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Integral Transformative Practice International
- Spring Newsletter 2013 -
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Dear Friends,
At our Seekers & Sages evening program this week, Professor Loriliai Biernacki from the University of Colorado inspired us with insights into "siddhis" or extraordinary capacities that were prevalent in early Indian religious traditions. Michael Murphy describes these supernormal powers as "emergent aspects of our latent supernature" that are actually expressed by each of us in everyday life.
Consider this the next time the phone rings and you know in advance who is on the other end or when you are filled with great joy for no particular reason. I'm grateful our practice supports us to awaken to our divine nature and that as we grow in positive, healthy ways, we are able to offer more to the world.
Speaking of divine happenings, I was fortunate to be part of an ITP pilgrimage to India this past month where the original seeds of ITP were planted. Led by ITP Kansas founder Matthew Cobb, our small group visited, among other amazing places, the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and Auroville, the intentional community where Aurobindo's integral vision continues to flourish. We practiced ITP wherever we went, including with 350 schoolchildren at a tribal village. Imagine that! Highlights and photos of our extraordinary trip are shared in this newsletter.
We are excited about our upcoming Leadership Transformed retreat at Asilomar where we'll explore how to bring new meaning to personal and social change through transformative leadership. Cassie Vieten, CEO of IONS, and Michael Murphy are among our guest presenters. On the topic of innovative leadership, please read below how ITP Houston has infused new energy into its group and doubled its size in the last two months!
Thank you all for staying connected to our evolving global community and for doing your part to bring light into each moment.
Wishing you a bountiful springtime,
Pam Kramer, President
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Exploring the Roots of ITP in India
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The Matrimandir
by Christina Grote, ITPI Board Chair
When I close my eyes during meditation I can feel myself back in the Matrimandir, a ten story high golden sphere dedicated to the Universal Mother, conceived by the founder of Auroville, Mira Alfassa, known as the Mother. Designed as a place to concentrate and find one's consciousness, the central chamber is circular, pure white marble, with a ring of columns and a large crystal sphere in the center. A focused beam of light comes down from the top of the structure, illuminating the crystal sphere, and passes through it and out the bottom of the "building" into a marble lotus pond. Due to the generosity of Amber Patel, an extraordinary woman who was there when Michael Murphy lived at the Aurobindo Ashram in the 1950's, we had the privilege of entering this amazing space.
Walking up a spiraling ramp that leads to the central chamber, I felt I was entering a temple both alien and familiar.
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Passage to India
by Josh Stadtler
The several days of our pilgrimage to India gave me insight into the real meaning of mindfulness practice, specifically, the capacity of humanity, in its multitude of forms, to coexist. In India, without mindfulness, there are far too many people and far too broad a range of spirituality for this teeming nation to otherwise function.
Bombay, city of some 20 million inhabitants, perfectly captures this thought. The streets are filled with dizzying motion: people on foot, bikes, motorcycles; rickshaws, cars, buses, trucks; animals. Everyone and everything angling for that desirous bit of free space. Somehow, it works.
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ITP Houston's Burgeoning Roster
bur*geon*ing (adjective): expanding rapidly; growing or developing quickly. synonyms: budding, promising, up-and-coming
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An Unexpected and Bountiful Harvest
Our invitation for January 2013 open sessions began quite simply:
"Houston Integral Transformative Practice (ITP) invites you to experience the joy of participating in ITP at our upcoming open sessions. Integral Transformative Practice� (ITP), developed by human potential visionaries George Leonard and Michael Murphy, is cross training for body, mind, heart and soul, and is designed for busy people with active lives... "
We didn't know what to expect when the decision was made to launch a month of formal open sessions. It was a bold move for our long-standing group of practitioners, which has enjoyed stability and familiarity for some time.
We decided to enjoy the open sessions as an end in themselves, not as a "means to an end." To quote George Leonard, we "expected nothing but were ready for anything." The group would have been happy with any outcome, be it dynamic growth, or continuing as a smaller group of experienced participants.
