Toolbox » Read Me First!

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” ~ Gandhi

The Toolbox is a framework to organize the practices available from Seth, Elias, Kris, Rose, and the world's wisdom traditions.

History

While transformative tools can be traced back over fifteen thousand years, integral transformative practices began recently with the integral yoga of Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950) in the East, and in the West with the integral transformative practice (ITP) of Michael Murphy and George Leonard (Esalen Institute) during the 1970s, and integral life practice (ILP) of Ken Wilber (Integral Institute) in the new millennium.

For greater detail, please read the first two chapters of Integral Life Practice: How to Design Your Own Training Program for Body, Mind, and Spirit (2007) by Ken Wilber, Terry Patten, Adam Leonard, and Marco Morelli, and buy the starter kit: Integral Life Practice ~ Ken Wilber & Integral Institute (5 DVDs, 2 CDs, 2 booklets, poster). For an excellent overview of the world's wisdom traditions practices, read Essential Spirituality: The 7 Central Practices to Awaken Heart and Mind by Roger Walsh. For example, according to Walsh, the seven practices common to all the world’s great spiritual traditions are:

1.   Transform Your Motivation: Reduce Craving and Find Your Soul’s Desire

2.   Cultivate Emotional Wisdom: Heal Your Heart and Learn to Love

3.   Live Ethically: Feel Good by Doing Good

4.   Concentrate and Calm Your Mind

5.   Awaken Your Spiritual Vision: See Clearly and Recognize the Sacred in All Things

6.   Cultivate Spiritual Intelligence: Develop Wisdom and Understand Life

7.   Express Spirit in Action: Embrace Generosity and the Joy of Service

The development of integral practices is an interesting parallel to the work of Jane Roberts and Robert Butts who produced The Seth Material in twenty-six volumes from 1963-1984. We, as their students, can now incorporate the many tools from The Seth Material, other channeled sources, and the world's wisdom traditions into a more inclusive framework to maximize their impact.

What is Integral Practice?

“You get what you concentrate on there is no other main rule.” ~ Seth

Integral means balanced, comprehensive, and inclusive. Pioneers from all over the world have recently outlined an integral map that offers a simple, powerful new way to conceptualize life, the universe, and everything.

A practice is a regular disciplined exercise, custom, or action performed with focused intention to further develop our innate potentials. In other words, practices promote growth, health, abundance, and fulfillment.

Taken together, an integral practice provides a kind of “spiritual cross-training” that touches on physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of our consciousness.

Integral practice is self-directed and tailored by each individual to fit their lifestyle. As such, it is each individual’s responsibility to seek out the necessary teachers, coaches, experts, etc. to help them focus on major areas since no one can provide a one-size-fits-all toolbox!

What is The Toolbox?

“We have never told anybody to do anything, except to face up to the abilities of consciousness.” ~ Seth

The Toolbox organizes all the practice elements and exercises offered to date by Seth, Elias, and Kris into modules you can select for your integral practice.

1.   Body (kinesthetic module)

2.   Mind (cognitive module)

3.   Spirit (contemplative module)

4.   Shadow (psychodynamic module)

Since integral practice is self-directed, the buck stops with each individual on how far we take it. The idea is to commit to these four modules and do them every day, if only for a minute, to establish a daily habit. We can then tailor individual modules to suit our lifestyle, work patterns, and needs. As we progress, we can add new or more challenging modules.

Here are some examples of what the basic modules can include. We’ve bolded the conscious creation examples to show how they fit within the larger framework, but you can also pick from Integral Institute and other ILP module providers, or create your own:

Body (kinesthetic)

• Diet: vitamins, supplements, cleanses, raw foods, low sugar.
• Anabolic Exercise: weightlifting (resistance training), yoga.
• Cardiovascular Exercise: nature hiking, tennis, biking, swimming.
• Bodywork: massage, Rolfing, chiropractic, Alexander technique, Elias’ relaxation exercises, Seth’s healing exercises.

Mind (cognitive)

• Vision: affirmation, visualization, forming a personal life philosophy.
• Knowledge: reading, critical reflection, academic investigation.
• Perspective Taking: dialogue, role playing, acting, Kris’ practice of perspectives.
• Choices/Probabilities: Rose’s Treantea practices.
• Attention: Elias’ noticing, relaxation exercises.
• Expressive: writing, web design, creative projects, hobbies, drawing, Elias’ and Kris’ appreciation exercises.
• Belief Systems: worldviews, core, satellite, bridging, Elias’ ten belief systems.

