www.alethic-coaching.org

GaryHawke

Connecting to the Pulse of Freedom: The Work-ins of metaReality and Integral

Life Practice.

Creating a metaPractice of Transformation and Emancipation.

GaryHawkeCri5calRealismReadingGroup

London2015

Overview

•  BackgroundonDramatherapyinrela5onshiptoCri5calRealism

•  IntegralLifePrac5ce•  AviewofPrac5ce•  TheWorkinsofmetaReality

•  UsingmetaRealityandIntegralTheory

TheTherapeu5csEncounterortheresearchoftheinterior

Thefourdramaturgiststhatinfluencedramatherapyandhowtheirworkmightrelate

toCri5calRealism.

Theques5on,then, forthetheater, is tocreateametaphysicsofspeech,gesture,andexpression,inordertorescueitfromitsservitudetopsychologyand"humaninterest."Butallthiscanbeofnouseunlessbehindsuchaneffortthereissomekindofrealmetaphysicalinclina5on,anappealtocertainunhabitual ideas, which by their very naturecannot be limited or even formally depicted.These ideas which touch on Crea5on, Becoming,andChaos,areallofacosmicorderandfurnishaprimary no5on of a domain from which thetheaterisnowen5relyalien.

ArtaudA1958:pp90,TheTheatreandItsDouble,GrovePress,Inc.

AntoninArtaud

JerzyGrotowski

…theques5onis:whatdoyouwanttodowithyourlife;andso–doyouwanttohide,ortorevealyourself?Thereisawordwhich,inmanylanguages,hasadoublemeaning:theworddiscover/uncover.Todiscoveroneselfmeanstofindoneself,atthesame5meuncoverwhathasbeencovered:tounveil.Ifwewanttodiscoverourselves[…],wehavetouncoverourselves(unveil,revealourselves).“Findout–unveil”.Thereissomethingexcep5onallypreciseaboutthisdoublemeaning.

(Citedin)SchiecherR2013:pp219TheGrotowskiSourcebook,London,Routledge

Hegelassertedthatthecharacterisfree,thatis,thattheinnermovementsofhissoulmustalwaysbecapableofbeingexteriorised,withouthindrance.Buttobefreedidnotmeanthatthecharactercouldbecapriciousanddowhateverhewished:freedomistheconsciousnessofethicalnecessity.Hemustnot,however,exercisehisfreedomwithregardtothepurelyaccidentalorepisodicalbutonlyregardingsitua5onsandvaluescommontoallmankindortona5onality–eternalpowers,moraltruthssuchaslove,filiallove,patrio5sm,etc.

BoalA2008:pp63,TheatreoftheOppressed,London,PlutoPress

AugustoBoal

hip://www.theartsdesk.com/theatre/interview-director-peter-brook

“Wehavetostagethevisible,andthroughit,showthe

invisible.”

PeterBrook

TheDramatherapyInterven5ons

RitualDram

aGa

mes

Puppets

Performance Myth

Constella8o

n

LetusbeginwithIntegralLifePrac5ce

“ILPintegratesourbasichumanaspira=ons.ILPdoesnotviewtheimpulsetogrow(tobecomeallthatyoucanbe)asifitisseparatefromtheimpulsetocontribute(tomakeadifference,tobeofservicetoothersandourworld.)Wecannotliveafullyself-actualizedlifewithoutmakingcontribu=onstoothersandourworld.Wecannotmakeourfullestcontribu=onstoothersandourworldwithoutgrowingandwakingupandactualizingourpoten=als”(TerryPaien2009)

PaienT,WhatisIntegralLifePrac5ce?hip://www.integralspiritualprac5ce.com

“The universal star5ng point for ILP is the 4 CoreModules. That’s because theyrelatetofourprimarydimensionsofyourindividualbeing:body,mind,spirit,andshadow. They don’t require anything or anyone else but you. So you can, if youwish, work on them by yourself. If you consistently engage prac5ces in each ofthesefourareas,you’llempowerandturbochargeyouroveralldevelopment.”ExcerptFrom:“IntegralLifePrac5ce:A21st-CenturyBlueprintforPhysicalHealth,Emo5onalBalance,MentalClarity,andSpiritualAwakening.”p61

Nonexclusion-guidesusinaccep5ngthevalidtruthclaimsofeachprac5cebutonlyinsofarastheymakestatementsabouttheexistenceoftheirownaxiology,andnotwhentheymakestatementsabouttheexistenceofphenomenaenactedbyotherprac5ces.

Enfoldment-suggeststhatallprac5cesareinthemselvestrueandadequate;butsomeprac5cescanbemoreencompassing,moreinclusive,moreholis5cthanothers.

