Art Gallery: I Am
Jonah Cacioppe
with commentary by Michael Schwarz

"A new scientific truth does not trump by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it." -Max Planck

This month we are pleased to present the work of Jonah Cacioppe, an Australian-born painter who's been extensively involved in the practice of spirituality and its expression in art, youth programs, and leadership development.

"My artistic practice aims at inquiring into the nature of consciousness, in particular the experience of non-dual consciousness described by many of the world's great philosophies and religions, such as Advaita Vedanta and Zen. They suggest that our consciousness and life itself is in essence a unified whole—peaceful, undivided and limitless, the substratum upon which all of life exists. Much of my work aims to reflect and explore this state of non-dual awareness and the expression of our Being within the awesome, beautiful and messy wonder of life. " -Jonah Cacioppe

Networked Intelligence, Futuring, and Strategic Navigation
Richard David Hames and Ken Wilber

Author and futurist Richard Hames talks with Ken about some of the key skills needed to adapt to life in the 21st century, unfolding a vision that calls us to greater possibilities, greater prosperity, and our own greatest potential....

"A new scientific truth does not trump by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it." -Max Planck

In other words, old beliefs die when believers in old beliefs die—or, as Ken Wilber likes to say, "the knowledge quest proceeds funeral by funeral." From time immemorial this has been the way of progress: new ideas take hold only as new generations can take them for granted, while old ideas perpetually rage, rage against the dying of the light. But what happens when the pace of change accelerates to today's breakneck speed, and new ideas emerge faster than we're able to implement them? What happens when the scale and urgency of our global problems so outweigh our current military, governmental, industrial, and economic systems, forcing us to adapt more quickly and extensively than we've ever needed to before? How can we continue to move the knowledge quest forward, retiring obsolete ideas and faulty assumptions while ensuring that the next funeral will not be our own?

Here author and futurist David Hames talks with Ken about some of the key skills needed to adapt to life in the 21st century. Really, these are so much more than skills—they are more like entire intelligences or languages that today's leaders need to be fluent in if they wish to thrive in today's world, including:

• Networked Intelligence (the ability to connect with others & express the complexity of the ecosystem)
• Futuring (the ability to visualize & imagine future possibilities)
• Strategic Navigation (the ability to learn to adapt as fast as change itself)
• Deep Design (the ability to create wisdom through dialogue)
• Brand Resonance (the ability to create attention that awakens your unique value in others)

Listen as David and Ken plot a course to more sane and sustainable future, unfolding a vision that calls us to greater possibilities, greater prosperity, and our own greatest potential.

The Next Integral Incubator: Moving the Ball in September
Jeff Salzman and David Riordan

Jeff Salzman talks to David Riordan about the upcoming Incubator event at Boulder Integral. Click here to sign up!

It's that time again, when we talk with Jeff Salzman about the next Integral Incubator event in September at Boulder Integral. In this short video, Jeff and I talk about what the Incubator staff is learning from each of the Incubator events and how they are helping participants better enact their projects as a result.

One of the patterns that is showing up for Incubator participants is their appreciation of the individual coaching they receive during the 5 day intensive. To this end, Jeff, Nomali, and the rest of the Incubator coaches have decided to expand the emphasis on individual coaching for the September event including debuting a new coaching center in the basement of the Boulder Integral facility.

Here's something you should know: the success story of the Incubator event is spreading around the world. The diverse international audience that shows up to incubate their "callings" in Boulder is making them very popular. The September event is close to being sold out already, so if you are thinking about coming, watch the latest from Jeff in this video and sign up immediately to ensure you can be a participant in the September 13-17th event.

See you there!!!

Text by David Riordan

Taking Down the Cross
Ian Lawton and David Riordan

Ian Lawton talks to David Riordan about the C3 Exchange community, the controversial decision to remove the cross from their church, and the intent to create a more inclusive and inspirational Christianity....

Evolving Our Approach to Sexual Harassment: Understanding the Feminine Shadow
Diane Musho Hamilton and Ken Wilber

Diane Musho Hamilton talks to Ken Wilber about an essay she recently wrote with Vanessa Fisher, "Evolving our Approach to Sexual Harassment: A New Role for Women".

Art Gallery: Crossing Lines
by Michael Bergt
interview with Ken Wilber

The co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender, one of the most entertaining—and enlightening—animated shows on TV today (and recently made into a blockbuster movie) shares the story behind Avatar, and why working on Family Guy just wasn't enough….

