What is important when we are working on improving our religious communities? Should we seek to enhance the personal spiritual experience or the quality of the whole community? Yes! Should we focus on interior spiritual experiences or on external practices and structures? Yes! Are peak experiences and spiritual states important or is development of capacities and strengths important? Yes! Should we support people who are early in their spiritual paths or those who have reached a mature depth of spiritual experience and commitment? Yes! Should we include and consider the experiences of people of particular genders, gender identities, races, ethnicities, cultures, economic conditions, religious traditions, etc. or should we pay attention to what all people have in common? Yes!
Based on the work of Ken Wilber, we call a religious community that is able to address all of these an “Integral Religious Community”. The Integral Religious Community opens opportunities to use the synergy of all to enhance and accelerate the development of our communities and their members in all arenas and to deal with everything more holistically.
