“By understanding the AQAL Framework – a map whose territory is You – your self-awareness will naturally grow and deepen, so that you can make better decisions in your personal life, at work, and in your contributions to the world.
“The mind is truly infinite, and so are the perspectives available to you.” – Integral Life Practice
The Practice of Perspectives
Dear Friends,
As part of our programme to provide support websites and articles for an integral approach to transformative or life practice, Gary and I are pleased to tell you that we have recently completed the Mind website element of this. Click here.
This complements the Body and Shadow website support areas we have already developed, with a Spirit practice area which Gary is currently writing still to come.
…Mind, Body, Spirit and Shadow are the four ‘core’ modules of Integral Life Practice.
Integral Life Practice, developed by Ken Wilber, Terry Patten, Adam Leonard, Marco Morelli and others, is referred to as “The fastest practice you can do to wake up”, meaning transform, i.e. to your Authentic Self, and The Mind Module element of Integral Life Practice focusses primarily on the practice of proactively taking deeper and more sophisticated and accurate perspectives.
Through our own Mind Practice support website, Gary Hawke first leads us through an exercise in taking perspectives which involves a practice called ‘Turning Subject into Object’. You can click here for this.
In ILP, this practice of taking deeper and more nuanced perspectives is largely focussed around getting a feel for the AQAL Model of reality, as developed by American philosopher, Ken Wilber. AQAL stands for “All quadrants and all levels”, and is short for “All quadrants, levels, lines, states and types”, which are the five elements of the AQAL map of reality.
I have written up a brief introductory explanation of each of these on the website as follows, to help you get a feel for them, plus an overview page;
The AQAL Integral Model
According to the Mind Module element in ILP, your ability for personal transformation and awakening to your Authentic Self is enhanced and accelerated by developing and sharpening your ability to take perspectives and sharpening and deepening your understanding of reality, in all of it’s wondrous forms. Continue…
Quadrants
The 4 Quadrants provide the foundational basis of our experience of the world, from moment to moment, and are present in each and every moment of reality, and of life. They are derived by making two distinctions – between interior and exterior, and between individual and collective, and provide a basic ground-work grid as follows: Continue…
Levels
Levels of consciousness and complexity, sometimes also known as Stages, or Waves, are the second basic element of the AQAL Model. They deal with stage developments of growth, complexity, capacity and depth. Continue…
Lines
With regard to Levels or Stages of development it’s important to realise that these stages don’t just hang out there in the ether as detached platforms, they are achieved as part of the development of various, specific capacities, known as Lines, also known as Developmental Lines. A level of development is always a level in a specific line. Continue…
States
You may have heard of peak “states” of consciousness, or perhaps also the state a sportsman, say, is in when he is “in the zone” of his natural best and right on key.
The three most basic states are the waking state, the dreaming state, and the deep sleep state. At the moment, you are in a waking state of consciousness, and therefore awake to be able to read this email. Continue…
…and Types
The fifth and final element of the AQAL Model is Types. Types complement the other aspects of Quadrants, Levels, Lines and States, and they are about Horizontal differences – differences which have nothing whatever to do with things being on different levels.
The most obvious Type is that of male / female. Continue…
We will always be discussing more about integral personal practice on an ongoing basis, so this is something informative and fascinating that you can get your teeth into for now.
Integral means ‘all inclusive’, and so in an Integral approach to life practice, for example, we focus on and include all those elements that are deemed to have their true place, the principle being that the more truths you include and consider in an endeavour or solution, the greater your chances of success. This principle is true for all endeavours.
So in Integral Life Practice, in your life you have both a mind and a body, and both a witnessing consciousness or observing quality, and – to one degree or another – elements of a subconscious (shadow).
…Hence, Mind, Body, Spirit and Shadow are the ‘core’ modules of Integral Life Practice.
An Invitation to Join Us in May
And if all that has whetted your appetite for an integral approach to practice – and if you happen to live near London, then there are still two places left on The London Integral Life Practice Group’s May All Day Practice event.
Best wishes and happy living,
James Blacker,
Founder, Papillon Human Potential and
Whole Life Whole World Integral Wisdom Movement
enquiries@wholelifewholeworld.com
http://wholelifewholeworld.com/
To subscribe, email subscribe@wholelifewholeworld.com.
