I was reading some scientific papers on the Permian period.  It's a time in Earth history I've always been interested in (along with the following, Triassic, period).  There are some interesting articles on how extreme Greenhouse conditions brought about the extinction of most of life on Earth.  Anyway, I've written about it on Palaeos com.  Compared to my old standards, the page is pretty rough and incomplete; although it's an interesting and popular subject, due to people's infatuation with things like mass extinction and other apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic scenarios. 

Also today, browsed a few sci fi wikis, including one called Wookieepedia; a gigantic Star Wars based Wiki.  Amazing labour of love.  And while on the subject of Star Wars, what could be more brilliant than the very cool Weird Al Yankovic and his brilliant parady - The Saga Begins (to the music of Don McLean's American Pie)

Yesterday I set up a new blog've called mythoworlds , which is about Creative Writing: Mythos (story-telling) rather than Logos  (metaphysics). 

I've written a couple of long posts there so far, about my own writing philosophy and ideas. 

So my main priorities at the moment are completing my book, The Integral Paradigm, (logos) and when that is finished, writing a mythic science fiction epic. (mythos).

I confess I have little time or energy for online communities atm, preferring to put my energy in my various writintg projects.  And I've pretty much said everything I'll say on Integral philosophy, at least until my Integral Paradigm book is finsihed and published.  So I'll only be posting occaisonally on Gaia com and Integral transformations.

Okay, back to writing!

Just cross-posting this on Blogger com (Integral Transformation) as well.

My book, formerly Integral Metaphysics and Transformation, will now be called The Integral Paradigm (with apologies to Thomas Kuhn!).  I feel that Paradigm is a broader and hence more useful and comprehensive term than metaphysics, if a bit New Agey. 

Also, the phrase the Integral Movement (which I previous used) is inappropriate for anything other than the Wilber-Beck-Cohen-etc movement (which I previously called "Integral Movement sensu stricta").  Because it is not a movement as such, but rather a frame of reference (hence "paradigm" a la Fritjof Capra).

Basically i define the Integral Paradigm in terms of seven central interrelated and interweaving themes:

1) Manysidedness (in Jainism Anekantavada), Broadness, All-Inclusiveness)
2) Metaphysics, Esotericism, Gnosis, (Absolute Reality, Great Chain of Being, evolving body of godhead, etc)
3) Evolution, (includes Spiritual evolution, but also scientific e.g. Darwinian, evolution), Creativity, spontaneity 
4) Empathy for all beings, Sentientism, I-Thou (Buber), Participatory epistemology & spirituality
5) Co-Creation, Transformation of self and society, and of all aspects of the being
6) Synthesis of all partial perspectives and practices in a larger or universal integral whole
7) Singularity, Divinization, Perfection (Omega Point, Supramentalization, Transhumanist Singularity, etc)

This represents a radical revisioning previous definitions of Integral philosophy.

Anyway, I'm pretty pleased with how the book is turning out.  Chapter one is mostly done to my sastisfaction; if anyone is interested in reading it and giving feedback and constructive criticism let me know.

I was talking (well, messaging, via internet chat) with a good friend on the Path, and she mentioned "keeping the company of saints".  More and more I am realising the importance of keeping the company - that is, keeping in one's consciousness the Presence of - realised beings.

Currently I am reading Only God: A Biography Of Yogi Ramsuratkumar: Regina Sara Ryan.  This tells the life of Yogi Ramsuratkumar, one of the very few authentic Enlightened beings.

And while almost thirty years ago I started out and remain dedicated to the path of Integral Yoga taught by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, more and more I am feeling the need to attune to the lives and Personalities of other Great Realisers (as Wilber would call them, such as Ramana, Nityanada, Yogi Ramsuratkumar, Nisargadatta, Ramdas, and others.  In this way I avoid the literalism and religionism that comes about when one follows or relate to only a single Master or Realiser.  At the same time I find myself profoundly inspired by the examples they set of their lives, and elevated by the Light that shines through them, and which is evident even in their photographs and biographies.

