Am I stage yellow spiral dynamics if I can't sympathize with lower levels?

[playdoh]

I've watched all of Leo's spiral Dynamics videos a few times and I'm pretty certain I'm at stage level yellow. I immediately get to the core of a problem and nothing seems black or white to me. Whenever someone asks me a question it's hard for me to come up with a single definitive answer. I'm ALWAYS reading and learning, I'm like a sponge absorbing everything. I remember being at stage green in about 2014. I was all about welfare to help the disadvantage, democracy (strongly advocated freedom for all; vs a socialist regime for example), and remember I was really into world politics (again really against socialistic regimes). I remember when I moved into yellow. It was 2017/2018, 2017 I spent time smoking a lot of pot and really went inside, became really introspective. Got super into Joe rogan podcasts, started reading books like 1984, and my overall research and reading intensified by 10. Then I remember one day in November I was reading some self help book and made a huge discovery about myself, that was a massive blow to my ego, I remember feeling a physical manifestation like a ton of bricks hitting me. The next day I woke up and wasn't the same, I felt super ungrounded, everything seemed ambiguous to me (can you explain what happened to me?). Come January 2018 I watched Jim Carrey in an interview saying he really wasn't there which led me to watching Leo's brain doesn't exist video and enlightenment video, joining the actualized forum, and soon after started watching Eckhart Tolle's videos on youtube and read the Power of Now and thus started the spiritual path, followed by an increase in my daily meditation practice, 10 day silent meditation retreat, read Osho's book of secrets, 6 Ayahuasca ceremonies, 3 San Pedro ceremonies, started yoga again, and a bunch of mystical experiences. Somewhere along the line I became a master of getting right to the heart of things, seeing the big picture and nothing being black and white to me anymore, I see an never ending number of possibilities to any situation or problem; and once I make up my mind, I'll still be swaying back and forth between the alternatives. Anyways, I think that's around the time when I turned stage yellow. HOWEVER, One of the things Leo says in his videos about stage yellow is that you understand all the stages below you. I can't say this is true for me. I'm living in a third world country right now where there is a lot of deep unconsciousness. I'm always cringing at what I hear  people say and do, people are so reactive, judgemental, closed minded, and a lot of aggression in the men for example (mind you this is coming from a guy who used to be pretty hot headed himself, although much better my temper still gets the best of me sometimes). So in the end I am judging them. Does this make me not stage yellow? What can I do to not be like this? I don't feel good when I get into this constant state of judging and critiquing people's level of unconsciousness. Thanks. 

Edited April 10, 2019 by playdoh
Cuzzo

[Forestluv]

@playdoh A few thoughts and keys about Yellow:

1. The transition to Tier2 has a "trans-personal" quality to it. There is far less attachment and identification to thoughts, ideas and beliefs. It's not so much "my ideas" or "my beliefs". It's just ideas floating around without ownership. This opens up major doors to openness, curiosity, exploration and discovery. Debates become less frequent and exploration of ideas become more common. 

2. Once entering Yellow, a mind generally starts to recognize and resonate with Yellow in others. There is an attraction to the open-mindedness, ease, flow, curiosity, integration etc. of Yellow level thinkers. For me, I used to be attracted to thinkers like Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris. Then they stopped appealing to me and I became more interested in Yellow-level thinkers. I also started watching Joe Rogan. Not for Joe Rogan, but for his Yellow level guests.

3. Coming up with your own Yellow-level ideas is more advanced. Seeing connections and creating integrated holistic models oneself is more difficult than seeing it in others and having yellow-level conversations with others. 

4. There are different lines of development. For example, there are emotional, spiritual and intellectual lines of development. It's common for people to be more advanced on one line of development. For example, you might be Yellow intellectually, yet still Orange or Green emotionally. That's how it went for me. Emotionally, I didn't want to leave Green. I was cool with Yellow on an intellectual level, yet not an emotional level.

5. Another hallmark of tier1 stages is that each stage thinks their way is best and other stages are the problem. Part of Yellow-level is a deeper understanding of relativity and the relativity of perspectives. This Yellow level thinking gets coupled to the Yellow level emotional line and a new relationship with tier1 stages emerges.

My sense from your post is that there are a lot of Yellow-level qualities. It's a small sample, yet my intuition tells me that the judgement arising is mostly along the emotional line. Notice how you wrote that you are constantly cringing and referenced anger issues. You associated the judgement to emotions - not to an intellectual rationale. This may indicate that you are further along on the intellectual and spiritual lines of development and not as far developed along the emotional and empathetic lines of development. Yet that is just my intuitive sense. If it resonates with you, great - go with it. If it doesn't resonate with you, ditch it 

[Leo Gura]

@Serotoninluv Great points!

