaware tier, hosted by Geoff, Abigail, and Laura Johnson. This is a time for community, exploration and support about what it is like living in relationship to the groundless ground. Knowing ourselves as the horizon of open awareness, how does this shift our relationship to life? What challenges arise? Who are we and what does this open? These territories can be rich and full, and also lonely and uncertain. How might we support ourselves to find more community here?

This territory is the ground of GTC and what our experience in the program can open up and/or deepen. It is important for us all to find ways to stay connected as we continue to mature and integrate the understanding of development into our lives and the world. In our call we will invite your experience, questions, needs and celebrations as we work with what emerges as we explore together. What emerges may be a prototype for ongoing support in our community, so if you are interested in this, come to the call.


Meet a GTC Grad
Buddy Talks: Paired Connection Time

February, 2023

Would you like to meet other GTC Grads and drop in for conversation? Join us February 18th for facilitated Grad connections and an introduction to a new practice: Buddy Calls.  

Remember during the second GTC retreat when the faculty invited us to pair up with a member of our cohort to spend a special evening together? This was sometimes called “date night.” It was a way to connect more deeply with a cohort mate. From time to time I have continued this process by reaching out to a grad I met during a GTC community call or at one of our Grad Reunions.  It’s long been my wish and our wish at Pacific Integral to support grads with these kinds of connections. 

For our GTC Community call in February we’ll explore an online version of one-on-one time by facilitating several rounds of buddy talks. We will offer a starter question, randomly pair up for deeper connection in break out rooms and have time for sharing all together. This call will be a full experience of connecting on its own, but also a launch point for further connecting one-on-one. At the end of the call we will share a way to continue to set up future Buddy Calls for those who are interested.   

Join a Buddy Call

There is no recording of this call. You can still join a buddy call! Would you like to meet other GTC Grads and drop in for conversation?


In February we launched a new community prototype: Buddy Calls. If you are curious and want to participate, add your name and contact information to this document. Then either reach out to anyone on the list to set up a call or email holly@pacificintegral.com and ask her to pair you. She is experimenting with random and intuitive pairing. Pair up on zoom, phone or call your buddy, put on earbuds and go for a walk with your buddy on the phone. Stop and share a photo of your view and continue your conversation. Please share ways to improve this prototype with holly@pacificintegral.com.


Practicing Truthfulness
Starting the Year Embracing What Is

January, 2023

Please join for a cleansing step into the new year as we explore an encounter with what is, as Geoff guides us in the practice of truthfulness.

We engaged in an exploration of what it is to live truthfully at a time when we are confronted by so many ways to distract ourselves from our deepest and simplest truths. Embracing what is, inwardly and outwardly, leads us to humility, allowing release, opening, and movement. Engaging with a commitment to the truth gives rise to an effortlessness in the face of our most complex challenges. True peace is only possible when we embrace what is. Geoff shared some distinctions and practice, to support us in inquiry and dialog together.


Solstice Creative Sanctuary
Between the in-breath and the out-breath

December, 2022

Our annual Solstice Sanctuary: a ceremony and celebration including ritual, meditation and connection. The call was hosted by Simon Divecha, Rochelle Fairfield, and Geoff Fitch

Whether you’re living in the north or south, or somewhere in-between, this is a time between seasons where the change in the length of the day reaches a point before returning to the other pole. In our lifetimes and ancestral memories, this shared pause as the earth shifts tilt on its axis opens a rare portal of connection in infinity! Join in and let's voyage together through body and creativity and what may emerge for you-i-us at the solstice.

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Dynamic Stillness
Presencing Body, Mind and Spirit for Effortless Clarity

NOVEMBER, 2022

With Venita Ramirez, former partner and GTC faculty, and Rich Harmer, GTC SP 3 Grad. Life can be simple, but most of us tend to make it more difficult through physical, emotional, and mental contractions that cloud our Awareness, creating emotional disturbance and mental confusion. In this session, Richard and Venita inited us to slow down and relax through our bodies, our minds, and our subtle energy field so we can observe our contractions, let them go, and let more of Life in. We explored non-attachment, equanimity and acceptance, and learned to clear subtle energy patterns that prevent clarity and ease. From this clarity, we can access greater presence as the effortless flow of Awareness Itself.


