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21st century Integral Metatheory

Recent Releases

An Integral Metatheory of Conservatism

An Integral Metatheory of Conservatism

In a time of political upheaval and societal change, understanding the deeper currents that shape our worldviews is more crucial than ever. Join Robb Smith in this enlightening presentation recorded during our recent election watch party, where he delves into the rich tapestry of conservatism through the lens of integral theory.
SALT for Climate: Redefining Urgency and Transformation in Climate Leadership

SALT for Climate: Redefining Urgency and Transformation in Climate Leadership

Josh Leonard sits down with Gail Hochachka and Lisa Gibson, leaders of the SALT for Climate initiative, to explore their pioneering approach to climate action. They discuss the often-overlooked psychological and social dimensions of climate work, share insights from their work on collective sensemaking and leadership training, and explain why a focus on human dynamics may be the missing piece in our response to the climate crisis.

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The Content/Structure Fallacy: The Common Mistake Most Integralists Make

The Content/Structure Fallacy: The Common Mistake Most Integralists Make

David Arrell and Keith Martin-Smith explore one of the most important (and misunderstood) dynamics within integral theory: the content/structure fallacy. They explore how developmental structures—our deeper worldviews and ways of making sense—shape the content of our beliefs, but not always in straightforward or predictable ways. The conversation touches on how integral theory can help us navigate the nuances of individual growth, leadership, and social dynamics, especially when it comes to assessing the developmental depth of...
Overflowing Purpose: An Inside Look

Overflowing Purpose: An Inside Look

In this short 14-minute video, we give you an exclusive inside look at Overflowing Purpose, a transformative new course that brings together renowned thinkers like Ken Wilber, John Vervaeke, Robb Smith, Cindy Wigglesworth, Gail Hochachka, Peter Merry, Greg Thomas, and others to address the complex challenges of our time — and your unique role in meeting those challenges.
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Journal of Integral Theory & Practice

How to Connect with Your Students: An Integral Approach to Higher Education

How to Connect with Your Students: An Integral Approach to Higher Education

This article explores why focusing on the subject matter alone in the student/teacher relationship is a restrictive and non-comprehensive approach to higher education. Such a narrowly focused relationship seems to impede the overall health and development of both the teacher and student. The process of avoiding so much of our lives “to teach” leaves many dissatisfied and thirsting for something deeper and more whole.
Integral Diversity Maturity: Toward a Postconventional Understanding of Diversity Dynamics

Integral Diversity Maturity: Toward a Postconventional Understanding of Diversity Dynamics

This article outlines the authors’ ongoing study of diversity, focusing particularly on the AQAL model as a linchpin in an evolving theory of “diversity maturity.” Recognizing the limitations of non-integral approaches to understanding and negotiating diversity dynamics, the authors explain how an integral perspectives come to inform their postconventional understanding. The authors share their preliminary theory of the diversity maturity process in which the integral vision/theory that unites diversity, complexity, and creativity is the dynamic relationship among and between quadrants, levels, lines, states, and types. The article concludes with an agenda for further theoretical and empirical inquiry.
What Feels Right: An Embodied Perspective on the Ethical Line of Development

What Feels Right: An Embodied Perspective on the Ethical Line of Development

This article examines ethical frameworks across levels of human development and via the quadrants of the AQAL model. The ethical line is examined as it progresses through stages of development, paying special attention to the role of the felt sense in the determination of right action. The role of unconscious forces, particularly the felt sense of disgust, is examined as the basis of moral intuition. Integral Ethics includes the ethical framework of the previous stages and an examination of personal motivation for right action. By inquiring into the unconscious drives that move us, we may begin to recognize the cultural...
Developmental Engagement Field Theory

Developmental Engagement Field Theory

This article explores how social engagement is central to human functioning and development, and how it potentially provides agentic access to intersubjective and interobjective energy fields. An integrally informed developmental engagement field theory is described, with practical suggestions for applying it to living, parenting, and psychotherapy. The article concludes with a lifespan case study that embodies the presented research.
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Polarity Maps

Polarities represent the inherent tensions present in every situation, from individual beliefs to social challenges to global dynamics. Learning how to recognize and integrate these polarities can transform conflicts into opportunities for growth, moving us closer to integral understanding and skillful action.

 

Click here to see all Polarity maps.

 

 

Direct Causation & Systemic Causation

Direct Causation & Systemic Causation

The polarity between Direct Causation and Systemic Causation reveals a tension between simplicity and complexity in problem-solving.
Knowledge by Description & Acquaintance

Knowledge by Description & Acquaintance

This polarity encompasses the interplay between conceptual understanding and direct experience in our quest for knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge by description provides us with structured frameworks, theories, and models that help us organize and interpret the world around us. In contrast, knowledge by acquaintance offers the richness of firsthand experience, intuitive insights, and embodied understanding. Both modes of knowing are essential for a comprehensive grasp of reality.
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All-Time Classics: The Best Of Integral Life

In this section you will find a curated sampling of some of the very best practices, perspectives and presentations available in the Integral Life archives. Spanning over 15 years of publishing, these resources are invaluable for anyone who looking to wake up, grow up, clean up, and show up more fully in your life and in the world.

Integral Journalism in the Disinformation Age

Integral Journalism in the Disinformation Age

Stefan Schultz is a journalist for Der Spiegel magazine since 2008, and a student of integral theory since 2018. In this fun and far-ranging discussion, Corey deVos talks to Stefan about his own integral approach to journalism, taking a careful look at the primary methods and motivations of journalism we see at each major stage of...
Transforming Trauma Into Resilience

Transforming Trauma Into Resilience

Watch as we take a look at several different kinds of trauma — micro-traumas, big traumas, “pre-verbal” traumas, generational traumas, etc. — and explore how we can shift into a “post-traumatic growth” mindset which, like the kintsugi vase in the image above, allows us to remake ourself into a more resilient, unique, and elegant vessel.
Learn Integral by Watching Movies (and Playing Video Games!)

Learn Integral by Watching Movies (and Playing Video Games!)

