Daniel Thorson - The Journey from Avoidance to Deep Intimacy

Daniel Thorson is a former monastic, podcaster, writer, and coach. He spent five years as a resident at the Monastic Academy and has accumulated two years of silent retreat experience. Daniel is also a certified Aletheia Coach and Circling facilitator, whose work weaves together embodied inquiry, attachment-based healing, philosophical exploration, and relational presence. For many years, Daniel hosted the Emerge podcast, a pioneering platform that helped catalyze emergent dialogues and shape what many now call the liminal web. He currently writes The Intimate Mirror on Substack, a publication exploring meaning, transformation, intimacy, and the search for religion in the age of Artificial Intelligence. In this episode we speak about Daniel’s extensive experience living and training at a Monastery, turning break downs into break throughs, developing a better relationship with conceptuality and rationality, Secure attachment with reality, leaving Buddhism, creating a Dharma capable of addressing the meta-crisis and many other resonant threads on personal and collective transformation.🔗[Links & resources] 🔗Daniel’s personal site & coaching servicesSubscribe to Daniel’s SubstackFollow Daniel on Twitter/XThe Upper Middle Path & Tech Bro Buddhism by Daniel ThorsonDaniel Thorson speaking about Secure Attachment to Reality on the Meta-Game podcastDaniel speaking about consensus Buddhism and pragmatic dharma on the Buddhist Geeks podcastMonastic Academy (MAPLE)Transformational ConnectionAletheia Coach trainingDaniel P. BrownDavid Elliott - Repairing Attachment | Elevating Consciousness podcast📝[Show Notes] 📝0:00 - Introduction 5:06 - Daniel’s experience living as a monk 13:32 - Going through a psychological breakdown 17:29 - Discovering attachment work and the ideal parenting protocol 21:56 - Developing a better relationship with conceptuality and rationality 25:25 - Emotional attunement, relational practices, and the importance of safe containers34:15 - Secure attachment with reality 38:54 - Trusting the intelligence of every experience 40:30 - Is the fundamental nature of reality love?44:35 - What is missing from Buddhism?52:10 - Towards a Translineage spirituality 55:50 - Is there anything afforded by identifying as Buddhist or Christian?1:06:05 - From emptiness/deconstructing to soulmaking/skillfully playing with identity 1:09:29 - A dharma capable of addressing the meta-crisis1:11:36 - Daniel’s current meditation practice 1:14:20 - Integrating ethics with eros and clarifying desire 1:17:36 - Reflecting on the Human Transformation in a Time of Meta-Crisis conference at Harvard 1:22:17 - The liberation of creative agency*Subscribe to the Insighter Substack to get in-depth articles on the theory and practice of human transformation through a post-conventional lens*Add me on Facebook