dynamic pairs have become more and more deeply fascinating lately as i become more deeply cognizant of the potency of their combination.  today i realize that by plumming their mysteries, i realize their inherent inseperability (I know, duh).  They are NOT one, as in one of a sameness, but they are one, as in one of an inseperable union, giving the illusion of a lone 'act'.  maybe it is both their passionate claim for independence in the fear of being annihilated through dependence, and the passionate longing for union for fear of being annihilated by the void which provides the primary stimulus or tension in the fundamental dance.  the fundamental play.  And the nature of that relationship is full of wonder, mystery, energy, and play far greater than the sum of their parts, with no linear calculus to truly measure their value.  whenever i behold one, i realize it is incomplete and look to bring its compliment into the scene as it is then merely a story half told.  they dance and they play, they explore, emerge, expand and create. 

I guess it's all part of the observation of the larger play itself.  And...as that play begins to sing, it calls for my participation inside of that observation, to where the observation and the participation become one dancing, living union, forming a seemless, synchronous event.  Every scene, every set, every character, every prop, every mood, every condition, every moment.

I am becoming oh so aware that any attempt on my part to 'do no harm' is in direct proportion to the size of my heart, and NOT just my brain.

I have found that living is not just an art, but also a tremendous act of courage in the face OF 'death'.

These are some of the thoughts guiding my way today.  A little bit about me

And finally, for today, that no matter how well i learn to express this complex of interwoven ideas, a sort of 'me', i'll always be missing just a little something because eternity is truly inexpressable.  Perhaps the best we can ever do sometimes is through a simple smile.

or...do each other the honor to honor the unspeakable unexpressable in each and every one of us.

cheers, and in the face of the unspeakable :-)))))))

Maybe this is as much about YOU as it is about me.

Secondly, I'd like to really take this opportunity to thank everyone here as this turtle slowly pokes his head out of his shell.  The ability to express myself freely and openly, while being accepted fully for that has been as beautiful a gift as any i have received. 

the community, at large, is a phenomenal expression of the devine, and I suppose I am beginning to really appreciate its ultimate power.

I do not feel as if I am overstating this when i say I really do NOT know what I would do without you.

eternal love and sunshine

Just to say upfront, I DO realize I may be saying something said thousands and thousands of times before or presently. I guess it's my belief it is not being said enough OR heard enough. If it's not being heard enough, maybe it needs to be made more accessible. so..here's my little attempt on this fine Easter day.  Also keep in mind that this is as much about my development as my sharing some greater part of myself.  So...if you know of anyone who is speaking this 'language' or ideas or thoughts on something I may be missing, not seeing, or confused about, please don't hesitate to share right back.  Everything is a co-creation anyhow, with the fullest credit going to the beauty, strength, and diversity community at large.  So...on that note, I don't take full credit for all my nonsense either!!!  ha!

And...to those out there who have noticed, OR CARED, that I have been deleting my blogs, I think I will leave this one. haha. So please comment freely. I just to always seem to be slightly or greatly dissappointed with the painting in the light of new understanding. But...i think this one may stand for some time. We'll see. Again...for anyone I have irritated out there by deleting my notes, and along with it, your amazing feedback, sorry!!!  Know at least, that your feedback is with me.  so thank you. I'm sort of experimenting over here and DO want to play nice!! haha

What I would like to do is edit this piece, through future works. The whole thing just morphs, synthesizes, and expands too quickly for me to catch up with sometimes. I would personally love to keep this one on record. I am fighting the tendency toward complexity with my new drive toward simplicity and it's a tough answer for me on how to do that. I, for example, like the idea of ONE evolving blog entry so as to both say that I AM working with ONE evolving encapsulated idea and that THIS is the centerpiece, rather than many sort of disconnected pieces where there are numerous entries for someone to browse. THAT is structure and THAT is what I have struggled with for the better part of 4 years. So...is this sites, or the blogging structure itself the structure which i can work within I am not sure. I am toying with the idea of, which others i believe are doing, using the 'about me' section as the first interface
TO my notes themselves.

In any event, i hope this all makes sense and please bare with me as I experiment as I go with different configurating and evolving structures. have i made my self perfectly clear! haha

 

OK...to my thought

 

Given the great amounts of information available, it appears clear to me, that a bottleneck in our growth is in effectively dealing with that information.  And that it is the bottleneck which forms one of the greatest challenges to advancement given the vast amounts of information.  Said most succinctly, the most meaningful arrangement of that information into a highly organicity.  NOT conforming to that which is outside, but an arrangment, order if you like better, with the natural world and the inner natural wiring and schematas.  I suppose this reminds me of Chomsky's concepts of a 'universalized language'.  Dharma on our DNA to some degree.

As we learn to be better, and better, consumers of information itself, critically thinking, analysing, checking sources, etc, etc, what are we doing to sort the incoming information, OR understanding how we may work WITH our organic natural tendancies, and work to avoid our negative, or disfunctional natural tendencies.  In the end here, the issue is twofold.  Dealing with large quantities of information and then finding the most natural or organic arrangement of that information.  Sort of a super assisted evolution.

I also am hopeful that this approach addresses the issue of the various lines, levels, states, and quadrants of our experience so that it is accessible to as many as is possible.  I would also like to add into that personality types so as to take into consideration the greatest possible scope in the crafting of something universal.  And it is to a very broad universality that something such as this is crafted.  With all these variables in mind as perameters. There are two general ways to work with information which I am emphacising at this point. Through the examination and analysis of phenomenon and essences and through the meaningful placement of that information into some larger framework.

i would like to use the present integralist language as a platform, while also making and creating my own, but feeling the need to diverge into something that feels like integral interrelatedness. I guess I like neet and tidy packages. And while I completely get that this is not ever entirely possible, also believe the attempt and success leads to a potentially more rapid internal expansion. And this is only a highly speculative theory or work in progress. um...with myself. haha. So...lots of learning to go in comparative practices as well. Time is collapsable though, isn't it.

