Gordon Peerman on the Body, Buddhism, Christianity, and Secure Attachment

Gordon Peerman on the Body, Buddhism, Christianity, and Secure AttachmentPeter Kastaris, WHMC Board Member, hosts this Wild Heart Meditation Center conversation with Gordon Peerman, an Episcopal priest, psychotherapist, and longtime contemplative teacher. They trace how Buddhist practice, Christian mysticism, and attachment theory can inform one another without flattening their differences. The episode also previews Gordon’s workshop, The Body Knows the Way, where he will guide participants through movement, stillness, and embodied approaches to emotion and thought.Key topicsGordon shares his Nashville upbringing in a progressive Methodist church and how early exposure to Catholic liturgy shaped his spiritual imagination.He explains how Yale Divinity School, Henri Nouwen, Thomas Merton, Thomas Keating, and Centering Prayer pulled him deeper into contemplative Christianity.He describes discovering mindfulness through John Kabat-Zinn and Bill Moyers, then helping launch the first MBSR program in Nashville in 1997.He names the core theme of the conversation as bridge-building between traditions, rather than choosing sides.He distinguishes between exclusivist and non-exclusivist Christianity and argues that Jesus and the Buddha can both be seen as exemplars of awakening.He responds to people carrying religious hurt by emphasizing validation first, before asking what actually helps in the face of suffering.He frames the Buddha’s teaching as a medical model: diagnosis, cause, prognosis, and treatment, then parallels that with Christian language around sin, redemption, and trust.He introduces attachment theory through Daniel P. Brown’s five markers of secure attachment and connects them to spiritual refuge.He defines secure attachment as being at home in the body, while naming anxious, distancing, and disorganized attachment as insecure patterns.He previews the workshop content: Tai Chi, Qigong, walking meditation, four somatic markers, poetry, and practical work with emotion and repetitive thinking.Sign up for the Workshop October 17 here: https://www.wildheartmeditationcenter.org/eventsWild Heart Meditation Center in a non-profit Buddhist community based in Nashville, TN. https://www.wildheartmeditationcenter.orgDONATE: If you feel moved to support WHMC financially please visit:https://www.wildheartmeditationcenter.org/donateFollow Us on Socials!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WildHeartNashville/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildheartnashville/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wildheartmeditation Wild Heart Meditation Center in a non-profit Buddhist community based in Nashville, TN. https://www.wildheartmeditationcenter.orgDONATE: If you feel moved to support WHMC financially please visit:https://www.wildheartmeditationcenter.org/donateFollow Us on Socials!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WildHeartNashville/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildheartnashville/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wildheartmeditation