Podcast appearances and mentions of John J Prendergast

At a time when things feel utterly groundless for so many of us, Dr. John J. Prendergast offers a practical approach to "meeting your deepest ground"—a stabilizing core of awareness and truth that is at once within and all around you. In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with the retired therapist and spiritual teacher about his new book, Your Deepest Ground: A Guide to Embodied Spirituality.  Settle back for a fascinating conversation filled with both practical insights and esoteric wisdom for anyone on a path of growth and transformation. Tami and John explore overcoming deep inner resistance to what we would rather not face; how traumatic "material" becomes frozen in the body; Kundalini awakening; how to attune to your body's "subtle sensitivity" to receive the wisdom it has to offer; relaxing the mind; touching reality through and beyond the body; the "underground dimension" that is both personal and collective; the work of Carl Jung; becoming more intimate with the archetypal dimension of life; the challenge of defining the undefinable "absolute ground" of our being; transmitting a felt experience within a shared field of openness; the two kinds of inner blockages, psychological and existential; the core theme of safety; welcoming difficult feelings and experiences in order to better understand them; activating the light of awareness that leads to transformation; the practice of paying attention to the space behind you; mindfulness and witnessing our thoughts; humility and the pilgrimage from the head to the heart; the futility of "seeking" what is always already here; the disorientation that often precedes a reorientation; common symptoms people experience during the process of unwinding core contractions; letting go (and doing it with trust); the rainbow bridge between heaven and earth; why psychological healing is a necessary component for spiritual awakening; and more. Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.

John J. Prendergast, PhD, is a spiritual teacher, author, retired psychotherapist, and retired adjunct professor of psychology who has taught at Esalen and Kripalu and online. He studied for many years with the sage Dr. Jean Klein as well as with the spiritual teacher Adyashanti. He is the author of the books In Touch, The Deep Heart and Your Deepest Ground: A Guide to Embodied Spirituality (SoundsTrue). Topics: 00:00 Introduction 02:25 The Origin of 'Listening from Silence' 04:48 Exploring the Trilogy of Books 08:55 The Deep Heart and Ground of Being 27:48 Opening the Root Chakra: A Journey into Pure Potentiality 28:25 Tapping into the Current of Life: A Universal Connection 29:59 Addressing Suffering: A Creative Response 32:09 Embodied Non-Dual Approach: Engaging with Life 47:15 The Power of Community in Spiritual Practice Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member

Many spiritual practices guide us in what is known as “waking up.” Even though this process gives us a great sense of freedom and spaciousness, Prendergast suggests that the path to “waking up” is by “waking down.” Tuning into our body often brings forth a useful image, and will help us to live with more authenticity. John J. Prendergast, Ph.D. is a psychotherapist, retired professor of psychology, spiritual counselor, and founder and editor-in-chief of Undivided: The Online Journal of Nonduality and Psychology. He is the author of Listening From the Heart of Silence (co-author G. Kenneth Bradford) (Paragon House 2007) and In Touch: How to Tune In to the Inner Guidance of Your Body and Trust Yourself (Sounds True 2015)Interview Date: 12/5/2015 Tags: MP3, John J. Prendergast, interconnection, attention, emotion, sensation, original ignorance, fear of abandonment, waking up, waking down, circles, circle work, beliefs, fear, desire, relaxed groundedness, mindfulness, awareness of being, presence, non-duality, Advaita Vedanta, non-dualism, Health & Healing, Psychology, Personal Transformation

