Environmental Crisis: The Pressing Spiritual Challenge of Our Time

As the current environmental crisis is one of the pressing spiritual challenge of our times, what can be done to practically address this issue? A typical -- i.e., simplistic and non-integral -- answer goes something like this: “Get people to behave in an environmentally-friendly manner.” Ok, how? An Integral answer goes something like this: “Recognize the fact that people who are at an egocentric or ethnocentric level of development do not, and cannot, see or care about environmentalism. This is 70% of the world population. If you want to make a real difference in how the environment is treated, work to help people develop to worldcentric and integral levels of development, and equally important, elect and educate integral leaders who will implement policies everyone else will be obligated to follow.” Most pro-environment stances are crippled by the same flaw: they fail to recognize the absolutely crucial role interior development has in their cause. Will you let yourself be crippled by the same partial view, or will you embrace a truly Integral Approach? Listening to this dialogue is the perfect way to begin this contemplation.