Alternatives to Integral Theory
Transdisciplinary Models for Global Change

OCTOBER, 2022

An exploration beyond the lens of integral theory into a field-tested framework for shifting consciousness in challenging situations. GTC Grad Sushant Shrestha and special guest Kirsten Gallo were our trusted guides on this luminous, grounding adventure.

We have more social movements than ever before in human history. Every year, billions of dollars and massive resources are deployed for social and environmental transformation. So how are we at an ever-increasing level of global crisis? Could it be that we are approaching our issues partially and in silos of our disciplines?

Integral Theory is a transdisciplinary framework that is now implemented in every field. But what about other transdisciplinary models that have already been tested and consistently produce results?

One such framework is the Conscious Full-Spectrum Response (CFSR) model. This approach delivers results while shifting the systems and cultural beliefs that maintain the status quo and manifest our full potential as human beings. This transdisciplinary framework has been tested and then applied by organizations in 60 countries in the last 30+ years to tackle issues of global significance, such as HIV/AIDS, human rights, and environmental conservation.

Based on Monica Sharma’s book Radically Transformational Leadership, Kirsten Gallo and Sushant Shrestha will present this transdisciplinary framework and its impact with experiential inquiries. You can read the following article from Kosmos, which will be referenced throughout the presentation. Nature and Humanity as Source of Life, Living and Everyday Transformation.


Oasis
Refreshing ourselves in the grace of collective presence

SEPTEMBER, 2022

This month our GTC Community call is was invitation to come together in the spirit of meeting at an oasis. Coming from any and all directions our lives and the seasons - summer in the north, winter in the south, and something in-between in the middle latitudes. We came together to relax in one another’s company, meet old friends and new. We also welcomed GTC 21 to the GTC Community

Because this was simply a communal space, no recording was made.


Rooted In Love
Cultivating love and becoming a good ancestor

August, 2022

Join Simon Okelo (GTC 11) and us for African songs and proverbs and stories connecting us with our individual and shared roots. Explore your relationship with nature, inner voice and ancestors, and connect with gratitude for what we have.

The theme we explored through songs, stories and proverbs, was "Connecting with nature, listening to our inner voice, being grateful for what we have instead of focusing on what we don't have."

Also, please join us in celebrating with Simon, his new book: Rooted In Love. Simon's new book tells the story of just a few who have discovered or used their strengths to help others. This book will inspire you to look deep inside yourself to find your niche in the puzzle of creating a more sustainable world. Welcome to the Village of today, tomorrow, and the future.


The Way of the Mystic-Wizard

JULY, 2022

In this call, Matt Baker (GTC 16), introduces us to his practice and his new book, The Way of the Mystic-Wizard: An introduction to a NonDual-Shamanic spiritual practice. This book is an introduction to a path and method for developing a sustainable daily nondual-shamanic practice that helps build a container for powerful spiritual growth and transformation. This call includes a guided journey Matt led us on as well as an extended session where he worked with those on the call to explore what their journeys revealed.

Matthew Thomas Baker is a nondual-shamanic teacher who has been teaching and mentoring students for 25 years. His teachings focus on guided group shamanic journeys that connect people to the realm of the spirits and the soul and directly introduce people to Pure Awareness. He is one of the only teachers today who explicitly focuses on teaching the combined paths of shamanism and nonduality as a way of transformation, spiritual awakening, and empowerment. His ongoing mission is to help others fulfill their full creative and spiritual potential and live creative meaningful, soul-guided lives.


Living in a Time Between Worlds

JUNE, 2022

In this session, hosted by Abigail Lynam, we engaged with ways of being with the fierce urgency of these times. We will explored practices and inquiry around living in a time between worlds, with the breakdown of systems, heartbreak, pull to action, overwhelm, and dreaming into new futures. What supports us to live well in the gap, one hand on beauty, the other on suffering, and two feet planted firmly in the task of the present moment? How are we engaging with these times and our sense of the future? What is being called forth from us individually and collectively? How might we become more present, alive, and adaptive during this disorienting moment in our history?

