(see http://www.centerpointe.com/blog/)
Jean Piaget model of cognitive development:
Sensory-motor
Archaic (babies, completely independent)
Susanne Cook-Greuter model of development of sense of self:
Summary:
At the preconventional and conventional stages we’re concerned with gaining more and more knowledge about how to operate effectively in the world. Progress is defined by noticing increasingly more pieces of the puzzle; discovering patterns, rules, and laws that govern how things work; learning to better predict, measure, and explain the world; seeing and taking into account an increasingly larger time span; and, in general, being able to know and do more and be more in charge of one’s life.
At these preconventional and conventional stages (which together include over 90% of people in Western nations) we are for the most part socially programmed, we use conventional linear thinking, and seek increased differentiation–in other words, we create an increasingly solid individual and independent sense of self.
When (or if) we enter the postconventional stages, we begin to move away from increased differentiation and toward greater integration. We more and more see how things go together and how we are connected to others rather than individually distinct, and begin to deal with the world from this perspective, and move away from the individualistic perspective we’ve been developing so far. Our sense of self becomes more about connection than agency. And, we begin to recognize and question the fundamental assumptions of the previous stages–even including the reality of our sense of being a separate self.
At the postconventional and unitive stages we increasingly see the world as a giant, dynamic, interconnected system rather than a random assortment of individual units and events. We began our life embedded in the world in a completely undifferentiated way, unable to tell the difference between me and not-me. From that point, we have gradually differentiated into an independent and separate self. Now, as we move into the postconventional stages and beyond, we move the other way, toward seeing and experiencing what many describe as an ultimate “oneness with everything.”
Archaic/sensorimotor
-Symbiotic
The early Symbiotic stage is one where the infant constructs a stable
world of objects, cognitively separating himself from the world. This
stage is pre-egoic and pre-verbal. The child essentially has no
perspective and is an undifferentiated self. The main accomplishment of
this stage is the separation of self from the world–the ability to know
what is “me” and what is “not me.”
Preconventional
-Impulsive
In the next stage, Impulsive, one begins to use language, and begins to
experience a first-person perspective, reflected in statements such as
“I want” and “mine.” The main concern of this stage is impulse
gratification. This stage is one of magical thinking, with a sense of
power curbed only by punishment (which is seen as random or retaliatory
and unrelated to behavior). Other people are simply a source of need
gratification: good ones give, mean ones don’t. At this stage the child
learns to recognize simple dichotomies.
Conventional
-Diplomat
The next stage (the first conventional stage) is the Diplomat. Most people have reached this stage by age 12, though some adults remain at the Opportunist stage. The three conventional stages (Diplomat, Expert, and Achiever) make up about 80% of people in Western countries.
In terms of Piaget’s stages, Diplomats correspond to concrete operational thinking–they use a growing knowledge of cause and effect to deal with daily events and tasks. Experts add the ability to think in abstract terms, and Achievers use formal operational thinking, the highest level of rational thought. Achiever is seen as the adult stage in most of Western culture. (See my previous posts about Piaget for more information about cognitive development.)
In healthy development, Diplomat is the stage of early adolescence, though many people remain in this stage throughout life. A Diplomat’s sense of self is defined by his role in his group, and he sees the world in terms of in-group and out-group. Instead of “me against the world” (the view of the Opportunist) his point of view is “our group against others” or “our group is better than other groups.”
Diplomats are conformists. They want to be liked, so they do their best to develop a pleasing personality, to be well-groomed, to be pleasant, to avoid the negative. They divide the world into simple categories and types of people. They accept rules, roles, and norms without questioning them. They live based on rules and “shoulds,” and identify with those who share their tastes and perspectives. The Diplomat does not yet have a true self in the sense of having a individual and separate adult identity. Instead, his self is defined by others. Self/other boundaries are blurry, and relationships are of the I-need-you variety.
Formal operational
-Achiever
The last conventional stage is the Achiever. The Achiever is a formal operational thinker. He is able to prioritize, see possibilities, look into the future, plan, and think through a course of action before acting–rather than just acting in a random manner, as in the previous stages (again, for more information, see previous posts). Achievers represent the target stage for Western culture, the rationally competent and independent adult. Where the Expert had a third-person perspective (he could stand back and observe himself and his interactions with others), the Achiever adds an additional ability to observe his past and future selves and his past and future interactions with others.
