David in Sanya!

Integral Thinking

An Integral Vision is one where everything we know (by whatever means we know it) fits together.

Integral thinking is a process best facilitated by the brilliant framework created by Ken Wilber (1). The framework provides a map for all of life’s terrain — an “integral operating system” for thinking about anything. It shows us the profound patterns that connect all that we know and reminds us not to leave any thing out in our search for understanding.

Every event that manifests has multiple dimensions. The Integral Map reminds us that you can look at any event from the point of view of the “I” (or how I personally see and feel about the event); from the point of view of the “we” (how not just I but others see the event); and as an “it” (or the objective facts of the event). An integrally informed path will take all of these dimensions into account, and thus arrive at a more comprehensive and effective approach.
The following schematic shows 4 quadrants representing four major dimensions (or perspectives) of this map’s all-inclusive terrain. It shows the “I” (the inside of the individual), the “it” (the outside of the individual), the “we” (the inside of the collective) and the “its” (the outside of the collective). In other words, the 4 quadrants — which represent four basic ways at looking at anything — turn out to be very simple: they are the inside and the outside of the individual and the collective.

Historically, each of these perspectives (represented by each quadrant) has
competed for predominance. Some contend that matter is primary reality,
others argue that spirit and consciousness are the primary ingredients. While others
contend that all things can be reduced to the base of economic reality or that all
knowledge is just social construction.

Commenting on this search for ultimate reality, Wilber writes: “If you think that matter is the ultimate reality (i.e. the Upper-right quadrant is the only real quadrant) then any
spiritual experience or belief will be nothing but an illusion, epiphenomena of brain states and their physiological fireworks… ”

“If you think spirit and consciousness (Upper-left quadrant) are the ultimate realities, then you will believe just the opposite: the entire world of material form is the fallen realm of illusion, and those who believe in it are lost in ignorance, sin, maya, samsara.”

“If you think the systems view of reality (Lower-right quadrant) is the ultimate view, then all religious and spiritual beliefs are noting but manifest structure-functions that are determined by the real realities of the social system, the techno-economic base, and interwoven webs of dynamic processes.”

“And if you think the Lower-left quadrant is the only real quadrant, then all aspects of
knowledge, including all of our ideas about systems themselves, not to mention God and
Spirit, are nothing but social constructions. Not “I” nor “it” nor “its”are finally real, but rather the almighty “we” creates literally all reality.”

To the integral thinker seeking an integral vision all the quadrants are equally primordial,
none is more real or primary than the others, they all arise and evolve together. Wilber concludes, “Ultimate reality, if it is to be found anywhere, is found in their simultaneous arising and radiant display, mutually creating and mutually sustaining each other.”

An Integral Vision of Health

Nowhere is the Integral Model more applicable than in viewing Health and Medicine, and it is being increasingly adopted by health-care practitioners around the world.

Orthodox or conventional medicine is a classic Upper-right quadrant approach.
It deals almost entirely with the physical organism using physical interventions:
surgery, drugs, medication, behavioral modification. Orthodox medicine believes essentially in the physical causes of physical illness, and therefore prescribes mostly
physical interventions. But the integral model claims that every physical event has at least 4 dimensions (the quadrants), and thus even physical illness must be looked at
from all 4 quadrants. The integral model does not claim the Upper-right quadrant is
not important, only that it is one-fourth of the story.

The recent explosion of interest in alternative care — not to mention such disciplines as
psychoneuroimmunology — has made it quite clear that the person’s interior states (their
emotions, psychological attitude, imagery, and intentions) play a crucial role in both
the cause and the cure of even physical illness. In other words, the Upper-left quadrant
is a key ingredient in any comprehensive medical care. Visualizations, affirmations, and conscious use of imagery have empirically been shown to play a significant role in the management of most illness, and outcomes have been shown to depend on emotional
states and mental outlook.

