Ending with Sri Aurobindo and The Mother

The Integral/Holistic Paradigm: A Larger Definition, Integral Esotericism - Part Three Alan Kazlev 3-i. Why we need an Integral/Holistic Metaparadigm

In Towards a Larger Definition of the Integral 1-v the problem of defining "Integral" in the spiritual-philosophical sense of the word was mentioned. As readers of these essays would probably already be aware, currently in the general New Consciousness and New Age movement(s) there are a number of totally incompatible definitions of "Integral"...

In recent years Wilber has become more "post-modernist"[3] and anti-metaphysical in orientation; this latter development is referred to as Wilber-V, in contrast to his more popular and more easily accessible preceding stage of Wilber-IV. Most people who are fans of Wilber seem to relate to him very much at his Wilber-IV level, as a spiritual philosopher; and thus they tend to misinterpret the current more secular and even more intellectually Wilber-V phase.

From the very start Wilber's understanding was, and still remains a very theoretical and quasi-academic approach. In fact his work - especially Wilber-IV and V - is the theoretical approach par excellence; probably the largest intellectual synthesis ever, a vast but flawed[4] monolith. In terms of the definitions given in sect 3-ii it is integral only in the first, theoretical, category; although there is some practical application of the Wilber-IV (AQAL) stage, in business and management, perhaps due to management consultant Don Beck's influence (see sect. 6-v). Unfortunately Wilber's recent ("Earpy" and following) antics have seriously damaged claims to Moral or Spiritual Integralism in either himself or his organisation, the latter because of the way it sycophantically went along with him, although there has been some individual dissatisfaction.

By post-Wilberian I mean those individuals who, formerly associated in some way with Wilber or his Integral Institute organisation, and/or fans of his work, have broken away from him due to limitations of his philosophy and/or concerns over his personality and the nature of his organisation. This is a very broad and rather amorphous category, which includes everyone from former followers turned critics such as Wilber-scholar and author Frank Visser, to those who have developed their own versions of intellectual Integral theory such as Andrew P. Smith and Eliot Benjamin, to completely non-Wilberian developments such as the socio-political commentaries of Ray Harris, the Integral Art of Matthew Dallman, and Michel Bauwens' reports on the emerging Peer to Peer participatory networked society. Many post-Wilberians of the theoretical bent however retain a rather academic and exoteric approach. As do the Wilberians, they use the term "Integral" to define their philosophy and methodology. Perhaps the most important post-Wilberian forums at the time of writing is Visser's Integral World website (formerly mostly pro-Wilber, now critical of him[5]) and the recently established (in June 2006) Open Integral blog. It is indicative of the strong role that the internet is playing in the development of the global noosphere and evolution of the collective consciousness that the Wilberians and post-Wilberians have their primary focus online.

I would not consider strong critics like David Lane, Geoff Falk or Jeff Meyerhoff to be post-Wilberians, because, although familiar with Wilber's work, none of them actually were Wilberians to begin with. For a similar reason, I would not consider myself post-Wilberian, my interest in developments in the Wilberian and post-Wilberian field and my definition of my own work as "integral" notwithstanding.

Apart from post-Wilberians and critics, Wilber and his Integral Institute's other big rival is the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program at the California Institute of Integral Studies[6]. Memetically (sensu Dawkins and Transhumanism, not Beck and Wilber) the PCC program stands in pretty much a David and Goliath relationship with the Wilberian juggernaut. But the faculty here, and for that matter at the CIIS as a whole, certainly qualifies as presenting the Integral on the theoretical level, with elements of pragmatic (ecological philosophy, eco-feminism etc) , moral (consider the participatory philosophy of Tarnas and Ferrer), and some spiritual, but nothing systematic. They can also be included within the general New Paradigm movement.

It might be suggested that the more respectable aspects of New Age sensu lato[7], which is the same as the New Paradigm movement that began in the early 1980s with the books of Fritjof Capra and Marilyn Ferguson[8] is weak on theory (mostly a simplistic holistic approach) and spirituality (non-integral Eastern spirituality is preferred), but strong on practice and morality (healing society and healing the Earth). Visionary "New Age' teachers (regardless of whether or not they would use that term) such as David Spangler and William Irwin Thompson represent important contemporary voices in the wider (non-Wilberian/post-Wilberian) Integral/Holistic movement.

