The next element, stages of consciousness, typically defines milestones of growth and development. The difference between states and stages is that states are temporary, while stages are permanent.

Once you have reached a particular stage or level of development and acquired the essential components of that stage, you keep them. Concretely, examples of this notion might consider language or motor skills, but they also speak to the less tangible stuff of ethics, awareness, and intelligence, etc.

How do we define stages of development? Well, there are many different models, all of which are useful. There is the 10 stage operational model of Piaget, the 7 stage model of the Chakra system, the 5 stage logic model of James Mark Baldwin, the 5 stage anthropological model of Jean Gebser, the 16 stages of Plotinus and on and on. There is even the 5 stage Great Chain of Being model that is part of the title of this article.

The point here is that all of these models are coincident, commensurate and overlapping. What separates them is our personal viewpoint (a Yogi speaks about chakras, a child psychologist about operational markers), the language that describes the model, and the degree of discrimination that the model employs. One model that we have already discussed here is the very simple 3 stage notion suggesting development involves an egocentric stage (I, me, mine), an ethnocentric stage (us) and a geocentric stage (all of us).

The next element to consider is what we can call lines. This is a simple way of referring to skill sets and abilities. The most poignant description of this concept comes from Howard Gardner and his description of multiple intelligences.

Lines, or intelligences, are defined by degree of ability - I'm good at this, not so good at that. A classically trained ballerina has great kinesthetic intelligence, but her lability and volatile temperament would point to poor emotional intelligence (OK, I'm stereotyping - sue me). A successful businessman possesses highly developed social intelligence, but his ruthless tactics point to a lack of moral intelligence, and so on.

The next element to consider is type, which is most simply described as masculine and feminine. All of the previous elements - states, stages, and lines - possess a masculine and feminine aspect or voice.

Let's go back to our ballerina - her kinesthetic intelligence has a masculine voice (athleticism, power, projection), her artistry has a feminine voice (introspective, soft), her emotional intelligence has a masculine voice (aggressive), etc. An even more comprehensive conceptualization of type can be found through models like those described by the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory or Enneagram.

So, how does it all fit together? We map this using a quadrant model that includes four sections - I, We, It and Its. ‘I' refers to our conscious self - the ‘I' that is ‘Me" - with all of our sensations, perceptions, conceptualizations, rules and ideas about the way the world works. ‘We' is the collective version of this same thing - the ethnocentric and sociocentric progression that comes out of the egocentric ‘I'.

‘It' is the subjective experience of ‘I' and ‘We' - a sort of outside-looking-in perspective. Imagine being outside yourself and seeing all the component stuff that makes you, you...atoms, molecules, neurological system, brain, etc. The ‘Its', again, is this in the collective and, again, from a social perspective - groups, tribes, societies, etc.

So, that's nice, but it's just another model, albeit a comprehensive integral model. How is it useful? By taking this map and using it as a lens through which to view ourselves and our world, we can define areas of strength, weakness, balance and imbalance providing us with a template for maximizing our potential.

If we look first at the stages of consciousness and, using whatever scale we think works best, figure out where we are, we can then cross-reference that with our intelligences and see what tools we have available to us, and where we need work.

Let's use the Chakra system as a starting point. The first chakra (muladhara chakra) is associated with the physical level of development and adaptation of the organism to physical needs such as food, survival, and safety, etc. The second chakra (swadisthana chakra) is associated with the development of feelings, emotions and sexuality. The third chakra (manipura chakra) speaks to the emergence of the logical mind and socio-emotional perspective that is associated with adolescent development (and, hopefully, the generation of the ethnocentric perspective).

The fourth and fifth chakras (anahata chakra and vishuddha chakra, respectively) are associated with the development of higher levels of consciousness (like the movement from ethnocentric to geocentric thinking), while the sixth and seventh chakras (ajna chakra and sahasrara chakra, respectively) are associated with the development of soul and spirit (a la the Great Chain of Being model) and the connection to the highest (transpersonal) states of consciousness and spirituality.

Most of us get stuck bouncing around between the 3rd and 4th chakras, caught in adolescent patterns of behavior that emerge from a fundamentally egocentric point of view. If we want to move away from these patterns, we can take a look at our intelligences and see how to employ them, or develop them further, to support that progression.

Let's break intelligences or lines down into kinesthetic (body), cognitive (mind), social (ethnocentric/sociocentric), emotional, psychosexual and moral. Where do you think you land with regard to these various elements? Now, compare that against the level of consciousness scale and what happens? What if we were to consider a more concrete example -- arguing with our spouse, or partner.

If we are stuck at the 3rd chakra - bouncing around between an egocentric and ethnocentric point of view - it's very likely that, when confronted, we will circle the wagons and take a position. This betrays a poorly developed social intelligence and, depending on how we interact - calmly, with agitation, yelling, hitting - it presents us with a point of reference for our emotional intelligence.

Now, let's say that we want to work on our communication. We may learn some skills that help us to see another person's point of view - solidifying our ethnocentric level of development and keeping us from back sliding into a lesser stage - and we may work on being more sensitive to the needs and expectations of our spouse or partner, upping our social and emotional intelligence. Our communication changes, our relationship changes - our worldview changes.

This excites us and, the next time we're at the bookstore, we happen to pick up a copy of Chopra's "The Book of Secrets" or Freston's "Quantum Wellness", or even Covey's "7 Habits of Highly Effective People". We start to listen more. We become more active in the community. We get a dog. We plant a garden. We become more introspective, or more generous, or more considerate, or more socially conscious. Whatever. We evolve.

Lo and behold, we are moving up the chakra ladder (advancing our developmental stages) and developing our intelligences as we go! Suddenly our relationship to ourselves, our work, and our world begins to evolve as we explore and explode our hidden and dormant potentials.

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Tags: chakra, chakra system, chakras, consensus agreement, deep sleep, development, epistemologies, fingers and toes, integral, integral vision, james mark baldwin, logic model, meditative states, operational model, peak experiences, plotinus, predictable fashion, sacred texts, soul and spirit, stage model, stages, stages of consciousness, states of consciousness, theories of human development, thigh bones