Then something just snapped. Something inside of me. I didn’t care anymore. I didn’t care about being better than Kakarot. I didn’t care about being a Super Saiyan. I didn’t care if I lived. I didn’t care about anything. And then it happened… That is how I became a Super Saiyan. The sleeper has awakened. – Prince Vegeta, from Dragon Ball Z

Pretty much all of the mystical traditions, East and West, have maps that describe the territory of spiritual awakening. In the Buddhist tradition one need only look at the Zen Ox-Herding pictures, Tozan’s Five Ranks, The Tibetan Five-Path Model, or the Theravada Four-Path Model to find extremely sophisticated maps describing the process of enlightenment. The map I’ve studied the most, and which I find most helpful at this point is the Theravada model, which describes 4 distinct stages of enlightenment.

The original model, created during the time of the Buddha and expanded since, described four progressive stages leading to the attainment of Arhantship. One who reaches the first stage was called a stream-winner (sotapanna), one who reaches the second stage a once-returner (sakadagami), one who reaches the third stage a non-returner (anagami), and finally there is the 4th stage, the arhant. Traditionally these designations were referring to re-birth, and the number of lifetimes that it would take to attain the 4th and final stage. They were also described in terms of various fetters that kept one stuck to the wheel of samsara. The 1st stage was said to cut 3 of 10 fetters (skeptical doubt, attachment to rites and rituals, and personality belief), the 2nd stage was said to weaken the 4th & 5th fetters (greed and hatred), and the 3rd stage was said to eliminate these two fetters. The last stage was said to cut the remaining 5 fetters (attachment to the first 4 jhanas, attachment to the formless jhanas, restlessness and worry, conceit, and the last veil of unknowing).

But don’t worry too much about the fetter-model as I’m going to largely ignore it in favor of Daniel Ingram’s revised 4-stage model. Ingram takes the same 4 stages but describes them much more in terms of how one’s perception changes, what the fundamental insights are, and the relationship to the diminishment of duality. He gets rid of the dogma surrounding certain emotional capacities completely disappearing as a result of enlightenment—what he calls the limited emotional-range models—and instead opts for a less dogmatic and more pragmatic understanding of these models. There is still quite a bit of overlap, and one can see how these two different models relate. That being said, if you’re a big fan of the original Theravada dogma, you may not be interested in reading any further. If instead, you’re interested in having an empowering, realistic, and achievable model of enlightenment, then keep on reading.

The Revised Four-Path Model of Enlightenment

In Ingram’s model he uses the same names and designations for each of the stages. The difference is in the descriptions. The stream-winner, in this case, has gone through the full progress of insight, has “experienced” the discontinuity moment of fruition, and now cycles through the insight stages on a continual basis. In terms of their core perception of reality however, Ingram claims that they, “do not have all that different an experience of most sensations from those who are not yet stream enterers.” In a sense, they have gotten a powerful hint of what’s to come, in the experience of nirvana, but has not yet become integrated with most of their experience. Stream-entry is also said to be the opening of what’s called the “dharma eye,” the importance of which I may try to explain one day.

With further practice the stream-winner will go through another full-blown insight cycle, starting again from the very beginning, re-experiencing Mind & Body, and going through the same basic pattern of the progress of insight. At the end of the next full cycle they will again experience fruition, and this is the attainment of the 2nd stage of enlightenment. The primary insight of the 2nd stage is that one will continue to go through cycle after cycle, and this is seen as the way to make further progress. Still, for those of 2nd path, nothing fundamentally has changed in their dualistic perception of reality.

After a while, and it can vary for different people, one will have gone through many cycles—with what will appear to be an underlying cycle beneath these surface cycles. When the underlying cycle comes to completion, the surface cycles and deeper cycle converge with a fruition, and there is a dramatic shift in perception where one begins to see what is meant by emptiness, now in real-time. This shift, which is the 3rd stage of enlightenment, has to do with seeing the empty, selfless nature of reality upon mere reflection. Where once emptiness was contained in the discontinuity experience at the end of an insight cycle, it now permeates all of experience. It comes obvious, for those of 3rd path, what is meant by the lines from the Heart Sutra, “form is emptiness.”

The time between 3rd path and 4th path tends to be the longest yet. Ingram breaks 3rd path into early and mature phases. In the early phase one is still looking for the cycles to bring further progress, whereas in the mature phase emptiness is so ordinary and integrated into one’s experience that the inquiry turns away from the cycles and toward the last subtle hints of duality, which remain.

Finally, there is another radical shift in perspective, in which the sense of a separate center-point, observer, or doer is completely undone. Apparently this realization can occur and then fade for some time, until finally the shift is permanent (i.e. nothing can interrupt this centerless perspective). This is the opening of the “wisdom eye”, the attainment of arhantship, and as Ingram says is the end of insight path: “For the arahat who has kept the thing open, there is nothing more to be gained on the ultimate front from insight practices, as ‘done is what is to be done’.” It’s also interesting to note that it’s difficult to predict how long it will take from 3rd to 4th path. It tends to be the longest path, though I have so little data (even anecdotal) that it’s really hard to say. One of my teachers, while on retreat, suggested that from 3rd to 4th path is largely dependent on one’s karma. That seems as good an explanation as any, given the lack of data. ¹

My hope is that those who are interested in making genuine spiritual progress will be empowered and excited by a map like this. It is extremely practical, describes territory that is absolutely achievable, and can help us refine our understanding of the way that deep spiritual insight unfolds. To find out more about this particular map, I would recommend checking out my absolute favorite Dharma book, Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha (also free online here).

