This article is about integral theory in philosophy and psychology. It is unrelated to the concept of an integral in calculus.

Integral theory is comprised of those philosophies and teachings that seek a comprehensive understanding of humans and the universe by combining scientific and spiritual insights. According to the Integral Transformative Practice website, integral means "dealing with the body, mind, heart, and soul." The Integral Institute is a think-tank founded in 1998 by American philosopher, psychologist, and mystic Ken Wilber. ... The California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) is a private San Francisco, California-based graduate school whose programs focus on clinical psychology on one hand, and the study of the worlds various spiritual traditions on the other. ... Integral University is the worlds first truly integral learning community, where the AQAL approach (all quadrants, all levels, all lines, all states, all types) is brought to bear on a variety of disciplines for personal, academic, and professional development. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Psychology (ancient Greek: psyche = soul or mind, logos/-ology = study of) is an academic and applied field involving the study of the human mind and human behavior. ... In calculus, the integral of a function is a generalization of area, mass, volume, sum, and total. ... Integral and differential calculus is a central branch of mathematics, developed from algebra and geometry. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Science For the scientific journal named Science, see Science (journal). ... ... Integral Transformative Practice is a spiritual practice that attempts to integrate body, mind, heart, and soul. ...

Integral theory can be seen as a reaction against rationalism and materialism. It introduces instead a more universal and holistic perspective. Proponents view rationalism as subordinating, ignoring, and denying spirituality. Ken Wilber, one of the most important contemporary integral thinkers, begins by acknowledging and validating mystical experience, rather than denying its reality. As these experiences have occurred to humans in all cultures in all eras, integral theorists accept them as valuable and not pathological. Integral theorists like Sri Aurobindo, Teilhard de Chardin, Wilber, and others argue that both science and mysticism (or spirituality) are necessary for complete understanding of humans and the universe. Rationalism, also known as the rationalist movement, is a philosophical doctrine that asserts that the truth can best be discovered by reason and factual analysis, rather than faith, dogma or religious teaching. ... In philosophy, materialism is that form of physicalism which holds that the only thing that can truly be said to exist is matter; that fundamentally, all things are composed of material and all phenomena are the result of material interactions. ... Ken Wilber Kenneth Earl Wilber Jr. ... Mysticism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Pathology (in ancient Greek pathos = pain/pation and logos = word) is the study of diseases. ... Sri Aurobindo Sri Aurobindo (Bangla: শ্রী অরবিন্দ) (August 15, 1872–December 5, 1950) was an Indian nationalist, scholar, poet, Hindu mystic, evolutionary philosopher, yogi and guru. ... This article needs cleanup. ... ... The deepest visible-light image of the cosmos. ...

Integral theorists

Integral theory is a new and developing movement. Consequently, no list of integral thinkers or artworks will be uncontroversial. The following thinkers have used the term "integral" to describe their work.

