Dear IEC Friends
Should we all be vegan? Should everyone stop watching the news? What if we put ayahuasca in our tap water? What does it REALLY mean to awaken as a whole? What does it mean to awakened at all?
We are glad to announce that Ken Wilber, the founder of the largest synthesis of meta-models, integral theory, will be presenting at IEC in 2023.
In his keynote titled, Integral Planetary Awakening, on the 24th of May he will address this very complex question for our audience.
Our esteemed friend and colleague, Raquel Torrent has recently interviewed Ken. The outcome has been one of Ken’s most personal and intricate sit-downs in recent years. Touching current, interconnected topics such as the nature of artificial intelligence, climate crisis, ancient civilisations, personal regrets, overlooked fallacies.
It’s a glimpse into his views today, elegantly put in the context of global evolution. So reasonably it made us even more excited for his keynote about what’s to come, and the way to get there.
6 Decades Down..How Many to go?
Humanity, as a collective, have been in the pursuit of awakening since the ’60s with the rise of the postmodern hippies.
Thanks to sudden access to eastern mysticism, the personal computer, copious amounts of drugs, the idea of world peace, global freedom, awakening became a shared dream that started spreading like wildfire. It seemed it would be a quick process, all done within a blink of an eye.
Just meditate, do yoga and your spiritual practice, eat your psychedelics, avoid meat and aluminum in your deodorant, we would soon magically awaken our planetary consciousness, and get abundant resources for all beings!
This has been the 1.0 plan for the last 60 years.
“Surely if we shout Make-Love-Not-War just a little louder…”
Where Are We Now?
After a quick reality check, we are already 23% into the 21st century, and it seems like our collective awakening wildfire wasn’t as fast and widespread after all, but rather slow and gradual.
If humanity as a whole has its emergent consciousness, what does the integral psychograph of the global world look like today? To learn more about the integral model can read this.
While we see a growing international interest in integral, holistic approaches and a strengthened presence of postmodern green, we have Putin’s red domination with his war in Ukraine. With a strong grip on all of our infrared root chakra, as gas, oil, and energy prices rise in the European Union. Suddenly 446 million people directly fear death, maintaining their needs from one day to another, many of whom left to freeze.
Conflict continues in the Middle East ignited by magenta tribalistic and amber traditionalist worldviews, both of which clash at red. All with minimal trace of pluralistic worldview, yet alone integral to mediate between the sides. Most of the region struggle to find a way into orange modernity while holding onto their tribalistic and mythic worldviews, causing instability in economic and political systems.
Internal tensions are dividing families; older and younger generations drift apart in disagreement, with the younger generations representing more of green, allergic, angry towards the orange of their parents, grandparents for exploiting the earth’s resources, creating a historic wealth gap.
In Latin America we see a rise of leftist governments, as people are tired of traditional governments that favor the rich and privileged. People are becoming more interested in peace, intercultural dialogue, and wealth with sustainability, factors that also show the deepening of green values.
Despite all the colors, the state of the world often feels bleak….
….so is it realistic to hope for a shared future beyond 2023?
An Integrated Society is Hope Itself
Let’s not forget that the emergent wheel of evolution keeps on spinning. The wild, ever-changing and playful dream of samsara, pretending to be separate. Allowing us to experience interaction, to learn and to evolve.
So knowing that, why not embrace the game, continue our planetary awakening, a 2.0 integral way?
We know that transcending from magical magenta into pluralist green is NOT impossible by neglecting the power of red, stability of amber, and the proven success of orange.
With the 1.0 version of planetary awakening, society attempted to exclude those who exclude others, futile efforts of mass censorships, cancel-culture.
Now we know that there are no bad parts. Nor do affirmations, random LSD trips integrate our shadows, permanently release our ego fixations and character.
“Waking up” practices that alter states NEED “Growing up” and “Cleaning up” practices like self inquiry, psychotherapy for creating our full spectrum container for Spirit. One that can access lower and higher chakras/structures of consciousness, transcend and include and be more perspectival and compassionate, coming from a deeper, wider and collective sense of flow.
In the past few decades, numerous such approaches have been developed, where spirituality and psychotherapy are seamlessly combined. Still, mainstream society holds the view that psychotherapy is largely for the mentally ill who need to become “normal” citizens.
An underground revolution has begun to use other terms like shadow or trauma work instead of psychotherapy. Systematic approaches are necessary to clean up the confusion of the scattered pieces of our stirred-up psycho spiritual worldview. We need to offer the world a meaningful, Integral Way 2.0 way to make space for sense and soul in the coming centuries.
And with a powerful framework like this, comes tremendous responsibility…
…as well as some therapy; drums; hugs; tears; a bonfire; biohacking; people running around barefoot; astrologists, probably; small talk about the Matrix; deep talk about your Dad; big realisations; and little intimate moments; feeling one, and exploring the many.
And so much more at the Integral European Conference!
With Love,
The IEC Team