In this fascinating discussion, former NFL linebacker David Meggyesy discusses the extraordinary overlap that exists between sports and spirituality, and how professional athletes may be more familiar with experiences of spiritual transcendence than any of us might assume….

"You are the founder of Athletes United for Peace, using positive aspects of sport—which can be a self-transcendence—to transcend other boundaries. Boundaries between race, between sexes, any of these political and social boundaries that ultimately divide people. Sports is probably the single most widely practiced avenue for transcendence, and yet it's the single least discussed...."

click here for free sample! (right-click to download)

Who: David Meggyesy is a seven-year NFL linebacker, and has recently retired as the Western Regional Director of the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA). He authored the best selling football autobiography Out of Their League in 1971, which was selected by Sports Illustrated in 2002 as one of the top 100 sports books ever written. David was also co-founder of the Esalen Sports Center, and taught a course at Stanford University for football players titled "Sports, Consciousness, and Social Change." 

Summary: Since the dawn of civilization, sports have been an intrinsic part of human society.  From the militaristic competitions of ancient China, Greece, and Egypt, to the enormous rise of spectator sports in the wake of the industrial revolution, athletics have long served society as a foundation of human triumph, camaraderie, and excellence, as well as a source of personal discipline, achievement, and improvement—not to mention a common language of stories and statistics that men have traditionally used when women aren't around to fill the often-awkward spaces between them. 

In many ways, sports represent the very best of the human spirit.  And yet, some may find it odd to suggest a connection between sports and spirituality, as though these are two completely distinct facets of human life, without any bearing upon each other whatsoever.  Maybe if we are talking about kung fu or some other marital art we can see an overlap, but what does spirituality have to do with modern western sports like football (of either variety), baseball, or basketball?  After all, these games are fueled by the decidedly earthly elements of blood, sweat, tears, and testosterone, while spirituality is often charged with the role of dealing with the more abstract and heavenly concerns of our tragically finite human existence.  But really, these are two extremely narrow conceptions, unable to capture the full complexity and richness of either athletics or spirituality.  After all, an athlete can find as much virtue, luminosity, and self-transcendence through sports as a monk can find through any spiritual tradition.  And a monk can find as much personal power, potency, and embodiment through spiritual practice as an athlete can find in any type of sport.  As it turns out, there is an extraordinary overlap between sports and spirituality—and this overlap is the essence of this dialogue.

The Integral model maintains that the human being is composed of many different intelligences, talents, and skills, each of which can grow through multiple stages of depth, complexity, and competency.  Examples of these “multiple intelligences” (or “developmental lines”) include: cognitive ability, kinesthetic intelligence, moral development, aesthetic skill and appreciation, etc.  Although each of these developmental tracks grows along its own path, each with its own unique stages of unfolding, there is enough symmetry in their overall development to suggest a very general barometer to make sense of all these different trajectories of human growth—a concept known as “altitude,” and demonstrated in the accompanying graphic.  “Athleticism” draws upon a combination of these developmental lines, in varying degrees of importance.  But what is especially interesting is that, as any of these individual intelligences approach the highest stages of development currently available to us (teal, turquoise, indigo, and beyond, as indicated below) they begin to take on qualities that can only be described as “trans-rational” or, more simply, “spiritual”—which is why, for many, watching Michael Jordan play at the peak of his game can feel like reading Rumi.

 

Developmental altitude not only describes the progress of each of these multiple intelligences, but also influences the overall cultural sense of meaning that surrounds sports, for both the athlete and the spectator.  For example, sports allow fans a certain amount of magenta ritual, a healthy outlet for red aggression, a source of amber allegiance to a particular team, city, state, nation, etc.  For athletes, sports have historically had an exceptional ability to bring people from red to amber, tempering the rawness of the ego by plugging the often testosterone-driven identity into a higher-order structure of self-sacrifice, discipline, and teamwork, before opening them up to orange principles of accomplishment and excellence.  These structures also determine the general values of sportsmanship with which the athlete approaches the game—whereas red is focused upon the glory of victory, amber reminds us that “there is no I in team,” orange tells us that it’s “not if you win or lose, but how you play the game,” while the modern Olympic code reflects the green sentiment that “the most important thing is not winning, but taking part.” These different modes of sportsmanship are especially important in today’s world, which situates sports in an aggressive business market that can seriously reinforce the power-hungry ego.  Without properly internalizing the ethical sensibilities of amber-and-above structures, it is all too easy for the ego to be seduced by delusions of self-importance, enabling athletes to remain red megalomaniacs running loose in an orange world of fame, status, and celebrity—which may help explain the apparent moral transgressions of people like Michael Vick, Kobe Bryant, Tonya Harding, and many others.

There is another definition of “spirituality,” which has more to do with the fleeting—but very real—subjective experience of spirituality that athletes frequently tap into, regardless of which developmental altitude they may be coming from.  Often described as being “in the zone” or “out of his head,” athletes can often slip into the same exact nondual states of consciousness that have more typically been associated with artists and mystics—states of utter self-transcendence and unobstructed creative or performative flow. These nondual "flow" states (along with gross, subtle, causal, and witness states) form the very core of esoteric and contemplative forms of spiritual practice at the heart of virtually all the world’s religious traditions—and although they have very different names, metaphysical assumptions, and cultural contexts from tradition to tradition, there is an astonishing symmetry in all of these various descriptions, enough to suggest an essential unity underlying every single spiritual experience and expression in the history of mankind. 

According to many athletes, these states occur with astounding frequency—especially for those who have evolved to the highest reaches of development in any of their developmental lines, which seems to allow more stable access to these higher states. These nondual "peak-experiences" are rarely acknowledged by the sporting community, largely due to the unavailability of adequate language in sports culture to properly communicate these experiences, or to help take them off of the field/court/ice and into daily life.  But whether acknowledged or not, nearly every athlete has had his or her own sense of being “in the zone” at one time or the other—the effortless collapse of player, opponent, audience, and game, until all that remains is the erotic scent of freshly-cut grass, the weight of the warm sun pressing against your skin, and the slow-motion frenzy of a Kosmos-at-play.

All in all, this exceptional dialogue goes a long way to remind us that all those aspects of our lives that seem separate or distinct from our spirituality are, in actuality, anything but.  There is nothing Spirit doesn’t touch—from our highest ideals of love, respect, and sportsmanship, to the drunken bloodlust of hearing millions of people cheering you to victory—everything finds its home in the transcendent mind of God, nestled in the immanent heart of the Sacred, where the line between winning and losing becomes the very same line that separates self and other, part and whole, here and eternity. We hope you enjoy.

Do you have a question for David Meggyesy? Email integralsports@gmail.com to submit your question, to be answered in the coming months!