I am trying to keep things as simple and meaningfully relateable as possible so as to perhaps expose a more highly accessible means of integrative experience. In other words, quicker development. being that i am a very, very late bloomer and teach high school special education to mild/moderately 'handicapped' students, i seem to be in the thick of this sort of reality.

After saying that, I want to add one more wrinkle to my approach, and this is NOT mine, by any means (none of it is 'mine' anyhow, no 'inc' symbol ever on my work in the strict sense), but that a simultaenous working with the inner environment in order to work WITH our natural capacities. The Zen mind I guess would be a shorthand for that. This sort of thing HAS to accompany the structure. The 'emptiness' and the structure. I'm not even sure if i agree with, or understand the label 'emptiness' as it may be very misleading

The sad truth of it is, is that we are taught many, many things but NEVER taught how to organize and synthesize all that information and that is basically what I am here, now, to explore. To work with, to message, and to place inside frameworks for later retrieval or use in accordance with human nature's most organic positive tendencies (awareness of the negative tendencies and gliches is just as valuable. I call them natural foibles).

The main domains or modes of thinking can be divided into 6 main categories: knowledge, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.  and I'll have to go back to de Bono to get the other two and understand them more fully.  But...this is just part of 'thinking'

*Knowledge is what we get lots of. Can be gained through adoption, i.e., NOT screening it for veracity, or through examination. To this we must undertake the process shown below. never should information be simply adopted--unless the source is highly credible, but then, only temporarily. The more we awaken, the more we lose the labels and adoption of truth based on preconcieved conditioning, and the more we look at things phenomenally as a unique entity of the moment.

*analysis is done in examination to see what the parts are, their function, characteristics, principals, etc. To try to understand the essence of something.

*Evaluation is a wieghing, very often with many variables, but not necessarily so.  Often involving complex calculus's which cannot be accessed through simple 'thought' alone.  probably tapping into intuition or KWs vision logic.

*synthesis is the bringing together. I would say we can call this the organizing principal. We must see the characteristics of something, its principals, find a domain or framework that it fits into, and then put it there. This is the creative activity.

*damn if i can't remember the other one. And...I'm sure there are more and that the above are not clearly elaborated here...but...here we go.

I think the idea is a simple one, and I believe I'm not saying anything extraordinarily special, but I that is what excites me about it.  I do think it is sort of a very simple thing. but i do believe it is slipping under the rader as something very important to be developed and that the voice of the idea should be louder--if that makes sense.  In other words, it starts out 'mundane', but flowers magnificently into the fabric of the universe itself.

We spend lots of time with information. But just how formalized and conscious is the process of working with that process. of course we are talking philosophy here. But we are also talking VERY much about psychology simultaneously in the same breath.

The philosophical part is in working with meaning. The psychological part is in working WITH the mind in such a way so as to maximize what we construct with our philosophy and therefore our efforts.

Philosophy should be for the benefit of the self (the unexamined life...). For further self advancement. As the self advances, so will the society. And so given this, we ought to also have a methodology to take the meaning created through the philosophical endeavor and integrate it into the self. incorporation. And a firm knowledge of psychology is necessary for this. How is it that we work.

The combination of these two exercises, knowing the tools for the discovery of the world and knowing the tedencies, habits, and strengths of the human system yield fantastic benefits. I believe the premise is strong, yet the global practice is quite weak. Furthermore, knowledge in the two domains is quite weak.

The benefits of employing such a strategy are nothing less than profound.
1. As information (datum) gets incorporated in more and more meaningful ways, more and more emerges because the present 'basis' of being becomes more and more elevated. Stepping out at a comfortable rate on a ladder, down the rabbit hole, or the yellow brick road.
2. As we practice truly working with our ideas and with ourselves on a regular and enduring basis, the representation and cosmological presentation of the world changes more and more rapidly.
3. Deeper and deeper vision develops as the interrconnections and thoughts form a more and greater cohesive representation of what is. not only is much more available in every moment, but

4. The practice itself strengthens, awakens, and creates new and emerging talents imperceptible to the previous self.

 

None of these outcomes is unheard of or new. What I am suggesting is that this is both a safe, sure, and rapid methodology. i'm hoping I can in some fashion illucidate, for myself at least, the relative merit of such a process because honestly I don't know for sure.  I'm just working with an inkling (OK...sometimes I feel much more than an inkling, but until that can be formally shown in some fashion, it's just that). And at this point, that's over my head. I am humbly just moving forward. And moving forward I am.

I'm only trying to synethesize, emphasize, and promote the obvious. Working with the self and its naturally brilliant tendencies, becoming more and more aware of its negative tendencies, and using the most simple framework as possible so as to structure large amounts of meaning in the MOST meaningful ways.   OK...so it appears to be all about meaning, huh.

The path I'm elaborating is very straightforward.  but even the 'straightforward' can be a challenge.  I suppose my grand emphasis is on the meaning of meaning.  And that only comes through relationship.  or it can be called context.  context should of course be relevant.  and relevancy is the game. That is, if we believe that our very ideas and thoughts form who, what, and where we are that this should be more fully grasped and promulgated at large  Just what is it that we are doing while meditating hours on end, for example. In the end, all I think I'm doing is basically formally outline the natural process that we undertake anyway. This is what we do! we seek order. I'm just not so sure how rigorous the process itself is as understood by the public at large. how conscious and formally developed the process is in working with our thoughts itself. metacognitiion. I pretty nice word. I don't really hear much about it. Anywhere outside of circles who appreciate it. and if 'thought' is such the cat's evolutionary meow, i'd think we'd be more on board with trying to develop the idea of thinking about thinking more. But...as i've noted, my emphasis has 3 integral facets or components. philosophical, psychological, and spiritual. Philisophical in the metecognitive and structure, etc. Psychological and getting how we work through association, grouping, meaning, and how meaning is formed--and I'm not sure if this is biological, dharmic, or both, or more. And spiritual in the sense of the right state of consciousness and working with that end. Through meditation, psychonalysis, shadow work, the conscious development of mindful awareness, etc. much of the stuff found in Eastern practices and Western psychology

if we are advancing to a new age, it seems very natural to me that we might want to begin to more formally understand the very processes at work in our development. Clearly it makes sense that we have a tremendous fulcrum TO that change if we are more and more aware of how that change does indeed take place. at its most basic levels in terms of process or method.

