Gaia is Boring and Vanilla!

Well, Julian! Actually, I don't think of the God Pod as boring and vanilla. Do you?

yes you are good at being provocative! I was reading your other blog about Ken Wilber, and found myself nodding at a number of points. It's true that there are a lot of assumptions and uncritical thinking involved with a number of  followers of IS, especially neophytes like myself who are just getting our toes wet with the stuff and so excited about this as compared with the flatland we have been dying in….

i have always thought, though, that with a little more patience, you might see that we are not so different as all that from you in our thinking…. your mind is always razor sharp, that's true and mine is rather mushy at the moment with sleep deprivation and the amazing sense of being in another plane that being in love affords the sufferer…

but i admire so much about what you think and do. I wish I could learn more from you. so i am trying not to be intimidated by your intellect and writing like this to you. thanks for listening. love to you…

I was going to ask where the vanila bits were casue that's my flavour of the month. Organice Vaniila essense “makes” the cake.

Do you know it comes from an orchid plant? I even heard it was an aphrodisiac recently but I'm having difficulty finding hard evidence to back that up.

Vanilla Rocks. God Pod sounds interesting too. :)
Blessings

Hey shanti, jump on in the water's fine… right now we are having a love fest in support of the people of Tibet… http://pods.gaia.com/is_there_a_god/discussions/view/260025

Hi, Brother J,

Here's a straight-hitting expression of love and critical thinking:

An interesting pursuit of shadow inquiry for yourself might be into the dynamic of self-definition through opposition. 

I do look forward to some insightful, provocative blogs from you.  But I also take exception to your suggestion that no one is writing anything meaningful on Gaia and it is up to you to save the day.

Just sayin', bro.

Peace,

B.

Seriously, I'm glad you're back from your break and I look forward to what you'll be blogging. 

You're right that the psychoanalysis was univited (and therefore possibly not entirely welcome!), but I … ahem … will hurry to defensively reply that I only pointed it out since you regularly critically (psycho)analyze Gaia, Integralites, post-metaphysicalists, etc, and therefore it seems a reasonable counter-move… But if pressed beyond my defenses, I'll fess up that I actually am familiar with self-defining through opposition as well.  Especially on certain fundamentalist Christian forums, but I do it here as well…

Best wishes,

B.

Do you also have an antidote to overinflated egos, intellectualized gibberish and an overdose of words where just a few would have sufficed? That would be handy.
Oh wait - I left out snobbishness and condescension. Oops.
Get on it dude - it's up to you to save the world.

Exchanging points of view has its limits, be it on the net or in a real life group.  The movement between thought (mind) and practice (body) creates fertility.
What you are referring to, Julian, I think, for me, has to do with an unavoidable problem innherent in virtual communities: the mind is working 100% and the body is just forgotten and reduced to type, sit and get tired watching that monitor.
peace

Hi Julian,

I wouldn't call all the high play around here on Gaia boring.  There is much to learn when getting out of the mind and going beyond mental concepts…

Gaia has been more grape flavored for me latelye but I like vanilla too. 

Thanks for playing with us.  :)

I'm new here, but I've seen a complaint like this in someone else's blog.  And I've also seen the opposite complaint or rather worry.  Some people are concerned that too much conflict  will close down the welcoming atmospere… or whatever.  I don't have a specific opinion about Gaia at the moment, but either taken to the extreme annoys me.  So far, the balance seem fairly healthy.  There is a decent variety of blogging styles.

I must admit I'm not usually a fan of the method of being confrontational just to shake things up.  It depends on whether or not its truly motivated by positive intention rather than projection… and it depends on whether it actually has a positive effect.

Well stated. Real discussion and disagreament are not always confrontational anyway.
In a massive group of responses gennerally few people really say anything of meaning or depth. This is true most place. Many people seem afraid to say they disagree or to really think about what is going on around them. Not seeing the world does not make it go away it just makes you delusional. Want to change the world and make a better place - go do something. Flowery words do little even when they sound nice.
Practice what you say but think about first. I just got back from another service learning trip on the other side of the globe and again I see that possibilities and experiences are boundless and all of them have benifits and good points but it takes real work, thought and research to do real things with those posibillities.

