Abstract
This article celebrates the life and work of dear friend and mentor, Allan Leslie Combs, acknowledging his continued presence in my life. Interweaving stories of our relationship with his insights on integral consciousness, Bateson’s concept of aphanipoiesis, Varela et al.’s notion of autopoiesis, and using narrative, storytelling, and autoethnographic methodologies, I tell a tale of becoming that troubles and haunts my past. The sticky tendrils of Ancestral trauma and its transhistorical epigenetic inheritance, once acutely troublesome, are shifting due in large part to the contents of this letter. Woven together, these conscious, intersecting, and interactive lenses show how Leslie has been an aphanipoietic phenomenon in my life, aiding and abetting my potential. The letter is written in two tenses and first person, stretching academic boundaries and taking liberties with the rigor of APA.
Keywords: Allan Leslie Combs, autoethnography, integral consciousness, aphanipoiesis
Recommended Citation
Kinne, A. G. (2025). An Open Letter to Leslie. Journal of Conscious Evolution, 22(2). https://digitalcommons.ciis.edu/cejournal/vol22/iss2/11