I am also pretty sure that most people on this site have many formal metacognitive practices. I would love to hear your thoughts on any formal work you may be doing with the information itself.  your rules and guidlines for fashioning 'truth', your structure or system for organizing itself.

I am saying that minimally, that this should be a part of the formal educational process at early stages (duh, i know, there's LOTS of ways we could improve what we're doing). A synthesis of phychology and philosophy into one class for the greater awareness of self so as to integrate the vast amounts of information the poor souls are being deluged with in order to generate a FAR superior meaning and comprehension of the totality. The simplification and breaking down of things allows for FAR more advancement. Not effectively organizing, understanding, or synthesizing information creates grand bottlenecks for future growth and future vistas as there are great problems with direction and access to our wisdom. That is little less than fact. As things are synthecized properly (internalized), the stage becomes set for the future. Isn't this how we move forward. Information synthesis? higher and higher encapsulating realizations to which we stand on, view, and move forward with?

Aren't these the facts as they have been presented to all of us?

Anyhow, infrastructural cultural elements WILL change. Simply because this may appear untenable at the present moment does NOT invalidate the idea that this is part of the future of education itself. if we are indeed approaching a golden age, we will find the best practices at our disposal to teach and educate our children, their children, and their children's children. Isn't this our debt to the future?

 

The outcome is little less than a definition of who, what, why, and where we are (maybe even when, just not sure I get that!). It is just a logical path to self discovery. now, there is no real 'definition' that can be relayed to anyone, nor is it fixed. our definitions are really only expressable in those who can or will 'read' us. And even this is inadequate.

An understanding in how we operate is important to the utilization or designing of a personal system.  And how information works

For example, here are some of the things i am finding are part of that

Understanding as gateway to beliefs.  We must see things.  Seeing is believing.  but...as we advance, we must see and envision the abstract world to greater and greater capacities because surface impressions are highly insufficient to form deeper meaning.

Associations-- our minds operate very well on this so we must be very, very careful to interconnect things with proper associatons.  proper domain identification is very important here.  just what IS the nature of the area in discussion.  the better defined the parameters (boundaries) of a domain, the better can be incorporation into that domain of new phenomenon.  also finer distinctions can be made and more accurate and clean placements of phenomenon/ideas.  btw: boundaries above are just the positive side of discrimination.  this and not that.  Nothing is rigidly bounded but evolving contours or shapes better yet.  Take for example, to illustrate one domain, psychological dysfunction.  These can be dilineated nicely into anxiety, mood, and psychosis.  and i'm not expert here, so there may be slight representations and omissions here.  The point is, is that all new disorders, such as Obsessive Compulsive can be seen in the anxiety disorders which may have very common roots and characteristics so as to lend automatic meaning to the 'new' categorical placement.  my emphasis with structure is that all new information is not only seen for what it is, but is not truly seen until it is meangingfully placed inside a meaningfully designed structure.  then its meaning is both amplified, clarified, made more available for further development, and made more available for further retrieval from the developing categorical treatment.


Beliefs-- we learn to operate on beliefs.  information must pass through stages of speculation to deepening beliefs.  through deepening beliefs, we develop a confidence or faith.  I think it is important to realize the siginficance of beliefs in our universe.  Knowing this gives a pretty nice insight into how we develop.   Therefore, the development of our beliefs becomes quite important.  so...the development of a more critical injunctive methodology of determining what is, and what is not, is very important.  beliefs are the cornerstone to any system.  The better they are formed, and the more they conform to reality and not society or something of that nature, the stronger and more dynamic and useful will be the system itself.  correct and good beliefs are the cornerstone.  They are also extremely powerful in further development.  if they are weakly constructed, they will fall.  if they are constructed very strongly, they will support an enormous amount of weight, weather storms, and eventually lead to MUCH further advancement.  And this is fundamental and key.  This is the nature of things and perhaps a little recongized gateway to phenomenal growth.  What that entails, if you have not made this inference, is a MUCH more rigorous personal system of meaning making than is typically practiced.  just how hard are we working with what we call and receive as our 'truth'.

Speculation-  We naturally speculate and theorize.  this is the nature of life.  to experiment and to explore and create possible and potential scenerios.  undestanding our tendencies of this is very important in recognizing our thoughts for what they are.  Very often speculative delusions.  sometimes more.  but...in either event, we must treat them with a care to see if we can elevate them to something more substantial toward becoming a belief.

internalization-- once something is believed, it gets internalized and will be a part of the subconscious behavioral world.  now...of course, there may be a competing contradiction, and eventually the competing belief will have to be found and reconciled.

manifestation-  Then we will slowly work it into our world and see how we can incorporate a new 'self' into the world.  Very difficult for sure as the world generally likes fixed and non changing images around it, and will resist the new image you are sending it.  So...it takes effort, but we can convince it that our change is for real.  once this is established, that you are a dynamic and changing character, those around will see you more as a phenomenal character in the play and react more accordingly, with a more open mind.

energy-  Allows one to get into holding more and more in consciouosness simultaneously so as to see more complex and sophisticated thoughts, ideas, and visions.  Without an energy source to light it up, we're left in the dark.  of course, it also gets lit up by the information we have as well.  energy is NOT a haphazard, but a consequence of order, structure, and sophistication.  We need deepening energy to move forward and to progress.  We're not much different than an engine this way.  and to gain that energy, we deepen our understanding so as to deepen our beliefs.  Deepening beliefs allow for a deepening faith or letting go of the tension which holds back natural energies.  We also use inspiration to add energy.  I also believe we eventually discover the limitations of the self and look toward the support for others.  so....the heart must be added and the world of passion and compassion and the only way to achieve this is through the real and authentic conection with other.  Additionally, i believe we eventually realize the limitations of the self and develop larger and strong social networks which serve as a source of deepenign energy as well. 



interrelationships

essences--   If we see things, phenomenon and ideas, very clearly, generally through understanding and a deepening capacity to find meaning, those phenomenon or ideas will naturally connect to other things more and more meaningfully.  in other words, the mind has the capacity to reach out and connect with things which are meaningfully related through basic associations.

superstructural-  We use front ends to organizing things in a sort of 3d tapestry.  The front end is the basic paradigmatic fundamentals.  basic front end through which everything is seen and organized.

