Pongsathorn's Blog

To My Love

2007-04-27T15:28:00.000+07:00

It feels so good to commit myself with the one I love, Gig. This line of blogging has been in parallel with the line of my relationship with her. Next two weeks our relationship will move from the girlfriend-boyfriend to wife-husband relation. Here I blog again to honor our love and care, throughout the time we are so close together and the time we live so far away from each other.

My dear, I know for so long that our souls are always connected. Our marriage in the next two weeks is not a reconnection of the two souls but a reaffirmation of the co-arising souls. We learn to heal and grow each other. We are mirrors to each other, reflecting deeply our own shadow. We are hands holding each other along the journey towards enlightenment. We are hearts radiating the love for the sake of all sentient-beings. We are heads envisioning the brighter future.

A Draft of My Integral Life Practice

2007-02-22T09:12:00.000+07:00

My personalized ILP is now turned into:

Practices in the "Self" Perspective: Sila (bodily and mental relaxation), Samatha (one-pointedness), Vipassana (subject-object movement)
Practices in the "Other" Perspective: Bodhisattava Vow, Lojong, Tonglen
Practices in the "Process" Perspective: Sutra study, Tai Chi & Yoga - Vital energies flow through the Body Base, Heart Base, and Wisdom Base, Attuning self process with practice process and Kosmos process.

Podcast The Teachings on Lojong

2007-01-28T13:56:00.000+07:00

I have already upload all the teachings on lojong and boddhichitta by Ven. Tenzin Palmo during the 3-day retreat at Chiangmai. Please click here for the link. It's about the Eight Verses for Training the Mind and meditation. Enjoy the light :-)

Lojong and Tonglen

2007-01-22T08:56:00.000+07:00

Here is the practice I recieve from Ven. Tenzin Palmo in the retreat at International Women's Partnership center, Chiangmai, Thailand. 15-17 January 2007.

Eight Verses for Training the Mind
By Kadampa Geshe Langritangpa

1. May I always cherish all beings
With the resolve to accomplish for them
The highest good that is more precious
Than any wish-fulfilling jewel.

2. Whenever I am in the company of others,
May I regard myself as inferior to all
And from the depths of my heart
Cherish others as supreme.

3. In all my actions may I watch my mind,
And as soon as disturbing emotions arise,
May I forcefully stop them at once,
Since they will hurt both me and others.

4. When I see ill-natured people,
Overwhelmed by wrong deeds and pain,
May I cherish them as something rare,
As though I had found a treasure-trove.

5. When someone out of envy does me wrong
By insulting me and the like,
May I accept defeat
And offer the victory to them.

6. Even if someone whom I have helped
And in whom I have placed my hopes
Does great wrong by harming me,
May I see them as an excellent spiritual friend.

7. In brief, directly or indirectly,
May I give all help and joy to my mothers,
And may I take all their harm and pain
Secretly upon myself.

8. May none of this ever be sullied
By thoughts of the eight worldly concerns,
May I see all things as illusions
And, without attachment, gain freedom from bondage.

Meeting Venerable Tenzin Palmo

2007-01-09T21:59:00.000+07:00

It's a wonderful moment to meet Venerable Tenzin Palmo today in her speech in Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. My friends and I gave her flowers and asking her to bless an Avalokiteshvara Tangka for our meditation room in Contemplative Education Center. It's the same Tangka that has been blessed by Venerable Kunga Sangbo Rinpoche in the Empowerment of Avalokiteshvara ceremony I joined last month.

In next two days, many of my friends and I will join a 4-day retreat with Venerable Tenzin Palmo at Ashram Wongsanit, Nakornnayok Province. My girlfriend will come from Phuket to join this event together with me. Venerable Tenzin's book inspires her so much.

Three years ago, I was introduced to listen to Venerable Tenzin's dharma talk while I started to learn about Dzogchen. Here is the link to the talk that has been inspired me and I believe it will inspire you as well. http://www.lamrim.com/tenzinpalmo/

Graduate then Work

2006-12-19T20:49:00.000+07:00

It's been a month now that I already finish my complete dissertation named after several comments and revision as "Thai Entrepreneur and Consciousness Development Process: A Study Using Integral Methodological Pluralism (in Thai)" Right after submiting the complete version (815 pages of A4!) I have to move to my new room in the condominium at Mahidol University to work as a full-time lecturer in Contemplative Education Center, Mahidol University, an newly emerging center dedicating to integrate contemplation into educational system. Yes, we have several role models. One of the big role models is Naropa University, and actually, NU's Vice President, Dr.Peter Hurst, is coming to join our center in the next two weeks after his retirement.

Since the curriculum on master degree in "Contemplative and Transformative Learning" is still under construction, I have several other things to do here apart from the teaching job, from creating the "Journal of Contemplative Education," to condensing my dissertation into a pocket book, to conducting two research projects, to decorate our empty office :-)

It's my big transition period.

A Little Big Moment

2006-12-10T21:30:00.000+07:00

"Om Ma Ni Pe Me Hung" flows into my heart chakra. December 10th, 2006, Venerable Kunga Sangbo Rinpoche transmits the teachings of Boddhisatva Avalokiteshvara to us in the Tibetan sacred-and-lovely ritual in a little land of "Rai Ruk Dharma-Chati" in Hua Hin, FOR THE FIRST TIME in Thailand. Around 40 people from different parts of the world come together to begin the teacher-student relationship with Rinpoche in this little big moment. The picture shows how he is empowering us the Boddhisatva Avalokiteshvara. Empowering the Body of Avalokiteshvara into our bodies, Empowering the Speech of Avalokiteshvara into our speeches, empowering the Heart of Avalokiteshvara into our hearts. He also guides us the Khyerim and Dzogrim practices in the ceremony.

Meeting Dzogchen Teachers in Thailand

2006-12-08T22:17:00.000+07:00

I've been reading Dzogchen books for almost 5 years but never meet any Dzogchen teacher. It's my great opportunity to meet the 2 Dzogchen teachers, Kundrol Mangyal Lhasras Rinpoche and Geshe Latri Nyima Dakpa Rinpoche, in the first conference on "Body and Mind: Science and Spirituality Perspectives" held by The Thousand Stars Foundation and Metanexus Institute.

I have a profound peak experience while Nyima Dakpa Rinpoche introducing us to the inner mirror and the Great Perfection. Lhasras Rinpoche's teachings was given in Tibetan language and tranlated into English by Nyima Dakpa Rinpoche, even though I can't receive his whole meanings and feelings directly, but the teaching itself is extraordinary simple. It's the teaching that comes from the experience of a Rinpoche that was imprisoned in Tibet for more than 20 years and practiced Dzogchen while he's in jail for the whole period. I feel the teachings are completely "over my head."

Phenomenologically, Nyima Dakpa Rinpoche's introduction of Dzogchen was conducive to my peak experience and Lhasras Rinpoche's teaching of Dzogchen was beyond my ability to understand but deep down I know it's the state I've never met before. This is very similar to what Luangphaw Pramote told me that I still not experience the Big Mind. There is a thin wall that block me to open to the Big Mind. I realize that all peak experiences I have about the Big Mind and Dzogchen are glimpses of the perfected state.

(A phenomenological note: There is a moment that he walked pass me and it felt like the Emptiness walked pass me.)

If there is any merit that I cultivate in this conference, I'd like to dedicate to Ken Wilber who is now in ICU. I wish him the Great Perfection, No Birth, No Death, No Coming, No Going.

1-2-3 Perspective Yoga and S-O Transformational Practice

2006-10-13T09:30:00.000+07:00

Lately, I practice more with 3-2-1 shadow work process, using diary method. I also apply 3-2-1 process to relationship with others and spiritual practice. In relationship, I explain about you, then I talk to you, then I become you. In spiritual practice, I feel the Buddha within, I take the Bodhisattava vow, I witness all Dharmas. Moving around different perspectives from 1st person to 2nd person to 3rd person back and forth makes my mind and spirit become flow and dynamic. It's a horizontal movement of the mind I call "1-2-3 perspective yoga."

"1" is the 1st person perspective. It could be Wilber's "I" quadrant or Kegan's "intrapersonal" domain.

"2" is 2nd person perspective. It could be Wilber's "We" quadrant or Kegan's "interpersonal" domain.

"3" is 3rd person perspective. It could be Wilber's "It/s" quadrant or Kegan's "cognitive" domain.

When combine this practice with Kegan/Lahey Change Process like asking and dealing with the Big Assumption, the Subject, I believe it become very powerful and transformative tool of structural change.

Horizontal spin and then shoot!

Thai Socio-cultural Center of Gravity: Traditional over Modern

2006-09-20T23:17:00.000+07:00

The present situation of the Army taking control of Thai government show an evidence of traditional mode of social practice dominated over the modern one. Thai politics has long struggled between this two structures since the revolution in 1932. The struggling has repeated itself several times in the history of Thai democracy.

I see this evidence has a high correlation with the findings in my PhD research which show that Thai societal system is dominated by agricultural mode of subsistence over the industrial one. According to Lenski's Ecological-Evolutionary Theory, the agricultural technology is correlated with the traditional culture and the industrial technology is correlated with the modern culture.

I find this correlation representing Thai socio-cultural center of gravity. This center of gravity to some degree push a pressure towards Thais consciousness complexity. It pulls up those who are below 3rd order of mind and pulls down those who wish to go beyond it.

I don't see that that the present coup is the stepping back of Thai politics as international community expressing concerns but the step that Thai society has never gone beyond. Even I understand that we've tried several ways to deal with "Thaksin Regime" until we have no choice left but the Army taking control, I feel that this is not the right injunction to enact the structural shift of the center of gravity.

Thai Political Crisis Again :-(

2006-09-20T00:18:00.000+07:00

I came back from meetings with a research team and felt so tired. I don't have time to release all tiredness but my mind suddenly shifted from drowsy state to the alerted state after hearing the news of tanks seige Thai parliament. All the TV channels is seiged by the coup. Now every channels suspends the normal programs (it reminds me of "V Channel" in "V for Vendetta").

In Thailand, the coup claims to be able to control the government, but, in New York, Thaksin Shinawatra still claims to be Thai Prime Minister (He is now joining the UN summit in New York). It's simply a contradict message between the two poles. I wonder how this crisis is going to unfold. I pray for a peaceful political reform.

Tonight is gonna last so long.

An Evidence of Global Warming from China and Tibet

2006-08-04T19:16:00.000+07:00

I found this clip from "Integral Options Cafe" blog.

Tonglen for Ken

2006-08-04T01:13:00.000+07:00

Right before I went to bed, I found this news about Ken's present sickness (go to this link for the story and pictures).

I breath in his pain, feel and take the pain inward. I breath out all the happiness and light, send the healing power toward him. Breathing in, take the pain... Breath out, send the happiness. In... Out...

I'd like to invite anyone who is reading this message to practice tonglen (sending and taking) toward Ken. A moment of breathing in and breathing out from each of us can collectively help supporting subtle energy for him.

May all sentient beings be happy...

An Integral View on "An Inconvenient Truth"

2006-08-03T21:59:00.000+07:00

Yesterday, I got a ticket from one of my good friends to see "An Inconvenient Truth" for its first show in Thailand. There was a press conference before the show and many activists, artists, and mass media gathered to talk about the global warming.

There are a lot of information that I've never known before in the film. Even though the data is very terrifying for me, but they don't awaken me. It's Al Gore's mind and life story that awaken me. The messages in the end of the movie move me so much. If global needs ecological consciousness, it's this mass media way to lift up the collective consciousness.

There is a "politics" in this "non-politics" film. It's a green politics. This film produces a "green" discourse to compete with other discourses in the cultural nexus. Combined with "scientific" discourse, the set of discourses in this film fits well with the 4th and 5th order of mind and in between. If he's gonna run another campaign for 2008 presidency, I'm sure this is a very good start and let see if the higher consciousness will win for this time.

This film also reminds me how powerful Lenski's ecological-evolutionary theory can explain human society and ecology. It's technological mode of subsistence interacting with the ecology that determines human society. A part of the film seems to promote the turning back to the older mode of subsistence like horticulture or agriculture. Viewed from EET perspective, this is not the answer. We must move beyond the industrial mode of subsistence to a more advanced mode. For me, the question is how can we obtain a technological mode of subsistence that can also sustain the global ecological system, particularly energy technology? To do this require a genuine integral cognition. What is the next human society? I wonder.

Bigger Mind, Bigger Body

2006-07-21T22:15:00.000+07:00

ILP is indeed very cool.

My body becomes bigger after a consistent practice on weightlifting. Many people who haven't seen me during my "hermit" time told me so.

