Integral and Me: A Brief (Partial, but True) History of My Years as a Meta-Revolutionary – by Marco V Morelli

Wow. This is a brilliant piece of autobiographical writing and cultural history both. Thank you for this, Marco. I am late to the party, it seems, but wanted to comment.

Briefly (hard to know where to begin here…), the history of the integral movement, the hubris and intellectual arrogance and (maybe) unconscious motives and multiple errors etc, very well documented by Mark Manson and now Marco… this is fascinating to me (i read the entire article twice and most of the comments)… but not exactly “important”. What’s important to me, is where we go from here. It does appear to me, that there are some powerful conversations happening at ITC and at Metaintegral. I celebrate that, truly.

In my world, the most important thing that is currently emerging out of all this is the Authentic Relating and Circling movement. I wrote that history here:

this includes a brief history of the 3rd iteration of the boulder integral center (2011 to 2018 - Decker Cunov and @Robert_MacNaughton, whom i see commented above, and who incidentally has a fascinating podcast on his time there, i will link it i find it) – to some degree the 3rd generation of boulder integral “abandoned” (or at least down-graded) the focus on integral theory in order to teach circling. Which they did very successfully for 7 years, before shutting down in 2018.

What I am personally looking for is a more engaged style of integral theory, along the lines of Marco’s writing. One that owns more shadow and is more relational, more vulnerable. I am guessing that I am not alone in this. From my perspective, Circling and Authentic Relating are currently our best bets, for the revival and rebuilding of the great (and failed) promise of Integral theory

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Hi Marc, thanks for reading and for your kind comment. I agree, what is important is what’s now and what’s next. In some ways, I wrote the piece in order to let go of the (perceived) past and focus on emergent endeavors. This forum (Infinite Conversations) and the co-operative collective we are co-creating here (Cosmos) are among those things I’ve moved onto.

I observe that there are a number of different integralish or downright Integral projects and communities sprouting (& growing) up all over the world—much like you describe Circling being discovered approximately independently and simultaneously by different small groups or individuals. One possible integral view would be to see these manifestations as expressions of a common field, which we could roughly call ‘integral consciousness’—albeit things are not always what they seem.

Integral Theory describes this field—but the point is to enact it; so that is what we are trying to do here, with a particular (though not exclusive) focus on creativity, literature, and the arts—but also a deep concern for our social, economic, and technological designs; thus a participatory, cooperative enterprise. This is a Big Experiment, too.

I have not directly participated in Circling or Authentic Relating exercises—I have heard mostly good things. We did host a dialogue, a few months back, on an essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson called “The Circle,” which might be a fun alternate, out-of-left-field (or at least, out of the 19th century) take on the underlying form. Emerson was in many ways an Integral philosopher, another giant (like Auribindo, Gebser, Steiner, and a few others…) in the tradition that Wilber comes out of.

In any event, it’s good to connect…and perhaps, connect the dots between our various integralish endeavors, and salvage whatever pieces we can from the mixed results of early exuberant experiments, and, with a song growing in the cracks of our hearts, move on.

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Thanks marco!

I LOVE: “but the point is to enact it; so that is what we are trying to do here, with a particular (though not exclusive) focus on creativity, literature, and the arts—but also a deep concern for our social, economic, and technological designs; thus a participatory, cooperative enterprise. This is a Big Experiment, too.”

In terms of the talk and Emerson… yes I know I track Emerson and the Transcendentalists as well. I just want you and others to be aware that “circling” in the Authentic Relating tradition has nothing to do with geometric circles or native American talking circles or even encounter-group (T-Group). It’s a presence practice, its closest cousins would be NVC and Collective Presencing and/or a few related modalities. I personally think of Circling as an incldude-and-transcend of NVC actually, as people in NVC tend to get obsessed with the language of feelings and needs and from there miss the boat in terms of “presence”, and also NVC has IMHO an undeveloped understanding of the importance of vulnerability. Anyway i am a bit of a Circling evangelist (only slightly short of Ken Wilber there, LOL), but I did want this on the record.

I like what you are doing at Cosmos. You are lighting a fire under my ass to come visit and see what’all is going on there in your lovely Western town. I was at the Integral center in the fall of 2016 and was a powerful experience.

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Thanks for the clarifications re: Circling, @Marc_Beneteau. That’s good to hear about your interest in Emerson, et al. Thanks too for the encouragement re: Cosmos. Next time you’re in the Boulder area, feel free to reach out.

