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It’s impersonal. I’m pointing to something prior to self constructs. At a personal level, I'm impressed with their abilities and development at such a young age. It’s great to see young people exploring consciousness like they are. Yet, it can all get deconstructed to Nothing and re-constructed to Everything.

There is no one to be reborn, there is no one who was ever born or will ever die in the history of forever. That is illusion. There really really are no 'things'--no objects whatsoever. There appear to be, but they are emptiness appearing as 'others'. There is only 'this' and it's totally impersonal. But don't take my word for it, please. Just take it as a pointer. "I" is merely a thought--an idea. Find this "I" that claims it was born and has so many needs, wants to be perfect, and wants to be loved (etc.). You can't just believe others that there is no "I". Unless what is actually happening is seen enough, and clearly enough (not just once--an awakening alone is just a glimpse--it may take 1,000 times or more--who knows?), the belief in separation (that is so well ingrained) will remain. Keep looking, keep inquiring, until there is no need to any more.

@Cykaaaa You're welcome. I just discovered this one. You may like it as well. http://www.consciousnessandbiofeedback.org/diagram/ States of Consciousness Diagram A Map of Intrapersonal, Extrapersonal, and Transpersonal Consciousness Seven Major Levels of Consciousness, Substance, and Energy Physical matter exists on a continuum with spirit. Thus matter may be considered to be the densest form of spirit, or conversely, spirit may be considered to be the subtlest form of matter. The Indian sage Sri Aurobindo similarly said that every prakriti (substance) has its purusha (subtle essence or soul) and, further, that each purusha is in turn a prakriti in relation to a yet subtler purusha. In other words, behind each form is a subtle essence, and behind that is a progression of yet-subtler essences, ad infinitum. From this perspective, the terms matter, energy, and spirit refer to a single continuum, and may be considered interchangeable. This parallels the concept in modern physics that matter and energy are equivalent, and exist on a spectrum of energies that range from low to high frequency. Hinduism similarly teaches that all manifestations, physical and non-physical, are manifestations of mind. From this perspective, mind or consciousness is equivalent to both energy and matter. From an esoteric perspective there is a spectrum of seven levels of consciousness/substance/energy. These range from the densest, which is the physical/etheric level, to the subtlest, which are levels of spirit. These seven levels are mapped in the accompanying States of Consciousness Diagram. Each of the seven levels, labeled E1 to E7 in the diagram, may be subdivided into seven sublevels. E1 to E7 are levels of energy/substance/consciousness within both the microcosm – the individual – and the macrocosm. Though E7 is higher on the diagram than E1, it is important to remember that “higher” on the diagram is not a geographic concept; it doesn’t describe an altitude or a place. Instead, “higher” is a metaphor for subtler. All of the states of consciousness/energy/substance represented as Levels on the Diagram coexist and intermingle with each other. They are inherent in one another and inseparable. Details of the Seven Levels of Consciousness, Substance, and Energy Level E1 is the physical/etheric level. Within the physical/etheric realm the densest three sublevels are the solid, liquid, and gaseous phases of matter. Subtler than or “above” physical matter in the diagram are what are known as the four ethers. The densest ether is ordinary electricity. The other ethers are various forms of subtle energy, also known by such names as prana or chi. The four ethers may be referred to as either etheric energy or etheric “substance,” since energy is a form of substance, and substance is a form of energy. The etheric substance known as electricity consists of electrons, and electrons are an inherent component of the atoms that comprise physical substance. Likewise, the three subtler forms of etheric energy are inherent components of physical substance and, under normal conditions, etheric energy is inseparable from physical substance. E2, the next major level, is emotional substance. This level is also called the astral level. The substances/energies of Levels E2 to E7 are as real as physical substance, though less dense. While we think of emotions as insubstantial, we easily feel them in our bodies as well as feeling them psychologically; thus they have physical manifestations which we easily perceive. Seers who are sensitive to etheric, emotional, and mental energies can experience them synesthetically as having visual form, or can feel them kinesthetically as heat, cold, vibration, or as a field that is palpable in much the same way that static electricity can be felt as a palpable field. The seven sublevels of E2 vary from extremely unrefined to extremely refined, sublime emotions. The lowest and most coarse emotional realm is Hell. The highest astral sublevel has heavenly characteristics, and is one in the hierarchy of seven heavens in the Kaballah, but it is much less refined than the ultimate heaven. E3 is the level of mental substance. Thoughtforms exist in this realm, and are made of mental substance or energy. The highest sublevels of E3 correspond with highly refined and subtle mental states; advanced mathematicians and physicists tune into these levels in their work. The third highest mental sublevel is a level of abstract and creative thinking for figuring out how to do things that are known, such as to write a novel, create a business, or design a bridge. It is a Thomas Edison-like level of abstract mind and creation. The second highest mental sublevel is the realm of grand master chess players, theoretical mathematicians and physicists, creators of that which never has come before, innovators who materialize visualizations. It is a rarefied, Nicola Tesla-like level of abstract mind and creation. Within an individual, the highest and subtlest mental level is the so-called High Self. It serves as the bridge or intermediary between the personal levels of the individual and the transpersonal or spiritual levels. Levels E1 to E3, being the physical, emotional, and mental levels of reality, are the realm in which the personal self exists. The personal self is an aggregate of physical, emotional, and mental elements; it is literally made of E1 to E3 substances. That which exists at E1 to E3 is subject to change, and is not permanent. Thus the physical-emotional-mental aggregation that is the personal self is mortal. After death of the body, the soul finds itself in the astral or astral-mental realm. In Tibetan Buddhism this after-death realm is called the bardo. The bardo consists of many gradations or densities of emotional and mental substance into which the soul metaphorically “rises” like a balloon until it reaches that level of the Earth’s emotional-mental milieu which corresponds with the density or subtlety of the soul’s emotions and thoughts, conscious and unconscious, during its just-completed life on earth. In contrast to E1 to E3, Levels E4 to E7 are increasingly subtle levels of spirit. They are thus transpersonal. They correspond with Heaven. In Hinduism and the western esoteric tradition, the transpersonal aspects of the self are considered the True Self. That which exists at transpersonal levels is beyond the realm of time and change, and is eternal. (“Eternal” is a tricky concept here. It doesn’t mean lasting forever since this is a state that is beyond time. “Without beginning or end” is closer to being accurate. It would also be relatively correct to simply say about this level that “I Am,” or “It Is” rather than saying that “It is eternally.”) In Hinduism and the western esoteric tradition, the transpersonal aspects of the self are considered the True Self. The Cosmos Levels E1 to E3 are comprised of the substances – physical, emotional, and mental – of which the personal self, the microcosm, is made. From an esoteric perspective, the macrocosm – the cosmos, the known universe – is composed of the same three types of substance. Inherent within physical substance are astral and mental levels of energy/substance. Thus the esoteric “cosmos” includes more than the physicists’ cosmos, which is only physical, E1. The entire spectrum from E1 through E7 constitutes “all that is.” Elmer Green refers to this totality as the Kosmos. The cosmos includes the levels of reality within which the microcosm, the personal self, exists. In contrast, Dr. Green’s term Kosmos includes both personal and transpersonal levels. In Tibetan Buddhism, the personal level, E1 to E3, is the realm of the four bardos: the bardo during birth, the bardo during life, and the bardo during dying, and the bardo after death or between incarnations. Again, the bardos are equal to the personal or cosmic levels of reality, while spiritual levels are transpersonal, transcosmic, and transbardo. Dream consciousness, the collective unconscious, and the after-death bardo are all unconscious realms, that is, outside of ordinary waking awareness. These three terms describe approximately the same realms of consciousness, occupying the same territory on the Diagram. Dreams may potentially occur on any level of consciousness, personal or transpersonal, though most dreams concern personal issues and thus focus in the personal levels of the diagram, E1 to E3. Likewise, the collective unconscious includes all seven levels of the diagram; however the levels of it which an individual may glimpse will tend to correlate with the level of consciousness to which they have developed–again personal for most people. Meanwhile, the after death bardo is the portion of the collective unconscious at the personal levels, E1 to E3. The after-death bardo is mainly centered on the astral realm. Since the bardo is, by definition, the personal realm, and since fully enlightened individuals have developed to transpersonal levels, the consciousness of such individuals is not “in” the bardo after death, i.e. their consciousness is not focused in the personal/ bardo realms after death. Instead, their consciousness of focused at Level E4 or higher. The Boundaries of the Personal Self and Conscious Awareness In the States of Consciousness Diagram, the individual is represented by the cylinder that runs from top to bottom in the middle of the diagram. Levels E1 to E7 are the Kosmic ground within which the individual, represented as a cylinder, exists as figure. Near the bottom of the cylinder, the Diagram shows a drawing of a brain. Because the brain is a physical structure, it is drawn entirely within the physical level, E1. Partly superimposed on the drawing of the brain is a structure that is shaped vaguely like a light bulb. This represents the approximate boundaries of conscious awareness in a typical human. Conscious awareness is drawn as narrower at the physical level, since we are unaware of much of what goes on in our bodies. It is wider at the emotional and mental levels, where we normally tend to be more consciously aware. The area of the diagram outside the light bulb shape represents that which is outside of conscious awareness (for a majority of people). The macrocosm, which is outside the individual cylinder, and the spiritual levels of the individual are outside of ordinary conscious awareness. Though the brain may be considered the seat of consciousness, we are unconscious of the substance of the brain itself, thus the area of conscious awareness overlapping the brain on the Diagram is small. Porous Ego Boundaries Allow Perception of Extrapersonal Information The ego or personality or ego may be defined as that which separates the individual from the environment. The Diagram represents this separation of self from non-self with solid lines in the wall of the cylinder at the personal levels of the diagram, E1 to E3. The solid lines symbolize the fact that, under ordinary circumstances at least, extrapersonal information does not cross the boundary of the ego or personality. Individuals are aware of what is in their own minds and bodies, but are not psychically aware of what is in the minds and bodies of others, nor aware of information from distant locations in the world. (Paranormal perceptions such as subtle energy awareness, ESP, or clairvoyance are exceptions to this. Individuals with such perceptual ability would be represented on the diagram with breaks in the lines of the cylinder at personal levels. Such breaks would be few or many, depending on the degree of paranormal awareness.) At transpersonal levels the walls of the cylinder are drawn with broken lines symbolizing that a separate self does not exist at those levels and that, in the absence of ordinary ego boundaries, information can be exchanged. Thus, if a person is developed to the Lotus Level within E4, i.e. is fully enlightened, they might have extrasensory awarenesses about their environment or other people. Of people who are not enlightened, a percentage have gaps in their ego boundaries for a variety of reasons. As a result they may perceive extrapersonal information including, for example, emotions of other people or experiences of “the other side” or the bardo. This can potentially occur in cases of: psychologically healthy people who happen to be psychic some people who practice certain forms of meditation people with brain deterioration due to dementia people with serious physical illnesses of many kinds which compromise brain function people under the influence of mind-altering drugs people with psychosis, which is a decompensation of ego boundaries people whose ego boundaries are incompletely developed, as in autism or severe personality disorders. The High Self The High Self exists at Level 21, the highest mental level and the highest of the personal sublevels. Though technically within the personal realm, the High Self is refined enough that its energies or communications typically seem to the ego to be spiritual in nature. People may interpret such input as being from God. The High Self’s function is, in part, that of guardian angel of the personality. High Self energy is associated with the seventh chakra, at the crown of the head. Causal Levels Levels 19, 20, and 21 are shown on the Diagram as “Causal,” meaning that they cause manifestations at lower levels. Specifically, incarnation into levels E1 to E3 is stimulated from the causal levels. The skandhas, which are the reservoirs of personal characteristics that are transmitted from one incarnation to the next, exist at the causal levels. In the same way that physical DNA encodes and carries physical characteristics from one generation to the next, the skandhas act as “spiritual DNA,” transmitting certain personal characteristics from one incarnation to the next. The Antahkarana and the Abyss The Diagram shows a narrow channel at Level 21, at the top of the bulb-shaped conscious awareness. Above this is a gap, and above the gap is the Lotus (represented in the Diagram as a lotus flower below the word “LOTUS”). The narrow channel represents the antahkarana which, in Hinduism, is a metaphoric conduit through which spirit connects with the ego. The antahkarana is within the levels of the ego, rather than being transpersonal. It is symbolized in Genesis as Jacob’s ladder, which connected heaven and earth. In dreams, the antahkarana may be represented as a narrow passageway or a dark interior space through which the dreamer ascends, emerging through an opening at the top into light. The dreamer may emerge onto the top of a structure, such as a building, and there may be no means of going higher. This represents the furthest upper limit of the personal self. The story of Marty in The Ozawkie Book of the Dead describes a dream containing antahkarana symbolism. Though an ego focused at this highest mental level is highly developed and refined, it may seem to the ego that an unbridgeable gap exists between itself and spiritual levels. This gap is shown on the Diagram between the antahkarana and the Lotus. The gap is sometimes referred to esoterically as “the Abyss.” The word abyss means an unfathomable gap or immeasurably deep gulf. In dreams the abyss may be represented as some form of gap or expanse which appears too formidable to be crossed (until the individual has further developed spiritually). Elmer Green’s dream of the swans contains imagery of an abyss which he and Alyce are able to cross. The Lotus At the spiritual levels of the individual are two foci, the Lotus and the Jewel. These terms are drawn from the Tibetan Buddhist and Hindu traditions, which refer to them in the widely known phrase Om, Mani Padme Hum (which is often translated as Hail to the Jewel in the Lotus). Great teachers who have achieved full Enlightenment, that is, who have released all physical, emotional, and mental attachments, have their locus of consciousness at the level of the Lotus or higher. Enlightened individuals, being unattached to that which is personal, are able to manifest their personality at times when it is needed in some of their interactions with people, but can voluntarily drop the persona at other times. Lotus consciousness, while impersonal, is a locus of unconditional love and compassion. In the Kabbalah it correlates with the Seventh Heaven, known as the Heaven of Heavens. Lotus energy is transmitted through the eighth chakra, which is located above the head. The Lotus is located at Level 22 in the Diagram, the lowest sublevel of the transpersonal realms. It may be thought of as the spirit behind the High Self. The Jewel The spirit behind the Lotus is the Jewel, located at Level 42, the highest sublevel of E6. It is also known by the Western term monad. While the Lotus is a locus of unconditional love, the Jewel is a locus of spiritual will. Its energy is transmitted through the ninth chakra which is located above the head, above the eighth chakra. TransKosmic Levels According to teachers whom Sri Aurobindo consulted, there is an infinite progression of levels of consciousness/energy/substance beyond E7. Teachers or spiritual forces/entities above E7 are so subtle that they are not able to make contact with the human realm, that is, the Kosmos. Levels beyond E7 are transKosmic and are not shown on the Diagram. http://www.consciousnessandbiofeedback.org/diagram/