1. The one person who I do have data on is Daniel Ingram, who took 6 years from the time of stream-entry to the point where there were no vestiges of duality left. He spent several months on retreat during this period, but his longest retreat was a month in length and he got from 1st to 4th path while in medical school. I know other people who I strongly suspect have also “done it” but who I don’t have reliable data on. Maybe one day…

A good map can point out the quickest route to your destination. It can also give you vivid descriptions of the landmarks along the way—and perhaps most importantly the pitfalls you may face. Knowing the landmarks along the route to enlightenment, especially when they are reached, provides a tremendous boost of faith & commitment to the journey itself. Also, having an idea of what obstacles one might encounter, and when these might arise, can save the spiritual practitioner years of confusion and stuckness. And in many cases it can keep one from falling off the path altogether. Good maps, again, are absolutely crucial with respect to making the daunting journey toward awakening.

One such map, which I was originally exposed to by Daniel Ingram, is called “the progress of insight.” It dates back to one of the first and most authoritative commentaries in the Theravada tradition, the Visuddhimagga. It is a detailed description of 16 stages on the way from a total novice at meditation to the 1st stage of enlightenment (a key landmark on the path toward full enlightenment). The description in the Vishuddhimagga is interesting and somewhat helpful, but it was really the expansion of this map by Mahasi Sayadaw, in his book The Progress of Insight, and then the further refinement by Daniel Ingram that has made it such an invaluable resource.

While I’m not trying to add to what has already been written on this subject, I do think it’s worthwhile to share a brief overview of this map here. Keep in mind that much of what this particular map describes are possible patterns of experience. The particulars will vary from individual to individual, and are highly dependent on a number of factors, including: One’s practice conditions, concentration abilities, choice of meditation technique, and interpretive frameworks, to name a few. That being said, these patterns tend to surprisingly accurate and highly predictable for almost everyone.

The Progress of Insight

As I mentioned before, the progress of insight describes 16 stages from the time one first begins to investigate reality, to the time that they have their first major experience of emptiness or nirvana, also known as the 1st stage of enlightenment. One begins their investigation not having had any particular insights into the way the mind or reality works. It is said that the first insight a meditator has is that their mind is like a waterfall. Thoughts and physical sensations are constantly cascading through their awareness, carrying them away. They realize for the first time how insane and out-of-control their minds actually are.

Eventually, by continuing to pay steady attention to experience, there is a shift into what is called Mind & Body. Mind and Body is very pleasant and state-like, and the key insight revealed here is that there are all sorts of subtle phenomena—that were once below the threshold of our attention—which we are now aware of. These include intentions, thoughts, and the simple knowing of experience (consciousness).

With continued investigation, the pleasantness from Mind & Body begins to fade and one begins to see a stronger relationship between all of these elements. The next stage, Cause and Effect reveals that intentions actually precede actions. There is the intention to take a step forward and then the action follows directly after it. From here things can begin to get a bit faster, but also more unpleasant. The next stage, which is the 1st major trough in the process, is called The Three Characteristics. One’s attention has become much more finely honed, to the point that with a fair amount of reliability one is able to perceive the impermanent, unsatisfactory, and relatively selfless nature of our experience. This is particular true of physical experiences, and it’s not uncommon at this stage to experience strange, and uncomfortable physical phenomena, such as a sore neck, back, or shoulders, a build up of pressure in the forehead, finding one’s posture twisting into odd positions, etc. There also tends to be a lot of heat during this phase. I’ve often felt, when going through the three characteristics, that my body was cooking from the inside-out. And to top things off there can also be a good bit of emotional difficulty including tightness, irritation, and sadness.

Oddly enough, the only way through this difficult period is to continue to practice well, and to perceive the three characteristics with greater clarity and speed. If one is doing the noting practice, then somewhere in here it becomes natural to drop the noting in favor of perceiving things with a more bare attention. At this point one is perceiving the arising and passing of experience so quickly that the mental notes can actually feel cumbersome and clunky. During this phase, called The Arising and Passing Away (or A&P for short), things begin to get much more clear and pleasant. For many people they find they can sit much longer than they normally could, and can do so with very little effort. Meditation becomes quite easy, almost effortless at times, and accompanying this are many deep insights into the nature of phenomenal reality. Brightness, clarity, and joy often accompany this phase of the process.

At some point there is a peak to this phase, and there is an important event that happens called the A&P Event (or pseudo-nirvana). It is a peak experience, which reveals something very profound in the relationship to experience, and is often described in various ways. These can include descriptions of a great dip in reality, a momentary release of identity, an explosion of consciousness, or even something resembling an out of body experience. It can also happen in a lucid dream—as it did for the me the first time I remember crossing it. In all cases it is an important landmark not because of the experience itself, because of what follows it: the dark night.

