Nothingness, Trauma, and the Self with Rev. Thandeka

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?

Subscribe for more episodes exploring the intersections of metaphysics, theology, ecology, and relational thinking.

About the guest:

Thandeka 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).

---

The Center for Process Studies (CPS) is a nonprofit think-tank that conducts research and provides educational resources on holistic thinking for the advancement of social and environmental wellbeing (a.k.a. process studies).

Learn more at ctr4process.org

Follow us:

Facebook:   / centerforprocessstudies  

Instagram:   / ctr4process  

BlueSky: @ctr4process.bsky.social

LinkedIn:   / ctr4process  

#ProcessTheology #Thandeka #SpiritualityPodcast #Whitehead #Buddhism #MysticalExperience #PhilosophyOfReligion #TraumaHealing #ConversationsInProcess