Take a cinematic journey through the major stages of human development, using a series of 22 carefully-curated film clips (and more than 30 video games) to illustrate some of the most important qualities of each stage.
The Science of Subtle Energy

The Science of Subtle Energy

In this episode of The Ken Show we take a look at Ken's "Comprehensive Theory of Subtle Energy”, which offers an elegant summary of how these energies might be accounted for by integral metatheory and integrated with our scientific understanding of the universe.
Inhabit: Your Humility

Inhabit: Your Humility

Corey and Ryan discuss the importance of cultivating and inhabiting a “confident humility” with relation to our own physical bodies, mental processes, and spiritual health. We also have a fun segment at the end designed to put your own humility to the test, by looking at 10 common integral caricatures — stereotypes that many of us...
Practice the Wound of Love

Practice the Wound of Love

Watch as Ken and Corey explore the ongoing unfoldment of love along the paths of Waking Up, Growing Up, Opening Up, Cleaning Up, and Showing Up. What follows is one of the most powerful, transformative, and touching conversations that Ken Wilber has ever recorded.
Inhabit: Your Perspective

Inhabit: Your Perspective

This isn’t another hyper-cognitive discussion of integral theory. This is more of a “perspectival yoga”, and we hope that by the time you have finished watching this episode you will be more familiar with these fundamental dimensions of your experience, right now in this very moment.
The Art of Practice: Forgiveness Made Easy

The Art of Practice: Forgiveness Made Easy

To authentically forgive — what Barbara describes as “the absolute refusal to hold ill will against someone for what they did or didn’t do” — can actually be tremendously challenging. Fortunately Barbara Hunt is with us to help make it simple. Watch as Barbara talks to Lisa and Corey about forgiveness as an integral “master practice”...
The New Axial Age: A Complex Integral Realist Perspective

The New Axial Age: A Complex Integral Realist Perspective

Why do we do philosophy? For our innate love of wisdom, surely. But isn’t it also so we can better understand ourselves and the world in which we find ourselves so as to chart our way to our best possible futures? And if so, shouldn’t we try to do the best philosophy we can?
Marx, Mysticism, and Mathematics: Navigating Our Epistemic Collapse

Marx, Mysticism, and Mathematics: Navigating Our Epistemic Collapse

In this episode we continue our fascinating discussion about Integral epistemology, taking a look at the important but partial truths of Marxism, how we go about verifying and confirming spiritual experiences, and the involutionary/evolutionary nature of mathematics.
Integral Epistemology

Integral Epistemology

How do we know stuff? Like all of the great philosophical quandaries, it’s a fundamentally straightforward question that can lead us into an endlessly branching series of chicken-and-egg meditations on the nature of existence (ontology) versus the nature of knowledge (epistemology). In this fascinating episode of The Ken Show, we take a look at a dozen...
Awaken the Eye of Spirit

Awaken the Eye of Spirit

All of us possess three primary modes of perception that we use to disclose reality – the "Eye of Flesh", the "Eye of Mind", and the "Eye of Spirit". Watch as Ken and Corey explore these ideas and the many ways we perceive and interpret spiritual realities.
From Woke to Awake: An Intersectionality of Perspective

From Woke to Awake: An Intersectionality of Perspective

Mark and Corey have a rich and far-reaching discussion about our present political realities and challenges, dedicating the first half of the discussion to some of the major headlines from the last few weeks, and then exploring ways to elevate “woke culture” into a genuine “post-woke” integral sensibility.
Divided Minds, Divided Societies: How ILP Can Help Heal Social Division

Divided Minds, Divided Societies: How ILP Can Help Heal Social Division

In this compilation of highlights from Divided Minds, Divided Societies: How ILP Can Help Heal Social Division, Integral Life CEO Robb Smith’s session at our recent exhale online retreat, Robb argues that it is partly our responsibility to help others reduce their fears in a world that’s getting more complex and feels more threatening to tens...
Power, Privilege, and Fragility: Leveling Up Our Conversations About Race and Racism

Power, Privilege, and Fragility: Leveling Up Our Conversations About Race and Racism

Diane and Corey are joined by guests Greg Thomas and Mark Palmer in this groundbreaking discussion about racism, anti-racism, and racial integration, highlighting a number of critical views that have been largely missing from the larger conversation that’s been taking place culturally in recent weeks, months, and years.
Coronavirus: Making Sense of Our Sense-Making

Coronavirus: Making Sense of Our Sense-Making

Watch as Beena Sharma and Susanne Cook-Greuter offer a must-see presentation to help us understand the many healthy and unhealthy responses we are seeing to the coronavirus pandemic, all the way up and down the spiral of development.
The Four Energies: Turn Your Energy Into Things That Matter

The Four Energies: Turn Your Energy Into Things That Matter

Ginny Whitelaw helps you experience the four energy patterns that show up in the human nervous system. All of us possess these four patterns, and though most of us have our favorites, all four are available to us at all times. Each is good at different things, and here you will learn what each one is...
Life as Practice: Karma Yoga and Awakening Service

Life as Practice: Karma Yoga and Awakening Service

Anyone who is deeply committed to contemplative practice and to cultivating the qualities it enhances—such as empathy, compassion, clarity and insight, to name only a few—will want to practice as continuously as possible. This means finding a way to use our daily activities and work as part of our practice. Fortunately, such a way is part...
The Four Quadrants: A Guided Tour

The Four Quadrants: A Guided Tour

Ken and Corey take a in-depth tour through one of Ken’s most well-known contributions to integral philosophy: the Four Quadrants. Watch as Ken shares his personal story about the origins of the Four Quadrant model — the day everything came together — as he weaves 3rd-person theoretical descriptions of the model with his own 1st-person experience...
The Meaning of Coincidence

The Meaning of Coincidence

Dr. Keith and Corey take an integral look at synchronicity, exploring this elusive phenomena through the lenses of the four quadrants, the major states of consciousness, the twenty tenets, and Rupert Sheldrake’s theory of morphic resonance. It is a fun and fascinating discussion, and one that will hopefully help you pay a bit closer attention whenever...
Introducing Niggy Tardust

Introducing Niggy Tardust

Saul Williams talks to Ken Wilber about his album The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust. Listen as they take an in-depth look at many of the songs on the album, while discussing Saul's creative process and his experience of live performance.
Evolving a Multi-Cellular Society

