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What is a Worldview?
A worldview is a system of beliefs and values that works like an inner personal map that we use to navigate the terrain of life. Everyone has one. Our beliefs and values (both conscious and unconscious) are among the primary lenses we all use to give meaning to experience.
Our family of origin are our first mapmakers, teaching us in subtle or sometimes not-so-subtle ways about the contours of reality. If our parents were fearful or confident or religious or uncaring or sensitive or a thousand other variations, either way they teach us the way of the world as they understand it. As children, we cannot help but to be influenced by our family maps.
In these rapidly changing times, many of us find that the maps our parents or caregivers gave us are not accurate or detailed enough to help us navigate the challenges we face as adults. One of the common tasks for many people as we enter adulthood is the task of redrawing our inner maps to better suit the life we encounter.
With the advent of the internet and other forms of instant global communication, we now have access to information on the state of the entire world. For the first time in history, we are challenged to understand and respond to our own role in global affairs. We now know that we do not live in isolation, but that our habits of consumerism and energy consumption have an impact on all people and all creatures everywhere. We know in our bones that our current lifestyles are not sustainable, and yet there is no obvious answer that seems to come close to covering all the bases. If we are to respond in a meaningful and effective way to the challenges of the 21st century, we need a map that is up to the task.
The Integral Approach
There is now a model or framework that enables each and every curious mind to explore for yourself the terrain of reality find your own answers to the big questions that crowd the awareness of every thinking person. It’s called The Integral Model, and it’s the hottest piece of philosophy since the 'Enlightenment' way back in the Th Century.
When applied to everyday life, the Integral Approach offers a new way of thinking and perceiving has gained tremendous momentum around the world because of its persistent success in inspiring workable answers to life’s most pressing challenges including spirituality, personal growth, health, relationships, sex, parenting, the environment, materialism, loneliness, fear, and so much more. The Integral Approach enables creativity and resilience, ultimately leading to a better life more aligned with the essence of who you are.
To quote from the home page of the Integral Institute:
"What's "Integral"? It simply means more balanced, comprehensive, interconnected, and whole. By using an Integral approach—whether it's in business, personal development, art, education, or spirituality (or any of dozens of other fields)—we can include more aspects of reality, and more of our humanity, in order to become more fully awake and effective in anything we do." Co-Create a Different World
The Integral Model is a relatively new innovation from the rarefied world of philosophy, and courteously offered by the humble genius of Ken Wilber. Like all authentic philosophical enquiries, the aim is to reveal the 'true' nature of reality and in so doing, shine the light of clarity onto the possibility of realising in experience the deeper potentials of human existence.
The Integral Model (also know by the acronym AQAL) is unique in history because it is radically inclusive of all the knowledge and wisdom it sources from an astounding array of fields of human enquiry (including numerous branches of science, theology, metaphysics, mysticism, art, morality, etc.). By adopting the Integral Approach, it becomes possible to evaluate our experience of reality in a way that includes the important contributions of all wise people throughout history, no matter their passion or religious creed.
The grand achievement of the Integral Model is that it clearly describes the ever-present dimensions of human experience. The model isn’t an invention of a hyper-active intellect trying to impose itself on others; rather it is a clear observation of the dimensions of being that have always existed. We know that these dimensions exist because they have been consistently described over the millennia by scientists, sages, philosophers, artists, poets and mystics. What is new about the Integral Model is that it is the first successful attempt to bring together such an enormous array of different perspectives and incorporate them into a single, coherent framework.
By understanding these dimensions, we can assign more authentic meaning to our experiences, resulting in more creative and appropriate choices of how to respond, and ultimately leading to greater well-being for ourselves and those we care about. If we are struggling to make sense of the world we encounter in any given moment, the Integral Model offers a method to check-in on all the forces that may at work in this moment, so that we may make Integrally Informed decisions about how to best navigate through the maze of modern life.
To be integrally informed is to develop a perspective which recognises that life is a dance between subject and object, between me and you, between the masculine and feminine within, between true and false, between authenticity and self-deception. The movie ‘What the Bleep Do We Know’ suggests that reality is created by our state of mind and by where we choose to place the focus of our attention. The Integral Model proposes that this is only part of the story. The full story is that our state of mind and focus of attention are key aspects in the way that we perceive the world we live in, AND maintains that it is also true that there is a world out there that exists independently of the individual, and that we must engage this world effectively if we are to lead a rich and fulfilling life.
Life is a dance between 'me and my world', witnessed always by the consciousness within, which is the source and ultimate conclusion of this great journey. When we take the time to ask the big questions and to go in search of meaning and purpose, it is the equivalent of signing up for 'cosmic dance lessons'. If we tell ourselves we can’t dance, we’ll likely continue to stumble through life. On the other hand, if we know how to dance with our world, and as a result use skillful means in our 'dance moves', then it is possible to co-create the dance and perhaps, in some unusual moment, catch a glimpse of our own unique and timeless 'Original Face'.
For more information on the Integral Approach (as told by the Integral Institute), click here.
For a Worldview Centre perspective, click here.
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