061 Jonathan Gustin – Becoming Whole: Emotional Maturity, Spiritual Awakening and Soul Purpose

Purpose guide and psychotherapist Jonathan Gustin joins Terry to explore the vital processes of discovering and actualizing our soul's purpose, in clear and practical terms, to benefit our world in crisis. Jonathan builds upon our recent episode with Bill Plotkin by offering important distinctions between purpose, vocation, and pleasure. He also describes what he calls integral awakening, using his "three worlds" model of consciousness, in which the "lower world" represents our descent to soul, our discovery of our true name and place beneath personality, and our ongoing process of becoming a unique gift to whole.  Jonathan is a purpose guide, psychotherapist, and teacher. He is the founder and lead teacher of the Purpose Guides Institute, which guides people to embody their purpose as a gift to life and trains purpose guides to facilitate the transformation of humanity to a "soul-embodied species." Jonathan serves as adjunct faculty at John F. Kennedy University in the Consciousness and Transformation Studies program and he has taught meditation in a variety of environments, from universities and prisons to corporate businesses and hospital systems. Jonathan has also co-taught alongside Joanna Macy, George Leonard, and Bill Plotkin. Here are some additional questions we explore:  How can the "three worlds" model of consciousness (lower world, middle world and upper world) clarify a lifetime of maturation? How is our unique purpose both an expression of and a gift to the whole?  How does the "imaginal matrix" function as the "spiritual soil" for our soul growth? Is our deepest fulfillment really found in "giving ourselves away" and being "thoroughly used by life?" Do friendships, communities, or even species have collective purposes? How does collective purpose evolve amidst crises? For more information on Jonathan Gustin and Terry Patten, check out the following resources: Intro to Purpose Discovery - A Free 90 minute Live Mini-Workshop with Jonathan Gustin  Purpose Guides Institute website The Purpose Octagon Terry's nonprofit website A New Republic of the Heart Terry's book, A New Republic of the Heart: An Ethos for Revolutionaries Terry Patten's website Also:  You're invited to a major online teaching event on Wednesday, Feb 3 at 12 Noon PST: "Spiritual Friends Amidst Cultural Madness: The Power of Our Grateful Generosity." Terry will share new insights about navigating our fragmenting world and how a key leverage point for making a real difference is our capacity for generosity and friendship. He will also be joined by the co-creators of our "social experiment" community at A New Republic of the Heart — and together we will offer a glimpse into the ways we are experimenting at the leading-edge of spiritual friendship. Click here to register or receive the recording.