Mark Fischler and Corey deVos bring some integral perspective to the Israel-Palestine conflict, navigating the multiple nested contexts that make this issue one of the most enduring and complex in modern history. The conversation explores the critical tensions between different historical legacies, cultural identities, and political intricacies, all contributing to a seemingly intractable conflict that defies simplistic narratives. With deep compassion and empathy, Mark and Corey acknowledge the ongoing violence and suffering experienced by people on both sides, underscoring the urgent need for solutions that address these deep-rooted issues.
“The Diplomat” Seeks the Bigger Picture
Mark Allan Kaplan and Jonathan SteigmanWhat makes a movie integral? Why are so many integral works science fiction or fantasy? Mark Allan Kaplan and Jonathan Steigman explore the Netflix series “The Diplomat” and how it reflects the Integral structure of consciousness
Transforming Self, Society, and the Spaces Between Us
Ken Wilber and Corey deVosIn this enlightening episode of The Ken Show, hosts Ken Wilber and Corey deVos embark on a profound journey through the multifaceted realms of systems theory, communication, and social evolution. They dissect the nuanced perspectives of “inside” and “outside” views in systems, delve into the transformative power of communication paradigms throughout history, and critically examine the influence of social media on the overall emergence of integral consciousness.
In Context: AI-Enhanced Strategies for Social Sector Evolution
Josh Leonard and Robb SmithRobb Smith is joined by Josh Leonard to explore together how IAM’s new AI-augmented mental model software, Context, can support Josh’s work as a social sector consultant, specifically in a project Josh is leading with the YMCA of San Francisco to revamp their leadership development program.
Revolutionary Social Transformation
Ken WilberThis never-before published essay by Ken Wilber delves into the intricate dynamics of societal evolution, emphasizing the interplay between technological advancements, cultural worldviews, and governance systems.
Awaken Your Integral Heart
Brad ReynoldsIn 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 awakening, the conversation emphasizes the interconnectedness of the head, heart, body, and spirit, with the breath as a conduit for circulating spiritual energy. The discussion touches upon the rich tapestry of human development, drawing from the wisdom of ancient traditions and modern integral thought. Brad’s emphasis on love as a transformative force is particularly moving, with the assertion that to truly be integral, one must embody love.
Why Greater Depth Means Greater Responsibility
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosWatch 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 an ever-evolving world. At the heart of the discussion is the compelling notion that as we evolve in our understanding and self-awareness, we bear a greater onus to guide, uplift, and positively influence those around us. This responsibility is especially important in the realm of relationships, where the path to trust and understanding is often fraught with challenges, yet rich with opportunities for growth.
Integral Cinema Studio
Mark Allan KaplanIn this remarkable exploration, Mark walks us through all of the main elements of Integral theory—using some of our favorite movies to illustrate the basics of the Integral approach, while noting how each of these elements has shaped the cinema experience since the invention of film itself. Not only does this series offer a wealth of perspective and insight to film, filmmakers, and audiences alike, but it also brings more color, more sound, and more awesome explosions to Integral thought and practice.
Integral Cinema Studio
Mark Allan KaplanIn this remarkable exploration, Mark walks us through all of the main elements of Integral theory—using some of our favorite movies to illustrate the basics of the Integral approach, while noting how each of these elements has shaped the cinema experience since the invention of film itself. Not only does this series offer a wealth of perspective and insight to film, filmmakers, and audiences alike, but it also brings more color, more sound, and more awesome explosions to Integral thought and practice.
Toward an Integral Cinema: The Application of Integral Theory to Cinematic Media Theory and Practice
Mark Allan KaplanDefining characteristics of what may constitute an integral cinematic work are mapped out and developed into a set of evaluation criteria using the works of Dulac, Gebser, and Wilber. A test of these evaluation criteria with the viewing of several motion pictures is summarized; the results suggest that several past and recent films demonstrate qualities that could be said to constitute an integral cinematic work.
No Beginnings, No Endings: A Dialogue with Living Jazz Great Wayne Shorter
Greg ThomasWayne Shorter, likely the greatest jazz composer since Thelonious Monk, was also one of the most influential tenor and soprano saxophonists in the post-John Coltrane period from the mid-1960s onward. His death on March 2, 2023, at the age of 89, marks the end of a musical life that spanned a panoply of styles and configurations, from hard bop to electronic fusion and funk to Brazilian and Caribbean to orchestral and the avant-garde, all suffused his own idiosyncratic melding of sounds and sensibilities which seemed to reach from the heat-center of the earth to the infinite expanses of the cosmos.
Songs of Peace, Grace, and Awakening
Barbara Hunt and Stephen BanksBarbara Hunt talks to host Stephen Banks about her personal musical journey, the different effects of major and minor chords in music, the One Taste of pain and suffering as it is expressed in our creative expression, and more.
Putting the “Art” in Artificial Intelligence
Ken Wilber and Corey deVosWhat is art, at its most fundamental level? This is one of those perennial questions that we have been asking and re-asking at every stage of the human journey, from the first cave drawings all the way to the emergence of sophisticated artificial intelligence algorithms like MidJourney that are once again blurring the lines between art, beauty, and perspective and forcing us to find new ways to answer this timeless question. Watch as Ken and Corey take a fun and fascinating look at the intersection between art, semiotics, and technology.
Stuck in Development: Bringing Depth to the Postmodern Media Age
Jason Lange and Corey deVosFilmmaker, life coach, and long-time Integral friend Jason Lange sits down with Corey deVos to talk about his new television series, Stuck in Development, now available on all major streaming platforms.
Spiraling towards Perihelion
Markus PintzingerA stunning collection of hand-drawn imagery by Markus Pintzinger, detailing the evolutionary journey through the major stages of development (as depicted by Spiral Dynamics).
VisionLogix: Bringing Integral Iconography to Life
Corey deVos and Stephen BanksCorey deVos talks to Steve Banks about his integral approach to woodworking, and how he tries to transform beautiful ideas into beautiful art. Corey and Steve go on to have a robust discussion of integral art as a whole, as well as their shared appreciation for music.
The Integral Way of Jean Gebser
Jeremy JohnsonIn this two-part introductory series, Jeremy Johnson and participants explore a brief — if experiential — journey through the structures of consciousness, discovering how they continue to live in and through us and our world.
No Beginnings, No Endings: A Dialogue with Living Jazz Great Wayne Shorter
Greg ThomasWayne Shorter, likely the greatest jazz composer since Thelonious Monk, was also one of the most influential tenor and soprano saxophonists in the post-John Coltrane period from the mid-1960s onward. His death on March 2, 2023, at the age of 89, marks the end of a musical life that spanned a panoply of styles and configurations, from hard bop to electronic fusion and funk to Brazilian and Caribbean to orchestral and the avant-garde, all suffused his own idiosyncratic melding of sounds and sensibilities which seemed to reach from the heat-center of the earth to the infinite expanses of the cosmos.
Grace and Grit: From Book to Film to Practice
Sebastian Siegel and Nomali PereraExplore the topic of grace and grit as something we all need in order to live purposefully, face challenges, and birth our dreams in the same way Ken and Treya exemplified in this profound story of transcendent love.
Grace and Grit: An Interview with Sebastian Siegel and Julia Ormond
Sebastian Siegel and Julia OrmondJulia Ormond interviews Sebastian Siegel at the 2020 Integral European Conference about the film adaptation of “Grace and Grit”. Bence Ganti facilitates with an introduction to Ken Wilber. They discuss book-to-film, acting, directing, producing, characters and set, filmming, and pivotal elements of production.
