What is the Enlightened Lifestyle?
The main image shows a circle divided into two halves. On the left side is "Open Will" and on the right is "Open Mind".” At the top is "Open Heart". In the middle is "Freedom" and "Potentiality". This represents the key parts of the Enlightened Lifestyle.
The Scientific Method and Critical Reasoning
The scientific method is built on three key pillars:
Observation: Carefully noticing details about the world and oneself
Inquiry: Asking questions to learn more
Evidence: Looking for facts and proof
These pillars are rooted in critical reasoning, which saw a resurgence in the 1600s during the Western Age of Enlightenment. This period marked a significant shift away from the ignorance that characterized the Dark Ages.
The Enlightenment brought forth and developed several essential concepts, such as:
Liberty
Equality
Secular humanism
Scientific thinking
Reason
Skepticism
Empiricism
And other ideas. While some of these ideas had earlier expressions in Judeo-Christian thought, the Enlightenment represented their final maturation and a turning point for many others.
The Need for a New Turning Point
Despite the advances made during the Enlightenment, I argue that we need another significant shift in scientific practice. The current methodology doesn't fully account for intuition, creativity, and insight processes that operate beneath the surface when an individual faces challenges beyond their current knowledge. What happens when you do not know what to do and the present knowledge you process does not help you?
Open Mind: Just Watching
The right side of the circle shows "Open Mind: Just Watching". This means observing reality without judgment. It's about paying attention to what's happening without trying to change it.
By opening your mind and watching, you start seeing things as they are. You let the voice of judging of what should be fall away.
Open Heart: Sensing from Reality
At the top of the circle is "Open Heart: Sensing from Reality". This connects the Open Mind and Open Will. It's about tuning the world outside of you. Perhaps this means looking up information you haven’t previously done. This may mean engaging in practices (like Liberating Structures or Theory of U practices) to touch outside perspectives you haven’t considered or just allowing mother nature’s activities to inspire your journey. Sensing from reality is opening yourself to what reality can teach you.
Open Will: Letting Go
The left side shows "Open Will: Letting Go". This is about releasing your need to control everything. In this framework, letting go occurs in the "presencing" phase—where individuals and organizations move from downloading past patterns and knowledge to accessing deeper sources of awareness. At this base “source,” there is a chaordic dynamic of self-organizing activity that occurs outside of one’s control because “you” are a part of that activity. At this level of being, rather than doing, One senses the creative inspirations that bubble up from the interdependent Chaordic soup of reality of being itself see what insight manifest as you and your peers discern whether they are beneficial or harmful.
Historically, Buddhist practice involves cultivating the life to navigate well with this reality at being which is an ever-changing dynamic as the self-expression dissolves into potentiality itself. There are practices which assist in that navigation:
Meditation: Practicing stillness, focus and mindfulness
Inquiry: Cultivating equanimity through non-clinging and non-self
Habits: Notice your usual ways of thinking and acting habits and seek to change your habit patterns, which support equanimity, compassion, and wisdom cultivation.
When you open your will and let go, you stop fighting against reality. You become more relaxed and able to flow with life.
Letting Come: The Power of Surrender
At the base of the U lies Letting Come, where individuals and organizations release control, allowing deeper insights to arise. This phase is characterized by "presencing," a state of heightened awareness where one connects with a profound sense of purpose and potential. By surrendering habitual thinking and welcoming the unknown, people access insights from the emerging future rather than reacting to the past.
Open Heart: The Crystallizing Moment
As we ascend the right side of the U, the phase of Open Heart invites individuals to attune to the wisdom within reality itself. This is the stage of "crystallizing" — moments of clarity and Eureka! insights where the essence of what must manifest becomes apparent. By engaging empathetically with the broader system, from societal trends to natural inspirations, individuals and teams align their visions with what the world calls for next.
Open Mind: Prototyping and Iteration
Building on the clarity of crystallization, the phase of Open Mind emphasizes experimentation and prototyping. This iterative process translates vision into action, encouraging continuous learning. It involves testing small-scale innovations to refine ideas and adapt to feedback from the environment. This dynamic phase acknowledges the inherent uncertainty of complex systems while fostering resilience and creativity.
Integration: A Chaordic Harmony
The journey through these phases resonates with concepts from Chaordic Daoism, which celebrates the balance between chaos and order, and emphasizes emergence from interconnected systems. Just as fractals reveal beauty within complexity, so too do these phases illuminate paths toward meaningful innovation
Freedom and Potentiality
In the center of the circle are "Freedom" and "Potentiality". These are the goals of the Enlightened Lifestyle. You become freer as you open your mind, heart, and will. You're no longer stuck in old patterns or limited by your ideas. You also tap into your potential - all the possibilities of who you could be and what you could do.
The Path to Enlightenment
The graphic shows arrows moving around the circle. This represents the ongoing process of the Enlightened Lifestyle. You don't just do it once, and you're done. It's a continuous journey of opening, observing, letting go, and growing.
The bottom left says, "From reaction to investigation". This means moving from automatically reacting to things to curiously exploring them instead.
