10:26 - love all sentient beings without exception
13:30 - structures of consciousness are not chosen
26:34 - the bulk of development rests with the infant
34:41 - meditation is the most effective thing demonstrated to move people through the stages
37:12 - and even then, the social environment has to encourage growth
38:21 - meditation alone isn't powerful enough to override social pressure
39:39 - certain states can accelerate movement through stages
Friday, February 25, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
3-01. Ken's Introduction to Stages
0:10 - both structures of consciousness and states of consciousness can unfold in stages, but states of consciousness usually don't, and structures of consciousness almost always do
1:16 - a structure is any stable pattern
2:10 - the whole often determines what the parts do
2:22 - the structure is a dynamic pattern (think of a whirlpool)
5:10 - most stage conceptions are forms of developmental structuralism
5:54 - Gebser's Integral is the collection of green and above
6:30 -Baldwin outlined the developmental levels in the cognitive line, the aesthetic line and the normative line (among others)
9:02 - Kant examined the structures as the preconditions for having experience (and thus, they're transcendental and a priori)
10:38 - only structures that have developed can be conceived
10:55 - structures can't be experienced (states, experiences, phenomena can)
12:30 - this is why the structure-stages have no history in the great traditions
17:49 - the kind of stages we find in the traditions are state-stages, states of experience that unfold in a sequence
18:01 - most states of consciousness come and go with no development or sequentiality
18:23 - five major states of consciousness according to the great traditions
23:12 - waves are another word for stages, to give the idea there is an amount of fluidity in play
23:54 - structures are probability clouds
1:16 - a structure is any stable pattern
2:10 - the whole often determines what the parts do
2:22 - the structure is a dynamic pattern (think of a whirlpool)
5:10 - most stage conceptions are forms of developmental structuralism
5:54 - Gebser's Integral is the collection of green and above
6:30 -Baldwin outlined the developmental levels in the cognitive line, the aesthetic line and the normative line (among others)
9:02 - Kant examined the structures as the preconditions for having experience (and thus, they're transcendental and a priori)
10:38 - only structures that have developed can be conceived
10:55 - structures can't be experienced (states, experiences, phenomena can)
12:30 - this is why the structure-stages have no history in the great traditions
17:49 - the kind of stages we find in the traditions are state-stages, states of experience that unfold in a sequence
18:01 - most states of consciousness come and go with no development or sequentiality
18:23 - five major states of consciousness according to the great traditions
23:12 - waves are another word for stages, to give the idea there is an amount of fluidity in play
23:54 - structures are probability clouds
Thursday, February 10, 2011
2-04. Spiritual Practice and Cultural Embedment
8:08 - structures of consciousness have a hand in the structure and form of phenomena that appear
8:20 - there are a priori conditions that determine the type of phenomena that do appear
8:55 - pre-Kantian thinking is called metaphysical, post-Kantian is called critical
9:01 - structures were thought to be inherent in objects; Kant found that they were in part created by the subject
10:27 - culture is a magnet
12:19 - the structure of pre-operational and concrete operational thinking are universal, with varying surface structures
13:09 - pre-operational thinking represents objects to thought, but cannot operate on them
13:32 - concrete operational can start to operate on an object (as well as represent it)
14:01 - formal operational can perform the operations mentally
15:35 - the moment of experience is the most fundamental reality
20:36 - each stage adds some amount of freedom
20:50 - lower levels are strongly deterministic; higher levels aren't as deterministic
24:27 - getting lost in a perspective is the experience of samsara
27:42 - modernity requires evidence; post-modernity says that the subject is involved in the phenomena being perceived
28:16 - there's a narrow empiricism and a broad empiricism
30:09 - contemplative prayer or vipassana will free you from your ego, it will not free you from your culture
31:38 - there are several ways culture seeps into your cognition that your cognition is unaware of
31:50 - one of the simplest ways is the structure of language
31:54 - if you think in English there are a whole lot of implicit assumptions about reality that are in the structure of your language that may not be the structure of reality
32:06 - a satori will not break you from cultural influences
36:50 - meditation will not free you of cultural biases, but it will give you higher perspectives that have a capacity of reflecting on them, making it more likely that you will question them
37:08 - (but it's still not a guarantee)
37:39 - anybody can get enlightenment at any level
37:47 - but enlightenment won't get you free from your level
38:02 - absolute reality is not something you can see, it's the seer
38:10 - vertical growth adds the number of perspectives your enlightenment can exist in
40:48 - a tradition gets you to transcend your individual ego; the next step is to transcend the tradition
41:08 - identifying oneself as a member of a tradition is another drawing a boundary
41:31 - cafeteria style mix and match spirituality is generally a bad idea
8:20 - there are a priori conditions that determine the type of phenomena that do appear
8:55 - pre-Kantian thinking is called metaphysical, post-Kantian is called critical
9:01 - structures were thought to be inherent in objects; Kant found that they were in part created by the subject
10:27 - culture is a magnet
12:19 - the structure of pre-operational and concrete operational thinking are universal, with varying surface structures
13:09 - pre-operational thinking represents objects to thought, but cannot operate on them
13:32 - concrete operational can start to operate on an object (as well as represent it)
14:01 - formal operational can perform the operations mentally
15:35 - the moment of experience is the most fundamental reality
20:36 - each stage adds some amount of freedom
20:50 - lower levels are strongly deterministic; higher levels aren't as deterministic
24:27 - getting lost in a perspective is the experience of samsara
27:42 - modernity requires evidence; post-modernity says that the subject is involved in the phenomena being perceived
28:16 - there's a narrow empiricism and a broad empiricism
30:09 - contemplative prayer or vipassana will free you from your ego, it will not free you from your culture