@playdoh Most people are more advanced cognitively than emotionally. Cognitive development tends to be a lot easier than emotional development. Reading books and watching videos is not enough to develop emotionally.

[Joseph Maynor]

Yellow does not need to sympathize with lower levels.  Nobody is forcing you to love everybody in this work.  First of all, if you’re forcing yourself to love everybody that's a white-knuckle clinging of the Ego-Mind.  Stop trying to love everybody or thinking you have to love everybody.  That’s a belief and a goal that the Ego-Mind is clinging to.

Edited April 11, 2019 by Joseph Maynor

[DrewNows]

36 minutes ago, Joseph Maynor said:

Yellow does not need to sympathize with lower levels.  Nobody is forcing you to love everybody in this work.  First of all, if you’re forcing yourself to love everybody that a white-knuckle clinging of the Ego-Mind.  Stop trying to live everybody or thinking you have to love everybody.  That is a belief and goal that the Ego-Mind is clinging to.

Good point here. It isn't about taking a position of all loving either but when it becomes clear the reactions to others is dragging us into unconscious behavior and causing pain, it is time to look into that dynamic to gain clarity into our own identification (raising emotional intelligence) 

[Ar_Senses]

@Leo Gura @Serotoninluv Very interesting! How can I understand deeper what and how Yellow emotional operation system works?

How one can examine his emotional stage of development? I mean, I thought that Green and Orange are feeling the same emotions but for different reasons.

Of course, we can distinguish, for example, Green from others by presence of such emotions like empathy and love to himself, but at the same time I think Orange also can feel the same but for another reasons and through another “medium”. While Green can hug and cry with you, Orange will pitch you to his boss or take you to the bar. 

Is what you talking about when saying “emotional development” are differences in the ways of expression?

Or you talking about emotional awareness and understanding of the most suitable ways of expressing them?

Edited April 10, 2019 by Ar_Senses

[Forestluv]

1 hour ago, Ar_Senses said:

@Leo Gura @Serotoninluv Very interesting! How can I understand deeper what and how Yellow feels?

How one can examine his emotional stage of development? I mean, I thought that Green and Orange are feeling the same emotions but for different reasons.

Of course, we can distinguish, for example, Green from others by presence of such emotions like empathy and love to himself, but at the same time I think Orange also can feel the same but for another reason and through another “medium”. While Green can hug and cry with you, Orange will pitch you to his boss or take you to the bar. 

I understand emotions deeper by observing and experiencing emotions deeply. . . without the analysis and thought stories. Without trying to figure emotions out or conceptualize them.  If I read your post from the emotional line, it reads very differently than if I read it along the intellectual line. 

To understand emotions deeper and examine my development along the emotional line, I let go of the thought stories and analysis. I sit, observe and experience emotions. I also go and sit with other people and we experience emotions together - without trying to figure them out. Nonverbal insights arise. This is a deeper understanding than the verbal/conceptual intellect. I also started listening to spiritual teachers that are heart-centered - that speak deeply from the heart, not the intellect. As well, microdosing LSD helps. 

Ime, it's fine to intellectually think and conceptualize emotions, empathy, intuition etc. - yet that is the intellectual line of development. To evolve along the emotional line, I've got to put the intellectual instrument down and allow the emotional instrument to play it's tune without interference from the intellect. 

I can get a good sense of person’s stage of emotional development by how it feels. No thoughts are necessary. Just body wisdom. I can “listen” to a person along the emotional line without following what they are saying intellectually. And I can communicate fine, as long as they are not immersed in intellect and concepts.

[Leo Gura]

44 minutes ago, Ar_Senses said:

@Leo Gura @Serotoninluv Very interesting! How can I understand deeper what and how Yellow emotional operation system works?

How one can examine his emotional stage of development? I mean, I thought that Green and Orange are feeling the same emotions but for different reasons.

Of course, we can distinguish, for example, Green from others by presence of such emotions like empathy and love to himself, but at the same time I think Orange also can feel the same but for another reasons and through another “medium”. While Green can hug and cry with you, Orange will pitch you to his boss or take you to the bar. 

Is what you talking about when saying “emotional development” are differences in the ways of expression?

Or you talking about emotional awareness and understanding of the most suitable ways of expressing them?

It's not that Orange or even Red can't feel love or empathy. They can. The issue is the level of sophistication these emotions, the level of self-awareness, their depth, and their extent.