My mind is also bigger. I starts to understand Wilber's integral philosophy in a much deeper level, including ontology, epistemology, and cosmology (I'm about to write an appendix on "Integral Philosophy: Ontology, Epistemology, and Cosmology" in my dissertation). I couldn't have done my dissertation in the last analysis unless my mind grow "bigger," not in the spiritual sense, but in the psycho-logical sense. 8-12 hours of analysing information and researching in the past several months helps me practice in the mind module a lot.

I also practice "Big Mind" in the spirtual sense in a daily basis. Many time I do vipassana while listening to the brainwave technology, which I think relates to "Big Brain."

Well, these are big big things I've done to my big big lifeworlds.

I'm Still Alive!!!

2006-07-20T23:08:00.000+07:00

The past two months had been a tough time for me trying to finalize my dissertation. It's almost all done. There are few more processes to do before I graduate. Anyway, I'm still tired from using my brain bloging anything out now, so let's the picture says for me.

Gig and I before going to one of our
friends' wedding ceremony taken on
July 15th, 2006.

Thanks for ILP that keeps me healthy all the way up and all the way down during the hard time.

Amateur Dive Into My Shadow

2006-06-08T20:11:00.000+07:00

I still want to say exactly the same phase as I used to say: Shadow really means shadow. Whenever I start to realize more about my shadow, I feel like I've known it for so long but consciously I never know. It perfectly hides behind my back. I'm not sure how much the 3-2-1 process can do to the realization of my shadow, I don't use 3-2-1 diary technique since I-WET last year. But I conduct the 3-2-1 process silently in my mind sometimes since then. As far as I know, diving into the unconsciousness is the key. To my experiences, "facing it" or the "3" process really can't be the therapeutic process unless my mind enter a half-awake, half-sleep state. What is left in the half-awake part is the only awareness (naturally embedded with element of care) and the other half left is for all unconscious stories to arise.

As far as I know, my shadow may started when my inner world is constructed around 1st order of mind (atomistic structure). I'm now constructing the world around 4th order (systematic structure). It's a 3-stage difference! That's why consciously writing a diary technique does not work for me. I think all conscious therapeutic techniques may not work for me in discovering it. After I started to realize something about my shadow. I dreamed about something very related to my shadow for couple of days. In my dreams, I cry, cry, and cry.

I don't think I should tell you about my shadow. Viewed from a more mature mind, I have to protect my vulnerable boy inside. What I want to say is shadow module is truely essential for any kind of integral life practice. Let's your inner child's voice be heard...

Busy Again

2006-05-13T15:48:00.000+07:00

Still can't blog right now even I wish to. I'd like to blog about the discovery of my shadow and how I can see the light out of the tunnel. Soon...

Integral Math for Vipassana

2006-04-30T13:20:00.000+07:00

Vipassana: The subject of one moment becomes the object of the subject of the next.

moment 1: 1p(1p₁) x 1p(1-p x 1-p x 1-p) x 1p(1/p₀)
moment 2: 1p(1p₂) x 1p(1-p x 1-p x 1-p) x 1p(1/p₁)
moment 3: 1p(1p₃) x 1p(1-p x 1-p x 1-p) x 1p(1/p₂)
....
moment n: 1p(1p_n) x 1p(1-p x 1-p x 1-p) x 1p(1/p_n-1)

Enlightenment if 1p_n = 1-p x 1-p x 1-p x 1/p (realizing as pure witnessing)
or 1p(1-p x 1-p x 1-p x 1/p) x 1p(1-p x 1-p x 1-p) x 1p(1/p)
[This is what Ken called "pure meditation": 1-p x 1-p x 1p]

Integral Spirituality Ch.1

2006-04-29T16:22:00.000+07:00

Finished Chapter 1 of Ken's new book "Integral Spirituality" today (free available in http://www.kenwilber.com/professional/writings/index.html). I love the clearer explanation of "integral math" in the chapter. That makes me review the mathematical representation in my CDi framework as well.

Here are two points I think he makes it clearer:
1. The quadrants is technically different from 1st-, 2nd-, 3rd-person perspectives. I've struggled with this for quite sometimes.
2. He differentiates "quadrants" from "quadrivia". That makes a clearer differetiation of "individual holon" from "social holon". "Individual holon" possesses "quadrants" but not "social holon".

These two points lead me to a much clearer picture of CDi framework (for the updated details click here).

KW.com 2.0 VS Wilber Watch

2006-04-28T10:52:00.000+07:00

Integral News Update!

Don't miss these two sites/blogs:

KenWilber.com 2.0: www.kenwilber.com (especially, his blog and writings)
Frank Visser's blog: wilberwatch.blogspot.com

Cool!

Constructive-Developmental Integral Framework. Part 1

2006-04-26T21:39:00.000+07:00

Constructive-Developmental Integral Framework is my version of "AQAL" framework used in my dissertation. As I already show a part of it in "Integral Math and Order of Mind. Part 1 & Part 2" and "Complexity, Spirituality, Reinterpretation" here is my fuller version.

CDi Framework

Psycho-logics ("I" Quadrant):
1st Order: 123-p x 123/p
2nd Order: 123-p x 123-p x 123/p
3rd Order: 123-p x 123-p x 123-p x 123/p
4th Order: 123-p x 123-p x 123-p x 123-p x 123/p
5th Order: 123-p x 123-p x 123-p x 123-p x 123-p x 123/p
[where 1-p is intrapersonal mode of knowing; 2-p is interpersonal mode of knowing; 3-p is cognitive mode of knowing. See figure 9.1 in Kegan's In Over Our Head (1994 [2003]), pp.314-315 for details]

Culturo-logics ("We" Quadrant):
1st Order: 1-p*pl x 1/p*pl
2nd Order: 1-p*pl x 1-p*pl x 1/p*pl
3rd Order: 1-p*pl x 1-p*pl x 1-p*pl x 1/p*pl
4th Order: 1-p*pl x 1-p*pl x 1-p*pl x 1-p*pl x 1/p*pl
5th Order: 1-p*pl x 1-p*pl x 1-p*pl x 1-p*pl x 1-p*pl x 1/p*pl
[where 1-p*pl is mode of discourse]

Socio-logics ("Its" Quadrant):
1st Order: 3-p*pl x 3/p*pl
2nd Order: 3-p*pl x 3-p*pl x 3/p*pl
3rd Order: 3-p*pl x 3-p*pl x 3-p*pl x 3/p*pl
4th Order: 3-p*pl x 3-p*pl x 3-p*pl x 3-p*pl x 3/p*pl
5th Order: 3-p*pl x 3-p*pl x 3-p*pl x 3-p*pl x 3-p*pl x 3/p*pl
[where 3-p*pl is mode of production]

Ken made a note that his integral math developed so far is 7th person perspective, taking 123 as 4th person perpective, 123x123 as 5th person perspective, 123x123x123 as 6th person perspective, 123x123x123x123 as 7th person perspective. His 7th person perspective is my 5th order of complexity. I couldn't agree more since the 5th order is the most advanced mode of enacting [For CDi, 1-p is mode of knowing, 2-p is mode of discourse, 3-p is mode of production].

(Note: If you may notice, I already drop my metaphysical dream of looking for post-5th orders, seeing my past dream, click here. Now my thought is reconstructed and moves towards "integral methodological pluralism" by rotating all "transpersonal" into "zone 1".)

[1st updated April 28th, 2006
2nd updated April 29th, 2006]

Complexity, Spirituality, Reinterpretation

2006-04-17T14:25:00.000+07:00

Human mind evolves over time from less to more complexity. New complexity creates new meaning. Reinterpretation of the past fact is a sure thing for new complexity. From an integral vision, complexity is not other than multiple interlinking of perspectives, nor things, nor processes, nor entities. Human beings started to realize themselves at a level of complexity along the evolutionary path . It's called "self-introspection," which is a quality out of a mental complexity that Kegan called "3rd Order of Mind". As I use an integral math, in spiritual term, 3rd order of mind is 1-p x 1-p x 1-p x 1/p, a 1st-person view of a 1st-person self-preferential principle of a 1st-person impulsive mode of a 1st-person body "stop-mode". At this level, all major religions start to spring up, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, etc. Human beings, for the first time, know how to be enlightened.

When human beings evolve to a higher level of complexity, everything is reinterpreted, including spirituality. At 3rd order complexity, the ultimate interpretation of spirituality is there are two worlds, illusory and transcendental. To be enlightened is to get out of illusory world and to resolve oneself into THE transcendental world. At 4th Order of mind, the reinterpretation principle could be 1-p x 1-p x 1-p x 1-p x 1/p or, in a spiritual reinterpretation, a 1st-person spiritual process to a 1st-person introspection of a 1st-person preferential formation of a 1st-person impulse of a 1st-person body. A radical new form of interpretation to enlightenment known as "Nonduality." Form and Emptiness are two side of the same coin. No coming, No going.

Towards the leading-edge complexity, 5th order of mind, a reinterpretation of enlightenment start to unfold. With a highly complex mind, 1-p x 1-p x 1-p x 1-p x 1-p x 1/p, a 1st-person integral awareness of 1st-person spiritual process of a 1st-person introspection of a 1st-person preference of a 1st-person impulse of a 1st-person body, enlightenment is everywhere, every occasion, every moment, epistemologically, ontologically. The ultimate meaning of spirit is the Ground of Kosmos, which contains sentient beings and is built out of perspectives.

[1st updated April 28th, 2006
2nd updated April 29th, 2006]

Integral Math and Order of Mind. Part 2

2006-04-16T09:15:00.000+07:00

An Example of 2nd Order of Mind

Mind Complexity
Meaning-making process: 123-p x 123-p x 123/p [self-preference]

; 1-p is a first-person approach, 1/p is an freeze frame of first-person perspectives [here at the "0" order of mind where "cognition" are "movement & sensing" or simply "body"]

Being-in-the-world
Friend-making process: 1p(1p) x 1p(2-p x 2-p) x 2p(1p) (e.g. I like your taste of fashion)
Discourse-making process: 1p(1p) x 1p(1-p*pl x 1-p*pl) x 1p (e.g. I said, "iPod is the best gadget.")
Artifact-making process: 1p(3p) x 1p(3-p x 3-p) x 3p (e.g. I'm cooking Padthai)

; 1p(1p) is a first person who has first-person perspective [sentient-being], 1p is a first-person discourse without perspectives [insentient-being], 3p is a third-person heap/artifact without perspectives [insentient-being], 1-p is a first-person approach/perspective, 3-p is a third-person approach/perspective

[1st updated April 17th, 2006
2nd updated April 28th, 2006
3rd updated April 29th, 2006]

Integral Math and Order of Mind. Part 1

2006-04-13T22:11:00.000+07:00

A short note on my intuition today about Wilber's "integral math" and Kegan's "order of mind" (still very rough and need more refinement in the future, um, maybe for my post-doctoral study)

1st Order: 123-p x 123/p (impulse organize senses)
2nd Order: 123-p x 123-p x 123/p (self-preference organizes impulses)
3rd Order: 123-p x 123-p x 123-p x 123/p (self-introspection approaches and organizes self-preferences)
4th Order: 123-p x 123-p x 123-p x 123-p x 123/p (an evaluating self-system approaches self-introspection)
5th Order: 123-p x 123-p x 123-p x 123-p x 123-p x 123/p (interpenetration of self-systems approaches self-systems)

(note: the important point here is the level of perspectives on perspectives)

[1st updated April 17th, 2006
2nd updated April 28th, 2006
3rd updated April 29th, 2006]

Busy, Busy, Busy

2006-04-05T12:31:00.000+07:00

Got back to Bangkok for a week, but still very busy. I'm working on constructing a research methodology called "Subject-Object Discourse Analysis," integrating Wilber's integral theory, Kegan's constructive-developmental theory, and Foucault's "interpretative analytics" together. Oh, it's a damn hard task. Anyway, I believe it's on the right track now. I now understand why Ken can't blog.

Rhythm, Dialectics, and Integrality

2006-03-22T09:48:00.000+07:00

Attuned to rhythm of each different module of practice,
time and loop...

Each module touches different base of our beings,
Diligently focusing, seperately practicing...

Enmeshment doesn't occur at the surface,
Dialectically connectedness, very deep, very subtle...

Fullness and free functioning through cross-training,
A path to integrality starts from here...

Quote of the Day

2006-03-15T12:39:00.000+07:00

“In itself the exercise of power is not violence; nor is it a consent which, implicitly, is renewable. It is a total structure of actions brought to bear upon possible actions; it incites, it induces, it seduces, it makes easier or more difficult; in the extreme it constraints or forbids absolutely; it is nevertheless always a way of acting upon an acting subject or acting subjects by virtue of their acting or being capable of action. A set of actions upon other actions.”

-- Michel Foucault

Keep Practicing Your Life

2006-03-07T21:19:00.000+07:00

No matter what happens, keep practicing right injunctions into your various aspects of your life. Each practice has its own "dark night", but you'll get to the dark night only if you take the right injunction. Otherwise, you will get into the Dark Side of the Force". You won't grow a jedi, but a sith. I myself put so much value on learning right injunctions, and always ready to revise my practice if there's something wrong.