I was going to jump in here and tell you to check out “Is There a God”, coined God Pod, but Nicole's already come along and mentioned that.  So, in a New Agey and lovely way, I'll just agree with her and second the motion of her suggestion….

As Shanti has suggested, it really depends on how subtle the taster of vanilla is! :P

It can be your everyday icecream or something more heady!!! There's a high from drugs and another from meditation. There's temporary life from provocations and arguments and then something completely amazing about rising together, albeit playfully ribbing each other!!!

It really depends on what you want; and it's great you're going to provide what you want to see rather than just curse the darkness!

On a similar note, I asked :  “Does arguing on blog comments help the blog?” on the Z-network pod
[you wanted links!]

and yes, I would call the non-answers there BORING!

But then so are pointless words.

Don't forget we **** it too–even if it smells like roses.  Read the blog forward the circle grows.  read the blog backwards the line grows and broadens–deez nuts—  do you really want to tell all of these people that there (their) god does not exist but that their god exist.  whats the contradiction if it makes more sense to sink into the dirt.  some of us are diametrically opposed yes, but thats just another difference to account for.  definitely the experience is worth reflecting upon–just remember–other conciousness does exist or we would not be shifting paradigms so often—control–really–you want me to talk to you about control.  so did you write this or I–look into the mirror and face yourself… you write my commemts I'll write yours…If I can feel you flying through that cloud am I not flying through that cloud  do you want to see how far the rabbit hole goes…right now….welcome to tommorow…making it to my end…isnt that what you see…isnt that what I am.  is what it is, am what I am, whatever.  carefull now boys and girls the fun is forever and the consequence–I know smonchequences or something like that.  semantics…we have lots of fun games…time is essense. space..only numbers below it all.. feel the quality of the room change… time slows… music expands to the empty spaces..whats this?  I just have one of those faces

nice stream of consciousness jam…..but it can be painful when the psychedelic ones are used against you in a court of law……….stream of consciousness that is…..
go bro. j…………..it's all go_d! lol

…all the spiritual posturing and BS!

Holy projection, Batman! As usual, Brother Jules, your shadow hath no bounds!

This is not to say that shadow work is not important, even intrinsic to a “21st century spirituality.” But that your continual rant that everyone needs to take up shadow work ASAP, and the implication that no one but you is doing so, smacks of a pretty blatant projection.

Of course you'll likely accuse me (true-but-partially) of “uninvited psychoanalysis”, but as Balder pointed out in nicer words, this would be rather hypocritical of you. In other words, don't throw snowballs if you don't want them thrown back at you!

Carry on.

Julian: “i am saying that the new age worldview that dominates gaia is largely a function of shadow denial. (as well as of course a pronounced allergy to critical thinking and a prevalence of belief over practice…)”

Here's another perspective:
There's a process to knowing shadow. One of the steps is to fully step into the light. For a while, to those who are linked from their shadow to the others', it might seem that the other is in denial, as they “are not there.” But when in the light, one gathers tools that help one to journey into shadowlands, and find the wonders hidden there.

All a process, is how I see it. And if denial helps, better to deny what one fears than to be paralyzed in it.

Are you bored yet?

[Keeping the pot stirred!]

Taking Meenakshi's analogy a bit further, if you're standing in the dark you don't have a shadow. Technically, you have to have light to have shadow, but then if you face only into the light and never glance at that darkness behind you, some really juicy stuff gets disowned. I agree that that happens a fair amount of the time here, and that it's a new-agey malady in general, but so what?

Really, in any big group of people, I feel really fortunate to find a handful of people who get me excited and “stir the pot” for me. The others are doing something else and it doesn't have much to do with me. I don't live in a world where I'm the standard, at all.

