IN SEARCH OF AN INTEGRAL PATH: INHABITING CHRIST CONSCIOUSNESS

2009-08-13T18:01:00.001-07:00

SKILLFUL TOOLS

2005-08-01T18:39:00.001-07:00

To my surprise, after several months of weight training with my basic dumbbell starter set, I am coming to a point where I need to add weight to some of my exercises; the two most important ones being the bent-legged deadlift and the squat. Over the course of my life I have undergone three laminectomies (removal or ruptured portions of disk material in my lower back). Needless to say I am very cautious when it comes to lifting, so have taken my routine involving my back exercises very slowly. No problems so far, but I came across a not too well know variation of the bar configuration that is designed to "reduce spine stress relative to the straight bar. It reduces spine stress relative to the straight bar deadlift... insuring that your lower back can be kept flat in this this extended range of motion." I'm hoping this will solve the problem of additional weight that in the past has caused me so many serious injuries. It can also be use for squats with the same advantages and additional safety factors. Check out Peidmont Design Associates for details.

TRANSMUTING NEUROSIS: UNCOILING THE SNAKE

2005-07-08T18:57:00.000-07:00

Caduceus

"...even the things inside us that seem most terrible or unworkable contain a deeper intent that needs to be unlocked and redirected in a life-affirming way. Hidden within every wound we always find a particular blessing. If we blame ourselves for our personality patterns, we cannot access the gift contained within them and thus only impoverish ourselves further. Whatever we are struggling with, whatever seems most neurotic, can become an important stepping-stone on our way. Whatever problem, question, or confusion we have, whatever seems impossible in our lives--if we go toward it, see it, feel it, make a relationship with it, use it--becomes our path.
Tantric Buddhism uses the metaphor of a snake uncoiling in midair to describe the process of awakening. The coils of our neurosis have raw, wild energy tangled up in them. To uncoil these tangles, so that we do not remain ensnared, we do not have to kill the snake, or even sublimate its energy into more socially approved forms. Instead, by simply allowing it to do what in naturally wants to do--to unwind--we can tap its power and aliveness. What allows the coiled snake of the mind to unwind is awareness and gentle compassion. Compassion does not try to suppress the snake's wildness, but rather draws on the energies tied up in our neuroses to propel us forward on our path. And this path--of liberating the qualities of our being, proclaiming and celebrating them, and using them to help ourselves and other people--is never ending."

Toward a Psychology of Awakening
John Welwood
pp. 33,34

AWAKENING SPACIOUSNESS

2005-07-04T07:14:00.000-07:00

Narcissus

Several years ago I had a large copy of this print framed and hanging in my bedroom, primarily as another expression of the insight from my Pogo cartoon, "We have found the enemy and he us us". My experience has been that, in Ernest Becker's words, "normality is neurosis". And from the wisdom that comes from those in AA, we can be more specific as to the nature of this neurosis; "Selfishness-self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles." End of story?
Some time later my partner at the time, in referring to my practice of centering prayer, accused me of engaging in just the sort of selfish selfcentered behavior my artwork referred to. It was suggested that I should rather be spending my time helping others instead of prayer for myself all the time. John Welwood in Toward a Psychology of Awakening speaks directly to this issue. "Misconceptions of meditation are common in the West. Some view it as a self-improvement technique, others regard it as a passive withdrawal from the world. The approach developed here allows us to avoid both these pitfalls, for it is grounded in an understanding of the total interpenetration of organism and environment, self and world. In this light, the following description of meditation from a Tibetan text begins to make sense:

One should realize that one does not meditate in order to go deeply into oneself and withdraw from the world...There should be no feeling of striving to reach some exalted or higher state, since this simply produces something conditioned and artificial that will act as an obstruction to the free flow of the mind...The everyday practice is simply to develop a complete awareness and openness to all situations and emotions, and to all people, experiencing everything totally without mental reservations and blockages, so that one never withdraws or centralizes onto oneself...When performing the meditation practice, one should develop the feeling of opening oneself out completely to the whole universe with absolute simplicity and nakedness of mind". The way in is the way out.

THE PATH

2005-06-27T20:21:00.000-07:00

"Hidden within every wound we always find a particular blessing. If we blame ourselves for our personality patterns, we cannot access the gift contained within them and thus only impoverish ourselves further. Whatever we are struggling with, whatever seems most neurotic, can become an important stepping-stone on our way. Whatever problem, question, or confusion we have, whatever seems impossible in our lives - if we go toward it, see it, feel it, make a relationship with it, use it - becomes our path.
It is easy to become discouraged by life's challenges, to ask, 'Why is it so difficult to be human, why do I have to go through this, why am I not more enlightened?' In our despair we fail to appreciate the path quality of human evolution. Enlightenment is not some ideal goal, perfect state of mind, or spiritual realm on high, but a journey that takes place on this earth. It is the process of waking up to all of what we are and making a complete relationship with that."

Toward A Psychology of Awakening: Buddhism, Psychotherapy, and the Path of Personal and Spiritual Transformation
John Welwood

DEAR UNKNOWN FRIEND

2005-06-25T16:27:00.000-07:00

I was just recently introduced to this book by
Cynthia Bougeault, author of Mystical Hope. What caught my attention were the reviews on the cover of the book. It read like a Who's Who of those responsible for the renewal of the Christian contemplative dimension in the Twentieth Century;

"There is hardly a line without some profound significance... To me it is the last word in wisdom. It is simply astonishing. I have never read such a comprehensive account of the perennial philosophy."-Father Bede Griffiths

"It is without doubt the most extraordinary work I have ever read. It has tremendous spiritual depth and insight."-Trappist abbot Basil Pennington, OCSO

"This book, in my view, is the greatest contribution to date toward the rediscovery and renewal of the Christian contemplative tradition of the Fathers of the Church and the High Middle Ages."-Trappist abbot Thomas Keating, OCSO

And lastly, an afterward by Swissborn Hans Urs von Balthasar, called by the late Pope John Paul II as "one of the most extraordinary theologians and social scientists, who deserves a special place of honor in the cultural life of today."

