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A second KW book to read is: A
Theory of Everything : An Integral Vision for Business, Politics,
Science and Spirituality
The spiritual intellectual Ken Wilber takes on the hottest theory in modern physics, known as the “M Theory,” or the “The Theory of Everything.” As Wilber explains, it is “a model that would unite all the known laws of the universe into one all-embracing theory that would literally explain everything in existence.” Of course this new “M Theory” opens up a can of wormy, slippery questions, which Wilber addresses: “What does ‘everything’ actually mean? Would this new theory in physics explain, say, the meaning of human poetry? Or how economics work? Or the stages of psychosexual development?”
Being Ken Wilber, he couldn’t resist answering these questions by folding the “Theory of Everything” into some of his own personal visions and theories. This overlay is presented in his signature straightforward, clearly written style. The upshot is that common readers can easily follow Wilber on a quantum journey and wind up with a lasting souvenir–a scientific and spiritual understanding of how the mind, body, soul, and universe all work together like a never-ending symphony. And that’s just in the first four chapters. From there he shows readers the practical applications of this vision–explaining how it could lead to more integrative styles of business, education, medicine, ecology, and even how we address world conflicts. Wilber admits that this “holistic quest is an ever-receding dream, a horizon that constantly retreats as we approach it.” Nonetheless, he can still take readers on an incredible journey–one that’s well worth the price of the ticket. –Gail Hudson
Tony Schwartz, Fast Company, October 2000
“…a genuinely new school of thought, creating an original formulation out of ideas that had long seemed irreconcilable.”
SUMMARY OF THE BOOK, A Theory of Everything: An
Integral vision for Business, Politics, Science and Spirituality
Summary written by Ember, Mystery School initiate.
In his book, Ken Wilber, places before us his research and a brief overview of a Theory of Everything. He attempts to include everything, body, mind, soul, and spirit as they appear in self, culture, nature and etc.. T.O.E. embraces science, art, morals, physics, spirituality, biology, aesthetics, medicine, and business.
Chapter 1-The Amazing Spiral
Briefly, psychology of the mature human being is an unfolding, emergent, oscillating spiralling process marked by progressive subordination of older, lower-order behaviour
Systems to newer, higher-order systems as an individuals existential problems change.
Spiral Dynamics sees human development proceeding through 8 general stages or memes.
1. Beige: Archaic-Instinctual, basic survival
2. Purple: Magical-Animistic- Ethnic tribes, magic spirits, good and bad
3. Red: Power Gods, Archetypal gods and goddesses
4. Blue: Mythic Order- Life has meaning, direction, and purpose, right and wrong.
5. Orange: Scientific Achievement, seeks truth and meaning.
6. Green: The Sensitive Self: Feelings and caring supersede cold rationality
7. Yellows: Integrative. Flexibility, spontaneity, and functionality have the highest priority.
8. Turquoise: Holistic, Universal holistic system, T.O.E. theory.
Chapter 2-Boomeritis
Development involves decreasing narcissism and increasing consciousness. The ability to take other people, places, and things into account, such as me, us, and all of us. Boomers, critics agree, they have been a notoriously rebellious generation. An aggressive ant hierarch stance is usually an unmistakable hallmark of the green meme. Each successive wave in spiral dynamics transcends and includes the previous memes. There is a price to be paid for each increase in consciousness.
Chapter 3 An Integral Vision
The green meme must break down in order to free energy for the jump into second-tier . The level or stage of consciousness is determined by interior factors, and not merely by exterior structures, no matter how planetary or global. Good news, a person does not have to perfectly master a given level or stage, but simply function adequately enough to move forward. Bad news, we all have to start at stage 1. One has to be willing to let go of-or die to- present level. Each succeeding stage incorporated its predecessors and then added some new capacity. Each stage, consists of 4 quadrants and many levels in each quadrant. The four quadrants, simply refer to four of the most important dimensions of the Kosmos, namely, the interior and the exterior of the individual and the collective.
Integral map of human possibilities, page 43 of the book, briefly Four quadrants and four levels of human development.
