Waking Down

Saniel Bonder

Since 1992 Saniel Bonder has helped people fulfill their quests for a spiritual enlightenment they can naturally integrate with everyday human activity and relationships—and with their deeper life-purposes. Saniel is the founder of the “Waking Down in Mutuality” teachings and, with his wife Linda, is co-creator of the "WholeHEART Way."

 

Linda Groves-Bonder

Linda Groves-Bonder, along with husband Saniel Bonder, is a teacher of the "WholeHEART Way," as well as a core transmission-lineage holder and Senior Teacher of "Waking Down in Mutuality."  She is also a professional jazz and cabaret singer and songwriter.

 

Written by Corey W. deVos

The Conveyor Belt (10:49)

One of the great advantages of 21st century spiritual experimentation is that we now have an enormous body of psychological and sociological data at our disposal, as well as a highly refined perception of the universe around us—all of which offers a much clearer view of the role spirituality plays in our lives.  Two of the most useful concepts to help us understand the full spectrum of spiritual realities are the notions of stages of human growth (as revealed by such developmental pioneers as Jean Gebser, James Fowler, Carol Gilligan, Jean Piaget, Abraham Maslow, etc., describing human growth as evolving through archaic, magic, mythic, rational, pluralistic, and integral stages) and states of consciousness (descriptions of gross, subtle, causal, and nondual experiences that are found cross-culturally, in almost every major tradition.) 

Even this simplified model of states and stages of consciousness yields a minimum of 24 different kinds of spiritual experience; 24 different interpretations of the Absolute and the relative, of the eternal and the temporal, of the transcendent and the immanent.  By accounting for these two major axes of spiritual and psychological growth, we begin to understand why we can no longer attempt a monolithic one-size-fits-all approach to spiritual practice—yet just about any teacher or tradition can offer the appropriate sorts of teachings for different sorts of students, act as a very real "conveyor belt" of human growth.

Mapping the New City (6:39)

The possibilities that await us in the 21st century are staggering.  Never before has so much been available to so many, to the point where the average person is able to lead a life of such convenience, comfort, and luxury, it would spur the jealousy of even the richest of history's kings and queens.  It is a time of unprecedented abundance; an abundance of wealth, wisdom, information, and interconnectivity—even amidst the incalculable suffering and fear so many of us in this world continue to experience.  This simultaneity of abundance and scarcity in today's world promises to make the coming decades so extraordinarily fertile, as the evolutionary pressure continues to build beneath the surface of history—pushing us ever closer to finding new solutions for an entirely new set of problems, while helping us cope with the perennial schisms that have crippled us since the beginning of time.

It is as though a whole new world is just beginning to come into view—a world that feels as familiar as it does novel, as timeless as it does historic.  It is as if we are discovering a "new city" built into the fabric of history itself—a city that can only be seen by glimpsing the inescapable totality of knowledge, values, and perspectives now available to us; whose architecture can only be discerned by recognizing the intrinsic patterns shaping all of our human experiences.

Awakening Through Skillful Means (8:40)

As teachers of integral spirituality, Saniel and Linda both share a passionate drive to share their awakening with anyone willing to receive it.  However, the reality is, even if a spiritual teacher is trying to communicate ever-present states of consciousness—states that are readily available to anyone at any time (e.g. effortless awareness, centering prayer, ecstatic dance, etc.)—a student's experience and interpretation of these states changes dramatically from level to level, requiring the teacher to be able to cognitively gauge where the student is in relation to his or hew own psychological and spiritual maturity.  Furthermore, it demands a certain level of interpersonal sophistication to skillfully meet the student at his or her own level, reframing the teaching in a way he or she can receive. 

Although these interpersonal skills do not necessarily accompany the teacher's level of cognitive understanding or spiritual awakening, having an adequate map helps a great deal—precisely because our very best maps account for all these blind spots in our own development.  Simply knowing what types of things we might overlook or push out of our awareness goes a long way to keep us honest with ourselves, guiding us ever closer to our own deepest integrity, potential, and authenticity.

The Microcosmic Orbit (8:49)

Here Ken asks Saniel and Linda to share their experiences teaching together, with particular emphasis upon the actual energetic dynamics that play themselves out between them.  He uses the example of an ancient Taoist meditation practice that dates back to prehistoric China, known as the "microcosmic orbit."  The microcosmic orbit seeks to circulate life and light through the entire body, and is traditionally regarded as a highly advanced practice—people are advised not to engage in it without the guidance of an accomplished teacher, or without proper preparation and purification of the energetic body.  However, Ken has offered on several occasions a distilled version of this powerful practice, one that can be used at any point throughout our day.

The simplest description of the practice is this: breathing in, follow the breath down the front of your body, sliding over your chest and your belly, until it reaches the base of your spine.  Breathing out, follow the breath up the back of your body, up your spinal column, and out the top of your head.  At first the practice may feel somewhat awkward—many novice practitioners are not quite sure what it means to "follow the breath down the front of your belly, and up the back of your spine"—one might as well "breathe through your knees," as Integral Dakini Sofia Diaz might say.  But as you become more familiar and more comfortable with the practice, you will most likely begin to notice subtle shifts in your own awareness, slowly beginning to feel the gentle gradations of energy pouring through very real channels in your body.

The point of this metaphor is that, when drawing in your breath, the energy that enters through the top of your head is "hermaphroditic," raw, and undifferentiated.  But when circulating through your subtle-energy anatomy, the energy begins to take on unique expressions according to the body itself—traditionally seen as animating male and female bodies differently (though we might suggest expanding this interpretation to include masculine and feminine dispositions, regardless of biology).  That is, the same undifferentiated energy of primordial consciousness flows through both Saniel and Linda, though it manifests in significantly different ways, as they discuss in this section.