The Eye of Spirit: An Integral Vision for a World Gone Slightly Mad by Ken Wilber

Author:Ken Wilber [Wilber, Ken]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Philosophy, History & Surveys, Psychology, Non-Fiction, Self-Help
ISBN: 9781570628719
Google: 3P6DmwEACAAJ
Amazon: 1570628718
Goodreads: 177156
Publisher: Shambhala
Published: 1997-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

PSYCHOTHERAPY AND MEDITATION: AN INTEGRAL THERAPY

The relation of meditation and psychotherapy is obviously an intricate and complicated topic, with dozens of difficult and obscure factors all entering into a series of complex equations we have not yet begun to decipher.

Nonetheless, the transpersonal field has moved beyond its initial and introductory statements in this area—such as, “Meditation increases capacity for witnessing and equanimity, and thus can facilitate the ‘evenly hovering attention’ requisite for analysis.” Or “Meditation relaxes the repression barrier and thus can facilitate regression in service of the ego.” Or “Meditation allows deep reparation of narcissistic wounds, thus speeding the formation of a cohesive self.” Or “Meditation encourages a mental spaciousness that lessens the defensive stance.” All of those might be true enough in a general and introductory fashion, but we now have enough data, evidence, and advanced theoretical models to start to decipher those equations with a little more precision.

I believe that, as research and theory continue to become more sophisticated, we will very soon be able to proceed in something like this fashion:

A DSM-IV diagnosis would be accompanied by a “psychograph” of the levels of each of the major developmental lines in the client, including the vertical level (not just horizontal type)21 of self development (i.e., the level of “ego development”), level of basic pathology,22 level of object relations, level of major defense mechanism(s), predominant self-needs, moral stage, spiritual development, and so on. Of course, once again, these are fluid waves of development and not rigidly discrete levels, but they are very useful for a general orientation on the evolution of consciousness through its many domains.

Based on that psychograph, an integral therapy could then be suggested. This integral therapy will itself depend on continued research into the effects of various transformative practices on each of the major developmental lines.

Thus, for example, what is the effect of, say, hatha yoga on the developmental line of object relations? What is the effect of vipassana meditation on proximate self-sense (or “ego development”)? What is the effect of concentrative-type meditation on defense mechanisms?

The various transformative practices include (moving up the spectrum): physical or gross body practices (hatha yoga, diet, nutritional supplements, weight training, aerobic exercise; “physical” also includes the effects of pharmacological agents, no matter what level they actually elicit); affective psychotherapy (emotional catharsis therapy); bioenergetics (“prana” therapy); psychoanalytic and various uncovering therapies; hypnotherapy; script, role, and cognitive therapy; existential therapy; kundalini yoga; deity yoga; nada and shabd yoga; tsogyal and spontaneous luminosity; vipassana, causal inquiry, witnessing meditation; shikantaza, trekchod; sahaj and bhava samadhi. (That is simply a very brief sampling of some of the transformative practices addressing the various levels of the spectrum of consciousness; the list is by no means complete.)

The research agenda is then very simple to state: clinically determine the effect of each of those transformative practices on each of the major developmental lines.

Then, based on the psychograph of the client, and the knowledge of the effect of various transformative practices on each developmental line, an integral therapy

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