Circle For Original Thinking

Combining Paradox, Evolving Language, and Contextual Warm Data with Nora Bateson and Lisa Maroski

Today we are going to be combining paradox, evolving language, and contextual “warm data. “ Combining is the title of Nora Bateson’s latest book, and Embracing Paradox, Evolving Language is Lisa Maroski’s latest offering. They will be our two guests, and I am tingling with anticipation. What are we going to talk about? I don’t know.  We are going to “pick the flowers, pee in the bushes, throw the stones, watch the clouds, sleep in the shade, and eat the fruit” and then see what happens. We are going to explore the depth of this magnificent, interconnected world. The only thing we know is that the map is not the territory; the name is not the thing named. We know that all the things we typically separate into their own domain – the ecological, biological, economic, philosophical, and educational are really interconnected. But how?  What is the pattern that connects these all together? Join us for this special edition of the Circle for Original Thinking with our guests Lisa Maroski and Nora Bateson.      Nora Bateson is an award-winning filmmaker, artist, international lecturer, research designer, author, and president of the International Bateson Institute. She is the founder and creator of the concept of “Warm Data” and the practices of the Warm Date Lab and People Need People online. Nora wrote, directed, and produced the documentary An Ecology of Mind: A Daughters’ Portrait of Gregory Bateson. Her work brings tougher the fields of biology, cognition, art, anthropology, psychology, and information technology together into a study of patterns in the ecology of living systems. She is the author of Small Arcs of Larger Circles (Triarchy Press, 2016) and Combining (2023).   L.E. Maroski is the author of the novel The One that Is Both (2006) and the Nautilus award-winning book Embracing Paradox, evolving Language: Expressing the Unity and Complexity of Integral Consciousness (2026). She combines the fields of psychology, philosophy, linguistics and evolutionary consciousness into her work, building on her study of philosophy and psychology at Bryn Mawr College, where Ashok Gangadean was one of her professors. She is a long-time member of the Jean Gebser Society and CG Jung Society.

Love and the Wholeness of Nature with Thomas Rain Crowe and Wahinkpe Topa (Four Arrows)

Love can never be fully defined, but it opens the heart and evokes wholeness, as does the natural world, which is radically diverse.  Today, we are blessed to have with us two people  who not only possess strong intellects, but also have real world experience in nature. Their track record of doing good works in the world reveals their good heart. I invited these gentlemen in part because I have just released a book on Original Love: The Timeless Source of Wholeness, and I am excited to engage in dialogue with them on the subject of Love and the Wholeness of Nature.     Thomas Rain Crowe is the author of many books, most recently New Natives: Becoming Indigenous in a Time of Crisis and Transition, and most famously, his award-winning Zoro’s Field, a partial tribute to Henry David Thoreau, documenting Rain Crowe’s own retreat into the Appalachian woods.  An internationally recognized author, editor, and translator of more than thirty books, he became known first for being a member of the San Francisco Beat Generation of poets and creative folks living out there in the 1970s before returning to his native western North Carolina community and founding New Native Press. He has belonged to and worked with many environmental organizations. He is also a translator of some of the more renowned Sufi mystical poets, such as Hafiz and Kabir. Although not usually in his bios, I know he also resonates with the work of Meher Baba, another mystic explorer of love.  Don Trent Jacobs (also known as Wahinkpe Topa, or Four Arrows, is a professor of educational leadership at Fielding Graduate, is a made relative of the Oglala Lakota and  member of the Medicine Horse Tiospaye. He is a pipe carrier, having fulfilled his Sun Dance vows while living on the Pine Ridge reservation and serving as director of education at Oglala Lakota College. Author of many books, including Restoring the Kinship Worldview and Teaching Virtues, both of which I have read, and numerous scholarly articles covering diverse topics in decolonization, counterhegemonic democracy, and Indigeneity. He has been endorsed by people like Gregory Cajete, Daniel Wildcat, Vandana Shiva, Bill McKibben. Thom Hartmann, and others, and is the recipient of a Martin Springer Institute Moral Courage Award for his activism on behalf of American Indians.  Glenn Aparicio Parry's latest book Original Love was published on February 13, 2026 and is available wherever books or ebooks are sold.

