Our Mission and Educational Philosophy

California Institute of Integral Studies is an accredited institution of higher education that strives to embody spirit, intellect, and wisdom in service to individuals, communities and the Earth.  The Institute expands the boundaries of traditional degree programs with interdisciplinary, cross-cultural, and applied studies in psychology, philosophy, religion, cultural anthropology, transformative learning and leadership, integrative health, and the arts.  Offering a personal learning environment and supportive community, CIIS provides an extraordinary education for people committed to transforming themselves and the world.

History

Haridas Chaudhuri

California Institute of Integral Studies was founded in 1968 by Dr. Haridas Chaudhuri, a philosopher, educator, and humanist from Bengal. In 1951, Dr. Chaudhuri was invited by Frederic Spiegelberg of Stanford University to join the staff of the newly formed American Academy of Asian Studies in San Francisco. He accepted the invitation, eager to implement in a Western educational institution the integral approach to education that he had developed as a student of Sri Aurobindo, the renowned Indian philosopher and yogi. Soon after his arrival in San Francisco, Dr. Chaudhuri and his wife Bina established the Cultural Integration Fellowship, from which emerged an educational branch later to become California Institute of Integral Studies. Over the past 30 years, the Institute's original emphasis on Asian religions and cultures evolved to include comparative and cross-cultural studies in philosophy, religion, psychology, counseling, cultural anthropology, organizational studies, health studies, and the arts. As the Institute continues to grow and expand, it remains steadfast in its commitment to small classes, a personal learning environment, and to nurturing a strong sense of community among its students, faculty, alumni, and staff.

The Institute's Seven Ideals

1. Practices an integral approach to learning and research
The Institute facilitates the integration of body-mind-spirit. It values the emotional, spiritual, intellectual, creative, somatic, and social dimensions of human potentiality. Students are encouraged to take an interdisciplinary approach to learning by complementing their specialized program of study with courses in other departments.

2. Affirms spirituality
The Institute is committed to the study and practice of multiple spiritual traditions and to their expression and embodiment throughout all areas and activities of the Institute community.

3. Commits to cultural diversity
Promoting a dialogue of difference, the curriculum reflects a commitment to the diversity of the world's cultures and spiritual traditions while seeking their holistic integration.

4. Fosters multiple ways of learning and teaching
The Institute honors many learning modalities and ways of knowing–intuition, body-knowledge, creative expression, intellect, and spiritual insight.

5. Advocates feminism and sustainability
The Institute embraces intellectual, cultural, and spiritual traditions which further the effectiveness of emancipatory movements such as feminism, social and political liberation, cultural self-expression, and ecological activism.

6. Supports community
Community at the Institute is understood to be founded upon an underlying core of values which affirm shared understandings and differences, scholarly efforts, and humane concerns. Such community is a vital part of the Institute's effort to provide an effective, visionary, and nurturing environment for study and training.

7. Strives for an integral and innovative governance
The Institute recognizes the importance of a mode of governance which would eliminate, or at least reduce, the polarities and fragmentation which typically plague institutions. As with other ideals, integral governance is difficult both to formulate and to practice. This ideal stands among the seven as a constant challenge and encouragement to try new forms, procedures, criteria, and language as aids to a more shared and collaborative decision making process.

The Sri Yantra
By Jim Ryan, Ph.D., professor of Asian and Comparative Studies

The Sri Yantra, the logo of the California Institute of Integral Studies, is from India. A yantra, in the Indian tradition, is a literally a "device" to be used for spiritual advancement. The Sri Yantra is, in fact, the central object of worship in at least one important Indian cult, but, beyond its specific context, the Sri Yantra embodies profound philosophical understandings, which make it a powerful source of inspiration. Each design element of the Sri Yantra has special philosophical significance. The dot in the very center is representative of the Source of the universe; this dot, or bindu, is the "singularity" from which all manifest reality emerges. From one point of view, then the design is representative of the evolution of the universe itself from its mysterious beginnings, charting its many levels.

The Sri Yantra in its central portion contains nine triangles. Four of them point upward and represent the unmanifest power of the universe; all that is beyond our quotidian sense perceptions. They are thought of as being masculine and represent the masculine aspect of divinity The five downward pointing triangles represent the divine feminine represent the manifest aspects of the world. Because the Sri Yantra forms a unity, the divine masculine and divine feminine in erotic embrace, as it were (this is exactly how the Indian tradition understands them!), we must understand that the transcendent Reality, whether we call it God, Goddess or Perfect Emptiness (as in Mahayana Buddhism), is always intimately intertwined in everything that we see. God or Goddess is not a sacred beyond, but is the very fibre and life of our existence here. Haridas Chaudhuri chose this symbol as he founded the Institute because it is a visual representation of his Integral philosophy. This world is not to be seen as separate from the transcendent Truth, but as an expression of that Truth in phenomenal form. What is sacred then, is not merely what is beyond our perception, but everything that is present here in this world, all our actions, our emotions our thoughts. The notion of the integration of body, mind and spirit are symbolized and indicated by the Sri Yantra, making it a perfect visual representation of the Institute's vision.

It should not go without saying that from another point of view the Sri Yantra is understood to be the Mother of the Universe Herself, the incarnate Goddess Who both embodies and transcends time. In a world where the male divinity, and all that is male has had primacy for a very long time, this design can be seen as the very embodiment of a challenge to patriarchy and to the masculinist world we live in.