In a more extensive review Keating goes on to suggest "it (Meditations on the Tarot) deserves to be the basis of a course in spirituality in every Christian institution of higher learning and what would be even better, the point of departure and unifying vision of the whole curriculum." Well there's an opportunity begging to be appropriated (Integral Institute perhaps?).

THE LOCUS OF TRANSFORMATION

2005-06-08T11:46:00.001-07:00

Pogo

This has always been a favorite cartoon of mine and I hesitate to add any comments because I feel in its wonderful simplicity it expresses a truth drawn from the deepest of wells. From time to time you hear from people who have friends in AA or Alanon who have come to the conclusion that the world would do well to head many of the principles promoted in these recovery organizations. One such principle foundational to "working the steps" is performing a fearless and searching moral inventory of the mistakes we were resonsible for amidst our troubles Most people get stuck at the point of truth that "this world and its people were often wrong". But for the fortunate ones that let wisdom permeate their souls, it is realized that the field of battle ( a term that would be familiar to St. Theresa of Avila) is our own back yard. The real hope of changing a conflicting drama in our lives is to change ourselves. In a painful scene illustrating this reality, Jesus drives home this insight to a wounded and demoralized Peter after he had publicly denied Jesus and abandoned him in Jesus' greatest time of need. "When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?' 'Yes Lord,' he said, 'you know that I love you.' Jesus said, 'Feed my lambs.' Again Jesus said, 'Simon son of John, do you truly love me?' He answered, 'Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.' Jesus said, 'Take care of my sheep.' The third time he said to him, 'Simon son of John, do you love me?' Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, 'Do you love me?' He said, 'Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.' Jesus said, 'Feed my sheep. Follow me.' Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back agaisnt Jesus at the supper and had said, 'Lord, who is going to betray you?" When Peter saw him, he asked, 'Lord, what about him?' Jesus answered, 'If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me." Truly this world and its people are often quite wrong, and I pray for the grace to be able to offer them the tolerance, pity, patience and kindness I would hope they might offer me. But the injunction is clear; as to the fate of those who have harmed me, "what is that to you?'. You must follow me."

A GENTLE WHISPER

2005-06-07T09:27:00.000-07:00

Auda abu Tayi

A year or two ago I was walking downtown one morning on my way to an appointment when a phrase popped into my mind, seemingly from out of nowhere; "I am a river to my people". At the time I was leading a rather drab lifestyle, homeless and in what would be the last of a series of shelters for those unfortunate men, myself among them, who just couldn't seem to put a life together. This phrase "I am a river to my people" took on a life of its own as I continued my walk down the mean streets of the inner city. It sparked my imagination, warmed my soul and gave a clouded vision, but a vision nonetheless of new possibilities that lay ahead in my future. But why had this phrase come to me in the midst of a dismal life, and what accounted for the force of its impact on me. I couldn't get it out of my mind all that day. Because my grandfather had been killed by a Bedouin near Busrah Iraq in the 1920's, I had been given a copy of Lawrence of Arabia as soon as the video was released, probably in an attempt to help me understand the broader picture of the struggle for independence by the Arabs from British rule. The line that had come to me is from a scene in the movie where Lawrence is trying to persuade a tribal chief, Auda abu Tayi (Anthony Quinn) to join the attack on the Ottoman Garrison at Aqaba. Auda is reluctant so Lawrence employs the tactic of questioning the chief's integrity and ability to lead. Auda's response follows; "I carry twenty-three great wounds, all got in battle. Seventy-five men have I killed with my own hands in battle. I scatter, I burn my enemies tents. I take away their flocks and herds. The Turks pay me a golden treasure. Yet, I am poor, because I am a river to my people! Is that service?" I was embarrassed to even begin to imagine that this "being a river to my people" might be a message directed to me. The enneagram, among other descriptors, attributes to me the defining trait of "ego stinginess". Like everyone, I struggle daily with self-centerness which in my life time has led more than once to some very tragic outcomes. Who am I to be a river. I more resemble the Dead Sea with a few sources of water flowing in, but not a single trickle flowing out. But after I was done bludgeoning myself psychologically for part of the day I remembered a minor event from the night before. Two friends whom I had not seen in a long time entered the shelter where I was living to begin another attempt at putting their lives together. They had no resources and walked into a large kitchen area where we were all eating. I didn't even think about what I was doing, but got up and made them dinner and joined them just to soak up the pleasure of being reunited with two old friends that against all odds and published statistics, were still alive. Perhaps here was something I could build on and begin to develop a stream, even an intermittent stream that might grow into a river some day.
"Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" I Kings 19:11-13 Now I try to remember to anticipate and listen to the "whispers" that ask, "Rick, what are you doing here?"

