Thank You for visiting ISC!

 

We would love to hear from you how you might think we could work together to make ISC a truly vibrant community of learners and teachers on and off line.  Do you have great ideas, suggestions, and/or complaints? You are welcome to even post your resume here. Maybe you start working with us!  Would you like to volunteer? How can we improve and innovate? How can we transcend, include and anticipate?

 

Lots of questions, right?  Dive right in and tell us about you and how YOU might join this vision. 

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Nomali


~Save the Earth- it's the only planet with Chocolate.

Let's get this show on the road! Samsara is burning and there is no time to waste!

My current interest is mapping my current Integral understanding to my Dharma practice - I've been learning both for many  years and they enrich each other, my dharma practice is helping me train vertically (states training) while my integral practice is helping me broaden it all out so the stages become more solid platforms for later emerging states and stages.

Big Mind seems to be the recomended practice for newcomers, and it does seem powerful, I got a "hit" from just listening to the clips on INaked and I'd love to meet Genpo when he next comes to the UK.

But seeing as I already have a practice and connection with a teacher I love and trust, I'm wondering how to best combine what I already have with what is going on at ISC.

* I'm a fully-qualified New Kadampa Tradition teacher if anyone needs one :)
* Are people interested in an essay on Tibetan Lamrim and Integral highlighting both in terms of each?
* Are there Tibetan lineage Buddhists here so we can start a thread or group?

What I'd like to see here is total love and respect for all persons and perspectives - we're all either on a path or looking for one so let us all create a space where we can give to those in need, share with our integral sangha our most inspiring insights, find a tradition that suits us, find a dharma we can grok, build bridges between all these different colours and combinations, soar in the big sky mind and plunge into the cooling waters of liberation. And let us dedicate this beautiful multiplex to the brilliant and beautiful unfolding of consciousness awareness, to the highest potential of all sentient beings (without exception).

\/
for Vajrayogini

(Integral Buddhist)

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"May the sufferings and negativites of living beings ripen upon me,
And may my happiness and virtue ripen upon them" - Nagarjuna

V,

I appreciate your inspiring words.  One of my current interests is related to yours: integrating my TSK (Time, Space, Knowledge) study and practice with Integral, on a number of levels (personally, in terms of practice, and pedagogically, in terms of developing new approaches to inquiry in education and counseling). 

I'm also very interested in interfaith dialogue and practice -- I've been studying it and engaged in it for a number of years now -- so I am hopeful that this ISC space will allow me to take that to new levels, or at least to different places than I've explored thus far.  I'd like to see ISC-inspired events organized on local levels, where members of different traditions are brought together for dialogue, practice, exploration, inquiry, and celebration.  But I also have an idea for this forum:

Have members introduce a meditation exercise that they have found to be especially helpful, and then invite communal practice and discussion of that exercise.  Different threads could be started for different practices, where we first introduce them and describe our experience(s) with them, and then perhaps agree to a time period during which anyone interested will take up the practice.  We could use the threads to discuss our insights, questions, and challenges as we explore them over a given period of time.  We could also post periodically on the threads if we resonate with a particular practice and decide to take it up beyond the agreed-upon introductory period, just to report on our experiences with it.

You asked if anyone here would be interested in an essay on Lamrim, or in starting a thread dedicated to Tibetan Buddhist practice.  My answer is yes, on both counts.  I follow a predominantly Buddhist path, though folded into that are some traditions that are only somewhat related to Buddhism, such as TSK, as well as Bonpo Dzogchen (Zhangzhung sNyan rGyud) and Mother Tantra (Ma rGyud).

A billion silver tigles, shining on an in each other: as lamps unto ourselves, may we light up one another, in the sky beyond perspectives, spontaneously perfected...

Best wishes,

Balder

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May the boundless knowledge that time presents and space allows illuminate the native perspectives of your original face.

Hi Balder!

 

I vajrayana thread? Count me in!

