Gaia Community: M. Alan's Blog

Things returning to normal

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:28:21 -0000

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

Confronting and Transforming one's lower nature

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:44:10 -0000

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

Forced to be contemplative

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 07:49:44 -0000

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)

Cutting back on internet, aspiring for Self-realisation

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 03:13:01 -0000

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

Open Source Integral discussion

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 00:29:47 -0000

Open Source Integral looks like being among the most (if not the most) exciting and lively forum in the Integral Movement. The thread I started - "Some challenges that may face an Integral Alliance of Evolutionary Allies" has been generating a lot of interesting discussion.

The only complaint I have is that the facebook-like format plays havoc with my low bandwidth dial up connection!

Plotinus, Ibn Arabi, and Sri Aurobindo

Sat, 08 Dec 2007 23:58:32 -0000

In working on my book Integral Metaphysics & Transformation I've been brushing up on Plotinus and Ibn Arabi; because their insighst should be incorporated (especially since they are so little known and understood in the West today).   It's amazing coming back to this stuffa fter a period of several years (i last studied them when putting up the Keper pages); I now have these further insights from Sri Aurobinbdo, and everything appears ina new light, with further levels of insight and meaning.

Yesterday and this morning I was been reading a book about ibn Arabi (he is too complicated to read straight, unless you want to devote years studying him), and been noticing amazing parallels with Sri Aurobindo, just as there are between Plotinus and Sri Aurobindo. Not that i know enough to write in detail, it will be rather as just basic pointers, Hopefully in the future others can make more detailed comparisons (just as comparisons made between SA and Teilhard, and Whitehead and SA too).   I've read one essay comparing Plotinus and Sri Aurobindo but didnt find it very inspiring.

Significantly, none of the other esotericists has the understanding of the Supramental Transformation of matter, that seems to be Sri Aurobindo and the Mother's great contribution.   Isaac Luria seems to be the only one, and even he (or rather his followers!) describe things very vaguely

But yeah, when reading Plotinus, Proclus, ibn Arabi, Kashmir Shaivism.... it is such amazing stuff, so profound and uplifting, it makes me wonder why I even bothered with the Integarl Movement and people like Wilber. Not meaning to put the guy down; like i said in another blog post i am now more interested in cooperation rather than criticism; but compared to the summits of esoteric and mystical thought, it si so dull, so dry, so limiting

And then i had the answer. Sure Ibn Arabi and Plotinus and the rest have far vaster and profounder insights, but they are so far above the average humanity that no real connection can be made. And this is Wilber's contribution, and others in the New Paradigm, New Consciousness, and New Age movement, to present a dumbed down and materialistic  version, to serve as a bridge or link. It's like emanation too; there is the original source, then the various layers or rings or spheres around it which convey the Light in a diminished manner, but which is still necessary for the niourishment and sustenance of lower (in the sense of material, phenomenal, manifest) beings. Okay I'm playing fast and loose with the metaphor, but yeah, the idea is that people like Wilber and Cohen, the New Paradigmers, etc serve an important purpose, and in pave the way for a more complete understanding, even if this more complete understanding is far above their insights.

This raises the possibility of a truely integral society or culture, not just the Wilberina/Upper Tier Integral which is still exoteric, but an esoteric Integarl based on isnighst of esotericism and of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother's profound and still unsurpassed Integral or Supramental Yoga. it is not that the people in this society will have attained that level (when that happens it is the Divinisation of the World), but they are "informed by" (to use the Wilberian phrase) Sri Aurobindo and the Mother's teachings (and esotericism in general), in the same way that people in the Mainstream Integral Movement are informed by ideas proposed by Wilber and Beck. How long will this take to come about? Well we are talking about post-(IM Movement) Integral, and the Integral Movement itself is not properly developed (maybe in 10 years it will be). So I don't know. But if there is a process of spiritual ascent and a collective movement to Divinisation, then this may consitite a transitional stage (all this will have to go in my book as well :-)

Progress report and comments

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 22:18:59 -0000

Well, I've been - and still are - extremely busy on my book, Integral Metaphysics and Transformation. As always, it's turned out much harder than I thought,. because my obsessive perfectionism won't let me just writre a basic rough intro. Instead I have to revise and add more insights, more material. Sometimes I end up reorganising stuff. I had hoped to finish it before the end of this year, but that doesn't look likely now.