THE CARING OF THE TEMPLE

2005-06-06T20:53:00.000-07:00

Yusuf Islam

Recently I was gifted by an event of grace that characteristically arrived unannounced. PBS was conducting one of its week long fund raising drives, one of life's necessary evils I try to endure with what little poise I have reserved for such things. Earlier this year a long lost taping of the last public concert Cat Stevens performed had surfaced out of no where, having survived in remarkable condition and this wonderful concert was the center piece of the PBS program, repeated several nights that week. I had lost track of Cat, now Yusuf Islam, after he left the professional life of performing music. But hearing him play again was a return to another time, another me, and era of naive but abundant hope and loving expectations for a new world, a future full of promise, depth and meaning. Because the concert was filmed in the 70's all the songs that had come to mean so much to me were center stage. And a line that for some reason has always touched my heart stirred me again as he sang, "my body's been a good friend, but I won't need it in the end". Perhaps these lyrics strike a chord with me precisely because I am a type (five if you are familiar with the Enneagram) who lives as if I had no body. By inclination I am a talking head, living in my mind for the most part with little regard for expression of feelings, emotions, such physical dynamics as health. That is why I am getting so much out of my weightlifting program that is an essential part of this integral path. I'm making modest progress and enjoying it so much I now work out every other day instead of the twice a week schedule I began with. I've added weight to each exercise on a weekly basis, have learned the basics of each exercise and am concentrating more and more on improving my technique. To quote my mentor, "You can have a great training program, the best equipment, a perfect nutritional plan, an ideal rest and sleep schedule, and the most positive attitude in the world, but it will all be largely if not totally wasted if you do not use good exercise technique. In order of priority, exercise technique comes before program design." from Weight Training Technique by Stuart McRobert. Cat Stevens reminded me that I would do well to recast my image of my body as a "good friend" that I want to treat like the loyal companion it has been all along despite no acknowledgment or regard on my part. "Do you not know that your body is the temple, the very sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who lives within you, whom you have received as a gift from God? You are not your own." I Corinthians 6:9.

AMNESIA

2005-06-05T10:18:00.000-07:00

Simba and the Lion King

Years ago I had a picture of Simba and the Lion King I picked up at the Disney Store. It had an inscription as well that meant a lot to me which said "Remember who you are!" This, apparently some fatherly advise being passed on to Simba, the "once and future king". Richard N. Bolles in his perennial classic What Color Is Your Parachute puts it thus. "All can see that our life here on Earth is a very physical life. We eat, we drink, we sleep, we long to be held, and to hold. We inherit a physical body, with very physical appetites, we walk on the physical earth, and we acquire physical possessions. It is the most alluring of temptations, in our amnesia, to come up with just a Physical interpretation of this life: to think that the Universe is merely interested in the survival of the species. Given this interpretation, the story of our individual life could be simply told: we are born, grow up, procreate, and die.
But we are ever recalled to do what we came here to do: that without rejecting the joy of the Physicalness of this life, such as the love of the blue sky and the green grass, we are to reach out beyond all this to recall and recover a Spiritual interpretation of our life. Beyond the physical and within the physicalness of this life, to detect a Spirit and a Person from beyond this Earth who is with us and in us--the very real and loving and awesome Presence of the great Creator from whom we came--and the One to whom we once again shall go."

SURPRISED AGAIN: WHERE HAS ALL THE TIME GONE?

2005-06-02T22:02:00.000-07:00

Jerry Yang Larry Page & Sergey Brin

I don't watch a lot of TV, a trait that reflects less on my aesthetic development than the fact that I can't afford the ridiculous cable package that includes the History Channel. So what little I do watch on a regular basis consists for the most part of whatever fare Public Television is offering when I'm available to watch. One of my favorite programs on PBS is the Charlie Rose show; a commentator/host who always surprises me with the broad diversity of guests from all walks of life that he attracks to his table. On a recent segment he did a fascinating interview with Jerry Yang, cofounder of Yahoo, and for some time now a bright star in the rapidly evolving technology sector. By a strange coincidence that same day, one of the weekly U.S. news magazines (I believe it was Time) hosted Larry Page and Sergey Brin in an interview honoring these cofounders of Google as the "Persons of the Week". My attention would have been fully engaged regardless of the content and questions covered in these two media happenings airing it would appear by chance almost simultaneously, though on separate networks. But another noteworthy element added even more significance to the brew. Unbeknownst to the two program hosts sitting in studios across town the segments both drew to a close with these young wizards of capitalism being asked the same question; "Looking back on all the chaos and whirlwind that has been so much a part of the speed characterizing the growth of what started out as a youthful impetuous, albeit bold vision of what possibilities lay waiting to be brought to bloom, was there anything that you ever were confronted with on a personal level that took you by surprise, something that even with all your genius for foresight and bold vision you never had planned on?" In so many words their answers were earily similar. "We knew what was possible and what promise the future held, but we never came even close to realizing how fast it was all going to play out, at a speak that hardly permitted an adequate response." How often I feel that I am"dancing as fast as I can", barely able to keep up. I long for just the remembrace of a felt sense of being centered with a quiet mind that is my oft absent friend. This is my prayer, that from time to time, here and there, now and then, God will visit us with His grace and a portion of the coveted serenity our souls hunger for in the midst of this sojourn playing out to the background of such frenetic "interesting" times. I am grateful to all who share this "work" to help insure that the Center does indeed hold.
Blessings