We just started a “scenius” channel here on the forum, to highlight local events which people members can post. It doesn’t have a lot of action yet, but I will take the opportunity to plug it, and hopefully that will change. :cowboy_hat_face:

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I read this again as if for the first time and was surprised to find my comment in 2016. I keep archiving my Infinite Conversations emails in the hope of giving them serious attention anytime soon. Hanging in, but with oh such a thin spin of spider web. Thanks, Marco.

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Sounds like you’ve come full spiral, @DiShearer :smile:

You are using your :spider:-sense, too.

In our last Cosmos Café, we pondered the virtues of giving up all hope.

We meet not-quite every week, under the flimsiest of pretenses. You would be more than welcome to join any event, even propose a topic of particular interest to you. Thank you for dropping in. :spider_web:

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Are deep conversations ever “old”? That’s what AI just now warned me about, asking if I was sure I really wanted to drag up such an ancient topic. Well, yes. I do. Because for one thing, I can’t get the hang of finding what I want to find on Cosmos, so I operate by happenstance or perhaps serendipity? And so I landed on Integral and Me. Today. (Are more parts coming??) Thoroughly fascinated throughout. Struck both by how different from mine the unfolding of your experiences were during a similar time frame and how much essentially alike our experiences have been with organized spirituality/philosophy/practice…emerging from all of it both gifted yet ready for flight…free to integrate/disintegrate according to hidden or cryptic or ordinary rhythms discovered along the way which cannot be systematized or mapped or explained, can only be lived and loved, evoked and praised, danced with.

I already had two children I was raising alone when I consciously began as a writer/intellectual/artistic/spiritual explorer. Basically I wanted to know everything, experience everything, write everything… had to do all that with no child support, no parental help, working at low-wage jobs and receiving some welfare, some scholarships, attending classes, keeping art/writing things going. Impossible! After ten years of this, I got too sick to work or do anything much, even read. I later figured out it’s the same illness (or very similar version) that ails Ken. I’ve been mad of him for not coming out of the closet, leaving body out of the “story” so to speak. It was actually ken’s book Grit and Grace I loved most. That revealed him as a whole (human) being. (That I know of, he’s written no more than a few paragraphs many years ago on his illness) And that’s how I see Integral Theory, et al, generally. Body, Other-than-Human, the left or female? hand of God so to speak, though nominally part of the system, fades into the background. (And yes, it was the “marketing” that drove me all the way away from integral anything) The drive is relentlessly forward/onward to “higher” and “more” and “the future”. All of which are obstacles at best and quasi-spiritual versions of those same drives killing the planet and making us sick, right now.

I marvel, Marco, at your ability to write out your adventures so clearly and compellingly. I really do hope more is coming!
On a tech-bummer note: links (to poem, articles) did not work for me, took me to error pages. But then I am quite at sea on this website sometimes, and/or it could be my rather inferior “set up” computer-wise, etc. But these links are actually “integral” to your story, are they not?? :slight_smile:

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No! Good conversations have a life of their own and often need time, even many years, to unfold their larger and subtler contours, limbs and petals revealed, fruit formed in the magic womb. It has been 5 years since I wrote “Integral and Me,” and a lot for me—and maybe for Integral—has changed. I would say different things, in different ways, these days.

There weren’t, but you’ve given me an idea. :slight_smile:

That takes guts, Maia! But I think I understand the sheer Will involved—it is a kind of dark, divine obsession that keeps the light of beauty alive. And it can be massively depleting and also makes us vulnerable to epigenetic damage and opportunistic infections, especially in meta-environments that are hostile to or at best non-supportive of the vast, intimate cycles of creation in which we feel called to participate.

I am glad you mentioned Grace and Grit, it is such a moving testament and true story; that is the Ken Wilber that I think a lot people fell in love with and admired. Other faces of KW were I think caught up in some of the more dis-one-tasteful cultural currents of the early 2000s, such as the infection of the marketing mentality virtually into everything, as well as the subtly more dogmatic aspects of the maps and models.

But I listened to one of Ken’s recent talks, with Diane Hamilton on the topic of “Compassionate Conversations,” and it wasn’t like that. He sounded good, mellow yet animated, a wise elder. There was no lengthy ‘Kensplaining’ or theoretical dead weight to the dialogue, but it was more like a graceful dance between old friends, sharing their hard-won yet lightly held wisdom, with the message of Diane’s new book at the center, and that felt good to hear.

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Thank you for your generous responses. How can I hear this recent talk between Ken and Diane?

