Intergral Institute - An open letter from Ken Wilber - 5-29-2000
Introduction
Integral Institute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the integration of body, mind, soul, and spirit in self, culture, and nature. This integral vision attempts to honor and integrate the largest amount of research from the greatest number of disciplines- including the natural sciences (physics, chemistry, biology, neurology, ecology), art, ethics, religion, psychology, politics, business, sociology, and spirituality. Integral Institute is dedicated to the proposition that piecemeal approaches to the world's problems-war, hunger, disease, famine, over-population, housing, technology, education- not only no longer help but often compound the problem, and they need to be replaced by approaches that are more comprehensive, systematic, encompassing-and integral. Integral Institute functions as a network of many of the most highly influential integral theorists now working, an international information clearing house, a source of funding for integral research, and a coordinating center for hundreds of integral researchers from around the world.
The Structure of Integral Institute
Integral Institute itself has three general tiers or spheres: its board, its members, and its affiliates. The board of I-I includes Ken Wilber, Roger Walsh, Frances Vaughan, and Sam Bercholz (with Mike Murphy as an ex-officio member). New board personnel can be added by a majority vote. The members of I-I include all of those who are members of the various branches of I-I (see below). These members are individuals who have made outstanding and widely recognized contributions to integral psychology, politics, medicine,
business, education, art, spirituality, and so forth. The affiliates of I-I include outside advisers, other recipients of funding, and friends
and associates of the Institute itself. The easiest way to think of Integral Institute is as a type of wagon wheel, with a hub, numerous
spokes reaching out from that hub, and t he surrounding wheel itself. The hub is the center of Integral Institute, whose functions
include an information clearing house and a coordinating center for the various branches of I-I. Reaching out from the hub are
numerous spokes or branches of I-I. As of this moment, these include the Institutes of Integral Psychology, Integral Politics, Integral
Business, Integral Medicine, Integral Spirituality, Integral Art, and Integral Education , with branches of Integral Ecology, Law,
Diplomacy, and Media in the planning. Around those are the affiliates, associates, and friends of Integral Institute. Any person
who is a member of one branch of I-I is automatically a member of all of them. The whole point of an integral approach, of course, is
that you can't really separate politics, psychology, business, spirituality, and so on, because all are an interwoven part of reality.
But we are asking that individuals start by joining the branch of Integral Institute for which they are best known (e.g., psychology,
business, politics, etc.). As things continue to unfold, individuals can attend any of the other branch meetings that they wish.
The Dynamics of Integral Institute
Given that structure of Integral Institute, the dynamics of I-I include the following: When funding becomes available to Integral Institute,
it goes into the hub, and from there is distributed to the various branches (as outlined below). This money will help fund both the
research and dissemination of integral knowledge. Here the dynamic flows from the hub outward to the various spokes
(members and affiliates). Any research findings generated by the various members or affiliates will flow back into the hub (and its
computers, as part of the information clearing house), and from there it will be disseminated outward to the other branches and
affiliates (and the public at large). For example, Mike Murphy and several of his colleagues (George Leonard, Ken Pelletier, Fred
Luskin) are now involved in research with Stanford Medical School on the effects of Integral Transformative Practice. The results of
this research will be fed into the hub of I-I, and from there to its branches. For instance, several members of the Institute of
Integral Business are involved in "integral leadership training," which help business leaders learn the art of integral business management and transformational leadership. Results from the ITP research will have direct relevance for these member s and their
clients, and this information will be shared directly with them. In turn, the results of their experience with integral transformative
practices in the business world would go into the hub, and from their back to the other branches. The result is a multidimensional
feedback dynamism where each of the branches are giving-and receiving- research from all of the others. The findings of integral
psychology will have direct relevance to integral business, politics, education, and medicine, and these reciprocally will have direct
relevance to psychology-and so on around the wheel with all of its spokes and affiliates. The result is a creative synergy between the
hub, spokes, and surrounds, furthering the integral meshwork-in both its theory and its applications-that is the core of Integral
Institute.
