In his latest book, Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment, Deepak offers us his own creative vision for how it may have felt—from the inside, in first-person narrative—for Gautama Buddha during his search for, and realization of, spiritual Enlightenment. But not everyone is thrilled about Deepak’s treatment of the founder of this great tradition. Deepak and Ken Wilber discuss many perspectives related to this naturally sensitive subject, in search of a more comprehensive and integral view.

"I can tell you how it all began: In 1980, I was sitting in Madison Square Garden listening to Krishnamurti—and I couldn’t understand what he said. And I thought, 'Maybe if I can understand what he's saying, then maybe I can explain it better for the general public….'"

The appeal of an Integral Approach spans a truly astonishing number of disciplines, communities, and professions—Hollywood being a perfect example. Sharon has had a rather extraordinary life and career, and together, Ken Wilber and Sharon walk through the first segment of this remarkable trajectory, touching in always with the orienting contours of an Integral View….

"We 'barbie dolls' are not supposed to behave the way I do. People like it so much more when you just smile and nod. But I really don't believe in the end that that's doing your best."

Lama Surya Das - Buddha Is as Buddha Does (click here to listen) (part 2)

If you had the opportunity to become a bodhisattva right now, would you take it? Would you at least like to learn what being a bodhisattva is all about? If the answer to either is "yes," we have a treat for you: Lama Surya Das' new book Buddha Is as Buddha Does is an extraordinary handbook for enlightened living, exploring ten practices essential to bodhisattvahood. Does your spiritual practice touch on all ten? And if we are truly going to be the most effective, compassionate bodhisattva possible, are we practicing a deeply integral spirituality, and touching on all quadrants, levels, lines, states, and types?

"With Heroic Effort you sometimes have to turn it over to a power greater than 'I,' and you stand aside—but it turns out that's also your own highest Self, so it heals the self/other dualism…."

Mike and Ken Wilber discuss a fascinating topic: reincarnation. As Mike comments, both he and Ken have more or less remained agnostic on the topic—except that now, there is a growing amount of evidence suggestive of the very real possibility of some kind of trans-migration between lives. Mike, for one, feels a moral obligation—despite some of his more “rational” misgivings (to put it one way)—to begin to tell the world what the data appears to point to, because to ignore it would actually be irrational, so why fight it?

"Big Mind is not Supermind. Someone can have this Big Mind experience, and go back to being the same ole sociopath—but not vice versa…."

Does the fact that Moses didn't literally part the Red Sea mean that all spiritual and religious concerns are null, void, and illusory? This seems to be what a growing chorus of voices is saying, and whether cheering or jeering, the world is paying attention. Of course, it's not exactly a feat of extraordinary intellectual achievement to point out, for example, the fact that Jesus could not have been born of a biological virgin, nor could Lao Tzu have been 900 years old when he was born. As Reb Zalman mentions, it reads in the Zohar (one of the central texts of Jewish Kabbalah), "Anybody who reads the stories of the Bible as if they were literal stories has never entered into the real kingdom."

"This simple statement shows why strict scientific materialism doesn't work: 'I love my spouse.' Ok, so prove it. You can't, and yet you know it's real. Such is often the case when it comes to God and Spirit…."

For the first time in history, a woman and an African American are the two most visible candidates for the American Presidency. Alongside this clearly progressive movement in modern politics is the almost-as-clearly regressive tilt to the past two presidential terms. As convenient as it might seem to simply divide these phenomena along party lines, an Integral analysis recognizes not only the dichotomy of Democrat and Republican, but also a hidden split in the heart of US politics, the effects of which will fundamentally determine the course of the world's most powerful nation in the coming years.

"The simple rule that Democrats are going to have to learn, or they're never going to elect anybody, is: when green (postmodern) attacks orange (modern), amber (traditional) wins."

As Genpo so clearly articulates, "We shouldn't stand in the shadows of our ancestors, we should stand on their shoulders." However, this sentiment isn't shared by everyone within the Zen Buddhist tradition, some of whom view innovations such as the Big Mind Process as irrelevant at best and a kind of heresy at worst—the great ancient Patriarchs crafted this teaching exactly as they intended, so don't mess with it. But, as Ken Wilber's strong praise gives hint, there are many voices both in and outside of Zen who believe that Big Mind Process is a novel, effective, and altogether genuine step forward in how we share and perceive spiritual realities, in any tradition—Buddhist or otherwise—that chooses to engage this extraordinarily adaptable technology.

"If we're just making the assumption that 'my consciousness can never possibly inhabit the same space that some of our extraordinary ancestors did'—they would be very disappointed in us."

Not all art is created equal—although many postmodern boomeritis artists would have us believe exactly that. Different artists, and different pieces of art, represent, transmit, and resonate with decidedly deeper aspects of reality. As Ken Wilber and Alex discuss, there are two kinds of “deeper” or “higher” realities of which the art world knows almost nothing. As Ken explains, depth, height, and increasing orders of complexity and value are intrinsic to the Kosmos—you simply can’t get rid of the fact that more complex occasions transcend-and-include less complex occasions (cells transcend-and-include molecules and atoms, but not vice versa, and so cells are of a higher order). The leading edge of thought regarding depth as a crucial element of existence can be found in Ken’s Integral Spirituality, where one can see that there are two kinds of “higher”: one can be found in states of consciousness and one can be found in stages (structures) of consciousness. This has profound implications for the understanding and interpretation of art. Two artists may be accessing the same state of visionary creativity and then interpreting that profound state from two radically different stages of development. To the untrained eye, based on the similarly “far out” nature of the art involved, it may look like they’re “doing the same thing”—but they’re not, not at all, and only an Integral Approach can explain why….

"I was always looking at the fact that transcendental art was working on one major dimension—getting you to something higher. But now there are two kinds of higher!"