The word "integral" was originally used by the Hindu writer and guru Sri Aurobindo to describe the yoga he taught. Sri Aurobindo's integral yoga involves transformation of the entire being, rather than, as in most other teachings, a single faculty such as the intellect or the emotions or the body. Sri Aurobindo's major works include: The Life Divine, The Synthesis of Yoga, and Savitri. Important concepts in Sri Aurobindo's thought include: Evolution, Involution, the physical, the vital, the mental, the psychic, Integral yoga, the Triple transformation, and the Supramental principle. His co-worker The Mother founded Auroville, an international community dedicated to human unity, and based on their teachings. A Hindu (archaic Hindoo) is an adherent of philosophies and scriptures of Hinduism, the predominant religious, philosophical and cultural system of India (Bharat), Nepal, and the island of Bali. ... References ^ Tirha, B. B. A Taste of Trascendence, (2002) p. ... // Yoga practice and intention Modern yoga practice often includes traditional elements inherited from Hinduism, such as moral and ethical principles, postures designed to keep the body fit, spiritual philosophy, instruction by a guru, chanting of mantras (sacred syllables), quietening the breath, and stilling the mind through meditation. ... Integral yoga or purna yoga (Full or complete yoga) refers in Sri Aurobindos teachings to the union of all the parts of ones being with the Divine, and the transmutation of all of their jarring elements into a harmonious state of higher divine consciousness and existence. ... The Life Divine is Sri Aurobindos major philosophical opus. ... The Synthesis of Yoga is Sri Aurobindos principle work on yoga, comparing the methods of the various schools of traditional yoga, and providing the comprehensive way for following the true path to Divine consciousness. ... In Hinduism, Savitri (also Savitr, Savitar) is a solar deity and one of the Adityas. ... In philosophy and metaphysics, the development of the universe, and of consciousness through time, is referred to as evolution. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Physical faculty or part of the being, in Sri Aurobindos philosophy, refers not just to the physical body, but the bodys consciousness as well. ... The Vital or Life faculty or part of the being, in Sri Aurobindos philosophy, refers not simply to the life force as to the various passions, desires, feelings, emotions, affects, compulsions, and likes and dislikes that strongly determine human motivation and action through desire and enthusiasm. ... The Mental faculty or part of the being, in Sri Aurobindos philosophy, is the conceptual and cognitive mind. ... The Psychic Being is Sri Aurobindos term for the Personal Evolving Soul, the principle of Divine spirit in every individual. ... Integral yoga or purna yoga (Full or complete yoga) refers in Sri Aurobindos teachings to the union of all the parts of ones being with the Divine, and the transmutation of all of their jarring elements into a harmonious state of higher divine consciousness and existence. ... The Triple Transformation in Sri Aurobindos integral yoga refers to the two-fold movement of spiritual transformation - the inward pychicisation by which the sadhak gets in contact with the inner divine principle or Psychic Being, and the wider spiritual transformation or spiritualisation. ... supermind This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... This article is about the spiritual partner of Sri Aurobindo. ... Auroville is an international township, near Pondicherry in South India, whose sole purpose is to realize human unity in diversity. ...

The following authors (listed in chronological order) trace their intellectual heritage back to Aurobindo:

• Jean Gebser (1905-1973), Swiss phenomenologist, was the author of The Ever-present Origin, which conceived of human history as stages of consciousness. Gebser saw in the momentous events of the 1930s and '40s a revolution in consciousness which he identified as the transition to the integral stage.

• Haridas Chaudhuri (1913-1975), a Bengali philosopher, was a correspondent with Aurobindo and founded the California Institute of Integral Studies.

• Clare Graves (1914-1986), American psychology professor, was the creator of the Emergent Cyclical Levels of Existence Theory of human development, which inspired the book Spiral Dynamics by Don Beck and Chris Cowan.

• Michael Murphy (b. 1930), author of The Future of the Body, and George Burr Leonard are co-founders of the Esalen Institute and the Human Potential Movement, and co-authors of The Life We Are Given.

• Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet (b. 1938), is the founder of the Aeon Center for Cosmology and the author of Integral Cosmology and the The Gnostic Circle. Although currently unrecognized by the members of Sri Aurobindo's Ashram or of Auroville, she is considered by some Integral Yoga students to be a direct continuation of the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.

• William Irwin Thompson (b. 1938) is a cultural historian influenced by Aurobindo and Jean Gebser. In his 1996 book Coming Into Being, he re-envisioned global cultural history as the continuing evolution of consciousness. He is the founder of the Lindisfarne Association. He has criticized the integral theory of Ken Wilber as being excessively objectifying and masculinist.

• Georg Feuerstein (b. 1947) is the author of Wholeness or Transcendence: Ancient Lessons for the Emerging Global Civilization, Structures of Consciousness: The Genius of Jean Gebser, An Introduction and Critique, co-author of In Search of the Cradle of Civilization, and founder of the Yoga Research and Education Center and Traditional Yoga Studies.

• Ken Wilber (b. 1949) is the most popular integral theorist in the world today. Wilber's books include: Sex Ecology Spirituality, Integral Psychology, and Boomeritis. His major ideas include: AQAL, integral ecology, integral politics, and vision-logic. Founder of the Integral Institute, Integral Naked, and Integral University.