Quotes shared during the call:

"Until we grasp that we are in a time between worlds it is hard to see the deep structures of societal immunity to change that keep the old world on life support. Without trusting that a new world will be born it is hard to see the possibilities for radical renewal, possibilities that are neglected because they can’t be perceived within the prism of the world to which we are habituated… Lets come together and accept that we have failed. Then we can begin to cultivate the kinds of relationships that might give us a chance.” - Zachary Stein

“At the beginning of the twenty-first century, probably for the first time in human history, the living presence of the abyss — that is, that simultaneous existence of one world that is dying and another one that is being born—is a widely shared experience for millions of people across cultures, sectors, and generations.” - Otto Scharmer

The song we played on the call:

"The human species is in the latter stages of the kind of transformation of context that only occurs every five hundred years or so. The meta-crisis is not merely ‘a lot of problems’ that we may or may not solve, rather it is the character of this time between worlds, where one world system is dying but another has yet to be born...."

The gift of this moment in human history is that our existential challenges are inspiring many of us to reconsider what matters most in our lives - as well as what matters most for Life. How do we align different perspectives, traditions and ways of knowing? How do we connect and bridge as we create? How do we navigate disruption and polarization?

May we meet in the silence of the heart, may our practice be committed and joyful, and may we encourage the light and goodness in others whenever and wherever we encounter them." - Jonathan Rowsen


Metaphors as bridges between the visible and invisible

May, 2022

In this session Joao Noronha (GTC 20) guided us in an exploration of our metaphors and metaphorical landscapes, a part of our dreaming body that is ever present and unfolding. He also invited us to see inside his research, where metaphors appear to be collapsars of meaning from the different dimensions of Self and bridges between the implicit that is prone to be carried forward and the unfolding future. Please check out this deep and evocative session.


Rebuilding Roots and Mapping Modernity
Appreciative and critical perspectives on integral metatheory

April, 2022

Integral Metatheory reveals unique insights about cultures and world civilizations, but what might the cultural perspective reveal about Integral?

Yes, we tend to look at the world and ourselves through lenses of various sorts, from the culture or family we were born into, to ideals we take on in our youth, political points of view that may change throughout a lifetime, as well as the lens of our education and so on. Integral Theory is a rich, complex and often liberating lens to understand and relate with the world. And, in this lively session led by Sushant Shrestha (GTC 15), we’ll have the equally rich opportunity to look at Integral Theory from the perspective of different cultures!

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Come Play!
Joy as creative force in emergence

March, 2022

In this session, Tamara Androsoff, GTC South Pacific faculty, psychotherapist and improv artist, led us through a series of improv games designed to bring us into the moment - together. Improv is a “We” practice, where the spirit of play is the point and brings with it a sense of aliveness, connection and presence. There is freshness and novelty when we let the moment be co-created by our participation. We will play with the improv concepts: Yes, Lets! And Yes, And! Which you can take away and use in the really big improv show we call LIFE! There is no need to have any improv experience, nor any worry about “performing” as this is meant to be fun, playful and enjoyable!

“Laughter is carbonated holiness.” - Ann Lamont


Co-Evolution of I and We
The paradox and unity of our collective development

FEBRUARY, 2022

Part of what we learn and practice in GTC is that the development of individuals and collectives are interdependent, paradoxical, interpenetrative, and ultimately not separate. Learning to recognize and work with our co-creation and co-evolution is juicy territory and so important for our collective futures. In this call Geoff lead the exploration the “I/We Model,” a framework GTC faculty have been developing that describes the process of individual and collective development at the heart of our work.

