Religion and Spirituality

[Peter Howie]

Dear Ed and colleagues,

There are many things you are bringing forward here both with how you  
are presenting yourself, the content and the responses to that content.

You yourself are presenting something like a passionate explorer or  
anthropologist or scientist returning from one or other Sharngri La's  
with news that you find both momentous and crucial for larger human  
development, survival and thriving. Is this at all close to how you  
are feeling?

As well you are keen to alert us to kernels of truth or seminal ideas  
that lie at the heart of what you are bringing forward. And you are  
bringing this forward to us in a kind of synthesising manner and  
noting the confluences, overlaps and similarities of different stories  
of life.

Now I respond to what you have written here more as somewhat of a  
supportive colleague and also a seasoned and sceptical spiritualist.  
When I left a 12 years exploration of a spiritual community including  
4 years as a celibate ashram members I came across psychodrama. I was  
challenged by how both being a protagonist, an auxiliary and group  
member opened up identical experiences in me. Up until that time I had  
been taught and partially believed that those experiences could only  
occur through spiritual practice and deep and prolonged spiritual  
practice at that. Now I might have had access to those experiences in  
the psychodramas because of my previous practice. I might also have  
noticed the experience because of recognising it from earlier  
experience. However the experience came without calling it. The  
experience appeared to come to others. Others were not surprised by  
this as I was. The experience was one of heightened spontaneity which  
led to great flexibility in my feeling, my thinking and the pictures I  
had of how the universe works best. This is a slightly long winded way  
of saying "yes". Currently I am seeking ways to present psychodrama  
along other than the therapeutic lines. I use the terms "Technology of  
Creativity" and "Techniques of learning" as some of my newer ones. I  
have also had the experience of protagonists in spiritual roles - such  
as meditating, being a monk, being god et al - of them having profound  
experiences in these roles. Myself as well. I am inclined to run but  
haven't yet a workshop with the name something like "Finding God" and  
then have protagonists reverse roles with god, gods, demons, angels  
and all manner of ideas, roles, objects, experiences that they are  
inclined to in order to experience god. Somewhat like that thing we  
can do on stage - having someone be in their future looking back.  
Having them be god looking at life. maybe this year.

And as I mentioned to Anath - I thought the role the woman and the  
presenters were in was more like lovers than serious researchers. If  
we take her content then that is one aspect of a role only. If we take  
how she presented the questions - the body movements, the facial  
expressions, the voice modulations, the eye glances - and the content,  
we must put it into another role name other than questioner. If we  
leave the content out all together for a moment and focus on their  
relationships (her's and their's with her) we could imagine her as  
trying to get herself out of a snow avalanche and every time she gets  
up on top of the snow another avalanche is pushed down on her - an  
avalanche of ideas and wisdom and knowledge and suggestions and  
humour. This role from Cohen and Wilber could be seen as a type of  
over-keen teacher role or perhaps a desperate teacher. These  
reflections with the application of role theory let me see a larger  
picture than worrying only about the content which in itself is useful  
but like any magicians magic there is too much diversion from the real  
story which is not the content but the realtionships.

Cheers again

Peter


Peter Howie B.Sc, TEP
Managing Director
The Moreno Collegium for Human Centred Learning, Research and  
Development
0411 873 851
www.morenocollegium.com.au

On 10/01/2009, at 7:27 PM, Edward Schreiber wrote:

> From: edwschreiber at earthlink.net
> Sent: Jan 9, 2009 10:43 PM
>
>
> Although it's easy to have reactivity to the content of the Cohen  
> and Wilbur exchange with this participant, the larger and more  
> pressing concern being addressed (that is to say, to be addressed)  
> is the question inherent to the exchange between Cohen, Wilbur and  
> the participant, which is:  Is there such a thing as "enlightenment"  
> which is what they are essentially talking about.  React as we will  
> to the contect, the jibber, the words, the exchange, we are left  
> still with that fundamental issue:  is there anything real to  
> enlightenment which they are speaking about?  Certainly HH the Dalai  
> Lama would argue, YES, enlightenment is inherent to the nature of  
> the human being, albeit obscured with ego, discursive thought.  That  
> this "enlightenment" is a process of being-present-with- 
> enlightenment, which from the Zen teachings, is our "Original  
> Nature" and our "Original Face" is the essence of what I hear  
> Wilbur, Cohen and the participant talking about.  Moreno, in this  
> state, while writing "Words of the Father" was from his own account  
> touching upon and giving expression to this enlightened nature.  My  
> thesis during my training with Zerka - was that our method offers a  
> homeopathic dose of the transcendental, that is to say enlightened  
> nature within us, within humanity. Zerka writes about the white-heat- 
> of-action, the fullness of being awake in the present to the present  
> From a Zen structure, this is the corridor, the entry-point to what  
> these folks in this video are attempting to POINT TO.  There is a  
> Zen Koan: Don't look AT the fingers pointing, look TO WHERE the  
> fingers are pointing. In fact I believe that our method is about  
> this state of being in its essence, what Zerka speaks and writes  
> about: as our being cosmic beings.  We need not be ashamed of this  
> as we adventure further into the fabric of the world and of  
> psychotherapy.  Our method has been just this:  it goes beyond  
> therapy. I did not particularly enjoy the Wilbur-Cohen-participant  
> exchange.  I would have preferred someone ask the participant to  
> role reverse with the state of being she was struggling to  
> integrate.  We can do that!
>
> Best,
>
> Ed
>
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