This is what I call "keeping the company of saints".  You don't ahve to be in Their presence, as long as contact is made in some manner.

This can then be a Path to Enlightenment.  By attuning to different Realisers, one avoids being attached to particular forms.  Because despite the differences in the externals or superficiality of each, and even often differences in Teachings, it is the same Light that shines through each.   And that Light - the Light of the Supreme - is what leads one to Liberation.  This is why, I believe, so many great Teachers speak of the necessity of a Guru.  It could even be said, for the progressive and non-literalist Christian for example, that the historical Jesus is their Guru.

Generally great Realisers lived in the past, whether it be a century ago or twenty centuries ago.  But reading about Yogi Ramsuratkumar, who died only a few years ago (in 2001), made me wonder if there are any true or completely Enlightened beings around today.  Of Intermediate Zoners there are plenty, but authentic and complete Realisers? 

Does anyone here on Zaadz/Gaia know of any Realisers (I mean the real deal) who are still in their physical body?  Or is it that such beings - being humble and not self-aggrandising, with usually only small followings - generally only become known through biographies published after their death?  This is something that is interesting to consider, even though - thanks to the timeless nature of Enlightened Beings and Avatars - it is not necessary to have a phsyically embodied Guru or Gurus to keep the Company of such great beings.

In my last post I mentioned I would not be posting for a while.  I did not say why because I did not want to "jinx" the process.  I find that by talking or writing about something before it has fully manifested or occurred, the result is an "ahrimanisation" (from Steiner's "ahriman") which negatively affects any spiritual outcome.  Perhaps this is why many spiritual teachers prefer to be silent, or to Teach through silence.  The very public, even exhibitionist, nature of blogging, youtube, and the rest of the internet shows that it is very difficult for higher consciousness to establish itself in this environment.

But now that I am back to writing, daily internet etc I can explain that during this time I was travelling around northern NSW, meditating or trying to, abnd communing with nature.  During this time on the road I was away from my computer and only accessed the Net at internet cafes etc, which generally are quite expensive.

I must say that while I had a great time my original intention of making progress with Sadhana did not eventuate.  There was a period where I was going fairly well, and really up against the frustration of the restless mind, but various circumstances and my own lack of willpower (chiefly the latter) prevented real progress.

However I did have some good ideas and insights for my book.  The most important  intellectual development was the rejection of the fallacy that any single perspective or metaphysic or cosmology can in any way explain realtity, even in relative terms. This allowed me to finally break free of limitations of integralist/perennialist thinking, since up to this time there had still been this element of Wilber-like delusion that everything can be explained - even if only partially and very incompletely - in a single abstract mental philosophy.  And even though my own system of that time was, and still remains, far superior to Wilber's because I was not shackled by his need to be presentable to the materialistic standards of mainstream academia, I still like him (and many other philosophers and esotericists) retained the idea of a meta-narrative, a big picture explanation.  Now I am able to access a much truer "integral" perspective, which is closer to Jainism and to what Sri Aurobindo really taught (as opposed to misinterpretations of what he taught)

So in a real sense I did make great progress, only it wasn't in the area I was expecting!

Now I can return to my book and present an authentic "Integral Metaphysic"; i.e. one that is based on the integration and transcendence of multiple perspectives, as opposed to a linear one-dimenisonal account.

I'm looking forward to reading up on Jainism too; the Jains were the original "integral philosophers" (do a google for Anekantavada)

A lot has been happening with me, but I don't want to write too much both because the energy gets dissipated, also other reasons.  Nevertheless i will write in private and reply if people ask.  But basicallty I will probably be spending much less time on the internet.  So if I don't reply straight away that's why.

Later I will write more.

Now something I can talk about .  I've been busy and haven't had tiome for any writing in the last few weeks, but this morning I've been going over some of the later chapters in my book.  The early chapters (which I have done the most work on) are fine but the later ones are still very disorganised.  There are three or four half written former book projects all jumbled up, and because i'm tired of all this academic stuff i want to merge them together into one big academic book, on Integral Metaphysics and Transformation, and this will be my opus and contribution to the Integral Movement. 

