Integral Paradigm 101

Ancient Models & Systems that reflect and inform the Integral Worldview:

Taoist yin yang, Native American Medicine Wheel, Celtic wheel of the year, Aztec calendar, Tibetan yantras & mandalas, Alchemy symbology, and many more.

Humans have always sought to map themselves in the context of creation. They have observed the basic laws of cycles- the sun around the Earth, the moon cycles, the plant from seed to fruit, the seasons of spring, summer, fall and winter, birth, life, decay, and death, and rebirth… Observations of these cycles informed worldviews based on circular wheels of change and growth, honored by rituals, temples, ceremonies, and rites of passage. Circular motifs show up in sacred art and literature all over the world, as many cultures symbolize this holistic vision in their own ways. Medicine wheels, mandalas, zodiacs, and many other circular forms express this understanding of relatedness and symbolize the fundamental wholeness of the human psyche within the greater whole of community, earth, and cosmos.

We are in the midst of an Integral Revolution. The waves of integral emergence have been felt over the last fifty years in all fields of endeavor: Science, Art, Humanities, Education, Ecology, Spirituality, Culture, Law, Psychology, Philosophy, Business, Medicine, and Politics.

New Physics, General Living Systems theory, Ecology, Holistic Health, Dr.Robert Keagen, Ken Wilber, Haridas Chaudhuri & Integral Psychology, California Institute of Integral Studies, Psychosynthesis, The Hologram...

                                           THE INTEGRAL SUMMARY

   More than fifty years ago, the Swiss cultural philosopher Jean Gebser (1905-1973) observed that consciousness evolution was the underlying framework of human development. His work on the evolution of human consciousness, first published in German in the early 1950s, introduced a new understanding of cultural anthropology. Gebser concluded that history could be measured in terms of unfolding structures of consciousness. These structures of consciousness he named the Archaic, the Magical, the Mythical, and the Mental/Rational. Gebser believed that each of these structures reflected a cognitive paradigm or worldview through which human beings naturally progress. He suggested that the next structure of consciousness was only now emerging and would bring about a global worldview. He called this structure of consciousness the Integral.

The Four Quadrants

    Advancing upon Gebser, Ken Wilber writes about the dynamics of this new structure. As Wilber observes, the modern worldview (i.e., the stage of the Rational) is in decline. Where once the Rational worldview had transcended the Mythical, establishing perspectivity, the Integral is now unfolding to establish the totality of perspectives. The simple formula for understanding this new worldview could be unity-in-diversity.
   As Wilber explains, reality should be understood as multi-dimensional, having interdependent domains of existence. He calls these domains the intentional, the cultural, the behavioral, and the social. Or more simply, the domain of the "I" (the subjective), the domain of the "we" (the intersubjective), and the domains of the "it" and "its" (the objective and interobjective). As he suggests, art explores the subjective, morality explores the intersubjective, and science explores the objective and interobjective. For Wilber, it is the interdependence of these four domains or quadrants that constitutes the framework of the Integral worldview.

The Great Chain

According to Wilber, the Great Chain of Being frames this unfolding of consciousness. Both the individual (ontogeny) and the species (phylogeny) proceed up this developmental ladder stage by stage: from sub-conscious body to self-conscious mind to super-conscious spirit. For Wilber, this process of consciousness evolution can be simplified as five levels/stages unfolding through the course of history. These are matter, body, mind, soul, and spirit. As he explains: Matter is the material plane, the physical universe, the grossest form of Spirit (the domain of physics). Body is the animal plane, the realm of the instincts (the domain of biology). Mind is the human plane, the realm of intellect, logic and language (the domain of psychology and philosophy). Soul is the higher, subtle mind, the realm of archetypal intuition (the domain of theology and art). And spirit is the transcendental summit of reality, the eternal Godhead (the domain of contemplative mysticism).

Mind

It is crucial now that humanity begin to reexamine its understanding of the human mind. The pre-modern account of the spiritual and the modern account of the material should now be integrated towards a deeper and more sophisticated appreciation of the Integral. Clearly both religion and science have much to offer with regard to understanding human consciousness. Human consciousness is essentially a marriage of biology and mind. What we must aim for in an Integral tomorrow is a civilization that respects both realities and is able to appreciate their natural accord.

