Online Wed, Apr 8: The "Rising Above Factor"

In any human endeavor, there may be a "rising above" factor in that the participant changes and becomes something different.

There is a fallacy in the commitment to "getting better" by repeatedly doing the same thing over and over.
As opposed to some 'thing' becoming different.
People who are committed to a task will eventually recognize this, that something changes.

Our meeting will be a discussion, sharing personal experiences of some practice or endeavor in which some eventual leap or change was experienced, and the possible chemistry behind it.
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Either the one who is committed or the repeated action must eventually change for "real" progress to occur and that involves a rising above.

A person who commits to playing a piano learns to play a tune, but the progress hoped for is not about better tunes or playing that tune better. Something eventually changes. There is some transformation that may occur, from a mere piano player to artist. From hobbyist to pianist.

Richard Rose created a chart titled "Jacob's Ladder" that depicted possible progress in human consciousness, a progression in steps. Last week we shared an article here by Paul Constant who discussed the significance of such progression.

About the chart, Dave Weimer wrote about the process that people go through that leads to that principle of Benoit's, the Conciliatory Principle, "magically" appearing in one's life.
Whereas, as you languish or struggle on the A-B, or C-D, or E-F spectrums, you're growing more familiar over time with the geography of each dichotomy, and then, you come to an epiphany where you comprehend the whole spectrum--you see it in a holistic way. After a certain critical mass, you experience an intuitive leap that isn't merely a synthesis of the things on the line you've been working on, but somehow, there's a greater-than-the-sum-of-the-parts ah-hah moment where you see the whole spectrum differently--more comprehensively. And then, of course, you're on next level up, on a new spectrum, on a new dichotomy that you begin to explore, experience, and "understand."
That process of progressive development is important, in my view. It's the model or map of the progress a spiritual seeker goes through on their journey. Jacob's Ladder is a description of a certain kind of progress.

Jim Burns once stated that a person stuck "swimming around in the soup" could never understand the reality of his situation until he could see his situation from above -and then be free of that soup.

Bob Fergeson describes Satori is released at the instant when the absurdity of all our pretentious efforts produces true humility. Remaining motionless in the recognition of humiliation allows the intervention of the Conciliatory Principle. Suffering fades. Calm and relaxation occur. The "old" person dies. You find yourself in the only place in the world where there is perfect security – the asylum of rest. Article on Hubert Benoit

Rose often stated that a seeker of truth doesn't find the truth, he must become the Truth.