Addressing the personal, social/global challenges of today in the light of Integral Yoga- Vedanta

Sunday, June 10, 2012



http://www.ted.com/talks/juan_enriquez_will_our_kids_be_a_different_species.html


Juan Enriquez: Will our kids be a different species? 

This presentation by scientist Juan Enriquez gives panentheists interesting "food" for thought and is a wonderful opportunity to engage in conversation with others who may be impressed by Enriquez's vision along similar lines. Considering that these "new species" may evolve out of a particular materialist gene, which causes the destruction of conscious beings, "the former, imperfect ones"... First, I would have to define "consciousness" and "conscious beings," there is and has never been any better or superior being than a Conscious being. But few believe in the full potential of unconditioned consciousness which they themselves have not reached.

So, what a scientist like Enriquez and others are not asking themselves, perhaps because of the "if you are a hammer you see the whole world as a nail" kind of syndrome, is that besides the linear concept that it is only now, in our Present, that we have reached an optimum understanding of humanity without honoring that in the past there have been beings who have experienced the PRESENT in a continuum with eternity. 

In other words, there has been superior wisdom in the past, which has been available to some people who have followed the righteous ways (Vedic, Adwaita, Buddhist, Sufi, Christian Mystics...) which are not accesible and will never be available to scientists utilizing technology or any kind of man-made instruments. 
So, what are we missing? I believe that we are missing honoring exploring the human identity in silence and in awe. 

Learning about the life experiences of sages, whether they have been recognized by scientists and academics or not can be helpful. I want to bring to our attention the life of a wise mystic called Sri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa who barely learned how to write his name, though he had internalized ancient tests of philosophy and committed many to memory, lived by many of their principles, was honored by contemporary philosophers in India and in England, i.e. Huxley, and others, but whose explorations on the farthest and deepest human experiences did not depend on technology or any mechanical apparatus.

I wonder if we are confusing multiplicity of personalities with the undifferentiated experience of being, which does not belong to a given elite, but is the matri-patrimony of everyone. What in Samkhya philosophy is described as a gradual progression from self to Self, from individual to Universal experience

June 9, 2012
To be continued...




Monday, August 16, 2010

Separation of Church & State leading to moral relativism

We have gone to the opposite extreme from the times when Church dominated the State. The moral relativism prevalent in our times demonstrates that the opposite extreme comes very close to the ways things were like at that time. A new kind of fanaticism is prevalent as result of "separation of Church and State," secularized, heartless policies that contribute to the commercialization of human kindness and have choked the "family" as well as the State.
This Separation goes hand in hand with meaninglessness, loss of purpose in a values-vacuum centered collective identity, trickling down into social pathologies informed by media and private interests. Have we considered giving "Union of Spirituality and Leadership," a chance?
What about instead of "Church & State" we insist in "Spirituality in State, Spirituality in Leadership". And we will have to agree on what is the meaning of Spirituality. But all founders of world religions have already agreed on the most important principles of human existence. Every few hundred years the meaning of human decency suffers tremendous decadence from vested interests, greed, cruelty and corrupt powers. We need to keep redefining what are the qualities of a leader.

The "Variety of Spiritual Experiences in Ethical Leadership" is an untapped treasure staring at us in the face... Just a thought for you and me.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Integral Yoga Vedanta—Action Prototype Informed by Yogic Inquiry

Integral Yoga Vedanta—Action Prototype Informed by Yogic Inquiry
and Service Leadership for Personal and Global Transformation
Vrinda (Estela Pujals)
California Institute of Integral Studies


