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Emerson Online Studies
Exploration of the Integral Thought of
Ken Wilber
Kosmic Consciousness, a Practical Theory
Practical Spirituality 450
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“I have one major rule: everybody is right. More specifically, everybody—including me—has some important pieces of the truth, and all of those pieces need to be honored, cherished, and included in a more gracious, spacious, and compassionate embrace." "Introduction", to The Collected Works of Ken
Wilber, vol. VIII, p. 49 |
Dr. Susanne Freeborn
12 Sessions - 2 Units of Credit Tuition: $230 * Beginning Tuesday,
June 19, 2007 2:30 to
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Required Media: Membership $10 per month (You can cancel when the course is complete.) BOOK:
CD’s:
Kosmic Consciousness This 10 CD set is a popular audio recording
of Ken explaining the overall integral model in response to questions from
Tami Simon, the founder of Sounds True.
Before the birth of the universe there
existed your "Original Face," the limitless Self that has been
present throughout the unfolding of inert matter into life-and that continues
to dwell within us at every level of consciousness. Where is this grand
evolution taking us-and how can each of us participate more fully in it? On Kosmic
Consciousness, Ken Wilber invites you to find out. Note: You can often locate good inexpensive
used copies of books!
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This course will explore the popular book The
Essential Ken Wilber: An Introductory Reader and the 10 CD Collection entitled Kosmic Consciousness
from a New Thought
perspective. New Thought teaches us
the powerful practice of consciously directing our thoughts, and that by
doing so we can change our lives.
Sometimes we refer to the automatic, “already always there” form of
thinking as “race consciousness” or we used the term Carl Jung relied upon,
the “collective unconscious.” This hazy body of thought is what we know
without any thought at all. Sometimes
it disguises itself as “the truth” or “common sense” and it is most often the
kind of thinking that allows for our lives to proceed in an unexamined manner
according to the dictates of undisciplined ego. Ken Wilber writes in Integral Psychology: "Whenever we moderns pause for a
moment, and enter the silence, and listen very carefully, the glimmer of our
deepest nature begins to shine forth, and we are introduced
to the mysteries of the deep, the call of the within, the infinite radiance
of a splendor that time and space forgot - we are introduced to the
all-pervading Spiritual domain that the growing tip of our honored ancestors
were the first to discover.” When we center ourselves in this silence, we know that our lives are
meant for more than can be provided by race consciousness. Ken Wilber is a modern mystic and New
Thought is a modern mystical teaching whose founder counseled us to remain
“open at the top.” Our inquiry will
test this spiritual dictum. We will
spend twelve sessions inquiring, studying and focusing our attention upon the
development of integral thought according to Ken Wilber and company, and we
will discuss what this recent school of thought has to contribute to New
Thought. Does it change anything for
us? Is integral theory compatible with
New Thought? Is it different in any
way that matters? Is it the next step in the evolution of New Thought? Additional
readings will be assigned by the instructor. Course Objective: Our objective will be to deepen our understanding of integral theory while
developing our spiritual practice in living in the present moment
unselfishly, creatively and responsibly.
In the first two lessons students will identify measurable
spiritual goals for their participation in the course through which authentic
recognition of spiritual progress can be recognized both by the student, as
well as by named significant people in ones life. Links to Writings and Resources:
Quotations from Ken
Wilber: "Whenever we moderns pause for a
moment, and enter the silence, and listen very carefully, the glimmer of our
deepest nature begins to shine forth, and we are introduced to the mysteries
of the deep, the call of the within, the infinite radiance of a splendor that
time and space forgot - we are introduced to the all-pervading Spiritual
domain that the growing tip of our honored ancestors were the first to
discover. And they were good enough to leave us a general map to that
infinite domain, a map called the Great Nest of Being, a map of our own
interiors, an archeology of our own Spirit." "And yet clearly the waking state
is not permanent. It comes and goes every twenty four hours. And yet,
according to the great sages, there is something in us that is "always
conscious" that is literally conscious or aware at all times through all
states, waking, dreaming, sleeping. And that "ever present awareness is
Spirit in us". That underlying current of constant consciousness (or
non-dual awareness) is a direct and unbroken ray of pure Spirit itself. It is
our connection with the Goddess, our pipeline straight to God." "That all-pervading Beauty is not
an exercise in creative imagination. It is the actual structure of the
universe. That all-pervading Beauty is in truth the very nature of the Kosmos
right now. It is not something you have to imagine, because it is the actual
structure of perception in all domains. If you remain in the eye of Spirit,
every object is an object of radiant Beauty. If the doors of perception are
cleansed, the entire Kosmos is your lost and found Beloved, the Original Face
of primordial Beauty, forever, and forever, and endlessly forever." "But, we ask, what will happen to
our drive for progress if we see all opposites are one? Well, with any luck,
it will stop--and with it that peculiar discontent that thrives on the
illusion that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. But
we should be clear about this. I do not mean that we will cease making
advancements of a sort in medicine, agriculture, and technology. We will only
cease to harbor the illusion that happiness depends on it. For when we see
through the illusions of our boundaries, we will see, here and now, the
universe as Adam saw it before the Fall: an organic unity, a harmony of
opposites, a melody of positive and negative, delight with the play of our
vibratory existence. When the opposites are realized to be one, discord melts
into concord, battles become dances, and old enemies become lovers. We are
then in a position to make friends with our entire universe, and not just one
half of it." ____________________________________________________________ Works by Wilber ____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________ DR. SUSANNE
FREEBORN -
Has been
teaching online since 1997 when she completed the requirements of her
ministerial studies program. Dr. Freeborn is the developer, director, and
founder of the Emerson Online Studies program for Emerson Institute. She
received a Juris Doctorate degree in 1995 from Monterey College of Law in Contact
Information Emerson Online
Telephone:
* Tuition and Materials:
$230.00 Registration Form (may be paid in two installments by
prior arrangement) |
