JOURNEY THROUGH THE STRUCTURES OF CONSCIOUSNESS... REALIZE THE INTEGRAL WORLD
Jean Gebser (1905-1973) was a philosopher, poet, and phenomenologist of integral consciousness best known for his magisterial The Ever-Present Origin (Ursprung und Gegenwart, 1949). Writing in the mid-century during a period of intense cultural transformation and crisis in Europe, Gebser intuited a series of mutational leaps spanning the history of human consciousness, the latest of which emerging he called the “integral” structure, marked by the presence of time-freedom.
Gebser’s insights into the phenomenology of human consciousness has offered profound intellectual depth, and—spiritual transmission—to the field of integral philosophy and consciousness studies, influencing the works of American historians such as William Irwin Thompson and the philosopher Ken Wilber. Further syncretic corroboration links Gebser’s integral epoch to those of the Indian revolutionary and yogi Sri Aurobindo’s “integral yoga” (The Life Divine) and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s evolutionary mysticism (The Human Phenomenon).
As William Irwin Thompson writes, “Gebser was a brilliantly intuitive mystic with a profound understanding of poetry and art,” and that Ever-Present Origin is, “the kind of book that changed one’s life.” Georg Feuerstein, Gebser's colleague and friend, wrote that, “Socratic spirits like Gebser typically live before their time… perhaps the present climate is more receptive to Gebser’s arguments.”
This course and online cohort provides a guide not only to Gebser’s magnum opus but its relevance and spiritual import for our time, facilitated by a scholar who has spent the last decade working with Ever-Present Origin and an integral aperspectival approach to thinking about cultural evolution.
Knowing that this book is what Jeremy calls a “catalytic reading,” this course has been designed to be a rich multimedia learning environment emphasizing a phenomenological encounter with each of the structures of consciousness. Self-directed inquiry and sharing will be emphasized.
The aim of this course is to introduce Jean Gebser’s primary text, Ever-Present Origin to scholars, artists, and integral practitioners from varied disciplines and walks of life. The class will consist of twelve weeks reading through selections of the text (Parts One and Two), drawing from the aid of secondary sources (Seeing Through the World), recommended readings, additional translations, and multimedia lectures provided by your instructor.
Bi-weekly discussion groups are hosted on Zoom Meetings every other Sunday until the completion of the course.
A Class Portal, which houses all course materials, and a Class Forum, where students can engage the reading between the sessions, will also be made available.
Gebser’s insights into the phenomenology of human consciousness has offered profound intellectual depth, and—spiritual transmission—to the field of integral philosophy and consciousness studies, influencing the works of American historians such as William Irwin Thompson and the philosopher Ken Wilber. Further syncretic corroboration links Gebser’s integral epoch to those of the Indian revolutionary and yogi Sri Aurobindo’s “integral yoga” (The Life Divine) and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s evolutionary mysticism (The Human Phenomenon).
As William Irwin Thompson writes, “Gebser was a brilliantly intuitive mystic with a profound understanding of poetry and art,” and that Ever-Present Origin is, “the kind of book that changed one’s life.” Georg Feuerstein, Gebser's colleague and friend, wrote that, “Socratic spirits like Gebser typically live before their time… perhaps the present climate is more receptive to Gebser’s arguments.”
This course and online cohort provides a guide not only to Gebser’s magnum opus but its relevance and spiritual import for our time, facilitated by a scholar who has spent the last decade working with Ever-Present Origin and an integral aperspectival approach to thinking about cultural evolution.
Knowing that this book is what Jeremy calls a “catalytic reading,” this course has been designed to be a rich multimedia learning environment emphasizing a phenomenological encounter with each of the structures of consciousness. Self-directed inquiry and sharing will be emphasized.
The aim of this course is to introduce Jean Gebser’s primary text, Ever-Present Origin to scholars, artists, and integral practitioners from varied disciplines and walks of life. The class will consist of twelve weeks reading through selections of the text (Parts One and Two), drawing from the aid of secondary sources (Seeing Through the World), recommended readings, additional translations, and multimedia lectures provided by your instructor.