Watch the Grace and Grit Film Trailer!
Integral LifeKen Wilber’s acclaimed and globally popular book, Grace and Grit, has been made into a feature film starring Mena Suvari and Stuart Townsend, with Frances Fisher, Rebekah Graf, Nick Stahl, and Mariel Hemingway – produced, written, and directed by Sebastian Siegel. The film adaptation explores Ken and Treya’s courage, commitment, transcendence… and their discovery of love beyond life.
Grace and Grit: The Movie
Sebastian Siegel and Jeff SalzmanToday’s guest, Sebastian Siegel, is the screenwriter and director of the upcoming movie, Grace and Grit. The film tells the true love story of iconic, Integral philosopher Ken Wilber and his wife Treya. Based on the acclaimed book that chronicles Treya’s journals, they fall madly in love in 1980’s California and are immediately faced with illness and challenges that tear them apart. They overcome by finding a connection beyond this world, and love beyond life.
A Tribute to Ken Wilber
Ken WilberThey say we are all standing on the shoulders of giants. In this video we celebrate one of the biggest and most important giants around: the one and only Ken Wilber. This was our chance to say thank you for all the truth, goodness, and beauty that Ken continues to bring into the world. Ken’s work has ignited the hearts and minds of so many, and we are honored to walk this path with him.
An Inside Look at the Life and Work of the Dalai Lama
Victor Chan and Ken WilberKen Wilber and Victor Chan take an in-depth look at the Dalai Lama’s life, his spiritual practice, and his efforts to bring wisdom to the world and translate compassion into action.
The Edge of the Future: Education, Civilization, and the Metacrisis
Zach Stein, John Dupuy and Roger WalshEducator, author, philosopher, and futurist Zachary Stein gives a startling account of the effects the digital age already has on education and where this is headed. Zak sees education in a deeply philosophical sense as fundamental to the sustainability of our civilization, with implications for each component of the metacrisis. Who will be driving the technology stack that actually leads to a viable civilization? Can we maintain our psychological sovereignty in a sea of digital propaganda and know the truth?
An Example of Integral Pedagogy
Lynne FeldmanBased on Integral Theory, the practice of Integral Education is emerging as a viable and practical discipline. This article demonstrates how an instructor can begin to operate within the AQAL framework by first focusing on the quadrants. Detailed examples of using the quadrants as a pedagogical tool are provided in the context of a senior high school sociology course. In addition, the role of an Integral educator is explored in the context of Integral practices they might employ based on the four quadrants. Although the article presents an application of the AQAL framework within a high school curriculum, the Integral principles in use are instructive for other educational settings using an Integral approach.
How to Teach Kids About Sex and Gender
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosWhat 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 and adolescence? Which aspects are more appropriate to teach at home, and which are appropriate to teach at school? Watch as Dr. Keith and Corey share their thoughts.
What’s Wrong With Education (And How Can We Fix It?)
Mark Fischler and Corey deVosBroken education produces broken people. How can integral perspectives and practices help our education systems generate more happy, healthy, and wholesome kids? Watch as Mark and Corey take a close look at the many dysfunctions, injustices, and failures we see in our education system — both within the system (how and what kids are being taught) as well as surrounding the system (access to education, funding, etc.).
An Integral Approach to Affective Education
Frank MarreroThe author uses twelve AQAL dimensions of education as described by Sean Esbjörn-Hargens to approximate a “report card” for evaluating any curriculum with an affective focus. This completeness is not just an academic exercise but shows the practicality and advantage of an Integral approach in the real world. Four affective educational models will also be examined using Integral perspectives. The features of these programs will be measured using an example of an Integral assessment of their strengths, foci, and weaknesses.
Using Integral Theory in the Classroom
Jack CrittendenThe first part of this article discusses the need for the application of Integral Theory, a postdisciplinary model, to university and academic culture. The second section examines the need for and current status of character education. It uses the AQAL framework to outline an Integral Character Education, which not only includes inculcating values in an individual but also the requisite behaviors associated with those values, as well as the need to anchor them in social interaction and a common ethos.
Igniting Brilliance: An Integral Approach to Education
Willow Dea and Ken WilberWillow Dea and Ken Wilber explore the promise of an educational approach that can fully nourish, enrich, and challenge our children in every dimension of their lives.
Spirituality, Purpose, and Meaning in Higher Education
Alexander Astin, Helen Astin and Ken WilberAlexander and Helen Astin are the some of the most widely-quoted authorities in the field of higher education—as Ken alludes early in the dialogue, whenever these two talk it’s generally a good idea to pay attention. Listen as Ken, Alexander, and Helen discuss the complex role of spirituality among college students, the important differences between religion and spiritual life, and the effects religion, spirituality, and academics have upon our worldviews and political ideologies.
“The Diplomat” Seeks the Bigger Picture
Mark Allan Kaplan and Jonathan SteigmanWhat makes a movie integral? Why are so many integral works science fiction or fantasy? Mark Allan Kaplan and Jonathan Steigman explore the Netflix series “The Diplomat” and how it reflects the Integral structure of consciousness
Stuck in Development: Bringing Depth to the Postmodern Media Age
Jason Lange and Corey deVosFilmmaker, life coach, and long-time Integral friend Jason Lange sits down with Corey deVos to talk about his new television series, Stuck in Development, now available on all major streaming platforms.
Sitting in the Mystery: Aliens, Artists, and the Experiencer Group
Stuart Davis and Corey deVosBelief in UFOs and alien contact continues to find more and more legitimacy. In this fun and fascinating discussion, Stuart and Corey take a deep dive into these cosmic mysteries, exploring the many ways the Integral framework helps us illuminate and interpret the full enchilada of human (and non-human) experience, from the ordinary to the extraordinary to the extra-extraordinary.
Inhabit: Your Game
Corey deVos and Ryan OelkeIn this continuation of our “integral media” series, Ryan and Corey take another look at the major stages of human development, this time using a series of 33 video games in order to illustrate the qualities and characteristics of each stage. All of this allows you to not only observe these stages within you, but to actively inhabit, engage, and play with them as well.
Starfleet Values Are Integral Values
Cindy Wigglesworth, Corey deVos and Jeff SalzmanToday Jeff is joined by fellow integral nerds Cindy Wigglesworth and Corey deVos in this integral appreciation of the venerable Star Trek franchise. Open hailing frequencies, set phasers to stun, and prepare to boldly go where no Star Trek review has gone before.
Star Trek: Discovery and the Moral Arc of the Universe
Corey deVosThe soul of Star Trek isn’t optimism or idealism or a roadmap to utopia. All of those are byproducts of the actual moral core of the series: exploring post-conventional morality, and owning the consequences of decisions made from that stage.
The Black Panther: A Hero for Humanity
Jeff SalzmanJeff Salzman talks to Steve Harper about the superhero film The Black Panther, which illuminates the struggle of growing beyond a retributionist victim identity to a larger sense of responsibility for one’s self, one’s people, and the whole of the world.
“The Witch” and the Evolution of Horror
Jeff Salzman and Corey deVosJeff offers a review of the film The Witch: A New England Folk Tale, noting how much it resonated with his own integral sensibilities. He and Corey then turn the discussion to a broader discussion of the evolution of horror as a genre and its utility as a “release valve” for both cultural anxieties and the persistent existential dread we are all born into. SPOOOKY!!!!!
AQAL and the Practice of Law
Mark FischlerFor many the practice of law is a dissatisfying experience. By providing a more comprehensive, AQAL vision for the practice of law, I speculate that lawyers can gain more satisfaction and meaning from their profession.