Click here for full dialogue!

The founder of America’s largest producer of spoken-word spiritual material shares the inside story behind the origins of Sounds True, one of the world's leading exemplars of integral business practices....

"In a way, I gave birth to Sounds True, and then over the next decades Sounds True gave birth to me...."

click here for free sample! (right-click to download)

Who: Tami Simon is the founder and president of Sounds True, a multimedia publisher dedicated to "the dissemination of spiritual wisdom" and North America's leading publisher of spoken-word spiritual teachings.

Summary: In this compelling dialogue, Tami Simon and Ken Wilber discuss the origins of Sounds True, one of the world's very first organizations to operate along genuinely Integral principles. In the discussion, she summarizes these principles as the "multiple bottom lines" of purpose, profit, people, and planet. She shares the intentions behind each of these guiding principles, and talks about their impact upon the day-to-day work environment at Sounds True. Tami then goes on to discuss the intimate relationship she has with the company, and the profoundly transformative effect Sounds True continues to have upon her to this very day.

There is a common misconception among many aspiring integral leaders that organizations must organically evolve through the same general developmental stages individuals grow through, and therefore need to become conventional before it can become post-conventional—moving through an orange organizational system before it can move to a green organizational system, before then making a "momentous leap" into integral and post-integral organizations, etc. While they may share many similar qualities, we cannot confuse the properties of social holons (which can skip stages) with those of individual holons (which cannot). As such, businesses, organizations, or any other collective entities do not develop the same way as individuals, and do not necesarily move through developmental stages in any sequential fashion whatsoever.

One useful metaphor for the way organizations orient themselves developmentally is to use the example of a poker game as a social holon: if you have six people (individual holons) sitting at a table playing poker, all of whom are at the red stage of development, you've essentially got a red game of poker. If three of those people leave, and three new green people come to the table, you've got a game that is half green, and half red. If all six people then leave, and are replaced by six turquoise players, then it immediately becomes a turquoise game of poker, with no need to move through amber, orange, or teal stages of development.

Simply put, if you wish to create an integral organization, staffed by integral individuals, with the hope of creating integral output, you need to have integral structures in place from the very beginning. These integral dynamics often differ greatly from conventional organizations, and typically include a mix of policies that are simultaneously as loose as they are tight, exactly the sort of "flex-flow" that second-tier employees thrive upon. For example, you would likely find as much emphasis upon flexible hours, practice-nurturing cultures, and fun work environments as you would upon tight timelines, strict procedures, and maximized productivity. Integral organizations tend to recognize the wide array of motivations, needs, and working typologies of its employees, and tries to offer enough stability and flexibility to accommodate all these factors—after all, a happy employee is a productive employee, right?

While businesses do not by necessity move through these stages in a sequential manner, it is worth noting some of the features that commonly define organizations at particular stages of organizational development:

- A red organization is essentially the modern-day equivalent of ancient warlord societies, in which a single founder, leader, or owner dominates every aspect of the business (for the better or worse of all) with blatant disregard for other opinions, ideas, or perspectives.

- An amber organization typically features a rigid hierarchy of leadership, in which everyone knows their place, their function, and their duties. Ideas and decisions move strictly downward, from the leader, CEO, or board to management, all the way down to the employees. Mobility in the organization is often a result of aristocratic, nepotistic, or fundamentalistic politics.

- An orange organization also tends to have strict hierarchies in place, though these hierarchies are usually meritocracies in which promotion is based upon ability, drive, and aptitude. Decisions still tend to move down the organization, though there are often channels by which new ideas can float up the managerial chain.

- A green organization often tries to eliminate hierarchies altogether, instead forming sociocratic structures based entirely upon principles of flexibility, freedom, and flow. In these systems, every perspective is given equal weight when it comes to the decision-making process, often by means of voting or consensus.

- A "second-tier" business is one that values both aptitude and altitude in decision-making, while seeking to create hierarchies that are simultaneously fluid and structured. These companies explicitly aim to balance structural efficiency, cultural cohesion, best practices, and personal growth and happiness—all in service of a commonly-shared vision of unity, transcendence, and integrity for the world.

It is no secret that the Integral altitude is currently rising as a real cultural force in the world, in much the same way that green began to arise in the late fifties and early sixties. As this new Integral population continues to emerge and organize itself into a viable spiritual, political, economic, and ecological force, it will surely look to the incredible successes of Sounds True and the leadership of Tami Simon as cherished role-models, genuine beacons of enlightened business, laying the ground for an entirely new vanguard of Integral organizations to come.

We invite you to enjoy this fascinating discussion.

Click here for full dialogue!

There is a new interview between Ken and Steve being featured on Salon.com - be sure to check it out!

Link.

You are the river: An interview with Ken Wilber
Interviewed by Steve Paulson

The integral philosopher explains the difference between religion, New Age fads and the ultimate reality that traditional science can't touch.

April 28, 2008 | Ken Wilber may be the most important living philosopher you've never heard of. He's written dozens of books but you'd be hard-pressed to find his name in a mainstream magazine. Still, Wilber has a passionate -- almost cultlike -- following in certain circles, as well as some famous fans. Bill Clinton and Al Gore have praised Wilber's books. Deepak Chopra calls him "one of the most important pioneers in the field of consciousness." And the Wachowski Brothers asked Wilber, along with Cornel West, to record the commentary for the DVDs of their "Matrix" movies.

A remarkable autodidact, Wilber's books range across entire fields of knowledge, from quantum physics to developmental psychology to the history of religion. He's steeped in the world's esoteric traditions, such as Mahayana Buddhism, Vedantic Hinduism, Sufism and Christian mysticism. Wilber also practices what he preaches, sometimes meditating for hours at a stretch. His "integral philosophy," along with the Integral Institute he's founded, hold out the promise that we can understand mystical experience without lapsing into New Age mush.

Though he's often described as a New Age thinker, Wilber ridicules the notion that our minds can shape physical reality, and he's dismissive of New Age books and films like "The Tao of Physics" and "What the Bleep Do We Know." But he's also out to show that "trans-rational" states of consciousness are real, and he's dubbed the scientific materialists who doubt it "flatlanders."

Wilber's hierarchy of spiritual development -- and the not-so-subtle suggestion that he himself has reached advanced stages of enlightenment -- has also sparked a backlash. Some critics consider him an arrogant know-it-all, too smart for his own good. His dense style of writing, which is often laced with charts and diagrams, can come across as bloodless and hyper-rational.

When I reached Wilber by phone at his home in Denver, I found him to be chatty and amiable, even laughing when he described his own recent brush with death. He's a fast talker who leaps from one big idea to the next. And they are big ideas -- God and "Big Self" and why science can only tell us so much about what's real.