Spiral Dynamics Stage Turquoise gone from Youtube? Leo, why is your video gone? I am getting worried. I think this video is very deep and profound, why would the youtube remove it? I am glad I did take notes from it, your newest video "Launching On Patreon" talking about getting banned from youtube makes sense now. Here is my notes from your video: We are beginning to see the entire universe as a holographically interlinked network of energy and information, organically whole and self-referential at all scales of existence - Ervin Laszlo Out Beyond ideas of wrong-doing and right-doing there is a field. Ill meet you there -Rumi A samadhi beats an orgasm every time -Unknown Turquoise is T2 Magnificence of being and existence really starts to flower. T2 and Turquoise is beyond survival, beyond ego, beyond fear, beyond idealogy, beyond politcal parties, beyond racial affiliations or anything like that. Moving into self transcedence and selfless living. People on stages in spiral belives people on other stages in spiral are insane or deluded. Blue - Yellow growth = 1%. Turquoise is where 99% of the work starts. Physical reality will start to disolve - everything you thought were obvious about the world. At Turqoise you are ready to jailbreak the mind and discover what is beyond the mind. Science never really tells you how you should apply this in your life and what you can do with this which this to actually develop yourself Science boils down to quantification and measurements. (Measuring reality with a ruler, in verious form and writing down the data) Very big perspective of what life is about Not about me becoming rich, famous or successful. Or fighthing for some political cause for my little group. Not about saving the whales, a hierarchy, a civilization. Its about getting all of mankind to awaken to the magnificence of existence. To which most of mankind is utterly asleep. (Most people have not met a turquoise human being, they excist but are very rare) Essence of Turquoise Collectivist (different from green, Manifesting the self for the benefit of existential reality,life) • Holistic • Global collectivist • Self transcendent • To experience the wholeness of existence through mind and spirit The world is seen as a single dynamic organism with its own collective mind. Everything connects to everything else, alot of boundaries break down and there are alot of ecological alignments. The universe is alive and intelligent. Its not a dumb clockwork machine. • Interesting in building a human communtiy based on mystical wisdom. (the deepest wisdom that is possible to access for mankind) • Interested in cooparate action for elevating the consciousness of mankind • Turqoise is a synthesis of the left and right brain, east and west science and religion, mind, body, spirit and heart. All of it coming togheter to function very smoothly and effortlessly for the benefit of all of life and of consciousness. • People at turquoise usually become gurus, sages, teachers, leaders, visionaries, healers and clairvoyance When does Turquoise emerge? • With realization that yellow has that it alone no matter how much it models and understands stuff it cannot solve the worlds problems just through its systemic understanding • When yellow starts to see the consciouseness unifies everything and everyone. The idea that consciousness is central. All verious problems mankind have all boils down to consciousness • When Yellow starts to see very deeply the limits of thinking and modeling and the scientific method, reason and logic. Ready to go beyond the mind • When yellow starts to realize that all of the answers and understanding that it has developed so far has not been the ultimate answer. • Emerges with very serious spiritual practice • Turquoise is a flowering of mysticism. • With the transcendence of your ego • Awereness of Maya The dream that we are in, when you start to realize that whats happening in here is a game, its a virtual simulation, its a hallucination, there is nothing tangible about whats happening right here or about this body. All the ways that the mind deludes us and creates these very solid seeming tangible illusions. • When Yellow realize the mind and the undersanding of it self does not bring happiness • Shift from learning about stuff to being one with the many Turquoise Values • Consciousness • Truth - Existensial and metaphysical • Deep metaphysical insights • Metaphysics • Wisdom / Wisdom of nature Wisdom is not something just human beings have, its inherent to all of reality because the boundary between human beings and reality starts to break • Mysticism, spirituality and non-duality, god and divinity God and divinity are very different ideas from at blue. (blue=bearded anthropomorphic bearded man in the clouds, This right here is God. God is consciousness. • Holism, integration and synthesis vs analysis (interconnect) • Left and right brain synthesis • Honesty, transparancy and radical authenticity • Being. vs knowing, doing and having. • Simplicity, flowing with nature, effortless plesureable life • Minimalist sustainable living, collaborative syngergy, human wellness • Healing, the physical, emotional and spiritual dimension • Exploring altered states of consciousness • Intuiton, channeling or direct downloads from infinite intelligence • Supernatural degrees of creativity • Supernatural visionary (see connections that mankind will not see yet), • Spiritual purification • Awakening, transendence, libeartion, unconditional love, compassion for all, emotional mastery, presence, mindfullness, paradox, esoteric teachings, gratitude, unity, deeper and deeper levels of interconnectedness, selfless living, sacrificing the self for greater consciousness of the whole, meditation, yoga, contemplation, self-inquiry. • Not knowing and humility, spontaneity, playfulness and self-amusement • Tends to be light hearted Ego is the heavy hearted with fears and problems • The really big picture Distinct Turquoise with Green • Real mysticism vs new-agey faddish spiritual practices Casual meditation vs at turquoise you start to have industrial levels of meditation and contemplation • Turquoise is informed by direct non-dual experiences rather than beliefs and ideas. • Embraces global collectivism without attacking the individual like green did • Turquoise is consciuouss of the spiral and is a spiral wizard. • Not as triggered by injustices. • There is acceptance from deep understanding of intolerance, conflict, war, violence, greed and evil. (where as green just reacting against them, against orange greed and materialism, turqiouese understands thats life, how the ego evolves. Its not because they are bad, its because they are a treat to you(ego)) • Avoids mob mentality that comes with green. • Awareness of ego and there is more mindfullness and presence in turquoise • More emotional mastery than green • Non reactive and detached vs green was very reactive and attached • Effective solving large problems vs getting togheter and talk/protest. Characteristics of Turquoise • Turquoise sees the human race as a single organism Everything is connected. Sees the dissolution of the physical boundaries between self and other. Such that you can no longer differntiate between your physical body, the universe and your enemies. (there is no difference between you and coffee table) • Use the world as interlinked causes and effects in interacting fields of energy. • For turquiose there is joint activity accross groups, factions and communities spiritual bonds pull people togheter, communities are not just physical but also conecptual because "physical" is actually a concept. Physical itself is not physical. • Feelings and emotions come back into play • Work must be meaningful to the overall health of life • Deep trust of intuition and instinct • The self is a part of a large conscious spiritual whole you are not just a little individual human being or human body as you've always thought • Non -manipulative -ideological and -judgemental. • Not driven by fear or selfless selifshness • Does not play victim or blame games • Deeper mental and spiritual capacites are awakened • New sences and abilites you would think were superhuman become ordinary and human. There is new control over bodily processes, there is a heightened sensory awareness. • Paranormal abilities can develop or as the Yogi's call the cities. • Healing abilities, telepathy, astral projection, ESP, clairvoyance and remote viewing which seems odderly fantastical, religious and superstitious to stages below which are stuck in material paradgim. • The mystical becomes the mundane, the paranormal becomes normal. • Having inspiring levels of emotional mastery • Likes minimalist living. Less is more. • Ecologicaly conscious like green was. • Being visionary and being an inspiring leader • There is a unification of science, technology, medicine and mysticism • Deep understanding and unification of all religions, picks the best parts of them and throw away all the junk, corruption and ego stuff that has corrupted those traditions. All of them are really pointing to the same stuff. • There is a synthesis with western technology and eastern mysticism. • Theres an understanding of the fullness of the spiral and turquoise uses all the layers proactively and holistically • Sees everything at once before doing anything spesific • There is a colletive imperative and there is mutual interdependencies that reign supreme over your individual egoic needs. • If turquoise is engaged in business its gonna be a business with soul that probably tries to awaken you in some fashion. • There is a sense of a greater community bulit around spiritual emobidment. Turquoise is the 6. and 7. chakra • Turquoise action comes from selfless love and open heart • Has a great mental and behavioral flexibility • Sexual desire is transmuted into metaphysical love. (not always the case but for really exceptional turquoise people, outgrown from the lower chakras) • Excellent in dealing with paradoxes • Tend to be very wise and teach in unorthodox styles. • Is post rional and post material • Connects to being rather than quantifying or categorizing the world. That enterprise is over. Its way too limited. • Is non-linear • Is human-centered • Has a supernatural intuition • Has an ability to connect to source • Tends to have high integrity and is able to actually follow through that integrity • For Turquoise the universe is both impersonal and deeply personal. And thats a paradox they resolve. (need to be experienced to understand) • Turquoise is conscious of the miracle of life. Everything becomes mystical, amazing and magical. • Has a constant attention to ever-expanding implications of everything. • Turquoise is even a deeper systems thinker than yellow was. Systems now are not just mechanical things, they are alive, imbued with intelligence. Intelligence is not something that human beings possess the way that orange arrogantly belives. Intelligence is permeated through the entire universe. Every aspect of being is intelligent. The entire arrangement of the univcerse is infinte intelligence at work. • For Turquoise life consists of fractals. You can see all the interconnections in the fractal nature of everything. Can see the micro right throgh to the macro. • Stands in awe at the cosmic order from quarks to cells to humans, trees, cars, to galaxasies and big bang. All of it is awesome,miracle,magical,amazing, all of it interconnects with everything else. • For Turquoise reality can be experienced but never truly known. Reality is fundamentally irreducibly, mysterious and mystical. • There is a dissolution of the ego. • For turquoise there is a paradox that on the one hand life is the most important thing there is and yet on the other hand my own life is completly unimportant. My death does not matter. • Turquoise can detect the harmonic forces which govern organizations, which makes turquoise good at leading and running organizations • Turquoise is good by setting a good example/being a good role model • Turquoise is a movement away from the gross materialism. From gross stuff to subtle stuff turquoise develops the capacity to sense the subtle aspects of reality. • Going from the external to the internal • There is a transcendence of morality, meaning, judgement, life and death, duality, mind, reason, science and good and evil. • Is finally able to have really deep honest meaningful relationships and communication. Beyond the shallow petty clinginess, neediness and materialism that came with orange,green and yellow. The reason we have shitty relationships is because we have relationships to statisfy our own needs. Gross materialistic needs. They are all about manipulation. Not sustainable and thats why it ends. Turquoise is relating from a non needy place, from a much more honest place. These types of relationships are like next-level/super human relationships. As orange or green you dont know what a true communication face-to-face with a human being is because you are so wrapped up in your own ego and unconscious of the dynamics that the ego is playing and how it is distorting your ability to relate to other people and to communicate honestly with other people. Examples of Turquoise • Sadguru, the Isha foundation, • Shunya Murti, a western Yogi from costa rica (example of Intergration of all religions, science and holism) • Thomas Campbell • Yoda (globalist community minded and mystical) • David Hawkins, Ken Wilber, Shinzen young, Deepak Chopra • Stan Grof, (high yellow, early turquise) • Osho (netflix, still not perfect society) • Mooji, Rama G, Rupert Spira, A cartoles, New earth • Yogananda, Maarten ball, • Terence McKenna, Carl Jung (yellow/Turquoise) • Sri Aurobindo (solid turquoise) • Pierre tel yard, Erven Laszlo, David loy, Allan watts • Wim hof, Mat khan, the dalai lama, sacha shulgin • Yoga, holotrophic breathwork, the book: the holographic universe, the akashic records, the new oh sphere, opening the third eye, the pineal gland, out-of-body experiences, samadhi experiences, cities, paranormal abilities, clairvoyance, channels, mediums like Bashar, stuff that aleister crowley was doing, Rudolf steiner • Alternative healing systems, the notion of maya, pshychedelics, 5MEO-DMT, • From Star Trek the Q race • Rupert Sheldrake`s "more for genetic fields" (turquise concept) • Dene Radin`s paranormal research • Gandhi`s ideas of pluralistic harmony • The notion of Gaia, earth as a living system, Biocentrism, • The monrone institute, The Esalen institute, • Transpersonal pshycholigy as an entire field, Jung`s collective unconscious and various kinds of archetypes • Quantum field theory (starting to show the interconnectedness and the nonlinear infinate nothingness that everything is) • Sacred geometry, reincarnation, opening chakras • Saints, sages, mystics and prophets. Less then 0,1% of the global population is at Turquoise Turquiose has less than 1% of total world influence or power Style of Government: we do not really have any examples yet. We have some small communities. Based on these small communities it would look something like this: A holistic organism, micro management of all life-forms torwards common good in respone to macro problems. What life means supersedes any special, natural ethnic or ideological groupings. The purpose of this society is to elevate the consciousness of all of mankind. Spiral dynamics vs Non-duality • You can be in a non-dual state but not stage turquoise. • Spiral dynamics is more about how culture becoming more complicated and sophisticated and dealing with more complicating problems • Non-duality is another variable. Turquoise Slogans Everything is one, we are all god, You are already enlightned, everyting is perfect and at the same time everything is evolving, to see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower, the kingdom of heaven is within, forgive them father for they know not what they do, I am that, life is a dream. What triggers Turquoise? Not that much, you worked alot on non-judgemental and detachment. Turquoise is quite understandning of how Maya works, how ignorrant works (where triggering basically comes from). Has a fairly robust degree of emotional maturity and mastery which helps to take the edge of alot of stuff. • The insanity of the world - sees how unsustainable all these actions are. • The status quo. - frustrating that our government,politics and economics are still at such a low level of development. • Myopia - the limitied vision that people can have. • Materialistic corruption • Profit over truth and spirit • Profit over heart • Dogmatic, scientism and rationalsim - quantifying • Ecological dysfunction • By the collective suffering of mankind. All of mankind suffering is largely self-inflicted. • By little petty mundane affairs. Turquoise limitations/unhealthy manifistations • Can become too mystical and too spiritual. To the point where they become unconcerned with earthly problems. Where they can just go off and live in a cave all by themseleves or like a hermit. • They sort of live in their own reality. They are so advanced that it is hard for other people to understand them. They can teach very advanced things that are difficult to relate to for avarge folk. Theirfor they can be misunderstood or their teachings can just fly over peoples heads. • Can develop a guru complex. Feeds your spiritual ego. Devlop cults. • Life can become sort of meaningless. Your are just in a dream. • Can deny the importance of political issues. • Can assume that other people are just as capable of awakening as they are. • There can be community division on a grand scale. Turquoise can develop into sort of mega tribes. Turquoise is a mirror or a parallel to purple. Turquioise is also trible but no more enlightned tribalism. There can be conflict and division between these turquoise mega tribes. • Can become stuck on shallow levels of enlightenment or non-duality. Theres many grees to awakening. Some gurus will have 10-100 more real depth of understandings than other ones. Does not realize there is deeper levels. • Non-duality wars. Certain gurus criticize other gurus from different traditions. Teaching debates, whos more enlightned and what does it really mean. • Maha Samadhi. So enlightned that you actually leave your body. Dont overidealize turquiose Dont think Turquoise is perfect. A person can not be turquoise if hes not perfect. That he can not do mistakes. Turqouise does not make you moral or good at all. Does not make you special. Egoic goal. Turquoise does not make you enlighetned. Enlightned is an own thing. Dont confuse it with spiral dynamics. Does not make you immune to false beliefs, cultural biases. Culture is something thats rooted very deeply in your mind. Even if you become enlightned you will still have cultural beliefs, preferences and values which are operating on you just from the culture you grew up in. You can be closed to other traditions or cultures just by not opening yourself up to them or not being familiar enough with them. Turquoise does not make you immune to dangerous social ideas. Its still possible that you will hurt people. Not immune to sexual cravings or addictions. How to transcend turquoise You should not worry about transcending turquoise, but embodying turquoise. You can do for 40 years. Your goal should be to pursue non-duality to its fullest and really to transcend spiral dynamics. How to emobody Turquoise • Make sure you have a hardcore industrial-grade spiritual practice going. (Meditation, yoga, self-inquiry, contemplation or whatever else) • Contemplate everything. • Embody unconditional love. • Long solo retreats - very helpfull for deepning your connection with being. • Spiritual purification work of various kind. (shadow work) • Do 5Meo-DMT • Join or start spiritual community • Read turquoise books • Meet turquoise sages face to face • Study many religions. • Study cutting-edge science. • Study non-dual theory deeply - read at least 30 books. • Open your chakras, specially the lower ones and heart chakra. • Transumte your sexual energy. • Learn alternative healing techniques • Make sure you go back and master all the stages. • Keep watching actualized.org.