Responding to Suffering and Evil: Integral Principles
Roger WalshSuffering and evil challenge us all, but several principles may help Integral practitioners to respond effectively. These include appreciating the role that unrecognized, limited perspectives (and corresponding worldviews) play in creating suffering and evil, and learning to recognize and release such limitations into more integral stances. Doing this skillfully requires taking up effective, authentic psychological and contemplative disciplines, and especially the disciplines of awakening service or karma yoga, whose central elements are described.
Wicked Problems: Bringing Wisdom and Compassion to Immigration
Magdalena Smieszek, Mark Fischler and Corey deVosImmigration 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 dawn of civilization itself. Watch as Magdalena, Mark, and Corey offer their own ideas and reflect on the reasons this issue has become one of the central fault lines in the culture wars.
Criminology Needs an Integral Vision
Integral LifeThis article supports the claim that there is substantial agreement within the discipline that criminology (and criminal justice) is in need of a change in approach. This article maintains that a framework is needed to organize the contributions and partial truths of existing disciplinary knowledge. It is argued that criminology needs an “orienting perspective” or a “meta-theory.” The article proposes that the Integral model provides a functional and apposite framework for addressing these problems. An in-depth, AQAL-based justification for this proposition is provided.
The Meaning of Integral Criminology and Criminal Justice
Integral LifeThis document was produced on the basis of a meeting that took place in March, 2001. There are some revisions reflecting activities and developments that have occurred since that meeting. Our intention is to suggest, in an introductory way, how the Integral approach could be applied to contemporary issues in criminology and criminal justice. We explore issues of the War on Drugs, the death penalty, and juvenile justice as illustrations.
Integral Correctional Education
Integral LifeThis article is part one of an overview of Integral Correctional Education. It briefly introduces salient aspects of the field of correctional education, defines correctional education, introduces the Integral model, and outlines the historical periods of correctional education practice. A discussion of some core principles of correctional education is followed by some problems that afflict inmate students, correctional educators, and the communities they serve.
The Morality of Meat
Jeff Salzman and Corey deVosIf God didn’t want us to eat animals, why did He make them out of meat?
The Darth Vader Move
Ken WilberThe brighter the light, the darker the shadow. The “Darth Vader move” is what happens when someone with an exceptionally high level of development uses the skills and capacities of that level for purposes generally deemed to be “wrong” — often the result of a highly developed cognitive intelligence combined with a poorly developed moral intelligence (Nazi scientists being the classic example). What happens when our higher angels get hijacked by our lowest demons? What is the cause of the Darth Vader move, and how can we prevent ourselves from being seduced by the Dark Side of the Force?
The Edge of the Future: Education, Civilization, and the Metacrisis
Zach Stein, John Dupuy and Roger WalshEducator, author, philosopher, and futurist Zachary Stein gives a startling account of the effects the digital age already has on education and where this is headed. Zak sees education in a deeply philosophical sense as fundamental to the sustainability of our civilization, with implications for each component of the metacrisis. Who will be driving the technology stack that actually leads to a viable civilization? Can we maintain our psychological sovereignty in a sea of digital propaganda and know the truth?
Putting the “Art” in Artificial Intelligence
Ken Wilber and Corey deVosWhat is art, at its most fundamental level? This is one of those perennial questions that we have been asking and re-asking at every stage of the human journey, from the first cave drawings all the way to the emergence of sophisticated artificial intelligence algorithms like MidJourney that are once again blurring the lines between art, beauty, and perspective and forcing us to find new ways to answer this timeless question. Watch as Ken and Corey take a fun and fascinating look at the intersection between art, semiotics, and technology.
Sitting in the Mystery: Aliens, Artists, and the Experiencer Group
Stuart Davis and Corey deVosBelief in UFOs and alien contact continues to find more and more legitimacy. In this fun and fascinating discussion, Stuart and Corey take a deep dive into these cosmic mysteries, exploring the many ways the Integral framework helps us illuminate and interpret the full enchilada of human (and non-human) experience, from the ordinary to the extraordinary to the extra-extraordinary.
The Transformation Age: America Burning
Robb SmithAmerica has been on fire these past few weeks. A nation struggling with its racist past, its contemporary racial shadow, its deep political and cultural polarization, and a divisive president who will never be capable of leading a nation, we continue to find ourselves in the heart of The Great Release (and this time, not from an economic depression or disease pandemic, but from our deep and terrible racist heritage). In this brief article, I want to use a few lenses of integral metatheory—concepts you’ll be familiar with, but applied in ways you’ve never seen before—to see if we can get a broader view of what’s happening.
Deeper Into the Great Release
Robb Smith and Corey deVosLadies 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 the great release if it weren’t so deadly. But as it stands, it is in fact the perfect spark to alight the ample tinder of total system irresilience.
Integral Preparation for a Time of Rapid Social Change
Robb SmithA lifetime of practice has prepared integral people to carry the world through the trying and rapidly-changing times we are entering.
Kosmos: An Integral Voyage
Ken Wilber and Corey deVosKen Wilber and Corey deVos ponder the evolutionary mysteries of the universe, speculating on how abundant life might be in the kosmos, why we haven’t met any of our galactic neighbors yet, and what might happen if a UFO landed on the White House lawn. It’s a fun conversation — and one that takes its subject matter more seriously than you might expect. Whether you are a true believer of UFO phenomena or an iron-clad skeptic, you don’t want to miss this fascinating and far-reaching exploration.
Virtual Lucid Dreaming: The Intersection of Consciousness and Technology
Andrew HolecekAndrew Holecek explores the fascinating and fruitful vanguard of consciousness and technology in this stunning presentation about virtual reality, lucid dreaming, and awakening in the midst of rapid social change.
Integral Medicine: An AQAL Based Approach
Larry GeorgeThis article briefly outlines the AQAL model and describes the application of the model to family practice—specifically an Integral look at depression and anxiety. Larry discusses major problems facing the Western medical model, particularly gross and subtle reductionism and the mind-body split. He also offers an AQAL perspective on clinical examples from family practice and then apply the AQAL model to the transformation of the physician.
Integral Healthcare Management
Integral LifeIntegral Healthcare Management, an application of Integral Theory to the management of healthcare organizations, is a comprehensive and inclusive way of providing healthcare. This article explains the “all-quadrant” aspect of Integral Theory in the context of two common healthcare management challenges: operating a hospital in accord with national accreditation standards and complying with modern notions of “patient safety.”
Martial Arts and Psychotherapy
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith and Corey explore the fertile intersection between martial arts, psychotherapy, and integral living. Watch as Keith shares the deep wisdoms he has received from his own lifelong martial arts practice, and how those wisdoms directly inform his approach to his own psychotherapy practice and the various healing strategies he draws upon.
The Art of Practice: Introducing ILP
Corey deVos and Lisa FrostJoin Lisa Frost and Corey deVos in a new monthly series that will explore how to bring more depth and artistry to our Integral Life Practice — the very best and most effective practices to help you Wake Up, Grow Up, Clean Up, and Show Up in your life, your relationships, and your work in the world.
Coronavirus and a Course in Anti-Fragility
Corey deVos and Ken WilberKen 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.
Inhabit: Your Quarantine
Ryan Oelke, Corey deVos and Keith Martin-SmithWe are joined by special guest Keith Martin-Smith, an acclaimed author, teacher, and dear friend to the show, in order to explore key practices and postures to help us maintain our physical, mental, and spiritual health while enduring the painful realities that all of us are so immersed in right now.
