I’ve been working with Russell Ruggiero on a few different projects tied to Strategy Markup Language (StratML). For those of you not familiar, StratML is an initiative headed by Owen Ambur, through the US Government, to represent organizational strategy information in an open, evolving, machine-readable XML based format. What does this facilitate? SImply put, clearer,…
Broader Perspectives through Meditation (video)
I gave a half-hour talk through a local TV station in Ashland, Oregon (thanks very much Jack Lanni / BOD Productions for the awesome production). I think it provides a great summary of our work here at Perspective Mapper…and the message we hope to share. The first half outlines a description of the need of broader perspectives, and the […]
Expressing Truth is Insufficient
I want to discuss what some people refer to ‘spiritual bypassing’, or its cousin concept, “spiritual platitudes”, in spiritual dialog For those of you who aren’t familiar, it is (often unintended) shutting off further engagement in dialog by jumping to a higher-level perspective to resolve a dilemma or conflict in dialog. These are verbal representations…
Dialog, Debate, Truth, and Love
Over the last few days, I engaged in a series of spiritual discussions, and watched personalities like Sam Harris, Deepak Chopra Bill Maher and Bill O’Reilly exchange points-of-view that were interesting, but really didn’t get anywhere except exchange some ugly sentiments. Sure, it sharpens the sword. Sure, it has a place…but they weren’t fulfilling dialogs….
Diversity Organizations — Misguided vs. Ontrack
Diversity is an essential theme in our generation, as we start to come together as a human race. However, the ideal of diversity proceeded in a distorted,almost perverse fashion over the past few decades in the United States. The ideals of bridging cultural and social divides turned into a police witchhunt, promoting fear, restriction, and…
The Meaning of Spiritual Silence
image: orchidmandala.wordpress.com Silence is both explicitly taught, and implicitly understood, to be central in the discovery of the Truth within. When there’s a lot of noise and chatter, it appears we aren’t able to make clear decisions and progress in our lives. Yet, upon deeper meditation, we realize it’s not about literally being silent, but…
Perspective Meditation v0.5b (audio)
picture: orchidmandala.wordpress.com We have a constantly evolving meditation practice, centered around the theme of love and forgiveness, starting with self-love and self-forgiveness. This is the central premise of perspective meditation — far more important than focus, concentration, or awareness. This premise is what allows us space to broaden our perspective. There is no wrong way to…
Meditation Sets the Stage for Perspective Broadening
Meditation is an essential prerequisite for any effort to increase the space for additional perspectives in our consciousness. Meditation lays the groundwork for integrating multiple perspectives. It is the process of cultivating our mind — tilling the fields — allowing perspectives we encounter, in addition to our default point-of-view, to live with each other. With…
In Conflict, Giving in is not Giving Up
I recently witnessed a conflict between two people — both person A and B exchanged harsh words with each other. What happened, which is typical in conflict, is that both persons took the view that the other person was abrasive, and that is why they had to respond in-like. Sure, they are both right ……
Complete Agreement or Disagreement
In a discussion or debate, we often run into a wall where we do not agree with what the other erson is talking about. We are faced with a variety of options, which fall under two camps: 1) to find commonality, or 2) to highlight disagreement. The former clarifies our base, and the latter refines…
Sitting Still and Meditation
I’ve reflected on a precise way of identifying the optimum level of ‘sitting still’ in meditation. Two initial points: First, ‘sitting still’ is not synonymous with ‘meditation’. Sitting still is simply an activity thought to be conducive to a meditative state. Second, ‘meditation’ is not separate from life itself. Thus, meditation is by this definition…
Curiosity and Human Relationship
Curiosity is an essential quality in personal and collective transformation. It is our primal drive to inquire and explore truth that allows us to connect with our fellow human beings as human beings. However, I’ve found over the years a huge gulf between two types of curiosity — the first is simply a curiosity in getting to…
Shallow Reform vs. Deep Reform
I’ve recently come off the end of a watchdog movement of a major institution, and have learned many lessons on the reality of power, and the oppression of marginalized perspectives. One such lesson is the distinction between shallow and deep reform. Shallow reform matches the reform zeitgeist without challenging power structure. It is in line with…
YouTube Video Introducing Effort (video)
(5/25/2014: This video contains a partially outdated message, but it is still worth watching) I recently posted a YouTube video where I introduce the effort. Perspective Mapper — Seeking Partners Basically, the premise of PerspectiveMapper.com requires partners to help support and promote the initiative. I myself have limited capacity to do so on my own,…
Inner vs. Outer Conflict
Ultimately, those of us on a path of self-inquiry come to the realization that the conflict in the world is a representation of the conflict within ourselves. Our ability to listen to, incorporate, and relate to various facets of our own psyche manifests in our ability to listen to, incorporate, and relate to the perspectives…
Integrating Perspectives: A Worthy Challenge
The responsibility of integrating perspectives — ensuring that each perspective is accounted for in our heart and actions — is not for the faint of heart. It can sometimes be an arduous, grueling, and frustrating job, filled with confusion, paradox, and doubt. The responsibility involves self-reflecting on each and every decision we make, continuously and…
The Bigger Picture of Sentiment Analysis
Sentiment analysis, by and large, primarily has been used in the last few years as a means for companies to better understand, respond to, and target the needs of their customers and potential customers. And…that is fine. Helping a company link with its support base is how business works, and how our economy thrives. That’ said,…
Perspective Meditation
(based on earlier page published on primemeditation.com in 2011) Many who meditate often see through some suffering, as well as achieve some level of wisdom, through their practice. However, the same people might find meditation to be overly demanding, ineffective, vague, difficult to apply, easy to neglect, misleading, stagnant, or dogmatic. Also, something often feels…
PrimeMeditation.com Merged In
Last week I decided to merge the entire contents of another site of mine, PrimeMeditation.com, into the PerspectiveMapper.com project. After conversations with two very good friends, Jerry and Mike, I concluded that the clarity of internal perspectives, that good meditation should bring, and clarity of social perspectives, really go hand-in-hand. While I thought that the…
Forgiveness and Multiple Perspectives
The ideal of forgiveness, promoted by many well known spiritual figures, including and especially Jesus Christ, is universally accepted a a key quality of spiritual development. The ability to move past grudges and bitterness, though prized by many, is however achieved by few. Even the most sincere of us have problems with our inability to…