“Whether we realize it or not, the heart is what we most carefully guard and most want to open.” John J. Prendergast, Ph.D., likens the investigation of the heart to “an archaeological dig.” Helping people excavate layers of the heart is a culmination of his life’s work weaving together the threads of his various professional disciplines – as a psychotherapist, professor of psychology, somatic healer and nondual spiritual teacher – with the glittery strands of his own deep self-inquiry. Prendergast believes that combining the “critically important service that mature, kind, and relatively clear psychotherapists offer” with spiritual insight can help people with what he terms “unfolding.” “I can often sense an essential dimension of being within my clients and students and help them attune with it.” “The deeper you go, the more tender the layers,” says Prendergast. “We abandon ourselves when it feels too painful to remain intimate with our essential nature.” Author of The Deep Heart (2019) and In Touch (2015), Prendergast is a retired Adjunct Professor of Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies and a very soon-to-retire psychotherapist in private practice in the Bay Area. He offers online and in-person (when possible) retreats in the U.S. and Europe. He has studied extensively with leading spiritual masters of our age. By his early adulthood, Prendergast was already a meditation guide to others – and himself was able to reach a profound silence. And yet he hungered for treasures buried much deeper, prompting him to fervently seek ever deeper inner truths. In his twenties, he completed a six-month meditation retreat and a year of law school, spent time in an ashram in South India, and eventually began graduate school. These experiences created a foundation for his next many years during which he became a licensed psychotherapist and continued to immerse himself in meditation and self-inquiry. Then, unexpectedly, Prendergast had an unanticipated dream involving an Indian guru of non-dualism, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, with whom he had been unfamiliar. This inspired him to read Maharaj’s famous dialogues in I am That. This was a life-changing event for Prendergast, which he says turned his compass decidedly towards self-inquiry. Prendergast thereafter met Jean Klein, a European medical doctor and musicologist, who was a master of Advaita Vedanta and Tantric Shaivism, and Prendergast studied with Klein for fifteen years until Klein’s death in 1998. Passionately curious “to understand how psychology and spirituality intersected,” Prendergast eventually realized “that the apparent division between them was only in my mind.…I couldn’t find any human experience that was not essentially spiritual.” After Klein’s passing, Prendergast began studying with Adyashanti, a trained Zen Buddhist teacher who is a self-described “teacher of enlightenment.” Prendergast had “a number of profound openings” with Adyashanti and began leading self-inquiry groups and co-leading retreats for psychotherapists, with Adyashanti's blessing. Prendergast was also founder and editor-in-chief of Undivided: The Online Journal of Nonduality and Psychology which launched in October 2011 as a free, peer-reviewed, multimedia and interactive journal that published original works by cutting-edge therapists and spiritual teachers exploring the interface of nondual teachings and psychology. He also was co-editor of two collected volumes of essays at the intersection of psychotherapy and nondualism, The Sacred Mirror (2003) and Listening from the Heart of Silence (2007). Previously, for 23 years, he supervised masters’ level counseling students at the California Institute of Integral Studies (where he had earned his Master’s and PhD degrees).  Always driven by a desire to discover his own truest nature, Prendergast emphasizes the importance of uncovering the heart by shedding the false conditioning imposed by the ego’s sense of self and by the social tendency to prize the mind over all else. He delivers his teachings at a meditative, thoughtful pace (many are found online) coming from a clear mind and a compassionate heart. His latest book, The Deep Heart: Our Portal to Presence, focuses specifically on the heart’s role as our most “easily accessible portal to true nature,” building from his renowned book on somatics, In Touch: How to Tune In to the Inner Guidance of Your Body and Trust Yourself. While In Touch details “subtle portals” or “primary entry points leading to the essential,” Deep Heart, and his latest teachings, explore the heart as the place from which a “sense of meaning springs, as does our sense of oneness or communion with the whole of life.” He explains that in the “deepest dimension of the heart – what I call the Great Heart – you can feel yourself at one with the ground of being.” Prendergast himself is indeed of great heart. He reminds us that the heart, “deep, vast and loving … is where we feel most affected … both emotionally and spiritually.” Join us in conversation with this practical, gifted and compassionate master teacher – and explore how to become an archaeologist of your own heart.