Here are the lists of practices I do under the ILP framework (body, mind, spirit, shadow, relationship, and work modules).

Bodies workout [body module]: keep moving aerobically and anaerobically
Mental framework [mind module]: keep reading "integral" and "post-metaphysical" books
Samatha [spirit module]: keep bringing my intention back to an object of meditation in the present moment
Vipassana [spirit module]: keep knowing/feeling my beings, simply without any effort or coercion.
Shadow work [shadow module]: keep accepting even a little denial
Relationship [relationships module]: keep loving, relating, talking, and touching others
Work-in-the-world: keep working on my dissertation

There are many more modules you can do to your life. These are just the "major" ones from my view. Each has its own orbit (monthly, weekly, daily, or even secondly). And they are different from one person to another. You need to do "self-research" on various types of life practices by yourselves. All fruitions will be yours.

Away from the Internet

2006-02-26T22:34:00.000+07:00

I have a lot of contents to blog since a week away from internet. They can be blog seperately in a single entry. Anyway I still have to spend lots of the time finalizing my dissertation without losing my ILP [samatha, vipassana, focus intensity training, hiking, biking, shadow work, and relationship]. I'm now staying at Phuket with my girlfriend. It's quite difficult to find internet access here, but I feel my life is more balanced.

Here I list the entry I have during several days 'retreat from the Internet' (I should have included this particular retreat as a part of my ILP. hehe). I still don't have much time to go into details in each topic. But the listing has its own benefit: to archive my thoughts.

- Art: Therapy and Inner Development [scribble technique, movement, painting, cray, flower decoration, singing]

- Scribble drawing series [Like my reconstructive life story series]

- Dialectical relations: A Path Towards Integrality

- My Experience with Focus Intensity Training

- From Sole Vipassana with a Mild ILP to Full ILP Orientation

Bug in the Comment Section Solved!

2006-02-17T21:07:00.000+07:00

Oh! I just realize a bug in the comment section that no one can add any comment to my blog. If any reader of my blog did try to comment and fail to do so, I'm so sorry for that. This problem is already solved and you can add any comment you wish [except junk comments! I hate it].

My Love, My Valentine

2006-02-14T10:12:00.000+07:00

Gig and I

Even we are far apart, our love is still strong and even grows every moment. Her lovely, warm, and funny presence adds joy and meaningfulness to my life. She stands by me when I feel so weak. She walks right besides me on the path of spiritual realization. Sometimes my shadow builds up the wall between us, she waits for me until I break down the wall. Brick by brick, moment by moment, she contemplates through a gentle touch to my heart.

To celebrate our third Valentine's Day...

Two Types of Samatha

2006-02-10T11:37:00.000+07:00

It feels like I just passed through a thunder storm. During the last week, the seeking mind seeked for the liberation, being free from the world. I also know from my peak experiences of nondual awareness and integrally-informed that, in the Ultimate, there is no going, no coming. Anyway this seeking mind made me feel so tired. It's a restless seeking.

Luangphaw Pramote recommended me to rest in this restless seeking stage for sometimes by using "samatha", like reading joyful dharma books, or making merits like feeding fishes, or rest in emptiness. He used the word "samatha" in the very broad sense: coercion of our intention to do one single activity. This broad meaning also includes the specific meaning of Jhanas or tranquility meditation. So do Focus Intensity Training.

By contrast, vipassana has no coercion of our intention. Whenever I coerce my intention, I know that I coerce my intention. This is vipassana. Vipassana is just to observe the mind (or to feel or to know the mind). "Observing the mind" is more like principle than activity of the intention. Luangphaw also said that "observing the mind" can sometimes move the mind to rest in emptiness wherever the mind needs to rest by itself. This is a very specific mode of samatha, "vipassana-led samatha" or entering samatha without intention.

Now I can classified two major modes of samatha: samatha with intention and samatha without intention.

For samatha with intention, it is useful when I use it like a weightlifting for intention. I lift weight against the gravity. Its purpose is to strenghten my muscle, not to overcome gravity. Samatha with intention is the same. I focus my intention to one point against The Three Characteristics: impermanence, suffering, no-self. Its purpose is not to overcome The Three Characteristics, but to strenghten my intention. As The Three Characteristics is like gravity, samatha is like weightlifting. The pitfall of doing samatha with intention is that it can be anti-vipassana. When my intention is strong, I feel that I can control my mind, even control to empty my mind. This prevents me from see the world as it is as I see through vipassana.

For samatha without intention, while "observing the mind," the mind may feel tired, if so, the mind will rest in emptiness by itself. It's what I called "vipassana-led samatha." This specific mode of samatha is a formless mode of meditation. Since this specific mode cannot occur through intention, it's not for everyone but for those who practice sole and dry vipasssana at an advanced stage. The pitfall is those who follow the path of sole vipassana don't have much strong intention, until this specific mode of samatha naturally occurs.

The Map of Insight Development

2006-02-07T17:43:00.000+07:00

"The GREAT KICK in the ASS, You won't find the answer in any phenomena or reaction to them."
--Daniel Ingram, the basic insight on stage#10 vipassana nana.

Vince has introduced me "An Essay about Arahats" written by his dharma teacher, Daniel Ingram, for a while. I didn't read Daniel's other writings but this Vince's post, which resonates with my experience in the previous post, has a link to Daniel's wonderful writings. I first download his nanas and jhanas table and find that he has an eloquent map of vipassana nanas, which provides a lot of informations for pratitioners to compare with while navigating through real territory. Then I read his excellent book, Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, particularly in the section "The Progress of Insight," an lenghy description of insight knowledges or vipassana nanas. I'm thrilled and excited how exactly he describes my experience. These two days I have been roaming around to find the answer to my obstacle. I still can't stop my self and still have very bad feelings lying underneath almost always.

Yesterday, I meditated through "Integral Inquiry," a formless meditation guided by Terry Patten in the ILP kit. During a one-hour meditation I did rest in Emptiness, but right after the practice, I got back to restlessness again. It doesn't mean the inquiry can't help, but none of any meditation can help me right in this stage. That's why I'm in the Dark Night mood.

(I'm not sure where exactly I'm now between 9th and 10th but I'm sure I'm working on one of them, please see Daniel's table for details)

Rest in Emptiness

2006-02-06T10:54:00.000+07:00

Yesterday I went to visit Luangphaw Pramote as I normally do every other week (It's a part of my ILP). I asked him about the experience of getting stuck in a vipassana stage for a while and I do not know how to move to the next stage. The experience is I feel so boring in knowing mind and body. I feel beings-in-the-world are all suffering in themselves. They are the Great Torture in themselves. I can't get away from them since whichever way I try to do anything, that deeds themselves are sufferings. After having this experience, I feel so boring and I also want to get out of them, and deep deep down I also know I can't. I quit practice and my mind is dry. Then I play hard and sleep a lot.

Luangphaw said that it's my habit to walk this dry way, just practice vipassana (insight meditation) and no samatha (tranquility meditation). He recommended me to rest in Emptiness sometimes other than keeping feel into the mind/body world only. He said sometimes "knowing the mind" will automatically move the mind to rest in "Nothingness" realm or "Infinite Space" realm. Those are the formless realms to rest besides the "mental" realm, a realm with form, like internet, books, music, and DVDs, of which I love to rest. The formless realms will helps refresh my mind and gave me more energy to move on in the path to awakening. I didn't have much interest in formless meditation but since the ILP kit provides an instruction to do such meditation. So why not. Rest in Emptiness? Very fluffy.

Note: there are sixteen stages of "vipassana nanas" or Insight Knowledges, the "boring" stage is the eight one, called "Knowledge of disenchantment" and the "desire to get out" stage is the ninth, called "Knowledge of the desire for liberation." See more details of all sixteen stages click here.

Pongsathorn's Blog: A New Look

2006-02-04T13:37:00.000+07:00

After a week-long workaholic life, I play and update myself with Internet and IT. I changes my blog color tone towards a dark night inspiration. Thanks Blogger Templates for giving this cool template for free.

I find out how to add tags while creating/editing a post in the Blogger and how to add tag cloud in the sidebar. Tagging system can be a tool to do a content analysis. Look at the sidebar to see which word has clouded my mind for two years of blogging.

Got ILP Starter Kit Today

2006-02-03T13:04:00.000+07:00

Here it come! With an incredibly speedy shipping, the ILP Starter Kit is right in front of me now in my home in Thailand. I'm blogging this out with a overwhelming feeling after a 1-hour tour over all the contents.

Paul has done a terrific job on the kit design and graphics. It's my best buy this year.

How Bill Speaks About Ken

2006-02-01T10:40:00.000+07:00

Many integral bloggers are blogging about the occasion in World Economic Forum that Bill Clinton talked about Ken Wilber. Check out via Vince.

How Ken Speaks About Zaadz

2006-02-01T02:54:00.000+07:00

Brian just blogs this funny entry. Yeah! the more you click on Ken, the bigger he is. :)

No Control, No Deny

2006-01-28T10:54:00.000+07:00

One of the attribute of vipassana is to control nothing, but just to know/feel whatever arises in the present moment. No control of consciousness to do anything, no control of body to do anything. One of the experience I have while doing walking meditation with no control is that the self tries to control life and death. It's a very subtle control that prevents us from the attunement to Kosmic Eros.

While meditating with forms without control, the shadow in each one of us can also arise. However, because the shadow is a karmic pattern of denial, it is very much an unconscious process of slipping away from our awareness. It's the process of denying from 1-person impulses and splitted to 2-person impulses and further splitted to 3-person impulses. With helps of vipassana, it is easier to find the sign of shadow by observing this kind of pattern arises: "you/he/she make me angry," "because of you, I have to be anxious," "they are THE cause of these difficulties," etc.

With the 1-2-3 process of denying, we no longer practice vipassana as well as no longer heal ourselves. An integration between spiritual practice and psychodynamic practice could be 3-2-1-0. Healing the split from 3 to 2 to 1 and then return now-reown impulses to Kosmos with the Emptiness or "0". No control and no deny.

(This entry is cross-posted at my Zaadz blog)

Reintegration of Shadow into Personality

2006-01-20T17:20:00.000+07:00

I think the word shadow REALLY means shadow. From my experience, it's like something you seems to be able to aware, but you ignore it. It slips away from our consciousness and hides behind our personality. Since the goal of psychotherapy is to reintegrate our shadow into personality, I include this goal in my list. I feel thankful to Ken to remind us of "integral methodological pluralism". Without this reminder, I should have gone back to the usual path of spiritual bypass by now.

Sufferings in The Relative and Absolute Truth

2006-01-16T23:59:00.000+07:00

My vulnerable child inside is still hurted...

I'm blogging this entry 7 hours later after being subtly abused [emotionally, verbally] by "the source". I look back throughout my life and see this repeated pattern of subtle abuse in a much clearer picture. It's the sufferings that drive me to seek for a spiritual haven. By path of spiritual bypass, I interpret all sufferings as the same, both in the relative and absolute truth. By path of integral spiritual path, I differentiate sufferings into psychopathology and dukkha in the Four Noble Truths. The first exists in the relative truth and the second exists in the absolute truth.

In the absolute truth, sufferings or dukkha are mind and body itself. It is the Finite. They are the unavoidable Torture manifested out of the Infinite and cannot be destroyed, healed, or anything. In the relative truth, psychopathology are unnecessary sufferings. They can be avoided and healed in a proper way.

With the spiritual bypass, the interpretation is to pratice meditation in fusion, wandering in the Great Escape. With the integral spiritual path, the interpretation is to integrate spiritual practice with psychotherapy practice.

I blog this to remind myself out loud since I still have a lot of impluses arising inside that the spiritual bypass is so sweet. Facing the truth is bitter.

My Girlfriend, iPod and Vipassana

2006-01-14T23:35:00.000+07:00

My girlfriend find a cool way to integrate iPod with vipassana. She put mp3 files of Luangphaw Pramote's teachings on "self-feeling" in her iPod and listen while she does many activities. She doesn't pay much attention to the talks thoroughly. She only hear Luangphaw's asking his students like "What are you doing?" [not your working career but your working mind], then she feel what her mind is doing. She only hear "Got lost in thought, do you feel?", if so, then she feel. "Still control your mind, do you feel?", if so, then she feel. "Sending mind out already, do you know?", if so, then she know. "Doubting, do you know?", if so, then she know. "Worrying, do you know?", if so, then she know.

She has a hundred of hours of Luangphaw Pramote's teachings and every track she will hear his words like this. It's like she has a "mindful bell" with her. However, It's not a bell sound, it's a real human voice. The bell will not be tolled every hours but randomly in the immediate present moment.