I can however promise you that, when it's finished, this will be an amazing book. If anyone is intersted in reading some chapters, let me know. Mostly I've been working on the subject of emanation, hypostases, involution. I compare different teachings, as well as proposing my own synthesis. The emphasis is esotericism, especially from the Integral Yoga perspective.

So far I'm working with the idea of five major hypostases. These are (with Sri Aurobindo's terminology in brackets for the first three)

o The Unmanifest Absolute Reality (Sachchidananda)
o The Manifest Absolute Reality (Supermind)
o The Noetic Reality (Overmind)
o The Nondual Reality (standard Enlightenment)
o The Prakritic Reality (the Cosmos, planes of existence, gross and subtle matter)

Readers familiar with the traditional meme of the "Great chain of being" or ontological spectrum will understand what is being described here. More unusual, to those unfamiliar with Sri Aurobindo's insights, is that the "nondual" state of Enlightenment (normally considered the very highest state of consciousness, the Absolute Reality) has a relatively low position, second from the bottom. If this arrangement seems strange, especially to those used to the comparison tables and charts provided by Wilber and others, consider that none of the popular Gurus in the West, and none of the main writers and teachers in the Integral Movement so far, really understand what Sri Aurobindo actually taught (on my website I mention the misunderstandings of Adi Da, of Osho, and of Ken Wilber in this regard).

This is in no way to criticise the sincerity of those Integralists who study Sri Aurobindo from an intellectual perspective only. But inevitably mistakes creep in, because Sri Aurobindo represnets a much higher level of consciousness then that attained by even the most enlightened in the cutting edge consciousness paradigm in the West. Pop Gurus (1960s onwards), New Paradigm transpersonal psychology and spirituality (1970s onwards), the Integral Movement (1990s onwards), and all the rest, go as far as the Nondual stage, but no further. What is described here will be the esoteric perspective, based on Plotinus (another great teacher who has been misunderstood in the mainstream Integral Movement), Sri Aurobindo, and other teachings.

I also do refer to the Integral movement later in the book, when i talk about planetary transformation or global mindshift. It is here that the Integral Movement comes into its own. As mentioned in a previous blog post, i am now much more interested in collaboration, rather than criticism. I have been meaning to write an essay showing parallels between Andrew Cohen's concept of evolutionary enlightenment and my own ideas, but haven't because I've been so busy on the book, which is my first priority here.

Evolutionary allies essay

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 02:22:12 -0000

Well, my new essay - Evolutionary allies - is up on Frank's Integral World website, dfor anyone who is interested. It marks an official change of policy for me regarding my position in the Integral Movement; from critic to collaboration. I don't in any way regret the critiques I wrote; in fact they were and are necessary to distinguish my position, and to show that the Integral Movement isn't limited to the mainstream Integral (or Integral sensu stricto - see my previous essay Redefining Integral for more). But having done that, written my criticism, and showed the relevance of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother's teachings (in that they are more inclusive/integrative, more radical, and also encompass the transformation of the world and of matter, not just a world-negating transcendent liberation), I cabn focus now both on cooperation and friendly dialogue, and also on writing my books, which will present a synthesis of esotericism, science, and spirituality, presenting a new worlkdview inspired by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother's teachings and the path of Integral yoga they initiated.

