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The History of Integral Teachings: Volume I
The History of the Integral Teachings, Volume One is a carefully revised, colorfully illustrated collection of Oscar Ichazo’s Teachings from 1982 to 1998. In this period of time Ichazo took the Arica School from the basic Teachings of the 1970s into the Work of the Higher States of Consciousness. In his scholarly commentaries, Ichazo presents inspiring information about the transformative clarification processes and meditational practices that lead to the State of Enlightenment.
712 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 16, 2023
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About the author
Oscar Ichazo
74 books21 followersÓscar Ichazo was an early developer of the Enneagon or Enneagram of personality, and founded the Arica School in 1968.
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April 27, 2024
After 14 years of oral lectures, in 1982 Ichazo began publishing articles about Integral Philosophy. He has reformulated the ancient teachings on Universal Truths from a philosophical perspective that integrates them with scientific knowledge about the biological structure of the human organism. This is a 42-chapter book that presents in chronological order a large number of articles written by Ichazo on a wide range of topics from 1982-1998. My purpose here is not to summarize the entire book, but to focus on one aspect: spiritual tantras for the union between what is finite (an individual human life) and what is infinite (the Divine Mind). Ichazo provides introductory material about tantra in two short books: A Commentary on Tantra, and A Commentary on Crazy Wisdom, and in this book he gives a great deal of information about what tantra is, as well the tantra that he developed and how it relates to traditional tantras. Many of these articles were originally written for the practitioners he was instructing on how to meditate, so I wanted to write a guide for those interested in tantra but not already familiar with the meditations that Ichazo has presented.
Chapter 13, “The Great Telesmatta Highest Rituals of Completion”, is a long relatively self-contained article that gives detailed comparisons between the Ichazo’s method of tantra (“the Great Telesmatta”) and the traditional tantras of the Hindu, Jain, Bon and Buddhist traditions. One of the aspects of the Great Telesmatta that makes it a totally new concept is that it does not have a sexual component, and instead stabilizes vital energy through meditation and contemplation. Another aspect is that the Great Telesmatta incorporates modern knowledge of anatomy and physiology, giving a new understanding for the “nadis” (psychic channels) of traditional tantras. This chapter has a table comparing the stages of the Integral System with those of Ashtanga Yoga, Tantrika Laya Yoga and Highest Yoga Tantra.
Tantrism requires preliminary practices, and descriptions of these for the Great Telesmatta begin with Chapter 3 “Spiritual Realm Preparation.” Chapters 4-9 describe the preliminary practices of the Golden Eye meditations, and chapter 29 describes the Fire Ritual. Tantric practices involve visualization of deities, which are figures that represent specific aspects of the Divine Mind. Chapter 23, “The Ultimate Guardian” describes how deity practices involve empathetical understanding by use of a synthetic figure that proposes a path to transcendence. The chapter describes the meaning of this particular deity, as well as of the mandala that the deity is placed in. It also describes the moral foundation of the practice, which is rooted in the existential crisis that our species faces and the resulting need for action to save the ecosystem. Chapter 37, “The Telegnostic Guardian”, gives a description of a deity which represents the Immovable Mind that is important in both tantrism and Zen. Chapter 42, “The Divine Mind”, describes another deity which represents the State of Transcendence and the 8 Divine Principles of Negative Theology and their culmination in the 9th Divine Principle of All-Consciousness.
Chapter 31, “Mandala Embodiment” explains that in the Integral System the structure of mandala is connected to the anatomy of the human body. Chapter 36, “Review of the Great Telesmatta” includes a detailed comparison with five of the Anuttarayoga tantras of Buddhism. Chapter 40, “Divine Nature”, describes the 9 stages of the most advanced tantric practices in the Telesmatta of Truth, which is the first of the four Telesmattas.
There are many approaches one could take to reading this massive tome. Starting at the beginning and reading the chapters in order is an excellent approach, but for some it may feel overwhelming. For this reason, I have pointed out some key chapters on tantra. After reading those chapters it may be easier to see how other parts of the book also relate to the themes in these chapters. For example, Chapter 2 introduces the 5 Divine Minds that are referred to in the chapters on tantra, and Chapter 3 relates the 5 Divine Minds to the biological structure of the human body.
Chapter 13, “The Great Telesmatta Highest Rituals of Completion”, is a long relatively self-contained article that gives detailed comparisons between the Ichazo’s method of tantra (“the Great Telesmatta”) and the traditional tantras of the Hindu, Jain, Bon and Buddhist traditions. One of the aspects of the Great Telesmatta that makes it a totally new concept is that it does not have a sexual component, and instead stabilizes vital energy through meditation and contemplation. Another aspect is that the Great Telesmatta incorporates modern knowledge of anatomy and physiology, giving a new understanding for the “nadis” (psychic channels) of traditional tantras. This chapter has a table comparing the stages of the Integral System with those of Ashtanga Yoga, Tantrika Laya Yoga and Highest Yoga Tantra.
Tantrism requires preliminary practices, and descriptions of these for the Great Telesmatta begin with Chapter 3 “Spiritual Realm Preparation.” Chapters 4-9 describe the preliminary practices of the Golden Eye meditations, and chapter 29 describes the Fire Ritual. Tantric practices involve visualization of deities, which are figures that represent specific aspects of the Divine Mind. Chapter 23, “The Ultimate Guardian” describes how deity practices involve empathetical understanding by use of a synthetic figure that proposes a path to transcendence. The chapter describes the meaning of this particular deity, as well as of the mandala that the deity is placed in. It also describes the moral foundation of the practice, which is rooted in the existential crisis that our species faces and the resulting need for action to save the ecosystem. Chapter 37, “The Telegnostic Guardian”, gives a description of a deity which represents the Immovable Mind that is important in both tantrism and Zen. Chapter 42, “The Divine Mind”, describes another deity which represents the State of Transcendence and the 8 Divine Principles of Negative Theology and their culmination in the 9th Divine Principle of All-Consciousness.
Chapter 31, “Mandala Embodiment” explains that in the Integral System the structure of mandala is connected to the anatomy of the human body. Chapter 36, “Review of the Great Telesmatta” includes a detailed comparison with five of the Anuttarayoga tantras of Buddhism. Chapter 40, “Divine Nature”, describes the 9 stages of the most advanced tantric practices in the Telesmatta of Truth, which is the first of the four Telesmattas.
There are many approaches one could take to reading this massive tome. Starting at the beginning and reading the chapters in order is an excellent approach, but for some it may feel overwhelming. For this reason, I have pointed out some key chapters on tantra. After reading those chapters it may be easier to see how other parts of the book also relate to the themes in these chapters. For example, Chapter 2 introduces the 5 Divine Minds that are referred to in the chapters on tantra, and Chapter 3 relates the 5 Divine Minds to the biological structure of the human body.
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