Seeing the world's challenges as developmental -- both in our outer and inner work -- changed the way I relate to all of it (and us). Where are the biggest levers for this? Glad to see you all poking at a spirit-driven way of building. Nice piece, Jenny!
The poly-crisis is not a mysterious new phenomenon we are just now discovering, nor a puzzle that white-dominated institutions simply haven’t solved yet.
The poly-crisis is the logical, inevitable conclusion of centuries of unhealed Wetiko consciousness; a parasitic system of endless extraction, consumption, domination, and disconnection.
It is the flowering of Yurugu; the incomplete, dissociated spiritual poverty of Western ontology that seeks control over life rather than participation in life.
It is the direct consequence of White Supremacy Culture; with its perfectionism, urgency, objectivity obsession, hierarchy, and fear of vulnerability.
It is the fruit of epistemicide; the deliberate destruction of Indigenous, African, and relational ways of knowing that honored community, land, and spirit.
It is not an accident.
It is not a mystery.
It is the system doing exactly what it was designed to do.
Thus, spiritual development cannot simply be about optimizing human potential for more productive participation in a collapsing system.
It must be about healing from systemic evil, and about rebuilding the relational, regenerative ways of being that colonialism, capitalism, and Wetiko sought to annihilate.
Spiritual development is not a wellness intervention or an economic hack.
It is the soil from which a liberated, re-indigenized, reconnected humanity must grow.
It is a pathway home, to self, to community, to Earth, to ourselves.
If we invoke White/European centered frameworks like Spiral Dynamics or Integral Theory, we must also upgrade them:
We must recognize that the so-called “lower stages” of development were not mere evolutionary leftovers, they were frozen or shattered by genocide, colonization, epistemicide, and trauma.
No true spiritual development can happen without first naming, grieving, and actively healing these wounds.
I honor the work you are attempting to do here.
And I invite an even deeper reckoning:
To root our vision of spiritual development not just in data and ROI, but in decolonization, ancestral memory, and systemic repair.
Not as a productivity tool, but as a liberation praxis.
Not as an individual lifestyle choice, but as a collective ethical responsibility.
Because until we heal the Wetiko within and around us, no technology, no funding, no innovation will save us.
First time I ran across this Substack. Reading the post, I have more questions than answers. That's not a bad thing. But, it is a long post. I'm not sure I share the same perspective especially regarding spirituality. @The Incarnatum — I'm wondering what you think about this post. Maybe we could discuss some time. It brings up a lot of issues around the healing of PTSD, the role of psychedelics, technology and the possibilty of spirituality as technology.
Thank you for posting, @Spirit Tech Collective I look forward to seeing how the conversation evolves on Substack.
Yeah I agree. Spiritually is kinda wild too… what id call… the real deal. And how would I describe that? Have you ever seen the movie Arrival with Amy Adams, Forest Whittaker, and Jeremy Renner? If not… I’d highly reccomend it… it will change your view on things and with any luck… you’ll understand what I’m talking about… in that movie, the “heptapods” an unusual and very ethereal and otherworldly race of large sentient creatures begin dialoguing with humanity… but no one speaks their language… I won’t spoil anything but eventually it’s learned that their language is what’s known as non-liner orthography. Meaning… they are dense concepts and fractal like understandings that emerge from every symbol… in learning the language (and this is based in part on Sapir Whorf hypothesis) your understanding of everything changes.,. And that’s what happens in the movie.
I find this an exciting read. And feels quite new to me. I’m a meditation teacher and have definitely taken my work in cultivating compassion and self awareness into the workplace, in behavioural safety and cultural change in a high risk industry. But I am also wondering about removing these practices from their deep and rich contexts ie. mindfulness now being a something to soothe the self or people capitalising on some of these tools to improve their game. It’s a complex web we have woven ourselves. All of these practices and traditions have a path, a patient lead in time and I imagine that many people wanting a quick fix and some heralds with trumpets might miss the point, and brilliant beauty of the slow and steady process.
“Some people” aren’t calling it the polycrisis or metacrisis, its a very specific group of people who distinctly disagree on the terms poly and meta being used in this way. In those groups there’s a long history of psychotechnological spiritual development and it’s pitfalls related to stage theory hierarchies tied to cultural aspirations entwined to monetary values and gains.
I would like to have a serious and quite urgent conversation if that’s possible. I believe I can be of enormous and utterly unorthodox service to this necessary cause.
Seeing the world's challenges as developmental -- both in our outer and inner work -- changed the way I relate to all of it (and us). Where are the biggest levers for this? Glad to see you all poking at a spirit-driven way of building. Nice piece, Jenny!
