regarding this current 2nd feature on i-n ..

i have always agreed wholeheartedly (and still do) with the removal of the states from being stacked atop the structures

thanks for the advice, ralph .. i'm workin' on it .. maybe one day i will be as advanced as u 

doesn't help me though to understand how the causal realm could be interpreted as it is beyond interpretation

it makes sense that experiences in the subtle states could be interpreted according to the structure one is at .. but causal .. nah

thanks sham609 for responding .. i agree with what u are saying .. as well as with the fact that anyone at any structure can be in any of the states

but could someone provide an example of an amber interpretation of causal ? or a green interpretation of causal ?

how can one experience deep dreamless sleep at an amber structure when nothing is happening at all ?

the structures emerge in the manifest realm not in the unmanifest

causal is formlessness .. there is nothing to interpret

Some interesting ideas are developing here. I think we must be a little more precise on what we mean by the causal state. Wilber talks about this state being linked with deep sleep, and so he seems to believe it can be embodied within a physiological state of deep sleep. Of course, he also believes that one can be trained to be aware of this state primarily through meditative practices. But inherent in this description (if I am accurately reflecting Wilber’s ideas), most of humanity is not able to maintain some type of conscious awareness during this state. Unless you do the injunction of formless meditation, this attribute of regular deep sleep will escape your awareness. Only those adequately trained in meditative practices (and according to Wilber those trained over many years, if not decades) will be competent to explore the causal state via collaborative inquiry.

With that said, what is it that Wilber (or other competent meditators) is suggesting this state recognizes. The best I could describe it is that he feels in the causal state we are experiencing the ground of being, or the potentiality of existence before it becomes physical manifestation. Stated in terms Ralph is applying, we might say we are experiencing the Absolute before it becomes Relative.

So after years of practice, one would be able to hold in conscious awareness an experience of absolute (Godhead?) while dwelling as an embodied being in the relative (manifest) realm. But Wilber now believes that any of these states can be experienced transiently within any stage of development (of course no empirical data is presented to substantiate this claim). So Fairyfaye, I suppose we could speculate, as Wilber does in his writing and talks, that someone at a Green altitude might have a causal peak state, and would describe it probably in some pantheistic way (“I see the transcendental light being immanent in all things and all people, and therefore we are all equally the same”). Likewise, someone at Amber altitude might describe it a bit differently (“I see God acting out his sovereign design in all things and all people, and so you had better worship him and follow his commandments”). The “truth” may be that we cannot describe or interpret the causal (formless potentiality), but as humans we always will try…and we will always try and translate this experience into some pragmatic applicability on how we should live.

ralph, postmodernists are laughing at the statement that causal is formlessness ?

sham, thanks for providing the example i was asking for .. but seeing transcendental light immanent in all things and all people involves form (things and people) so that is not causal .. which is formlessness

as mentioned before i totally agree that people at any structure can have all of the state experiences .. am just wondering whether "interpret" is the correct word to use when referring to causal ..