Causal or time--is this a basic compoment?  seems like it ought to be.  think on it.

This post is a work in progress.  basically attempting to put a skeletal framework out there.

please, please, please check back

love you all

The following will comprise a list of what are our negative tendencies and traps and things to avoid in cleaning up our process/methodology of growth.  With a growing awareness of these traps we can begin to reframe the environment we live in on the inside.  by becoming aware of these tendencies.  Combine these with the positive psychological components and the philosophic practice to work and rework phenomenon for greater classification and deeper insights into basic essences, and work on present moment cultivation so as to more and more deeply appreciate what the 'moment' is, and you have the basic framework for a multifaceted, always ON approach to development.  A four pronged, always on approach.  What develops is a working and growing understanding and awareness of what is.  A deepening dharmic well spring for that present moment.  An always on approach to growth, and an ever developing always on approach to being.  being and developing at all times (very much while 'asleep' as well i have happily discovered.  Absolutely blissful states of sleep).  NOT just at 6 am every day for 'meditation' time.

*Focusing on negative to improve and not seeing all

*judgement as self enhancing tool

*denial of darker or threatening material.

*attachments and personalizations

*Over detachment

*absolutist thought.  Makes an open mind challenging.  Assumptions close doors.

*Belief in a fixed or static universe without great change

*Flatland impressions or relativistic nievete.

*The tendency to see a theory without naturally looking for its compliment.  This may naturally be connected to 'absolutist thought'.  Or...perhaps better stated...notions of 'perfection'.  clearly, change and permanence are also something which would most likely be contained within a domain here.  A domain of the nature of basic and fundamental reality.  So...it appears most is contained in this here.  As well as the antidotes, or balancers, such as an open, humble, and free mind or spirit.

And what we gain from the philosophical enterprise must be put somewhere.  i firmly believe this is a very little understood, and very underutilized idea.  to place things in a highly meaningful context.  Or...even more than one context.  And this is taking advantage of the mind's capacity to work through association.  And if well understood

More meta cognitive nonsense ;-)

And this is NOT to take away from the simple ideas of peace, love, and harmony, only to suggest that perhaps though the analytical side APPEARS to be at odds with the heart, it is its greatest complimentary bedfellow.  Often antagonstically at odds, they play highly crucial roles in the development of one another and the greater that this is appreciated and seen, the more at peace one will be with both of these critical dimensions when they appear less than savory to the other.

And I also believe it, like the heart, is getting short shrift.  In other words, these two principals themselves are not being seen for their profound impact.

meaning making is serious business IF we believe in the crucial role of beliefs and the truthiness of thoughts. And the crafting itself OF meaning highly UNDER rated.  The fruits of this great, difficult, and trying labor also greatly missed.  The construction of meaning is at the heart of our adventure, yet, often at the back of our 'to do' list.  It is also the essence of the bright light we wish to develop and shine.

The basic components of our meaning is a thought or a belief.  A belief is just a unit of measure of truth.  A degree of belief in the verasity or 'reality' of an idea.  Higher degree beliefs become integrally incorporated into our system as a whole given no competing beliefs or systems.  If there is, the conflict must be resolved for deeper and furtherr meaning to develop.  One theory must pass.

The more solid is the development of this meaning, the more we naturally progress by the natural steam of the harmoniousness and 'truthiness' of the system itself.  Things WILL click in an ordered universe.  Things WILL jump out more and more clearly given their relatedness to things on deeper and more functionally operational levels.  In other words, it sort of begins to perpetuate itself at increasing rates.  Just through a rigorous and conscious manipulation of information and deeper development of meaning.

This is about the moment or the context in which we develop and the distraction which destroys focus.  The free focus for whatever arises in the amazingly infinite and overwhelming mass of 'reality' and 'meaning' coming our way without stopping to overgreet and fixate on everything coming in.  Clearly, if we are to really work with incoming streams of data and infromation in a social setting, we will have to loosen up and allow impressions to form rather than over thought in these situations.  in flight, the Zen mind has great advantages.  And if we can see well and hold lightly, more and more can be seen in any moment.  This environment is crucial to development.  if we contract through anxiety or anger, we lose an optimal working environment.  Furthermore, we actually LIVE in this envrionment.  life is enjoyed here.  being and becoming.

meaning, after we have developed solid habits of awareness concerning the negatives to avoid and the positives to practice, and a growing awareness of the inner and outer world itself, we can begin to attempt to balance time in the moment.  To make the most of it, so to speak.  To more and more open our minds, through practice, to what is happening right in front of us.  it DOES take time to begin to see just what it is in front of us for sure!

what is in front of us is not the past, nor the future.  it is not our hangups or our issues.  We do NOT own these.  So...I suppose the other facet of this is ownership or possession of things on a negative and positive sense.  We don't own the negative or the positive. We are NOT these things.  The identification component of the moment.

Identification becomes more of a growing system than of a group, a foible, a strength, etc.  I am not this, i am not that. 

then we must also deeply consider threatening material.  usually this IS somethign which concerns the self on both the social, temporal, and eternal planes.  Social death, earthly death, and eternal obliteration.  I think it all basically turns on eternal obliteration.  The idea we may indeed parish in eternity somehow, some way.   I think that often this is reprented in social death, as social death threatens, we feel a sense of eternal obliteration and meaninglessness.  Irrelevance.  So...anxiety can be an enormous distraction.  It's a big one for me.  Which CAN and DOES compete with the growing faith or belief we must have for the 'engine' of our expanding or steady consciousness.

