As you know, Emily and I are big fans of A.H. Almaas and his Diamond Heart series.

He has a new book coming out next week, The Unfolding Now, and has provided a free preview chapter available online. I haven’t read it yet, but am posting the link anyway– it’s from A.H. so it should be good.

Preview Chapter of The Unfolding Now

Man is a product of his thoughts. Thoughts grow well in silence. Thoughts mature in silence. Thoughts become creative in silence. Clarity and brevity of thoughts are attained through silence. Unhealthy and unwanted thoughts are flushed out in silence like a drainage. “They never taste who always drink. They always talk who never think.
- Matthew Prior

The words on this screen are merely signposts for what lies deep within you. It seems that we have abused words by making them all there is in this world. They are not the message, they simply point to the message. The message itself can only be heard by spirit/stillness.
- Laura

Finding Silence

Prompted by this science post I referenced before and by my recent silent meditation retreat, I feel moved to write about silence.

I am constantly trying to find ways to grow. The main course I’ve stuck with is to look within. But relentless, self-absorbed introspection can be unhelpful and certainly tiring. As soon as one begins to look at one’s mind it becomes so clear how noisy and frantic our thoughts are. They’re a constant barrage containing memory wisps, emotion, grasping, imagination, speculation, fear, control and who knows what else. Learning to find space and silence in our mind is just as important as learning to find it in our lives.

Silence is of four kinds. Silence of speech, Silence of the eyes, Silence of the ear and Silence of the mind. Only the last is pure silence and is the most important. Silence is the only Eternal Speech- the one Word, the Heart to Heart talk. Silence is like the even flow of electric current. Speech is like obstructing the current used for lighting and other purposes.
- Maharishi Raman

Silence is a method that helps to free our minds. If practiced thoughtfully, we can make space for reflection before defensively responding to another. We can notice fearful thoughts, actions and words that arise withing ourselves. We can use silence to face situations of mental and physical stress or emotional upheaval. Often our most powerful expressions of anger or hatred come through speech. Silence is a requirement for meditation and mindfulness practice. Silence increases our will power and sharpens our minds.

Silent is the meek, humble, noble, powerful. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words, than words without a heart.
- Gandhi

Idle chatter may seem harmless enough, but I would recommend we all take a closer look. Often unrestrained talk-fests lead to insults, judgment, ridicule and just general negativity. This isn’t beneficial for anyone involved. Our unruly minds surface and present to us some of the darker aspects of our psyche. By creating space, observing mindfully our silent times (and times when we aren’t silent) we can gain great insights into the workings of our mind and self. How often does random chatting lead to futile arguments, that leave us feeling drained and uneasy? It’s so easy to speak the first thing that we think of and so hard to stop, restrain ourselves and think about what we are saying. Looking within to find where this speech has come from is difficult. Is it an automatic response, an old habit? A societal rule you’ve bought into subconsciously? Something you feel uneasy about? An ego judgment? A justification of past actions? A response to unreleased emotional pain?

Next time you find yourself in the midst of a diatribe, stop and ask yourself what is really going on. Take a few moments during your day to just breathe. Look at the trees. Calm your noisy thoughts. Find your inner silence and enjoy it.

Inner voice is heard in silence. Truth is revealed in silence. Divinity of the Self is unfolded in silence.

I *heart* Big Mind! Zen Master Genpo Roshi devised the Big Mind process as a bridge between East and West. It combines Zen Buddhist practice with Jungian archetypes to allow one to reach higher states of consciousness quickly. On Day Two of the Integral Without Borders Conference in Istanbul, we were treated to a full day of Big Mind facilitated by Genpo Roshi’s student and fellow Zen master Diane Hamilton. This was my favorite part of the conference.

The facilitator of Big Mind asks the group to call upon and speak as different voices they have within themselves. Here’s how:

Facilitator: I would like to speak to the voice of the Skeptic.

Group: (shifts position to reset the mind and body as the Skeptic)

Facilitator: To whom am I speaking?

Group: The Skeptic

Facilitator: And what is your job?

Group: To be skeptical.

From there the facilitator will ask a series of questions to illuminate that voice’s role in your life. In the case of the Skeptic, you might learn that this voice is useful in helping to protect you from false information, however it is always skeptical and never satisfied. This is an aspect of yourself that is never trusting, however it is not who you are at the core.

There are a number of videos on YouTube showing Genpo Roshi facilitate Big Mind. You can also follow the course at Integral Naked if you are a member.

Now for my personal experience using Big Mind.

