Dr. John Churchill - A Full Spectrum Path to Planetary Awakening: Four Turnings of Buddhism to Sacred Humanism

Dr. John Churchill is a psychologist, dharma teacher, and founder of Planetary Dharma — an integrally informed community embracing the vows and path of the Bodhisattva, committed to elevating human consciousness and collective transformation. John holds a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from William James College and is a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine. His journey into Buddhist psychology began as a monk at Samye Ling Monastery in Scotland, where he undertook an in-depth study of Buddhist contemplative practice. He later spent 15 years training and teaching Mahamudra meditation within an Indo-Tibetan Mahayana lineage under the mentorship of Dr. Daniel P. Brown.John is a founding member of the Integral Institute, led by transpersonal philosopher Ken Wilber, and has received advanced training in attachment therapy, hypnosis, positive psychology for peak performance, and the "Pointing Out" style of Mahamudra meditation. He is the author of "Becoming Buddha: Buddhist Contemplative Psychology in a Western Context." For the past 25 years, he has been developing what he calls the Fourth Turning Planetary Dharma — a full-spectrum psychospiritual approach integrating the great Indo-Tibetan traditions with psychodynamic healing and adult development.In this conversation, we unpack the four turnings of Buddhism and John's vision for a distinct fourth turning, Planetary Dharma's emphasis on the imaginal and self-image, and John's differences with his mentor and teacher, Dan Brown.We get into navigating the traditional vs progressive polarities in spirituality, transitioning beyond Buddhism into Sacred Humanism, and why modern minds are disconnected from sacred world.We also explore the pre-trans fallacy and navigating the trans-rational, the role of psychedelics on the psychospiritual path, what's needed to build out a fourth turning academy, the constraints of a householder, and the future of dharma.🔗 LINKS & RESOURCES 🔗Learn more about Planetary DharmaFollow Planetary Dharma on InstagramFollow Planetary Dharma on Facebook Planetary Dharma’s Medicine Dharma CourseDan BrownKen WilberA.H. AlmaasHamilton SoutherLama Mike Crowley🕰️ TIMESTAMPS 🕰️0:00 - Intro3:29 - Unpacking the four turnings of Buddhism9:58 - Further distinguishing the fourth turning16:09 - Artem's experience participating in the Planetary Dharma introductory retreat17:27 - Planetary Dharma's emphasis on the imaginal and self-image25:25 - John's differences with his mentor and teacher Dan Brown37:56 - Navigating the traditional vs progressive polarities in spirituality49:01 - Transitioning beyond Buddhism into Sacred Humanism55:15 - Why modern minds are disconnected from Sacred World1:02:46 - The pre-trans fallacy and navigating the trans-rational1:16:17 - The role of psychedelics on the psychospiritual path1:28:00 - What's needed to build out a fourth turning academy1:37:40 - The constraints of a householder and the future of Dharma1:50:37 - Planetary Dharma offerings*Subscribe to my YouTube channel to watch the video versions of the Elevating Consciousness Podcast *Subscribe to the Insighter Substack to get in-depth articles on the theory and practice of human transformation through a post-conventional