Resources: Visionaries

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 Some of my favorite visionaries:

Don Beck: founder of  “Spiral Dynamics Integral (SDi), the remarkable body of work attracting a growing constellation of thousands of people around the world. Spiral Dynamics Integral, or SDi for short, concerns itself with the deep complexity codes that shape our many worlds.” If you any interest in facilitating large scale social change and evolution, or just trying to make sense of the present moment as it unfolds across the planet, Don isn the man to study with. This page offers a brief interactive explanation of the spiral.

 

Itzhak Bentov: Scientist, meditator, inventor, cosmic traveller. I discovered his first book, Stalking the Wild Pendulum just after it first came out in 1978 and it is still today a major source of wisdom and inquiry for me. His second book, A Cosmic Book, published after his untimely (for us) death in a plane crash, allowed Bentov to expand consciousness way out into the cosmos. There are a series of Youtube videos, ‘From Atoms to Cosmos’ of Itzhak being interviewed about his model of reality, kundalini and the evolution of the nervous system. He was way ahead of his time.

Thomas Berry: Geologian, cultural historian, Catholic priest, pioneering writer on spiritual ecology, passionate and articulate spokesman for all the living species of the planet. I was lucky to spend many hours with Thomas over the years, in California, in Cambridge, and greatly cherish the week co-teaching with Thomas and Bea Briggs at the Feathered Pipe Ranch in Montana back in 1989. Thomas was Brian Swimme’s mentor and it was through Brian that I met Thomas as was introduced to his amazing vision.

 

 

Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen: Bonnie’s combination of sensitivity, compassion and articulateness makes her a teacher extraordinaire. Founder of Body Mind Centering, visionary in the field of somatics, movement therapy, developmental movement, and more, Bonnie’s penetrating curiosity and breath of enquiry has provided me with more clues on the cosmic treasure hunt that is my life than any other of my teachers. I am currently exploring my embryological origins with insights from a recent workshop with her.

 

 

Emilie Conrad: was a dear friend and absolutely unique and charismatic individual. Emilie has had a huge effect on my practice. She introduced me to somatic inquiry as a continuum of sound, vibration, movement, pulsation and intelligence, with no boundaries, no borders. She is truly a genius of the cells and organs. She gave me the key to unlocking Iyengar’s brilliance as my approach to yoga before I met her was far more rigid than I ever could have imagined. Emilie pushed the edge of awareness deeper and deeper into the mystery of organic wisdom right up to her untimely death in the spring of 2014.

Mae-Wan Ho: Brilliant quantum biologist, biophysicist and geneticist, author of The Rainbow and the Worm, and her new released sequel, Living Rainbow H20, Dr. Ho is the co-founder of the Institute for Science in Society, a group of scientists engaged in educating the public about science in a way that directly confronts the ways governments and industry lie about and misuse technology and its effects upon the environment. Her vision embraces science and spirituality as a single path of awakening to the magnificence of creation.

B.K.S. Iyengar: Revolutionized the practice of yoga. Iyengar integrates the artistic grace of a world class dancer, the athleticism of an Olympic athlete, the penetrating intellect of a nobel prize winning scientist and the dedication of a healer. One of the giants of out time. His imprint on my life, my nervous system and practice is immeasurable.

 

Dan Siegel: I continue to find his brilliance stunning. I got a taste of neuroscience in 1970 but Dan has blown the doors off my brain with his insights and articulation of the nature of relationships, integration in the nervous system and the evolution of consciousness. His work is featured in the neuroscience section. He is the author of The Developing Mind, The Mindful Brain, Mindsight, The Mindful Therapist and more. In person he is even better than in his writing. I am a Dan groupie.

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Recent Posts

The Ten Oxherding Pictures

A Holiday Gift from the Buddhist World to all of us.

The ten Oxherding Pictures from Zen Buddhism represent the stages and path to awakening, integration and enlightenment, with the Ox representing our True Nature and the Oxherder each of us, the embodied being. It is important to note that the stages are not linear but spiralic and multi-dimensional, as we usually can get glimpses of more advanced levels before we have truly completed and integrated the any or all of the previous ones.

Also, we may often be working with several stages at the same time. More subtle awakenings in one level may trigger unconscious and unresolved traumas stored in the earlier levels that then need to be revisited, transformed and integrated. Then, the energy held in trauma is resolved and free to use for deeper growth.