Bi-weekly discussion groups are hosted on Zoom Meetings every other Sunday until the completion of the course.
A Class Portal, which houses all course materials, and a Class Forum, where students can engage the reading between the sessions, will also be made available.
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"This book has been written in such a way to require a certain participation in the reader. Anyone who takes to heart the solution to our problems, and who has not forgotten that we partake every moment of our lives in the originary powers of an ultimately spiritual nature, will be willing to participate in this task."
- Jean Gebser
CLASS OUTLINE
10 pre-recorded lectures and nine live, interactive Q&A calls
(Q&A sessions begin promptly at 11 a.m. PST / 2 p.m. EST on Zoom. Ongoing Q&A available for students registering after posted dates.)
Praxis: Each class opens up with a five minute guided presencing meditation. Additional sensemaking practices will be introduced in the interactive and Q&A portions to help facilitate collective inquiry and generative insight.
(Q&A sessions begin promptly at 11 a.m. PST / 2 p.m. EST on Zoom. Ongoing Q&A available for students registering after posted dates.)
Praxis: Each class opens up with a five minute guided presencing meditation. Additional sensemaking practices will be introduced in the interactive and Q&A portions to help facilitate collective inquiry and generative insight.
February 23 • Lesson I - Introduction: Jean Gebser, Ever-Present Origin and the Meaning Crisis
March 8 • Lesson II - Fundamental Considerations
March 22 • Lesson III - From the Archaic to the Integral Structures
April 5 • Lesson IV - Irruptions of Integral Consciousness
April 19 • Lesson V - The New Concepts and Integral Manifestations
May 3 • Lesson VI - The Integral Task and the Principle of Diaphaneity
May 17 • Lesson VII - The Concretion of the Spiritual and Planetary Evolution
March 8 • Lesson II - Fundamental Considerations
March 22 • Lesson III - From the Archaic to the Integral Structures
April 5 • Lesson IV - Irruptions of Integral Consciousness
April 19 • Lesson V - The New Concepts and Integral Manifestations
May 3 • Lesson VI - The Integral Task and the Principle of Diaphaneity
May 17 • Lesson VII - The Concretion of the Spiritual and Planetary Evolution
Bonus Guest Lectures
May 31 • Guest Lecture I, Gary Lachman - The Evolution of Consciousness
Author, scholar, and philosopher of consciousness Gary Lachman (Dark Star Rising, The Lost Knowledge of Imagination) compares Jean Gebser's work with other scholars of cultural evolution and considers our evolutionary tensions and possibilities for the future.
Author, scholar, and philosopher of consciousness Gary Lachman (Dark Star Rising, The Lost Knowledge of Imagination) compares Jean Gebser's work with other scholars of cultural evolution and considers our evolutionary tensions and possibilities for the future.
Two additional guest lectures to be announced this February...
WHAT STUDENTS WILL LEARN
Diaphany, Gebser writes, "is the form of manifestation (epiphany) of the spiritual."
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ASSIGNED READING
The Ever-Present Origin, Jean Gebser, 1985 translation
RECOMMENDED READING
Seeing Through The World: Jean Gebser and Integral Consciousness, Jeremy Johnson
A Nuralogical book in collaboration with Revelore Press.
A Nuralogical book in collaboration with Revelore Press.
ABOUT YOUR FACILITATOR
Jeremy Johnson, MA, is a scholar, writer, and publisher for Revelore Press and founder of Nura Learning. He received his masters in Consciousness Studies from Goddard College, where he studied the intersections of media ecology, the structures of consciousness and depth psychology. He is the author of Seeing Through the World: Jean Gebser and Integral Consciousness (2019) and an editor for Mutations: Art, Consciousness and the Anthropocene (2020). Jeremy is the current president of the International Jean Gebser Society. His writing has been featured in OMNI, Conscious Lifestyle Magazine, Kosmos Journal, Integral Leadership Review, Evolve Magazine, and Evolve and Ascend. Find out more on his website, Twitter, or Patreon pages.