Integral Evolution

If religion was the thesis and science the antithesis, then an integration of the two is the needed synthesis. This synthesis is to be found in an Integral model of evolution. Not merely in natural selection but rather in evolution as entelechy, evolution as a naturally unfolding holarchy. Along with gradual and continuous changes over millions of years, we are beginning to realize that physical, biological and psycho-social evolution, together, form a single continuum. As Ervin Laszlo writes,Scientific evidence of the patterns traced by evolution in the physical universe, in the living world, and even in the world of history is growing rapidly. It is coalescing into the image of basic regularities that repeat and recur. It is now possible to search out these regularities and gain a glimpse of the fundamental nature of evolution- of the evolution of the cosmos as a whole, including the living world and the world of human social history. As Laszlo suggests, this "new paradigm marks the coming of a new era in scientific thinking: an era in which evolution expressed in human beings and in human societies, is becoming conscious of itself." Together these three planes- suborganic (matter), organic (life), and supraorganic (mind) - constitute the unity of existence.

Conclusion

The Integral represents a fundamentally new stage in evolution, and a fundamentally new form of humanity. It is a global culture and global civilization. The Integral is creative emergence: Not merely the sum of diversity but the synthesis of diversity; not merely a horizontal expansion in space, but a qualitative expansion in consciousness. Most importantly, the Integral worldview is the union of humanity within all four quadrants of existence: the physical, the technological, the cultural, and the spiritual.
It was in the emergence of religions of interiority, religions that pointed inward (and beyond), that Mind was given its first institutionalization. But it was ultimately the European Enlightenment that would ground this interiority as Reason and finally secular modernity. Today the human mind must be reinterpreted. Taking lessons from the ancient Greeks, we must concede that Mind is the foundation of human reality. Rather than adversaries, science and spirituality should be seen as partners in civilization building. The integration of these two instruments is in a civilization of Mind. And the stage for this new frontier is an economy in which evolution is itself the central commodity.
Taken from- http://www.integralevolution.org/summary.html

PREPERSONAL                                  PERSONAL                             TRANSPERSONAL

mythical religion                          historical religion                    mystical religion
body                                             ego                               Self/Essence/Being
nature                                         culture                                Kosmos
instinct                                       intellect                               intuition
body                                             mind                                  soul

The following section is written by Bahman A.K. Shirazi, and is taken from http://www.saccs.org.in/TEXTS/IP2/IP2-1.2-.htm , and the whole article
can be found there, and is a highly recommended key integral paper.

Integral psychology

Integral psychology is arguably the next, and if defined carefully, the final wave of development in the current history of psychology. Although it may not be simply possible to have a system of psychology that would be able to unveil all the mysteries of the human phenomenon at once, it is only common sense that psychology should cover all the known dimensions of the human phenomenon within a singular framework. This psychological framework for understanding the total human being is called integral psychology.
Herman (1983, p. 95) described integral psychology as

.. an emergent East-West study of the human psyche. It draws upon the findings of both Western depth psychology, and ancient Eastern teachings and yogas, to express a whole, unfragmented view of human functions to resolve human conflicts and open the way toward activating high levels of potential.

According to Herman:

Integral psychology concerns itself with all phases of human existence, in its multidimensional fullness, which includes physical, emotional, instinctual, mental, moral, social, and spiritual aspects. (op. cit., p. 97)

Integral psychology seeks to be practical and applicable to the problems of daily life, yet at the same time to lead forward those individuals who are ready, to transpersonal dimensions of being where experiences of deep integration, meaningfulness, and fulfilment are possible. (op. cit., p. 98)

