Well, as you can see, I've changed the name of "Integral in Seattle".....My dear friend
Kari came up with it at my
SeattleIntegral going away party. Less than two weeks away from leaving Seattle, but I will be coming back. More on that in a future blog.
I've been reading Ken
Wilber for over 6 years - a paltry amount of time compared to some - and there's no doubt that Ken's writings have had a profound shift in my thinking. Actually, I'd say his writing created the space that allowed me to focus my thinking, articulate thoughts and
causations that were bubbling under the surface, not quite coming out in the open, leaving me with a sense of
incompletion.
And now a major move across country to be with my Beloved, and to continue this journey with the new name.
The new name isn't a potshot at the mainstream Integral Movement as defined within a Wilberian context. Quite the contrary, while I haven't always agreed with Everything Ken, I hold a deep respect, and even awe, at what he's done and continues to do. he remains one of my teachers.
I do, however, think it's desirable, and necessary, to start looking at other maps, like the ones found at Integral Praxis, Open Integral, and Frank Visser.
It's important and appropriate for the post-wilberian community to develop a broader range of discourse.
So while the theme of this blog will basically remain the same, that is, a personal journey of one man's trek of increasing complexity and integrity within an integral framework, I also hope to go a bit further in embodying those qualities in a way that goes beyond integral.
The problem is, honestly, I don't even know what that means. I suspect it means that even the mainstream integral movement begins to smack of dogmatic fundamentalism.
As M. Alex
Kaslev says in his essay,
Redefining Integral, "integral consciousness means going beyond words, and going beyond mental perspectives."
I, too, and looking for the
Integral Divine, and most of the mainstream integral movement is absorbed in theory.
So
Beyond Integral it is. I'll be trying to define what that means as I go, because it's a journey of more self-discovery.
At the last Seattle Men's Group I facilitated two weeks ago, we used the Men's Challenge Deck as a tool for being authentic. I drew a card that required me to take 5 minutes to compose a poem about the challenges in my life. The other men then judge your authenticity, keeping you real and in integrity.