Busy writing

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 08:52:51 -0000

Haven't posted anything for a while because I've been busy; both on my first book (Integral Metaphysics and Transformation) and on a new essay for Frank Visser's Integral World. Also been reading, corresponding etc. Anyway just finished the first draft of the chapter on "Metaphysics", but i need to rewrite the chapter on "What is Integral?" because I've revised some of my ideas. I find I'm moving towards a more purist and intense Aurobindonian position; Wilberian Integralism is much too exoteric and non-spiritual and not many of the people involved would be receptive to radical esoteric, occult, and yogic ideas. i'm not saying that's bad, not at all; there's absolutely a place for all that; and many are inspired by AQAL and Spiral Dynamics to work for a better world. It's just that I myself am more interested in true esotericism. So I'm much less interested now in attempting any sort of "compromise" position between Wilberian and Aurobindonian. The Aurobindonian tradition (Integral Yoga and Integral philosophy) really is unparalleled in its insights, inclusiveness, and confronting understanding of spirituality and what is required for the Divinisation of the world.

Reflections on Andrew Cohen

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 01:50:58 -0000

This blog past is subtitled "Can an abusive guru contribute to global transformation?"

Yesterday I watched an interesting YouTube video.    Here is an interesting case. Andrew Cohen, a well-known abusive guru talks about evolutionary enlightenment and transformaing yourself to change the world. Apart from the rather materialistic identification with the Big Bang cosmology (as opposed to involution), which seems inspired by the "Great Story" pantheism of Berry and Swimme (I'm not saying it's wrong btw, only, to borrow a phrase from Wilber, that it's partial), I really found the first half of the video quite inspiring, an in tune with my own understanding and experience. I wa sthinking wow, this is incredible. But then the second half launches into a sort of worshipful phase with various global evolutionists (Dan Beck (Spiral Dynamics), Jim Garrison (president of World Forum), etc) saying how wonderful and enlightened Cohen is. It is pretty sad, that these intelligent guys should feel the need to bow down to this guy like that. I mean, it's not like he has any sort of Wilberesque charisma, just view a video of Cohen and a video of Wilber if you doubt me.

Then right at the end, bizarrely, there is footage (but with special effects, like through an old fashioned TV set with bad reception) where a woman, i guess one of Cohen's devotees, starts talking about what all this cosmic evolution means to her, and rather than let her speak, Andrew Cohen cuts her off, as if he can't stand to hear the sound of anyone else's voice, talking over her in a really arrogant way, and she just shrinks into this passive and disempowered devotee saying "right...right...right..." each time he pauses. I never saw anything like it. And if I ever had any doubts about the claims by ex-devotees, these were instantly removed at that moment.

But what is really wierd is that Cohen actually included this on his video. You'd think he;'d be embrassed, and want to keep all this stuff hidden. But no, he is so unconscious of his own narcissism, and his devotees so sycophantic and passive, that they cannot even see what is happening.

I believe the same thing happens with abusive gurus, and even with folks like Wilber, taht happen with these celebrities who are out of control. Surrounded by minders (with their own agendas) and sycophants and wannabes, they lose touch with the outside world, and retreat into a narcissistic bubble in whicjh they have no responsibility for their actions. The difference is that with celebrities the law does catch up with them, and they spend a brief stint in jail or (as with Brittney) have their kids taken away. But this doesn't happen with abusive gurus like Cohen because they are completely unknown outside a very small circle or subculture such as (in this case) the integral movement, so no paparazzi are going to pursue them and no one finds out about them - except through the courageous actions of ex-devotees who spill the beans.   The real difference of course is that celebrities only harm themselves, whereas abusive gurus harm others. That's the difference.

Cohen is also editor-in-chief of What is Enlightenment magazine, which mixes narcissistic worship of himself and sometimes sloppy scholarship with some very good articles. Ina sense it is the journal of the integral movement (although many would see it as "New Age, there is a lot of overlap).

So this is how the guy who is the main inspiration behind the Integral Movement's most popular magazine behaves!

What does that say for the Integral Movement? What does it say for leadership of that movement?

