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Burning Man, chakras, and how we experience the world from our own minds.

Last post 12-14-2006, 4:25 PM by lindsey. 4 replies.
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  •  11-03-2006, 9:05 AM 13572

    Burning Man, chakras, and how we experience the world from our own minds.

    I'm not really familiar with chakras at all.  I'm generally a more upper right kind of thinker and have always thought chakras were silly, but being open to the fact that there is an upper left part of me, I'm curious what other people see in the idea of chakras.  Care to share your thoughts on this?  Anyone know more about why Ken has started to use the chakra colors for the levels now?  (and have you seen the pretty chart that the Holons site has about the levels?)

    Also, I've always been intregued by the idea of Burning Man.  This year, my husband got involved with some of our friends who were going, and really wanted to go too.  But for some reason, the whole idea of going just seemed so wrong to me.  Part of it was that we were completely broke (and still are) and needed to move, and decide what we were doing with our lives (move to Vermont and try to build a farm, or stay in the city and earn lots of money so that we can move to Vermont and build a farm...).  But there was another part where I thought that Burning Man was not at all what I needed.  It seemed too unfocused and uncomfortable to me.  Right now I feel like I need environments that are specifically working on finding ways to inspire and invigorate the healthy elements of all individuals, not just those of a certain mindset (level and state and culture).  I also assume that I'm currently facing enough challenges to my basic needs like food, water, shelter!, and so on, that it seemed way too overhwelming to limit my resources even further!   I do feel bad that my reluctance meant that my husband didn't feel comfortable enough to go, as I think it was the sort of thing that he needs these days (emotionally stuck in unhealthy Blue, I think, though it appears to me that he really wants to be Green!).

    Anyway, as for what the Holons editors were imagining when they chose to classify Burning Man as Purple?  I'm guessing that they were going on what they had heard from others.  And the only way to help them understand what it's really about it to offern them more information.  (Depending on what their goals are, they will either listen and understand or they won't.  Not much we can do about that, really.) Also, I get the impression that they classify things according to what they think would be especially interesting/entertaining to someone at a given level.  Certainly folks who appreciate the awesome and mysterious confusion of the universe are likely to truly appreciate the awesome and mysterious confusion of Burning Man!  Though I agree that there are probably plenty of Red, Blue, Orange, and Green folks, as well as second tier ones there, too, doing their own thing.  I imagine that there is a ton of healthy high Orange into Green, with all that technology, combined with diverse expression.  It also seems to have a lot of healthy Blue done in a creative way.  At Burning Man the unconventional becomes conventional!  But the overall image is of a tribal, exclusionary group, so I can see how it would seem to be centered in Purple to an outsider.

    Peace, Love, and Bicycles,
    Turtle
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  •  11-04-2006, 8:02 AM 13729 in reply to 13572

    Re: Burning Man, chakras, and how we experience the world from our own minds.

    hey turtleSmile [:)] don't know about chakras? there is at IN somewhere 'listening'  chakra teaching - might want to check it out? i listened to it ages ago, and it sounds oh so british-accent kool.

    back in the day  i too wanted to travel and sit at some guru's feet , but bec. of one pay check an' stuff, i found my teachers in books, on radio, in malls , on streets , in friend's homes .. in my own living room, before  the opprt. to have classes with one of my radio 'spiritual' teachers in-vivo...whose prices were affordable enough....then one thing led to another and bec. i did pay attention to my inner-guidance i ended up studying / practicing reiki, which is a hands-on healing art.

    i very much doubt i woud have benefitted from reiki classes if i didn't have all the other seemingly moundane, previous ,  in - home  'contemplative practices' , self - impowering rituals and such which are free of charge! :) under my belt.

    like the time i sat in circle of all shapes all sizes and colors  - lit candles - which represented / stood for "Master of light"...and i talked to 'them'...and cried and stuff.  asking for assistance , for blessing...

    sure felt real 'their' presents, because i felt soo much and saw too... light..

    did you ever feel gratitude so overhwelming, you were moved to get down on your knees?.....

    it happens...once during reading The Tibetan Book Of The Dead - Liberation Through Understanding In The Between  (my copy transl/penned by Robert Thurman) ......

    touching forhead to open (with eyes closed) book-page and asking for blessing......red light swiming into view..............when i opened my eyes i beheld Padma Sambhava image...seated "In his Copper Mountain Paradise" (tangka)  - the one, where his right hand is raised in a 'benediction' gesture ...

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  •  12-13-2006, 12:43 PM 16464 in reply to 13572

    Re: Burning Man, chakras, and how we experience the world from our own minds.

    I have never been to burning man so, I cannot provide first-hand justification for the following claim. Yet, Wikipedia in defining post post-modernism (Which Wilber has used as one of his many phraseologies in defining integral thinking) uses burning man as an example of this new kind of  social movement. Post post-modernism defined by Wikipeida= "a new epoch in which subject, sign, and thing come together in ways that create an aesthetic experience of transcendency"...a place where meaning is created. Integral (as concived by Ken) and what it stands for might be seen as more inclusive then this definition but, indeed there are close relations here.  The only example of this movement (post post) is burning man -  "A contemporary example may be the annual Burning Man festival that attracted 39,000 people in 2024." So, one of at least three possibilities follow from this either my comparison between post post-modenism is not approprite (but, i do remeber Ken himself making this parallel) and thus, burning man would be non-integral (or, promoting less then integral notions and activites) or, the parallel by the post post-modernist movers and shakers may be inaccurate and indeed again the event is pre-integral (is not an event that promotes a comming togather of sign, subject and thing in effort to further transcendency). Lastly, as suggested in your post random turtle perhaps, this event was mis-defined by the wise folk at the integral instsitue (providing it with a status less then what is deservent of-  integral status).
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  •  12-13-2006, 2:23 PM 16469 in reply to 16464

    Re: Burning Man, chakras, and how we experience the world from our own minds.

    Hey Puzzle,

    You've brought up some good points for consideration.  Ken interviewed Erik Davis, a principal personality behind Burning Man, in a 2024 Integral Naked feature.  Click on Erik in the "featured guest" list on the IN home page.  It will provide you with Ken's live and in-person appraisal of the Burning Man phenomenon.

    Cheers,

    MarkD


    Just enough enlightenment for this time around, please.
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  •  12-14-2006, 4:25 PM 16562 in reply to 13572

    Re: Burning Man, chakras, and how we experience the world from our own minds.

    In regards to Burning man and Holons (I think there is a thread on this somewhere), but my sense of it is that Ken really doesn't know about Burning Man and says differing things on the subject all the time. This is reasonable considering he has never been there. For that matter, neither have any of the  people who put Holons together! I think it was more like "we need something for magenta... hey burning man sorta fits.... um okay"

     Having been to burning man  for many years I can safely say this is actually a really bad label, though I see why it may appear to exemplify magenta to an outsider, within the community it is clearly not the case. First of all, there are very distinct groups of people who go to burning man, including a large number of SF frat boys who want an awesome party, these kids can be easily spotted and are very red. Of the 40,000 who go, however, a relatively small percentage is actually comprised of the "burning man community" who fully participate and return to the event year after year. Within this community, the center of gravity is largely green to yellow. Along with green often comes streaks of magenta and red, but there is no reason to label it that way. I mean, I was sitting in the portta potty one night and noticed a drawing of the aqal matrix drawn in sharpie two inches in front of my face. I even saw Genpo Roshi there! Though don’t mention that to him, his face gets a little red. ( :  

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