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Rayner’s Letter
Jac and I met as speakers at the Harvard Divinity School Conference at the Program for the Evolution of Spirituality, where we discussed spiritualities of celebration, resistance, and accountability. At the conference, Jac explored the influence of colonialism on spiritual ethics and accountability and proposes a new system of accountability through the ASI.
One of the great challenges in spiritual spaces is that people arrive with a great deal of pain, but rather than use spirituality as a means of liberation, they use it to nurse the wound without healing and place teachers on pedestals. This repeats colonial patterns but simply cloaks it in new forms. In this conversation, Jac and I talk about how to undo unhealthy adoration, which creates an imbalance of power, and replace it with a spiritual sovereignty that doesn’t spiritually bypass but instead liberates us toward a deeper universal consciousness.
Key Topics
00:00 - Introduction
00:48 - Start of Conversation
02:12 - Colonialism’s Impact on Spirituality
06:54 - Jac’s Spiritual Awakening Story
13:17 - “Truth for Its Own Sake”
18:03 - How the ASI Got Started
22:55 - Spiritual Spaces & The Pain Body
30:21 - What Is a Projection?
35:25 - The Human Needs of Spiritual Teachers
39:05 - When Spiritual Teachers Have God Complexes
41:57 - What Could a Spiritual Learning Environment Look Like?
50:09 - Does the Spiritual Teaching Profession Need Structure?
55:29 - The Role of Younger Generations
58:27 - What Happens When You Believe Systems Can’t Change?
01:03:15 - Close of Conversation
01:04:53 - End Credits
Jac O’Keeffe & Affiliate Links
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Jac O’Keeffe is a spiritual leader, author, and trailblazer in the exploration of consciousness. She has followed a disciplined spiritual path for over 25 years including 15 years as an international spiritual teacher. Her books include Born to Be Free and How to Be a Spiritual Rebel. She is a Theology graduate with post graduate studies in Adult and Community Education.
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