A PHILOSOPHY, A FAITH, A WAY OF LIFE

2005-06-01T05:25:00.000-07:00

Ernest Holmes

I have just finished reading The Science of Mind by Ernest Holmes and want to offer my humble comment. Although first published in 1926, it was completely revised in 1936 and with a forward by Jean Houston which was what first caught my eye. The book reminds me a little of A Course In Miracles without the unique prose that so characterizes Miracles. Both offer encouragement for all those who find themselves laboring in the trenches of life. I recall the first paragraph (yes paragraph- check it out) of M. Scott Peck's book The Road Less Traveled that simply stated what most of us have known for some time, "Life is difficult." In Facets of Unity A. H. Almaas describes this condition as people with holes in their spirit that are the result of a lack of "holding", for whatever reason, during the formative years of their childhood. I don't want to say much more specifically about the content of Mind, but I would like to end with one of the many meditations found throughout the text that unexpectedly touched me in a spot that is still tender for me. As I conclude with this brief mediation I am reminded of the words of Jesus when he said, "Truly I say to you, whoever does not accept and receive and welcome the kingdom of God like a little child shall not in any way enter it at all." Luke 18:17

The Night Is Filled With Peace

I wrap myself in the mantle of Love and fall asleep, filled with Peace. Through the long night Peace remains with me, and at the breaking of the new day I shall still be filled with Life and Love. I shall go forth into the new day confident and happy.

I rest in Thee.

INTEGRAL BUSINESS

2005-05-14T11:35:00.000-07:00

Bill Gates

"The complacent company is a dead company. Success today requires the agility and drive to constantly rethink, reinvigorate, react, and reinvent."
Bill Gates

If you asked me as a child if I would like to grow up and be a business man, your question would have been received with silence and a blank stare. The idea of business as a likely option for my life's journey never occurred to me. Yet today, look at the proportion of books that make up a sizeable percention of the titles included in my reading list. It surprises me. But for some as yet understood reason, these titles now spark my imagination. Recently, to my utter surprise, I was awarded a full scholarship to attend the Integral Practice Seminar offered by the Integral Institute. Of the fifty or so participants for the week, at least on third of them had flown in from Europe, India and Asia to learn more about this rather recent phenomenon called "integral". Many of these men and women held positions of significant power with corporations whose names would probably be familiar to most of you. They were there, in a nutshell, because they were struggling to keep up with the pace of a global economy that threatens to leave them in the dust if they do not summon the agility and drive that Gates refers to. This week long experience was something wonderful for me, not the least factor being that I had daily personal access to some of the best corporate coaches as facilitators, men and women in the vanguard of "rethinking, reinvigorating,reacting and reinventing" what it means to be a thriving and successful business in the post-modern world. Among the many personal consequences that this event left with me is the committed determination to attend the Integral Institute's seminar, Integral Organizational Leadership within the next eighteen months. For a glimpse of the dialogue that is going on already that addresses these vast complex issues I refer you to the video interview with Ken Wilber and Tami Simon, chief executive of the publishing firm Sounds True, The Practice of Integral Business. It is a work in progress, but the intentions aimed at charting new territory are already firmly in place. Let me give you another example. I am in the midst of finding a position in engineering graphics and have been researching prospective companies with a vengeance. One on the top of my list right now is Merrick & Company of Aurora,CO. By any standards an entry level candidate such as myself would be most fortunate to be asked to join this firm. But beyond the usual factors such as the company's fiscal health and future outlook, benefits package and corporate culture and a list of professional awards that places them nationally in the top of their industry ranking, one small item at the bottom of the About Us page caught my eye and continues to hold my attention; the Colorado Parents Magazine has consistently ranked Merrick in the top ten of Colorado's Best Employers for working families. Now to me that reveals a glimmer if not a bright ray of integral thinking on the part the a company that appears to be heading in the right direction.
So, why am I bothering to read a long list of books of the genre " the care and feeding of a business in the twenty first century"? Because my livelihood and the quality of my day to day life depend on it and I want to be a part of making it work, for myself and others who make up my community. And if the executive leadership are not assuming cognitive responsibility for the future wellbeing of their enterprise, all the more reason for someone who has the courage to face the real dilemma at hand, even if it is the backroom mail clerk whose offhand comment at the coffee machine may surprisingly take on a life of its own and end up on the desk of one who can "rethink, reinvigorate, react, and reinvent". That is the call.

THE COGNITIVE

2005-05-14T09:37:00.000-07:00

I have been listening to an audio version of Mozart's Brain and the Fighter Pilot: Unleashing Your Brains Potential by Richard MD Restak. The title sparked my imagination and at the risk of reducing his work to a trite truism, the book could easily be subtitled, "use it or lose it". To this end I have started building a list of books as a resource to include in my cognitive development. The titles cover the "full spectrum" of the cognitive, physical, psychodynamic, spiritual and professional modules I use to design my integral path. I have drawn from a wide range of quality resources and will continue to add titles as I come across them and I feel they have merit and pertain to enhancing an integral approach to life. These are books I have not read so there are no comments or annotations; you are on your own to pick and choose what appeals to you. As I do read a title from the list, if I feel I have anything worth saying about the work I will include it in a post where you are free to agree or disagree with my opinion. You can find the list by going to "my profile" and clicking on the wish list which will take you to Amazon to make it easier to find out more about any of the titles. I hope this serves as a useful resource leading to the longterm exercise of my mind and perhaps yours as well.