The thing I love about Gaia is that there are so many different pots on the stove - this is the only social network I participate in, but I devour information, news sites, tech sites, science sites, webcomics, lots of really articulate blogs, but all of those resources have a particular flavor and here there is endless surprise.

I love Farland's pictures and sparse words like poems written out as prose, I love Dawn's celebration and insightful examination of a life in progress (and her photos as well!), I love Albert's brilliance and humor and insight and I wish he had a digital camera so much that I might give him one, I love Jon's crazy rants and mental wandering put down in words, I love Lil and Praveer and oh my god, I adore ~C4 (a hyperlink is silly here, isn't it? I mean, who doesn't adore ~C4?) - his blog is one of my favorites anywhere and I only found him because of Zaadz - and I love you, too, Julian. And there are so, so many others.

I think I am a little sensitive about this because a few people I really enjoyed have left the site, deeming it too “airy fairy” for their sensibilities, and it bothers me that they couldn't just ignore what they didn't like and keep feeding what they cared about and valued.
And if that's what you're doing by stirring the pot, then I'm all for it, so go ahead - get on with saving the world. Or at least keeping me entertained.

so what is your assessment on the tactic of provocation?

Are these just hit and miss anecdotal sorts of conclusions or have you really sussed out the wake of such adventures?

gaia is not boring or vanilla.  We don't need to point to any particular article to prove this.  that's YOUR methodology of proof.  I am PERSONALLY inspired and challenged here and love it.   There is SO much more to go into breaking down this whole mess here, but it's just not necessary.  I understand there are all sorts of philosophies and beliefs and try my hardest to respect and value that them.

If people are being challenged, uplifted, and educated, and this is their assessment, then THAT is as strong an epistomological foundation as i think we'll need to prove a critical atmosphere.   It is up to the individual, of course, to do the analysis and check the veracity of the content of their experience.

And come on, it really is silly to elevate criticalness above community, community spirit, cohesiveness, love, creativity, etc.  There's a huge mix and a huge calculus you've just completely missed (btw, think I've found the solution to your boredom!).

There ARE ways we could increase the level of critical analysis WITHOUT upsetting the amazing and truly beautiful and inspirational dynamic that I SO enjoy here.

Just come up with a suggestion Julian and work with gaia.

The collective brilliance here simply astonishes me and I am totally captivated by the overall effect of the energetic buzz, dynamics, structure, and emergence.

being that nothing is perfect, why gripe so hard about it.  I mean, things could be much worse, don't you think.   This president could be in office for much longer had we not limited terms.  Think on the bright side.

I welcome your call to spice things up and to dig deep, but it could be framed in a way that doesn't implicitly or explicitly put down all of your readers.  I'm curious what you are basing your assessment on.  Are you basing it on blogs, or forum activity, or what?  I haven't seen you posting on many others' blogs, so I can't tell how widely you're reading.  But a lot of good conversation also takes place in the pods as well, and there are thousands of them on Gaia – some of them private.  I run three groups and I think a lot of good discussion takes place in them.  You joined one of mine a little over two weeks ago, but haven't been back since, so I know you haven't been reading anything there.  I belong to ten others, some of them private, and can attest to the quality and depth of conversation in several of them.  Two of the private ones are private precisely because they're dedicated to doing shadow work, and that's the sort of stuff you don't want to process in a public square.  One of them, the Integral Men's Group, has gone quite deep over the past year and every member feels it has had a powerful impact on them. 

So…is your post an emotional reaction, a rhetorical tactic?  Or have you actually spent time to really check the pulse of conversation here on a wide enough basis to reasonably make a “challenge” to people to “prove” it to you that something worthwhile is going on here?

You can't be blamed for not knowing about what's going on in the private groups, of course; I'm just pointing it out because I believe it's possible that your view of what's actually going on here is less than complete.

Best wishes,

B.

