Involution

ken says,

"Spirit gives rise to Soul. Soul gives rise to Mind. Mind gives rise to Body. Body gives rise to Matter."

What does "gives rise to" actually mean? Does it mean, "Within the container of Spirit, Soul arises." And a certain kind of freedom from the tyranny of Soul translates into control of Soul and therefore the creation of or cause of Soul?...

Not sure as well... I like the word cause.  Spirit causes soul, soul causes mind, mind causes body, body causes matter.  But its messy.  

Arising to me implies action.  A kind of force that is happening allatonce.  I also like to think of the great chain of being as having accessibility.  A way to draw from it.  Yes I think Ken is talking about first, second and third person as well.  Subject/Object relationships.  I like Ken's latest video where he is reading and every now and then looking at us through the camera.  Ken really is a great teacher of distinction.  

-s

Really great subject to explore here. This goes right into metaphysics and creation myths, both ancient and recent. I think the idea of "arising" or "giving rise to," is often described as a creative act. A manifestation of a new dimension of being, a new potential. So the "Source" manifests and descends, differentiating itself as it creates the layers of reality until it reaches the "gross" or physical plane. 

Folks like Steiner, and many other creation mythologies, emphasize that our Soul or Spirit, existed before time, before space. So if the story of time is as Wilber describes, the ascension of matter to life to mind to soul to spirit, then the creation and involution was: the descension of Spirit to Soul to Mind to Life to Matter. This coincides with the spiritual layers of the body. Our essence is closest to the Source, but we also have an Astral body, an Etheric (Life force) body, and finally the physical body. At death we shed the physical body and ascend back into the spiritual realities before incarnating again.

It's interesting that some spiritual practices, like Buddhism, describe the intermediate, or Bardo-realms to be much like the "Astral realms." A reality one can easily get lost in if they have not learned to navigate it. This coincides with the idea that "Mind" in some sense existed before time, just as "Life" did in its Etheric form. The pre-requisites for evolution. On the higher end of the Astral there is the "Causal." The platonic forms and archetypes. I know Ken doesn't speak much of this model but I think there is something to it.

Evolution then is the rise of complexity of the "Lowest" or "Least complete" realm as it ascends back to its Source. This is particularly interesting, because we are not seeking to "escape" the physical realm but transmute it into a potent mirror of divine reality. So physical reality is moved or edged forward to mirror the higher realms. Just as the human brain (or particularly the pineal gland) is described as the "Seat of the Soul," the physical universe itself is the potential seat for the divine. As above, so below. The marriage of the physical with the spiritual, the finite with the infinite, is the "Great Work" spoken of in Alchemy. Evolutionary themes have been apparent and latent at least in mystical and esoteric spirituality since the dawn of civilization, or arguably beforehand.

Edit: ah, I don't want to give the impression that the Divine and Matter are separate to begin with! More like, the Divine realized more fully in the state of Matter. Recognition even in the most dense forms of creation and "cosmic dreaming." A favorite spiritual teacher, Shinzen Young, said it nicely: "The world rises and falls in zero."

These are some really fascinating subjects that are going to take a lot of work and exploration to further understand... and something I've been working on writing about for SEM.

Hope this was a least somewhat tasty food-for-thought!

-Jer