Love in the Time of Corona
Diane Musho Hamilton, Gail Hochachka, Rob McNamara and Corey deVosJoin Diane, Gail, Rob, Corey, and special guest Cindy Lou Golin for a very special discussion about the coronavirus pandemic and how to manage the tremendous fear, anxiety, and uncertainty that can arise from it. We also explore some of the hopeful opportunities and wisdoms that are being brought to the surface by our new set of global life conditions, as well as some of the possible paths toward anti-fragility that our society can take in the wake of this pandemic.
Inhabit: Your Wound
Ryan Oelke and Corey deVosWe all possess a unique constellation of traumas, enacted by your own unique kosmic address, and which can lead to your own unique wisdom. This is what we hope to help you uncover today.
Illuminating the Integral Vision: A Metatheory for Understanding Self, Life, and the World
Corey deVos, John Dupuy and Roger WalshCorey gives a terrifically lucid explanation of what the term Integral encompasses: a stage of psychological development, a description of Ken Wilber’s life’s work, and a comprehensive map that comes alive for people, guiding their way and making sense out of enormously complex issues. Corey also describes Integral as a gateway between two massive phases in human history — the “adolescent” phase of collective development now starting to fall behind us, and an integrated phase quite possibly ahead.
Holons: The Building Blocks of the Universe
Corey deVosJoin Corey deVos for this fun, fascinating, and far-reaching exploration of one of the essential cornerstones of integral theory — holons, or the apparently endless series of “part/wholes” that fundamentally compose reality as we know it.
Vertical Development’s Many Gifts
Beena Sharma, John Dupuy and Roger WalshBeena 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 only to the characteristics of each stage of development, but the implications and ramifications of each stage, the process of human development as a whole, and how this model can help us face our current metacrisis.
No Boundary: Ken Wilber Goes Back to High School
Ken WilberKen 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 path of awakening that leads us to nondual realization.
In Pursuit of Wholeness: Making Room for Everything
Corey deVos and Ken WilberThis notion of holons — the idea that the universe is fundamentally made of whole/parts within whole/parts within whole/parts, turtles all the way up and turtles all the way down — this isn’t just important in a theoretical or philosophical sense. Understanding holons also helps us make better sense of the world that we live in, and our inner worlds as well. And it helps guide our own growing up, waking up, and cleaning up process.
Illuminating Our Stage Structures
Jeff SalzmanSometimes in our psychological development the way forward requires us to go back, to re-explore earlier stages of life to see what is distorted or left unintegrated. This is the theme of the work of my guest today, developmental psychotherapist Kim Barta, who joins us to discuss his approach to personal growth.
From the Big Bang to the Eight Primordial Perspectives
Ken Wilber and Corey deVosKen Wilber offers a stunning introduction to the major components of Integral theory and practice — a guided tour that takes us from the very first forms to emerge in the universe, all the way to the eight primordial perspectives that all of our knowledge is constructed from.
Polarity Matters: Are You Thinking In Pairs?
Beena Sharma and Corey deVosHow do polarities help us see ourselves and our world more clearly and completely? Watch as Beena Sharma answers your questions about her Integrating Polarities training, while offering a simple introduction to the practice you can follow along with at home.
Transforming Self, Society, and the Spaces Between Us
Ken Wilber and Corey deVosIn this enlightening episode of The Ken Show, hosts Ken Wilber and Corey deVos embark on a profound journey through the multifaceted realms of systems theory, communication, and social evolution. They dissect the nuanced perspectives of “inside” and “outside” views in systems, delve into the transformative power of communication paradigms throughout history, and critically examine the influence of social media on the overall emergence of integral consciousness.
In Context: AI-Enhanced Strategies for Social Sector Evolution
Josh Leonard and Robb SmithRobb Smith is joined by Josh Leonard to explore together how IAM’s new AI-augmented mental model software, Context, can support Josh’s work as a social sector consultant, specifically in a project Josh is leading with the YMCA of San Francisco to revamp their leadership development program.
Revolutionary Social Transformation
Ken WilberThis never-before published essay by Ken Wilber delves into the intricate dynamics of societal evolution, emphasizing the interplay between technological advancements, cultural worldviews, and governance systems.
Sentio Ergo Sum: The Emotional Line of Development
Joanne RubinIntegral Theory is described as a “nondual” developmental paradigm, where ontology and epistemology are paired constructively, and in which developing consciousness is sourced by thought, feeling, and states of consciousness. Emotional and cognitive development intertwine within ego development, and ego is defined by its coordinating and self-identifying functions. Following a review of the literature on emotions and emotional development, criteria are proposed for preconventional, conventional, and post-conventional levels of emotional development.
Is Metamodernism Integral? Is Integral Metamodern?
Brendan Graham DempseyMetamodernism and the integral paradigm share a lot in common, yet also differ in important ways. To what degree should these terms be conflated or kept apart? What unites them, and what constitute the meaningful distinctions? What role do things like sensibility, generation, emphasis, and epistemology play? This gathering provided an opportunity to dig into this topic. To this end, metamodern thinker Brendan Graham Dempsey offers some history and a bit of compare/contrast perspectives on the topic.
The 8 Perspectival Zones of Emergence
Ken WilberKen Wilber is asked whether there are structural preconditions for the enacting of certain zones, whether zones unfold with respect to increasing cognitive development, whether certain zones were even available at earlier times in history, and whether there are “premodern,” “modern,” and “postmodern” zones.
The Highest Stages of Conscious Development
Terri O'Fallon and Keith Martin-SmithTerri O’Fallon and Keith Martin-Smith dive into a deeper and more detailed exploration of Terri’s STAGES model, focusing on a smaller section of the model: stages 3.0 – 6.0 (roughly Amber/Orange to Turquoise/Indigo). Terri outlines what makes each level of her model unique from the last, what causes people to shift from one level to another, as well as what the mature expressions look like for 3.0, 4.0, and 5.0 stages.
Navigating the Meaning Crisis
John Vervaeke and Nomali PereraJohn Vervaeke talks with Nomali, Jeff, and the rest of the group about his three major concerns about stage models, and why he doesn’t emphasize them in his own work
In Context: AI-Enhanced Strategies for Social Sector Evolution
Josh Leonard and Robb SmithRobb Smith is joined by Josh Leonard to explore together how IAM’s new AI-augmented mental model software, Context, can support Josh’s work as a social sector consultant, specifically in a project Josh is leading with the YMCA of San Francisco to revamp their leadership development program.
Buddhas in Blue: Enlightened Ways to Make Policing Work For Everyone
Ryan Johansen, Chris Orrey, Roger Walsh and John DupuyIn 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 world and offer solutions as to how the entire institution of police work could be transformed to become more effective and sustainable, both for police officers and for the communities they serve.
Diversity, Empathy, and Integration: Reframing and Reclaiming a Movement Toward Healing and Wholeness
Brad KershnerBrad Kershner offers a deep and detailed criticism of standard DEI approaches (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion), highlighting the complexities of ethnicity, race, and cultural evolution. He challenges prevailing educational metaphors grounded in the postmodern perspective, advocating for a more universal application of modern liberal values, and emphasizing the need for a nuanced understanding to forge a more genuine and generative path forward for social justice.
From Race to Culture to Kosmos
Greg Thomas, John Dupuy and Roger WalshJoin cultural analyst and co-founder of the Jazz Leadership Project, Greg Thomas, as he explores the transformative power of culture, using his knowledge of jazz and blues as a conduit to greater understanding and connection. Greg tackles layered issues of race through a systemic lens, suggesting a shift from racial to cultural worldview, offering an enlightening dialogue filled with anecdotes from music history and a rich exploration of how shared cultural experiences can dissolve boundaries and unite us all.