• Allan Combs is the author of The Radiance of Being: Understanding the Grand Integral Vision, Living the Integral Life. He has worked with Ken Wilber recently to create a theory which they call the "Wilber-Combs Lattice".

• Robert Kegan is a Harvard developmental psychologist who is considered to be an integral theorist. He is a member of the Integral Institute.

• Michael Bauwens (b. 1958) views peer-to-peer technology as an integral phenomenon. He is a contributor to the journal Integral Review.

• M. Alan Kazlev has created an integral philosophy based on the writings of Aurobindo, the Mother, Ken Wilber, and Michel Bauwens.

Jean Gebser Jean Gebser (August 20, 1905 – May 14, 1973) was a prodigy, a student of the transformations of human consciousness, a linguist, and a poet. ... Look up Phenomenology in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Phenomenology is a current in philosophy that takes the intuitive experience of phenomena (what presents itself to us in conscious experience) as its starting point and tries to extract the essential features of experiences and the essence of what we experience. ... Haridas Chaudhuri (1913-1975), Bengali integral philosopher, was a correspondant with Sri Aurobindo and the founder of the California Institute of Integral Studies. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) is a private San Francisco, California-based graduate school whose programs focus on clinical psychology on one hand, and the study of the worlds various spiritual traditions on the other. ... Clare W. Graves (December 21, 1914-January 3, 1986) was a professor of psychology and originator of the Level Theory of Personality. ... Psychology (ancient Greek: psyche = soul or mind, logos/-ology = study of) is an academic and applied field involving the study of the human mind and human behavior. ... Human development is the physical and mental process of growing from a one-celled zygote to an adult human being. ... Spiral dynamics is a book by Don Beck and Chris Cowan which is based on the theory of psychology professor Clare W. Graves. ... Don Beck is a American management consultant and a co-author of the book Spiral Dynamics. ... Chris Cowan is a co-author of the book Spiral Dynamics, which describes a theory of human development and management based on the work of psychologist Clare Graves. ... For other people with the same name, see Michael Murphy Michael Murphy is the co-founder of the Esalen Institute, a key figure in the Human Potential Movement and author of both fiction and non-fiction books on topics related to extraordinary human potential. ... George Burr Leonard is a former United States Army Air Corps pilot, a former editor of Look Magazine, President of the Esalen Institute, and holds a fifth degree black belt in aikido. ... Esalen Institute is a center for humanistic education, a nonprofit organization devoted to multidisciplinary studies ordinarily neglected by traditional academia. ... The Human Potential Movement came out of the social and intellectual milieu of the 1960s and was formed to promote the cultivation of extraordinary potential believed to be largely untapped in most people. ... Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet (1938 - ), who also goes under the name Thea, is an astrologer, cosmologist, author and founder of the Aeon Centre of Cosmology. ... The Gnostic Circle is a product of the yoga of Vedic Cosmologist Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet. ... The Sri Aurobindo Ashram was founded by Sri Aurobindo on the 24 November 1926 (Siddhi Day). ... Auroville is an international township, near Pondicherry in South India, whose sole purpose is to realize human unity in diversity. ... Integral yoga or purna yoga (Full or complete yoga) refers in Sri Aurobindos teachings to the union of all the parts of ones being with the Divine, and the transmutation of all of their jarring elements into a harmonious state of higher divine consciousness and existence. ... This article is about the spiritual partner of Sri Aurobindo. ... William Irwin Thompson (1938- ) is a writer, social critic, and visionary, especially interested in keeping alive the esoteric, most profound, human and spiritual traditions of mankind, as he sees it. ... Cultural history, at least in its common definition since the 1970s, often combines the approaches of anthropology and history to look at popular cultural traditions and cultural interpretations of historical experience. ... Cultural history, at least in its common definition since the 1970s, often combines the approaches of anthropology and history to look at popular cultural traditions and cultural interpretations of historical experience. ... Ken Wilber Kenneth Earl Wilber Jr. ... Objectification refers to the way in which one person treats another person as an object and not as a human being. ... Dr. Georg Feuerstein, or George Feuerstein, (born 1947) is a well-known German-American Indologist, and one of the most important Western authorities on yoga. ... In Search of the Cradle of Civilization: New Light on Ancient India is a 1995 book by Georg Feuerstein, Subhash Kak, and David Frawley that argues against the theories that Indo-European peoples only arrived in India in the middle of the second millennium BC (the Aryan invasion theory and... Ken Wilber Kenneth Earl Wilber Jr. ... Sex, Ecology, Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution is philosopher Ken Wilbers magnum opus. ... Integral Psychology is a book by philosopher Ken Wilber in which he applies his integral model of consciousness to the psychological realm. ... Boomeritis: A Novel That Will Set You Free is a 2002 novel by the philosopher Ken Wilber. ... In the Integral theory of Ken Wilber, AQAL stands for All quadrants, all levels, and equally connotes all lines, all states, all types. An account or theory is said the be AQAL, and thus integral (or inclusive or comprehensive), if it accounts for or makes reference to all four quadrants... Integral ecology is a contemporary field of ecology that emphasizes the existence of multiple valid perspectives, including both scientific and spiritual perspectives. ... Integral politics is an emerging approach to politics that is based on developmental and holistic approaches to the self, culture, and society. ... In Ken Wilbers integral theory of developmental psychology, vision-logic is a post-formal but personal level of cognitive development. ... The Integral Institute is a think-tank founded in 1998 by American philosopher, psychologist, and mystic Ken Wilber. ... Integral Naked is a multimedia doorway to the world of integral awareness. ... Integral University is the worlds first truly integral learning community, where the AQAL approach (all quadrants, all levels, all lines, all states, all types) is brought to bear on a variety of disciplines for personal, academic, and professional development. ... Allan Combs is a consciousness researcher, neuropsychologist, and systems theorist. ... Dr. Robert Kegan is developmental psychologist who is the author of numerous books, including the highly influential The Evolving Self (1982). ... Developmental psychology is the scientific study of progressive psychological changes that occur in human beings as they age. ... Michel Bauwens (b. ... A peer-to-peer (or P2P) computer network is a network that relies on the computing power and bandwidth of the participants in the network rather than concentrating it in a relatively few servers. ... M. Alan Kazlev is an amateur paleontologist and New Age writer who lives in Melbourne, Australia. ...