A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO HUMAN GROWTH

2005-05-11T04:02:00.000-07:00

Ken Wilber with Isaac

"Today we are faced with an astonishing opportunity. For the first time in history we have access to all the great transformational traditions of humanity. The introspective technologies of the mystics, east and west...The elemental power of the earth-based creeds...Body- and energy-centered practices...The deeply personal revelations of theism...The martial and aesthetic arts...all are vividly transmitted to us through the voices of their most accomplished masters. And that's not all. We also hold the priceless gifts of science: deep insight into our own physiology, psychology and social dynamics-plus the time, in leisure and life span, to make the most of it. This new wealth of opportunity calls us to a new, comprehensive approach to human growth and development. The call is to integrate, to take a panoramic view of self, culture and nature, and to embrace the insights and tools that serve the highest potential for All."

Ken Wilber
from Integral Institute

This vision statement gets fleshed out for me by using five general areas of focus or components that comprise the action centers for developing an integral path. They are; the physical, the cognitive, the psychodynamic, the spiritual and the professional. I will comment on each component here to give you (me) and idea of where I stand currently and the immediate direction in which I hope to proceed.

The Physical: Right now I try to walk each day for about half an hour. I need to lose a significant amount of weight and this aerobic exercise serves that purpose and I am making some progress. My benchmark is to lose one pound a week over an extended period of time and at some point switch my attention from weight loss to body fat percentage. As mentioned in a previous post I work with weights twice a week. If I were younger I would be using a three session per week routine, but I find I need a little more time to recover from my workouts at this stage of my life. I use framework #4 from Stuart McRobert's Beyond Brawn p.239. I also use his Weight Training Technique to learn the exercises and proper form and his The Muscle and Might Training Tracker to keep good records. Next is diet. I have cut out most of the fat I used to eat and try my best to eat six small meals a day; three of the normal type although the portions are much smaller, and three liquid meals. Because meal supplements are quite expensive I have a poor mans version using Carnation Instant Breakfast and add malted milk powder, three large scoops of nonfat dry milk and a tablespoon of vegetable oil which provides the fatty acids needed in a good diet plan. I work out at home with a starter set of dumbbells so I have no excuse for missing a workout. I have encountered a bit of a learning curve with the various exercises and need to continue improving my form and adding weight slowly on a weekly or bi-monthly basis. Doing all this underscores the need for plenty of sleep and that's at least eight hours for me.

The Cognitive: I have always enjoyed reading so I'm pretty well covered on this base. I have started to explore the use of affirmations and currently use the ones for my type in Don Richard Riso's Enneagram Transformations. I just completed a certificate program in engineering graphics and because of the speed at which software platforms are changing in this field I will remain a perpetual student in this area for the duration of my career. I recently completed the Integral Institute's workshop on Integral Transformative Practice and would like to attend their seminar on Integral Organizational Leadership within the next eighteen months. I resurrected my Gibson acoustic guitar from my closet and am resuming practice using video lessons where I left off many years ago. I would love to say that I have a mentor to accompany me on this ever expanding process, but they don't come cheap. I try to keep in touch with some key people I met during my ITP seminar to share ideas and inspiration for the work ahead.

The Psychodynamic: I continue the practice of receiving counseling on a weekly basis in the form of psychodynamic psychotherapy. I have been with my current therapist for over a year now and plan to continue that work indefinitely. As I mentioned in a previous post, the nature of our sessions is gradually evolving from a focus on pathology to one of growth and continuing development. I regard this part of my integral path very highly. As I mentioned above, I recently attended an Integral Institute seminar on Integral Transformative Practice. I won't describe that experience at this time other than to say it was magical for me. I will return to this subject in a future post. The creation of this blog came out of a motivation in the wake of the ITP seminar to share my experience and from a personal desire to give expression in images and writing to what happened during that week. Much of it still remains a mystery to me and more than once I have found myself commenting "How did they do that?" To say there were times I can only describe as facets of resurrection would not be hyperbole!

The Spiritual: Centering Prayer twice a day for about twenty minutes a period is the foundation of my spiritual practice. I want to begin to include what Thomas Keating describes as active prayer in the weeks to come. I used to read through the Bible each year for many years and then dropped the practice, feeling that I was just going through the motions and at the end of the year simply adding another notch to my belt. I'm beginning to think about taking up that devotion again but with a new perspective. There are some books on lectio devina that I want to read to this end to help me see scripture in a new light. I will keep you posted. For many years I used to spend ten days each August at St. Benedict's Monastery for an intensive centering prayer retreat. I currently am unable to afford that special time, but hope to save up for it in the next year or so. In a previous post I described my time there as very special.

The Professional: I have just completed a certificate program in engineering graphics and am in the thick of looking for a job now, so this consumes most of my energy in this module. I joined the American Institute of Architects and am hoping to arrange a mentoring relationship through that organization. I have broken the initial learning curves of two very powerful and complex programs, AutoCAD 2005 and Inventor 9. My next project is to begin learning Revit 6.1 and I have found some excellent free tutorials on line for this purpose. I am currently reading Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't by Jim Collins and have put together a very good reading list in the genre of business that I will share at a later date.

So that about wraps it up for now; a little of where I have been, where I am currently and a little of where I want to proceed in the weeks and months ahead.