Transcending and Including Our Current Way of Being: An Introduction to Integral Coaching
Joanne HuntThis article provides an introduction to the Integral Coaching® method developed by Joanne Hunt and Laura Divine, founders of Integral Coaching Canada, Inc. A brief introduction to the field of coaching is offered using the four quadrants to appreciate the underlying assumptions of how change occurs and how schools of coaching have approached the rapidly growing field of adult development. Further delineation of Integral Coaching Canada’s use of subject-object theory and a “transcend and include” developmental model is provided and resides at the root of this school’s AQAL approach to change.
Transform the Police: A More Integral Approach to Law Enforcement
Chris Orrey, Mark Fischler and Corey deVosMark 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 take place? What sorts of personal, cultural, and institutional transformation are necessary to prevent something like this from occurring again?
A Unique View Into You: Working With a Client’s AQAL Constellation
Laura DivineThis article provides an introduction to the set of six lenses used to support client assessment and competency development: the four quadrants (competencies, orientation, and translation), levels of consciousness (including three levels within each level), six lines of development (cognitive, emotional, interpersonal, somatic, spiritual, and moral), states of consciousness (gross, subtle, and causal as well as productive and non-productive, high-energy and low-energy states), gender type structures (feminine and masculine development), and Enneagram type structures.
Transformational Conversations: The Four Conversations of Integral Coaching
Joanne HuntThis article provides an introduction to the process used by Integral Coaching Canada in working with clients over time.
The Human Potential Movement: Then and Now
Mike Murphy, Roger Walsh and John DupuyMichael Murphy, author, co-founder of the world-famous Esalen Institute, and pioneer of the Human Potential Movement starting in the 60s, relates a wealth of intimate experience, knowledge, and wisdom covering his decades of living at the leading edge of transformative practice and the realization of human potential.
Work as Practice, Practice as Work
Lisa Frost, Kevin Snorf and Kent FrazierWhat would it look like to re-imagine and redefine the very ways we relate to and participate in our work? In this episode Lisa and Kevin speak with Kent Frazier, founder of Fully Human at Work, to understand what practice looks like in this context of our lives.
The WHAT, WHY, and HOW of Integral Practice
Lisa Frost and Kevin SnorfThe truth is, you’re always practicing something. What is your default practice if you are not practicing consciously?
Authoring Your Life Story: The Hero’s Journey and You
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosWatch 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, and more integrated sense of “self”.
Inhabit: Your Speech
Corey deVos and Ryan OelkeWhat are the unique challenges that prevent you from inhabiting your most authentic and embodied voice, and how can integral thought and practice help us to overcome those challenges — in our society, in our communities, and in our own consciousness? Watch as Ryan and Corey take a look at a recent article by Jonathan Haidt, and explore how we can bring more “enfoldment mechanisms” to our activities in all four quadrants.
The Path of Integral Flourishing: 1000 Points of Transformation
Lee Mason and Corey deVosLee Mason talks to Corey deVos about Lee’s new Flourishing LIVE training — an online group coaching program to help you develop a personalized strategy to thrive optimally across all areas of your life.
Inhabit: Your Humility
Corey deVos and Ryan OelkeCorey 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 fall into at one point or another during our Integral lives.
Integral Life Practice: Enough Talk, It’s Time to Live!
Terry Patten and Ken WilberTerry 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 a highly distilled, easily customizable, and radically inclusive approach to practice, based on the most comprehensive map of human potentials we currently have.
The Art and Science of the Intentional Love Affair
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. 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 intimacy. They discuss the importance of fostering better friendships, nurturing love affairs, and developing the ability to solve problems so effortlessly that they may not even appear as conflicts to others.
How Healthy Relationships Manage Conflict
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith and Corey discuss “post-issue relationships” — relationships where both partners have the awareness and skill to stay connected in warmth and acceptance all the time, where challenges such as irritation, anxiety, doubt, guilt, and frustration can be transmuted into problem solving and warm feelings towards each other.
From Codependence to Interdependence
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosCodependent relationships — those relationships where one person needs another, and the other person needs to be needed — are surprisingly common in our lives, regardless of our overall stage of development. In fact, there is a good chance that you have dealt with codependent relationships in the past, or are maybe even struggling with one right now. This discussion will help you to transform those relationships into genuinely interdependent relationships that can transcend and include both healthy dependence and independence.
The Development of Desire
Willow PearsonIn this article Willow Pearson proposes that desire, as all lines of development, evolves toward greater complexity and is an all-quadrant phenomenon. For this reason, she situates desire and sex (from preconventional to conventional to postconventional and beyond) within an Integral framework. Integral Theory offers a unique view of desire and a possibility to understand all levels of desire as embodied wisdom, however partial each view might be.
Practice the Wound of Love
Ken Wilber and Corey deVosWatch 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.
Illuminating Shadow: Family, Community, and Relationship
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosCorey and Keith are joined by a very special guest, Keith’s daughter Zoe Witt, for this tremendously touching exploration of shadow in family, in relationships, and in the Integral community itself.
How to Have More Compassionate Conversations
Diane Musho Hamilton, Gail Hochachka and Corey deVosIn this episode of Integral Justice Warrior we are joined by Gabe Wilson, co-author of Compassionate Conversations: How to Speak and Listen from the Heart, co-written with Diane and Kim Loh. In this discussion we explore many of the central themes of the book, helping all of us learn how to de-escalate conflicts and tensions, and to communicate with far more presence, empathy, skill, and grace.
100 Reasons Not to Have an Affair
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith and Corey discuss why extramarital affairs happen, what the consequences of infidelity are to your relationship, your family, and your own mental well-being, and why you should probably never, ever have one.
Integral Political Economy
Kevin BowmanAn integral political-economic framework is developed first with a quadrant analysis of the economy. The analysis contains a novel separation by quadrant of the effects that either encourage or discourage economic development. It is then shown what quadrant aspects are recognized or emphasized by liberals and conservatives. A review of the Integral approach to capital then allows for the integration of the radical view. Political-economic understanding is then proposed as a learning line of development where conservative, liberal, or radical emphasis in agents is associated with their political-economic personality types. Distinctions are made between less and more mature versions of each type. Finally, an immature/mature fallacy is discovered where more mature views are often mistakenly reduced to less mature versions of that type by less mature views of another type.
Integral Finance
Integral LifeMoney is a human abstraction. Although not found in nature, it is pervasively used throughout human activities and undertakings. In so doing, it generates an array of personal and cultural responses in addition to its material manifestations. As such, it is ideally suited for an AQAL analysis. This paper constitutes the introductory theoretical overview for Integral Finance. It introduces the basic principles and presents fundamental applications of Integral principles to money, including money’s nature, its various roles in the world, and its applications to and impacts on other disciplines.
Integral Business and Leadership
Integral LifeThis introductory article is an early articulation of Integral approaches to business and leadership in which the authors use the clarifying and synthesizing perspectives of Integral Theory and methodology to update biases, make new connections, and illumine blind spots of the theorists who have gone before: Drucker, McGregor, Kaplan and Norton, Senge, Hammer, and Collins, et al.
The Transformation Age: America Burning
Robb SmithAmerica has been on fire these past few weeks. A nation struggling with its racist past, its contemporary racial shadow, its deep political and cultural polarization, and a divisive president who will never be capable of leading a nation, we continue to find ourselves in the heart of The Great Release (and this time, not from an economic depression or disease pandemic, but from our deep and terrible racist heritage). In this brief article, I want to use a few lenses of integral metatheory—concepts you’ll be familiar with, but applied in ways you’ve never seen before—to see if we can get a broader view of what’s happening.
