Redefining Conscious Community with Integral

IEC Conference: 2025-pending

Discover how our Integral experiences in conscious community can empower your own Integral development, personally and in community. Two decades ago, I co-founded Clear Sky, a transformative meditation-based retreat center in British Columbia, Canada. Alongside our predominantly Buddhist spiritual practices, our dozen residents plus our larger visiting and virtual communities have embraced Integral Spirituality and Theory to redefine “spiritual awakening” or Waking Up in the 21st century. I invite you to explore how we’ve leveraged Integral resources to foster individual and community Growing Up. We’ve focused on cultivating a balanced approach through all four quadrants, and supporting one another to progress through stages of development. Our tradition excels in integrating the shadow (Cleaning Up). Join us for engaging small-group exercises to spark your own insights and strengthen our IEC community. To learn more, visit clearskycenter.org and planetdharma.com.

PAWASARAT, Catherine

Canada / United States

U.S.-born Catherine Pawasarat practiced the ayahuasca sacrament in the 1990s, while working as a photojournalist specializing in environmental and human rights. For 20 years she lived in Kyoto, where she met Buddhist teacher Achariya Qapel in 1998. She trained daily with him in an intensive spiritual apprenticeship that’s rare in the modern West.

In 2004 Qapel and Cata co-founded the Clear Sky Retreat Center in British Columbia, Canada. There Cata has co-cultivated an innovative, generative organization with conscious community. Together Qapel and Cata have also taught virtually through Planet Dharma. Clear Sky and Planet Dharma have evolved as living labs supporting community movement through Integral stage development together, including experiments with group guru.

An expert in traditional Japanese culture, Cata advocates for the spiritually transformative and generative nature of Kyoto’s ancient Shinto Gion Festival. She also teaches about the unique roles of Women in Buddhism.