An Integral Approach to Consciously Collapsing

Something is glaringly absent in the Integral Community. As I point out in the introduction of my 2011 book, Awakening The New Masculine: The Path of the Integral Warrior," here is the precipice humanity is teetering on:

 "Never before in human history has humankind been this close to a global psycho-social and spiritual awakening. At the same time, never have we been in such danger of being swept into a global totalitarianism, potentially more oppressive than any system known before. Technology, at the hands of little boys pretending to be men, has led us to this new geopolitical reality."

What's missing is paying attention to and addressing the biggest event that mankind has ever faced: Planetary Overshoot.  As a result of this obvious omission, couched in multiple perspectives of first-tier thinking and shadow, I find it difficult to to think of the Integral Community as...well...integral. Even what might be the first stage of second-tier thinking, Integral, or turquoise in Wilber's model of altitude, or yellow, in terms of Spiral Dynamics, with one of its primary focuses on competency,  lacks the compassion needed to empathize with the depth of pain that the coming changes are going to bring to the planet and the billions of people who will suffer through these times.

While the world, unions like the EU, nation states, and the people contained within these structures begin to feel the pain, and as things are speeding up, looking like a giant sink with the plug pulled with the accompanying whirlpool sucking everything down with it, the Integral Community seems to be mostly ignoring the bigger picture.

There are exceptions, but they are not really being paid attention to. As Andrew McDonald points out in a posting on Integral+Life, "......the integral world seems to be floating above this global problem emerging down there in the lower right quadrant. There are exceptions - Jim Garrison and Steve McIntosh for example and perhaps others - but there's an emphasis on theory out of step with the worry, concern, and genuine suffering in the economic downturn."

I agree completely with Andrew, but things don't just collapse in one quadrant. 

He also says, "Integral sometimes appears as if it's living on a plane that won't be directly affected personally by the implosion of the economy when and if that happens. Are most integralists wealthy or out of touch with where Main St. is. Or in denial of it?"

But collapse is not just financial, although that's where the focus seems to be. It's energy, environment, and economics, and they are all connected.

One of the responses to Andrew's thought-provoking questions was typical of the flawed new-age perspective of "The Secret" and the magical feel-good thinking that says we control our own reality that allows us to disassociate from the pain that's already going on in the world. This perspective is nothing more than an ego-centric worldview that says as long as I'm not suffering, the world is okay. I've said more about this in an earlier posting. What this response is actually saying is that it's someone else's problem (reality), not theirs, and is the kind of spiritual by-passing and up-and-out mentality that infects so many of us.

In stark contrast to what appears to be denial in the larger Integral Community (the denial is actually the fear of death), stands Spiral Dynamics integral, where discussion of what is happening in the world is not being ignored, but openly courted, and the prognosis is definitely leaning toward "some kind of collapse." It's clear that none of us have a crystal ball, but we can, and must, take a memetic approach and specifically tailor and apply our approach to collapse in all four quadrants.

At this time, green is seeing life conditions it cannot solve from it's level of consciousness (hence, the typical lack of a concise message from the Left). The new Republican Party, on the other hand, has a very absolutist approach to how they'd fix the problems we face. Both are reacting to problems they have helped to create. Given the ultra-polarized political environment in the U.S., it doesn't appear that collective second-tier solutions are going to happen.

With this in mind, how are we going to avoid an actual collapse as a result of planetary overshoot? Can we? How does a growing economic disaster impact climate change or energy needs? The news is not good, and it's out there for all to see if we're paying attention.

What second-tier should be doing

If we are going to be able to successfully navigate (whatever that means) the growing chaos, then we must first get out of denial and into acceptance that it's happening. Denial could kill you. This requires that we pay attention to what is actually happening in all four quadrants, in the interior, exterior, individual, and collective quadrants.

In the upper left quadrant - the quadrant of thoughts, emotions, state of mind, and human behavior - we must pay attention to our spiritual and emotional needs. We need to know how to step out of paralyzing fear. Using all four quadrants, determine what you think are the most likely scenarios, and then prepare for them the best you can, given your resources and abilities, and your awareness of what is arising in the other quadrants. This gives us the ability to step into calm acceptance, knowing that no matter how hard we may try, we can't possibly prepare for everything, and then let it go.

We do this in several ways. We find like-thinking others with whom we build community (lower left-quadrant), with shared values and meaning, who can support us as we support them. They don't need to be second-tier. We only need to have more that brings us together than separates us. In our newly forming community, "Conscious Transition WNC: A Network of Grace," we emphasize that we're not concerned about "why" collapse is happening - blame - but that it is happening, upon which we can all agree upon. In other words, we openly encourage - and insist - that everyone brings an openness that is accepting of all viewpoints. This allows multi-perspectivalism to develop, and this emerging process allows everyone to hear other viewpoints without having to defend their own. Community is an absolutely essential part of getting through whatever is coming. Otherwise, you're just a lone-wolf survivalist. Second-tier leadership provides the guidance and context that allows this to happen. Find and form your community.