 

Spirit (contemplative)

 

• Formless Meditation: shikantaza, “Who Am I?” inquiry, vipassana, Dzogchen, Witnessing.
• Meditation with Form: TM, tonglen, mantras, following the breath, Rose's Sontering.
• Inner Senses: Seth and Elias’ exercises.
• Channeling: Seth, Elias, Kris, and Rose’s exercises.
• Inquiry: diamond approach, jnana yoga, koans, Rose's Vespers.
• Prayer: contemplative, centering, shamanic, devotional.
• Movement meditation: Sufi dervishes, tantra, Osho’s Nantaraj, Tai Chi, Elias’ bike riding.

Shadow (psychodynamic)

• Shadow work: emotional release, assuming responsibility, reversing projections, 3-2-1 process, Elias’ NIRAA, Kris’ AAA.
• Dream work: remembering dreams, dream journal, interpretive approaches, Seth’s Practice Elements.
• Internal dialogue: recognizing inner monologues, journaling, speaking as the shadow.

 

Getting Started

“I may express to you that practice does incorporate a payoff and [whatever you concentrate upon] does become easier.” ~ Elias

Simply pick one practice from each category and DO IT every day for a month to establish the habit. There is always initial resistance to something new, so getting started is always the hardest part. We don’t mention this to make it self-fulfilling, but how many New Year’s resolutions are kept after one or two weeks? A more serious effort must be made to establish the habit of practice. We get what we concentrate on.

1. The Toolbox is modular.

Begin with the four basic modules and include additional modules later.

2. The Toolbox covers a developmental matrix of essential perspectives.

We use Ken Wilber’s integral map as a set of “checks and balances” to insure that we cover the full spectrum of potentials. We begin small, simply, within present limits, and expand from there.

3. Practices are interchangeable.

Any module may exercise multiple levels (vertical) or perspectives (horizontal). It depends what your intent, motivation, and goals are. Defining those help us to concentrate on which aspect we wish to engage initially.

4. Research shows that including a contemplative module accelerates vertical growth.

We sometimes talk about seedling, sapling, and tree stages. Developmental psychologist Robert Kegan has shown that it takes roughly five years for adults to move into a vertical stage. However, psychologist Charles Alexander has shown with college age adults that meditation accelerates this developmental rate to two major stages within four years.

5. More than a toolbox, it is really a lifestyle.

While the idea of practice has fallen on hard times with various quick-fixes, instant gratification approaches, in time integral practice becomes an ingrained habit and we no longer think about it.

Moving Forward

“Your goal in your practice is not perfection. Your goal is to live consciously and in accordance with the highest degree of truth that your soul can maintain. You practice living with truth so what it becomes part of your soul. …life is a journey for practicing consciousness, not perfecting it.” ~ Caroline Myss

Once you get started, you can be a “lone wolf” and practice by yourself, or you can discuss any module or practice in the NewWorldView forums to share what works and what doesn’t. That’s the beauty of integral practice. In all cases, it is DOING.

Research shows that group practice helps to provide feedback, increase motivation, and avoid the pitfalls of spiritual practice such as ignoring shadow issues, breaking commitments, ego inflation with progress, or robotically going through the motions. You can have a single practice partner, or an entire group.

Practice Sheet

Click this link to print the practice sheet to help organize the four modules, define your intent, and focus your motivation. For example, during the first month, you may simply wish to feel stronger and healthier, have deeper relationships, engage the remembrance of essence, increase noticing, trusting, and accepting of self and others, etc. Set your goal and DO IT!

The main benefit comes from doing these four practice modules concurrently. Therefore, a few minutes covering all four modules will be more effective than an hour of only one.

Toolbox Modules

Finally, here are links to the four modules of Seth, Elias, Kris, and Rose practices to select from. You can also use the navigation bar under Toolbox at the top of every page on this website:

1.   Body Practices (Kinesthetic)

2.   Mind Practices (Cognitive)

3.   Spirit Practices (Contemplative)

4.   Shadow Practices (Psychodynamic)