The poly-crisis is not a mysterious new phenomenon we are just now discovering, nor a puzzle that white-dominated institutions simply haven’t solved yet.
The poly-crisis is the logical, inevitable conclusion of centuries of unhealed Wetiko consciousness; a parasitic system of endless extraction, consumption, domination, and disconnection.
It is the flowering of Yurugu; the incomplete, dissociated spiritual poverty of Western ontology that seeks control over life rather than participation in life.
It is the direct consequence of White Supremacy Culture; with its perfectionism, urgency, objectivity obsession, hierarchy, and fear of vulnerability.
It is the fruit of epistemicide; the deliberate destruction of Indigenous, African, and relational ways of knowing that honored community, land, and spirit.
It is not an accident.
It is not a mystery.
It is the system doing exactly what it was designed to do.
Thus, spiritual development cannot simply be about optimizing human potential for more productive participation in a collapsing system.
It must be about healing from systemic evil, and about rebuilding the relational, regenerative ways of being that colonialism, capitalism, and Wetiko sought to annihilate.
Spiritual development is not a wellness intervention or an economic hack.
It is the soil from which a liberated, re-indigenized, reconnected humanity must grow.
It is a pathway home, to self, to community, to Earth, to ourselves.
If we invoke White/European centered frameworks like Spiral Dynamics or Integral Theory, we must also upgrade them:
We must recognize that the so-called “lower stages” of development were not mere evolutionary leftovers, they were frozen or shattered by genocide, colonization, epistemicide, and trauma.
No true spiritual development can happen without first naming, grieving, and actively healing these wounds.
I honor the work you are attempting to do here.
And I invite an even deeper reckoning:
To root our vision of spiritual development not just in data and ROI, but in decolonization, ancestral memory, and systemic repair.
Not as a productivity tool, but as a liberation praxis.
Not as an individual lifestyle choice, but as a collective ethical responsibility.
Because until we heal the Wetiko within and around us, no technology, no funding, no innovation will save us.
Let us be brave enough to tell the full truth.
Let us be wise enough to plant something real.
First time I ran across this Substack. Reading the post, I have more questions than answers. That's not a bad thing. But, it is a long post. I'm not sure I share the same perspective especially regarding spirituality. @The Incarnatum — I'm wondering what you think about this post. Maybe we could discuss some time. It brings up a lot of issues around the healing of PTSD, the role of psychedelics, technology and the possibilty of spirituality as technology.
Thank you for posting, @Spirit Tech Collective I look forward to seeing how the conversation evolves on Substack.
Yeah I agree. Spiritually is kinda wild too… what id call… the real deal. And how would I describe that? Have you ever seen the movie Arrival with Amy Adams, Forest Whittaker, and Jeremy Renner? If not… I’d highly reccomend it… it will change your view on things and with any luck… you’ll understand what I’m talking about… in that movie, the “heptapods” an unusual and very ethereal and otherworldly race of large sentient creatures begin dialoguing with humanity… but no one speaks their language… I won’t spoil anything but eventually it’s learned that their language is what’s known as non-liner orthography. Meaning… they are dense concepts and fractal like understandings that emerge from every symbol… in learning the language (and this is based in part on Sapir Whorf hypothesis) your understanding of everything changes.,. And that’s what happens in the movie.
If you ever wanna talk about anything feel free to dm me. I don’t usually initiate with that without clarification but you’re welcome to anytime
Oh… whoops 😬 😅 thx for the heads up! And nah… I don’t know enough about them… I’ll omit that for now
I find this an exciting read. And feels quite new to me. I’m a meditation teacher and have definitely taken my work in cultivating compassion and self awareness into the workplace, in behavioural safety and cultural change in a high risk industry. But I am also wondering about removing these practices from their deep and rich contexts ie. mindfulness now being a something to soothe the self or people capitalising on some of these tools to improve their game. It’s a complex web we have woven ourselves. All of these practices and traditions have a path, a patient lead in time and I imagine that many people wanting a quick fix and some heralds with trumpets might miss the point, and brilliant beauty of the slow and steady process.
“Some people” aren’t calling it the polycrisis or metacrisis, its a very specific group of people who distinctly disagree on the terms poly and meta being used in this way. In those groups there’s a long history of psychotechnological spiritual development and it’s pitfalls related to stage theory hierarchies tied to cultural aspirations entwined to monetary values and gains.
Thanks Jenny, for such an insightful and remarkable piece! This is just the beginning!
Any concerns about instrumentalising spirituality? Putting it in service of our survival?
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Exciting piece!
Great work! Wow!
I would like to have a serious and quite urgent conversation if that’s possible. I believe I can be of enormous and utterly unorthodox service to this necessary cause.