Terry Patten – Beyond Awakening
Omtimes: You teach Integral practice, theory, leadership, activism, spirituality, an evolutionary worldview, and much more. What brings it all together? What is the essence of your work?
Terry: I’m passionate about waking up, and about facing reality, absolutely and relatively. And I notice myself in a circumstance in which I, and my fellow human beings are facing unprecedented challenges that are very hard to see, to grasp and face and meet.
So I’m passionate to awaken and, in whatever way I can, help others awaken, and contribute to a conscious transformation of human culture.
That transformation of necessity begins with us personally. It is a matter of practice. In time, it becomes leadership; it of course also rests on understanding (or philosophy or theory); it is by its very nature spiritual. It has to do with waking up to who and what we really are, on multiple levels. Of course, that’s a grand vision. It implies a huge awakening, a cultural renaissance. But the journey of a thousand miles always begins with a single step. All the things I do are dedicated, in small and large ways, to serving that. I’m working towards that higher “goodness” in every way that I can.
Omtimes: Can you explain “Integral” and “Evolutionary” (both of which appear often in your teaching and writing) for those who’ve never heard of these terms? What is the difference?
Terry: Evolutionary really refers to the fact that we are recognizing that all our human history, our science, our literature, our humanities, our social science all our knowledge hangs on a single story—the story of evolution. Some of that is the evolution of the cosmos the creation of the laws of physics and chemistry the big history of what brought the earth into being. Some of that is the evolution of life, anciently and then more recently, and the detail and beauty and astonishing richness of the natural world. And some that is the evolution of human culture and human consciousness, which is expressed through our history and through our literature and our religion and our spirituality.