Link.

The man behind the theory of morphic resonance shares his drive to explore the evolutionary impulse behind the Kosmos itself. In this discussion, Ken and Rupert Sheldrake discuss Rupert's own spiritual heritage, the relationship between consciousness and matter, and the mysterious process by which a “we” of one level becomes the “I” of the next level….

"When I met Father Bede, he helped me integrate Eastern and Western science and philosophy - so for me that was a hugely integrative teaching and experience that I had with him, and it was exactly what I needed at the time. And through him I came to see that there was a whole mystical strand in Western spirituality as well, and I personally feel more at home, because it's my own tradition...."

click here for free sample! (right-click to download)

Who: Rupert Sheldrake is a British biologist and author who has developed the theory of morphic resonance, incorporating the insights of early twentieth century morphogenetic fields, and extending the understanding of biological “fields” to entire species—not merely individual groups of embryonic cells—and where evolutionary habits of nature can explain far more than eternal laws of nature.

Summary: There is perhaps no field of human inquiry more fundamentally confused than evolutionary science—especially given its monumental task of trying to essentially account for the entire history of the manifest world, from the Big Bang to this present moment in time, along with every mutation, deviation, and transformation in between.  It is an extraordinary science that requires an equally extraordinary framework, comprehensive enough to make sense of the entire spectrum of evolutionary emergence—especially as it becomes increasingly necessary to explain things like consciousness, hermeneutics, and spirituality in evolutionary terms. 

We see what can happen when this comprehensive framework is not available, simply by looking at one of the most heated debates in popular science today—intelligent design vs. evolution.  Here we have a case of evolutionary science becoming hijacked by the very same culture wars playing themselves out politically, academically, and spiritually throughout the world: in this case, mythic fundamentalism vs. rational materialism.  The scientific materialists are often quick to explain consciousness away, reducing subjectivity to cold calculations and chemical epiphenomena.  Meanwhile, a great number of religious traditionalists feel their spirituality being threatened by such seemingly atheistic conceptions as "natural selection," and tend to respond in one of two ways: either by rigidly defending the cosmology of their particular faith (e.g. creationism), or by accepting some of the fundamental precepts of evolutionary science, but inserting a typically mythic conception of God as the ultimate "designer" of the entire evolutionary process.

An Integral consideration of evolution, however, brings a great deal of much-needed clarity to the fundamental relationships between matter and consciousness, between science and spirit, and between humanity and divinity.  As clarified by an Integral view of evolution, matter and consciousness cannot in any way be reduced to one another, but are both in fact intrinsic to the evolution of the universe—and co-arise together.  Science and spirituality are not inherently in opposition, but instead tend to focus upon different aspects of reality—both of which must be taken into account, or else our evolutionary maps remain woefully incomplete.  Furthermore, evolution does not eliminate God from the universe, despite what many materialists and fundamentalists may believe. Quite the contrary, an Integral survey of our evolutionary potential tells us that all roads ultimately lead to God (Spirit, Brahman, Suchness, Ayin, Tao, etc.)—, that divinity is both an inevitability in our evolutionary future, as well as a constant source of energy, vision, and clarity each step along the way.

In the previous installment of this dialogue, Rupert and Ken took a careful look at the relationship between matter and consciousness in a single entity (a.k.a. holon or morphic unit) explaining that everything that has a coherent objective form also has a subjective interior.  In this section, they continue to tease apart some extremely important distinctions, most notably the difference between individual holons and social holons.  This has been another source of confusion for evolutionary thinkers, many of whom are able to easily grasp the holonic sequence of whole/parts, but often make the mistake of stacking social holons on top of individual holons.  For example, one frequently-used model of evolutionary complexity looks like this:

atoms → molecules → cells → organisms → human beings → families → cities → nations → ecosystems → gaia → solar system → galaxy

To many, this sequence makes immediate intuitive sense, as each piece seems to envelop the previous piece, forming larger and larger magnitudes of existence.  But when we take a closer look, we can see that there are in fact two very different types of hierarchies in play—individual hierarchies and social hierarchies—and these two different dimensions of hierarchical growth do not stack on top of each other, but grow alongside each other, as demonstrated here:

 

As we can see, by simply introducing a collective dimension to our understanding of the universe, we are given a radically different map of our evolutionary origins.  Add to that the differentiation of subjective and objective dimensions of existence, each successive wave of evolution yielding more complexity of form and deeper subjective interiority—and at last a truly comprehensive tapestry of evolutionary potential begins to appear—a genuine "theory of everything" that reveals in a single glance the entirety of our evolutionary heritage, helping us all to predict where we are going as a species by more fully understanding where we came from.

 

This Four-Quadrant diagram helps one look at our Kosmic existence from a meta-perspective, and in a brief glance, we can see “where we’ve come from” and “where we’re going”—or where we might be lucky enough to end up, should we truly apply ourselves to the vision of what humanity could become, in our livetimes, if we really want it.  So the question is: are you interested in standing the heat of being a living shooting star?  Don’t worry, you won’t be alone.  Among many, many others, the two fine gentlemen in this dialogue will be there right alongside you….

 

Click here for full dialogue!

Dear Integral Life Member,

Integral Life was founded by and for people who are committed to growing into more self-awareness.  We are privileged to share this journey together, all of us, a global community of tens of thousands of people who understand that humanity’s daunting challenge, and most exciting prospect, is that this generation is perhaps the first in history that has both the means and tools capable of living in a truly integral way.

What does it mean to live an integral life? 

Although that is the living question at the center of our community, we have an important foundation already lain for us.  We know that living integrally means living freely, not getting stuck in detrimental thought and emotional patterns.  We know that it means being able to integrate all partial truths in a more comprehensive and compassionate whole.  We know that it represents an active engagement with life that honors all human needs – from security, food and sex to belonging, self-actualization and self-transcendence.  And perhaps most importantly, it means simply giving ourselves and all humanity the permission to be fully human while having a compassionate and effective framework in which to do just that.

Integral Life is a global club for people who recognize that the ongoing partiality so prevalent throughout human history will not suffice in the 21st century, and who want to live freely, fully and authentically.  So what you’ll find at Integral Life when we launch next month is a broad framework of topics that mirror the diversity of this journey. You are invited to participate actively in the community, to give us feedback on how we can make Integral Life more useful to you, and to contribute your own writing, videos and content to the conversation.  Because each of you has something unique and valuable to contribute to the community, we will compensate our featured contributors (more details on this will be announced soon).

