Every once in a while a quick summary….for those that have been following skip to the “NEW MATERIAL” header half way down
transformation means a change in how you see the world and a shift in how you see yourself. Not just a shift in your point of view but a whole different perception what of what is possible.
DEFINITION- ongoing and integrated shifts in the way we see and make meaning of ourselves God others and the world.
Portals to Transformation
1 DEEP PERSONAL PAIN
jars us out of autopilot and causes us to ask deep questions and question the way things are supposed to be
2. Noetic Experiences…
3. The Right Resources, teacher, situations come on the scene
Choices that Cultivate Possible Transformative Moments – the gardeners metaphor we developed
1. Gardeners accommodate new experiences and resist assimilating them.
2. Gardeners also have the capacity for equanimity – an evenness of mind or a state of inner unshakability in the face of all the highs and lows of our various experiences.
3.Gardeners have the capacity for CURIOSITY AND INQUIRY
Definition – TRANSFORMATIVE PRACTICE – is any set of activities (internal or external) you engage in with the intention of fostering long lasting shifts in the way you experience and relate to yourself, others and the rest of the world.
So as I am defining it here practice is for the purpose of vertical development. Not HORIZONTAL BANDWIDTH ACQUISITION.
Essentials for Effective Practice – INTENTION, ATTENTION, REPETITION the 3 key legs undergirding good practice.
So for those that are new practice we are talking about are things that cultivate awarness and presentness in the moment.
We are trying to do what Jesus says don’t arrive at the future prematurely (often worry) don’t wander mentally around in the past, that is over.
The full experience of now…
• awake not asleep,
• aware, not hypnotized,
• conscious not autopilot
fully inhabiting every moment
Let’s be reminded what practice is… Transformative practice are any activities internal or external you engage in for the purpose of shifting the way you see and make meaning.
WHY PRACTICE results
• THE RESIDUAL effect of all the cumulative practices EVEN MORE valuable.
1. INSIGHT
In other words the granularity of the world around us and in us comes into sharper relief
Reflection on Garden
Ego is what gives us a separate sense of self from others and the world around us.
In fact some theologians argue that the Gen 1-2 story of Adam and Eve is actually the Judeo Christian myth often called the fall that is really the explanation of the birth of human consciousness and ego. Up until adam and eve eat of the tree of good and not good there doesn’t seem to be a difference noted about themselves that was significant in their minds. The story is an explanation of how we came to separate ourselves from each other.
2. Riding our Ego –
An overactive ego keeps us
• out of our bodies and in our minds,
• out of our hearts and in our heads,
• out of the persent moment and stuck in the past and the future,
• out of our intuition and deep wisdom
3. Awareness of what is arising in the moment
4. Incredible increase in emotional intelligence due to this awareness
NEW MATERIAL FOR THOSE THAT HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING
5. Surrendering to Mystery, Unknown and Unpredictable.
I find it hard to over estimate how much my practice has helped me with this.
By repeatedly engaging in transformative practice you cultivate insight, seeing your situation more clearly, and becoming more aware of your limits, strengths and the contours of your situation.
You loosen control…control that was always an illusion but one I often engaged.
True confessions here: I constantly self talk how to make such and such happen, how to attempt to control things
Because we are living more in the moment (#3) and are more emotionally tuned (#4) we have the ability act in accordance with our highest purpose, the highest self, the imago dei in us (image of God in us).
But here is the beautiful thing. From the imago dei space there is no need for everything to perfectly fit. You find yourself living more and more in the moment and less and less in the past or the future.
As things arise, that don’t fit, don’t make sense, don’t seem to have a sync with the current moment, you don’t have to ignore it, you can simply be curious (remember this is one of those choice points from early on
Part of the why of practice is that we can stick with the mystery and the grace of life and let it just be. Let it be a beautiful thing needing no analysis, only assimilation (we want accommodation) In fact can you take a quick break and be moved? click Let It Be If you did listen to that 3 minutes of moving sound will you comment to let us know what happened in you? What arose inside of your spirit? (Thank you Jeff Peck for introducing us in IIIText to this version)
For more great research from which some of this blog was derived see Schlitz M., Vieten C., Amorok T. (2008). Living Deeply: The Art and Science of Transformation. Berkeley, CA: New Harbinger Publications/Noetic Books. www.noetic.org
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Love the recap, Ron.
Change is such a process for me – it’s easy to fall back into my default ways, at times. I needed this to remind me about INTENTION, ATTENTION, REPETITION.
Great thoughts about control.
Thanks!
janet, i honestly do the recaps for me as much as anyone. i try to keep posts in the magical 300-500 word zone but that stretches out the topic if you are doing something that is consecutive. glad you are helped and thanks for the retweeting!
The words put me down a bit at first, I mean I was not sure if I was vertical enough. The HORIZONTAL BANDWIDTH ACQUISITION seemed to be about the talent code book I read last month. Then I read on and I recalled the incredible walk this morning and my time in the new tree stand I discovered. Affirming myself this was practice.
The vocal honesty in the opening of the song struck me with precisely the kind of present awareness or alertness you seem to be talking about. It struck me as if a clear soul was talking to me. Then the lyrics got past the Beatles and became more like a prayer, that the peace I had this morning would be in me all the time. Then the meaning of the words hit me more saying to me, let my daughter be, let her go and this made me cry a bit.