And: I'm sorry for not following up the Integral Ngondro thread at IN. Family and work takes a lot of time, and I'm not that regulary visiting the Forums. However, I really want to continue that thread, and I think this would be a much better place than IN.

See you around.

 

Svein

Hi, Svein,

Great to see you here!  I'll be there, if someone decides to start a Vajrayana thread.  I'm not sure, yet, where one would be posted, or if others are similarly interested in starting tradition-specific threads.  It seems more sections may be needed at the ISC forum...

I was a little disappointed that the Integral Ngondro thread didn't really go very far on IN, but maybe there just aren't that many people who can relate to that way of approaching things.  It does seem there is some interest in this sort of thing from Wilber, at least, with the new "Integral Buddhist" book on Lamrim and Lojong that he is endorsing, and for which he has written a forward.  I'm anxious to check it out!

Best wishes,

Balder

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May the boundless knowledge that time presents and space allows illuminate the native perspectives of your original face.

Count me in too... our traditions will differ, what is Ngondro?, but if it's Lamrim, Lojong, Mahamudra or Tanta/Vajrayana or Dzogchen I'm SO there.

Good to see that there might just be a place forming for specific and focused integral buddhist traditions.

Let's start creating those grooves....


I'm anxious to check out the book too... is there an ETA?

---

"May the sufferings and negativites of living beings ripen upon me,
And may my happiness and virtue ripen upon them" - Nagarjuna

Hi, V,

I'm not sure this is the best place to post this, but in response to your question about the meaning of Ngondro, here's a link to the thread I started on IN:

Integral Ngondro?

Best wishes,

Balder

---

May the boundless knowledge that time presents and space allows illuminate the native perspectives of your original face.

Hello all,

Wow! It's so great to see some fellow Buddhists interested in the same kind of questions about how our lineages might look in an Integral context. I'm a Shambhala practitioner, myself, but with a deep appreciation for Christian mysticism and the dialogue that's currently taking place in that arena.

I have a few major challenges and questions that hopefully resonate with you all and would probably make sense in a Vajrayana thread, so let's get that started!

As for ideas for ISC itself, I think it might be interesting if the prominent founding teachers had specific discussion areas. For example, I would love to talk with more people working with Father Keating or David Deida or Patrick Sweeney and talk about their contributions to an Integral Spirituality.

In any case, I'm so glad to this finally taking off!

Cheers,

Michael

Hi Michael,

Thanks for your idea about teachers having their own discussion areas on ISC. Actually, that is one of our main to-do's on our list for Forum Ideas and we will be starting soon with any and all teachers who would be willing.  So, please check back. Thanks!

---

Nomali


~Save the Earth- it's the only planet with Chocolate.

Hi to all of you who are considering a Vajrayana thread. I have started one here.  Please jump right in! Thanks and we hope it blossoms beautifully.

 

---

Nomali


~Save the Earth- it's the only planet with Chocolate.

Greetings all you blossoming beautinodes

 

and thank you for such an inviting invitation, Perera

 

plz permit a tad ramble as I pass through this space…

 

This is my first post on the forums, and after having spent the past week or so wandering this place and reading the road rules and other materials, I must say that I am deeply thrilled at what you all have done and are doing here. It has met and exceeded what I have been imagining from the fringe these past few years. And I anticipate participating in many ways for many years to come. And having mulled over what and why and how to post a first something, I found these questions to speak most directly to where I could start.

 

much gratitude

 

perera:

Thank You for visiting ISC!

 

We would love to hear from you how you might think we could work together to make ISC a truly vibrant community of learners and teachers on and off line.  Do you have great ideas, suggestions, and/or complaints? You are welcome to even post your resume here. Maybe you start working with us!  Would you like to volunteer? How can we improve and innovate? How can we transcend, include and anticipate?

 

Lots of questions, right?  Dive right in and tell us about you and how YOU might join this vision. 

