My guest today is Allan Frater, a psychotherapist and teacher at the Psychosynthesis Trust in London.
Psychosynthesis is a transpersonal or psychospiritual psychology, in which the spiritual or soulful is integrated with the psychological. It has its origins in the work of Dr Roberto Assagioli, an early pioneer of psychoanalysis which he studied under Freud and as a contemporary of Carl Jung. On returning to Italy, Assagioli went beyond psychoanalysis in the formation of psychosynthesis, which included influences from his life-long interest in eastern traditions such as Buddhism, as well as the esoteric western traditions, such as alchemy, Neo-Platonism and kabbalah.However, psychosynthesis was presented as a secular psychology and an empirical science of human subjectivity. The topic of our discussion today will be the origins, aims and methods of psychosynthesis, as well the emphasis that Allan has been developing in his teaching which he calls, ‘wild imagination’.
Category Archives: Podcast
The MWS Podcast 137: Sangharakshita on the Middle Way and Buddhism
Sangharakshita is the founder of the Triratna Buddhist Order and Community, previously known as the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO). He is also the author of dozens of books and hundreds of lectures on Buddhism. Brought up in London, Sangharakshita spent 20 years in India, where he was ordained as a Buddhist monk, but then returned to the UK in the 1960’s to become one of the first figures to engage seriously with the need to interpret Buddhist practice for Western audiences. He has done so particularly through the use of practical concepts like integration, individuality, creativity and provisional belief.
This wide-ranging conversation between Robert and Sangharakshita was recorded face-to-face in Sangharakshita’s flat at Adhisthana, Herefordshire, UK. From about 1.45 to 7.40 Sangharakshita speaks unprompted about the Middle Way in his own life and the Buddha’s, but after this the conversation is more interactive, including discussion of the Middle Way in relation to the Eightfold Path, the extremes of eternalism and nihilism, business decisions, and meditation. The Middle Way beyond Buddhism is discussed, in philosophy and Christianity, as well as the question of how much Buddhists have actually paid attention to it, and how far it has been important in Sangharakshita’s approach to teaching Buddhism in the West.
The MWS Podcast 136: Alex Beard on Natural Born Learners
Our guest today is Alex Beard. Alex is a former English teacher at a London comprehensive and is now a senior director at Teach For All, a growing network of independent organizations working to ensure that all children fulfil their potential. He is fortunate to spend his time travelling the world in search of the practices that will shape the future of learning and has written about his experiences for the Independent, Guardian, Financial Times and Wired. His book Natural Born Learners is a user’s guide to transforming learning in the twenty-first century and this will be the topic of our discussion today.
The MWS Podcast 135: Anthony McCann on the Garaiocht Manifesto
We’re joined this week by the creative and versatile polymath Anthony McCann. As a keynote speaker, after-dinner speaker, consultant, coach, trainer, and facilitator, he inspires people to reimagine and redesign their relationships, working environments, and communities through a better understanding of proximity, power, and possibility in their lives.
His work is based on 20 years of original research and teaching across the humanities and social sciences, and also of practitioner experience in leadership, community development, and performing arts. He’s here to talk to us today about ‘The Garaiocht Manifesto’ . More an invitation than a message. When it comes to professional life, trust your humanity. The Manifesto offers a human-scale and humane set of principles for sustaining the heart of being human in the art of being human in professional life.
The MWS Podcast 134: Robert M Ellis on the Christian Middle Way
Our guest today is once again the chair of our society Robert M Ellis. Robert’s here to talk to us about his latest book The Christian Middle Way: The case against Christian Belief but for Christian Faith, published by Christian Alternative which comes out on the 27th July. He’ll also be running a weekend retreat on the Christian Middle Way from the 20th to the 22nd July which will give people an opportunity to explore its approach at the Brazier’s Park centre in the lovely Oxfordshire Countryside.