  In short, integral psychology accepts the relative validity of other psychological systems, yet extends the general psychological scope of human development to encompass the full range of the psychospiritual continuum of human existence. Thus, integral psychology is concerned with the study of the human psyche in its potential fullness. Accordingly, integral psychology is inspired by and founded upon four general postulates essential to an integral world view:
non-duality, multidimensionality, holism, and evolution.
   The principle of non-duality understands the human being as a continuum of body-mind-spirit; thus it avoids the traditional mind-body –dilemma. It is in the integral view that human beings can be best understood in terms of a spectrum of qualities, rather than as a set of discrete constituents. Although the three domains of body, mind and spirit are essentially unified, they manifest as a multidimensional array of distinct qualities and characteristics.
    In integral psychology the human psyche is a multidimensional whole, with consciousness comprising its essential structure. –However, it must be stressed that although there is an essential wholeness to the psychic structure of body-mind-spirit, this wholeness exists only as a potential. While integral psychology recognizes the urge toward wholeness as the primary motive in the human being, its goal is to actualize this potential wholeness through a process of harmonious self-realization.
    Finally, integral psychology recognizes the importance of the evolutionary perspective of life on earth. Sri Aurobindo’s insights into the process of life revealed that the human individual is a –transitional being, not a final product of creation or evolution. –Understood in this light, the goal of spiritual development is not to arrive at a static final state; rather human spiritual growth is a –dynamic process without any preconceived limits. Thus an integrally self-realized being is thought of as an active key participant involved in the ongoing process of collective transformation of –consciousness.
Different methodological approaches to integral psychology
   Different approaches to integral psychology may be distinguished on the basis of philosophical underpinnings and epistemological and methodological orientations. So far three different main approaches to integral psychology have been attempted by Indra Sen,1 Ken Wilber and Haridas Chaudhuri. Here I will make a cursory reference to the work of Sen and Wilber since their main writings are already published. I will devote more space, however, to the integral psychology of Chaudhuri as his work in this area was never properly published due to his passing away.
   The first approach taken by Indra Sen (1986) draws on the –integral philosophy of Sri Aurobindo and extracts from it a psychological system that is implicit in his metaphysical teachings. –Methodologically, this approach is similar to other attempts made by Western scholars to create a psychological system out of what is a much larger system of thought and practice not originally developed as an academic field. Buddhism or Sufism for instance, may be studied from the point of view of several academic disciplines such as philosophy, religious studies, anthropology, cultural studies etc. Each discipline would sort out through its disciplinary lenses and filters, those aspects that befit its disciplinary scope and limit. In order to create strictly a Buddhist or Sufi psychology, one would have to cull out those aspects of Buddhist or Sufi teachings that are considered traditional subject matter of academic psychology. Examples would thus include topics such as self, ego, personality and states of consciousness.
     Indra Sen’s integral psychology is completely based on Sri Aurobindo’s system. Sen has extracted from the larger metaphysical outlook of Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy, what is psychological subject matter. Paul Herman2 has used the term perennial psychology to denote “the psychospiritual component of a great religious tradition which is an authentic path to enlightenment”. In this sense integral psychology of Indra Sen is the perennial psychology inherent in integral yoga. One might also say that Sen’s integral psychology is a form of yoga psychology, i.e., an integral yoga psychology.
According to Sen (1986),

   Sri Aurobindo has not propounded a psychological system, as a separate body of knowledge in the Western sense, but his writings on yoga and philosophy do contain one in an interconnected and a unified treatment of the issues of life and existence, growth and evolution, in the Indian way. It is, however, a complete view of mind and personality.

   Sen describes the standpoint of Sri Aurobindo’s psychology as empirical, evolutional, and personal growth-oriented, utilizing introspection (self-observation) as its primary method which allows immediate knowledge of psychological data. Sen presents integral psychology as an empirical approach based on direct experiential knowledge, but which unlike Western empiricism, does not confine itself to sensation, perception, and cognition.
Needless to say, the greatest advantage of this approach is its groundedness in one of the most comprehensive world views set forth hitherto. The main methodological disadvantage of this approach is that it has no special creative aspect beyond what Sri Aurobindo has contributed already. This version of integral psychology is limited to the terminology of Sri Aurobindo’s integral yoga and would not necessarily be inclusive of insights from other systems of psychology.
    More recently Ken Wilber (1997, 2000) has introduced another approach to integral psychology. In short, Wilber’s approach may be summarized as an attempt to put together almost all relevant psychological (and related) systems to create an all-inclusive outline of psychology. Like Chaudhuri, Wilber does not limit his model to any one worldview, but he tends to complexify as opposed to simplify—which characterizes Chaudhuri’s approach.
  This author’s main criticism of Ken Wilber’s approach to integral psychology is that Wilber in essence tries to (often modify and) juxtapose numerous psychological maps and models into one grand map—his own. The claim behind such a standpoint is that there is a place from which it is possible to see how various psychological theories as partial attempts at uncovering the reality of the human phenomenon are reconcilable into one grand scheme.
   It is true that one might conceive of a state of consciousness from which all realities are visible as one interconnected reality. It is also conceivable that one might be able to develop a map inspired by such state of consciousness, that would translate that experience into a cognitive expression. However, this does not mean that such a map is derivable through superimposition of various psychological maps hitherto developed by various thinkers and practitioners. In a nutshell, Wilber’s integral psychology is too complex to be useful in praxis. It remains, at best, a form of philosophical psychology.
Another approach to integral psychology is that of Haridas Chaudhuri which may be characterized as an attempt to build a system of psychology from the ground up using an integrative methodology that brings together some of the most powerful contributions of several systems of psychology both Eastern and Western. Chaudhuri’s integral psychology consists of a triadic principle as well as the principal tenets of psychology, which will be discussed in further detail subsequently. Haridas Chaudhuri’s system, like that of Wilber’s, does not confine itself to the scope and terminology of Sri Aurobindo’s integral yoga.
As an independent thinker, Chaudhuri was little interested in merely reiterating the insights and terminology of Sri Aurobindo; rather he began to develop a system that employed an integrative methodology using insights from various schools of Eastern and Western psychology. Chaudhuri (1973a, p. 1) maintains that
...integral psychology is based upon experiences and insights affirming the multidimensional richness and indivisible wholeness of human personality. It is founded upon the concept of man’s total self as integral unity of uniqueness, relatedness, and transcendence—as the indivisible unity of the existential and the transcendental.