Integral artists

Integral art can be defined as art that reaches across multiple quadrants and levels, or simply as art that was created by someone who thinks or acts in an integral way.

• Alex Grey (b. 1953) is a psychedelic visual artist whose works have been admired by Wilber and others.

• Stuart Davis (b. 1971) is an eclectic musician whose works include the concept album Bright Apocalypse. Mystical and integral themes feature large in his lyrics.

• Saul Williams (b. 1972) is a hip-hop artist who is associated with the Integral Institute.

• Wilber considers the Wachowski brothers' (b. 1965, 1967) Matrix films to convey important spiritual and philosophical truths. With philosopher Cornel West, Wilber has released a DVD commentary track on the series, which is available in The Ultimate Matrix Collection.

• Matthew Dallman, former director of Integral University's Integral Art Center, now independently produces music and integral philosophy[1].

Alex Grey (born November 29, 1953 in Columbus, Ohio) is an artist specializing in spiritual and psychedelic art that is sometimes associated with the New Age movement. ... Stuart Davis (born on January 11, 1971 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA) is a contemporary American musician and songwriter from Minnesota. ... Bright Apocalypse: 13 Songs About God is a 1999 album by Stuart Davis. ... Photo of artist. ... Hip hop is a cultural movement that began among urban African Americans and Latinos in New York City in the early 1970s, and has since spread around the world. ... Larry Wachowski (born June 21, 1965) and Andy Wachowski (born December 29, 1967) are Polish American film directors most famous for the Matrix series. ... The Matrix series spans major motion pictures, Japanese-style animation, and video games in an attempt to tell a story thats part science fiction, part modern myth, with elements of cyberpunk, computer science, philosophy of mind, Hinduism, Christianity, Gnosticism, Buddhism, classical mythology, and other influences. ... Cornel Ronald West (born June 2, 1953 in Tulsa, Oklahoma) is a prominent American scholar and public intellectual. ... The Ultimate Matrix Collection The Ultimate Matrix Collection is a DVD release featuring all the titles in the Matrix Series, as well as several hours of special features, spread over 10 discs. ... Integral University is the worlds first truly integral learning community, where the AQAL approach (all quadrants, all levels, all lines, all states, all types) is brought to bear on a variety of disciplines for personal, academic, and professional development. ...