Evolving a Multi-Cellular Society

A fascinating discussion of conscious, cultural, and biological evolution — and how we can use the fundamental patterns running through all three in order to create a more adaptable and sustainable future.
Dream Yoga: Open Your Doors of Perception

Dream Yoga: Open Your Doors of Perception

Andrew Holecek talks to David Riordan about his new Dream Yoga teachings, presenting an opportunity to develop a liberating flexibility in your identity, transforming your very sense of Self, and exploring your mind in new and creative ways.
Conflict as a Driver of Evolution and Intimacy

Conflict as a Driver of Evolution and Intimacy

Dr. Keith and Corey explore the central role that conflict plays in the ongoing evolutionary process, from the big bang to today, and in our intimate relationships in particular — where conflict can either create more distance and resentment, or it can be an opportunity to create more intimacy and deeper connection.
The Gift of Contemplation

The Gift of Contemplation

Father Thomas Keating offers a detailed account of the conditions that catalyzed a massive reawakening of Christian contemplative practice in the late 20th century.
The Many Meanings of The Matrix

The Many Meanings of The Matrix

The Matrix trilogy is the most successful cinematic venture of the past several decades — together, all three films have grossed over three billion dollars worldwide, an impressive accomplishment within any genre (let alone science fiction.) The attention of audiences worldwide has certainly been captured by the mind-bending storyline and phenomenal special effects, but the perennial...

Helping you make sense of everything with the world’s most comprehensive philosophy

Humanity is entering the Transformation Age, a new era of human civilization, with Integral Consciousness rising at its leading edge. We help you learn to use Integral Philosophy so you can shape the future that’s emerging.

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Featured Podcast Series

How can I feel happy and fulfilled in my life?

Sexual Healing: A Beginner’s Guide to Integral Sex Therapy

Sexual Healing: A Beginner’s Guide to Integral Sex Therapy

Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVos explore the transformative world of integrally informed sex therapy—a holistic approach that combines romantic, scientific, and spiritual perspectives to address the unique complexities of...
The 8 Horizons of Love

The 8 Horizons of Love

In this episode of Witt and Wisdom, Corey deVos introduces a comprehensive relationships framework he is currently developing, designed to help partners navigate the staggering complexity of our relationships —...
The Many Within: Understanding IFS and Self Integration

The Many Within: Understanding IFS and Self Integration

Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVos discuss Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, an approach developed by Richard Schwartz in the 1980s that recognizes the multiplicity of the human psyche. IFS...
The Art and Science of the Intentional Love Affair

The Art and Science of the Intentional Love Affair

Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVos delve into the intricacies of intimate relationships, exploring the concept of "intentional love affairs" and how they can be cultivated to deepen connection and...
What Makes Us Happy? Growing Toward Anti-Fragility

What Makes Us Happy? Growing Toward Anti-Fragility

Join Keith and Corey in this enriching dialogue, as they bring forth an integral perspective on the pressing issue of mental health and resilience among youth, and explore the transformative...
How Self-Hatred Can Lead to Self Transformation

How Self-Hatred Can Lead to Self Transformation

Dr. Keith and Corey explore how feelings of self-hatred and self-loathing, when combined with compassionate self-awareness and the natural resilience of Witness consciousness, can help us overcome our resistance to...
Escaping the Comfort Zone: Motivation, Shame, and the Will to Transform

Escaping the Comfort Zone: Motivation, Shame, and the Will to Transform

Dr. Keith and Corey explore the complex psychology of motivation — the various sticks and carrots we use to get out of bed in the morning and keep ourselves moving...
How to Thrive During the Holidays

How to Thrive During the Holidays

Holidays can be tough. For many the holiday season can be the some of the most hectic and challenging weeks of the year. Join Lisa and Kevin for a look...
Awakening Joy: Life Skills for Living, Loving, and Serving Life to the Full

Awakening Joy: Life Skills for Living, Loving, and Serving Life to the Full

James’ teachings take us deeply into states like gratitude and compassionate presence, to where we can focus our attention on how it feels to feel good somatically, thereby creating new...
Authoring Your Life Story: The Hero’s Journey and You

Authoring Your Life Story: The Hero’s Journey and You

Watch as Dr. Keith and Corey take a deep dive into the human superpower of self-authorship, and how we can use that superpower to construct a more resilient, more forgiving,...
Inhabit: Your Heart

Inhabit: Your Heart

Watch as Corey deVos, Ryan Oelke, and special guest Rollie Stanich explore the vast and tender territories of the Integral Heart. This is an invitation to continue opening your own...
How We Can Hack Our Brain to Become Happier, Healthier, and More Transcendent

How We Can Hack Our Brain to Become Happier, Healthier, and More Transcendent

In this inspiring and empowering conversation, Rick Hanson spells out how we can use positive, self-directed neuroplasticity to hardwire our brains in order to become happier, cultivate virtues, deal with...
Transforming Trauma Into Resilience

Transforming Trauma Into Resilience

Watch as we take a look at several different kinds of trauma — micro-traumas, big traumas, “pre-verbal” traumas, generational traumas, etc. — and explore how we can shift into a...
The Three Centers of the Enneagram: Mental, Emotional, and Physical

The Three Centers of the Enneagram: Mental, Emotional, and Physical

Leslie Hershberger takes us on an illuminating tour through the three centers of the Enneagram — the heart center, the mind center, and the body center.
Inhabit: Your Humility

Inhabit: Your Humility

Corey and Ryan discuss the importance of cultivating and inhabiting a “confident humility” with relation to our own physical bodies, mental processes, and spiritual health. We also have a fun...
Integral Life Practice: Enough Talk, It’s Time to Live!

Integral Life Practice: Enough Talk, It’s Time to Live!

