From: Integral World [f.visser3@chello.nl] Sent: zondag 22 april 2007 23:17 To: f.visser3@chello.nl Subject: [personal] The Christian Ladder INTEGRAL WORLD MAILING LIST =========================== http://www.integralworld.net Newsletter Nr. 191 Amsterdam, April 22, 2007 WILBER WATCH BLOG: "Integral Idols" http://wilberwatch.blogspot.com/ Dustin PiPerna continues his introductory study to integral religious research with a chapter on Christianity. THE CHRISTIAN LADDER - Dustin DiPerna There are over two billion Christians; making it the most populous religion on our planet. In the West, it was Christ who was one of the first to have a spiritual experience of causal union. If we recall from Chapter 5 [Spiritual Experience], a peak experience of causal union discloses that the ground and source of all of existence is none other than one's own Self. "I and the Father are One" Christ explained. It was this recognition that gave Christ his unrivaled reputation in a community first exposed to such ideas. Beyond the single personal God encountered in subtle communion by Moses, Christ discovered the ground of all being; a formless union of the soul and Godhead. Despite the profound breakthrough that Christ's causal realization brought to the West, repeated experience of a similar state by others soon dwindled. As Christian follows reflected on the life and teachings of Jesus, less did they make him the example, and more did they make him the exception. Slowly, Christ's causal peak experience was placed on a pedestal. After time, it was only Christ who was allowed to claim identification with the divine. In the East, causal union or union with the divine, would remain available to all aspirants. In the West, Godhead was reserved, at all costs, only for Christ. Read more: http://www.integralworld.net/diperna02.html Further additions to the Reading Room: 04/20/07: The German translation by Hape Lin of Ray Harris "Reply to Meyerhoff, Part Two" has been added to the German Section. 04/17/06: The German translation by Hape Lin of Jeff Meyerhoff's reply to Wilber called "An Intellectual Tragedy" has been added to the German Section. 04/16/07: The German translation by Hape Lin of Jeff Meyerhoff's third reply to Harris called "Debating Debate" has been added to the German Section. If you know other people interested in this IW Newsletter, please forward this mail to them. Thanks. To SUBSCRIBE to this Integral World Newsletter or change your email address, click here: http://www.integralworld.net/pommo/user/subscribe.php To UPDATE your email address or UNSUBSCRIBE, click here: http://www.integralworld.net/pommo/user/login.php To go to the Newsletter Archive, click here: http://www.integralworld.net/newsletter.html