I don't know about ultimate reality (what is that?). I would echo Roger Castillo and say that the only truth in the manifestation is the impersonal sense of "I am." To me, Maya is the illusion. That is not love--that is suffering. The connection to source, however, feels like love. Not the love that most of you are probably thinking about. I would call that love more like 'desire' and would actually lump it in with suffering. It has needs, it has conditions--it can go away. Not this. The feeling I experience is that there is a love that shines on all, for no reason/without condition. It shines on 'others' as equally as it shines on 'me'. It never stops. It never changes. It's always there. It is prior to mind and feels like the only thing that is 'real' (because it doesn't change and everything else is always changing--impermanent).

The logic of math uses symbols. There is no need to imagine someone constructing that logic or symbols. Logic can be completely impersonal, just like listening to music or admiring a flower.

It is not directed at you personally. It is something I’ve been observing for years n Trump defenders. Trump defenders have a psychology I find interesting - especially in the context of SD.. It is an impersonal thing. This is hard to see when there is contraction within a personal dynamic. I don’t think a hierarchy of lower/higher or worse/better is a good frame. Another way to see it is through developmental stages. We would not say a tree is better than a sapling. They are just at different stages of development. It would not be condescending to say that the developmental stage of a sapling is fascinating.

@Javfly33 Take just a minute, right now, and write down what you want, and tape it to the wall. Start talking about what you want, and doing things you enjoy. Do things for yourself that you like, that feel good to you. Doing things that feel better to you, causes you to feel better. Recognize, acknowledge, know that better feeling. Your perspective will begin to change, and you’ll want things that you aren’t aware of yet. Write em down. Tape em to the wall. You’ll notice interests which you aren’t aware of yet, check them out. Keep in mind, you’ll be feeling better for having done things that you like, and your perspective will naturally be better. You’ll notice thoughts arise about what you want, and thoughts arise about it’s absence. Choose the thoughts about what you want. You are getting more of whichever end of that duality you’re thinking about. What you want arises from within you. It also arises in the physical sense, from within you. If you ‘get stuck’ with choosing a better thought, just choose a little bit better feeling thought that is true for you. As you do more of what you enjoy, and choose better thoughts, you’ll continue feeling better, and your perspective will really open up. You’ll be wanting things you had no idea you’d want, and you’ll feel better than you ever have. Fun, and exciting. People, things, opportunities, will come about in accordance with what you want. Continue choosing thoughts about what you want when these present themselves. They are what you asked for, nothing more, nothing less. They will come in ordinary everyday appearances. Sensation is guidance. Listen to it. If it doesn’t feel good, go back to choosing thoughts about what you want. You’ll easily learn not to be stubborn, because you’ll be loving how you’re feeling when you listen and align with sensations, and choosing thoughts about what you want. It is literally the good feeling you are aligning with. This good feeling lifts you up to perspectives you’ve not yet seen. I’m sorry to be the one who is breaking this to you, but, that’s what you’ll need to do. Stuff you like, that feels good to you. (Sorry) What you want is going to come from what already is, so loosen up, relax, be flexible with things. Choose the thoughts about what you want, over thoughts about what already is, about what anybody else thinks. What is, is old news. What other people think, is what other people think. The Source of you already knows everything you’ve ever wanted in your entire life, and is always giving it to you. Same for them. Now that you’ve dialed up the emotional scale, you’ll start receiving it. You won’t be ‘getting in the way’. You’ll feel good, and you’ll allow it to come however it is, appreciating that it is coming, and feeling great, and appreciating this is the case for everyone else too. You’ll learn to ‘zoom in & zoom out’. If you get off track, if things seem intense, think more general and simple; puppies, blue skies, humor, the universe is loving me, anything will do which gets you feeling better, reconnected. Take a minute to notice, each day, your paper on the wall. Remember the bigger picture you are wanting. Allow the feeling good of knowing it is coming, recognize feeling good actually equals feeling good, and feeling good naturally brings things you want and elevates your perspective, which leads to discovering more that you want. At this point, you’re pretty dialed into some feelings that feel flat out exhilarating, unstoppable really, invincible. You’ll be used to connecting more often and more deeply with these great sensations, listening intently to the guidance with more sensitivity, appreciation, and gratitude for how great life feels. (Sorry again about that). You’re thinking about what you want, doing things you like, taking care of yourself, noticing some intriguing coincidences and profound opportunities coming around. This is what you want, coming to you, and you’re feeling so good, so deserving and worthy, so accepting, that you are willing to receive it. Which is great, because Source has been wanting you to have it. It becomes really clear that these sensations are your connection to Source, to The Universe, to Everything. And everything you want, comes from everything that already is. Like magic. As if it was made for this, as if you were designed for this experiencing. As if all the wants themselves came from everything that is already, the very same everything which everything you want is coming from. You will be astonished. Agape. You will be so mesmerized by Source’s love and generosity, and ease of alignment at this point, that you will tell others about this, and they will say you’re nuts, and that they would have to know details, and that there must be more to it. There isn’t though. There’s just choosing a better thought. You can do this, and you can only do this, now. In this present. https://www.amazon.com/Six-Pillars-Self-Esteem-Definitive-Leading/dp/0553374397 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MuZIsQDO58 https://www.amazon.com/Ask-Given-Learning-Manifest-Desires/dp/1401904599 Awareness of Thoughts Meditation By learning to watch your thoughts come and go during this practice, you can gain deeper insight into thinking altogether (such as its transience) and into specific relationships among your thoughts and your emotions, sensations, and desires. This practice can also help you take your thoughts less personally, and not automatically believe them. Additionally, this meditation can offer insight into any habitual patterns of thinking and related reactions. Observe your thoughts as they arise and pass away. · By “thoughts,” we mean self-talk and other verbal content, as well as images, memories, fantasies, and plans. Just thoughts may appear in awareness, or thoughts plus sensations, emotions, or desires. · Sit or lie down on your back in a comfortable position. · Become aware of the sensations of breathing. · After a few minutes of following your breath, shift your attention to the various thoughts that are arising, persisting, and then passing away in your mind. · Try to observe your thoughts instead of getting involved with their content or resisting them. · Notice the content of your thoughts, any emotions accompanying them, and the strength or pull of the thought. · Try to get curious about your thoughts. Investigate whether you think in mainly images or words, whether your thoughts are in color or black and white, and how your thoughts feel in your body. · See if you notice any gaps or pauses between thoughts. · Every time you become aware that you are lost in the content of your thoughts, simply note this and return to observing your thoughts and emotions. · Remember that one of the brain’s major purposes is to think, and there is nothing wrong with thinking. You are simply practicing not automatically believing and grasping on to your thoughts. · When you are ready, return your attention to your breath for a few minutes and slowly open your eyes. Optional: · There are various metaphors and images you can use to help observe your thoughts. These include: o Imagining you are as vast and open as the sky, and thoughts are simply clouds, birds, or planes passing through the open space. o Imagining you are sitting on the side of a river watching your thoughts float by like leaves or ripples in the stream. o Imagine your thoughts are like cars, buses, or trains passing by. Every time you realize you are thinking, you can “get off the bus/train” and return to observing. Awareness of thoughts and emotions is one of the areas of focus developed when cultivating mindfulness. In Buddhism, mindfulness is one of the seven factors of enlightenment and the seventh instruction in the Noble Eightfold Path. The Seven Factors of Enlightenment: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/piyadassi/wheel001.html The Four Noble Truths:https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths The Noble Eightfold Path: https://tricycle.org/magazine/noble-eightfold-path/ CAUTIONS: Please be gentle with yourself if you notice that you are constantly caught up in your thoughts instead of observing them. This is both common and normal. When you realize that you are thinking, gently and compassionately return to observing your thoughts. If the content of your thoughts is too disturbing or distressing, gently shift your attention to your breathing, sounds, or discontinue the practice. · Remember that you are not trying to stop thoughts or only allow certain ones to arise. Try to treat all thoughts equally and let them pass away without engaging in their content. · This practice can initially be more challenging than other meditations. As you are learning, practice this meditation for only a few minutes at a time if that is easier. · It can be helpful to treat thoughts the same way that you treat sounds or body sensations, and view them as impersonal events that arise and pass away. · Some people like to assign numbers or nicknames to reoccurring thoughts in order to reduce their pull and effect. Breathe Awareness Meditation Stress is an extremely unhealthy condition. It causes the body to release the chemical cortisol, which has been shown to reduce brain and organ function, among many other dangerous effects. Modern society inadvertently encourages a state of almost continuous stress in people. This is a meditation that encourages physical and mental relaxation, which can greatly reduce the effects of stress on the body and mind. Sit still and pay close attention to your breathing process. Take a reposed, seated posture. Your back should be straight and your body as relaxed as possible. Close your eyes, and bring your attention to your breathing process. Simply notice you are breathing. Do not attempt to change your breath in any way. Breath simply and normally. Try to notice both the in breath and the out breath; the inhale and the exhale. "Notice" means to actually feel the breathing in your body with your body. It is not necessary to visualize your breathing or to think about it in any way except to notice it with your somatic awareness. Each time your attention wanders from the act of breathing, return it to noticing the breath. Do this gently and without judgment. Remember to really feel into the act of breathing. If you want to go more deeply into this, concentrate on each area of breathing in turn. Here is an example sequence: 1. Notice how the air feels moving through your nostrils on both the in breath and the out breath. 2. Notice how the air feels moving through your mouth and throat. You may feel a sort of slightly raspy or ragged feeling as the air moves through your throat. This is normal and also something to feel into. 3. Notice how the air feels as it fills and empties your chest cavity. Feel how your rib cage rises slowly with each in breath, and gently deflates with each out breath. 4. Notice how your back expands and contracts with each breath. Actually feel it shifting and changing as you breath. 5. Notice how the belly expands outward with each in breath and pulls inward with each in breath. Allow your attention to fully enter the body sensation of the belly moving with each breath. 6. Now allow your attention to cover your entire body at once as you breath in and out. Closely notice all the sensations of the body as it breathes. Repeat this sequence over and over, giving each step your full attention as you do it. Suggested time is at least 10 minutes. Thirty minutes is better, if you are capable of it. If you find yourself distracted by a lot of mental chatter, you can use verbal labeling as an aid to concentration. For example, on the in breath, mentally say to yourself, "Breathing in." On the out breath, say, "Breathing out." Another possibility is to mentally count each breath.

Actually, I'm well aware of the point that Leo is making. And at earlier stages in my contemplation process on how society functions, I would have settled there. His perspective is not wrong persay. It's just limited in that it fails to recognize the function of and inextricable nature of collective human dynamics and outrage/shame culture. His perspective ignores that truth. But I'm pretty sure he actually agrees with me, because he commented affirmatively on another post about the value of Greta Thundberg 'Green-shaming' climate change deniers and do-nothing politicians and recognized this shaming as a good tactic for moving society forward. Here is the quote... "Good stuff. She's filling the important role of shaming folks out of their complacency. Shaming is an important tactic when it comes to raising social consciousness. It worked for the civil rights movement. The evil of the default position needs to be spelled out for people because we are like fish in water." But perhaps he doesn't want to encourage this behavior towards someone like Trudeau who is Liberal but exhibits racist behavior because he doesn't see shaming as valuable in this situation. He has more sympathy toward Trudeau, I think. So, he doesn't want him tossed to the dogs but he's okay with climate change deniers being tossed to the dogs. But I would imagine, generally, that people of color might have a different perspective than him because this issue directly affects them. They would probably recognize the same value in 'Green-shaming' Justin Trudeau and his ignorance in the same ways Leo sees the value in 'Green-shaming' climate change deniers and their ignorance. The fact of the matter is that once you become more aware of and accepting of uncomfortable truths about the machinations of humanity as a natural and impersonal force, you will understand better how society works. And you will be able to respond intelligently to the situation at hand. So, while it may be problematic, it simply is what it is. You can't get rid of mob rule and collective outrage. It's built right into us. You can only point it consciously and directionally at those that are doing actions that negatively impact people. So, understand that what I'm saying is that outrage mobs and collective rage is as natural and impersonal as a hurricane or an Earthquake. It does as much good in disapproving of collective outrage as it does disapproving of the weather. The best thing you can do is prepare for the weather, take proper precautions, and sometimes benefit by setting out rain barrels. And setting out rain barrels is what I'm advocating, nothing more or less. Also, you can learn a lot about collective cycles that way. And if you're under the impression that outrage mobs are just going to go away. They're not. And at this juncture in history, it wouldn't even be good if they did. They keep people on their toes, and force people to face with uncomfortable questions and truths. They're simply part of the way human beings create and solidify taboos. They've always been part of human society and always will be. If your gripe is with human nature, you will be fighting a losing battle. Make peace with the uglier aspects of human nature, and you will be able to understand how things work. And like Leo implied in his other post about Greta Thunberg's speech, you will see the very Yellow value that exists in 'Green-shaming' those who are resisting change and refusing to wake up. Edit: @Leo Gura Do you recognize how our perspective is the same about needing to accept outrage culture and collective shaming as a potentially useful aspect of society? And that we just disagree on who it should/shouldn't be pointed at?

