What happens when the boundaries of the self dissolve? In this profound episode, theologian and Unitarian Universalist minister Thandeka joins hosts Jay McDaniel and Jared Morningstar for a vulnerable and wide-ranging conversation exploring spiritual experiences of no-self, the impact of trauma on identity, and the philosophical power of nothingness.
Through deeply personal stories and philosophical insights, the conversation weaves together:
- Isaac Stern concerts and moments of ego dissolution
- Islamic prayer, Buddhist emptiness, and Zen koans
- The psychological legacy of childhood trauma
- Whitehead’s process theology and Schleiermacher’s affective religious experience
- The rise of small spiritual communities as healing spaces
Together, they ask: What is the role of community in reclaiming our whole selves? Can traditions like Buddhism, Islam, and process theology offer resources for healing in a fragmented world?
Guest Bio
Thandeka
Rev. Thandeka, PhD is a Unitarian Universalist theologian, minister and congregational consultant, founder and President of Love Beyond Belief™ Inc., co-creator and co-producer of the Universal Connections small group project and The Untrolling Project, and a former Emmy award-winning television producer. Thandeka has spent more than two decades studying the brain science of emotions—Affective Neuroscience (AN). As a result of her work in AN, she founded Contemporary Affect Theology (CAT), which investigates the links between religion and emotions, differentiating spiritual experiences from religious beliefs. Jaak Panksepp, the founder of AN, commends Thandeka’s “decisive historical-philosophical analysis” as work that can provide “a universal substrate for nondenominational religious experience” (The Archaeology of Mind, 391). Her books and essays have helped secure her place as a “major figure in American liberal theology,” as Gary Dorrien notes in The Making of American Liberal Theology: Crisis, Irony, and Postmodernity, 1950-2005 (John Knox Press, 2006).
Host Bios
Jay McDaniel
Jay McDaniel is professor emeritus of Religious Studies at Hendrix College in Arkansas, and founder of the website Open Horizons, which focuses on exploring a process outlook on life and way of living in the world. Active in the development of process thought in China, he is a consultant to the Institute for Postmodern Development of China, and the Cobb Institute. His books include With Roots and Wings: Christianity in an Age of Ecology and Dialogue; Living from the Center: Spirituality in an Age of Consumerism; and Gandhi’s Hope: Learning from Other Religions as a Path to Peace.
Jared Morningstar
Jared Morningstar is an independent scholar living in Chicago with academic interests in philosophy of religion, Islamic studies, comparative religion, metamodern spirituality, and interfaith dialogue. Their work in these areas seeks to offer robust responses to issues of inter-religious conflict, contemporary nihilism, and the “meaning crisis,” among other things. Jared graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in 2018 with degrees in religion and Scandinavian studies and currently works for the Center for Process Studies and the Psychedelic Medicine Association.