And your contributions are very important.  I’ll provide just one example.  I have spent the past eight weeks on the road to confront the most pressing question an integral leader faces: how is an integral view relevant in the real world, and how can it be applied to humanity’s most serious challenges?  To find out I visited some of the most prominent gatherings of world leaders at events by TED, Aspen Institute, the Conscious Capitalism Club, and Global Philanthropy Forum.  Three themes have emerged clearly from my conversations with heads of major foundations, heads of state, multinational corporation executives, diplomats, entrepreneurs, and spiritual leaders: 

1. Integral is a powerful framework for global transformation.  Currently, our most sophisticated global solutions are fragmented and partial.  Many problems are too complex for narrow solutions or single-discipline specialists and leaders are implicitly seeking an integral framework.  
2. Integral practitioners have a lot of work to do yet.  In order to apply integral to pressing global issues – consciousness growth, climate change, poverty, conflict and security, healthcare, human trafficking, human rights – we must be able to engage these issues at the level of specificity and relevance in order to aid leaders on the front lines.  We have work to do, and Integral Life and Integral Institute will lead by catalyzing and funding this work.
3. Individual transformation is key.  The work of global change begins with individual awareness.  Integral Life’s mission of helping everyday people throughout the world to become more self-aware can be an important contribution to humanity’s development.

 

As someone dedicated to your own growth and self-awareness, your participation in these three areas can be critical to humanity’s development.  And obviously being an aware global citizen engaged in broad issues of this sort is just one example of what it means to live integrally, but at every level – personal, interpersonal or systemic – we are called to a loving, authentic, informed and purposeful life. 

By your participation you are helping to advance integral living in a way that can begin to change conversations and the level of consciousness in your own community.  Don’t underestimate the profound light that can shine on a deeply fragmented world when each of us holds a candle high in the air.  Your energy and enlightened perspectives are precious resources, and we are here to help you continue to cultivate this growth in awareness.

Deep abiding love,

Robb Smith
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
Integral Life, Inc.
Chief Executive Officer
Integral Institute, Inc.

Father Thomas Keating and Brother David Steindl-Rast

Two of the world's most cherished Christian teachers discuss the role and relevance of the Church in the modern world, and how it was originally created in order to preserve the teachings of Christ--with the singular purpose of helping to bring people into the exact same relationship with God that Christ himself had, leading humanity into a space that is truly both "fully human and fully divine."

While much of this teaching has been lost in the fog of religious fundamentalism over the centuries, the spirit of this core intention continues to thrive in such beautiful souls as Father Thomas and Brother David, both of whom bring extraordinary humor, grace, and love to a very difficult (and controversial) topic.

The discussion uses some terminology from Spiral Dynamics, a system of measuring different value systems as they unfold in human consciousness. Here is a brief summary, including Ken Wilber's current names for some of these levels:

Beige: Archaic-instinctive—survivalistic/automatic/reflexological
* From 100,000 BC on
* "Express self to meet imperative physiological needs through instincts of Homo sapiens."

Purple (or Magenta): Animistic-tribalistic magical-animistic Tribal order
* From 50,000 BC on
* "Sacrifice to the ways of the elders and customs as one subsumed in group."

Red: Egocentric-exploitive power gods/dominionist
* From 7000 BC on
* "Express self (impulsively) for what self desires without guilt and to avoid shame."

Blue (or Amber): Absolutistic-obedience mythic order—purposeful/authoritarian
* From 3000 BC on
* "Sacrifice self for reward to come through obedience to rightful authority in purposeful Way."

Orange: Multiplistic-achievist scientific/strategic
* From 1000 AD on (as early as 600 AD according to Graves and Calhoun)
* "Express self (calculatedly) to reach goals and objectives without rousing the ire of important others."

Green: Relativistic-personalistic—communitarian/egalitarian
* From 1850 AD on (surged in early 20th century)
* "Sacrifice self interest now in order to gain acceptance and group harmony."

Yellow (or Teal): Systemic-integrative
* From 1950s on
* "Express self for what self desires, but to avoid harm to others so that all life, not just own life, will benefit."

Turquoise: Holistic
* From 1970s on
* A sacrifice self-interest system which is still forming

For more about Spiral Dynamics and how it relates to other measurements of Altitude, please see www.holons-news.com/altitudes

Writer / Director Eric Schaeffer has offered Stuart Davis starring role in a full length feature film to be shot in Boulder, Colorado this August, 2008. Davis' character is a happy family man with a spiritual practice, who's nonetheless hungry for a break in his music career. Eric Schaeffer will play a successful actor seeking love and deeper spiritual life. The inverted arc of these two narratives intersect with a Boulder back drop. The film will feature an all-Stuart Davis sound track (including live performances) and will be completed by the fall and submitted to Sundance and all other festivals, etc. No working title as of yet.

Schaeffer also announced last week he's using Davis' song Already Free as the theme music in his new 14-part Showtime Series "I Can't Believe I'm Still Single", which will air Sundays and Tuesdays this June, July, and August on two Showtime channels. The series will also be available in Showtime's On-Demand section.

Stay tuned to www.stuartdavis.com for more details as they come.

Integral Leaders Sought For a Harvard Research Study

The Mindful Leadership Study seeks a group of Integral Leaders as volunteers to explore how an integral perspective may be uniquely helpful in the context of leadership development.  The purpose of the study overall is to understand how mindfulness – whether naturally occurring or purposely cultivated – may help leaders be more effective in developing the social and emotional skills critical for effective leadership.   

We are looking for Current & Previous Leaders who have:

♦ Worked in for-profit businesses and not-for-profit organizations
♦ Either do or do not have a formal mindfulness practice
♦ Held a leadership position for at least 5 years
♦ Had at least 3 employees who report directly to them and 8 employees who work in positions below theirs

Time Required to Participate: 2 hours total

♦ Participants complete 4 self-assessment questionnaires at your own home or office
♦ Each questionnaire can be completed at different times if desired
♦ Participants will have the opportunity to learn about their individual results

Contact Information:
Metta McGarvey
Harvard Graduate School of Education
mcgarvme (at) gse.harvard.edu

For More Information: www.mindfulleadershipstudy.org

The Foundation & Apprenticeship Module is a five month intensive program for people new to Integral Coaching®. It enables foundational development of Integral Coaching® skills and core competencies through study and direct application in two intensive class sessions and a formal Apprenticeship Period in-between the classes.

The dates for the two in-class sessions are:

May 12 – 16 (5 days)
Nov 18 - 20 (3 days)

Both sessions will be held in the Washington DC area.

