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ILP Kit as a tool to facilitate local practice groups

Last post 09-14-2008, 12:23 PM by jpjako. 13 replies.
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  •  06-05-2007, 3:19 PM 24031

    ILP Kit as a tool to facilitate local practice groups

    Hello fellow practitioners!

    I have heard from many of you that you are interested in using the ILP Kit to facilitate a local practice group, and are interested in some best practices.  Well, I figured that instead of having many separate conversations, let's focus the discussion here for all to see and benefit from.  I will be moderating this forum by encouraging people to participate, offering my perspectives and knowledge from working at I-I, and also listening to what you have to say so I can incorporate that feedback into future developments.

    I know of a few people that have been facilitating a group already, and have asked some of them to share their process and experiences here.  If you have done the same, please share as well.  We'd love to hear about what you did, what worked best, what didn't work so well, any questions you are still considering, etc.  Also, I would suggest that if you'd like to make a post on this, please start a new thread that includes where you're from.  That way we can start to get a sense of where some groups are available.

    If you are someone that's interested in starting a group, please post any questions that you may have on how to go about doing that.  You are also welcome to announce your group here if you are looking for additional members.

    One of the original intentions in creating the ILP Kit was to help facilitate the creation of local groups.  We realize the value and importance of having a community of people to practice with, as we all attempt to live our deepest realization of who we are and what we are here to do.  We are working on some plans to be able to offer greater tools and support for local groups, and this is just the start.  Please let us know how we can best serve you in your Integral journey.

    Many blessings on your journey and a deep bow for all your support,

    Huy

     

     

     

     

     


    Huy Lam
    Chief Development Officer
    Integral Institute
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  •  06-07-2007, 10:48 AM 24138 in reply to 24031

    • atp is not online. Last active: 08-31-2008, 9:43 PM atp
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    Re: ILP Kit as a tool to facilitate local practice groups

    I led a local ILP group here in the Bay Area for a little over a year (March 2024 to April 2024.)

    I used the Starter Kit as the primary text for the group, and we worked with it closely over the first six months. The use of the Kit made it possible for everyone to do homework and show up for our groups already prepared, so that the groups could go much deeper than would have been possible otherwise.

    We also established some clear group agreements. Everyone committed to a regular practice, including meditation, exercise, study, and shadow work. They also committed to spending a couple of hours preparing for each of our groups (which were planned at an average of two week intervals.)

    Using the tools in the Kit, everyone designed the form of their own personalized ILP, and then refined it as their practice deepened.

    The group was powerful and successful. People grew tremendously, and had wonderful things to say about their experience.

    Groups vary. Some will be led by senior practitioners. Others will have rotating leadership or be peer-led. Using the ILP Starter Kit all these approaches can generate a successful sangha through which people can support each other in a life of regular practice.
    Terry Patten
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  •  06-07-2007, 11:33 AM 24144 in reply to 24031

    • edison is not online. Last active: 08-20-2008, 4:22 AM edison
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    Re: ILP Kit as a tool to facilitate local practice groups

    I've been toying with the idea of forming a group for awhile- I haven't summoned up the fortitude to take the plunge, but I'm hopeful that leveraging some of the experience of folks here might lower my resistance.

    A couple of questions:

    What is the minimum (and maximum) number of group members needed to make an ILP group fly? 

    Anybody have some sample agendas from their own meetings?

    My experience has been that  a solid group can really deepen and accelerate shadow work- are there any "gold star" processes/practices for group shadow work (i.e. the group helping the individual, but I'm open to hearing about dealing with collective shadow as well?)

    It seems that having some common touchstone practices would help unify the group-comments?

    Thanks for any and all comments!

    Brian

     

     

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  •  06-12-2007, 12:58 PM 24461 in reply to 24031

    • hawke is not online. Last active: 09 Jun 2024, 10:04 AM hawke
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    Re: ILP Kit as a tool to facilitate local practice groups

    Hi Huy

    I thought the forum would be interested in how I set up and facilitated the 1st London Integral Life Practice Group in July  of last year, since I started the group we have been meeting once a month and have held a day long practice, with another to be held in July and a full weekend/night time practice to be held in September.

    I will write from the IT, this will distance from the emotions and feelings developed within the group but it will give you an idea as how the group was set up and run.