But as important as those subjective factors are, individual consciousness does not exist in a vacuum; it exists inextricably embedded in shared cultural values, beliefs, and worldviews. How a culture views particular illness — with care and compassion or
derision and scorn — can have a profound impact on how an individual copes with that
Illness, which can directly affect the course of the physical illness itself. The Lower-left
quadrant includes all of those enormous number of intersubjective factors that are crucial
in any human interaction — such as the shared communication between doctor and
patient; the attitudes of family and friends and how they are conveyed to the patient; the cultural acceptance (or derogation) of the particular illness (e.g. AIDS) and the very values of the culture that the illness itself threatens. All of those factors to some degree are causative in any physical illness and cure.

Of course, in practice, this quadrant needs to be limited to those factors that can be effectively engaged — perhaps doctor and patient communication skills, family and friends support groups, and a general understanding of cultural judgments and their effects on illness. Studies consistently show, for example, that cancer patients in support groups live longer than those without similar cultural support. Some of the more relevant factors from the Lower-left quadrant are thus crucial in any comprehensive medical care.

The Lower-right quadrant concerns all those material, economic, and social factors that are almost never counted as part of the disease entity, but in fact — like every other quadrant — are causative in both disease and cure. A social system that cannot deliver food will kill you (as famine-wracked countries demonstrate daily). In the real world, where every entity has all 4 quadrants, a virus in the Upper-right quadrant might be the focal issue, but without a social system (Lower-right) that can deliver treatment, you will die. That is not a separate issue, it is central to the issue because all occasions have 4 quadrants. The Lower-right quadrant includes factors such as economics, insurance, social delivery systems, and even things as simple as how a hospital room is physically laid out (does it allow ease of movement, access to visitors, etc ?) — not to mention items like environmental toxins.

In short, a truly effective and comprehensive view of Health and plan for Medical treatment would be all-quadrant — would take all of these realities into account. Not only is this type of integral treatment more effective, it is more cost-effective.– which is why even organizational medicine is taking this view more seriously.

Integral Health brings its own assignments unique to each of us. We will each need to assume personal responsibility for remembering that which is in us all and for realizing the relationship between nature and human consciousness. This is the critical step in understanding the “dis-ease” catalyzed when this relationship is ruptured—and the health that arises when it is fully nourished.

Integrative/integral medicine involves a deep appreciation of multiple cultural perspectives. It is more than a union of conventional and alternative/complementary medical theory and practice. A health organization that aspires to deliver integrative/integral care is one that understands the multidimensional nature of healing, including body, mind, soul, spirit, culture and nature. It is truly the next step in health care incorporating all dimension of healing. Guangzhou is an ideal place to do this with the traditional Chinese medicine orientation of the joint venture partner and Dr. Lu’s leadership.

Notes

(1) Ken Wilber is a brilliant theorist and author of many profound and insightful books.
His latest, “The Integral Vision” (Shambhala, 2007), from which most of this
introduction to integral thinking was taken, is a good overview of his work over the
past thirty years.

“Integral Thinking” can be seen as an extension of the philosophical approaches of
Holism and Whole Systems Theory of the past. Like the concept of a hierarchy of
nested systems, the elements within and between each of these quadrants are
hierarchical, mutually interdependent and go through their own developmental
sequence.

(2) Marilyn Schilitz and Tina Amorok with Marc S. Micozzi, “Consiousness & Healing: Integral
Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine,” (Elsevier, St. Louis, 2005)

Jenny Wade, “Changes of Mind: A Holonomic Theory of the Evolution of Consciousness,”
(State University of New York Press, Albany, 1996).

Leonard A. Wisneski and Lucy Anderson, “The Scientific Basis of Integrative Medicine,”
(CRC Press, New York, 2005).

David B. Sutton, Ph.D.
Well Centre International, Ltd.
suttonantaeus@mac.com
taowellnessnetwork@hotmail.com
133-3180-7270 — Shanghai Cell
133-0767-1390 — Sanya Cell

Yup, a lot of scary new barriers here. And it doesn’t even begin to deal with the procedures necessary to operationalize this new exapnded vision. Look out David what are you cooking up for yourself? We will see were this goes — Probably nowhere but if it does the question is, “Will I let my limited tolerance of limitation get in the way?”

TO BE CONTINUED –
(In Dispatch 7 (2), Coming shortly.)