S1:E4: Intro, The Paradoxical and Holonic Nature of Transformation

Show Notes, Feb26th 2023.

0:15  Sally summarizes the previous three episodes. Episode four will deepen the topic of identity and transformation. We are holons - both parts and holes. These two things operate together to create duality. Reality itself is holonic – duality is made up or parts and yet its also One Whole – non-duality, which we can enter through various states of mind, or as a stage of understanding. Sally then describes the journey from infancy to adulthood as parts and wholes – and how boundaries can expand. The body is holonic and functions in a world that is made up of parts and holes. And as we mature, we can actually develop the capacity to understand these things.

10:42   Sally explains the paradox of being both a whole, and a part of something. This takes a lot of complexity. The left brain tends to notice the parts. And the right brain tends to notice the wholes. Once we develop a balance in our brain hemisphere, we can apply both. She then talks about Unitative Consciousness and becoming aware of the Oneness of Reality, instead of fighting about the parts. Sally then quotes Arthur Koestler’s theory and Ken Wilber. 

13:00   Jen describes the holonic nesting as concentric circles around the self, that are porous, with information being shared between them. The more present we are within our individual Holon, the more this allows us to be in a healthy relationship with the holons around us. This is another paradox – or a contradiction. There are spiritual, literary and logical paradoxes, that keep us honest. They force us into complexity, nuance, and subtlety, uncertainty and ambiguity, yet they make sense to our hearts. Jen then describes the origin of the Latin word ‘paradoxien’ and Greek ‘paradoxus’. Postmodern thought critiques logic, and deconstructs rational ideas through paradox. She gives the example of water in its various states. When we're viewing ourselves from a static, rigid way of being, it's easy to experience frustration, because the world is always changing. Transformation is really uncomfortable. 

21:38   Sally says this conversation is within a long lineage. ‘Binaries’ show up in the Tao, and also in classical Tantra. Beautiful binaries play off each other to create the whole. When one becomes two, there's a polarity that's created, and there's energy between them. It can be conflictual, or it can be cooperative. When one becomes two, there's suddenly a boundary. She asks how do we deal with a boundary but through relational intelligence, a deeper understanding. Binaries also show up in Polynesian cultures, for example, Po and Ao, so this is intrinsic to most cultures as an archetype, as well as in quantum physics. Sally then quotes Alfred North Whitehead and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Navigating life is not easy, especially when we have a binary brain. The left part of our brain wants to cut reality into parts. And the right brain wants to see the whole picture. And the left brain creates a hierarchy within us of the parts. So this binary actually exists within us, it's not only an archetype ‘out there’. Mind is then given dominance over the body itself, and we get a split internally, and that boundary is created falsely within us. Our work on this planet is to return to the whole, if we can, and that's transformative. Sally then describes how we are like a Rubik's Cube, which has facets, or parts, but it's actually one cube. We're in relationship with our parts. Part of me is looking ‘at’ something I'm separate from it. I'm going to observe it, study it from outside. Or I can express something from the inside, the feelings and the imagination, and the kind of complexity of the interior life. So at any given moment, we're making choices about which part of our brain to come from and whether to use a fiction or non-fiction voice. Sally then quotes Rumi poem, The Great Wagon.

30:03 Jen says she dedicates a lot of her life to mindfulness, and yet when somebody cuts her off, she can suddenly become quite a different person. She’s like a puzzle piece. And that's the paradox. Jen then quotes American psychologist Carl Rogers, who says, when I accept myself, then I can change. She describes how this has been the truth in her life. All spiritual traditions, many spiritual teachers, philosophers, and wise folk use paradox as a way to deepen into spiritual understanding, like the Zen Buddhist Koan. When you shift that Rubik's Cube, you actually see that this contradiction is actually very wise and often transformative because it creates a shift in perception. Jen then describes di-unital thinking, the work of Dr. Betty Foster and Dr. Vernon J. Dixon, who were advocates of black thought, and what they were describing was a certain sensibility. Black folks have to exist in two paradoxical realities at once, which sparks a kind of spiritual and emotional intelligence, a tolerance for ambiguity, for uncertainty. The deep spiritual practice  comes when you consciously invite paradox into your life. 

37:41  Sally says the politics of the power struggle is very real. When parts of a whole move into conflict, they can try to establish hierarchy. For example, colonization was about white supremacy, when parts of the human race took what wasn't theirs, and violently asserted their dominance over other parts. She then describes dominance hierarchies, and how they differ from a holarchy. So a war of the parts, as opposed to a good relationship of the parts, is problematic. Sally then describes parts in a more simplified way, as drives in us of the masculine and the feminine, as pointed out by the Tao.  The feminine is the drive to ‘merge’ and be a collective, or a whole, while the masculine is the drive to ‘e-merge’, and individuate, into a part. Both these drives are in all of us. And these parts can go to war. But as we expand our boundaries slowly from ego-centric, to ethno-centric, to world-centric to Cosmo-centric, we're expanding our boundary to include more and more ‘otherness’. The Unitative state is where we include all of the other. And people have called that enlightenment. She then quotes the Gospel of Thomas.

45:52   Jen says Christian mysticism often uses the paradox such as the transcendent God, and the God within. We learn to allow for both-and differences. We open to the diversity that is expressed within the one collective. She then ends with a paradoxical statement “the more I know, the less I know I know”. That's a paradox that brings us straight into humility. And so paradoxes not only encourage us to think more critically, to be more creative, and innovative and more wise, but they also bring us into being humble in the face of all the information that we have in the face of diversity. There's a whole universe of paradox and complexity that we will never know and be aware of. And we're just humble seekers interested in unpacking these many truths, with an awareness that we don't have all the answers. But we sure are dedicated and willing to explore it with you all on our podcast. Both Jen and Sally are glad you're here and they look forward to doing this again with viewers in two weeks.