Simply Put #3
Posted on May 20th, 2008
by 
Julian
Julian
My 21st Century Spirituality model is an attempt to offer a contemporary alternative to old world religious metaphysics and new age magical thinking. As such the model asserts three key principles:
* critical thinking (and cognitive/intellectual self-development)
* inquiry-based (as opposed to faith-based) practice
* shadow-work (depth-oriented psychological honesty).
Simply Put is a distilled statement of critical thinking based truths that have inquiry-based practice application in conjunction with shadow-work.
The first three installments will be a re-run from earlier this year and thereafter I plan to add more installments to this series. This time around I will add a commentary and video blogs offering elaboration and meditation instruction - this is just the beginning:
Simply Put #3
Having choices in life is not the same as everything being a choice.
Choice is always defined in relationship to what is beyond our control.
This is spiritual truth number three.
We distort reality when we deny circumstance and chaos.
Inquiring into where we have choice and where we do not brings clarity to the relationship between surrender and intention.
This allows humility and grounding in reality.
True power emerges from this grounded realism.
~
Look under the belief that we have chosen everything in life and you will find a deep fear of not being in control.
None of us has control over the circumstances of our birth.
Children do not choose to be born into poverty, dysfunction, socio-political unrest or trauma.
Nor do we choose our intelligence, gifts or other genetic traits.
Denying this is a form of hubris, that while attempting to feel empowered actually diminishes our power.
As painful as it is to acknowledge, there really are victims in the world.
Accepting this pain allows for a grounded compassion toward the human condition.
~
The reality of our genetic inheritance, psychological structure, life history and social conditioning are the raw material of spiritual practice.
We can choose to become compassionately aware of this raw material, but we cannot choose what the material is.
As we engage the raw material of our lives we gain insight into the unconscious choices that have been the result of early programming.
We can choose to feel the pain of being powerless in the face of circumstances we did not choose.
There is power and healing in honestly and compassionately acknowledging that pain.
It is through bringing awareness to what has been unconscious that new choices can emerge.
~
In meditation, consider your life history.
Sit with the difficult details of your own circumstances.
Offer yourself compassion.
Soften the resistance and recognize any areas of absence of choice.
The authentic capacity to make new choices and move toward greater freedom will slowly emerge.
This is the relationship between surrender and intention, compassion and resolve, choice and circumstance.
The breath moves in and out.
The heart pulses with life.
We are both free and not-free.
So it is.
* critical thinking (and cognitive/intellectual self-development)
* inquiry-based (as opposed to faith-based) practice
* shadow-work (depth-oriented psychological honesty).
Simply Put is a distilled statement of critical thinking based truths that have inquiry-based practice application in conjunction with shadow-work.
The first three installments will be a re-run from earlier this year and thereafter I plan to add more installments to this series. This time around I will add a commentary and video blogs offering elaboration and meditation instruction - this is just the beginning:
Simply Put #3
Having choices in life is not the same as everything being a choice.
Choice is always defined in relationship to what is beyond our control.
This is spiritual truth number three.
We distort reality when we deny circumstance and chaos.
Inquiring into where we have choice and where we do not brings clarity to the relationship between surrender and intention.
This allows humility and grounding in reality.
True power emerges from this grounded realism.
~
Look under the belief that we have chosen everything in life and you will find a deep fear of not being in control.
None of us has control over the circumstances of our birth.
Children do not choose to be born into poverty, dysfunction, socio-political unrest or trauma.
Nor do we choose our intelligence, gifts or other genetic traits.
Denying this is a form of hubris, that while attempting to feel empowered actually diminishes our power.
As painful as it is to acknowledge, there really are victims in the world.
Accepting this pain allows for a grounded compassion toward the human condition.
~
The reality of our genetic inheritance, psychological structure, life history and social conditioning are the raw material of spiritual practice.
We can choose to become compassionately aware of this raw material, but we cannot choose what the material is.
As we engage the raw material of our lives we gain insight into the unconscious choices that have been the result of early programming.
We can choose to feel the pain of being powerless in the face of circumstances we did not choose.
