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Wilber suppose we took everything that all the various world cultures have to tell us about human potential—about psychological, spiritual, and social growth—and identified the basic patterns that connect these pieces of knowledge. What if we attempted to create an all-inclusive map that touches the most important factors from all of the world’s great traditions? the integral vision integral the Ken Wilber’s Integral Vision provides just such a map. Using all the known systems and models of human growth—from the ancient sages to the latest breakthroughs in cognitive science—it distills their major components into five simple elements, and, moreover, the ones that readers can verify in their own experience right now. In any field of interest—such as business, law, science, psychol- ogy, health, art, or everyday living and learning—the Integral Vision ensures that we are utilizing the full range of resources for the integral situation, leading to a greater likelihood of success and fulfillment. With easily understood explanations, exercises, and familiar exam- ples, The Integral Vision shows how we can accelerate growth and development to higher, wider, deeper ways of being, embodied in vision self, shared in community, and connected to the planet, which can lit- erally help with everything from spiritual enlightenment to business success to personal relationships. Ken Wilber is the author of over twenty books. He is the founder of Integral Institute, a think-tank for studying integral theory and prac- tice, with outreach through local and online communities such as Integral Naked, Integral Education Network, Integral Training, and Integral Spiritual Center. Cover design by Paul Salamone www.shambhala.com ©2007 Shambhala Publications, Inc. Printed in China A Very Short Introduction to the Revolutionary Integral Shambhala Approach to Life, God, the Universe, and Everything Shambhala Boston & London US $15.95 CAN $21.00 Ken Wilber This is copyrighted material, not to be shared the integral vision This is copyrighted material, not to be shared 31481_ch00.1-8.indd 1 3/19/07 12:58:48 PM This is copyrighted material, not to be shared 31481_ch00.1-8.indd 2 3/19/07 12:58:49 PM the integral vision A Very Short Introduction to the Revolutionary Integral Approach to Life, God, the Universe, and Everything Ken Wilber SHAMBHALA Boston & London 2007 This is copyrighted material, not to be shared 31481_ch00.1-8.indd 3 3/19/07 12:58:52 PM SHAMBHALA PUBLICATIONS, INC. Horticultural Hall 300 Massachusetts Avenue Boston, Massachusetts 02115 www.shambhala.com ©2007 by Ken Wilber Cartoon on p. 52 © The New Yorker Collection 1995 Edward Koren from cartoonbank.com. All rights reserved. Cover design by Paul Salamone. See pages 231–32 for further illustration and design credits. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 Printed in China ∞ This edition is printed on acid- free paper that meets the American National Standards Institute Z39.48 Standard. k Shambhala makes every effort to print on recycled paper. For more information please visit www.shambhala.com. Distributed in the United States by Random House, Inc., and in Canada by Random House of Canada Ltd Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wilber, Ken. The integral vision: a very short introduction to the revolutionary integral approach to life, God, the universe, and everything / Ken Wilber.—1st ed. p. cm. ISBN 978-1-59030-475-4 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Spiritual life. I. Title. BL624.W534 2007 191—dc22 2006051297 This is copyrighted material, not to be shared With special thanks to the staff of Integral Institute, whose tireless work, intelligence, passion, and creativity are helping make the Integral Vision a reality for all who wish to join in the AQAL adventure. This is copyrighted material, not to be shared 31481_ch00.1-8.indd 5 3/19/07 12:58:55 PM contents This is copyrighted material, not to be shared 31481_ch00.1-8.indd 6 3/19/07 12:58:55 PM 9 21 59 85 105 159 207 This is copyrighted material, not to be shared 31481_ch00.1-8.indd 7 3/19/07 12:58:58 PM This is copyrighted material, not to be shared 31481_ch00.1-8.indd 8 3/19/07 12:58:59 PM This is copyrighted material, not to be shared 31481_ch01.009-232.indd 9 3/19/07 1:03:56 PM This is copyrighted material, not to be shared 31481_ch01.009-232.indd 10 3/19/07 1:03:58 PM This is copyrighted material, not to be shared 