[The preceding map is a graphical representation that uses a sinusoidal wave to describe the progress of insight. The vertical axis is describing the vedana, or feeling tone, of each particular phase. The center is neutral, the peaks are pleasant, and the troughs unpleasant. The horizontal axis is describing time, though in this case it’s not to-scale. Certain phases tend to take longer than others.]

The Dark Night, a term borrowed from the Christian mystic St. John of the Cross, describes a series of stages that follow one another quite closely. The first is Dissolution, in which phenomena are arising and passing so quickly that all that is noticed is actually the endings of phenomena. The subjective experience is very much of things dissolving, and falling away to quickly to really perceive clearly. After dissolution, you have stages with such fun names as, Fear, Misery, Disgust, & Desire for Deliverance. The mind goes through a series of intense reactions to the fact that reality is dissolving moment-to-moment. One’s attention becomes quite broad and unstable, and there is a very real sense that the ‘observer’ of experience is itself beginning to shake. There is also often an intensive emotional component to the dark night. During intensive practice it can feel as though one is being hit by wave after wave of intense emotions. After being hit by several small waves, one then has to handle the last stage of the dark night, called Re-observation. True to its name, it’s as if all the small earlier stages of the dark night combine into one, and one has to re-observe, or re-learn, the lessons of each. But this time instead of several small waves it’s one gigantic one! During this phase many people report having a difficult time sitting still at all, intense and primal feelings of frustration, and the most extreme mental upset imaginable. Re-observation is often called the “rolling up the mat” stage, as it can be so difficult that one feels compelled to just stop right here. And in fact many people do. If one is able to keep their resolve during re-observation and continue to pay attention to the constant arising and passing of phenomena then eventually it will subsist. It is not an immediate relief, but rather a gradual one.

Where, during the dark night, attention was broad but shaky, in the early part of this next stage, Equanimity, it starts to get a bit more stable. One begins to be able to sit for longer periods of time, and insights come naturally and organically. The neutral quality of experience predominates here (instead of the extreme highs and lows that preceded this stage), and as a result equanimity is often very peaceful and relaxed. Meditation can take on a more-or-less effortless quality toward the later part of the equanimity stage (what is called high equanimity). During high equanimity it is also common to slip into formless realms of concentration. It is at this point, that the conditions are ripe, for a spontaneous realization of emptiness to occur.

In the Theravada tradition, there are several moments, which occur in succession at the time of achieving the 1st stage of enlightenment. These are the 12th – 15th stages of the progress of insight map and include Conformity, Change of Lineage, Path, and Fruition. The 1st three moments are said to happen only once for each stage of enlightenment (4 in total) and the last, Fruition, is the actual event, which is referred to as emptiness or nirvana.

During the event of Fruition, which from the outside only takes a split second, all of reality blinks out of existence and then suddenly reappears. During the blink, or gap in reality, there is absolutely no sense of self, identity, observer, awareness, or anything else that would make think one that “they” have experienced anything in particular. As the late Bill Hamilton, wrote in his book Saints and Psychopaths, “Nirvana is an experience of the Unconditioned which defies any description. Any description of Nirvana is not a description of Nirvana, and that is the most that can be said about Nirvana. There are no reference points in Nirvana on which to base a description.” In the end one has to have this experience to know it, and as Hamilton points out, it is often an experience that defies any sort of easy description. Following Fruition there is a great sense of bliss that wells up, and a very real feeling that something important has happened (though it’s almost never what one expected). Some people describe it as a feeling of coming home, or of realizing that which they’ve most desired.

The last stage of the progress of insight is called Review. During review one begins to go through all of the previous stages, and almost immediately finds themselves in the arising and passing stage. They traverse this stage just as before, cross the A&P event, struggle through the dark night once again, emerge into equanimity, and once again reality blinks out for a moment with a Fruition. This cycle repeats itself again and again just like this until the territory has been thoroughly learned, hence the name Review. The only thing that changes is that during each progressive cycle, they become a bit easier and faster. Eventually a new full cycle of insight will emerge, and one will begin to work on the next stage of enlightenment. At this point they start all the way back at square one, but at a whole new layer of subtlety.

It’s also a death, a dying to that which is old so that the new can emerge. As such it can be incredibly difficult, so difficult in fact that many people get stuck here (for days, months, years, or even their entire lifetime). Part of the reason they get stuck is because it’s so difficult, but I think more importantly they don’t know what’s happening (have no good model for explaining their current situation) and thus no motivation for learning the lessons that the dark night presents and moving on to new territory. Their ignorance of the situation traps them there.

How to Know You’re In the Dark Night

The great thing about spiritual practice is that there seems to be a predictable series of events that happens as one investigates their mind and experiences. It doesn’t seem to matter what techniques or method one uses, as these same general patterns appear to emerge across different traditions and for various people throughout time. What one finds is that there is almost always a period, prior to entering the dark night, in which one’s investigation becomes extremely clear, joyful, and bright. In fact it’s not uncommon at this point to see bright lights, experience sensations come and go very rapidly, or to even feel that you are communing with the Divine. Oftentimes people feel like they have gotten enlightened during this period, but soon after the experience, clarity, etc. fades and they are left having to deal with the very real territory of the dark night.

