I love your 3 bullet point definitions of Integral philosophy; thank you! It was great seeing you at the conference.

Namaste,
Deborah

“Therapy Gone Mad” by Carol Mithers
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/Therapy-Gone-Mad-Hundreds-Generation/dp/0201570718

Published in 1994, it’s about the Center for Feeling, an offshoot of the Primal Institute, which was located in Los Angeles until it spun out of control and self-destructed in a couple of days.

It’s an excellent blow-by-blow description of how a cult can form, despite the best intentions of those who are responsible for building it brick by brick. Anyone who has ever been involved in a cult will recognize the symptoms. Anyone who is certain that their particular “spiritual path” is NOT a cult ought to read this book as well. You might be surprised to find yourself in error.

I have no connection to the book, the author or the Center for Feeling. I just know a useful book when I read one.

When one is uncertain, perhaps stressed by unsolved or insoluble issues, anyone who appears to be certain, to have positively true answers to difficult problems, is highly attractive. Uncertainty can be painful. Gurus who claim to “know” the (capital T) “Truth” can look like ports in a terrible storm.

Unfortunately, uncertainty is our lot in life. Certainty is often a delusion, a con, or a self-delusion. The human neurological system evolved to produce certainty, whether or not the certainty is warranted. Such certainty is of great use in fight-or-flight situations where speed is essential and extended cogitation can be lethal. But in more intellectual pursuits – philosophy, theology, human relationships, “evolutionary enlightenment”, etc. – it can be a unexpected hazard. Certainty arrived at through intuitive experiences such as the AHA! experience should always be treated skeptically. If you can find additional evidence to support such certainty, fine. If you can’t, you’d better set aside such certainty.

Certainty is a *feeling* or a *sensation*, not an idea or intellectual conclusion. As such, it is no more reliable than any other feeling such as fear, love, disgust, hatred, etc.

Doubt and uncertainty can be painful, but they are better than the soporifics of false “truth” and phony “knowledge”.

Check out the book “On Being Certain” by Robert Burton, MD. (2008) You’ll find yourself less addicted to seeking certainty and “knowledge” of “deep truths” than you may now be. (I have no connection to this book other than admiring it.)

Perhaps I should qualify that statement of: ‘you can absolutely see and perceive where othersstand on their path,’ as meaning from one’s present perspective. That perspective, of course, will still have many levels to develop. So, what the teacher should observe about themselves is that they are always in a process of becomming, and at each level of becoming, as you so rightly observe, they are still full of darkness. But once the teacher has foudn the courage to accept their own darkess, then taken a stand of reverence to the developing spirit in the seeker and one of humility in one’s self, then without judgement, you may offer guidance and assistance based uponn the experiences and transcendence of your own journey.

And, indeed, as you say, and something I point out very often, the journey, although difficult at times is all common sense.

Perhaps if I might make one more point. A teacher worth his salt is not going to project anything at all onto his or her students for the simple reason that the karma will come back so fast and hard as to give them a tremendous about of difficulty to work through. Hence one’s opportunity to learn quickly in these fast moving times. The age old problem of power is that at some level it always corrupts, but on this path, if one misuses power, the next level of power is not bestowed until the teacher has learned how to use it wisely. Therefore, the teacher is always their own limitation and certainly any the teacher is still only a seeker until full enlightenment is reached.

Blessings and Peace.

” you can absolutely see and perceive where others stand on their path”

A person who is unconscious of their own darkness (or in a
less-than-perfect state of awakening) is liable to project all kinds of
nonsence onto others — and then enroll himself and the world in their
badness, as is clearly happening with EnlightenNext. Is this part of the
“wheel of karma” (human development)? Surely, in the larger picture, yes,
but it’s also necessary for people to “speak truth to power” and to respond
out of ordinary common sense rather than jargon. That is my role I guess..

Thanks for your contribution.

The problem with awakening is that there is always another level and each level allows you to feel invincible until you understand that you are nothing, at each level. That is the ego of course that feels invincible and not the true self. And, of course, the humanity gets in the way too, and that is when the master makes mistakes.

But just like all humans, the master must learn to accept that he is vulnerable to the forces and will absolutely make mistakes. And, a master who cannot make mistakes and admit to them is no master. But that does not mean that he has not had an enlightening experience that may be well above others.

When you have that experience, you can absolutely see and perceive where others stand on their path, as you are viewing them from a loftier position, as it were. But, until you can walk on water, then for sure, you are not fully enlightened, only at one stage or another on the path.

Andrew, like all others on the path, is learning and we should give him the opportunity and space to learn without judgement, understanding that anyone drawn to his light has absolutely chosen that path as part of their own learning experience. There, but for the grace of God, go I.

We should all be careful of using, not only too much intellect, to discern what is right or wrong on the path, but to some degree, using any at all, as the mind will always cloud the issues, and although I have enjoyed reading the above and value the observations greatly, reflections can be a double edged sword in the world of illusions.

Learn to trust your heart and go with the feelings. There is darkness in everyone and the path is merely a process of learning how to dissolve it with light. Be aware of your own darkness and work at illuminating it, with the help of whatever teacher is calling to you at this time. Just because Andrew’s methods might be difficult for some and a learning process for himself, does not mean that his work is not good in the higher order of things, and as we cannot see his path from that higher perspective, we should be very careful not to attract a difficult lesson for ourselves.

We should also remember that the answers are alway simple. God didn’t make the journey difficult. Why would he? It is humans that make things difficult. But let’s leave on a light note as all seriousness should be avoided if we are to learn the art of laughing at ourselves.

What is the difference between a cult and a religion? Size!

Blessings and Peace.

Dave Ashworth