Terry Patten and Ken Wilber take an in-depth look at their book Integral Life Practice: A 21st-Century Blueprint for Physical Health, Emotional Balance, Mental Clarity, and Spiritual Awakening. ILP is...
Love, Conflict, and Play

Love, Conflict, and Play

Keith and Corey talk about how all play is an abstracted version of fighting, and how we can always draw upon our evolutionary capacity to transmute our basic animal drives...
Just Breathe: How to Manage Your Stress and Find Your Flow

Just Breathe: How to Manage Your Stress and Find Your Flow

Your breath is a direct channel to the flow state. Watch as Dr. Keith and Corey explore this elegantly simple practice, one that can bring you more joy, more fulfillment,...
Integrating Shadow

Integrating Shadow

Ken and Corey offer a stunning overview of the psychological shadow. Ken describes several different kinds of shadow, how shadow can show up differently in all four quadrants, and the...
Creating a Coherent Life Story

Creating a Coherent Life Story

Dr. Keith and Corey discuss the primary goal of psychotherapy — to help people experience themselves every day as living a happy ending to their life so far, and at...

What is a more hopeful future for civilization?

An Integral Metatheory of Conservatism

An Integral Metatheory of Conservatism

In a time of political upheaval and societal change, understanding the deeper currents that shape our worldviews is more crucial than ever. Join Robb Smith in this enlightening presentation recorded...
SALT for Climate: Redefining Urgency and Transformation in Climate Leadership

SALT for Climate: Redefining Urgency and Transformation in Climate Leadership

Josh Leonard sits down with Gail Hochachka and Lisa Gibson, leaders of the SALT for Climate initiative, to explore their pioneering approach to climate action. They discuss the often-overlooked psychological...
Overflowing Purpose: An Inside Look

Overflowing Purpose: An Inside Look

In this short 14-minute video, we give you an exclusive inside look at Overflowing Purpose, a transformative new course that brings together renowned thinkers like Ken Wilber, John Vervaeke, Robb...
Can Integral Theory Actually Help the World?

Can Integral Theory Actually Help the World?

Keith Martin-Smith explores the potential and pitfalls of integral theory in addressing global challenges. He argues that while integral thinking offers valuable tools for understanding complex systems and human development,...
IAM: Organizing Big Pictures For The Transformation Age

IAM: Organizing Big Pictures For The Transformation Age

Josh Leonard and Robb Smith discuss the founding and evolution of the Institute of Applied Metatheory (IAM). They explore the urgent need for an organization that networks and supports scholar-practitioners...
From the Cambrian Explosion to the Human Explosion

From the Cambrian Explosion to the Human Explosion

Dr. Keith and Corey explore the parallels and differences between the Cambrian explosion and the rapid evolution of human consciousness, discussing the profound impacts of technological and cultural advancements on...
Grappling with the Metacrisis

Grappling with the Metacrisis

In this dialogue, the world of metatheories comes alive with urgent, purposeful meaning, because as Sean and Nick point out, integrative metatheories like Ken Wilber’s integral theory and Roy Bhaskar’s...
The Maturing Test: How Developed Is the World’s Most Advanced AI?

The Maturing Test: How Developed Is the World’s Most Advanced AI?

We just assessed GPT-3, the world’s most advanced sentence-generating Artificial Intelligence, using Susanne Cook Greuter's testing methodology. What did we learn, and what are the possible consequences for humanity? Watch...
Transformational Theses: Your Doorway to Changing the World

Transformational Theses: Your Doorway to Changing the World

A Transformational Thesis (“TT”) is the name for a specific hypothesis that if you can effect this change, you can achieve that outcome, and in particular this process of change...
Russia Is Catalyzing the Transformation Age

Russia Is Catalyzing the Transformation Age

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not just a violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty, it is a coordinated attack, with China’s cooperation, on the dominant late Information Age global network, especially the...
Wang Huning: The World’s Most Influential Intellectual?

Wang Huning: The World’s Most Influential Intellectual?

To understand this century, we have to understand the geopolitical and philosophical power struggle between China and the United States and the differing global “Operating Systems” they’re fighting for. And...
Integral Politics: A Spiritual Third Way

Integral Politics: A Spiritual Third Way

In this time of ideological upheaval, when the old ideologies of left and right, of socialism, liberalism, and conservatism, no longer capture the political imagination as they once did, new...
The New Axial Age: A Complex Integral Realist Perspective

The New Axial Age: A Complex Integral Realist Perspective

Why do we do philosophy? For our innate love of wisdom, surely. But isn’t it also so we can better understand ourselves and the world in which we find ourselves...
Divided Minds, Divided Societies: How ILP Can Help Heal Social Division

Divided Minds, Divided Societies: How ILP Can Help Heal Social Division

In this compilation of highlights from Divided Minds, Divided Societies: How ILP Can Help Heal Social Division, Integral Life CEO Robb Smith’s session at our recent exhale online retreat, Robb...
The Metacrisis is Giving Rise to the Transformation Age

The Metacrisis is Giving Rise to the Transformation Age

How can we contribute to the rise of the Transformation Age? We first need to understand what’s driving the emergence of the Transformation Age out of the Information Age: a...
Deeper Into the Great Release

Deeper Into the Great Release

Ladies and gentlemen, the Great Release is truly and fully underway. That earthquake has now begun. Nanoscopically small and quietly transmissible, Covid-19 would be almost laughable as a catalyst for...
Corona, Climate, and Crashes: Welcome to the Transformation Age

Corona, Climate, and Crashes: Welcome to the Transformation Age

Robb Smith and Corey deVos explore the rising disruption caused by a brand new set of global life conditions emerging across the planet, why only an integral sensibility is capable...
On the Front Line of the Culture War — Give Me Some Real Examples, Not Just Theories!

On the Front Line of the Culture War — Give Me Some Real Examples, Not Just Theories!

Watch as Ken and Corey offer their views on some of the most controversial policy debates of our time, each of which has become a battle line in our constantly...
Beyond the Nation-State: Globalism, Plutocracy, and the Integral World Federation

Beyond the Nation-State: Globalism, Plutocracy, and the Integral World Federation

Ken and Corey explore how today’s transnational challenges and realities may be hastening humanity’s eventual growth toward increasingly inclusive and global forms of governance, what government might look like at...
The Major and Minor Scales of Integral Politics

The Major and Minor Scales of Integral Politics

Ken Wilber and Corey deVos take an in-depth look at the “major and minor scales” of integral politics — an inventory of the most critical elements, polarities, and patterns of...