I've been involved with the "Integral Movement" for several years, because I see a lot of promise there, and a lot that corresponds to my own thinking, and also to integrate Sri Aurobindo and the Mother's teachings (the mainstream integral movement has no idea about SA & M, they respect SA but are absolutely ignorant, and except for brief mentions on Cohen's WIE magazine and website, ignore the Mother altogether). Here is my latest essay on Integral World

The high profile of people like Cohen in the Integral Movment is due to the fact that there is a poverty of moral leadership in the movement in America (the Europeans in contrast have it together a lot better - look at Laszlo and his Club of Budapest).   This will only change as the integral movement outgrows its infantile roots, and new integralists like Steve McIntosh and Mike Psyka & co (Integral Praxis) are able to provide a healthy alternative to the Wilber-Beck-Cohen "old guard". In addition, there are highly admirable people like Robb Smith within the Integral Institute itself (see Robb's statement on Open Integral). So I'm pretty optimistic about how things will work out.

Olduvai Theory

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 07:44:17 -0000

Phew! Just finished my essay, which will be appearing on Frank Visser's site. Now I can focus on my book!

Anyway, I was chugging along, writing about integral evolution and the s\ingularity and all manner of wondrous things, when after some random web-browsing I stumbled upon this page.

So, all I can say is, If there isn't a really really radical shift in the global consciousness pretty quickly, this is what we have to look forward.

The clash of possibilities. On one side, timewave zero, technological singularity, supramentalisation, God-Omega. On the other, the long bleak slide into an impoverished and indefinitely long stone age, from which there is no hope of future progress

It's a bit surreal, the contrast.

But whatever happens, the world will never be the same. Our brief rapacious plunder of the Earth will be coming to an end, one way or another. But will the future be posthuman, or subhuman?

I know which one I'm fighting for.

Integral Praxis

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 23:49:22 -0000

Recently I found out (through Open Integral) about a new Integral project, called Integral Praxis. As mentioned in this blog I have been becoming pretty disappointed with the limitations of the integral movement, but the guys who set up this blog are very cool; they have a lot of enthusiasm and good will, the very best of what the integral movement (if there is one) at its highest represents. So I was encouraged to submit an essay to them, which I did - it's called Redefining the Integral . There's already some comments there (both pro and anti) so come along and join the fun!

Is Open Integral growing beyond intellectualism

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 00:40:33 -0000

An interesting post on Open Integral the other day Personal reflections on integral See especially the comments. To me, this is what the Integral movement is or should be all about. Not endless intellectualism or mental masturbation.

Beyond isolation

Sun, 02 Sep 2007 11:55:35 -0000

I got a friends invite recently from a fellow Zaadster. He seems like a wonderful and sincere person, very spiritual like myself, although whereas i am more intellectual and metaphysical, he is more artistic/poetic (sure you can be both as well, like Rumi or Dante). Anyway I have great respect for what he is doing, because i can see the spiritual light - at least from my cursory glance of his profile. But i didnt accept the invite, for two reasons.

The first is that he has a huge number of people on his friends list, and that always majorly puts me off (i make exceptions with people on the Zaadz team who i have become friends with. so they really are my friends, like ~C4Chaos and Siona; altho, being in the admin they would obviously have heaps on their friends list).

Also, I have the impression, perhaps a totally unfair and unwarranted one, that this person seems to have taken one or been given the role of some sort of guru, with a number of people gathered around him, and hence the big friends list (for more contacts). And like i said, i support his sincerity, and i consider him a genuine persion and someone working for the betterment of the world, and perhaps an authentic teacher, but i myself am not into someone being the center of attention.

But this got me thinking, maybe i'm the same. Maybe i've also unwittingly taken on teh role of guru of sorts (although i always try not to, because you can't be an authentic guru unless you are enlightened, and i'm certainly not enlightened; too much ego!). So who am i to judge?

(note, in using the word "guru" in this context I mean someone who has a spiritual message or teaching or viewpoint which he or she gives out to the world without any financial or narcissistic motivation, whether it be through personal contact and example, or through writing books, blogging, websites, emails etc over the net. It does not have to be guru witha cpaital "G", i.e. authentic enlightened guru. However I do believe that any guru or Guru (small or capital G) who charges money or who abuses their position for power or sex or emotional gain is an absolute fake and should be sterred clear of)

And that then got me thinking further, here is this gentleman, and here is me, and we are both in a sense giving out spiritual wisdom to the world (being teachers). So why don't we just join forces, and work as one? Answer, we can't. Each of us has a unique way of doing things, and a unique gnosis. And this goes for everyone mind you. So it becomes almost impossible to arrive at creative unanmity because each of our visions and creativite methodologies is so different, because we are still relative beings. Or at least because I am. My passion is with my work and what i am doing, just as his is with his work. I have often wondered why all the spiritual people don't get together as one, and the answer is, they can't, for this reason!