Then when it is completed i can work on other writing prjects (and maybe also before it's completed)

This material in these later book chapters dates from my "Integralist" period.  How dated my consciousness then now seems!  That doesn't mean I'm going to scrap what I wrote; there is still a lot of good stuff there.  Even though I was writing from a more limited perspective, the mental being still produced good material. 

The funny thing is, if I felt then (say 2006-7) how I feel now, I wouldn't 've gotten involved in the Integral Movement the way I did.  For taht matter there is a lot I would have done differently on the net in any case.  But what the Buddhists say is right; we are straeams of conscioousness that change from moment to moment.  Even my website includes layers of development that have been deposited, like sedimentary layers of rocks, withe ach stratum represtening a different stage in the development of consciousness.

This is why I also want to revise, and are in the process of revising, my Kheper site; again like the book keeping the old stuff, but just organising it a bit differently.

Things are returning to normal.  I've gotten back to writing my book and being on the internet, but my arm still has some way to go before it is completely mended.  Nevertheless I'm able to type fine (as long as I don't overdo it, I still can't yet type as much as I used to).  However I no longer have such an addiction to the internet as I had before.  The challenge still remains as to how best to balance sadhana (spiritual practice) and intellectual work.

Coming back to my book after a period of almost 2 months, I look at it differently.  Before I broke my arm, I had actually become really bogged down and the whole thing was feeling really stale and offputting, a burden.  Now I have new ideas and insights and it feels fresh again.  So hopefully I will be able to finish this book by the time it takes my arm to completely heal.  Then I'd like to go travelling and also devote my self very intensely to sadhana

As the weeks stretch on, and my arm slowly mends (although so slowly that it is hard to notice it day to day, which can be frustrating!), I am being forced to confront various aspects of my nature that I was not aware of, as well as weaknesses that I am.  This morning when I was meditating, the most extraordinary uprush of negativity flooded over me.  Despair, rage, doubt, all a big mass, you wouldn't believe it!  I tried offering it to the Supreme, but even that was difficult (had difficulty getting centered).  So I just held the thoughts "this is not me" and "I am the witness".  After a while it went and was replaced by joy.  The transition was quite quick, and amazing, with a mild undercurrent of feeling spiritually "high". 

Not every meditation is that striking in the flip from negative to positive, but I was really impressed by the experience.

Thus my accident of 1 1/2 months ago, and enforced and self-chosen solitude and inactivity is enabling me to understand various aspects of my being, and work on transforming them.  This process seems to be accelerating, or at least becoming more marked, i.e. in the weeks immediately after the accident there wasn't that much change in my inner being.

One interesting change that has occured over the past few days or week or so is that I notice I am now no longer interested in regrets over past mistakes, or fantasies over future adventures, or longings for possible parallel realities where everything is better.  Reality contracts to the point in which "I am", the Present Moment, which is the only authentic Reality.

I won't say that I am a saint or wonderful, beause there are also many periods of despair and frustration and impatience (the latter especially has to be worked on), but now I am more committed (I am forced by circumstances to be more comitted) then I ever have been in my life. 

I changed my profile page to reflect this, adding something on the "new me" to distinguish me from the "old me".  What isn't described is the difference in attitude in that the old me was full of fantasising, mentral distraction, lack of centeredness, etc.  So although I still agree with everything I said under the "old me", all that intellectualising is less important to me now then it was then.  This intellectual internet phase was something i had to go through, including my long (2 years) dialogue with the integral movement, but now I am much more enthusiastic about attaining a state of greater Consciousness

