What is Integral Living?
Anurag Jain
What is Integral Living?
Integral Living is a life consciously devoted for evolution of consciousness to a dimension higher than that of mind. This new dimension consciousness is a higher order consciousness lying concealed as an evolutionary potential for mankind. I call this an Integral Consciousness because unlike the present mental consciousness of man which is divided and fragmented by psychological thought, this higher dimension of consciousness is an integral one; capable of functioning in life without creating psychological divisions created by thought.
At present the highest stage of human evolution is considered to be the intellect - the faculty of reasoning. However, this is just a stage in the evolutionary potential of consciousness. The intellect has created the wonders of the modern technological civilization yet man still lives in a world seething with conflict. Happiness and peace is still a chimera for man. This is because even though thought functions marvelously as an instrument to measure, analyze and study the world, it fails to comprehend life as a whole. By it's very nature thought is divisive. While this quality of thought is quite helpful in solving practical problems of life like learning languages, doing math and building machines, the same measuring, analyzing and dividing faculty of thought creates havoc in the psychological world of human relationships.
The world we live in reflects our inner world of mind and it's divisions bred by thought. We live in a world divided into nations, classes and castes with each one competing with the other for money, power, name or mere survival.
Through the millennia, sensitive souls have wrestled with the questions of suffering, violence and inequity on earth. Some turned to the world denying, spiritual path of asceticism as a solution. The materialists came up with systemic solutions like feudalism, socialism, communism or capitalism to create a world that is happy. Both are thought based solutions because thought functions only in binaries.
The spiritual ascetics spurned the materialists and the materialists shunned the spiritual ascetics. The divide between spirit and matter continued for a long time - until now. Today, the world is witnessing the rise of a new order of consciousness which marries spiritualism and materialism. More and more number of people are turning to a very secular, broad based spiritualism, differentiated from religion - a movement not averse to materialism. A modern day spiritualist is no longer the ascetic who has shunned life as illusion and suffering; one who retires to the forest and seek individual salvation. Spiritualism has found it's way from the forests, right into the heart of cities - amidst families and jobs.
These are signs of a world moving towards an Integral Consciousness which goes beyond the sharp divide between matter, mind and spirit, encapsulating all the three in a harmonious whole. These are just faint rumblings. Much of all this is actually infantile and carries all the characteristic sweetness as well as the immaturity one associates with an infant. The advent of integral consciousness is possible only by individuals devoting themselves seriously and entirely to the task: the journey is very, very steep.
The population of people attempting this transition is very less. And even among those who are attempting the transition, the deceptions and pitfalls are legion. There is a great deal of phony spiritual materialism as seen by the rise of modern day gurus. NEEV Centre for Integral Living is an effort to help people genuinely in making this transition without any exploitation.
Most people live largely unconscious lives dictated by the society they are born in - caste, class, nation and era. For such people, evolution takes place gradually and unconsciously as they cope, struggle and wrestle with life's vicissitudes and challenges. The drama of life keeps them occupied from cradle till grave with issues of duties, security and pleasure.
However, for some people, in every epoch of human existence, there comes a cataclysmic state where the stranglehold of the outer drama of life is peeled back and one suddenly starts asking fundamental questions about life.
From this point on, life is no longer about coping and adjusting to fulfill duties, seek security or achieve pleasure through a myriad forms. Though these movements may exist in mild degrees, the overriding purpose of one's life is to become conscious and aware of the deeper and vaster significance of life. One wants to know what life is all about, what is it's source, who we are and what is death?
Such questions do not figure in one's schooling, nor do they constitute the topic for normal social conversations. There of course are a number of religions, saviors, spiritual organizations, gurus, experts and philosophers who have the answers or claim to have the answers to these questions. Almost always one turns to them for guidance and advice. I turned to them too, in different degrees and in various points of my life's journey. Each helped me in understanding a particular facet of life, removing a particular sticking point.
However, at one point, one has to give all of them up and stand alone. It is from this aloneness that I am creating NEEV Centre for Integral Living. If each one has to ultimately stand alone, why am I attempting to write, share and instruct about life. It is because it helps. I was helped in my journey by a few luminaries, one of them who impressed upon me the fact that I must stand alone. By writing about Integral Living, I am sharing my life's wisdom with the hope that some would be helped in the manner I was helped. But I would also like to add that my writings have to be used as a mirror for every serious individual to question, reflect and reach his own understanding uniquely. I do not stand as an authority on whom you should depend. Rather use my words to be a light unto yourself. Or better still, if you can, don't read a single word from anyone; because ultimately one has to give up all authority and stand alone.
Also, I am still learning. There is no end to learning. Contrary to what many cherish some kind of enlightenment as a final state of perfection, learning continues in an infinity of consciousness. So this blog is not a static site of information but an alive, moving river of consciousness. This does not mean that I am going to be woolly or consciously modest. There are areas where I am clear and where I shall speak with total clarity. At the same time there are areas where I still have questions and I shall not feign any answers. By writing this blog I am continuing my learning, seeking answers to my questions.
As I was saying earlier, the journey to Integral Living begins when one begins to ask fundamental questions of life, not casually, but with a seriousness enough to devote one's life to. So, Integral Living begins with self-inquiry.
But self inquiry requires time and energy and one has to earn one's daily bread, look after one's family and wash the dishes. Herein comes the most complex of all dilemmas for any serious student of Integral Living, "How to do self inquiry while living in this world of family and earning a livelihood". Of course there is the ancient solution of becoming an ascetic but as I have said, it is not Integral. While it offers individual salvation, it does not solve the large problem of life on earth. The salvation achieved too is partial because it is achieved by a flight from a life of matter. A truer and deeper salvation would be to achieve freedom in both the worlds of spirit and matter.
This question kept me engaged for the better part of twenty years. Only after all these years of self inquiry and living in the world precariously, I managed to get a glimmer of the solution. The solution lies in living the life of farming, craftsman and healer. These are the three lifestyles that can provide the physical framework in which self inquiry can happen. Rest all organizations of modern world are inimical to self inquiry because they are based on greed, authority, coercion and control. Even if one starts self inquiry while working in modern day organizations, genuine self inquiry will eventually rip off the seams of all authority and you shall find yourself outside all these organizations.
Farmers, craftsmen and healers exist even today. I don't intend to say that by virtue of being a farmer, craftsman or a healer, one is doing self inquiry and transforming one's consciousness. Farmers, craftsmen and healers who work within the framework of society, support it's thought based divisions. Only those who have genuinely seen how present day livelihoods are based on thought and create divisions, shall move away from the social stream and create a new world based on transformation of their consciousness. According to me, for those who have seen the limitations of current social organizations and want to live a radically different life - farming, handicraft and healing can support self inquiry and an integral life, which marries spirit and matter, to create a new world order. Why these livelihoods are best suited for integral living would be the topic for another blog article.
Consequently NEEV Centre for Integral Living is an initiative to promote Integral Living - a life based on self inquiry, farming, handicrafts and healing for transformation to an Integral Consciousness.