Deeper Into the Great Release
Robb Smith and Corey deVosLadies 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 the great release if it weren’t so deadly. But as it stands, it is in fact the perfect spark to alight the ample tinder of total system irresilience.
A New War for Power
Robb SmithBlack Lives Matter. MeToo. North Korea. Robert Mueller. Fake news. What do these and dozens of other headlines have in common? Join Robb as he explains how they all point to a new war for power that is currently underway: how power is being used and misused, how power is changing, and who will have power when the momentous leap into the transformation age is done.
Never Been Better, Never Felt Worse: Inside the Rise of an Integral Global Operating System for the 21st Century
Robb SmithIntegral Life CEO Robb Smith puts the tumult of 2016 into historical perspective and looks ahead at the “momentous leap into the transformation age” that he believes is underway right now. Taking a long view of history, evolutionary dynamics, culture and economics, Robb argues that we’re at the peak of a Green, pluralistic global operating system, with Orange modernism slipping into our rearview mirror, and Teal integralism just beginning to emerge, holding all the promise of overcoming the evolutionary contradictions that gave rise to populism and leaders like Donald Trump.
Cryptocurrency for Newbies: The Evolution of Money
Ryan Oelke, Jeff Salzman and Corey deVosIn this very special episode we take a close look at one of the most exciting and disruptive new technological forces in society: the rise of cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies.
Between Hope and History: An Integral View on Israel-Palestine
Mark Fischler and Corey deVosMark Fischler and Corey deVos bring some integral perspective to the Israel-Palestine conflict, navigating the multiple nested contexts that make this issue one of the most enduring and complex in modern history. The conversation explores the critical tensions between different historical legacies, cultural identities, and political intricacies, all contributing to a seemingly intractable conflict that defies simplistic narratives. With deep compassion and empathy, Mark and Corey acknowledge the ongoing violence and suffering experienced by people on both sides, underscoring the urgent need for solutions that address these deep-rooted issues.
Revolutionary Social Transformation
Ken WilberThis never-before published essay by Ken Wilber delves into the intricate dynamics of societal evolution, emphasizing the interplay between technological advancements, cultural worldviews, and governance systems.
Buddhas in Blue: Enlightened Ways to Make Policing Work For Everyone
Ryan Johansen, Chris Orrey, Roger Walsh and John DupuyIn 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 world and offer solutions as to how the entire institution of police work could be transformed to become more effective and sustainable, both for police officers and for the communities they serve.
Meta-Ideological Politics: Bridging the Gaps Between Us
Ryan NakadeRyan’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 how ideologies aid us in deciphering the world but can also misguide us. Ryan describes the three definitions of “meta” he uses to elucidate the concept of meta-ideological politics: “meta” as transcending, “meta” as between, and “meta” as self-aware or self-referential.
From Socrates to Social Media: Renewing Our Commitment to Free Speech
Nadine Strossen, Mark Fischler and Corey deVosMark 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 frontier of free speech — a legacy that reaches from the philosophical debates of ancient Greece to today’s dynamic platforms of social media. Together, Nadine, Mark, and Corey illuminate the journey of free speech (a crowning achievement of the rational/modern (Orange) stage) celebrating it as a beacon of individual rights and a testament to the unyielding human pursuit of truth and expression.
Diversity, Empathy, and Integration: Reframing and Reclaiming a Movement Toward Healing and Wholeness
Brad KershnerBrad Kershner offers a deep and detailed criticism of standard DEI approaches (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion), highlighting the complexities of ethnicity, race, and cultural evolution. He challenges prevailing educational metaphors grounded in the postmodern perspective, advocating for a more universal application of modern liberal values, and emphasizing the need for a nuanced understanding to forge a more genuine and generative path forward for social justice.
Building a Just World: How Our Laws Express Our Collective Values
Mark Fischler, John Dupuy and Roger WalshConstitutional law expert and criminal justice professor Mark Fischler has a thirst for justice and a gift for teaching. With cogency and passion, Mark explains that law is not the absolute that we perhaps thought, but an ever changing reflection of the values we hold as a society. Law is a developmental process, and will benefit from our own dedication to inner moral development.
Peace, Love, and Politics: A Campaign to Transform America
Marianne Williamson, Mark Fischler and Corey deVosIn this episode of Integral Justice Warrior we are joined by special guest, longtime friend, and Presidential candidate Marianne Williamson to take an inside look at her campaign and the core principles of love, peace, and compassion that it is built upon.
Why Greater Depth Means Greater Responsibility
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosWatch 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 an ever-evolving world. At the heart of the discussion is the compelling notion that as we evolve in our understanding and self-awareness, we bear a greater onus to guide, uplift, and positively influence those around us. This responsibility is especially important in the realm of relationships, where the path to trust and understanding is often fraught with challenges, yet rich with opportunities for growth.
Sentio Ergo Sum: The Emotional Line of Development
Joanne RubinIntegral Theory is described as a “nondual” developmental paradigm, where ontology and epistemology are paired constructively, and in which developing consciousness is sourced by thought, feeling, and states of consciousness. Emotional and cognitive development intertwine within ego development, and ego is defined by its coordinating and self-identifying functions. Following a review of the literature on emotions and emotional development, criteria are proposed for preconventional, conventional, and post-conventional levels of emotional development.
Integral Perspectives on Alcoholism
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosAlcohol addiction is a deeply entrenched issue that affects a significant portion of the population, with around 10% of children being raised in a family with at least one alcoholic parent as of 2019. In this episode of Witt and Wisdom, Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVos undertake a comprehensive exploration of alcohol addiction, its effects, and the recovery process through the lens of Ken Wilber’s integral theory, which encompasses all four quadrants – individual (internal and external) and collective (internal and external).
Developmental Experiments in Individual and Collective Movement to Second Tier
Terri O'FallonThis article describes seven years of research on an ongoing experiment that fosters the development of individuals and groups through an integrally informed educational program called Generating Transformative Change (GTC). A progressively targeted developmental action research project involving seven cohorts is described and the conclusions about three of these participant groups, involving a total of 30 people, are presented.
Toward an Integral Meta-Psychotherapy
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosImagine a therapy where everything is interconnected, where every moment is a golden opportunity, and where the journey is as transformative as the destination. Whether you’re a therapist, a seeker, or just curious about the intricacies of the human psyche, this episode promises a journey of discovery, connection, and evolution.
When Therapists Go Woke
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. 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 by Lisa Davis’s insightful article “How Therapists Became Social Justice Warriors” in The Free Press, Keith and Corey delve into the evolving role of therapists in the current sociopolitical climate.
Shadow, Trauma, and Attachment: Why Do Spiritual Teachers Keep Messing Up?
Keith Martin-SmithIf spiritual teachers are so “awake” and “enlightened”, why do so many of them get caught with their shadow hanging out? Watch as Keith Martin-Smith offers a stunning overview of shadow, trauma, and attachment disorders, and how they can corrupt both our mental health and our spiritual awakening.
Mastery, Collaboration, and Finding Your Unique Healing Style
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosDr. Keith Witt and Corey deVos explore the multifaceted nature of integral psychotherapy, emphasizing the importance of therapists finding their own healing style and the role of personal cosmologies in shaping therapeutic practice. They delve into the complexities of blending different integral systems, highlighting potential blind spots in integral cosmology and the challenges of extending beyond one’s mastery. The conversation also touches on the impact of generational events and the internet on mental health and societal norms.
