[FairfieldLife] Ethics and Non-Dual Teachers and Organizations
I submitted this over 12 hours ago and it did not post. Retry. A core ethical issue for the non-dual community is whether teachers are offering something of value, if they are delivering what they promise, and if they can speak with high veracity and confidence supporting these claims. That is, a) have they achieved the states and live the attributes that they claim to be able to teach others, b) are they able to effectively teach others to attain them, c) if so, what time frames are required, how much commitment is necessary (time and money), and d) are all, or only a subset of students, able to attain these states. It seems reasonable that there may be a correlation between teachers and organizations pursuing unethical actions and the degree to which they are more bluster than bliss, more talk than performance. Addressing performance could in turn address unethical actors in the community. A strong objective framework for evaluating a teacher’s attainments and their method’s effectiveness is testing and measurement by the tools of cognitive science. For example, a lot could be gained if the teacher, along with their top 10 or 25 students offered to undergo a standardized set of evaluation measures (fMRI, advanced EEG, blood work, comprehensive sophisticated batteries of cognitive tests, etc.) While the results of these tests do not, at least per current models of consciousness, provide definitive proof of any Enlightened state, they can provide insight into whether the practitioners have achieved various markers of achieved by other advanced practitioners. And possibly exceeding thresholds or prior studies, and or novel brain activity or cognitive responses. If on the other hand, the results of the test showed nothing special or unique of the normal non-practicing populace, one would question what the practice is achieving. If no change in brain, cognitive, neurotransmitter or other activity is observed, then claims of refined mental, cognitive or emotional capabilities would be in doubt. I would think that a group called Science and Non-Duality would be aggressively seeking to validate non-duality states with state-of-the-art research (and help identify / weed out, non-performing teachers and organizations.) Yet I don’t see any research agenda on the SAND website. SAND or other non-dual groups could become a powerful conduit of advanced practitioners to the many university and research centers doing research on meditative methods. How to facilitate and fund such research is a larger topic which I may try to address in a separate post. At a minimum, core ethical values and codes of conduct revolving around full disclosure and a culture of transparency would be of value. Some useful areas of for consideration: 1) Encourage all non-dual teachers and organizations to provide evidence of the teachers’ attainments and the effectiveness of their teaching methods. 2) Guidelines as to what to do when witnessing or experiencing ethical breaches by spiritual teachers and/or organizations. Possibly implementation of hotlines or database of unethical reports. 3) Full disclosure of possible adverse effects of the practices. 4) Financial transparency. Ability to audit the financials. 5) Ethical considerations of requesting or promoting “Surrendering to the Teacher” 6) Disclosure (or some indication of) what’s in the back rooms (the esoteric teaching, the weird and wild stuff that may not become evident for several years after the student has made substantial time, effort, identity and financial investments in the teachings, practices, etc.) 7) Seva -- work/study/service practices. A time-honored and useful tradition in many circumstances and implementations where students work at ashrams, retreat centers, teaching centers, etc. for room and board and often reduction of tuition and fees for courses and instruction. However, over time, in some situations, this may evolve into a type of indentured servitude or guilt-driven labor bondage. Some ethical guidelines would be useful in this arena.
[FairfieldLife] Scientists may have found liquid water on Mars
If there's water, there may be Martian micro-organisms present on the ground. Whatever the case may be, it appears that future astronauts would be able to live on Mars indefinitely. http://https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/scientists-may-found-liquid-water-16526.html http://https//www.yahoo.com/finance/news/scientists-may-found-liquid-water-16526.html
[FairfieldLife] Re: Ethics and Spiritual Teaching
A core ethical issue for the non-dual community is whether teachers are offering something of value, if they are delivering what they promise, and if they can speak with high veracity and confidence supporting these claims. That is, a) have they achieved the states and live the attributes that they claim to be able to teach others, b) are they able to effectively teach others to attain them, c) if so, what time frames are required, how much commitment is necessary (time and money), and d) are all, or only a subset of students, able to attain these states. It seems reasonable that there may be a correlation between teachers and organizations pursuing unethical actions and the degree to which they are more bluster than bliss, more talk than performance. Addressing performance could in turn address unethical actors in the community. A strong objective framework for evaluating a teacher’s attainments and their method’s effectiveness is testing and measurement by the tools of cognitive science. For example, a lot could be gained if the teacher, along with their top 10 or 25 students offered to undergo a standardized set of evaluation measures (fMRI, advanced EEG, blood work, comprehensive sophisticated batteries of cognitive tests, etc.) While the results of these tests do not, at least per current models of consciousness, provide definitive proof of any Enlightened state, they can provide insight into whether the practitioners have achieved various markers of achieved by other advanced practitioners. And possibly exceeding thresholds or prior studies, and or novel brain activity or cognitive responses. If on the other hand, the results of the test showed nothing special or unique of the normal