All-Quadrant, All-Level
The guiding vision of Integral Institute is best summarized by the phrase "all-quadrant, all- level." Although this phrase is taken
specifically from my work, the idea itself is very general. It is basically a union of perhaps the two most widely shared cross-
cultural views about reality: the Great Chain of Being; and first-, second-, and third-person dimensions. The Great Chain maintains
that reality consists of increasingly inclusive levels of being and knowing, stretching from body to mind to soul to spirit. Each
senior level "transcends but includes" its juniors, much as a cell transcends but includes molecules, which transcend but include
atoms. Thus, spirit transcends but includes soul, which transcends but includes mind, which transcends but includes body-
a series of concentric spheres reaching from dust to Deity. The Great Chain is thus something of a misnomer. These levels are
not linked in a linear fashion, like a chain; rather, each senior enfolds, includes, and embraces its juniors-it's really the Great
Nest of Being. Although some cultural relativists have spent much of their time trying to deny the existence of anything universal
(except for their own pronouncements), scholars of the world's wisdom traditions point out that virtually all of the great spiritual
systems recognize at least these four levels of reality. (See, for example, Huston Smith's Forgotten Truth or Roger Walsh's
Essential Spirituality.) Thus, the "all-level" part of "all- quadrant, all-level" refers to the Great Nest of Being, in any of its legitimate
versions. (My own model has over a dozen major levels or waves, but any version of the Great Nest is fine; the point is to include
body, mind, soul, and spirit in some sort of integral embrace). The "all- quadrant" part refers to the fact that every major human
language possesses first-, second-, and third-person pronouns-"I," "we," and "it"-which refer to subjective, intersubjective, and
objective dimensions of reality (e.g., art, morals, and science; the Beautiful, the Good, and the True; Buddha, Sangha, and Dharma;
self, culture, and nature, and so on). The reason every language contains these three pronouns is that language evolved in
response to these very real dimensions, and these real dimensions are universally reflected in the structure of language itself.
Although scientific materialism spends its time trying to deny reality to the "I" and "we" dimensions and reduce the entire
Kosmos to third-person "it" language, the effort is ultimately futile, as the structure of any existing language tells us. The point is that
any integral view would want to honor and include the "I," "we," and "it" dimensions-would want to make room for art, morals, and
science; the Beautiful, the Good, and the True; self, culture, and nature. (The "it" domain can be subdivided into singular and plural-
it and its-and thus I refer to these four dimensions as the "four quadrants.") These two major realities (the Great Nest and the
three dimensions), which are recognized by every major culture the world over, actually fit together quite specifically. Basically,
each and every level of reality (body to mind to soul to spirit) has these four dimensions or four quadrants, so that we want to include
body, mind, soul, and spirit as they manifest in self, culture, and nature. Thus, any truly integral view would be, at the very least, "all-
quadrant, all-level." The only "requirement" for members of Integral Institute is that they are comfortable with an all-quadrant, all-level
view, since that is the general vision that guides the Institute itself. This is, after all, nothing but a combination the two basic realities
recognized by every major culture the world over.
Some Founding Members Below are some of the founding members of the various branches of Integral Institute.
