Come back to plain, ordinary being

Set the developmental frame down entirely, a few times a day, and simply be one ordinary person among many.

Pourquoi ça marche

Cook-Greuter (2018) describes late-stage maturity as including a return to the simple, childlike joy of being alive and delight in the senses, alongside accepting that one is mortal and fallible — "we are all bozos on the same bus." She frames the whole arc of development as moving from unconscious union toward a conscious union with everything, and the Unitive stage has been summarized from her 1999 work as a sustained openness in which transpersonal experience is integrated into a fluid state of being. Ordinary presence is the opposite of watching yourself develop, which is why it is practiced rather than analyzed.

Comment faire

1. Three times today, do one ordinary task — washing a cup, walking to the car — with full attention to the senses and no commentary about what it means.
2. Once today, sit with someone without monitoring how present or developed you are being.
3. Before sleep, remind yourself in plain words that you are one fallible, mortal person among billions, and notice whether that feels heavy or light.
4. Let days go by without any developmental reflection at all.

Données probantes

The return to simple joy, acceptance of being mortal and fallible, and the arc toward conscious union are from Cook-Greuter’s 2018 essay. The description of the Unitive stage as sustained openness integrating transpersonal experience into a fluid state of being is Daniels et al.’s (2018) summary of Cook-Greuter’s 1999 dissertation. No study tests whether practicing ordinary presence moves anyone toward the Unitive stage. (anecdotal)

The Unitive stage is the least studied in the sequence. Practicing ordinary presence is worthwhile on its own terms, not as a technique for reaching a stage.

Sources

• Cook-Greuter, S. R. (2018). The Construct-Aware Stage of Ego Development and its Relationship to the Fool Archetype. Integral Review, 14(1), 300–310.
• Daniels, D., Saracino, T., Fraley, M., Christian, J., & Pardo, S. (2018). Advancing Ego Development in Adulthood Through Study of the Enneagram System of Personality. Journal of Adult Development, 25(4), 229–241.

Erreur fréquente

Turning ordinariness into another achievement — becoming very good at being ordinary. If you notice you are performing it, that noticing is enough; go back to the cup.