non-practicing populace, one would question what the practice is achieving. If no change in brain, cognitive, neurotransmitter or other activity is observed, then claims of refined mental, cognitive or emotional capabilities would be in doubt. I would think that a group called Science and Non-Duality would be aggressively seeking to validate non-duality states with state-of-the-art research (and help identify / weed out, non-performing teachers and organizations.) Yet I don’t see any research agenda on the SAND website. SAND or other non-dual groups could become a powerful conduit of advanced practitioners to the many university and research centers doing research on meditative methods. How to facilitate and fund such research is a larger topic which I may try to address in a separate post. At a minimum, core ethical values and codes of conduct revolving around full disclosure and a culture of transparency would be of value. Some useful areas of for consideration: 1) Encourage all non-dual teachers and organizations to provide evidence of the teachers’ attainments and the effectiveness of their teaching methods. 2) Guidelines as to what to do when witnessing or experiencing ethical breaches by spiritual teachers and/or organizations. Possibly implementation of hotlines or database of unethical reports. 3) Full disclosure of possible adverse effects of the practices. 4) Financial transparency. Ability to audit the financials. 5) Ethical considerations of requesting or promoting “Surrendering to the Teacher” 6) Disclosure (or some indication of) what’s in the back rooms (the esoteric teaching, the weird and wild stuff that may not become evident for several years after the student has made substantial time, effort, identity and financial investments in the teachings, practices, etc.) 7) Seva -- work/study/service practices. A time-honored and useful tradition in many circumstances and implementations where students work at ashrams, retreat centers, teaching centers, etc. for room and board and often reduction of tuition and fees for courses and instruction. However, over time, in some situations, this may evolve into a type of indentured servitude or guilt-driven labor bondage. Some ethical guidelines would be useful in this arena.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Zero-point energy!
this is extremely valuable and brilliant stuff you are posting
[FairfieldLife] Re: Ethics and Spiritual Teaching
A 501(c)3 non-profit. Would be interesting to see the draft of the written mission statement, bylaws and statement of membership. You all want a membership association of people who are spiritual in some transformative way to some degree and who are moral. With authority. Who is going to rise to speak to this with (moral) authority? More broadly, “Morality is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper and those that are improper.” Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morality Morals: 2. a person's standards of behavior or beliefs concerning what is and is not acceptable for them to do. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, wrote : What is a saint? Start there. Then, what is conscionable? ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, wrote : Article I published at https://www.scienceandnonduality.com/?post_type=post=126334. Slightly updated version below. Ethics and Spiritual Teaching By Rick Archer, with Jac O’Keeffe, Craig Holliday, and Caverly Morgan. Significant contributions by Timothy Conway. It’s a safe bet that everyone reading this article has read accounts of spiritual teachers engaging in questionable behavior. Many of you may have been on the receiving end of such behavior. It seems that almost every week, the transgressions of some prominent spiritual leader are exposed. This has caused confusion, pain, and disillusionment among spiritual aspirants. We don’t expect movie moguls or politicians to be paragons of virtue, but the spiritual traditions tell us their saints and sages were. We’ve all been inspired by stories of their lives. Were these stories hyperbolic? Is there a correlation between spiritual advancement and ethical behavior? Should teachers be expected to embody the time-honored principles of Ahimsa, Loving-Kindness, and the Golden Rule? If they appear not to, have they assumed the mantle of teacherhood prematurely? Can one be an enlightened scoundrel? Are Ethics Relative? Some argue that moral standards are cultural fabrications with no absolute or universal validity, but some values are universally agreed upon. No one considers rape and pedophilia acceptable, except perhaps those guilty of them. Many consider working on the Sabbath, eating meat, and polygamy sinful, but they are acceptable or even the norm in many cultures. Some cultures practice things that most of us would consider barbaric, such as female genital mutilation. Hopefully everyone reading this would agree that this should be universally unacceptable and forbidden. The fact that many people consider it part of their tradition doesn’t mean it deserves our respect or tolerance in the world we hope to create. So perhaps we can agree that although ethical standards may vary from culture to culture and age to age, they are not mere personal preferences, all being equally valid. As human beings, there are baseline standards on which we should insist, and ideals to which we might aspire. Ethical Behavior is Good For You Most spiritual traditions regard ethical behavior not only as a reflection of spiritual development, but as conducive to it. Most have some notion of karma and say that if we hurt others we will reap the consequences and impede our own spiritual evolution. Both Advaita Vedanta and Buddhism teach that practicing ethical behavior makes the mind more open and subtle and thus more capable of deep nondual insight. Modern neurophysiology, with its discovery of neuroplasticity, may eventually corroborate this teaching. The body is the temple of the soul, the vehicle through which the Ultimate may become a living reality. We handicap ourselves by coarsening or damaging it, as unethical behaviors tend to do. In Buddhism, students are encouraged to develop deep compassion even before beginning with teachings on emptiness. In "The Art of Happiness in a Troubled