AQAL Topology: An Introduction to Integral Geography and Spatiality
Brian EddyThis article introduces some of the basic elements of Integral Geography as both theory and practice for applying the AQAL framework to the study of the world. A historical overview elaborates what geography is, how it evolved as a discipline, and how geographers frame a number of key dimensions of inquiry in studying both the human and natural world. These key dimensions are then situated in relation to the AQAL framework and are used to reveal how space, spatiality, and topology are intrinsic to the AQAL map and Integral Theory in general.
Subtle Energies Viewed from Four Quadrants
Simon SenzonThis article explores the discipline of subtle energies by using the four quadrants of Integral Theory as a central framework. It offers a way to integrate the disparate views of subtle energies from the traditional descriptions of mystics, saints, yogis, and healers with the leading edge research in the life and health sciences in regards to the subtle energies within and around the living system.
Ontological Shock: The Accelerating Emergence of Artificial Intelligence
Robb Smith, Bruce Alderman and Corey deVosRobb Smith joins co-hosts Bruce Alderman and Corey deVos in our first episode of Integral Life’s new AI series, where together they grapple with the profound “ontological shock” and societal transformation prompted by the emergence of AI, exploring its impact across education, personal lives, and organizations. They delve into the potential risks and benefits of AI, its role in discourse shaping, the evolving perceptions of AI, and the transformative potential of AI-aided technologies, all while weaving in spiritual insights and invoking a deeper understanding of our interconnectedness in this transformative age.
We’re Hoping AIs Will Answer Our Deepest Spiritual Question. They Can’t.
Robb SmithIf we can create an AI that seems fully conscious, what does it mean for our place in the universe? Are we really conscious? If we can basically replicate consciousness, how special can life be? How special can our own lives be?
The Maturing Test: How Developed Is the World’s Most Advanced AI?
Robb Smith, Corey deVos and Susanne Cook-GreuterWe 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 to find out!
Inhabit: Your Speech
Corey deVos and Ryan OelkeWhat are the unique challenges that prevent you from inhabiting your most authentic and embodied voice, and how can integral thought and practice help us to overcome those challenges — in our society, in our communities, and in our own consciousness? Watch as Ryan and Corey take a look at a recent article by Jonathan Haidt, and explore how we can bring more “enfoldment mechanisms” to our activities in all four quadrants.
The Data and Methodologies of Integral Science
Kurt KollerThis essay introduces a methodology for Integral Science called Integral Methodological Pluralism (IMP). Tracing the development of epistemological and ontological relationships in the writings of Ken Wilber, the paper demonstrates how such a methodology might be applied. I consider Wilber’s elucidations of three core principles of valid knowledge (injunction, apprehension, and consensual validation) along with three essential elements of an IMP (nonexclusion, enfoldment, and enactment).
Morphic Fields and Holomorphic Info-Entropy
Ken Wilber and Corey deVosThere was a recent article published by The Resonance Science Foundation that sounds like indirect evidence for some form of subtle energy phenomena, and seems to support Rupert Sheldrake’s theory of subtle energies. Are we describing subtle forms of mass-energy here? Are “morphogenetic fields” — which are “informational fields” by definition — congruent with Ken’s understanding of subtle fields?
Diversity, Empathy, and Integration: Reframing and Reclaiming a Movement Toward Healing and Wholeness
Brad KershnerBrad Kershner offers a deep and detailed criticism of standard DEI approaches (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion), highlighting the complexities of ethnicity, race, and cultural evolution. He challenges prevailing educational metaphors grounded in the postmodern perspective, advocating for a more universal application of modern liberal values, and emphasizing the need for a nuanced understanding to forge a more genuine and generative path forward for social justice.
Sex, Identity, Gender: Beyond Wokism and Trumpism
Corey deVos and Keith Martin-SmithJoin 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 to discuss how our notions of sex, gender, and identity apply to some of the most contentious and pressing issues of our time, and how they can be integrated into a more integral dialectic.
What Is a Man (And Why Does It Matter?)
Keith Martin-SmithWith all the cultural war battles being waged around the question “what is a woman”, Keith Martin-Smith offers an integral discussion of manhood and masculinity — as a biological given, as a cultural construct, and as an ongoing source of identity.
An Integral Approach to Sexual Identity: Beyond Religion and Science
Michele EliasonThis article proposes an integral approach to sexual identity development that broadens the discussion beyond science and religion or nature versus nurture. A four-quadrant exploration of the research on the origins of sexual identity reveals much more complexity and highlights potential points for social justice interventions as well as ideas to enhance personal spiritual transformation.
How to Teach Kids About Sex and Gender
Dr. Keith Witt and Corey deVosWhat 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 and adolescence? Which aspects are more appropriate to teach at home, and which are appropriate to teach at school? Watch as Dr. Keith and Corey share their thoughts.
Coding Gender: Using IMP to Construct a Content Analysis of Gender Definitions in Scientific Research
Jeff CohenThe pervasive influence and conceptual complexity of gender as a scientific construct has lead to attempts to explain it from multiple perspectives. When each of these perspectives is offered, it tends to be presented as a complete explanation. Each perspective, however, likely offers only a partial truth concerning the enactment of gender. The recognition of the partiality of these perspectives indicates that each should be considered in some form when trying to address the full complexity of gender. It also makes clear that none should be privileged above any other. Through the application of the Integral model and Integral Methodological Pluralism (IMP), this article develops a broader and deeper conceptual and operational model for the study of gender than those that have been typically applied.
Gender Fluidity: Fruitful and Fanatic
Jeff SalzmanThe sexual evolution continues! This week Jeff looks at the controversy raging over the dramatic emergence of transsexual identity and gender fluidity, particularly among young people. He places it in the context of the stage transformations of sex and gender through history, and even gets a little personal.
Toward an Integral Feminism
Sarah NicholsonThis paper studies the development of some of the key schools of feminist thought, exploring the history of the definition of Woman. Ken Wilber’s framework of Integral Feminism is then used to move toward the processual creation of a more adequately holistic understanding of women and subjectivity.
Awaken Your Integral Heart
Brad ReynoldsIn 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 awakening, the conversation emphasizes the interconnectedness of the head, heart, body, and spirit, with the breath as a conduit for circulating spiritual energy. The discussion touches upon the rich tapestry of human development, drawing from the wisdom of ancient traditions and modern integral thought. Brad’s emphasis on love as a transformative force is particularly moving, with the assertion that to truly be integral, one must embody love.
The Essence of Awakening: Who Are We Really?
Lama Surya Das, Roger Walsh and John DupuyLama 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 of wisdom from his extensive experience practicing Dzogchen, his long immersion in meditation retreats, and studying in person with the great spiritual teachers of Asia.
The Enneagram as a Spiritual Tool
Leslie Hershberger, John Dupuy and Roger WalshEnneagram expert, teacher, master facilitator, and transformational coach Leslie Hershberger leads us into the world of the Enneagram, painting a broader, deeper picture of the Enneagram and its uses as a psycho-spiritual tool than is commonly understood.
Subtle Energies Viewed from Four Quadrants
Simon SenzonThis article explores the discipline of subtle energies by using the four quadrants of Integral Theory as a central framework. It offers a way to integrate the disparate views of subtle energies from the traditional descriptions of mystics, saints, yogis, and healers with the leading edge research in the life and health sciences in regards to the subtle energies within and around the living system.
Shadow, Trauma, and Attachment: Why Do Spiritual Teachers Keep Messing Up?
