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21st century spirituality
September 2009 
Simply Put #1: Meditation Video
Posted on May 9th, 2008
by 
Julian
Julian
This is a 7 minute guided meditation based on Simply Put #1.
In order for this to qualify as inquiry-based practice, I would encourage you to sit for at least a few more minutes, perhaps as many as 10 or 15 more - after the video instruction stops.
See the extended commentary on Simply Put #1 in the post below if you choose.
This second commentary is designed to combine the resource of compassion accessed via Buddhist Lovingkindness Meditation with a sense of inquiry and the psychological honesty of shadow-work. This kind of inner-work rests on the healthy critical thinking from the first commentary.
Offered with love. Enjoy:
In order for this to qualify as inquiry-based practice, I would encourage you to sit for at least a few more minutes, perhaps as many as 10 or 15 more - after the video instruction stops.
See the extended commentary on Simply Put #1 in the post below if you choose.
This second commentary is designed to combine the resource of compassion accessed via Buddhist Lovingkindness Meditation with a sense of inquiry and the psychological honesty of shadow-work. This kind of inner-work rests on the healthy critical thinking from the first commentary.
Offered with love. Enjoy:
Simply Put #1
Access: Public
“ENTER THE CIRCLE OF COMPASSION!”… Thank you so much for this Julian!
thanks bruna - yea watching it, that moment really stood out.
i put my heart into this one.
I felt it!
so glad!
Very nicely done, Julian. Your heart in this truly comes through, and it is warm and healing.
thanks bruce - that means a lot..
Hi Julian. As Bruce says, your heart truly comes through in this very nice meditation.
As an aside I'll mention that I am expecting to receive a copy of Jack Kornfield's new book any day, titled The Wise Heart. I know you like him and find him an inspiration as do I, and your video reminds me of him and his approach to meditation (which in my opinion is one of the more balanced approaches out there).
- Jim
thanks jim!
Julian, I gotta share this. I got the new Kornfield book today, and I just this minute opened it and the first two things I saw fit so well with the perspective you have been presenting that I have to share it.
From page 115:
For Katie, a young woman who had been abducted and raped, mindfulness of the body was a delicate and painful journey. She came to a monthlong meditation retreat to heal her trauma and find some inner peace. At first, the intensity of her painful memories kept her completely out of the body.
In my experience since the early 70's on both coasts and in the Midwest, a lot of people who are drawn to spirituality are “completely out of the body,” and I often get the impression that this is due to trauma, which can be either personal trauma, as in Katie's case, collective trauma (we all live in a world where things like 9/11, Katrina, the earthquake in China, the disaster in Myanmar, and so many more tragic events are constantly taking place), or a combination of the two. Many people who are drawn to spirituality seem to associate all things spiritual with ascent (e.g., what Wilber calls “ascending currents”) and higher states. There's nothing wrong with higher states, but anyone who goes for the higher or the peaks at the expense of dealing with the lower or the vales is not going to find balance and integration.
From page 83:
If you tell a Zen master everything is like a dream, she will take her stick and whack you over the head. Then she will ask, “Is that a dream?” Focussing on the big picture is not enough. Form must be honored. A mature psychology requires us to see life from multiple perspectives… .
Sometimes people make the mistake of clinging to the universal level.
Anyway, I just wanted to share that because it reminds me of so much of what you've been expressing.
:-) Jim
thanks jim! yes kornfield is one of the few who really gets the integration of grounded psychology, embodied awareness and spiritual practice… its a pity the inner circle integral and macho wie crowd dont see what they could get from his appproach - my experience is there tends to be a lot of the dynamic you are refering to in these ascender circles too - and of course throughout popular new age circles.
The video is lovely Julian. Really great… it really brought your words alive and made your intent clear as glass.
thanks barrastophanes!
That was my mornig meditation this morning! Thank you Julian, I hope it's up for a while.
Integtration is great!
Do you do any workshops on shadow work?