Enactment-suggeststhatoneprac5cewillbringforthapar5cularsetofexperiencesand,accordingly,oneprac5cedoesnotgive“thecorrectprac5ce”andthereforeitcannotbeusedasifitdid,inordertonegate,cri5cize,orexcludeotherexperiencesbroughtforthbyotherprac5ces.

IntegralLifePrac5cemakesuseofIntegralTheoriesIntegralMethodologicalPluralism

Supposeonedis5nguishes:prac5ce1,asthetransforma5vecapacityanaly5ctotheconceptofagency,orthatwhenweprac5ceweareincreasingourrela5onshiptoanintrinsicaspectwithinourdialec5cofthedesireforfreedom.

prac5ce2isprac5ceasastructureofdomina5on,exploita5on,subjuga5onandcontrol,inwhichIseemyprac5ceastheonlythingthatcanbringmefreedom,leadingtofreedomnotasatransforma5vecapacitybutsomethingthatisgiventome.

TheTwoVersionofPrac5ce

AndmovingontoThePhilosophyofmetaReality

“Meta-realitypresupposesthataccessingthegroundstateiden5fiesthetranscendentalrealself,whichisourdomainofnon-dualitywhereour‘capacityfortherightac5on’canbeachieved(Bhaskar2002b:38).However,thegroundstateisusuallyobscuredbyacombina5onofouregoandourcomplexembodiedpersonality,whicharetheproductofourcontemporarysocialsepngs.”

Haji-Abdi.A2014pp182(iBook)“Cri5calRealism,SomaliaandtheDiasporaCommunity,Routledge.

Thesheddingofthecontradic5onoftheegoallowsforagreaterexpressionofthetranscendentalrealself.

OrtousesRoy’swords

Wecan,mustandwillbere-united,asembodiedpersonali5es,withourtranscendentallyrealselveswhichareourground-statesandourself-aliena5onterminated.

Bhaskar,R2012:pp39ThePhilosophyofMetaReality:Crea5vity,LoveandFreedomRoutledge

Bhaskar,R2012:pp280ThePhilosophyofMetaReality:Crea5vity,LoveandFreedomRoutledge

Whenweunderstandrealityasnotjustcons5tutedbyfour-planarsocialbeing,butascons5tutedbyn-dimensionallygeneralisedfour-planarsocialbeing,thatisalltheseplanesunderstoodasincorpora5ngalsoanemo5onal,mentalandinprincipleinterveningandfurtherlevels,ul5matelygroundedbythecosmicenvelope,thenweseethefullscaleofthetaskofself-realisa5onorfreedomforanyandthereforeallhumanbeings.

Theaimofprac5ce1 is toabsenttheconflictandcontrac5onat thedemirealortheworldofdualism,crea5ngaselfreflec5velyconsola5onattheactualordualworld,andalloware-enchantmentofthemetaRealatthelevelofthenondual.

“…tradi=onalformsofNon-Dualismare,inactuality,foundedintheeffortstoexcludecondi=onallymanifestrealityand(therefore)secludeoneselfintheBlissofcontempla=ngtheTranscendental“Self”.Thus,suchtradi=onalformsofNonDualismare“non-dual”onlybyvirtueofexcludingorinten=onallyignoringthecondi=onalaspectsofreality.Suchtradi=onalformsofNon-dualismare,infact,s=ll“built”onanessen=allydualis=cconcep=onofexistence–aconcep=onthatpits“self”against“not-self”andaOemptstoresolveresul=ngconflictbyfocusingen=relyonthe“innerworld“oftheselfandexcludeinvolvementinthe“outer”worldof“not-self”.”(AdiDaSamraj:TheAletheon2009,pp2070n5)

Asweprac5ceweneedtobemindfulofescapingintotheblissofthenondualasanescapefromthedualis5cworldofcontrac5ons.Howeverthemoreweexpressourdesireforfreedomthroughprac5ce,themoreweareabletocreateadeeperrela5ontothefourplanaroftheconstella5onoftheworldofdualismandembodyare-enchantedrealityasthenondual.

Of course themutual entailmentof inner andouter impliedby the theoryof co-presence means that whenever we are working on ourselves, we are not onlyimmediatelyworkingontheworld(obviouslyinsofaraswearepartoftheworld)butworkingonthataspectofbeingwhich isenfoldedwithinallother likebeingstoo. In this perspec8ve from the theory of co-presence there is actually no suchthing as solitary or individual ac8on. We are always, even in our most privatemoments,affec8ng(orpoten8ally,thatistenden8onally)amomentouschangeintheworld.Weareneveralonewhenweareallone.Whenwearewhole, that isfree,thenweareatonewiththecosmictotality.(RoyBhaskar2012pp152n25)

Bhaskar,R2012ThePhilosophyofMetaReality:Crea5vity,LoveandFreedomRoutledge

Prac5ce1isaprocessinwhich we work onourselves, the world,andallbeings.