Other thinkers

Many writers and artists who did not use the word "integral" to refer to their theories nonetheless are considered by theorists to act, think or theorize in an integral way. These include contemporary thinkers like Jurgen Habermas and Rupert Sheldrake, and historical figures like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Gandhi. Jürgen Habermas Jürgen Habermas (born June 18, 1929 in Düsseldorf, Germany) is a philosopher and social theorist in the tradition of critical theory. ... Dr Rupert Sheldrake (born 1942) is a controversial British biologist and author. ... Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) was a famous American essayist and one of Americas most influential thinkers and writers. ... Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (October 2, 1869 – January 30, 1948) (Devanagari: मोहनदास करमचन्द गांधी), called Mahatma Gandhi, was the charismatic leader who brought the cause of Indias independence from British colonial rule to world attention. ...

The following writers contributed essential ideas to integral theory:

• James Mark Baldwin (1861-1934), American psychologist who described the Baldwin effect.

• Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955), Jesuit priest, philosopher and author of The Phenomenon of Man. His ideas include the Noosphere, and the Omega point.

• A. H. Almaas, developer of the Diamond Approach, an integration of mystical teachings and modern depth psychology. Almaas has written many scholarly works on these topics, including The Inner Journey Home: Soul's Realization Of The Unity Of Reality.

• Arthur M. Young (1905-1995), inventor and author of The Reflexive Universe

• Edward Haskell (1906-1986), author of Full Circle: The Moral Force of Unified Science

• Erich Jantsch (1929-1980), Austrian astronomer and author of The Self-organizing Universe: Scientific and Human Implications of the Emerging Paradigm of Evolution. His ideas include self-organization and co-evolution.

• Stanislav Grof (b. 1931), Czech Transpersonal psychologist

James Mark Baldwin (Columbia, South Carolina, 1861—1934) was an American philosopher, educated at Princeton and several German universities. ... The Baldwin effect is a theory of James Mark Baldwin in which a characteristic, such as individual learning, significantly affects the evolution of the species with respect to that characteristic. ... Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (IPA: ; May 1, 1881 – April 10, 1955), a Jesuit priest trained as a palaeontologist and a philosopher, was present at the discovery of Peking Man. ... The noosphere can be seen as the sphere of human thought being derived from the Greek νους (nous) meaning mind in the style of atmosphere and biosphere. Just as the biosphere is composed of all the organisms on Earth and their interactions, the noosphere is composed of all the interacting minds... Omega point is a term used by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin to describe the aim towards which consciousness evolves; he held that evolution was a process converging toward a final unity. ... A. H. Almaas is the pen name of A. Hameed Ali, a New Age author who writes about a mystical approach to psychology and therapy that he calls the Diamond Approach. ... The Diamond Approach is a teaching developed by A. H. Almaas that shows an integration of a variety of mystical teachings, including Sufism and modern depth psychology. ... Mysticism (ancient Greek mysticon = secret) is meditation, prayer, or theology focused on the direct experience of union with divinity, God, or Ultimate Reality, or the belief that such experience is a genuine and important source of knowledge. ... Depth psychology is a broad term that refers to any psychological approach examining the depth (the hidden or deeper parts) of human experience. ... Arthur Middleton Young (November 3, 1905–1995) was inventor of the Bell helicopter, as well as a cosmologist, philosopher and author. ... Edward Fröhlich Haskell (August 24, 1906 – 1986) is a synergic scientist and integral thinker who dedicated his life to the unification of human knowledge into a single discipline. ... Erich Jantsch (1929-1980) was an Austrian astrophysicist who wrote the book The Self-organizing Universe: Scientific and Human Implications of the Emerging Paradigm of Evolution (1980). ... An astronomer or astrophysicist is a scientist whose area of research is astronomy or astrophysics. ... Self-organization refers to a process in which the internal organization of a system, normally an open system, increases automatically without being guided or managed by an outside source. ... Bumblebees and the flowers they pollinate co-evolve so that the flower is dependent on the bee and the bee is dependent on the flower for survival In Biology, co-evolution is the mutual evolutionary influence between two species that become dependent on each other. ... Stanislav Grof (born 1931 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is one of the founders of the field of transpersonal psychology and a pioneering researcher into the use of altered states of consciousness for purposes of healing, growth, and insight. ... The term Transpersonal is often used to refer to psychological categories that transcend the normal features of ordinary ego-functioning. ... Transpersonal psychology is a school of psychology that studies the spiritual and transpersonal dimensions of humanity, and the possibilty of development beyond traditional ego-boundaries. ...

