{"id":18600,"date":"2020-02-17T10:17:14","date_gmt":"2020-02-17T15:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=18600"},"modified":"2020-02-17T10:17:14","modified_gmt":"2020-02-17T15:17:14","slug":"our-three-intelligences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=18600","title":{"rendered":"Our Three Intelligences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mind, Body, Heart<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/cac.org\/our-three-intelligences-2020-02-17\/\">Our Three Intelligences<\/a>&nbsp;<br>\nMonday, February 17, 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QAKWod74VLs\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n<p><em>After her theological training and ordination in the Episcopal&nbsp;<\/em><em>tradition, my friend Cynthia Bourgeault has spent much of the last two decades teaching the Wisdom tradition in a Christian context.<\/em><em>&nbsp;You are about to read something that it took me most of my life to begin to comprehend! I admire Cynthia\u2019s<\/em><em>&nbsp;unique insights and ability to bring together the&nbsp;<\/em><em>ancient wisdom of&nbsp;<\/em><em>Christian<\/em><em>&nbsp;<\/em><em>monasticism&nbsp;<\/em><em>and the&nbsp;<\/em><em>transformational teachings and practices of spiritual seeker G.<\/em><em>&nbsp;<\/em><em>I. Gurdjieff (<\/em><em>1866<\/em><em>\u2013<\/em><em>1949)<\/em><em>. Today she offers a brief explanation of Gurdjieff\u2019s&nbsp;<\/em><em>teachings on Three-centered Awareness.&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wisdom is a way of knowing that goes beyond one\u2019s mind, one\u2019s rational understanding, and embraces the whole of a person: mind, heart, and body. The intellectual faculty&nbsp;is one way of knowing, to be sure, but it is joined by two additional faculties: the intelligence of the&nbsp;\u201cmoving&nbsp;center\u201d and the intelligence of the \u201cemotional center.\u201d These three centers must all be working, and working in harmony, as the first prerequisite to the Wisdom way of knowing.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m going to start with&nbsp;the moving center because it\u2019s the one least known in the West, least valued, and least worked with. The&nbsp;moving center basically is about intelligence through movement.&nbsp;It\u2019s the way that our body&nbsp;is able to&nbsp;put its tentacles out and explore and gain information from the world. It\u2019s that whole realm of things that we don\u2019t do directly with our intellectual rational brain&nbsp;but that deeply engage&nbsp;us.&nbsp;We&nbsp;drive a car, ski down a hill, sail a boat. It gets in our&nbsp;bodies. That kind of intelligence, which we mostly underuse, is a huge reservoir of connectivity and information with the world.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The intellectual center is&nbsp;a profoundly useful tool for exploring and navigating the world, and it allows us to do things that separate us from the rest of the animals. But the program it runs is perception through separation. It\u2019s a grand separating, evaluating, and measuring tool. But it can\u2019t \u201cdo\u201d because of the limitations built into its operating system. It can\u2019t ask two questions: \u201cWho am I, and who&nbsp;is&nbsp;God?\u201d because these questions can\u2019t be measured by an operating system that depends on separation.&nbsp;I have sometimes said that doing the journey toward mystical union&nbsp;with the mind is like trying to play the violin with a chainsaw. It\u2019s not&nbsp;that&nbsp;the chainsaw is bad, but its nature is to&nbsp;cut&nbsp;and separate, not make music.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally,&nbsp;the heart and the emotional center are not identical.&nbsp;The emotional center is the capacity to explore and receive information from the world through empathetic entrainment&nbsp;by what&nbsp;we&nbsp;might call vibrational resonance.&nbsp;Of all the centers, the emotional center moves the fastest. It\u2019s the part of&nbsp;us&nbsp;that gets the impression instantly.&nbsp;We&nbsp;don\u2019t have to parse it out. It is our antenna, so to speak, given to us to orient us toward the divine radiance. The heart is not for personal expression but for divine perception.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ways of Knowing<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cac.org\/ways-of-knowing-weekly-summary-2020-02-15\/\"><strong>Sunday, February 9\u2013Friday, February 14, 2020<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/cac.org\/a-way-of-being-2020-02-16\/\">A Way of Being<\/a><br>\nSunday, February 16, 2020<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Wisdom is not the result of mental effort. It cannot be gained through intellectual study.&nbsp;Even life experiences&nbsp;do&nbsp;not make us wise if we don\u2019t&nbsp;process them&nbsp;humbly and&nbsp;consciously.