This week on Integral Spiritual Center....
You Have to Say Something - John Kesler/Ken Wilber
In Secret - Fr. Thomas Keating
You Have to Say Something (audio)
According to Ken Wilber, one of the two or three most important concepts of spirituality in the 21st century is the idea of evolutionary enlightenment. Given the definition of enlightenment as being one with form and one with Emptiness, and given that the world of form evolves, so too must our definition of “enlightenment.”
The idea that enlightenment has evolved is clear from a quick glimpse of the history of the Buddhist tradition, with its three (and possibly four!) turnings. The ten “ox herding pictures” of Zen were originally eight; the final two (“reaching the source” and “return to the marketplace”) were added in light of the Mahayana revolution, which emphasized a return from nirvana to samsara. This injunction to ascent and descent, to practice deeply and then to return, is summed up nicely by the titles of the first two books of Dainin Katagiri, one of the key figures in the transmission of Buddhism to the West: Returning to Silence and You Have to Say Something.
ISC Teacher John Kesler is a remarkable embodiment of this dynamic. In this week's featured audio, John discusses his journey with Ken. Though virtually his entire extended family practiced Mormonism, his father rejected the tradition; thus, John grew up on the outside. But a series of mystical experiences in his twenties inspired him to return, “beyond the objections of his mind,” to the tradition. His purpose was twofold: he longed to return to his roots and the deep richness he intuited within Mormonism, and his experiences outside the tradition (with, for example, the thought of Ken Wilber, and later, with the Big Mind Process) provided him with a spacious context with which to return.
And his return has been profound. From his developmental altitude, and blessed with considerable new insight, John was able to spot and follow the mystical path to which the tradition invited its adherents. He found in Mormonism a progression through stages (physical/emotional/mental/spiritual) and a call to state experiences. He envisioned, in Mormonism, a rich environment for spiritual exploration and a remarkable opportunity to share his insights with his fellow believers.
John is the first to admit that the center of gravity he encountered among his Mormon brothers and sisters was “not necessarily pushing turquoise.” But his message has nonetheless been well received. With considerable skilful means, he has chosen language, approaches, and venues to deliver an integrally informed interpretation of the Gospel message. Though higher and higher authorities have attended what amounts to an “unusual teaching,” he remains within the tradition, a true Bodhisattva. His humble hope is that some of the seeds he has planted may flourish after his lifetime.
John has been deeply appreciative of Ken’s establishment of Integral Spiritual Center. In addition to being steeped in AQAL, the ISC Teachers are lineage holders in their various traditions; as such, they are well placed to be the architects of the “conveyor belt,” the startling new role of religion that Ken first envisioned in Integral Spirituality….
In Secret (video)
Why does Jesus urge us to "pray in secret" in the Gospel of Matthew? Father Thomas Keating explains the instruction--of crucial importance throughout the history of Christian contemplation--during the Autumn 2006 Integral Contemplative Christianity seminar.