Keith Martin-SmithIf spiritual teachers are so “awake” and “enlightened”, why do so many of them get caught with their shadow hanging out? Watch as Keith Martin-Smith offers a stunning overview of shadow, trauma, and attachment disorders, and how they can corrupt both our mental health and our spiritual awakening.
Toward a Fourth Turning of Buddhism
Ken WilberKen Wilber summarizes some of the most important items that any new Turning of the Wheel of Dharma might want to seriously consider.
Tapping Into Divine Guidance
Lisa Frost and Kevin Snorf“Tapping into Divine guidance” is a term most of us in the Integral family are familiar with. But what is the difference between that and prophesy or prophesizing? And what would practicing a prophetic modality entail? Join Lisa and Kevin with guest practitioner Rodrick Chambers, an ordained minister and spiritual coach, as we dive into the role of prophesy in the 21st Century.
Nature as Teacher: Finding Beauty, Wisdom, and Self in Everything
Susanne Cook-Greuter, John Dupuy and Roger WalshAdult 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 nature to gain greater insight into the teachings of nature—evolution, cycles of life and death, the transience of life, the beauty that is everywhere—and to experience oneness with all.
Grappling with the Metacrisis
Sean Esbjörn-Hargens, Nicholas Hedlund, Roger Walsh and John DupuyIn 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 critical realism are the only tools that provide a useful framework for us to talk about and confront the vast web of interrelated and wicked problems we face on every level at this time.
From Bodhisattva to Ecosattva: Integrating Personal Practice and Global Activism
David Loy, Roger Walsh and John DupuyDavid Loy, Zen teacher, scholar, and prolific author, reveals his acute understanding of the crises we face today, the psychology at the root of the problems, and how we can make our way forward in this in-depth discussion. He has adopted the term ecodharma to focus attention on the challenge Buddhism faces now: integrating personal transformation with global activism and social transformation. As David points out, the focus needs to be on this world, with transcendence being a metaphorical understanding but not an excuse to abandon the problems we and our planet face today.
Defending the Importance of the Holarchical-Developmental Scheme for Environmentalism
Michael E. ZimmermanAccording to the late ecologist, Stan Rowe, Ken Wilber’s holarchical scheme confuses important issues in the part-whole relationships belonging to organisms and ecosystems, and Wilber’s developmental ideas echo the anthropocentrism found in the work of many other modernists. In the process of articulating and defending Wilber’s views, I argue that Rowe’s alternative flirts with ecofascism, insofar as Rowe depicts human beings as mere “parts” of Gaia, which considers everything smaller than Gaia as functional units. Despite my disagreements with Rowe, I admire him for grappling with these important and highly complex issues.
Integral Sustainable Development
Barrett BrownThis is a two-part paper that offers an overview of Integral Sustainable Development, explaining the rudiments of a practical framework that integrates the crowded conceptual and operational landscape of sustainable development and enables practitioners to 1) identify the full-range of needs and capabilities of individuals and groups, and 2) tailor the specific developmental response that fits each unique situation.
Integral Ecology: A Post-Metaphysical Approach to Environmental Phenomena
Sean Esbjörn-HargensIntegral Theory provides a distinct and participatory approach to Ecology. This article introduces Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory, distinguishes the Integral approach from other methods, and applies some key concepts to Ecology. The ontology, epistemology, and methodology of environmental phenomena are examined in light of Wilber’s framework and the framework is applied to multidimensional examples of recycling. Finally, an Integral Ecology platform is presented.
Integral Ecology: An Ecology of Perspectives
Sean Esbjörn-HargensThere are many competing approaches available for responding to environmental problems and dealing with ecological issues. This article provides an introduction to Integral Ecology, an approach that takes the valuable insights from all the major schools of ecological thought and unites them in a comprehensive framework. First, the difficulty of defining “ecology” is explored. Next, the twenty-five major approaches to ecology are introduced. Finally, Integral Ecology is defined in such a way that it honors the importance of all these approaches.
The Transformation Age: America Burning
Robb SmithAmerica has been on fire these past few weeks. A nation struggling with its racist past, its contemporary racial shadow, its deep political and cultural polarization, and a divisive president who will never be capable of leading a nation, we continue to find ourselves in the heart of The Great Release (and this time, not from an economic depression or disease pandemic, but from our deep and terrible racist heritage). In this brief article, I want to use a few lenses of integral metatheory—concepts you’ll be familiar with, but applied in ways you’ve never seen before—to see if we can get a broader view of what’s happening.
Deeper Into the Great Release
Robb Smith and Corey deVosLadies 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 the great release if it weren’t so deadly. But as it stands, it is in fact the perfect spark to alight the ample tinder of total system irresilience.
Between Hope and History: An Integral View on Israel-Palestine
Mark Fischler and Corey deVosMark Fischler and Corey deVos bring some integral perspective to the Israel-Palestine conflict, navigating the multiple nested contexts that make this issue one of the most enduring and complex in modern history. The conversation explores the critical tensions between different historical legacies, cultural identities, and political intricacies, all contributing to a seemingly intractable conflict that defies simplistic narratives. With deep compassion and empathy, Mark and Corey acknowledge the ongoing violence and suffering experienced by people on both sides, underscoring the urgent need for solutions that address these deep-rooted issues.
Transforming Self, Society, and the Spaces Between Us
Ken Wilber and Corey deVosIn this enlightening episode of The Ken Show, hosts Ken Wilber and Corey deVos embark on a profound journey through the multifaceted realms of systems theory, communication, and social evolution. They dissect the nuanced perspectives of “inside” and “outside” views in systems, delve into the transformative power of communication paradigms throughout history, and critically examine the influence of social media on the overall emergence of integral consciousness.
Buddhas in Blue: Enlightened Ways to Make Policing Work For Everyone
Ryan Johansen, Chris Orrey, Roger Walsh and John DupuyIn 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 world and offer solutions as to how the entire institution of police work could be transformed to become more effective and sustainable, both for police officers and for the communities they serve.
From Socrates to Social Media: Renewing Our Commitment to Free Speech
Nadine Strossen, Mark Fischler and Corey deVosMark 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 frontier of free speech — a legacy that reaches from the philosophical debates of ancient Greece to today’s dynamic platforms of social media. Together, Nadine, Mark, and Corey illuminate the journey of free speech (a crowning achievement of the rational/modern (Orange) stage) celebrating it as a beacon of individual rights and a testament to the unyielding human pursuit of truth and expression.
Building a Just World: How Our Laws Express Our Collective Values
Mark Fischler, John Dupuy and Roger WalshConstitutional law expert and criminal justice professor Mark Fischler has a thirst for justice and a gift for teaching. With cogency and passion, Mark explains that law is not the absolute that we perhaps thought, but an ever changing reflection of the values we hold as a society. Law is a developmental process, and will benefit from our own dedication to inner moral development.
Accountability Matters: A Call for Ethics, Empathy, and Equality
Mark Fischler and Corey deVosIn this thought-provoking podcast discussion, Mark Fischler and Corey deVos delve into the intricacies of Trump’s legal battles, the pursuit of accountability in politics, and the complexities of maintaining empathy and justice in a polarized society.
Grappling with the Metacrisis
Sean Esbjörn-Hargens, Nicholas Hedlund, Roger Walsh and John DupuyIn 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 critical realism are the only tools that provide a useful framework for us to talk about and confront the vast web of interrelated and wicked problems we face on every level at this time.
Transform the Police: A More Integral Approach to Law Enforcement
Chris Orrey, Mark Fischler and Corey deVosMark 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 take place? What sorts of personal, cultural, and institutional transformation are necessary to prevent something like this from occurring again?