Diana Belotserkovskaya

Translated from Russian by Eugene Pustoshkin

Education is the initiation of a human being into his or her own innermost nature; the Force which originates in “an infinite potential-in-potentiality,” given to an individual at birth due to the nature of his or her origination from the unitive primordial principle, the infinite Force. Education plays a leading role in the evolution of humanity, fostering the flowering of the potential Force of the Higher Nature of each and every human being and their manifestations in the world.

Today education has lost the Human as a whole, replacing a human being with a personality substitute. By excluding knowledge of the whole, seven-fold nature of a human being, Higher Principles were thrown out. This led to an exclusion of the primary vehicle of self-development, the primary factor of human evolution, the education of Spirit. By keeping only the lower, material principles, the system of education, in its theory and practice, turned into a system of fostering false concepts and false teachings, therefore leaving generations upon generations at the doorstep of Spirit, but not letting them go in. This partial system of education that develops only the lower half of human nature became the “gatekeeper,” being an obstacle towards spirit’s movement, thereby preventing higher qualities of the Primordial World Energy—the energy of thought—from manifesting. This led to a vacuum in the spiritual and higher intellectual manifestation of humankind at large. The human creates his or her life with thought, where each and every applied thought is energy which evokes material form.

If nothing changes in the life of a human being, it means that thought is dualistic, reminiscent of two birds which fly from different nests and cannot join together. Dualistic thinking has no Force of Spirit, or Spiritual Power, no wholeness, and, hence, it cannot harmoniously fulfill life but can deform it by worsening or only partially fulfilling it, for each and every thought is a result of life and it evokes form. The initial condition which is necessary for improving life will be purity, purity transformed by love and compassion of the heart, which allows a human to be a guiding intermediary of Force and creator of one’s own life. Such a human being will have access to the Force of Spirit, to that upon which success of our exterior actions is dependent.

Only by going through the doorstep of Spirit, by discovering and revealing the Force of Higher Nature in oneself, does a human being become capable of manifesting It, bestowing the world with the unique combination of capacities and thereby transforming one’s own life and the life of others. Education is called to be in service of this transition, integrally developing the two origins of human nature, the material and the spiritual.

Education desperately needs new theory and practice, a new formation or wave of teachers with higher ethical authority who have the capacity to serve the common good, to wake up and develop driving forces for the evolution of humanity, to consider expansion of consciousness as the primary aim of a true school. Today, humanity must build a new kind of school which will be able to guide humankind towards the path of spiritual renaissance. In Russia we are already witnessing the emergence of hubs of a new system of education, new culture, new research and consciousness development centers, all of which gives momentum to new pedagogy and new schools of the future.

One such initiative is the project entitled “Integral Education” in the city of Novosibirsk. It is aimed at applying the Integral approach to education. There, the main areas of project work are   constructing and applying educational programs for schools and universities which include studying and development of the seven-fold nature of consciousness, as well as training teachers of new formation who are capable to guide and accompany students on the path of spiritual development.

In the end of 2014 we developed the first educational program “Integral Career Management and Project Designing.” In the past two years the program involves students and alumni of the Siberian Institute of Management of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) in Novosibirsk. The program is aimed at forming conscious and sustainable interior stance of higher school’s alumni who are ready to serve their country and influence its future evolution. Participants of this program spend six months studying the nature of consciousness and discovering the potential of their own higher Self, while studying educational material and creating scenarios of the future, learning spatial thinking and developing and applying career projects. We developed a teaching-learning package which involves seven work books which help students to become acquainted with the theory and practice of Integral life. This program’s alumni show initiative in promoting the Integral approach, participating in international forums and conferences and sharing their new educational ideas and projects.

