The Metaphor of the Nautilus @ Beyond Religion
January 18, 2007
[from “about us” page of Beyond Religion]
Oliver Wendell Holmes, a century and a half ago, saw the metaphorical significance of the chambered home of the Nautilus. These fascinating seashells are spiral in shape and consist of a series of ever-larger chambers in each of which the sea creature lives for a season until it outgrows that particular space. The Nautilus then enlarges its shell by the addition of a new chamber suitable for the next stage of its life.
Holmes wrote, in a poem entitled The Chambered Nautilus, “Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul….Let each new temple, nobler than the last, Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast, Till thou at length art free, Leaving thine outgrown shell by life’s unresting sea!” |
more at Beyond Religion
The spiral is one of the most fundamental and beautiful parts of evolution:
Here it is in the development of the the human psyche: Spiral Dynamics (the name is indicative of the evolutionary, sequential growth the a persons “world views”.
It can be seen in everything from DNA to the formation of galaxies.
My Spiral Dynamic: elamb
October 8, 2006
Dr. Clare W. Graves started research on what is now known as Spiral Dynamics over 30 years ago. In the begining, Clare studied a number of students views about life over the course of seven years.
His data indicates that people go through the same sequence of stages on how they look at life. In otherwords, the perception of reality for human beings has a steady path. This path of “thought” or perception development is Spiral Dynamics. These stages also apply to groups, organizations, nations and religions.
Continued research and further development of Spiral Dynamics from Don Beck, Ken Wilber and others has made Spiral Dynamics Integral or more comprehensive and complete. It has now evolved into something even more incredible. Ken Wilber and others have been able to effectively combine many other popular methods of gauging human development (i.e. cognitions, psychosexual, moral, interpersonal, emotional etc).
The easies way to understand Spiral Dynamics and how important it is, is to apply it to your own personal history.
Here is my spiral dynamic. See if yours matches:
Purple/Magical Animistic: Groups, rites of passage
In my early teens I was very involved with groups. These groups were VERY heirarchical to the point where the leader was like royalty. I was not a normal teen. I was actually VERY religious. That group was a penecostal church. The rite of passage was receiving the “holy ghost”, bieng baptised by fire is what we called it.
Red/Impulsive Ego-centric: rebelling, conquering, breaking free, indulging, doing what you want when you want.
In my later teens, I’d say I was on the red stage. I thought I knew everything. I would skip school and go to the library and read. Since I was “all knowingness” I dropped out of high school. I actually street preached when I was about 15-16 (totally impulsive). I started following my own path, reading all kinds of psychic, paranormal, occult, esoteric, religious books. I eventually joined a religion called eckankar, religion of light and sound (some would consider this a cult, but honestly the penacostal church I went to was more of cult). This could have been much worse I could have gone into a gang.
Blue/Purpose Authoritarian: Submission to greater cause, strick adherence to laws, find meaning
In my 20’s I joined the Air Force (it doesn’t get much more blue than this). I wanted a structured way toward success. This was something I didn’t think I could get at home (my home life is RED). I was a military police officer for five years. The military gave me a level of discipline that is still with me.
Orange/Achievist Strategic: Act in your own self interest by playing by the rules to win.
After five years of law enforcement, I decided that law was just a suggestion many times completely up the interpretation of the law maker and law enforcer. Further, not all laws and judgements were just. I decided to get into computers. My plan was to allow the military to cross-train me and then get out with a degree. This was a major risk for me since most of my young adult life had been sucking a the teet of Uncle Sam. I started getting into self-help, spiritual and personal development books.
Green/Communitarian Egalitarian: Seek Inner peace/caring with community.
Once I got out of the military I got into the corporate life that I had been wanting for years and found that it was all cut throat and completely about the bottom line of the company. Currently, I am green. I feel most of the components of my life are in complete peace. For the past couple of years, I have been trying to start my own business for the sole purpose of helping me, my immediate family and anyone else who is interested. So far, I’ve actually made some friends some money.
Yellow/Integrative Meme: Live responsibly as what you are and learn to become, understand and respect all other levels
Lately, the spread of the fruits of my gain has been draining me because my friends and family are at different levels. I used to think that all I had to do was create a system and plug people into it. Now I see that most are not ready for what I have to give them. I am not at yellow yet but I am begining to integrate some of its values as I am begining to respect other people’s levels. With Integral Spirituality/psychology I am begining to understand each level and their importance to human development.
Turquoise/holistic Meme: Wholeness of Existence through mind and spirit.
I must admit that I don’t fully “groc” this level. However, I seriously feel I’ve had a taste. I have implemented Deepak Chopra’s 7 Laws of Spiritual Success which consists (among other things) of regular meditation. Deepak’s 7 Laws tie directly into the Law of Attraction (discussed by the Secret, and Mike Dooley) as well as a subjective view of reality (What the bleep do we know?! and Ho ‘Oponopono).
The body of knowledge from these resources has given me temporary splashes of blissful joy and a feeling of oneness with everyone I pass by. This feeling comes in for a few hours a day like waves from an ocean. I feel that love is the primary way to express this one wholenss that is ever present in this moment… (I think this is a “state” of consciousness rather than a “stage” of spiral dynamics because NO ONE can skip a step spiral dynamics.) Maybe I’m at yellow in a “spiritual” way moving into turquoise. I don’t know. I honestly don’t think I’m there yet.
Coral & Teal: Some of the Spiral Dynamics research mentions Coral and Teal but it doesn’t usually talk about it. This maybe because researchers don’t have enough data from individuals at this level. There must be very, very few at these levels of life perception.
