Soul to Spirit: The New Spiritual Psychology

In previous posts on this blog I have focused mainly on comparing the Integral model to the Ageless Wisdom model in regards to what is known as the Egoic Lotus, Stages of Discipleship, and Stages of Initiation in the Ageless Wisdom teachings. In this post I am taking a different approach. I am going “down” the model spiritually, instead of “up” the model by looking closer at what is known as the Emotional Plane. 

In the Ageless Wisdom teachings there are seven major planes, which are each broken into seven sub-planes. Each “plane” or level represents a different stage of spiritual growth and development.  In this post I will detail more my understanding of what takes place on the emotional plane and how the Ageless Wisdom view of this fits in with the Integral model.

Continue reading “Wisdom vs. Wilber: The Emotional Plane, I” →

This post greatly expands the comparison of levels used by the Integral system in order to fit it with the Ageless Wisdom tradition and the levels it uses, which were created nearly 100 years ago. Both additional levels and new colors were added to the Integral (and Spiral Dynamics) systems in order to make this comparison possible.

In the Ageless Wisdom teachings there are 49 levels related to spiritual growth and development. Of these 33 stages are gone through before we reach what might be considered Buddhahood or Christ Consciousness. And there are 21 stages after that for a total of 54! Yet, in the Integral system we have only 12 levels described, making an effort to fit these two systems together a bit daunting. Understanding this, I will continue to attempt in this blog to put these two systems together.

Continue reading “Wisdom vs Wilber: Expanding the Levels, II” →

This post seeks to further expand upon the various levels proposed by Ken Wilber and Spiral Dynamics in light of ideas shared 100 years ago regarding levels of consciousness from the writings of Theosophy. 

Recently I was inspired to revisit some older Theosophical texts I first read over thirty years ago. The ideas there were far more comprehensive then the levels currently proposed by Ken Wilber and Edward Beck (of Spiral Dynamics). Attempting to put the various models together I have once again revised and expanded the chart I have previously featured in this blog.

Continue reading “Wisdom vs. Wilber: Expanding the Levels, I” →

The word Chela on the Thread involves continuity of consciousness. The more the “thread” becomes a “cable” the more accurate the impressions received from the inner realms. But, how do we know this thread is being turned into a cable? How do we know the impressions we are receiving are from the Buddhic plane (Wilber’s Ultraviolet and beyond), or from lower levels? This post attempts to explore some means by which we can make that assessment. 

Continue reading “Chela on the Thread: Building Continuity” →

In the Integral system we read about 3 to 5 bodies that we each possess from gross to subtle to casual. The terms Integral uses for these bodies are traditionally borrowed from Buddhism, especially Tibetan Buddhism. For those involved in the Ageless Wisdom system it is important to understand what the parallels to these “bodies” might be in regards to the language we use. This blog post is an attempt at that. 

To begin with I would like to share the system used by Integral in regards to the bodies of a human being. I will begin with the 3 level system and then expand it into the 5 level system. As you can see there are three states that every human being is said to move through each and every day regardless of what level of consciousness they “reside in” (or to use Wilber’s terms, what stage they are at).

Continue reading “Bodies: Wisdom vs. Wilber” →

This post is the last in the series on Six Stages of Discipleship in regards to Stage Four, Chela on the Thread. The post talks about continuity of consciousness, which is the ability to remain aware of who we really are spiritually at all times.

In the Integral model continuity of consciousness might best be explained as remaining continually aware of Suchness, Emptiness, the Void, Nonduality and so forth.  In the Ageless Wisdom teachings one becomes aware of what is known as “the Monad,” which is your essential spiritual essence. The secret is to become consistently aware of both your non-dual nature (the unmanifest) and at the same time deepen your understanding of the dual (the manifest world).  The end result is I AM That I AM, which is both non-dual/dual simultaneously existent in  your consciousness at all times.

Continue reading “Chela on the Thread: Continuity of Consciousness – Wisdom vs. Wilber” →