31:38 - there are several ways culture seeps into your cognition that your cognition is unaware of
31:50 - one of the simplest ways is the structure of language
31:54 - if you think in English there are a whole lot of implicit assumptions about reality that are in the structure of your language that may not be the structure of reality
32:06 - a satori will not break you from cultural influences
36:50 - meditation will not free you of cultural biases, but it will give you higher perspectives that have a capacity of reflecting on them, making it more likely that you will question them
37:08 - (but it's still not a guarantee)
37:39 - anybody can get enlightenment at any level
37:47 - but enlightenment won't get you free from your level
38:02 - absolute reality is not something you can see, it's the seer
38:10 - vertical growth adds the number of perspectives your enlightenment can exist in
40:48 - a tradition gets you to transcend your individual ego; the next step is to transcend the tradition
41:08 - identifying oneself as a member of a tradition is another drawing a boundary
41:31 - cafeteria style mix and match spirituality is generally a bad idea
Sunday, February 6, 2011
2-03. Kosmic Address and the Pauli Exclusion Principle
4:51 - self-reflexive awareness doesn't get started until second person
5:14 - self-reflexive introspective awareness doesn't get started until orange
6:19 - an electron interprets its shell as empty or full (not self-reflexively)
14:02 - a holon has its own unique perspective (first person source of prehension)
15:32 - manifestation is not just perception (a subject perceiving objects), it is perspectives
16:16 - the only time there is a perception is through a perspective
16:21 - the universe is composed of perspectives
16:34 - subject perceiving an object is only part of it, it is an I prehending a me, we or it
17:21 - perspectives without pure awareness is samsara, perspectives with pure awareness is nirvana plus samsara, nonduality
19:16 - your awakening will be expressed through your unique perspective
19:21 - your unique perspective is necessary for the expression of the awakening
19:42 - God needs humans to awaken to God (some traditions have said)
19:59 - even God cannot have your unique perception, your unique perception is your offering to the world
5:14 - self-reflexive introspective awareness doesn't get started until orange
6:19 - an electron interprets its shell as empty or full (not self-reflexively)
14:02 - a holon has its own unique perspective (first person source of prehension)
15:32 - manifestation is not just perception (a subject perceiving objects), it is perspectives
16:16 - the only time there is a perception is through a perspective
16:21 - the universe is composed of perspectives
16:34 - subject perceiving an object is only part of it, it is an I prehending a me, we or it
17:21 - perspectives without pure awareness is samsara, perspectives with pure awareness is nirvana plus samsara, nonduality
19:16 - your awakening will be expressed through your unique perspective
19:21 - your unique perspective is necessary for the expression of the awakening
19:42 - God needs humans to awaken to God (some traditions have said)
19:59 - even God cannot have your unique perception, your unique perception is your offering to the world
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
2-02. 4th-, 5th-, and 6th-Person Perspectives
15:56 - when you can have a perspective on another's perspective, you start to transcend your own
16:09 - every holon up to red is stuck in its own perspective (1st person perspective)
16:30 - when red hits, concrete operational thinking emerges, the ability to think about thinking
17:31 - thought operating on thought, hypothetico-deductive reasoning
17:41 - conditional reasoning, what if I did this, or as if I were doing this
17:57 - science is a third person, universal, objective view, requiring a third person perspective capability (late amber and above)
20:08 - the insight of green - there are different perspectives beyond the reductionistic universal truth of science
21:37 - the disaster of green - multiple truths with no way to judge them
22:50 - unchecked pluralism degenerates into nihilism, narcissism and fragmentation
24:00 - the insight of 2nd tier - there are universal currents that tie together these different perspectives
28:15 - the ideas of each stage tend to come as a package - orange introduces scientific third person concepts, green introduces post-modern, fourth person concepts, etc.
28:57 - understanding the AQAL model is taking a fifth person perspective
33:23 - each increase in perspective is an increase in capacity to take more roles, to understand more sentient beings, an increase in freedom and love
35:01 - the reason for using morphogenetic fields - an evolving kosmos solves the metaphysical problem of pre-existing structures, the great chain of being, etc.
39:34 - there are a few givens, a certain amount of things that have to be presupposed to start a universe
40:08 - pre-fixed structures are dependent on perception
40:18 - this moment prehends, transcends and includes, the previous moment, the subject of this moment becomes an object of the subject of the next moment
40:44 - once you have that, you have holarchy
40:50 - each moment has two components - continuity and novelty (include and transcend)
42:45 - if you're starting to stably transcend turquoise, that doesn't mean you're at indigo (it hasn't formed yet)
43:01 - the earlier structures were mistaken for pre-determined and fixed and eternal because they are so solidly formed
49:51 - the structures could have formed differently
49:55 - the gift of orange - the differentiation of the value spheres and the quadrants
50:14 - the mistake of orange - science colonizing art and morals
16:09 - every holon up to red is stuck in its own perspective (1st person perspective)
16:30 - when red hits, concrete operational thinking emerges, the ability to think about thinking
17:31 - thought operating on thought, hypothetico-deductive reasoning
17:41 - conditional reasoning, what if I did this, or as if I were doing this
17:57 - science is a third person, universal, objective view, requiring a third person perspective capability (late amber and above)
20:08 - the insight of green - there are different perspectives beyond the reductionistic universal truth of science
21:37 - the disaster of green - multiple truths with no way to judge them
22:50 - unchecked pluralism degenerates into nihilism, narcissism and fragmentation
24:00 - the insight of 2nd tier - there are universal currents that tie together these different perspectives
28:15 - the ideas of each stage tend to come as a package - orange introduces scientific third person concepts, green introduces post-modern, fourth person concepts, etc.
