Jorge Ferrer, PhD, is former chair of the department of east-west psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies. He is currently a core faculty member there. He is author of Revisioning Transpersonal Theory: A Participatory Vision of Human Spirituality, and Participation and the Mystery: Transpersonal Essays in Psychology, Education, and Religion. He is the coeditor of an anthology titled, The Participatory Turn: Spirituality, Mysticism, and Religious Studies. He is known as a leading proponent of the “second wave” of transpersonal theorists.

Here he maintains that many spiritual seekers engage in one-sided approaches that do not incorporate an appreciation of the human body. In fact, certain traditions disparage the body as being animalistic and unspiritual. He advocates a revised version of the Bodhisatva Vow (for Buddhists and non-Buddhists) that emphasizes the enlightenment of all parts of the self — as well as all sentient beings. He also discusses the role of sexual intimacy in spiritual practice.

(Recorded on September 21, 2018)

Published on October 19, 2018