Institute of Integral Psychology-Roger Walsh, Frances Vaughan, Robert Kegan, Jenny Wade, Kaisa Puhakka, Don Beck, Mike
Murphy, T George Harris, Robert Forman, Susann Cook-Greuter, Bert Parlee, Raz Ingrasci, Brian van der Horst, David Deida, Connie
Hilliard, Dick Mann, Michael Zimmerman Institute of Integral Business-Tony Schwartz, Bob Richards, Jim Stuart, Eric Klein,
Bob Anderson, Geoffrey Gioja, John Forman, Ron Cacioppe, Ian Mitroff, Sam Bercholz, Joann Neuroth, John Cleveland, Michael
Putz, Daryl Paulson, Tami Simon, Leo Burke, Rick Strycker, Ron and Sue Kertzner, Deepak Chopra, Yasuhiko Kamura, Jordan
Gruber, Byron Belitsos, Warren Bennis, Fred Kofma n, Joe Firmage Institute of Integral Politics-Lawry Chickering, Drexel Sprecher, Tyler Norris, Mark Gerzon, Jack Crittenden, Debora Lerner, Jim Turner, Betsy Lehrfeld, Michael Lerner, Waheed Hassan, Tom Rautenberg, Jim Garrison, Maureen Silos, Reg Daniel, Christy Carpenter, Mike McDermott, Bill Ury, Paul van Schaik Institute of Integral Medicine-Larry Dossey, Ken Pelletier, Fred Luskin, Kekuni Minton, John Astin, Joan Borysenko, Marilyn Schlitz, Fred Luskin, Gary Schwartz, Jeanne Achterberg, Linda Russek, Jon Kabat-Zinn
Pragmatic Steps
Each member of the various branches of Integral Institute is asked to do the following: Assume you have unlimited funding. Make a
list of the items that you would most like to see funded. This can include research projects, books, publications, foundations,
individuals-anything, really-for both yourself and others. These are the items that you think will not only contribute to advancing a
particular field, but also can most contribute to changing the world in a positive fashion. For each of those items, write a short (from
one paragraph to one page, but no longer) outline of the project, one item to a page. If you have five items, this would be five pages
you will submit. You can do literally any number of items that you wish. Please bring these to your next meeting. And please email a
copy to Kate ([email protected]), the executive assistant of I-I, who will file them all on computer. (Nobody has to write up any
projects!, but if you don't, they won't be submitted for funding.) We will take those pages and file them. We will also make copies of
them and give them to all of the other members of the various branches. The immediate benefit is that each of you will have the
advantage of seeing what the other experts in various fields think are the most world-changing projects that need funding. Even if
Integral Institute never received a single cent, this exchange of information would be more than worth the effort, helping each of us
clarify our own ideas about what we believe to be the most important ways to further an integral vision at large and contribute the
most to changing the world in a positive and beneficial fashion. When money becomes available, we-and "we" means all of the
members of the various branches of Integral Institute-will look at all of the pages submitted, and basically vote on those items we
believe to be most worth funding. The final decisions will be made by the board. This does not rule out some members' votes being
given more weight. For example, when it comes to research designed specifically with integral transformative practice in mind,
the opinions of members of the Institute of Integral Psychology could certainly be given more weight. At the same time, how
members of the other branches view the relative importance of this research could be most illuminating. The idea is simply that the
opinions of all of the members of the various branches of Integral Institute will be taken into account in arriving at final decisions, a
living example of the integral meshwork that we are attempting to promote.
