ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Hosted by Matthew Green. Produced by J'aime Rothbard.
Healing from trauma — whether inflicted in our lifetime, passed down by our ancestors, or present in the collective — is an inevitably uncomfortable, messy and ambiguous process, which may never feel entirely resolved or complete.
Many contemplative practices, by contrast, hold out the promise of a sudden awakening experience that reveal our sense of a separate self to be an illusion, and thus cut through our mind-created suffering like a sword.
In this episode, teacher and facilitator Thomas Hübl, a co-founder of the Pocket Project, explores this apparent contradiction by demonstrating how the paths of healing and awakening are properly seen as aspects of the same revelatory process.
"This is one mountain," Thomas says. "Deep spiritual traditions usually have different practice areas, 'departments' if you will. But they are all working together as one consciousness stream."
Thomas goes on to develop an integrated vision of how trauma healing, spiritual awakening, ethical conduct, and participation in supportive communities form four mutually reinforcing pillars to support us to embody more "light" and share our gifts more fully.
As we practice this approach, we realise that we are not following some preformed trail that's waiting there for us to find it — but that our path is being created as we walk.
"What does it mean to be authored by life — not by the horizontal expectations of other people — but by the real stream of life?," Thomas asks. "What's really coming out of me that's unique in my expression, and how can we support that?"
Thomas emphasises that this commitment to self-realisation is an essential contribution to growing our collective capacity to tap into the inspiration and innovation we need to tackle today's interlocking crises.
"I believe we are living in a time of collective awakening — this is the moment. So [we] need more embodied light so that we can really ground a new state of consciousness as humanity. And that is also going to be the answer to some of the pressing issues that we see in the world."
As Thomas acknowledges, in darker phases of life, we can sometimes feel cut off from the light – but we can still sense the echo of something higher.
"Even if it's an echo, we feel that there is something bigger than our suffering. It's very important not to forget that even if it feels stuck or hard or challenging right now, there's something deeper also that is always — even if it's in the background — present."
This visionary dialogue penetrates to the heart of some of the most profound and mysterious concepts at the heart of collective healing practices in an exceptionally lively and accessible way.
This warm-hearted conversation will also nourish anyone who feels ready to let go of struggle, embody more of their essence, and let life's infinite intelligence be your guide.
This conversation was first published on Thomas' Point of Relation podcast.
Related Pocket Project Programmes:
Resilience Programme, Phase II (A standalone facilitation training).
Further Resources:
Point of Relation podcast (with Thomas Hübl)
About Thomas Hübl:
Thomas Hübl, PhD, is a renowned teacher, author, and international facilitator who works within the complexity of systems and cultural change, integrating the core insights of the great wisdom traditions and mysticism with the discoveries of science. Since the early 2000s, he has led large-scale events and courses on the healing of collective trauma.
His new book, co-authored with Richard C. Schwartz, PhD, is called Releasing Our Burdens: A Guide to Healing Individual, Ancestral and Collective Trauma. Thomas is also the author of Attuned: Practicing Interdependence to Heal Our Trauma—and Our World and Healing Collective Trauma: A Process for Integrating Our Intergenerational and Cultural Wounds. He has served as an advisor and guest faculty for universities and organizations, as a coach for CEOs and organizational leaders, and is currently a visiting scholar at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University.