First Class: 5 days
Second Class: 3 days
Between Classes: Formal Apprenticeship Period: coaching two clients in 3 – 4 month coaching programs
Four one hour calls with Apprenticeship Coach
Assignments and readings
Coach Training Hours: 64 hours

The formal Apprenticeship Period allows the coach to put the principles, method and theory foundational to Integral Coaching® into direct practice and receive feedback along the way. In the true sense of the word ‘apprentice’, each coach learns their trade while in practice with a senior ‘tradesperson’ standing behind them. Coaches learn about Integral approaches to human development and work with real clients with the support of a skilled, seasoned Integral Coach™. There are one-on-one phone calls throughout the five months with the Apprenticeship Coach who reviews the coach’s client work at each juncture of the process providing real-time competency development. For more information, download the pdf here.

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Move Beyond Life’s Obstacle and Activate Your Infinite Potential

Genpo Roshi’s Big Mind European Summer Tour 2008

Come join Genpo Roshi this summer in Europe and experience the brilliance of his Big Mind teaching.  His goal is to make this teaching available to as many people as possible so you to can experience a depth of awareness that will help you to be in the world more fully and effectively.

May 24-25, 2008 - Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Big Mind, Zen & Beyond
Location: Felix Meritis – European Centre for Arts & Culture
Time: Saturday & Sunday 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Cost: $265(Euro €180) Total for the weekend
For more information and to register please visit: www.genpo.org or email: eurodesk@bigmind.org
or call +1-801-971-1506

May 29, 2008 - Lisbon, Portugal
Big Mind Big Heart - Finding Your Way
Location: Espaco Tuatara, Rua do Centro Cultural 27, 3º Alvalde
Time: Begins Thursday, 7:30 p.m. – Ends at 10:30 p.m
Cost: Euro €60  
For information & to register contact: +351 913590753   email: info@budadharma.org +351 917088371 |email: wildflower.pt@gamil.com
or visit: http://www.budadharma.org/bigmind2008.html

May 30, 2008 –  Barcelona, Spain
Big Mind Big Heart - Finding Your Way
Location: Libreria Excellence Rambla de Cataluna 25, bajos- 0800
For Information & Registration contact Mercedes Cardenal at: intaugral@hotmail.com

May 31, 2008 – Barcelona, Spain
Big Mind Big Heart - Finding Your Way
Location: Col.legi Major “Sant Jordi” Passatge Ricard Zamora s/n 08017, Barcelona
Time: Begins at 3:00 PM – Ends at 9:00 PM
Sign up by March 31st
Cost: Cost is: Euro €90, After April 1 Euro €100
For more information and to register please contact Mercedes Cardenal at: intaugral@hotmail.com

June 8, 2008 - Berlin, Germany
Big Mind Big Heart Intensive Seminar
Time: Begins 6:30pm - Ends 9:30pm
Cost: Euro €60
For more information and to register please contact Felicitas Ucke at: kontakt@coachingcenterberlin.de or visit: www.coachingcenterberlin.de

June 9, 2008 - Hamburg, Germany
Big Mind Big Heart Intensive Seminar
Time: Begins 6:30pm - Ends 9:30pm
Cost: Euro €60
For more information and to register please contact Felicitas Ucke at: kontakt@coachingcenterberlin.de or visit: www.coachingcenterberlin.de

June 10, 2008 - Dusseldorf, German
Big Mind Big Heart Intensive Seminar
Time: Begins 6:30pm - Ends 9:30pm
Cost: Euro €60
For more information and to register please contact Klaus Fadle...bigmind@kanzeon.de

June 11, 2008 - Okohaus - Frankfurt, Germany
Big Mind Big Heart Intensive Seminar
Time: Begins 6:30pm - Ends 9:30pm
Cost: Euro €60
For more information and to register please contact Sonja Student at: kontakt@ii-frankfurt.de or visit: www.oeko-net.de/kaeins/index.htm

June 12, 2008 - Espace St. Martin - Paris, France
Big Mind, “Zen and the Transmutation of Energies”
Time: Begins 8:00 PM -   Ends 10:30 PM
Location: 199bis, rue Saint-Martin, 75003 Paris
Cost: Euro €50
For more information and to register please visit:  http://www.danasangha.org/en/start_en.htm or call: 01 49 88 91 65 or email:
info@danasangha.fr

June, 14-15, 2008 - Amsterdam Netherlands
Big Mind “Just Sitting Meditation” Koan Workshop
Location: Felix Meritis - European Centre for Arts & Culture
Time: Each day begins at 12:00 PM and ends at 5:00 PM
Cost: $265 (Euro €180) Total for the weekend
For more information and to register please visit: www.genpo.org or email: eurodesk@bigmind.org
or call +1-801-971-1506

Are you a visual artist who is Integrally aware? Have you always wanted to share your work with the Integral community? We would love to see your work! Please send an email with a link to your visual art (paintings, photography, sculpture, graphic art, etc.) to ahinickle (at) integrallife (dot) com....

Jim Garrison discusses America's transition from republic to empire, exploring the obviously difficult implications this has for the citizens of the world, as well as the unique opportunity America has to become the very last empire in history….

"We Americans look back on the 1930's and say 'how can anybody support the Nazi's or be silent during the construction of national socialism and the holocaust?' But if you look at the United States since 9/11, we have been extraordinarily passive in the face of international criminality and the construction of a national security state here at home, while being so militarily aggressive abroad—and it's happened without almost any public protest...."

click here for free sample! (right-click to download)

Who: Jim Garrison is the chairman and president of the State of the World Forum, which he cofounded with Mikhail Gorbachev in 1995. The State of the World Forum (SWF) is often thought of as a "shadow UN," in that it is the largest forum of world leaders outside of the United Nations. From Margaret Thatcher to Ted Turner, from the Queen of Jordan to Desmond Tutu, from Jimmy Carter to George Bush Sr., all have been part of the extraordinary dialogue that is the State of the World Forum.

Summary: 

"'Republics' imply single nations, democratically governed—which is what America was founded to be.  The very essence of 'empire' is the control of one nation over other nations.  While America remains a republic within its own borders, it has become an empire in relationship to the rest of the world."

"The central question before America, therefore, is what it should do with all the power that it has—how should it assert its authority, and for what end?  This means that America should acknowledge—even celebrate—its transition to empire and acquisition of global mastery...."

~Jim Garrison, America as Empire

Why exactly is America's imperial status something to be celebrated?  How can we begin to come to realistic terms with the status of America as empire, cutting through the idle alarmism and insatiable hunger for power that often spring from the American Left and Right?  And how might we begin to rise to the enormous opportunity the American empire has to transform the world for the better?

As Ken and Jim agree, the central paradox of the world is the fact that America has become the most powerful nation-state in the history of civilization, at precisely a time when the forces of history are demanding that we move beyond the very concept of nation-states, into a new era of truly world-centric global governance.  And herein lies the ultimate challenge for America: to consciously view itself as a "transitional empire," leading the human species away from political fragmentation and economic isolation, toward a genuinely integrated world governance.  In this way, America can guarantee that it will indeed be history's very last empire, by helping to make obsolete the need for imperial powers altogether.