For example, Red and Orange will feel love, but that love will be very limited -- their circle of concern does not extend very far. It only applies to their family, close friends, and their nation. And even so, selfishness will limit that love even within family. Red and Orange will also treat love as "merely an emotion". Their love will not have an existential aspect. Their love will not be universal. They will not understand how deep love goes or the power of love. They will deny that love is an Absolute or a property of the universe. They will value money and sex over love. They will mistake love with sexual desire or material possession. They will be so stuck in their left-brain that they will think that logic is superior to love. Their hearts will be closed. They will not have a "Teotlized heart". Whereas a Green person will understand the importance of love more. The Green person has some opening of the heart. But Green still does not comprehend love as an Absolute. Green still does not understand what love is. Green's love is still not fully universal. Green loves to hate Blue & Orange. Whereas at Turquoise love becomes an Absolute -- finally, it becomes totally universal. Finally the constant judgment and criticism and hatred are purified in the light of consciousness. Love is no longer something you do, it's something you ARE. Now you have a Teotlized heart which embraces all of Creation. At this point, your love is so great you are incapable of seeing evil, enemies, or wrongdoing. All sense of "other" starts to disappear. Everywhere you look you only see your Self, you only see Goodness, you only see Love. Your love becomes not about having or receiving but about giving. You love while simultaneously being detached from the objects of your love. Your capacity to love increases exponentially and the depth of your love goes through the roof. Your love becomes unconstrained by ego.

This is not just about feeling an emotion. This is about changing your entire attitude towards and understanding of reality. As you understand reality deeper (at higher Spiral stages) your emotions will change. How you see the world affects what your emotions are doing because emotions reflect your needs and values. As you move up the Spiral your needs and values change.

Practicing unconditional love is a great way to develop emotionally no matter what stage of the Spiral you're at. You can always love a lot more, a lot deeper. So when it doubt, love more! This one approach can transform your whole life.

Emotional development is probably the most important of all developmental lines. Because emotions dictate your whole life. Emotions are more powerful than cognition. Which is why all advertising, marketing, and politics is played at the level of emotion. To get someone to do something you must trigger them emotionally. Logic is cheap.

[Joseph Maynor]

2 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

@playdoh Most people are more advanced cognitively than emotionally. Cognitive development tends to be a lot easier than emotional development. Reading books and watching videos is not enough to develop emotionally.

I agree with this 100%.

Edited April 11, 2019 by Joseph Maynor

[Ar_Senses]

@Leo Gura «Whereas at Turquoise love becomes an Absolute -- finally it is totally universal. Finally the constant judgment and criticism and hatred are purified in the light of consciousness. Love is no longer something you do, it's something you ARE. Now you have a Teotlized heart which embraces the entire Kosmos.»

Oh man, you’re speaking about the Universal Love so much but Im finding it’s not easy to grasp it even a little bit. It’s strange that when you speak about Formlessness, Godhead and why all forms are nothing but God I can even catch a feeling of it, grasp it in the direct experience through observing trees, light, snow and animals, experience a tiny parts of it via psychedelics or contemplation.

But when you talking about Absolute Love I just can’t get it, but I wish I can. It’s like a word from very foreign language for my mind and body. It’s hard to reconnect it with the direct experience.

Can you please share some clues on it? If I’m 24 y.o. orange/GREEN self help junkie, what can help me to feel even 0,0000000000000001 of Absolute Love? It seems to me that than I’ll be able to understand deeper the importance and significance of the statement “Truth = Love”.

I’ve remembered that when I’m understanding something like why Ego always need to be special or that anything is just complex of differences and similarities, or that suffering - is a great tool for compassion and development etc I feel very pleasant, releasing, freeing feeling. I love when I really understand something. When it’s happens It’s a greatest feeling that I know. Can it be a clue to the Absolute Love?

Already have watched video on what is Love two times. 

Edited April 11, 2019 by Ar_Senses

[cetus]

@Leo Gura Lots of nuggets in those pointers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Leo Gura]

24 minutes ago, Ar_Senses said:

But when you talking about Absolute Love I just can’t get it, but I wish I can. It’s like a word from very foreign language for my mind and body. It’s hard to reconnect it with the direct experience.

That's right, you lack a reference experience for what the label "Absolute Love" is pointing to.

That is okay. I only discovered this reference experience a few years ago at around age 31.

It cannot be gotten in your current state of consciousness. You need a radical change in state. Psychedelics are your best bet.

Next time you trip, set your intention to realize what Absolute Love is. At the beginning of your trip tell yourself, "Okay, now show me Absolute Love! What is Love? I am ready to know." If you set a firm intention and you really want to know, it will be shown to you. Mushrooms, LSD, DMT, 5-MeO, 2C-B, MDMA, etc can all show you this love. But you may have to purify yourself first before it is shown to you. You must be ready to surrender the ego to see it, since it is totally selfless.

If you really want to know, it will be shown to you. No doubt about it. It's not a matter of random luck. So keep your intention strong. Put your heart into it.

It sounds to me that you're close to realizing it. A few more deep trips might do the trick.