At this point, it’s quite common that people will want to drop spiritual practice altogether. Where before they were extremely engaged in practice, now they are completely fed up with it. They may still hang around spiritual circles and be into spiritual practice, but their overall attitude has fundamentally changed. They have started the process of peeling away the idealism of enlightenment, and if they had a lot invested in those ideals it can a period of intense anger and resentment. That is why it’s not uncommon for those in the dark night to change their relationship to spiritual practice, be less interested (on one level) in the practice, but also having had a profound encounter with some pretty deep truths about reality can never quite be the same. For them, the suffering of duality is real. But oftentimes it’s not clear how to move forward from there.

These “chronic dark nighters”, if they don’t re-engage with investigation will find themselves haunted by what they’ve seen, unable to move forward, and also unable to go back. But it’s exactly the thing that got them into the dark night (usually a period of intense investigation) that has the power to move them forward. The trick then is in recognizing one’s situation and then creating, what in the Business world, one might call an Exit Strategy.

Finding a Way Out

An exit strategy, is a used in the business world when during a difficult period one has to have a plan in order to minimize the difficulties of that period. For that reason exit strategies aren’t particularly fun, but they are extremely practical. My own strategy for making it through the Dark Night was to practice well, to practice enough, and to practice with good guidance and models. To practice well means to engage in a type of investigation or inquiry that reveals something about reality we had not known before. In Buddhist practice there are particular marks of reality that one begins to notice through meditation. These include Impermanence, Suffering, and Selflessness. In short, one begins to notice that phenomenal reality is always changing and fluxing, that the process by which a reference point is constructed, is a process (there isn’t a real underlying reference point there) and that the effort to try and make reality different than it is, is exactly what brings about dissatisfaction.² These are things that are realized through practicing well.

Practicing enough means that it often takes a certain momentum in this direction to lead to results. Just as it often takes hundreds or thousands of hours to begin to master a normal discipline, so too with spiritual investigation it often takes a certain amount of time, with proper investigation, to make it through some of the initial obstacles. Retreat practice, which you see in pretty much every wisdom tradition, has this very thing as its focus. On retreat people are diving deep into their practice, so that they can build up enough momentum in a particular direction to attain “escape velocity,” though ironically it’s not an escape from anything per say but some core mistaken assumptions about identity.

Having good guidance and maps means that in order to be successful in traversing the dark night, and making further progress on the contemplative path, it is eminently useful to gain some guidance from people who have made that journey before. It’s also helpful to have access to the maps that others have left us. In short, we need all the help we can get to make a difficult journey, but it is possible, and the benefits of doing so have been known directly to the many people who have made this journey before us.

When we have found a technique or mode of investigation that suits us, have made time to really let the investigation gain it’s own momentum, have good guides and good models to help us along the way, then we have constructed a fantastic exit strategy for moving through the difficulties that the dark night presents. Then it’s up to us to put what we know into practice, face the darkness of the path (because in the end the path includes everything—both light and dark), and come out the other end. By doing so, we join the ranks of the enlightened, and we take our first major step toward awakening.

So, if you suspect you are in the dark night, please find out more about your situation. Create an exit strategy. Follow it with as much sincerity as you can, and trust the process of awakening. It will not let you down.

1. It’s important to note that there are a few major dark nights recognized in the wisdom traditions. Each one represents a fundamental dis-identification with a particular stratum of reality (ex. The gross, subtle and very subtle). As such they are a passage-way or death from one type of identity to a more subtle one. It’s also important to keep in mind that not every difficult period is a bona-fide dark night. Just because one is having a difficult time, or in a dark mood, doesn’t necessarily mean they are passing through a dark night. For more information on the other dimensions of the dark night, I would recommend reading this.
2. Here I’m talking about fundamental suffering (or dissatisfaction) not all kinds of suffering. I am of strong opinion enlightenment only solves the suffering related to the misperception of Duality, not all the cultural, (inter)personal, and biologically conditioned suffering that exists as part of the human condition. This part of the human condition cannot be escaped. It’s part of being human, and in that sense coming to understand and accept that (at the deepest levels) are what the spiritual path is all about.

A good map can point out the quickest route to your destination. It can also give you vivid descriptions of the landmarks along the way—and perhaps most importantly the pitfalls you may face. Knowing the landmarks along the route to enlightenment, especially when they are reached, provides a tremendous boost of faith & commitment to the journey itself. Also, having an idea of what obstacles one might encounter, and when these might arise, can save the spiritual practitioner years of confusion and stuckness. And in many cases it can keep one from falling off the path altogether. Good maps, again, are absolutely crucial with respect to making the daunting journey toward awakening.

Even knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the maps, there are still some finer points that need to be examined with respect to map based practice. The first is that even if someone has an extremely accurate and helpful map, they can still use it incorrectly. Even the most sincere practitioner can misjudge their own progress, make claims that simply aren’t correct, or incorrectly assess another person’s practice. Fortunately there are ways to work with all of these dangers, and one can safely use a map provided they know what they’re doing.

