The Nature of What?

An excerpt:

"constantly engaged in manifesting worlds. It is manifesting worlds inside our own field of experience, so in this awareness and this practice you look at that ocean inside your mind with its array of thoughts and the colors that might be moving through it and the feeling of restlessness or sleepyiness excitement...dullness... you regard it with that inner eye that self reflected capacity which is intrinsic in consciousness  and all levels and you regard that ocean as the natural creativity of chuckdee (?) of..this utterly divine goddess energy who in her freedom her absolute freedom her intrinsic creativity simply cannot and will not stop moving....she's moving inside your mind she's moving inside your awareness"

Ok, that's enough....

I'm trying not to be judgmental about this but the title of this talk is somewhat misleading. It sounds more like an impromptu prayer. No doubt Sally means well but if someone who has no knowledge of Integral Studies were to listen to this, they'd be utterly confused.

Many who use words like "divine energy" "divine consciousness" "field of being through contact with the transcendent" "Great Mother" "Unique Self" and other terms are used quite often and rather loosely to express something that is outside the grasp of our experience.

It seems to me though that this kind of talk has little or no redeeming value. I mean, wouldn't you rather hear  something tangible, something that has more relevance to the immediacy of your life oppose to a description of some transcendent God or consciousness that many of us will never reach-myself included -unless we dedicated the remaining years of our lives in a monastery?

Unlike many on Integral, I don't believe in God as a supernatural deity or the plethora of descriptions of God in the wisdom traditions. Enlightenment, I believe, is nothing more than a state of mind and for those who have it like Krishnamurti and even Gangagi, they never use the words described above.

For instance, if you listen to Gangagi, and if you pay attention when she gives replies to questions from those with troubled minds, she has the ability and acuity to pinpoint aspects of the shadow and the many ways in which it expresses itself from all those afflicted by it, respectively. She is a master shadow revealer when she talks about the strategies of the ego  video.google.com/videoplay

Gangagi brings a closer awareness and understanding of the ways in which our shadow behaves and it seems to me this is precisely what we need to know -in every way possible- if we are going to outgrow our shadow.

Questioner: I see the lens of my mind, ego, trouble.

Gangagi: trouble! That's right.

Questioner: I have this longing to manifest more love.

Gangagi: trouble! (laughter)

Questioner: it seems like another level of ego..

Gangagi: It is. It's the love manifesting ego; it's better than the hate manifesting ego on the level of ego.

Questioner: I want to be able to love the world my husband.

Gangagi: let me ask you two questions Why does this perfect love look like?

Questioner: I means never having PMS and being a bitch....(laughter)

Gangagi: Yes, it means being a very good girl all the time, yes. This is the corruption of what is taught. This is a really deep corruption: the goodness in you hates the badness. This not good. This is just ego. I'm good why can't that bad ugly part go away and never bother me again so that I could be this perfect manifestation of love to the world, to my husband....

Questioner: isn't it the point of all this to purify your love so that we can be pure love?

Gangagi: Well, that is the result of it but if it's made the point of it, it is a point you are forever chasing, you understand? Probably the Dalai Lama said the point of it is just to be kind. but you find you are not more kind when you are trying to manifest more love when things keep getting in your way. It is outside things or internal things. They are bothering you. They are bothering this pureness. Yes, that's right. for a moment you can see that without taking it seriously. It's not so rooted in you that you are a fascist yet. (laughter)

Gangagi: that's the direction it takes, finally. It's spiritual fascism which is no different than politcal fascism or Nazism.

Don't know about you, but this little dialog goes a long way in understanding my own shadow. I suppose Sally's talk was not intended for it but what was her intention then, to understand the mind?

I don't think so. I realize my critiques are easy to say, but surely if the shadow is our major impediment, there must be a better way to address it with the immediacy it deserves.

Perhaps as a start, Integral could create a 3 or 4 part series on the strategies of the shadow and express the shadow without any transcendent words or complex jargon. We need to know how the shadow thinks and dialogs like Gangagi certainty helps.

Why not invite her over to Integral?