AQAL—All Quadrants, All Levels (All Lines, All Types, All States)

Quadrants: a framework for organizing what we know.  The upper left quadrant (the I) is the individual interior, the upper right quadrant (the it) is the individual exterior, the lower left quadrant (the we) is the collective interior, and the lower right quadrant (the its) is the collective exterior.  All four aspects occur simultaneously.  For example:  I feel excited about the presentation I am about to make, my heart rate is elevated and I am moving faster than usual, I am interacting with my coworkers by telling jokes, and the office space is filling with visitors and the smell of coffee.  The four quadrants are experienced simultaneously.

Levels: the “altitude” of a person’s perspective.  Developmental stages evolve from earlier ones and generally move from egocentric to ethnocentric to worldcentric or preconventional to conventional to postconventional.  They transcend prior levels and include those levels. The process is similar to molecules including atoms but transcending them and then cells including atoms and molecules but transcending them.  Each level is a part/whole or a holon.  We tend to have a center of gravity and then operate above and below that center at least part of the time.

Lines: the aspects of an individual that develop relatively independently, such as cognition, morals, interpersonal abilities, kinesthetic sense, mathematical-logical abilities, musical abilities.  All of these can be at different levels of development and provide a picture of our strengths and weaknesses.

Types: characteristics that distinguish us no matter what level we are.  Types includes such things as gender, personality types, body types, eye and hair color, left or right handedness, temperaments, blood types.

States: temporary states of consciousness.  Some states of consciousness that everyone experiences include waking, dreaming sleep, and deep dreamless sleep.  Emotions are also states that are temporary.  Some states can be cultivated, such as meditative states, and can become permanent fixtures.

Mind Tools

This framework is content free and provides a way to ensure that we are taking as much into account as possible.  By using this context as a checklist, we can practice broadening and deepening our perspective.  

Copyright, Integral Connections 2011

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