07-820 The Evolutionary Journey from Dirt to God: Experiencing the Stages of Divine Energy Through Music, Movies and Voice Dialogue

With Rev. Michael Pergola MA, MBA, JD. Co-Founder & President

OSIS Credit Value: 1
$90 Public, $75 OSLA Students & Alumni

Distance Learning ONLY

This course is adjunct to 07-814  Integral Spirituality: Exploring the Common Core of Human Wisdom

Spiral Dynamics is one of several empirically validated developmental theories focused on the human potential for growth throughout the life cycle.  According to these constructive developmental theories, as well as the wisdom of the great spiritual traditions, there are many different ways we see and experience the world based on the particular nature of our personal development.  These levels or stages of development will manifest in different energies, perceptions and behaviors, and often we will not even know that they are at play in our lives. At times we may find ourselves stalled at a stage that makes us less effective, less energized and less alive than we would like to be, without understanding why. 

Who/what is it that gets stalled? A useful answer is the ego, the identity or the self-sense.  If we think of our self-sense as the chauffeur that drives us through life, it’s easy to understand how we might ignore the chauffeur, and the route she is taking, if we are satisfied with the journey.  However, as the pathways become more complex, we may find ourselves wishing for a driver who has a better appreciation of all the options on the map; or even a deeper understanding of where we hope to end up.  While our sense of self under girds the way we see ourselves and the way we act, it is easy to be unaware of the assumptions compressed into the self-sense.  Spiral Dynamics and other developmental theories help us appreciate the self-sense in objective ways.

In this workshop, we will use music, dance, movie clips and voice dialog to experience the different energies that make up our personal developmental arc. We will become aware of blocks we have to the flow of particular energies and explore practices that strengthen our capacity to feel and hold these energies in a healthy way.  This workshop will further our own development, help us better understand our life and clarify our relationships with significant others.

Rev. Michael Pergola MA, MBA, JD. Co-Founder & President of One Spirit Learning Alliance has pursued an understanding of consciousness in individuals and collectives for over 30 years.  A long time student of the world’s wisdom traditions, he served as Chief Knowledge Officer at a large bank for six years, and practiced law at Wilmer, Cutler and Pickering for nine years. He has a JD and MBA from Cornell University and a Masters in Organizational Dynamics and Individual Development from the University of Pennsylvania. He is an Enneagram teacher, a facilitator, mediator, meditation teacher, biofeedback practitioner, and executive coach. He teaches and consults to Fortune 500 companies in the areas of leadership, communication, organizational learning and creativity.  He develops and teaches courses in a wide variety of areas including: Integral Spirituality, Ancient Wisdom for Modern Life, and Spiral Dynamics.  In his various roles Michael applies his understanding to support others in developing personal mastery and the capacity for skillful action.