The Daily Evolver

Since Hungary is at the epicenter of the refugee crisis currently engulfing Europe, we called our friend Bence Ganti to get an integral, European perspective. Bence is the founder of the Integral Academy in Budapest and producer of the Integral European Conference.

In his conversation he highlights the differences between the response of the Hungarian government versus the general populace.

To understand the attitude of Hungarians towards President Viktor Orban, Jeff suggested I imagine by some twist of fate that Ted Cruz was elected president in the US. Orban’s “illiberal” government seems to be moving Hungary backward, much to the dismay of all the people that thought they were voting for the Orban of twenty years ago—the young, democratic Orban, whose Fidesz party (The “Young Democrats”) helped lead Hungary out of Soviet authoritarianism into a country that is now a part of the EU and NATO.

And while the international news has been quick to label Hungary as xenophobic for erecting a fence on the border, Bence points out that this red/amber altitude action may actually be an appropriate response to this kind of boundary violation; an effort to establish some order in a very chaotic situation. “There is a gate, too, in the fence,” says Bence.

It’s a complex situation and Bence really helps put things in perspective.

It’s a subject that we’ll likely be working with at the next Integral European Conference, which will be held on the shores of beautiful Lake Balaton in Hungary next year, May 4-8. Bence fills us in on how those plans are coming along. We can’t wait!

After taking the summer off from the live show, Jeff dives into the Fall season with an analysis of the American political scene, currently dominated by The Donald, of course. Could he really be president? Jeff says “no, but he is performing a great evolutionary service”.

Much is made of the problem of the polarization of the left and right in American politics, and Donald Trump may be part of the solution. After all, polarization is a stage on the path of development. As Jeff says:

The interesting thing about polarities is that once you get your thesis and antithesis well clarified then the next step is to create new synthesis. Thus you have Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders coming from opposite sides of the political spectrum arriving at two similar political goals. The first is a tax hike for the rich; the second is an end to cheap labor and trade deals. The other Republicans, financed by the wealthiest Americans, will not take these stands.  [NOTE: since this recording, Jeb Bush has said he is open to higher taxes on the rich, strengthening the new synthesis.]

One reason for Trump’s success may be that we are craving candor and authenticity in our political candidates these days–or at least someone who’s good at faking it. Hillary Clinton just wants a chance to show us her spontaneous side, her relatable personality. But is it really there? What is the “X factor” that Bill Clinton has, and even George W. Bush has, that Hillary and Jeb seem to lack?

Speaking of lines of development, Ben Carson has gained a surprising lead in the polls, and many are wondering: how is it possible for a brilliant neurosurgeon to believe that the earth is 5000 years old? Integral has an answer for that.

Also, a sympathetic perspective on Kim Davis, the clerk in Kansas who has become a right-wing hero for refusing to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling and issue marriage certificates to same sex couples. And we end with a three and a half minute prose poem of sorts from Hank, one half of the popular YouTube duo the Vlogbrothers, sent to us by friend of the show Max Johnson. It’s a great meditation on impermanence.

Send Jeff your comments and questions for the show. Record a voice message using the orange tab to the right, or just use the voice memo function on your smart phone and send to [email protected].

TRANSCRIPT

Stuart Davis has been on the integral scene since before there was an integral scene. His art and music spring from the rich realizations of integral theory with nary a line or a quadrant mentioned. Two years ago the family packed up and moved from Boulder to Amsterdam, along with Stuart’s intention to turn inward—less time touring and performing, more time gestating and writing.

Jeff invited Stuart onto the podcast so we could all catch up with him and find out what’s been going on in that ingenious brain and sweet heart. It’s a fun conversation that veers between American and European culture and politics, integral art and the struggle to produce “depth-oriented” entertainment, and the blossoming of a worldwide integral community.

A decade and a half after the publication of Ken Wilber’s Sex, Ecology, Spirituality, and the founding of the Integral Institute, it’s fun to listen to these two gossip, reflect, and look ahead to what’s coming. Find out more about Stuart Davis here.

Stuart’s song “The Ladder” is about the evolution of consciousness. This version has lyrics and photos:

A while back the folks at the Integral Center here in Boulder asked me to deliver an integral sermon for a Sunday morning service they were conducting at the center. I was excited about the opportunity, as I believe that the story of evolution is not just the story of the development of matter and life, but is also the story of the development of intelligence and spirit and love. And that evolution reveals spiritual insights that not only include the inspiration of the great religious traditions, but also the hard truths of science. I truly believe that evolution will provide the basis for the spiritual practices of the sacred world to come.

So here’s my stab at a little bit of integral evangelism. Have a listen and let me know what you think. I love to hear your comments and questions. You can either write a note or record a voice memo on your smartphone and email it to me at [email protected].

Thanks again for listening!

Today I’m sharing a conversation I had a couple years ago with my dear friend Cindy Wigglesworth, right when she released her really terrific and influential book SQ21: The 21 Skills of Spiritual Intelligence.

One of the key premises of integral theory is that people evolve in multiple lines of development or what we call intelligences. We evolve in our cognitive intelligence, emotional intelligence, social intelligence and of course, spiritual intelligence. Now this last line of development, spiritual intelligence, is kind of tricky. What does it actually mean to be spiritually developed? How do spiritually developed people think, act, feel, and understand this great adventure of life?

These are some of the questions I ask Cindy in this interview. I think you’ll be inspired by her answers. I certainly have been. Have a listen and let me know what you think–I love to hear your comments and questions. You can either jot a note or record a voice memo on your smartphone and email it to me at [email protected].

