======================================================================

Email November 27, 2006

Hello H!
It took me this long to read your essay on Integral Spirituality - and it
sure gives a great overview of Wilber! Thank you! I feel like an idiot not
reading it sooner. Have you thought of posting your essay to Ken? Or
perhaps, more indirectly, joining Integral Spirituality's forums ($10 a
month, first one free). I first joined 'Integral Naked' but got sort of
bored with the chat, so unjoined and wandered off to Zaadz.com. But
after reading "One Taste," I re-joined via the Integral Spirituality
subscription. Don't ask me how these various dimensions of Wilberlandia
differ.
Hope you're doing well! I've moved from Thwizzling to facial tapping via
the EFT system (although I don't follow their acupuncture meridian
guidelines, but just tap randomly, although emphasizing around the eyes
where I realize I store a lot of 'focused attention' tension. See:
for more information
I'm also still developing my tracheal purr, which really and truly does
melt me into my heart. I only hope and pray that this isn't just a personal
idiosyncrasy but something that will work for others as well (not only just
our feline friends!).
Also, I thought you might enjoy my posting today on the Way_of_Light Yahoo
list (see below).
Happy various and sundry upcoming holidays, all aimed at not having to
sacrifice a virgin in order to coax the sun to return.
R

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Someone wrote to jax:

> "In his book Self-Liberation Through Seeing With Naked Awareness, John
> Reynolds writes:
>
> "Why do sentient beings endlessly wander through destinies and worlds in the
> cycle of deth and rebirth which is Samsara? Because they do not recognize
> their own intrinsic awareness and understand it's significance. This was the
> primordial error, and its consequence was the fall of beings into transmigration.
>
>jax comments: I don't quite agree with John's "view" of things... in the
> ultimate sense:
>
> There is no "error" in our Nature/Awareness and never was. It's just that
> certain levels of consciousness see things differently from other, higher or
> lower, differing vantage points. From the vantage or viewpoint of ego, its
> dimension is viewed as samsara. Ego consciousness is not enlightened and so
> sees reality through a limited view. And we are not our ego.
>
Ramon:

I have the same issue with the "Primordial error" view as I have with the
"Course In Miracles" explanation that the whole physical universe came into
being because of the Son of God's momentary 'rebellious thought.' (para-
phrasing).
Ditto with Xtianity's "Original Sin," which presumes that humanity was not
supposed to make the journey through self-awareness to awareness of
awareness to dissolving in the Supreme Sauce. (my leetle joke!)

As for your excellent explanation, it reminds me of Ken Wilber's 'All
Quadrants All Levels' map, which also sorts out the difference between
'states' (ephemeral) and 'stages' (permanent) in the 'Wilber-Combs Lattice:'

The Wilber-Combs Lattice

States: Gross Subtle Causal Nondual
(natural (visionary) (formless) (union)
Integral Stage
Pluralistic Stage
Rational Stage
Mythic Stage
Magic Stage
Archaic Stage

As Wilber mentions, even a Nazi can achieve satori (nondual state), but
he still remains way down the ladder (Ethnocentiric) with many more levels
above him.
Here's a quote from a dialogue with Wilber in WIE Magazine's last summer's
issue where the levels are developed further (apologies if I'm repeating
myself - one of the privileges of seniority):

[quote]
Evolving Worldviews, Expanding Self

Although the spectrum of consciousness includes twelve colors to denote
twelve specific levels, stages, structures, or waves of development, for
ease of explanation Wilber often uses a simpler, three- or four level scheme
pioneered by developmental psychologists like Lawrence Kohlberg and Carol
Gilligan. Tracing the most general contours of psychological growth, this
scheme highlights the fact that increasing consciousness corresponds to a
broadening of worldviews and an expansion of one's sense of self.

Egocentric ("me"): A stage characterized by narcissistic self-absorption,
bodily needs and desires, emotional outbursts, unsocialized impulses, and an
incapacity to take the role of the "other"; seen today predominantly in
infants and young children, rebellious teens, wild rock stars, and
criminals. (Infrared to red)

Ethnocentric ("us"): An expansion of self-identity to include one's family,
peers, tribe, race, faith group, or nation; the adoption of socially
conformist rules and roles; commonly seen in children aged seven to
adolescence, religious myths and fundamentalism, the . ,'moral majority,"
Nazis, the KKK, right-wing politics, patriotism, sports teams, school
rivalries. (Amber)

Worldcentric ("all of us"): An even greater expansion of self to embrace all
people, regardless of race, gender, class, or creed; a stage of rationality
that questions rigid belief systems and transcends conventional rules and
roles; commonly seen in late adolescence, social activism, multiculturalism,
science, moral relativism, liberal politics, the "global village," New Age
spirituality; the emergence of integral cognition. (Orange to teal)