&nbsp;Sadly, most of us&nbsp;were&nbsp;never&nbsp;taught&nbsp;how&nbsp;to do that, which is why&nbsp;<em>so few&nbsp;<\/em><em>older people are&nbsp;<\/em><em>true elders, with any<\/em><em>&nbsp;wisdom to<\/em><em>&nbsp;pass on to<\/em><em>&nbsp;the next generations<\/em>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wisdom&nbsp;is a way of being\u2014a way of being whole and fully open to a knowing&nbsp;beyond&nbsp;rational thought alone. Do not confuse this kind of knowing as lightweight, saccharine, or ephemeral.&nbsp;The exact opposite&nbsp;is true. To see in such a way&nbsp;requires&nbsp;the hard work of keeping all&nbsp;our&nbsp;inner spaces open\u2014mind, heart, and body\u2014all at once. This is at the center of any authentic spirituality,&nbsp;and&nbsp;it&nbsp;does not happen easily or without paying respectful and non-egoic attention&nbsp;to the moment in front of me and within me\u2014which I could call prayer.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My fellow CAC faculty member and respected wisdom teacher&nbsp;Cynthia Bourgeault writes&nbsp;of the deep interior commitment&nbsp;that&nbsp;must be&nbsp;made by those&nbsp;who embark on this path:&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A&nbsp;Wisdom way of knowing&nbsp;. . .&nbsp;requires the whole of one\u2019s being and is ultimately attained only through the yielding of one\u2019s whole being into the intimacy of knowing and being known. . .&nbsp;.&nbsp;It doesn\u2019t happen apart from complete vulnerability and self-giving. But the divine Lover is absolutely real, and for those willing to bear the wounds of intimacy, the knowledge of that underlying coherence\u2014\u201cin which all things hold&nbsp;together\u201d\u2014is both possible and inevitable.&nbsp;[1]&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since the Enlightenment,&nbsp;Westerners have&nbsp;become overly reliant on the&nbsp;intelligence of the&nbsp;mind, neglecting that&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;heart and body. But by heart, I don\u2019t mean just feeling and emotion.&nbsp;Cynthia Bourgeault calls the heart&nbsp;\u201can organ for the perception of divine purpose and beauty.\u201d [2]&nbsp;Tilden Edwards, founder of the&nbsp;Shalem&nbsp;Institute&nbsp;for Spiritual&nbsp;Formation, describes the spiritual faculty of heart as \u201ca quality of intuitive awareness&nbsp;. . .&nbsp;a sense of inclusive, compassionate, undefended, direct in-touch-ness&nbsp;with what is really there.\u201d&nbsp;[3]&nbsp;This \u201cundefended knowing\u201d allows us to drop beneath the thinking mind, to touch upon real experience, unhindered by&nbsp;the&nbsp;ego\u2019s sense of self, without fear or agenda.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;Wisdom&nbsp;lineage&nbsp;offers us&nbsp;a healthy middle&nbsp;place, trapped in neither of the&nbsp;two alternating mediocrities of knowing: all heart and little head (lacking rational, historical,&nbsp;or&nbsp;scientific grounding) or all head&nbsp;and little heart (lacking deep personal&nbsp;experience, subtlety, or authentic&nbsp;love).&nbsp;For&nbsp;a holistic and mature faith, we need&nbsp;both&nbsp;head and heart grounded in our physical and sensory body.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ways of Knowing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cac.org\/ways-of-knowing-weekly-summary-2020-02-15\/\"><strong>Sunday, February 9\u2013Friday, February 14, 2020<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>God calls us to \u201cnot conform to the pattern of the world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds\u201d through relationship with those who see differently than we do (see Romans 12:2). (<a href=\"https:\/\/cac.org\/to-know-thee-more-clearly-2020-02-09\/\">Sunday<\/a>)&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The vast majority of&nbsp;people throughout history have been poor, disabled, or oppressed in some way (i.e., \u201con the bottom\u201d) and would have read history in terms of a need for change.&nbsp;(<a href=\"https:\/\/cac.org\/knowing-from-the-bottom-2020-02-10\/\">Monday<\/a>)&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>As a pastor I refuse to separate the reality of this world from the reality of the Bible by preaching a \u201ccheap gospel\u201d that neither challenges<\/em><em>&nbsp;the present<\/em><em>&nbsp;reality nor is challenged by it.<\/em>&nbsp;\u2014Mitri&nbsp;Raheb&nbsp;(<a href=\"https:\/\/cac.org\/a-fascinating-discovery-2020-02-11\/\">Tuesday<\/a>)&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>She takes my face gently in her hands and holds me in Her gaze as She tells me what She thinks I need to know, forming the words slowly so I can remember them and let them sink in.