We began with the voice of the Controller. As soon as Diane asked for that voice, I knew I was in for trouble. The Controller is a very strong and very problematic aspect of my personality. It was very easy for me to embody the Controller, but also very uncomfortable. My whole body tensed up, as the Controller I was not going to let Emily out of my clutches for a second. Later we did the voice of the Protector. This was much more comfortable for me as my Protector voice tends to deal with outside threats by being apathetic and detached, whereas my Controller is convinced that I am about to fly off the handle unless it keeps me bottled up tight. See the difference? Both are problematic, but the Protector’s tactics are much less uncomfortable.

Next we did the Skeptic. This was also easy for me and very comfortable. This voice used to be much stronger in my life, but it has calmed down over the last year or so. No problems here.

Then Diane asked us to go to the Wounded Self. Huh? I could not find the Wounded Self anywhere! I was trying to summon this voice, but nothing came out. The rest of the group easily found their Wounded Selves and seemed to get very sad in this voice. I was at a loss. This happened again when we were asked to find the Victim and Egocentric Compassion. See a pattern? I am generally unwillingly allow myself to feel that I am damaged or that I have been wronged. I usually think everything is my own fault or that I deserve it. No Wounded Self, no Victim, no Egocentric Compassion. If I can’t recognize my own Wounded Self, how can I recognize it in others? This makes it very difficult for me to feel compassion towards individuals’ suffering. Big Mind pointed all of this out to me.

We also did the Innocent Child, which I loved although some people could not get into, the Oppressor, Compassion, and Forgiveness. With some of the voices we explored different altitudes: egocentric, ethnocentric, worldcentric, and Kosmocentric. This was very interesting, let me take you through an example.

Egocentric Compassion: I can (presumably) feel my own suffering and see how I have been wronged by other people and life circumstances. I can extend love towards myself at this level.

Ethnocentric Compassion: I can feel the suffering of my people, my family, my nation and any other group I identify with. I can extend love toward my people.

Worldcentric Compassion: I can feel the suffering of all of humanity, this includes “oppressor” groups like Nazis.

Kosmocentric Compassion: I can feel the suffering of all living things, of all non-living things, of stars, of ideas, of beings in other realities. I can love all of it. My compassion is infinite. This is also known as Big Heart.

Fun! Later we were in the middle of Forgiveness when the afternoon prayers began in Istanbul. The conference was held right next to the Hagia Sofia, so the prayer was extremely loud. Diane asked us to sit in Forgiveness and listen to the prayer. So there I am as Forgiveness, listening to this beautiful Muslim prayer and suddenly I slip into Ethnocentric Wounded Self and I have all these visions of 9/11 and the towers falling. It was totally bizarre. Then I felt this big Forgiveness for what happened on 9/11 and I started to cry. I didn’t even know that I cared that much about 9/11. It was crazy.

But let’s not forget Big Mind itself. When we got to the voice of Big Mind, we had already been working up the altitudes. Big Mind is a sort of non-dual state where you identify as everything, as the Kosmos, as infinity, or as the Tao if you prefer. It was pretty trippy, needless to say, especially for a non-meditator like me. Big Mind is being all and Big Heart is loving all. I had a much easier time with Big Mind, but everyone was different. Big Mind felt a little cold for some people.

That about wraps up Day Two and Big Mind. I highly recommended trying Big Mind for yourself. My descriptions pale in comparison to the actual experience.

Integral Options Cafe is one of my favorite blogs. Its author, William, compiles posts and articles from around the internets that are of interest to the Integral community. Today he shared a very nice piece from DailyOm:

The flow of the universe moves through everything. It is in the rocks that form, get pounded into dust, and are blown away. It is in the blossoming of a flower born from a seed planted in the spring. The growth cycle that every human being goes through is part of this natural flow, which is also the current that takes us down life’s paths. When we move with it rather than resisting it, we are riding on the universal wave that allows us to flow with life.

Many people live struggling against this current. They try to use force or resistance to will their lives into happening in the way they think it should. Others move with it like a sailor using the wind, trusting that the universe is taking them exactly where they need to be at all times. This flow is accessible to everyone because it travels through and around us. We are always riding it—it is just a matter of whether we are willing to go with it or we resist it. Choosing to go with the flow is often a matter of relinquishing the notion that we need to be in control at all times.