The model grew initially out of inquiries we were having around the practices in GTC and how they support the development of what the Stages model refers to as subtle community. The framework ultimately describes the interpenetration of the I and We in development, including collective intelligence and emergence. We shared the model and related practices at last year's Integral Europe Conference and co-wrote a chapter for the just published Palgrave Handbook of Learning for Transformation. (Contact us for a copy of the chapter.)


Positive Futurecasting
A rollicking romp into our unfolding future

JANUARY, 2022

Contemplating the year to come as we step into 2022? This call was a rollicking rollercoaster of a yarn-spinning ride as we future-cast our probable 2022. Scott Nelson (GTC 17 & 20) will led this fun, social encounter with the amazing year we are about to have. While most of the process was in breakout groups you can join us for the conversations we had inspired by what it revealed.


Solstice Creative Sanctuary
Between the in-breath and the out-breath

DECEMBER, 2021

Please join us for a Solstice ceremony and celebration that will include ritual, meditation, connection, creativity and celebration. The call is hosted by Simon Divecha, Rochelle Fairfield, Geoff Fitch and Holly Harlan. Guest artists include Thomas Dünser, Kabir Kadre and Joao Noronha.

Whether you’re living in the north or south, or somewhere in-between, this is a time between seasons where the change in the length of the day reaches a still point before returning to the other pole. In our lifetimes and ancestral memories, this pause could be for 3 days and/or infinity! Join us to voyage and co-create still points for ourselves, for any sources of grounding and creativity that may emerge for you-i-us at the solstice.

Links to offerings:


Rhythms of the Unseen
Bringing the heart into systems change

NOVEMBER, 2021

A heartfelt, caring exploration of the unprecedented systems change we are living through. In this GTC community call, GTC grads Roberta Vogel-Leutung and Rochelle Fairfield will share the Bateson Institute’s People Need People living systems process. This is based on the in-person Warm Data Lab process which supports new ways of noticing, in ways that makes a difference. Roberta and Rochelle have been learning this process with Nora Bateson this year, intrigued by a praxis that touches into the territory of the unseen out of which emergence, well, emerges!


Considering Trauma

OCTOBER, 2021

We came together for a consideration of trauma in our lives and world, on the occasion of the release of Gabor Maté’s film, The Wisdom of Trauma. The film-making beautifully offers a message and look at healing and wholeheartedness. The film is produced by Science & Nonduality and was rebroadcast recently. If you weren't able to watch the film yet, you can view it at this link. We encourage you to visit their site to support the film.


Being in Emergence

SEPTEMBER, 2021

On the call we will came together in community in a space of presence and emergence. Geoff will hosted us with a generative intention, a light structure and open space for practice, dialog, and connection. This inspiration for this call came out of our recent experience gathering together at Whidbey Institute for a mini GTC retreat. A deep dialog and space of presencing.


Stories from the Soul - Sharing our Inner Narrative

JUNE, 2021

Hosted by the GTC Africa community. We are so excited for the rich opportunity that was created to come together in community, through the practice of storytelling, to create a bridge to knowing each other in a deeper and more playful way, to connect to this historical and cultural practice, that is especially alive in Africa. And, to allow stories that have not been told to emerge.

‘The universe is made up of stories, not atoms.’
- Muriel Rukeyeser, poet.

The theme of this GTC community call was “Stories from the Soul”. Our friends from GTC Africa facilitated a process of storytelling that allowed us to share and hear diverse stories from around the world and engaged in the process of storytelling to discover hidden parts of the self.


Emergent Leadership - Anatomy of a Prototype

May, 2021

In this month's community call we shared our experiences with the recently launched Emergent Leadership program and reflected together on our own 'prototype' experience, the nature of the work we are doing together, and all of our engagement with this evolutionary process. We were came together as faculty, assistants, the GTC grads who were participants in the program, as well as some from the broader community to join us in the exploration.

We designed Emergent Leadership as a deep taste of GTC for people who were new to our work and for a way for grads to dive back into the space with us. We had over 50 people join us for this first iteration and it was a powerful experience for us and those who attended. Thank you all for this rich conversation, sparked by the occasion of this new program.