Abstract
Every day that the thought of what is the role of Western yogis now that it is our turn to pay a debt of gratitude to the land that enriched our bodies, minds and spirits with a tradition that transcends words and was created by the great beings of the past in ways that modern science is just beginning to understand, comes to my mind I am humbled at the extent of my ignorance about the ramifications and complexity of this thought. Still the thought persists, it has taken possession of my mind, emotions and reason to be. It is in the light of the inspiration and gifts that enriched my life and the lives of many, in the East and the West, that we consider it is time to form coalitions of yogis for extending the benefits of Integral Yoga-Vedanta towards personal and global transformation. The experiment that started in the Site of Action essay gave way to the Action Plan submitted less than a month ago. So, why did I consider the value of picking up garbage in India? It was in a gesture of humility and gratitude before proposing more daring plans for collaboration—I hoped it would open the doors. And after revisiting the complexity of this vision, in view of the feedback of Professor Joanne Gozawa and in the light of the reading material in our course syllabus, in addition to a few connections that were made in the last month, it is obvious that the vision remains linked to a transformative that is presently shared by others. And we reach the conclusion that such an ambitious vision needs to be held in a longer period for nurturing and gestation before it matures to fruition in the hearts and minds of those that it holds.


Integral Yoga Vedanta—Action Prototype Informed by Yogic Inquiry and
Service Leadership for Personal and Global Transformation

From India, my Mother land, I have inherited the most precious and enlightening stories from a philosophy that keeps informing my life. From the Site of Action and Action Plan essays, where I detail the first seed for a project meant to contribute to the land that has given to us the wisdom of Integral Yoga-Vedanta, which took form during my first and only trip to India, led me to further explore the cultural biases and misconceptions that kept this aspiration on hold and in a state of impossibility. The more humorous paradoxical aspect of the rejection of my proposition in India, in my eyes at least, is that in a culture where most believe in reincarnation, I am seen as a foreigner, while spiritually and intuitively, India has been my mother land and its people are my own culture since many lives before. On an academic note, the insights and guidance of Professor Gozawa have been invaluable in helping me to elucidate a better “plan,” for which the ongoing successful connections initiated by other scholars serve as a humbling reminder of the discipline and the rigor required to succeed in this vision. This is no longer a personal vision; it needs to connect with the visions of others with a similar foundation. In the course of our Transformative Leadership Program, it has become clearer to me that so many salient principles and theories of the Yoga-Vedanta are present, in an upgraded language, the social sciences and the systems thinking studies available to us now and that these need to be integrated in developing this vision.

After consulting with several scholars immersed in the values that we have inherited from Integral Yoga & Vedic culture, like Karen E. Trueheart, Ph.D., Director of the Gandhi Institute and former faculty at CIIS, Stuart Sovatsky, Ph.D. alumni of CIIS, there is much more to be learned from establishing a more effective connection to learn from their insights. Also, there is much to be learned about the best approach to contribute to India in a spirit of karmayoga (service) from Dr. Jorge Ferrer, Director of the School of East-West Psychology, CIIS, and Dr. Sangeetha Menon, professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, School of Humanities, Bangalore, India, who is involved in the epistemologies, definitions of terminology in Consciousness Studies, “experience-experiencer duality problem levels of I-ness in Adwaita-Vedanta of Adi Sankaracharya” (2010).

Reading essays by Dr. Ferrer, Dr. Sovatsky (both from CIIS) and Dr. Menon, were most valuable for reminding me of the degrees of ignorance that a false feeling of certainty contributed to clouding my mind. The light shed by such reading was humbling to the mind but is unheeded by the heart, which is driven by a different “intelligence”. So, the drive and intention to continue research in this direction continues unhampered. The work ahead will surely present untold challenges and rewards. “In the transition from ego consciousness to Divine consciousness a devotee inevitably experiences much inner conflict and tension” (Jyotirmayananda, 1994, p.158).