[Ar_Senses]

@Leo Gura Got it! Thanks

[cetus]

This is Dalai Lama level

[Aeris]

1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

It's not that Orange or even Red can't feel love or empathy. They can. The issue is the level of sophistication these emotions, the level of self-awareness, their depth, and their extent.

For example, Red and Orange will feel love, but that love will be very limited -- their circle of concern does not extend very far. It only applies to their family, close friends, and their nation. And even so, selfishness will limit that love even within family. Red and Orange will also treat love as "merely an emotion". Their love will not have an existential aspect. Their love will not be universal. They will not understand how deep love goes or the power of love. They will deny that love is an Absolute or a property of the universe. They will value money and sex over love. They will mistake love with sexual desire or material possession. They will be so stuck in their left-brain that they will think that logic is superior to love. Their hearts will be closed. They will not have a "Teotlized heart". Whereas a Green person will understand the importance of love more. The Green person has some opening of the heart. But Green still does not comprehend love as an Absolute. Green still does not understand what love is. Green's love is still not fully universal. Green loves to hate Blue & Orange. Whereas at Turquoise love becomes an Absolute -- finally, it becomes totally universal. Finally the constant judgment and criticism and hatred are purified in the light of consciousness. Love is no longer something you do, it's something you ARE. Now you have a Teotlized heart which embraces all of Creation. At this point, your love is so great you are incapable of seeing evil, enemies, or wrongdoing. All sense of "other" starts to disappear. Everywhere you look you only see your Self, you only see Goodness, you only see Love. Your love becomes not about having or receiving but about giving. You love while simultaneously being detached from the objects of your love. Your capacity to love increases exponentially and the depth of your love goes through the roof. Your love becomes unconstrained by ego.

This is not just about feeling an emotion. This is about changing your entire attitude towards and understanding of reality. As you understand reality deeper (at higher Spiral stages) your emotions will change. How you see the world affects what your emotions are doing because emotions reflect your needs and values. As you move up the Spiral your needs and values change.

Practicing unconditional love is a great way to develop emotionally no matter what stage of the Spiral you're at. You can always love a lot more, a lot deeper. So when it doubt, love more! This one approach can transform your whole life.

Emotional development is probably the most important of all developmental lines. Because emotions dictate your whole life. Emotions are more powerful than cognition. Which is why all advertising, marketing, and politics is played at the level of emotion. To get someone to do something you must trigger them emotionally. Logic is cheap.

woaw thanks leo, your answer looks more gold than before, it's long talk but very art modulated .

& serotoninluv, great as always.

 

experience is key, or you read a lot of pov, or you get self experience with total open mindedness to new experiences/new people.
=

Edited April 11, 2019 by Aeris

[Forestluv]

[now is forever]

isn’t it cute, it’s so cute.

Edited April 11, 2019 by now is forever

[Charlotte]

 

6 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

So when it doubt, love more!

This is huge ?

[Aeris]

9 hours ago, Ar_Senses said:

@Leo Gura «Whereas at Turquoise love becomes an Absolute -- finally it is totally universal. Finally the constant judgment and criticism and hatred are purified in the light of consciousness. Love is no longer something you do, it's something you ARE. Now you have a Teotlized heart which embraces the entire Kosmos.»

Oh man, you’re speaking about the Universal Love so much but Im finding it’s not easy to grasp it even a little bit. It’s strange that when you speak about Formlessness, Godhead and why all forms are nothing but God I can even catch a feeling of it, grasp it in the direct experience through observing trees, light, snow and animals, experience a tiny parts of it via psychedelics or contemplation.

But when you talking about Absolute Love I just can’t get it, but I wish I can. It’s like a word from very foreign language for my mind and body. It’s hard to reconnect it with the direct experience.

Can you please share some clues on it? If I’m 24 y.o. orange/GREEN self help junkie, what can help me to feel even 0,0000000000000001 of Absolute Love? It seems to me that than I’ll be able to understand deeper the importance and significance of the statement “Truth = Love”.

I’ve remembered that when I’m understanding something like why Ego always need to be special or that anything is just complex of differences and similarities, or that suffering - is a great tool for compassion and development etc I feel very pleasant, releasing, freeing feeling. I love when I really understand something. When it’s happens It’s a greatest feeling that I know. Can it be a clue to the Absolute Love?

Already have watched video on what is Love two times. 

I didn't watch the video of leo on teotl, but I believe it's the same "art cosmic love" than "god", means you kiss the whole creation and understand the self upgrading process, and so don't deny the art for what it is, an art form, life is art. Why would you hate a painting for "being itself" ?

[ValiantSalvatore]

@Serotoninluv in integral transformation (audiobook) ken wilber mentions exercise opens up the emotional line. 

Incase this is not known.. 

For whatever biochemical reasons.