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Newsletter Nr. 719
Amsterdam, June 19th, 2018

THE FUTURE OF MEDITATION - How Technological Augmentation Will Advance Interior Exploration - DAVID LANE AND ANDREA DIEM-LANE

I have been practicing meditation now for over fifty years. Yet, it was only last week that I first tried a portable electroencephalogram (EEG) machine to study my brain wave patterns while doing shabd yoga, an ancient technique that focuses on listening to subtle sounds while sitting still. After teaching my Monday class in the Sociology of Religion, my colleague, Dr. Joshua Knapp, from the Psychology Department came to my office and said he wanted me to try MUSE, the popular “Brain Sensing Headband”. It is very simple to use and connects seamlessly with one's smart phone and purportedly records your brain waves in three distinct modes: active, neutral, and calm. After a five-minute session, for instance, which begins with a brief calibration and short introduction, it will produce a brain activity chart, replete with how many minutes were spent calmly, neutrally, or actively. The fun part about the device is that it entices you to become as still as possible, since then a tiny bird sound emerges. Racking up more bird sounds is indicative of how deep you have gone into your meditation.

Read more:
http://www.integralworld.net/lane141.html


THE KOHLBERG-WILBER FALLACY - Part 1: Why you aren't as ethical as you think you are - JOSEPH DILLARD

It is difficult to talk about morality without sounding as if one is lecturing, scolding, or assuming airs of moral rectitude. In addition, it is difficult to write about morality without inflicting some self-righteous sense of shame or guilt upon the reader or to come across without a preachy air of superiority. The simple venting of moral outrage, while emotionally gratifying, and a handy strategy for the expiation of guilt, builds in-group solidarity at the expense of everyone else. While we can have a lot of fun pointing out how 2nd Tier “teal” is morally superior to “ethnocentric “red,” or commiserating about the depravity of some shared target of ridicule, such as Donald Trump, telling someone that what they are doing is immoral is a good way to shut down a conversation at best and make an enemy at worst.

Read more:
http://www.integralworld.net/dillard16.html