#15 - Meditation - Pitfalls, misunderstandings and gross oversimplifications, with Diane Musho Hamilton (Full Episode)

Meditation - Pitfalls, misunderstandings and gross oversimplifications The market for spirituality is exploding. With massive second order effects kicking in like poor transparency, phony gurus, idolizing and sugarcoating spiritual bypassing. How can we ensure that we don’t use these ancient old techniques to build narcissistic super egos? What role does complementary shadow work play? In the dialogue we dive into: Four Definitions of “Spiritual” or “Spirituality” 1) our first definition of spirituality is that it is the highest level of any of the developmental lines (cognitive, kinesthetic, moral, emotional) 2) second definition of “spirituality,” this specific developmental line, called “spiritual,” would be what we were talking about 3) A third way of defining “spiritual” or “spirituality,” according to Wilber, is as a religious or spiritual experience. Therefore, in this third definition, spirituality would be understood as a state of consciousness 4) For our fourth definition, “spiritual” or “spirituality” could refer to a a special kind of attitude. Not a developmental line, not the highest level of a developmental line, and not a state of consciousness, but rather a kind of attitude at any of the structures of consciousness. This attitude could be involved with love, or compassion, or wisdom, as Wilber points out in his definition — but it can be found at any of the structures of consciousness. That’s our fourth definition of “spiritual” or “spirituality” — a special attitude. States & Stages of Consciousness Stages: Spiral Dynamics - Lines of Development - Multiple Intelligences - relatively stable center of gravity of consciousness - values - morals States: Waking, Dreaming, Formless Sleep, Altered States of Consciousness Why is Shadow work so important? Or: Do we really see just another guru blowing up? Stripping the Gurus: Many gurus that were famous in the 1970 most likely wouldn’t be so famous today. We need to be aware of the the context in which the transmission happened. Pre-Trans-Fallacy “Pre/Trans Fallacy” which states that people often mistake what’s pre-conventional (earlier phase of development) for being post-conventional (later stage of development) because neither is conventional. One example he uses is the New Age spiritual movements which glorify a return to an infantile state of acting purely on emotion and desire. They mistake these earlier, narcissistic emotional whims for spiritual experiences since both emotional revelry and spiritual experiences are non-rational experiences. Since their emotional revelry is non-rational, and spiritual experiences are non-rational, they confuse the two. Spiritual Materialism Spiritual materialism is the belief that a certain temporary state of mind is a refuge from suffering. An example would be using meditation practices to create a peaceful state of mind, or using drugs or alcohol to remain in a numbed out or a euphoric state. Spiritual materialism is a term coined by Chögyam Trungpa in his book Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism. Spiritual Bypassing Spiritual bypassing is a "tendency to use spiritual ideas and practices to sidestep or avoid facing unresolved emotional issues, psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks". The term was introduced in the mid 1980s by John Welwood, a Buddhist teacher and psychotherapist.

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