Audio Video

Genpo Merzel Roshi

Bernie Glassman Roshi

Ken Wilber

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Audio Video

Here Ken walks us through three very different ways of experiencing the divine, known as the "Three Faces of Spirit" or the “1-2-3 of God,” which is the recognition that Spirit can be understood through three broad perspectives: Spirit in 1st-person (the great I or I AMness), Spirit in 2nd-person (the great Thou or You), and Spirit in 3rd-person (the great It or Web of Life). Particularly in the West, spiritual practitioners are often comfortable with Spirit in 1st-person (I am Spirit) and Spirit in 3rd-person (the great Web of Life is Spirit), but Spirit in 2nd-person (You are Spirit) knocks them off balance—as well it should, because Spirit in 2nd-person is, in every way, bigger than you, better than you, infinitely more than you.

This is precisely the blessing of Spirit in 2nd-person: absolute and total humility. Before this face of Spirit, the living Intelligence

that sees every corner of your soul, that very One who bestows all grace, the only appropriate response is gratitude, humility, and devotion. Spirit in 2nd-person is the great ego-killer—and while 1st- and 3rd-person practices can without a doubt introduce you to your own Big Mind, they also leave plenty of room for your own Big Ego to follow you every step of the way. Rest assured that Spirit in 2nd-person—read: God Almighty—does not.

However, right alongside this humility comes a second paradoxical (but not contradictory) reaction—a sort of divine pride, as you begin to truly step into your own always-already perfection, assuming your role on the frontier of human evolution. Here Ken discusses exactly this paradox, as well as the incredible value of an Integral Approach to spirituality, because all three faces of Spirit are equally real—arising together as the seamless composition of this and every moment.

Divine Pride NX

Question: As the current environmental crisis is one of the “pressing spiritual challenge of our times,” what can be done to practically address this issue?

A typical—i.e., simplistic and non-integral—answer goes something like this: “Get people to behave in an environmentally-friendly manner.” Ok, how? An Integral answer goes something like this: “Recognize the fact that people who are at an egocentric or ethnocentric level of development do not, and cannot, see or care about environmentalism. This is 70% of the world population. If you want to make a real difference in how the environment is treated, work to help people develop to worldcentric and integral levels of development, and equally important, elect and educate integral leaders who will implement policies everyone else will be obligated to follow.”

Most pro-environment stances are crippled by the same flaw: they fail to recognize the absolutely crucial role interior development has in their cause. Will you let yourself be crippled by the same partial view, or will you embrace a truly Integral Approach? Listening to this dialogue is the perfect way to begin this contemplation.

Environmental Crisis as the Pressing Spiritual OX

Challenge of Our Times: Interiors Matter!

Four Paths Four Destinations OX

Ken Wilber discusses the popular idea that the worlds religions all have a transendant unity, that the forms are all different but their inner emptiness is the same. Its just not true!