When Life Breaks You Open: Awakening to Your Inner Truth with John Prendergrast (Episode 47)
Have you ever felt a quiet sense that there must be more to life… even if everything looks fine on the surface?
Or found yourself cracked open by loss, grief, or a moment that shattered the familiar?
In this episode of Initiations in Love, Britta sits down with spiritual teacher and depth psychologist and therapist John Prendergast to explore the path of awakening, through both suffering and the what he calls "subtle inner call." John shares how early spiritual experiences, deep loss, and decades of devoted practice led him into a profound opening of the heart.
Together, they explore what it means to move from seeking with the mind to discovering a deeper truth within, and how even our most painful experiences can become portals into love, presence, and connection.
This conversation is an invitation to listen more deeply… and to trust that what you are seeking is already here.
John J. Prendergast, Ph.D., is the author of Your Deepest Ground, The Deep Heart, and In Touch. He is a retired Adjunct Professor of Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies and a retired psychotherapist. He studied for many years with the European sage, Jean Klein, as well as with the American spiritual teacher, Adyashanti. He offers residential retreats with his wife, Christiane, as well as various online offerings.
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Resources and References:
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John's website: www.listeningfromsilence.com
Show Notes:
1:00 - Britta introduces John Prendergast and the theme of awakening into Love
3:12 - John shares early awakening experiences and his seeker's path through religion, meditation, and psychedelics, describing a sense of remembering and dissolving into something deeper
9:30 - Britta and John explore the visible and hidden aspects of awakening, and why such experiences are often held quietly within
14:30 - John reflects on his deep commitment to meditation and the "love of truth," meeting his teacher, and how his path evolved into psychology and into the depths of the heart
19:45 - Britta notes that John distinguishes the three different centers of awareness: head, heart, and belly
20:10 - With immense gratitude, John shares the story of his own awakening of the heart center
29:15 – Britta invites John to share more about his former anxiety of relating; he reflects on his attachment with his mother, his fear of abandonment, and the role of safety in allowing the heart to open
36:05 - Together they discuss the role of safety between the heart center of awareness and the Great Heart, the Universal Heart, as well as the importance of tending to the inner flame of "loving awareness"
42:00 – John speaks to the moment where he said "Yes" to what Britta refers to as "The Calling" stage; he shares how the heartbreak and powerlessness of the loss of his first wife was a profound initiation into grief and compassion
50:15 - Britta reflects on John's initiation; they discuss the fabric of normalcy being ripped away, the moment of crisis – or as Britta refers to it as "The Transformation Cauldron" stage – and the invitation to go deeper, to know one's true nature
57:00 - Britta acknowledges John's gifts that emerged from his initiation: his capacity to be with other people, deeply present and open and welcome all they bring, no matter where they are or need to go
60:00 - Britta brings the episode to a close, inviting John to give final guidance: learn to hear and trust the inner voice of heart wisdom and you'll discover it is your very self that is calling you
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