Exploring Life & Death, with GTC Africa

March, 2021

'That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet.’
- Emily Dickinson

Is it by accepting death that life can be lived fully? What if it is the experience of death that awakens us, that enables us to feel life more fully, live in the moment, and create at all levels in our lives?

The GTC Africa team held, for the second time, a community call with this theme. The purpose was to come together and reflect on moments of joy and loss, to celebrate and grieve, and learn together as a collective.

Some of questions that we considered during this interactive session were:

. What is being born for me/us at concrete and energetic levels?
. What am I letting go of and mourning at gross and subtle levels?


Solstice Celebration

DECEMBER, 2020

Listen to our end-of-2020 Solstice celebration, a collaborative U, hosted by members of the GTC Community Gathering team: Simon Divecha, Rochelle Fairfield, and Geoff Fitch.

We felt it was timely to honor your-our-my unique moments. In many ways, in our geographic, country and sometimes home bubbles, our pandemic year mirrors the solstice—literarily it meant standstill for the days around this time where the sun rises and sets in the same place.

Simon will guided us through a visual walking meditation to evoke the spirit of the solstice, followed by time for dialog with, presenting, and connection led by Rochelle… and a toast to what we are burying to let go of our seed for our next year.


Healing the Divide - John Kesler

DECEMBER, 2020

Many of you know that John is the originator of Integral Polarity Practice and a founding member of the Integral Institute. You may not know that John has researched, written about, and led integral approaches in many social and political settings over more than the past two decades. Most recently he started the Younify initiative to heal social and political divisions and create a movement for change. He is also one of the deepest and wisest souls we know.

This month we invited John to explore where we are today in our evolving social and political situation and engage with the question, how can we bring our deepest wisdom to foster the change we need in the world today. John also shared some IPP practice with us that is relevant to the topic.

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Causal Café

NOVEMBER, 2020

This month we took time to connect and take stock together, in a space for deep conversation together, in spaciousness, and with generative questions that invited us to explore what is alive and emerging at this time.


What’s Up With America?

OCTOBER, 2020

We were joined by John Wood (GTC SP Faculty) and Rochelle Fairfield (GTC 12 & 16) for an exploration of this intensely polarized political moment. It was a deep exploration that started with an invitation by Rochelle to see how we were internally polarized and, through that, bridge 'sides' with those that we disagree with. We live in increasingly polarized contexts. How is this serving us? What might carry us to a place that includes our differences and transcends this polarization? Then, John led us through a presencing process to sense into what we wanted to invite into our 'holding space' and how we wanted to engage and act from a wider context?

After the call, Dave Ford (GTC 13), shared: "Provocative call. The political nature of our society Is/has changed, and institutions destroyed, and public economy bankrupted. We must swim deep and seek wide to find hope and openness for social bonding anew."

Visit the Hylo community for additional references and to discuss the call.


Building on the Gathering

SEPTEMBER, 2020

This month we continued the connections and conversations and nurture the momentum that was generated during our time together at our recent GTC Community Gathering. We were joined by around 30 of us who attended the gathering as well as a couple who missed it and explore what is opening in ourselves and the community now, how we can support it, and what wants to still be presenced. The community is alive with energy and momentum from the gaathering, which we all want to hold and cultivate.

View the Zoom chat from the session.


Race and Racism, part 2

JULY, 2020

Henry Richards, Simon Okelo, Abigail Lynam, Geoff Fitch

Last month we began a powerful conversation hosted by Henry Richards (GTC 3 & 19) and Simon Okelo (GTC 11), with Abigail and Geoff,  in connection, honesty, dialogue, and emergence around the issue of race and racism. This month we continued the conversation and explore how as individuals and a community we can respond to this historic moment to face and transform the legacy of racism in our world. These conversations are powerful and necessary.

While this movement/moment has been sparked by events in the US, the legacy of racism, colonialism - the unhealthy collective dimensions of our ethnocentrism - exists with, in, and for all of us. Wherever you are, let this conversation be an opportunity explore your role in this story. Ours is an international community and every place on the planet has healing to do. Join with us in responsibility for bringing about the potential of this moment for healing, justice, and deep change. 