But how is this to be done?  As Jim mentions, there are very real internal and external measures America must take, both individually and collectively.  Internally, we must acknowledge the reality of the status of America as empire, while accepting the enormous responsibilities that bears.  We must perpetually redefine and re-calibrate our notions of freedom, justice, and civic duty from generation to generation—never taking our liberties for granted, lest they run the danger of being silently taken away before anyone even notices they are gone.  And we must come together to find a new over-arching vision for America and for the world, a markedly Integral vision of humanity that can cut across multiple levels of psychological and sociological development, transcending the imaginary lines drawn on our maps, uniting us all as a single human family.

Externally, the U.S. must find a way to reverse much of the damage the Bush administration has done over the past eight years, strengthening the international institutions that we will invariably need to solve the problems facing us as a global community.  America must self-consciously use its imperial status to help the struggling nations of the world by bringing as much health and stability to these societies as possible.  Of course, this cannot be accomplished by militaristically exporting our values onto the rest of the world—conquering pre-democratic nations, dragging people to voting booths, and forcing Big Macs and apple pie down their throats.  On the contrary, being a truly benevolent empire requires a integral approach to politics and economics, surveying the whole spectrum of human motivations, values, and conditions, while supporting methods of governance that are appropriate to a particular society with particular needs.  From an Integral perspective, an entire range of political paradigms are available to us, any of which may prove useful for various geopolitical situations, including dictatorships, theocracies, monarchies, democracies, etc.  And while any of these might work for certain needs of certain people at certain times, the Integral vision continuously leads us closer and closer to genuine global governance, with an emphatic impulse toward more justice, more freedom, and more compassion.

Finally, Americans must be direly realistic about the many obstacles in our path toward becoming a truly "transitional empire."  By their very nature, empires are inherently loathed by the majority of the world—after all, no culture likes being dominated by another, regardless of whether or not it is ultimately "for their own good."  An empire's longevity depends entirely upon its ability to somehow uplift those under its dominion.  While most empires come into power with force, they can only endure with philanthropy, providing fair and benevolent solutions for those who are unable to find them otherwise. 

When empires assert their authority only to maximize their own power—rather than to maximize the degree of liberation available to humanity—catastrophic events such as the 9/11 attacks become inevitable.  Jim and Ken discuss Osama Bin Laden's actions and intentions in detail, offering a crucial exploration of the shadowy warrior behind the most world-changing event of recent times, and what may eventually turn out to be the financial bankruptcy of the greatest empire the world has ever seen.

Of course, even the most benevolent empires must occasionally suffer through similar acts of violent insurrection, and none of this is to accuse America of becoming an entirely power-motivated imperium.  If anything, this dialogue simply points out the extraordinary precariousness of America's role in the 21st century, reminding us of the highs and lows that we are capable of as a species, both of which are actively playing themselves out within the global political scene.  It challenges us all to recognize our own civic responsibility to truly engage this world, to translate our highest ideals into real-life actions with real-life outcomes—which means that, if you have enough of an integral perspective to have made it this far into this talk summary, you should be voting!!!

Click here for full dialogue!

Integral Life is seeking a skilled web programmer to join our small agile team in expanding the offerings of our web portal. Work for one of the world's top companies for consciousness and world change, Integral Life, Inc.

-1+ years of PHP experience required
-Strong problem-solving skills required
-Strong communication skills required (written and verbal)

-Knowledge of SQL is preferred but not required
-Knowledge of Drupal is preferred but not required

-The following skills are a plus: JavaScript, CSS, SQL, Flash, Photoshop

Please submit resume and statement of interest using this form: http://www.holons-news.com/contact

An Interview with Myriades 1. Part 4. The Architecture of Growth.

In an interview for Myriades 1, an Argentinean cultural magazine, Ken discusses the mechanics of individual and collective growth, the role of leadership in human development, and the recent disasters of American foreign policy....

click here for free sample! (right-click to download)

Who: Gaspar Segafredo, Editor-in-Chief of Myriades 1, an Argentinean cultural magazine with an integral approach.

Summary: It is becoming increasingly obvious to more and more people that the current state of humanity is simply unsustainable, causing more damage, fragmentation, and suffering than our world can possibly contain. During the 2008 TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) conference, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore had the following to say about sustainable living in the 21st century:

"What's needed really is a higher level of consciousness—and it's hard to create, but it's coming. As the Africans say: if you want to go quickly, go alone; if you want to go far, go together. We have to go far, quickly."

An elegant summation of where we are as a species, and where we need to go from here, phrased in such a way that nearly every participant in the conference would most likely agree with—at least on an intuitive level. But what does it all really mean? When addressing an issue as enormously complex as human growth and development, we must have access to a framework comprehensive enough to make sense of the entire dizzifying range of human experience—otherwise the more closely we look, the less clear the details tend to become. Without this sort of framework, we cannot even begin to unpack Gore's deceptively simple statement, which contains within it some very subtle—but deeply provocative—suppositions:

• human growth exists, and is comprised of multiple levels of consciousness
• our current levels of consciousness are not advanced enough to address our current problems
• growth is difficult
• growth is inevitable
• we need to grow individually
• we need to grow collectively

Fortunately, we do have a framework to make sense of each of these points, to connect the invisible dots of human knowledge, to literally pull ourselves together as a species and secure our place as stewards of this venerable and vulnerable planet. In this conversation, Ken rolls the blueprints of human development onto the table, exploring the architecture of conscious evolution. He offers an in-depth discussion of both individual and collective development, noting some of the symmetry that exists between these two different types of growth, while pointing out the crucial differences that often make growth and development such a complicated topic to approach. He also talks about how the Integral framework informs his own writing process, as he constantly finds new ways to communicate the Integral vision to a wider and wider audience. Finally, Ken and Gaspar explore the role of leadership in collective growth, applying many of the theoretical points they covered to real-world situations—most notably the legacy of American politics, the disasters of George W. Bush, and the impact that "First World" and "Third World" societies have upon each other.

Go far, go quickly, or go nowhere. This is the existential ultimatum we are now faced with—evolve or die—and only the Integral vision can offer us the tools we so vitally need to move into the next phase of evolutionary maturity. The integral model is the first such framework to accomplish this, truly accounting for every product of human ambition, every observation of the human mind, every yearning of the human soul—honoring every possible facet of the living jewel that lies at the heart of the human condition. Indeed, the Integral vision represents the future of evolution in this remote corner of the galaxy—and with every small step individuals take into integral consciousness, the more immanent mankind's next giant leap becomes.