Well...I read the 40 page recommended PDF in the II forum.  There are more advanced IOSs available.  This helped a lot.  At least as a refresher.  Lots of good detail as a basic statement of the basic premise.  now that I think I see the strengths of the system, I think I see clearly the weaknesses. If their 40 page statement is anything to go on.

With Lines, Levels, States, and Types within a very elegant 4 quadrant experience, Wilber has developed quite an advanced system.  A really beautiful way to see and interpret the world.  I think I appreciate the elegance of the system, the rationale, etc.  And I believe it is definately useful.  Wilber is personally, to date, one of the most influencial figures, teachers for me.  

One problem is though, that it is something we must adopt.  Sort of a radical approach.  Everything 'within' this free for us to create, but the imposition of the IOS is more than I can accept personally even though I find these things as useful.  And the way that we operate as humans, that which is adopted and useful must be very fully seen to be swallowed.  We internalize based on degrees of certitude.  the model is absolutely useful.  But...not only is it something to be adopted and integrated into our already extant system, it really speaks little to how to deal with the great glut of incoming information in a more organic, on the fly, construction of an evolving structure.  And this is only part of the problem.

How well is Integral Theory helping us assimilate the vast amounts of data in an age of information glut?  It isn't.  Other than providing a nice framework to hang things on, it is an outside imposed structure with no personal history or personal development to give it deeper relevance and a deeper meaning and I believe it accounts for less than it claims in total experience, esp as we consider the problems inherent in balancing so many things in life itself.  It is silent to this, silent to how to absorb vast quantities of information, and largely silent on learning theory, assimilation, and memory.  Very interesting since development is the cornerstone to the theory (and from what i understand, the other grand emphasis is on having a structure to help create access to personal resources though I think it totally misses in relating how developing further highly meaningful structures really assists in accessing resources and the opposite facet, informaton integration for later solid retrieval).   I'm sure you might find a few things concerning the psychological aspects of learning, but...i would hope to see a theory have a great enough sophistication to have a more complete front end.   From what I can see, Integral focus is on clearing the way through shadow work, etc.  But not much on the building and constructing process.  how do we assemble insights?  What do we do with all the insights?  Clearly, if we find a way to meaningfully integrate them into some larger structure, we will clear the way for further growth, and the interconnectedness will also clearly lend to deeper understanding and further connections.  Kinda cool that way. 

And i do personally find seeing the world through internal and external modes as useful.  We also want to have other associated things come up as we move along in our daily routine.  Each setting we find ourselves in calls for all sorts of various setting acoutrements to arise through association.  any discussion we have, on the fly, will call forth all sorts of associations.  What do we know about social encounters, friendships, relationships, etc.

Furthermore, I believe the ability to digest and manage information into deeper and deeper more meaningfully simplifying structures is the key to consciousness expansion because it allows the very 'access' to resources that the AQAL model boasts.  And in a more organic fashion as it is developed fully from within in a piecemeal fashion.

Without developing deeper and deeper belief, true integration does not happen.  What is required is authority.  however, no longer trusting in the verasity of a school system or cultural subgroup it is WE who become the author of our own story.  Great times, but also difficult.  So...we turn to scientific methodologies and ever more rigorous means of making deeper and braoder meaning.

My biggest gripe is in information processing or meaning making and the assimilation which is at the core of growth.   As meaning develops, so do we. Rather than a model to structure the world, I favor a model to discover structure which can be internalized.  Integral Theory removes itself from creating knowledge insight of AQAL, but I am wondering if even having a model such as this is too much of an imposition and that what we should focus on is just as the Buddha had which is one's on development.  Not that discussing and comparing models is not a very useful thing, as the Tibeten buddhists do through hours of daily debate and convesation, but that there is a very important principal to development I believe is that we must go through a process, ourselves, of verification and then internalization.  And this is based on the age old system that is in our genes of development based on a solid belief system.

I am most cocnerned about the moment. Something so organically and well constructed, that great access to knowledge AND internalization of new information is gained.  My big emphasis of being and becoming.

I am very excited about the new burgeoning integral consciousness and beyond.   I also think Wilber's model really is an interesting attempt at creating the necessary structure to support further development.  We ARE in a very wonderful time of coelecense and integration of essentials.  But....I tend to think we are at a greater beginning of integral theory and would like to take the great assemblage of integral wisdom Wilber, et al are assembling and integrate it into my own worldview, from scratch.  Which is of course, my choice and nothing is forced. 


I guess my emphasis would be on and in the moment and growing awareness in the moment.  Balance itself requires awareness.  While IOS emphacises access to resources, which I fully back, those resources will be tucked away and hidden if we cannot master a certain balance.  Balance is the key, is it not, to sensing our fullest universe? And IOS does touch on this, but not so much on the fly I feel.  I've tried quite a bit of meditating, only to find that the world was something to deal with.  My emotions were still things to deal with.  where are we on this?

 I feel, for example, an integral approach would really emphacise our emotions and trying to understand or recognize them.  The key here is awareness, not understanding. If we resist the notion of perfect 'understanding' we can at the very minimum populate our personal universe with more and more things, learn to encapsulize and synthecise and integrate meaningfully, and then create a setting, in the depth of the moment, that provides a strong environment for those things.

Emotions are culturally universal experiences.  I just don't understand why there isn't a giant tab at the top of their site to jump into them.  I think they are that important.  hmm...it's the best we can do in discussions about emotions is, I love you, or 'you made my day' etc.  No analysis really.  interesting though huh.  What a travesty to 'analyse' emotions.  Sacraligeous even!  But not.  When I feel jealousy, it's much nicer knowing what it is, looking at where it came from, and then being able to dive down and deal with it.  Understanding the whole complex, including the personal insecurity from which it sprang.  and I KNOW I am only scratching the surface here.

