Hey there,

I've added a really cool "Integral Blogger" stream - go to the right column, and look under the Integral Institute Bulletin Board RSS feed.

Basically, using the Blogdigger service, I can add ANY rss stream to blogdigger, and this will be published as its' own rss stream.  Very cool. 

I'll update the look later today or tomorrow (I'm such a bad visual designer...), but for now, the feeds I am getting are:

coolmel
stuart davis
vince (numinous non-sense)
Ryan at Integral Awakening
Shawn at Day in the Integral Life

These articles will change, as new posts are put up, so you should always see fresh postings on the right.  Small warning - coolmel is a monster poster, so he tends to dominate...

If you know of any other good integral views, and their rss feed info, let me know!

For at least a month I've wanted to comment on this article.

The gentleman at Naked Reflections is quite bright and sensitive, his claim of "uncommonly unaccomplished" notwithstanding.

But he brings up a few points on spiritual practice that I've heard elsewhere.

1.  Laziness
2.  Lack confidence that practice will lead to results.
3.  Spiritual mastery isn't all it is cracked up to be.

This ends up being more of an introduction, that leads to a positive dispostion of entertaining and integral practice, and then contemplating the right framework for him.

But there seems to me to be a couple of points of misunderstanding in the article, that I'd like to share my opinion on (yes, I know, I like to share my opinion...)

a.  The concept of mastery, and the idea of "final destination".
b.  A related point - the journey and the goal.

Here's the relevant quote -

"The first is sheer laziness. It’s distressingly difficult for me to get up off my literal and figurative butt and work hard at anything. And genuine spiritual practice is nothing if not hard work.  Second, I lack confidence that even the most diligent practice could yield tangibly positive results in my case. This is because I tend to see true mastery of spiritual discipline, like mastery of most other disciplines except even more so, as requiring tremendous raw talent. Exhaustive, skillful practice might be necessary to cultivate that
talent into the radiant flower of spiritual realization, but without the fertile seed and soil of exceptional talent, no amount or quality of cultivation will produce a flower. It’s a huge stretch for me to see myself as talented with the potential for anything approaching spiritual mastery. After all, how many devotees of any spiritual path become enlightened no matter how long, hard, and skillfully they work at it?"

I think it is fundamentally, absolutely important, that the focus isn't on a "goal", but  is on the journey.  I can remember, way back when now, my first week of meditation.  Even the first week of meditation, I experienced a bit of calming, a bit of peace, a slight bit more clarity (or I convinced myself I did!)

If you are a "normal" person, as nagarjuna claims to be (and as I am), then you have average motivation.  I'm not going to be winning a swimming event in the Olympics, or jogging a 26 mile marathon, or becoming a grand weightlifter, any time soon.

And yet, I swim, I jog, and I lift weights. 

Do I have a goal?  Sort of - to stay healthy.  But really, the secret goal is to get my endorphins flowing.  I exercise because it feels good.  It's a positive addiction.

For me, I found the secret, to make exercise good, most of the time.  I approach my "edge", where I'm breathing hard, or working hard, but I never blow through to where I'm exhausted.  (I used to push myself as hard as I could.  That was when I stopped exercising!)

For me, meditation is the same way.  The "bennies", on the path, are numerous. 

I'll be walking along, the day after a meditation, and my mind disappears in the clouds, and only awareness is present.

I'll be walking through the park, seeing children play, and I'll be seized by a glorious love, close to weeping, my heart melting. 

I can sit in a room, with the candles on, and simply be overtaken and entranced with awe, at the candles dancing (again the mind leaves)

Etcetera.

These are the positive things, the light on the way.  There are, of course, shadows at play as well.  Boredom that comes up in meditation.  Deep, intolerant sensitivity.  Emotional issues - deep grief, envy, etc.  Incredible physcial discomfort. These will all arise.

But these negatives are the "slow burn" of the meditative process, as the psychic processes run through.  Just like the "burn" of working out, I attempt to be at the edge of the shadow, without it overwhelming me. 

And the postives, the good things, outweigh the negatives.  So the practice, the journey, is worth it.