What I like about Gaia is the hundreds of bowls of ice cream that each have their own flavor.  There is chocolate here, french vanilla with flecks of real vanilla there, butterscotch ripple, strawberry… you name it… we have all the flavors…

What is equally challenging, and I see as your successful purpose Julian, is all the bowl owners want people to come and eat from their bowl…

Then there are the spoon members, who do not live in their bowls, and go off and get a taste of everything.  Sure, there are members who are both spoon and bowl, but there are others who are only spoons, and others who are only bowls.

So.. what I love are the spooners… the ones who bring little bits of tasty ice cream from one bowl to another…. to create the flavor called Gaia…

So.. here is another challenge… how do the bowl owners… who have lots of spooners dipping into thier flavor… unite thier flavours into a huge bucket.. so that the tastes of everyone can come together in a really powerful way?

And to that end.. a shameless plug for everyone to visit my bowl… and sign together the Declaration of Love for Tibet… common spoons and bowls alike… let's stand together for a peaceful resolution to the Tibetan crisis!

http://myworldpeace.gaia.com/blog/2008/3/a_declaration_of_love_for_tibet_-_central_site

Love your flavour guys,  and feel free to spread this link's flavor of love around.

Dave

This post of mine, cross-posted here on Gaiam, is not boring, and what it leads to is not boring. It is pertinent and probing. And, guess what, you are on the list.

idgussin…

now THAT is a vein of flavor you have just added….

sorry dude, but i am not “new age.”  you say that like you assume anyone who participates here on Gaia is “new age”  but you'll find very few of the trappings of that  lifestyle in my daily life.

i suppose i am very much a man of the times in which i live: no, my mind is not for rent to any god or government, and yet i seek engagement and community.  i seek freedom from dialetic and dichotomy and yet not at the cost of abandoning my faculties of discernment and discrimation…

Honestly, Julian, no, I don't feel stifled here.  I feel free to express myself and I write about what I want, in the pods to which I belong and occasionally on my blog.  I agree that the New Age paradigm prevails here, but I'm not particularly bothered by it.  I post what I'm interested in and respond to what I'm interested in and just skip over those things that do not speak to me or appeal to me. 

links are worthwhile sometimes  welcome back—->

Julian? Go to the nearest mall, stand out in the center and tell people you're conducting research. Ask them, oh, anything. It doesn't matter really. Ask about religion, philosophy, soap bubbles, underarm hair, their opinions on making up their nipples with lipstick, whatever. If you find half a dozen interesting people you've won the lottery.
Gaia isn't in a boring-free magical zone. But there are (in my experience) more eccentric, interesting, brilliant, funny, oddball people here than most places.
What is it exactly you're bemoaning? That lots of people are dimwits? Get over that one…and it's surprising how much good stuff comes from surprising sources sometimes…

It's not the vanilla,or the boring,I acknowledge that I'm both,plus pretty silly at times ,a place i came back to after having kids.
I'm also  a bit lazy and dittoing Rapunzel,Meenakshi and Balder,since all three said what I'm thinking and why repeat.
I read your blogs,admitting that the comments are often the most interesting part.You do have a way with words,albeit a bit long winded at times ;-)
Once in awhile I can decipher something brilliant after breaking the integral code,other  times it's just me wondering what color I am :-). I don't begrudge you this total immersion in this way of seeing things, I actually applaud your tenacity,but maybe just maybe your placing yourself at a distance that at times is hard to bridge :-)

< “The New Age paradigm completely stifles intellectual inquiry, healthy debate, honest value judgments and meaningful discourse on the world in which we live.>”

While pretty much everyone here at Gaia loves discourse… I suggest there are a lot of people who find intellectual inquiry, debate and judgement boring and vanilla.” 

There is more to life than the critical analytical approach to communications.

This is not a New Age paradigm, it is a human reality.

I do have a question… What is your definition of New Age?  I've seen many publications that include Integral in that definition.

Appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks Julian,

Given that definition, I'd suggest there is a whole lot more content and discussion here that is not New Age.

But I am enjoying your stirring up the pot!

Dave said:
While pretty much everyone here at Gaia loves discourse… I suggest there are a lot of people who find intellectual inquiry, debate and judgement boring and vanilla.”