In this multimedia presentation, Michael and Ken discuss more than a dozen individual pieces in remarkable detail, taking us on a fascinating tour through the many stages of Michael's work—which he identifies as:

• Early Works (Instinctual and Elemental)
• Life Cycle/Religion (Mythic and Conformist)
• Odysseys/Journeys (Trial and Discovery)
• Perception/Projection (Self-Portraits and Women)
• Integration/Transpersonal (All One/Non-Dual)

And don't miss the special half-hour interview between Michael and Ken, where they discuss why some viewers of art just seem to immediately "get it", why others don't and how an integral approach can help us make sense of it all.

Whether you are a newcomer to integral theory and practice or a seasoned practitioner, this gallery will greatly deepen your understanding and appreciation of both Michael's art and the integral vision itself—helping you to see more depth and more beauty wherever you happen to look.

The Last Airbender: Spirituality for Kids (of All Ages!)
Brian Konietzko and Stuart Davis

The co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender, one of the most entertaining—and enlightening—animated shows on TV today (and recently made into a blockbuster movie) shares the story behind Avatar, and why working on Family Guy just wasn't enough….

Movement Building Through Metanarrative (Preview)
by Jordan Luftig

Can we address climate change without changing the cultural climate?

Preview article (PDF)
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The premise of my JITP article is that an Integral approach to climate change will only be as successful as we are at changing the "flatland" culture that selects against integral approaches in the first place. Therefore, straight-ahead application of Integral Theory and the AQAL model to climate change—or any global challenge facing humanity—is imperative yet insufficient, and needs to be complemented by a systematic, strategic, and non-issue-specific effort to manifest an integral vision.

Put differently, integral needs to get ideological, where ideology is "the conversion of ideas into social levers." Unfortunately, to date we of the Integral community have been reluctant to view ourselves as participants in a social movement, let alone a movement powered by ideology. (I explain why in the article.)

"Movement Building through Metanarrative" is thus an initial attempt to operationalize an ideological approach to enacting integral futures.

My hope is that readers will come away with powerful new insights and tools to grow the global integral movement and challenge existing moral and social orders, including:

o Barack Obama's public narrative approach, which intuitively and elegantly integrates the Big Three domains of self, culture, and society
o Renewed focus on Wilber's "beyond flatland" metanarrative and a corresponding injunction: look within the narrative, go beyond flatland
o Integral must be of two voices, neutral framework (AQAL) and narrative frame, but we have fallen in love with the former and too often "speak through" it instead of in a narrative voice, which instructs and inspires
o "Meeting people where they are" is an extremely popular rhetorical move among integral practitioners, and while it helps others to "find their voice," we sacrifice our voice and the opportunity to articulate an integral vision

Finally, I should note that these methods and perspectives came about by immersing myself in the mindset and morphic groove of ideology. I invite you to do the same. Then let's ignite a conversation—and a movement!

The Art of Tribal Leadership
Dave Logan and Ken Wilber

"It's a fact of life: birds flock, fish school, people tribe."

Even in the midst of a busy modern life it is likely you belong to many tribes. One of the most common tribes is that of the modern workplace, where we encounter five different stages that tribes can grow through. Each tribal stage has a prevailing language that the group uses, reflecting the integral insight that there is an increasing hierarchy of values and language in the lower-left cultural quadrant, progressing from a dour egocentrism to a righteous ethnocentrism to a magnanimous worldcentrism. And, as evidenced by the popularity of shows like "The Office," an astonishing 22% of companies are actually stage 2 tribes, whose common unifying language is that "we suck." Ken Wilber and Dave Logan, bestselling co-author of Tribal Leadership, explore the power and promise of groundbreaking research on how we can unleash the power of tribes to transform organizational cultures and expand human consciousness—and how, in age of terrorism and competing worldviews, it is imperative that leaders learn how to use tribal transformation for broader social transformation....

Integral Profiles: Susanne Cook-Greuter

Dr. Susanne Cook-Greuter, one of the integral movement's pre-eminent scholars, sits down with host Jeff Salzman to discuss her life, her work, and her thoughts about the emergence of integral consciousness around the world....

Eleanor Roosevelt once said that "poor minds discuss people, average minds discuss events, and great minds discuss ideas." Integral minds, we might add, discuss all three.

In the Integral Profiles series, host Jeff Salzman sits down with some of today's most notable thinkers, teachers, and leaders, discussing the many ways they are catalyzing the Integral vision in their lives, in their hearts, and in their work. These men and women are collectively defining the leading edge of evolution in today's world, their thoughts and actions actively influencing the shape and scope of tomorrow's possibilities....