Introduction

The Emerging, Holistic Worldview

Awakening and Transformation of Consciousness

Reconnecting to Nature

Health and Healing

Socially Engaged Spirituality

“Spirituality deals with the higher frequencies, ecology with the slower. No real opposition.” - Ken Wilber

Ken Wilber

Ken Wilber claims that much of the “science and religion” debate is a “garbled mess” due to different definitions. Wilber discusses the relationship between science and spirituality, in particular “deep spirituality”. He defines scientific inquiry as having three characteristics:

1. an experiment, or practice
2. data, or experience
3. rejection or confirmation

In this way, Wilber claims that deep spiritual investigations (i.e. based on the experiential evidence disclosed in the higher stages of consciousness development) follow the above defined three strands of all good science. Thus we might classify deep spirituality as a “contemplative science”.

Ken Wilber has made an attempt at uniting all different sciences and spirituality in his small book: “A Theory of Everything, An Integral Vision for Business, Politics, Science and Spirituality”.  He uses the word “integral” for holistic, following Sri Aurobindo, and has taken the initiative in establishing Integral Institutes like Integral Politics, Integral Business, Integral Psychology, etc.

One might ask how Ken Wilber’s views relate to the holistic concept implicit in the ecovillage approach of the Four Elements (Hildur Jackson). In Hildur’s view, Ken Wilber takes a yang approach, while the ecovillage model takes a yin approach (what kind of relationships we want to have with nature and people), a difference that leads to two somewhat different lifestyles and visions for the future. Wilber’s approach is theoretical, while ecovillages teach us a lot on the ground, and show ways forward that nobody could have invented sitting in a classroom. Are there ways of bridging these two approaches?

Ken Wilber advocates integral practice on all levels in person and culture and integral institutes covering all sectors of society. In ecovillages, people live the new worldview and have years of experience in finding the proper balance. The Gaia Education Design for Sustainability course (GEDS) evolved from many years of ecovillages experiencing success and failure. It integrates four dimensions: (spiritual worldview, social, ecological and economic) in a holistic design of a whole lifestyle quite consistent with Wilber’s worldview (and Bohm’s for that matter). Perhaps the GEDS may be considered the meeting point of the two, with virtual universities and ecovillages the places to learn. Sustainable design is a discipline that integrates many ways of thinking and many fields of knowledge, while staying within the boundaries of practical experiences and sustainability.

• Eastern Insights
• Ken Wilber
• Spiral Dynamics
• HeartMath
• Mind and Life Institute
• Transpersonal Psychology

Ken Wilber’s four quadrant holistic model, uniting spirituality inner and outer (left half of drawing) with social and natural sciences (right half). Upper left is the spiral dynamics of the person, lower left is the spiral dynamics of the culture.
Click on image to enlarge

In the ambitiously titled A Brief History of Everything, Wilber continues his search for the primary patterns that manifest in all realms of existence.