Do you know the levels of consciousness and their colors?

Ken Wilber is an American author who has focused his works and studies on philosophy, mysticism, ecology and spiritual evolution. The result of his years of work gave rise to what he calls integral theory of consciousness. A theory that defends that human beings have different levels of consciousness and that this theory differentiates based on colors.

The basic idea, in Wilber’s terminology, would be that Human beings are not differentiated by their race or skin color, but by the state of consciousness in which they are found.. Always according to his theories, consciousness is not something static. On the contrary, it would actually be a spiral dynamic that is continually changing depending on the experiences lived.

Wilber’s integrative model is a spiral that differentiates two blocks: first-degree thinking or subsistence levels and second-degree thinking or levels of being and integral consciousness. The subsistence levels of consciousness would be six and the consciousness of being would be two more.. Each one would have its own color and particular characteristics. We are going to review Wilber’s first 6 levels of subsistence.

Beige color: archaic-institutional state

Is he basic survival state, dominated by biological impulsivity. It is a state where the senses rule; In it, the being is defined by the basic needs that it must cover.

The existence of these people is based on automatism and his thinking is directed instinctively. It occurs in the first human societies. Also in newborns and in older people who suffer from some type of degenerative disorder.

Purple color: magical-animistic state

At this level There is a magical world that fills the individual with security and harmony. There is already a distinction between good and evil. It is a state of security in which you are protected from the threatening environment.

Ambitious powers and spirits are fought with rituals and kinship ties, magic, beliefs and superstitions are important. It would be the level of consciousness of many ethnic tribes.

Red color: state of power gods

The world in this state is presented as a jungle where only the strong, the dominators, triumph. At this level the weak are at the service of the strong. Conquest, power and submission are promoted.

This turn of the spiral emerges from the previous one and does so through an “I” that is different from the group. A powerful, impulsive, egocentric and heroic personality. In the red state they still believe in magic, but mystical powers are associated with leaders.

Blue color: state of mystical order

It is a state in which order and stability would reign. Reality in this state would be controlled by a higher authority that would reward good deeds and punish evil.

The submission and acceptance of the norms are contemplated, normalized.. The explanation of the world comes from the hand of an all-powerful entity that controls everything. It is a characteristic state of Confucian China and in the orders of chivalry.

Orange color: status of scientific achievement

A state of pragmatic mentality that requires the achievement of results and advances in life. The “I” escapes the rest and decides to seek the truth on its own. From this state, The world is a perfectly adjusted machine that works based on laws of behavior. It would be the state of consciousness of the emerging middle class, of materialism and the search for the triumph of matter.

Green color: sensitive ego state

In this new state, humanity lives together in society and has common purposes. Consensus and social awareness are sought. This reality is based on community and the relationship of all human beings.

Dogma, greed and division have been extinguished. It is a state based on harmony and human potential development. Hierarchies have been overcome and the focus is on the spiritual. We find it reflected in post modernism.

The levels of being and integral consciousness

Always on the development of this thought of Wilber, it is possible to further update the state of the sensitive ego, the green one. This would make the leap to Second Degree thinking. At subsistence levels there is the characteristic of being independent of each other and are not integrated.

The states of Second Degree thought would be integrated and would not be exclusive. These two levels are known as integral consciousness. and they are yellow, the first, and turquoise, the second and last of the spiral.

Yellow color. Integrative state. In this state the integration of processes occurs. Chaos, change and uncertainty are considered acceptable states. Life revolves around flexibility, spontaneity and functionality. Egalitarianism is possible through the acceptance and understanding of the degrees of ordering.

Turquoise Color. holistic state. This is the state of thought that uses all the previous levels of the spiral to achieve unity. It is a holistic state that keeps intertwined forces in balance.

Integral theory and levels of consciousness

Wilber’s integral theory seeks a broader understanding of the human being. It refers to an awareness that integrates different perspectives. It would be something like a map of perspectives that organizes beliefs and values.

Ken Wilber, through this integrative model, believes that it could be avoid the catastrophic cultural disaster that the materialist vision of the world is causing by ignoring human potential and its achievements.

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