There is power and healing in honestly and compassionately acknowledging that pain.
It is through bringing awareness to what has been unconscious that new choices can emerge.
~
In meditation, consider your life history.
Sit with the difficult details of your own circumstances.
Offer yourself compassion.
Soften the resistance and recognize any areas of absence of choice.
The authentic capacity to make new choices and move toward greater freedom will slowly emerge.
This is the relationship between surrender and intention, compassion and resolve, choice and circumstance.
The breath moves in and out.
The heart pulses with life.
We are both free and not-free.
So it is.
Access: Public
21st century spirituality
July 2008
beautiful, julian!
a great reminder that our story is in our body and having compassion for where you ARE.
surrender and compassion… often difficult gifts to give yourself, but so fruitful.
glad to hear it!
It seems to me that you are re-translating the word “spirituality” to equate with “existentialism,” which of course begs the question how the two differ in your perspective. To put it another way, if (your) spirituality is (actually) existentialism, albeit with an emphasis on developmental practice, why not simply call it such?
i am calling “spirituality” that which gets us into honest relationship to inner and outer reality.
this, via inquiry, shadow work and critical thinking - comes to dissolve the types of fantasy that has been associated with many forms of spirituality.
you are correct in pointing out that an existential initiation is part of this approach/these insights. until an existential initiation has occurred spirituality remains prerational, precentauric and largely serves as a defense against existential groundedness.
once this honest existential groundedness is included in spirituality a higher order integration can occur that no longer uses spirituality to compartmentalize, deny, and fantasize ourselves into dissociative states in search of a magic and mythic sacred that is other than the magic of the real and the miracle of the mortal. then we are free to both be in our humanity and see the sacred in that very imperfect fragile, mortal existence.
from that vantage point meditation, yoga, psychospiritual inquiry, personal growth etc can be engaged in healthier, more honest ways and the heightened states of consciousness afforded by these practices can be integrated and applied to the real life they point to and our conscious relationship to it.
i dont expect you to agree based on our discussions for the last ten years jonny, but thanks for the chance to explain!
all the best to you on the astral plane… :O)
~julian
in integral terms its the transition from green to teal - but in this case it is also healthy orange, green, and teal addressing the pathological regression of the new age - a regression that starts in unhealthy green and descends to an amber/magenta pastiche masquerading as transrational mysticism… but the jig is up!
OK, fair enough, and I actually do largely agree with you on these core basics (as I've said before). I just question the use of the word “spiritual” in the context of your work, for it seems that it is somewhat of a misnomer, that you are talking about something more along the lines of “developmental existentialism”. Where and what is “spirit”, in your view?
p.s. As for the last ten years, we have both changed (I hope), no? So don't be so quick to assume anything, amigo…
fair comment buddy.
i really like the article of wilbers where he talks about several different uses of the world spiritual - i am sure you are familiar with it.
for me spiritual refers to one's inner life.
one's soul is the depth component of the self located through a process of inquiry, shadow awareness and the state changes that contemplative and energetic practice can facilitate.
the soul is in a way the authentic self, more integrated, more emotionally honest, more plugged into both one's longings, potentials and abilities, and one's traumas, wounds and imperfections.
the process of spiritual practice (or soul work) is that of bringing the inner life into relationship with the surface awareness, outer life - or metaphorically creating more of an open channel of communication between the soul and the ego.
i like the word soul, because the greek for it is psyche and we need not ascribe anything supernatural or metaphysical to it a la life after death, reincarnation or some such.
while those metaphysics may possibly turn out (though i think it highly, highly unlikely) to be true - i think the intelligent and honest thing to do is to exhaust all, all existentially -bound interpretations of our soul-work before we are quick to turn to metaphysical interpretations - which all too often are used as a narcissistic spiritual glamorization and avoidance of the gritty realities of the psyche.
i like rumi's definition of spirit where he says “spirit is the art of getting what is stuck moving again…”
for me spirit equates to both consciousness and energy, the eros of evolution, the drive toward awareness, the “force that through the green fuse drives the flower..” etc..
though a la th wilber essay i am in the camp that sees the spiritual as both the “highest level of all stages fo development,” as well as referring to changes in state that allow for flow, insight, healing, compassion etc
all of this is possible in a post-existential stage of development that has surrendered pre-existential metaphysical defenses and kitschy beliefs and become more integrated and grown up viz rationality, meaninglessness, injustice, evil, trauma and all that other fun stuff that 99% of “spirituality” denies, avoids, represses, rationalizes and candy-coats, precisely because it is a massive delusional psychological defense structure!
i know that defense structure is what most people mean by the use of the word spiritual - but i am stealing it back!
