The Descending Path

In many developmental movements there is a strong emphasis on so-called “ascendent” practices, which can lead to issues in the maturation process of the individual.

In this conversation with Spring Cheng and Tom Murray we explore the descending path and how it relates to the ascending path in development, the role of grief, learning and unlearning, how one direction influences the other and encountering and deconstructing complexity.

In this podcast we talk about:

07:00 What’s missing in ego development
12:00 The role of grief and sadness
18:00 What is waking up
22:55 The descending path
26:15 Learning and unlearning
31:50 Exploring internal structures
37:00 A paired, complimentary movement
42:00 The value in the “lower” levels
50:15 Deconstructing complexity
55:30 Incorporating the descending work

Resources Mentioned:

Integral theory
Seeing through the world, by Jeremy D Johnson
Metamodernism
VUCA
Bonnitta Roy
Robert Kegan
Terri O’Fallon
I Ching