See also

• Holarchy
• Holism
• Holistic science
• Holomovement
• Holon (philosophy)
• Evolution (philosophy)
• Nonduality
• Spiritual evolution
• Gnostic circle

A holarchy, in the terminology of Arthur Koestler, is a hierarchy of holons — where a holon is simply a part of a hierarchy which itself is a complex system. ... Holism (from holos, a Greek word meaning whole) is the idea that the properties of a system cannot be determined or explained by the sum of its components alone. ... Holistic Science is the science of wholes; a whole is a cyclical process or nonlinear, within a self-organized boundary or form that is nested within other interacting wholes; the ongoing relationships of which may be described quantitatively or descriptively by scientists as active participants. ... Holomovement is a metaphysical concept invented by David Bohm describing his visual description of the fabric of reality, implying undivided wholeness in flowing movement [1]. The holomovement is the underlying flow (of possibly not yet defined qualities related to thought, matter and energy) in which reality (or the possible realities... A holon (from the Greek holos = whole and on = entity) is something that is simultaneously a whole and a part. ... In philosophy and metaphysics, the development of the universe, and of consciousness through time, is referred to as evolution. ... Nonduality is the absence or belief in the absence of dualism or dichotomy. ... ... The Gnostic Circle is a product of the yoga of Vedic Cosmologist Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet. ...

Quotations

• "The word integral means comprehensive, inclusive, nonmarginalizing, embracing. Integral approaches to any field attempt to be exactly that—to include as many perspectives, styles, and methodologies as possible within a coherent view of the topic. In a certain sense, integral approaches are "meta-paradigms," or ways to draw together an already existing number of separate paradigms into an interrelated network of approaches that are mutually enriching." —Ken Wilber, "Foreword", in Frank Visser, Ken Wilber: Thought As Passion

• This means that the chief activity of integral cognition is not looking at all of the available theories—whether premodern, modern, or postmodern—and then asking, "Which one of those is the most accurate or acceptable?," but rather consists in asking, "How can all of those be right?" The fact is, all of the various theories, practices, and established paradigms—in the sciences, arts, and humanities—are already being practiced: they are already arising in a Kosmos that clearly allows them to arise, and the question is not, which of those is the correct one, but what is the structure of the Kosmos such that it allows all of those to arise in the first place? What is the architecture of a universe that includes so many wonderful rooms? — Ken Wilber, "The Ways We Are in This Together: Intersubjectivity and Interobjectivity in the Holonic Kosmos" Excerpt C of draft of forthcoming book, Kosmic Karma and Creativity

Frank Visser is a Dutch author, theosophist, and psychologist of religion. ...

External links

• Integral Institute Wilber's organization
• Integral Naked The by-subscription forum for Wilber's organization
• Integral World
• Integral Visioning contains articles, a forum, and a wiki
• Integral Thinking
• Integral Review a peer-reviewed, transdisciplinary and transcultural journal
• Integral Encyclopedia Wiki an open-source collaborative encyclopedia.
• Integral Yoga of Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet