I'm very pleased to see Terry Patten as the featured "personality" this month. I was first introduced to him through the Integrated Life Practices kit. I then met him when I attended the Big Mind monthlong retreat in November 2007. It changed my life. And it was interesting to see Terry life size (vs. via DVD).
What pleases me most about Waking Down, the Integral Institute, Genpo Roshi (my teacher), Big Mind, EnlighteNext and organizations with a similar bent, is that it moves everything along the spirituality line of development. I experience it as a more mature expression of spirituality than the church environment that I grew up in. It has a decidedly Western flavor to it (good thing, too, makes it easier to reach Westerners). It dovetails nicely with the new science that is emerging that is profoundly and radically subjective and first-person.
In my limited experience with it, Waking Down in Mutuality retains the intimate flavor of the relational in the awakening process. Something I value very much. We need each other for waking up. We are creating an awakened society through our own awakening. We're linked right down to the marrow.
What does the title of this journal entry have to do with any of this? Well, today is an intensely blue sky day, I'm going to put my bees and their hive to bed for the winter, and I was practicing Big Mind this morning. My version of before and after enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.
I'm sitting at my McBook this morning doing my usual trawl through the usual newspapers and of course the Huffington Post. I glance one of my usual glances out of the window at the huge round hills of Rumsey Canyon, the oak trees along the irrigation ditch, and the orange trees immediately ahead of me.
Peacocks are a penny a dozen round here. Often in the evening four or five or even six will gather on my deck and although they leave lot of peacock crap, I consider this a privilege.
There are times --and maybe all times--when our journey seems very alone even though we may be connecting with others. Ultimately we are each on our path alone. I have been deepening into my aloneness and this passage from the Sri Aurobindo Ashram really spoke to me:
In moments when the inner lamps are lit
And life's cherished guests are left outside
Our spirit sits alone and speaks to it's gulfs.
(Savitri, Book I, Canto IV)
Now it's time (actually, it's slightly past time—thank you for your patience) for the announcement of our monthly Contributors' Gift. This is provided to anyone who posts a Journal in the month of October, as our way of saying 'thanks.' After all, Mutuality.net couldn't go on without your contributions.
This month we are very pleased to offer "The Foundation of Practice: An Interview with Terry Patten," WDM Interning Teacher and co-author of Integral Life Practice: A 21st-Century Blueprint for Physical Health, Emotional Balance, Mental Clarity, and Spiritual Awakening. In the interview, he expands upon the origins of the book and relationship between regular practice and the Waking Down work.
To find out how to obtain this exclusive interview for yourself, follow the guidelines below.
The ancient festival of Navaratri began last night. Navaratri is divided into 3 sets of 3 days, each dedicated to a different aspect of the Goddess. The first 3 days are dedicated to Durga, compassionate in Heart and ruthless in battle. The next 3 days are for Lakshmi, bestower of all wealth, including spiritual wealth. The final 3 days focus on Sarasvati, who embodies wisdom, speech, beauty, and creative arts.
Last Friday on "This American Life" (on Chicago Public Radio) I heard an inspiring story about the Harlem Children's Zone. As I listened in my car, caught in an unexpected, late evening traffic jam, I found myself moved to tears and felt my heart expanding with wonder, admiration, and gratitude for all the people who are working so hard to bring change and hope to a chronically, generationally disadvantaged community. I also felt such joy at the good news being reported from their early results!
A beautiful video introduction to the evolutionary artist and teacher Rowena Pattee Kryder, student of Shunryu Suzuki. Video and music created by Akasa.
There is a space of endless whiteness. I walk along it. I stare along the horizon in all directions. I lie back and gaze at the sky. I kneel and dig at the ground with my fingers. Blank, blank, all blank.
There is nothing here. No objects, no movement, no happening.
"Hello?" I yell out into the vastness. "Anything to blog about?"
There isn't even an echo. I grow still, and fade into the void.
We live a double life, and a paradoxical one. The paradox in Iamblichus' picture of the self is that both identities—finite and endless, dying and deathless—are utterly real. Neither is just a mirage or derivative of the other. I am both part and Whole. And to be completely present, we must be mindful of both identities, without either one eclipsing the other.
It came up in conversation recently that the locatedness of feelings isn't necessarily experienced by everyone in the same way. So here's an inquiry into the matter. (Click 'Discuss' to get to the poll.)
In 1992, a gathering of scientists and philosophers discussed the epistemology (or the study of knowledge) of consciousness research. This group included such luminaries as Charles Tart, Ralph Metzner, and Francisco Varela (one of my personal heroes). Willis Harman composed the final paper synthesizing the results of the conversation: "The Scientific Exploration of Consciousness: Towards an Adequate Epistemology"(152 kb PDF), originally published in the Journal of Consciousness Studies. The result is profoundly lucid and a surprisingly good read. (Via Integral Praxis.)
I awaken to a bright expansive day.
There is a globe; a crystal ball; a water drop
Pulsing to music conducted along vines,
Connecting one globe to another—
All globes to every other—
Abundant yet spacious,
Revolving yet still,
Ecstatic and calm.
This month we are very pleased to offer "The Foundation of Practice: An Interview with Terry Patten," WDM Interning Teacher and co-author of Integral Life Practice: A 21st-Century Blueprint for Physical Health, Emotional Balance, Mental Clarity, and Spiritual Awakening. This essay is available to all who post a journal on Mutuality.net in the month of October.
