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Constraint and the Common Good
The Common Good Cynthia Bourgeault The Common Good Cynthia Bourgeault

Constraint and the Common Good

From everything I’ve said so far about flow systems and keeping the infrastructure rolling, you may get the idea that any form of constraint is an intrinsic obstacle to the common good. And yes, this proposition has been periodically aired both politically and economically and has its diehard libertarian advocates.

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Reimagine the Common Good: The Common Good as Good, Part 2
The Common Good Cynthia Bourgeault The Common Good Cynthia Bourgeault

Reimagine the Common Good: The Common Good as Good, Part 2

The second take-away from this more “thermodynamic” approach to the common good (again an easier stretch if you’ve already worked with Eye of the Heart) is that since we are fundamentally dealing with subtle energetic substances here (not abstract moral qualities), increasing that overall quantum of wellness can happen at either end of the stick …

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Autopoiesis: A Continuing Blog Series on the Common Good
The Common Good Cynthia Bourgeault The Common Good Cynthia Bourgeault

Autopoiesis: A Continuing Blog Series on the Common Good

The second major shift as we approach the question of the common good through the Integral structure of consciousness is, I believe, that we will increasingly understand it as an emergent property of a self-specifying system—or in other words, not as an externally imposed template of “right conduct,” but as innate “inner knowingness” that emerges within a living system that has achieved the capacity for autopoiesis, or internal self-regulation.

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Enstasy: Exploring Jean Gebser, Lesson 14

Enstasy: Exploring Jean Gebser, Lesson 14

The term “ecstasy” comes from the Greek ec-stasis, “standing outside of oneself.” Its opposite is “ENSTASY,” a term I first encountered in Valentin Tomberg’s profound discussion of the subject in Meditations on the Tarot (pp. 309-311). It means centering in oneself: becoming fiercely, alertly coiled within one’s own “I Am” presence, such that one becomes a center of gravitation in one’s own right.

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Go Beyond the Mind, LESSON 13

Go Beyond the Mind, LESSON 13

When I say that the ability to access and sustain the Integral structure of consciousness is developmental, I mean just that: it is fundamentally a question of physiology, rather than of moral virtue or mystical yearning. We cannot think, pray, meditate, or conceptualize our way to it. It is fundamentally a matter of preparing the entire body to receive it.

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Leaning In - A letter from Cynthia

Leaning In - A letter from Cynthia

By now the word is out that I am officially stepping back from active duty as a core faculty member at the Center for Action and Contemplation. As a newly minted “faculty emeritus,” I will no longer actively teach in the Living School or be a regular presence at CAC symposia and conferences. My course material will continue to factor prominently in the Living School curriculum for the forseeable future, and the expectation is that I will keep a hand in with occasional special teachings and presentations.

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Mystical Courage by Cynthia Bourgeault

Mystical Courage by Cynthia Bourgeault

When the global pandemic struck in the spring of 2020, spiritual teacher Cynthia Bourgeault sensed an invitation to go deeper than a continuous round of Zoom calls. She turned to Joseph Azize’s newly published collection of spiritual exercises from the Gurdjieff teaching, exercises that for decades had been kept apart from the general public.

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