InPresence 0051: The Quest for Wholeness

InPresence host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in "parapsychology" ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). For many years he served as president of the non-profit Intuition Network, an organization dedicated to creating a world in which all people were supported and encouraged in developing inner intuitive abilities.

Here he reviews psychological concepts related to wholeness, including self-actualization, individuation, and multiple intelligences. He talks about a time in his youth when he felt confused and ungrounded, as he symbolized in a woodcut he created called "Spaghetti Man". A decade later, after much work on himself, Jeffrey created his first Rainbow YinYang image -- a symbol of wholeness. He points out that art is a way of expressing outwardly what we see when we look inward.

(Recorded on March 30, 2018)

[stevenklimecky]

Jeffrey Mishlove at 19-20 yrs - confused, but GORGEOUS!

[KazimirArdekanian]

High school children can pivot around what is articulately said and illustrated in this talk. 
This will help them to detect the projections from their social circles (teachers, friends, parents, businesses, etc.).
This talk is also dovetailing smoothly to Dr. Mishlove's interview with Theodore Roszak (about The Cult of Information).
Once in a while I watch that interview. It is a heartwarming conversation and beacons hope!
I suggested that book to some young people. But they did not relate to it at all!
Thank you Dr. Mishlove.

[johnpaul]

The path is a beautiful symbol. Look down any path, into the woods, say, and when it turns, when you can't see what lies ahead, you want to follow it.

[sidetracked]

Your life story reminds me of Adam Curtis' "The Century of Self" . My mother and stepfather had lots of stories about the bay area, Marin county, and Oakland in the sixties. My stepdad encouraged me to take the training in S.F. with Werner Erhard in '84 when I was 17 years old. I was way too inexperienced for deep introspection of questions that had not come up for me. It gets harder to make decisions about what I choose to gain wholeness when the resources are so vast! ! I love your show.

[willyt]

When I started drawing mandalas in the early 2000's after reading some of Carl Jung's work, it changed my life and opened my mind up to more positive energies. I highly recommend just improvising some from your own mind for anyone out there. Wonderful work again, Dr. Mishlove

[Quick_and_Dirty]

As I’m working my way through this series, I find myself wondering what new shirt
you’ll be wearing for the next broadcast. This episode seems more apropos than any other to point out how well you wear your look. The pastels and light colors, in particular, bring out a certain glow in your presentation, and has made me rethink my 25 year affair with the goth look.

Never thought I'd be getting style ideas from this channel, but here we are. Thanks again, for all that you do. Love you, man!

[vicproulx]

”The purpose of art is the gradual, lifelong construction of a state of wonder and serenity." - Glenn Gould. "Art is the essence of awareness." - Louise Nevelson. "When you express your truth, you fall directly into your purpose." Vicki Howie "All true artists, whether they know it or not, create from a place of no-mind, from inner stillness." Eckhart Tolle. " Art to me is an anecdote of the spirit." Rothko

[qooguy]

Wholeness... is a direction, there is always... more

[Paddyllfixit]

The Mind is so complex it's mind-boggling.

[semichiganandy]

Very interesting and really cool imagery. Your artistry is beautiful. A personal experience (as a result of an enormous adrenaline release) in my 20s made me aware that I had some personalities inside that could emerge if needed and that 3 of them could simultaneously act to stop a disaster. It was fascinating to reflect on later - a "Where did those people come from?" situation. Later I've noticed that many of us have attributes that come out only in more extreme situations. I've noticed that for some of us, our 'art' comes out in the form of creations that might not otherwise be considered to be art. For instance, technical discoveries and helping others resolve personal issues.

[Yasumi_Hoshikawa]

Dr Mishlove please please consider doing an interview with Teal Swan!! she has a book titled The Completion Process that more or less walks you through making yourself whole again (in relevance to this InPresence Ep.) It's only one of many topics I believe you two would very much enjoy delving into together.

[Flanalb]

Wow, Jeffrey! You have raised a multitude of themes. I'm going to resonate with the first one: wholeness and identity. Because I started out trying to reconcile the sacred and the profane, I started with religion - as you did - and thence traveled through philosophy and psychology to biology and the real world....cycle, cycle...
Along the way, I sought to find my identity through projection and relationship, experiences, etc. Anyway, having spent some time trying to help other people find their balance in life, my attention drifted (along with our generation) to alternatives in the environments of thought.
At this point, I would like to raise three basic ideas for consideration:
1) It has been suggested that psychotherapy seeks to effect a person's adjustment within him-/herself and within society - a kind of reconciliation in the context of life as it presents itself. In contrast, some mystics (I will use this as a generic term for wise guys in other traditions) suggest that they seek to effect a transformation rather than an adjustment. (The result of the transformation is something that we probably can't imagine until it has happened to us.)
2) If you consider existence as holarchical in nature, we are holons: both whole individuals and parts of larger wholes (from top down and bottom up). In that case, I would imagine that telepathic communication might be in service of the whole of humanity's attempts at the sort of integration that you are recommending for the individual.
3) Some people suggest that life on earth as humans is part of a larger, spiritual existence, and that we are here to achieve some spiritual goal of maturation (yet our souls are perfect already - well, here's where we need a science of spirit). It might be that whatever condition we find ourselves in - disintegrated, confused, annoyed, miserable, ecstatic, together - is not to be messed with on the conscious level because our situation is the one we need to bring that development about.
I'd like to hear some of your music.

[augustreigns]

this is very interesting.
i will watch again.
(...my process is to winnow the chaff...)

[AnthrYrslf]

All the levels of refinement, don't look down!

[savedfaves]

The lighting is a bit better in this one. Still needs some softening.