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A follow up from the filmmakers behind HUMAN, one of the best doc series I've ever seen.

Al-Anon meetings helped me greatly in learning to "Let Go, Let God" and trust that each person is being guided by a higher power on their soul's journey through this lifetime. Al-Anon pertains to alcoholics specifically, but the philosophies and 12 Step practices can apply to all types of people, including letting go of trying to change my mom, who is not an alcoholic but has abusive qualities. CODA (Codependency Anonymous) is also a good program to help with these matters where one can relate with others struggling with similar issues.

Green books that helped me on my journey: * A Million Miles in a Thousand Years * Bill Plotkin “Soulcraft” * Tribe by Sebastian Junger * The Overstory * Lost Connections by Jonna Hari * More beautiful world hearts know is possible by Charles Eisenstein * Braving the Wilderness by Brene Brown Belonging by Toka Pa Turner Sacred Instructions by Sheri Mitchell Conversations with God v 1-3 Ismael The Alchemist

@Yali I recommend sitting down in silence for 60 minutes and witnessing your thoughts. Where do they come from? Do you control them? Do you create them? Are "you" your thoughts? If you have a thought, does that make you the thought? Are they a part of you, separate from you, or both? In the meantime, IMO, one can be centered in stage Green (or any stage, for that matter) and still have racist thoughts. I think this conversation has been beaten to a pulp - let's move on!

It's often said about Stage Green that "all perspectives of the world are equally valid." My experience with Green (both individually having gone through it as well as my observations of the collective conversations) is that Green actually has very adamant opinions and perspectives about pretty much any topic, and they will actively voice their dissent if others do not conform to the Green mindset. For example: 1. Being vegan is more valid than factory farms. 2. Solar panels are more valid than coal. 3. Bernie Sanders' policy positions are more valid than Joe Biden's. 4. Crystals are more "sacred" than Catholicism. So what exactly does Wilbur, Graves and others mean when they speak against the "postmodern myth" that all perspectives are flattened and seen as equally valid? Are there specific examples that could help illuminate this? Thanks!

@Yali Everybody has racist thoughts occasionally. I have all sorts of thoughts about all sorts of things, but I don't attach my identity to those thoughts. If I have thoughts about killing someone, does that make me a violent person? If I have thoughts about having sex with a stranger I pass by on the street, does that make me a sexual predator?

@Yali Ok so I guess everybody is racist by that definition. What next? How is this productive?

You'll be missed! Best of luck on your journeys

Powerful song about BLUE/Orange small town Americana.

What is racism? How do you define the term? Does having racist thoughts make one racist?

@Yali Are you suggesting that to be “true” Green one must never have any racist thoughts? If so, that feels like an arbitrary and unrealistic bar. I have all kinds of crazy thoughts float through my consciousness...it doesn’t mean that I act on them nor identify with them. I’m not sure what your point has to do with SD.

@Yali These types of comments are unproductive unless you provide more context and explanation. For example, what would distinguish someone from true Green to in-name-only, from your perspective?

Powerful! Amazing talent. 23 years old.

@Gesundheit @neutralempty "We have found in our data that Individualists may or may not have a communal bend. Some turn towards their own meaning making and exploring their own minds and are less concerned with diversity issues." ^ This is exactly what I was getting at with the two camps of Green (Political and Spiritual). Seems like there's two paths through the stage which overlap greatly but differ in how they approach the cultural/social aspects.

@neutralempty Yeah I edited to say that it's only in some cases, but sadly I see the trend growing. This vaccine issue is taking an existing trend and blowing it up into a full blown culture war.

My observation of Green is that there's two camps: political and spiritual. The political Greens are all about activism, justice, equality, revolutionizing the system, etc. Spiritual Greens are more about "unconditional love" and New Age ideals, often bypassing politics as "low-consciousness" and instead (EDIT: in more extreme cases) opting for "conspirituality" conspiracy theories to make sense of the world. The two camps obviously have a lot of overlap but also feel like distinctly different paths through Green. Just my anecdotal observations...

@DocWatts Just to clarify, I meant the "all perspectives of the world are equally valid" quote not something you wrote. Agree that Wilbur seems to rail against Green in a way that feels borderline excessive at times, but I trust he plays an important role in the process of moving folks up the spiral.