Kosmocentric ("all that is"): An identification with all life and
consciousness, human or otherwise, and a deeply felt responsibility for the
evolutionary process as a whole; "superintegral" cognition and values;
innate universal morality; spirituality beyond merely personal motivations;
an emergent capacity, rarely seen anywhere. (Turquoise to clear light)
------------------------------------------------------------
WILBER: Now these stages, which we also call structures or levels, show up
in all human beings, so we have to take them into account. One of the real
problems is that you can have a spiritual experience - a profound taste of
emptiness, or pure nonduality, or absolute oneness, or radiant, luminous
absolute bliss/love - and when you come out of that experience or even while
you're in it, you'll interpret it according to the level or stage you're at.
The evidence for this is now just overwhelming.

So understanding stages is the first piece of the puzzle. The second piece
is states of consciousness. States of consciousness generally tend to come
and go; they are temporary. The natural/meditative ones are waking (gross),
dreaming (subtle), deep steep (causal), witnessing, and nondual. And then
there are nonordinary states, such as drunken states and stoned states. And
you can have any of these state experiences at virtually any level or stage
you're at. You can be at any level and have a waking, dreaming, or deep
steep state. You can be at any level and experience a meditative state. You
can be at any Level and actually go through Zen training. What's so
astonishing is that a Nazi can complete Zen training. That's the point -
states can be experienced at any stage you're at.
[end quote]

By the way, for those of you who have tried reading Wilber and found him
too 'dense,' I suggest his journal excerpts titled "One Taste" as an easy
entry point to his theories -- and a close-up view of the man behind them.
-=-=-===-=
I've been reading "The Supreme Source: The Fundamental Tantra of the
Dzogchen Semde Kunjed Gyalpo" by Norbu-Clemente (Snow Lion Press) --
thanks for the great quotes, roo, that turned me onto the book!

A favorite quote from p. 153
"The desire for happiness is the disease of attachment; one can be happy
only when free of desires.* Realization is not achieved by striving for it;
it arises spontaneously when one abides in the natural state without seeking
anything. So remain in the natural state without seeking, without concepts!
Even though the name 'enlightenment' is used for the real nature, this does
not mean that 'enlightenment' concretely exists. If someone believes the
opposite, [let them go ahead and try to find] enlightenment apart from the
dimension of fundamental reality; they will find nothing at all. So, instead
of aiming for enlightenment, one has to understand the nature of one's mind
beyond action. On examining one's mind, one finds nothing, yet at the same
time there is clarity that is every present. It does not manifest
concretely, yet its essence is all pervading; this is the way its nature
presents itself."

* Ramon notes: Or when the 'desire for happiness' is satisfied (purr purr)
and seeking ceases as one dissolves in Supreme Sauciness!

And p. 138
(Explaining the term 'self-arising wisdom'):
[quote]
Its being "self-arising" means that, as it is free of causes and conditions, it
transcends all effort.
[End quote]

Okay, so now let's turn to Sri Ramana Maharshi's great one-liner (I was
delighted to read that this phrase was also crucial in Wilber's
development):
"That which is not present in deep dreamless sleep is not real."

In my view, the relaxed and 'resonant' breath is a manifestation of deep,
dreamless sleep, caused by the relaxed lowering of the soft palate and
resonating the trachea as consciousness dissolves into the heart.

My question is: inasmuch as the 'resonant breath' is triggered by deep
relaxation, can it be considered as 'free of causes and conditions' and thus
viewed as 'self-arising?'
If so, then perhaps instead of the interest amongst meditators in 'remaining aware throughout all states of consciousness (awake, dream, deep
sleep), maybe we can 'remain asleep while awake and while dreaming...' by
practicing the self-arising resonant breath while awake.

Also, the blue sky frequently occurs as a metaphor for essence:
[quote]
p. 175
My essence is like the sky. My meaning is fundamental reality. My nature is
pure and total consciousness.
Listen! I have no hindrances, and I transcend concepts: the sky beyond
concepts is the dharmakaya dimension... being like the sky means not
accepting or rejecting.
[end quote]

But 'within' the sky we have a blazing golden ball in manifestation.
How does that work out? I guess Solar Consciousness is the Buddha
manifesting as the Nirmanakaya?

