EPISODE 135
Ryan Meeks: The Heretical Enlightenment
Do you have a real relationship with God or do you believe in what someone taught you to believe about that Higher Power?
Former minister Ryan Meeks describes his walk away from a very successful career as a minister of an evangelical megachurch and how he discovered true healing and a far greater life purpose in this very spiritual Living 4D conversation.
Learn more about Ryan’s work at his website and social media via Instagram.
SHOW NOTES
- Ryan shares an interesting connection with Carl Jung. (11:57)
- The person Ryan was a decade ago would scare the crap out of him today. (30:00)
- Fundamentalism + business systems = megachurch. (35:10)
- The sandcastle of Ryan’s faith began to wash away as he was exposed to different worldviews. (41:58)
- The Time magazine articles reporting on EastLake Community Church’s public support for the LGBTQI community were the tsunami that ended Ryan’s career in organized religion. (47:35)
- Fundamentalist religion plays off a very human felt sense of separation with “a cure” for a manufactured problem. (54:40)
- Ryan never really knew God in a spiritual way until after he left the ministry. (1:04:56)
- Ryan’s father, a longtime minister, handled the news of his shift away from evangelicalism remarkably well. (1:16:31)
- How do people get programmed into faulty belief systems? (1:34:12)
- What is your unmet task? (1:52:58)
- “We need to learn the way nature works.” (2:08:05)
- “It’s not that Christianity failed. It’s never been tried.” G.K. Chesterton (2:19:18)
- A Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosed in 2017 helped Ryan better understand that life is a gift and love is the point. (2:32:09)
RESOURCES & FURTHER READING
- Time magazine pieces by Elizabeth Dias on the evangelical fight over gay marriage and how evangelicals are changing their minds about it
- Shankara’s Crest-Jewel of Discrimination
- The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton
- Carl Jung’s Individuation Process
- The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements by Eric Hoffer
- Tao Te Ching: The Book of Meaning and Life by Richard Wilhelm
- The work of Huston Smith, Ken Wilber, Joseph Campbell, Terrance McKenna, Bill Plotkin, Matthew Fox, Thomas Berry, Brian Swimme and Thomas Keating
- Rudolf Steiner: An Introduction to His Life and Work by Gary Lachman
- The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore by Deepak Chopra
- Oneness vs. the 1% by Vandana and Kartikey Shiva
As an Amazon Associate, we earn commissions from qualifying purchases.
Become a Spirit Gym Member
Paul has identified 6 main groups of people who he had in mind when he designed the Spirit Gym Community membership containing his Purpose-Aligned Path program. If you can relate to ANY of these statements, then Paul Chek’s Spirit Gym Community membership is tailor-made for you.
- You’ve had, what I like to call, The Pull. What I mean by that is you know you’re meant for something more—you feel it, maybe you’ve felt it for years—but you’re stuck in work that doesn’t align, unclear about your exact purpose, and you don’t know how to bridge the gap between where you are and where you are being called to.
- You’re tired of feeling stuck and searching without finding answers. You’ve read the books, maybe taken courses, tried different things—but you still don’t have clear direction. You know you need to take action on what you’re meant to do, but you keep procrastinating… and time keeps passing without real progress.
- You want to live a life where you’re not trapped anymore. One where you wake up in the morning doing work that actually matters to you. Work that aligns with who you are. (Want to feel energized by what you do? You can!) And one where you finally have clarity, direction, and a path forward.
- You’re trapped between following your purpose and paying your bills. Right now, money is the thing holding you back. You want to leave the job that drains you, but you’re terrified: “What about my bills? My family? How do I actually make this work?” You need to know it’s possible to transition without going broke.
- You are ready to find your purpose and start living it now. Even if you aren’t quite sure what it is yet or how to go about doing it. (Don’t worry, that’s exactly what the 8-week system covers.)
- You want to learn from someone who actually knows what they’re talking about. I’ve spent 40+ years helping people find their path and live aligned with their purpose—in all sorts of situations and life stages (some challenges you may have never even heard of!). I know what it takes to go from stuck to living your purpose, and I’m going to show you exactly how.
Paul Chek’s “Purpose-Aligned Path” was designed specifically to help YOU find your purpose and actually live it, without staying stuck, procrastinating, or doing it alone! The 8-step process from stuck and procrastinating to living your purpose and the accountability to actually do it!
Listen on – Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Amazon Music | Audible
PODCAST SPONSORS
This podcast wouldn’t be possible without the support of our awesome sponsors, each of whom are offering an exclusive discount for Spirit Gym with Paul Chek listeners.
As partners with our sponsors, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.
PREMIER SPONSOR
SPONSORS
Paleovalley
Save 15% on your purchase – no code needed! Just click here.
START LISTENING TODAY
Listen to Spirit Gym with Paul Chek on your favorite podcast platforms!
Listen on – Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon | Audible | YouTube




