Faculty . Philosopher & Educator
Bruce Alderman
Mind is an intimate absence, clear as the autumn eve.
A few reflections from Bruce
What first drew you to explore your inner life?
It seems I was always drawn to my inner life. At first, this showed up as deep interest in art, imagination, and language. But later, after I lost several people dear to me in a series of tragedies during my school years, I began to look more deeply into heart and mind and the sources of suffering.
What are you currently curious about or investigating?
The meta crisis and what it asks of each of us.
What is one insight that has stayed with you over time?
The findability of mind in its unfinding.
A simple practice you return to:
Exercise 16 from the first TSK book, “Space-Time-Knowledge on the Conventional Level,” is a simple practice, a simple check-in that I can do on my walks, that sometimes goes surprisingly deep.
What helps you find balance in daily life?
Remembering the sky.
A place physical or internal that brings you a sense of peace:
Right now, it’s my back yard! It is a lovely, quiet place surrounded by trees and open to the sky.
A book, teaching, or idea that has influenced you deeply:
I have practiced in several very rich, deep, and venerable traditions, all of which I appreciate and treasure, but the Time Space Knowledge books hold a special place in my heart.
A quote you appreciate:
“The senses open in all directions as we reach out to know experience, we contact the innermost center of our own hearts as well. We learn that the senses are instruments of the heart, intimate at the deepest level with the time of time. The knowledge they unfold leads awareness to Being and appreciation to the essential quality of Time, Space, and Knowledge.”
Tarthang Tulku, Knowledge of Time and Space
A few words for someone just beginning to explore their mind:
There is nothing you have to worry about ‘adding.’ We just need to get out of our own way. And when we do we may find, after all, that there was nothing that needed to be ‘subtracted’ either.
Websites, books, or YouTube channels:
CIIS / Blue Sky Leaders Program: https://www.ciis.edu/profiles/bruce-alderman
The Integral Stage: https://www.youtube.com/@theintegralstage8140
Liminal Verses: https://www.amazon.com/Liminal-Verses-Bruce-Alderman/dp/B0CQGHYQNW/
Dancing with Sophia: https://www.amazon.com/Dancing-Sophia-Integral-Philosophy-Theory-ebook/dp/B07ZZGPV8L/
Feeling Fully Alive (forthcoming)
Giving Voice to Time and Space (forthcoming)
Optional (Light & Human)
Something people might not expect about you:
I used to play bass in a post-punk band called The Dog Soldiers
Bio
BRUCE ALDERMAN, M.A., is affiliate faculty in the JFK School of Psychology at National University, and the Associate Director of the Blue Sky Leaders program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. He received his master’s degree in Integral Psychology, with an emphasis on Transpersonal Counseling Psychology, from John F Kennedy University in 2005. Prior to working at NU and CIIS, he taught and studied abroad in Asia for several years, including teaching courses on creative writing and inquiry at the Rajghat Besant School, a Krishnamurti school in Varanasi, India. Bruce took Buddhist refuge with a Theravadin teacher on Java in 1994, and has practiced in the Nyingma and Bön traditions since 2003. He has published essays in the Journal of Integral Theory and Practice and Consciousness Journal, as well as in several anthologies on Integral philosophy and spirituality, and recently self-published a book of collected poetry. For the past 5 years, he has produced and co-hosted The Integral Stage YouTube channel and podcast.
Explore the live online courses Bruce teaches.