Examples of Funding
There are literally hundreds of different types of projects that Integral Institute intends to promote and support. Here is a small
sampling. A Theory of Everything-a PBS series, in six parts, about the integral vision, based on "all-quadrant, all-level," and
highlighting integral medicine, politics, business, art, science, and spirituality. This would be a major production and would act to
define and promote the field for the coming decades. Longitudinal Research on Transformation. There exist dozens of widely
respected tests of development and transformation-cognitive development, moral development, values, self sense, altruism,
creativity, and so on. Take any purported means of transformation-meditation, ITP, shamanic voyaging, hatha yoga, psychotherapy,
and so on-and give a large battery of these tests before, during, and after the practice. As only one example of the types of results
that might be expected: less than 2% of the adult population is at Jane Loevinger's highest two stages of self development
(autonomous and integrated). No practice has been shown to substantially increase that percentage. With one exception:
studies have shown that consistent meditation practice over a several-year period increases that percentage from 2% to an
astonishing 38%. Replicating these types of longitudinal studies could have a profound impact on our understanding of how to
actually help individuals transform (research that would have immediate application in the Institutes of Integral Education,
Business, Politics, and so on). Integral Awards and Grants. Depending on the amount of money available, we would like to start an annual Integral Award for the person or institution that most promotes the integration of body, mind, soul, and spirit in self, culture, and
nature. This is meant to complement the Templeton Award, which focuses specifically on religion. Integral Grants, on the other hand,
would be similar to the MacArthur Grants. Where Awards will be given for past performance, Grants will be given for specific
proposals. Advertising Existing Works. In addition to funding future research, we would like to promote and advertise existing work of
outstanding merit-books, for example. This would consist of taking a particular topic and selecting a half-dozen exemplary books in
that area, then doing a national advertising campaign around them-in newspapers, magazines, and other appropriate media. For
example, we might select the topic of integral psychology, and include books such as Murphy and Leonard, The Life We Are
Given, Jenny Wade's Changes of Mind, my Integral Psychology, Allan Combs's The Radiance of Being, Roger Walsh's Essential
Spirituality, and Robert Kegan's In Over Our Heads. We would then take out full-page ads in newspapers and magazines across
the country. We would do the same with integral business, medicine, and so on. There are literally hundreds of good books
that have not received the attention they deserve, and we would seek to rectify this. Endowing University Chairs. Although this a
tricky endeavor, we would eventually like to endow several chairs in integral and transformative disciplines. Stipends for Teaching
Integral Topics. We would like to offer stipends of $10,000 to any qualified professor who teaches a course in integral psychology,
integral business, integral medicine, and so on. We would also like to offer scholarships to qualified students to attend such
classes. University Students Outreach. The tendency of the "knowledge workers" today is to "divide and conquer."
Specialization and over-specialization rule the day, and this fragmented state of affairs often contributes to as many problems
as it solves. Integral Institute has already started a sophisticated outreach program to promising university students who recognize
the need for more integrative thinking. Conferences. Each branch of I-I meets several times a year. At least once each year, all of
the branches of Integral Institute come together for a "mega-conference," which represents the largest gathering of integral
thinkers ever assembled. The results of the regular and mega-conferences will be published in various forms, from books to web
sites. Specific Items. Although we wish particularly to fund items that are oriented to more integral approaches, this does not prevent
us from supporting specific project s that have exceptional merit in themselves. An example is the project to fund female education in
Third-World countries-a move that has been shown to have the single greatest impact on social transformation. The number of
these types of projects is virtually unlimited.
White Paper Reports
At some point, each branch of Integral Institute will be asked to draw up a series of general tenets with which most of its members
can agree. For example, can the members of the Institute of Integral Psychology come up with a series of very general
conclusions as to the overall stages of psychological development? Many liberal political theorists have a great dea l of trouble
accepting "stages" of anything, since they imagine that stages are always marginalizing, oppressive, etc. If Integral Institute could
issue a summary statement on this topic-backed by the widely respected stature of the Institute itself-this would have an
important impact on politics. These types of summary reports from each of the branches of I-I could have a significant impact on
culture at large. Web Presence. We intend to create the definite web site for integral studies-in psychology, spirituality, art,
business, politics, medicine, law, diplomacy, and education. All-Quadrant, All-Level. The gold standard of research involves those
projects that are "all-quadrant, all-level." An example of this would be the Integral Transformative Practice introduced by Mike Murphy
and George Leonard. Another example would be stipends for teachers using an "all-quadrant, all-level" textbook (e.g., Integral
Psychology). Nonetheless, there are a great number of worthy projects that, although less than "all-quadrant, all-level," are
deserving of support, since they provide important pieces of the integral puzzle, and we intend to strongly support those worthy
projects.
Our Legacy
Integral Institute seems to represent a rather extraordinary confluence of factors which comes along once in a lifetime. If we handle this opportunity wisely, Integral Institute will become a profound source of positive, compassionate, transformative social change, and an Institute that lasts decades, even centuries. I believe we can all work together to make this a landmark occasion. Thank you very much for joining us.
--Ken Wilber
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