What Does It Take For Us to Wake Up?

Back from vacation, I don't usually blog about politics, but sometimes things happen that are just too important to ignore.

You've probably never heard of the "National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive" (NSPD 51), but it was quietly released by the White House on May 9th, and could very well be the death blow to the U.S. Constitution. Basically, it gives President Bush dictatorship (should we say "decidership?") powers that can be enacted in the event of a "catastrophic emergency" (no definition of what that might be or where it might happen).

In short, Bush may now declare himself absolute ruler at any moment and Congress can like it or lump it. Naturally, this act of betrayal is of so little importance and consequence, the corporate media believes you are better served knowing Justin Timberlake is in love.

As I was recounting the importance of this to my partner, surfing the web in a hotel lobby while on vacation, a teen aged girl asked, "what was that about Justin Timberlake?" We just looked at each other and laughed, commenting it would be a lot funnier if it weren't so tragic.

"This directive on its face is unconstitutional because each branch of government the executive, legislative and judicial are supposed to be equal in power," writes Lee Rogers for Global Research. "By putting the President in charge of coordinating such an effort to ensure constitutional government over all three branches is effectively making the President a dictator allowing him to tell all branches of government what to do."

Naturally, any talk of conspiracy to sell out the nation and dismantle the Constitution and the Bill of Rights relegates one to the tinfoil hat brigade, for if such things are not reported upon or discussed at Fox News, they naturally fall in the province of kooky conspiracy theories.

All the while, most elected democrats continue to prove that they are either asleep or complicit. What to do? Call you representatives and scream. What does this have to do with integral? Well, if you're concerned about the evolution of consciousness, this is a huge step backwards and threatens everything you stand for. This is not a time to sit back and say "I'm above this."

We get the kind of government we desrve.
Thanks to Bill Hajdu for the heads up on this.

Big Love Integral Research

Sorry for the lull in blogging these past few days. My beloved, Anyaa, and I, are vacationing on the beaches in Galveston, Texas, doing much needed research for my workshop, Big Love Integral.

I hope you have this much fun in your work! I'll be back in a few days.

Free Preview Night for SeattleIntegral's Shamanic Breathwork weekend in June...and Big Love

Tuesday, May 22nd, SeattleIntegral will be sponsoring a Free preview evening all about the upcoming Shamanic Breathwork(TM) Process weekend happening in June.

I've written a lot about the Shamanic Breathwork (TM) process, including the 8-day intensive I did in North Carolina in April, including my journal of this amazing process, but you can read the summary here.

The preview evening will be for people who are interested in Shamanic Breathwork (TM) and would like to find out more about what they might expect from this powerful healing process that inspires individuals to remember and reconnect with their own inner healer. As old wounds and dysfunctional patterns are released and transformed, individuals begin to regain lost soul parts and remember the magic of who they truly are. Empowerment brings wholeness and healing back into their own lives, to the lives of those they love, and to the world at large.

Attendees will learn about this highly experiential process of wisdom and healing that is aimed at awakening the the inner Shamanic Healer in persons undergoing the breathwork process and how support from facilitators and co-journeyers assist in providing a safe journey for the participant.

Each person's shamanic journey is a highly individualized process and no two are ever the same. Some of the states of consciousness reported range from divine, otherworldly bliss states to the struggle to be released from negative forces in the psyche. Rebirthing is a common occurrence, as is the life review where one relives or observes their lifetime experiences. Old patterns of dysfunction may be brought to the surface. Addictions are sometimes healed during this process, as feelings such as grief, fear, rage and anxiety are released.

The Shamanic Breathwork Facilitators have undergone this process many times in the course of their training and are loving guides for the participant's journey. The process may require the Shamanic Breathwork Facilitator's skills and attention; a variety of psycho-spiritual tools may be employed to assist the participant. Some of the most commonly used methods are bodywork, Reiki (energy work), Soul Return and extractions. The most powerful healing tool our facilitators bring to the person breathing is their open and loving hearts and minds, with a willingness to support and travel with the journeyer wherever they may need to go. This is the essence of what Shamanic Breathwork is all about. Describing the process really does not do it justice. One must experience this powerful shamanic journey and it's healing from the inside out.
Do yourself a favor: Even if you aren't planning on attending the workshop in June, you owe it to yourself to learn more about his process at the free preview evening.

When: Tuesday, May 22, 7-10pm
Where: The Integral Loft, 80 Yesler Way, Seattle (in Pioneer Square)

Oh, yeah....the Big Love Integral workshop! I had a small group, but it was the right group! I present Module 1 in Portland on Sunday.

Big Love Workshop Kicks Off

My new workshop, "Big Love Integral: A Participatory Exploration into Conscious Romantic Relationship in an Integral Context," kicks off Saturday in Seattle with the Introductory Module. Consisting of six modules held in consecutive months, there is an amazing amount of information and learning, by participants, and myself.

This has come about because I find myself in the first truly conscious relationship in my life of almost 62 years. It is the most challenging and wonderfully fulfilling, and easy, relationship I've ever had. I know... that's a paradox.

My partner is my mirror and is, therefore, a constant source of feedback, with both my positive and negative aspects shown to me in brilliant and inescapable light. It teaches me how to be in relationship with another, but also how to be in relationship with myself.

I believe the most important element in a conscious relationship is communication, and without it, relationship lapses into unconsciousness. Few of us were taught how to communicate well. We've has to learn by trial and error, often at great expense to our partners and to our selves. But you can be taught how to communicate.

