Two New Blogs Plus New Dharma Coming On December 22, And Why I’m Asking You To Pay For Them *** Dear Friend, I would like to give you an overview of some key changes in my Web presence that you can expect between now and the end of the year. Within a matter of weeks I will have completed re-organizing my past writings into three categories: writings on Integral philosophy and spirituality which reflect my current views, writings directed specifically for the gay/LGBT community, and everything else. Some of my past writings in these two categories will be moved to one of these two websites: Gay Spirituality (basically launched for the first time) and Integral Blog. Everything else will remain on Joe-Perez. All three of these sites have Facebook pages and Twitter accounts, and I will do the best I can to stay socially plugged in. Integral Blog is live on the Web and will be taking the shape I am envisioning in the next few weeks. It is the beginning of a new chapter in my Integral writings. For the first time, I am creating a site exclusively devoted to Integral philosophy and spirituality, wisdom and folly. My writings on this site will explicitly use the AQAL Framework and other tools in the Integralist’s toolbox such as the concepts of True Self and Unique Self. I very much want to create a site that builds connections within the Integral community, provides a source of news and views, and encourages education and dialogue. For the Integral revolution in consciousness to advance, it simply must have a healthy ecosystem in the blogosphere, and there is an opening for a site to play a critical role as a hub. Did I mention that I want to write daily? It’s a fine goal to strive for. I also want to see the site expand to include multiple authors over time. My writings on gay spirituality have evolved considerably over the years. At this time, I have a new dharma related to Gay Spirituality which I will soon begin to elaborate. Building on the AQAL Framework described in my eBook Gay Spirituality 101, I will expound for the first time an Integral Gay Enlightenment teaching. The dharma will make it clear that I am articulating an Integral Gay Spirituality, not a variation of the postmodern school of thought by the same name which is very enmeshed in affirming gayness as part of the separateness of the personal self, but an evolution of it. Furthermore, I will make it clear that by “enlightenment” I do not mean any variety of spiritual individualism with its navel gazing and deification of the present moment. My own view is strongly Evolutionary and Integral, so I will be showing how gay identity is a source of wisdom at all levels of identity from the shadow to the personal self to the Supreme Identity. In my teaching, enlightenment carries a definite sense of integration into nature, culture, and society … accordingly, the new Integral Gay Spirituality site will include diverse commentary. Finally, after certain Integral writings of mine are re-posted on the new Integral Blog and other writings of mine for a gay audience moved to Gay Spirituality, much of what is left is worth preserving. Some of these posts are six, seven, or eight years old. My “legacy” writings are what they are; they are markers on my journey. But of course I cannot continue to write as I did eight years ago. I have been working on new stuff — which I’m calling a new dharma — for more than four years. I have previewed glimpses of the poetry and language mysticism and calendary and esoteric thoughts on occasion, but the time simply wasn’t right for me to take the next step. I have shown you fragments of a mystifying variety, but there is a comprehensive vision with new spiritual literature, art, and technology ready to emerge. For the uninitiated, I am speaking of my poetry and thought influenced by the T’ai Hsuan Ching (the ancient Chinese esoteric classic known as The Canon of Supreme Mystery), and Lingua-U, the Language of Subtle Energy, among other projects. The new stuff is going to begin to come out slowly starting on December 22 of this year, a date picked to coincide with the solstice and the beginning of the Kalendar (a new Integral calendar of Sacred Time, one of the technologies in my toolbox). The new writings will show you how my contemplation and theorizing have evolved beyond the Integral framework into a style which helps me to be more at home in the world. However imperfectly, I am envisioning technologies and linguistic tools that can help humanity to evolve over the next 1,000 years … because we owe it to future generations. The writings have exerted a personal toll and inflicted deep spiritual wounds as well as gifts. If I could have abandon these writings, I probably would have. But I am stuck with them. They need to see the light of day, and I say let those souls who are likewise drawn to them come along for the ride. There is one other thing I want to talk about. For the first time ever, I am going to begin to put some content behind a paywall, restricting its access to paid subscribers. My intention is to allow a certain number of free articles to be read every week, and additional page views would require a subscription for access. If you are interested in seeing the new dharma emerge on any of these three new or re-launched websites, I will ask that you contribute to my work in the world. The funds are needed to support this work for sure, but I don’t feel a need to justify wanting a source of income to pay the rent or medical bills. I have come to believe that there are many readers who are interested in my work (and future readers who haven’t discovered it yet) who are willing to support its author in bringing it forth into the world. If I don’t ask, I won’t receive. When other spiritual authors and teachers routinely charge $200 per hour for a single hour of their time or ask $495 for an online course or $3,000 for a weekend retreat, am I wrong in asking $19.99 for an annual subscription per site? I hope my most committed readers will subscribe to all three sites for less than $60 per year, bless them, and find the price quite reasonable. Heck they can give more if they are inspired to do so (it’s all very much needed). I know I can do so much, much more good in the world with a paid subscriber base than without one. Two of my books are available in libraries throughout the US and I expect eventually my new writings will become books which will become freely available, so I am not preturbed at the thought of depriving anyone of knowledge on account of their inability to pay. All the content will be available to those who wait. At most freeloaders desiring everything all at once without restriction will be inconvenienced and discouraged from tackling my new writings, and I feel that is a necessary and therefore acceptable price to pay so that my work can continue to evolve. Although I am sure to lose some Web traffic, what good is mere traffic? I honestly don’t know that it does me any good or that I am doing any good simply by attracting more eyeballs to the pixels on my Web pages. I don’t want hits or clicks; I want readers who are committed to learning about and exploring the original dharma and literature and spiritual technologies that I am bringing into the world. I want deeper transmission and dialogue and relationships and fewer uninterested lookee-loos. If you’re moved by the dharma or the mystery or the Light or the Love or all of these things, let’s move forward together. It feels good to get this off my chest. I’ve resisted asking readers to become paid subscribers for years. I will be in touch with you again when each of the new websites launch or re-launch over the next several weeks. Much love and many blessings, Joe -- joe-perez
Posted on: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 00:55:29 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015