Integral theory is Ken Wilber’s attempt to place a wide diversity of theories and thinkers into one single framework.[1] It is portrayed as a “theory of everything” (“the living Totality of matter, body, mind, soul, and spirit”),[2] trying “to draw together an already existing number of separate paradigms into an interrelated network of approaches that are mutually enriching.”[1]Wilber’s integral theory has been applied by some in a limited range of domains. The Integral Institute publishes the Journal of Integral Theory and Practice,^[3] and SUNY Press has published nine books in the “SUNY series in Integral Theory.”^[4] Wilber’s ideas have mainly attracted attention in specific subcultures, and have been widely ignored in academia.^[5][6]

Origins and background[edit]See also: Spiritual evolution, Perennial philosophy, and Great chain of beingOrigins[edit]Ken Wilber’s “Integral Theory” started as early as the 1970s, with the publication of The Spectrum of Consciousness,^[7] that attempted to synthesize eastern religious traditions with western structural stage theory, models of psychology development that describe human development as following a set course of stages of development.^{[8][note 1]}Wilber’s ideas have grown more and more inclusive over the years, incorporating ontology, epistemology, and methodology.^[9] Wilber, drawing on both Aurobindo’s and Gebser’s theories, as well as on the writings of many other authors, created a theory which he calls AQAL, “All Quadrants All Levels”.Background[edit]Sri Aurobindo[edit]The adjective integral was first used in a spiritual context by Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) from 1914 onward to describe his own spiritual teachings, which he referred to as Purna (Skt: “Full”) Yoga. It appeared in The Synthesis of Yoga, a book that was first published in serial form in the journal Arya and was revised several times since.^[10]Sri Aurobindo’s work has been described as Integral Vedanta ^[11][12] and psychology,^[13][14] as well as Integral Psychology (the term coined by Indra Sen) and the psychotherapy that emerges from it.^[15] His writings influenced others who used the term “integral” in more philosophical or psychological contexts.In the teachings of Sri Aurobindo, integral yoga refers to the process of the union of all the parts of one’s being with the Divine, and the transmutation of all of their jarring elements into a harmonious state of higher divine consciousness and existence.As described by Sri Aurobindo and his co-worker The Mother (1878–1973), this spiritual teaching involves an integral divine transformation of the entire being, rather than the liberation of only a single faculty such as the intellect or the emotions or the body. According to Sri Aurobindo,(T)he Divine is in his essence infinite and his manifestation too is multitudinously infinite. If that is so, it is not likely that our true integral perfection in being and in nature can come by one kind of realisation alone; it must combine many different strands of divine experience. It cannot be reached by the exclusive pursuit of a single line of identity till that is raised to its absolute; it must harmonise many aspects of the Infinite. An integral consciousness with a multiform dynamic experience is essential for the complete transformation of our nature. — Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of Yoga, p. 114

Aurobindo’s ideas were further explored by Indra Sen (1903–1994) in the 1940s and 1950s, a psychologist, and devotee of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. He was the first to coin the term “Integral psychology” to describe the psychological observations he found in Sri Aurobindo’s writings (which he contrasted with those of Western Psychology), and developed themes of “Integral Culture” and “Integral Man”.^[16]These ideas were further developed by Haridas Chaudhuri (1913–1975), a Bengali philosopher and academic who founded in 1968 the California Institute of Integral Studies.^[17]