The Circle of Moral Compassion

“Claire and I listened to Jeff’s latest podcast on Sunday and it was a breath of fresh air. Highly recommended if you’re upset by the current culture wars. (if you’re not, are you still alive?) Yes, Jeff uses some integral jargon from time to time but I think anyone will appreciate his view from 10,000 feet.”
– Bill Epperly, PhD, of Integral Awakenings

Every stage of human development is experienced by its subjects as an awakening into a new world.

• Traditional religious believers (amber/blue meme) “wake up” to the reality of a transcendent God or Nirvana.
• Modern rationalists (orange meme) create “the Enlightenment,” a world freed from the bondage of ignorance and superstition.
• Postmodern (green meme) progressives “get woke” to how the historic karmas of oppression continue to manifest, including in our own hearts and minds.

People at each of these stages tend to hate and fear those who have not awakened into their world, and each has their orthodoxy, thought police and cancellation of heretics. This provides the fuel for today’s culture war (and the endless wars of history).

I receive a lot of questions about what integral thinking can reveal about woke culture, and the challenge it brings to the established modern and traditional views. In this episode, I respond to a message I received from a listener who sums up his argument with a sincere question: “What’s so good about WOKE?”