Yet that can't be the whole answer, because even enlightened beings don't get together! Ramnana and Aurobindo were only 150 km apart, contemporaries, yet neither met the other. Everyone chooses to be isolated. Why didn't Ouspensly join the Aurobindo ashram (he met Sri Aurobindo in the early days, apparently). For that matter why didn't Gurdjieff? Why didn't Meher Baba and The Mother work together?

Apart from that one single shining exception - Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, in this regard they are abnsolutely, totally unique. For the rest, there may be an enlightened guru and an enlightened disciple - e.g. Ramakrishna and Vivekananda, but there is never a partnership of two very different individuals, working as one. Except in that one instance. Why? I don't know.

And yet. And yet.... maybe this will change. Maybe it is already changing. And maybe that is the new evolution the planet is going through.

My friend Mushin and I share a certain common spiritual vision. We both reject authoritarian hierarchical spirituality in favour of a more egalitarian approach (that said, i would accept a hierarchy if it was of a genuine enlightened being, like Ramana or The Mother. But not these intermediate zone gurus). We both see the next buddha as a collective. So different spiritual individuals, with very different personalities, can still share the same truth. Perhaps Zaadz is proof of that. So maybe this isolation that has ruled up till now will be healed, will be transformed, in the next collective buddha, the collective gbostic community.

But until then, i have a lot of ego to transcend.

Various...

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 11:17:52 -0000

well no sooner was my computer up and running then i came down with a flu that is going round. Fortunately was able to restrict it's severity with some good doses of garlic (a natural antibiotic, and far healthier for the body).

These things make one appreciate and truly value good health, rather than take it for garnted as we usually do.

Anyway, while i was laid up i whiled away the time reading Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi, a great book (very informative with lots of fantastic anecdotes) by a great man!

I'm still feeling spaced out and contemplative, so i haven't gotten back to work on my books yet, but i'm feeling pretty confident about finishing them. It's just that it's so nice to be contemplative, and when I write too much i get into that mental state that is just all in the middle mental, with the mind always going on and on and not being able to sit still. The trick (which i haven't yet mastered), is to write from a space of silence.

With the help of a friend i cleaned up a lot of the clutter in my room; it's amazing how the energy of the room (the feng shui so to speak) improves!

All in all, very happy about how things are going :-)

Seeing things in a new light

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 01:50:30 -0000

I've been going through a spiritual learning process.

Over the last few weeks I had computer problems and am only now back on line, with a brand new motherboard! (it's like a new computer :-)

Not having the internet for the while has helped me focus spiritually without distraction.

Also there were various other minor crises, which brought out by neurotic anxiety.

As it was Sri Aurobindo's bithday yesterday (15th August) the lasty few days especially I tried to tune into his presence.

More and more I am realising (and i hope that this realisation will be permament) how pointless intellectualism and egotism are. And that there is no point trying to "want" something, because we are very small and helpless relative to the cosmos; by getting all worked up and wanting something one just gets caught up in affective being. But by letting go, and flowintg with the Godhead, or the Tao, or whatever term you prefer, these thuings can happen automatically. As The Mother says: it is in stillness that the power lies. I don't have the exact quote, so that's not the wording, but it is about being quiet, quieting the mind and the vital (the affective being).

