Noetic Jediism

Dictionary.com defines noetic as "of or pertaining to the mind" and "originating in or apprehended by the reason". It is defined elsewhere as knowledge that is subjective: "the things you know through your own direct experience". Succinctly put, it is intrinsic knowledge. But that's just the beginning.

 

 

I've been reading through the recent book by IONS entitled "Living Deeply: The Art & Science of Transformation in Everyday Life" and it's presenting a deeper, more contextualized description of what noetic science is. What's really being described here is the active pursuit of finding one's own spiritual way, one's own ideal fit with the Universe, through scientifically indicated processes of self discovery and spiritual practice and through experiential learning. IONS has engaged in a decades-long comparative traditions (religions, philosophies, psychological and spiritual practices) study in which the most salient threads leading to positive outcomes are identified.

Noetic practice seeks to conjoin the world's highly divergent modes and methods of understanding reality into a fully informed approach geared toward the holistic convergence of scientific and spiritual wisdom: "Ultimately, this book encourages you to become the scientist of your own experience and the cartographer of your own transformative journey." In other words, this book seeks to illuminate our natural paths so that we're no longer lost or operating based on the delusional premises of contrived religions, political coercions and the capitalist and corporate mandates to conform, consume and obey.

A quickly emerging key point to the noetic process is that science and mysticism are both engaged ... scientifically. Implied here is the idea that previously innate or tacit ancient wisdom can be made explicit, even empirical and reproducible according to scientific process: in essence, that we can now begin to scientifically confirm both the beneficial and detrimental impacts of various worldviews, spiritual practices and religious traditions on communities and the world in terms of health, longevity, happiness and social harmony.

 

The arduous, enduring processes of the longitudinal study by several extremely intelligent and credentialed people that went into creating Living Deeply identifies the following portals to transformation of consciousness from mundane and isolated (egocentric) to mystically interconnected (universalized), which are shared by many of the world's wisdom traditions:

 

• Experiencing Pain/Hitting Bottom
• Flashes of Insight (the book identifies these as Noetic Experiences)
• Time in Nature
• Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness (meditation, shamanic drumming, sex, being in nature, lucid dreaming)
• Psychedelics
• Meeting Teachers
• Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary

 

 

Further, Living Deeply identifies the essential elements of transformative spiritual practice:

 

• Intention (the will to change, the determination to act)
• Attention (focus leading to a shift in perspective; mindfulness)
• Repetition (practice)
• Guidance (having a good teacher, helpful friends: essentially, positive spiritual community)

 

While exhorting that we find our own ways, Living Deeply underscores that following our individualized paths is best done in the context of supportive community. Stepping outside the book with an op/ed interjection here, perhaps the whole process of spiritual transformation might be summarized as the following:

 

1. Be open and mindful of the Universe; perceive and receive, rather than projecting.
2. Use mindfulness to gather information; cultivate deeper relationships with Nature and with positive spiritual sources. Listen to these sources.
3. Find, describe and walk your own path. Continue walking until it conjoins others. Find the shapes of positive and harmonic connectedness with Nature and your community, the points at which you fall together in natural fit, mutual interest and joyful spiritual practice.
4. Live as a conduit of Universal energy. Bring the rainbow toward the serpent; with your body and mind, open a living portal from heaven to earth.
5. Visualize and manifest Golden Age and perpetual civilization, informed by All. Transceive wisdom for the good of All, in ways both small and great, as you can imagine and as you are moved to do so. Plant seeds where they are best received.