How can I awaken to spiritual wisdom?

Spiritual Intelligence: 21 Skills for Wisdom, Compassion, and Love in Action

Spiritual Intelligence: 21 Skills for Wisdom, Compassion, and Love in Action

Cindy Wigglesworth, trailblazer in the field of spiritual intelligence, has created an assessment tool that identifies our spiritual strengths and weaknesses — qualities that fall outside the traditional IQ or...
Radical Wholeness and the Five Paths of Transformation

Radical Wholeness and the Five Paths of Transformation

Ken Wilber and Andrew Holecek explore the frontiers of integral theory and human consciousness. Ken shares some of the key insights from his latest book, "Finding Radical Wholeness," offering a...
Inhabit: Your Awakening

Inhabit: Your Awakening

Corey deVos and Ryan Oelke explore the nature of integral awakening, drawing on their own experiences and the insights of integral theory. They discuss how awakening is a universal human...
Awaken Your Integral Heart

Awaken Your Integral Heart

In this profound presentation by Brad Reynolds, we explore the essence of integral consciousness and its implications for personal and societal transformation. Delving deep into the heart's role in spiritual...
The Essence of Awakening: Who Are We Really?

The Essence of Awakening: Who Are We Really?

Lama Surya Das, beloved meditation teacher, scholar, pioneer of bringing Tibetan Buddhism to the West, and author of the bestseller Awakening the Buddha Within among many more, shares bright gems...
Nature as Teacher: Finding Beauty, Wisdom, and Self in Everything

Nature as Teacher: Finding Beauty, Wisdom, and Self in Everything

Adult psychology pioneer and ego development expert Susanne Cook-Greuter introduces us to her favorite wisdom teacher: Nature. Susanne explains how Integral Theory’s 3-2-1 Process can be practiced with elements in...
Integral Spiritual Explorations: What Is Integral Spirituality?

Integral Spiritual Explorations: What Is Integral Spirituality?

What exactly do we mean by spirituality, and what do we mean specifically by “integral spirituality?” In this discussion, Nomali Perera presents a brief but vast array of ways in...
Therapy & Awakening: A New Integration

Therapy & Awakening: A New Integration

Keith Martin-Smith speaks with Chad Bennett, a psychotherapist and ordained Zen priest, about why our existing ideas of therapy are often limited and keep us bound inside of the therapeutic...
The Essence of Zen: One Heart, One Mind

The Essence of Zen: One Heart, One Mind

Zen teacher Diane Musho Hamilton brings us home to the simple essence of Zen: to practice as one, without reference to past or future. This heartfelt conversation covers many topics:...
Practice the Wound of Love

Practice the Wound of Love

Watch as Ken and Corey explore the ongoing unfoldment of love along the paths of Waking Up, Growing Up, Opening Up, Cleaning Up, and Showing Up. What follows is one...
Awaken the Eye of Spirit

Awaken the Eye of Spirit

All of us possess three primary modes of perception that we use to disclose reality – the "Eye of Flesh", the "Eye of Mind", and the "Eye of Spirit". Watch...
Inhabit: Your Spiritual Life

Inhabit: Your Spiritual Life

Need help shifting gears from mental map-making to actually inhabiting the spiritual territory? Watch as Ryan Oelke and Corey deVos explore what it means to truly inhabit and integrate our...
The Varieties of Integral Spiritual Experience

The Varieties of Integral Spiritual Experience

Watch as Ken and Corey explore the path of Waking Up — a guided tour through temporary states of consciousness that include everything from emotional states to chemically-induced states to...
The Expanded Trinity: The Three Faces of God-in-Three-Persons

The Expanded Trinity: The Three Faces of God-in-Three-Persons

Is your god big enough? Close enough? You enough? Join Paul Smith and Ken Wilber as they take us on an expansive journey from the traditional Trinity to Paul’s nine-dimensional...
No Boundary: A Union of Opposites

No Boundary: A Union of Opposites

Ken Wilber explores the intrinsic dualism of the mind, offering a simple but cogent way to "transcend the pairs" and discover the nondual heart of the Always Already.
Wake Up, Grow Up: Enlightenment in the 21st Century

Wake Up, Grow Up: Enlightenment in the 21st Century

In this feature presentation from the 2016 SAND Conference, Ken Wilber explains why the path of "waking up" (spiritual awakening) needs to be complemented by the path of “growing up”...
Introduction to Integral Spirituality

Introduction to Integral Spirituality

Ken Wilber offers an introduction to a spirituality that honors the truths of modernity and postmodernity — including the revolutions in science and culture — while incorporating the essential insights...
Searching for Wisdom in the 21st Century

Searching for Wisdom in the 21st Century

Climate change, wealth inequality, ideological polarization, terrorism, religious radicalization — these are some of the truly wicked problems of the world. And none of our most pressing global challenges can...
What’s So Important About Enlightenment?

What’s So Important About Enlightenment?

What is "enlightenment", and why should we care? What does "oneness with all form" and other mystical-sounding states of mind have to do with our ongoing search for happiness and...
Patterns of Resistance: What Stands Between You and Spiritual Experience?

Patterns of Resistance: What Stands Between You and Spiritual Experience?

What is preventing you from fully experiencing your own timeless divine nature, right now in this very moment? Watch as Helen Palmer presents the Enneagram as a means to recognize...

How should we relate to the social justice movement?