    Chaudhuri’s attempt at integral psychology may be summarized in terms of his proposed tenets for an integral psychology as well as the triadic principle of uniqueness, relatedness and transcendence. The following section will briefly introduce and elaborate on this system.
Chaudhuri’s principal tenets of integral psychology
    Chaudhuri’s approach to integral psychology is not concerned with extrapolation of psychological insights from Sri Aurobindo’s overall teachings. Instead, it directly applies an integrative methodology to the existing domain of psychological knowledge in order to construct a system of psychology that is phenomenologically oriented in its methodological outlook, and that holds psychospiritual development as its central objective.
In his effort to explore the basic concepts of integral psychology with a minimum of metaphysical assumptions, Chaudhuri (1973a) proposed a number of “principal tenets” that form the basis for his approach to integral psychology. Unfortunately, his work in this area remained unfinished. The following is a brief list of selected principal tenets:

The wholeness of personality
The human being is an onto-psycho-somatic continuum, or a spirit-mind-body unity which in the ultimate analysis, is an indivisible whole.

Different levels of consciousness
Consciousness is the basic structure of the psyche according to integral psychology. Thus the various states below the waking consciousness, as well as higher meditative states are worthy of investigation as valid dimensions of human experience.

Importance of all phases and areas of experience
Not only is it important to make direct empirical observations of human experience, it is imperative that all areas of human experience be included in the process of inquiry. Not only wakeful, conscious experiences, but also dreams, non-dream sleep stages, altered states of consciousness, and creative imagination are important areas of research in integral psychology. Beside ordinary states of consciousness, pathological, paranormal, and peak experiences must be considered.

Need for personal integration
A full experience of wholeness presupposes the full integration of the diversified components and aspects of human personality. To this end it is essential to appreciate the role of understanding the self, because it is “only by following the inner light of one’s own self that the human psyche can be comprehended in its fullness” (op. cit., p. 24).

The concept of integral self-realization
Integral psychology holds that integral self-realization is the profoundest potential for the human being. This achievement requires a thorough integration and harmonization of the personal, the social and the transcendental; of the existential and the ontological dimensions of existence.

The doctrine of transformation
In integral psychology the doctrine of transformation replaces the kind of transcendence which results from withdrawal from, or negation of, the world. The lower spheres of consciousness (instincts, drives etc.) are not escaped from or suppressed, but are transformed into desirable qualities. Psychological transformation is achieved through a process of purification and psychoethical discipline.

The doctrine of ontomotivation
“In the course of self-development ego drives are ultimately transcended and action becomes a spontaneous outpouring of the creative joy of union with Being as the ultimate ground of one’s own existence”.

The methodology of integral experientialism
Integral psychology is comprehensive in its survey of human experience. Critical, experiential investigation and evaluation is encouraged in studying a vast range of states of consciousness and modes and phases of experience. External observations as well as introspective approaches are equally valued in this methodology.

  While the above foundational principles are useful in understanding the overall parameters, scope and vision of Chaudhuri’s integral psychology, his triadic principle of uniqueness, relatedness, and transcendence provide another set of guidelines for understanding the overall process of psychospiritual development and transformation. Uniqueness, relatedness and transcendence correspond to the three domains of personal, interpersonal and transpersonal psychological inquiry. According to Chaudhuri (1977a, p. 74) “Broadly speaking, there are three inseparable aspects of human personality: uniqueness, or individuality, universality or relatedness, and transcendence. In different schools of philosophy we find that there has been a tendency to over-emphasize one aspect or another. It has not occurred to many people that all these are very essential and interrelated aspects of our being”.