The bottom right talks about understanding "Cause & Effect" - how one thing leads to another. Some cause-and-effect connections are linear, classical and personal (i.e., eating without exercising increases the chances of obesity.) Other cause-and-effect relationships, such as butterfly effects and economic externalities, are nonlinear and impersonal. Both linear and non-linear causalities are essential concepts and have their manifested expressions of both sides of the reciprocal methodology. Understanding and accepting these linear and nonlinear expressions in our natural world is key to developing wisdom and understanding when navigating our world well.
The graphic also mentions "Chaordic Practice/Change" and "Chaordic Reality/Order." Chaordic" combines "chaos" and "order.” It suggests that life is a mix of unpredictable change and underlying patterns. The Enlightened Lifestyle helps you navigate this complex reality.
Practical Applications
The Enlightened Lifestyle isn't just theory - it's meant to be used daily as a method of life navigation. The graphic says it's "The practical application of the Lifestyle in all areas of life." It can be applied to anything from personal relationships to work to hobbies. Whether it is in the lab or in the world, I feel this is a more robust enlightenment practice than the scientific practice alone.
Some specific practices mentioned are:
Meditation: Sitting quietly to calm your mind and observe your thoughts
Learning and critical questioning: Continually gaining new knowledge and skills
Choice: Making conscious decisions rather than acting on autopilot
Regulation: Managing your emotions and behaviors
Cause & Effect: Understanding how actions lead to consequences
For a deeper delve into more of what constitutes this methodology, check out:
The book: The Enlightened Lifestyle
The graphic also notes that "Mental, emotional, verbal, & physical actions are sacred." This means treating everything you think, feel, say, and do as important and meaningful.
Different Perspectives
The second image expands on the main graphic. It shows how the Enlightened Lifestyle relates to different areas of life and study. It's divided into four sections:
Subjective Singular: This is about individual, inner experiences. It includes things like Buddhist psychology and phenomenology (the study of conscious experiences).
Objective Singular: This deals with observable, measurable things about individuals. It includes practices like exercise and nutrition.
Subjective Plural: This covers shared experiences and group practices. Examples are group meditation and "fulfillment tribes" (communities focused on personal growth).
Objective Plural: This section is about systems and structures involving many people. It includes ideas like Holacracy (a way of organizing businesses) and Liberating Structures (methods for group collaboration).
This expanded view shows how the Enlightened Lifestyle can be applied in many different ways, from very personal inner work to large-scale social systems.
Key Ideas of the Enlightened Lifestyle
Balance: The lifestyle balances different approaches - Eastern and Western, subjective and objective, individual and collective. It's not about choosing one side, but integrating multiple perspectives.
Openness: A core practice is opening your mind, heart, and will. This means being receptive to new ideas, feelings, and possibilities.
Observation: Careful, non-judgmental watching is crucial. This applies both to the outer world and your inner experiences.
Inquiry: The lifestyle encourages asking questions and investigating deeply, rather than assuming you already know.
Letting Go: Releasing attachment to fixed ideas, habits, and desires is an important part of the practice.
Freedom: The ultimate goal is to become more free - not controlled by unconscious patterns or limited thinking.
Potential: The lifestyle aims to help people tap into their full potential and possibilities.
Integration: It's about bringing together different parts of life - mind and body, individual and community, theory and practice.
Continuous Practice: The Enlightened Lifestyle is an ongoing journey, not a destination you reach once.
Practical Application: While it includes some complex ideas, the lifestyle is meant to be applied in everyday life.
Benefits of the Enlightened Lifestyle
People who practice the Enlightened Lifestyle may experience:
Greater clarity of mind
More emotional balance
Improved relationships
Better decision-making skills
Increased creativity
A sense of purpose and meaning
More resilience in facing challenges
Enhanced physical health
A feeling of connection to something larger than themselves
Challenges of the Enlightened Lifestyle
The Enlightened Lifestyle can also have some challenges:
It requires consistent effort and practice
Some concepts may be difficult to understand at first
It might challenge your existing beliefs and habits
The benefits are often gradual, not immediate
It can be hard to find others who share this approach
Balancing different perspectives can be tricky
It requires facing uncomfortable truths about yourself and reality
Getting Started with the Enlightened Lifestyle
If you're interested in trying the Enlightened Lifestyle, here are some steps to begin:
Start a daily meditation practice, even if it's just for a few minutes.
Pay more attention to your thoughts, feelings, and actions throughout the day.
Ask yourself "Why?" more often to deepen your understanding.
Practice letting go of judgments and seeing things as they are.
Learn about different philosophical and psychological perspectives.
Find ways to apply these ideas in your daily life and relationships.
Connect with others who are interested in personal growth and wisdom.
Be patient and kind with yourself as you learn and grow.
Conclusion
The Enlightened Lifestyle offers a comprehensive approach to living wisely and fully. By opening your mind, heart, and will, you can become more free, aware, and in tune with reality. It combines ancient wisdom with modern insights, aiming to help people navigate the complexities of life. While it requires effort and practice, many find that it leads to greater clarity, purpose, and well-being. The Enlightened Lifestyle is not about reaching a perfect state, but about continually growing and evolving throughout your life.