1)  Concentra8on,single-pointedness,mindfulnessandthepowerofaIen8on.

2)  Exercisesinthemo8lityanduniversalityofconsciousness.Exercisesiniden8tyconsciousness,transcendentaliden8fica8onandco-presence.

3)  Thecrea8vepowerofthought,includingvisualisa8ons.

4)  Koansandwaysofsubver8ngtheegoicmind.

5)  Prac8cingwatchfulness;justobserving.

6)  Witnessing.(BhaskarR2012pp174)

Andtosupporttheprocessofselfrealisa8onthephilosophyofmetaRealityoffersasetofprac8cesthatjustasweworkoutinthegymwecanworkintherealismofthenondual.

Bhaskar,R2012ThePhilosophyofMetaReality:Crea5vity,LoveandFreedomRoutledge

“…Iseethewholeprocessofself-realiza=onandemancipa=onasnecessarilycomingfromwithin.”Bhaskar,RandHartwig,M.2012.BeyondEastandWest.In:Harwig,M.andMorgan,Jed.Cri5calRealismandSpirituality,Routledage,pp.221.

1

23

1M-Beginswiththemomentofcallingtoprac5ceasadesireorwilltobecomefree.

Ourprac5ceasbeinginmovement

2E-Movingtothecrea5onofourprac5ce,orexploringtheedgeofworkingtowardthelepnggoofthatwhichholdsbackourfreedom.

3L–Withlovewebindourselvestothetotalityofanewlevelofbeingasourprac5cebeginstoopenupadeeperrela5onshiptofreedom.

4D–Asourprac5cedeepenswebecomeatransforma5veagent,andexpressfreedomasthedomainofrightac5on.

5A–Awakeningtotheunderstandingthattobefullyfreemeansthatwehavetoexpandoutinten5onforfreedomtoall,andthatourbeingfreeisacondi5onofthefreedomofall.Thisallowsoutprac5cetobecomeaprac5ceofspiritualemancipa5on.

6R–Withfreedomasouremancipatoryprac5ceforall,weableseerealityasre-enchanted.

7Z–Ourprac5cenowbringustoourgroundstateasweexpressfreedomasthezoneofthenondual.

Bringingtogether

Integrallifeprac5ceoffersaflexibleframeworkinwhichtosetour

prac5ce.

ThePhilosophyofmetaRealityprovidesthelevelsofbeingthatwewanttoprac5cein.

Dic5onaryofCri5calRealism-takenfortheentryonAgency

Bhaskar,R2012:pp309/310ThePhilosophyofMetaReality:Crea5vity,LoveandFreedomRoutledge

“Ul5matelytobeareflexivebeingyoumustbeabletoadoptthefirst-personstandpointforeverybeingincrea5on,thatistosayyoumustovercomeeveryegocentricity,everybinaryopposi5onalitywithinandbetweenyourself,yourclass,yourcaste,youroccupa5onandtherestoftheworld,andyoumustovercomethebinaryopposi5onbetweengodandyourselfortherestoftheworld.Sotheidealofreflexivityissomethingtobestrivenforinprac5ceandnotjusttheory.”

Whyisprac5ceimportantifwewanttounderstandhowsomeoneencounters,experiencesand

embodiedtheirworld.

Emancipa8on can be seen as a trialec8c of being, in which wecreate a new perspec8ve, which leads to a new ac8on, whichleadstoanewbeing.

Integral LifePrac8ceaims todevelopandexpand the legi8macyand authen8city of the agent’s perspec8ve, throughdevelopmentalgrowth.

Cri8cal Realism exposes the importance of maintainingnoniden8ty and absence as an exposi8on of the unblocking ofoblivion,leadingtotheagentasanopentotalityexpressingtheircausal inten8onality as right ac8on on all aspects of 4 planarsocialbeing.

And through Philosophy of metaReality’s Workins, the agent isable to begin the process of re-enchantment of the world asiden8ty over difference from the inside out, as their pulse offreedom.

Wherenext

If it is embodied inten5onality whichearths social life, (Bhaskar 2008 p164)thenprac5ceistheprocessinwhichwework towards the right ac5on of anemancipatory inten5on for freedom atofthe4planarsocialbeing.

Bhaskar,R,2008Dialec5c:ThePulseofFreedomRoutledge

ChrisSmith2010pp18

Conclusion

Humansareprofoundlyfinitecreatures, inbothbody and mind. The tensions arising betweenhuman capaci5es and human limits—betweenthe vastly capable and severely finite in humanlife—giverisethroughemergencetocrea5vepaiernsof livedprac5cethatotensolidify intowhatwecallsocialstructures.

SmithC(2010)WhatisaPerson,TheUniversityofChicagoPress

www.alethic-coaching.org

GaryHawke