Integral Life Practicehttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/16/ShowForum.aspxen-USCommunityServer 2.0 (Build: 60217.2664)Re: ILP or A well rounded lifehttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/thread/24941.aspxThu, 28 Jun 2024 04:05:48 GMTee28e699-b6ce-41f9-9b68-f4b3d2b14a5b:24941ralphweidner0http://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/thread/24941.aspxhttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/commentrss.aspx?SectionID=16&PostID=24941
interesting, charles. i'm still confused about the way KW uses this term. it seems to include more than just what is repressed. incidentally, in the concall on ch.6 he talked of the emergent unconscious and the emergent-repressed unconscious, both being terms from 'the atman project'. the first sounds similar to what you're talking about, the second is definitely shadow.

regards,

ralph
Re: ILP or A well rounded lifehttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/thread/24918.aspxWed, 27 Jun 2024 14:09:42 GMTee28e699-b6ce-41f9-9b68-f4b3d2b14a5b:24918charlesb0http://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/thread/24918.aspxhttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/commentrss.aspx?SectionID=16&PostID=24918

Hi Ralph,

 

“i'm questioning your linking soul print with involutionary shadow, which has a negative connotation, doesn't it?, and not, say, involutionary given, to use a kosmic term on the individual level. . .”

 

No common usage for the term ‘involutionary shadow’ is known to me, so the usage is mine, but i have no attachment to its use. What i meant was shadow is typically hidden, and that as we develop as humans we tend to discover what areas of life are under the tension of growth potentials and which areas support that possible growth. For example, Michael Jordan, while at college played basketball, yet unknown to him and the public was a potential that was to be realized later while in the ranks of the professionals –several world championships.

 

In the hands of the skilled, techniques exist that can delineated these areas of tension and what supports them. Interestingly, in the rare cases where areas of tension are minimal and are out weighed by areas of support little actual growth tends to take place. This is the typical playboy or ‘born with a silver spoon’ syndrome. So perhaps coming from this sort of a mindset or perspective is why i have not necessarily been confined to a usage that holds shadow to the limits of a negative connotation.

 

Warmly,

 

Charles

88W18'28" 41N58'02"

 

 

 

 

  

Re: ILP or A well rounded lifehttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/thread/24911.aspxWed, 27 Jun 2024 07:13:10 GMTee28e699-b6ce-41f9-9b68-f4b3d2b14a5b:24911ralphweidner0http://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/thread/24911.aspxhttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/commentrss.aspx?SectionID=16&PostID=24911
thank you, again, charles.

maybe i'm becoming too dependent on KW, because i find myself asking, again and again, what would he say about this or that? and getting more and more anxious for ToC to come out, so i can know his latest thoughts. still, invariably, when i do find out his take on a particular matter, it's distinctly better, imo, than any other's.

in this case, i'm questioning your linking soul print with involutionary shadow, which has a negative connotation, doesn't it?, and not, say, involutionary given, to use a kosmic term on the individual level (cf. my i-i commons thread on volution).

i wish joe perez had answered your message on integral astrology. i think that could have begun an interesting conversation on something i know much too little to contribute to myself.

from many a degree to your west,

ralph
Re: ILP or A well rounded lifehttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/thread/24895.aspxTue, 26 Jun 2024 19:46:55 GMTee28e699-b6ce-41f9-9b68-f4b3d2b14a5b:24895charlesb0http://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/thread/24895.aspxhttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/commentrss.aspx?SectionID=16&PostID=24895

Hi Ralph,

 

The terms ‘involutionary shadow’, and ‘soul printing’ have been added to my lexicon by hanging around this bit of cyber space and as subjected to an interpretation based on a perspective of my own life and experience. Here is a link to a recent thread on ‘soul printing’ that i started.

 

http://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/ShowThread.aspx?PostID=24088#24088

 

The evidence that we humans are NOT born tabula rasa is wide and deep; rather we are pre-disposed to have traits (sometimes described as strengths and weaknesses) from birth. It is likely that in the space after we die and before we are born that we (in some sense) cooperate in the decision to take on a specific birth. And that decision is in part made on the basis of all that has gone before and how the thread of one life to another may be forwarded by the new opportunity. To call this ‘imprinting’ works for me, as does the term ‘involutionary shadow’; by way of distinction ‘evolutionary shadow’ is typically made from the stuff of this lifetime, stuff we have chosen to repress, rather than something prior.   