We're also intensely aware of the geopolitics of collapse: what is happening, and how - the lower right and upper right quadrants, respectively. In the upper right, what is happening? The cold hard facts without interpretation. What can I see, touch, observe scientifically in time and space? What are the physical facts? We have to know because decisions need to be made based on those facts. For instance, watching what's going on in Europe at this time with banks and countries already collapsing gives us insight as to how it might unfold in the U.S. if the global financial markets are as connected as they appear to be. When should I think about withdrawing cash in case there are bank runs here as is already happening in Greece and Italy (and the U.S. as the wealthy flee with their money to what they think are safer havens)? 

In the lower right quadrant, how is it happening, what systems and networks are failing and in what time frame? How do they affect other systems? Technology? Government? Finance? Energy? The natural environment?

We simply must look at these issues through the 4-quadrant lens. As we've heard time and time again, anything less is partial, narrow, and fragmented....and there's already too much fragmentation in the world. That's what got us here. It won't get us out.

What then?

None of this guarantees that any of us will survive through what is coming. People don't want to hear that billions of people could die. Guess what? Millions are already dying and what do you need to see that will convince you that we don't have the capacity - energy and finances - or the political will to stop what is already happening? Collapse cannot be talked about in future tense, it's already happening.

What we can do is approach collapse in the most conscious manner possible. To be present to it as each moment arises, do what we can to improve how we come through this, however long it takes, and be more conscious individually and collectively than when we started. It's obvious that a lot of technology in the form of unbridled capitalism has not made our lives better. Maybe we'll be happier by getting smaller and living in the arms of gratitude. My sense is that it's by developing community, meaning, and sustainable systems that support all life on this planet. Maybe the way up is all the way down.

Where do the Integral leaders and community stand on collapse?

A Challenge to Wake Up

So why am I writing about 9/11 conspiracy theories, not-so-secret plans for world domination by the military industrial complex, etc., etc.? All you have to do is look at history to thoroughly support "so what's new?" Things simply have not changed that much, and still the majority of us aren't conscious enough to know or care. We have our drugs of choice, happily supplied by those who would dominate us.

I left "religion" at twelve. I could not reconcile myth and science, and no one in my circle was talking about myth as allegory, only as fundamentalist truths with no room for questions, which I could not accept. I wandered for years as an atheist at first (my only option), and later as as agnostic. It wasn't until a few years ago that I became aware of something bigger than I. Call it "Spirit," the Universe, collective consciousness, or even God, as long as it isn't dualistic.

My own sense is that Spirit, The Universe (my preferred words of choice), is a collective consciousness that we're all connected to. Not just people, but a collective consciousness that encompasses the entire universe, which includes us. I believe (a belief that cannot be proven) that the entire Kosmos is conscious and that we're able to somehow tap into that with practice, attention, intention, and our own consciousness. If we're a part of the all, then that makes perfect sense.

We just have to learn to listen.

Believing that, I've been experimenting with Dialoging with Spirit: Conversations with God, if you will, different from petitionary prayer, and little irreverent. I think Spirit has a sense of humor. After all, could Spirit possibly embed a quality into creation that it didn't already posess? It's talking to Spirit, me, and everyone else at the same time. After all....how are we different?
I've had two recent experiences where I believe Spirit has directly spoken to me, something I would have laughed at years ago. One was when Anyaa and I were fretting about whether we'd get something we really wanted and it looked like it was going south on us. Through meditation and dialog, I asked the Universe (and me, and the collective unconscious) to give me a clue. That night I startled awake from a dream where I was told, "Gary, I only do the big things, not the little ones."

I immediately called and woke up Anyaa, 2700 miles away in North Carolina, to tell her of my dream. The message was clear to us both that if our desire did not pan out it was because there was a bigger picture yet to be revealed and that we should just relax into what was to be, and we did - and the worry was gone.

My second experience happened last Saturday, during a Shamanic Breathwork journey (see my earlier posts on this amazing process!), in the form of a vision. In that vision, my disembodied self flew into the Kosmos, hooked up with Spirit as light, and we danced across galaxies, solar systems, Magellan clouds, and universes....The Universe showed me an infinite number of worlds in an infinite universe, where conscious beings were struggling to survive. Some with consciousness just struggling out of the primordial mud, some far advanced from us, some at he same tipping point which determines our survival as a planet.