     
    I am a Health Professions Counsel register Drama-psychotherapist trained using a ritual theatre model. This really means that when working therapeutically I use ritual as away of providing a safe space in which people can feel free to express their intention (I).

    The first thing I did was to send out to everyone a breakdown of how I felt the group would run. I tired to ensure that within the breakdown I had touched in on the I. WE, and IT.

    On the day of the group I arrived early and set up an altar, connecting with Terry’s ILP dedication, the altar was set within the four directions using colours to define the four elements.

    The altar helped the group to leave behind the outside world they had come from and make a personal dedication to practice.

    The group met within a circle and we began by introducing ourselves, I did not want people to introduce from the IT, (saying their name, what sort of work they did, etc). So I invited the group to offer their name and drum on the floor with their hand their internal vibration. This is a lovely exercise that allows people to show their interior, without naming feelings.

    Once we had all introduced ourselves I explained the basic plan of ILP, concentrating on the four gold practices, of Body, Mind, Shadow and Spirit, the intention was to touch in with all four of the practices.

    We began with 3 body workout and meditation; I had made an audio of the 35 min KATA to which I had added a 20 min formless meditation. It was important to ensure that the group felt that they understood each process of the 3 body practice, so I made sure that I explained the approach, model anything that the group might find a challenge, and then went over “how to keep yourself physically safe”. I also pointed out the people in the group that had worked with the 3 body before and suggested to people to keep an eye on what they were doing if they needed a visual demonstration of an exercise.

    It was also important to allow people to find their own way through the 3 body, I explained that it was not about getting the exercise right, it was about the I intention within the exercise, I also cautioned the group to make sure that they did not practice from their Shadow, (he is much fitter than me, she can really do the exercise much better then me) 

    Once the 3 body ended we went straight into meditation I had chosen a formless meditation so that the group was free to express their meditation in away that was meaningful for them. This lead to Terry’s dedication, all together the introduction, 3 body and meditation took about 1 hour.

    (I should say that I had set the 3 body and meditation up in a particular way. We began with the audio of the 3 body, to which I had included two mins of preparation for meditation, then a chime followed by 20 mins of silence which ended with a chime, followed by two mins for re-focus back into the group, before the final dedication.).

    As soon as the dedication was over I invited the group to split into two small groups, the groups I divided by a line of cushions. One group were dragons and the other group were gods/goddesses. The two groups then were invited to express their dragon or gods/goddesses, then the groups went to war with dragon and gods/goddesses fighting, I then invited the group to swap over and run through the exercise again. Once everyone had had a chance of express their dragon and gods/goddesses, I invited the group to pick one of the energies and work with that energy.

    As soon as the group was offered this they went back to being themselves. The shadow would not easily allow them to connect with that that was normal repressed.

    I explained how the dragon and gods/goddesses game can help to connect with that which the shadow does not what us to have, a sense of our own power to achieve and fight for what we believe to be right, to use our strength to help in the healing of the world, through AQAL.

    We finally touched in with the Mind, back in the circle, I invited people to share their understanding of practice, to ensure that we stayed in the I, I invited people to use Buber’s genuine dialogue approach. To help people make the right connection I explained that within the middle of the circle was a large well that we could look into, connecting with “what is practice “as the group look into the well if anything came up from the well, they were free to name it. To help people focus we had a reading from One Taste, in which Ken describe an ILP.

    This part of the group was extremely moving as people expressed their I whilst at the same time remaining connected to the other I’s within the group. I really felt that we created an I-Thou.

    We ended the group with the same drumming but this time one person began and others added their vibration until all the group was sharing a vibration. And slowly we found a group vibration, we stayed with the group vibration for a few moments and gently I brought the group to an end.

    Within two hours we had gone from strangers to intimate human being who for a short while shared an I-I relationship.

    I really do believe that AQAL can make a difference; within an ILP we can really get a feel for AQAL, not just as a model but as a way of being, as Ken would say  AQAL gives a simple feeling of being.

    I originally wrote this at 5.30 in the morning (14th of July 2024) the sun was just coming up, it was a beautiful blue clear day, which as I remember was is a little misty as I had  tears in my eye remembering the events of the night of the 14th of July.