Achievers are more comfortable in diverse groups and situations than are Diplomats and Experts. They can be a part of diverse groups with different ideals, goals, and points of view without feeling torn between them or confused about who they are. They also have a greatly expanded ability for introspection, and have a much greater understanding of and insight into their own feelings, motives, personal dreams, and goals. In fact, self-analysis is a favorite pastime.
Achievers believe in the scientific method and rationality, and that this form of thought can improve the world. Achievers are busy helping to make the world a better place for everyone (another example of an expanded perspective–Diplomats and Experts are mostly concerned with themselves and their group). Having a longer and broader view, they can handle a longer delay between action and results, realizing that some of what they do might not bear fruit until well into the future.
Achievers are interested in getting things done, and may feel driven to accomplish something in the world. They are often entrepreneurs. They have strong convictions, and an idealistic enthusiasm. They convince others with rational arguments and evidence rather than by putting them down, as do Experts. They love theories, and the hypothetical. They are skeptical searchers for the truth, and trust that it eventually can be found.
Postconventional Development (Cook-Greuter model)
Summary:
These stages are about increased differentiation–in other words, the creation of an increasingly solid sense of self who can effectively operate and succeed in the world.
In the postconventional stages, something new begins to happen. Differentiation is no longer the end-game. Instead, we begin to move toward greater integration. While the previous stages were more about turning outward to master the world, the postconventional stages (and the unitive stages that follow) are more about turning inward. One’s perspective begins to shift to a greater recognition of how things go together, and how we’re connected to others rather than being individually distinct.
This doesn’t mean that we lose our sense of individual agency (in fact, the first postconventional level is called the Individualist), but we do move away from an emphasis on the individualistic perspective we’ve been developing up to this point, and begin to balance it with a recognition of how things are connected and interrelated. And, finally, we begin to recognize and question many of the fundamental assumptions of the previous stages.
At the postconventional and unitive stages we increasingly see the world as one big, dynamic, interconnected system rather than a random assortment of individual things and events. We began our life embedded in the world in a completely undifferentiated way, unable to tell the difference between me and not-me. From that point, we’ve gradually differentiated into an independent and separate self. Now, as we move into the postconventional stages and beyond, we move more toward seeing and experiencing what many describe as an ultimate “oneness with everything.”
One huge difference in the postconventional stages is a new recognition that nothing is fixed, and that everything exists in relation to everything else. From one spot, things looks like this, from another spot they look like that. Everything is dependent upon context and relationship.
Postmodern, postconventional, postrational, postformal
-Individualist (also Pluralist)
The Achiever, the previous stage, was able to take a third person perspective, watching himself as he interacted with the world. The Individualist can take a 4th person perspective–one in which he can actually observe himself observing himself interacting with the world–in other words, watch himself trying to make sense of the world.
Seeing that nothing is fixed, the Individualist deeply questions the rules, social conventions, and assumptions that seemed solid and objectively true at the Achiever stage. Now, it becomes obvious that everything is an interpretation, and which interpretation you choose depends upon where you look from. In one culture certain things seem true, while in another other things are true. Total objectivity is impossible. What conventional society sees as “right” is just one point of view, and from another perspective, things look different. Even within a given culture, each person has their own perspective, their own experience.
Rationality no longer seems to be the pinnacle of human achievement, or the best and only way to solve problems or navigate through life. Intuition and awareness of one’s body now become additional sources of information. This heightened self-knowledge allows for more empathy with others. At this stage there is more emphasis on being, and less on doing and thinking.
For the Individualist, one’s sense of self becomes, well…very individual. Distrusting conventional wisdom, the Individualist must find his or her own way, and this way of being comes from one’s own experience, one’s own search–rather from what one’s group says, or what society says. There is a new sense of freedom from previous constraints. Everything is open and possible. Imagination and playfulness reemerge. At the same time, the Individualist feels an incredible responsibility since they now must figure out who they are by relying solely upon their own internal resources and point of view. At this level you have to “find yourself.”
In seeing how everything is relative to everything else and that no view is fixed and certain, there is a new ability to just “wait and see how things unfold,” and to appreciate and allow the contradictions and paradoxes of life to be as they are. Life no longer need to be as predictable and certain, and there is less need for quick closure.
On the other hand, the new relativistic view can be taken too far. Some Individualists throw the baby out with the bathwater, rejecting all rationality, all rules, and all conventionality in favor of one’s own, unique experience and point of view. This can lead to rejection of a lot of useful and time-tested information and wisdom.