“Whether we realize it or not, the heart is what we most carefully guard and most want to open.” John J. Prendergast, Ph.D., likens the investigation of the heart to “an archaeological dig.” Helping people excavate layers of the heart is a culmination of his life’s work weaving together the threads of his various professional disciplines – as a psychotherapist, professor of psychology, somatic healer and nondual spiritual teacher – with the glittery strands of his own deep self-inquiry. Prendergast believes that combining the “critically important service that mature, kind, and relatively clear psychotherapists offer” with spiritual insight can help people with what he terms “unfolding.” “I can often sense an essential dimension of being within my clients and students and help them attune with it.” “The deeper you go, the more tender the layers,” says Prendergast. “We abandon ourselves when it feels too painful to remain intimate with our essential nature.” Author of The Deep Heart (2019) and In Touch (2015), Prendergast is a retired Adjunct Professor of Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies and a very soon-to-retire psychotherapist in private practice in the Bay Area. He offers online and in-person (when possible) retreats in the U.S. and Europe. He has studied extensively with leading spiritual masters of our age. By his early adulthood, Prendergast was already a meditation guide to others – and himself was able to reach a profound silence. And yet he hungered for treasures buried much deeper, prompting him to fervently seek ever deeper inner truths. In his twenties, he completed a six-month meditation retreat and a year of law school, spent time in an ashram in South India, and eventually began graduate school. These experiences created a foundation for his next many years during which he became a licensed psychotherapist and continued to immerse himself in meditation and self-inquiry. Then, unexpectedly, Prendergast had an unanticipated dream involving an Indian guru of non-dualism, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, with whom he had been unfamiliar. This inspired him to read Maharaj’s famous dialogues in I am That. This was a life-changing event for Prendergast, which he says turned his compass decidedly towards self-inquiry. Prendergast thereafter met Jean Klein, a European medical doctor and musicologist, who was a master of Advaita Vedanta and Tantric Shaivism, and Prendergast studied with Klein for fifteen years until Klein’s death in 1998. Passionately curious “to understand how psychology and spirituality intersected,” Prendergast eventually realized “that the apparent division between them was only in my mind.…I couldn’t find any human experience that was not essentially spiritual.” After Klein’s passing, Prendergast began studying with Adyashanti, a trained Zen Buddhist teacher who is a self-described “teacher of enlightenment.” Prendergast had “a number of profound openings” with Adyashanti and began leading self-inquiry groups and co-leading retreats for psychotherapists, with Adyashanti's blessing. Prendergast was also founder and editor-in-chief of Undivided: The Online Journal of Nonduality and Psychology which launched in October 2011 as a free, peer-reviewed, multimedia and interactive journal that published original works by cutting-edge therapists and spiritual teachers exploring the interface of nondual teachings and psychology. He also was co-editor of two collected volumes of essays at the intersection of psychotherapy and nondualism, The Sacred Mirror (2003) and Listening from the Heart of Silence (2007). Previously, for 23 years, he supervised masters’ level counseling students at the California Institute of Integral Studies (where he had earned his Master’s and PhD degrees).  Always driven by a desire to discover his own truest nature, Prendergast emphasizes the importance of uncovering the heart by shedding the false conditioning imposed by the ego’s sense of self and by the social tendency to prize the mind over all else. He delivers his teachings at a meditative, thoughtful pace (many are found online) coming from a clear mind and a compassionate heart. His latest book, The Deep Heart: Our Portal to Presence, focuses specifically on the heart’s role as our most “easily accessible portal to true nature,” building from his renowned book on somatics, In Touch: How to Tune In to the Inner Guidance of Your Body and Trust Yourself. While In Touch details “subtle portals” or “primary entry points leading to the essential,” Deep Heart, and his latest teachings, explore the heart as the place from which a “sense of meaning springs, as does our sense of oneness or communion with the whole of life.” He explains that in the “deepest dimension of the heart – what I call the Great Heart – you can feel yourself at one with the ground of being.” Prendergast himself is indeed of great heart. He reminds us that the heart, “deep, vast and loving … is where we feel most affected … both emotionally and spiritually.” Join us in conversation with this practical, gifted and compassionate master teacher – and explore how to become an archaeologist of your own heart.

In this week's episode, your host Zach Beach interviews professor, spiritual teacher, therapist, and author John Prendergast on The Deep Heart. Learn more about your guest below: John Prendergast, Ph.D., is a spiritual teacher, retired adjunct professor of psychology, psychotherapist, and author of In Touch and his latest book, The Deep Heart. His books invite readers on a pilgrimage within, using the heart as a portal to their deepest psychological and spiritual nature. John is also the senior editor of The Sacred Mirror and Listening from the Heart of Silence. John now offers residential and online retreats throughout the U.S. and Europe. * http://listeningfromsilence.com/ * https://www.facebook.com/john.prendergast.121 (Due both to cutting back on his hours and to the high volume of requests for individual sessions, John is no longer taking on any new clients. However, he does have a referral list of experienced psychotherapists with a similar approach who work online and in person that he is happy to forward to you) Learn more about your host and the show at: www.zachbeach.com www.the-heart-center.com Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/learntolovenow Join the Community group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1428012130828678/

The heart has long been a focal point in spiritual development. But what does it have to do with performance, with self-awareness, with flow? In this conversation with therapist and spiritual teacher John Prendergast, PhD we explore how to guide our clients into the intelligence of the heart, how to foster trust and flow and the somatic markers of inner knowing. John J. Prendergast, PhD is a spiritual teacher, author, psychotherapist and retired adjunct professor of psychology at CIIS who now offers residential and online retreats. He is the author of two books, the most recent being The Deep Heart: Our Portal to Presence. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief of Undivided: The Online Journal of Nonduality and Psychology.