Click here for full dialogue!

"The problem is this unilateral 'we've got it right, my way or the highway,' particularly in a world whose international mode of discourse is at the pluralistic level. To go down two levels and have the mode of discourse be amber/traditional is disastrous—and that's the concern with George Bush."

Our very own Diane Musho Hamilton Sensei and Kelly Sosan Bearer are being featured this week on FallingFruit.tv! The audio interview is totally free, so why don't you give them some love and check it out!

"Diane Musho Hamilton, Zen sensei and Big Mind lineage holder, joins us to discuss her personal story on the path of awakening. From experiencing the death of several friends at a young age, to studying with Chogyam Trunpga in the mid-80s, to becoming the first lineage holder of a unique new spiritual process called Big Mind, join us as Diane shares the intimate details of her life as a seeker (and non-seeker).

In this dialogue we also touch in on the importance that the work of integral philosopher Ken Wilber has had on her teaching, especially with regards to what Wilber calls the three primordial perspectives. These three perspectives can be summarized by the pronouns, "I" (first-person), "we" (second-person), and "it" (third-person). Find out why these perspectives are so important to someone who is trying to bring together the spiritual quest with all of their other endeavors.

Link.

Integral Evolutionary Biology. Part 2. The Inner Life of Atoms and Molecules.

The man behind the theory of morphic resonance shares his impulse to explore the evolutionary impulse behind the Kosmos itself. In this discussion, Ken and Rupert Sheldrake discuss some of the extraordinary symmetry that exists between their work, especially in terms of the relationship between consciousness and matter....

click here for free sample! (right-click to download)

Who: Rupert Sheldrake is a British biologist and author who has developed the theory of morphic resonance, incorporating the insights of early twentieth century morphogenetic fields, and extending the understanding of biological “fields” to entire species—not merely individual groups of embryonic cells—and where evolutionary habits of nature can explain far more than eternal laws of nature.

Summary: There's an old joke about a King who goes to a Wiseperson and asks how it is the Earth doesn't fall down. The Wiseperson replies, "The Earth is resting on a lion." "On what, then, is the lion resting?" "The lion is resting on an elephant." "On what is the...?" "You can stop right there, your majesty. It's turtles all the way down."

Turtles all the way down, turtles all the way up. This crucial insight into the nature of evolution reconciles much of the debate that has existed for centuries between atomists, who consider the fundamental parts of the universe as ultimately real, and the wholists, who see reality as a mere echo of the living whole of the universe. Neither argument is wrong, per se, though neither is quite right either. There is no fundamental part, no "bottom floor" which the entire universe can be reduced to in any meaningful way. Nor is there a single universal whole to which all of reality aspires—there are only whole/parts, or holons, spiraling infinitely in both directions. Whole atoms are part of whole molecules, which are part of whole cells, which are part of whole organisms, et cetera, ad infinitum. Even the totality of this present moment becomes a part of the following moment—turtles begetting turtles forever, stretching from the Big Bang to Eternity.

The turtle metaphor is also useful when looking at some of the more fundamental levels of the universe, the magnitudes disclosed by physics and chemistry. "Biology is the study of large organisms," says Alfred Whitehead, "whereas physics is the study of small organisms." Whitehead wasn't being cute or even poetic here, but was suggesting a dramatic reconsideration of the manifest world—namely, that some form of consciousness, subjectivity, or awareness is intrinsic to the universe, on every level. Put simply, if something has an objective form, it has some degree of subjective awareness—even if in the most limited sense imaginable. It's turtles all the way up and all the way down, and every turtle has both an inside and an outside.

Just as a holonic cosmology of "whole-parts within whole-parts forever" reconciles atomism and wholism, Whitehead's thesis transcends and includes the very best of subjectivist and objectivist arguments. In a single puff of logic, the "consciousness problem" ceases to be—and no longer can materialists reduce our awareness, memories, loves, and dreams to the epiphenomena of purely physical processes, phantom byproducts of the chemical soup sloshing about between our ears. Nor can idealists continue to drift about in a haze of abstract solipsism, viewing the entire universe as a projection of their own innate perfection, deluded by a strange brew of mysticism and narcissism. Reality cannot be reduced to matter alone, just as it cannot be reduced to consciousness alone—both matter and consciousness are intrinsically built into the architecture of reality. And as matter evolves into more and more complex forms, the deeper the consciousness becomes.

If there is to be any measure of scientific progress at all, it would be the ability to unify two previously irreconcilable arguments, integrating them both into a bigger and better argument. Often they are revealed to be opposite sides of a single coin—a coin which simply cannot be perceived without a more comprehensive perspective. In much the same way that Newton reconciled the laws governing the heavens and the earth, and how Einstein united the laws of matter and energy, this may be one of the most extraordinary contributions Integral theory has to offer the world: a staggering ability to reach across multiple paradigms of thought and pull together so much of the complexity of our universe. In this integral cross-paradigmatic space, we can reconcile the differences between the atomists and the wholists, between the idealists and the materialists, between the mind and the body, and between the spiritual and the scientific.

"The greatest challenge within science is the nature of consciousness--having been ignored for decades, if not centuries, it's now a hot topic on the scientific agenda. And the more people have tried to explain it simply in terms of brain function, the more obvious it's become that that's not enough...."

Click here for full dialogue!

 

Diagnosis: The postmodern cultural condition whereby highly developed cognitive pluralism becomes infected with poorly developed emotional narcissism.

Symptoms include (but are not limited to): rampant deconstructive tendencies; fits of nihilism and romanticism; self-serving victimhood; aperspectival madness; idiot compassion and reckless egalitarianism; frequent outbreaks of hypocrisy and performative contradiction; earth-shaking delusions of grandeur.

Prognosis: Boomeritis is a parasite which feeds off of the fruits of postmodernity. Those inflicted often lose themselves in a solipsistic playground of self-indulgence where, under the banner of pluralism, they place themselves at the center of the universe, only to awaken one day in a barren wasteland of self-deception and spiritual impotence. This disease ultimately infects the entire Spiral, collapsing it into flatland inanity, widening and reinforcing the gaps between each successive stage of consciousness by viciously denying developmental stages altogether. Under the hypnotic gaze of Boomeritis, multiculturalism becomes rigid identity politics; pluralism becomes fascist political correctness; and ecological sensitivity becomes the Unabomber.

Treatment: Integral Life Practice, familiarization with the Always Already, high doses of humility and humor.

Politics in the 21st Century. Part 1. Flirting With Disaster.