That gets at something in my experience.  Intellectuals can be just as boring as New Agers.  It doesn't bother me that you're being confrontational, Julian.  But I wonder about how interesting you're being in your confrontational manner beyond mere entertainment value… arguments like accidents attract one's attention for a time.  I haven't read much of your blogging yet and so I reserve any judgment in this respect.

My objection is that when someone is confrontational, they're putting themself in a position of a higher standard.  If you believe Gaia is boring, then you need to prove yourself interesting.  So far, you're interesting enough that I've posted two comments, but time will tell whether you're interesting enough that I'll comment on you're other blog entries.  I hope you're view is interesting because I am interested in integral theory and I'm all for the increase of interesting discussion.

Good luck on your new blogging project!

Oh no! I wish you hadn't edited your original blog. That takes away the flavor of boring that drew us here. The vanilla is now spiced with burnt ochre ..or is it ogre? Or perhaps just HOT PEPPER!

You could've done what OM did once — post a follow-up blog [or blogs].

Julian,

Your recent changes are both illuminating, and extinguishing at the same time.

As you know from previous interactions between us… that two parties who come from vastly different viewpoints.. you a passionate Integralist, and I a Catholic… we ended up parting ways due to irreconcilable differences.  And you have to admit that your beliefs, and mine, are not based on homogenizing belief systems…

While I love a good debate, I will never use divisive Hillary Clinton type methods of debate, which include adjectives like naiive, foolishness, folly and misinformed.  Unfortunately, in the past, you used similar words to attenuate my Catholic beliefs.  It was not about a respectful debate, it was about a dismissive debate… which is rooted in seeking separation.. not unification.

I have learned here at Gaia, that the real power of this community is not to seek, debate and demean our differences… but to seek what is common between us.  In doing so, have I ever compromised my own beliefs as a Catholic.. not in the slightest.  Have I ever judged the beliefs of others as folly or naiive.. no…. Do I believe in evil vs goodness.. you bet.  But good and evil  are based on the choices people make consciously, as opposed to creating distinctions of consciousness based on levels (memes) which is where Integralists love to focus their time and energy.

For Integral Theory… I have yet to find someone who has brought various belief systems together into an Integrated model of love.. but instead.. the Integral model stimulates distinction, and separation, at least in my experience.  Your works, which I respect deeply, are saturated with distinction and isolation as an intellectual exercise. rather than seeking to understand we are Integrated at the human level.    

This thread is not really about New Age vs Integral.. it is not about homogeneity vs heterogenous right and wrong… it is about debating the intellectual model of Integral Theory vs the spiritual call of all humanity for unification. 

That is a debate that is not possible, because they are diametrically opposed at a very fundamental level.

Thank you for creating the space.

Hi Dave,
This thread is not really about New Age vs Integral.. it is not about homogeneity vs heterogenous right and wrong… it is about debating the intellectual model of Integral Theory vs the spiritual call of all humanity for unification. 

Integral theory is not opposed to the spiritual call of all humaity for unification, that is just a partial aspect of Integral and really a focus of one line of development.   Perhaps you are confusing your interpretation of Julian's territory with the map itself. (and thereby find the situation divisive)

Hi Julian,

I have a question about your inquiry into vanillaville,  if Gaia is bland flatland, what is the attraction for you?  There are several other Integrally focused sites that would give you intellectual heartburn for sure : )   What is your intention in calling out Gaians?

Hello Gina,

I appreciate your 'intervention'.  Why?  Because I agree with you… there is much in Integral theory that I greatly admire, but in my experience, the ratio of Integralists like yourself who promote unification, is small compared to those Integralists who use the model to create distinction and separation. Again, while my exposure is limited.. my ratio experience is real.

I fully admit that my own faith, Catholicism, has exactly the same problem… so I defer to my leaders.. the Pope… who for the past 30 years with JPII and Benedict,  have fought for unification of humankind, as opposed to distinction.

Thanks Gina, I appreciate you.