I remember on Integral Naked a treatment of guilt.  And one on response-ability.  Maybe a little on anxiety (and anger was brought up in this context.  as a part of psychotherapy and the subconscious).   why not categorize into a domain and structure emotions in a better way.  What is the function of jealousy, anger, fear, happiness, love, etc.  Each of those things are very complicated and interrelated.  Wouldn't THIS help a person balance through an understanding and recognition of how the self is talking to us?  Aren't these often an accompaniment to present moment awareness?

If we are to have access to all our resources, don't we have to deal with the inner environment of emotion so that it doesn't swamp us?  can't we look at them as a constellation of interrelated and complete universal integral meaning?  Yes...we can meditate and other exercises, but emotions are still there.  Couldn't we fill a book in a day on the topic of love?  What about jealous as a response to insecurity?  Then....we find we must examine our basic insecurity.  Surely we can discuss these things.  There are MANY great things which can be said about all the interrelationships, causes, distinctions within emotions, like love for example, or anger.  what DOES bliss feel like?

I've always benefited from working with organizational structures to simplify, connect, and make greater and greater meaning.  I fully inclusive approach needs to do this. 

I guess I'm finding that my notion of integrality veers greatly in that i am assembling and organizing the extant depths of MY knowledge.  what *I* have explored and found and integrated.  IOS and the integral institute is a part of that integration.  A great part.   Am I talking about differing opinions on 'meaning'.  Or what is meaningful.  i am definately differing on systems theory and information processing.

To me, Integral is a VERY large word.  I like to think of it more in terms of an attempt.  So large it may as well be IMHOI.  In My Humble Opinion Integral. 

In other words, it's a little presumptuous to make the claim itself.  And the headiness of that position is perhaps imbalanced in and of itself.

So...I am an integralist.  I am only making a humble attempt at bringing together and systemetizing the vast array of what can be known and assembled in a meaningful way (which means organic)

All of this is complimentary to the simple and bountiful message of LOVE

My basic position is still the same.  Tieing things together in the most meaningful way, with the goal of a super coherency, or clarity, as the most important task we face and the heart of the integrative endeavor.  What should or would a system like this feel or look like?  How impositional, meaning how much is adopted externally, or how much is home grown through a new formal operations of data processing.  Comprehensibility is a function of deeper accuracy and meaning.  it functions well, it endures, it works, and it therefore sticks and produces and produces.

Formal Operations is a method of discovery.  Working with vast amounts of information (the datum from the operations), should be just as easy a sell.  Largely because it does not threaten or challenge a person's autonomy AND it works with our learned post conventional tendency to not adopt or buy foreign things easily.  If all we can provide, as teachers at least, is a new fulcrum in development, to allow a person to continue to develop, for themselves, a world view, then it has a greater mass marketability.  But...it also works with our own predispositions to produce for ourselves our reality and our truth.  Things will assemble, clarify, etc.  World view models can be offered, but i would say all things adopted MUST be seen and screened before adopted. 

I feel coping with vast amounts of that datum, from our ever developing injunction, is the next fulcrumist like developmental stage skill.  Information doubles how often now?  What comes after the Formal Operations that produced this glut anyhow?  After the new technologies and their environmental impact which seem to be rapidly challenging our capacities to keep up.

Should we be using predesigned model as a 'filter' to make sense of things, OR learn a global methodology of Formal Operational Data Processing.  Speaking the same universal injunctions to receive, interpret, and synthesize vast quantaties of UNbounded data.  By unbounded, I mean outside of disciplines and domains specifically so that grand amount of information from our first grand technological leap can be harnessed and synthecized.  On both societal and personal scales the same methodology would apply.

hmmm...ever think about what happens from Formal Operations (FO)?  Lot's of new info?  Through the development of a personal methodology to determine truth and fact, we develop more datum!  Hmm...just what the injunction was designed to do!!!  Crazy.  Work that in with the fact that belief and 'understanding' helps to create memory and we have a lot more sticking through a better methodology (fulcrum). How do we work with the next set of information (other than putting it into a computer for it's 'consideration').

Next stage beyond FO and the new injunction and method beyond FO to determine 'what is' or 'meaning: Data Processing.  The term appears natural enough, even though most exclusively connected with computers at this point.  However, given it is borrowing from the scientific metaphor of datum, and what we must learn to do is cope with the new info and message it, i'd say Processing is a strong enough.  Processing power.  and Processesing power being increased through more sophisticated architechtures.  

We ARE, of course, being transformed by technology as well.  information is being produced in greater amounts due to computers and communication.  How are we responding to this new environmental pressure cooker?

Dealing with info glut and connecting data sets. Solution: systematization.  I have suggested the label that deals with this as Data processessing.  If FO creates datum, better datum, then Data Processing is the next step.   So...what are the FO for Data Processing?  What are the next methodologies.  But...I'm afraid it's a bigger task than this, as the data produced leads us to work very largely with the self a greater FO itself is needed and one which changes the primary injunction, the self (can be considered part of the post modern stage?).  Given this, the environment we work in itself becomes a question.  The environment itself becomes a part of the injunction.  The lens is the self, the subjective experience.  And....of course, we are attempting to merge subject and object so as to find less difference.  So...part of our basic FO. 

Talking of subjectivity, we are talking of the basic problem of bias.  How to keep the observer from overinjection of meaning.  perhaps where more perspectives begin to develop in the desire to discover the 'object'.  Many various rays or angles, from many varying perspectives.  Historical, future, cultural, governmental, spiritual, biological, OR...first, second, third, fourth, nth.  Btw: I think there should be a MUCH more thorough treatment of 'perspective', and it's fundamental nature (characteristics, functions, principals).

One suggested way to look at perspective is as variables.  And things DO take on the characteristics of equations or calculuses as we go along with multple variables etc.  the more complicated our variables (perspectives), the better we can shape something called truth.  Clearly, the next injunction beyond the processessing one is a very complex and thorough one.  I'm not particularly sure how this is all playing out developmentally.  Will there be a return to a more complicated FO?  more than likely yes, since the basic FO looks at small subsets of data.  The new 'ring' transecending and incorporating FO, is a Formal Operations of Data Processing.  The FO remains, but there is a new stage.  The new stage would seem then, to improve the previous stage or injunction.  Anyhow, wanted to focus on perspective here, as this it has been important for me to find the fulcrum for perspective change.  and it must be from the 'scientists' developing array of examination in the endless discovery of 'what is'.  supreme clarity.  the drive and search for clarity behind it all.