In this fascinating and provocative interview, Ken and Jim Garrison discuss Wisdom University, the explosive rise of the "cultural creatives" around the world, the need for developmental studies in contemporary politics, and the seemingly unavoidable catastrophe the world may be heading toward....

click here for free sample! (right-click to download)

Who: Jim Garrison is, among other things, the chairman and president of the State of the World Forum, which he cofounded with Mikhail Gorbachev in 1995. The State of the World Forum (SWF) is often thought of as a "shadow UN," in that it is the largest forum of world leaders outside of the United Nations. From Margaret Thatcher to Ted Turner, from the Queen of Jordan to Desmond Tutu, from Jimmy Carter to George Bush Sr., all have been part of the extraordinary dialogue that is the State of the World Forum. Jim is also the president and chairman of Wisdom University, a higher-education institution that offers a "commitment to personal and professional renewal" by "nurturing and addressing the whole person."

Summary: "The planet," Jim Garrison is fond of saying, "is on a collision course with itself." The monumental challenges of the 21st century seem dire indeed, almost insurmountable in many ways. And to make matters worse, only a portion of the population has the developmental capacity to fully recognize the complexity of our collective problems, while the majority of the world remains blissfully unaware of the impending catastrophe we seem to be heading toward. And many of those who can see feel utterly helpless to do anything about it, unable to find their own ecologically sensitive values reflected in the culture at large. And so they anxiously await what many perceive as the inevitable, a tsunami of global crises to wash over us all, rendering the fruits of human civilization undone in a single fell swoop.

And yet, isn't it too soon to write the future off to these sorts of doom and gloom scenarios? After all, aren't we finally beginning to see some sort of shift for the positive, a shift toward more progressive attitudes and more effective strategies for the future? Many in the U.S. are experiencing a real sense of rekindled hope and civic potency—especially in light of the Democratic primaries, which seems to be galvanizing a great number of people toward much deeper engagement with the political process. Researchers such as Paul Ray are reporting the rise of an exciting new demographic in the world within a population he refers to as the "cultural creatives." While there is still some debate over how to slice up this data or what conclusions to draw from Ray's statistics, it is clear that the number of "cultural creatives" is increasing at a fairly explosive rate, currently representing about 26% of the American voting populace. But many of these "bright greens" (as they are often called) continue to struggle to have their voices heard by the movers and shakers of world politics, and fear that unless they find a way to constellate themselves into a viable political voice, the slumbering giant of humanity will continue to sleepwalk ever closer to the precipice of ecological collapse.

If there is one thing to be said for certain about the human race, it is that we will always find a way to actualize every ounce of potential available to us, in whatever form that potential takes—whether it is the potential for barbarism, for savagery, for merciless destruction, degradation, and depravity; or whether it is the potential for transcendence, for compassion and idealism, for the heights of creativity and noble vision—we are all of these, simultaneously, all at once. We move in every direction possible, though always with a slight-but-significant tilt toward greater depth, freedom, and fullness. The current condition of humanity has been described as growing "better and better, worse and worse, faster and faster," which only makes some sort of breaking point seem even more inevitable, and the need for a developmental understanding of the human condition more crucial.

"All the world's a stage," history's most cherished bard tells us, "and all the men and women merely players." But what Shakespeare could not have possibly known at the time he wrote these words is that the world is not a single monolithic stage, but is in fact a graduating succession of stages, each built upon the other—each with its own set of players, its own set of shared values, and its own lens through which the world is interpreted. Likewise, the game of global politics is not to be played upon a single flat chessboard, but on many boards simultaneously—like a game of "Asimovian Hyperchess" in which moves are played across multiple geometric planes simultaneously. This is how politics in the 21st century must be approached, taking into account all of the different developmental levels human beings grow through (e.g. magic, mythic, rational, postmodern, and integral), while bringing as much healthy balance as possible to the individuals and cultures who exist at each of these particular levels. And only a genuinely integral analysis of world politics can promise the sort sanity and stability our yet-unborn progeny prays for us to find, before it's too late....

"You can't get 'better and better, worse and worse, faster and faster' without something going 'pop' sooner or later, in a way that would be catastrophic...."

Click here for full dialogue!

 

Back by popular demand....

According to Integral Theory, there are at least 4 primary dimensions or perspectives through which we can experience the world: subjective, intersubjective, objective, and interobjective.

These 4 perspectives, represented graphically, are the upper-left, lower-left, upper-right, and lower-right quadrants.

In the subjective—or upper-left—quadrant, we find the world of our individual, interior experiences: our thoughts, emotions, memories, states of mind, perceptions, and immediate sensations—in other words, our “I” space.

In the intersubjective—or lower-left—quadrant, we find the world of our colletive, interior experiences: our shared values, meanings, language, relationships, and cultural background—in other words, our "we" space.

In the objective—or upper-right—quadrant, we find the world of individual, exterior things: our material body (including brain) and anything that you can see or touch (or observe scientifically) in time and space—in other words, our “it” space.

In the interobjective—or lower-right—quadrant, we find the world of collective, exterior things: systems, networks, technology, government, and the natural environment—in other words, our “its” space.

What’s the point of looking at the world through a 4-quadrant lens?

Simple answer: Anything less is narrow, partial and fragmented! Integral Theory maintains that all 4 quadrants are real—and all are important. So, for example, to the question of what is more real, the brain (with its neural pathways and structures) or the mind (with its thoughts and perceptions), Integral Theory answers: BOTH.

Moreover, we add that the mind and brain are situated in cultural and systemic contexts, which influence both inner experience and brain activity in irreducible ways.

What’s more important in human behavior? The psychology of the mind (upper left), or the cultural conditioning of the individual (lower left)? Integral Theory answers, again: BOTH. What is more critical in social development? The habits, customs, and norms of a culture (lower left), or the products it produces (like gun and steel – lower right). Integral Theory answers: BOTH.

All four quadrants are real, all are important, and all are essential for understanding your world.

While some might like to reduce reality to the mind (upper-left quadrant), and others to the brain (upper-right quadrant), and still others to the influence of cultural context (lower-left quadrant), and yet others to the effect of systems (“it’s the economy, stupid!” i.e., lower-right quadrant), Integral Theory holds that ALL 4 QUADRANTS are indispensable. The more we can consciously include the 4 quadrants in our perspective, the more whole, balanced, healthy, comprehensive, and effective our actions will be.

And it all boils down to just four dimensions. It's as easy as I, we, it, and its!

That’s why each issue of Holons presents “your world through an integral lens.” It’s a quick and easy way of taking a comprehensive and fun (!) tour of the 4 quadrants of your world.

Want to learn more? CLICK HERE to download our free PDF, “Introduction to Integral Theory and Practice,” by Ken Wilber.

Also be sure to check out