Please don't apologize, Julian…I love provocation! Poke away…balance can be boring and we really don't like being bored. So, what's the answer? Do we want balance, peace, harmony, diversity…et al? OR, do we want the drama, excitement, kettle-stirring and lightning rods? Can't we have it all? Isn't that the SECRET?!?

We stand at the crossroads of these dualistic expressions of humanity. We are positioning ourselves to be all of these things, allowing of differences, provocotors par excellence. We are in the process of re-creating all of what we've come to expect and set the 'real world' on its proverbial ear…keep on keeping on…dance in the rain, get all wet and enjoy life!

Laughter and Love,
Rev Debi Brady, aka GGG…Giggling Gaelic Girl

hopping in here with my 2 cents….

Julian, you said this in your original post:
* The power of our fear of facing death, and the injustice, deep suffering, meaninglessness and evil that are just as much a part of human life as truth, beauty, goodness, grace, love, compassion, creativity etc.. Results in the construction and the clinging-to of made-up belief systems that keep that shadow material safely hidden from consciousness

I know exactly what you're talking about, but also want to add this:
HOW is this possible? (that life breeds only denial and reality-construction coping mechanisms)
My answer: IT ISN”T. It's simply not possible at all.

As much as I would have liked to have built a mythic pink horse out of words and symbols and ridden him into my perfect, *all-about-me-egocentric-yet-communal future* where the world is saved, look at me i made Eden, I CAN”T. ***LIFE*** popped up and asked that I widen to its cruelty, injustice, insecurity, & everything you said above.
I don't think I'm special so I don't think I've been singled out to be the only person to be continually forced past their delusions, comfy though they may seem (even though there's always an un-comfy part in trying to operate from delusion that we just try ignore–at least this is how I have tended to operate).

So since life is the big bad-ass teacher after all, the glorious Kali moon stomping her foot with fierce love against the night-blue sky, and certainly NOT vanilla,
I therefore think the problem you are referring to is one of LANGUAGE and EXPRESSION. You said:
Ummm what I mean is - I think there is a kind of unspoken commitment to relativism such that strong opinions or well-framed arguments are considered in bad taste and unenlightened and there is also an unspoken creed with regard to the basics of the New Age worldview - which are wisely intoned and considered basically inviolable.

Again, I know exactly what you mean—the last post I wrote on my own blog had me apologizing for my own critical consciousness. In an attempt to be “vanilla”.
Fuck it, there is plently to be critical about. Polar bears are dying, we've been in Iraq 5 years, 1/100th of the U.S. population knows anything about  growing their own food and I'm not going to waste my time wiping anyone's spiritual ass.

We need to be ok expressing that to each other, & not making one another feel un-evolved if we don't live in a magic rose garden all the time. To be compassionate in the face of suffering and not, “Oh, you created that for yourself. (subtext: how unevolved of you)”.

In other words, I've daydreamed about making a T-shirt that reads:
IF ONE MORE PERSON SAYS THE WORD “MANIFESTATION” I'M GOING TO PUKE.

(but i didn't, to be vanilla. and also I have better projects to do.)

I think in 21st century life (spiritual or otherwise), and on Gaia, from the few months I've been an occasional contributor, oftentimes the critical lens gets focused on each other. Person to person, my view versus yours. What is world-changing to me (and yes, I will actually say the word POLITICAL as a reclamation of energies that have little to do with the media tableau of US politics) is to focus the critical lens on issues. In other words, pointing out what isn't working in our outer world or inner world and opening it up to explore & for more honest discourse and feedback. And we are like babies learning the language for this. And we might know our own language but not someone else's.

I invite folks to check out & contribute to my recent blog thread titled “Peter Coyote: Sleeping Where I Fall”. The topic is capitalism and spirituality, the 60s vs. the 2000s, and it is less full of curse words and aggressive humor than this post you are reading at the moment.

Also, Julian, all that stuff you like to go on about with Wilber and colors….like B.B. mentioned above—I finally checked it out. Yes, I have been somewhat isolatingly moving through the past 4 years as a primarily teal consciousness, in a leftist world solidly painted green.