Spiritual Bypass

2006-01-13T21:54:00.000+07:00

If we try to ignore our pain and achieve the higher levels of our consciousness, something, usually our false self/negative ego or shadow self, will hold us back until we work through our particular unfinished business. Trying to bypass the work that needs to be done on our negative ego/shadow backfires. This is called spiritual bypass, premature transcendence or high-level denial. Spiritual bypass can be seen in any number of situations, from being born again in the fundamentalist sense, to focusing only on the Light, to becoming attached to a guru or technique. The consequences often are denial of the richness and healthy spontaneity of our inner life: trying to control oneself or others; all-or-none thinking and behaving; feelings of fear, shame and confusion; high tolerance for inappropriate behavior; frustration, addictions and compulsions; and unnecessary pain and suffering.

---Barbara H. Whitfield's Spiritual Awakening

I used to write a reconstructive story of my life from a structuralist perspective. My life story can be also seen and reconstructed from a interpretative/phenomenological perspective as well. And that will make another story! I'm quite in a very early stage to be able to write my life story from that perspective but as far as I look back throughout my life in the past and present I can see lots of situations and consequences similar to the quote above. I think I have some kind of this "spiritual bypass".

One main shadow I have since childhood I'm aware of now is closely related to "battles" with my dad. That creates lots of consequences such as I want to compete with some people that make me feel fear similar to the fear I have towards my dad. I have long denied this fear and wanted to overcome this fear by competing with my dad. "No, it's not good to be a bad son like that", I have talked to myself for a long time. This denying process goes further towards "transference". I transfer this competing impulses towards others who make me frightened. In some cases I praise them as my spiritual gurus, in some cases I want to beat them. Sometimes it swings back and forth from beating to praising. This is an unconscious process that always run in the shadow side of myself. (It's 1-2-3 process! Ken hits right on the spot!)

My desire to practice meditation and live a spiritual life is driven by this denying process as well. I can see this "spiritual bypass" at the very starting point of my spiritual path. Eight years ago, I suffered and I thought that buddhist practice will take me away from all "sufferings". It doesn't mean that spiritual practice is wrong, but what is wrong is my understanding that spiritual practice will heal all sufferings. Spiritual practice will bring us BEYOND all sufferings, not heal sufferings BEHIND. A proper treatment to what we left "behind" is not spritual practice, but a psychodynamic practice.

Me, Anxieties, and Projection

2006-01-12T23:52:00.000+07:00

I couldn't believe myself after realizing how much my anxieties have hurted people around me. It's like a blind spot in myself and I never never know that it exists. I feel my thoughts keeps arising and I also feel most of them come with anxieties. It's like the anxious thoughts has formed themselves preverbally. No complete words or sentences could be said, but whenever I try to say something consciously, they become twisted, or added, or subtracted. Things becomes even worse when the anxiety is denied and then projected to others. The projection will be consciously said but unconsciously aimed to hurt others.

I feel so sorry for those who were hurted by me. I'm so ashamed of myself. I apologize...

A New Year Trip From Shadow to Spirituality

2006-01-05T11:23:00.000+07:00

The last couple of weeks my life have been experiencing across so many territories from shadow to spirituality in self and others. Starting from joining a wonderful seminar on "Integral Transformative Practice" and "Psychoanalysis: Self Analysis" by a child psychiatrist Teerakiat Jareonsettasin. Both of these seminars focused on shadow work and Freud. I also had a chance to talk about my experiences in the ISC event, I-I visiting, and I-WET in the first seminar. But what has occupied my thoughts since the seminar was the idea of "self-analysis" as a tool for shadow work. He recommended these two books: Karen Horney's Self-Analysis and Ernest Farrow's A Practical Method of Self-Analysis. He suggested us to be aware of "slip of the tongue" or some over-intensified immediate feelings, like overly angry or over care, particularly in relationships. A repeated pattern of such over-intensified feelings in our life and relationship is the sign of our shadow. Free association is Freud's psychoanalytic tool using with his patients. Even though this tool requires a professional practice, but we may conduct a free association within ourselves, as suggested by Farrow and Horny. A kind of "free-associate journaling" may be of useful (see an example of free association). Honesty is the key to do self-analysis.

I myself let my mind free association with whatever arises and practices self-feeling of thoughts and feelings [vipassana] together.

On January 1st, 2006, I visited Luang Phaw Pramote to report my vipassana practice. He confirms that I know how to practice in the right way, only if I should not be lazy to practice. He told me for three times in the past two months that I have potential to enter the transcendental state-stages (Therevada state-stages are sotapanna, sakadagami, anagami, and arhant accordingly). As Luagn Phaw told me and I also see it myself, one of the obscatle that prevent me from entering the first stage is "the desire to be good". I can feel that it is deep rooted in my shadow. From a child, wanting to be loved, wanting to be accepted, especially from my mom and dad, I told myself "I need to be good enough in their eyes."

Good self is small self... I feel,
Wanting to be accepted... I feel,
Wanting to be loved... I feel.

Tsunami Memorial

2005-12-27T07:47:00.000+07:00

On December 26, 2004, hundred thousands of people died by the strike of Asian tsunami. Many other people who are their sons, daugthers, fathers, mothers, relatives, lovers, and friends was sad and suffering from hearing the disastrous news. One year is not long especially to those who are still in pain.

Would you please join me and take a short moment in our spiritual heart, breathing in all sufferings in all realms into the very subtle empty awareness within, and breathing out all happiness to all realms to those who are still in pain and sufferings. To turn the giant wave of lost into the wave of compassion. To transcend all sufferings in the past, and embrace them in the ever-present happiness. To all those sentient beings to be in rest, joy, and peace.

Keep Quiet! It's Zaadz

2005-12-22T20:40:00.000+07:00

I speak to myself "what's the heck going on here" after getting inviting emails in the same day from these three people who call themselves "zaadzsters": Vince, Roelke, coolmel. A while later I find myself involve in this organization named, Zaadz. Our mission is to change the world. Neo-theravadin practitioner is my name in disguise. Gotta go, this message may be spied.

Luangpu Dune: The First Theravadin Nondualist

2005-12-21T23:23:00.000+07:00

Luangpu Dune Atulo (1888-1983)

The mind sent outside is the origination of suffering
The result of the mind sent outside is suffering
The mind seeing the mind is the path
The result of the mind seeing the mind is the cessation of suffering.
[The Four Noble Truths] --- Luangpu Dune

Strangely enough to put "Theravada" and "Nonduality" together. It's known that Theravada's final goal is to attain arhatship which is a state that get out of samsara to nirvana. Mahayana argues that it is not the nondual state between samsara and nirvana. Luangpu Dule is, perhaps, the first Theravada monk who talked about "Mind is Buddha" in the nondual sense. Luangpu Dune practiced in Thai forest tradition. His teachings gathered in the book "Gifts He Left Behind" is my favorite.

Involution Song

2005-12-20T07:49:00.000+07:00

Vast open Emptiness awares everything arises as fullness. Out of that Emptiness, the two Big Eyes are approaching the world as suchness, the 1st-person approach and 3rd-person approach. The First Eye, realized as feminine eye of God, feels into the world. The other Eye, realized as masculine eye of God, looks from a distance to the world. Eyes to Eyes creates matrix of being-in-the-world, expanding from 2 to 4 to 8 and so on, producing complex world out of simple awareness. It's the Involution, perhaps.

Excerpt from "Integral Spirituality" Book

2005-12-17T15:11:00.000+07:00

This is the excerpt from Ken's forthcoming book entitled "Integral Spirituality: A Startling New Role for Religion in the Modern and Postmodern World" as mentioned in IntegralNaked.org. I got this excerpt from "Ken Wilber" mailing list at Shambhala Publisher. Have a look!

Where Is Spirit Located?

Here's a simple thought experiment. Picture the following men or women, and then tell me which you think are probably
the most spiritual?

1. A man in an Armani suit
2. A woman driving a red Ferrari
3. A player pitching baseball in the major leagues
4. A professional comedian
5. A mathematician
6. A person in a tank top lifting weights
7. An Olympic swimmer
8. A college professor
9. A model
10. A sexual surrogate

Which do you think is the most spiritual? Which do you think is the least spiritual?

It's funny, isn't it, the things that we think are not spiritual? Why do we picture most of those men as not being very spiritual? Or conversely, why do we have such a hard time seeing them as being spiritual? Aren't we actually just giving our own prejudices about where we think spirit is or is not to be found? Or worse: aren't we really just announcing how old and fragmented and NOT INTEGRAL our ideas about spirit are? Why is telling jokes not spiritual? Why is something beautiful -- a car, a suit -- not spiritual? Why is physical excellence not spiritual? Why is sex not spiritual? Why is....

It's a new world, it's a new spirituality, it's a new time, it's a new man, it's a new woman. All of the above categories are deeply spiritual. Mostly all that list is, is a list of things we are afraid to allow spirituality to touch. Dead from the neck down, with no humor, no sex, no aesthetic sensibility whatsoever, wasting away, spending one's days and nights ignoring the world and lost in prayer... what a strange God, that.

Well, no more. Dead to life, dead to the body, dead to nature, dead to sex, dead to beauty, dead to excellence: that never was a real God, anyway, but merely a desiccated distillation of the things that men and women always had the most difficulty handling, and things from which God became the Great Escape, a distillation and concatenation of every phobic and repressive impulse a human being possessed.

Well, no more. It's a new world, it's a new spirituality, it's a new man, it's a new woman.

The Spirit is integral, and so is the human being.

Copyright 2005 Ken Wilber

Where I Am Now In The Integral Map

2005-12-13T23:03:00.000+07:00

Here is where I am now in the integral map (quadrant, level, line, state, type)

Level of Consciousness: Kegan's Order 4(3) (cognitive line in the broadest sense)
Type of Consciousness: Enneagram Type 3 (The Achiever)
State-Stage of Consciousness: Simplicity [Vipassana]
Peak Experience (higher altered state): Nondual/One Taste
Perspectives Opened:

Inside of I: Vipassana (Nama/Mind), Self-inquiry, Big Mind
Outside of I: Kegan's Subject-Object Interview
Inside of It: Vipassana (Rupa/Body), Pranayama, FIT (Focus Intensity Training)
Inside of We: Active Listening, "You-Reflection", Unconditional Positive Regards
Outside of We: Group SOI [developed from Kegan's SOI]
Outside of Its: Observation on "Mode of Production"

Family Culture: 2nd and 3rd Order of Culture ["reciprocalism" and traditionalism]
Technoeconomic Mode of Production: informational

A Reconstructive Story of My Life: Age 28

2005-12-02T20:22:00.000+07:00

This is where I can write my reconstructive life story no more, because it's my present age! Year 2005 is one of the most transformative years of my life. I'm so happy that I started this blog and captured almost all of my transformative experiences throughout this year, from traveling to the US to meeting integral friends to learning several methodologies to entering the nondual state (1st time from Big Mind Process, 2nd time from Vipassana).

It's the year that my psychologic moves from order 4/3 to 4(3), dominated by my searching for methodologies. I flew to the US because I needed to learn Bob Kegan's research methodology namely, Subject-Object Interview (SOI). Though searching for methodology is a desire driven by Order 4/3 itself , but traveling to the US was also a bridge that helps me move towards 4(3) more rapidly. It's the first time in my life that I got out of my culture [dominant Thai traditional] and enter the other culture [dominant US modern/postmodern]. Staying with Jennifer and her lovely family helped pulling me up so much. Learning to analyse SOI is another major factor that helps me move towards more 4th order. Meeting my integral friends, winning a free ticket to Boulder, joining the Integral Spiritual Center inaugural event, meeting Bob Kegan and Susanne Cook-Greuter, joining Integral WET in NYC and many more during 3-4 months staying in the US are all factors helps me became 4(3).

Now I'm working on becoming full 4th order, by developing a research methodology on cultural quadrant called "the SOI-based Focus Group" or simply "Group SOI" and developing an integral framework called "Constructive-Developmental Integral". (An "integral" framework created by not-yet "integral" psychologic, but integrally-informed 4th Order of Mind)

My Life Stories Map:

Age 26-27 <--> Order 4/3
Age 25 <--> Order 3/4
Age 24 <--> Order 3(4)
Age 22 <--> Order 3
Age 21 <--> Order 3(2)
Age 19 <--> Order 3/2
Age 17 <--> Order 2/3
Age 15 <--> Order 2(3)

"We" Space Is Where The Love Arises

2005-11-30T06:29:00.000+07:00

Yesterday night I'd been practice "self-feeling", the right injunction to vipassana, before I enter into a dream state. My girlfriend called me and I picked up her phone and talked to her for a while with soft and happy voice. It's just a small talk as everyday and nothing special. No coercion of consciousness to be made while I practice self-feeling during talking with her. After we said goodnight, the left over in my consciousness is love. I feel the love arise simultaneously from the "We" space my girlfriend and I just co-create. I feel that the real practice of love is to relate with people. Tonglen or any loving-kindness meditations are just inner/individual training (purposeful coercion of mind) where the actual place for the love simply arises and spreads is the relationship with people all around.