31481_ch01.009-232.indd 11 3/19/07 1:04:20 PM This is copyrighted material, not to be shared 31481_ch01.009-232.indd 12 3/19/07 1:04:47 PM This is copyrighted material, not to be shared 31481_ch01.009-232.indd 13 3/19/07 1:05:04 PM This is copyrighted material, not to be shared 31481_ch01.009-232.indd 14 3/19/07 1:05:11 PM What if I had a comprehensive map of myself and the brave new world I fi nd myself in? This is copyrighted material, not to be shared 31481_ch01.009-232.indd 15 3/19/07 1:05:16 PM The Integral Vision during the last 30 years, we have witnessed a historical fi rst: all of the world’s cultures are now available to us. In the past, if you were born, say, a Chinese, you likely spent your entire life in one culture, often in one province, sometimes in one house, living and loving and dying on one small plot of land. But today, not only are people geo graphi cally mobile, but we can study, and have studied, virtually every known culture on the planet. In the global village, all cultures are ex- posed to each other. Knowledge itself is now global. This means that, also for the fi rst time, the sum total of human knowledge is avail- able to us—the knowledge, experience, wisdom, and refl ec- tion of all major human civilizations—premodern, modern, and postmodern—are open to study by anyone. What if we took literally everything that all the various cultures have to tell us about human potential—about spiri- tual growth, psychological growth, social growth—and put it all on the table? What if we attempted to fi nd the critically essential keys to human growth, based on the sum total of human knowledge now open to us? What if we attempted, based on extensive cross- cultural study, to use all of the world’s great traditions to create a composite map, a com- prehensive map, an all- inclusive or integral map that included the best elements from all of them? Sound complicated, complex, daunting? In a sense, it is. But in another sense, the results turn out to be surprisingly simple and elegant. Over the last several decades, there has 16 This is copyrighted material, not to be shared 31481_ch01.009-232.indd 16 3/19/07 1:05:17 PM Introduction indeed been an extensive search for a comprehensive map of human potentials. This map uses all the known systems and models of human growth—from the ancient shamans and sages to today’s breakthroughs in cognitive science— and distills their major components into 5 simple factors, factors that are the essential elements or keys to unlocking and facilitating human evolution. Welcome to the Integral Approach. An Integral or Comprehensive Map What are these 5 elements? We call them quadrants, levels, lines, states, and types. As you will see, all of these elements are, right now, available in your own awareness. These 5 elements are not merely theoretical concepts; they are aspects of your own experience, contours of your own consciousness, as you can easily verify for yourself as we proceed. What is the point of using this Integral Map? First, whether you are working in business, medicine, psychotherapy, law, ecol ogy, or simply everyday living and learning, the Integral Map helps make sure that you are “touching all the bases.” If you are trying to fl y over the Rocky Mountains, the more accu- rate a map you have, the less likely you will crash. An Integral 17 This is copyrighted material, not to be shared 31481_ch01.009-232.indd 17 3/19/07 1:05:18 PM The Integral Vision Approach ensures that you are utilizing the full range of resources for any situation, with the greater likelihood of success. Second, if you learn to spot these 5 elements in your own awareness—and because they are there in any event —then you can more easily appreciate them, exercise them, use them . and thereby vastly accelerate your own growth and development to higher, wider, deeper ways of being, not to mention greater excellence and achievement in work and professional life. A simple familiarity with the 5 elements in the Integral Model will help you orient yourself more easily and fully in this exciting journey of discovery and awakening. In short, the Integral Approach helps you see both your- self and the world around you in more comprehensive and effective ways. But one thing is important to realize from the start. The Integral Map is just a map. It is not the territory. We certainly don’t want to confuse the map with the territory— but neither do we want to be working with an inaccurate or faulty map.