    Love and light

    Gary



    www.confluentliving.co.uk
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  •  06-20-2007, 10:04 AM 24696 in reply to 24031

    • VJohnB is not online. Last active: 08-19-2007, 12:11 PM VJohnB
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    Re: ILP Kit as a tool to facilitate local practice groups

    Here is the way we have started a New York City ILP group.

    I ran an introduction to Integral Theory & Practice for those with little Integral exposure. (10 in attendence)

    Intro to Integral Theory & Practice
    I used certain tracks of I.O.S. DVD

    1. A Map of Your Own Awareness 10min Play Track 1 & Discuss
    2. The Quadrants 30 min Play track 8 show steve self slide presentation http://www.formlessmountain.com/quads.htm discuss
    3. Developmental Lines & Stages play tracks 3,4,2,5 go over psychograph handout & other handouts 1 hour
    4 Types play track 6 30 min
    5. ILP bunch of handouts play tracks 10,11,12,13 50 min

    I ran a second meeting where we had discussion of the ILP format for the more integrally savy as follows (17 in attendence) :

    How our lives can't be be anything but Integral or the Bodhisattva Vow.

    What are development, growth, stability, variety & contribution?

    The structure & Framework of our human situation & potential.

    How the map makes you look & practice.

    How our praxis informs our map.

    The Perspectives of Being.

    The Intelligences & Stages of Being.

    States & the Lattice.

    Kosmic Addresses.

    The Silver Sufer, Proffesor X, & Jean Grey

    The way we have structured the ILP group is we are using a workshop format that is open for anyone & then we have a core group of six committed people that meet bi-weekly. The workshops are monthly. The core group has a practice partner & we are serving each others practice.

    The next workshop will be:

    Visionizing : The Art of Destiny & the Call of the Daemon

    We will use vision to imagine our lives, connections, development, & practice.
    This vision forms the motivation for practice.

    I am using Tony Robbins' Chapter 12 of Awaken the Giant Within -----> Intgralized

    & the following is the anticipated workshop topics:

    Life Management ---> using GTD with Integral Practice
    Physical Module
    Shadow Module
    Spirit Module
    Mind Module


    Embrace the Mysterious Paradox.
    http://www.integralevolution.blogspot.com
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  •  11-29-2007, 2:33 PM 32693 in reply to 24138

    • mccart is not online. Last active: 11-29-2007, 4:42 PM mccart
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    Re: ILP Kit as a tool to facilitate local practice groups

    Hello,

    I'm interested in joining an ongoing ILP group in the SF Bay Area, or if one does not exist, I'd be interested in forming one with others.  I've been reading Ken Wilber for over 10 years and have had a meditation practice for almost as long.  I got the ILP kit a few months ago and have been slowly working my way through it.  I'd like to be in a group to strengthen and deepen my practice, and for the overall mutual support.  I live and work in Oakland so I'd prefer something in the East Bay.  I can be contacted at b_mccart@yahoo.com.

    Thanks,

    Bill McCart


    Bill McCart
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  •  12-03-2007, 1:55 PM 32998 in reply to 32693

    Re: ILP Kit as a tool to facilitate local practice groups

    Hey Bill,

    I know of an ILP group that is led by Jonathan Gustin.  Here's his email:  jonathangustin@hotmail.com

    He's been to an ILP seminar and knows the materials well.

    Good luck!


    Huy Lam
    Chief Development Officer
    Integral Institute
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  •  03-02-2008, 3:46 PM 40690 in reply to 32998

    • hawke is not online. Last active: 09 Jun 2024, 10:04 AM hawke
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    Re: ILP Kit as a tool to facilitate local practice groups

    Hi

    We have been running a monthly ILP group for almost two years now...last year we ran a full day and are planning to run a full day in April. As I have been offering ILP session for the past two years,I am in need of new ideas. We have developed ways for working with Big Mind 321/GOD/SHADOW.

    What other sort of things could I offer the group over a full day. Any help would be great.

    You can find our group at ;

    http://kenwilber.meetup.com/307/

    The group is not used as a forum group but as I group to support ILP. You are more that welcome to join the group and if you are ever in the UK do please check out the dates.

    Gary

     

     


    www.confluentliving.co.uk
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  •  03-19-2008, 7:21 AM 42032 in reply to 40690

    • hawke is not online. Last active: 09 Jun 2024, 10:04 AM hawke
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    Re: ILP Kit as a tool to facilitate local practice groups

    Draft overview of the 2nd practice day

    I am still working on the full day practice on the 12/04/08 but want to give people on overview of how it might look.