THE PSYCHODYNAMIC

2005-05-09T07:28:00.000-07:00

A. H. Almaas

In The Inward Arc by Frances Vaughan she describes the growing phenomenon of people coming to psychotherapy for reasons that go beyond the need for healing, although that may be part of their motivation. Ken Wilber repeatedly warns us that no amount of meditation can come to the fullness of transforming our lives if pathologies remain that imprison our egos. As the familiar saying goes, "you have to have an ego before you can let go of it". Vaughan describes this as growth oriented therapy. Several years ago I came to a place in my meditation practice where I simply felt stuck. I don't know how else to describe it other than an intuitive sense that I needed the help of another adequately informed practitioner to nudge me in the right direction along the path. I had just finished reading Tony Schwartz's book What Really Matters which included his survey of the many therapy options then available to those interested in spiritual growth. His conclusion at that time was that the Diamond Approach as developed by A. H. Almaas was at the top of his list. Also known as Ridhwan therapy or "work" I proceeded to read a number of Almaas's books, probably the best known being the Diamond Heart series and my favorite Facets of Unity. I was fortunate enough to find someone in my area who had a psychotherapy practice based on the Diamond Heart approach and began what turned out to be a wonderful relationship as one of his students. Today I continue along this line, although with another therapist, with weekly sessions. Unfortunately among the general public, going to therapy still has a negative connotation associated with it. I overheard a close friend of mine in conversation with an office colleague of hers refer to my cherished Ridhwan therapist as "his head guy". This off hand comment hurt, but it came from the social norm that remains to this day the world of "flatland". I want to encourage anyone who takes their personal growth and development seriously to pursue growth therapy with enthusiasm even in the face of the circle of people in their life who may not understand. The hope of a fuller and more meaningful life for others may come from our modeling such a way of being. Even though few may have the ears to hear the call and answer it, it is good for me to remember that the call nevertheless is intended for everyone. As one who has a small portion of this inner Knowing I feel a responsibility to reach out to the many who still may lead lives of "quiet desperation".

Father Thomas Keating

2005-04-29T11:25:00.000-07:00

I love to read and I spend a lot of time browsing in my favorite book store. It was on one of these browsing excursions many years ago that I just happened across a series of audio cassettes by a man I had never heard of before on the subject of contemplative prayer. The man's name was Father Thomas Keating, a Trappist monk from St. Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass, CO. At the time I had a meditation practice, Transendental Meditation, which I had been doing for over a decade, but as Ken Wilber has said, "the Judeo/Christian Tradition runs in my DNA", and I was searching for a Christian version of meditation if any such animal even existed. Indeed it does. The cassette tapes were a summary of what is now called Centering Prayer as it is taught by Fr. Keating and described in detail in his book Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospels I purchased the tapes and later the book and listening to them for the first time was one of those wonderful experiences of "coming home". Centering Prayer was the practice I had unconsciously been searching for most of my adult life, and it was delivered to me in a most articulate and compassionate style by a man who now has a special place in my heart. Since that encounter in the book store I have met Fr.. Thomas many times, dined and prayed with him at St. Benedict's, read most of his writings and attended many of his seminars. I once impetuously tried to express by thanks to him with the gift of a sweater which he graciously declined. But I can't think of a living person I am more grateful to and who has played a larger role in my transformation than this special man!

*editor's note

2005-04-22T18:16:00.000-07:00

Blogspot only allows so many characters to describe the site and I maxed out before I could properly cite the quotes I used. I couldn't even squeeze in quotation marks. So here they are again, properly cited.

"I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance, to the full, till it overflows."
Jesus of Nazareth
John 10:10b

"Behold, I am doing a new thing! I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. I have called you by your name; you are mine.
Wait and listen, everyone who is thirsty! Come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Yes, come, buy priceless, spiritual wine and milk without money and without price simply for the self-surrender that accepts the blessing."
Isaiah Son of Amoz
Isaiah 43:20,1 and 55:1

THE VOW: THE CHRIST AND THE BODHISATTVA

2005-04-22T12:43:00.000-07:00

"Thus by the virtue collected
Through all that I have done,
May the pain of every living creature
Be completely cleared away!

May I be the doctor and the medicine
And may I be the nurse
For all sick beings in the world
Until everyone is healed!

May a rain of food and drink descend
To clear away the pain of thirst and hunger,
And during the eon of famine
May I myself change into food and drink!

May I become an inexhaustible treasure
For those who are poor and destitute;
May I turn into all the things they need
And may these be placed close beside them!

Without any sense of loss
I shall give up my body and enjoyments,
As well as my virtues of past, present, future,
For the sake of benefitting all!

By giving up all, sorrow is transcended
And my mind will realize the sorrowless state.
It is best that I now give everything to all beings
In the same way as I shall at death!

Having given this body up
For the pleasure of all living beings,
By killing, abusing, and beating it,
May they always do as they please!

Although they may play with my body,
And make it a source of jest and blame,
Because I have given it up to them,
What is the use of holding it dear?

Therefore I shall let them do anything to it,
As long as it does not cause them harm,
And whenever anyone encounters me,
May it never be meaningless for him!

Whether those who encounter me
Conceive a faithful or an angry thought,
May that always become the source
For fulfilling all their wishes!

May all who say bad things to me
Or cause me any other harm,
And those who mock and insult me
Have the fortune to awaken fully!

May I be Savior of those without one,
A guide for all travellers on the way;
May I be a bridge, a boat, and a ship,
For all who wish to cross the water!

May I be an island for those who seek one,
And a lamp for those desiring light!
May I be a bed for all who wish to rest,
And a slave for all who want a slave!

May I be a wishing jewel, a magic vase,
Powerful mantras, and great medicine,
May I become a wish-fulfilling tree,
And a cow of plenty for the world!

Just like space
And the great elements such as earth,
May I always suport the life
Of all the countless creatures!

And until they pass away from pain,
May I also be the source of life
For all the realms of varied beings
That reach unto the ends of space!