If one is going to try and assess their own practice using the maps it is important to know that it is easy to misjudge one’s practice. There are many dimensions to each of these stages, including the vibratory quality of phenoman, clarity, feeling tone, spatial quality of attention, and the various insights that accompany them. Because of this, if one only tunes into one or two of these dimensions and uses that to assess their progress, they can easily be mistaken. As an example, being in a bad mood doesn’t mean one is The Dark Night. This can be most easily remedied by working with folks who have an extensive knowledge of the maps and of your practice. Teachers can often notice and point out patterns that you may not see, and thus help you become more familiar with how the map terminology actually fits with your lived experience.

Another difficulty, even if one begins to see how their experience correlates with the maps, is when trying to assess another person’s practice. Because individuals often go through these stages in varying ways, at varying intensities, and different durations, it becomes tricky to try and assess another person’s practice. That being said, as one becomes more familiar with the territory themselves and sees more and more examples of what is possible on the path—again good guidance is very helpful here—then it becomes more and more natural to be able to see these patterns in other people’s practice.

Finally, if you think you’ve reached a particular landmark—say the 1st stage of enlightenment—then there is always the question of how and when to make up your mind on what you’ve experienced. One suggestion that Daniel Ingram offers, with regards to making claims of attainment, is to wait a year and a day before deciding. Often it takes time to sort out what was what, to let the high of the experience fade, and to see what remains. It’s also during this time that new understandings will unfold, which in and of themselves will provide a great deal more confidence as to what one went through earlier.

Here again it is very helpful to work with a teacher, someone who you feel confident has traversed the same territory, so as to have an objective party’s perspective. Teachers and qualified peers can help us stay grounded in our assessments of our practice, providing a kind of reality-check. Also an honest and skeptical attitude toward these experiences can be extremely valuable. Fortunately, the fruits of the practice are not dependent on us lining them up with any particular maps. All that’s required of us is that we are sincere, and are dedicated to mastering the techniques, which have for thousands of years, led to awakening.

I consider Humanistic, Third Force Psychology to be transitional, a preparation for a still “higher” Fourth Psychology, transpersonal, transhuman, centered in the cosmos rather than in human needs and interest, going beyond humanness, identity, self-actualization, and the like. - Abraham Maslow

In Abraham Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs the top of the needs triangle is self-actualization. But as he himself acknowledged later on, self-transcendence, which goes beyond the personal, is the next step in human evolution. The shift then is from actualizing all of one’s skills, abilities, & capacities toward exploring and dissecting the self that is doing the actualizing.

In retrospect, it is clear to me now that the shift away from self-actualization happens as a result of exhausting the possibility that actualizing oneself will lead to ultimate happiness. The primary ways this happens seems to be through becoming acquainted with experiences that bring us beyond ourselves (altered states of consciousness), being moved to achieve enlightenment and join the ranks of the enlightened, or through getting fed up with experiences that we once thought would bring us happiness. The first door has to do with exploring altered states of consciousness (craving transcendent pleasure). The second door has to do with achieving spiritual perfection (becoming more) and the last one has to do with fleeing or negating that which is old (becoming less). In the end, both of these doors are really one and the same. They both lead beyond the self.

When one begins to discover states of consciousness that open up whole new vistas of possible pleasures and powers it is difficult not to be drawn further and further into the search for enlightenment. Surely, we think, enlightenment must be the most amazing and pleasurable experience imaginable. In this way, enlightenment (which we’ll talk about more later) can be a perfect transitionary idea for someone who is moving out of self-actualization and into self-transcendence. The “enlightenment idea” provides a more definitive answer to the question of personal identity. And for those that are still trying to find answers in the realm of experience, or through becoming someone even greater, it promises the most profound experience and realization that one could imagine. The irony is, as anyone who has “experienced” enlightenment knows, is that it is not about gaining anything new, but rather is about stripping away, piece by piece, every misconception about who we think we are.

The other door to self-transcendence is about being fed up with experiences. Nothing we’ve felt, seen, or experienced and really no form of human knowledge or experience whatsoever can any longer provide us with happiness. It’s as if the cracks in the façade of reality begin to become apparent and nothing can really fool us into believing that it is real, at least in the same way it used to. This kind of existential dilemma, when applied to questions of truth and selfhood, can lead one to seek out enlightenment as well. Here we reach toward transcendence not by being drawn to it, but by backing away from untruth.

What’s so fascinating is that each of these doorways to self-transcendence can be traced back to the various types of craving that are described in the Buddhist tradition. The Buddha described three main types of craving in our human experience, namely 1) the craving for sense pleasures 2) the craving for becoming & 3) the craving for extinction. So the three doorways to self-transcendence include desiring transcendent states (craving for sense pleasures), the desire to become a perfectly enlightened being (craving for becoming) and the desire to escape the imperfection of reality (craving for extinction). In this sense, our human cravings are the very same energies that propel us forward on the spiritual path, and make liberation possible. Seeing the profundity of this, both intellectually and in our direct experiences, is a massive step toward a liberation that can include everything in our human experience. The highest highs and the lowest lows then are all part-and-parcel of genuine liberation. Nothing need be left out!

What I realized while having a discussion on this very topic was that personal branding can—and indeed must—be seen from a larger framework. This larger framework is inspired by the language of author Ken Wilber’s “big three perspectives”, the subjective, inter-subjective, and objective. Each perspective offers a different way (or angle) of viewing a particular phenomonon, in this case of “living the good life.” This model, I believe, helps us make better sense of personal branding in relationship to some other real forces in our life.