@Mikael89 reborn is simply falling for the illusion again. death of the body will get you that, yes... the soul/impersonal consciousness looking thru another set of eyes. the impersonal consciousness, once it recognizes and knows itself, is free from being reborn... that just means, it will then-on be eternally aware of what is real and what is not. so it will still be reborn as form, but it will be lucid. imagine someone who has mastered that art of lucid dreaming so when they go to bed at night. they are ready and know they are about to dream and then in that dream, they party it uppppppppppp

You are the spirit of light, but because the spirit is impersonal, there is no you and you are everything and everyone. Spirit gets bored and wants to know itself. It manifests its hearth into Maya and becomes differentiated into souls, sparks of light. Which reincarnates by karmic activity. This karmic activities create personalities that we live in physical life. We/you/me are the impersonal spirit, experiencing the illusion of differintation by emanating as souls/sparks through reincarnation. You are both the impersonal spirit and the reincarnating soul at the same time.

In Talks on Beelzebub's Tales, Bennett distinguishes four types of suffering - Unnecessary Suffering, Unavoidable Suffering, Voluntary Suffering and Intentional Suffering. Lets have a look at each of these to see if they can help our understanding: The first is Unnecessary Suffering. This would be the type of suffering that we incur because of our unreasonable attitudes and expectations towards others, from our ill-will, hatred and rejection of others, from doubt, possessiveness, arrogance and self pity. In other words, suffering arising from our self-importance. The second is Unavoidable Suffering. This would be the type of suffering that comes to us by accident or from events beyond our control, such as interpersonal conflicts, war, disaster, disease or death. Third, we have Voluntary Suffering. This would be the type of suffering that we take upon ourselves in order to accomplish a personal aim, such as an athlete who disciplines himself to win a race, or a student who labours to get good grades. And finally we have Intentional Suffering. According to Bennett, this would be the kind of suffering that we take upon ourselves in order to accomplish an impersonal or altruistic goal, one that is directed more towards service to others or to the Work, and not for any personal gain. Bennett assumes that this is what Gurdjieff meant by Intentional Suffering. From an article on the second Conscious Shock https://www.endlesssearch.co.uk/philo_is_talk_ae2005.htm

@Schahin There are impersonal levels of God’s consciousness that have predetermined literally every event in existence, at least in our universe and potentially just up until a certain point in the cosmic evolution.

I done hardcore self inqury for about 6 7 months and i am pure witness of body mind, pure sky of awarness hapiness and love. I became aware of awarness tnx to 24 h self inquiry and rupert spira's guided meditations. Its not little personal body - mind that knows this its impersonal consciousness unchanging without location, attributes Also tnx to Leo for his awesome clear and beutifully explanatuon of self inquiry ??

Survival dominates your life. Universal Love can be counter-productive to your survival. But also it's not so elusive. You love certain stuff all day long. You go to lunch and you love it. You jerk off and you love it. You watch Netflix and you love. You see a sunset and you love it. Your dog licks your face and you love it. You take a big shit and you love it. You earn some money and you love it. You crash on the couch after a long day and you love it. You read some profound book and you love it. You take a hot shower and your body loves it. If your life didn't have love in it, you would kill yourself pretty soon. What is the universe doing as a whole? Forget about individual people or atoms. What is the ENTIRE thing up to? Is it just a random mess of stuff? No! It's doing something intelligent. Consider the possibility that what it's doing is maximizing the expression of metaphysical love. If this were true, you can see how the movement of every atom would contribute to that ultimate goal in the same way that every atom in your computer's hard drive is contributing to the function of the hard drive storing data. The materialist paradigm goes very deep. I think many people just assume that reality cannot be loving because it must be neutral or empty or mechanical and impersonal. Love is a distinct awakening that one must have. Some people, especially masculine men who tend to skew towards autistic may have a limited ability to realize love. Many men have closed hearts or avoid emotional expressiveness. For example, I'm not sure if a clinical psychopath can realize Love. My guess is he can, but he's just not very likely to. Ralston's style is very reductionistic, clinical, masculine. It's that classic sort of Zen style. But this is only one style of spirituality. It's not Truth per se. It's a style. It's one expression of Truth. But honestly I don't know why he doesn't get it. That's a good question that requires some scientific research.

Love is simply what is. If you are a serious student of spiritual texts and teachings, you know that the best of them talk about love. It has nothing to do with fireworks or psychedelics. Psychedelics simply show you your deepest nature -- if you have the courage to look at yourself in your rawest form. The reason some of guys have a hard time buying this whole love business it because you're still thinking of reality from the materialist paradigm. This paradigm can extremely subtle, such that even people who have an awakening or two -- such as Sam Harris -- still have not transcended it. According to materialism, the universe must be neutral, impersonal, and devoid of any sentimentality. This is a hyper-logical, hyper-masculine, reductionistic way of understanding reality. And it is untrue. Consciousness is Love. It is not dumb matter or energy or even "simply what is". What is, is LOVE! And why it is, is LOVE! Be careful not to underestimate God's goodness. That is the key mistake here. God is not neutral as you might assume.

? I think we're talking about the same thing. After all, all of those terms (authentic self, ego, highly evolved ego) refer to God, only in various disguises. I think you're saying that God is also personal. In that case, I agree. Because it's not possible to separate the personal from the impersonal. That sounds more like evolution/growth/giving birth than suffering And what comes next after freedom? I suspect that there's a subtle form of resistance to desire in the previous paragraph. I suppose it's the same form of resistance to embracing being an ego. Without resistance, all that remains is freedom. Even resistance, if any, becomes freedom. That's liberation I love you too ❤️? (I hope it doesn't sound awkward lol ?) Egos are beautiful! Aren't they? Whether mature or juvenile. They're your creation. They're perfect! ..... @Leo Gura You made me rewrite this post. Thanks a lot ? But yeah, I think your maps are way better than other maps, as long as they're combined together ?

@InDeep “Teaching” is just one way of describing it. Every approach or pointer will have limitations and won’t seem useful from another perspective. From one perspective, to “teach” suggests a hierarchy. From that perspective, there are limitations. I often take views from various levels and see how different evils are integrated. For example, atoms compose molecules which compose cells which compose tissues which compose systems which compose an organism which composes a population. I use examples like this many times and they have great value in certain contexts. When we say “levels” here, that can be interpreted as being superior. A “higher” level is superior to a “lower” level. When we say a cell is at a higher level than a molecule, this is for convenience. “Superiority” is not necessarily inherent to the model. Similarly, we could interpret “teacher” as being “higher” than a student. Yet that is not inherently so. These are add ins. This intention can be present in some contexts, yet not in other contexts. I could talk about “levels” of consciousness in a context of superiority and I could talk about “levels” without a context of superiority. I like the imagery you use, yet no one model or imagery is complete. If SD is a whole, there are no levels. There is no levels to move up. From a perspective, “moving up” is similar to “build”. If a cell is whole, there are no levels to “move up”. Atoms are not at a lower level than molecules at a lower level than the cell. It is certainly useful to build a model of atoms-> molecules -> cell. Moving up levels is similar to build. Atoms build molecules which build cells. We could say the cell is both one whole and contains parts which we can organize into levels. In terms of “listening” to each other, that has value in some contexts as you mentioned. Yet is not very helpful in other contexts. This is were development, expansion and “teaching” comes into play. For example, Blue is oriented toward binary thinking. Either / Or. In some contexts, this is useful. Yet in other contexts, it’s not useful. My mom is blue and would see someone as a racist or a non-racist. I understand this simple binary construct and it is useful in certain, yet not in others. In another context, people are not simply racist or non-racist. There are degrees of racism. Someone can be strongly racist or mildly racist. As well, everyone has subconscious biases regarding race. In this sense, we all have components of racism. As well, some might be racist toward certain groups and not racist toward other groups. I would not be able to have this conversation with my mom. She would say “Why do you always have to complicate things? People are racist or not racist. That’s what it boils down to”. Here, I could listen to my mom for hours talk about who is racist and who isn’t racist. I can understand her perspective because I have developed above Blue. However, my mom will not be able to understand Orange. She cannot comprehend gradients and nuances. She can listen to me when I speak at Blue, yet she cannot comprehend me when I speak at Orange and above in this area. If she was open and curious about developing this ability, I can explain it to her. I would call this “teaching” since I would be transmitting a cognitive skill to her. . . Similarly, an Orange level thinker would have difficulty comprehending the relativism of “racism”. Orange understands in terms of objectivism and would not be able to comprehend a yellow level thinker. When “pulling” someone up the spiral, we can try to use terms and modes at that level. And I agree that keeping it impersonal is important. Yet this has limits. One cannot explain gradients in strictly binary terms. If they did, it would be binary and not a gradient. Similarly, one cannot communicate relativism in strictly objective constructs. One cannot communicate intuition or empathy strictly through material evidence and facts. There comes a time a person has to make a “jump” in consciousness. For example, when a dog sees itself in a mirror it will not recognize itself and bark at itself. You can point to the dog and the mirror over and over saying “look it’s you!!!”. Yet the dog would need a jump in consciousness to realize “whoa!! That’s me!!”. This is a dramatic example, yet this component is with developmental psychology as well, which is integral to SD. Personal hierarchies in Tier1 is a common manifestation of a personality construct. The dissolution of a personalized construct begins in Tier1 with empathy and cultural relativism, yet is more of a feature of Tier2. Then, attachment/identification dissolves one can mucbetter see multiple perspectives without judgement and superiority. Having transcended the personality, yellow would not make personal value judgements within Tier1 stages, yet Yellow would not consider all perspectives to have equal value.