In the extreme, an Individualist’s way of deciding what is right or wrong can lead to living almost without any principles whatsoever. Over-focus on one’s relativistic uniqueness can make connecting with others more difficult rather than easier. The shifting sands of relativity can also make “finding oneself” seem more difficult, or almost impossible. And, keeping one’s options open can lead to no decision where one is necessary.
Individualists have a systems view of the world, made possible by their ability to stand back and observe from many perspectives, and even to stand outside and watch their own perspective and actions. This allows the Individualist to challenge the assumptions and frameworks underlying his own thinking, as well as those of society. There is a growing realization that the context, structure, or process involved in a situation can reveal more, in some cases, than the content. The new insight that the interpretation of anything depends on the position of the observer leads to the idea that the observer is more than just an observer–he is a participant who influences what he observes. You may recognize this as a key idea of quantum physics, or at least a key idea of pop writers about quantum physics.
The ability to see multiple perspectives is one reason why purely rational, linear thought loses its appeal at this stage, and is replaced by a more holistic, organic approach where intuition, feelings, and context are taken into account. Process becomes as interesting–or even more interesting–than outcome. Logic is increasingly recognized as linear, while the world is multidimensional–and therefore ungraspable by merely linear and logical methods.
From this new perspective there is an appreciation that truth can ultimately never be found. Since everything is relative and context-dependent, there’s really nowhere a person can permanently stand. Individualists come to actually enjoy the paradoxes of life, rather than trying to pin things down to a certain “truth.”
The Individualist no longer needs to prove something before living by it. The futility of meaning-making becomes more obvious, given that all meanings are now seen as dependent upon the position one takes. The Achiever’s need to analyze everything gives way to a willingness to trust and enjoy the subjective moment. There is a new sense of a mind/body connection, and a greater reliance on “bodily wisdom.”
Individualists accord so much respect to the views of others that gatherings of Individualists often consist of each person having their say, with all viewpoints seen as equally valid. This often leads to a consensus governance style–a lot of talk with few real decisions made and few actions taken (though participants do feel heard and acknowledged).
Where the Achiever was focused on causality (by looking into the past) and goals (by looking into the future), the Individualist is more fascinated with now, the present. This focus on now is one reason why the Individualist is so interested in process and context rather than outcomes. Where the Achiever was clear about his solid sense of self, the Individualist may see himself has having many voices, acting one way in a certain situation, and in an entirely different way in another. This can create inner conflict, and Individualists may feel anxiety about integrating these different aspects of themselves.
The Individualist’s new ability to introspect and observe leads to a greater empathy, and a greater spontaneity. Others, however, can see them as unpredictable or flaky, as unproductive non-doers, and as someone who can be indefinite and impossible to nail down.
The Individualist, the previous stage, is able to take a fourth person perspective, standing back from his own life and observing himself as he observes himself in his past, present, and future interactions with the world. This was a huge developmental achievement in terms of an expansion of awareness and the ability to take what I (and others) have called a witness perspective. This wider perspective gives the Individualist (again, the stage we looked at in my previous post) a unique view of the world and his place in it.
The Strategist takes this perspective even further. Not only does he see his own past, present, and future and that of his family, he adds an awareness of his own lifespan, the lifetimes of his children, and their children, and that of previous generations, and how all of this fits in to the context of the broader society and culture.
Watching from this even wider perspective, the Strategist sees patterns, trends, and systems on an even larger scale than did the Individualist, which he then uses to strategically navigate the world and his life–hence the name of this stage. The Strategist, then, has a systems view of reality, allowing him to comprehend and deal with complex, multiple, interconnected systems of relationships and processes. The ability to hold all of this complexity in awareness, and to effectively and resourcefully respond to it and act from it is quite an achievement.
Individualists are able to see the many conflicting aspects and polarities within themselves and in the world. The individualist deals with these unresolvable conflicts and paradoxes in part by remaining in the moment and allowing life to be as it is. There is still some confusion, however, about exactly how to navigate “what is” in a take charge way. The Individualist sees the paradoxes and contradictions of life, and accepts them, but in a passive, non-agentic way. It’s as if the Individualist resigns himself to ever ultimately knowing who he really is. The Individualist says, “I can’t control things, so I’ll just accept that fact and groove on the moment.”
The Strategist, on the other hand, has found a more sophisticated–and more practical–way of dealing with the paradoxes and polarities of life. Instead of merely resigning himself to the way things are, the Strategist is better able to integrate and own many different and conflicting parts of himself and actually work with the ever-shifting contexts of life in a practical way. This is made possible in part by the Strategist’s new ability to consciously and intentionally generate his own meanings, to “write his own story.” The Individualist sees that all meaning depends upon the context and the relationships involved, but has not yet figured out how to be in charge of this meaning-making in a practical way.