28:57 - understanding the AQAL model is taking a fifth person perspective
33:23 - each increase in perspective is an increase in capacity to take more roles, to understand more sentient beings, an increase in freedom and love
35:01 - the reason for using morphogenetic fields - an evolving kosmos solves the metaphysical problem of pre-existing structures, the great chain of being, etc.
39:34 - there are a few givens, a certain amount of things that have to be presupposed to start a universe
40:08 - pre-fixed structures are dependent on perception
40:18 - this moment prehends, transcends and includes, the previous moment, the subject of this moment becomes an object of the subject of the next moment
40:44 - once you have that, you have holarchy
40:50 - each moment has two components - continuity and novelty (include and transcend)
42:45 - if you're starting to stably transcend turquoise, that doesn't mean you're at indigo (it hasn't formed yet)
43:01 - the earlier structures were mistaken for pre-determined and fixed and eternal because they are so solidly formed
49:51 - the structures could have formed differently
49:55 - the gift of orange - the differentiation of the value spheres and the quadrants
50:14 - the mistake of orange - science colonizing art and morals
Friday, January 7, 2011
2-01. Quadrants and the "Big Three"
12:10 - A boundary creates a universe (cf. G. Spencer Brown)
13:18 - saying that a universe comes into existence when you demarcate an inside from an outside is the same thing as saying that the subject of one moment prehends the previous moment's subject as object (cf. Whitehead)
13:33 - you can't have a singular without a plural
14:29 - the inside and the outside of a singular and a plural is the four quadrants
14:33 - and the four quadrants are irreducible
17:04 - there are a lot of trinities in the traditions, some identifying levels, some identifying quadrants, some identifying states, some identifying types
24:34 - where the danger is, there the healing power lies
24:41 - seen apart from spirit, every occasion is hell, when seen as a manifestation of spirit, every occasion is fully realized heaven and the path to heaven
25:16 - the samskaras / the beginning stages of prehension are the foundation of a path, the path of the creation of the illusion of a self if misunderstood and the path of realization if understood
13:18 - saying that a universe comes into existence when you demarcate an inside from an outside is the same thing as saying that the subject of one moment prehends the previous moment's subject as object (cf. Whitehead)
13:33 - you can't have a singular without a plural
14:29 - the inside and the outside of a singular and a plural is the four quadrants
14:33 - and the four quadrants are irreducible
17:04 - there are a lot of trinities in the traditions, some identifying levels, some identifying quadrants, some identifying states, some identifying types
24:34 - where the danger is, there the healing power lies
24:41 - seen apart from spirit, every occasion is hell, when seen as a manifestation of spirit, every occasion is fully realized heaven and the path to heaven
25:16 - the samskaras / the beginning stages of prehension are the foundation of a path, the path of the creation of the illusion of a self if misunderstood and the path of realization if understood
Thursday, January 6, 2011
1-05. Misinterpreting States and Stages
9:21 - quadrant absolutism
18:39 - structures are structures of first person consciousness
18:49 - bodies hold up the structures
21:21 - technically, gross, subtle and causal do not apply to consciousness - they apply to matter/energy bodies in the upper right quadrant
24:35 - but, yes, occasionally gross, subtle and causal are used to refer to the states of consciousness supported by those bodies
26:12 - you can't move to a different stage by permanently acquiring an altered state - the most you can achieve is a plateau experience
26:31 - you can extend certain understandings that come with states and make that understanding permanently available
27:37 - states can be trained and trained states unfold in stages
28:08 - here's why structures is the better term to use than stages - both structures and states have stages
28:34 - states are mostly random, and tend to not unfold in stages unless trained
28:42 - for the stages of unfolding of trained states, see Underhill, Brown, etc.
18:39 - structures are structures of first person consciousness
18:49 - bodies hold up the structures
21:21 - technically, gross, subtle and causal do not apply to consciousness - they apply to matter/energy bodies in the upper right quadrant
24:35 - but, yes, occasionally gross, subtle and causal are used to refer to the states of consciousness supported by those bodies
26:12 - you can't move to a different stage by permanently acquiring an altered state - the most you can achieve is a plateau experience
26:31 - you can extend certain understandings that come with states and make that understanding permanently available
27:37 - states can be trained and trained states unfold in stages
28:08 - here's why structures is the better term to use than stages - both structures and states have stages
28:34 - states are mostly random, and tend to not unfold in stages unless trained
28:42 - for the stages of unfolding of trained states, see Underhill, Brown, etc.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
1-04. Uniting Multiple Disciplines
6:44 - development to second tier is necessary for even understanding this stuff
10:41 - fear diminishes at second tier
10:41 - fear diminishes at second tier
Monday, January 3, 2011
1-03. Full Enlightenment
16:40 - spiritual experiences are states (and can be experienced at any level/stage)
18:04 - there are four major stages of meditation
18:11 - these are the major states of consciousness
18:18 - gross to subtle to causal to nondual
18:22 - the traditions identify four or five major states of consciousness - waking, dreaming (subtle awareness), deep formless sleep, witnessing (turiya), turiyatita (nondual)
18:51 - although these states will tend to unfold in this order, they are fairly fluid
19:04 - a peak experience of a higher state can happen because they are always present in all at all times
19:15 - but peak experiences of structures can't happen
19:51 - you can experience any state while being at any structure
22:00 - why wouldn't a higher state bring someone up to a higher structure?
