Path of Inquiry

[cloud recluse]

Anyhow,to try & steerr this back to the question of Inquiry,has anyone noticed an imbalance in some of the neo-Advaitin literature? Im particularly thinking of Arjuna Nick Ardagh's CLEAR SEEING & TRANSLUCENT REVOLUTION .

[cloud recluse]

cloud_recluse, I'd dig that link if you can dig it up ... did you check the archival library in the antique west wing.

 

Sean

 

OK Sean, here we go.Ive bravely delved into the ancient vaults in the west wing,& surfaced with...da-duh-duh-dah-duh-duh-DAAAHHH- ... KEN WILBER IN DIALOGUE,ed by Donald Rothburg & Sean Kelly, in which he does state "..As for peak experiences,it is states,not structures,that can be "peaked" (thus,a young girl might easily have a peak or plateau experence of the subtle state,but in the cognitive development line,if she were at preop she would NOT have a formop peak experience)." -pp 400-401.

 

The book consists of critiques of Wilbers work by other transpersonal theorists,followed by Wilbers replies,including substatial critiques of the pre/trans distinction.Have you come across it before?

 

Regards,Cloud.

[sean]

Hey, thanks for digging this up from the vault, cloud. I imagine this must be an ancient, hand bound tome, handwritten on parchment. Hey, how about I will read this book if you read Embodied Spirituality in a Sacred World by Michael Washburn.

Washburn shows that ego development early in life requires us to turn our backs on original sources of our existence and, therefore, that spiritual development later in life requires us to spiral back to these sources on the way to whole-psyche integration.

 

Also, can you speak more about Arjuna Nick Ardagh's book you mentioned? It's been on my to-read list as a woman whose writings I admire raved about it, and I'm curious what imbalances you see in it.

 

 

Sean

[cloud recluse]

Hey, thanks for digging this up from the vault, cloud. I imagine this must be an ancient, hand bound tome, handwritten on parchment. Hey, how about I will read this book if you read Embodied Spirituality in a Sacred World by Michael Washburn.

Also, can you speak more about Arjuna Nick Ardagh's book you mentioned? It's been on my to-read list as a woman whose writings I admire raved about it, and I'm curious what imbalances you see in it.

Sean

 

Actually,Ive read (& still have somewhere) his earlier EGO & DYNAMIC GROUND,& one of the chapters in KW DIALOGUE is by Washburn,with a reply by Wilber,& I felt Wilbers reply to Washburn to be more than adequate(I think DIALOGUE came out in 1998,& I got my copy 2nd hand).BUT,I will give SPIRITUALITY IN A SACRED WORLD a go,ONCE youve checked out DIALOGUE.Hard bargain I know,but Im a hard & bitter man,full of anger(that & red squidgy bits that must serve some kind of purpose,as I feel faint when their disconnected ).

 

Anyhoo,RELAXING INTO CLEAR SEEING is the first book by Ardagh that Ive read & reread.Initially I was quite taken with it,as the whole question of STARTING the path with a nondual taste,instead of assuming it to come at some linear "end" has particularly concerned me.Ardaghs inductions into Clear Seeing are valuable tools,perhaps like the Dzogchen 'Pointing Out instructions,and using apparent egoic disruptions of Clear Seeing to enter Clear Seeing is a really impressive contribution.

BUT,the whole thing leaves me with a suspicion of disembodiment,a whiff of depersonalization,a subtle antagonism between embodied intiution & a disembodied "emptiness".Form ignored in favour of Emptiness.Ardagh does try to take that into account,bit I dont think he does so adequately,& one is left floating,with no solid guidance of reengaging the "grim,meathook realities" of bodily life.

 

To that end,I look to writers like the Aikido practitioners Richard Strozzi Heckler (THE ANATOMY OF CHANGE, and HOLDING THE CENTER) &Wendy Palmer (THE INTUITIVE BODY:AIKIDO AS A CLAIRSENTIENT PRACTICE),for their advice on moving from,& more importantly,being MOVED BY,the Hara.This is the depths that Ardaghs heights seem to lack.He clears a wonderful space,but gets stuck in the Formless(in terms of the techniques hes proposing to his readers,Ive never met the man personally).Also,he makes the dodgy claim of there being an actual lineage from Ramana Maharishi!

 

His next book THE TRANSLUCENT REVOLUTION I have only just got hold of (once again,2nd hand,ahahahahaha ),& have only flipped through,but I wonder if the same disembodied relativism I sniffed in CLEAR SEEING is growing stronger,& thus its deficiencies made clearer.Ill have to get back to you on that one.

 

So ,essentially,I suspect Ardaghs presentation is lopsided,ingnoring Form in favour of Void,& using the excessive aspects of sociological postmodernism to take the place of embodied wisdom & skill.But that doesnt detract from the immense value of his material,it just has to be put into perspective is all.And if I recall correctly,he sticks a few Daoist quotes in there,which delights me no end

 

Regards,Cloud.

[Ian]

Wendy Palmer (THE INTUITIVE BODY: AIKIDO AS A CLAIRSENTIENT PRACTICE

 

I second that. A really good book.

I

[cloud recluse]

"When we awaken ourselves energetically,we are responding to our impulses,desires,and urges.Just as the infants first knowledge of gravity awakens a process of excitement and discovery,we begin to experience our excitement in response to a desire or urge.The world touches us and moves us through an upset,a transition in relationship or profession,the weather ,a meaningful insight ,the meeting of a new person.If we do not respond to these urges but simply listen and watch them,we may become quiet and insightful but we do not evolve and expand.Response to desire is the cornerstone of growth.Desire in this sense refers to the deep and ancient impulses that move us toward the more of who we are ,not the hankerings after sweets and gratification.

 

There is a time to quiet ourself so that we may look at and listen to who we are.There is also a time,and a need,to go with our desires and urges.This is the path of passion.It is the making of a seasoned and rich soup that we call our process,the all of who we are.

 

Curiosity and interest are the key and ignition of our energy;together they have the capacity to turn us on.They do not create new energy but rather allow us to contact the ever-present life energy by turning our attention toward it.When we pay attention to ourselves,we can experience a warmth,a movement,a life that arouses us.Desire swells and forms into an intention,blood surges, the adrenal glands begin to expand and release ,our tissues vibrate with excitement ,and we begin to make contact with the world."

 

-THE ANATOMY OF CHANGE,R.S.Heckler,p32.

 

This is where Ardaghs Void is surpassed by Form Regards,Cloud.