Enlightened Integral Society

The core notion, as I understand it, is a society based on gentleness and what Trungpa called "Basic Goodness", or the always-already awake nature of our beings. Trungpa used a lot of creative forms to express his vision and thus created a unique culture in the then-Vajradhatu community as a sort of pilot project for manifesting his vision, but I think its fairly clear that a truly embracing manifestation of this vision could never be limited to a single membership-based group, especially one founded more or less in the Tibetan feudal paradigm of "benevolent monarchy". We've come too far for that to make sense in our post-modern, individualist, egalitarian, democratic world. It can be a fascinating idea, and when the symbolism of the monarch is understood, it can serve to awaken us to our own nature. But will that work for the bigger world? I don't think so, and its patently ridiculous to think that the goal is to convert everyone to the Shambhala system.

So what would a bigger vision look like? Well, I was thinking it would have to include leaders from various key human institutions and dimensions, such as politics, economics, religion, art, science, education, and so on. These leaders, as experts in their fields and as participants in realizing the vision, would of course have a strong foundation in awareness practices and expanding consciousness. As I contemplated this, I realized that this is more or less exactly when Ken Wilber is doing by assembling these types of people and engaging them in the kinds of dialogue we see on Integral Naked. This is not to say that Enlightened Society will spring forth from Ken's group (the same logic applies as above) any more than from any other single group, but Ken has the right idea and his lead is worth following.

And what's more, it seems that this is happening more and more organically. I think many people have benefitted from Ken's work but not felt inclined to join the club, so to speak. These people are out there engaging the world in their own ways and doing their best to come from a Big Mind and Big Heart as they skillfully and artfully do what makes sense and feels right for their unique expressions.

So I'm confident that Trungpa Rinpoche's vision will be realized. I no longer believe it will take place in any exclusive cult, benevolent or otherwise. It's much, much bigger than that!