The Strategist is able to take charge of his meaning-making in a way the Individualist could not. As a result, he navigates the constantly shifting contexts he experiences, without being flustered by them. ”No story is real,” says the Strategist, “but that doesn’t matter. I can create a story in this moment in order to create the outcome I want, even if that story doesn’t represent ultimate truth.”
(As an aside, I want to point out that this ability to “write your own story”–to consciously and intentionally direct your mind in order to create the reality you want, rather than allowing unconscious programming to automatically write a story you may not like–is one of the main goals of the first of my Life Principles Integration Process online courses (www.centerpointe.com/life/preview). In my first course I take you through what you need to learn, developmentally, in order to master this ability.)
Feeling that he can write his own story, the Strategist feels in charge of his own psychological well-being. He feels–and demonstrates–a new sense of personal responsibility about the creation of own meaning and his own life. This feeling of being in charge allows Strategists to rediscover, reown, and integrate aspects of themselves that were too confusing or threatening for the Individualist to acknowledge. The result is a new sense of wholeness, and this new holistic self is a hallmark of this stage.
It is important to a Strategist to appear to have his act together and to make reasoned and resourceful choices. Persons at stages after the Strategist no longer feel this need, and are more willing to choose what appear to be less mature behavior styles, or be more spontaneously “outrageous” in their behavior. It’s still important to the Strategist, however, to avoid appearing foolish, or to avoiding acting in what might appear to be emotionally immature ways. If this happens, however, he can be forgiving and understanding of himself.
With a perspective and a logical system allowing an easier integration of psychologically paradoxical elements, the Strategist has less need for defensive strategies, and is therefore capable of greater spontaneity and greater tolerance of the foibles of others. Good and bad traits are seen as part of being human, both in oneself and in others.
His increased awareness of his interconnectedness with others, and his ability to actually interact based on that awareness, allows the Strategist to receive valuable feedback from others and see into parts of himself he might otherwise be blind to. The Strategist sees his connection with others and the feedback it provides as a necessary part of reaching one’s full potential, a key value to Strategists. This appreciation of others can in fact be so strong that at times it becomes a deep, non-possessive love.
Strategies can sometimes fear that they will fail to fulfill their potential or live by and embody their most valued principles, and they can become depressed if they feel they have not lived up to their own high standards.
Strategists are very self-reflective, constantly observing and reappraising themselves, others, and the world. This insightful watching is one of the Strategist’s most satisfying pastimes. Strategists are motivated by their own growth, fulfillment, and self-actualization, but also by that of others. The desire to help others grow can lead them to become therapists, coaches, consultants, teachers, executives, and leaders. They can become impatient with others who are less motivated to grow–the central flaw of this stage. To a Strategist, higher development is better because it leads to a more a objective and realistic identity. Such authenticity is an important Strategist value.
The Strategist see life as an individual journey, where each person must find his or her own way. There is no “right” path that applies to everyone, and no “right” destination. Human beings are responsible for themselves and their own fulfillment, and each person must come to terms with the internal conflicts of being human in his own way.
Strategists view seeking outside advice and help as a strength rather than a weakness, and feel comfortable with therapy, counseling, and other forms of external advice and counsel. Strategists, however, do not see their answers to life’s questions as necessarily fitting others. In their faith that each person can discover his or her own path through life, they generally refrain from imposing their solutions or meaning-making on others.
Strategists often find the mundane aspects of making a living a distraction from their real passions. If, however, their passion involves leading others, creating a great organization, or some other form of service to others, their contributions can be world-changing. Strategists can become charismatic leaders, following their convictions regardless of personal consequences. If their convictions lead them in a direction helpful to others the results can be hugely positive. If not, however, the Strategist can be a powerful negative force.
Strategists make use of all modes of information and understanding, including logic, dreams, fantasy, bodily intelligence, intuition, and their highly developed imagination in order to make sense of the world and make their desires happen in reality. Strategists are often intuitive, highly crative, outside-the-box thinkers.
The Strategist represents the highest level of understanding of the human condition in which the separate self is the central regulator. Susanne Cook-Greuter describes the Strategist as “able to generate a coherent sense of self as a complex system with a core center.” The Strategist has a type of stability the Individualist did not have, in that he can see the relativity of all positions, but despite the shifting nature of life is still able make choices in the moment that are in tune with the demands of that moment. And, as the epitome of an integrated self, the Strategist can simultaneously maintain stable and respectful boundaries between self and others while at the same time connect with others as fellow human beings in the journey of life.