 

Warmly,

 

Charles

88W18'28" 41N58'02"

Re: ILP or A well rounded lifehttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/thread/24892.aspxTue, 26 Jun 2024 18:15:10 GMTee28e699-b6ce-41f9-9b68-f4b3d2b14a5b:24892ralphweidner0http://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/thread/24892.aspxhttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/commentrss.aspx?SectionID=16&PostID=24892

charles,   where can we find out more about 'involutionary shadow'  and 'soul printing', for those of us that haven't heard or read much about this?

ralph

Re: ILP or A well rounded lifehttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/thread/24864.aspxMon, 25 Jun 2024 19:18:32 GMTee28e699-b6ce-41f9-9b68-f4b3d2b14a5b:24864donwingate0http://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/thread/24864.aspxhttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/commentrss.aspx?SectionID=16&PostID=24864

vtbrett:
to me, the difference is that ILP is decidedly a transformative practice, whereas a well-balanced life could be or might not be transformative, while still being "balanced"

Yes, there is no awareness of stage development and transformation in a well rounded, or ballanced, life. Development might take place, but it is more accidental, subconscious and unrecognized.

This implies that a successful ILP is more than the sum of its modules. There needs to be an intentionality, an awareness, that holds the modules in relationship to one another. A meta-practice that transcends and includes each individual modular practice. Ultimately, this meta-practice would become a continuous thread running through every aspect of a person’s life. Taken all together and you have a single Practice – hence "Integral Life Practice".

 

Re: ILP or A well rounded lifehttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/thread/24640.aspxMon, 18 Jun 2024 16:57:27 GMTee28e699-b6ce-41f9-9b68-f4b3d2b14a5b:24640vtbrett0http://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/thread/24640.aspxhttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/commentrss.aspx?SectionID=16&PostID=24640to me, the difference is that ILP is decidedly a transformative practice, whereas a well-balanced life could be or might not be transformative, while still being "balanced"

also, in my experience, a well-rounded person might indeed have a broad array of interests and activities, but not neccessarily much depth

or - to put it another way, balance is a "state" and doesn't presume stage development
Re: ILP or A well rounded lifehttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/thread/24574.aspxSat, 16 Jun 2024 07:06:26 GMTee28e699-b6ce-41f9-9b68-f4b3d2b14a5b:24574charlesb0http://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/thread/24574.aspxhttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/commentrss.aspx?SectionID=16&PostID=24574

Hi Don,

  

“Of course, I’m seeing this from my own perspective, some generations later, without any direct, first hand experience of what I’m talking about. In some sense I feel I am remembering this period, as if I were there, though obviously I wasn’t. It is interesting to me that we carry inside ourselves a connection to historical times and places that I don’t think can be fully explained by the books we’ve read and stories we’ve heard.”

 

This quote puts me in mind of what is sometimes called ‘far memory’. I lack a technical explanation of how this is possible and must of necessity fall back on a more poetic expression, where ‘far memory’ is akin to the fragrance that lingers in an empty bottle of perfume. Yet in spite of my technical ignorance it may well be an example of ‘involutionary shadow’ or ‘soul printing’.

 

To me the test of this sort of nebulous information lies in its relevance to one’s current life. Typically i rely on the notion that this sort of ‘recall’ happens on a ‘need to know’ basis, and i would not discount it nor fuss too much about it except to incorporate what, if any thing, it may teach or otherwise have to offer.

 

Warmly,

 

Charles

88W18'28" 41N58'02"  

 

Re: ILP or A well rounded lifehttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/thread/24559.aspxSat, 16 Jun 2024 00:09:12 GMTee28e699-b6ce-41f9-9b68-f4b3d2b14a5b:24559donwingate0http://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/thread/24559.aspxhttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/commentrss.aspx?SectionID=16&PostID=24559

Hi Billy (billyjo1881),

I like what you're saying. They did have the esoteric state-stages available to them, for the few who dared, which involved transitioning to deeper and deeper realizations of I-AM. And there was the notion of losing one's self to God through surrendure and devotion. But I don't think either of these are what you are talking about. And anyway, my sense is that these practices weren't undertaken as part of a so-called well rounded life.

The ability to consciously transcend or dis-identify with our identies is a phenemonon of and necessity for what Andrew Cohen and others are calling conscious evolution. As I understand it, while the state-stages might help the proces along, it is primarily about developmental stage growth. It seems perfectly reasonable to assume this would not be available to the mythic or rational world views.

If the individual practices themselves are not you, is your ILP you? Is you're life itself you? Are you you? (sorry...)

Don.

Re: ILP or A well rounded lifehttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/thread/24557.aspxFri, 15 Jun 2024 22:51:43 GMTee28e699-b6ce-41f9-9b68-f4b3d2b14a5b:24557donwingate0http://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/thread/24557.aspxhttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/commentrss.aspx?SectionID=16&PostID=24557

Hi Charles,

The image I have is of a person from the time in our cultural evolution when science was still riding the wave arm in arm with art and morals, before it dissociated into what we call flatland.

Our culture hasn't always been a flatland. Before the emergence of the rational world view, the vertical movement was pretty much what people had to live for. Of course, it was narrow, dangerously narrow. But they did have a deep connection with the vertical movement.  With the emergence of the rational worldview, and science in particular, [some] people began to add breath to their already existing connection to the vertical. I believe this period is referred to as the golden age of the enlightenment, or something.