Faces of X: Making Peace with the Culture War

Faces of X: Making Peace with the Culture War

Stephanie Lepp talks with Corey deVos about her Faces of X project, which models how we can transcend culture wars by integrating opposing perspectives. The discussion explores how the polarization...
The Myth of Evil: Why Polarities,  Not Villains, Drive Injustice

The Myth of Evil: Why Polarities, Not Villains, Drive Injustice

Barry Johnson introduces the concept of polarity thinking, offering a revolutionary framework for addressing complex societal issues like poverty, racism, and climate change. Rather than viewing problems as having singular...
Transforming Law Enforcement: Integral Policing Roundtable

Transforming Law Enforcement: Integral Policing Roundtable

Josh Leonard hosts three leading experts in the field of integral policing to explore how applying big-picture, integrative frameworks could help address the complex challenges facing modern law enforcement.
Reintegrating DEI: Beyond the Culture Wars

Reintegrating DEI: Beyond the Culture Wars

Keith Martin-Smith explains the developmental levels in detail that allowed DEI to form in the first place, as well as the levels from which DEI is often expressed (and resisted)...
Integral Diversity Maturity: Toward a Postconventional Understanding of Diversity Dynamics

Integral Diversity Maturity: Toward a Postconventional Understanding of Diversity Dynamics

This article outlines the authors’ ongoing study of diversity, focusing particularly on the AQAL model as a linchpin in an evolving theory of “diversity maturity.” Recognizing the limitations of non-integral...
CANCELLED: The Battle for Free Speech in the Integral Age

CANCELLED: The Battle for Free Speech in the Integral Age

Keith Witt and Corey delve into the complex and contentious issue of cancel culture, examining its implications for free speech, academic freedom, and social cohesion. They explore why understanding the...
The Seven Deadly Sins of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion)

The Seven Deadly Sins of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion)

Join Keith Martin-Smith as we question whether DEI initiatives are achieving their intended goals of increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion, or whether they may be perpetuating any number of unseen...
Buddhas in Blue: Enlightened Ways to Make Policing Work For Everyone

Buddhas in Blue: Enlightened Ways to Make Policing Work For Everyone

In this moving, illuminating, and impassioned discussion, retired Police Lt. Chris Orrey and San Bruno Police Chief Ryan Johansen open our eyes as to the realities of policing in today’s...
Meta-Ideological Politics: Bridging the Gaps Between Us

Meta-Ideological Politics: Bridging the Gaps Between Us

Ryan's presentation delves into the complex nature of ideology and its profound impact on our perceptions, interactions, and behaviors. He underscores the human brain's inherent tendency to seek patterns, elucidating...
From Socrates to Social Media: Renewing Our Commitment to Free Speech

From Socrates to Social Media: Renewing Our Commitment to Free Speech

Mark Fischler and Corey deVos are joined by Nadine Strossen, a renowned advocate for free speech and former president of the ACLU, to traverse the rich history and the evolving...
Sex, Identity, Gender: Beyond Wokism and Trumpism

Sex, Identity, Gender: Beyond Wokism and Trumpism

Join us as we push even further into the front lines of the culture war skirmishes that have become so plentiful over the last several years. Corey deVos joins Keith...
When Therapists Go Woke

When Therapists Go Woke

Dr. Keith and Corey examine a troubling new trend in psychotherapy, where woke ideologies are being imposed in the therapist’s office and interfering with client-based approaches to mental health. Prompted...
Transform the Police: A More Integral Approach to Law Enforcement

Transform the Police: A More Integral Approach to Law Enforcement

Mark and Corey are joined by Chris Orrey, a retired police lieutenant with over 30 years of service with the Hayward, California Police Department, to discuss the abuse and resulting...
Taking Justice Personally

Taking Justice Personally

Mark and Corey offer an intimate sharing of their personal stories, reflecting on some of the most formative experiences in their own lives that influenced their interest and enactment of...
Ranked Choice Voting: A Path Toward a More Integral Politics

Ranked Choice Voting: A Path Toward a More Integral Politics

Ranked choice voting (RCV) is a practice that offers considerable promise by creating and protecting a more civil commons where more perspectives are included, respect is encouraged, coercion and distortion...
How to Teach Kids About Sex and Gender

How to Teach Kids About Sex and Gender

What exactly are “developmentally appropriate, age-appropriate” ways to teach kids about sex, gender, and identity, not only for kids in kindergarten through third grade, but throughout the rest of childhood...
An Integral Approach to Constitutional Interpretation

An Integral Approach to Constitutional Interpretation

The following article outlines the major approaches to constitutional interpretation and explains how either approach on its own ultimately leads to a narrow and incomplete understanding of the law, which...
What Is Integral Justice?

What Is Integral Justice?

Mark and Corey go back to basics by returning to some of the guiding principles running through the series — namely, how to enact justice in all four quadrants in...
Integrating Power

Integrating Power

Ken and Corey take an in-depth look at the multiple kinds of power we find in all four quadrants — interior and exterior power, individual and collective power — as...
Wicked Problems: Bringing Wisdom and Compassion to Immigration

Wicked Problems: Bringing Wisdom and Compassion to Immigration

Immigration matters have been viewed by many as a "wicked problem" — implying a complexity that has sets of values in tension, something societies have dealt with since the very...

What is human development?

Ready, Steady, Grow! The Art and Science of Vertical Development

Ready, Steady, Grow! The Art and Science of Vertical Development

Corey deVos and Beena Sharma explore the concept of vertical development and its importance in today's world. Beena, with over 30 years of experience in the field, shares her journey...
Radical Wholeness and the Five Paths of Transformation

Radical Wholeness and the Five Paths of Transformation

Ken Wilber and Andrew Holecek explore the frontiers of integral theory and human consciousness. Ken shares some of the key insights from his latest book, "Finding Radical Wholeness," offering a...
Why Greater Depth Means Greater Responsibility

Why Greater Depth Means Greater Responsibility

Watch as Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVos delve into the profound interdependence between human development and responsibility, exploring how our deepening self-awareness shapes our relationships and societal roles in...
Vertical Development’s Many Gifts

Vertical Development’s Many Gifts

Beena Sharma, president of the Vertical Development Academy (VeDA), gives a beautifully cogent explanation of the 8-stage, full spectrum model of adult psychological development, Vertical Development — illuminating us not...
Supporting Development in Adolescents

Supporting Development in Adolescents

Watch as Dr. Keith and Corey take a close look at a critical phase of our own development, noting all of the things that can go right (and many of...
Coronavirus: Making Sense of Our Sense-Making

Coronavirus: Making Sense of Our Sense-Making

Watch as Beena Sharma and Susanne Cook-Greuter offer a must-see presentation to help us understand the many healthy and unhealthy responses we are seeing to the coronavirus pandemic, all the...
The Many Ways We Grow

