
Originally Posted by
Ken Wilber
"Okay, so let's look at the phenomena of states and stages using Spiral Dynamics as an example. As we were saying, a person at red can have an altered state of gross, subtle, or causal experience (e.g., a person at red can have a peak experience of nature mysticism, deity mysticism, or formless mysticism). A person at blue can also have an altered state of gross, subtle, or causal experience. And so can orange, green, yellow, and so on. In other words, using this simple model as an example, each of the 8 stages can experience the 3 major states. This gives us a grid of 24 different types of spiritual experiences. Our researchers here at IC have found credible examples of all 24 (except at the extreme limits, where things fade out). [See Sidebar G, subheading: 'A Lattice of Altered States'; Integral Psychology; and Combs, The Radiance of Being, second revised edition.]
"It is my opinion that every one of those spiritual experiences is, or can be, a real and authentic experience. However, those experiences become more adequately interpreted the higher the stage that experiences them. A turquoise experience of the Sacred, for example, would include the fact that the Divine is given freely to all sentient beings, whereas a blue experience of the Sacred maintains that God is given only to a chosen people, or only to a few who embrace this version of God, or only to this nation, and so on--in other words, blue is ethnocentric Spirit, turquoise is worldcentric Spirit. Although both of those individuals might have had an authentic spiritual experience (in this case, an experience of a very real, very authentic subtle state), the turquoise interpretation is more adequate to Spirit than blue because turquoise has more developmental depth and is thus more inclusive and more integral. "