And we are talking about a simultenaity or comphrensivieness.  What KW calls vision logic.  the successor to Formal Operations.  Are we missing a stage in between though to get to vision logic?  in any event, this logic is having all perspectives going at the same time.  All 'languages' i like to say.  All 'voices' is another perspective on persepectives ;-).  And yes, simultanaity is necessary for this to occur.  It can be done piecemeal, but life is really to quick for this.  so...there is no question we could point out the various perspectives.  Clearly though, one great barrier is tolerance and open mindedness.  Looking to the brilliance of everything you see certainly helps bring in various angles or rays (btw, I want to delve more deeply into the geometrical parallels here in that we have perspectives with angles and rays, etc).   I also beleive that there are fundamental perspectives that are a part of the process.  the 'big picture' is one such angle.  myopa another.  consideration of context of course.  So...i think it is very useful to place all our visual world into this umbrella and develop it within that.  There's quite a few connections.  And...happyily, this whole thing slides in their nicely with developmental attainment, though NOT the fulcrum itself i would say, but a consequence of other collective abilities such as the ability to embrace the unkown, to understand how to theorize, etc.  All skills honed in FO.

perspective should also not be confused with datum (solid information). perspective is only one more vector for datum outside of the regular oversimplified datum of simple perspective. view grows into vision given greater quality and number of subsets TO the master view. that is integral. Greater information with higher stability creating greater and greater 'master' views. that is integral expansion. and it is lovely to watch. magic in fact.

the systemic world is going to attempt organization so as to find flows and trends and mechanistic realities.  How do we organize our insights.  It's a pretty obvious emphasis.  Stick that with the next idea that the cognitive line is the leading one and we have the nexus to a solution.  The bottleneck to the cognitive line, of the next tier, post conventional, is in dealing with the overwhelming amount of insights produced by the previous teir.   Data processing.  Generally, we have left this to each individual and there has been no formalized process of ths yet.  We do NOT need to agree, just as we did not have to agree on the datum, on the outcome of the organization, but the operations themselves can more than likely be shaped tp produce optimal results.  We CAN and some ways MUST work with our capacities to store and retrieve information.  The grand beauty of this is not just access, but facilitation to the next stage.  Because as we assemble more and more meaningfully, more and more emerges naturally for an organic understanding.  I think it is at this stage that life really begins.  To where the system has been properly 'programmed'.  And what I see at EVERY stage of development, that is most significant, is the injunction to working with 'what is' and development of 'what is'.

What are the most significant factors in system design.  I know flexibility is very important.  the interrelations of what ARE created must be as meaningful as possible to work with the natural power of our internal wiring and association.

Another tac is in simply developing through a natural process of linkages.  Things take form and shape through natural processes.  Abstract evolution that biology follows.

the way i have gone about it is to simply work with free clusters.  Always trying to meaningfully relate the smaller clusters to a larger umbrella.  As we do this, we work with the power of association.  the natural powers we all have.  And the power of association is strong. Why we spend so much time trying to change the negative ones!!! It is NOT that complicated and NOT that invasive.  you are left with YOU and what comes of it is a product OF you--to whatever degree we control THAT process!! haha

It is working with OUR insights which should be a grand focal point of any system.  And this system is NON impositional meaning that it is simply working consciously with present organic processes.  Facilitation.  Any large imposition to our present self paradigm, MUST be super minimalist so as to allow the self to expand of its own natural accord.  I am a big fan of structure to enhance freedom. 

Benefits of working with the mind--metacognitive track
*a steady path beyond toward the difficult post rational, post conventional, post ethnocentric, transpersonal barriers.  And it is important to look at them as barriers.  how are they most easily transcended?  Slowly!!  But...paradoxically, with the rational mind.  Use of the rational mind to move into post rational thought.  And THAT is what we are looking for to transcend all the other mentioned barriers.  "Rationalism" is just a misnomer though.  the one to be transcended.  In actuality, there is clearly always SOME form of logic, just not traditional!  And what makes logic change are presuppositions!   The basic underlying presuppositions, laws really, which form and inform our basic thought processes.  The important point to remember here is that formal operations transforms conventional thought, thereby piercing a very difficult barrier (pandemic 'reality'--deep sleep) and puts us into more and more creative places. Places where it appears we ourselves are 'going it alone'.  Not true, of course.  Merely disconnected by formal means of communication.
*helps expand the heart and increase sensitivities and emotional intelligences.

one wrinkle in here.  Which information should be developed above all others?  Who is to say what is and what is not the most rewarding areas of exploration.  Should I mine in S dekota or nevada?
-emotions and developing a very broad awareness of that--would REALLY help inner and outer sensitivity, now wouldn't it.  hmmm...so...strong supporting rationale... maybe.
-society and the basic operations and functions of that--  eros, agency, freedom (and the tension of structure), power, trust, equity, fairness, respect, etc.  Community design based on basic human tendancies and human needs?

Anyhow, my hopes are that we can formalize HUMAN data processing so as to help the masses cope with the new environmental impact of information glut with no grand formalized receptive capacities. MINIMALLY, this is something we must do on broad scales.  Heck, the FO capacities themselves are very limited as far as broad use at this point!  And so yes, we are talking major institutional change.  It is NOT the students.  It is the society at large with its institutionalized barriers to progress.  CLEARLY activism is a large variable in the overall equation.  Foot 'soldier's' for change.  Political activism.

people are genius.  Institutions barriers without due flexibility for change.  Rules based adherences are one of our grandest challenges.