 

ok, so…a quick bio-Resume: I was born and raised in a very large very crazy family in Portland, OR, and have lived and travelled all over the western US, and have been charmed/cursed with a life of many dramatic changes. To the point where I am no longer as disturbed upon finding out how I am some sort of slippery grubby newborn…yet again, again. I am presently 35, and a self-taught graphic artist and fine artist, living in Bend, OR with my wife of 9 years and numerous animal companions.

 

Starting about 4 years ago or so, Kellie and I took a deep and wide plunge into integral reading and life and its ongoing developments. We have attended an I-Wet weekend in Seattle, we stay fresh on the content and related things, and we have been digging into the groovy new ILP stuff, etc…so on and so forth. (I have even contributed some art to the IN Avant Garde Gallery…which was a very cool thing…gratitude to all involved in that)

 

As my life and practice relates to the forums…I have been an active member and student of a number of different kinds of online venues and platforms in my life, and am increasingly interested in all the many emergent forms and styles and levels of online dialogue.

 

- An on-and-off hanger-outer at Integral Naked forum for a few years.

 

- A member of a large and very active fundamentalist cult-recovery and awareness community forum for almost 6 years.

 

- Which brings me to the project that most directly relates to this aspect of the ISC, and where I see a lot of “synchronized swimming” ahead…something I am deeply involved with called “The Anamcara Project.”

The official website is http://www.sacredartofliving.org/anamcaraproject.htm, and a list of faculty for the first of four modules is here: http://www.sacredartofliving.org/faculty.htm, and here is a fact sheet: http://www.sacredartofliving.org/Documents/FactSheetForAnamcaraProject.pdf

 

I have become deeply involved with this project on a number of levels, and have come to consider Integral Spirituality as providing the most inclusive vessel, and the work going on at the SALC to be one of the most deep rich wines with which to fill the glass.  In terms of waves…I would say that this center's work sure is one gnarly curl in integral medicine and practice that has attracted the attention of the world's best. And one that is screaming for more the help, participation and awareness of the younger generations.

 

Anyway, the part of the project that I see is most directly related to this forum and the ISC, which is a huge gig I just landed about a month ago, where not only have I set up the forum, but am now playing host and guide to a members-only (but open-profile) message board for the 160-or-so staff, faculty and students of a 2-year apprenticeship program that has been forming for a number of years now..and is officially starting this August. 

The forum participants are doctors, nurses, care givers and volunteers, monks, nuns, chaplains, therapists, counselors, etc…from all over the world, and from a variety of faiths and traditions...many of whom are either very new to cyberspace, or are not familiar with cyberspace, whatsoever. I am also a project animator who is responsible for facilitating the virtual monthly meetings for those participants who are too remote to meet monthly in person, where we will support and co-develop practicum projects at the various pilots sites throughout the apprenticeship.

 

And so…yowza…perhaps you all can see the challenge in front of me, and why I am also very excited about what is going on here at the II and ISC forums. imo, this is a perfectly perfect bad-ass context to take integral levels of communication for a spin. But I feel I am somewhat of a beggar with a bowl, in that could really use some experienced ideas on how to better help these students engage more integrally and interfaithfully on these forums during the next 2 years of practicum work. I am just an artist who has been invited along for the ride.

 

…

 

And too…one quick suggestion for this place….i think that as we openly share and declare our personal resumes, we can make known our discussion styles and habits, and the more quickeningly we can skillfully and creatively map our world-views for each other to see…thereby pre-emptively avoiding the usual misunderstandings, so we can get even more soaking Wet.

 

Bas sona!

 

+ODD

 

(my god...that was somewhat terrifying)

 

Thank you Pale Blue Iris for your great introduction.  Your endnote gave me the courage to jump in too.  It is so strange how extraverted I am at a party, but when it comes to these venues, I still feel like a wallflower.

I am very excited about the site, these forums and the whole I-I thang.  I am new to the integral world.  I guess I stumbled into it all about two years ago.  I have always been an integral at heart - always trying to figure out how the micro and macro all fit in together.  I literally get some kind of weird thrill from it all.  Maybe it is just my own search for God in it all.  It's like, if this all fits, then there is a God after all. 