1st quadrant- I -upper left-interior, self and consciousness (also altered states)
2nd quadrant- We -lower left -interior, culture and worldview
3rd quadrant- It-upper right- exterior, brain and organism
4th quadrant- Its-lower right- exterior, social system and environment.
Men and women both proceed through the same general waves of development, but men tend to do so with an emphasis on agency, women with an emphasis on communion.
Conclusions:
Reality is composed of neither wholes nor parts, but whole/parts, or holons. A growth hierarchy is actually a holarchy, since it is composed of holons, (such as atoms to molecules to cells to organisms). Each holons or whole part being an integral part of the holarchy, without which it could not exist.
This is one version of an integral overview- one attempt at a T.O.E. -useful only to the degree that it helps you to envision your own integral possibilities. (T.O.E. pg. 42,1st paragraph). One of the main conclusions of an all-quadrant, all-level approach is that each meme-each level of consciousness and wave of existence-is, in its healthy form, an absolutely necessary and desirable element of the overall spiral, of the overall spectrum of consciousness.
Chapter 4- Science and Religion:
The relation of science and religion generally fall in one of these categories:
1.Conflict, at war with one another
2. Independence, both are true but separate realms
3. Dialogue, both benefit through sharing
4. Integration, both part of the big picture
Chapter 5- The Real World:
Each senior level transcends but includes its juniors, The Great chain of Being is the Great Holarchy of Being. (4 quadrants of I, We, It, Its) . In this chapter of the book, Wilbur, takes religion, science, politics, medicine, education, consciousness studies, integral ecology and etc. and attempts to give them an Integral approach. Attempts to understand the process of change, transformation, or development without an understanding of the nature the evolution or unfolding of human consciousness have little prospect for success.
An all-quadrants, All-levels, all-lines approach needs to be taken and carefully and uniquely tailored to each specific situation in order to ensure that actions we attempt or programs, ideas and metaphors we propose have any chance of being part of a sustainable, directional, transformative change process. One of humanitys constant nightmares has been that technological growth in th right-Hand quadrants has always run ahead of the Left-Hand growth in wisdom, care, and compassionate use of that technology.
Chapter 6-Maps of the Kosmos
Each level of reality has a correct view of a fundamentally important level of reality, and development allows us to recognize nested truths. Every person around the world, starts existence at stage 1, not all individuals desire to move very far up the spiral. This means that the bulk of the worlds population is at the early or foundational waves. The prime directive is thus to act in ways that, to the best of our judgment, will protect and promote the health of the entire spiral of development, and not to unduly privilege a favourite wave. Western civilization can not impose their belief and value systems on people who are not at the same level of development, (green in some cases) because each level of development is critical and can not be skipped. Lord knows they try, green has introduced more harm in the last thirty years than any other meme.
Chapter 7 One Taste
An all level all quadrant practice means exercising physical, emotional, mental and spiritual waves in self, culture, and nature.
In the Theory of Everything, Everybody is right, each has an important piece of the truth, and all of those pieces need to be honoured, cherished and included in a more gracious, spacious and compassionate embrace, a genuine T.O.E.
Conclusion:
Ken Wilber’s Theory of Everything has a great deal of merit. I truly like the thought of there being a clear cut picture of the development of human consciousness as well as everything else. A nice neat package of developmental growth of just about everything.
I wish I could say my life was a living proof of his theory, but it doesnt appear to be. A lot of days I seem to be going nowhere fast, and the big picture eludes me. Things are not so neat and orderly in my world, or the world around me. Currently, the hurricane has hit New Orleans and has thrown the survivors of that devastation into survival mode, no matter what level they were at before the hurricane. I believe that it might take a very long time to move up the spiral once more for these people as it would any person that has suffered major disasters in their lives. Does it not permanently alter ones consciousness especially when expected help is not forthcoming?
Sex,
Ecology & Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution is Wilber’s “watershed book.” Click on title at left to read reviews and see inside.
Visit Ken Wilber’s new online
Integral Institute
and sign up for some cool stuff, listen to audio interviews, etc! Be part of the leading edge and keep in mind: “the Renaissance was participated in by about one thousand people.” — theologian Paul Tillich |
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