Metaphors of personal integration

Finally I would like to conclude this presentation by sharing some of my findings in working with individuals in their process of personal integration. Over the past several years I have conducted integrative seminars for counselling psychology students as part of the conclusion of their education in the Integral Counselling Psychology program at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. This seminar encourages students to reflect upon and understand the processes of personal and academic integration by first identifying their key learnings. Then, personal significance of these learnings are explored in order to arrive at a creative integration of knowledge and experience. Students are asked to focus on the deeper meaning of their uniqueness as an individual and reflect on what integration means to them and what metaphors best represent their process. After studying about a couple of hundred responses I have been able to summarize the results in terms of the following themes and metaphors of personal psychospiritual integration:

Reconciliation of opposites
In line with Chaudhuri’s classic definition of integration as reconciliation of what is seemingly dichotomous but truly complementary, many individuals have been able, through this work, to identify main dichotomies within their psyche or personality such as: spirit/body, rationality/intuition, unconsciousness/consciousness, femininity/masculinity etc.. Each person would search for the unique way in which such dichotomies manifest within him or her and find a way to facilitate the reconciliation of the dichotomy into a more harmonious union. Many have found classical psychospiritual disciplines such as yoga, meditation, T’ai chi and more to be useful tools. Others find writing journals, self narratives, and heuristic types of self-inquiry helpful, while still others find personal and group psychotherapy instrumental in this work.
For instance, an individual with tendency toward extremes might benefit from the practice of the middle-path, or use Chaudhuri’s integral dialectics (Chaudhuri, 1977a) as a principal guideline. Yet others inspired by the principle of unity-in-diversity might use psychosynthesis as a way of bringing the various subpersonalities into harmony with one another by the unifying self.

Fragmentation to wholeness
This metaphor is also quite commonly used to describe the process of the integration of the psyche or personality from disparate parts and experiences into a more unified sense of self.

Unification of mind-body-spirit
This theme which is one the principal tenets of integral psychology is by now a quintessential theme used in various ways in transpersonal psychology as well as in new-age psychology. It is often described as opening to the spiritual experiences and using them to unify the mind-body which in most Western people’s experience is initially seen as a duality.

Journey from unconsciousness to self-consciousness to superconsciousness
This theme is used often in a developmental sense and is described in many different ways. Many use Jungian terminology to describe their growth process of integration of shadow into the ego to describe the first part of the journey. Many use meditative disciplines and other forms of psychospiritual practice to open up to the possibilities of the higher self and supraconsciousness.

Embodied spirituality
This is a favourite theme for many, especially those aware of the importance of the role of the body as well as feminine energies and qualities in the process of personal integration. This theme is a unique contribution of the integral yoga of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother and is consciously used by those practising integral yoga. This theme or metaphor, in one form or another, surfaces in many individuals’ process of psychospiritual integration.

Synthesis
Many use the term synthesis to describe their process of integration. It simply means bringing together various pieces and elements of the psyche or personality in a unique way to discover and actualize one’s svadharma. Some use a more sophisticated form that includes both processes of synthesis and analysis, or breaking down into components, as well as putting pieces together, in a analytico-synthetic spiral of development.

Assimilation/Accommodation
Many use various ways to describe their growth and integration process in terms of gradual but continuous cycles of letting go/deconditioning and reconditioning into more adaptive ways.

Self
The self as a psychological metaphor is also used often. Self-discovery, self-knowledge, creative self-fulfilment and creative self-unfoldment and becoming oneself are major themes in this metaphor by which the integration process is described.

Honouring all spiritual traditions
Some individuals describe their process using metaphors and terminology of selected world spiritual traditions such as Buddhism, Sufism, Taoism and Shamanism to name a few. The distinctive feature here, however, is that such individuals honour all authentic spiritual traditions while being grounded in one or more specific practices.

Inner alchemy
Alchemy is sometimes used by those familiar with Jung’s work or alchemy in general. Though rarely used, this orientation provides some of the richest metaphors I have encountered.

Eclectic collage
Eclecticism is often used to describe the personal integration process. Often integration is tacitly confused with some kind of eclectic configuration of pieces from the vast array of psychospiritual practices available today.

These metaphors, as well as others not mentioned here, are extremely helpful in shaping the individual self-inquiry and articulation of the ultimately unique process of personal integration. Integral psychology recognizes the divine nature of the human being and the different ways in which this divine potential is actualized in every single human being. It has been a most pleasurable opportunity for this author to be a witness and facilitator in this process.