What is Integral?

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[henry]

i think i agree, francis. i'm a couple of bricks short of a load on the scholarship and cognition thingy. i know i agree with murphy. my area of expertise is venezuelan little league baseball. appreciation for your voice here at heartmind ....henry

[Francis]

Murphy seems all caught up in Aurobindo's 'superman' concept. That is, that we all have this tremendous latent potential to evolve into super-humans.(http://www.intuition.org/txt/murphy2.htm) My only problem with this idea is that it seems to discount and trivialize the miracle of being a normal human. The secret to happiness is low expectations.

Best wishes on your baseball endeavors.

[jimtzu]

trying to hold onto or reject moments as they arise leads to feeling unsatisfied.
so i would rephrase:  the secret to happiness is No expectations.

[jimtzu]

i've been talking with phil wooten (might have gone by philfiben on the old IN forum) about tetrahedrons, B. Fuller and Haramein and he suggested i read Thomas Berry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Berry whom i'm not familiar with.  this seems to describe a integral viewpoint to me:

Author Michael Colebrook describes two key elements in Thomas Berry’s thinking: “Firstly, the primary status of the universe. The universe is, ‘the only self-referential reality in the phenomenal world. It is the only text without context. Everything else has to be seen in the context of the universe’. The second element is the significance of story, and in particular the universe as story. ‘The universe story is the quintessence of reality. We perceive the story. We put it in our language, the birds put it in theirs, and the trees put it in theirs. We can read the story of the universe in the trees. Everything tells the story of the universe. The winds tell the story, literally, not just imaginatively. The story has its imprint everywhere, and that is why it is so important to know the story. If you do not know the story, in a sense you do not know yourself; you do not know anything

[Francis]

If you lack all expectation, you'll have no basis on which to act. I'm not sure how happy such a person might be, but they will have abandoned themselves. For example, if a hungry person has no expectation that eating will satisfy their hunger, what then?

The idea of "low" expectations implies low emotional attachment to the outcome. So, in this sense, "no" expectations cannot lead to happiness because happiness is an emotion.

[henry]

our homework assignment for today is to go to the esalen website "in the air", esalen initiatives. this material is dated and doesn't include amazing stuff there and at esalen ctr. for theory and research the last 10 years. like 'em or not, they clearly have not been "beta testing" since 1962.... also, a new fire threatens big sur ..henry

[Jana]

Francis, I thought you lent towards the "lower your expections" side of the happiness equation.

Happiness is an artform. Me being in bliss all the time makes me realize that happiness is not bliss, nor is happiness peace. Happiness is not equanimity or numbness or sleep. Happiness is a choice and an art. It is a method of crafting ones personality within the context of happenstance, relationship and time. I think happiness requires a higher degree of witnessing than mere physical bliss or the relaxed nature of peace. Happiness requires direct engagement and a joy in being, and perhaps life with the brakes off. It requires the a priori attitude of thrill in the unknown. Perhaps more than anything happiness is an eternal question? It is life "awake" at the edge of existence.

[jimtzu]

nicely said, Jana.  being present with presence. 

[Jana]

I got a K.active girl in Beirut at present in fear. I have given her my antifear stuff.
Anyone have any insights and suggestions on dealing with fear?

"Fear not at all; fear neither men nor fates, nor gods, nor anything. Money fear not, nor laughter of the folk folly, nor any other power in heaven or upon the earth. Nu (space) is your refuge as Hadit (perception) your light; and I am the strength, force, vigor of your arms." The Book of the Law, Aleister Crowley

[jimtzu]

what is the basis of her fear?  is it K related  or dealing with something specific or just a general feeling of dread? fear is usually the anticipation of something negative in the future, sometimes based on events in the past, when the mind goes into hyperdrive, running thru all the possible what ifs instead of being in the present moment. finding a way to occupy the intellect in some manner ( doing math, adding, subtracting etc ) until one calms down enuf to realize that things are safe at that particular moment  will help and let one desensatize to whatever is the trigger.  there is also the bio-chemical aspect of fear, increase in adrenaline and other chemicals that ramp up the emotions. it has to be treated in an integrated fashion.

[Jana]

Kundalini exaggerates any existing tendency. As a 35 yo female in Lebanon my friend has so much more stacked against her than any of us could imagine. The country is just free of a 30 year civil war, and the psychological pressures of living in the Middle East must be huge at present. The country is psychologically/spiritually backward compared to the space our freedoms have allowed, then there is finances and she also looks after her parents. She is highly intelligent and should be in the arts, and yet there are slim chances of making a living in the arts there. I sent her a package of books, Krishnamurti on Fear, A New Psychology of Women and music cds and syrian rue tincture and anointing oil.

Bottom line is it is probably her biology trying to break through and quicken happenstance in order to establish a relationship and pregnancy. With women of a higher potential in difficult circumstances this quickening tends to overshoot the mark and the difficulties of enduring kundalini make us less likely to bare children...even though for the evolution of the species it is the "sensitives" ie: K.active women that should be breeding the next generation. It is just that survival pressures and ignorance do not yet favor enlightened breeding.

When in the vibe of fear, especially that which is exaggerated by kundalini moving through the brainstem and limbic system...it is very hard to tell someone that it is "just chemistry." Especially when a lifetime of experience has gone in to prepare the ground for this pervasive and all encompassing fear.

In the fear center of the brain, the Amygdala, cells called intercalated (ITC) neurons are crucial for overcoming fear through learning not to fear threatening stimulus in particular contexts. These ITC cells play an important role in forming and expressing so-called extinction memories—remembered moments of safety that help overcome fear. If you could just turn up the excitability of these security-reassurance neurons with meditation, visualization and affirmation, you could dampen fear expression and increase the expression of extinction memories. In this way we could essentially operate as a mothering force to normalize affect-regulation, calm emotion and turn of the hyperactivity of the fight-flight.

Steve Pavlina suggests two ways to overcome anxiety and trepidation, first by building resistance to fear (courage) and secondly by shifting your mental model of reality to eliminate the experience of fear entirely. First we have to realize that it is fear itself that is the obstacle, not the apparent cause of fear. Then as we build courage resources we transcend fear altogether.
http://www.stevepavlina.com/podcasts/Pavlina-008-Overcoming-Fear.mp3

[Michael]

I would recommend reading RAM's book Darkness Shining Wild.

[Jana]

Nope I don't think she has the tolerance for that, I sent her a selection of inspiring videos and she said parts of them made here fearful. Problem being she is all she has to tolerate waking up to the intolerable. While I revel in the martyrdom of waking up alone, some people are best to have some company. I will turn her onto a few K.forums...perhaps encourage her to blog or something.
I walked 5 hours a day to metabolize and reduce my distress load, but she has to hold down a job in the midst of the peak heat.

[Jana]

Integral is Intimacy!

"I realized that it was not enlightenment I was looking for at all; it was intimacy.

I was desperately seeking intimacy with myself, with God, with nature, with my family, with all humans I encountered, with my cats, with my writing, with plants, with the falling rain, with my pain, with my dreams and visions, and with all the minute aspects of this experience we call "living our life", like washing dishes and doing laundry." Michael Brown

 http://thepresenceportal.com/Articles%201%20-%20What%20is%20not%20enlightement.htm

[marianthi]

Intimacy:  diving into the fusion that already exists.
         
Intimacy:  no separation.

Intimacy:  knowing thoroughly.

Intimacy:  mutual expansion into and with, that which is intimated.

More entries anyone?