Authenticity, Popularity, & Brand

Personal branding deals almost exclusively with symbols, design, and slightly removed perception—that is to say with objective perceptions of individuals. Activists like Al Gore, artists like Madonna, and politicians like Barack Obama have strong personal brands. What’s interesting is that each of these people are symbols, more than people, and personal branding works at the level of symbology. Its aim is to turn one into a symbol, a symbol that is clearly portraying something in such a way that would have others attracted to it (or in some cases repelled). When one is working on their brand, they try and find ways to design a particular symbol of themselves that they wish to present to the world, and that symbol is to be perceived, in many cases, by folks that don’t even have a relationship to them. At least initially…

Popularity is another dimension of this puzzle, this puzzle of being and presenting oneself in the world. Popularity is an inherently inter-subjective perception, one that takes advantage of symbol but often has more to do with relationships. When you hear someone speak, have a conversation with someone, or experience something they’ve created you get a better sense of who that person is, and more importantly how you relate to them. Do you disagree with them? Do you find that they are easily likable? Do you appreciate some skill that they possess? When we relate to someone all of these things are decided almost immediately, and about the only thing that can change our mind on these viewpoints are the opinions of those closest to us. As you can see these two dimensions are almost inextricably intertwined, but I would argue that they should be distinguished as there are many examples of historic figures who come down to us almost exclusively as symbols, but who we then enter relationship with. Or vice versa, there are people we meet who we immediately like but whose branding we may have very little experience with.

This brings us to a sometimes over-looked dimension of living the good life, and that is the subjective dimension—of how one experiences themselves. Words such as passion, confidence, and authenticity come to mind when I reflect on this facet of living as a human being. Religious figures like Gandhi, Mother Theresa, and the Buddha immediately come to mind as examples of people who were powerful symbols, and who by today’s standards would probably be considered branding experts. The odd thing about them however, is that none of them had a particularly strong intention to become popular, but rather were following a unique passion or calling. We obviously can’t know their subjective experiences, but we can deduce that this internal dimension of their lives were of prime importance, as was their purpose.

Harmonizing

What I realized, after seeing these different dimensions of living the good life, is that each can be developed somewhat separately, but if they are out of balance in severe ways then one is missing out on building a truly gift-worthy brand as well as living a meaningful life.

Most criticisms of branding, I think are rightfully criticisms not of the techniques of getting oneself out there in ways where others can hear and digest their message, but are rather criticisms of using techniques or methods to try and popularize something that is vapid and devoid of true meaning. Without the subjective dimension then you have a flat and robotic attempt to share something that is superficial at best. Those who brand themselves only with financial gain in mind, but have nothing of true value to offer, come to mind as being severely out of balance in this regard.

That being said I don’t think it’s also unreasonable to question those folks who have a deep understanding of a particular field or fields of human knowledge and experience but do not consciously find ways to share it, and thus enhance other’s lives. Taken to extremes this can be the epitome of selfishness or foolishness. But when we recognize someone who has done both, who has become an authentic master, is deeply passionate about what they do, and has also found ways to brand themselves so that they can get their message out their appropriately, you see the emergence of deeply admired and generous folks.

So when we are seeking to live the good life and share it with others, all of these perspectives are important, all of these approaches valuable, but without a proper harmonization between them we end up either hiding our gifts from the world or throwing out more useless crap into an atmosphere of already stifling mediocrity.

UPDATE: Based on a really fun back-and-forth on Twitter, regarding Personal Branding, I figured I’d flesh out some of my current thinking on this particular topic. I was asked, “Do you start with who you are or who you’re pretending to be?” This is an interesting question. On the one hand it’s pretty easy to see, and agree, with the assumption contained within this question, namely that if one starts with who they’re pretending to be then they are simply lying (to themselves and others) and there isn’t much good that could come from this lie. One is more interested in the way that they are perceived, then in who they are actually are. That being said, it get’s a little tricky to define “who you are” especially with regards to the things you do and know. Doing and knowing are constantly evolving & changing. Oddly, the process of becoming often involves setting a vision for oneself that has not completely come into being, and then closing the gap between how we behave most of the time and who we want to become. It becomes even more tricky, when we often feel that what we are trying to become is something that is already a part of who we are, that it just needs to be nurtured, cultivated, etc. In that sense no matter how we portray ourselves, or even think of ourselves, will always be wrong. That being said, we can’t escape the fundamental problem of identity or of ways of communicating that identity.

Even trickier is when we actually already possess particular skills and talents, but because we have a particularly disempowering view of ourselves, we don’t acknowledge it, can’t help others with it as well, etc. Seen from that angle, Personal Branding, could (and probably should) be a journey of discovery of our gifts, talents, and deepest desires. And some people are in fact using it that way. Others aren’t, but that’s not a fault of personal branding, per say, as much as it is people looking for a quick route to fame, fortunate, and the like. That has been happening (probably since humanity arose) in various ways and through various guises.