David Spangler is one of the founders of the New Age, and one of the early formative members of the Findhorn community. A whole generation of spirituals and esotericists, including myself, were influenced by his early seminal writings such as Revelation: Birth of a New Age, and Laws of Manifestation. Subsequently, disillusioned with New Age commercialism and glamour[9], Spangler has distanced himself from his early work, and is now involved in the very practical "Incarnational Spirituality" of the Lorian Association. Very much in keeping with the theme of physical or bodily transformation (sect 7-vii), Incarnational Spirituality rejects the conventional otherworldly emphasis solely with the transpersonal and transcendent, and looks at ways in which our everyday existence can be experienced as spiritual or sacred.

Spangler's associate and fellow-traveler William Irwin Thompson, whose influences include Marshall McLuhan, Jean Gebser, Sri Aurobindo, and Alfred North Whitehead, is a social philosopher, cultural critic, poet, and cultural historian who adopts a unique eclectic, highly creative and synthesising interpretation of both ancient mythology, contemporary esotericism, and politics and society today. He is critical of Wilber's excessively masculinist approach and "obsessive textbook mappings". In 1972, Thompson founded the Lindisfarne Association, a New Age retreat, think tank, and group of scientists, poets, and religious scholars who met in order to discuss and to participate in the emerging planetary consciousness, inspired by Jean Gebser's idea of an integral stage of consciousness, and Teilhard de Chardin's concept of the noosphere.

Unified Science (Edward Haskell et al) presents the basis for an Integral Morality in terms of a "coaction compass" or "coaction cardioid" (fig 7), by which the nine possible interactions between two entities can be shown graphically as a cybernetic diagram. I bought the book (Full Circle[10]) second-hand more than a quarter of a century ago and the simple diagram that is at the heart of this work has exerted a huge influence on me ever since. Like Wilber's AQAL diagram, it constitutes a sort of metaphysical map of physical reality; a glyph to be meditated upon. But whereas AQAL constitutes a static mandala, the coaction compass is a dynamic, evolutionary mandala. Written and then going out of print long before "Integral" became a buzz word, Full Circle and the Unified Science system is "integral" in both the Theoretical (although not in as much detail as Wilber), Practical (with implications in society, politics, and education) and especially Moral dimensions. Unfortunately the initiative has been defunct for many years, and in any case their work is currently looking quite dated, especially in view of developments of modern science. But I believe that no truly universal integral theory can afford to ignore the important insights and implications of this simple diagram.

Theosophy and its off-shoots (included under contemporary Western esotericism - see sect 2-v) are very much integral, theory-wise (constituting attempts at universal explanations of spiritual and occult knowledge), with more esotericism and less (or no) academic emphasis in comparison to Wilber. They also have a strong integral moral orientation, but (from my superficial observations) little in the way of either practical social or spiritual transformation. There are also some intriguing parallels between Wilber and H. P. Blavatsky (the founder of the Theosophical movement and hence much of contemporary Western esotericism) and their respective organisations, and in a later essay will suggest that they are part of the same larger Integral/Holistic evolution of ideas; Blavatsky being the original esoteric initiative, and Wilber the contemporary materialistic-exoteric initiative.

Anthroposophy, the movement established by Rudolf Steiner after he broke with Theosophy, is not only much more theoretically integral (integrative) than Theosophy (Steiner was a true universalist, who, it seems from his lectures, could talk about physics, agriculture, biology, history, art, literature, psychology, education, politics, philosophy, religion, and a thousand other diverse topics with ease, even though his explanations of some of them, such as the history of the Earth or Hindu or Buddhist concepts of liberation, were nothing but absurd), but also has practical applications in Education (Waldorf schools), Agriculture (Biodynamics), Dance, Art, and even Town Planning[11] Add to that the high moral principles of a better harmony with the Earth[12] . The spiritual element is there as well, but there does not seem to be much of systematic development; although reference is made to thinking "michaelically" and achieving a balance between the luciferic (otherworldiness) and ahrimanic (too much materialism) polarities (equivalent to the "System B" and "System A" of Stan Gooch's socio- and psychological correspondences - sect. 4-iii).

Integral Yoga and the integral philosophy and spiritual path as taught by The Mother and Sri Aurobindo includes both highly developed esoteric and spiritual theory, even if it lacks the secular attention to details that the Wilberians and post-Wilberians are concerned with, the practical aspect in all fields of life (including the establishment of a universal city, Auroville), the moral initiative for the Supramental transformation, and a yoga that takes up and transforms all faculties of the being, not just one. Thus, beginning with Wilber's purely mental perspective (especially his AQAL diagram - sect 4-ii), and ending with Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, and including everything in between, we can arrive at a universal integral/holistic metaparadigm.