States and Stages (Jan 21 2007) part 2

4:16 - you have to present the information in a way the audience can hear

5:32 - the world traditions offered types of non-ordinary reality

6:13 - you got access to these non-ordinary realities through non-ordinary consciousness

6:49 - there was ordinary, rational, egoic reality (bad), and there was anything that was not rational, not ego, non-rational (God) (note: pre-trans fallacy!)

8:17 - stages unfold in a sequential order

9:51 - the higher you got in stages / levels, the wider they got

11:22 - the stages of enlightenment didn't match with the stages of psychological structures

12:04 - states can unfold in stages, though it's more common in structures

12:36 - the incorrect way of fitting them together was to stack the psychic - subtle - causal - nondual states on top of the psychological stages

13:21 - many people who had spiritual experiences weren't very developed through the stages

15:12 - people are in a state and a structure at all times

16:05 - you can be at any structure of consciousness and have any state experience

17:55 - there are two different types of growth, vertical growth (through the structures / stages of consciousness) and horizontal growth (through states)

23:39 - the self moves through the levels, identifies with the level, then disidentifies with the level, and then integrates it

25:11 - the self moves through states, also

27:55 - it's useful to talk about a center of gravity in a dual sense

30:19 - the traditions, Vedanta particularly, saw the differences between the structures (sheaths) of consciousness and the states of consciousness and the bodies

31:00 - states and structures are independent

31:07 - be careful to note that though we often use the terms structures and stages interchangeably, actually structures and (some) states both do have stages

33:24 - structures are spirit's permanent unfolding, complexifies in physical matter until full awakening

33:52 - but you can experience any state at any stage / structure / level, all the way up to full enlightenment

34:20 - states are the samsara offramp to awakening, structures are the evolutionary path to awakening

34:28 - which is better? you want both, you want to engage in the evolutionary game and not be identified with it (the two truths doctrine, being in both the relative realm and the absolute realm)

36:21 - structures and states develop independently

40:43 - the Bodhisattva approach is to approach and affect people where they're at, and invite them, give them opportunities to grow if they want to or need to

41:29 - allowing each stage to be what it is, helping each stage to be the healthiest it can be

56:46 - the world is whole, but seen differently by different people (a nested hierarchical view)

57:41 - Judging and ranking is mandatory

59:10 - the dark night is seeing paradise, and realizing that only 2% agrees with you