This holistic model of human consciousness was created by Ken Wilber.

Why Ken Wilbur has had such an influence on my thinking as a Change Coach is that he recognises the fundamental multi-dimensional nature of change that spans the physical, biological, psychological, psychic and spiritual domains of what it means to be a human being.

Wilber's fame comes from his many books and articles seeking to create a comprehensive map of the evolution of human consciousness that links eastern mysticism and western psychology. He has since refined that view with a classification system of hierarchical levels of existence from matter to God. This perspective was further modified to recognise the way individuals and cultures mature at different rates and get stuck in different states at different stages. He then linked his model with major branches of human knowledge. His latest thinking overlays the 12 levels from Spiral Dynamics to incorporate a new understanding of what he calls "Kosmic Habits". This represents a break with the ontological levels of existence to embrace spiritual experiences.

THE FOUR QUADRANT MODEL

The UPPER LEFT quadrant covers the inner-individual aspects of human consciousness, as studied by developmental psychology, in both it's coventional and contemplative forms.
The UPPER RIGHT quadrant covers the outer-individual aspects of human consciousness, as studied by neurology and cognitive science.

The LOWER LEFT quadrant covers the inner-collective aspects of human consciousness, as studied by the sciences of culture: cultural psychology and anthropology.

The LOWER RIGHT quadrant covers the outer-collective aspects of human consciousness, as studied by sociology.

Western culture tends to over-emphasize the Right Hand quadrants (brain science, sociology), and neglect the Left Hand quadrants (introspection, human culture). The integral model of consciousness redresses that imbalance by pointing out the importance of the Left Hand quadrants.

One way to make sense of the Four Quandrants model is to see the UPPER LEFT quadrant as primary, and the other three quandrants as the various ways individual human consciousness is conditioned, by the material brain, cultural influences and social structures.

A more radical view is to see the Four Quadrants as the four ways in which Universal Spirit is expressed simultaneously.

All of the quadrants mutually interact with each other. A given stage of individual development (e.g. abstract mind) will be reflected in a stage of neurological development (e.g. the neocortex), a stage of cultural development (e.g. rationalisation) and a stage of societal development (e.g. industrialisation).

Each quadrant consists of nine levels/stages. Combining quadrants with levels gives the "all quadrants, all levels" approch of Integral Philosophy.

Three Types of Science
Ken argues that science is today's religion. If science has established something, it must be true. If science has not established something, it cannot be true. That's how modern day philosophy has it.

But does science cover all of reality? Since science is based on what the physical senses (often with the help of instruments) tell us, is it wise to rely totally on that source of knowledge? Who has ever seen emotions or thoughts with the physical eye? Is that reason enough to deny them existence? Or are we missing something?

"Absence of proof is not proof of absence", we might say. To believe that science covers ALL of reality is not really scientific, because we have to deny other forms of human experience, even our own deepest feelings of identify, any reality. This is properly called "scientism". Not science proper has rejected the belief in the soul, in higher spheres, in transcendental realities, as many well educated people believe, but scientism. It is time to correct that extremely lopsided state of affairs.

Basically, reality covers at least three domains: that which we can see with our senses, that which we can see with our "inner eye", and that which does the seeing, both outer and inner: the Self. All three can be approached in a scientific manner! Then what is the meaning of "scientific". Wilber contends science in no way should automatically imply materialism. Science involves the following three elements:

xxxxx We follow an instruction, an injunction or a paradigm
xxxxx We perceive a certain state of affairs
xxxxx We compare our findings to those of others

These three "strands" operate in science, as should be obvious: an astronomer (1) looks through a telescope, (2) observes a certain part of the universe and (3) discusses his findings with fellow astronomers (and NOT with us mortals, a very important point).

Wilber argues for the existence of two other types of science, which follow the same formal procedure:

1. Mental or social science (what Europeans call Geisteswissenschaft) does not observes physical objects, but mental meanings, as can be found in documents, stories, myths, reports and books. The meaning of a text cannot be seen with the physical eye, but only with the "eye of reason". Following the three strands of science, mental science is perfectly scientific. (Of course, mental objects are not as concrete as physical ones, so the conclusions of mental science can never match those of physics. But so what?).

2. The Observer, according to Wilber. For does reality comprise only of things and thoughts? What about the principle in us that sees and thinks? The self which sees and thinks, cannot be seen and is not a thought. But it can be approached experimentally in meditation. Thus "spiritual science" is born. Meditation and yoga count as "science" because they too follow the three strands: (1) instruction -- we sit on a cushion for hours, (2) observation -- we notice a state of mind, and (3) confirmation -- we discuss our findings with fellow meditators.

KOSMOS
Wilber's concept of "Kosmos" (with a capital "K") differs from the scientific view of the cosmos. Where cosmos is by definition a physical reality (which pronounces physics as the perfect and only real science), Kosmos refers to the traditional and pre-scientific worldview which acknowledges not only matter, but also life, mind, soul and spirit.

In a real sense, the Kosmic worldview offers us a map of our own inner world -- the world that can never be seen with the physical senses.

Huston Smith has argued all religions teach at least four levels of being, worlds or spheres:

INFINITE WORLD
HEAVEN WORLD
INTERMEDIATE WORLD
PHYSICAL WORLD

Science only takes the lowest world to be real, but a wider view of science can handle all four of them. The fact that science has found no proof for heaven should not worry us in the least. It is exactly what we should expect! Science, basing itself on the physical senses, can only reveal a physical world. But our inner senses reveal an inner world, or more to the point, worlds within worlds, which are as real, or even more so, as the world that can be touched and seen outwardly.

We are on a quest for the comfort in certainty and security. It seems to me we need to learn how to be comfortable with this discomfort because change is going to get even faster and more complex. The solutions will not be found in logic or reason, but in what constitutes our "way of being" as multidimensional human beings.

More info at: http://www.integralworld.net/
Read: A Brief History of Everything by Ken Wilber

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