The Strategist fully sees the self and its complex relationships with the rest of the world. He is able to understand and work with the shifting complexity of the multiple interconnected systems that make up his life. Instead of passively throwing up his hands at the paradoxical and constantly shifting relativity inherent in reality, as did the Individualist, he is able in any given moment to find a small spot on which to stand temporarily in order to take practical action in that moment–despite the fact that in the next moment the situation will likely shift.
The Strategist realizes that there are multiple ways of seeing the world, as did the Individualist, but the Strategist does not see all perspectives as equal. Some are better: they are more practical, more in tune with his values, his integrity, or the demands of the situation–even though what is “better” might possibly change in the next moment.
The Strategist, in addition to having mastered logical thinking, rationality, and cause and effect, also utilizes other forms of information, including dreams, the wisdom of his body, and intuition. And though his individual boundaries are solid, he feels deeply connected to the rest of humanity, seeing that beyond the limitless variations we’re also alike in fundamental ways.
Unitive or Transcendent
-Magician
The Magician shares these achievements, but takes them further, expressing them and utilizing them from a different sort of center. Instead of a separate “me” encapsulated in the body, the Magician’s center is larger, more expanded. He still has a sense of an individual self, but has begun to see (and feel) it as more of an abstraction, a construct, an idea, than as an solid or intrinsic reality. Though one perspective through which the world can be viewed, the subject/object, “me/not-me” distinction seems confining and no longer represents his full experience of reality.
As Susanne Cook-Greuter puts it, the Magician realizes that “…the 'ego' has functioned both as a central processing unit for stimuli and as a central point of reference and self-identity. Once they realize this fundamental egocentricity, it is felt as a constraint to further growth and understanding. Magicians start to wonder about the meaningfulness of more and more complex thought structures and integrations such as can be imagined with a fifth or nth person perspective. They start to realize the absurdity or automatic limits of human map making in the representational domain.”
In other words, the ego at this stage has become transparent to itself. The final knowledge of the self sought by the Strategist is now seen to be impossible, because the self is now seen for what it is: a construct, an idea, a way of structuring reality, but not as a real “thing”–just as the border between the US and Canada is just a useful, but imaginary, line. Instead of the self being experienced solely in the individual organism, as in the previous developmental stages, there are now moments when it seems to include everything, the entire universe (an experience more fully integrated in the next developmental stage, the Ironist).
This is more than just a new way of thinking. It is, rather, a new experience of self that includes the previous experience of a separate self while adding not just a knowledge of one’s connection to everything else, but the actual experience of those connections as the self.
Part of this shift is due to the Magician’s insight that language, with its bias toward separate ”subjects” who then do something to other separate “objects,” along with social conditioning and mental map-making, are attempts to freeze or pin down an always-moving, infinitely complex, constantly unfolding multidimensional process into static and enduring things. These conditioned habits are seen for what they are: useful, perhaps, in order to navigate the world, but confining and illusion-creating.
The Magician begins to see that all the things humans do to mentally construct an enduring separate self are nothing more than attempts to make sense of the impermanence of human existence and to defend against the fear and self-doubt this create–a resistance to the reality of the human predicament. On the other hand, he also acknowledging that doing so is a normal reaction to that predicament. The Magician sees the enormity of the existential paradox–and sees that there is no way out of it–but does not judge others for their attempts to come to terms with it.
(Eventually, in the highest developmental stages, in a small number of individuals, there is a complete surrender to this human predicament, to the fact that life is impermanent, and does involve suffering no matter what we do. This surrender is not unlike that of a person with a terminal illness who final comes to peace with his situation and thereafter radiates an equanimity that dramatically affects all those with whom he comes into contact.)
Being less identified with the separate self, the Magician no longer feels the need to defend it. This gives rise to a new spontaneity and a new sense of freedom. It may also cause others to see him as flaky or ungrounded if they take seriously what the Magician now sees as merely mental constructs. Since they have deconstructed what so many others take as truth and reality and few others see the world as they do, Magicians can often feel isolated from others.