22:26 - because the surrounding culture plays a part
22:31 - line development is uneven
23:48 - peak experiences are interpreted from the level the experiencer or the surrounding culture is centered at
18:04 - there are four major stages of meditation
18:11 - these are the major states of consciousness
18:18 - gross to subtle to causal to nondual
18:22 - the traditions identify four or five major states of consciousness - waking, dreaming (subtle awareness), deep formless sleep, witnessing (turiya), turiyatita (nondual)
18:51 - although these states will tend to unfold in this order, they are fairly fluid
19:04 - a peak experience of a higher state can happen because they are always present in all at all times
19:15 - but peak experiences of structures can't happen
19:51 - you can experience any state while being at any structure
22:00 - why wouldn't a higher state bring someone up to a higher structure?
22:26 - because the surrounding culture plays a part
22:31 - line development is uneven
23:48 - peak experiences are interpreted from the level the experiencer or the surrounding culture is centered at
Sunday, January 2, 2011
1-02. Markers of Development
1:08 - How would you interpret the constitution? constructionists want to find the primal meaning of the framers
1:25 - you have to take into account the kosmic addresses, the altitude of the people who wrote it, and the altitude of the people interpreting it
2:22 - are there signs to show that a practitioner is moving in the right direction or the wrong direction? how do you know what is positive and healthy and what is pathological?
3:14 - we don't know all of them, we're still learning
3:41 - impulses and drives change from stage to stage, so eventually you don't have the desire to do anything deleterious to your well-being
4:19 - lines develop unevenly
5:17 - horizontal health is balancing
5:47 - the four quadrants are connected
7:10 - first person meditation can lead to the pure self, absolute subjectivity
7:45 - but ego can still hide, you might have gone from small ego to big ego
8:01 - and there's no real way to tell
8:04 - a lot of Mahayana Buddhists were bypassing the great Thou, the thing bigger than themselves
8:14 - don't overlook spirit-in-second-person
8:28 - spirit-in-second person forces you to let go, to surrender your ego
8:41 - just developing the upper left and nothing else is unbalanced
9:19 - is horizontal development necessary for vertical growth?
9:27 - the more you balance the quadrants at any stage, the healthier the horizontal translation, the more rapidly you transform
10:20 - men tend to pay too much attention to I or It, women tend to pay too much attention to We
11:21 - something can still go wrong in the lower levels even after your center of gravity has moved past them
11:38 - you can see this with the many cases of spiritual teachers who are unhealthy and unbalanced
12:48 - discipline is quite a taboo in America these days
13:16 - discipline is required for spiritual growth
14:04 - Aurobindo's two heart centers
17:01 - structures of consciousness - Graves, Loevinger, Kegan, Piaget, Kohlberg, etc. - zone two
17:15 - you don't find structures in the great spiritual traditions - the traditions are phenomenological, and can't be seen through introspection
1:25 - you have to take into account the kosmic addresses, the altitude of the people who wrote it, and the altitude of the people interpreting it
2:22 - are there signs to show that a practitioner is moving in the right direction or the wrong direction? how do you know what is positive and healthy and what is pathological?
3:14 - we don't know all of them, we're still learning
3:41 - impulses and drives change from stage to stage, so eventually you don't have the desire to do anything deleterious to your well-being
4:19 - lines develop unevenly
5:17 - horizontal health is balancing
5:47 - the four quadrants are connected
7:10 - first person meditation can lead to the pure self, absolute subjectivity
7:45 - but ego can still hide, you might have gone from small ego to big ego
8:01 - and there's no real way to tell
8:04 - a lot of Mahayana Buddhists were bypassing the great Thou, the thing bigger than themselves
8:14 - don't overlook spirit-in-second-person
8:28 - spirit-in-second person forces you to let go, to surrender your ego
8:41 - just developing the upper left and nothing else is unbalanced
9:19 - is horizontal development necessary for vertical growth?
9:27 - the more you balance the quadrants at any stage, the healthier the horizontal translation, the more rapidly you transform
10:20 - men tend to pay too much attention to I or It, women tend to pay too much attention to We
11:21 - something can still go wrong in the lower levels even after your center of gravity has moved past them
11:38 - you can see this with the many cases of spiritual teachers who are unhealthy and unbalanced
12:48 - discipline is quite a taboo in America these days
13:16 - discipline is required for spiritual growth
14:04 - Aurobindo's two heart centers
17:01 - structures of consciousness - Graves, Loevinger, Kegan, Piaget, Kohlberg, etc. - zone two
17:15 - you don't find structures in the great spiritual traditions - the traditions are phenomenological, and can't be seen through introspection
Saturday, January 1, 2011
1-01. Ken’s Introduction
Starting over, using the track times for the A Deeper Cut series.