The flow is always transporting you where you need to go. It is merely a question of deciding whether you plan on accepting the ride or having it take you there with your feet dragging. Learning to step into it can help you feel a connection to a force that is greater than you and is always there to support you. The decision to go with the flow takes courage because you are surrendering the belief that you need to do everything by yourself. Riding the flow of the universe can be effortless, exhilarating, and unlike anything you ever expected. When you are receptive to being in it, you open yourself to possibilities that exist beyond the grasp of your control.

Welcome to the “No Path”, friends! The path of no path. The Universe pulls and prods you along, tossing you into whatever situation you need to be in. It’s a wild ride, but if you can surrender to it, it’s incredibly comforting and always exciting.

For the better part of my life, I was hell-bent on sticking it to the Universe. It pointed left, I went right. It granted me an opportunity to grow, I invited it to kiss my behind. I actively cultivated my own misery for many years, convincing myself it was a sort of Nietzschean high road.

In the last year or so, I have begun to trust the Universe more, though it is a slow process. Letting go of my old habits and misery-making is often frightening, but it is helping me grow tremendously. I am able to relax slightly (yes, just slightly) for the first time ever. Not only am I able to trust the Universe, but I am entertaining the thought of trusting people. This is an enormous step for me. If you can relate to my path, I highly encourage you to read the Tao Te Ching and the Diamond Heart series by A.H. Almaas. Or feel free to email me (emily at consideringtheuniverse dot com) if you’d like to commiserate.

I am reading Facets of Unity: The Enneagram of Holy Ideas by A.H. Almaas. He makes an interesting differentiation between the perspectives of various traditions.

Some traditions view Ultimate Reality (or God, if you prefer) as, “that which is left when everything that can be removed is removed”. Almaas calls this the Absolute. Other traditions view Ultimate Reality as a state of total completeness which is “all-inclusive, with the manifest and unmanifest existing in nonduality. Everything is present, including the Absolute, which is seen as its inner nature.”

Almaas categorizes the traditions as follows:

The Sufi and Kabbalistic traditions take the view that the Absolute is the ultimate reality. The Indian traditions are divided, with the Vedantists taking the Absolute to be the ultimate, while some of the yogic paths take the state of total completeness to be ultimate. The Buddhists disagree: The Theraveda tradition believes the Absolute is ultimate, while the Tibetan Buddhists are divided.

Almaas does not mention Taoism, but I believe it would fall into the “total completeness” category. We have discussed the difference in Buddhist and Taoist orientation before. I always gravitate towards Taoism, Tantra and yoga, while Laura leans toward Buddhism. Almaas’ explanation of Absolute vs total completeness helped me understand why I felt a fundamental difference between my set of traditions and Laura’s. It is really the difference of understanding oneness as a fullness or an emptiness, everything vs. nothing. Of course, either route leads to the other side of the coin, through fullness you find emptiness, through emptiness you find fullness.

Both orientations lead to nonduality or as Almaas puts it:

In either case, the perception of the unity of all existence - Holy Truth - remains the same. It is the perception that there are no divisions and no duality between things, that everything is one Beingness, one existence. This is the reality beyond egoic reality, true existence independent of the personal mind. It includes everything without any separations, and it does not matter whether you call it God, the One Mind, the state of the Buddha, the Tao, or the Divine Being.

In case you were unaware, we adore A.H. Almaas. We highly recommend his books to anyone interested in understanding themselves and reality.

Life is funny. A strange turn of events, inspirations, and coincidences led me to OneTaste on Tuesday. OneTaste has been showing up on my radar for a month or so. On Tuesday I called in sick to work and took a walk to check out a yoga center near my house. The center was closed, but as I was leaving OneTaste popped into my head. I thought, why not take a slight detour and check it out? (I used Google SMS to find the address. I cannot recommend this service enough.)

OneTaste calls itself an “Urban Retreat Center”. Their literature is all very light and airy, young good looking people laughing and hugging. They offer yoga, open-mic events, and a variety of workshops all focusing on connection. Their core curriculum consists of six courses in “Connected Living” that are priced at $500 each (!). I realize this is all quite vague. That’s how they present it themselves. However, OneTaste is better known as a sex cult.

Thought that would get your attention. This allegation has been made by the SF Weekly and by various Yelpers. OneTaste teaches Orgasmic Meditation and has a live-in program where residents conduct “sensuality research”. Huh. Clearly I had to check this out for myself.

On Tuesday I wandered over to OneTaste. It is located (interestingly) on Folsom Street in San Francisco’s SoMa district. As you can see from this map, the neighborhood is no stranger to alternative lifestyles. OneTaste looks like your average San Francisco yoga studio. It’s very clean with hardwood floors, exposed ducts, that sort of thing. Very normal for SF.

