The Integral Heart – All Content

Integral Ethics

Terry — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:23:25 -0600

Waking up during our time of evolutionary emergency confers both freedom and responsibility. Full clip here.

Spirit Awakening As Us

Terry — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:05:36 -0600

Here I describe the koan of being born in our "interesting time" by evoking the paradoxical dance between the personal and universal. This short clip is taken from a longer one you can watch here. Read More »

Integral Agency-in-Communion

Terry — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:00:58 -0700

Although some individuals, organizations and worldviews privilege either agency or communion over the other, the Integral disposition fully embraces both.

I chose the URL and identity of this website, "The Integral Heart," in part to emphasize the healthy communion that is a natural expression of healthy Integral agency.

Structures of awareness always have special strengths and weaknesses. Since Integral consciousness has evolved so recently, there's no research yet that clearly identifies its tendencies towards limitations and pathologies. But most structures differentiate themselves from the previous one via a somewhat exaggerated reaction.

Some theorists suggest that the early indications are that Teal (the earliest Integral structure) can tend to give excessive weight to its mental maps and models—as powerful as they are—and lose some connection to the embodied, intuitive aspects of awareness that were cultivated at Green. It appears that some healthy, positive aspects of Green can be temporarily suppressed at Teal, as the self attempts to wrap its mind around a radically larger and deeper sense of reality.

With Integral discrimination, we can see much more clearly why every perspective is partial, and thus we can critique every point of view with a whole new level of penetrating insight. Read More »

The 3 Faces of Spirit

Terry — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 16:53:39 -0600

Spirit can be experienced in at least 3 fundamental ways, which correspond to the 3 perspectives inherent in natural language: as a 1st-person "I," as a 2nd-person "Thou," or as a 3rd-person "It."

Each perspective on and of Spirit reveals a distinct, and equally true, good, and beautiful "face" of the Ultimate. A full and rich relationship to Spirit will thus necessarily comprise each of these 3 faces, even while Spirit, in its radical depth and mystery, ultimately goes beyond any and all perspectives. Read More »

The 3 Faces of Evolving Spirit

Terry — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:21:40 -0600

Spirit manifests through multiple perspectives: as the 1st-person I AM of pure awareness; as the 2nd-person Great Other and Beloved; and as the 3rd-person evolutionary play of the objective Kosmos. AND... Spirit is beyond any perspective or mental conception. It's also beyond any tradition. Our Integral spirituality must inherit from the past, but also go beyond it, in order to show up most fully and freely as who we are in the world right now.

The Spiritual Fulfillment of Modernity

Terry — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:20:10 -0600

Nowhere does the modern world coexist peacefully with the traditional world. Whether it's "culture wars" in Western nations or all-out jihad in the Middle East, the traditions and modernity have not found a way to get along. But what if modernity has not fully developed yet, and will only truly arrive when it can embrace a "turquoise" level, trans-rational spirituality on the foundation of its rationality? How would this change the nature of its relationship with the traditional worldview? Read More »

Be Free To Do What You Must

Terry — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:17:34 -0600

In traditional spiritual lineages, practitioners could count on a teacher to hold them accountable to their vows and commitments. However, in post-postmodern culture, a spiritual teacher is not always available or advisable. So how do we attain a high level of intensity in our practice? These days, we need other kinds of support structures, such as groups, coaches, or our own system of "practice tracking" to help us maintain the fire required to fulfill our sacred life mission. But the doesn't make the path any easier! And as we give up our old luxuries and means of consolation, a higher sense of "sacred mission" can emerge to guide our lives. Read More »

Studying the Map and the Territory

Terry — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:14:29 -0600

The AQAL Map is powerful way of catalyzing our developmental process. It gives us a way to pinpoint virtually any conscious occasion in a multi-dimensional "grid," encompassing both inner and outer experience, at multiple levels of being. However, we misuse the map if we fail to fully embrace and learn directly from the territory which it describes. Read More »

Serving the Integral Enterprise

Terry — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 21:19:37 -0600

There are countless ways to serve the emergence of Integral consciousness in the world. While some may work to bring more people into 2nd-tier (teal and turquoise) levels of awareness, others will focus on preserving a "wisdom stream" of 3rd-tier awareness, which can beneficially influence the view of the Integral community at large.

The Intersubjective Mystery

Terry — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 21:14:32 -0600

Higher consciousness becomes especially real to us when we experience it in relation to another person. Whereas we ordinarily experience each other in terms of our limitations, neuroses, and other "stuff," when we spontaneously witness the mystery of each other's existence, it brings forth a mutual radiance that goes beyond the ordinary.