0:24 - the twenty tenets are third person statements about third person objects
0:36 - the first person view is feeling, prehension, direct phenomenological feeling
0:44 - is everything constructed of holons? that's true on one level, but everything is actually constructed of perspectives (because something is a perspective before it's anything else)
0:24 - the twenty tenets are third person statements about third person objects
0:36 - the first person view is feeling, prehension, direct phenomenological feeling
0:44 - is everything constructed of holons? that's true on one level, but everything is actually constructed of perspectives (because something is a perspective before it's anything else)
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Integral Post Metaphysics (May 27 2007) part 4
3:20 - the twenty tenets are just tendencies; try to hold this stuff loosely
7:30 - a new holon includes eros
7:50 - a new holon has prehension, prehends its preceding moment
8:58 - including is the past determining a holon's present configuration; transcending is introducing novelty / creativity
18:01 - the horizon (the end limit) for vertical development (structures) is supermind (still sounds goofy to me), the horizon for horizontal development (states) is big mind
32:47 - when you understand the difference between states and structures, a lot of the traditions' ideas about ascending and descending paths become much more coherent
36:38 - higher structures eventually include states
46:04 - cultures survive adding a higher stage only if they make the previous stage a workable, functional station of life
7:30 - a new holon includes eros
7:50 - a new holon has prehension, prehends its preceding moment
8:58 - including is the past determining a holon's present configuration; transcending is introducing novelty / creativity
18:01 - the horizon (the end limit) for vertical development (structures) is supermind (still sounds goofy to me), the horizon for horizontal development (states) is big mind
32:47 - when you understand the difference between states and structures, a lot of the traditions' ideas about ascending and descending paths become much more coherent
36:38 - higher structures eventually include states
46:04 - cultures survive adding a higher stage only if they make the previous stage a workable, functional station of life
Friday, August 21, 2009
Integral Post Metaphysics (May 27 2007) part 3
3:44 - meditation can cement you at a certain level
3:51 - if the quadrants are working with you, meditation can help you develop
8:38 - the formless infinite ground, Nirguna Brahman, subsists before humans, but does not exist until humans
45:19 - the theological conundrum: God is all-knowing, all-present and all-good; you can have two of those
53:52 - involutionary givens: what are the minimum requirements needed?
54:26 - 1. eros
56:23 - 2. logos
57:11 - 3. spacetime cosmos
58:42 - when you get an explanation of what those three are, that will vary according to altitude
3:51 - if the quadrants are working with you, meditation can help you develop
8:38 - the formless infinite ground, Nirguna Brahman, subsists before humans, but does not exist until humans
45:19 - the theological conundrum: God is all-knowing, all-present and all-good; you can have two of those
53:52 - involutionary givens: what are the minimum requirements needed?
54:26 - 1. eros
56:23 - 2. logos
57:11 - 3. spacetime cosmos
58:42 - when you get an explanation of what those three are, that will vary according to altitude
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Integral Post Metaphysics (May 27 2007) part 2
0:10 - enlightenment is not the result of any action (that would make realization temporal)
0:39 - what's happening is you're going through each state one by one, exhaustively seeing that it's not there
4:26 - progression is making each state an object
4:38 - if you can see it, it's not your real self
20:40 - is what's arising dependent on the altitude?
20:57 - the traditions described nondual as the union of emptiness and form, but keep in mind that form is evolving
21:25 - you can have state enlightenment, and only be one with all form up to a certain level
21:37 - if the higher structures haven't arisen in your awareness, you can't be one with them
22:38 - so if we're having a discussion about enlightenment, be sure to determine whether it's vertical enlightenment or horizontal enlightenment
57:33 - nonduality is the union of freedom and fullness
0:39 - what's happening is you're going through each state one by one, exhaustively seeing that it's not there
4:26 - progression is making each state an object
4:38 - if you can see it, it's not your real self
20:40 - is what's arising dependent on the altitude?
20:57 - the traditions described nondual as the union of emptiness and form, but keep in mind that form is evolving
21:25 - you can have state enlightenment, and only be one with all form up to a certain level
21:37 - if the higher structures haven't arisen in your awareness, you can't be one with them
22:38 - so if we're having a discussion about enlightenment, be sure to determine whether it's vertical enlightenment or horizontal enlightenment
57:33 - nonduality is the union of freedom and fullness
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Integral Post Metaphysics (May 27 2007) part 1
1:53 - the nine yanas, the nine vehicles in Tibetan Buddhism, the stages of meditative development are states of consciousness
2:11 - which is horizontal development
2:15 - vertical development is structures of consciousness
19:57 - social holons are individual holons plus their exchanged artefacts
20:13 - institutions don't have agency; institutions are the pathways that human agency follows
21:09 - socio-cultural holons don't have a dominant monad
24:24 - green has a tendency to not allow development or discussion of growth, because that implies that something is better than something else
34:33 - the ten paramitas are lines
36:56 - there are state-stages of meditation
37:25 - there's a difference between structures of consciousness and states of consciousness
37:30 - and thus, a difference between structure-stages (Loevinger) and state-stages (Underhill, ten ox herding pictures, St. John of the Cross, St. Theresa's seven mansions, etc.)
38:19 - They are both developmental, but are not the same kind of stages
38:31 - meditation and contemplative stages are transpersonal stages (so far so good)
38:39 - modern psychology deals with pre-personal and personal stages (here it comes)
38:44 - so let's stick the transpersonal stages on top! (wrong!)
40:13 - meditation allows you to push wakefulness from the waking state into subtle, causal and nondual (state-stages)
42:22 - what happens in meditation is you wake up; that means literally you push wakefulness into waking, dreaming and deep sleep
44:35 - what's wrong with the statement "you have to be somebody before you can be nobody"?
44:56 - if that were true, then only people at an extremely high level of development could have spiritual experiences (that's obviously wrong)
47:58 - developing through state-stages can help accelerate development through structure-stages
49:08 - in structural development, that statement is of course correct, you have to form an egoic structure before you can transcend it (the same as having to develop rationality first to get to post-rational, etc.)