A little about myself.
 - grew up in Los Angeles with both parents in the "industry"
 - began my spiritual path with lots of 80s new age stuff, then began studying Vipassana in 97 after my mother's death
-left "the industry" because of the serious lack of soul in it all and began writing and performing autobiographical essays about my strange life journey
-went to grad school at Pacifica to feed my love of myth, depths and the human journey, and thought I'd be a therapist, but six months ago dropped that idea.  I'm now a life coach hoping to support others who are looking to step out of pure orange and into a more "healthy" green meme and even into yellow!
-my vision for my work now is some sort of integration of performance/group experiences/social activism all from an integral pov - intro the ideas while entertaining the masses sort of thing; and I'm writing a book about changing the American Dream into one that is integral and sustainable.

Although I am a bit of an intellectual junky with all the reading I do, I feel a bit overwhelmed with the level of discourse in these forums.  I feel I am just getting the basics of it all down, and want to jump into the fray - I guess I'll just have to put my approval seeking ego aside a bit and try and connect.

I have a deep hunger to deepen my own spiritual journey, but an even deeper hunger to share all that I learn with the world.

Best to all,
Kelly

I am inspired by all of your minds and hearts, and hope to deepen this connection

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It's ALL soul. Junior Wells

Hi Kelly,

"I guess I'll just have to put my approval seeking ego aside a bit and try and connect."

And you just did precisely that....

Relax.... Take your shoes off.... Sit a spell.... Yawl come back now ya here.... I'm sure you will find everyone here quite willing to help in any way they can and hopefully in the process make you feel right "at home"....

Best Regards,

Justin

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"Life is like stepping onto a boat that is about to sail out to sea and sink".

SHUNRYU SUZUKI

I echo a lot of what Kelly says also. I have about 3 pr 4 years experience with increasing interest and study of Integral ideas. Just came back from last weekends I-WET in Westminster and that lit me up. A really great weekend, great class, great instructors, really great content, and a really great opportunity to get out of Ohio for a weekend.

I live in Ohio, and have for about 21 years now, but still call Washington State home. I’ll call a lot of places home if they just have less humidity than Ohio! Have a variety of growth experiences in the last 14 years, too many to list but a big one is working with a coach that pointed me towards Ken’s work. Like Kelly, I am looking at how it all fits together and excited about what opportunities are going to be growing out of ISC for all of us. At the I-WET I got a much bigger feeling for community than I have ever had before, and feel that here to.

Happy to be here, now!

Michael

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Michael Figg
Columbus, Ohio

Hi,

I'm an old Integral Naked member and just joined Integral Spirituality.  I have been a fan of Ken for several years and have read almost everything.   I have read the paper he gave at the Jund 2024 conference, "Integral Spirituality", many times.  I also have bee practicing Centering Prayer for about 5 years and in 2024 did an ITP workshop in Denver and a 10-day intensive centering prayer retreat at Snowmass, CO.   Just a little background to let you know where I have been. 

I am a Catholic priest, retired now and living in a parish with a good friend, who also is Ken Wilber literate and does centering prayer.  He has tried, on the parish level, to introduce all kinds of spirituality opportunities for parishioners; Cournerstone retreats, Ignatian retreats, the Ineagram to help people appreciate their egoic-selfs, and for a year now meditation practices.  Right now, he is begining "Big Mind" with a group.  

I have a centering prayer group I meet with weekly and we are both hoping that one of the areas you will keep in mind as you develop Integral Spirituality is how e begin to attract and develope people in a church or parish setting.  How can we develop workshops to gradually transform people from mythic literal and egoic rational conciousness to second tier consciousness.  We would be glad to pilot such workshops in a Christian setting.

Thank you for all your hard work in bringing this good news to so many people. 

Matthias T. Conva,

Paramus, NJ