What does the word ‘non-duality’ point to? The world created by thought, the world of words, language, and concepts, is the world of opposites. ‘Up and down’, ‘this or that’, ‘inside and outside’, ‘right and wrong’, ‘black and white’, ‘true and false’, ‘positive and negative’, ‘me and you’ and so on. The world of words, language, thoughts, concepts, is a dualistic world of apparent opposites. But, in reality, do opposites exist? What we are really pointing to when we use the word ‘non-duality’ is something that goes beyond all of these mind-made opposites. But how can we talk about something that goes beyond opposites, when even our attempt to talk about non-duality is dualistic? So, what the word non-duality actually means is really very difficult to describe or put into words. In fact, you could say it’s impossible. For we are not talking about non-duality as opposed to something called duality, we are not talking about pro-duality as opposed to anti-duality.In fact the non-duality we speak of is not the opposite of anything. This is impossible to understand logically or rationally. To see what is being spoken of, we must go beyond our ordinary way of thinking and seeing. ‘Non-duality’ is actually a translation of the Sanskrit word ‘Advaita’, which simply means ‘not two’ and points to the essential oneness (wholeness, completeness, unity) of life, a wholeness which exists here and now,prior to any apparent separation. It’s a word that points to an intimacy, a love beyond words, right at the heart of present moment experience. It’s a word that points us back Home. And despite the compelling appearance of separation and diversity there is only one universal essence, one reality. Oneness is all there is – and we are included. What we are really trying to do when we say ‘non-duality’ is point to life as it is right now, before the appearance of concepts and labels; before thought creates a world of things: table, chair, hand, foot, fear, me, you, past, future. What is life before thought? Can we even talk about that? Is it possible to capture non-duality into words? When we speak of non-duality it can sometimes seem like we mean ‘anti-duality’, that we are against duality or that it’s wrong or false or even dangerous. This can then lead to dogmatic thinking and religiosity and to the proclamation of rightness: “You are dualistic and I am non-dualistic! I am more non-dual than you!” That is the religion of non-duality. We are more interested in the truth of non-duality. Is non-duality a religion or belief system? Non-duality isn’t a new belief system, a religion or a ‘how to’ guide to living. It makes no promises about the future. Of course, it canbecome a belief system or religion, however, like anything can. You could start to believe that there is “no self, no ‘me’, no time or space and that everything is an illusion” – and non-duality could become your new belief system. That’s what happened years ago in my own experience; non-duality had become my new belief system, although at the time I actually believed I was free from all belief systems! When someone subscribes to non-duality as a system of belief, there’s just someone there – a separate person – believing that they’re no longer a separate person! And then perhaps they go round telling everyone that they are not a separate person. Secretly they experience themselves as a separate individual but they have taken on a set of concepts, they are living with a new image of themselves as beyond all images. You can believe you are not separate, but you can still feel separate, and experience yourself as separate. There’s a world of difference between simply believing that you are not separate, in other words, intellectually taking non-duality concepts on as a new belief system, and really seeing what those words are pointing to in a very deep way. Here, we are interested in the seeing of non-duality, not just talking and arguing about it. We can talk and argue about non-duality concepts until we are blue in the face, we can argue about who is right and who is wrong and who is more ‘nondualistic’, but we would really be missing the point of all this. Is it possible to reach a non-dual state or become spiritually awakened? Isn’t it fascinating how automatically thought (or ‘the mind’) tries to turn what we are talking about into some kind of special state or experience. Thought hears about ‘non-duality’ and wants it. And it asks, ‘How do I get it? How do I reach it? How do I see it? Who can take me there? Who can transmit it to me? Who can teach me it or give it to me? Where will I find it?’ It starts looking for something called ‘non-duality’. It starts waiting for it. It lives in hope. That will inevitably happen because the individual is always a seeker. A separate person is always looking for something. We might seek wealth, success, power, fame, or we might seek for ‘spiritual’ things instead – but really it’s all the same seeking. The spiritual seeker might seek awakening, enlightenment or a non-dual state instead of money and power and success – but deep down, it’s the same movement. Time is always involved in seeking. What we search for is always in the future. We say, ‘One day I will find non-duality. I’ll get into the non-dual state or have an awakening experience or my person will drop away magically.’ So, stop right there! You’ve already turned non-duality into a future goal. Stop and look and see where this seeking begins. So, this incessant seeking takes on different forms? Yes. Ask anybody on the street what they are looking for, and they’ll probably say they’re looking for peace, happiness, success, popularity, power, love, acceptance, understanding, fame, glory. Someone who identifies themselves as a ‘spiritual person’ might be looking for an altered state of consciousness, or some kind of transformation, or an enlightenment experience, or they may be seeking to no longer seek anything anymore! Everyone is looking for something. This seeking takes many forms but really it’s all the same seeking. It seems as though everyone is looking for different things, but actually what we are looking for, deep down, is the same. Basically, everyone is in pursuit of the same wholeness (or oneness, or completeness, or whatever you want to call it) – a wholeness that is already here, but is ignored in our pursuit of a future completion. That’s where it all begins: looking for something better in the future. Looking for the next moment that will be a better moment, a more full moment, a more complete moment. And of course, non-duality could just become something else you are looking for. We could turn non-duality into our new goal. But the word ‘Non-duality’ actually points to what is already present here and now, within this present experience, as this experience. We’re not talking about a new goal for the seeker. We’re talking about life as it already is. non-duality is not in time. If life ‘as it is’ is already perfect why do we continue to seek? The real question is ‘Who is seeking?’. What is this seeker? Where is it? Can I find it now? And is this seeker who I really am? I seem to be a separate individual who is looking for something to complete myself, but is that really who I am? Does this seeking really define me? Am I really something that is incomplete, something that seeks completion in the future? You pass through all these different layers of questions and ultimately you get to the fundamental question: ‘Who am I?‘ That’s where everything leads to in the end. So, who am I? If you ask most people that question, they’d probably reply with a story about who they think they are. They’d give you a description about what they’ve done in the past and maybe what they dream of doing in the future. They might tell you a story about their role in life – that they are a father or mother, or a business person or baker -where they work and live, and how many children they have. They’ll quite literally tell you a story about the past and future. They’ll basically tell you a story about who they were in the past and who they think they will be in the future – not who theyare in this moment. But the question is, ‘Who are you now?’ Normally that question is answered by describing the past or an imagined future. We are living with a thought-created story about ourselves. I am a shop keeper, a doctor, a lawyer, an artist, a spiritual person. (Someone who calls themselves a ‘spiritual person’ might even tell a story about how they are not a person, that they’ve transcended time and space and that they have no relationships because they have no self and there are no others. Despite the content of the ‘I am’ story, it’s still a story! Maybe, if you see yourself as ‘enlightened’ you have convinced yourself that you are not telling a story, that you’re beyond stories. But isn’t that just another story? We all seem to live with an image of who we are.) It’s a case of mistaken identity? Exactly. Is the image of yourself who you really are? Does it define you? And here’s the problem. When you live with an image of yourself, that image can always be improved; you can always have a better story. If you have the identity that you are successful business women and you’re making a lot of money, maybe you hope that one day you’ll make a fortune and be a famous millionaire. Or the story could be that you’re a spiritual person and one day you’ll become enlightened. So, are you saying enlightenment is just another story? Well, it’s always about ‘me’ completing myself in time, isn’t it. The enlightenment story is equal to the ‘one day I’m going to win the lottery’ story.Within the story you are always incomplete and always moving towards a future completion. On some level we feel incomplete now – there’s a sense of lack, or of not being whole. Everyone lives with that, although not everyone admits it or realises it. This is how the search begins: the sense of being incomplete now, that something is missing now. Then there’s the urge for a future fullness, a future completion. Something wants to complete itself in the future, but it begins with a present sense of incompleteness, a sense of lack. That goes right to the root of it all – a sense of lack that everyone is trying to escape in various ways. The sense of lack doesn’t seem to go away, it might for a while but it soon comes back. Well yes, this is the problem. Even when you get what you want and you think you’re satisfied, very quickly dissatisfaction starts up again: ‘I finally got what I wanted but it didn’t complete me.’ After twenty years of spiritual seeking you finally have the awakening experience you always wanted, but you still don’t feel complete. You make a million dollars and then you realise you still feel a sense of lack. You finally find the man or woman of your dreams, and you still want more. This is the problem with trying to complete yourself in time, trying to complete yourself through getting stuff and having experiences. There’s always more. There’s always a future. Why does the seeking, or the sense of lack eventually start up again? Buddhists see that everything is impermanent. However amazing, blissful, or apparently fulfilling something is, it will pass. Whatever you have you can lose. If you finally got all the money you wanted, it wouldn’t be enough because you can always have more money. You can be more successful, more famous, move loved, more spiritual, and so on. You attain the tenth level of consciousness (whatever that means) and then you want to be on level eleven. You want to get to the top! The self wants to be bigger, faster, stronger, more. Basically, we want to be special in some way – the self wants to stand out against other selves, and complete itself. It wants to be something, not nothing. We want to be certain about who we are and have a fixed and complete story about ourselves. But the nature of stories is that they can never be complete. And so the seeking goes on and on – always waiting for a permanent sense of total completion that never comes. How exhausting! I don’t think people realise how exhausted they are! We live on autopilot and we don’t question our seeking until this way of living breaks down, and we call that suffering. When everything is going your way and you’re getting everything you want – if the seeking mechanism is working for you – why would you question your reality? But what tends to happen is that it sooner or later life stops going your way! Then we find out that we are not in control of life and that we can’t have what we want. This whole seeking mechanism starts to break down and we suffer. When you are suffering you might start to ask, ‘Is this who I really am? Do I really need all this stuff I believe I need?’ So, we are all suffering in some way? Yes. Some people appear to suffer in extreme ways and others seem to suffer less, but everyone is suffering in their own way, even if they don’t realise it. Like we’ve said, ultimately life brings you to the question: ‘Who am I?’ Everyone comes to that question in their own way. Eventually you might start to ask why you’re suffering and question all these fundamental assumptions we’ve been talking about. Often people come to the message of non-duality through suffering, pain or distress. In other words, when the seeking begins to fail on some level, something else can begin to open up. What does the message of non-duality have to offer the suffering seeker? The wholeness or completeness that you are looking for is not be found in the future. The wholeness that everyone is looking for is actually already here within this present experience, within this present moment. The wholeness that you’re looking for – is what you are. It sounds like a total paradox when you try to understand it with thought and it really goes against everything that we are conditioned to believe. It’s not about understanding this with the mind, with thought – it’s about really seeing this for yourself, in your own experience. In a way, this offers nothing to the seeker – it is the experience of being a seeker in the first place, that’s the illusion. And it’s that illusion that this message exposes. If we ultimately cannot understand this message intellectually is there anything that can be done? No one can give this to you or teach it to you. You need to see it for yourself within your own present experience because that’s all there is. You won’t see it in someone else’s experience. It’s not a second-hand thing. It’s about this experience, right now. It’s not something to find in the future. The wholeness you look for is already appearing as everything that’s happening now: as these thoughts, sensations, feelings, sounds, smells. Perhaps this is the wholeness we’ve been seeking. And perhaps wholeness doesn’t look, sound, smell, feel or taste anything like your idea of wholeness – your concept of wholeness! Everyone is looking for their concepts of wholeness (or enlightenment, freedom, love) but true wholeness is not a concept. It’s what is already here prior to concepts. So again, here’s the paradox: perhaps there is only ever wholeness, and within that wholeness we go out into time and space and look for wholeness! Within Home, we’re all looking for Home. Everyone is trying to come Home, but they are already Home. They are what they seek, and do not realise it. So, the message of non-duality points to this ever-present completeness – in the midst of present experience. We are like waves on the ocean, looking for the ocean, longing to be part of it? Yes. That’s a great metaphor. You are like a wave in the ocean experiencing itself as separate from the ocean. The wave asks, ‘When and where will I find the ocean? Who can give the ocean to me?’ But the wave was always the ocean, from the very beginning, even in its seeking! It’s the ocean looking for itself. Even within the ocean’s failure to find itself it is still the ocean; every wave is one hundred per cent water. As all the authentic spiritual teachers have been telling us for hundreds and thousands of years, you are what you seek. Although ‘non-duality’ is just a word, what it points to is the possibility that you are not who you think you are. It’s the possibility that what you are is not this seeker, broken or incomplete. What you are is simply this open space of awareness (consciousness, awakeness, Being) in which absolutely everything seems to come and go, and that space is already at rest; it’s already Home. Is this open space that I am impersonal or personal? Well, it’s neither and both – unfortunately that question implies that it could be one thing or another thing. But space is not impersonal as opposed to personal. Thought creates opposites but in reality there are no opposites. When thought appears in the space, immediately there appears to be a world of opposites: up and down, light and dark, inside and outside, or impersonal and personal. All opposites depend on each other;all the pairs of opposites arise and fall together, and the open space holds all of this. The personal life story is just something that is appearing and disappearing in the open space that you are. ‘You’ appear and disappear in you! Does that mean that the space is impersonal? It’s impersonal in the sense that it holds all personal stories as they appear and disappear. But at the same time it’s not opposed to the personal, because that would be another story! The open space is not a rejection of anything. Like we said before, non-duality is not against duality; it’s the open space in which every thought, feeling and sensation is allowed to appear and disappear. It is the ocean that does not reject any waves, because it is all the waves. So it’s not really personal or impersonal – it holds all these concepts as they come and go. Anything can become a new form of seeking for the individual, a new identity. Yes exactly and if we’re not careful the ‘impersonal space’ state can become food for a new form of seeking! ‘One day I’m going to reach or become an impersonal state of pure consciousness.’ It’s another way of being special: ‘Everyone else is stuck in the personal but I’ve transcended it!’ It’s the same seeking, the same game; it’s just taken on a more subtle form. This open space is not something that the individual, the character, the seeker can attain. It’s the same seeking mechanism as: ‘I have gone beyond the self.’ Only a self would proclaim that! It’s like a wave claiming that it’s beyond the ocean. The seeker is very sneaky! The seeker cannotreach this open space for the seeker appears in this open space. Why do we need to tell any story about ourselves? Yes, and why can’t we just be the space in which all stories are allowed to come and go? Why do we need to hold on to any one of these stories? At the same time, we do not need to reject any story. Again, if you’re not careful, non-duality just become a new war -a war againstimages: ‘I’m not that image!’ But the very moment you say you’re not something you’ve definedyourself! You’re defining yourself again, and again, and again when you say ‘I’m not that! I’m not that!’ You start to see the genius of this seeking mechanism. It’s absolutely, infinitely ingenious!It wants to be something, anything: ‘Let me tell a story about myself, any story! I don’t care what it is!’ What is always open to be discovered is that what you are is not an image. It’s not any image; not even the image that you’re beyond images! Not even the image that ‘I am not an image’.You are not the things that come and go, but at the same time (and this is crucial) what you are is not separate from everything that comes and go. What you are, as the space in which everything comes and goes, isintimate with all of those things, in the same way that the ocean is inseparable from the waves. So, ultimately there are no separate waves. The ocean is appearing as the waves. The ocean is the waves. Then you can’t even distinguish between the ocean and the waves. In present experience, the waves of the ocean appear as thoughts, sensations, images, feelings, sounds – everything in present experience is simply a wave. What you are as the ocean is the waves as well! You are not the thoughts, sensations, images, but at the same time, what you are, as the open space in which all of these appear and disappear, is totally intimate with all of this. So, awareness and the contents of awareness are the same thing? Yes, awareness and all that appears in awareness are absolutely intimate! The ocean cannot reject the waves, why would it? Awareness, wholeness, oneness, or we could call it consciousness, takes form as everything that appears. Consciousness is not some blank empty slate behind everything. That’s how the mind interprets it. The mind interprets these words asthings. Consciousness is not a thing – it is everything that appears. This is why you cannot talk about non-duality! You cannot talk about intimacy. Rooted in that knowing that this is impossible to put into words, we are still free to play with words. We know we cannot use words to capture non-duality; we’re just using them as pointers. We are pointing to something that ultimately cannot be understood by the mind, it cannot be captured. Every wave that appears contains the ocean. That which we are pointing to is within every experience; whether you are in the office or sitting on the meditation cushion, walking in a supermarket or attending a non-duality lecture. Whether there is extreme pain, or intense sadness, that is still the ocean. It is the ocean appearing as pain, the ocean appearing as sadness. Oneness is not limited to a particular experience. It expresses itself as all experience. So, the invitation is to come back to present experience, and rediscover the ocean, and that invitation is always there, in every experience, in this experience. This present experience is the ocean that you have always been seeking without realising it. What is actually happening right now? What is appearing in this present experience? I don’t mean the story of what’s happening to you, I don’t mean what do you think is happening; I’m saying look at what is actually happening now. Come back to the present thoughts, sensations and feelings and rediscover who you really are in the midst of these waves of experience. What you truly are must be there within every experience, otherwise it can’t be who you really are. If it’s something that comes and goes, it can’t be who you really are. Who you really are, as the ocean, does not come and go. Where does suffering come into this? If who we really are is complete why do we suffer? Suffering is forgetting who you really are. We suffer when we don’t see this completeness – this intimacy – within the present experience. When we don’t see that every wave that’s presently appearing is part of the ocean and therefore allowed in the ocean, we start trying to escape this moment to attempt to reach the next moment. We experience ourselves as not whole or somehow broken so we attempt to move away from this moment. In truth, that movement is not actually possible but we try anyway because that’s how we are programmed. We try to move away from this moment to get to the next moment, to tomorrow or next year or to ten years time. We start to use time to achieve this. This is the origin of suffering. We try to escape what’s happening now. We try to run away from aspects of our present experience. We try to escape these thoughts, sensations and feelings and get to a future place where things will be better. That’s the movement of suffering. Within suffering you’ll always find seeking. Seeking is the basic mechanism behind all of our suffering. We label certain elements of experience ‘bad’ or ‘negative’ or ‘dark’ or ‘dangerous’ or ‘unhealthy’ and that’s because of our conditioning. We have been conditioned to label things as ‘fear’, ‘sadness’, ‘anger’, and do on, and to judge these as negative, or not-okay, or bad, or sinful – basically as expressions of incompleteness, as threats to completeness. Because we don’t seethe completeness in these waves, because we can’t find the ocean within these so-called ‘negative’ waves, we try to escape them and that movement ‘away from’ creates the suffering. Then we create stories and identities around this suffering: ‘Oh, I’m a victim of my suffering. I’m a victim of fear and pain! Why is this happening to me? How can I escape this experience?‘ Suffering is a great teacher. Maybe it’s the best teacher but we often don’t see that, because we don’t realise what suffering really is. Normally, we do all sorts of things to avoid, deny and numb our suffering. We take medication, drink alcohol or try to distract ourselves. Of course, there’s ultimately nothing with doing these things either! But suffering is always an opportunity; it’s an invitation to discover the completeness in what you are running away from. Which aspects of your experience right now are not okay? Which waves (thoughts, sensations, and feelings) of the ocean are being rejected right now? Which waves are not being seen as part of the ocean? Basically, what are you at war with? This is always the question that suffering leads you to. Within the experience of suffering you’ll always find seeking. You can believe as much as you like that you’re not seeking, or that you are free from the self, but whenever there’s suffering there’s seeking. It’s the story of ‘me’ looking for something, escaping something; it’s the story of incompleteness or of feeling that there’s something wrong with you. So, the invitation – not a demand – is to take a look at what you are at war with right now. What’s the story? What are the images you are trying to hold up? What are you defending? What are you rejecting? What are you running away from? Look a little deeper. Perhaps these images of yourself are not who you really are. Maybe these stories don’t define you. We suffer when we try to hold up images of ourselves – ‘I’m strong, I’m enlightened, I’m a success, I’m loving, I’m kind, I’m happy’ – which conflict with life as it is. And in the end, all images conflict with life as it is – no image can match this moment. This moment is the fire that burns up all images. In this moment there could be pain, sadness, fear –any image that says that what’s appearing shouldn’t be appearing, that you should be happy, or free from pain, is a false image. Is this about cultivating more presence? What I’d say is forget about trying to become more present; that can just be another form of seeking. It’s a beautiful idea, but it’s still the same seeking mechanism. ‘One day I’ll be present!’Ultimately, you cannot become more present; for you are presence itself. Like the word ‘non-duality’, presence is just another pointer to life as it is. It’s another pointer back to who you really are. There is already presence and there is only presence. Everything is already appearing inpresence. There is only this moment. The past and the future happen now; they appear in this presence, asthis presence. There are memories about the past and thoughts about the future appearing in this presence. It all happens now. Every sound is a present sound; you’ve never heard a sound that wasn’t now. You’ve never heard a sound in the past and you don’t hear a sound in the future! You’ve never smelled anything that wasn’t smelled now. Ultimately, you’ve never seen anything that isn’t seen now. It’s all present! So, it’s not really about a separate entity becoming more present; it’s about rediscovering presence here and now. Presence could just be another word for consciousness, awareness or Being; pick your favourite word! What you are is presence itself, so you cannot become ‘more’ present, just as the wave cannot become more or less ‘ocean’ than it already is. And that’s always there to be discovered. Life is the constant invitation to discover this in the midst of present experience. Life is the constant invitation to discover who you really are in this moment. Who discovers this? Well, who asks that question! Source: https://www.lifewithoutacentre.com/writings/what-is-nonduality/ I really liked this interview. It's like a neat summary of non-duality in an everyday language.