49:44 - states of consciousness are ever-present; structures aren't ever-present
57:10 - why is enlightenment important?
58:18 - Buddha and Christ didn't have Buddhism and Christianity in mind
58:27 - perfectly realized human being is an oxymoron
58:52 - good definition of awakening: one's awakening to the realization of how ignorant one truly is (awakening as the beginning of spiritual maturity, not the end)
2:11 - which is horizontal development
2:15 - vertical development is structures of consciousness
19:57 - social holons are individual holons plus their exchanged artefacts
20:13 - institutions don't have agency; institutions are the pathways that human agency follows
21:09 - socio-cultural holons don't have a dominant monad
24:24 - green has a tendency to not allow development or discussion of growth, because that implies that something is better than something else
34:33 - the ten paramitas are lines
36:56 - there are state-stages of meditation
37:25 - there's a difference between structures of consciousness and states of consciousness
37:30 - and thus, a difference between structure-stages (Loevinger) and state-stages (Underhill, ten ox herding pictures, St. John of the Cross, St. Theresa's seven mansions, etc.)
38:19 - They are both developmental, but are not the same kind of stages
38:31 - meditation and contemplative stages are transpersonal stages (so far so good)
38:39 - modern psychology deals with pre-personal and personal stages (here it comes)
38:44 - so let's stick the transpersonal stages on top! (wrong!)
40:13 - meditation allows you to push wakefulness from the waking state into subtle, causal and nondual (state-stages)
42:22 - what happens in meditation is you wake up; that means literally you push wakefulness into waking, dreaming and deep sleep
44:35 - what's wrong with the statement "you have to be somebody before you can be nobody"?
44:56 - if that were true, then only people at an extremely high level of development could have spiritual experiences (that's obviously wrong)
47:58 - developing through state-stages can help accelerate development through structure-stages
49:08 - in structural development, that statement is of course correct, you have to form an egoic structure before you can transcend it (the same as having to develop rationality first to get to post-rational, etc.)
49:44 - states of consciousness are ever-present; structures aren't ever-present
57:10 - why is enlightenment important?
58:18 - Buddha and Christ didn't have Buddhism and Christianity in mind
58:27 - perfectly realized human being is an oxymoron
58:52 - good definition of awakening: one's awakening to the realization of how ignorant one truly is (awakening as the beginning of spiritual maturity, not the end)
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Appendix 1 (May 12 2007) part 2
2:16 - contextualization, green postmodernism sounds like Maha Ati (but there's no injunction)
11:55 - generally, ontology is the study of being
12:26 - epistemology is the study of knowing
12:50 - metaphysics is the study of reality
18:33 - while in I Am-ness, there's not even a sense of I-ness; there's no first or second or third person; there's just everything arising and self-cognizing
18:43 - as soon as there's a boundary in your own self, that indicates others (God, perhaps, or others like yourself)
19:16 - Nirvikalpa - without form; Savikalpa - with form
19:26 - Nirguna Brahman is Brahman without qualities and can only be known through the injunctions to awaken the direct experience of it
20:57 - coming out of an experience of oneness, then experiencing a boundary (and thus, others) can be overwhelming
24:21 - agape is the love that embraces
24:24 - you get to nonduality by having the union of emptiness and form; when emptiness and form are one, that's nonduality
25:04 - could emptiness emerge?
26:08 - Nirguna Brahman has no qualities; Saguna Brahman has qualities
26:43 - Saguna Brahman is evolving; emptiness isn't
26:52 - Whitehead divides Godhead into primordial nature and consequent nature
27:02 - primordial nature is Sine qua non, necessary qualities
27:29 - consequent nature is the sum total of the evolving world
27:42 - Saguna Brahman has an agape, a reaching down to embrace everything that has emerged; and has an eros, a reaching forward to its higher unions
33:29 - anything you say about emptiness will have an opposite; therefore, incorrect
34:40 - every holon has four drives, two vertical and two horizontal
34:49 - the drive upwards toward greater wholeness is eros
34:55 - the drive downward that embraces what is already in existence is agape
35:06 - the two horizontal drives are agency and communion, the drive to be whole and autonomous, and the drive to be a part of something, to be in relationship
35:33 - if you're just talking about the relative realm, you can say that nonduality is the union of eros and agape, agency and communion
55:48 - I, we, it and its co-emerge
11:55 - generally, ontology is the study of being
12:26 - epistemology is the study of knowing
12:50 - metaphysics is the study of reality
18:33 - while in I Am-ness, there's not even a sense of I-ness; there's no first or second or third person; there's just everything arising and self-cognizing
18:43 - as soon as there's a boundary in your own self, that indicates others (God, perhaps, or others like yourself)
19:16 - Nirvikalpa - without form; Savikalpa - with form
19:26 - Nirguna Brahman is Brahman without qualities and can only be known through the injunctions to awaken the direct experience of it
20:57 - coming out of an experience of oneness, then experiencing a boundary (and thus, others) can be overwhelming
24:21 - agape is the love that embraces
24:24 - you get to nonduality by having the union of emptiness and form; when emptiness and form are one, that's nonduality
25:04 - could emptiness emerge?