Quoting jax from a Dzogchen list posting 'back when:'
[quote]
How about when a Buddha is self-manifesting as a Buddha as-is, not
projecting some lesser "state", the inherent dynamics of the Buddha shine
forth spontaneously. And that energy arises from the Dharmakaya, and in
that first moment of arising, a manifestation is beginning to appear yet not
in our 3D karmic world, that's the Sambhogakaya. As that appearance takes
on greater manifestation, now reaching our dimension, the pure dynamics of
Being, appear as the Nirmanakaya or emanation appearing in our karmic
vision. At this level, this manifestation brings about an Enlightenment to
those engaged in less than Buddhic awareness. Kind of a living "wake
up"call.

Ramon: The sun burns out of compassion for all spirit essences locked in the
embrace of cold matter -- i.e. "Come to me as you are. I am that also." And
it also explains the phototropic urge of all living things.**

**For more about this phototropic urge of life, see my 'Maybe So Story' "Why
Nature Grew Humans"
http://www.raysender.com/maybenature.html

Comments welcome, especially regarding the 'self-arising' resonant breath!
Ramon
"Hey, I'm not pursuing bliss! It's pursuing -- well, hello, there! I do
believe the sNOman is melting..."

======================================================================

Email November 20 2006

Hello friends:
I'm very much into heart-centered exercises, but am not interested in paying for courses or retreats, etc.
However over time I have refined an exercise that I now call 'the sounding breath,' basically developed
from listening to my cat friends purr and then looking further.

Today I posted something to the Way-of-Light Yahoo list (which mostly focuses on Dzogchen teachings). The
moderator just returned from Israel where he had very interesting meetings with both a Sufi master and a
Kabbalah rabbi. He reports more or less that each tradition has it's own version of the 'light body' and
how to access it via dissolving the small self. Here is part of my posting:

[quote]
Thanks so much for the Sufi and Kabalah reports. Makes sense that as one dissolves the individual self via any
of the esoteric traditions, the same levels of light-emptiness are triggered.

If one has purified all of their energies that would automatically be the Enlightened state. There are many
ways to accomplish this result in terms of path. And likewise some of those paths would take longer or
shorter than others.

At the risk of repeating myself to the point of over-surfeiting my co-aspirants, this is what works for this
entity, and perhaps some of this can be useful to others:

Sunlight: bathed in sunlight, all my thoughts automatically cease because the isolated self melts into the
waterfall of light. I've experienced this since a sunbathing teenager, but only made the connection to the
Sun as Conscious Source later in early adulthood when I 'closed the duality gap' three times in three
various ways (disappearing in nature, disappearing through Christian 'neti-neti' Via Negativa,
disappearing via Sun as Source).

Resonating the trachea: this can be accomplished in various ways such as the Tibetan deep-chest-tone chanting,
or OMing on the inhale and exhale (full circle OM), or learning to 'purr' or, with a smile,
'snarl.' Tracheal resonance passes through the heart, aorta and upper vena cava to the whole circulatory
system (fingers and toes start tingling). I resonate the trachea to dissolve all lateral body armorings
and stay centered in the heart where in my 'heart of hearts' I find the end of all suffering and thus no
longer need to continue 'the search.'
Ken Wilber might critique this approach and say that I'm stuck on the physical pranic energies level and
nowhere near entering the more subtle sheathes. But if my physical feeling of 'emptiness' is satisfied
(some might call it suffering), then all else seems to flow out of it naturally (I call it 'feeding the
baby').
Whenever that 'hollow' feeling starts in my navel area, I start resonating the trachea. Great exercise is to
see how quickly I can melt away that 'I'm late for something and have to rush' panic feeling when I'm
driving. What concerns me is to find an access to enlightenment that is available to anyone, not just
those who have devoted years to meditation and belong to some august lineage or other -- and I do mean
ANYONE.
See the OBEATA Project.

I am convinced that Mother intended access to the natural state of indescribable-beyond-words to be easy and
'built-in.' For this reason I study mostly animals and little children. Actually I have most success
teaching my 'purring' exercise to 3 and 4-year-olds, whom I start with 'Old MacDonald Had A Farm' animal
noises and then we piggy-grunt our way into bliss. I now realize that when I was two, I learned tracheal
resonance as a path via sobbing: on the inhale: ah-ah/on the exhale: groaning sigh -- excellent
practice,
by the way, and universally used by infants and toddlers. Also connected to the Vajra mantra
OM AH HUNG. As an exercise, tracheal resonance is available to anyone -- just add a smile and purr!
Or if you're approaching it through crying, note what the 'feeling' of the end result is. I offer
this information gratis, but would of course be interested in feedback from anyone who tries it. In the
heart, always, Ramon
"That which is not present in deep dreamless sleep is not real."
Sri Ramana Maharshi
"The relaxed, sounding breath is the outward manifestation of deep, dreamless sleep. Do it while awake and --
guess what happens?"
Ramon (Ray) Sender

======================================================================

Email November 19 2006

Je wrote:

> What has brought me here to this board today is my deep desire to
> understand and deal with the profound physical and emotional 'drama'
> of a life experience I came out the other side of at the end of March
> this year.