Just as the previous Sugatas
Conceived the spirit of enlightenment,
And just as they successively lived
In the Bodhisattva practices,

Likewise for the sake of all that lives
Do I conceive the Spirit of Enlightenment,
And likewise shall I too
Successively follow the practices."

The Christ and the Bodhisattva

TOOLS: BLESSED BE THE LIBRARY

2005-04-21T14:41:00.000-07:00

From the title of this blog it will come as no surprise that one of my favorite authors is Ken Wilber. In 1995 he published what is my favorite of his many books, Sex, Ecology, Spirituality. At the time I was living in the country on eight acres of forrest at about 7,000 ft. in the Colorado Rockies. My home was seven miles from the nearest paved road and thirteen miles from the nearest town. In that time the town was still small, but it boasted a modest library with a heritage that went back to the eighteen hundreds. And inside this library was one computer connected to the world wide web, and more importantly the interlibrary loan system that spread across the U.S. and now the world. I was one of those nuts who actually read all of Wilber's notes that accompanied SES and enjoyed them probably as much or more than the actual text itself. An when I say notes, we are talking in the thousands not a hundred or so. From time to time, among these notes would appear a rarely mentioned title covering some small detail of psychology, philosophy, spirituality or any of a number or other esoteric topics. I would hop into my pickup with my labrador and make the half hour drive to the library, this time certain that I had in hand a request the library could not fill. Yet that small rural library never failed me. Without any commentary the librarian simply took my slip of paper and entered the title into her computer and told me I would be receiving a card in the mail when the book arrived. One of life's small pleasures for me at that time was to look inside the front cover of the book as soon as I had it in hand to see how far a voyage it had taken to come to my small town. It was amazing and made me feel more and more grateful for the wonders this institution continued to provide for me. I have never been able to keep up with Wilber's thinking as it seems to morph every year or so, but God bless the library for letting me give my best shot at it!

SACRED TIME

2005-04-20T09:58:00.000-07:00

Whenever possible, I take time each summer in August to attend a ten day intensive retreat at St. Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado. A movie director could not have created a more wonderful setting for this Retreat Center that offers a year round schedule of events for those following the practice of Centering Prayer. You sit in your hermatige with a spectacular view of the Elk Range, Snowmass and Capital Peaks both 14,000+ ft. at your doorstep. One of my most memorable times at St. Benedict's was sitting in my cottage in front of the picture window and watching an afternoon thunderstorm build up above the snow capped peaks and finally obscuring my view for the twenty minutes of violence that followed, with strikes of lightening that could be felt in the chest. All this while listening to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Ode To Joy, with my headphones turned all the way up. Very special.

One of the fruits of my meditation that is slowly manifesting in my consciousness is that all time is sacred, not just the hours or days spent in centering prayer or whatever practice you call your own. The eighteenth century Jesuit Jean-Pierre De Caussade wrote beautifully about this in his The Sacrament of the Present Moment. Today a modern day prophet echoes De Caussade in The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.

Going to Snowmass is a treat I can not always afford myself, but it has helped me in the process of extending the longevity of "quiet mind" that I pursue with my meditation. I offer it for your consideration. A lovelier setting for "quiet mind" I have yet to find.

St. Benedict's Retreat Center

MEDITATION: FINDING YOUR WAY BACK HOME

2005-04-17T15:07:00.000-07:00

My first experience with meditation was taking up the practice of TM (Transcendental Meditation) while I was a seminary student in Chicago in the late 70's. My grandmother had sent me some extra money to purchase a typewriter to help me with my school assignments, but instead I used in to pay for the TM class. I can't tell you why I came to that decision other than an intuitive sense that there was something very important going on in the discipline of meditation. At the time I had just been introduced to the now well known book, The Cloud of Unknowing by a Franciscan friend, but no real Christian alternative to TM existed at that time.
So that was my practice for many years. As a result of a trip to the then Soviet Union to study the Christian Orthodox Church I picked up the use of the Jesus Prayer in what would now be termed a form of active prayer as opposed to contemplative meditation. It was many years later while browsing in my favorite bookstore that I chanced across a set of cassette tapes on contemplative prayer by Father Thomas Keating, a Trappist monk of St. Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass, CO. For me it was truly an experience of "coming home". Christianity is the wisdom tradition I come from and here was a method of meditation brought back to life from The Cloud of Unknowing mentioned above that resonated with the symbols and myths I was so familiar with. So that began a new practice, commonly referred to as Centering Prayer that I have used now for many years. Each of the world's wisdom traditions offer a bounty of alternatives if Centering Prayer does not suit your particular tastes and I affirm them all. This just happens to be the one I decided to adopt for the long walk ahead.
Let me end with some words of Ken Wilber from The Simple Feeling of Being. "This is the beginning of transcendence, of finding your way back home. You realize that you are one with the fabric of the universe, eternally. Your fear of death begins to subside, and you actually begin to feel, in a concrete and palpable way, the open and transparent nature for your own being. Feelings of gratitude and devotion arise in you-devotion to Spirit, in the form of the Christ, or Buddha, or Krishna; or devotion to your actual spiritual master; even devotion in general, and certainly devotion to all other sentient beings. The bodhisattva vow, in whatever form, arises from the depths of your being, and in a very powerful way. You realize you simply have to do whatever you can to help all sentient beings, and for the reason, as Schopenhauer said, that you realize that we all share the same non dual Self or Spirit or Absolute. All of this starts to become obvious-as obvious as rain on the roof. It is real and it is concrete."

