“Thank you for your great efforts!
From the bottom of my being I offer gratitude, thanks and deep bows to you.
For a long time I have been a student of several streams of “spirituality.”
1 - Self-Inquiry as offered by Ramana Maharshi, and the teachers from
him. Specifically Papaji, Gangaji, and (my personal favorite) John
Sherman.
2 - Neurolinguistic conditioning and “reality tunnel” selection as
ranted by Robert Anton Wilson. Especially his work on developing
Timothy Leary’s 8-Circuit Model, and his advocacy for Optimism. (With
a side of General Semantics, thank you very much.
3 - The Integral Model as championed by Ken Wilber, and the teachers
at the Integral Institute. With special attention to how individuals
relating constructs the dominant reality of any particular locale
(from the functional working of a household to the interconnectedness
of all life on a global scale.)
4 - Aikido as a method for re-owning my own body and working with
principles that are conducive to harmonization of energy flows, and
interpersonal dynamics.
5 - Marriage. The single most powerful growth utility in my tool bag
and total immersion in what it means to live as an expression of love.
The video I just watched of your presentation at TED, brought tears to
my eyes and stunned me with how much it synthesizes all of the above.
I look forwarding to reading your book (which I just ordered) and just
wanted to drop you a note of thanks.
Please keep doing what you are doing, it is a force of change for the world.
- Travis”
I heard about Dr. Taylor’s presentation at TED a few weeks back from an announcement sent out in the Holons newsletter associated with Integral Naked. I was giddy to see that the video was up from a note posted by a friend at an online community I am active on, the Now For You Forum. I watched the video with growing awe, and brimming tears. Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is truly a paragon of the possibility of personal enlightenment and realization, and is a glowing beam of hope and light for this world. I hope you enjoy her talk as much as I did.
Peace!
Stumble it!
5 Comments
Thanks bro, made me cry, but so worth it.
Travis, thank you for sharing your letter. I love that you list martial arts and relationships as spiritual training. That is how I approach jiu-jitsu and life with my soulmate.
I first heard about this story from Mary Jaksch Roshi’s blog.
http://goodlifezen.com/2008/03/07/are-mystics-just-having-a-brain-wave/
But I didn’t see the video until I followed your link. Thank you so much for sharing it.
I am glad you enjoyed it. Amazing video, isn’t it? And yes, relationships are (for my money) the ultimate in spiritual training and martial arts are the study of a specific kind of relationship.
I loved the video by Jill Bolte Taylor on TED and the Oprah Soul Series - wonderful!
Best of all is her book MY STROKE OF INSIGHT - I’ve read it twice already. Second time better than the first. The book expands on what the videos say. It is where you can get the step by step advice on how to bring this into your own life.
Dr. Taylor is a great inspiration. The lessons in the book are life-changing…very simple yet very powerful.
Here’s the link to the book http://www.amazon.com/My-Stroke-Insight-Scientists-Personal/dp/0670020745/ref=pd_ts_b_12?ie=UTF8&s=books
and here’s the link to Oprah’s interviews
http://www2.oprah.com/spiritself/oss/guest/oss_guest_jboltetaylor.jhtml
Thanks, Oliver. I have the book at home, in the reading queue.
I sent Dr. Taylor an email of appreciation right after seeing the TED video. She responded in 27 minutes. Krishna bless the internet! 