On the topic of the qualities that one values most for transformation from an identity of contracted consciousness to one of expanding consciousness, Viveka Chudamani of Adi Shankaracharya proposes , in a verse that makes reference to another work of Shankara´s Atmabodha “The Panchakosha (Five Sheaths or layers of personality) affect the individual’s identity from a shifting mode to the more disciplined levels of personality integration. The Five Sheaths or layers of personality are: the Food or body layer of personality (also known as food-body or food-sheath) arises from the Prana (universal energy) layer or sheath, which arises from the Mind sheath, which in turn arises from the Intellect sheath, which in turn arises from the all-pervading Bliss or Spirit. (Jyotirmayananda, S. audio exposition of Shankara, Viveka Chudamani, Verse 27, referencing Atmabodha, Verse 14). These are mentioned here inasmuch as they are significantly relevant to the study of personal and global transformation. The contribution of this study to personal and global transformation cannot be underestimated, in view of the wealth of contributions that Sri Aurobindo and other Indian sages have demonstrated from the personal and global transformation that emerged from this discipline. To this effect, Sri Aurobindo commented to a would-be biographer, “I see that you have persisted in giving a biography—is it really necessary or useful? The attempt is bound to be a failure, because neither you nor anyone else knows anything at all of my life; it has not been on the surface for men to see” (Heehs, 2000, p. 86).

That Sri Aurobindo´s inner life, nor the inner life of any other person, is not “on the surface for men to see” does not mean that the contributions of such a way of life are invisible. This is what I mean by the process of preparation, karmayoga, for uniting the efforts of East and West yogis in what could begin as consciousness studies, but needs to extend to benefiting society at large. And the groundwork has already been laid by enlightened personalities in the recent past as well as the ongoing service of loka-sangraha (service to uplift humanity) of yogic leaders in the present.

The following are just a few parallels between the material assigned for this course as potential resources for advancing a collaborative work from the yogic perspective of Integral Yoga-Vedanta students from India and the US. So many resources are not included here for lack of time and space, or all practical purposes for our course’s requirements, but that merit at least to mention: the parallels between Integral Yoga and the following: Systems Thinking, the formative practices of the Buddha prior to attaining Nirvana, Kundalini Yoga and Systems Theory, Vedantic Inquiry into “Who am I?” in the light of the participatory inquiry paradigm and identity inquiry, and many more areas to be explored. For the sake of validating the claim of how much the required reading in this course resonates with Integral Yoga-Vedanta, below are some of the author’s citations that speak about overlapping theories.

In The Cultural Complex and Transformative Learning Environment, Dr. J. Gozawa invites an interesting question when she states, “…what I am calling integral pedagogy is inspired by integral philosophy (Chaudhuri, 1965) and integral consciousness studies (Combs, 2009; Wilber, 1995)” (Gozawa, 2010, p. 14). And here “integral philosophy” most likely refers to Integral Yoga-Vedanta, since Chaudhuri was a Vedic scholar informed by the Integral Yoga-Vedanta of Sri Aurobindo; so, the parallels and areas for exploration keep expanding. Also, it may be interesting to put together and examine the different epistemologies that inform Dr. Chaudhuri and Dr. Combs on their respective interpretation of consciousness.

Reading Dr. Robert Burton on “Winning at gambling turns the orbito-frontal cortex into pure neon. Without this exhilaration there would be no addiction” (2008), it is impossible for me to ignore what mystics describe as the thrill of the unknown described by yogis in the spiritual path—a thrill before which sensory pleasures and the fulfillment of world powers pales into insignificance. Why would the search of God, or the pursuit of yogic enlightenment be boring? The big “what if” or the “subjunctive universe” as described by Professor Gozawa, also play into the yogic meaning avidya, the universal principle of ignorance; which has also been described as the field of all possibilities, the Unknown, God, the womb of all discoveries and knowledge. Akin to another enlightening aspect in Yoga-Vedanta, the analogy of mental superimposition or seeing a snake-in-the-rope when in semi-darkness—the natural state of discursive mind.

It is also interesting to bring into play the views of Yoga-Vedanta when considering our Western views like when J. Lehrer recognizes the benefits when “scientists learned about the importance of our moral emotions by studying psychopaths”, and goes on to elaborate, “This might seem callous—tragedy is turned into an investigative tool—but it is also extremely effective. The broken mind helps us understand how the normal mind works” (2009, p. 184). An unfortunate study missing here, according to Yoga-Vedanta is that these studies do not give us insight into the above normal mind, the mind of yogis, the undamaged, or the fully healed body-mind-spirit complex of those with an advanced quality of living. So, why is it that in the West most models are the models of the sub-normal instead of the models of those who have attained a higher level of human potential? And, what if… What would modern psychology and society at large look like if the above-normal minds were factored into the human paradigm?

