Rev Dr Ian Mavor

Presenter/Workshop Leader

Rev Dr Ian Mavor, OAM, FACE is minister of the Uniting Church in Australia, Ian is currently Executive Director of Hopewell Hospice Services based on the Gold Coast.

Presentation

Higher, Wider, Deeper “An Evolving 'Pilgrim's Progress" guided by Ken Wilber's Integral Map

In reviewing my own journey, I am aware of how much benefit I find in having a good 'map' to guide my practice. One way of considering Wilber's work is as a Cartographer of Consciousness, rather like the mapmakers who took the charts of the early voyagers and linked their partial analyses into a larger picture. The component parts had an important contribution to make, and the larger map showed how the parts fitted together.

From his first book on The Spectrum of Consciousness (1977), through to his current writings, Wilber has been showing the relationships between Eastern and Western ideas and practices, and between the insights of the scientific and the spiritual traditions. In developing this research, he has become the most widely translated academic writer in America, with all of his books still in print and with 25 books translated into some 30 foreign languages. As the first philosopher-psychologist to have his Collected Works published while still alive, he is an internationally acknowledged leader and the pre-eminent scholar of the Integral stage of human development, which continues to gather momentum around the world.

In his recent works, Wilber has been stressing the benefits of having an Integral Life Practice. This is akin to the emphasis of the religious and spiritual traditions of the need to have an ongoing practice that promotes development through the stages of spiritual growth. The book Integral Life Practice: A 21st Century Blueprint for Physical Health, Emotional Balance, Mental Clarity and Spiritual Awakening was published in 2008. It provides a model for drawing on and integrating a wide range of practices to assist healthy growth towards wholeness (holiness). The practices suggested for the Core Modules promote care of Body, Mind, Spirit and Shadow. Other Auxiliary Modules relate to Ethics, Sexuality, Work, Emotions and Relationships.

Wilber notes that traditional religious practices such as meditation have tended to repress the 'shadow' aspects of human nature, with unhealthy consequences, whereas Integral Life Practice incorporates insights from modern psychology as well as more traditional activities. With the word “living” given a prominent place in the Conference Theme, the presentation can indicate ways in which Wilber's Integral Life Practice might help in 'Living the Progressive Religion Dream.

From an integral perspective, Wilber challenges the religious traditions to provide a 'conveyor belt' to assist development through all these levels. This is in contrast to their tendency to give almost exclusive emphasis to mythic, pre-modern worldviews, even when some 25% of the population are at the modern level or beyond. At the same time, he challenges the tendency of some progressive developmental levels to denigrate, deconstruct or demythologise their earlier stages, which can make progress more difficult for those still moving through those stages.

About Rev Dr Ian Mavor

Rev Dr Ian Mavor, OAM, FACE is minister of the Uniting Church in Australia, Ian is currently Executive Director of Hopewell Hospice Services based on the Gold Coast. In addition to the residential Hospice, the Paradise Kids program provides support for children dealing with grief, loss and illness, and their families. Hopewell's services include Clare College of Transformative Education, a Living Well Centre and the outreach programs Paradise Kids 4 Africa and Paradise Kids for Asia.

In his calling to ministry, Ian was touched by the message of ii Corinthians 5: 18 - that we are entrusted with a ministry of reconciliation, and he has found expression for that theme in each phase of life. This includes reconciliation of body, mind and spirit, reconciliation of people and their ideas, reconciliation with the natural world, and of the human with the transcendent.

After training to be a physical education teacher, Ian entered the Methodist ministry in 1960. During his theological education, he was introduced to modern perspectives on biblical scholarship, as well as being enriched by the open discussions stimulated through involvement in the Student Christian Movement.

In parish ministry and as Deputy Principal of the Methodist Training College and Bible School in Brisbane, he became interested in religious education in schools, and went to New York to complete a Doctorate in Education at Teachers College, Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary, with specialisation in curriculum theory applied to religion and education. There he was introduced to post-modern perspectives and the social construction of reality.

For ten years, he worked for Education Queensland as leader of a Religious Education Curriculum Project, while also being involved in church activities and training programs in human relationships and counselling. Then he was Master of King's College within the University of Queensland, as well as serving as Dean of the Brisbane College of Theology and Chair of the Curriculum Committee.

During these years he was introduced to the concepts of Process Work developed by Arnold Mindell, and to the writings of integral philosopher, Ken Wilber, with both having been of continuing interest and influence.

He returned to Education Queensland as Principal Education Officer (Health and Personal Development), with responsibility for aspects of the curriculum that relate to students as persons. During this time, Ian and his present wife, Deirdre Hanna, were involved in the founding of Hopewell.

Ian then became Executive Director of Lifeline Gold Coast, leading that church-linked charity through a period of considerable growth, as well as helping the expansion of Hopewell's programs, particularly its educational activities. For over 10 years, this has included a monthly meeting for 'Explorations in Spirituality and Worship,which has been a support venue for people having difficulty finding a faith community that fits their developing consciousness.

As well as being a Fellow of the Australian College of Educators, Ian has been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM). The citation said the award was for service to the community through a range of church, social welfare, education and health groups.