When I went inside on Tuesday morning, I noticed that all of the staff was young, thin and good looking. Interesting. They were very friendly but somewhat reserved. They invited me to return in the evening for an introductory course.

In the evening, OneTaste was much busier. There were people sitting around tables in the front area chatting and eating. I was told to go upstairs into a large meeting area. There were three other guests, all men, and two presenters. We played some getting-to-know-you type games and they answered our questions about OneTaste. It was all very interesting. They were reluctant to use the word “sexuality”, replacing it with “sensuality” multiple times. It all seemed to have the appearance of openness, but I did not feel a connection. After the group, I was introduced to one of the young ladies who participates in the Y.Now (ages 18-26) group. I felt much more comfortable talking to her and a genuine warmth coming from her. She invited me to return the next evening for IN Group.

IN Group is a gathering to play connectivity games and practice authenticity. There were a lot of people there, maybe 50. There was a good mix of ages, although the crowd was probably 70% male and 90% white. You could identify the female OneTaste residents easily as most of them were wearing flirty dresses without bras. Huh. It’s also very warm in OneTaste. I theorize this is to encourage less clothing. Maybe I’m cynical.

We played some games. I got questioned on the “Hot Seat”. It was interesting, not exactly fun. After the IN Group people stayed around to socialize. I hate socializing and meeting new people. It required a big effort for me not to run out the door, but people were so friendly! I met a lot of people from the Y.Now group and really enjoyed talking to them. It was refreshing to be completely honest about my anxiety and have them give me feedback. I noticed I felt very disconnected to my body as I was meeting people. It was kind of surreal. Maybe that’s why I dislike those situations.

Overall, I enjoyed my first two visits to OneTaste. I will definitely be going back, but with some reservations. First, I can’t help but feel that I was getting extra attention because I am a young female. I suppose this is normal in any social gathering, but because of the “sex cult” reputation of OneTaste, I was a little wary. Secondly, I would advise anyone looking for an explicitly spiritual community to look elsewhere. Spirit is incorporated at OneTaste, however the focus is on connecting to other people rather than to a higher source. So if you’re working on interpersonal issue, as I am, it might be a good fit for you.

(Btw, OneTaste did get its name from the Ken Wilber book.)

From Laura: I freely admit I’m biased against One Taste and wary of the whole thing (even though I’ve never gone or anything) but I’ve got full confidence in Emily’s discernment skills.

This past weekend I was happily able to attend a two day retreat given by Jigme Tromge Rinpoche. The retreat contained a series of meditations and contemplations based on an 18th century Tibetan text by Drimed Khakyod.  As the flyer advertising the retreat explains:

Broadly described as instruction on shamatha (‘calm abiding’ meditation), these practices have considerable range and profundity. Each technique, clearly and succinctly explained, focuses on a different aspect of practice – for example, one-pointed concentration, compassion, understanding of relative and absolute reality and so forth – and as we progress through the teachings, our foundation is strengthened and we learn which tools to apply to counteract specific pitfalls.

This was my first experience with this particular form of meditation. I found it profound and ritualized. The teachings were specific and detailed. I was surprised how different the methods involved in this retreat were from methods I’ve experienced before; there were many visualizations and exact techniques. However, I left the retreat feeling as if this was essentially touching on the same truths that other methods touch on. The forms may be different, but inherent reality isn’t.

I shall leave you with the Red Tara Dedication Prayer

Dedication

Throughout my many lives and until this moment, whatever virtue I have accomplished including the merit generated by this practice, and all that I will ever obtain, this I offer for the welfare of all sentient beings. May sickness, war, famine and suffereing be decreased, for every being while their wisdom and compassion increase in this and every future life. May I cleraly perceive all experiences to be as insubstantial as the dream fabric of the night and instantly awaken to perceive the pure wisdom display in the arising of every phenomenon. May I quickly attain enlightenment in order to work ceaselessly for the liberation of all sentient beings.

Prayer of Aspiration

Buddhas and bodhisattvas altogether:
whatever kind of motivation you have,
whatever kind of beneficial action,
whatever kind of wishing prayers,
whatever kind of omniscience,
whatever kind of life accomplishment,
whatever kind of benevolent power and
whatever kind of immense wisdom you have,
then similarly I, who have come in the same way to benefit beings,
pray to attain these qualities

The Auspicious Wish

At this very moment, for the peoples and the nations of the earth, may not even the names disease, famine, war and suffering be heard. Rather may their moral conduct, merit, wealth and proseperity increase, and may supreme good fortune and well-being always arise for them.

