Integral Institute

I have been enamored of Genpo Roshi’s “Big Mind” (http://www.genpo.org/Big%20Mind/) process since I first encountered it on Integral Naked (http://in.integralinstitute.org/) several years ago. I taught myself how to facilitate it long before Roshi began to lay down guidelines regarding who could and who could not facilitate the process. As a result of my ignorance of these guidelines, I have had the good fortune of facilitating the process a number of times, with groups ranging from three to 65 and settings from living rooms to retreat centers.

And yet, I have seldom used this profound – indeed, revolutionary – enlightenment practice as part of my personal practice. I guess I’ll chalk this up to a lack of imagination. In retrospect, it seems pretty obvious that this is a powerful vehicle for both translation and transformation when incorporated into a personal practice. I simply never have taken the time to do that.

Location(s)

I write this from the Westin Hotel in Westminster, Colorado. I’m in a group of 22 people who are co-creating the Integral Institute’s (“I-I”) first Integral Healthcare Seminar. The seminar will be held here in late October 2007, and will bring healthcare providers, nurses, and administrators for the purpose of learning how Integral Theory can improve the delivery of healthcare. This will be no theoretical fantasy, but a hard-nosed, practical exploration of how Integral Theory not only can help doctors, nurses, and other practitioners treat patients better, but also can help administrators in healthcare organizations operate more effectively in the delivery of that care.

My friend and former pastor, Robert Close, sends out a nearly daily e-pistle to his congregation and friends. This morning's derailed a perfectly good idea for a blog about another reading for this weekend's training. His call to seeking the wisdom within is not new, either to him or to me, but something about this Stephen Mitchell translation of the 121st Psalm, which he included in his email, stopped me in my tracks.

Bonsai SunriseI look deep into my heart,
to the core where wisdom arises.
Wisdom comes from the Unnamable
and unifies heaven and earth.
The Unnamable is always with you,
shining from the depths of your heart.
His peace will keep you untroubled
even in the greatest pain.
When you find him present within you,
you find truth at every moment.
He will guard you from all wrongdoing;
he will guide your feet on his path.
He will temper your youth with patience;
he will crown your old age with fulfillment.
And dying, you will leave your body
as effortlessly as a sigh.

I then pulled off of my refrigerator a magnet Michelle recently gave me:

at the center
of your being you
have the answer;
you know who you
are and you know
what you want.

(lao tzu)