Theory of Everything

* Book: A Theory of Everything: An Integral Vision for Business, Politics, Science, and Spirituality. by Ken Wilber. Shambhala Publications, 2000.

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Review

Copthorne Macdonald:

"Beck and Cowan’s “Spiral Dynamics” model of human development is one of the core elements in A Theory of Everything. Concerning it, Wilber says, “Memes (or stages) are not rigid levels but flowing waves, with much overlap and interweaving, resulting in a meshwork or dynamic spiral of consciousness unfolding.” Wilber points out that the overall developmental spiral involves many developmental “streams, lines, or modules” and that “this added dimension gives a new richness to the developmental landscape.” Among the most important of these lines and streams are the self-identity stream illustrated in Figure 3-1, and streams involving cognition, morals, and socio-emotional capacity.

Development in the various streams does not necessarily occur at the same rate. A problem that Wilber calls Boomeritis occurs when a high level of development (green—sensitivity) in the cognitive and moral streams is accompanied by a low level of development (red—egocentricity and narcissism) in the self-identity stream. Regarding the green stage or wave, he refers to Paul Ray’s study which estimates that there are some 45 million “Cultural Creatives” in the U.S.—people who resonate with integral values. Wilber believes that the great majority of these people are at the green meme stage in tier 1 of the developmental process, not at the yellow “autonomous or integrated stage” in tier 2. Research indicates that less that two percent of Americans are at tier 2, leading Wilber to say, “Almost anyway we slice the data, the ‘integral culture’ is not that integral.” Yet Wilber goes on to say, “But it can be. And that is the crucial point. As the cultural creatives move into the second half of life, this is exactly the time that a further transformation of consciousness, from green into mature second-tier awareness, can most easily occur.”

Wilber identifies four factors that facilitate personal transformation: fulfillment, dissonance, insight, and opening. “Fulfillment means that the individual has generally fulfilled the basic tasks of a given stage or wave.” When this happens the person “is open to transformation” which is then facilitated by some sort of dissonance. “The new wave is struggling to emerge, the old wave is struggling to hang on, and the individual feels torn, feels dissonance, feels pulled in several directions.” Eventually, out of the dissonance comes “insight into the situation—insight into what one actually wants, and insight into what reality actually offers. … Finally, if all of those factors fall into place, then an opening to the next wave of consciousness—deeper, higher, wider, more encompassing—becomes possible.”

What those who are “already poised for an integral transformation—who already have tasted green to the full and are ready to move on, who already feel some sort of dissonance with their present state, who already are looking for something deeper, wider, more meaningful—can do to facilitate this ‘momentous leap,’” says Wilber, “can be summarized in two parts: we need an integral vision and we need an integral practice. The integral vision helps provide us with insight, and thus helps us overcome dissonance and face toward our own deeper and wider opening. And integral practice anchors all of those factors in a concrete manner, so that they do not remain merely abstract ideas and vague notions.”

Regarding integral practice, Wilber says, “Even if we possessed the perfect integral map of the Kosmos, a map that was completely all-inclusive and unerringly holistic, that map itself would not transform people. We don’t just need a map; we need ways to change the mapmaker.” He calls for a practice that exercises “physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual waves in self, culture, and nature.” Regarding the self, he suggests such practices as “physical exercise (weightlifting, diet, jogging, yoga), emotional exercises (qi gong, counseling, psychotherapy), mental exercises (affirmation, visualization), and spiritual exercises (meditation, contemplative prayer).” Moving to culture, he suggests getting involved in community service of various kinds, and making use of “mutual respectful dialogue” and relationships in general to further our own growth and the growth of others. In the arena of nature, Wilber suggests getting involved in activities which respect nature such as recycling, environmental protection, and nature celebration—activities which both honor nature and promote our own capacity to care. Regarding the importance of meditation, he says, “It has been shown…that meditation increases the percentage of the population who are at second tier from less than 2 percent to an astonishing 38 percent.”

While Wilber strongly recommends integral practice and inner development toward second tier consciousness, the larger goal is to maintain the health of the entire developmental spiral. As Wilber notes, “Even if every society on earth were established fully at second tier, nonetheless every infant born in every society still has to start at level 1, at beige, at sensorimotor instincts and perceptions, and then must grow and evolve through purple, magic, red and blue myth, orange rationalism, green sensitivity and into yellow and turquoise second tier (on the way to transpersonal). All of those waves have important tasks and functions; all of them are taken up and included in subsequent waves; none of them can be bypassed; and none of them can be demeaned without grave consequences to self and society. The health of the entire spiral is the prime directive, not preferential treatment for any one level.”

Wilber also deals in this book with a variety of other issues. In a chapter devoted to the relationship of science and religion he advocates a “broad science” which would not only investigate “the exterior, physical, sensorimotor world” but also “interior domains and their correlations with the exterior.” At the same time, he also advocates a “transformative” or “deep” spirituality that “involves the direct investigation of the experiential evidence disclosed in the higher stages of conscious development.” In a chapter entitled The Real World, Wilber deals with the application of integral theory in specific life arenas. The chapter has sections on Integral Politics, Integral Governance, Integral Medicine, Integral Business, Integral Education, Consciousness Studies, Relational and Socially Engaged Spirituality, Integral Ecology, and Minorities Outreach. In that chapter Wilber announces the formation of Integral Institute: a nonprofit organization dedicated to the development of comprehensive, systematic, encompassing and integral approaches to the world’s problems—a coordinating center and source of funding for integral research in the above (and other) fields."

(http://www.wisdompage.com/toerevw.html)

Source of the review: Integralis: Journal of Integral Consciousness, Culture, and Science, Vol. 1, No. 0