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Here it is, @Ariadne: https://integrallife.com/the-heart-of-conversation/

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Hi Marco,

Thanks for sharing this. I joined I-I as a subscriber back in 2007 and also read a bunch of Ken there. And have been loosely involved in various communities and projects.

I appreciate your share, truth and honesty!

I live a pretty normal life right now, lol…

Best.

Julius

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Hi Julius, thanks for the note… though I’m curious what a ‘normal life’ looks like these days. Maybe you could share your secret sauce :grin:

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Hi Marco,

I mean, normal life just looks like a job and girlfriend and navigating everything else. Evidently, COVID impacts all, but I’ve been fortunate to not run into much economic issues nor health issues.

So really can’t complain. It also looks different than listening to hundreds of hours of KW (which I did back in 2007 - I pretty much listened to most, if not all of the content on I-I - and yes, it was a bit repetitive) :slight_smile: or facilitating for local Authentic Relating events on a weekly/bi-weekly basis…

All is good man, still somewhat involved or connected to Integral and/or integral folk/community; but not as intense as before.

Cool to see that you also explored Big Mind, etc - I went on a few retreats with Roshi back in '09-10!

No secret sauce, just one day, one step at a time.

J.

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I, too, look forward to more.

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I enjoyed reading your writing and could relate. You articulated some of what I’ve been experiencing. I’m part of the “number of different integralish or downright Integral projects and communities” you refer to. One that has sprouted, but not effectively growing. I believe it’s because it, too, lacks the ‘enactment’ of the common field you mention.
I’ve actually been considering introducing ‘circling’, which I recently experienced in Terry Patten’s New Republic of the Heart group. It’s my hope the community welcomes it and integrates it; to increase the probability of the community flourishing. I, frankly, don’t see it happening without it. If there are other pointers; things you’d do differently for such a community to flourish, I welcome any feedback/insights.

@Marc_Beneteau, I looked you up on Facebook. Looks like you’re either on the road or about to be, in your ‘micro RV’. If you drive through Atlanta, GA, perhaps you’ll consider taking a driving break so we can connect, in person. I’m just north of Atlanta; in Tucker. I’ll be reading what you referenced in your post and navigate your site a bit later.

I’m glad I ‘was guided’ to this site. Way to go, Marco, for creating it.
Blessings of Joy, Peace & Abundance to All!

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Hi Christina, sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to your comment. I have actually never done Circling, but have friends who really love the practice. I also have friends who criticize it, as with everything these days. I would say (therefore) that I feel agnostic about it, and I suspect that who is a part of the circle makes a big difference.

@Robert_MacNaughton probably would have more insight into the dynamics of community enactments vis-a-vis Circling.

I could only offer this alternative, offbeat, somewhat verbose take:

@Christina—what is the shared purpose of the community you are working with? In my limited experience, people being there for the right reasons is probably the most needful thing for a community to grow.

I don’t mean rational, explicitly articulated reasons, necessarily, but overlapping or complementary ones—on mental, emotional, and spiritual levels. Those seem to me, most generally, what a community needs—and then people who are willing, like you, to offer leadership and try things with the group; that these efforts are supported in some way.

I will say, it is a tough time to make anything coherent happen with so much chaos and the fragmented attention silos of the noosphere as it is. But as the Margaret Mead said, which you probably know—a cliché still worth its salt: “Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Good luck!


@Marc_Beneteau: Glad to hear things are going well. Thanks again for the feedback. Hope to see you around…

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Hi @madrush Just read this article for the first time. I love it. I especially like your inquiry on impact. Viva la Evolución! …in all its experiments, meanderings, misfires, and goals! With a light heart, I remember Sri Aurobindo’s Aphorism 315, “I am weary of the childish impatience which cries and blasphemes and denies the ideal because the Golden Mountains cannot be reached in our little day or in a few momentary centuries.” I really don’t know what our role in all of this is, but I’m always happy to be collaborating with you, Brother. Love, Mateo

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I’m honored, @Matteo, that you read the piece and also took the time to leave a comment. Agreed, it’s a big, mad, amazing, experimental adventure and unfolding we’ve all gotten ourselves into. I will have to write an update at some point, as the world continues transforming (and we mature somewhat, perhaps) and the inquiry deepens…

Thanks also for the Aurobindo wisdom nugget. What’s a few lifetimes in the surf of the infinite, indeed? With our feet on the ground, and wide open hearts, let’s keep our eye on the prize!

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YES YES YES
The Ground Alive with Imagination!
EVEN AS WE AGE!

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