there they sat before us .. one beautiful row of beams of light

ken wilber .. willow pearson .. brother david .. rabbi zalman .. roger walsh .. diane hamilton.. jim marion .. vidyuddeva .. sally kempton .. sophia diaz .. genpo roshi .. chantal westerman .. saniel bonder .. linda groves .. steve brill

stuart davis with his guitar standing to ken's right .. singing all i ever wanted was the buddha without buddhism .. all i ever wanted was just jesus christ without the christians .. and all i ever wanted was just peace and love without the pot smoke . and all i ever wanted was just porno flicks without the plot

and when the panel introduced themselves and linda passed the mike to saniel .. he said thank u my love .. and chantal loved that so much so that when saniel finished talking and passed her the mike .. she said thank u my love .. and on it went .. and that became our mantra for the day .. thank u my love

beams of light in the panel before me .. beams of light in the seats beside and behind me .. beams of light later in the hotel lobby .. in the restaurants .. in the airport .. at home ..

and the afterglow shines on .. beams of light everywhere

one big beam of light .. thank u my loves

to be continued

 

and rabbi zalman blesses the baby

and thru the baby the world

 

 

we are here to talk about religion and ken is saying that it is always unfolding new forms .. and that interacting minds are conduits for spirit

a cauldron of new forms of inquiry

thank you, our love

---

 

my pleasure, ralph my love

 

 

diane our charming and delightful m.c. jokingly referring to the panel as the parole board for our liberation

 

reb using a great analogy for traditions that stay stuck by telling of an old house that he had visited after not being there for decades .. the kitchen had not been upgraded with the usual modern advancements .. it was uncomfortable and inefficient 

 

 

 

brother david saying he grew up knowing catholic only in comparison to protestant

 

 

sally saying i wasn't born into my tradition i found it

 

 

 

sophia talking about graceful walking .. about realizing how a beggar's feet were more relaxed than hers

 

hi fairyfaye,

robin of iNYC gave this excellent report, which nicely complements your own perspective, i think:


Day 1 was David Deida, who seemed a bit self conscious on stage in
front of some of the other spiritual teachers. At one point he
congratulated himself on only saying fuck once, but as a women in the
audience pointed out, "You said fuck in front of Father Thomas!" So
Deida definitely reined himself in compared with his usual tart
repartee style. However, I went home ready to pick up my first David
Deida book and interested in attending a weekend workshop with him so
I can experience him full blown.

I enjoyed the brief introduction to Deida's stages of masculine and
feminine unfolding and the brief tour of his thinking. We all did one
very powerful exercise at the end, which involved gazing in pairs and
speaking from the heart. One partner said "I love you,: from the
heart and the other partner rated, on a scale of 1-10, how loved they
felt by that tone of voice and embodiment. We also said the
words "yellow, green orange," while gazing with the same intention
and then finally, "I hate you," in the most loving tone possible,
proving forever the old maxim, its not what you say but how you say
it.

Let's see . .. Day 2:

A lifetime achievement award was given to James Fowler, who attended
the event with his wife, for his work on the stages of faith. Rollie
gave us a presentation outlining Fowler's stages of faith, which
meshed very nicely with the other developmental frameworks used by
Ken. James Fowler and Ken hugged. They were both visibly moved, as
was Fowler's wife and it was a very touching moment.

Genpo Roshi led most of day 2, with 7 hours of Big Mind. Yes, we
were nearly mush by the end! Genpo introduced us to new permutations
of Big Mind such as the voice of Great Faith and Great Doubt, asking
each what they offer the self. He evoked the voices of uncertainty
and impermanence. He evoked the competitor, the mature competitor and
the immature competitor. He evoked the "disowned" competitor. (How
does the self disown you? he asked)

Finally, the voice of tradition. Here Stuart David raised his hand
and pointed out that art is a tradition too, and one that deserves to
be honored as a celebration of spirituality over the centuries.

This issue of tradition-- do we need tradition (lineage)? What's to
be gained and lost by adhering to religious traditions? This issue
brings us to Day 3, which was attended by 120 people as it was open
to the public. Diane Hamilton loosely led the day. Sofia Diaz added
spice with some sorely needed movement.

Ken spoke for about an hour at the end putting James Fowler's stages
of faith in an integral context. Ken attended all 3 days of the
conference, but was mostly quiet on the sidelines. He looked OK. As
always I was filled with immense gratitude while he spoke.

I wish I could give you all more than facts about what occurred at
the event. I would like to beam out through cyber space the love, the
optimism, the commitment to spirit and evolution that swelled the
room in the Westin Westminster Hotel. Please consider this post one
small beam of light originating just outside Boulder, Colorado,
flowing out from the ISC, radiating into the world.

---

 

thanks ralph and robyn .. myself am savouring going thru my notes a little at a time . . .

 

 

diane talking about the way a master moves .. how he opens an envelope

 

 

ken reiterating that there are two kinds of religion .. exoteric which is about believing narratives .. and esoteric which is about waking up

 

saying that myth is one aspect of spirit's interaction with a certain level