A Contemplative Orientation

Cultural being and becoming

Cultural mindsets evolve incrementally in response to ongoing lived experience including an ever-expanding knowledge base. The prevailing mindset, however, may necessitate a radical transformation at particular junctures in a culture's history. Why? Because a once-meaningful mindset does finally run its course of usefulness. Then, according to author Duane Elgin, the mindset “causes more problems than it fixes” (Promise Ahead). So, cultures are continually in the process of being and becoming. Being denotes having a distinct understanding of one's identity, purpose, values, and sense of belonging at any given time. Becoming denotes a transformative change in that perspective.

The Western mindset centres on individualism. Individualism gives rise to a values system that seeks the flourishing of the individual, or elite groups of individuals, above all else. Such a values system is now causing more problems than it fixes. Therefore, this era is calling forth personal engagement in the shared spiritual venture of reimagining a new Western cultural mindset. A new mindset will be founded on a new set of deeply held assumptions grounded by a principle of interconnectedness via unity with diversity. A new set of assumptions will reshape Western identity, purpose, values, and experience of belonging in today’s world.

For more on shifting the cultural mindset see the Resources page/The what, why, and how of shifting the cultural mindset

Undergoing the transition

Transitioning from one mindset to another is more than an intellectual exercise. Such deep change requires a contemplative orientation whereby we drop from our socially constructed mindset into what Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Daniel Siegel, named the “conduit mind.” According to Siegel, the conduit mind involves:

“bottom-up processing, leading to the circuitry in the brain beyond the top-down filters of prior experience. Bottom-up perception is experienced as a conduit of sensory experience where we are seeing the unique aspects of what is in front of us.”

A bottom-up or contemplative orientation, enables us to participate in the deep change process of transitioning mindsets.

A contemplative orientation

The term contemplation has contrasting meanings within different meaning-making traditions. For example, within the Christian tradition, contemplation refers to an experience of stilling the body/mind and resting in the Presence of God. In contrast, contemplation within the Buddhist tradition refers to “thinking, imagining, reflecting, and considering” Buddhist teachings (see www.lionsroar.com). Even so, Buddhist contemplation does not focus on intellectually analyzing thoughts but rather involves an embodied process of noticing the present moment affective experience. The affective experience involves all of the senses, including thoughts.

Within the context of this website, the term contemplation draws from but also reshapes the above understandings. Contemplation here refers to:

• a stance in life
  where we choose to relinquish the desire for control

• founded in deep listening to
  1. the call of our era in response to global conditions
  2. personal affective experience
  3. inner wisdom’s stirrings

• grounded by a practice of inner exploration within the gentling light of lovingkindness, to perceive inner wisdom’s stirrings toward authentic living in today’s world.

Walking the land - a metaphor for contemplative inner exploration

Walking the land is one metaphor for the contemplative process of engaging in our dance of being and becoming toward a new mindset.

The artwork opposite resonates with the contemplative process of walking the land, in that the artwork suggests a tender, slow movement through a landscape that involves light and shadows, valleys and hills. Similarly, contemplative inner exploration involves a slow, tender process of noticing and attending to whatever is emerging into present-moment conscious awareness, whether it be joys or sorrows, fears or frustrations, or awe-inspiring insights. So, rather than an attitude of intense excavation, contemplative exploration of our inner landscape involves an attitude of patience and a non-judgmental noticing of what is happening within us.

The artwork shows no predetermined pathway. Similarly, there is no predetermined pathway for exploring our inner landscape. Rather, we each explore our questions relating to being and becoming, within the light of our current knowledge, beliefs, and lived experience. Therefore, open-ended questions light up a pathway of self-discovery and self-transcendence.

The yellow at the upper point of the artwork represents the gentling light of lovingkindness. Why is an attitude of lovingkindness essential to the process of contemplative inner exploration? Without lovingkindness, inner exploration can become too intense, leading toward self-annihilation. Self-annihilation is not the intention. Rather, the process is life-affirming and enables us to fully embrace our humanity, without attachment to a fixed identity. In turn, we can individually and culturally stand in our own ground, openheartedly. 

The snail-like figure in the artwork represents such a contemplative stance in life.

For a practice of contemplative inner exploration go to contemplative self-enquiry

Resources

Anne Hillman, Awakening the Energies of Love

Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner's' Mind