Nondual teacher and psychotherapist John Prendergast speaks with host Michael Taft about the heart area as an opening to infinite space, contacting the “dark matrix” of the ground, the body as a vibrant expression of emptiness, moving out of the cycle of reactivity into the creative life, working with energy in meditation, and much more. John J. Prendergast, Ph.D., is the author of the books The Deep Heart and In Touch. He is a spiritual teacher, psychotherapist, and retired adjunct professor of psychology who offers retreats in the U.S. and Europe. John Prendergast's website: www.listeningfromsilence.comPlease support this podcast by contributing on Patreon

John J. Prendergast, Ph.D., is the author of The Deep Heart: Our Portal to Presence and In Touch: How to Tune in to the Inner Guidance of Your Body and Trust Yourself. He is a retired adjunct professor of psychology … Continue reading →

John Prendergast is a retired psychology professor, spiritual teacher, and the author of books such as In Touch and Listening from the Heart of Silence. With Sounds True, he has released a new book titled The Deep Heart: Our Portal to Presence. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with John about subtle and sublime experiences of the heart. John comments on the childhood wounding that often leads to a fear of vulnerability and a general alienation from the heart's true voice. John and Tami also talk about seeking answers through the heart rather than the mind, as well as the spiritual dimensions one explores while doing so. Finally, they discuss how to crack the armored shell caused by wounding and how you can deal skillfully with the pain of living in an uncertain, often dismaying world.(69 minutes)

In this episode, Michael and John discuss the journey from the head to the heart, from separate self to awakened presence. John talks about the 3 levels of heart awareness, spiritual narcissism, and how we can unhook or dis-identify from our core limiting stories and move more fully into our heart. They also discuss about the importance of clarity of intention and quality of our attention in our meditation practice and much more...

[Flashback Tuesday] John J. Prendergast, PhD, is a psychotherapist, spiritual teacher, and founder and editor-in-chief of Undivided: The Online Journal of Nonduality and Psychology. John met his first teacher, Advaita master Jean Klein, in 1983 and began studying with one of our favorite teachers, Adyashanti, in 2001. For 23 years John was also a professor of psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco where Vanessa Scotto went to grad school. He is the author of an amazing book called In Touch; How to Tune In to the Inner Guidance of Your Body and Trust Yourself. We first came across John on the Buddha at the Gas Pump podcast where we were immediately drawn to his simple, yet profound, integration of Psychology and Spirituality. After Brooke Thomas sat with him on a weekend retreat a few months back we knew we needed to bring him on for a conversation we could share with all of you. In this conversation we cover so many topics including how to trust yourself and tune into your intuition, how to access genuine safety, and why the Ego is doomed to fail. This conversation is a delight and a revelation that can affect you for years to come. For more information on Bliss + Grit, or to get information about one-on-one coaching with Brooke Thomas or Vanessa Scotto, please visit www.blissandgrit.com. To become a supporting member and join our forum please visit www.patreon.com/blissandgrit

