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‘The decisive question for man is: Is he related to something infinite or not? That is the telling question of his life. Only if we know that the thing which truly matters is the infinite can we avoid fixing our interest upon futilities, and upon all kinds of goals which are not of real importance. Thus we demand that the world grant us recognition for qualities which we regard as personal possessions: our talent or our beauty. The more a man lays stress on false possessions, and the less sensitivity he has for what is essential, the less satisfying is his life. He feels limited because he has limited aims, and the result is envy and jealousy. If we understand and feel that here in this life we already have a link with the infinite, desires and attitudes change. In the final analysis, we count for something only because of the essential we embody, and if we do not embody that, life is wasted.
In our relationships to other men, too, the crucial question is whether an element of boundlessness is expressed in the relationship. The feeling for the infinite, however, can be attained only if we are bounded to the utmost. The greatest limitation for man is the "self"; it is manifested in the experience: “I am only that!” Only consciousness of our narrow confinement in the self forms the link to the limitlessness of the unconscious. In such awareness we experience ourselves concurrently as limited and eternal, as both the one and the other. In knowing ourselves to be unique in our personal combination – that is, ultimately limited – we possess also the capacity for becoming conscious of the infinite. But only then!’
Integral Life Practice is an application of Ken Wilber’s famed Integral Theory. By encompassing all aspects of existence (mind, body, spirit and shadow) and all perspectives on life (‘I,’ ‘we,’ ‘it’ and ‘its’), it provides a comprehensive guideline to personal growth.
The holy grail of physics would be to discover what scientists call a ‘theory of everything’: a single equation that would account for all energy, force and matter in the cosmos. While this theory remains elusive, even its discovery would not truly account for everything. That’s because, as many have pointed out, the world is far more complicated than anything physics can describe. What about consciousness, spirituality, psychology, philosophy, ethics and theology? Can we really unite all these fields into a single, comprehensive theory?
Ken Wilber believes we can. A child prodigy, he would eventually attend Duke University as a pre-med student, yet his restless mind could not be satisfied with one topic of interest. After discontinuing his programme, he spent the next five years studying all aspects of religion, spirituality and psychology. His tireless efforts would pay off in 1995 with the publication of Sex, Ecology and Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution – an 800-page tome aimed at integrating all aspects of knowledge into a single, unified framework.
His Integral Theory was an instant success, hailed by such luminaries as Al Gore, Tony Robbins, and Nathaniel Branden. Yet, while the book resonated with many, it offered little by way of practical application. So, in conjunction with a team of fellow writers, Wilber published Integral Life Practice, which explains how to apply this complex theory in everyday life.
Many of us desire to grow and be part of a single, selfless journey of conscious evolution. Integral Life Practice (ILP) shows us how to discover our place in this journey and accelerate our spiritual development. It uses a framework called AQAL (all quadrants, all levels), which asserts that life must be viewed from four dimensions of being: the ‘I,’ the ‘we,’ the ‘it’ and the ‘its.’
‘I’ refers to our inner emotional and thought responses to things. ‘We’ indicates the thoughts and feelings we share with others. ‘It’ refers to the objectified, exterior world we inhabit and the body we control. Finally, ‘its’ is the social spaces we belong to (including neighbourhoods, cities and states).
We can then examine the various ‘modules’ of our lives: the different aspects of our embodied existence, including what we traditionally conceive of as body, mind and spirit. A chapter is devoted to each, but ILP also adds a fourth element: shadow. This is the dark, repressed aspect of ourselves that remains hidden within our subconscious. Acknowledging and healing this negative aspect is essential for true growth; something that has caught out even the greatest spiritual leaders.
The mind module is next and details the many ways we can expand our perception of the world to include the perspectives of others. The more perspectives we incorporate, the greater our mental evolution.
The body module is not limited to the physical body; it also describes the subtle and causal body. Exercising all three is essential for spiritual growth. So, physical exercise should be paired with other practices, such as yoga and centring prayer.
Finally, the spirit module covers matters of ultimate concern to us all. While debates continue about the nature of God, ILP sees all these differences as communicating the same truth from different levels of consciousness. Accordingly, ILP suggests spiritual exercises that view God from a first-person (‘I’), second-person (‘you’) and third-person (‘he/she/it’) perspective.
With these lessons in place, we can develop a set of personal ethics that reflect a higher state of consciousness; one that cares for, loves and feels unity with all things. By living ethically with others, we continue to grow consciously and can experience the joy of a compassionate existence.
There is an immense amount of information packed into this book. To help apply it, the title ends with a guided practice on how to develop a personalised ILP that meets our specific needs and fits into our schedules. Persistence is the key, as life presents many challenges that could derail this development. Yet, by holding fast to our commitment, we can soon achieve a new state of consciousness – one that finds joy in all circumstances and leaves us feeling liberated to serve the world in our own unique way.
Integral Life Practice exhaustively explains how every facet of Wilber’s famed ideas can become a living reality in our daily lives. While the work is unavoidably dense, care is taken to ensure the practical aspects are never obscured by the semi-academic descriptions of reality. For instance, every chapter contains several ‘1-Minute Modules’ and ‘Gold-Star Practices’ that can help with applying the previous lessons to even the busiest schedules.
Consequently, Integral Life Practice provides one of the most thorough and descriptive self-help works available. Those of an intellectual bent will be drawn to its eloquently detailed descriptions, while the more practically minded will appreciate its clearly designed and systematically organised exercises and suggestions. In short, this is a work for anyone interested in Integral Theory and offers an accessible entry point into one of the most ambitious and comprehensive personal growth systems ever conceived.