A Reconstructive Story of My Life: Age 26-27

2005-11-28T18:51:00.000+07:00

It was the end of 3rd-order domination in my psychologic when I turn 26 in 2003 [order 3/4]. It was also the end of the relationship with my first girlfriend, Cherry, since we met in 1996, 7 years of interpersonalism (Kegan's sense of 3rd order, "interpersonal mutuality"). I see from the eye of structuralists that it's not the end of my dating with my girlfriend, but the end of "dating with my 3rd order of mind". I so much needed to be on my own way of life without depending on another person. I needed no more "sick boy, sick girl" relationship. My second girlfriend, Gig, is the one who help pulling me up from my embeddedness in 3rd order world to the 4th order world. Actually, after I talk about this with Gig, we think that we help pulling up each other's psychologic. Gig's dating story was also similar to mine. 7-8 year of interpersonalist relationship with her first boyfriend and she couldn't get away from him (or she couldn't get away from her 3rd order of mind) until she met me. We help each other to climb up the ladder to the order 4/3. It's not that I don't love my first girlfriend anymore, I still love her and Gig also know this, but I really can't go back to have "sick boy, sick girl" relationship again (or I really can't regress to "unhealthy" 3rd order of mind).

On moving away from order 3/4, I also can't bare "Wilberian" label no more. But I still spend a lot of time reading all the excerpts of "Sex, Karma, Creativity" in Shambhala website. I was looking for a truely integral research methodologies. I tried to put the idea of "integral methodological pluralism" (IMP) into research practice. I wrote a PhD proposal on "entrepreneur's self development" using my interpreted version of IMP as the research methodology. I passed the proposal defense in a struggling fashion. My commitees just said I have potentials to finish the PhD research. I still deeply feel grateful for their openness. It was around 3-4 month after the proposal defence in 2004 that I came to study with Ken Wilber and teacher's team at Integral University. There I gained more insight about integral theory and practice and paving my way towards a truely IMP. I know that I need to take up a methodology for each quadrant. From that moment I was looking for a reseach methodology on the "I" quadrant and I found that Bob Kegan's Subject-Object research methodology is the one I need. I was also looking at "Spiral Dynamics Integral" methodology and Susanne Cook-Grueter's research methodology but they do not convince me that much since they are all paper-and-pencil based quantitative research methods. I wanted a qualitative research methodology which does not take the research participants as a "researched object" in a masculine way of researching. Bob's SOI is more friendly to the interviewees and also more of "cognitive" in a boardest sense (As Ken put it in Integral Spirituality). I had no idea about how to research on "we" quadrant and "it/its" quadrant at that time. I only know that I need to learn Bob's SOI in order to move further on my research. I wrote an email to Bob and he reply me so promptly that I can apply for the SOI training with Dr.Jennifer Garvey Berger and Dr.James Hammerman.

In 2003, my spiritual practice transformed into another higher level. I met Luangpo Pramote and he helped me break away from one-pointedness meditation towards simplicity meditation. (read more here). It was at almost the same period of time that my spiritual friends and I built a sangha called "Sangha of Mindfulness". In 2004, right after I study at IU, I started this blog as a tool to reflect myself. It's also a research on my life and a practice of my english writing skill. Unbelievable, it helps me communicate with people worldwide. That really help me move towards a more worldcentric level of my consciousness.

Every experience moved my psychologic toward order 4/3, struggling away from 3rd order of mind.

My Life Stories Map:

Age 25 <--> Order 3/4
Age 24 <--> Order 3(4)
Age 22 <--> Order 3
Age 21 <--> Order 3(2)
Age 19 <--> Order 3/2
Age 17 <--> Order 2/3
Age 15 <--> Order 2(3)

Constructive-Developmental Integral: CDi

2005-11-24T21:23:00.000+07:00

I'm working on developing a framework I called "Constructive-Developmental Integral" or CDi, integrating Ken Wilber's integral framework and Bob Kegan's constructive-developmental framework together.

I: Order of Mind
We: Order of Culture (Mode of Discourse)
Its: Order of Social System (Mode of Production)

I'm also learning and developing methodology for each quadrant. It's not an easy task but it feels joyful doing so. More details soon.

Differentiation Between One-Pointedness and One Taste

2005-11-21T06:06:00.000+07:00

People normally confuse "One-Pointedness" with "One Taste." I am one of them who struggling with these confusion since I had a peak experience of "One Taste" along the Big Mind process . After having that peak experience, my mind keeps refering to that occasion while I practice meditation. I was able to realize that there are two "awareness" in a single occasion, one is my mind and the other is witnessing before I went through the Big Mind process at the I-WET held at NYC this year. But what the process did to me is moving me towards a higher experience of oneness with everything, that is, everything is nothing but Big Mind itself. (click here for the story)

But after that authentic experience, my mind (small self), driven by a desire to experience that occasion again, try to create the same experience, and I later realize that it's fake experience. My small self, embedded in a pre-determining awareness deriving from that peak experience, dissolves the witnessing in the name of oneness. It turns out to be "one-pointedness" meditation or samatha, getting drawn by "oneness" with the object of meditation. It's regression not transformation.

The next step after realizing that there are two awareness, self and witnessing, which I believe is an authentic differentiation, is not to look at the witnessing itself (which is impossible) but look at the previous self arise and fall. Just post-detection. It's the essence of vipassana. One Taste is just the realized outcome not the mean.

I Feel All: My Personal Blog in Thai

2005-11-20T16:05:00.000+07:00

Just started my personal blog in Thai, "I Feel All," balancing global and local self.

Mirror Mind: Reflecting "Me", Reflecting "You"

2005-11-20T08:35:00.000+07:00

Mirror mind reflects whatever arises and fall in oneself. It is the essense of clearness or emptiness that allows everything to be reflected as they are. Reflection in itself is the oneness between "subject" (or Presence/Mirror mind) and "object" (or previous thing arose and fell). There is no other taste except this taste of reflection between Presence/Mirror mind and everything. Neither good nor bad, within nor without, mindful nor mindless, they are all equally object reflected in the Presence subject. It is the spiritual phenomenon of being-in-samsara-without-attachment through a reflection of "me".

Relating with others in the world is somewhat different occasion. In interpersonal relationship, I listen to you and reflect back whatever arise and fall in you. I am a mirror reflecting whoever you are. Neither good nor bad, sound or silence, discursive nor nondiscursive, they are all reflected in the hermeneutic oneness with you. Puting Mirror mind to work with others in relationship is the resonance allowing an open "we" space. No attachment to "me" in reflecting "you". I learn from and be transformed by "you."

Vipassana and Post-Metaphysical Spirituality

2005-11-17T20:40:00.000+07:00

Vipassana is the practice of present awareness experiencing whatever arises and fall in the awareness of the previous moment. It looks like there is another seer witnessing the (previous) seer. Present seer in itself cannot be seen, but as soon as it falls apart, it can be seen by the Present seer in the very next moment. Moment to moment...

Vipassana is to see things as they are. This is always true since what means by "things as they are" is what are already archived in the past. No pre-determination of awareness. Just post-detection of awareness. Pre-determination is metaphysical in itself. Post-detection is post-metaphysical. Zen would call it "be an empty cup". Empty of what? Empty of metaphysical thinking. Empty awareness at present moment to feel the fullness of previous objects. Empty and fullness (or forms)... One Taste... Nonduality...

A Reconstructive Story of My Life: Age 25

2005-11-14T21:40:00.000+07:00

I passed the proposal examination for studying in PhD Program in Integrated Sciences. The very first semester was extremely philosophical and my mind was twisted upside down studying four courses on "Socioeconomic Philosophy," "Legal&Political Philosophy," "Scientific Philosophy," and "Epistemology." They were all totally new for me. It was the first part of "Scientific Philosophy" that I learned Fritjof Capra's Web of Life and the second part Ken Wilber's A Brief History of Everything [In Thailand, Capra is more popular than Wilber]. I had to do several papers in each course and most of them based on Ken's integral framework. It was the time of "translation" not yet "transformation" in the first place. In the first semester, I was doing papers in service of translating the integral vision into Thai academic community. And, Ah-hem, everybody called me "Thai Wilber" or "Little Wilber." It was 2002 that I became a Wilberian.

Wilberian-as-an-external-ideology was the last resort of my 3rd Order [at substage 3/4 or "late 3rd"]. I turned 25 and my psychologic transformed to Order 3/4. I liked people to label me as "Wilberian" but I also know that I needed to find my own stand point. I read several critical articles in Frank Visser's site. I explore more on Anthony Giddens' integrative framework [Structure and Agency issue], Jurgen Habermas's Communicative Action [Lifeworld and System issue]. I was so much convinced by Frankfurt school of critical theory. I tried to integrate "critical theory" with "integral theory" and finally I framed a theoretical framework I called "critical integral theory". I wrote this idea in my paper submitted for the comprehensive examination of my PhD program. In the framework, I came to the idea that there must be something more to add to Ken's Four Quadrants. I added "circle" in each quadrant based on the idea that inside the circle is of "more rigid" than outside of the circle. [Unbelievable, my figure was look alike Ken's later idea of the Quadrants, 8 fundamental perspectives.] That paper was so much rejected from almost everyone saying that I was creating something out-of-bound. At that time I felt so disappointed and told myself that being Wilberian is safer place. [That's 3/4 logics! Struggling between the two poles of 3rd and 4th but falling back to 3rd.]

I don't want to go deeper on my idea of "circle" since I also found later that I was wrong. Half a year later I found Ken posted his excerpts on "Sex, Karma, Creativity" and in Excerpt C his did draw what I also drawn before! I read it enthusiastically and I found that his idea is more promising. I spend almost a year later trying to understand all of the excerpts in order to comparing with my idea of "critical integral theory." Finally, I found that I misinterpret him and I later droped my position of "critical integral theory" and turned myself towards "integral post-metaphysics." And that paved my way toward Order 4/3.

My Life Stories Map:

Age 24 <--> Order 3(4)
Age 22 <--> Order 3
Age 21 <--> Order 3(2)
Age 19 <--> Order 3/2
Age 17 <--> Order 2/3
Age 15 <--> Order 2(3)

Thought of The Day

2005-11-13T10:16:00.000+07:00

You don't need to read Wilber to be "integral." Your consciousness does not necessarily require that activity. Being in today's complex world will do. Interacting with various types of people will do. Practicing various "skillful means" (upaya) in life will do.

Tonglen Part 2 (IN VDO Clip)

2005-11-08T08:50:00.000+07:00

Free vdo clip for Tonglen Part 2 this week at IN...

On Killing and Rebirth

2005-11-03T11:05:00.000+07:00

One of my online sangha friends, Helen, raise topics of discussion in killing and rebirth. Here is my answer from an integrally-informed Buddhist point of view on this topics.

H: The effect (karma) of killing a mosquito is lighter than killing a human being? Do you agree and why. I thought in Buddhist terms that all life is equal, although I intellectually can understand and agree with the sentence.

P: Higher beings has more intrinsic value than lower beings. What is higher and lower I speak here? Higher means 'naturally more whole'. Mosquito has 'sensorimotor' consciousness but human beings has a lot beyond just sensorimotor, like self consciousness, social consciousness, or even spiritual consciousness. So in this case, killing human being is more of 'bad karma' than killing mosquito. So to speak, killing mosquito create 'lighter' effect than killing human beings.

In a deeper level, killing any sentient beings from Buddhist point of view create a kind of karma if there is an intention to do so. And the intention is the origin of any karma, good or bad. So intention to kill, often comes with anger, create bad karma. It depends on how much anger you have when you kill mosquito or human beings. Mostly, in order to kill human beings you need to have a lot more anger to do so. That's create 'stronger' effect.

H: The next thing is rebirth. I know it is a vast subject and I am not expecting any of us to give an elaborate view on the subject. However, I find few good explanations as to what is being reborn. Is it the energy, the consciousness and what is energy and consciousness. Another wondering of mine is: How does Buddhism explain the explosion of population in the world in regard to rebirth??? To my simple thinking: One person dies and the one person is reborn. Can a rebirth be delayed over many years and suddenly lots of rebirths take place??

P: For the issue of rebirth, this is one of the most vague issue of all time. I think there is no significant scientific proof on rebirth right now. I myself hold this idea "hypothetically". So I don't exactly know whether rebirth is true or not. The only evidence I have is when I go to sleep, my consciousness wonder into a subtle state, dreaming and deep sleep. In the dream or deep sleep, I cannot be aware of my physical body. Everything is subtle. So what is the "body" in this subtle state. I'd call this "body" as "energy". In other words, "energy" is something that houses consciousness like physical body that houses waking consciuosness. (Consciousness is the feeling you can feel from within but cannot be seen from without.) So this may be possible for "energy" to convey consciousness towards the "next" life. But this explanation is still a hypothesis.