“Integral Career Management and Project Designing” Alumni Testimonials

When I first encountered the Integral approach, it was impossible to go back to my previous life. Integral project designing of career helped me to envision the future and live in accordance to my purpose. Sometimes life seems to be a fragmented puzzle, and it is difficult to find its lacking elements, but by becoming more integrated we acquire all the elements and even much more. The program “Integral Project Designing of Career” becomes a key to opening many closed doors. — Olga Shirochkina

I am confident that we must include a program of Integral development into the system of education. It would contain such essential principles as: manifesting will and interior power of wanting change; a creative quality of development; thoughts management and discovering shadows; autonomous reasoning and interior contact with oneself; the value of experience at all stages of development. — Grigoriy Mankhaev

In the course of this program I had many discoveries. The most interesting thing is that it continues. Every new day brings forth learning something about myself, learning how to feel my inner world. It is feeling that is the most important thing that I took away from this course. For me, at this moment, to feel myself and hear my own heart is of greatest value. Of course, I become aware that I have to do a lot of work on myself. This fact doesn’t scare me, it only gives me resources for self-growth. The conclusion for me is simple: trust myself—trust the one who is ready to create, love, and do great deeds. — Alyona Tatarova

Further Developments of Integral Education Programs

In 2016 we began to develop a new educational program “Calling” for school students of the first to eleventh “grades.” (Translator’s Note: See this Wikipedia entry for information on how Russian public/secondary schools are structured.)  The program is aimed to make the process of school education holistic and conscious, keep the individual trajectory of spirit and unfold its potential capacities by putting the concept of “calling” into the foundation of educational process. Today a project group of young teachers teaches classes of the “Calling” program in urban- and rural-area schools. In the beginning of 2016/2017 academic year, they plan to offer a full version of the program for schools and gymnasiums as well as open classes for children whose parents are interested in their integral development.

Today, one of the essential aspects of this work includes training of new-formation teachers. Pedagogy education needs time to be able to restructure itself in order to embrace the understanding of Integral education and foster growth of the qualities that are necessary for a teacher of new formation to have in order to apply the Integral approach. A young generation of students who will soon become teachers engage in their own search of new knowledge and pedagogical practice, discovering the meaning of “teacherhood,” and aspiring for pedagogical mastery and self-improvement.

One should also note the role of Woman in the New Times. Woman will be confidently asserting herself, ushering humanity’s thinking towards new stage, becoming the main driving force of culture and education. The spiritual nature of Woman and the subtle capacities of her Heart make her a Great teacher and fosterer of consciousness of her people. Woman, however, must have sufficient education starting with her earliest years in order to be able to see the aspect of her perfection, embrace new concepts and become aware of her great purpose in laying down the foundations of Being itself and awakening of the impulse for creativity and beauty. The participants of the Integral Education project are now preparing a program entitled “Spiritual Guidance” for female teachers. It is our hope that this program will contribute to the unfolding of the potential of the subtle feminine nature and realizing her role in the creative work for the benefit of the World and acquiring mastery over the art of creating relationship through following new paths and helping students to make an inseparable connection with their spiritual Self, their Heart, and their True Nature as the unitive ground of life.

The Integral approach to education allows a Human to revoke the highest nature of his or her consciousness, to unfold and actualize its potential which is grounded in the synthesis of the Spirit but which needs fostering and spiritual discipline from the earliest years of life. It is only in perfecting the Spirit that a human being could become likened to the Higher Power-Force and learn how to listen to the sound of the Kosmos—by having a developed Heart. That’s why in the New Times the leading role in the progress of humanity will be played by those who are able to understand the meaning of the Heart and have the capacity to develop It.

This realization leads the project’s participants towards new explorations and establishing new educational programs and new practices of Heart development in schools and universities. We live in the times of intensity which require wholehearted aspiration and spiritual unity for the sake of humanity’s evolution. We are willing to joyfully share our experience and offer our contribution to the emergence of a new kind of school and to express our cordial gratitude to everyone for their work which helps us all in manifesting our initiatives devoted to developing Human Being, new school, cities, and the World at large.

With love and respect to You All,

Diana Belotserkovskaya—the head of the Integral Education project
Novosibirsk, 2016

[1] Seven-fold nature includes the four lower principles (manifest, seen) and the three higher principles (unmanifest, unseen) of human nature through which physical and spiritual Human is expressed. By turning their individual consciousness within we help children to understand their nature and learn how to manage the lower principles of the self, subordinating them to the higher ones.

About the Author

Diana Belotserkovskaya is a coach, psychologist, university teacher, and the head of the Integral Education project. She currently lives and works in Novosibirsk, Russia. Contact email: lab.razvitia@gmail.com