A few resources mentioned on and shared after the call:

From Henry:

From Simon:

From Heather Johnson:

  • “Stamped”, written for young adults that is written by Jason Reynolds, an adaptation of Ibram X. Kendi’s work.

  • The 'On Being' episode with Robin DiAngelo and Resmaa Menakem.

From Pam Emerson:

  • Great Radical Race Read - this is a great opportunity to form reading circles within the GTC community and beyond.  Registration is open through July 27th  - Great Radical Race Read (GR3)

From Abigail:

From Geoff:


Race and Racism, part 1

June, 2020

Henry Richards, Simon Okelo, Abigail Lynam

A powerful conversation around the issue of race and racism, hosted by Henry Richards (GTC 3 & 19) and Simon Okelo (GTC 11), with Abigail and Geoff.

We are living in an intense time – a time that also has huge potential. While we open our awareness and deepen together, we need to be honest about what remains and is truly unconscious. The unconsciousness of privilege and the alienation it constructs is pernicious. 

It means we have to open our hearts and have honest dialogues about the racism that is so prevalent in our country. It means standing up against the oppression and violence that has impacted Black Americans, Native Americans, and many others for far too long and joining our collective force with their ongoing resistance. 

Ours is an international community and every place on the planet has healing to do. These issues are not (and are also in a way) unique to the US. Continue to join with us in responsibility for bringing about the potential of this moment for healing, justice, and deep change. 


What’s up with UFOs?

June, 2020

Tom Curren, Sean Esbjörn-Hargens

This month we were joined by Tom Curren (GTC 3) and PI friend and integral luminary, Sean Esbjörn-Hargens, to discuss their work to create a more complex conversation and exploration of the “psychological, sociological, and scientific implications of the UFO phenomena in all its empirical and mysterious facets.” Last year, Sean launched the Institute for Exo Studies to develop a more integral field of study of these phenomena. The territory he is engaging with is truly expansive - the whole range of subtle realms and human engagement with the spectrum of strange and unexplained phenomena, from the perspective of a truly Metaware scientific approach. At the same time, Tom and Sean have been pioneering an offering through What’s Up with UFOs? to offer up-to-date, credible information to the public in a way that encourages people to make sense of their own sense-making. 

Tom and Sean invite you to check out these links to information:


COVID 19 - PART 2 OF OUR EXPLORATION OF THE PANDEMIC

May, 2020

This month and last we gathered as a community to explore the impact and potentials of this moment in the pandemic. What emerged was a space to gather that was moving and real, a transformation from the inside of this experience. How is this impacting you? What does this mean for our communities and for human life? What potentials are present? How can we support each other and be of service at this time? 

COVID 19 - Changing our Lives, Changing our World

April, 2020

Dave Ford, Geoff Fitch

What a deep and rich call we had this month, coming together as a community in this time of Covid-19 for an exploration, dialog, and presencing of our lives and present moment and the emergent future, given the current pandemic crisis. We didn’t know what would arise in this conversation but what transpired was a deep encounter with what is, as the pandemic is impacting all of us in significant and different ways. How is this impacting you? What does this mean for our communities and for human life? What potentials are present? How can we support each other and be of service at this time? 

We were joined by Dave Ford (GTC 13). Dave has spent his life working as a healthcare executive and consultant and is someone deeply committed to transforming our healthcare system and our relationship to our health and well-being, and is a deep spiritual practitioner and integral thinker. Our intent for our time together was to be with this moment in the deepest and fullest way we can, to connect with each other, and to empower ourselves to engage actively with the challenges and opportunities that the pandemic is opening for us. 


Learning and Unlearning

March, 2020

Tom Murray

This month Tom Murray (GTC 17) joined us for a discussion about his model on Wisdom Skills. He draws from Terri's STAGES developmental model and from his work on "post-metaphysics" and embodiment. This framework emphasizes the equal importance of developmental growth (called complexity capacity) with "unlearning" movements that "release complexity" (called spiritual clarity). We explored Tom’s insight into the development of wisdom skills and looked together at personal and collective opportunities for transformation and asked: what aspects of transformation build complexity, and which release complexity?