For the issue of explosion of world population, if my hypothesis is true, there may be lots of "ancient energies" reborn in today's world. But this explanation based on the hypothesis that there is "one-to-one" reincarnation. In other words, one energy/conciousness after death reborn as a new life, which I don't know it's true or not. It's hypothesis on hypothesis which is too far way from truth. From this place I can create more hypothesis: there may be "one-to-many" reincarnation or there may be a Big Consciousness that gave birth to a very new consciousness. And all is equally possible since they are all hypothesis.

That's why I'm not abiding to any answer. I'm looking at more of clear evidences. Like explosion of population, I'd say Okay there is evidence shown that there're more population than before, especially in the post-WWII age, which there is a period called "baby boomer" and that can explain explosion fo population more than Buddhist rebirth issue.

The only explanation I can provide from a Buddhist perspective is "baby boomer" is from intensive sexual emotion arising after war period. I think I can feel that :)

Tonglen Guided by Ken Wilber

2005-10-31T21:20:00.000+07:00

Finally, the vdo clip on tonglen (part 1) guided by Ken Wilber in the ISC conference is released! And it's free vdo for this week for those who aren't IntegralNaked.org member. Highly recommended!

Note: see my blogging on this occasion in the ISC blog, click here (you will also see there are lots of spam comment there, oh... I need to practice more tonglen for them ;)

A Pause Note

2005-10-30T22:18:00.000+07:00

Yeah! I still sing my life's song. The melody just comes to a pause note :) Actually, it's a forced pause note that I have to stop singing for a little while. I'm so busy with my PhD research project. That's why my blog has been left inactive for a while. I will be back soon.

A Reconstructive Story of My Life: Age 24

2005-10-20T12:06:00.000+07:00

I studied a master degree in economics during 1998-2001. At the begining of the study, I was so curious about how to apply systems science, like Chaos Theory, Complexity Theory, Non-linear Mathematics, into economics. I read critiques on Cartesian and Newtonian paradigm and found myself believed in new scientific paradigm. Moreover, I believed it wholeheartedly that new scientific theories hold the explanatory power towards spirituality [3rd Order World-- external ideology/authority is the Ultimate].

I took a 3-month pause to ordain after taking all M.A. course works and found myself changing my topic of study toward "Buddhist Economics." Experiencing a monk life has shown me how efficient livelihood a monk has, consuming very little resources but getting a lot more happiness towards oneself and others. And this can be achieved through having a mindful living. I knew this is the point that a "Buddhist Economics" has to be built upon. I didn't believe in (and be against) neoclassical economics that assumes human beings as "homo economicus," a being who rationalizes their living through maximize utility. I largely drawn this point of view from many anti-capitalist books. But I still needed to construct a "Buddhist Economics" theory by myself since I didn't find any "Buddhist economist" focused on mindfulness, only if controlling greed and being contentment. I knew from my experiences that "controlling greed" and "contentment" is impossible without practicing mindfulness. I contructed the theory based on Theravada Abhidharma. At that time I believed Abhidharma hold all truth of human consciousness [still unable to differentiate that Abhidharma is a theory based on contemplative /phenomenological methodology which is one of several other methodologies]. I ended up finishing my M.A. thesis on "Buddhist Economics: The Economics of Well-Being" in the early 2001.

It was right after I finished my M.A. study that I was introduced to Ken Wilber's works. It was the time I worked as a research assistant and waited for the enrollment to the PhD Program in Integrated Sciences, Thammasat University, Thailand in the late 2001. I turned to use Ken Wilber's the Four Quadrant and the ideas in Integral Psychology to prepare my proposal. And that marks the begining of my "Wilberian" ideology.

It's my age of 23-24 that my psycho-logics turning toward Order 3(4). My M.A. thesis is an artefact that archives this order. My "theory" was largely based on my belief that Abhidharma can explain everything. But I went beyond 3rd Order a little bit which is shown by my acknowledge of wanting to theorize things on my own. Any way it is just the meaning-making of Order 3(4) world because I still drew the whole systems from Abhidharma texts but applying to economics. In other words, Abhidharma is the external source I relied on to build a theory and I did that "on my own". [Note: 4th Order internalizes external sources and can construct a system of evaluation by themselves]

Intersection with Ken Wilber's work at that time made me break away from my own belief in my "buddhist economics theory" and look towards more inclusive theory of everything. It paved a way toward Order 3/4 a year later.

A Reconstructive Story of My Life: Age 22

2005-10-18T13:21:00.000+07:00

Prophecies on the end of the world around year 1999-2000, like Nostradamus and various psychics, dominated my thoughts/feelings at the age of 22. Like many new agey believing that religious people will survive and meditation can "save the world," I drove myself towards more meditations and practices religious beliefs. I started practicing yoga, qi-gong, and various forms of meditation (all are Samatha, or meditation for Jhanic states). My ideology shifted from Arhat ideology towards Boddhisatva ideology driven by "save the world" enthusiatism (which was driven deeper by fears of disasters and dying). I travelled around Thailand in order to practice myself and help the world. I once went to the top of a mountain practicing meditation with a group of new ageys intending to contact with UFO and asking them to help saving the world. At the same time, I collected astral and sacred objects like crystals, metal charms, religious images, etc. I was obsessed by mysticism for a year or so and finally found myself critical to it.

At the end of 1999, I turn myself toward a Buddhist community and practices Buddhist disciplines. I got ordain at Wat Ornoi (Dhamma-isara) for which Luangpu Buddha-isara and his wat represented Boddhisatva ideology in a more insightful fashion (moving away from mystic Boddhisatva ideology). I was a very well-disciplined monk and started to practice vipassana. It was the first time that I know what mindfulness is. I can hold ability to introspect and control myself according to the Buddhist disciplines. I realized how awareness in the present moment is so peaceful and insightful. It was one of the most profound spiritual experiences in my life especially while I stay over nights in a deep jungle almost alone with myself. Every step I walk, every move I made, every taste I touch, it's the moment of present arising and falling.

At that time, disciplines were the ultimate to me. Buddhist teachings were the ultimate to me. Everything could be explained by Buddhist principles even scientific findings was nothing but reproductions of what the Buddha had found.

From the eye of structuralist, I see myself at that time moving towards the full balance of Order 3, being subject to social norms and conventions. In this case, I was subject to New Age and Buddhist conventions. I was able to have full self-reflection and being in control according to Buddhist disciplines. My preferences became an object of the new subject, which is the "socialized" mind. Self-reflection is one the properties emerged from Order 3. It can be shown by my ability to practice vipassana in a conventional fashion. My taking Buddhist teachings and disciplines as the Ultimate also shows my being subject to a social convention. I see my three-month ordination as shifting towards healthy Order 3. My mystic life in the first paragraph also show how Order 3 can be misled.

A Reconstructive Story of My Life: Age 21

2005-10-15T11:04:00.000+07:00

Buddhism is deep rooted in Thai (Siam) society and culture since the premodern period. Born in Thailand, never live a life anywhere else in the world, I was governed and shaped by Thai/Buddhist culture both in my thoughts and feelings. I continued my self-coercion in a more conventional fashion, accepting Theravada precepts and doing merit as a way of living. I read a lot of Buddhist books, mainly written by Theravada Ajarns, like Ajarn Buddhadasa, Ajarn Cha, Ajarn Punyananda Bhikku, P.A. Payutto and also Zen master like Thich Nhat Hanh. At that time, I needed to practice more and more self-controlling meditation. My ideology was set: Nirvana is the ultimate goal of my life. I drew this ideology from Theravada Buddhism. Attaining Arhat being is my goal. I started to share this ideology with my ex-girlfriend and sometimes we have argument with what she seems to deny my ideology.

My solution is I need to practice more and more in order to be a role model of Buddhist ideology in her eyes as well as others' eyes. In a more general put, I want to be a role model of many ideologies drawn externally from social convention, like "true love" [external sources e.g., "Only Love is Real" "What Dreams May Come"], "good man" [external sources e.g., "Braveheart""Patch Adams"], "good citizen" [external sources e.g., "Puey Ungphakorn "Pridi Phanomyong"].

At the age of 21, my psycho-logics shifted toward more of Order 3 but still remain degree of Order 2 a little bit. I depended on lots of external ideologies but in the sense of wanting myself to be a role model. Drawing from external ideologies is the meaning/reality construction of Order 3 but "me as role model" shows some degree of Order 2 left, so it's Order 3(2).

A Reconstructive Story of My Life: Age 19

2005-10-13T11:55:00.000+07:00

I felt so much torned by the two structures, Order 2 and Order 3, and wanted to change my life in a better way. I didn't know how but deep down inside I felt so struggling with myself and my community. I loved to read books about self-coercion. I needed to control myself since I felt my impulses always distracted me from what was good and right. Selfishness is bad, selflessness is good. Until I found myself in love with my first girlfriend, everything in my life was so meaningful dedicating myself toward love, care, and gentleness for her.

She is almost 4 years older than me. Her presence represented all forms of goodness. And that fitted so much with what I was looking for [so meaningful for Order 3 meaning-making]. She was so beautiful from within and without. So beautiful that I wished to control my selfishness for her.

From the books to the dating, it confirmed me how important it was to control myself and care for norms and significant others. My psycho-logics shifted from Order 2/3 to Order 3/2. Still struggling but in the new sense, against falling back to selfishness ("selfish" is what Order 3 oftens tag Order 2 -- my hypothesis). Dating with my first girlfriend is the culture of embeddedness: culture of mutuality (Kegan's The Evolving Self (1982), p.119).

A Reconstructive Story of My Life: Age 17

2005-10-11T21:30:00.000+07:00

I had a university life at the age of 17, studying at the Faculty of Economics, Thammasat University. I enjoyed my life there a lot and started doing many activities with my colleagues at the faculty. I spend lots of time with my friends, working, learning, traveling. I cared my friends' feelings and concerned my role as a member of working team for many student's activities. But, I still recalled, I got lost in staying with friends and teams and came to find myself so tried and found myself so much needed my privacy back. In doing activities, I wanted to be a leader of many groups or be someone groups recognized. I was very active and very care if others will not look at me as the important member.

It was around two years later that the Order 2/3 started to emerged. At this transition period, the two structures started to show up. Both Order 2 ["imperial" or "me only"] and Order 3 ["interpersonal" or "our norms"] rules my meaning-making but it slipped back to Order 2. In this example, concerns of other's feelings and role as a member of the group show Order-3 structure but it is weighted back down to order-2 structure shown by my need to be the important member. Working for group as a member and follow group's value set is not for the reason of role and norms protection, but for my own social recognition.

A Reconstructive Story of My Life: Age 15

2005-10-06T11:23:00.000+07:00

At the age of 15, I started to see the star of 3rd Order out of the cloud of 2nd Order. The 2nd Order is the level of consciousness that constructs the world of meaning/reality out of "preferences" and "needs." His/her own "preferences" is the organizing principle of which his/her own "impulses" are organized. His/her own preferences are the Subject or the Absolute and his/her impulses are the Object or the Relative.

It's 3rd Order complexity that moves from being subject to one's own preferences to having them as the object. It starts to be able to operate and control one's own preferences and it's the beginning of having self-reflective capaicity.

At the emerging capacity of 3rd Order, I started to find myself wanting to improve my habits. The important evidence is I tried to find "how-to" and "self-improvement" books to read. I felt that self-improvement is very important. Important for what? It's important for me to be a good boy that everybody would love me. I started to hold up my needs in order for me to be a better center of interest in other's eyes. I felt the ability to control my needs is the good quality that everybody praised.

It's 2(3) order of consciousness. Started to having 3rd Order but 2nd Order structure still governed throughout my thoughts/feelings/actions.

My Life History: A Structuralist Perspective

2005-10-04T14:31:00.000+07:00

In Robert Kegan's constructive-development theory, human development goes through 5 Orders of Mind:

1st Order: impulsive
2nd Order: imperial
3rd Order: interpersonal
4th Order: institutional
5th Order: interindividual

There are also 4 more substages in between so there are 21 substages:

1, 1(2), 1/2, 2/1, 2(1)
2, 2(3), 2/3, 3/2, 3(2)
3, 3(4), 3/4, 4/3, 4(3)
4, 4(5), 4/5, 5/4, 5(4)
5

I see my life like this:

Age 15: Order 2(3) [interested in self-improvement]
Age 17: Order 2/3 [life in university]
Age 19: Order 3/2 [met my 1st girlfriend]
Age 21: Order 3(2) [practiced meditation]
Age 22: Order 3 [ordained as a monk]
Age 24: Order 3(4) ["Buddhist Economics", Ken Wilber's works]
Age 25: Order 3/4 [Paper on Wilber's and other's integral theorists]
Age 26-27: Order 4/3 [met my 2nd girlfriend, PhD proposal defense]
Age 28: Order 4(3) [search for methodologies, trip to the US]

I'll blog my reconstructive life stories in each transition period very soon.