We’ve noted that the Strategist has reached the highest level of rational meaning-making viewed from the perspective of a separate self. The Magician, having reached this peak, now begins to see through his own meaning-making. He sees the inherent contradictions in rational subject/object-based thought and the construction of more and more complex maps of reality. For the Magician, the map clearly is NOT the same as the territory. No map can remotely contain what it seeks to represent, and the Magician’s experience of reality has outstripped the ability of any map to contain or even come close to representing it.
The Magician has, for instance, become keenly aware that all rational map-making (including that underlying the mental creation of a separate self) involves the splitting of all processes and ideas into mutually exclusive polar opposites (good/bad, here/there, having/not having, buying/selling, up/down, life/death, etc.). It becomes increasingly obvious that this dualistic way of looking at the world fails to take into account, first of all, the arbitrary nature of all these divisions, and the fact that each pair of opposites arise together and depend upon each other (both sides of the polarity are defined in terms of the other). It becomes clear to the Magician that human unhappiness is largely the result of the tensions creates as the world is arbitrarily parsed into appropriate and inappropriate.
Partly for this reason, Magicians seek to undo the tethers they feel to the rational mind, to subject/object thinking, to unconscious conditioned responses, to social conditioning, and to the pseudo-reality imposed by language. They create this disidentification through close observation of their own emotional and mental processing. As they watch, they begin to realize that their processing behavior is largely a defense–a futile attempt to permanently pin things down as a way of denying the impermanence of the embodied self.
The Individualist and the Strategist, then, are able to see through social conditioning, while the Magician sees through the predicament of the entire human situation. This is a shocking realization, and Magicians often feel a deep existential angst until (and unless) they surrender–like the terminally ill person above–to what they have discovered. Unfortunately this surrender generally does not happen until the next developmental level.
There are two changes in perspective that contribute to the shift from a locus of control and experience centered in the separate, embodied self, and toward a more expanded self beyond the ego and the body. First, in gaining distance from the internal processes underlying the Magician’s personal ”story” and his map of reality, the Magician sees that what he thought was “reality” is really just one of an infinite number of possible (self-created) realities. If what he always thought was reality isn’t reality, then what is? This ability to see his own map-making enlarges the search for meaning to realms beyond the separate self and its rational meaning-making.
Second, this new ability to witness internal processes previously identified as ”me” can sometimes lead to spontaneous experiences of the transcendent, where knower and known, subject and object merge, and the personal, limited self disappears.
Watching the ego’s stream of thoughts and feelings, but without becoming involved in them or trying to do anything about them (”watching thoughts go by like clouds in the sky”) creates freedom from the ego’s constant efforts at control and its moment-by-moment creation of a separate self. But once the Magician stops to “admire his work” or evaluate and analyze these experiences, he pops the still-fragile Oneness balloon. One of the characteristics of this stage is an ability to visit the transcendent, but without being able to reside there permanently. Giving up a separate self with which we’ve identified for so long, and which we’ve so strongly relied upon to make sense of our life, is difficult, and seeing the Promised Land without being able to move in is frustrating for the Magician.
When a full disidentification with the illusory separate self does happen to a human being, it isn’t the result of intentional actions. Ken Wilber has said, with tongue in cheek, that experiences of the transcendent are accidental, but that meditation makes one “more accident prone.” A permanent dropping of the separate self is in the same category–when it happens, it is an accident, but if one develops the expanded perspective that allows deconstruction of the separate self, one becomes more accident prone. Ironically, using the self to try to drop the self just reinforced the very thing we’re trying to get rid of.
Magicians can feel alone in the world, as there are few others like them and few with whom they can share their experience and perspective of life. As a result, Magicians sometimes see themselves as “better” than others. At the same time, they appreciate that others have their own ways of making sense of life, giving them a greater tolerance for the points of view of others even while seeing the limitations of that point of view. Dealing with so much complexity, and so many paradoxes inherent in life, Magicians can sometimes feel nostalgic for the days when their perspective and their way of understanding life was simpler. If they have trouble coming to terms with the realizations they’ve had about the human condition, Magicians can become depressed.
With a highly developed view of his own past ways of meaning-making, the Magician is the first developmental level with a wide enough perspective to fully see, understand, and empathize with the existential situation of those at previous developmental levels, to appreciate the developmental strategies of others. This wider perspective also allows them to adopt strategies from previous levels where such strategies would be resourceful. This puts them in an ideal position to provide skillful and empathetic mentoring or coaching. Magicians are able, for instance, to meet the power plays of Opportunists with their own power in a way that those at previous levels could not. Having a lower need for ego gratification and an ability to put feelings of self-importance aside, they are often more effective in helping others than are Strategists.