Communication keeps us in sync with one another, and you practice and learn how to communicate, it forces you out of denial, facing myself so I can actually make choices about who I am and how I interact with my beloved.

Other aspects of conscious relationship are intimacy, compassion, forgiveness, patience, surrender, perseverance, and LOVE, the ability to fully open one's heart.

Conscious relationship is Soul-Centered, not ego-centered, and we'll be talking about all of that....and in an integral context.

Heart breaking Wide Open

I'm altered as I'm writing this. I've been in this strange altered state since last night....maybe even since I returned from my 8-day Shamanic Breathwork Intensive. Or maybe it's because of the amazing conversations I had with Anyaa last night and this morning....maybe both.

It feels like I'm about to burst open, and that my heart is going to explode. It feels like something has grabbed me and is shaking more and more stuff out of me. Part of this is around abandonment issues that have surfaced recently...some due to the breathwork, some due to relationship.

Most couples seem to have abandonment/engulfment issues: One person's issues are around being abandoned, and they reach out harder to the other. The problem is that the other person's issues can be around engulfment, or smothering, and they'll tend to pull away, creating a vortex of push and pull that most couples aren't conscious enough to work through.

My own issues of abandonment come from the death of my college sweetheart, two weeks before graduation, in a boating accident. She was ripped from me, and I didn't get to say goodbye, and consequently, I'm always afraid the other is going to leave.

Recognizing what was going on, I've been telling myself, "Gary....stop it." Wrong.....Repression. Anyaa helped me see that I need to embrace that young man, let myself feel his, and my, pain and tell him it's okay...and just hold him. What an amazing woman she is, how incredible that we both bring a new way of being and living into each others' lives, and that we get to step more fully, more consciously into our life together. I had asked for a relationship that would break me open, challenge me, and I got exactly what I asked for.

So I've been telling my younger self that it's okay, all night and day, and I feel like I'm just bursting open. So I'm letting go and letting come, making room for something, some shift, some new awareness, as it creeps into my life and being.

And once again, I feel myself growing bigger.

image by Walter Bruneel

Big Love Integral Website launched!

I've taken one more step in my quest to more fully live an integral life. Today I launched the BIG Love Integral website. This goes along with the first full-day presentation of the Seattle Big Love Integral workshop this coming Saturday, May 12th.

Consisting of six all day modules, the first module will be an introduction to the concept of Big love Integral, including a "Big Love" guided meditation I've developed, using relationship to describe the Integral framework, and then using the integral framework to define relationship: a nice twist, I think. In addition, we'll talk about what love is, and isn't, intimacy, deeper levels of intersubjectivty, radical intersubjectivity, and then define, very clearly, just what an integral relationship is.

There will be also be some experiential portions where the participants can take a deeper look at how they "do" relationship and intimacy, and suggestions on how to make their relationship better and more conscious.

So far, I'm having a great time putting this together, and I seem to be my own best student, as I continue to learn and grow from this process.

A Great SeattleIntegral/Ken Wilber Meetup

SeattleIntegral had its 52nd Ken Wilber Meetup tonight (one a month!). To everyone who was the meetup tonight, thank you for coming, It was a good one with a lot of participation and depth!

To Paul, and everyone, a question: What is it about the Lower Right Quadrant ("its" plural, social, systems, structure) that seems to prevent the Lower left Quadrant "We" space from arising at the same time? Why do we sometimes say "enough talk about structure," let's go to the heart?

Can we open, or keep open, our hearts while we have a systems and structure conversation? From some comments tonight, it would seem not, and that some might think they are mutually exclusive. Is it important to do so, or not? Why to both questions?

If we can't keep our hearts open while we talk about structure, why not? Don't all 4-quadrants arise (tetra-arise) at the same time?

I am seriously puzzled and troubled by this phenomena: that some people think that if you're having a discussion around the lower right quadrant, it excludes the possibility of anything taking place in the lower left quadrant. This seems to be a form of quadrant favoritism, or, in this case, a case of quadrant discrimination, and while we all have our favorite quadrants, to deny that they are already there doesn't quite seem integral.

As an aside, read Joe Perez' blog on the Meetup tonight, and an invitation to Spirit that should not be denied. I'm going to support the concept and suggest that Joe's idea might well be the project some of the group is seeking.

So Nice To be Ahead of the Curve.....

Less than two weeks after I posted this article on this blog about Shamanic Breathwork (TM) and my thoughts on why I think it's an integral practice, this appears on Integral Naked:

Is There Such Thing as Integral Shamanism?

Summary: Is there such thing as an integral approach to native and shamanic traditions? Ken responds, "Absolutely." In every spiritual traditionâ, "East, West, North, South,” there are teachers who recognize that in addition to honoring the gifts of their lineage, there are ways that they can make their tradition more comprehensive, complete, and integral. This kind of work progresses at the speed with which people step forward to take on this task, and due largely to the regressive and anti-integral flavor of native and shamanistic traditions as taught by American boomers over the past several decades, things have been unfortunately slow. However, as recognized by Integral Spiritual Center teacher Roger Walsh, these traditions have an enormous amount to offer, particularly regarding subtle states of consciousness.

The brave gentleman who initiated this conversation is working to bring an integral approach to a tradition that has been near to his heart for decades. If you also have some practice, tradition, or lineage that you want to make more integral, this conversation is a wonderful hit of inspiration.

Maybe Venus Rising and Integral Institute should talk. There could be many benefits to both, including service to the unfolding of Spirit. I'd love to facilitate that!