For example, there was a time when I posted a lot on the Aurobindo mail list, but now I just read (or glance over) what others say. When it is necessary to say something, one says something. But otherwise one should remain silent, and work on one's own sadhana (spiritual discipline)

I'm thinking also I should redisign my website a bit. I had all this stuff on "integral" on it, and now I feel bored with "integral". So I'm going to redistribute the Integral pages in otehr sections. The "integral movement" may amount to something, but it is really just a subset of the New Paradigm. I guess it was a phase in my life to get involved with it, and Ive made some fantastic friends I wouldn't have met otherwise. But really I feel that the pure spiritual path of gnosis is better. And if that can be used to transform the Integral movement, so much the better!

I'm also reconsidering my writing plan. I set myself a deadline to get my manuscript finished well before the end of 2007, but the intellectual stuff kept dragging on. Also some people found the manuscript a bit hard to follow (although others liked it). So I'm thinking now of first writing a less technical book on metaphysics; to be called The Story of Everything, to be followed up by the more detailed and academic thesis, Integral Metaphysics and Transformation (which emphasises the Aurobindonian definition , although with lots of other stuff too)

Reorganising book

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 10:36:28 -0000

Currently the book is being reorganised. I've renamed it Integral Metaphysics and Transformation. Some of the material in the early chapters has been moved to other chapters. There's less stuff on Wilber, and more on a more unique Integral Vision. So rather than just reacting to and writing within the context of the current Integrall Movement, I'm presenting a more active and unique worldview. Also I've made the language a bit snappier; the previous drafts were rather too tame.

Moving beyond old authoritarian models

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 12:15:26 -0000

Work on Integral Metaphysics continues to go well. With my constant revising and refining I've already modified the summary intro I posted earlier. Although only about half a dozen people have so far given feedback, their comments have still been invaluable. Integral Metaphysics may be a new type of book; one written in dialogue with the larger "new paradigm"/"cultural creative" community (of which the integral community is simply one subset). I want to get away from the old hierarchical idea of the philosopher or sage who gives pronouncements from on high (and this is what I intensely dislike about the Wilberian movement; it is so "old paradigm" in its intellectually authoritarian power structure). Michel Bauwens has the right idea with his peer to peer thesis. The age of lecturing pop gurus and passive and sycophantic devotees is coming to an end.

This whole old order way of doing things, was very evident when i went to listen to Gangaji last year. Gangaji would say something and everyone would sort of laugh, in that distinctive way that only passive devotees can. I heard the same in a soundfile from somewhere on the Andrew Cohen site (he was giving a talk on what he called Supermind, but if this was based on Sri Aurobindo's Supermind he got it completely wrong). And it is the same with Da Free John / Adi Da iirc (i used to watch some of his videos and also there were transcripts of talks in his old Laughing Man magazine). I have no experience of how people are around Wilber but i can only guess

(so-called) GURU: says something then makes a half-joking comment that isn't even very funny

AUDIENCE: titters as one.

Ok this is a cheap shot. But if the human race is to evolve spiritually, it needs to develop beyond this infantile worship of authority figures. People need to let go of this looking for substitute parent figures.

And this is why I am hoping that Integral Metaphysics won't just be about my ideas (although does anyone really have any "ideas"? We are all ultimately instruments of the Supreme), but will be just as much about the feedback and ideas others contribute too.

One thing I have been also doing in the book is replying to the sceptical arguments of academia and quasi-academia (e.g. Wilber) against metaphysics. .In the old days I would have just dismissed all these rationality- and modernity-based arguments. But now I have decided I should respond to them, even if fairly briefly (because there is more interesting stuff I want to talk about) . This has also made me more interested in the Traditionalists, not that I agree with their rejection of modernity and evolution. But they, like me, embrace a metaphysics that is based on gnosis rather than on mental reason. Huston Smith's book (actually compiled from a series of talks) Beyond the Post-Modern Mind is particularily good in this regard (even if i think he goes too far by dismissing Darwinism etc).