So I'm stirring the fucking pot. Let's all get to turquoise already. Or even motherfucking indigo. Go teal go! You are a necessary step in the process.

But I think to get there we have to LOVE green. Isn't that what turquoise would do?

So I'm throwing some cinnamon in, and also some really special whole-pod vanilla sticks I got in Zanzibar and save for special occasions, in the hopes that maybe green will enjoy the tea as well. And I will make them a T-shirt that reads, I LOVE HOW YOU MANIFEST, BABY.

I've been a lurker on your blog for quite awhile, Julian, usually refraining from commenting because you don't inspire me to want to connect. You don't now either, at least not to you, but I feel compelled to give voice to my thoughts and feelings about this, I think because I resonate with some of the comments here. And I'm learning as a smart but strongly emotional being to feel less intimidated by people who communicate solely from their intellect.  Tear me apart if you wish, I welcome the challenge.

For all you speak of Integral, I find you to be very one-sided. You're all intellect…where is your heart and your spirit?

Although I find some of your perspectives on Integral to be useful, I mostly find you boring because I don't experience any of You in your posts; there is absolutely no personal connection. I experience your intellect, where you seem to reside entirely when interacting with others on this site. But there is no story, no exposure of your personal journey.

Stories change people and the world far more often than theories and academic debates do, which is why the spiritual texts of all traditions are full of stories. If Barak Obama wins the election, it will be because of his story, and the story he tells about America. Stories are where human connection on multiple levels takes place. In sharing our stories we can blend intellect with emotion and spirit, sharing examples of how we integrate what we know intellectually into our day-to-day experience.

What I find so engaging about Gaia is that there are people willing to be transparent and vulnerable and share their unique story of evolving.  I find that people respond strongly to me for the same reason. I learn far more from people sharing the light and shadow of their own story than I do from someone who not only spends all of his time glorying in his own intellect as he dismisses others with unkind and unnecessary words, but is also so self centered and needy of attention that he feels the need to constantly sell himself….”read me, read me, read me.” This makes you no different than the other people on Gaia just trying to sell their wares, whatever they may be, instead of making genuine connections. Your profile is just one giant advertisement. Most of your linking is to your own posts.

Are you reading your 400 “friends” blogs, other than those of your partners in intellectual debate? Are we to believe you read every single one of us and find no value in what we share? I highly doubt you take the time. But if you do, then I believe the flaw is in you, not us. For me a social network is for connection, not furthering the commodification of spirituality and standing on one's soapbox/holding one self as superior to everyone else.

What others commented previously also rings true for me, I see no promotion for unification here, only exercises in distinction and separation. As a seeker of the Mystical path, that's as boring as it gets for me.

April

Julian? Just my opinion, but changing your post after there are dozens of comments posted responding to it seems a bit lame.

Hi ya Dave,

It is troubling to hear your experience with Integral to be more divisive than integral…  I have found nearly every integral person I have met to be exceptional people who embody the acceptance of 'all'  with great capacity and depth.

As for Catholics… well,  I have a soft spot there, having grown up Catholic and have people I love dearly who still go to mass. 

Love to you Dave and Happy Easter!

April,  thanks for sharing the story of 'stories' here on Gaia.  As I grow this is what I most closely resonate with now.

In the immortal words of Julian on your blog Zeitgeist… regarding our “discussion” about the rationistic history of the Church, and the Immaculate Conception…

you said… “dave - stretch out - write a blog about it - it sounds like you have a lot to say!

i'll come and visit”

I did write that blog, and it started off by thanking you for the idea… I was looking forward to a good debate… and you didn't even have the courtesy to drop by and say hello….

Forgive me if I don't get too energized with the idea of visiting your blog.

All the best Julian,

Dave

I wonder what Dave and some others of you would think of this post of mine, I think pertinent to this conversation.

I have to apologize for being a writer, given to compression, who is not comfortable in the conversational medium of blogging. I learned this hard personal lesson over the past year.