The Imperative of Awakening to Indigenous and Feminine Wisdom with Anne Baring and James O’Dea

“Life and love are inseparable from each other,” said Meher Baba. Love, humanity, nature, and consciousness have co-evolved together.  Long ago, humanity was one with love, one with all of creation, then we separated, and ever since, we have been trying to merge with the Beloved. We developed rituals and ceremonies that brought us back into wholeness, but when these magical ceremonies decreased in power, we developed stories to foster our connection. The era of great myths began in goddess cultures, where the Divine feminine Face of God was most prominent. The Great Goddess was comfortable in all the realms: in the heavens, on Earth, and in the dark mysteries of the underworld. But with the rise of gods and heroes around the middle of the Bronze age, the masculine principle became elevated, and the feminine became suppressed and marginalized. While this has resulted in some important scientific innovation, it has also caused imbalances both to our world soul (Anima Mundi) and to the individual psyches of humanity. “What we are experiencing is tantamount to a shamanic dismemberment. We need to dismember in order to remember; we need to put ourselves back together again in ways that are healthy and whole. We are compelled to reconstruct the whole out of what has been torn apart; we are being called to dig deeper into our psyche. When we go deep, we find Indigenous and feminine wisdom—and original love— buried in the depths of our unconscious.”  Today, we will freely discuss how we can recover and redeem the perennial wisdom of Original love, as well the wisdom of Indigenous peoples and the Divine feminine. We will also welcome whatever else wants to come forward into this sacred dialogue with our esteemed guests Anne Baring and James O’Dea. Anne Baring, who I was first introduced to by some of my most treasured women friends, has for the past half century been doing her utmost to recover and redeem the Feminine Face of God, initially inspired by a powerful dream she had (which she can share if she wishes today). A Jungian analyst, Anne is the author or co-author of nine books, including The Myth of the Goddess (with Jules Cashford), The Birds Who Flew Beyond Time (with Andrew Harvey) , The Divine Feminine (with Seilla Elworhty, and more recently The Dream of The Cosmos: A Quest for the Soul, and Divine Wisdom and the Holy Spirit: The Forgotten Feminine Face of God.      James O’Dea, who is the first person I gave my newly completed draft of a manuscript for Original Love to, is, similar to Anne, a long-term advocate for the awakening of soul, former president of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, the director of the Washington office of Amnesty International and the president of the Seva Foundation, and also the author of several important books, including Cultivating Peace, The Conscious Activist: Where Activism meets Mysticism, Soul Awakening Practice, and more recently some books with visionary artist Marika Popovits. Glenn Aparicio Parry's latest book Original Love was published on February 13, 2026 and is available wherever books or ebooks are sold.