The Magician is, in a way, a transitional stage in the sense that Magicians have one foot, or at least three or four toes, in the separate self, and the other foot in the transcendent. Or, you could say that the Magician experiences the self partly from the perspective of a separate, individual entity, centered inside (and identified with) the body/mind, and partly as the infinite connections linking that body/mind to the rest of the universe. The Magician has seen his ego for what it is–a mere map of reality, a construct, a way of seeing things, rather than something solid–but has not entirely transcended it. The separate self is no longer solidly real for the Magician, but it’s still a significant part of the Magician’s experience of life.
Unitives, though they still have a sense of being a center of awareness in a body, no longer experience themselves as a separate “me.” The separate me isn’t just an idea, a construct, a way of looking at things (as it is for the Magician, and to some degree for the Strategist and the Individualist). Now it is also felt and experienced as such. The Unitive’s felt sense has expanded to include the entire matrix of connections connecting everything in the universe in one universal ever-changing flow.
This is, quite obviously, an entirely new and different way of experiencing human existence and consciousness–a more cosmic or universal perspective. All the paradoxical aspects of existence are now integrated. Polar opposites, such as good and evil, being and not being, self and other, subject and object, existence and non-existence, are experienced without the sense of oppositional tension experienced by those at previous developmental perspectives. Instead, these seeming opposites are just part of the flow of how things are. In terms of time and space, the Unitive’s scale of perspective is infinite, taking in the passing of ages and, in terms of space and distance, the entire infinite universe.
The Unitive is able to take any previous developmental perspective or point of view and shift between perspectives and states of awareness effortlessly. All experiences–joy, grief, life, death, being, not being, pleasure, pain, having, not having–are seen as natural parts of the flow of existence, to be noticed and experienced as they are. The rational mind is not seen as a limitation (as it was by the Magician) but rather as just another manifestation of being human–sometimes useful and allowed to be more prominent, and at other times not needed and allowed to recede into the background.
The Unitive is able, then, to cherish all humans as part of the grand dance and flow of the universe, not needing others to be different than they are. “Higher” stages of development are no longer seen as “better.” Rather, all stages are necessary, interconnected, and always-changing aspects of the human condition.
The Unitive sees himself in similar terms–he has no need to be a certain way and therefore accepts himself in a non-controlling way. Though he may have many achievements, he sees their insignificance in the grand scheme of things. At the same time, he sees that his contribution to the universe is an essential part of the whole–as is the contribution of every other person, animal, plant, rock, or piece of dust. His humility and grace, however, isn’t so much the result of a decision to be that way as it is a natural and spontaneous expression of his perspective. The Unitive truly sees the bigger picture, which allows him to “play” full out without attachment to what does or does not happen.
The Unitive’s perspective is one of non-ego-involved witnessing, moment-by-moment awareness, and resourceful responses to the infinite number of systems and variables swirling around him–including all the conflicting needs, paradoxes, and constantly shifting realities of the situation. He is no longer identified with a certain “me,” a certain role or identity. He spontaneously takes on whatever persona is necessary in order to catalyze others or in some other way be appropriate to the moment. His concern is quite often outside of what most people would consider his own individual interests–a concern often expressed as an unconditional love for humanity.
The Magician has a highly developed ability to “trust the process” of whatever is going on. The Unitive’s low identification with the separate self and his greater identification with the rest of humanity further elevates this trust–of the way things are, where they are going, and what can and “should” be done–to an even higher (and more selfless) level. To the Unitive, there is an awareness that on an ultimate level everything is happening in a perfect way, even including the fact that the world contains much suffering and many problems. These problems, and any addressing of them, are just parts of the dance, parts of the endless going on of it all.
This is reflected in the Buddhist perspective of the bodhisattva–the awakened being who vows to stay in the world until all beings have been similarly liberated.
The Unitive sees happiness and unhappiness as part of the necessary, temporary (and endless) fluctuations inherent in the human situation. Instead of seeing life in a dualistic way, where some things are appropriate and desirable while others are inappropriate and undesirable, the Unitive experiences the world as a place where all opposites ”arise together” and “go together”–in any polarity each side implies (and needs) the other. Up needs (and is defined by) down, here needs there, life needs death, good needs evil, and so on. Positive and negative are seen–and experienced–as mental constructs, as ideas, rather than as innate or intrinsic characteristics of things, events, or people. The Unitive watches as positive turns to negative and back to positive, endlessly–and necessarily. This is, indeed, a totally new and different way of experiencing the world.