Stepping back even further, I find it interesting that there seem to be two polarized sides to this conversation. One that is generally excited about personal branding, see’s it as the next big thing, etc. The other that is reactive to personal branding, points out it’s superficiality, etc. This is a classic thesis-antithesis situation, which these days almost immediately screams to me: integration is needed, balance is needed, a broader perspective is needed. Of course, the dialectic itself has value, and so perhaps it isn’t appropriate to try and jump to a point of integration, before both sides of gotten entrenched enough in their views, and then a natural integration occurs. The real opportunity, and I see it happening in pretty much every field of human knowledge and expression here in the West, is to see that all of our major problems are largely a result of not seeing the deep interconnectedness between objective, subjective, and intersubjective realities. All are valid, but when they’re fragmented, all we’re left with are shards of truth.

What David perhaps doesn’t realize is that being isn’t the same as inactivity (or not-doing). Rather it is the connection with a fundamental, and formless aspect, of reality. That connection can happen during relative inactivity or during the most intense activity. The sages of all of the world’s wisdom tradition have recognized this. In the Taoist tradition we see references to the phrase “effortless effort”, in the Christian tradition we see a deep concern with the integration of contemplation and action, and in the Buddhist tradition we see the activity of the Bodhisattva, who does not forsake the world for some sort of pure being, but rather commits to helping all beings realize that same being. In short, there is absolutely no contradiction between being and doing, and many people throughout the millennia have recognized this.

But let’s not be too hard on David Allen. Being isn’t his main focus, and for what he has done in the world of doing, he has helped a tremendous number of people. Some of those people (like me) have even used his system to deepen their connection with and recognition of being. Thanks David!

That being said, if David, or any other productivity nuts are reading this, I want you to know that just as there are some great methodologies to help us do, like his GTD system, there are also many great methodologies for being. Indeed, just as David suggestions systematic instructions for how to become more organized, effective, and attentive to our life’s activity, there are many systematic instructions for helping one come to find deep levels of being, of stillness, and peace, in the very midst of doing!

Meditation techniques like Vipassana, Zen, Centering Prayer, Raja Yoga (not just the physical poses but the whole system of yoga), Vedanta, Sufi meditation, etc. are all methodologies for revealing the deepest truths about who we are. This truth is not opposed to the world (as many spiritual seekers often believe) but is rather something that deeply transcends the world, while also being intimately connected with it. It is both immanent and transcendent.

When one begins to awaken to their true being, their engagement with the world can emerge from a place of much greater stillness, peace, and clarity. Certain confusions can drop away, and we are free to engage our lives with a greater sense of freedom. This can be a tremendous compliment for mastering productivity, and as far as I can tell, one without the other can actually be a great disservice to our highest potential as human beings.

Sangha is a really interesting phenomona, because it doesn’t just apply to contemplative communities, but to pretty much any endeavor where there is a path of mastery. One of the most striking examples, of where I’ve seen sangha make an incredible difference in my life, was during my teen years when I was an avid bowler. Every weekend, for many years, I would go bowl for several hours as part of a teen league. Over the years I progressively got better, learned new things, and eventually averaged around 170/game. This was fairly good for my age group, but my bowling game went to a whole new level when I met a young fellow named Ted.

Ted was several years older than me, and he was one of the best bowlers in the region. His average was probably around 210-220 and he was on the regional PBA tour. In other words, he was a pro. I started hanging out with Ted a lot, watching him bowl, bowling with him, and going to tournaments where he’d compete with a bunch of other professionals. I did that for a couple of months, and then he encouraged me to join the single men’s league at the bowling alley we hung out at. This was the cream of the crop league, and I was pretty scared to join, as I thought I wouldn’t be up for the challenge. But since I’d started hanging out with him my game had increased dramatically, and I was now regularly bowling 200+ games. In fact, my average, in the teen league, had jumped at least 10 points since I started hanging out with him. I decided I’d take the risk and join the men’s league, and with his recommendation, I was accepted. Amazingly during that season my average jumped above 200, meaning that of all the games that I bowled I was consistently bowling at least 200 a game! Looking back I am in utter awe of how powerful sangha, and the appropriate challenge, was to my game.

When I apply this insight to meditation practice, the correlations are somewhat startling. I realize now that by speaking, studying, and practicing with the “meditation pros” I have had a similar jump in my practice. I’ve been able to master certain states and stages of the path, have been able to recognize and overcome subtle obstacles, and have quickly come to understand many aspects of the dharma that seemed completely shrouded to me only a few years ago. I owe almost all of the credit for that to the fantastic people with whom I’ve associated, who have encouraged me with extremely high standards, and who have challenged me to really put these things into practice, and who have shared the results of their own journeys with me. Teachers like Daniel Ingram and Jack Kornfield have supported me in so many ways, as have the numerous other teachers and practitioners I’ve spoken with.

Had I not met these people, and had I not associated with the most competent sangha I could find, I’m sure that things would not have been the way they have. I suspect I would have made progress, and learned things about practice, but I very much doubt it would have been at the same rate. And at some point I may have actually stumbled off of the path, accepted way less from myself than I was capable of and plateaued, or simply lost interest in the path. This is what happens if we don’t have uncompromising aspirations, don’t spend time in the time chamber, and discover what the mystics throughout all the ages have been pointing to. Of course, we don’t have to have this as an aspiration, but for those that do, let’s not forget the power of real sangha.