As the heart awakens, we feel more and more grateful for no reason.  – John Prendergast On this episode of the Plan Simple Meals Podcast, I’m really excited to talk with John Prendergast about making space for spirituality. I met John at a retreat in 2018 and so many of his teachings connect with things we end up talking about here on the podcast.   One of the most important aspects for me was quieting your mind. When John said, “Let’s just sit” it sounded so much easier than trying to meditate. If you are raising kids and dealing with how you were brought up and everything you have to do and all the world around you moving so fast, there’s so much coming at you that it’s really hard to hear the voice inside you. But, as John says, if we get quiet, we can start attuning to our inner knowing. We talk about the difference between thinking and awareness. John explains, “The thinking mind, the ordinary thinking mind, is really helpful in terms of practical problem solving but, it’s not very helpful in terms of actually recognizing what I would call our “true nature.” Getting out of the thinking mind helps us realize that. We talk about: How disconnecting from our thoughts brings relaxation and attention can then drop down much more easily into the body. Dealing with situations with our kids by getting quieter within ourselves and tapping into our inner wisdom This process not being selfish because it’s about self-indulgence, but actually it’s about true self intimacy. Using small breaks in your day to tune into yourself instead of looking at your phone or listening to the radio Recognizing our core limiting beliefs and then getting quiet and going to the heart, not the mind, for an answer and transformation How awareness can help us work through unfinished “stuff” in our lives—we need to notice where we feel it in our bodies and the stories we tell about it and finding the very core of it The power of gratitude practice and even deeper gratitude we’re alive and that we’re awake and that there is an extraordinary mystery of human life that’s unfolding John shares this practice: Take a little time out of your routine, say 10 or 15 minutes in the morning, before the day begins, to quietly sit in a comfortable place where you’re not going to be interrupted. Sit upright, comfortably. Close your eyes or have them partially open. Take a few deep breaths and just feel yourself held by whatever it is you’re sitting upon. Know that there’s no problem that you have to solve in the moment. Shift your attention down to the heart area or the belly. Use your breath to anchor your attention. Thoughts about what you need to do or plans for the day may arise. Just let them fall away. Begin to simply open to the silent, open sense of awareness. Let it deepen.   Attuning with the quietness can affect your whole day. This practice can take some time to get used to, so give it few weeks for a fair trial. BIO John J. Prendergast, Ph.D., is the author of In Touch: How to Tune in to the Inner Guidance of Your Body and Trust Yourself (Sounds True, 2015) and the forthcoming The Deep Heart: Our Portal to Presence (Sounds True, 2019). He is a retired adjunct professor of psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco and a psychotherapist in private practice. John studied for many years with the European sage Jean Klein as well as with Adyashanti, and he was invited to share the dharma by Dorothy Hunt. www.listeningfromsilence.com LINKS In Touch Deep Heart http://listeningfromsilence.com/ Byron Katie Doable Changes from this episode: SIT QUIETLY. Take about 10–15 minutes daily to sit quietly. Try using the practice that John outlines in the show.. Remember that thoughts will likely come into your head as you settle, but they will fall away. Don’t get discouraged; it takes some time to get used to this practice. Just keep showing up. DIG INTO WHAT DOESN’T GET DONE. Think about a project you didn’t get done that you really meant to do. How do you feel about that—and where do you feel it in your body? Get curious about that feeling. Notice any stories you are telling about the project or any core limiting beliefs related to it? Question that belief. Practice discernment—noticing things as they are without judging. Let yourself feel it. PRACTICE GRATITUDE. Write down something you are grateful for at the beginning and end of each day. Take a moment to be grateful for just being. 

John J. Prendergast, PhD, is a psychotherapist, spiritual teacher, and founder and editor-in-chief of Undivided: The Online Journal of Nonduality and Psychology. John met his first teacher, Advaita master Jean Klein, in 1983 and began studying with one of our favorite teachers, Adyashanti, in 2001. For 23 years John was also a professor of psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco where Vanessa Scotto went to grad school. He is the author of an amazing book called In Touch; How to Tune In to the Inner Guidance of Your Body and Trust Yourself. We first came across John on the Buddha at the Gas Pump podcast where we were immediately drawn to his simple, yet profound, integration of Psychology and Spirituality. After Brooke Thomas sat with him on a weekend retreat a few months back we knew we needed to bring him on for a conversation we could share with all of you. In this conversation we cover so many topics including how to trust yourself and tune into your intuition, how to access genuine safety, and why the Ego is doomed to fail. This conversation is a delight and a revelation that can affect you for years to come.

John J. Prendergast, Ph.D. is a psychotherapist, retired professor of psychology, spiritual counselor, and founder and editor-in-chief of Undivided: The Online Journal of Nonduality and Psychology. Tags: John J. Prendergast, non-dualism, wisdom, inner knowing, body, wisdom, knowledge, circle work, vibrant silence, inward alignment, safety, need for approval, trusting inner guidance, self-trust, truth, dogma, honesty, vulnerability, courage, surrender, core beliefs, projections, reacting, skillful boundaries, control, manipulation, Health & Healing, Psychology, Personal Transformation

    This week we talk to John Prendergast about tuning into our body John J. Prendergast, PhD, is a psychotherapist, retired professor of psychology, spiritual teacher, and founder and editor-in-chief of Undivided: The Online Journal of Nonduality and Psychology.  He received my undergraduate degree from UC Santa Cruz and my M.A. and Ph.D. from the California Institute of Integral Studies.  He is licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist.    His latest book is called In Touch: How to Tune into the Inner Guidance of Your Body and Trust Yourself   In This Interview, John Prendergast and I Discuss: The One You Feed parable How important our body is What "knowing" is Learning to trust our deeper knowledge The difference between inner knowing and hunches based on fear Finding true knowing from ego desires The static in our system Observing thoughts as just thoughts For more show notes visit our website

Marie interviews psychotherapist and spiritual mentor, John J. Prendergast, PhD about his latest book "In Touch".

John J. Prendergast, Ph.D., is a retired professor of psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco and a psychotherapist in private practice. He spent many years studying with the European Advaita master Jean Klein as well … Continue reading →