Along the old Temple Path

I was reading an interesting website, Michael Teachings. It is generally considered a new-age revelation, where a being from a higher spiritual plain has 'channeled' its wisdom to us folks in the jungle. I know there is alot of criticism with New Age teachings, and I'm not sure if channeling is what they often describe it as, but I'm willing to be open to the possibility. While reading this site, I kept a healthy skepticism, but found some good teachings that truly resonated with Integral theory. For instance, the life of the soul, according to Michael, goes through levels. Five levels to be exact. In the beginning, "baby" souls are open to psychic powers, do not differentiate themselves much from their environment, and often are passive and cautious. It is even mentioned that "baby" souls resemble "old" souls in this way, but they are two very different stages of development. According to Michael, one must go through all the stages of development to get to the "old soul" stage, even though "baby" and "old" stages resemble each other. This struck me as a clear example of understanding the pre-trans fallacy. In this sense, the general philosophy of Michael is vertical. He also teaches a variety of 'horizontal' teachings. I find it interesting to note that the stages of the soul resemble spiral dynamics.

The middle stages are more violent, defensive, meme-war like and karma-collecting. "Young" souls thrive in "I do what I want" environments, and "Adult" souls thrive in mythical, rule-role environment. Interestingly, it seems that the "Mature" soul is one who is tied between worlds, who is beginning to think in new perspectives, to shake loose the bondage of mythic structure and embrace pioneering fields. They are the troubled geniuses, Michael says, who are disillusioned and attempt to make sense of the 'unknown' without just translating it into meme-wars. Sounds almost like 2nd tier structures in spiral dynamics, no? The beginnings of integral, the existential self, etc. To sum it up, 'Mature' souls are finally clearing out their karma, and letting go of the burdens accumulated from past lives. They are also beginning to be the 'self reflexive' type, understanding their own psychological issues.

At last, the "Old Soul," is one who has at last dropped a majority of the karmic bondage and emotional baggage. The old soul is described as one who resembles a physiological old person. They tend not to be noticed much, as their development is extending beyond this 'plain,' or in integralist language, resonating with transpersonal states. Because of this, they seem to resonate less and less with those who are still grounded in the more earthly, physical domain, and mental domains. That is, personal and pre personal. Because of this they are, in the most direct sense, in the spirit of Taoism, one who is simply content to just be, and let things occur naturally. There is less 'doing' and more 'being,' but an acceptance and understanding of both. The previous 'stages' may not like this, or even pay attention to 'Old' souls because they seem to embody the spirit of action through non-action.

So, what 'stage' do you see yourself in? They can of course be intermingled, intertwined, or transitory. Personally, I see myself as dancing between the Mature and the Old soul. Often I find myself attempting projects, trying to 'connect' or 'resonate' if you will with many communities. The Integral community, Zaadz, Gaia, Tribe.net, as some examples. Yet, it seems almost natural for me and my blogs to go under the radar, hardly noticed. I think after reading Michael's teachings on Old Souls, a part of me has come to accept that aspect as natural and possibly even good. A constant struggle for me, it seems, was getting involved and noticed in these communities. I always seemed to disappear between the cracks. Not to complain, but it definitely was a downer for me. Maybe if I accept the quiet that's around me, I can learn a thing or two from the silence and find a better way to resonate with others. 

So, in that sense, I'll walk the old temple path, and not try to set up shop in market yet. Who knows who or what I will stumble upon. The stones are ancient here, and the temple falls gently into the forest's embrace. I have no dazzling community, nor podium to speak to many and with many, but that's alright. Every breath and leaf, flower and tree, being and non-being that is both seen and unseen, has a lesson to teach.

The Great Sages; Revolution vs. Evolution

A sage, "world teacher," and mystic; Krishnamurti will take all that the small self holds to value, and toss it out like a bit of dust on your sleeve. He will take value, ideals, "thought," and ego, and let it slip into the void, visibly forcing you into confrontation with fear, shadow, and the possibility of silence; love has no opposite, he would say, and indeed; the mind must be quiet in order to comprehend, not just rationally but totally, directly, what that means.
He was raised by the Theosophy society, expected to be a World Teacher and usher in a new age. But, the coming had, "gone wrong," as Krishnamurti dissolved the Order of the Star (The society built for his coming), and went off to teach without doctrine or dogma. "Truth is a pathless land," he would often say.

Looking back, we can now ask: Was Krishnamurti's teaching effective? Or did it backfire? Looking at his teaching through a veritcal scope, we can at least see where he was coming from. Non-dual, peak experiences. The silencing of the mind. The transpersonal states. Coming from this perspective, he often tossed anything less -dogma, creed, paths, time, aside for the pathless, creedless and timeless. But, was this effective? Some argue yes, other no. I'd say, a little of both! We are all at different states, different stages, different depths. One individuals receptivity to such powerful teaching that literally shakes all conditioning off of you, could be awesomely transformative. Another person? Nothing. Like a bad koan, or perhaps an over-technical prose, some of us get swept away by the language and the meaning behind the words. And that's Okay! But, doesn't that also imply that depending on where we are on the map of this evolution of consciousness, we will need different teachers? And different teachings? For exploring the non-dual states, teachers such as Krishnamurti and many others are wonderful.

Yet, depending on where we are on the spectrum, we will experience the same objective "its," subjectively. That is, we mold the experience according to our own level, state and trait. It's no wonder some of us will be blown away by the mystics, while others bored, dismissive, or perhaps indifferent. What strikes your cord? What lights your fire? Dance between perspectives, but do it to find out what resonates. Find out what energizes you and tickles your consciousness into the next wave.

So, is there any meaning to a "path," or must we discard all "means" to the pathless? Yes and yes! Ultimately, the path is released, dropped, and all of "what is," is. Non-dual, ever present, already, between the words and thoughts and before the first breath. What contemplative practices do, then, is move the mind forward, prepare it for new capabilities. What must be acknowledged is we need both evolution and revolution. Instantaneous transformation is only possible if the mind is ready to let go of it all. The mind has the potential to recognize its true nature - always! And it's always there. It's not a matter of becoming truth, becoming this or that, eventually achieving something. Nope! None of that. It's a matter of slowly, patiently, honing the body, mind, spirit to unravel itself, to release its perspectives and discover the now it's been sitting on all along.

Contemplative teachers will help you do this. Whether you're reading Krishnamurti, the Tao, Buddhist texts, Zen Koans, counting your breath, performing tantra or buying a teriyaki sandwich at subway. You start to see the buddha-state in everything. So, read on, dive in and move forward into timeless and spaceless, always and never, that is already you.