Got it. Yeah, that seems like a major challenge playing out right now in politics and culture.

lol

@DocWatts That quote is directly from Wilbur, I believe. But thanks, your comments make sense and are well summarized!

On a very daily life / practical level, my transition to Yellow came with a re-integration of so much that I had let go of during Green. For example, I had a desire to live in a city again after several years of living in remote nature. I reincorporated technology and stage Orange aspects of the internet in a more healthy way (like joining this forum). I started managing my money in a more thoughtful and long term way after having donated much of my savings in the form of “personal reparations.” I reached out to stage Orange friends I had lost touch with but now better understood and was less judgmental of. I bought new clothes and had a healthy interest in fashion after basically just wearing old clothes until there were holes in them during my stage Green days in effort to reduce my consumption. Basically, in some ways my life starting appearing on the surface more Orange, but the key difference was that I was bringing my stage Green values with me, like buying new clothes but from sustainable brands, or putting my money back into the stock market but only with select corporations that passed certain ethical standards. Lots more I could mention but have to run. Will share more this weekend if I remember to!

I had my first experience with Ayahuasca. A romantic relationship fell apart the morning of the ceremony, so I thought for sure it was going to be a rough ride. But instead all I experienced was pure Bliss. The best way I could describe it is a Cosmic Orgasm. I was nonstop giggling and at times bursting out in laughter for hours upon hours. It felt like I reached the last level of the video game called Life, and I was let in on the cosmic joke. I became Infinite Mind, seeing how everything is just this Thought which leads to this Thought which leads to this Thought, on and on for infinity. The line that kept being repeated was, “This is it. This is it. This is it.” Meaning, this right here right now, is all there is. There is nothing else but This. This is it. Every time I “got it” felt like an organism, not in a physical/sexual sense, but like Bliss was enrapturing my entire being. Words fail to describe it, but it’s impossible for me to conceive of any greater, higher or more potent form of ecstasy. There was live music being performed during the ceremony, and it was like angels from Heaven were engulfing my entire world. I will never experience more beauty in my life - it’s impossible to conceive how anything could be any more Perfect. I’m not really familiar with the concept of Infinite Mind. But that’s definitely what it felt like I became. Just pure Imagination creating Reality one Thought at a time. Not “thought” in the regular ego sense, but Thought in the Cosmic sense, like pure creation. If anyone has any insights (or if Leo has any videos) that might help explain more in-depth what I experienced, please let me know. I have two more ceremonies coming up this week, so we’ll see what unfolds next

I had a really interesting experience last night (one day after an Ayahuasca trip). Basically when I was sleeping I dreamed that I was still tripping and my awareness was centered as Awareness not as my typical ego identification. When I woke up, I couldn't figure out if I was dreaming this or if I was experiencing this. And then the two collapsed, and I realized there's not really any difference. The dream state last night was the same as my present state typing these words, "I" just am more identified with my thoughts than I was during the dreaming-not-dreaming experience. I hope what I'm saying is making sense. It's really hard to put into words. When we space out and daydream, isn't that essentially a lucid dream?

@Forestluv Thank you! The ceremony itself was a really interesting combination of Spiral Dynamics stages Purple, Blue and Green. Based loosely off the Santo Diame tradition (which is a combination of African, Brazillian and Christain influences) but appropriated in a healthy Green-centric way. When I wasn't tripping I was sitting there fascinated by the confluence of of SD stages haha Felt like I was witnessing art via the expression of so many various cultures and world views blending together into beauty, which when combined with Aya led to stage Turquoise insights. Fascinating!

@Forestluv I resonate with a lot of what you said. To clarify, I've been living at the community where the ceremony was held for over two months, and I felt extremely safe and supported by the facilitators. I knew most of the 150 people in the room, including many who have become my good friends. There were several incidents of people freaking out, fainting, purging, etc, but it didn't have too much of an impact on me, thankfully. They were all attended to by the the support staff and were in good hands. I felt grateful to be amongst so many people dedicated to their healing journeys. The second ceremony was just as beautiful as the first one with similar levels of bliss. Lots of sexual / life force energy, at times it felt so good that it was almost painful. "Rapture" is the best word I could use to describe it. I'm left me feeling immense gratitude for Life and a deep trust in the infinite intelligence of the universe. Third ceremony is tomorrow night. Wish me luck!