An unexpected accident threw all my well planned plans into chaos

Had an accident on my pushbike 3 weeks ago (actually shortly before my 50th birthday, rather unexpected birthday present!). Had a heavy unbalanced rucksack, was going downhill, pulled out my mobile phone, went off balance and came off my bike, breaking my arm near the shoulder. So i couldn't use my right arm, and the pain when i moved it was excruciating for a few days. They put it in a sling but not a caste because i have to have the mobility of the shoulder joint so it will heal properly.  Anyway it's a lot better now but my arm will still be out of commission for another month or so.  This is the first time i've been on line since the accident.  i deliberately stayed away from the internet because i just wanted to be in the moment, not get caught up in head trips etc.  For the first week or so i just stayed at home because it was too painful to move much (because if my arm moved it was very painful), couldn't sleep properly, etc.  Now that it's mending there's much less pain and i can lie down whereas before i could only sleep sitting up.  It's amazing how the human body can heal itself.  And it's given me a new level of empathy that i never had before.  e.g. i was reading extracts of U.S. Republican canditate John McCain's book Faith of our Fathers  and how he was captured by the Vietnamese when his plane was shot down, and when he spoke about what he went through i could have some idea (although his suffering w as far far worse mine because he had more injuries and was in a  filthy shack and not given proper medical treatment).  So i thought wow, what this guy went through...Maybe i have a totally different ideology and politics and all the rest, but i could empathise in a way that would have been impossible before.  It's the same elsewhere where people go through great suffering.  Because you don't really realise what pain is unless you've experienced it, that is the only way one can empathise.  Likewise grief and loss; you can't know what others feel if you haven't yoursef felt it as well. 

Then you consider the animal kingdom and all the rest; there is so much pain and grief and suffering on this one small planet; it must be because, as The Mother says, it is a special place where things are concentrated for the purpose of Transformation

One effect of the accident has been to disrupt my previous tenious attempts at meditation.  At first I had to take painkillers and that really stuffed my concentration.  Then afterwards i couldn't focus even when i didnt take painkillers, because i wasn't getting enough sleep.  So i reverted back to the old distracted monkey mind, all i did was read newspapers, watch TV, sit around etc.  All of which only accentuated the boredom and frustration.   Anyway the accident has forced me to sit around, with each day dragging on, and each week seeming like a month or even a year.  My only escape was when i would sometimes go for a walk (and even then not too far because my arm and shoulder would ache).  So  I'm only now getting back into meditation. 

All this seems to be part of an ongoing series of events for me that began in January, which are motivating me to really be serious about my sadhana.    So it's forced me to be contemplative, but in a non-meditative way; in the sense of being really hurled into a restrictive situation, being immersed in that, going throught it, living through that, in order to understand what others less fortunate than I have to go through

It goes without saying that I can't wait to be up and about again.  At present I can't write much because i still only have complete use of my left arm (i can use my right hand but not too much) , can't ride a bike, can't drive etc.  So i will truly value things, and also be much more motivated (ok i was motivated before but i'll be even more motivated)

A number of things have come up, almost synchronistically forcing me along the path of spiritual realisation.  I'm a private person and i don't say everything on blogs the way some do, but suffice to say that several events have brought things to a head... So I'm cutting back on the internet, and aspiring much more intensely than I ever have for Self-realisation (capital "S" self; i.e. the atman).  Currently Ramana Maharshi is my guide in this.  I haven't abandoned Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, and never will.  But their sublime path of Integral Yoga is so advanced that one can only really take it up when one has already attained self-mastery (because their Yoga only truly begins where the others end; i.e. at Enlightenment and Liberation.  And when it comes to attaining the Self,  Ramana is the purest teacher i have ever come across; not only a truely enlightened being, but also - and this is most important for me - the one who most embodies universal love and compassion for all sentient beings with equal consideration, regardless of external form.  Once Self-realisation is attained then i can go from there to the even more challenging and even more rewarding path of Integral Yoga.  But for now it is Raman's path that beckons.  So this is what i am dedicating myself to.

It's not that i intend to give up the internet; i can't see myself ever cutting myself off from the world; that sort of otherworldly renunciation holds no appeal, nor is it any use for transforming this world.  But it is all a question of priorities.

More to say, but i'll wait and see how things develop