Cultivating Wisdom – Integral Life

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In These Chaotic Times, How Do You Cultivate the Wisdom to Move Forward?

“We are becoming nuclear giants and technological wizards while remaining ethnical adolescents and wisdom dwarfs.”Roger Walsh

Roger has designed this ILP module to explore what is wisdom and how is it cultivated. These are among the most important questions we can ask, but questions that have been routinely ignored in modern times. In the twentieth century, the search for wisdom was replaced by a search for knowledge as science and technology promised answers to life’s ills. However, along with scientific achievements came disasters, particularly the devastation of the planet through the accelerating use of modern technology.

In an era drenched in data, a desire for wisdom has been reborn. Where can we go to learn about wisdom? The answer is clear: to the world’s great contemplative religions and their accompanying philosophies and psychologies. This ILP module offers distillations of the world’s accumulated wisdom—ancient and modern, religious and scientific, philosophical and psychological. It is a unique resource that brings together our collective understanding of wisdom and the ways to develop it.

In this ILP module Roger explores…

What is wisdom?
Examples of wisdom teachings from the great traditions.
How to cultivate wisdom utilizing contemplative practices
General wisdom practices
Specific wisdom practices
Working with a teacher
Lectio Divina Practice
Integrated wisdom practice

About the Author

Roger Walsh

Roger Walsh, M.D., Ph.D., has spent nearly a quarter century researching and practicing in the world's great spiritual traditions. His critically acclaimed book, Essential Spirituality, is a summary of that wisdom, outlining the seven spiritual practices common to the world's major religions.

Roger Walsh graduated with first-class honors from the University of Queensland with degrees in psychology, physiology, neuroscience, and medicine, while he worked as a circus acrobat and held world records in high diving and the trampoline. He went to Stanford University as a Fulbright scholar and passed licensing exams in medicine, psychology, and psychiatry before moving to the University of California at Irvine where he is currently professor of psychiatry, philosophy, and anthropology. His initial research and writings were in the area of neuroscience and received multiple national and international awards.

Initially extremely skeptical of all things religious and spiritual, he found his attitudes challenged and changed after he tried meditation for himself. He began to research meditation and related areas and to write extensively on topics such as spirituality and psychological well-being. His text on meditation received the "Outstanding Academic Book of 1984" Award, while his book, Paths Beyond Ego was a "Transformational Books" finalist and was listed among Common Boundary's "One Hundred Most Influential Psycho-spiritual Books of the Century". All told, his writings and research have received over twenty national and international awards, while his teaching has received one national award and he has been six times voted "Outstanding Teacher of the Year" by students at the University of California.

CONVERSATION

Searching for Wisdom in the 21st Century

April 25, 2016

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 be navigated or overcome without a momentous leap of collective wisdom, as well as a commensurate increase in our ability to recognize and leverage that wisdom. But what exactly is this wisdom that so many of us are searching for? Where can we find it? How do we cultivate it in our own lives and make it available to more people?

BOOK

Essential Spirituality: The 7 Central Practices to Awaken Heart and Mind

Based on over twenty years of research and spiritual practice, this is a groundbreaking and life-changing book. In his decades of study, Dr. Roger Walsh has discovered that each of the great spiritual traditions has both a common goal and seven common practices to reach that goal: recognizing the sacred and divine that exist both within and around us. Filled with stories, exercises, meditations, myths, prayers, and practical advice, Essential Spirituality shows how you can integrate these seven principles into one truly rewarding way of life in which kindness, love, joy, peace, vision, wisdom, and generosity become an ever-growing part of everything you do.