Process, Structure, and Form: An Evolutionary Transpersonal Psychology of Consciousness

by Allan Combs

In his seminal book on integral psychology The Radiance of Being (1996), Alan Combs demonstrated that consciousness must be understood from a systems perspective.

In the following essay, Alan Combs & Stanley Krippner briefly outline a theory on how consciousness is generated as a dynamical process, both at the level of experience, and at the level of the neurological events which undergird experience.

READ MORE: HERE

"Rather than discrete things and independent events, there are but ripples upon ripples upon waves upon waves in this universe, propagating in a seamless sea."

-- Ervin Laszlo

Toward Integral Consciousness?

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Integral Theory Conference

John F. Kennedy University and Integral Institute will host the inaugural biennial Integral Theory Conference in August 2008 - the first major academic conference devoted to the field of Integral Theory and practice.

The conference will take place at the JFK campus and provide a forum where scholars and practitioners in this burgeoning movement can gather for intellectual exchange, community building, and networking.

The theme of the conference is Integral Theory in Action: Serving Self, Community, and Kosmos. This theme provides a context for individuals to showcase how they and their organizations are using integral theory in their personal and professional lives to make a difference.

READ MORE: HERE

Humanity, Forest Ecology, and the Future in a British Columbia Valley

by Stephan Martineau.

“One of the most important and challenging issues facing humanity in the 21st century is the increasingly complex human-ecology interface”, says Stephan Martineau.

In this article, Stephan suggests the potential that integral mediation and integral ecology hold in addressing this interface. Stephan distinguishes two categories of ecological challenges, removed and local tangible, and indicates that they require adapting methodologies to address them. Using a local tangible challenge—a 35-year old conflict over land use issues in the Slocan Valley, British Columbia, Canada—as an example, Stephan outlines an integral mediation approach.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE: HERE / OR AT: THE INTEGRAL REVIEW

The Integral Approach

The Offical Integral Institute Statement

"Integral" means "inclusive, balanced, comprehensive." The Integral approach may be contrasted to other methods—mythic, rational-scientific, pluralistic—which, as they themselves announce, exclude other approaches as being inferior. They are thus, by definition, partial and incomplete. These latter methods, although widely accepted and dominant in the world's cultures, tend to generate partial analysis and incomplete solutions to problems. As such, they appear less efficient, less effective, and less balanced than the Integral approach.

READ FULL STATEMENT: HERE

ALSO at: Integral Institute - © Integral Institute - 2006. All Rights Reserved

The Integral Tradition

by Matthew Dallman

"The human dilemma is as it has always been, and we solve nothing fundamental by cloaking ourselves in technological glory." — Neil Postman

If the desire is to renew cultural imagination, if the desire is to learn from those that have come before us, if the desire is to know what has occupied, and even flummoxed, great minds from the beginning of recorded history, if the desire is to restore awareness of theological, philosophical, aesthetic, linguistic, historical, and classical truths across the ages, if the desire is to find democratic ways to expand consciousness, deconstruct boundaries of time and space, learn archetypal forms of expression, and to foster fullness in mysterious ways, I simply don't see any way around the simple path in front of us: make the Canonical works of the Humanities your daily bread, part of your sadhana, or practice of artistry. (For more on artistry practice, see The Artist's Breath.) For doing so connects your artistry practice with immersion in the full spectrum of ideas and archetypal forms. It is a study whereby this full-spectrum, along with your unique human experiences, form the content that animates what flows through your art, and so, simply, without anything but study, hard work, and courage, your artistry practice takes lineage in the integral tradition, and can contribute to it.

READ THE FULL ESSAY: HERE

Redefining the Integral

by M. Alan Kazlev

Currently, the word Integral, and the Integral Movement, is defined almost totally within a Wilberian context. The problem is that this means either intellectual and organisational conservatism, with "Integral" becoming a sort of New Paradigm religion, lacking in spiritual insight (gnosis), or a generic association of Wilberian or Post-Wilberian themes. However, the original definition of the word was not by Ken Wilber, but by Sri Aurobindo.

In this essay, I suggest a solution; definition of Integral that includes all current definitions. This posits five dimensions: Religious, Theoretical, Practical, Enlightened, and Divinised. In as much as the Practical is itself divided into three - Collective, Participatory, and Individual - this makes seven or eight aspects altogether. It is suggested that only by taking all these aspects into account can we have a complete definition of Integral.

READ THE FULL ESSAY: HERE

The Integral Worldview Made Simple

by Lawrence Wollersheim

At this moment in time, a dynamic, new worldview appears to have burst upon the global stage. It is called the integral worldview. A worldview is a meta-paradigm of reality, a unifying cultural consciousness that both underlies and conditions an individual's way of knowing, seeing and acting in the world.

A new worldview emerges when the previous worldview no longer adequately solves new problems that are arising. Each new worldview provides more effective solutions that simply cannot be seen from within the constraints of the previous worldview.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE:HERE- also at:Integrative Spirituality.

Forging the Global Tribe

Out of deep concern for the challenges currently facing all of the people of our world, Nelson Mandela, Graça Machel and Desmond Tutu have convened a group of leaders to contribute their wisdom, independent leadership and integrity to tackling some of the world's toughest problems. They are called The Elders.

The Elders are supported by Founders who will provide financial and other resources to ensure they can focus fully upon their mission. The Elders will also have a team advising them as they work together to create unique approaches to global issues.

Visit www.theelders.org