We often talk about meditation here at Considering the Universe, but what about other methods that connect us with our inner selves? My dad just sent me this documentary about using arousal or spontaneous movement as another means for spiritual transformation.

The complement to relaxation is arousal, or the arousal response. And heightened arousal – whether through wild movement, spontaneous jumping, or body shaking – is a valuable, healing and transformative practice

I encourage you to check out the 10 minute documentary here about using arousal and ancient shamanic techniques to transform your self.

If you haven’t heard, Oprah is doing an online series with Eckhart Tolle. She chose Tolle’s A New Earth for her bookclub this month. This is a pretty big deal. When Oprah gets behind a book, it sells millions of copies. The first installment of the online series had over 700,000 visitors (Oprah’s figure). The people that watch Oprah are not people who you would expect to be getting excited about consciousness evolution.

Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now was published in 1997. My mom gave it to me in college during my existential crisis phase. I remember thinking it was interesting and useful, but it didn’t cause a real shift. I haven’t read A New Earth, but the first installment of Oprah’s series is very interesting.

For those of you who are at all familiar with any variety of consciousness work, there won’t be anything new, however, it seems like an ideal introduction to mindfulness for traditonally religious people. I love Oprah and I know that many people trust her completely. Oprah takes callers’ questions about reconciling their religious beliefs with this scary New Age spirituality and she puts them totally at ease. The Universe couldn’t ask for a better spokesperson.

The whole endeavor could be seen as a watered-down version of any of the great esoteric traditions, still I think it’s fantastic. It’s so important that these ideas get into people’s daily lives. Just the fact that Oprah is able to do this at all shows that significant numbers of regular people are at least intrigued with the idea of spiritual growth, if not actually awakening to some degree. I am very excited about having lots of new people to consider the Universe with. I feel like I’m just beginning on my path and it’s nice to know there’s many other people in the same boat. Hopefully this will translate into more traffic for our blog. Ha!

I just finished Book One of A. H. Almaas’ Diamond Heart series. Doesn’t he look nice?

Almaas’ Diamond Approach is a method of self-realization that we briefly introduced on CtU back in January. It draws on Sufism and Gurdjieff’s Fourth Way, although the Diamond Approach is not aligned with a particular tradition.

Central to the Diamond Approach is the theory of holes. Each of us has certain holes inside of us that we are constantly trying to fill. Maybe we feel unlovable or lonely and fill that hole with extravagant possessions or a steady stream of romantic intrigue. No matter what we try to put into the hole, it never feels full. The Diamond Approach aims to clear out all the junk we put into the hole so that our true essence can come through and fill it.

Essence is the personal manifestation of the Universal, the Tao. It is the expression of the One in the Many, in each individual. This is basically the idea of letting the Tao flow through you so all of your actions arise effortlessly and correctly. It is beyond knowing how to act according to the Tao, or feeling you are in accordance with the Tao, it is literally being the Tao, realizing you are the Tao, allowing yourself to be the Tao. Very cool stuff. Check out the Wikipedia article.

The Diamond Approach has been recommended by two of our favorites, Ken Wilber and Jack Kornfield. Here’s what they said:

“I myself can recommend the Diamond Approach as probably the most balanced of the widely available spiritual psychologies/therapies.”—Ken Wilber

“The work of A. H. Almaas places him among the greatest psychologists alive today. His brilliant vision of the human psyche embraces our Being from early development to the highest realms of spirit. From this he then offers a new language and direct approach for awakening to this manifold nature.”—Jack Kornfield

As I was reading Book One, I got such a positive feeling about it, like it is a path a need to pursue. One thing that’s great about San Francisco is that no matter how far-out a method is, you can find it nearby. The Ridhwan School promotes Almaas’ teachings worldwide and we happen to have a branch here in Berkeley. I will be attending their introductory series beginning in May. (If you are interested in the program, email me and I’ll get you more information.)

I’ve decided commit to the series although it totally conflicts with my job and will require a major rearrangement of my schedule. So why am I doing it? I realized that if I didn’t, I would be forever kicking myself and wondering what it would have been like. I watched Riding Giants last night and it inspired me to live life to the fullest and follow my path. I feel fantastic since making the decision, a good indication it’s right.

I’m starting Book Two today and will be sure to keep you updated on the Diamond Approach as I learn more.