<\/em>&nbsp;\u2014Steven Charleston&nbsp;(<a href=\"https:\/\/cac.org\/grandmother-god-2020-02-12\/\">Wednesday<\/a>)&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Black Theology is the story of black people\u2019s struggle for liberation in an extreme situation of oppression.&nbsp;<\/em><em>Consequently<\/em><em>&nbsp;there is no sharp distinction between thought and practice, worship and theology, because black theological reflections about God occurred in the black struggle of freedom.<\/em>&nbsp;\u2014James Cone<em>&nbsp;<\/em>(<a href=\"https:\/\/cac.org\/liberation-2020-02-13\/\">Thursday<\/a>)&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>What a gift to be on earth during an era when the universe is making itself known to and through&nbsp;<\/em><em>the human race<\/em><em>.<\/em><em>&nbsp;<\/em>\u2014Barbara Holmes<em>&nbsp;<\/em>(<a href=\"https:\/\/cac.org\/stardust-and-a-divine-spark-2020-02-14\/\">Friday<\/a>)&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Practice: Meditation and Prayer<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Contemplation is meeting as much reality as&nbsp;<\/em><em>we&nbsp;<\/em><em>can handle in its most simple and immediate form\u2014without filters, judgments, or commentaries. The ego doesn\u2019t trust this way of seeing, which is why it is so rare, \u201ca narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it\u201d (Matthew 7:14, N<\/em><em>ew Jerusalem Bible<\/em><em>). The only way&nbsp;<\/em><em>we<\/em><em>&nbsp;can contemplate is by recognizing and relativizing our own compulsive mental grids\u2014our practiced ways of judging, critiquing, blocking, and computing everything<\/em>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Depth psychologist David G. Benner offers the following framing of Christian contemplative practices in a way that can help deepen our experience of them<\/em><em>:<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Christian forms of meditation bring us to the question of the relationship between meditation and prayer. This is an important question because I think there are limits to&nbsp;what meditation can, in itself, accomplish&nbsp;that are overcome when meditation is placed within a context of prayer.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although contemplative prayer and meditation may share many features,&nbsp;contemplative prayer is wordless openness to God. Hence it involves a relationship. It is this intentional openness to God while setting aside thoughts that makes contemplative prayer so deeply transformational.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Contemplative prayer always requires hospitality to your deep self, to the deep parts of&nbsp;your self. It demands the openness to receive whatever might arise in you and then gently release it into God\u2019s hands. But in prayer you are not alone as you open yourself to whatever might emerge. You do so in a relationship that provides a safety and support in holding whatever emerges. That which arises might come with a flood of emotional intensity. Sometimes, being still before self and God releases a torrent of emotions. Tears may be intermixed with joy. . . .&nbsp;But whatever emerges in silence and stillness before God emerges in the place within you in which you are held within God. It emerges, therefore, within the context of prayer,&nbsp;whether or not&nbsp;you are thinking of God or talking to God. Your openness to God makes it prayer.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thomas Keating describes what happens in stillness and silence before God in&nbsp;unworded&nbsp;presence as divine therapy. It may involve an unloading of the unconscious, but this is only the visible face of the invisible process of reworking your unconscious, a process that is going on as you sit in stillness before God and yourself. . . .&nbsp;This isn\u2019t the time to try to understand the things that float to the surface of your consciousness. Instead, it\u2019s the time to simply note them and then release them to God. But as you recognize their presence, you become aware of what exists within you, and you have an opportunity to peek at the deep hidden work of healing and transformation that God is doing in your soul. This is the transformational way in which contemplative prayer works.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mind, Body, Heart Our Three Intelligences&nbsp; Monday, February 17, 2020 After her theological training and ordination in the Episcopal&nbsp;tradition, my friend Cynthia Bourgeault has spent much of the last two decades teaching the Wisdom tradition in a Christian context.&nbsp;You are about to read something that it took me most of my life to begin to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18600"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18600"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18601,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18600\/revisions\/18601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}