World", the Dalai Lama is quoted saying, "If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion”. Reality is Different in Different States of Consciousness People often fixate on one or another of three different perspectives, the transcendent, the Divine, and the material. But these perspectives, even though they may seem opposed to one another, are paradoxically yet simultaneously true, each in its own domain. For the sake of argument, let’s define Enlightenment as a state in which one has learned to coexist simultaneously in all three. Failing to do so, if one fixates on the transcendent, one might say, "Only unity is real and important. The world is unreal, and there is no personal self.” Some Nondual teachers have acted unethically, and then claimed that no one was doing it and that it didn’t matter anyway because the world is unreal. Others might say that there is a world, but it is perfect just as it is. All is well and wisely put; it's all Divinely
[FairfieldLife] Re: Ethics and Spiritual Teaching
A 501(c)3 non-profit. Would be interesting to see the draft of the written mission statement, bylaws and statement of membership. You all want a membership association of people who are spiritual in some transformative way to some degree and who are moral. With authority. Who is going to rise to speak to this with (moral) authority? More broadly, “Morality is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper and those that are improper.” Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morality Morals: 2. a person's standards of behavior or beliefs concerning what is and is not acceptable for them to do. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, wrote : What is a saint? Start there. Then, what is conscionable? ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, wrote : Article I published at https://www.scienceandnonduality.com/?post_type=post=126334. Slightly updated version below. Ethics and Spiritual Teaching By Rick Archer, with Jac O’Keeffe, Craig Holliday, and Caverly Morgan. Significant contributions by Timothy Conway. It’s a safe bet that everyone reading this article has read accounts of spiritual teachers engaging in questionable behavior. Many of you may have been on the receiving end of such behavior. It seems that almost every week, the transgressions of some prominent spiritual leader are exposed. This has caused confusion, pain, and disillusionment among spiritual aspirants. We don’t expect movie moguls or politicians to be paragons of virtue, but the spiritual traditions tell us their saints and sages were. We’ve all been inspired by stories of their lives. Were these stories hyperbolic? Is there a correlation between spiritual advancement and ethical behavior? Should teachers be expected to embody the time-honored principles of Ahimsa, Loving-Kindness, and the Golden Rule? If they appear not to, have they assumed the mantle of teacherhood prematurely? Can one be an enlightened scoundrel? Are Ethics Relative? Some argue that moral standards are cultural fabrications with no absolute or universal validity, but some values are universally agreed upon. No one considers rape and pedophilia acceptable, except perhaps those guilty of them. Many consider working on the Sabbath, eating meat, and polygamy sinful, but they are acceptable or even the norm in many cultures. Some cultures practice things that most of us would consider barbaric, such as female genital mutilation. Hopefully everyone reading this would agree that this should be universally unacceptable and forbidden. The fact that many people consider it part of their tradition doesn’t mean it deserves our respect or tolerance in the world we hope to create. So perhaps we can agree that although ethical standards may vary from culture to culture and age to age, they are not mere personal preferences, all being equally valid. As human beings, there are baseline standards on which we should insist, and ideals to which we might aspire. Ethical Behavior is Good For You Most spiritual traditions regard ethical behavior not only as a reflection of spiritual development, but as conducive to it. Most have some notion of karma and say that if we hurt others we will reap the consequences and impede our own spiritual evolution. Both Advaita Vedanta and Buddhism teach that practicing ethical behavior makes the mind more open and subtle and thus more capable of deep nondual insight. Modern neurophysiology, with its discovery of neuroplasticity, may eventually corroborate this teaching. The body is the temple of the soul, the vehicle through which the Ultimate may become a living reality. We handicap ourselves by coarsening or damaging it, as unethical behaviors tend to do. In Buddhism, students are encouraged to develop deep compassion even before beginning with teachings on emptiness. In "The Art of Happiness in a Troubled World", the Dalai Lama is quoted saying, "If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion”. Reality is Different in Different States of Consciousness People often fixate on one or another of three different perspectives, the transcendent, the Divine, and the material. But these perspectives, even though they may seem opposed to one another, are paradoxically yet simultaneously true, each in its own domain. For the sake of argument, let’s define Enlightenment as a state in which one has learned to coexist simultaneously in all three. Failing to do so, if one fixates on the transcendent, one might say, "Only unity is real and important. The world is unreal, and there is no personal self.” Some Nondual teachers have acted unethically, and then claimed that no one was doing it and that it didn’t matter anyway because the world is unreal. Others might say that there is a world, but it is perfect just as it is. All is well and wisely put; it's all Divinely
[FairfieldLife] Well, aakaasha does exist!
This distastefully tattooed egomaniac Tesla-fan proves(?) that aakaasha (in substandard transliteration: akasha) aka aether really exists: https://youtu.be/HewSdyqbX0U https://youtu.be/HewSdyqbX0U
[FairfieldLife] Advaita and physics: there's only one field?
I hope you guys understand more of this (BS??) than I did: https://youtu.be/KooPsEE7E-Q https://youtu.be/KooPsEE7E-Q There's only one field: dielectricity???