One of the most fascinating elements of the show was a building called the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, whose Japanese translation is also The Room of Spirit and Time. In this room, which only a couple of warriors could enter at time, time flowed at a much slower rate. One day of normal time in the outside world was actually a full year of time in the hyperbolic time chamber. This room became a refuge for many of earth’s greatest warriors during their times of need, when they were about to face an adversary who was much stronger than them, and so needed to make extremely quick progress. Often as a result of their training in the room, they were able to emerge only a day later having made huge transformations in their abilities, and thus defeat their opponents.

The parallel I’d like to draw, and which seems so obvious having spent much time doing intensive meditation, is with meditation retreats. Meditation retreats, much like the hyperbolic time chamber, allow one to make a significant amount of progress in their meditation practices in a relatively short amount of time. I don’t know that 1 day of retreat is equivalent to a year of daily practice, but I would say that a week of retreat can often be as profound as several months of daily practice–and sometimes more so.

The reasons for this are manifold, but just as with the warriors who entered the room of spirit and time, meditators who enter retreat with a great resolve and deep spiritual need often find the fruits of their practice accelerated considerably. These spiritual warriors, if they do the practices wholeheartedly, continuously, and with a deep commitment will find that enlightenment becomes not some distant ideal, but an actual event (or series of events) that can happen in the here and now.

Just as an example, Joseph Goldstein’s teacher Munindra-ji often said that the average amount of time it takes a meditator to achieve stream-entry (or the 1st stage of enlightenment) is around 9 weeks of retreat time. The late Bill Hamilton, in a similar vein, suggested that a 3-month retreat is a reasonable amount of time to expect to be able to do so. He also cautioned that the time it takes can vary considerably. This is certainly true, as I have know people that have gotten stream-entry in as little as a week, and have also known people who have spent many months of retreat and not had this initial awakening experience.

The point then is not to set a time limit on how long it will take us, but rather to know that it is possible, and to be inspired by that possibility. At that point we can have real aims and aspirations in our spiritual practice, one’s that can be realized, confirmed, and deepened. No longer do we need to float in a state of ambiguity with regards to the practice. Because, as one of my early teachers often told me, “If you do the Buddha’s practice you will get enlightened.” With that kind of confidence and faith in the practice, we can create the proper conditions for realizing the unconditioned, and come to know that which we’ve been long searching for.

Being able to alert people to your location really isn’t all that useful, unless you are nearby to another person, and a social interaction becomes possible. The real purpose of these networks is to actually enable real-world connections by digitally mapping a person’s whereabouts and comparing them to others. Instead of having to call people to tell them where you are (how antiquated!), you instead just have your geo-spatial location tracked, and have your friends become alerted to this location in real-time. In essence, these services will allow us to unify our virtual and meatspace connections, thereby enhancing both!¹

Differentiate…

But why hasn’t this already happened? Most of the social networks you belong to today happen exclusively online. Facebook, Myspace, etc. allow you to connect with people you don’t know, who may share interests with you or even a common background, but they certainly don’t promote—except in rare instances—actual physical connections. ² This has created, what many critics have pointed out as, a disconnected relationship to the physical world, not an enhanced one. But that is really only half the story, the 1st half of differentiation.

Just as a new cell must differentiate itself from an old one while replicating, so too has the internet differentiated itself from normal ways of worldly communication. And just as computers are vastly superior to the human brain at certain types of computation, and are becoming more so each day with the continued development of artificial intelligence, the internet allows world-wide collective communication at far greater speeds and with far greater collaborative potential. What is web 2.0 if not a greater tapping of the internet’s global communication potential?

…then Integrate

The 2nd half of the story is one of integration, of coming together, of unifying at higher and more complex levels. We are seeing the beginnings of internet technologies that are beginning to reach back into our physical lives, to bring the stupendous benefits of lightening-quick, highly collaborative, data-rich systems back into social lives.

The result, eventually, will be geo-social networks that track where we are (instead of us having to do so manually) will notify us not only of pre-existing friends that are close, but also of people we might like to meet based on a set of shared interests, friendships, and passions. We’ll begin to be able to meet people that we didn’t even know we wanted to meet. That’s human relationships 2.0—to extend the 2.0 metaphor farther then I probably should.

All new technologies begin as crude and slightly disconnected from the rest of their environments. We can think back only a couple of decades to massive mainframe computers and big brick-like cellphones that almost no one used. The internet, and the social networks that we find on it today are kind of like that. But with geo-social networking on the rise, and a host of other useful, more fully integrated information technologies, we are going to find out lives more deeply enriched by these things, not less so. In the end their integration will become so tight, as it already has become for many in my generation, that we really won’t be able to distinguish any difference between the virtual world and the real world. It will just be the world that we interact, love, work, and play in.

1. You can of course choose to not have your location broadcast. When the technology becomes more mature the only choice you’ll likely be making is whether to be “on the radar” or “off the grid”. Most everything else will be handled automatically for you.
2. Online dating services like Match.com are definitely an exception. Just wait until they start harnessing geo-social networking technologies! You’ll be standing at the corner of Pearl and 14th and will suddenly be receiving a date request over your cell phone from the woman across the street—and neither of you may have initiated the date! Blind dating on steroids.