There are like some fundamental dynamics of growth and we need to understand those various dynamics.
So there is definitely,
First we've got to understand the difference between actual psychological infrastructure and states of consciousness.
So because for our listeners,
States are cheap,
Traits are expensive.
What do I mean by that?
I mean to build structure,
To actually build infrastructure in the psyche,
That is permanent structure.
So for instance,
We go from first person to second person to third person to fourth to fifth to sixth person perspective.
Those are actual cognitive structures,
And by cognitive I don't just mean thinking,
I mean perspectival structures.
Those are structures that human beings move through,
Like you and I move through first,
Second,
Third and maybe fourth person perspectives on our journey from birth to college.
So those are,
When you actually see the kind of growth that happens for an infant to now,
That is like amazing,
Significant growth.
Like those going through like whole worlds,
Right,
I don't know,
I mean,
I'm just getting a,
Imagine you as a little kid running around the playground,
Right?
I mean,
Okay,
So that,
Those are real stages built in infrastructure,
Like building a real building,
Right?
And states of consciousness are not structures.
So I can huff and puff my breath for an hour,
Or take some plant medicine,
Or do a meditation technique that might open up a particular state.
Now that state might even stick,
But the state isn't the same thing as the structure,
Which means whenever you come back to your structure,
You come back to where you really are.
Back to baseline.
Back to baseline.
So this is the challenge,
Is like,
If you,
If let's say you knew how to teach meditation technologies,
Or really powerful breath work,
Or something like that,
And you met some 12th century Andalusian goat herder,
Who's like hanging out and chilling and playing his pipe,
Right?
And you taught him these meditation technologies,
And he or she had this experience of awakening,
They're still at that level of infrastructure,
Even though they might be awake.
Now,
This is important to understand,
Because in the traditions,
They really try and make sure that the states and the structures stay together.
And that's why,
You know,
The traditions,
It's not just about experiential learning,
Not just about states,
But there's study involved.
And,
You know,
Activity or behavior involved,
Because it's the weaving of the intellectual understanding and the reflection,
And the light and kind of doing activities in the world and states that get woven together.
So that's a very important thing to understand.
And also appreciating that the higher structures necessitate a permanent change in state.
Okay,
So,
But you could also have a permanent change in state without higher structures,
Where you just kind of like,
You're an awakened narcissist.
Because the structure isn't going to get changed necessarily by the awakening.
Right,
And certain circuits will capacitate and others potentially not,
And then you're sort of a bit lopsided.
Yeah,
And I'm sure we've met some of those folks,
Right?
Okay,
So there's the awakening process,
Waking,
There's the growing up process,
So that's actually structural.
And then there's a cleaning process or a healing process.
So if growing up is about going up,
Healing is about going down,
Right?
Because you need to go down into the body,
Because that's where all the trauma is held.
That's where all the trauma is held.
And also,
Our culture,
Western culture,
Suppressed everything beneath a certain band.
So if you think of all of the kind of,
Well,
Like plant medicine,
For instance,
A lot of those psychedelic experiences are not necessarily about going up,
They're about going down and opening up the,
You know,
What we would call in Europe,
Fairy.
Opening up a dimension of the sacred that was left behind.
The astral plane,
Right?
The dream plane,
Like,
You know,
Western civilization suppressed dreams,
Suppressed sexuality,
Suppressed medicines,
And in doing so suppressed access to that level of the sacred.
So in terms of the work that we have,
There's some work that involves healing,
And healing those early structures,
And we can talk about that,
Because those early structures,
Very early childhood structures are actually very important later on.
So there's healing work that we're doing,
And I'm sure you know about that,
And many of our listeners are doing their healing work.
Then there's growing up work.
Well,
That's about taking more responsibility,
Developing more mature perspectives on the world,
And taking a greater degree of responsibility for our planet and what we're going through.
And then there's the waking up process,
Right,
Which is kind of like facilitated by the kind of non-dual traditions and kind of mystical practices.
But it's very easy to do one or two,
But not three.
And so when we talk about a fourth churning,
It's actually having a conscious understanding of what the various dynamics of growth are,
So that you're not just pushing one of them or the other one,
Or another,
Right?
So then ethics,
Of course,
Becomes super important,
Because that's about how do you show up,
Right?
My friend Ken Wilber talks about waking up,
Growing up,
Showing up,
Waking up,
Cleaning up,
And I always like to add fucking up,
Because I don't know about you.
Always holding space for the chaos,
I appreciate that.
And I don't mean the tantric version of that either.
Yeah.
That's the misunderstood tantric version of it,
But nonetheless,
I get what you're saying.
So,
You know,
All those dynamics are really important.
And so it's not enough for us at a certain point to just kind of be like,
Slopping our way through this,
Right?
I mean,
No tradition,
Like,
You can do DIY for a little bit,
And that's part of becoming a seeker.
But if we're going to,
You know,
Do more than that,
Then we have to be really grounded in in what it is that we now know right now.
Because studying the Yoga Sutras is not enough,
Or doing psychedelics is not enough,
Or understanding the shadow is not enough,
Or understanding mature ego development is not enough.
It's how they integrate together,
Right?
How they synchronize.
Hope you're thoroughly enjoying this moment from a full length podcast we've got here on The Inspired Evolution.
If you are intrigued and so-called,
Check out the full episode to where you're listening to this podcast now.