Integral Metaphysics - outline of my current book in progress

Sun, 10 Jun 2007 08:59:10 -0000

I haven't posted anything for a whiole because I've been so busy working on my book. The following is from the Introduction, and gives an outline of the book as it stands at the moment (for the table of contents see my Integral Transformation blog)

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The title, "Integral Metaphysics", refers to the synthesis of two topics that have grabbed my interest over the years. "Integral" (in the philosophical and spiritual context) is a poorly defined concept that refers to a universal explanation of everything in terms of an evolutionary philosophy of personal and social transformation. "Metaphysics" refers to all the big questions about the nature of life, the universe, and Reality as a whole. It pertains not just to the visible physical world, but the invisible, non-physical reality as well. "Integral Metaphysics" combines both these themes. It also describes an evolutionary transformation culminating in personal and global divinisation....

The second part of the book is called "Integral". This is about Integral philosophy, the Integral paradigm, as opposed to Integral yoga. Integral philosophy, in this context, is Exoteric. Exoteric refers to the outer, ordinary or public understanding. It is the opposite of Esoteric. "Esoteric" here refers to the "inner" mystical or occult teachings, and the subtle, transcendent, or spiritual and metaphysical dimension of being. When considering exoteric and esoteric , it is not that one is bad and the other good or "better". The exoteric provides the outer form or structure, the esoteric the inner experience of enlightenment and transformation. Both are absolutely necessary. This distinction is very important and will appear a number of times in the present work.

Integral philosophy is presented as an alternative to the two standard world views of modern society. By "worldview" I mean the overall explanations or belief-systems we use to explain the world around us. ... It might be science or it might be a particular religion and belief in God, or anything else. The two worldviews by which most people today tend to make meaning of their lives and of the universe (and everything else) are agnosticism1 and materialism, which takes its justification from the discoveries of science, and religious ideas of a supreme deity, as revealed through religious scriptures, on the other. It is argued that neither dogmatic religion nor materialism and scepticism can provide an overall explanation....

The third part of the book is called "Metaphysics." This is about the "esoteric" perspective, as opposed to the exoteric Integral movement. "Metaphysics" is a technical word from philosophy which is given many different meanings (some of which are "exoteric" and others "esoteric"), .... "Esoteric" is based on spiritual knowledge, called gnosis, and "inner" (metaphorically speaking) and occult realities. By "occult" I do not mean the sort of sensationalist nonsense about devil worship and so on propounded by strict and conservative religion and the mass media, but rather the art and science of non-mundane realities. Also described here is what is called the "perennial philosophy". This is the idea that there is a common and universal truth found in all the different philosophies and spiritual teachings.

The esoteric aspect of the Integral path builds upon but also goes beyond the "outer" theory and practice, because it includes spiritual, metaphysical, and transformative elements. By "transformative" is meant becoming something else, a metamorphosis, like a caterpillar that becomes a butterfly. Integral esoteric metaphysics and practice constitutes a spiritual philosophy and description of the universe that is able to incorporate various esoteric, occult, mystical, and spiritual teachings. Indeed, it can incorporate every possible teaching and experience.

As a concession to academia, I have also included a chapter that replies to the sceptical, agnostic, or materialistic arguments....

The fourth part of the present work, "First Philosophy", presents the foundations of metaphysics. Metaphysics is grounded in questions concerning the nature of Being or Reality. In this I take my inspiration from Aristotle's definition of theology and metaphysics, which have nothing to do with later religious interpretations. As presented in this book, "First Philosophy" is about not only to the nature of Absolute Reality, but also to the origin of everything from the Absolute Reality. This process by which creation comes about is called "emanation". Emanation means that creation is an outpouring of the Supreme. ...Causality, which is the explanation of how things come about, is explained as both "vertical" (through emanation, from the Supreme) and "horizontal" (in that everything also causes everything else, as in the Buddhist idea of "dependent origination" or karma. Causality means that everything is in a process of constant change...

