Hi Rosemary,

I saw your message about posting a call for participants in your upcoming research for your Master's thesis. I think this is wonderful, and you should absolutely do it! In fact, this is what I envision as the Alliance grows, that it will truly be a place where like-minded individuals can find resources and collectively support each other in bringing soul into the world.

I would suggest you post your call in the Forum section unless you have a better idea--Because that is open to everyone in the community, more people will see it there. Also, feel free to post it again in a few days or weeks if it gets buried before you get the responses you want.

Good luck, and let me know if I can help.

Bonnie

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  • Education Institution

    I'm SO SORRY, Linda!  I was trying my darned-est to clarify the topic under discussion... not to further confuse my readers!  Please forgive.  Let’s begin with the first ambiguous term used – KENOSIS.  It bears absolutely no resemblance to the concept of ketosis.  Apologies again…

    The term ‘kenosis’ emerges in the wake of sage words from Fr. Thomas Merton:  “Before we can surrender ourselves we must become ourselves.  For no one can give up what he does not possess.”  In truth, this is a terrain that defies definition with words. Still, one can make an attempt by speaking from the murky misty intersection of experience and teaching. According to contemplative wisdom teacher and Episcopal priest Cynthia Bourgeault, the word “kenosis” derives from the Greek verb kenosein, which means “to empty oneself.” It’s important to notice that, from the start, this implies an action rather than an object.  On the Christian contemplative path, The Rev. Bourgeault, Father Thomas Keating and others draw our attention to St. Paul’s use of this word in Philippians 2:9-16, “Though his state was that of God, yet he did not deem equality with God something that he should cling to. Rather, he emptied himself and assuming the state of a slave he was born in human likeness.”

    Rev. Dr. Bourgeault writes, “self-emptying is the touchstone, the core reality underlying every moment of Jesus’ human journey… the full realization of his divine selfhood comes not through the concentration of being, but through a voluntary divestment of it…” and references Logion 21 in the Gospel of Thomas, where Jesus describes his students as small children living in a field not their own. When the landlords return and demand it back, the children return it by “simply stripping themselves and standing naked before them.” (excerpt taken from “The Luminous Gospels” by Bourgeault, Bauman and Bauman)

    In some senses, ‘kenosis’ can also be viewed as the act of “surrender practice”.  Surrender, some say, is the antidote to stress in a world that relentlessly conspires to interrupt creative thought.  Surrender boosts our brain's endorphins--euphoric, opiate-like pain killers--and serotonin, a natural antidepressant; this allows one to relax, have more fun, and live more fully than ever before.  These people say life becomes easier and even more blissful, when one can let go (if curious, see Dr. Orloff’s Ted-X talk http://youtu.be/Jv5tn4MPJV4 ).

    I’ll get to the other points you raise in a later post.  Thanks again for your proactive involvement, Linda!!  Alan

    • Good morning Alan…you open apologizing when, in fact, you have nothing to apologize to me for...I am so relieved to hear from you that kenosis has absolutely nothing to do with ketosis…an abnormal increase of ketone bodies [accumulate in blood + urine] in abnormal conditions of impaired metabolism [diabetes mellitus]

      Awe - kenosis is a sage word used by Fr. Thomas Merton and yes, let us continue sharing, speaking our 'murky misty intersections’  of experience [phenomena; anomalous, numinous].
      Contemplative I can relate to my studies, exposure to ancient desert wisdom, emptying one self in the meditative practice of Lovingkindness used during my PhD process back in the 1990’s, specifically searching for the Pearl Pearl…Jesus being in human form that was of God - us subsequent beings touched or blessed by His…mercy, grace, peace, love...assuming an altered state such as using the hypnotic techniques suggested by Cheeks + Rossi noted in Ideodynamic Healing…Your sharing/blending of other’s specific words….the touchstone, the core reality underlying every moment of [Jesus] human journey…Jesus students as small children living in a field not their own…stripped, exposed, standing naked [natural nature state of childhood - return to the gift of innocence]…The Luminous Gospels [light]… excerpts from The Luminous Gospels…watched Dr. Orloff’s Ted-X talk highlights…some ways we surrender…baptism by fire, focus on the positive, trust in the moment [moment-to-moment living], Flow - the work of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and secrets of happiness, trusting life, small acts of kindness, love, wonder, joy, awe, the small things, we must be the change…and Dr. Orloff ends her talk stating "love changes everything"…
      This is a good word dance we are into…
  • Hi Rosemarie, Bonnie and Alan - Bonnie forwarded, encouraging me to participate in your research on "heart" awakening experiences....while walking in the valley of death, end times for my beloved sister and brother did 'tella-porta-potty' me into existential "angst" - provoked unthawing....or as I now call them - rude awakenings.....concerning my truth, deeper matters of residing in my heart.....

    Good questions Alan:

    5) need to look up the meaning of 'kenosis' as a theme, link to individuating and ? notion of unitive consciousness.....only familiar with ketosis in these moments.....

    4) is it the heart or something else that is awakened or perhaps the ferment inherent using Ayahuasca in a shamanic guided ritual......

    3) unfamiliar with "tikanga'.....need to look this one up too

    Looks like what leads to the opening or awakening of one's heart sparks interest plus much potential for deep sharing....Peace + Love Linda

  • Education Institution

    I'm very sorry, Rosemary (& BB) but I never noticed your call for research input.  But may I chime into this topic "blind" and ask a few questions about your central thesis, please?

    1. How are you initially defining "heart awakening" experiences?
    2. Would you say you view them similarly to Jung's "numinous" experience(s)?
    3. could a body 'read into' your terminology and see it as a psychic experience like that experienced in ritualistic "tikanga"?
    4. For instance, would a 'heart awakening' resulting form the Ecuadorian shamanic Ayuhuasca ritual count?
    5. I'm very curious about your views as the terminology smacks of a theme I'm very interested in -- the kenosis theme -- and how it seems to link to individuation and to the notion of unitive consciousness.

    Thanks BB for bringing Rosemary's keenness to our attention!  Can we chat some more?

    Namaste, Alan

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