26:08 - Nirguna Brahman has no qualities; Saguna Brahman has qualities
26:43 - Saguna Brahman is evolving; emptiness isn't
26:52 - Whitehead divides Godhead into primordial nature and consequent nature
27:02 - primordial nature is Sine qua non, necessary qualities
27:29 - consequent nature is the sum total of the evolving world
27:42 - Saguna Brahman has an agape, a reaching down to embrace everything that has emerged; and has an eros, a reaching forward to its higher unions
33:29 - anything you say about emptiness will have an opposite; therefore, incorrect
34:40 - every holon has four drives, two vertical and two horizontal
34:49 - the drive upwards toward greater wholeness is eros
34:55 - the drive downward that embraces what is already in existence is agape
35:06 - the two horizontal drives are agency and communion, the drive to be whole and autonomous, and the drive to be a part of something, to be in relationship
35:33 - if you're just talking about the relative realm, you can say that nonduality is the union of eros and agape, agency and communion
55:48 - I, we, it and its co-emerge
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Appendix 1 (May 12 2007) part 1
8:33 - there's something more than the everyday, physical, manifest world of sin, separation, samsara
8:51 - there are also states of freedom, liberation, transcendence, salvation
9:02 - but you must give reasons / explanations in support of that position
9:24 - and the reasons / explanations didn't hold
9:34 - because the framework was outmoded
9:46 - transpersonal theorists / spiritual people / proponents of the great chain need to pass the validity claims of modernity and postmodernity
9:49 - the validity claim for modernity is evidence, the validity claim for postmodernity is contextualization
10:34 - we can have a metaphysics that works in modern and postmodern contexts
14:12 - the physical, material, gross world is not the lowest level of the great chain, it's the exterior manifestation of all levels
47:06 - first there is undifferentiated, ineffable unity
47:18 - unity breaks into polarity
48:05 - Spinoza defines substance as an escape from modal, finite, relative thinking to the ineffable unity
48:38 - Ken thinks the absolute ultimate has a different relationship to the relative
48:50 - the ultimate does not give rise to the relative
49:01 - the problem is when we try to philosophize about the absolute without doing the injunctions that give rise to the absolute
49:20 Spinoza identifies substance as having a thousand qualities, including thought and extension; Nagarjuna says that the absolute is not thought or extension or both or neither and cannot be discussed at all (Ken misspoke and said Spinoza when he meant Nagarjuna)
49:43 - the absolute is what you experience when you do an injunction that will allow you to experience the deep formless dream state
50:04 - you can only define the absolute given the injunctions that will give you a realization of Godhead
50:14 - so Spinoza's problem is he is trying to get at the absolute through thought without an injunctive program that will yield realization of the absolute
50:55 - metaphysics is (here defined as) assertion without evidence
51:56 - the only way to arrive at nondual is through emptiness (and there must be an injunction to have that experience)
52:11 - that's emptiness united with form; if you don't have the emptiness, then you don't have nonduality (there can't be a union of emptiness and form because you didn't have emptiness to start with)
53:15 - you can always intuit emptiness, the everpresent ground (the left hand quadrants and the right hand quadrants are inseparable)
54:50 - the emptiness described in the traditions is the witness remaining conscious through all states through all 24 hours
55:45 - no injunction, no nonduality
55:59 - you can intuit it, though
8:51 - there are also states of freedom, liberation, transcendence, salvation
9:02 - but you must give reasons / explanations in support of that position
9:24 - and the reasons / explanations didn't hold
9:34 - because the framework was outmoded
9:46 - transpersonal theorists / spiritual people / proponents of the great chain need to pass the validity claims of modernity and postmodernity
9:49 - the validity claim for modernity is evidence, the validity claim for postmodernity is contextualization
10:34 - we can have a metaphysics that works in modern and postmodern contexts
14:12 - the physical, material, gross world is not the lowest level of the great chain, it's the exterior manifestation of all levels
47:06 - first there is undifferentiated, ineffable unity
47:18 - unity breaks into polarity
48:05 - Spinoza defines substance as an escape from modal, finite, relative thinking to the ineffable unity
48:38 - Ken thinks the absolute ultimate has a different relationship to the relative
48:50 - the ultimate does not give rise to the relative
49:01 - the problem is when we try to philosophize about the absolute without doing the injunctions that give rise to the absolute
49:20 Spinoza identifies substance as having a thousand qualities, including thought and extension; Nagarjuna says that the absolute is not thought or extension or both or neither and cannot be discussed at all (Ken misspoke and said Spinoza when he meant Nagarjuna)
49:43 - the absolute is what you experience when you do an injunction that will allow you to experience the deep formless dream state
50:04 - you can only define the absolute given the injunctions that will give you a realization of Godhead
50:14 - so Spinoza's problem is he is trying to get at the absolute through thought without an injunctive program that will yield realization of the absolute
50:55 - metaphysics is (here defined as) assertion without evidence
51:56 - the only way to arrive at nondual is through emptiness (and there must be an injunction to have that experience)
52:11 - that's emptiness united with form; if you don't have the emptiness, then you don't have nonduality (there can't be a union of emptiness and form because you didn't have emptiness to start with)
53:15 - you can always intuit emptiness, the everpresent ground (the left hand quadrants and the right hand quadrants are inseparable)
54:50 - the emptiness described in the traditions is the witness remaining conscious through all states through all 24 hours
55:45 - no injunction, no nonduality
55:59 - you can intuit it, though
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Integral Life Practice (Apr 29 2007) part 4
1:02 - enlightenment is not an experience
3:40 - does artificially induced states of consciousness detract from the benefits of a "pure" meditation practice? do binaural beats programs have the same or additional transformative potentials as regular meditation?