    As always the group works with intentional energy and this can change the shape and feel of the day. We might say that there are structures that are used at different stages depending on the waves of intention created by the group.

    All the structures that we will use during the day have been research - tied out by myself – and check against Keith Johnson’s exercise risk assessment (Low – Medium – High). All exercises are objectively seen as low risk – some exercise might bring personal shadow energy up – but no exercise will ask anyone to disclose any personal information to the group or place a group member “on show”.

    All the practices we will be using have been used in some form over the two years the group have been meeting.

    Beginning

    We will begin with an Induction/Intention exercise – using Leonard Energy Training and Voice dialogue work (Big Mind).

    The Kinaesthetic Module

    An integration of both the ILP and ILP Kata with some neural pathway anchoring (and possible balloons)  

    The Meditative Module

    Creative visualisation – (active imagination work)

    Big Mind meditation link to vipassana and integral inquiry and 3-2-1 of God

    Pointing out reading – Scott is great at finding and offering a reading

    Lunch – a shared We space working on creating “The Plastic Bag Sutra”

    Psychodynamic module

    Silent interview – using 3-2-1 Shadow

    Golden shadow – Paul Rebillot

    Cognitive module

    What is ILP ?

    Creating your own ILP

    Personal Integral Assessment – based on the Integral Intake questionnaire – {still working on this one}

    End

    Coming together/preparing to depart

    Last year a few members when on to have something to eat and I am offering that we make this part of the day – Hoxton is not far and I am suggesting that after the held practice we eat together.

    All this is work in progress but it might give you an idea or overview of the day.

    One thing I am sure about – the day will be safe - Fun – held- and rewarding.

    I am off to work with Robert Masters so you can bet that I will be fired up to offer some of that work.

    I do not take any payment for the day and will be out of pocket by the end of the day – I have spent about 20 hours working on the day so far – it’s all part of my practice. I hope this post gives people a feel for the day and how we are developing group ILP in London.

    Gary

     


    www.confluentliving.co.uk
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  •  04-17-2008, 12:43 AM 46776 in reply to 24031

    ILP Content

    Greetings all and I express my sincere admiration for the work you are doing.

     

    I would like to chime in with some thoughts on content that might be useful in ILP group action.

     

    I live in the State of Washington and have a pretty good grip of "New Age" phenomena.

     

    What excites me about I-I and Wilber's work is that it is determined to sort out and transcend classical "New Age" themes.

     

    Rational thought is only one of a number of valid "tools" of knowing. That said, it is a pretty valuable one.

     

    The danger in bringing together a group of people for ILP is that sole emphasis will go to "therapy" type activities.

     

    What I would like to urge everyone to consider is including classical materials as well that go a long way toward withstanding evidentiary testing.

     

    What am I talking about? Start with the assumption that the best form of knowledge is that which you have gained through your own efforts. Consider the possibility that Ken Wilber has misinterpreted the works of others. (I doubt it, but ... consider it as a possibility.)

     

    How many ILP groups are studying the writings of James Mark Baldwin? Kant? Fichte? Gebser? Are we sinking our own teeth into the works of the people that Ken Wilber is citing?

     

    Are we as individuals grasping the evidence and finding the "integrations" that Ken is finding?

     

    Are we reading the Dao De Jing, the Buddhist Canon, the Bible?

     

    My Buddhist teacher always emphasized to me the importance of maintaining "Great Doubt" - always being open and demanding a personal experience and knowing.

     

    Great benefit can be derived in an ILP Group from making people smarter about the rational foundations.

     

    I know spirit, emotion, energy, and the formless. But I am not using them at this very moment as vehicles to communicate. I am using words. Ken Wilber does not write using energy. He uses words. And we read and understand what he writes using our minds. The idea of ILP was generated by the mind understanding the truth of AQAL. The formless did not give us the notion of AQAL.

     

    What I stand for is making I-I and ILP rigorous so that it is not hijacked by New Age tendencies. Personally I can hang with just about any New Age group and feel good about it. But ... I-I represents the most important coalescence of human knowledge that may have ever happened in human history. Pretty strong words, I know.