Is this identification to the story necessary? There is a lot of information in my head. Someone could ask me “where did you go to school?” and “where did your sister ho to school?”. The information to answer both questions is available, one needn’t identify with either story. Another way to look at is - humans interact through stories. We play characters through story telling. It’s part of human life. Yet we don’t need to be identified with my story. These days, I’m not that interested in telling “my story”. Sometimes sharing experiences is fun, other times it practical. Yet I see people go on and on about their personal stories. It can be fun in some contexts, yet can get tiresome and boring. I generally prefer discussions at an impersonal level and to just be engaged with what is actually happening now.

@Leo Gura I think this may be a good example of the dynamics you describe. Below is a clip from a senate confirmation hearing of a Raytheon defense contractor lobbyist for the position of secretary of defense. Elizabeth Warren described how the current structure allows for potential conflicts of interest since a loophole would allow the secretary to personally engage with Raytheon while secretary of defense. Warren asks if the potential secretary would be willing to distance himself from Raytheon defense contracting for a period of time related to his position as a defense secretary (as other secretaries have been contractually required to do). To me, the basic essence came across as impersonal principles of ethics and conflict of interest. Yet the republicans in the hearing were strongly reactionary and personalized it - saying that this nominee is a man of integrity and that Warren is rude by calling him dishonest. The chairman even apologized for the terrible treatment he received from Warren. To me, this seems like a collective ego at play and this type of personification can be a distraction from the underlying issue that we need structural frameworks to discourage conflict of interest. Erosion of that framework allows for corruption and dysfunctional government.