Tom's papers: www.perspegrity.com

Tom's home page:  www.tommurray.us

2018 Integral European Conference slides on "Wisdom Skill = Complexity Capacity + Spiritual Clarity"

Integral Review journal: look for special issue on the STAGES model late spring, 2020: http://integral-review.org/


Dare to Connect and Love Fiercly

January, 2020

Steve Shapiro, Plácido Gallegos

This month we were hosted by Steve Shapiro (GTC 19) and his partner, Plácida Gallegos, who held an exploration of we-space that embraces our differences and maximizes our practice in connecting with each other across those differences with curiosity and love.

In Pacific Integral and GTC we are embracing an exploration of diversity and our collective human history of trauma arising out of these differences, with a curiosity and recognition that both we and the ways we have been collectively holding this work are evolving.

Steve and Plácida guided us through conversation about our experiences and challenges with being with difference in our lives and in the GTC community and shared principles they hold in their work to facilitate we-space that can allow us to go deeper with each other, honestly and fiercely.


RE:MEMBER - Where Grief and Beauty Co-exist

December, 2019

Katie Teague

"Throughout most of human history grief has been communal and accepted as a natural response-expression within the great wheel of life. Yet in our modern culture, we have forgotten our connection to the deeper natural cycles of living. We have forgotten how to grieve and how to grieve together." - Katie Teague (GTC 4)

This month we came together for a shared experience of watching Katie’s new film, RE:MEMBER, and to join in an intimate conversation about grief. Please join with us and share this experience. To get access to the film, see the original invitation to the call or get in touch with us. To share the film with others, send them to https://www.rememberdoc.com.


What is this time asking of us? A space for inquiry.

November, 2019

Mike DeGruyter, Geoff Fitch

As the calendar year completes its circle and seasons are in transition around the globe, this month’s call theme or rather non-theme was an open space for our inquiry. Relaxing into the call with a question or a series of questions that are at the core of our wondering at this time: What matters in this time? What are the assumptions in our questions? What are our questions which may not require an answer, but rather seed an inquiry? As we come to a close of the year and connect, what questions arise from our collective? What unfolded was a deep space of reflection and inquiry.


Supporting GTC’s Evolution

October, 2019

Geoff Fitch, Abigail Lynam

For this call, we invite you to join us in a conversation about the evolution of GTC. North American faculty and South Pacific faculty will be meeting in November to share our learning and to explore ways to support GTC’s evolution and development. We would love to have your contributions to this conversation. Some questions we explored on the call:

  • When you think about your experience in GTC, what would you like to see strengthened, updated, deepened, or extended?

  • In the context of our times, what is GTC offering, and how might we serve more deeply and with greater transformative impact?

  • What emerging trends are you seeing that GTC might include or respond to?

  • What is your dream and hope for GTC?

  • What has the post-GTC experience been like for you and your cohort and what would support that process?

If you were unable to join us for the call, please listen and share your thoughts with us by email!


Climate Change: Grief, Breakdown, Breakthrough

July, 2019

Simon Divecha, Abby Ruskey, and Abigail Lynam

We join in conversation with Simon (GTC SP 1), Abby (GTC 14), and Abigail (GTC 5 & 7, GTC Faculty), for a conversation about living in this time of systems breakdown and the evolutionary pressures for breakthrough. We explored the realities of climate change and ecological collapse, how we can meet this reality and be open to it, and respond to it in a way that is transformative. This is perhaps one of the most important conversations we can have as a community. Please take a listen and send us your thoughts.