[Note: The color code here is from Wilber's up-to-date use of natural color of rainbow]

From "Integrally-Informed" To "Integral"

2005-10-02T11:12:00.000+07:00

Yeah, I'm very familiar with Wilber's The Four Quadrant, but after I turn to Wilber-5 or "Integral Methodological Pluralism" phase, I don't think I am. It's not that easy to have authentic access to each quadrant. For my evaluation, one need to take up at least one genuine methodology in each quadrant in order to be able to view from that perspective. I think differentiation between "Integrally-informed" and "Integral" starts here: reading the map and practicing right injunctions in each quadrant.

And this marks the demarcation of my blogging from Pongsathorn V.1 and Pongsathorn V.2. My first phase is largely embedded in "integrally-informed" with my skill in Zone#1 Buddhist methodology. My second phase is the beginning of understanding "methodological pluralism" and starts to learn each methodology in each quadrant. Right now, I start to be familiar with Zone#2 Kegan's methodology [Self] and begin to learn Zone#2 Foucault's methodology [Culture].

There are at least 5 perspectives left: zone#1 of culture, zone#1 of body, zone#2 of body, zone#1 of system, zone#2 of system. Maybe, I think, at the age of fifty or something I will reach a truely integral awareness.

My Continuing Project on Zone#2 Perspective

2005-10-01T00:25:00.000+07:00

As far as I've come to know Robert Kegan's Zone#2 methodology [Subject-Object Interview], I begin to have an insight to move from the Zone#2 perspective of the individual holon to the Zone#2 perspective of the social holon. It's been a week or so that I drown myself in Michel Foucault's Zone#2 methodology [Archaeology/Genealogy]. I read many books and articles about discourse analysis and reread Ken Wilber's Excerpt D, Part II.

I have very very short time left to finish my PhD dissertation, which is required to use at least 3 discipline of sciences to analyse one topic [my program called "PhD Program in Integrated Sciences"]. I choose "I," "We," and "Its" disciplines. But now I have only the "I" methodology in hand. Oh! the feeling of nervous arises!

Integral Life Practice Starter Kit

2005-09-23T13:02:00.000+07:00

Just got the I-I annoucement about the "The Integral Life Practice Starter Kit," one of the multimedia package I've been waiting for. Here is the details from Shambhala publisher

The ILP Kit consists of 4 DVDs, 2 CDs, 2 booklets, and other supporting materials. Each DVD covers one of ILP's four core modules—Spiritual, Body, Shadow, and Framework—by teaching a "gold star" practice in that module.

DVD 1, Spiritual—Big Mind™, with Genpo Roshi, is a fast and effective approach to experiencing your highest self and biggest heart, using an elegant integration of Zen and western psychology.
DVD 2, Body—3-Body Workout, with Huy Lam, Terry Patten, and Rob McNamara, introduces a "3-body" daily practice, integrating strength training (physical body), energy practice (subtle body), and open awareness (causal body).
DVD 3, Shadow—3-2-1 Process™, with Diane Musho Hamilton, is a quick and powerful technique for revealing—and integrating—hidden aspects of yourself.
DVD 4, Framework—AQAL™ Framework, with Ken Wilber, presents the most comprehensive map of human potential available—a "big picture" of reality that includes East and West, traditional and cutting-edge.

The CDs give you a way to learn ILP anywhere you have an audio player:

CD 1, Integral Meditation, with Terry Patten and Willow Pearson, features Integral Inquiry and Compassionate Exchange, for actualizing Ever-present Awareness and Universal Love.
CD 2, Fitting It All Together, with Ken Wilber, features in-depth explanations of all the basic concepts in ILP, from exclusive tele-sessions with Wilber.

The ILP Kit booklets provide important background to what you'll learn from the DVDs and CDs, and include the Welcome to Integral Life Practice Booklet, the My ILP Design Guide, and Introducing AQAL, by Ken Wilber.

Trip to Phuket, I Need A Rest!!!

2005-09-09T00:27:00.000+07:00

My girlfriend with Tsunami children

It's been very busy weeks after I'm back from the US, mostly doing PhD things. Tommorrow I give myself a present having a trip to Phuket and visiting my girlfriend who worked there with Tsunami children. Anyway I'll take this chance to conduct Subject-Object interviews with community's leaders there as well. It's just a normal way of having a rest for Enneagram type 3 like me, always think of working even it's a resting time. ^_^!

The Views and The Contents

2005-09-05T08:57:00.000+07:00

From my experiences of practicing both Zone#1 and Zone#2 methodologies, I found that there are two different things required to be differentiated. They are "the views" and "the contents". As we live our life, we are almost lived by contents. We wake up, exercise, talk to people, eat, work, play, have sex, sleep, etc. Sometimes we screams inside or yells at ourselves and others: @#%#*&!!

Zone#2 methodologies will approach these contents by the 3rd-person view and Zone#1 methodologies will approach the same contents by the 1st-person view. Both views reveal "the source" of the contents. Zone#2 discovers "organization" of the contents. Zone#1 sees "origination" of the contents.

Example:
"Why Mr.A have done this to me, I gave him all my best but he betrays me" Ms.B said.

Zone#2 (Kegan): Ms.B are able to internalize Mr.A perspectives. She give him "all her best" show that she are able to suppress her feelings but it doesn't show that she can maintain her own self-system. Possibly 3rd Order [interpersonal]

Zone#1 (vipassana): Anger arises. Thoughts of "me" arises.

Contents without views are illusion. Views without contents are impossible.

Complexity and Simplicity

2005-08-31T12:18:00.000+07:00

Just finished working on a paper about Kegan's Subject-Object research method. It took me many days to clairify the essential points of Kegan's constructive-developmental psychology, explaning how to conduct the subject-object interview and subject-object analysis. All in Thai.

In the introduction, I discuss about Zone#1 and Zone#2 perspectives differentiation. Kegan's research methodology is the "structuralism" methodology in Zone#2. From a 3rd-person perspective, Kegan see the increasing complexity of the mind. He see how complexity inside ('order of mind') fit well with the complexity outside ('demand of society' namely, traditionalism, modernism, postmodernism).

On the other hand, from a 1st-person perspective, sages see the increasing simplicity of the mind. Meditation moves from one-pointedness to simplicity to nonduality. Practitioner feels simpler and simpler in their awareness, from controling the awareness to letting go that controling to simple awareness. It's a 'state-stage'.

Complexity and simplicity are just the different ideas generated from different views of the lifeworld. In general, these two ideas hypothetically move together along the course of transformation: increasing complexity, increasing simplicity. Anyway, "structure" is much more difficult to construct comparing to "state". That's why, I think, the great tradition provides us the knowledge of God, Emptiness, Nonduality, sorts of very high transpersonal Being, but the modern researches can provide us only at the high-ended personal structure of the mind, like Kegan's fifth order, SD's turquoise, Gilligan's integrated, etc.

I don't know whether there exists the "transpersonal" structures of the mind. But I'm sure that there're transpersonal state-stages of the mind. I asked Kegan himself while I visited Boston last month whether he believe there exists "transpersonal" structures or not. He answered me that all the evidences he has don't convince him enough to say that there's such a structure. He said that we can theoretically construct any structures beyond personal level but they also need to be empirically proved.

Simplicity is simple to feel, but complexity is also complex to construct... It's a Kosmic fact.

Shift In Action now

2005-08-26T08:59:00.000+07:00

Just get an email annoucing the launch of Shift In Action, another "integral" paid website besided Integral Naked. It's an online product of Institute of Noetic Sciences. The very good thing about this site is we can read lots of articles there without paying $10 a month. Most of them are research-based. But for audio and video, we need to subscribe in order to download it. There're lots of more benifits there, teleseminars with interesting people, quarterly cds, etc.

Vipassana and Zone#1 Perspective

2005-08-23T17:19:00.000+07:00

In this entry, I want to blog about my recent understanding on vipassana and the zone#1 perspective. It's the insight I got two days ago. In a brief introduction, Zone#1 perspective can be depicted as 1-p x 1-p x 1p or "first-person view of first person experiences on first person realities" and Zone#2 can be depicted as 3-p x 1-p x 1p or "third-person view of first person experiences on first person realities. Meditation is one of a methodology in Zone#1 and Struturalism is one of a methodology in Zone#2. They are two different methodologies on the same first-person felt experiences (1-p x 1p). (For more details see Ken Wilber's Integral Spirituality)

My understanding is that the purpose of meditation is to train the 1-p view to the first-person felt experiences. In other words, it is to achieve 1-p x 1-p x 1p. Vipassana, as a meditative method, is to train mindfulness on the four felt foundations: bodily, feeling, mental, dharma. The fruition of vipassana is not any extraordinary or higher states experiences (or to achieve altered 1-p x 1p), but a permenant first-person view of any experiences (or to have permanent 1-p x 1-p x 1p). It's to have "Self-Feeling" or "I-Feeling" to all felt experiences.

Enlightenment is not the end, but the mean.

Comments on Cognitive Module for I-WET

2005-08-20T09:20:00.000+07:00

For those who are beginners to AQAL Map, I-WET is very good for a tour through the four quadrant. But as I was quite familiar with the four quadrant, I feel that this "cognitive module" is too basic for me. As I have been trained on Subject-Object Interview (SOI), a research methodology to assess Order of Mind based on Kegan's theory, I feel that SOI workshop can provide more intensive practice on cognitive module. I see more room for I-WET to develop more intensive practice for quadrant differentiation, as a particular form of "integral" cognitive practice, or integrate other cognitive practices like SOI or Tibetan debate.

My 3-2-1 Shadow-Work Experiences

2005-08-17T14:54:00.000+07:00

3-2-1 shadow-work process session in the I-WET was also my favorite. Process of shadow making starts from denying a 1st-person impulse within and push it away to 2nd-person or 3rd-person events in our own 1st-person awareness (read more details in Integral Spirituality, p.79-80). The idea is to convert dissociated, alienated "It feelings" back to reowned, reidentified "I feelings".

It turned out that they used journaling as a tool to convert your shadow from 3 to 2 to 1. I know for a long time that I still have shadow about my dad. In the first page, I wrote about my dad from 3rd person perspectives. At this step, lots of aggressive and confusing feelings started to ramble in my own awareness. In the second page, I continued journaling where it turns to be a dialogue between me and my dad. I knew what my dad was going to answer my disturbing questions in the dialogue. Unbelievable, as far as the conversation went, I started to have tears filled in my eyes. It doesn't matter whether the dialogue will be real or not, but it helped me move closer to my dad at this step. To my astonishing, I thought I would write about my own feelings in the third step, but it turned out that I have to write down something out of his feelings! I became him writing about me from his feelings!

Throughout this step, I couldn't stop my tears. I was overwhelming by emotions. And the session finished with a large emotional shift inside of me. I couldn't feel that I reowned or reidentified anything. Only thing I knew was I no longer projected at him. At that moment, my anger at him disappeared. I could see his vulnerability and I cared.

I still felt that I didn't yet reown anything. It was a talk with Lewis Marshall, Kosmos Journal co-editor and my IU friend, after a while later, that led me to an answer for this unfinished business. I saw my dad's vulnerability. I can feel his vulnerability (since I already became himself in journaling). Right, I also had this vulnerability! I could feel this vulnerablity and I shared it with him.

For me, it was like all conflicts with my dad are conflicts in the surface, but deep down inside I can feel that we are the same sharing vulnerability, a need to be loved.

3-2-1 ends at this point, I think. The last part left is "0" or a movement away from that reowned-but-still-being-subject-to vulnerability to the new subject and embrace the vulnerability with the new subject's love. It's a combination of therapeutic and spiritual paths. Healed and transformed. And I starts to reconnect with my dad again...

Got WET with Big Mind Splash

2005-08-15T16:45:00.000+07:00

Joining I-WET at NYC was one of the most profound experiences in my life. I was so moved by Big Mind process and 3-2-1 Shadow-Work process. 10/10 points of satisfaction for Diane Hamilton who was the facilitator in both activities. For this entry I devote to the experience with Big Mind process and the next entry will be about 3-2-1 process.

I used to watch Big Mind series in IntegralNaked.org but it's totally different when you're in a room with facilitator and other participants. There was a movement from subject to object at each step Diane guided us toward higher states of mind. While reaching Big Mind, Diane picked up a rose in front of her and said that this rose is also You and suddenly I feel so strange that she was teaching Big Mind to realize Big Mind itself! It's so profound that I can experience boundaries bounded by things arising in itself, but at the same time, there is also no boundary at all since I am also one with everything arise and fall and everything arise and fall is of no boundary!!! It's my first experience of oneness-with-all.