2005-04-16T19:53:00.000-07:00

I bought this body caliper to keep track of my body fat percentage as a more accurate and kinder measure of my progress with my strength training program. With weightlifting, you can be losing fat while at the same time gaining muscle, so if losing weight is part of the agenda, trips to the scale can be discouraging at times when you are actually making great progress. This model is more accurate that those commonly found in sporting goods stores and I felt it was worth the added expense.

Body Calipers

PHYSICAL PRACTICE

2005-04-12T13:41:00.000-07:00

Here is an example in the form of where the rubber meets the road. I have decided to begin a serious program of strength training otherwise know as weight lifting, and I can assure you it involves a sizeable leap of faith on my part to engage in this particular practice. What does lifting weights have to do with spiritual growth?
I had a circular saw that I loved, but no longer used, sold it to a friend and used the money to purchase a starter set of dumbbells. I work out at home primarily because of my inclinations toward being a loner, and the fact that financially it is beyond my means for the time being to join a club. I also have taken on the practice of changing my diet. This adventure has been suprisingly painless and I have noticed almost immediate results. The weight training is another story. I am still learning what a lateral fly is as opposed to a one armed row; how many sets to perform with how many reps per set, and how much weight to use for each exercise. There is a learning curve, but I am making slow progress. I follow Framework 4 on p. 239 in Stuart McRobert's book referenced below. And I keep detailed records in his companion volume which I recommend. In addition, for cardiovascular work I walk usually daily for thirty minutes at a moderately brisk pace. I eat six small meals a day, three of the normal type and three liquid shakes. I try to get a least eight hours of sleep each night, and no longer feel guilty it I get more. As described in the above mentioned weight routine, I work out only twice a week for about forty five minutes to an hour at most. I approached this project with naive nonchalance in the beginning, but now have great respect for anyone who succeeds in pulling off such a major life style change as this involves. I am committed and will persevere, but this is the source of my lament from a previous post; this work is HARD!

Dumbbells

THE ICON: THE THUMBPRINT OF GOD

2005-04-11T09:51:00.000-07:00

There are five aspects that comprise the integral map I will be using; quadrants, levels, lines, states, and types. To qualify as an integral map each of these aspects must be addressed concurrently in one way or another. For a novice such as myself, another way of describing the map is the short form; body, mind, and spirit. My task is to develop a practice comprised of certain disciplines (injunctions) that address each area of my life as a vehicle of transformation, enabling me to realize the promise of a fuller and more meaningful life.

To aid the traveler on the integral path it is helpful to have images, charts, graphs and pictures as a means of orienting yourself and plotting the route for the next day's leg of the hike. But the bases that need to be covered are of such growing complexity, two dimensional or even three dimensional depictions are pushed to their limits. I will use them in the future as they have helped me, but we do well to remember that the map is not the terrain. The wind blows, breathes, where it will; and though you hear its sound, yet you neither know where it comes from nor where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

Another tool that can help us is the icon, with a long history and prominent place among the wisdom traditions of the world. In contrast to the signs and pointing out directions on our map, the icon is the child of symbol. The sign is the straight line on our map. The icon is the voice of the terrain as best as we can depict it in form, with all the power and mystery that we deeply sense we are in the presence of.

And Joseph awoke from his sleep and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it.

My gift to you is an icon for the integral path,a twenty first centruy madala; the fractal image above. It derives from the Mandelbrot set, a simple mathematical equation; Z=Z2+c, where the = sign includes arrows at the end of each line, making it an iteration; a math problem from your geometry teacher that goes on with out end, literally to infinity, and you fall asleep with your head on the desk. Discovered on March 1, 1980 by Dr. Benoit B. Mandelbrot, it brought with its arrival very concrete consequences, now used by such global giants as Microsoft, Mitsubishi, Virgin and Multicom to mention just a sampling, its most notable application in the field of fractal image compression systems. I could go on and on, but refer you to the reference listed below. Give yourself the present of the video, "Fractals; The Colors of Infinity" and soak up the wonder and enchantment that life holds for those with ears to hear and eyes to see.

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science."

Albert Einstein

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fractals_the_colors_of_infinity/

THE BODY

2005-04-10T22:53:00.000-07:00

"I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure."

Eric Liddell
Chariots of Fire

Do you not know that your body is the temple, the very sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who lives within you, whom you have received as a gift from God? You are not your own. You were bought with a price, purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made his own. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body.

THE MAP

2005-04-10T20:37:00.000-07:00

"Behold the eloquence of the spiral. Consider the internal integrity, the elegant architecture. Everything connects to everything else. In your mind's eye picture the beauty of a sea shell; with your mind's eye listen to its roar. Now imagine a Thanksgiving banquet table. Out from the spiraling cornucopia, the mythical horn of plenty , pours the abundance of harvest. Next, think of the night sky. Look out into the cosmos and imagine Earth's place in it, a little hanger-on following one of the billions of swirling spots in the Milky Way, itself a swirling blob among billions."
Spiral Dynamics.

The maps I will be using on my explorations were given to me as a gift. Maps are scarce these days because the new land is virgin and mostly unexplored and unmapped. I am deeply grateful for these priceless pieces of paper with their crucial signs and directions for my journey. The words "thank you" seem most inadequate. Nevertheless, from deep within my heart, mind and soul, thank you to;

Inside the Eagle Nebulaeagle

2005-03-24T11:11:00.000-07:00

This image is from NASA's Web site, Astronomy Picture of the Day. I find myself spending a lot of time here in the evenings just letting the influence of such a vast perspective filter in to me and quiet the turmoil accumulated from the day's labor.