Report: Integral Spirituality meetings

by Bart Pekel

In June and December of 2007 and June of 2008, Terry Patten gave three seminars at the request of KenKon.  Previously we had had Diane Hamilton, also a top trainer at Ken Wilbur’s Integral Institute, as a guest trainer at KenKon.  Originally, there was no plan for three seminars; the need arose and a triptych resulted.  With Diane, the Big Mind process was the main focus.  Terry’s seminars were mostly about Integral Life Practice (ILP), one part of which is the Big Mind process from the Shadow Module.

The first seminar was held at Hotel de Wageningse Berg, where we had a fantastic view of the floodplains during the breaks.  An introduction to Integral Theory was presented, along with its application through ILP (including the four basic modules).  The last two seminars were held at the very special Venwoude center, a beautiful place in wooded surroundings.  During the second seminar, the accent was mainly on the four advanced modules and “We”.  At the last seminar Terry took us through his own development and introduced his former teacher, the renowned Adi Da.  The theme was the 2nd person perspective to spirit, expressed through, among other avenues, direct communication and devotion.

Each seminar consisted of lectures with practical applications, such as group discussion with introspection, meditation, qigong, a mini Vision Quest.  In my case, the seminars coincided with my introduction to Sufism and the discovery of more intimate contact with spirit and compassion.  During each of the seminars a Sangha was quickly formed: a safe, closed community within which each person could give his or her emotions free rein.  There was a characteristic alternation between a laugh and a tear, especially during the evaluation of the first seminar.  This was further emphasized, physically, by passing around a stack of handkerchiefs.

In October, the Integral Life Practice book by Ken Wilbur, Terry Patten and others will be released.

Sydney and Terry, thanks again for the beautiful moments and special insights.

Namaste,

Bart