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See Jeremy's interview with Jeff Salzman on The Daily Evolver about Jean Gebser and the structures of consciousness
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WHAT STUDENTS RECEIVE
- 10 pre-recorded multimedia lectures by Jeremy Johnson
- 9 live, interactive video discussion sessions (scheduled posted above) hosted on Zoom Meetings and facilitated by your instructor
- Audio and video recordings of each live session for easy listening. Yours to keep.
- Available "Office Hours" (Zoom) to be scheduled
- A detailed Class Syllabus, with a weekly reading schedule, secondary sources, and reading recommendations
- Access to a Class Portal, where recordings and course materials are hosted
- A dedicated Class Forum where the class will host engaged discussions and the instructor can answer questions
- Connection with a vibrant community of integral artists, scholar-practitioners, and consciousness explorers! Explore the nature of consciousness and culture together
Registration Early bird (until Feb 1, 2019): $150
Please note: student and hardship rates available via Jeremy's Patreon page.
“Our concern is with a new reality—a reality functioning and effectual integrally, in which intensity and action, the effective and the effect co-exist; one where origin, by virtue of “presentiation,” blossoms forth anew; and one in which the present is all-encompassing and entire. Integral reality is the world’s transparency, a perceiving of the world as truth: a mutual perceiving and imparting of truth of the world and of the human and of all that transluces both.”
— Jean Gebser
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WHAT STUDENTS ARE SAYING...
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"One of our most impressive young integral thinkers."
- Jeff Salzman, The Daily Evolver
"Although I have explored integral emergence in many ways for decades now, Ever-Present Origin, as well as Jeremy's presentation, comments, videos, and Q&As have opened up a new dimension of the whole topic for me. I can also highly recommend it for members of the Integral Theory community, or quite generally: for those who want to understand and handle our complex, globalized world—and themselves, quite basically—increasingly better."
- Liselotte Jetzinger, Psychotherapist
"Deepest thanks for your loving, intelligent, and generous presence in the world. So gifted, such a gift. Your Gebser course opened my eyes to intuitions that were winking at me from the sidelines."
- Edith Frisen, writing coach, educator, and author of the forthcoming book,Writing with Your Inner Muse
"Jeremy Johnson is my new favorite human being. He is very present and speaks with clarity. Jeremy is genuine, available and outstandingly supportive."
- Student
"Highly intelligent, excellent speaker, deep understanding of integral, Jean Gebser, and related subjects."
- Lynn Fuentes, Transformational Teaching
"Jeremy's class blew holes in my understanding of integral, holes that became windows onto a bigger universe. I was struck by his brilliance, humility, realness, sincerity, and lyrical way of teaching."
- Student
- Jeff Salzman, The Daily Evolver
"Although I have explored integral emergence in many ways for decades now, Ever-Present Origin, as well as Jeremy's presentation, comments, videos, and Q&As have opened up a new dimension of the whole topic for me. I can also highly recommend it for members of the Integral Theory community, or quite generally: for those who want to understand and handle our complex, globalized world—and themselves, quite basically—increasingly better."
- Liselotte Jetzinger, Psychotherapist
"Deepest thanks for your loving, intelligent, and generous presence in the world. So gifted, such a gift. Your Gebser course opened my eyes to intuitions that were winking at me from the sidelines."
- Edith Frisen, writing coach, educator, and author of the forthcoming book,Writing with Your Inner Muse
"Jeremy Johnson is my new favorite human being. He is very present and speaks with clarity. Jeremy is genuine, available and outstandingly supportive."
- Student
"Highly intelligent, excellent speaker, deep understanding of integral, Jean Gebser, and related subjects."
- Lynn Fuentes, Transformational Teaching
"Jeremy's class blew holes in my understanding of integral, holes that became windows onto a bigger universe. I was struck by his brilliance, humility, realness, sincerity, and lyrical way of teaching."
- Student