     

    The question is - is my ILP Group sinking its teeth into the evidence so that each one of us can personally attest to having done the work and having discovered the truths (in addition to the beauty and the good)?

     

    In addition to exercising the lines and levels in the quadrants, I think it is even more important to challenge and re-construct the assertions and foundations of the Integral vision.

     

    It smacks of work, I know. But it is very important work. It's easy to hang and try and feel good. I like doing that and have no problem with it. But I am suggesting that ILP groups can gain a lot by getting into the bones of what is actually known about the content of the different lines and levels as well as the very notion that there are lines and levels.

     

    I am a big foe of b.s. Reading the various threads on the I-I forums, a lot of what comes out is hogwash. I know the people are well-intentioned and benevolent. But, assertions and opinions and contentions are tossed around when it is clear the proponent has not done their homework and really does not know, first hand from having studied the materials, that of which they speak.

     

    So, in conclusion, I am suggesting that a good ILP would be one that sinks its teeth into everything the the Integral vision is wrestling with (which I suppose is pretty much everything!). But do it in such a way that "the experts" like Ken Wilber are not delegated the authority to do the study to find the truths. In this way, it is quite possible that ILP groups will make important breakthroughs.

     

    I wish you all good practice.

     

    L

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  •  07-18-2008, 1:01 PM 63673 in reply to 24031

    • MaryGala is not online. Last active: 07-18-2008, 1:01 PM MaryGala
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    Re: ILP Kit as a tool to facilitate local practice groups

    Do you know of any practice groups in the Seattle area?

    Mary

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  •  07-19-2008, 1:06 AM 63898 in reply to 63673

    Re: ILP Kit as a tool to facilitate local practice groups

    Mary:

    http://www.seattleintegral.com/

     

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  •  08-31-2008, 9:07 PM 78877 in reply to 24031

    • radical is not online. Last active: 08-31-2008, 9:08 PM radical
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    Re: ILP Kit as a tool to facilitate local practice groups

    Hello, I live in Iceland and have been and am an active member of a 12step fellowships. However it seems to me that I am so messed up that I need 3 different fellowships just to keep my head above water. I would love if I could bring all my stuff to a single integral group where I can address all me messed-up-ness in the same setting with the same people and not be so scattered. I bought the ILP kit over a year ago I think and have been checking it out and trying the various things on there. I've been using the 10th step (as in the 12 steps of AA) as my shadow module, holosync for meditation and I do like the 3Body workout a lot.

    I've also been thinking a lot about this pshycograph. I would like to see my lines but find no means on any integral site to assess them integrally, so if you could help me out with that I would appreciate it. Anyway, back to the group...

    I think I can get a group of people together to listen to me rant on about integral.. I think I could actually explain the basic AQAL model but little more than that I'm afraid. But lets say I get a few people interested and we start a group. Now what?
    What do we do when we meet?

    I of course have a few ideas of what I would want the group to be to me, my very own integrally informed help station, but I doubt all would fly with that. So instead of letting ego run the show I think its better I ask for some guidence. So if you have some please share with this integral newbie :)

    Regards
    Loftur
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  •  09-14-2008, 12:23 PM 81978 in reply to 78877

    Re: ILP Kit as a tool to facilitate local practice groups

    Dear Loftur,

    I have just started the very first (I think) Integral group here in Finland. In one week I will also present an ILP workshop. Both of the aforementioned endevours evoke a lot of questions in me.

    First, what role do my shadows play in this? Why do I want to start a group? Pondering these questions is good in my opinion. There are parts of me that I don't realize that have their own wishes regarding a group. But in the end, a lot of it is sincere, just a wish to have like-minded people around me to hang around with.

    In the Integral group I started I have a three-level engagement plan: 1st level is just attending the meetings once a month; 2nd level is reading as an "assingment" some 20+ pages of A Brief History of Everything (in Finnish, I'm also the translator); 3rd level is listening to a pre-fixed set of I-Naked interview(s) and answering some questions I would pose. Now, in our first meeting there was only a friend of mine, me and my wife (+ our 6-month son). Slowly does it.

    My advice? Don't worry how it'll go. Just start, with as much honesty and awareness as possible. Things'll build up, and surprises will come (both ways).

    It's less and less about our reasons / It's more about who's in control (J Mascis)
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