Thanks again for listening!

Today I’m sharing a talk I did a couple years ago at a conference that Integral Life produced in Boulder called “What Next”. I chose this talk because it is a succinct expression of what has become one of the central themes of my work with the Daily Evolver: that I’m heartened by the state of our world.

Through the integral lens, I see the evolution of consciousness and culture creating more goodness, truth and beauty in the world than ever before in human history. And it’s a process that is accelerating. I argue that to realize this is an integral move, however difficult considering the cultural currents of doom, cynicism and anxiety–a.k.a. the postmodern malaise.

Seeing the positive trajectory of history not only creates a happier life, but also empowers us to be truly helpful in solving the problems and healing the suffering that persists. Because we operate less from fear and more from love. And we know we’re riding the updraft of history.

I hope you have a listen. And I’d love to hear your comments and questions. Jot a note or record a voice memo on your smartphone and email it to me at [email protected], (or use the Speakpipe tab on the right).

This week, a gem from the archives: an early talk between Jeff and Dr. Keith Witt–part of a series that eventually became The Shrink and The Pundit.

Dr. Keith Witt has been practicing psychotherapy in Santa Barbara for over 40 years, and is also a master martial artist and devoted spiritual practitioner with experience in many traditions. Who better to talk to about integrating psychotherapy and spirituality, the two major approaches to human development?

It’s a topic that causes so much confusion and consternation among seekers of higher consciousness. Spiritual teachers and psychotherapists are often at odds and people who participate in both modalities often reflect that conflict in their own minds. Which is the best way to go? Is it more fruitful to work with our personal history and iron out the stuck points in our lives (psychotherapy) or to work to transcend them by seeking enlightenment (spirituality)? Do we work with our story or drop our story?

Most spiritual traditions are rooted in pre-modern schemas that see dysfunction as a spiritual problem, whether possession by evil spirits or a separation from God. Even a non-theistic religion like Buddhism perceives the manifest world as a fallen and corrupt place that is to be transcended (and in more advanced Buddhist thought, re-embraced) through meditation.

Psychotherapy, on the other hand, works with the circumstances of our lives, and we are encouraged to look deeply into our own dramas and traumas, and even to re-experience them in the controlled psychotherapeutic container created with the therapist.

Anyone who has practiced both systems can see the value of each, yet their trusted guides, the spiritual teachers and psychotherapists, often deny the veracity of the other approach.

The integral solution, as you might expect, is to find the “piece of the truth” revealed by both spiritual practice and psychotherapy, to map the territories that each inhabit (and the territories they don’t), and to work with both in an integrated and harmonized way. That way the benefits are multiplied.

I know of no more qualified (and stimulating!) guide to this endeavor than Dr. Keith Witt. Check out our conversation below, as well as an essay Keith wrote on the topic.

This week we’re bringing you an episode from the archives: Jeff’s conversation with Charles Eisenstein, visionary, activist, and author of the books Sacred Economics, The Ascent of Humanity, and The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible (love that title).

Charles and Jeff agree on a lot, including that a sacred world is coming and that humanity is on an ascending path.

They disagree on how we got here, and that disagreement captures the difference between even leading edge progressive thinking and an integral, evolutionary perspective. Did humanity go wrong, and do we have to fix it? Or are we just growing up?

In the following excerpt Jeff asks Ken Wilber a question about magical thinking vs real psychic phenomena.

Whether we’re talking about near-death experiences, precognitive dreams, telepathic communication, bizarre synchronicities…they all defy materialistic explanation, and yet they also seem to communicate deep truth and meaning. What are we to make of this when science says no, but we intuit that something more is going on here?

Listen to this clip of Ken Wilber as he clarifies the difference between pre-rational magic and trans-rational subtle energies, and what he refers to as “the realm of transformation.”

Elegance is the word that author and coach Rob McNamara uses to refer to the experience of higher, post-autonomous stages of development, or what we might call integral consciousness. Listen as he talks to Jeff about embodying elegance in life, love and leadership.

Rob stopped by a couple months ago to catch up with Jeff and tell Daily Evolver listeners about a leadership course he produced with Ten Directions called Commanding Influence.

Full disclosure: Rob has alternately been my professor, trainer, therapist, sangha brother and friend over the years, and sometimes all of those things at once. I’ve experienced Rob’s loving guidance firsthand so I wasn’t surprised to find out that his conversation with Jeff went from interview to therapy session about halfway through!

In Rob’s own words, the overarching purpose and trajectory of his life has been “inspiring and facilitating…and demanding more elegance in the world.” Elegance is his way of describing higher stages of development, such as Kegan’s “Self-transforming Mind” (which many of us loosely refer to as “integral” and roughly corresponds to teal/turquoise in Ken Wilber’s altitudes of development–yellow in Spiral Dynamics).

Rob’s book, The Elegant Self, never explicitly defines elegance. It’s a finger pointing to the moon. That’s partly because elegance evades a fixed meaning in a developmental sense, and partly because research has demonstrated that purely conceptual narratives about development can erode happiness and well-being in the long term. So Rob shies away from conceptual teachings in favor of embodiment. Whether it’s a world-class athlete or a powerful executive, his coaching is meant to bring about a felt sense of these post-autonomous stages just beyond our habituated ways of constructing meaning.

Rob is the coach’s coach. Listen as he explicates some of the core features that allow elegance to emerge in your life and relationships, and helps Jeff embrace life on the other side of laziness.