The Many Ways We Grow

Human development is uneven, which means that we are better at some things than we are at others. Some skills come more naturally to us, and others are more difficult...
Growing Up: A Guided Tour

Growing Up: A Guided Tour

In this episode of The Ken Show we explore one of the most central elements of integral metatheory: growing up through multiple stages of developmental maturity. Watch as Ken and...
The Stages of Leadership Maturity

The Stages of Leadership Maturity

Beena Sharma and Susanne Cook-Greuter offer a stunning overview of their Leadership Maturity Framework, which offers leaders, coaches, and change agents of all stripes a far more thorough understanding of...
Human 101: The Psychology of the Future

Human 101: The Psychology of the Future

How can we formulate an approach to psychology that honors and embraces every legitimate aspect of human consciousness and pulls these multiple aspects together into a single coherent model of...
In Over Our Heads: Development as a Lifelong Journey

In Over Our Heads: Development as a Lifelong Journey

Dr. Kegan talks with Ken Wilber about his landmark book In Over Our Heads, exploring the many ways our cultural lack of developmental perspectives is actively inhibiting development itself, leaving...
Albert Murray’s Lines of Cultural Development

Albert Murray’s Lines of Cultural Development

Greg Thomas explores the fascinating intersection between the work of Albert Murray and Integral Theory.
Consciousness Explained Better

Consciousness Explained Better

Allan Combs, a pioneer of Integral thought and practice whose name may be familiar if you've ever heard of the "Wilber-Combs lattice", speaks with Ken about a better way to...
Stairway to Heaven: Honoring Dr. James Fowler

Stairway to Heaven: Honoring Dr. James Fowler

Integral Institute paid a formal tribute to Dr. James W. Fowler's extraordinary body of work, an incredibly moving 2-hour presentation of Dr. Fowler's body of work led by Rollie Stanich,...
Telling the Story of Development

Telling the Story of Development

Susanne Cook-Greuter, one of the most important developmental psychologists working today, shares her path from a working-class family in Switzerland to academic excellence and innovation at Harvard University, exploring the...
Introduction to Ego Development

Introduction to Ego Development

Susanne Cook-Greuter is an internationally recognized researcher in mature ego development and self-actualization. You may have noticed her name alongside Robert Kegan's, Clare Graves', and Jane Loevinger's in Ken's book,...
The Evolving Self

The Evolving Self

Dr. Robert Kegan, the author of The Evolving Self and In Over Our Heads, explores the vital role of interior development in creating a more inclusive and integrated world, as...

How can I begin or deepen my meditation practice?

No Boundary: Ken Wilber Goes Back to High School

No Boundary: Ken Wilber Goes Back to High School

Ken speaks with high school students to discuss his 1979 classic, No Boundary. What follows is a lively and deeply insightful exploration of integral spirituality, Ken’s personal practice, and the...
Zero to Awake

Zero to Awake

Join a multi-dimensional guided meditation and pointing-out instruction tour led by Integral Practice Leader Jogen Salzberg, Sensei through awareness in its various extra-ordinary modes. The tour encompasses the 3 Faces...
Life as Practice: Karma Yoga and Awakening Service

Life as Practice: Karma Yoga and Awakening Service

Anyone who is deeply committed to contemplative practice and to cultivating the qualities it enhances—such as empathy, compassion, clarity and insight, to name only a few—will want to practice as...
A Taste of Centering Prayer

A Taste of Centering Prayer

Centering Prayer is a simple Christian practice that helps us to locate and take refuge in our "inner room," consent to the presence of God-in-2nd-person, and lead us into deep...
Essential Meditations: Shamatha and Vipashyana

Essential Meditations: Shamatha and Vipashyana

In this excerpt from the Okay, I'm Dead... Now What? web course, acclaimed teacher Andrew Holecek offers guided instructions for two fundamental types of meditative practices: Shamatha and Vipashyana meditations.
Contemplation on Death and Impermanence

Contemplation on Death and Impermanence

Terry Patten offers a short guided meditation to help you reduce the existential fear, dread, and anxiety surrounding death by shifting your attention and identification to the indestructible presence at...
Basic Meditation Instructions

Basic Meditation Instructions

Terry Patten offers some very basic instructions to help you kickstart your meditation practice. He also offers an extended segment on "Integral Inquiry", a simple but powerful technique that can...
Full Spectrum Mindfulness: A Guided Tour

Full Spectrum Mindfulness: A Guided Tour

Ken Wilber offers a blistering in-depth guided tour through his widely acclaimed Full Spectrum Mindfulness teaching, a series of simple but powerful practices to unlock your deepest sources of power,...
Spirituality for the Inner Skeptic

Spirituality for the Inner Skeptic

Terry Patten helps us explore our own inner skeptic, and suggests practices that lead us into a greater awareness of the mystery of life — whether you identify this experience...
Always Already: The Brilliant Clarity of Ever-Present Awareness

Always Already: The Brilliant Clarity of Ever-Present Awareness

In this excerpt from The Eye of Spirit, Ken Wilber offers one of the most powerful (and beautiful) pieces of spiritual writing he has ever produced. This is the very...
Becoming Nothing

Becoming Nothing

In this deeply moving reflection, Father Thomas Keating offers a personal glimpse into his own spiritual practice, allowing us precious insight into the heart and mind of one of the...
Having No Head: A Pointing-Out Exercise

Having No Head: A Pointing-Out Exercise

"Keep an open mind," we like to say, "but not so open your brain slides out." But what happens when you open your mind so fully that you end up...
13 Koans (And Their Answers) to Awaken Your Deepest Heart and Mind

13 Koans (And Their Answers) to Awaken Your Deepest Heart and Mind

Jun Po Kelly Roshi and Ken Wilber explore the 13 koans of Mondo Zen — and then give you the answers to each one of them!
A Few Moments of Being

A Few Moments of Being

Lay claim to your birthright with this short guided meditation by Lama Surya Das.
Integral Mahamudra: The Mandala of Awakening

Integral Mahamudra: The Mandala of Awakening

Patrick Sweeney, the holder of the Karma Kagyü lineage, offers a powerful mahamudra teaching. The term mahamudra literally means "great seal" or "great symbol", a body of teaching that represents...
The Three Faces of Spirit

The Three Faces of Spirit

In this practice we contemplate, think, and know about Spirit in the 3rd-person; we relate, dwell, and commune with Spirit in a 2nd-person relationship, and we meditate, feel and know...

