From Redesigning the Dharma to Integral Dharma
In my previous post, “Welcome to Redesigning the Dharma,” I briefly explained the inspiration behind this new website. This post builds on the prior one and elaborates in more detail what this project of “Redesigning the Dharma” might entail. It also offers some insight into the choice behind the name and concludes with what I see as an essential development within this project of Redesigning the Dharma, which is a more Integral approach to Dharma.
In many ways the genesis of this project dates back several years, listening to people like one of my teachers Vince Horn on his podcast Buddhist Geeks interview guests about the evolution of The Dharma. The latest nudge to move forward with this website came from participating in an online course with Stephen Batchelor on “Secular Dharma.” While I think that Stephen’s vision for his project is a bit different than my own, his basic invitation resonates: to invite modern Dharma practitioners to critically engage with the teachings and to take up the task of making the teachings relevant in the context of our own lives, and the larger systems and networks in which we are embedded.
For example, a reimagining of The Dharma for many contemporary practitioners would be the ability to integrate the teachings of The Buddha with modern science, such as the theory of evolution and modern psychology. One example of how this looks in practice is a trauma-informed approach to practicing meditation, a fortunate development that many Western Dharma and mindfulness teachers are increasingly offering.
Another prominent example of the ways in which this evolution has already been underway would be the conversations between The Dalai Lama and modern scientists, this being but one of several prominent examples of the dialogue between ancient contemplative traditions and modern science.
Spiritual traditions such as Buddhism offer a remarkable set of paths, but we can get so enamored and lost in the path that we lose sight of the goal, or lose clarity around our intention for practicing. Awakening is a very important facet of living a meaningful life, a dimension of human development that has historically been undervalued in Western civilizations, at least relative to Asia.
For those of us who are deeply committed to the project of awakening, it’s helpful to remind ourselves that currently, this is the only dimension of what it means to live a meaningful life, particularly if you’re not planning to be a full-time monastic or contemplative. If we imagine the goal as something more akin to “human flourishing,” we can see how Dharma speaks to one very important dimension of living a meaningful life--awakening--while there are other important dimensions that Buddhism or other spiritual traditions do not address.
A modern approach to the Dharma would offer maps of awakening that could be in dialogue with contemporary models of human development, such as those pioneered by the Harvard psychologist Robert Keegan.
In reality, this reimagining of The Dharma is not a new project in the history of Buddhism, but rather one that has been there from its very inception. These teachings have never been a fixed, permanent, or static “thing,” or dogma. The Dharma has always had to adapt to new cultural conditions as the teachings traveled across time and place. As depicted throughout the early sutras, the historical Buddha himself adjusted the teachings to the various learning styles of people that he encountered, as any skilled teacher should.
Stephen Batchelor describes The Dharma as a “constantly evolving code of awakening,” a definition that really resonates with me. The historical trajectory of Buddhism is analogous in many respects to open-source coding, an analogy that became popular with Buddhist Geeks. With impermanence as one of its central teachings, of course, the evolution of The Dharma would be a process that was never static and always unfolding.
In this next iteration of The Dharma, it seems that a more holistic approach to human flourishing is emerging: one that prioritizes awakening but does not hold it up as the only dimension of human development. On this front, Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory offers a very helpful framework for understanding and integrating different maps of human development, including but not limited to awakening.
At this point in my own journey, turning towards a more integral approach to Dharma is what makes the most sense. My own study and practice of Integral Dharma have been with Buddhist Geeks as well as Two Arrows Zen. For any interested in Integral Dharma I can definitely recommend either of those organizations as great resources for this exploration. If you’re curious to learn more about an Integral approach to Dharma, you can listen to this brief video from Buddhist Geeks co-founder Ryan Oelke.