Because Unitives don’t seem to be as engaged in the goals, pursuits, and concerns of the rest of humanity, some–particularly Experts, Achievers, and even Strategists–may see them as being more distant from the world. This, however, is a mischaracterization. The Unitive merely sees the perfection of all aspects of the universe. This includes his own motivation to intervene in some cases and his contrasting motivation to leave things alone in others.
Unitives serve to catalyze others just by showing up. Their way of being in the world provides a spontaneous challenge to the perspective of others and demonstrates an alternative way of being in the world. Their ability to see others as whole, their tendency to interact in non-demanding ways, and their effortless comfort and inner security about being human often has a subtle but profound effect on others.
Unitives have a completely internalized transpersonal morality, independent of any particular societal standards or rules. Naturally being in the moment, they decide what is right by intuition. Conflicting impulses or external demands are simply part of life and need not be resolved, only witnessed. If a response is needed, it happens.
The Unitive feels no need to be this or that, to achieve this or that, or to be in this or that state. He may act to be something or achieve something, but this is just ”what happens” rather than the result of a need to get somewhere. This seemingly passive attitude, however, in its in-the-moment spontaneity, actually allows the Unitive to take powerful, effective, direct action. It’s as if, in not identifying with a separate self, the universe acts through the Unitive. Buddhists describe this by saying that doing happens, but there is no doer (the implication being that there are no separate doers, and that the real doer is the whole).
The Unitive sees all words, mental maps, representations, theories, meanings, divisions, and boundaries as mere constructs–ideas about the world, rather than the world itself. Instead, reality is experienced as a living, flowing, interconnected continuum, a unified field of possibilities existing now, and only now. At the same time, though, the Unitive sees that words, maps, representations, theories, meanings, divisions, and boundaries are essential aspects of human meaning-making.
Because the peak experiences so strongly sought after by those at previous developmental levels are readily available to the Unitive, these experiences no longer have the extraordinary and often startling quality they have for those at other perspectives. They are one more part of being human, happening in time and then passing away–another wave rising, then falling.
As you might imagine, the Unitive lives in the now moment. He sees that even planning for the future or learning from the past happens in the present moment. Being in the now moment happens naturally because the Unitive isn’t focused on regrets or hurts from the past, nor is he hoping for something better in the future. Paradoxically, the Unitive looks at the universe from an expanded time frame that includes all past and future time–while never leaving the present moment (from the Unitive’s perspective, that’s really all there is–past and future are ideas, not realities).
The Unitive’s stable awareness of the now allows him to see things as they are, without the added meanings created by the mind–though when it serves his purpose he can use ideas, concepts, and mental maps as useful tools. He sees these things for what they are–often useful mental constructs about reality, but not the reality itself.
Life to the Unitive is a temporary eye-blink of separation from the ground of being from which all things emerge. And, the Unitive is aware that this separation, this taking of a human form, is a choice. (Zen master Genpo Roshi speaks of the awakened person as ”the one who chooses to be a human being.”) To the Unitive this separation from the ultimate ground of being, and the creation of a enduring separate self, are illusions used to safeguard the ego’s need for permanence and to defend it against the fear of death.
Unitives have transcended such narrow and limiting ego boundaries. They notice but are not preoccupied with whatever enters their awareness. Their perspective is that of the witness. This is a watching, more effortless than ordinary willed focus, in which there is awareness but not necessarily an awareness of anything. This is sometimes referred to as pure consciousness, awareness without content. The Unitive notices whatever enters his field of attention, but everything receives equal attention and awareness, and nothing is judged as better or worse, or more or less appropriate. The Unitive, therefore, has an open, non-grasping and non-judging experience of life.
The Unitive sees his life’s work as a natural outcome of his participation in the flux and flow of the whole. He cares about the problems of humanity, even while he sees their perfection, and works for fairness, justice, and benevolence toward all. Magicians and Strategies see themselves as masters of their souls, but the Unitive sees this control of life as both illusory and unnecessary. All outcomes, all ways of thinking, feeling, behaving, or being are part of the flow and all are equally valuable. Whatever happens just is. Even not-being is valuable. This is a way of looking at life difficult for those from other perspectives to understand.
The full range of beingness is available to the Unitive. In one moment he can be serious and in the next, playful. He can be personal or global, simple or complex, serene or active, rational or transcendent, sublime or silly. He can also be sad or angry, or exhibit any other human expression. As you might imagine, only a small number of people live from this perspective.