Soul to Spirit: The New Spiritual Psychology

This post introduces the reader to the idea of Six Stages of Discipleship as talked about in the Ageless Wisdom teachings and sets the foundation for posts to come giving greater detail on each stage and how Integral ideas relate to them.

In the Ageless Wisdom teachings by Alice A. Bailey there are said to be six stages of discipleship that represent six stages of spiritual growth. These stages are:

1. Little Chelaship
2. Chela in the Light
3. Accepted Discipleship
4. Chela on the Thread
5. Chela Within the Aura
6. Chela Within the Master’s Heart.

To help us understand these stages I am drawing correlations of them with both other terms used in the Alice Bailey teachings, as well as terms used in the Integral teachings promoted by primarily Ken Wilber.  Please see the chart below.

Continue reading “Six Stages of Discipleship – Wisdom vs. Wilber” →

Darth Vader, Voldemort… Is it possible to avoid the “Darth Vader Move” where you can slip into the “dark side of the force?”  And, is this move to the dark side possible at any stage of the spiritual path? What the Ageless Wisdom and Integral approaches both have to say including how they are alike and how they differ. 

Recently, I listened to an excellent audio by Ken Wilber on the “Darth Vadar” move.  For the small minority on the planet who may not be aware of Star Wars and Darth Vader (are there such people?), the “Darth Vader” move is when someone moves to the “dark side of the force” and the person on a very promising spiritual path goes “dark” and starts to use their powers for evil (live spelled backwards implying evil is anti the life impulse of the whole).  Going to the “dark side of the force” is not a new concept.  In the Ageless Wisdom teachings there has long been the tradition of “black magicians” — a phrase that is not very socially and politically correct now-a-days, and perhaps it would be better in our modern era to say evil magicians, or sociopathic magicians, or just plain selfish magicians. After all anyone regardless of race, sex, culture, etc. can fit into the “evil” category.  In truth be told, most of us are in the selfish mode already to some degree making us “gray” magicians in Ageless Wisdom terms, possessing some selfish and unselfish motives within us. Acknowledging this, in listening to Ken Wilber speak about this whole Darth Vader thing, there was one part of what he said that the Ageless Wisdom traditions unfortunately do not agree with.

Continue reading “The Darth Vader Move – A Wisdom vs Wilber View” →

Is there such a thing as an end game of arrival at something called enlightenment or Unity Consciousness? How the Ageless Wisdom and Integral teachings may hold two very different points of view.

In the Integral world they speak about reaching Unity Consciousness, which is often equated with Nirvana or reaching Enlightenment.  Now, the latest vernacular is about getting into the Non-dual.  Yes, something occurs when people enter the “void” that results in an awareness of emptiness, no-thing-ness, and paradoxically “fullness” and every-thing-ness of everything and everyone. As the experience of this void occurs, it is known for a fact that this “dependent arising,” or inter-connectedness of all that is, exists. But, in realizing a level of inter-connectedness, is there really such a thing as an end game called Unity Consciousness, non-dualism, enlightenment and so forth?  According to the Ageless Wisdom teachings there is actually much more.
Continue reading “Unity Consciousness: Wisdom vs Wilber” →

Continuing to compare the Alice Bailey/Wisdom levels with those of Integral/Wilber, we move on to Group Eight in the Bailey model and how it relates to a combination of the Green and Teal levels in Integral.

In the Ageless Wisdom teachings entrance into Group Eight is quite significant because it is here that we “enter the kingdom of Heaven” meaning we take the first initiation (undergo that first serious expansion of consciousness, which is often experienced as an enlightenment), and begin to radically reorient our sense of who we are. In connecting this stage of spiritual development with Integral, the Integral levels no longer seem to line up as neatly as before. For this reason Group Eight seems to be more of a mixture, perhaps between what Integral calls Green and Teal.
Continue reading “Levels – Green/Teal and Group 8” →

This post helps familiarize those who are unaware of it regarding the nature of what is known as the Egoic Lotus, which is used in the Alice Bailey model, with it’s twelve symbolic stages of spiritual growth. The information in this post is just a brief overview.

Alice Bailey and the Egoic Lotus

The Egoic Lotus is said to have twelve petals, each symbolizing a stage (or level) of growth.  These twelve petals are grouped into four categories with three petals each.

Continue reading “The Egoic Lotus Petals – A Quick Look” →

This post is an attempt to line up the levels as presented by Ken Wilber and the Integral theorists with the levels presented by Alice Bailey known as the “egoic lotus.” It begins by showing the basic differences between the two models.

One of the difficulties when comparing the Integral model with the Alice Bailey model in regards to levels is how many more levels are in the Bailey model than the Integral one.  Also, the Alice Bailey model is far more extensive in the descriptions of the various levels than anything found in Integral, leaving one to feel at times that Integral is doing a process of catch-up to the Bailey model which has been in existence almost 100 years.

Continue reading “Levels” →

Comparing the use of Quadrants in the Integral/Wilber and Alice Bailey model. 

Integral/Wilber Model

One of the major factors in the Integral (AQAL) Model is the use of Quadrants. The idea behind these four sectors is that there are four ways that reality unfolds. Reality unfolds through the Interior/Individual subjective experience – the “I”.  Next, there is the subjective reality that is experienced between individuals — the “We.”  Here is where individuals come to agreement that they believe they understand each other’s subjective experience.  Then there is the “It” — the objective reality that everyone pretty much can come to agreement on because they all experience the same thing with their five senses, for example the fact that it is raining outside. Finally, there is the “Its”, which is objective reality as it relates to large systems and not parts.

Continue reading “Quadrants” →