Simply Put #4
Posted on Jun 12th, 2008
by 
Julian
Julian
There is magic but it's not supernatural.
Myths do have meaning but they are not literal.
Interior depth is the crucible of spiritual life.
We stay on the surface when we define spirituality in ways that are not grounded in reality.
Healthy, rational, adult thinking is a spiritual gift, not a hindrance.
It works in synergy with intelligent intuition and embodied emotional honesty.
Beyond mythic literalism and magical regression lies the spiritual kingdom of the inner life.
This is spiritual truth number four.
~
The language of the soul (psyche) is poetic.
The metaphors contained in that language refer to the relationship between our inner and outer worlds.
When that language is accurate and deep it is filled with meaning that provides insight, compassion and genuine growth.
Initiation is necessary in the form of a depth-oriented, inquiry-based practice.
Integration is necessary in the form of well-rounded growth that matches evolving mind, body and heart with a deepening interior spirituality.
~
Much of what passes for contemporary "spirituality" carries neither initiation, integration or interior depth.
It invites instead a dissociative dance on the surface, a regression into magical thinking and a mythic literalism that spurns the soul's true poetry.
One reason for this is that the doorway into spiritual depth is guarded by the gargoyle of personal and collective suffering.
Until we are ready to acknowledge and work with psychological pain and existential anxiety, the kingdom of the inner life remains inaccessible.
There is a magic of the real and a miracle of the ordinary waiting to blossom behind your eyes and to paint the world with it's sense of deep, humble, compassionate awe.
~
In meditation reflect upon the body that grew from a single cell, was born as a baby covered in blood and has grown into the form sitting here and now.
Reflect upon the heart and it's changing weather of emotions: subtle, intense, happy, sad, resentful, forgiving, wounded, compassionate.
Witness the mind in it's brilliance and confusion, creativity and craziness, clarity and delusion.
Contemplate and invite a deepening relationship to the rich inner language of dream, myth, poetry, emotion, sensation and intuition.
Return again and again to an honest, grounded curiosity about the relationship between your inner and outer life.
Keep it real.
Access: PublicTagged with: simply put, julian walker, meditation, philosophy, myth, magic, buddhism, ken wilber, new age
buddhism
August 2008 
Wow, this is one of my favorite pieces I've read of yours, Julian–quite beautiful! While we may disagree in (many) specifics, and specifically in terms of interpretation, the general overview that you represent here, we're quite close on.
Now I will make one comment, an amendment if you will, on something you wrote:
Much of what passes for contemporary “spirituality” carries neither initiation, integration or interior depth.
It invites instead a dissociative dance on the surface, a regression into magical thinking and a mythic literalism and rational concretization that spurns the soul's true poetry.
I agree with this yet I've added the bold-face part, because I think it fleshes out the entire montage of obstacles towards engaging “the soul's true poetry.” The soul's poetry, as you put it, cannot truly be experienced and engaged through a rational lens, which will always “translate it down”, interpret it into a rational framework of static mental forms, akin to literary criticism. It is the difference between metaphor and symbol, where the former is a static formula of A = B, and the latter is more open-ended: A = X, with X denoting a multiplicity of ways of knowing. Now you can say that these multiplicities can be hierarchically ranked and that the truest or best one is B, but this implies an uber-perspective (B), rather than living in/as a perspective, which is the only true way to know it. The problem with metaphor is that it assumes that the interpretation of “B” is the superior one, and thus the only valid one. This kills myth, as I see it, and turns poetry into a textbook.
But again, great piece. I really resonate with this one, Julian–let's revel in that, for a moment ;-)
right on dude!
Ok, this is helpful, especially for your idealized audience as I understand it: someone who is drifting into taking astrology literally. (In the world I inhabit, investing in that singular belief as if it were causal rather than interpretive does generate all kinds of cognitive commitments that coalesce into a whole state of mind–it turns from fun, creativity-enhancing symbolism to world view as the sediments gather).
But the person in the idealized audience–a seeker who is perhaps letting go of superstition–will ask: What is initiation?
What's initiation?
I've been blogging about this too, w.r.t. the yoga tradition as received and reinvented in the west. Difficult to explain what initiation means without also discussing (1) the relationship of authority and spiritual inquiry (fun times for green) as well as (2) transmission through the (guru) tradition and oftentimes (3) initiation as your own teacher. This is my experience in conversations about transmission of a multi-limbed yoga practice.
Anyway, what's your short answer to this question, for purposes of taking Simply Put on the road?
(Long answers will be of interest too, of course.)
ah i would direct you (and the audience) to my post the four initiations to better answer how i view that subject - will check out your blog to see what you are saying too!
Ah, nice breakdown of the subject! Crisp, clear, practical.
Good stuff.
Carry on. :)
simply beautiful, j…
0v0 asked my only question and it was lovely to revisit your past blog…i love how this is all coming together, not only for you, but for my own understanding and grasp of all you are teaching…
much love.
S.
thanks you two! yea in these simply put editions i try not to have a single phrase that i haven't really considered deeply and that doesnt refer directly to something specific that i think is important.. it's a good discipline for me!
Nice installment, Julian.
I especially like the part about the nature of the soul being poetic—something other than rational. Aurobindo described it in ethical terms:
“It is this secret psychic entity which is the true original Conscience in us deeper than the constructed and conventional conscience of the moralist, for it is this which points always towards Truth and Right and Beauty, towards Love and Harmony and all that is a divine possibility in us, and persists till these things become the major need of our nature. It is the psychic personality in us that flowers as the saint, the sage, the seer; when it reaches its full strength, it turns the being towards the Knowledge of Self and the Divine, towards the supreme Truth, the supreme Good, the supreme Beauty, Love and Bliss, the divine heights and largenesses, and opens us to the touch of spiritual sympathy, universality, oneness.”
Wilber also spoke about the soul as being “the seat of conscience,” and that is very important without a doubt, but I've always wondered what an artistic description of it would look like.
David
……..
Beautiful
Thank YOU