Thank you so much for your story of how you came here, Jen!
We just said goodbye after a week's visit by two long-time friends, each
of whom has undergone cancer and chemo (the wife lymphoma and
thyroid, the husband prostate with his prostate removed). I'd like to
share your story with them, with your approval.

As someone now in his 70s, I now understand suffering as nature's way of
urging us to let go of the small self and merge back with that which cannot
be named, but only pointed to. Easy for me to say, who has been spared most
medical 'encounters'... (smile)

I've often wondered via this list just how many find their way
beyond the 'pretty sights' and 'amazing states' to permanent stages of
spiritual evolution. As Ken Wilber writes, even a Nazi can achieve satori:

(Quoted from The Birth of Integral Spirituality
>From What Is Enlightenment Magazine Issue 33 July-August 2006
www.wie.org
God's Playing a New Game: Integral Spirituality, Evolutionary Enlightenment,
and the Future of Religion

Full article at http://www.wie.org/j33/guru-pandit.asp
You may have to share your e-addie to get access to the article.

WILBER: Now these stages, which we also call structures or levels, show up
in all human beings, so we have to take them into account. One of the real
problems is that you can have a spiritual experience - a profound taste of
emptiness, or pure nonduality, or absolute oneness, or radiant, luminous
absolute bliss/love - and when you come out of that experience or even while
you're in it, you'll interpret it according to the level or stage you're at.
The evidence for this is now just overwhelming.

So understanding stages is the first piece of the puzzle. The second piece
is states of consciousness. States of consciousness generally tend to come
and go; they are temporary. The natural/meditative ones are waking (gross),
dreaming (subtle), deep steep (causal), witnessing, and nondual. And then
there are nonordinary states, such as drunken states and stoned states. And
you can have any of these state experiences at virtually any level or stage
you're at. You can be at any level and have a waking, dreaming, or deep
steep state. You can be at any level and experience a meditative state. You
can be at any Level and actually go through Zen training. What's so
astonishing is that a Nazi can complete Zen training. That's the point -
states can be experienced at any stage you're at.

When we understand the difference between states and stages, we can

understand that there are two different types of enlightenment. One is enlightenment as being one with - which means transcending and including -
all of the stages that are in existence at any time in history. We can call
that "vertical enlightenment." So right now, that would mean being at an
integral or super-integral stage, somewhere between the turquoise and indigo
attitudes in the color scheme I use. You can't have vertical enlightenment
nowadays if you're at a mythic level of development, or a rational level or
a pluralistic level, because you can't say you're one with everything in the
universe if there are two or three or four levels or structures that are
simply over your head.

So we have vertical enlightenment, which is being one with all of the stages
available, and then we have horizontal enlightenment, which is being one
with all of the states that are available. Once again, you can awaken to
those states at virtually any stage or structure you're at. And you'll
interpret those states through that stage.
[END QUOTE]
For those who have tried to read Wilber and found it too dense, I can
recommend his published journal excerpts, "One Taste," as easier going.

I'll sign off with my favorite mantra for resonating the bloodstream via the
trachea (almost always included on a salvia excursion).

SMILING:
On the inhale: HONGGGGG (deep in the chest snore)
On the exhale: GRUHHHHH (gargling a French "R")