The fifth part, "Being", provides a description of the nature of both individual and cosmic reality that builds on the metaphysical foundation laid out in part four, and also builds on the underlying philosophical, spiritual, occult, esoteric, and methodological premises of part three. Although Reality (capital "R") is one and indivisible, it can be viewed has including a number of branching and converging domains (or worlds, planes, aspects, states; dimensions...) or realities (small "r"). Together these constitute what is poetically known as "The Great Chain of Being" or "The Spectrum of Consciousness". Each of these small "r" realities can be experienced as the big "R" Supreme Reality, depending on where your consciousness is at (in other words, "God" or "The Absolute" or whatever you want to call Him/Her/It is not something different or separate from where you are at). And each have qualitative differences.... In the present book, eight such primary domains are described. Our familiar physical world is presented as the "outermost", the most "dense" or "gross" of the four states of the "lowest" of these primary realities.... Each reality, and each sub-reality and sub-sub-reality, has its own particular unique characteristics, phenomena, laws, and even beings. And if that sounds all too strange, then you have to read the other parts first!

But this description of Reality is still artificial, because it describes a static model. Whereas the nature of being is as dynamic, consisting of a series of processes or metamorphoses. At best then, the spectrum of being refers to a description of manifest Reality as it is now; a snapshot of consciousness. But because everything is a process of change (as described in part four), this cannot be a complete explanation. Therefore the sixth part, "Process", describes Reality in terms pf dynamic change and metamorphosis.

Here four different creation stories about how things came about are described . These might be called "grand narratives", or meaningful myths in the Jungian sense.... Rather than being contradictory, they are complementary, each different aspect of a larger multidimensional reality. .They describe the dynamic nature of physical and occult reality as process, rather than as static structures. These are Kalpas and Cycles (as described in Eastern philosophy, Jewish Kabbalah, and modern astrophysics such as the Big Bang in physical cosmology), Crisis and Restitution (as described in Gnosticism and again Kabbalah), Rounds or Dimensions (best described in the Theosophy of the Russian occultist Madame Blavatsky, and the Anthroposophy of the Austrian philosopher and clairvoyant Rudolf Steiner), and Evolution (again as in modern science) and Hypostases (a technical term for the levels of reality that make up the previously mentioned "spectrum of being").

The seventh part is called Divinisation. Many religions, and almost all spiritual teachings and yogas teach individual salvation and transcendence only, or else passively waiting for a Messiah. But both the Lurianic tradition of Kabbalah, and Integral Yoga, teach that humanity is able to participate in the transformation of the world. In Kabbalah this is only described in metaphoric and religious language, and there is also no concept of the divinisation of the body. In Sri Aurobindo's teachings it is described in a clear and practical way. This involves not just conventional Enlightenment, also spiritual stages of the evolution of consciousness beyond even enlightenment. ... By evolution is meant not just physical and biological evolution described in part five (although it is that too), but evolution on every level and aspect of the being, including spiritual and even divine Evolution. In Integral Yoga the sequence is Enlightenment and then even further Evolution, not just Evolution and then Enlightenment, as in New Age and the exoteric Integral philosophy. This is because Evolution extends beyond Enlightenment. Indeed, the most radical stages of Evolution are those that build upon and integrate Enlightenment.

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Integral Metaphysics book update

Mon, 21 May 2007 11:11:25 -0000

Well, the first few chapters of my book Integral Metaphysics are finally almost ready, at least in rough manuscript form. If I keep going at this rate, the whole book will hopefully be ready in a few months! It's exciting to be making progress!

From the preface:

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The present book is the end result of my own long path of exploration in and experiences with the teachings and practice of science, esotericism, occultism, spirituality, the alternative movement, the New Age movement, and the Integral movement. The result is both a synthesis and integration of all these fields, and a new description of reality that builds on those foundations. Although the intention here is to present a visionary rather than an academic account, I have tried as much as possible to provide references and footnotes to the various concepts. However, as I am an intuitive thinker rather than an academic, inevitably there are more details and much better references when it comes to subjects I am knowledgeable about, and much less, or only secondary or tertiary references, on topics I am not.

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I'm also hoping to get as much feedback, comments, constructive criticism, and suggestions for improvement as possible. What I'm hoping to achieve is for the book to be easily readable and understandable, even to people who don't have a background in the subjects being discussed. So if you find it hard to understand, that's an indication it needs rewriting! Anyway, let me know if you are interested and I'll send you a copy of the already completed material.