Integral Archive

Capitalism = Happiness?

July 30, 2006 · Category: Buddhism, Current Events, Individualism, Integral, Politics

The situation may not be as simple as "Living Under Capitalism = Being Happier" but a new article in New Scientist called "Wealthy Nations Hold the Key to Happiness" suggests that such a conclusion is not far from the truth. The "Map of World Happiness" below sums it up pretty well. Red indicates happiness. Yellow indicates unhappiness. From the article: According to the analysis, a country’s happiness is closely related to its wealth, along with the health and education levels of its people. It is no surprise that people spending heavily on healthcare, such as US citizens, rank highly, says White, as ...

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Is Ken Wilber’s Integral Institute a Cult?

July 11, 2006 · Category: Integral

Prompted by Jay Allen's interesting exercise in arguing (against his own inclinations) that Ken Wilber is a cult leader, I just finished reading Elliott Benjamin's scholarly essay assessing the presence or absence of cultish features in Ken Wilber's Integral Institute. Here's the money quote. (I'm adding paragraph breaks and removing citations in order to improve readability.) ...I would say that there are definitely things to be cautious and observant about in Integral Institute, not the least of which is Ken Wilber’s strong ego and harsh criticisms of many of those who disagree with him. However, in a similar manner to the conclusions ...

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Check Out Jay Allen’s Blog

June 28, 2006 · Category: Buddhism, Integral, Intellectual, Meditation, Mindfulness, Objectivism

I recently discovered the bloggings of another Rand-influenced meditator, Jay Andrew Allen. Yes -- for those of you who remember -- this is the same Jay Allen that was a spirited defender of Leonard Peikoff from back in the day on alt.philosophy.objectivism. Jay tells me that he doesn't consider himself an Objectivist anymore, and I'm hoping to hear more of his thoughts on that subject at some point soon. In the interim, I've been greatly enjoying the diversity and incisiveness of his writings. You can find his old blog at jayandrewallen.com, but today he's blogging much more actively on his Zaadz blog, the ...

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Ken Wilber Shines

June 13, 2006 · Category: Integral, Intellectual, Personal, Reviews

Marshall has been dragging me, kicking and screaming, into the Integral world of Ken Wilber. Kicking and screaming, because I've felt for some time that Ken Wilber's world is one where people wax extensively about theory, and neglect the practice. Gradually, however, I'm seeing that this is simply not true. Case in point: Wilber recently published a humorous, scathing, light, profound blog post called What We Are, That We See. And a follow-up called What is the Real Meaning of This? I just finished reading them both, in their entirety, and I'm filled with a sense of hope and inspiration. I think there's a ...

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Quotes from ‘The Way of the Superior Man’

May 20, 2006 · Category: Individualism, Integral, Mindfulness, Personal, Reviews

I've been reading (sometimes re-reading) chapters from David Deida's magnificent book The Way Of The Superior Man on a regular basis lately. I often do this for a few minutes at night before heading to bed, as an opportunity for reflection. Below are few quotes that have been especially meaningful to me. In any given moment, a man's growth is optimized if he leans just beyond his edge, his capacity, his fear. He should not be too lazy, happily stagnating in the zone of security and comfort. Nor should he push far beyond his edge, stressing himself unnecessarily, unable to metabolize his ...

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David Deida on Love and Sex

May 4, 2006 · Category: Integral, Intellectual, Reviews

Andrew has introduced me to the writings of David Deida, who specializes in teaching spiritual and sexual wisdom for men (and the women they love to love). Here is the "Blue Truth of the Week" currently featured on the front page of Deida's site: Desire Invites Your Gifts Allow desire to draw you into the deepest giving of love possible. When you yearn for your lover, don’t resist the desire, but also don’t attach it to something less than your deepest feeling-truth. No carnal embrace in itself equals eternal love. No anatomical perfection satisfies the emptiness of gifts ungiven. No genital friction adds ...

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