In the end, it is best perhaps to dissolve all top down models and find ways for a transfer of wealth of not money, or social infrastructural power, but mental power.  not gives or anything from above in that nature, but to provide the means and the environment to our greatest capacities to allow the expertise to develop from all echelons of soceity.  so as to address, quickly the ever widening gap in that wealth.  Trust, given the right tools, that the humblest of us can achieve 'stardom'.  so that the future's chidren are given the greatest wherewhithal and opportunity.

note to self: IOS can help one maintain a structure or access, but how does it help development itself.  And..to what degree is it really holding structures and granting access to resources.  these are some very fundamental presupositions being made.  Certainly important for competing systems of development to challenge this model?  What IS the peer review at this point?

and in the light of all my nonsense.

Love, peace, warmth, harmony, and GRACE to ALL

I WILL pound these keys till I get it right.

and each and every one of US is a floating grand MAGNIFICENCE of truth.

....and perchance we measure ourselves by views and not by comments.

also enjoying a tune by The Waterboys, Church not made by hands

sort of a truimphant song.  It really is a beautiful song.  If you can find it, give it a listen.

What could we do without music.  It's in the basic fabric of the universe, isn't it.  And it not only dances, but sings.

OK...end of random, from left field, disorganized musings.

run along now...

How does one ever know if someone is sincere?

I love sincerity.  I like to practice random acts of kindness, but I also like to practice stuff sincerely from the heart.  Not MERELY kind.  And there is NO question there are many kind people here.  And there is no question there are plenty of sincere ones.  Just wondering sometimes where the heart is.  We're all very nice, you know

Especially on online communities it seems challenging to feel a heart when someone may just be being kind.

Anyhow, this isn't cynical just real.  Sort a sincere.

I have a lot more to say on the matter, but gotta go to Legoland with the kiddies today. 

sincere wishes on a beautiful day

clyde

Just what IS the best way to navigate THIS realm here at Gaia?  Well...I am realizing that depends upon my needs.

What I am looking to do is to find ways to create links to the people and ideas which would most be useful to all of us (of course, that includes selfish ole me).

So...putting my own blogs out there and looking at others.  used to just look at the forums and there was a lot of debate  there. that is cool for sure.  being the type of person who really is interested in change, as all of you are, I HATE contention!  haha

So...always trying to lay a framework of love behind the madness.

Anyhow, still learning about the conduits in this large community and the complex social networks.  THAT is what I find fascinating.  This little universe here.  Fascinating.  how is it all working?  in both plain and esoteric terms.

Oh well, exiting this realm for a moment

ta

I always love looking at the parallels between physics and being.  here's an interesting thought I had today.

In 2 dimensional reality, there is not change or shift and the characters are static or flat.  Like a 2 dimensional character in a movie.  Not very dynamic.

I feel the ego is an outgrowth of this 2 dimensional way of thinking.  We are flat with no DEPTH and static, with no change.  Just basic superficial, fixed, images.  We LIVE in the world of image without much substance (the world is so incredibly substantive at the cores!).  As we see this, we realize the world and the cores are where it's at, not the surface image.  We also realize we are of the same stuff!!  A unifying realization!  So, the ego, a relative construct, begins to fade as this new 4 dimensional universe forms.  Add in there that we are NOT fixed, but fluid, and the idea of labels and locking things in is ridiculous.  We all should get there, in other words.  so...it becomes a helping and helped universe (and for those in the world who believe in the theory of innate superiority which supports their ego, and see little hope for those of inferior 'stock', they have a very tenuous grasp, as their theories are so hole ridden as to be pretty easily penetrable).

What we are trying to move toward is the more dynamic form of reality. Of at least 4 dimensions.  Would be a nice start.

to treat and see people and life as changing and with great depth and character.  A very, very natural and deep respect given to all.  Less need for an ego in a world like that.

Anyhow, we are drawn to 2 dimensional reality as it is the most pervasive 'language' available.   Which we must go on retreats within ourselves, or for real, or visit our sanctuaries, or to just go off into our 'outer space' environs.  the conventional world helps to tether ego to the spirit.

learning about innate worth and substance is what will challenge the self to surrender the ego.  We may have some sort of relative understanding of our position, but it, like other things is not who we identify with.  That 'position' is not me. I am not that flat 2 dimensional image.

just an idea.

trying to navigate my place in this beautiful interwoven tapestry has been a great joy.

as we travel into new inner worlds of outer space, it makes me think about the previous outer world manifestation of this phenomenon.

We traveled to the reaches of the physical universe by space ship, and through our imaginations through the help of physicists and astronomers and new technologies, in our continuing exploration of the outer terrain of reality.  but...as life is lived here, began to return to our humble origins to deal with the very real and challenging realities of  our planetary realm.  it does call for our attention as do the souls still inhabiting earth.

And...I find a parallel in the experience of our outer exploratory history.  Through greater and greater inner travel to the outer realms constructed through our imagination, returning to the inner travel of the inner realms of the very real and pressing simple needs of every day life.  Exploration of the outer realms is important, but there is perhaps a center of gravity to all that.

New Age ideas fascinate me.  And frankly, for better or worse, am married to this humble existence here, somewhere in limbo.

When Close Encounters of the Third Kind first aired, i was pretty young.  I would have chosen to leave back then and climb aboard that new adventure.  Today, I'm much more inclined to refuse, if offered, and remain behind and continue the adventure here. 

Philosophically, I'm a bit of a turtle when it comes to my beliefs.  I cautiously walk forward on the firmest ground I can find, for my footsteps may be the breadcrumbs for the future (if I am to love my children), and my footing most sure there.  With the most solid footing.  Not that there isn't firm footing in the stars and in the Kosmos.  Just that I am not there, nor are the bulk of earth's inhabitants.

And with all the possible realms of exploration, we are left with a choice. A path.  I do believe we are undertaking MANY paths, as many theories and possibilities DO exist simultaneously within one person.  And I am open to all of them.  But...I am most open to the firmest ground I stand on today, though this ground will undoubtably change tomorrow.

this is where I am today.  Living on this firm, yet changing beautiful and abundant ground.