There are many variations on the ten pictures representing the stages, and these are usually accompanied by poetic verses and/or commentary describing the journey. The paintings seen below are traditionally attributed to 天章周文 Tenshō Shūbun (1414-1463), of the Muromachi period in the late fifteenth century and are found at the Shōkokuji temple in Kyoto, Japan.

These stages can be seen as three sets of three transformations, with the final stage standing alone. The first three are the beginners journey, the second three those of the intermediate student, and the final three the most subtle and refined. The tenth transcends all and resolves as the awakened Buddha in the world helping others. Looking more deeply and ironically, we find that ultimately it is the Ox who is training and leading the Oxherder

1: Seeking the Ox
We know something is missing in our lives, but don’t know what it might be, or where to look. Our souls ache, our spirit feels fragile. The spiritual journey begins, but our minds are full of confusion and delusion. Our search is random and we cannot find the Ox anywhere. This is Dante at the beginning of The Divine Comedy.

2: Seeing Tracks of the Ox
Through study and guidance we begin to get glimpses. Maybe we discover yoga or meditation, or find spiritual teachers or writings that inspire us. But although we see the tracks, the Ox is still unseen, unknown. The tracks give us some confidence and we continue seeking, driven by the awakening cosmic impulse to discover/uncover the fullness and truth of our Being. The Ox is calling us.

3: First Glimpsing the Ox
There is the Ox. Wow! So magnificent! How did we ever not see! But the Ox remains elusive, disappearing into the forest. How could that be? Our minds are still confused, our seeking still undisciplined. The Ox teases us. She is everywhere and then nowhere to be found. Our mental habits and beliefs still dominate in spite of the revelation and we struggle to find ground. We are still beginners on the journey.

4: Catching the Ox
We finally catch the ox and grasp the rope to hold her, but she is wild and free, used to cavorting in the fields. We must hold the rope firmly and steadily. The rope of course is our evolving meditation practice and this is where it gets more serious. We are no longer beginners. We are in the realm of un-abiding awakening and must be ‘all in’ with our practice to stabilize the ground. Habits and conditioning have many tentacles extending into the unconscious, so our discipline must become stronger. The Ox keeps us on our toes.

5: Taming the Ox
As our practice becomes stronger, we can hold the rope more loosely as the Ox is relaxing somewhat. It is actually the mind that is relaxing as we begin to realize that the Ox is always steady and it is our minds that are wild and untamed. By relaxing our efforts, our practices can now include resting in the infinite and we become more comfortable in stillness and mystery. Habits still arise as the unconscious has many layers and levels of confusion and trauma, but we recognize the reality that our thoughts arise and fall from the depths of silence and that our delusion is self created.

6: Riding the Ox Back Home
The seeking and struggle come to an end and we can let go of the rope as Ox and herder are one, moving effortlessly together though the world. Buddha Nature is awake and free and we feel spontaneous joy and happiness. The Oxherder plays his flute for the birds and children of the village. This joy and delight can be a surprise as the practice has seemed quite serious at times. Unseen unconscious traumas may still exist so vigilance is still required.

7: Ox Forgotten, Self Alone
The Ox is now gone and the Oxherder sits at home alone. This is ‘Self as ‘I am’ without the need to ‘be something. This is Kaivalya of the Yoga Sutras, Purusha distinct from Prakriti. Up until now, there has remained a subtle sense of duality, of practice and life, of spiritual and not spiritual. This now dissolves. There is no longer ‘something to do’. Everything is meditation and nothing is special. Things are ‘just as they are’.

8: Ox and Self Both Forgotten
Total Emptiness. No concepts, ideas or beliefs, no sense of separateness. Even the “I am” is gone. All gone. Not even the scent of ‘holiness’ or special-ness remains. Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate.

9: Return to the Source
From the realization of Emptiness emerges the realization that the amazing flow of life always continues on in its own perfection. Seasons come and go. Cherry trees bloom in the spring. Birds sing and the rivers flow. Stars are born and others explode into cosmic dust. Emptiness is Fullness, Fullness is Emptiness. Bodhi svaha!

10: Returning to the Marketplace with Helping Hands
The enlightened being joyfully joins the world to aid all beings on their journey. Freedom, wisdom and compassion are the roots of action. Enlightenment is not passive but celebratory and engaged.

Here are some other perspectives:
From Tricycle Magazine
https://terebess.hu/english/Kuoan1.html
https://terebess.hu/english/oxherd0.html

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