Mi'sen

Exquisitely curious how this conversation lands with folks like: @OortCloudAtlas @VincentHorn @cognazor @Failed_Buddhist @Imperfectbuddha @Meaningness @_awbery_ @KennethFolk @danielmingram

I found it quite clarifying. I think in peoples' questions there is a map vs. territory issue. The Imaginal and Soulmaking I think can be described in a few words, but only in reference to other words that are already packed with implicit culture meaning (i.e., not simple)

But the tendency to want a simple explanation is a form of top down conceptualizing. I think what Rob is describing is bottom up, each persons own discovery of personalized archetypes, and letting go into them, not having a clear picture but letting go of the need to.

I do think that this practice is very complementary to emptiness practice. Often initial insights into emptiness are very 1-dimension, and don't trickle down into the depth of our psychology. But by allowing oneself to give way to forms, emptiness is extended to multiple levels

The word that keeps coming up for me here is enchantment. If realizations of emptiness seem dry and stale, then there are more levels of our psychology (perhaps unconscious) that are still solid and rigid. Enchantment is a signpost that we are moving in the right direction