I also had another strange feelings afterwards. I started to be confused by the feelings arise and fall inside whether it's mine or others. I personally ask Diane the next day about this confusion and she said that it's a confusion of the small self when opens to no boundary. She encouraged me to keep practicing Big Mind and soon the confusion will be gone. I'm so grateful to Diane, my beloved mentor.

Amazing Trip to Boston and NYC

2005-08-12T23:46:00.000+07:00

It's been quite a long time I haven't updated my blog since I went to Boston and NYC. After back to DC, it took another whole day to pack one baggage full of books and another for everything else and flew back to Thailand. Now I already arrive home in Bangkok. I'd say that my last trip in the US was amazing and awesome, meeting Bob Kegan, Susanne Cook-Greuter, joining I-WET, visiting Rubin Museum, meeting integral NYC salon and IU friends. I'll write about each experience in more details soon.

Turn 28 Today

2005-08-01T19:09:00.000+07:00

It's my first birthday outside Thailand! Life is a journey and now it's approaching 28th. Today I'll start another journey to meet Bob Kegan, Metta McGarvey (Bob's student), Jim Hammermann (Another official SOI trainer), and Susanne Cook-Greuter in Boston. And then, I'll go to NYC to meet my beloved friends and join I-WET. Sooooooo excited for my last trip in the US.

Google Earth Take Me (virtually) Home

2005-07-31T08:16:00.000+07:00

Mel use it for finding some place to eat. Vince use it for going back to an old good time in school. Some use it for having fun finding cool sights. I heal my homesick flying around the rooftop of my house in Bangkok with it. It's Google Earth, a super cool program you shouldn't miss. The free version is more than enough for all those purposes above :)

Data Apprehension & Immediate Happiness

2005-07-28T22:47:00.000+07:00

From my own experiences on various practices, I found a common occasion of immediate happiness after data apprehension. When I take a right injunction and have a data apprehension of higher states in samatha, I found happiness of relaxation. When I take the right injunciton and experience Self-Feeling or Pure Witnessing in vipassana, I found vey light, mild, clear, and lively happiness. In philosophical contemplation, I found a bright happiness. In relationship with friends, I found happiness of empathetic resonance.

These different kind of happiness are like an indicator that we are in the right track. Bad news is if we identify with happiness, we'll be no longer spontanous to data that are coming and slip away from the right injunction. Identification with happiness will lead us to craving to have happiness again and again and that lead us to a possibility of self-deluded happiness. Good news is immediate happiness makes our journey much more pleasant. It is a kosmic present for taking a right injunction :)

Walking: An Exercise for Gross, Subtle, Causal Bodies

2005-07-27T04:48:00.000+07:00

One of a few physical exercises I choose to do here in DC are walking. Walking gives lots and lots of benefits as I experience them myself. Some, like Wendy Bumgardner, Carolyn Scott Kortge, and Ila & Garrett Sarley, claims that it helps empowering body, mind, and spirit. It's recommended that we walk at least 10,000 steps a day (around 5 miles or 8 km). To know how many steps we walk today you need to have a pedometer. But it's not that a requirement.

I feel that walking is also a kind of yoga too. Especially when we walk with a right posture and method. Here is the list I myself realize from walking exercise.

Stretch out your chest to open your heart chakra and relax your shoulder (technique: roll your shoulder back and let your arms fall down, open your heart from the inside)
Back Straight
Step with a full weight on one side of your foot and empty weight on the other side of your foot to feel your energies move back and forth from fullness to emptiness of energies
Lightly, gently, effortlessly feel everything arising and falling, within and without, while you walk through many places.

Walking is a very easy and natural exercise to all bodies from gross to subtle to causal.

New Blog Title and Subtitle

2005-07-25T06:04:00.000+07:00

Just change my blog title and subtitle a little bit for the new phase of blogging:

from Pongsathorn's Blog: Blogging a Life with Integral Insights
to Pongsathorn's Blog v.2: Blogging with Integral Injunctions

3-2-1: The Goal of Psychotherapy

2005-07-23T00:52:00.000+07:00

Psychotherapy is the field that I don't know much. Even I talk a lot about it with my girlfriend, Gig, a well-trained counselor who is now working with Tsunami children suffering psychological problems at the southern part of Thailand, I can't claim that I know any injuction about psychotherapy. It's the field that I need to study further and take it myself.

In Ken's Integral Spirituality, he talks about how shadow occurs using a reinterpretation of Freudian school. How shadow occurs is the process of denying immediate 1st-person unpleasant feelings and turn them into 2nd-person impulses and, at worst, into 3rd-person enemies within our own 1st-person awareness. So, the therapeutic principle is to convert them back to 1st-person feelings, the true home in 1st-person awareness (e.g, "I'm angry"). Then, the principle continues, we transcend the unpleasant feelings, which is already back to the true home, into a new self at a higher stage. It's a process of healing and growing at the same time.

The only gap I have now is what kind of injunction that I can learn to do a self-therapy as well as provide me capacity to heal others. In the I-WET, there'll be an interesting module called "Dive Into Your Shadow" using 3-2-1 Shadow-work Process (TM). I hope I can learn an injunction there.

Just Turn Pro

2005-07-20T11:36:00.000+07:00

Finally I upgrade to flickr pro for a better organized gallery. I'll upload lots of pictures I took during my first trip to US (May - August 2005) and lots more from now on. To see me and through my extended eyes, please check out the sidebar for "Photo Albums". It's a 3rd person perspective!

Tonglen: An Injunction to Compassion

2005-07-20T02:16:00.000+07:00

Almost 8 years ago I started to take a bodhisattva path and practiced compassion towards others by sitting and meditate. Then I visualized an image of a battlefield in the darkness of suffering and redness of anger. I visualized those who are tortured and those who are torturing. I openned my arms and felt open to take all the pain coming in. I practiced this alone without any instruction. I had only determination to be a bodhisattava who is able to take all sufferings in the world.

Unconsciously, I felt suffered, anxious, nervous throughout the time I chose the bodhisattva path (which is the path I made up myself). Later, I started to question myself about the bodhisattava path. There was a time that I gave up all practices and do not believe in anything about meditation. At that time I hated myself for all I'd practiced. It's like I was doing silly things.

Now, 8 years later, I look back to myself at that time, I still feel grateful to the braveness I had at that time even it's pretty dull and dump. It's a wrong injunction I had been taken, without knowing how to realize the primordial awareness, without knowing that compassion is not just taking in suffering feelings but also sending out happiness. I now believe strongly in meditation again. It's not a belief in mythical/archetypal sense anymore. But it's a belief in the right injunction and reliable data.

There is a right injunction for compassion called tonglen (means 'sending and taking'). I wrote about the injunction in the ISC blog after Ken gave a guide which I called "structurally-informed tonglen." You may also consult the traditional tonglen practice given by Venerable Pema Chodron at the shambhala website (tonglen1, tonglen2, tonglen3, tonglen4, tonglen5).

It's quite understandable that tonglen can help cultivating compassion and transform those who take up the practice. But the question left is "can tonglen really helps others?"

There is an evidence about "psi" which is a paraphenomenon about human mind can send and recieve perception from each other in the research project done by Dean Radin at the Institute of Noetic Sceinces. It may give us a glimpse of answer to this question. This research evidence will be published in the coming book called "Entangled Mind".

My Last Entry at ISC Blog

2005-07-19T10:38:00.000+07:00

It's been a month since I started blogging at the ISC blog. I finally finish the event blog with my last entry named "Spirit of Blogging". It's been very joyful to have a chance to blog this event. Let's me give my special thanks to Casey Capshaw, Managing Editor of IntegralNaked.org, who proposed me to Ken Wilber and ISC team as the official blogger of the ISC inaugural event. I hope my blogging there could inspire some to take up their own practices for a fuller and freer life. I dedicate any merits from blogging there to all sentient beings to be healed, be embraced, be transformed, be awakened.

SOI Learning Group in Thailand

2005-07-19T07:17:00.000+07:00

Just emailed my Thai friends the formal annoucement about creating a Subject-Object Interview Learning Group in Thailand last night. This research methodology requires another interrater to score the interview to make the assessment reliable. But wait a minute, how can I find that person since I'm the first Thai who employs this methodology? Jennifer and I had been working on this question and finally came up with the answer to create a learning group on this practice and using my interviews as a source of learning exercises for the group. Jennifer will be our consultant throughout the learning processes for free!!!

I'll get a reliable score, the group will learn more skills on SOI, and Thai academic community will gain a powerful research tool on human consciousness. Wow! I think this is a brilliant win-win solution. Jennifer, I'm deeply grateful for your brightness and kindness.

I'll do this research practice and create the learning group as soon as possible as I return to Thailand. I have to move things very fast since I have only one year left for making all the doctoral processes done. Or else I'll be expelled from the Hogwarts!!!

A Map for Life Practices

2005-07-16T21:16:00.000+07:00

I wrote an entry entitled "Fuller and Freer Life" in the ISC Blog and draw a map I that I use underlying my own inquiry to an integration of practices. I have come to this map from reading Ken's draft on Integral Spirituality, especially the Wilber-Comb Lattice and his newly using the colors of natural rainbow for depicting "levels of consciousness." It's one of the maps I have in my mind about life practices. And it'll be the underlying map I use while writing more about my lived experiences on various life practices. Even the practices I choose to learn is quite typically my favorites and fit for my own personality, but this map can be apply to other different practices depending on your tastes.

Self-Feeling: The Injunction to Vipassana

2005-07-16T08:36:00.000+07:00

One of my spiritual teachers, Luangpo Pramote, teaches his students about "Self-Feeling" (which I translate from his words "การรู้สึกตัว") . It's the injunction to vipassana. Self-Feeling became my main spiritual practice since I met him two years ago. Self-Feeling does not come with any efforts, coercion of awareness, control of intention. He teaches that our mind normally fall into two extreme poles, delusion or coercion. How to have Self-Feeling is not deny these two poles but learn to feel this two poles. Whenever we feel one of these two poles, we already have Self-Feeling.

Usually, meditation comes with a control of thoughts or mind. That is samatha not vipassana. Samatha has its own benifits and one of its major benifits is relaxation. On the other hand, vipassana has its benifit in moving us from attaching to a self. Samatha may be a necessary condition for vipassana but it is not sufficient condition for vipassana. For me, samatha helps altering states of mind but vipassana helps transforming sense of self. To transform a sense of self at egoic/personal level, we need to be able to feel the self.

New Phase of My blog

2005-07-14T09:26:00.000+07:00

I add two new groups in the side bar, "Life Practices" and "Research Practices" as a preparation for moving towards a new phase of my blog after Wilber-5 a.k.a. "Integral Post-Metaphysical" or "Integral Methodological Pluralism," an integration of practices/paradigms under AQAL framework. I'll blog my lived experiences on various practices I take from life practices to research practices to social practices here. Welcome to Pongsathorn's Blog v.2 :).

Yoga Shakti DVD

2005-07-14T04:05:00.000+07:00

I bought "Yoga Shakti DVD" from the bookstore at IONS conference. After I saw and practiced along with Shiva Rea's guidance, it became my favorite. It comes with 2 DVD with customized feature, interviews, clips, and valuable techniques. Shiva's body is like a rubber.

I'm now enjoying the process of learning and integrating various practices into my own "Integral Life Practice." I wonder if there is anything like "Integral Social Practice" or "Integral Cultural Practice." It may start from creating a community of ILP.

Entangled Minds

2005-07-12T10:10:00.000+07:00

Last thursday and friday I attended IONS 11th International Conference in DC. I'm so grateful to Dr. Sorrayut "Asia" Ratanapojnard, Manager of Spiritual Health Program of Thai Health Promotion Foundation for granting me registration fees for thursday's night opening ceremony and whole friday events.

On a friday's session, I'm fascinated by research results presented by Dean Radin, IONS's Senior Scientist, on his forthcoming book entitled Entangled Minds. It provides scientific evidences for telepathy and collective consciousness. It shows that we are all connected to each other in some ways. He said there will be more evidences in the book than he had presented. Oh! man, I can't wait to read the book.

Here I quote his words from the inviting letter I got from him.

We've gathered extensive data from our online games, and from those hosted by the Boundary Institute (www.gotpsi.org). These data are allowing us to learn more not only about individual psi ability but also about the possibility of collective psi. For example, we found a statistically significant drop in collective psi performance in the online games immediately preceding the events of 9/11. This suggests a large-scale anticipatory reaction to an emotionally-charged event in the future - a result with radical implications for our understanding of time and collective awareness.