01.07.08
In Different Words by Margaret Johnston - blog author
I recently listened to a talk by Ken Wilber (http://in.integralinstitute.org/live - you have to be a subscriber to listen) and it hit me that the words he used this time might just help clarify the concept of the stages.
Ken usually refers to many stages (listed in colors: red, blue orange, green, turquoise, etc) and with so many stages the distinctions among them are less obvious than when using only four. He also talks about much more than just the spiritual stages so there are so many messages about so many things that I feel the average person, the beginner in stage study, could easily get lost in the complexity of his thought.
But in this one talk I listened to recently, he was speaking about spirituality in particular and had it broken down into just three stages. He called them
1) pre-rational (I suppose to include both our Stage One and our Stage Two) people who act on either no faith at all (Stage One) or blind faith (Stage Two)
2) rational (our Stage Threes) who take nothing on faith. Only what can be seen and heard is to be believed in.
3) transrational (Our Stage Fours) willing to move on beyond what can be seen and heard. Willing to accept possibilities they cannot prove. Not in need of certainty.
Now I believe if we could adopt some simple terminology for these stages into the culture, we could make some real progress. I was thinking I should change my terminology from Stage One through Four to Pre-rational, Rational and Trans- rational? Or is that too confusing? How could I distinguish between Stage One and Two then? I think that is important!!
Always trying to find ways to make these concepts simpler to understand, the idea hit me to call the stages ”the Lawless” (Stage One,) “the Faithful” (Stage Two,) “the Rational” (Stage Three,) “the Mystic” (Stage Four.)
What is your opinion? Should I change my terminology? Should I use the Lawless, the Faithful, the Rational, and the Mystic? I would be glad to hear from some readers!