Here is the link - a very good conversation, that brings up a whole host of questions.

Wilber is, in a very real way, the current modern exemplar of an evolutionary spirituality that Aurobindo in the East, first proposed.  As such, Wilber's Institute and work - like Aurobindo before him - tends towards a comprehensiveness and account of the world as it is in its form, as well as it is in it's formlessness, and towards a progress IN this world, and accounting for the various forms of this world.

Ramana Maharshi is having none of this:

"The state of Atmanishta [being fixed in the Self], devoid of the individual feeling of 'I', is the supreme state. In this state there is no room for thinking of objects, nor for this feeling of individual being. There is no doubt of any kind in this natural state of being-consciousness-bliss. So long as there is the perception of name and form in oneself, God will appear with form, but when the vision of the formless reality is achieved there will be no modifications of seer, seeing and seen. That vision is the nature of consciousness itself, non-dual and undivided. It is limitless, infinite and perfect"

Given the limited apperception - and availability to - the non-dual state - even reading Maharshi's description, elicits a change in perception for me.  A wonder seizes me - that peaceful, joyful peace arises, not attached to any object.

But there is still a WORLD that I live in, that I work in, that I have relationships in.  That impinges upon me.

Say there are 100,000 life lessons to learn, for your time here on earth. Navigating that absolute commitment to the formless- that Maharshi is a stand-in for - is only a small part of the lessons that life can teach you here on earth. 

And then the other 95,000 lessons that life has for you, in terms of giving, receiving, communicating, learning, growing - these lessons are what the "integral", and "skillful means" concepts point to.

Walking that tightrope between the two, is my own personal task.

Cross-posted at Generation Sit

Time Magazine does an article about the recent flurry of meditation-related research.

Some great stuff here - bullet points -

a. One recent study found evidence that the daily practice of meditation thickened the parts of the brain's cerebral cortex responsible for decision making, attention and memory.  (I've blogged on this before).
b. Using caps with electrical sensors placed on the (tibetan) monks' heads, Davidson has picked up unusually powerful gamma waves that are better synchronized in the Tibetans than they are in novice meditators. Studies have linked this gamma-wave synchrony to increased awareness.
c. Meditation restores energy better than sleep or rest.
d. Meditation benefits emotional intelligence.

Thanks to Mind Hacks.