INTEGRAL MODEL COMPARISONS

Integral States of ConsciousnessBefore we leave our discussion of the Physical Planes in the Alice Bailey model I would like to make some comparisons to what Integral talks about. I will begin by talking about what Integral calls States of Consciousness. As you remember they call these Gross, Subtle, Causal, and Nondual and Integral correlates these as follows: Gross = Waking Consciousness, Beta. Subtle = Daydreaming Consciousness, Alpha. Causal = Dreaming Consciousness, Theta. Nondual = Deep Dreamless Sleep, Delta. To let you know Ken Wilber is also contemplating adding other states than this one. For example, in his latest book The Religion of Tomorrow he talks about another state that he calls Turiya (sometimes called Turiyatita, which some say is also another state).

As I see it these all correspond to the four lower subplanes of the Bailey model. In other words Integral Gross = 7th Subplane Physical. Integral Subtle = 6th Subplane Physical. Integral Casual = 5th Subplane Physical. Integral Nondual = 4th Subplane Physical. Integral Turiya = 3rd Subplane Physical. The turiya state is borrowed from Hindu philosophy. Turiya, तुरीय, means “the fourth.” Also known as caturiya, or chaturtha, turiya is said to be pure consciousness and is the background that underlies and transcends the other states of consciousness.  Why do I put these states of consciousness on the Physical Plane? Because as Wilber agrees, all human beings go through these states every time they go to sleep and wake up. Later, Wilber started to distinguish states from stages, which are his Altitudes of Development. That is why when you read his writings or listen to him talk he will say that everyone goes through these various states of consciousness (gross, subtle, etc), but when they go through them they interpret what they experience according to the “stage” level they are at.

img1309-1Bailey’s model has always made this distinction between states and stages. That is why when you look at her original chart you see the various triangles going all the way down to the physical plane. These triangles imply how higher processes in higher stages are reflected in the lower stages. In her model she talks about what happens when the “consciousness thread” that is anchored in the head detaches every night as we go to sleep and reattaches as we wake up. In time we learn to build “continuity of consciousness” by learning how to create continual awareness within the physical body and etheric subplanes of the higher planes. This is done in meditation practice as well, Bailey states. Again, this is very much the same as what Wilber and the Integral model speaks of.