4:10 - there will always be some who just are never going to be able to meditate
4:32 - theta (UR) correlates with the subtle level (UL)
5:19 - there's a danger of developing a dependence on binaural beats programs, locking you in to their experience
9:11 - these programs are not completely valueless, but very limited
20:33 - consciousness is the ground from which all manifest existence arises
21:32 - why is there something rather than nothing? - Schelling
22:03 - it's no fun having dinner alone
22:23 - creation is a way to play
24:55 - the Kadampas prayed for troubles and obstacles, not so that they could suffer, but so that they could have endurance and tolerance for pain, and dissolve the self-other boundary
25:29 - if you retract from the point of exhaustion, you're missing the chance for transformation
31:12 - realization restores humor
3:40 - does artificially induced states of consciousness detract from the benefits of a "pure" meditation practice? do binaural beats programs have the same or additional transformative potentials as regular meditation?
4:10 - there will always be some who just are never going to be able to meditate
4:32 - theta (UR) correlates with the subtle level (UL)
5:19 - there's a danger of developing a dependence on binaural beats programs, locking you in to their experience
9:11 - these programs are not completely valueless, but very limited
20:33 - consciousness is the ground from which all manifest existence arises
21:32 - why is there something rather than nothing? - Schelling
22:03 - it's no fun having dinner alone
22:23 - creation is a way to play
24:55 - the Kadampas prayed for troubles and obstacles, not so that they could suffer, but so that they could have endurance and tolerance for pain, and dissolve the self-other boundary
25:29 - if you retract from the point of exhaustion, you're missing the chance for transformation
31:12 - realization restores humor
Friday, June 19, 2009
Integral Life Practice (Apr 29 2007) part 3
0:05 - the world is illusory; God alone is real; God is the world
7:54 - a common interpretation of the crucifixion; the small self or ego dies, and the true self or Christ consciousness is resurrected
8:49 - Buddhism may have a lighter touch about it, but the concept of the great death is still firmly stressed
10:31 - find your flaw and that's where your true glory lies
10:58 - where your aversions are is where your shadows are
11:10 - Adler asked clients what would they do if they were well? their answers reveal what they are trying to avoid
14:41 - the better our ILP, the likelier we will retain the awakening
14:52 - self power or other power? answer: self power up to a point, then other power
24:16 - is meditation escapist or time taken away from activism?
28:51 - if you want to improve the world, help move the society up the levels
29:54 - to get a high level of society, you have to get the people up to a high moral stage
29:59 - meditation is the best tool to get people to advance up the levels
30:43 - so if you want to improve the world, meditate and promote meditation
33:41 - is depth or breadth better?
34:10 - depth (until you can stabilize nondual awareness, Christ consciousness, etc.)
35:09 - consciousness is not a thing, not something to feel, not a substance, not a process, not an energy, not subjectivity, not a sense of self
35:20 - consciousness is the opening, the space in which all phenomena arise
35:41 - there is the self space, the self that I am, and there is the other space, everything I perceive; both arise in the same space
35:57 - when that ever-present awareness is stabilized, then you can begin to extend that
39:01 - let's look at Ken's practice
45:46 - Vajrayana is complete Buddhism, Zen is essential Buddhism
46:05 - Vajrayana covers the Nirmanakaya, the Sambhogakaya, the Dharmakaya, the Svabhavikakaya
46:12 - Zen is just the Dharmakaya (and the others are just illusion)
48:10 - briefly: Nirmanakaya - the body realms; Sambhogakaya - the mental realms; Dharmakaya - the spiritual realms; Svabhavikakaya - integrating all of them
52:12 - an ILP provides you with a better ground for awakening and realization experiences, and helps you hold on to them and handle them when they do happen
7:54 - a common interpretation of the crucifixion; the small self or ego dies, and the true self or Christ consciousness is resurrected
8:49 - Buddhism may have a lighter touch about it, but the concept of the great death is still firmly stressed
10:31 - find your flaw and that's where your true glory lies
10:58 - where your aversions are is where your shadows are
11:10 - Adler asked clients what would they do if they were well? their answers reveal what they are trying to avoid
14:41 - the better our ILP, the likelier we will retain the awakening
14:52 - self power or other power? answer: self power up to a point, then other power
24:16 - is meditation escapist or time taken away from activism?
28:51 - if you want to improve the world, help move the society up the levels
29:54 - to get a high level of society, you have to get the people up to a high moral stage
29:59 - meditation is the best tool to get people to advance up the levels
30:43 - so if you want to improve the world, meditate and promote meditation
33:41 - is depth or breadth better?
34:10 - depth (until you can stabilize nondual awareness, Christ consciousness, etc.)
35:09 - consciousness is not a thing, not something to feel, not a substance, not a process, not an energy, not subjectivity, not a sense of self
35:20 - consciousness is the opening, the space in which all phenomena arise
35:41 - there is the self space, the self that I am, and there is the other space, everything I perceive; both arise in the same space
35:57 - when that ever-present awareness is stabilized, then you can begin to extend that
39:01 - let's look at Ken's practice
45:46 - Vajrayana is complete Buddhism, Zen is essential Buddhism
46:05 - Vajrayana covers the Nirmanakaya, the Sambhogakaya, the Dharmakaya, the Svabhavikakaya
46:12 - Zen is just the Dharmakaya (and the others are just illusion)
48:10 - briefly: Nirmanakaya - the body realms; Sambhogakaya - the mental realms; Dharmakaya - the spiritual realms; Svabhavikakaya - integrating all of them
52:12 - an ILP provides you with a better ground for awakening and realization experiences, and helps you hold on to them and handle them when they do happen
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