In Organic Inquiry, Jennifer Clements keeps right at the heels of Integral Yoga-Vedanta time and time again. Of all the theories studied, and especially from the works of Hames, Reason and Senge, OI comes closest to Integral Yoga-Vedanta. OI, suggests a process of preparation, inspiration and integration which resembles sadhana, or yogic disciplines. The role of the liminal reminds one of the stages of creative concentration that arises out of different stages of yogic samadhi. To elaborate on the parallels would take a voluminous essay, but for the sake of brevity, albeit not to disregard its importance which may be at the center of where I would like to dedicate most of inquiries in the future, Clement´s reference to the contribution of Dr. Sangeetha Menon (National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India) to OI and Consciousness Studies opens up another world of study. Her contribution will shed much light into what direction should any future collaborative work or karmayoga from yogis in the West looking East might look like. It would be of immense value if, on the other hand, we were considering the importance of extending the contributions of yogis and philosophers like Dr. Menon into US academic transformative and consciousness programs. Almost everything in OI speaks to me in terms of Yoga-Vedanta.

Reading Peter Reason´s Participation in Human Inquiry, kept resonating within the words of the most prominent teachers or gurus in Integral Yoga-Vedanta. First, the mention of autopoiesis, “literally meaning the self-generating poetry of living systems” (Segal, 1986: 127; Maturana and Varela, 1987) is akin to the ways of the Path of Devotion in Integral Yoga; it is also relevant to the highly lyrical mystic epic poems like the Bhagavad Gita and the Ramayana, as well as the enlightening aphorisms and metaphors in the Upanishads. On the other hand, there is room for an interesting discussion from the point of view of Adi Shankaracharya when we consider the polarities in Maturana and Varela´s statement, “what we do not see does not exist”. It all depends on what terms we define that which “exists”.

Reason then touches upon one of the most debated topics in Vedanta, the concept of relativity of sense perception or maya, “We are as a culture beginning to learn that all conceptual knowing is relative, but this learning is not easy: Lawson (1985) has pointed to the sense of vertigo we may experience as concepts crumble and the world as we know it reels off into meaningless” (Reason, p. 12). This hits at the heart of the difference between spiritual materialism in the West and the mystics spirituality of the East: the believe in the reality or the relativity of the perceived world; one more in accord with material pursuits, the other more in accord with modern science. And guess what? Modern science agrees more and more with the sense of relativity of the perception of “reality” than with the more “Western” materialistic views. And the dizziness can be explained in the language of the mystic split experienced in yogic Samadhi.

From Synergic Inquiry, by Yongming Tang and Charles Joiner, the three dimensions of consciousness, the methodology and the process of action, reflection cycle leading to integrating brings more contrasting parallels with Integral Yoga, from a very different point of view, one where language draws from Zen Buddhism. “The task of SI is to help us become aware of our hidden assumptions so that we can expand our consciousness from our own habitual preference for either the visible, logical, or mythical level, until our consciousness extends to all three dimensions” (Tang & Joiner, 2006). And in terms of Integral Yoga and Adwaita-Vedanta, one could extend this metaphor into the experience of expansion of consciousness beyond the empirical and into the mystical or transcendental—yogic Samadhi . In the “dynamic dance between action and reflection” SI resembles Integral Yoga practices of abhyasa and vairagya (repeated effort and letting go a lesser value for a higher value); also interesting would be to compare SI with yogic disciples like meditation, sadhana, and bhakti (or devotional practices). The food for thought here is a veritable feast. In SI the definition of consciousness also differs from that in Yoga-Vedanta; but this is best left for a future opportunity for discussion. As a “methodology for social action and change,” SI, invites contrasting to Integral Yoga.

