Aldous Huxley said, “The existence of at least a minority of contemplatives is necessary for the well-being of any society.” Integral Transformative Practice (ITP), developed by Michael Murphy and George Leonard, provides a framework of spiritual practices that could house this “minority,” helping our civilization reconnect to the divine. In a world absorbed by “external technologies,” ITP introduces “internal technologies” as a counterbalance, grounding individuals in spiritual awareness.
American Buddhist author and academic Robert Thurman once humorously compared external and internal technologies by asking, “What is more technologically advanced, a moonshot or a reincarnational womb shot?”
The greater achievement, perhaps, is the ontological realization—the awakening to a divine essence shared by all. While external technologies push toward a “technological singularity”—a future where AI achieves self-sustaining, superintelligent capabilities—ITP emphasizes an “ontological singularity,” an awareness of our essential unity with the divine. This inner awakening surpasses any concept or emotion and transcends expression in words. Through consistent practice, ITP has the potential to bring about profound transformation in individuals, nurturing an intuitive awareness of the divine.
This self-actualization echoes the teaching that “Atman is Brahman” and aligns with the realization of one’s fullest potential. We cultivate “a way of life concerned with an ideal of eternity...” In ITP we move into the realization of that which we already are, just as:
“The ocean in its movement is becoming what it already is,” writes David Spero.
We have in that statement, a reconciliation of the spiritual impulses of Ramana Maharshi and Sri Aurobindo because so it is with the ocean of time and the tides of human history. The implication is that the individual soul is in its essence of Brahmanic nature, but also the expressions of that soul as they manifest collectively in civilizations. The vision of ITP is not limited to individual growth but extends to a broader cultural transformation. By cultivating individual realization, ITP aims to inspire a collective shift toward a more integrated civilization.
Historically, cultures have oscillated between materialistic “sensate” periods and spiritually oriented “ideational” phases, according to Harvard sociologist Pitirim Sorokin. In sensate periods, life centers on materialism, science and economics, while ideational periods emphasize spiritual values. The implication is that this pattern is found throughout all civilizations.
Our culture seems to be in the final cynical stage of a sensate phase. According to Sorokin,“Caricature, sordid or satirical themes and abstractionism were classified as cynical sensate ... in the final ‘cynical’ stage the sensate mentality negates everything including itself.”
With the advent of hyper-intelligent AI, the self-negation referenced by Sorokin in relation to the cynical-sensate phase of culture is potentially one not limited to a culture or civilization, but it is a negation potentially of the human species itself. Sorokin suggested that civilizations in rare “idealistic periods” could achieve what he termed “integral truth,” combining reason, faith and empiricism.
This insight suggests the possibility that AI could be used to emulate and expand upon Sorokin’s methods to search for examples of “integral truth” across the wide expanse of human civilization. For instance, the 10th-century Indian sculpture “Heavenly Beauty” merges ideational and sensate qualities, a face with an archaic smile and a body in dynamic dance-like movement, suggesting that the culture which produced it might have been capable of realizing “integral truth.”
10th century sculpture of "Heavenly Beauty" from Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh, India, 950 AD
By rediscovering and recognizing such revelatory expressions of integral truth, ITP in cooperation with Esalen’s CTR, could help foster a renewed “integral civilization” inspired by historical examples. This could serve to overcome the self-negating tendencies of our age, laying the groundwork for a culture that embodies both technological and spiritual growth, while fostering the contemplative awareness essential for society’s well-being.