Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Ken Wilber offers a classic cross-traditional “map” of consciousness: gross, subtle, and causal. The gross state is ordinary waking awareness—table, computer, dinner, daily life—what most of us think of as “reality.” The subtle state is a more interior, imaginal mode of knowing, commonly illustrated by dreaming, but also present in meditation, creativity, and even daydreaming—experiences that feel less “hard rock” and more fluid, yet still real in their own way. The causal state (sometimes called “very subtle” in Tibetan traditions) is typically pointed to through deep dreamless sleep.
A key insight is that these three are relative states: they arise, remain for a time, and pass, each with a beginning and end. And crucially, you don’t have to be a mystic to encounter them—you already cycle through them every 24 hours: waking → dreaming → deep sleep → waking again. The spiritual “move” Ken points to is that contemplative practice begins to open us to these states consciously, rather than unconsciously drifting through them. In other words: meditation isn’t only about ideas or beliefs—it’s also training awareness to recognize and inhabit the deeper layers of experience that are already built into the human condition.
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Excerpted from “The Varieties of Integral Spiritual Experience”
Watch the full discussion here:
integrallife.com/the-varieties-of-spiritual-experience
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#KenWilber #IntegralTheory #Meditation #Consciousness #StatesOfConsciousness #Dreams #DeepSleep #Awakening #Mindfulness #SpiritualPractice #IntegralSpirituality #GrossSubtleCausal #SelfAwareness
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Free Email Course on Building Your Integral Life: integrl.link/course
Our website: integrl.link/site
Participate in our daily Integral Life Practice sessions: integrl.link/calendar
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Ken Wilber offers a classic cross-traditional “map” of consciousness: gross, subtle, and causal. The gross state is ordinary waking awareness—table, computer, dinner, daily life—what most of us think of as “reality.” The subtle state is a more interior, imaginal mode of knowing, commonly illustrated by dreaming, but also present in meditation, creativity, and even daydreaming—experiences that feel less “hard rock” and more fluid, yet still real in their own way. The causal state (sometimes called “very subtle” in Tibetan traditions) is typically pointed to through deep dreamless sleep.
A key insight is that these three are relative states: they arise, remain for a time, and pass, each with a beginning and end. And crucially, you don’t have to be a mystic to encounter them—you already cycle through them every 24 hours: waking → dreaming → deep sleep → waking again. The spiritual “move” Ken points to is that contemplative practice begins to open us to these states consciously, rather than unconsciously drifting through them. In other words: meditation isn’t only about ideas or beliefs—it’s also training awareness to recognize and inhabit the deeper layers of experience that are already built into the human condition.
---
Excerpted from “The Varieties of Integral Spiritual Experience”
Watch the full discussion here:
integrallife.com/the-varieties-of-spiritual-experience
---
#KenWilber #IntegralTheory #Meditation #Consciousness #StatesOfConsciousness #Dreams #DeepSleep #Awakening #Mindfulness #SpiritualPractice #IntegralSpirituality #GrossSubtleCausal #SelfAwareness
---
Free Email Course on Building Your Integral Life: integrl.link/course
Our website: integrl.link/site
Participate in our daily Integral Life Practice sessions: integrl.link/calendar
Follow our news on Facebook: integrl.link/fb
Integral thoughts on Twitter: integrl.link/tw
![Reintegrating DEI: Beyond the Culture Wars [PREVIEW]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hYl-YTWx-rg/mqdefault.jpg "Reintegrating DEI: Beyond the Culture Wars [PREVIEW]
Watch the full discussion here:
https://integrallife.com/reintegrating-dei/
What does DEI look like if we remove the politically loaded terms and ideas and focus on a developmental understanding instead? What might we see if we ourselves can take a broader and deeper view into this divisive and important cultural moment that is reshaping our world?
A postmodern view, one that has moved beyond the strict confines of rationality, is what has brought awareness of many of DEI’s principles and claims to the foreground of our culture. This developmental perspective can see things that pervious perspectives were blind to, and at its best, DEI shows us a world in which cultural assumptions, the social construction of the self, and the limitations of rationality and science can create powerfully unseen bias against certain groups.
What does this look like, from the mature DEI viewpoint? What can it really see, what are its own hidden assumptions, and why is it causing so much societal friction that is overheating everything from school board meetings to national politics?
In Europe, we are seeing the rise of the far right. In America, we see Trumpism fighting to turn back the clock on many of DEI’s policies. And many in the middle have seen even the best-meaning DEI initiatives produce frustrating unintended and hypocritical consequences, such as illiberalism, exclusivity in their demands for inclusivity, homogeneity in their call for heterogeneity, and intolerance in their desire for tolerance.
A robust and thorough understanding of the primary worldviews at play can help us to better appreciate what’s really being seen, how each stage is showing us important truths even as they create their own problems that need solving.
In this talk, Keith Martin-Smith explains the developmental levels in detail that allowed DEI to form in the first place, as well as the levels from which DEI is often expressed (and resisted) from, allowing us to more clearly see and understand the cultural wars we are all experiencing.
The goal of this talk is to bring greater understanding and empathy for those advocating the DEI view, as well as for those fighting against it, all framed by a broader and deeper understanding of the evolution of our personal and cultural worldviews and how they interact with each other.")