The Universe/Spirit explained to me that every planet that holds consciousness must go through exactly what we're going through, now. This time in every planet's development decides whether we are worthy of taking the next evolutionary step into a shared Universal Kosmic Consciousness, or whether we commit planetcide. It was further explained that many intelligences do not survive this time, and the planet is left to begin anew, because life, consciousness itself, always pushes on, always emerges, with, or without, us.

The choice is ours, and that's why I'm writing about this stuff. In good conscience (and good consciousness) I can stay silent no longer, I must speak out.

And I believe that if you're conscious, and not asleep, or drugged, that you must also speak out. We must create the disorienting dilemmas that cause people to question and wake up.

Hurry....there's not much time left.

image: www.es.com/.../digital_theater/shows/universe/

Radical Transformation of a Salon: Organizational Evolution and Membership

Until there's a commitment, there's only a shell of an organization, a wish, a "what-if," and a dream of what might be. SeattleIntegral has been, and continues to be, one model of what an Integral Salon can be. We've had inspired and visionary leadership, and we now have a group of people, the Core Group, committed to taking that vision to the next level.

Seattleintegral, one of the largest integral salons in the world and over 160 members, is a group held loosely together by that vision, and by the dreams and wishes of the individuals who make it up. It is also made of of lurkers and people who don't post and aren't really involved for whatever personal reasons, and by people who just like to hang around the energy created by others. It can certainly continue as it is, with people finding us, and drifting in, from Meetups, from Integral Institute, and from other groups, learning, and some, maybe, without seeking the next level of evolution in the development of the organization.

But that's not my vision, and I'm hoping it's not the salon vision. I want to take this group to the next level: that of a self-sufficient, self-supportive, mature organization that will continue to contribute to the member individuals, the community, and the world.

I'm no longer going to detail "why" SeattleIntegral needs to move to the next level. I believe I've done that and made my points sufficiently. Instead, I'm going to focus on the "how" we move to the next level of organizational development.

My proposal to the Core (leadership) group of SeattleIntegral is that we institute a 3-4 tiered membership program, consisting of several different levels of membership. Please keep in m ind that this proposal is a starting point to develop needed structure. These proposed membership levels as I will be submitting to the Core Group are:

• FREE: Free membership. Nothing changes for members who want things to remain the same or don't care to invest in the future of SeattleIntegral
• Level One: Minimum investment of $60 per year, if paid up front, or $6 per month if paid monthly. Benefits include voting rights in electing representation in the form of a Board of Directors, including two members who are chosen from the board to up-link to, and be included in, the Core Group.
• Level Two: Minimum investment of $100 per year, if paid up front, or $10 per month if paid monthly. Includes the benefits listed at level One, and 50% off one event of your choice per year.
• Level Three: Minimum investment of $150 per year, if paid up front, or $15 per month if paid monthly. Includes the benefits listed at level One, and one free event of your choice per year.

The benefits to both SeatleIntegral and its members are many. SeattleIntegral gets much needed cash flow to continue serving its members and the integral community by becoming a 501-3C non-profit organization and by offering bigger and better events without the risk to individual members who are now putting on these events at their own risk. Paying members receive the benefits of having a voice in the governing of the salon as well as value in the events and the knowledge that they are supporting the salon and its evolution.

The elected Board of Directors, a solid, healthy first tier structure, would assume the business of governing and running the salon and its activities, including the web site, Meetup, the calendar, and events. The Board would also be responsible for developing the up-linking and down-linking of Sociocratic/Holacratic circles, from the sub-groups of one side, to the Salon leadership Council, and ultimately, Integral Institute from the other direction once those organizations also have the necessary structures in place. The Core group would remain in place as the visioning arm of SeattleIntegral.

I want to reiterate that this is my vision for seattleIntegral, and that it is only one way to do this. There may be better ways, and it may not be everyone's vision. I know there will be negative reactions to this proposal. There will be those who have adverse feelings about the hierarchy membership seems to create. I submit that there already exists a hierarchy of action between those who are doing and those who are not. Many of those who are not currently "in action" may simply not have the time resources, or skills needed, to invest in SeattleIntegral's future. If we allow that those who serve get some sort of discounted membership for their service, this proposal actually levels the playing field around hierachy. In addition, no one has anything taken away from them because they cannot participate in one way or another.

The choice is simple: We can remain where are are, stagnant with no hope of evolving to the next level of salon, not leading the way, nor modeling the future of integral salons, steeped in the relativism of keeping everyone equal, or we can step up to the next level and way of being and shaping the inevitable future of salons

Either way, we fulfill our destiny. What that destiny is lies in our hands. In order for salons to grow and have more impact on our communities and the world, it must happen. The only question is when?

