Integral Life Practice: A 21st-Century Blueprint for Physical Health, Emotional Balance, Mental Clarity, and Spiritual Awakening

Description

At last, a complete guide showing how to use KenWilber's acclaimed Integral Approach to design a personal programme of transformational practice. Integral Life Practice (ILP) is a customizable, user-friendly approach to spiritual practice that meets the needs of the whole person by including not only spiritual activities like meditation and prayer but also exercises for body, mind and "shadow" (any part of ourselves that we repress or deny). ILP allows practitioners to choose the practices that most suit them, in a mix-and-match style, adapted to whatever belief system or religion they may already be following. With its combination of exercises, explanations, theory, examples, personal stories, and illustrations, "Integral Life Practice" will be the bible of a truly integrated approach to practice for years to come.

Ken Wilber is the author of over twenty books. He is the founder of Integral Institute, a think-tank for studying integral theory and practice, with outreach through local and online communities such as Integral Education Network, Integral Training, and Integral Spiritual Center.

"At once challenging and uplifting, tender yet assertive, this provocative and accessible book is the source text for a new movement in post-metaphysics and life transformation. This book is the definitive roadmap for your journey to an awakened life." -Anthony Robbins, author of Awaken the Giant Within and Unlimited Power "From the moment I began an Integral Life Practice, it was as if my life was assigned a new trajectory and course setting from deep within the cockpit of my soul. 'Glory upon Glory' is the way my days are unfolding since I began to practice. An ILP is an incredible catalyst to growth in ways that I could never have imagined. See for yourself!" -Eddie Kowalczyk, lead singer-songwriter of Live "Integral Life Practice is an extraordinary achievement. Comprehensive, detailed, and powerfully rational, it inspires any and all of us to consider more deeply how profound is our embrace of the life we are living. The searing clarity of the integral perspective leaps off every page of this manual for personal evolution, clearly illuminating what it means to be fully alive!" -Andrew Cohen, spiritual teacher and founder of EnlightenNext "Ken Wilber's Integral Theory has created a road map. Now Terry Patten, Adam Leonard, and Marco Morelli have added a GPS (Global Practicing System) with Integral Life Practice. Travelers on the spiritual path will find this book indispensable." -Brother David Steindl-Rast, Benedictine monk, author of Listening Heart and The Heart of Prayer, and cofounder of Gratefulness.org "Once again, Ken Wilber and his colleagues have taken a big subject, swallowed the whole thing and the kitchen sink too, and then spent years working to understand it, digest it, metabolize it, and then translate it into clear prose and helpful practices. And the outcome? This wonderfully helpful manual for living: Integral Life Practice. A fantastic resource for a more peaceful, meaningful, intelligent, and exuberant life." -Elizabeth Lesser, author of Broken Open and The Seeker's Guide, and cofounder of Omega Institute "Ken Wilber and the authors of this clearly written, sensible, well-informed book are fellow explorers with George Leonard and me in the development of integral transformative practices. Such practices grow out of a philosophic vision dawning across the world that joins our aspiration for personal and social transformation with both science and the contemplative traditions. This book will advance this developing worldview and the disciplines needed to actualize it." -Michael Murphy, author of The Future of the Body and The Life We Are Given, and cofounder of Esalen Institute "Integral Life Practice will help you build the healthy foundation from which you can wake up to your transcendent nature or Big Mind. Western aspirants have long needed a universal practice manual that wisely draws upon ancient traditions and modern science and psychology. Now we have it-an inspiring, straightforward guide for living a truly harmonious, awakened life." -Zen Master Dennis Genpo Merzel, author of Big Mind, Big Heart "Integral Life Practice is a masterpiece guide of grounded, intelligent, self-transforming wisdom integrating the insights of all the great traditions of truth." -Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit and Entering the Castle "This book makes Ken Wilber's ideas come alive. It spells out how to apply Integral philosophy to everyday life by working with body, mind, spirit, and the deeper psychological aspects of ourselves. Integral Life Practice presents a useful map of one's existential condition leading toward the attainment of the highest states of consciousness." -Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche "Integral Life Practice offers a finely honed distillation of some of the most effective and universal practices from the great wisdom traditions, at the same time presenting a context for practice that is both soaring and sensible. True to its title, it takes seriously the human need for fully balanced development, for depth as well as breadth, for psychological as well as spiritual development, for softness and toughness, for ethics and bold experimentation. Beautifully written, laid out in accessible modules, the book is truly an on-and-off-the-mat guide to 21st-century practice, arising from that place in us which stands in the best of tradition, yet rides the cutting edge." -Swami Sally Kempton, author of The Heart of Meditation "Integral Life Practice brings the integral system from the mind to doable action in life. Here is a treasure of integral Upaya." -Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, past holder of the World Wisdom Chair of Naropa University "Integral Life Practice represents a particular milestone. It gives a lucid and easy to understand summary of the Integral thought-system, without dumbing it down-no mean feat. What's more, it describes in an engaging and practical way what to do in order to live from this elegant and inclusive worldview. If you want a clear and easy-to-follow map for waking up, read this book." -Bill Harris, Director, Centerpointe Research Institute and creator of Holosync Meditation Technology "Here we learn, through integral wisdom and disciplines, how to be freer and more fully authentic by ironing out the peaks of higher consciousness development into every nook and cranny of daily life. This is the secret of the integral life: transcending while including, and being there while getting there every single step of the way. Get ready to train your mind, open your heart, and awaken to your true universal Self." -Lama Surya Das, author of Awakening the Buddha Within, and founder of the Dzogchen Meditation Centers "What if we could draw from the best of the world's ancient contemplative traditions as well as contemporary psychological and somatic therapies, and weld them into a powerful program for transforming our lives? Now we can, and Integral Life Practice is a happy result of this possibility." -Roger Walsh MD, PhD, University of California, author of Essential Spirituality