So my point is that I’m not sure it is fair to just say these individuals didn’t have a conscious sense of depth, and weren’t working quite intentionally on their inner life as they worked on their outer. It does seem possible that they didn’t really separate the two, though. And they obviously didn’t have access to the abundance of information we have today, derived from all the four quadrants and from all around the world.

Of course, I’m seeing this from my own perspective, some generations later, without any direct, first hand experience of what I’m talking about. In some sense I feel I am remembering this period, as if I were there, though obviously I wasn’t. It is interesting to me that we carry inside ourselves a connection to historical times and places that I don’t think can be fully explained by the books we’ve read and stories we’ve heard.

Then again, I could be deluding myself.

Incidentally, in my first post I used the term archetype in reference to what I’ve called the well rounded life. Maybe archetype is not technically correct for what I am getting at. But it is the sense I have of remembering that lead me to use it. I define an archetype as a specific form, or better a doing, taken on by individuals and cultures as they move through stages of development. The archetypal forms are simply those manifestations that have occurred again and again, so that they have created a groove in the fabric of being, so to speak. Groves deep enough that we all recognize them when we see them. Archetypes are not found only at the mythic stage, though many are.

But I suspect you were talking mainly about today’s world anyway when you said that the practice of a “well rounded life” as opposed to an ILP is merely a collection of surface oriented action items people click off their to-do lists, without any real depth to them. You are probably right about this. If the concept of well rounded life is alive at all it has likely been a victim of the flattening out process. (Although I will say that it seems statistically unlikely that there is absolutely no one alive today consciously practicing a well rounded life as a way to both deepen and broaden their experience, who hasn’t heard of AQAL. But maybe not.)  I notice as well that I-I warns against this very thing by stressing that more is not better and that an ILP is not about checking off items in a to-do list.

Sincerely,

Don.

Re: ILP or A well rounded lifehttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/thread/24537.aspxThu, 14 Jun 2024 23:54:01 GMTee28e699-b6ce-41f9-9b68-f4b3d2b14a5b:24537charlesb0http://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/thread/24537.aspxhttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/commentrss.aspx?SectionID=16&PostID=24537

 

Hi Don,

 

It was and is entirely possible for a person to live ‘a well rounded life’ as you have described it and do so as a surface phenomena, where little if any actual integration of one’s outer life with one’s inner life took or takes place, except perhaps as a sort of ‘accident’ or unusual circumstance.

 

Or put another way the ‘well rounded life’ could easily be described in terms of satisfaction, i.e. a desire is met, which triggers yet another desire, without seeming end; which in a more integral existence is comparable with a sort of contentment; where mere doing is augmented by non-doing.

 

Sans some sort of sense or experience that a broader deeper life is possible my guess is that it is unlikely that an ILP would ever be attempted, let alone sustained.

 

It’s an excellent question; and i’ll just add that from my view folks tend to fall into one of two camps; those who are working on themselves and those who have yet to realize the wisdom in so doing.  

 

Warmly,

 

Charles

88W18'28" 41N58'02"  

 

 

Re: ILP or A well rounded lifehttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/thread/24535.aspxThu, 14 Jun 2024 23:11:57 GMTee28e699-b6ce-41f9-9b68-f4b3d2b14a5b:24535billyjo18810http://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/thread/24535.aspxhttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/commentrss.aspx?SectionID=16&PostID=24535Good valid questions. For myself ILP calls forth an Awareness that these various practices are a part of who I am, they are not who Iam.  So the less chance of becoming attached to any practice or discipline that will define me thus limiting Iamness. The ability to transcend our identities and our conditioning and consciously create ourself moment to moment may not have been available with a mythic folklorish worldview.ILP or A well rounded lifehttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/thread/24532.aspxThu, 14 Jun 2024 21:12:48 GMTee28e699-b6ce-41f9-9b68-f4b3d2b14a5b:24532donwingate0http://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/thread/24532.aspxhttp://multiplex.integralinstitute.org/Public/cs/forums/commentrss.aspx?SectionID=16&PostID=24532

In the not so long ago olden days, it was something of a virtue to live a so called well rounded, or balanced, life. I'm thinking of the person, looked up to by his or her peers, who was active in the community, was conscious of diet, got regular exercise, kept abreast of current events, was a great reader of both fiction and non-fiction, and perhaps maintained an active spiritual life (attending church, prayer/meditation, charitable work.)

Somehow I recognize this archetypal person from somewhere in my conscious.

Does this person differ from a person today practicing an integral life practice? What distinguishes an ILP from the almost folklorish notion of a well rounded life? What makes an ILP a practice in and of itself, as something more than a simple collection of practices? Is it the addition of the AQAL framework to tie the practices together? Is it the intent?