Deep Surface

Today I listened to the latest, and one of the best, dialogues on Integral Naked called Touching the Face of Tomorrow - Part 3. The Three Faces of God. In this talk, Ken Wilber, Michael Beckwith Rabbi Marc Gafni discuss looking at God through first, second and third person perspectives.

Once again, Ken helped to crack my soul open a little wider by showing me some truth.

Ever since my father died when I was twelve, and I cursed God for taking him, I have had severe resistance to having a “relationship” with God. The idea of worshipping some all powerful creator seemed stupid beyond belief and traces of that attitude are still very much present. There are plenty of reasons why it makes no sense, especially if that relationship is based on a literal interpretation of the Bible.

After this ground-breaking talk (for me at least) I see that I can be one with God and also hav e a relationship with Him. There are avenues for loving and worshipping God that move beyond mythic membership, blue meme concepts that pervade this country’s churches.

A central component of Wilber’s theory is to Transcend and Include- meaning, in this case, that even after you realize that God is within as well as without, the self to other relationship should not be discarded- it should be included in the new, higher level understanding. Devotion and prayer can be a powerful part of a non-dual integral awareness.

This is an important realization for me, because that aspect has been part of my shadow since the death of my father. I have been pushing that type of relationship away- especially after coming to know eastern spiritual concepts. This opens up a new avenue for me. Through Wilber’s framework(PDF), I can now see the validity- even the necessity, of embracing a relationship between the dualistic self I experience every day and the larger truth we’re all part of.

Sweet.