Also, “Sixth sense of the complementary nature,” in the works of Scott Kelso, J.A., & Engstrom, D.A. speak directly to the illusory nature of empirical perception found in Adwaita Vedanta. From their website, The Four Aspects: TSS, the squiggle sense, TCN the complementary nature, CP complementary pairs, and CD coordination dynamics. “The complementary nature of the human being includes the complementary nature of the human brain~mind, the observer~observing,” (www.thecomplementarynature.org ) can be paired in contrast to the principles found in Patanjali Sutras and Viveka Chudamani and their work reads like the refreshed version of the 10,000 years old Upanishads. Also, the parallels between the principles in Integral Yoga-Vedanta and the works of Dill, J., Senge, P., Hames, R. are irresistible, but need to be taken up in a future essay.

To conclude, I need to confess that my assumptions about collaboration in the face of diversity and cultural complexes, difference, creativity with disappointments and the uncertainty about transformation, have led me through a thrilling discovery of the risks and the joys of ignorance. The Action Plan was revised and found extremely faulty and ineffective. Further conversations with others already ahead in the “plan” are needed and the avenues of communication with the above-mentioned scholars have been established and will continue to be explored. The insights given by Dr. Joanne Gozawa, our professor, have been invaluable to the search for expansion of consciousness, and in the recognition of the need to evaluate our Site of Action and Action Plan under the lens of SI and OI for a more effective conversation in our “current state of globalized world and the changing worldview of multiple emergent realities” (Gozawa, Syllabus: Diversity in Action). It is helpful to know that learning to speak about the academic application of Integral Yoga-Vedanta for personal and global transformation American-English accent as well as in Indian accent is an ongoing task that has occupied scholars from more than a few centuries ago.


Reference
Adi Shankacharya. (1947). Viveka chudamani. (Translation by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood). Hollywood, CA: Vedanta Press.
Burton, R. (2008). On being certain. New York, NY: St. Martin Griffin.
Clements, J. (2004). Organic Inquiry: Toward research in partnership with spirit. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 2004, Vol. 36, No. 1.
Dill, J. (2009). Teaching the virtues of a global citizen. Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture.
Gozawa, J. (2010). The cultural complex & transformative learning environments.
Hames, R.D. (2007). The five literacies of global leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Heehs, P. (1989). Sri Aurobindo: A brief biography. New Delhi, India: Oxford University Press.
Jyotirmayananda, S. (1994). Mysticism of the ramayana. Miami, FL:Yoga Research Foundation. Talk on Viveka Chudamani of Adi Shankaracharya, (May 12, 2010) http://yogaresearch.podomatic.com/entry/eg/2010-05-12T17_37_01-07_00 .
Lehrer, J. (2009). How we decide—the moral mind. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Menon, S. http://www.nias.res.in/faculty-sangeetamenon.php
http://www.samvada.com/research.htm and http://www.samvada.com/publica.htm
Reason, P. (1994). Participation in human inquiry. London, UK: Sage Publications.
Scott Kelso, J.A., & Engstrom, D.A. (2006) The complementary nature. Cambridge, MA: MIT Publishers. http://thecomplementarynature.com/wordpress/grokking/the-four-aspects
Senge, P., Scharmer, O., Jaworski, J., Flowers, B.S. (2004). Presence: Exploring profound change in people, organizations and society. New York, NY: Currency-Doubleday.
Singer, T. (2000). The vision thing. Chapter 10: cultural Complex & myth & invisibility.
Singer, T. & Kimbles, S. (2004). The cultural complex. Introduction, Chapter 1, 5.
Smith, A. D. (2009). Cosmopolitanism & nationalism. The Hedgehog Review: The Cosmopolitan Predicament. Fall 2009. Volume Eleven. Number Three.
Tang, Y. & Joiner, C. (2006). A collaborative action methodology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Monday, August 2, 2010

On Albert Low and Consciousness...

