The 7 Levels of Wisdom

Subtitled 'a path to fulfilment,' this lucid study highlights the central importance in human life of acquiring wisdom and evolving to a higher and deeper level of consciousness. If anything, this task has become even more important in contributing to widespread awakening at a time when we are immersed in and manipulated by a constant stream of social engineering propaganda and superficial stress-inducing distractions designed to keep us 'asleep and compliant.' The author maintains that 'sovereignty with an increased level of consciousness is the only solution to the current chaos and degradation.' Without a transformation of perspective, values and ways of life, we are heading for collapse. Instead, we must choose wisdom and compassion, where real wisdom is defined as 'the application of knowledge, intelligence, experience, and creativity aligned with values towards achieving a common good.' (p. 10)

The first chapter gives a very good definition of the characteristics of wisdom, which was the philosophical focus of the ancient Greeks before philosophy became absorbed with propositions, positions and arguments. The author puts the development of wisdom within overall schemes of the evolution of consciousness, including the work of Erikson, Jung, Kegan, Piaget and Maslow. The differentiation between pre-conventional, conventional and post-conventional (pp. 46-7) is an important one, with fewer and fewer individuals reaching the higher stages. The seven levels of the title are clearly articulated: conformist, expert, achiever, individualist, strategist (3%), alchemist (1%), and finally unitive (.05%). The longest section explains spirituality as the passport, with chapters on transcendence and the spiritual dimension, spiritual experiences, spiritual intelligence, spiritual bypass, awakening, the role of meditation and how to exit from the matrix. Here, there is also sound practical advice on how to get started and reach 'graduation.'

The next part is structured around five main keys: disidentification with the ego, compassion, seeing perfection in everything, service as an instrument of evolution, and being mindful. It is clear that the author is drawing on her own extensive and profound experience of embodied understanding and commitment to practice. Surrender and service go together along with humility in recognising ourselves as microcosms of the universal mind that constitutes our fundamental essence (p. 69). There is no shortcut to human maturation and the transcendence of ego and destructive impulses – it is a daily and lifelong path and ultimately a necessity at a collective level in terms of enlightened and selfless leadership: 'you realise that you are everything you ever aspire to be. You are consciousness itself and everything is part of it too.' An inspiring guide to the inner journey and its outer implications moving towards was Ervin Laszlo calls The Great Upshift.