Editing Spiritual evolution (section)

==Stage theory==
The idea of a spiritual evolution finds contemporary expression in a number of [[Stage theory|stage theories]], inspired by Sri Aurobindo, Jean Gebser, and Piaget, among others. In these models, human development, both individual and collectively, is conceptualized as going through a number of structural stages, from the primitive psychophysical genesis to the full-grown rational, cognitive and moral abilities, and beyond to transpersonal stages in which unconscious drives are fully recognized and integrated, and the sense of a separate identity is loosened or abandoned.

===Jean Gebser===
{{Main|Jean Gebser}}

===Spiral dynamics===
{{Unreferenced section|date=August 2015}}
{{See also|James W. Fowler|Jean Gebser}}

An interpretation of social and psychological development that could also be considered a theory of spiritual evolution is [[spiral dynamics]], based on the work of [[Clare W. Graves]]. Spiral Dynamics posits a series of stages through which human's cultural development progresses&nbsp;– from a survival-based hunter-gatherer stage to a magical-tribal-agrarian stage to a city-building-invading stage to a mythic-religious-empire stage to a rational-scientific-capitalist stage to a green-holistic-inclusive stage and then ascending to a second tier where all the previous stages are contemplated and integrated and a third transpersonal tier where a spiritual unity or Omega point is eventually reached, which all the other stages are struggling to embody. He feels that individuals in each of the meme-plexes/stages can ascend to the peak of consciousness&nbsp;– these being the prophets, visionaries and leaders of any region/age.

===Ken Wilber===
More recently the concept of spiritual evolution has been given a sort of respectability it has not had since the early 19th century through the work of the [[Integral theory (Ken Wilber)|integral theorist]] [[Ken Wilber]], in whose writings both the cosmological and the personal dimensions are described. In this integral philosophy (inspired in part by the works of Plotinus, Hegel, Sri Aurobindo, Eric Jantsch, and many others) reality is said to consist of several realms or stages, including more than one of the following: the physical, the vital, the psychic, (after the Greek ''psyche'', "soul"), the causal (referring to "that which causes, or gives rise to, the manifest world"), and the ultimate (or non-dual), through which the individual progressively evolves. Although this schema is derived in large part from [[Tibetan Buddhism]], Wilber argues (and uses many tables of diagrams to show) that these same levels of being are common to all wisdom teachings. Described simplistically, Wilber sees humans developing through several stages, including [[Magic and religion|magic]], [[mythology|mythic]], pluralistic, and [[holism|holistic]] mentalities. But he also sees cultures as developing through these stages. And, much like Hegel, he sees this development of individuals and cultures ''as'' the evolution of existence itself. Wilber has also teamed up with [[Don Beck (management consultant)|Don Beck]] to integrate Spiral Dynamics into his own Integral philosophy, and vice versa.