To our surprise, through email and word of mouth, new guests and prospective members showed up at each and every open session.
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Understanding Why We Change
by Cassi Vieten, IONS CEO
At our upcoming ITPI Leadership Transformed retreat co-sponsored with Greenheart Transforms, Cassi Vieten will present how transformative practices rewire the brain and help us change our lives for the better. Read about her research on transformative practices in the article below.
 How do people change? How do they make significant and long-lasting shifts that affect every aspect of their lives?
Learning something new, taking a different approach, or engaging with someone with a different perspective from your own can cause noticeable changes in your everyday life. Even just watching a movie or reading a book can alter your outlook to some extent. But change with a capital "C" ---- the kind that changes your beliefs, motivations, behaviors, and general way of being across all aspects of your life seems to boil down to an essential shift in worldview ---- a fundamental transformation in consciousness.
Psychological theories have something to offer about how people change, but we may have something to learn from spiritual and religious traditions as well. Embedded in these traditions are sophisticated models and methods for cultivating positive change that are unfortunately inaccessible to many because they are often entrenched in, and sometimes limited by, a specific esoteric philosophy or religious dogma.
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ITPI & Greenheart Transforms
Present
Leadership Transformed
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ITPI Presents at the IONS Conference
Renaissance Esmeralda
Indian Wells, CA
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ITP: The Essential Esalen Experience
Esalen Institute
Big Sur, CA
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Michael Murphy's
Golf in the Kingdom
Marathon
Peacock Gap Golf Club
San Rafael, CA
Save the Date!
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I accomplish at least three hours of aerobic exercise every week in increments of no less than twenty minutes.
"Practice is the seedbed of miracles."
-Michael Murphy
Learn more about aerobic fitness by reading Chapter 9, The Exercise Factor, in The Life We Are Given.
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Spotlight on Charlotte Hatch, Mastery Teacher and Co-Leader of ITP SF
How did you become involved in ITP?
In 1991, when I was an Aikido student at Aikido of Tamalpais, George Leonard told me he was starting an ITP group at the dojo and invited me to join. So I did!
Can you share a story about how something you've learned through ITP made a big difference in your life?
I've been an insomniac off and on for years. I get into my head in the middle of the night. After reading "Hara: the Vital Center of Man," by Karlfried Durkheim for the second time, I have really begun to feel my center and relax into it more fully than ever before. This has helped me to release the energy left over from the day and allowed for some truly memorable sleeps!
Tell us about one of your most powerful affirmations.
I have a new affirmation: I'm a conduit for Evolutionary Love. I got the idea of Evolutionary Love from a workshop I took from Adam Crabtree last winter. It means the kind of love that helps yourself and others along on the path towards integration and wholeness. I've barely scratched to surface of this affirmation and what it will mean for me in the future is a mystery. I believe I may have it for the rest of my life.
What do you do when you meet with resistance with your practice?
When I meet resistance to my practice, I take the pressure off and have that be ok. I go along with the resistance and honor it, or, if the resistance is to the kata, for example, I tell myself, "Okay, you don't have to do the whole kata, just do the standing part, or, if that's too much, just do Grace."
Is there anything you'd like to say to the ITP community that's not covered in these questions?
Just practice, have fun, make friends, challenge yourself a little, relax about it all, have fun and have fun. Did I say have fun?
What has being co-leader of ITP SF taught you about yourself?
Being a leader of ITP SF has been very rewarding, although scary at times. When I thought about starting a group in SF, I didn't know if I could do it. Leading LET was especially challenging. At first, I would get very nervous before the group. These days, ITP SF is pure joy. I've especially learned a lot from teaching the kata, leading LET exercises and explaining ITP philosophy to newcomers. Group leading is like planting seeds. It's exciting to see the seedlings sprout!
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For more information about these and other ITP programs,
please visit
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