Simon, Abby, and Abigail wanted to share Some resources, information, and avenues to action:


Technology and Consciousness

June, 2019

Rochelle Fairfield, Scott Nelson, Sushant Shrestha

We were joined this month by three of our Vancouver GTC friends who are doing extraordinary leading-edge work in technology, consciousness and societal change. Sushant Shrestha, GTC 15A, Rochelle Fairfield, GTC 12 & 16, and Scott Nelson, GTC 17, for a fascinating exploration of the implications of technology and consciousness for the future of our world. Technology is intertwined with every aspect of our lives. The ubiquity of technology offers so many advantages and yet presents just as many challenges! The speed at which emerging information and communication technologies are growing far out paces our capacity to predict the effects it will have in our lives as well as on society as a whole.

Some references shared by Sushant, Rochelle, and Scott:

During the call Jim Doherty mentioned the Hyppocratic Oath for AI practitioners, created by Oren Etizioni at the Allen Institute


Caring, Dying, and Grieving - An Exploration and Dialog

May, 2019

Laura Johnson and Katie Teague

We had a deeply moving conversation about grief this past weekend for the May community call. Grief is a part of life, present if we awaken to the beauty and transience of everything we love. This call made that very present and real, and left us in touch with a sense of reverence for life. Thank you to all those present and those who are with us in other ways.

In this call, Are you caring for someone ill or aging? Have you experienced a loss of a loved one? What is your relationship to grieving? I have lost both of my parents. Dear family members are aging. Lately, my own gateway to grief comes as I realize that all live is a continuous flow of arising and falling away and that every thing I care for is fleeting. In a grief ritual I held recently, we invite each other to be with the stem, "I remember..." What do you remember? 

Joining us for this conversation were Laura Johnson (GTC 1 and 12) and Katie Teague (GTC 4) as they share their own stories of grief and invite us to be in a space together to hold this essential experience of life. 


Deliberately Developmental Community: Developmental Practice in Education

April, 2019

Jennifer Haynes

In this call, we explored how we can apply integral, developmental approaches through a whole system, highlighting the work of GTC grad Jennifer Haynes, who is Principal of the Brisbane Independent School (BIS). The school is recognized as a leading Integral School and integrates developmental theory and practice in every aspect of its operation, from classroom design, to matching the teacher’s development to the student’s, to developmentally assessing students every six months and moving them between grades accordingly.

Jennifer began implementing the STAGES Development Model into the BIS framework 8 years ago. As Jennifer shared “the process has been transformational for BIS as a community, shifting traditional modes of understanding schooling, childhood, adulthood, and teaching. It demands all of us to see how our construction of self formulates the experience of self for the little ones. At graduation, the adult population at our school leaves with as much trepidation as the students, because they have experienced the way that being in a deliberately developmental community acknowledges the individual as a co-creator of the collective.”


Hunhu Heart Project - Our World - From the Inside Out

March, 2019

Molly Madziva and Greg Flynn

With the Hunhu Heart Project, Molly Madziva (GTC 16a) and Greg Flynn (GTC 6 + 16a) are continuing to evolve a project that began in 2016. It started as a small group collaboration in their cohort, with the explicit intention to trust and attune to the impulse of creativity that opens new ways of deepening connection in the world, from the inside out.

In this call, they step into another layer of that evolution. Together we stepped, with intention, into the space that is Hunhu - I am because You are. They gave an overview of this beautiful Shona philosophy that Molly has brought us from her homeland of Zimbabwe, and explore some questions within our own hearts, as well as in the heart of the community. They space followed an intention to continue to walk each other home, connecting with each step from the inside out.


Welcome, and update on PI, GTC, and Grad Community Initiatives

February, 2019

Geoff Fitch, Abigail Lynam, Holly Harlan, Mike De Greyter

Our first Grad community call of 2019. We took time to give a little update on Pacific Integral, GTC, and Grad Community initiatives. Then we spent time in small group discussions connecting with each other and exploring two questions: What is something that GTC awakened in you that is alive for you today? and, What would it take for the Grad community to be a force for transformation in your life? The small group discussions were not recorded, so what you see in the following videos are the update at the beginning of the call and some group reflection and sharing after the second breakout session on the topic of the possibilities for this community.

Exploring the Potential of this Community