Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The Two Energetic Poles of the Universe

Dear _____,

In response to your question of how I view the ideal romantic partnership, please find my response below.

Forgive me for re-articulating that knowledge in which you are already drenched.


The Macrocosmic Perspective:



As you know, duality is a constant flux, an oscillation between two primary poles of energy.

(Energy 1)
Instinic Qualtiy = Its nature is Freedom
Deepst Gift = To offer its partner Fullness

The first energy wants nothing more than radical liberation from restraint. It is boundless in its autonomy, potential, and desire to manifest; exploding new ideas, consciousness, opportunity, truth, goodness, integrity, and beauty into the world. This is the dynamic movement of the evolutionary impulse. In its most healthy and pure form, this energy offers its deepest gift of total fullness as a result of its radical freedom. This energy is fed, nourished, and catalyzed in partnership with complementary energy of support, love, and fullness. The feeder/comlplemtnary energy must give support freely, without expectation or any form of restraint.

(Energy 2)

Instinic Qualtiy = Its nature is Fullness
Deepst Gift = To offer its partner Freedom

The second energy in the universe wants nothing more than to let go completely into the spaciousness of existence. A boundless ocean of love-awareness; Infinite in expanse; relentless in its capacity for care, communion, concern, embrace, and radical inclusively. When it is pure and because of the fact that it is already full, this pole offers total freedom as its deepest gift. When in its healthy form, this second pole surrenders as infinite stillness. It is nourished, feeds, and is catalyzed by partnering with an energy that has %100 conviction and a determination of purpose and direction. The feeder (partner) energy must have complete integrity, autonomy, and must offer itself with so much honesty and transparency that it is deserving of complete and total trust.


The Microcosmic Perspective:

In addition to the more broad macrocosmic scale described above, both of these primary energies also manifest microcosmicly in relationships between two humans.

Most obviously we see these dynamics in our romantic encounters. The ideal relationship would match the descriptions above. One partner consciously taking a particular polarity of energy and his or her partner taking the opposite pole. Another alternative, would be to be in a relationship in which each partner spontaneously feels into the context and situation and then selects the appropriate pole -- easefully gliding between one perspective and the other. For maximum efficiently, evolvability and progress in the universe -- in other words to be aligned with evolutionary principles -- each partner must play the balancing role to its fullest manifestation.

This means that while one partner offers %100 percent support to complement one partners dynamic developmental direction. The other partner must bring an infinite stream of integrity, will, ingenuity, trustable, and explosive energy of potential.

The key to a healthy romantic relationship that involves not only partnership but communion that maintains sexual attraction is to play the appropriate role fully and consciously. This is true whether you find yourself playing one of these roles more than the other or if you and your partner can switch back and forth -- trading poles with ease.


Pathology


Where do couples go wrong?

In most relationships these two poles are watered down. For instance, the supportive pole (Energy 2) comes in a form that is conditional. It comes with expectations. Ultimately, a watered down version of Energy 2 limits energy 1 because it fails to offer total and boundless freedom.

Similarly, very often the dynamic energy of direction and creative explosion (Energy 1) fails to provide total transparency, clear purpose, and integrity, and as a result is not trustable. Ultimately, when Energy 1 fails to have total conviction and direction it fails to provide the needed context that allows Energy 2 to fully surrender in complete support.


The Ideal

The ideal partnership arises when two humans line up in a way that allows each to play complementary poles 100% in as many life situations as possible. One pole offering total support without restrictions on the other partners freedom. The other partner offering total direction whilst maintaining integrity and trustability allows the other partner to surrender. As energetic "pliancy" or "flexibility" develops -- a partnership can switch between the two poles instantaneously depending on what is required for a particular context.

---

My advice to you is this...

Find a partner who makes you surrender because you trust his or her direction so fully. Find a partner who supports your direction because in his or her presence you can offer total honesty, transparency, integrity, and purpose. Practice both autonomy and communion. Freedom and fullness. Play with poles and your capacity to shift back and forth. The integral human being is emerging. It is up to use to guide its birth. It will only be so if we maintain evolutionary principles in mind and live in accordance with the laws of the universe.

I'm not sure if this was what you were looking for but I do hope it helps in some way.

Love,
D

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Religion: Evolution's Greatest Ally

The basic idea is this....

Currently our religious traditions are stuck at a pre-modern level of expression and interpretation. That is to say, many traditions still hold a position that is in direct contradiction to modern forms of reason and analysis. In many cases, blind faith not evidence is the basis of religious adherence. For those of us who have developed psychologically beyond pre-modern stages of awareness to fully saturate ourselves in a modern and post-modern paradigm, truth claims without support are simply not ideologies that we aspire to hold. Even worse, locking religion to a pre-modern level of consciousness has three disastrous side-effects.

1) Because so many people around the globe identify with a religious tradition, religions, in their current forms, are serving as barriers that prevent individuals (and culture) from moving to higher stages of development.

2) Because religious traditions have yet to adequately express themselves through higher levels of development, vast amounts of the human population are unable to tap into the amazing practices that they do offer (i.e. meditation) because most people cant see beyond the mythic baggage.

3) Because the pre-modern framework is ethno-centric in nature, it automatically creates animosity and conflict between individuals of differing religious and/or civilizational communities. Each assuming that their own system is right, while others are wrong.


In Wilber's book Integral Spirituality, he introduces an idea called the conveyor belt .The notion of the conveyor belt explains that there is an appropriate form of religion for every new stage of psychological development. There is a pre-modern version of Christianity, a modern version of Christianity, a postmodern version, an integral version, etc.

Currently, pre-modern interpreters and religious leaders have the market cornered.

All of us who care about evolution and the well being of humanity, must ensure that religious freedom is institutionalized for each stage of development.

If the full conveyor belt of development is illuminated in each tradition -- religion will no longer serve as a barrier to evolutionary growth. In fact, even more importantly, if each stage of development is successfully articulated in each tradition, the religious traditions themselves can actually serve as vehicles (or a conveyor belt) ushering both consciousness and culture up the evolutionary spectrum. With this new understanding -- religion becomes the most powerful ally of all of those who care deeply about evolution.

I describe all this in detail in my forthcoming book: Developmental Religious Pluralism. Stay tuned...