Radical Transformation for Integral Salons

After reading Keith Bellamy's article on Integral For the Masses: Integral Leadership - Steve Frazee on The Gulf Between Theory and Practice (Integral Leadership Review), I posted the following comment:

"Wonderful insight into what a second tier organization and a path to it can look like. Particularly interesting to me is the lesson for integral salons, and the continuing reminder it's not enough to just operate a non-profit organization from later stage perspectives, but that the earlier structures must be in place, including legal and financial. It's not enough to be a benefactor, or for a bunch of individuals to come together, no matter where they might be developmentally, and claim second tier organizational status. Ultimately, if our non-profit salons/organizations are going to stand on their own, they have to be able to pay their own way, either through organized donations or membership fees. Sometimes the reason we seem arrogant is because we are."

I've been thinking about this for several years. It first came up with my friend Cherie Beck, who is on the Board of Directors for the Center for Human Emergence, when we talked about how our salons might support themselves, and how could we facilitate that shift?

I think we (SeattleIntegral) is at the point where not only can that shift happen, but in terms of evolutionary organizational development, it must happen. Let me explain.

For the last four years, I have been, and remain, SeattleIntegral's only benefactor. During that time, I've gone through printer cartridges, paper, office expenses, etc. For the last three years, I have totally supported the expense of maintaining our Meetup groups at $9 a month. For the last year, I alone have born the cost of monthly web hosting, domain registration, and more. Now, in the greater scheme of things, that's not a lot of money, but I'm a professional working stiff, and it is something.

In other words, I literally own SeattleIntegral. I'd like to give it away, but I can't: It has to be taken from me. You can't give away responsibility, it has to be taken. I can provide the context in which others can step up and assume the responsibility, but that's their choice, to do it or not to do it.

I understand SeattleIntegral is bigger than one person, and quite frankly, besides my children and my love, it is my greatest legacy to date. If I were to go away tomorrow, SeattleIntegral would continue, but it would be very different, at least for a while. The Core (leadership) Group has been a major step forward in the planned transformation of the salon, and I've been the major proponent of that vision.

Now my vision continues to expand, and it's clear to me that for the salon to move forward, evolve, not stagnate, and to step fully into second tier, it must first develop a healthy, prosperous first tier structure. That means it must support itself somehow, and that's what I'm going to lay out in the next blog: How this can, and must, happen.

Meantime, there are other compelling reasons why this must happen. SeattleIntegral has always been a model for other salons to emulate, and we have an opportunity to continue doing so. In addition, Integral Institute will one day begin asking for membership dues from salons to be recognized. If we already have a model in place, it will be difficult not to have I-I take our model into consideration as they establish their own. Not only will that benefit us, but also every other salon that follows us.

Continuing Into Second Tier with Integral Salons

The Integral Leadership Review has a wonderful article by Keith Bellamy called Integral For the Masses: Integral Leadership - Steve Frazee on The Gulf Betweeen Theory and Practice that can be found here.

For those of you who may not know, or remember, Steve is the former CEO of Integral Institute, and Keith's article is as good an explanation of why Steve is no longer there as I've seen, including Steve's. The reason this is important is because many of us, including Integral Institute, seem to be struggling with how to step into second tier leadership. Speaking for SeattleIntegral as one of the original founders (and the only benefactor), we finally have a leadership group that is mostly second tier (but not necessarily everyone, at the same time, around all of the issues).

I consider myself to be operating most of the time from second tier, but once in a while I have shadow stuff that comes up where I clearly act in a first tier manner. We all do, because after all, these are developmental lines and the relative world we're talking about, folks, not just up and out.

What is becoming clearer and clearer for me all the time, and reinforced by Keith's article and Steve's quotes, is the absolute need for salons, and other organizations, to (1) have a structured membership that actually means something more than just belonging to a list, and (2) that SeattleIntegral, or any other organization, will not be an ongoing mature entity until it can support itself. If I were to go away tomorrow, the website would cease to exist, our Meetup would not be funded, and much of the organization would no longer function at the level it now functions at. Unfortunately, this is not healthy.

This is not new to me, and I've been the biggest proponent of developing the Core (leadership) Group, but there is much that remains to be done. In the next posting, I'm going to lay out out a temporary and a long term plan for SeattleIntegral to grow into maturity. It involves members, and the Core Group, stepping up, and it will probably change what it means to be a successful, mature salon....or how salons are not yet truly ready to emerge as grown-ups.

Interesting....everything at this point looks like a test to me.

Image by Gary Stamper