The New Paradigm in Politics with Alexander Laszlo and Chantal Garneau

Is a Politics of Higher Consciousness, Wholeness, and Love Possible?  At the moment, very few are anticipating the advent of a higher political consciousness. How can they be? The US has just joined Russia, North Korea, and Belarus in refusing to condemn aggression on Ukraine, or even to admit it occurred at all. Many Americans and former allies are increasingly fearful that the United States is itself becoming an authoritarian state, joining a wave of authoritarianism sweeping the globe. Such as fear is compellingly real. At the same time, America’s sacred intent of unity in diversity, originally inspired by Native America and embodied in the motto E Pluribus Unum, is still attainable. Which way will the United States go? Will it completely devolve into a totalitarian regime, putting the entire world at risk, or will it return to its original sacred purpose of inclusivity and wholeness, even love?    To better understand the future, we must examine our past assumptions. It is these unexamined, tacit assumptions that have created our present day reality, often preventing us from realizing our highest aspirations. In this podcast, we will unearth the limits of the mainstream scientific paradigm that sees humanity as separate from nature, and instead reimagine a world that is interconnected, whole, and complete. Life does not have to be seen as a win/lose competition where only the fittest survive, vying for control of limited resources. There is a better and more accurate way to practice politics: as consciousness, collaboration, unity in diversity, even love. Join us on the next episode of the Circle for Original Thinking podcast.    Chantal Garneau lives within the treaty lands and territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and the Credit River watershed, in Halton Hills, Ontario, Canada. As a dedicated Municipal Councillor, environmental advocate, and meditation artist, she weaves together community, ecology, and mindfulness. Chantal’s belief in the integrity of complex systems and the power of diversity is the heartbeat of her work. Her mission to restore connections to self, community, and the web of life inspires trust, collaboration, and a shared vision for a world where every relationship is nurtured with care and intention. Alexander Laszlo resides in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and works as President of the Board of Directors of the Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science, Director of Research at the Laszlo Institute of New Paradigm Research, and Professor of Human and Organizational Development at Fielding Graduate University. Alexander’s current research interests include the embodied aspects of science and spirituality as a living field of consciousness; empathy-based education; the relationship between sustainability and thrivability; systemic innovation for planetary flourishing; and syntony as an organizing force in societal evolution. Alexander holds an interdisciplinary PhD in Science and Technology Policy and an MA in History and Sociology of Science from the University of Pennsylvania. He holds a BA in Political Science from Haverford College.

Restoring the Kinship Worldview with Four Arrows and Darcia Narvaez

There are two worldviews of prominence today. The oldest and wisest one our guests call kincentricity, following the late dear ancestor Dennis Martinez, who coined the term. Kincentricity defines our humanity through our inextricable connections with all there is. The second and newest worldview, dominant in the past five or six hundred years, we might call egocentricity, a view that places humanity as separate and transcendent from nature.  In the first view, nature is seen as a place of blessing and wholeness, the world is alive and composed of allies and spiritual energies; in the second, nature has been “itted to death,” reduced to a mass of inert elements that are not accorded sentience in themselves. Certain animals and plants may be begrudgingly considered alive, but of secondary importance; their existence is only important in how they or “it” can be utilized for human consumption.  Forests are reduced to lumber, rivers to hydroelectric power, and so forth. The dominant worldview considers everything on earth to be for the benefit of humankind. But that has not worked out too well, because humans are nature; we are made up of the same elements as everything else. Our guests Wahinkpe Topa or Four Arrows, and Darcia Narvaez, not only recognize this; they  have published a terrific book that brings together important leaders in Indigenous communities, shares their essays, and then engages in a robust dialogue regarding the insights and implications of the ideas. The book is called Restoring the Kinship Worldview, and we are blessed to have the authors – Wahinkkpe Topa (Four Arrows) and Darcia Narvaez - here today to continue the dialogue.   Four Arrows (also known as Wahinkpe Topa) is author of 24 books, including Restoring the Kinship Worldview, Primal Awareness, Teaching Virtues,  and numerous chapters, articles, peer-reviewed papers, and keynotes. He is also the subject of a book by R.M. Fisher entitled Fearless Engagement of Four Arrows: A True Story of an Indigenous Based Social Transformer. Four Arrows is internationally known for his work in cognitive anthropology ( worldview studies), education, critical theory, and wellness. Former Director of Education at Oglala Lakota College, and has been selected as one of the 35 visionaries in education who tell their stories for the book Turning Points.    Darcia Narvaez Professor Emerita of psychology at Univ of Notre Dame, Darcia investigates moral development and human flourishing from an interdisciplinary (transdisciplinary) perspective,  integrating anthropology, neuroscience, and clinical, developmental and educational sciences. She is author of more than twenty books, including Restoring the Kinship Worldview, Indigenous Sustainable Wisdom: First Nation Know How for Global Flourishing, and Neurobiology and the Development of Human Morality: Evolution, Culture and Wisdom, which won the 2015 William James Award from APA and the Expanded Reason Award. https://www.amazon.com/Restoring-Kinship-Worldview-Indigenous-Rebalancing/dp/1623176425 [https://www.amazon.com/Restoring-Kinship-Worldview-Indigenous-Rebalancing/dp/1623176425]