On Albert Low and Consciousness
Brief Commentary on "Creating Consciousness: A Study of Consciousness, Creativity, and Violence" by Albert Low


One of the more exciting discussions between science and religion today is emerging in circles that point out that both hold the unknown or the Unknowable, “So, another name for the One is Truth.” and the cultural complexes that have evolved around the word God over the last few centuries (Low, A. p.25, 2002). When people of vastly distinct epistemologies come together to attempt an understanding of the most abstract of all mental constructs, a substratum of existence, energy and matter, I see the differences coming more from the way that some words have lost meaning in some context and that we are in the process of creating a new language, than from actually a disagreement on the fundamental

Agreement and disagreement:
Both needed, but most of our drives are wired to seek agreement. And in the arguments that Low presents on page 66 of the 2002 edition, he shows the emperor´s new clothes of the work of scientists, “…the claim that evolution does not need a deus ex machina is refuted by the presence of the scientist himself. He is the deus ex machina and chooses among a vast variety of highly sophisticated mathematical formulae in order to find the appropriate one to establish the necessary parameters.

Interesting that cultural complex or the social constructs of reality also affect scientists, let me explain this more. Elan vital, a concept most likely borrowed from the Sanskrit universal Prana, though Low engages in philosophical diatribe in a “highly sophisticated” elaboration on evolution not evolving ex nihilo, Low´s mathematically inclined subjects are divorced from the time/space, head/heart and transcendent experience as components that the Yogis of ancient time had to first cultivate before engaging in another type of experiments on the nature of human awareness and the experience of transformation.

Low brings it all beautifully together as he states, “One cannot consciously and intentionally prove the nonexistence of consciousness and intention.” About this statement I would say, forget about intention, who can disprove the non existence of consciousness? The subject herself expresses in the field of consciousness. Scholars seem to get stuck most when one word means something different.

Mr. Low, or Dr. Low (In 2003, he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws for scholastic attainment and community service by Queen’s University, in Kingston, Ontario.), Dr. Low, do we agree, the Buddhist and the Adwaita Vedantin, that beyond the discursive mind, there is a growing expansion to be experienced in degrees*, or do you hold that access to consciousness, or better stated: Consciousness, is reached in satori, also described as an illuminating lightning flash? Dr. Low, I agree with both.
Then, consciousness is not created. Thanks for the tea, the cup is both full and empty.

*As described in the different spiritual traditions elaborated in the Raja Yoga Sutras (Yoga Darshan), by Patanjali and later on adapted to a more Christian-centric part of the world in "Variety of Religious Experiences", by William James.

Impressions I

Impressions
March 12-16
by Vrinda (estela pujals)


The to do list is now in the laundry room.
More than doing,
let me create spaces,
conditions for the good to manifest everywhere.
It is already there within you, within me,
and we all know what to do.
What are these ideal conditions?
When the negative is triggered, to be critical of our own certainty...
A different demand moves me to yield now, but
another time it will move me to remain firm on my convictions.
Looking within, I see a positive light revealing the semblance of a negative illusion.
Let me sharpen within the sword of discernment and walk softly on its edge.
Softly, in the practice of kindness.

Impressions About Us II

Impressions About Us II
March 19
Vrinda

The positive light reminds me that I have been amorphous,
I have experienced surrender to the point of losing myself
and was left disenfranchised when humble,
its still possible—a risk or a gift?
But not now, that yielding softness has to wait now.
The Beloved does not want the River to merge in its Ocean yet.
He asks me to rage for the children lost in the lunatics wars and hunger
hanging from a dried up breast.
Now is the time to rise and emerge in strength,
the time to fearlessly reclaim the invisible indistructible Spirit,
the time to face and confront the paper-gigant powers.
This Spirit: “Fire cannot burn it,
Wind cannot dry it,
Water cannot drown it....” Gita, ah...
Tap into the Universal Mother´s roar, my dear.
The mind, sometimes alone, feels like Sysiphus: tired.
Silly shadow of forgetfulness.
The Goddess reveals her attributes in this apparent separation.
No secrets, that mighty strength of Spirit is out for all to take—inside, outside, everywhere.
Oh, take it before time´s magic flyes away
And we lose our world!