Navigating Wicked Problems with Integral Theory

Explore our exclusive content series featuring Ken Wilber, Corey deVos, and other experts as they delve into some of the most pressing issues facing our society today. From gun violence to racism and police abuse, our experts use the lens of Integral Theory to examine these complex challenges from multiple perspectives and offer innovative solutions. Join us as we navigate the complexities of the 21st century and work towards a more integrated and holistic approach to problem-solving.

Transform the Police: A More Integral Approach to Law Enforcement

Transform the Police: A More Integral Approach to Law Enforcement

Mark and Corey are joined by Chris Orrey, a retired police lieutenant with over 30 years of service with the Hayward, California Police Department, to discuss the abuse and resulting death of Tyre Nichols, who was severely beaten and ultimately killed by five Memphis police officers after a routine traffic stop. What allowed this tragedy (and others like it) to...
Integral Critical Theory: The 8 Zones of Racism

Integral Critical Theory: The 8 Zones of Racism

Ken and Corey continue their discussion of the 8 critical zones of integral metatheory, and apply them to the ongoing cultural conversation taking place around race, racism, and other kinds of bigotry that we continue to see in the world. This discussion is a great opportunity to not only learn more about these 8 primordial perspectives that are available to...
Russia Is Catalyzing the Transformation Age

Russia Is Catalyzing the Transformation Age

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not just a violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty, it is a coordinated attack, with China’s cooperation, on the dominant late Information Age global network, especially the US dollar as global reserve currency. And while it likely counts on a devastating financial counterattack from the western alliance—after all, Putin is a Judo master and wants to use...
Coronavirus: Making Sense of Our Sense-Making

Coronavirus: Making Sense of Our Sense-Making

Watch as Beena Sharma and Susanne Cook-Greuter offer a must-see presentation to help us understand the many healthy and unhealthy responses we are seeing to the coronavirus pandemic, all the way up and down the spiral of development.
Coronavirus and a Course in Anti-Fragility

Coronavirus and a Course in Anti-Fragility

Ken and Corey respond to the COVID-19 pandemic by suggesting a far more comprehensive approach to health and healing. Watch as we take a tour through all four quadrants of healthy living — a much-needed guide to integral anti-fragility in the 21st century.
Climate Change: From Alarmism to Anti-Fragility

Climate Change: From Alarmism to Anti-Fragility

In this fascinating episode of Integral Justice Warrior, Diane and Corey are joined by Gail Hochachka and Rob McNamara to explore anti-fragile approaches to climate change. We are also joined by fellow integral enthusiast Deb Collins, who offers her own perspectives around the tragic wild fires that swept across the Australian continent.
Wicked Problems: Gun Violence

Wicked Problems: Gun Violence

In this exclusive series, Ken and Corey take an in-depth look at America’s ongoing struggle with gun violence, using the four quadrants to track many of the most critical and commonly-blamed factors, conditions, and causes that seem to be contributing to this terribly wicked problem.
On the Front Line of the Culture War — Give Me Some Real Examples, Not Just Theories!

On the Front Line of the Culture War — Give Me Some Real Examples, Not Just Theories!

Watch as Ken and Corey offer their views on some of the most controversial policy debates of our time, each of which has become a battle line in our constantly escalating culture wars.
The Baby and the Bathwater: Saving Liberalism

The Baby and the Bathwater: Saving Liberalism

In this episode of The Ken Show we explore five themes near and dear to the liberal heart — tolerance, nonviolence, power, privilege, and gender — celebrating the healthy aspects of each that we want to include in a more integral embrace, while weeding out the unhealthy regressive narratives that most of these have devolved into.
Coronavirus: Making Sense of Our Sense-Making

Coronavirus: Making Sense of Our Sense-Making

Watch as Beena Sharma and Susanne Cook-Greuter offer a must-see presentation to help us understand the many healthy and unhealthy responses we are seeing to the coronavirus pandemic, all the way up and down the spiral of development.
Russia Is Catalyzing the Transformation Age

Russia Is Catalyzing the Transformation Age

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not just a violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty, it is a coordinated attack, with China’s cooperation, on the dominant late Information Age global network, especially the US dollar as global reserve currency. And while it likely counts on a devastating financial counterattack from the western alliance—after all, Putin is a Judo master and wants to use...
Integral Critical Theory: The 8 Zones of Racism

Integral Critical Theory: The 8 Zones of Racism

Ken and Corey continue their discussion of the 8 critical zones of integral metatheory, and apply them to the ongoing cultural conversation taking place around race, racism, and other kinds of bigotry that we continue to see in the world. This discussion is a great opportunity to not only learn more about these 8 primordial perspectives that are available to...
Transform the Police: A More Integral Approach to Law Enforcement

Transform the Police: A More Integral Approach to Law Enforcement

Mark and Corey are joined by Chris Orrey, a retired police lieutenant with over 30 years of service with the Hayward, California Police Department, to discuss the abuse and resulting death of Tyre Nichols, who was severely beaten and ultimately killed by five Memphis police officers after a routine traffic stop. What allowed this tragedy (and others like it) to...
Climate Change: From Alarmism to Anti-Fragility

Climate Change: From Alarmism to Anti-Fragility

In this fascinating episode of Integral Justice Warrior, Diane and Corey are joined by Gail Hochachka and Rob McNamara to explore anti-fragile approaches to climate change. We are also joined by fellow integral enthusiast Deb Collins, who offers her own perspectives around the tragic wild fires that swept across the Australian continent.
Coronavirus and a Course in Anti-Fragility

Coronavirus and a Course in Anti-Fragility

Ken and Corey respond to the COVID-19 pandemic by suggesting a far more comprehensive approach to health and healing. Watch as we take a tour through all four quadrants of healthy living — a much-needed guide to integral anti-fragility in the 21st century.