R

======================================================================

Email November 18 2006
Hello, D!
It's been sort of non-stop since we returned from NYC, as our dear, long-time
friends are staying a week due to the collapse of their other stay-over plans
(a health problem). But they're truly wonderful, easy folks to have around, so
it's the best of a better world.
On the trip east we managed to cover 17 relatives and 6 friends in a week,
mainly because Judy finally gathered up all those we hadn't seen for a no-
host pizza supper for 15. She made it to the new MOMA, and together we went
to the Rubin Museum of (Himalayan) Art, a favorite small museum of mine.
The two grandsons are of course hyperactive monkeys, but very very smart
and adorable. I don't know how my son Jonny survives as house parent, but
he's very patient and attentive.
I took Ken Wilber's "One Taste" journals book along on the trip, marked
it up heavily and now am trying out the IRIS scanner pen's newest edition
(earlier versions never worked properly for me) and by gosh, I think it's
working! So I'm going to scan the marked paragraphs and sent them along when
I'm finished. Of all of Wilber's books so far that I've encountered, this is
the easiest to digest. And he does, it seems, have a soft and cuddly heart
after all.
My tracheal resonance exercise appears quite enchantingly cumulative in
its effect, so just 'touching home base' with a snarl or two every few hours
seems to keep me placed in the Ana-ha-ha-ha chakra. As I wrote to someone
recently, "
"When the heart breaks, the pieces vibrate together to play the song of
cosmic love..."
Actually it's more of a 'softening and melting' feeling, but I think in my
case my heart broke long ago as a two-year-old... and popped me into a deep
tracheal resonance state. Mother really designed us so well. Intense crying
leads to sobbing.
On the inhale: ah-ah
On the exhale: sigh
which, of course, also stimulates the trachea-aorta-upper vena cava heart
area and we dissolve into nothingness.
I'm still determined to find an easy entry path to full energy 'flow' for
the body. Wilber would probably argue that I'm still dorking around on
physical prana levels and getting nowhere near the subtle realms, but I'm
focused on the climb up from the gross, once the lateral tensions blocking
flow have been dissolved. Otherwise enlightenment will remain achievable
only by the very few, which gets us nowhere - and, I'm convinced, She
intended there to be various natural and easy portals.
Of course the EASIEST way to still the mind for me is just to relax in the
sun. Absolutely bliss washes out everything else! Yee-haw!

================================================================================

Email November 11 2006

Ed wrote:
> Sounds like you are multi-blessed with continuing your remarkably colorful
> and rich life in good health, enthusiasm, prosperity and many loved ones -
> all the hallmarks of a fully realized being! - all the more amazing that
> you didn't loose your eyesight with that nutty staring at the sun stuff!
R:
A lot of the 'going blind staring at the sun' stuff is myth, as long as you
don't do anything painful, and build up gradually from only the one-hour
after sunrise and one hour before sunset hours.

Ed:
> As a reclusive, loner type with virtually no history of
> intercommunicating with other people - it's surprising that we have
> arrived at similar possibilities regarding ultimate concepts. Of course,
> as I've discovered just over the past year when I started seriously
> surfing the internet - whatever you conceive of - there's probably already
> a blog network somewhere out in cyberspace that has been debating the
> topic for years.
R:
As I mentioned, I read Wilber's "One Taste" recently - a collection from
his journals - definitely the easiest of his books to get into that I've
found. It gave me the idea that someone should do something like "Quotes
from Ken Wilber" -- or maybe someone already has. Anyway, on the strength of
this book, I've joined his Integral Spirituality group (I previously tried
'Integral Naked' and didn't get much out of it) to try to see if there's
something I can harmonize with there. Wilber is definitely someone far
ahead of the pack. At first I thought he was all head, but his heart comes
through in this book (I'm told also in "Grace and Grit," that I have yet to
read.
I'm going to copy some excerpts from 'One Taste"' for friends - and perhaps
my blog. When I do, I'll post them to you. I was especially delighted by his
quote from Ramana Maharshi of my own 'favorite phrase:'
"That which is not present in deep dreamless sleep is not real."
My whole tracheal resonance practice is based on this statement, because I
then ask, "What do I do in deep dreamless sleep that I can copy while
awake?" In sleep the soft palate relaxes and we begin a 'sounding breath'
that can lead to snoring. This sound is the outward manifestation of our
returning for 'refreshment' to Source, in my opinion.
I'm going to try to investigate the various levels of the Sounding Breath
and write something. It's a kind of 'Everyman's Approach' to living in a
heart-centered awakened state. First off, I'm going to get a voice-activated
recorder of some sort to record my deep sleep sounds, and then copy them
while awake.
Also I recently viewed a documentary "The Human Hambone" about the art
form that uses the human body as a percussion instrument (developed during
slavery times when drums were no longer allowed.) I think Hamboning should
be taught to all kids (or at least offered) as well as in prisons because
it's a great kinesthetic experience that breaks down all lateral body
tensions - somewhere between Break Dancing, Tap and all the others.

Ed:
> I added your site to my page at
> http://geocities.com/maya-gaia/cosmicmodel.html - haven't had time to get
> past your intro - but will later- thanks and kind regards Ed
R:
I'll add your site to my favorite links page. By the way, I'm really
impressed with the design of your pages!
After reading Wilber's exercise suggestions in O.T., I'm going to add small
handheld weights to my walks and also get back to my rowing machine.
Yesterday I continued my determined exploration of tracheal resonance, doing 100 purr-snore-snarls at my desk and then another couple of hundred falling
asleep. Just now I returned from Riqui-walking and managed to keep the
tracheal resonances going all the way around the block. YUM!
From the you in me to the me in you, all good things, my friend,

Ramon