Well elucidated Julian, thanks.
Now it seems that by equating “99% of spirituality” with denial, avoidance, repression, rationalization, and candy-coating, you are drawing an extremely sharp line and, seemingly at least, throwing out any and all forms of spirituality that don't 100% fit your criteria as relating to a defense structure. I'm wondering how you hold onto your friends ;-)
Do you see the problem with this? It is similar to the problem with Wilber placing qualifications on integral and integral spirituality that only his AQAL approach fulfills. You end up with either Followers or Others (or enabling Friends). It creates a very narrow perspective on spirituality that ends up saying more about who one is, then what spirituality is and can be. An extension of ego, really–or as you said, a defense structure.
This is not to say that we shouldn't build our own worldviews and perspectives on spirituality. But why does it always require downplaying–even writing off (as you do)–spiritual forms that don't fit one's own personal tastes? You might call this relativistic, and it is to some degree, but it is the healthy relativism that any truly planetary spirituality must be based upon, otherwise we just end up in an endless game of king of the hill.
In other words, if we cannot make space for different forms of spirituality without writing 99% of them off as pathological, then we're in some serious shit.
i am not throwing out those forms of spirituality i am pointing out where they have gone wrong and how they can become more grounded, healthy and serve the purpose they set out to serve.. if one cannot do this - what is the point? bad arguments are bad arguments and distortions of reality are distoritons of reality. these things can be ascertained by those who want to see clearly.
its not about taste - you are right - that would be a vague, relativist perspective.
truth, falsity, health, pathology, growth, regression, healing, denial - these are not relative matters of taste. but even if it was fresh veggies are more nutritious than mcdonalds - even if mcdonalds is your “taste”. saying so is not rigid or fascist even though someone who would like to believe that mcd's was equally valuable nutrition because they like how it tastes might be bummed to hear this observation. it is idiot compassion and relativist wrong headedness to fail to say so.
i hear your point though - and know i have an absolutist turn of phrase.
however - the vast majority of what gets called spirituality is complete nonsense based in denial, fantasy and regression.
thats not my fault - i am just pointing it out and i am pretty confident that the last two years of blogging i have done here carries a pretty strong argument for this position.
might this offend many? sure…
do i go around pointing it out in my daily life to everyone without discretion or diplomacy? no of course not.
is the purpose of philosophy, spirituality and the discovery of truth about keeping friends? i think not.
this doesn't change the nature of truth and the necessity of forging a 21st century spirituality that goes beyond the lies and distortions that are plain to see in both old world religion and flimsy new age spirituality.
the emperor is wearing no clothes.
sorry.
Well I wish you luck in your great attempt to reform the world's spiritual traditions and remake them in your own image. Good luck with that ;-)
genius comment JB! thats the spirit… hahahaha..
its all a process of evolution.
this is the teal revolution.
we are not having much luck with the “traditions” as they stand…. btw have you noticed all the trouble mccain and obama are having with the crack-pot fundamentalist crazies they have tried to use for their religious cache - only to get bitten in the ass?
nonetheless feel free to “believe” or endorse whatever inanities you choose in the name of “tradition” or at least the new age appropriation of same..
again my friend we can never communicate because we have completely different definitions of what words mean - our minds work in almost opposite ways - you must be a gemini! :OP
still i do wish you well as a person JB. take care..
here's the commentary for simply put #2 which basically covers a lot of this stuff if you or anyone else are interested…
and this sums it up nicely without the distractions:
meditation video on intention & surrender for simply put #3
with love…