Thanks for your impressions. I can now see the dynamics with better clarity. In particular, I used way too much personification. Statements like “your statement of ‘abc’ shows you have a deficiency in ’xyz’” creates personality dynamics. Impersonal statements such as “the statement ‘abc’ does not include the relative nature of ’xyz’” are much better. Not only does it reduce personifying the other person, it reduces the personification of a “me”. As soon as someone says “you”, that immediately creates a “me” (since there is no “you” without a “me” relative to “you”). Stating “you have a deficiency” is inherently also saying “I don’t have this deficiency and I am able to judge that you have the deficiency”. This adds in all sorts of underlying personality dynamics that alter the energetics and are a distraction. A core component of yellow is that these types of personality dynamics are transcended and ideas are appearing without personal ownership and identification. . . One of the most challenging aspects is not drifting into a “I am right, you are wrong dynamic” or that in someway I am better/more developed than you. I also like your point about self reflection - it’s much better than self defense posture. Also, I went into a weird orange/yellow hybrid state in which I tried to establish orange level credibility and grounding, yet used yellow level abstraction that would appear highly ambiguous, irrational and irrelevant from an orange perspective. . . I like your comment that the specific topic of race was as relevant as saturns moons. . .

I occasionally get requests to describe yellow level thinking. I haven’t engaged in this realm much the last couple months, since I have time off from academics. Yet thus situation is an excellent example for those wanting to transition from tier1 to tier2 yellow and are curious what yellow is like. Before I post more thoughts, I want to stress that this is not personal. A core component of tier2 is impersonal dialog of ideas in which there is no “owner” of the ideas. This allows for a beautiful fluidity, merging and evolution as well as curiosity, awe and excitement. Yellow level explorations are much more enjoyable, rewarding and enriching than blue/orange level debates. As a teacher and researcher in genetics, I can say with certainty that you have gaps in your understanding of genetics. I have tried to reach out from a yellow level. It is clear there is disinterest, unwillingness and inability to recognize and utilize yellow level modes. As well, there are attachments to preconceived ideas and personal identification to such ideas. Being confined to blue/orange modes significantly restricts what I can convey to you. For example, I have said over and over that I am not saying what you write is 100% false. Rather, there are partial truths relative to context in what you write, yet due to extrapolation and your contextualization have become distorted. A yellow level thinker does not have personal attachments and is not defensive of an idea that is “mine”. As well, yellow understands “partial truths” and can see how statements can be relatively true or false depending on context. Also, yellow has an unattached openness and curiosity to view things from multiple levels and form integrated holistic views. Your responses to me indicate a strong contraction within blue/orange modes of thinking. This could be a great opportunity to evolve consciousness, yet there is strong resistance. For example, you believe that your ideas are “true or false” and insist that I show you how your ideas are false. I’ve said several times that the main block to learning here is a binary true vs false mentality. A deeper level of understanding would involve nuances and an ability to see relative contexts. When I stated that from a genetics perspective, the statement “race doesn’t exist” is partially true depending on context, you responded in a strongly defensive posture in which you posted articles to support a personal contextualization that you are unconsciously attached to as being universally true based on objective facts (hallmarks of blue/orange thinking). If there one thing I would encourage to open, is the true vs false mentality. This is a blue level mode of thinking which I think is a primary chain restricting expansion in this situation.

@Pouya Yes, Absolute/God's love is impersonal, unbiased, liberating, unconditional, and accepting of all. Only this kind of love can heal the world

Taoist Resources If you need a guide to Taoism, then first start with these three books: Tao Te Ching Chuang Tzu A Personal Tao I recommend starting with A Personal Tao, as it’s specifically written with a modern perspective to help people discover their nature. Due to the nature of Taoist writings, you can easily read all three at the same time and intermix the ideas. If you desire a person as a guide, you can find a Taoist temple, Zen Dojo or local sage to chat with occasionally. Taoism’s deepest truths must come from the inside, but at times it’s helpful to get an outside perspective to see your nature. If you are in the Oakland area of California, I highly recommend The Taoist Center. Dr. Alex Feng is an incredibly open and sincere Taoist Master. I also offer classes. If you cannot find a local resource, then start keeping a journal and over time review it. A journal becomes a nice mirror to reflect upon our nature as we move through life. Casey teaches Taoism with contemporary language. Julie teaches shamanic meditation and movement exercises. Together we offer a unique retreat that reveals your essence and helps you be whole in life. Our Taoist retreats are one on one and taught in a traditional Taoist manner of a teacher directly to a student. History of Taoism Most sites will teach you the terms and history of Taoism. That might be nice for academics: but it does nothing for teaching you how to live as a Taoist. Taoism is about embracing life in the now and not in being stuck in history or terms. Originally Taoism can be considered to be a shamanic practice. However, Taoism is so old; the complete history of Taoism cannot be traced through written records. Taoism is very much a tradition that is transmitted verbally from master to student over the generations. Because of this, some of the shamanic roots of Taoism still survive today. Taoism historically is also a very flexible practice. Taoism is a practice of change, and it always changes to meet the needs of the times. Even as you read this, Taoism is evolving to keep pace with modern culture. Constant evolution is one reason Taoism has survived for so long; it always adapts with the time while holding onto a few key concepts to keep the practice true to the Tao. An early surviving text to describe the Tao is the Tao Te Ching, written by Lao-Tzu (The old master). The Tao Te Ching is a series of poems that can be considered to be a work of philosophy, a treatise on how to run a government, a how-to book for achieving a balanced life, or a sage’s reflection of humanity and the universe. It is known to have been written over 2400 years ago, but not much else is retained about the origins. Many fun stories abound about these origins; however, these are just that, stories. What is important is that the Tao Te Ching and its poetry survive, having had an impact on the course of human events over the past 2400 years. It’s an interesting book, worth skimming. I say “skim” because it is written in a light-hearted manner. If a reader stares too hard or takes the Tao Te Ching too literally, the multiple intentions within the poetry will be lost. Many many stories and tales exist about the History of Taoism. Some of these stories could be true, and some could be fables. As a Taoist, the point is to learn from the mixing of our reactions to the tales. Veracity is best left to history; time will always change “truth” for each generation. Tao and Chinese Culture Tao is a word. It translates roughly as the way. When as a Taoist we talk about the Tao, we are talking about the central aspect of our practice. However, it’s important to keep in mind, as a word, the word Tao is used for a lot more than just Taoism. Every religion has its way. Every person has their way. Every practice has their way. There is a Tao for everything. This doesn’t directly mean it’s the same Tao as what we speak about in Taoism. While from a Taoist viewpoint it’s all the same, from a human literary perspective it’s not. So it’s important to always take the word Tao within the context of the statement being made. For instance: a Confucian will use the term Tao to cover how they believe and act. On paper, the Tao of Confucianism is quite a bit different than the Tao of Taoism. A Confucian embraces order while a Taoist will dance to chaos. The Tao that a Confucian teaches is a rigid logical complex system of behavior. The Tao of Taoism is freedom to embrace all the whimsy of life. The same Tao both times: in the using the Tao to refer to a way of life, but the actual results, the teachings practiced are quite a bit different. A path is a path, but not everyone on that path will experience it in the same way. Of course, to a Taoist, all paths do lead to the same place :). It’s just the journey might seem longer to some than others. So please keep this in mind if you see the word Tao being used in a slightly different context than what you were expecting. Advanced Taoism: Tao and God This last section is for the brave of heart, for those wanting a few more advanced answers. First and foremost: Taoism respects the concept of God. Initially one might think a discussion of God would be an impersonal topic. It isn’t. Each person has a very deep and connected relationship in what they view God may or may not be. A person’s view of God is a statement and reflection of the way a person also views their own life. As a result, when discussing differences in God, it’s best to respect it as also being a highly personal and sensitive topic. When exploring Taoism, eventually a person compares the terms, God and Tao. I would suggest first reading this chapter of A Personal Tao on Religion. From this chapter: Taoism offers the option to skip the comparison. This question is irrelevant. God could or could not exist, and either state doesn’t change the way we lead our lives. Our lives are expressions of action between ourselves and the universe. To respect our surrounding environment is a furthering of respect to ourselves. This manner of living doesn’t change regardless of the nature of God or the Tao. However, most people insist upon definition and seeking deeper answers. So let’s expand upon God and Tao. God as a term is often “defined” as being an ultimate creator or universal power. The various aspects of God have been fought over as long as humans have written and used words. All definitions are based on perception. From a Taoist perspective: human-based definitions are both right and wrong: as all meanings are relative to humanity’s state of mind. A Taoist stays out of arguments of definition. It’s not productive arguing over something relative to each person. Instead, Taoism accepts each person’s view of God as being personal. A Taoist doesn’t think the Tao is before, after or is even equal to God. The Tao is a concept to describe something that goes beyond our capability to define. Taoism leaves the Tao undefined, and a Taoist happily explores the wonder that opens up as a result. All Taoist’s will agree: The Tao is indefinable… Something which is indefinable: is outside of human definition by default. However, we can still accept it as indefinable. The Tao by being indefinable removes all issues of perception in its definition since perception cannot directly reveal the Tao which is undefined. It’s just simply and utterly is: undefined! Tao and God merge towards the same concept when the definition of God is indefinable. Once a person accepts the definition of the Tao as being indefinable, that person by definition has to leave it as undefined. Once you place any definition over such a term, it takes a person further away from the whole concept of the Tao. In some of the Taoist religions, Taoism does have gods, but Taoist gods typically are very tangible beings. They walk beside us, share tea with us, laugh, play and can alter reality. A Taoist god represents an enlightened immortal that helps other conscious beings work towards grace. In Taoism, gods are shown as guides and inspiration towards how to find enlightenment. (Please keep in mind: this paragraph is an extreme simplification of how Taoism views Gods.) We do say in Taoism: We are of the Tao, or God is the Tao. Taoist’s say this because we also are undefined. We only define ourselves as we live. While living, we are still moving through life, a large part of our nature is indefinable until the end of Living. As a result: we are of the Tao. A Taoist can see the Tao within everything, a very delicate logical truth and often confuses non-Taoists. We know the Tao by witnessing our own life, and that is why I wrote A Personal Tao. We have just come full circle in the Tao’s definition. The Tao is indefinable, and yet we are complete with the Tao. A Taoist knows to leave the Tao as is, to grasp the Tao within the chase of living fully. It’s a wonderful contradiction to embrace, and it does completely full-fill one’s life within that acceptance. For a Taoist, this is all about living and exploring our possibilities, for we each are undefined and of the Tao. Trying to define ourselves just limits one’s nature and what can be done. So a Taoist instead embraces the Tao, to discover and open up all possibilities instead. From here each person is free to draw their conclusions. Conclusions will always shift to the winds of perception. If this confuses you, then please go back and repeat these three steps: Don’t concentrate on the definition of the Tao (this will come later naturally) Understand what Taoism is: Taoism is more than just a “philosophy” or a “religion”. Taoism should be understood as being: A system of belief, attitudes, and practices set towards the service and living to a person’s nature. The path of understanding the Tao is simply accepting you. Live life and discover who you are. Your nature is ever changing and is always the same. Don’t try to resolve the various contradictions in life, instead learn acceptance of your nature. Remember: Taoism teaches a person to live in their heart. Sincerely Casey ??????Taken from web sources