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Wikipedia

Ken Wilber

Kenneth Earl Wilber II (born January 31, 1949) is an American theorist and writer on transpersonal psychology and his own integral theory,[1] a four-quadrant grid which purports to encompass all human knowledge and experience.[2]

Ken Wilber
Wilber in 2006 with Bernard Glassman (background)
Born (1949-01-31) January 31, 1949 (age 75)
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States
EducationDuke University
(no degree)
University of Nebraska at Lincoln
(no degree)
Notable workThe Spectrum of Consciousness (1977)
The Atman Project (1980)
Grace and Grit (1991)
Sex, Ecology, Spirituality (1995, 2001)
EraNew Age
RegionWestern esotericism
Main interests
Integral theory

Life and career edit

Wilber was born in 1949 in Oklahoma City. In 1967 he enrolled as a pre-med student at Duke University.[3] He became interested in psychology and Eastern spirituality. He left Duke and enrolled at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln studying biochemistry, but after a few years dropped out of university and began studying his own curriculum and writing.[4]

In 1973 Wilber completed his first book, The Spectrum of Consciousness,[5] in which he sought to integrate knowledge from disparate fields. After rejections by more than 20 publishers it was accepted in 1977 by Quest Books, and he spent a year giving lectures and workshops before going back to writing, publishing The Atman Project, in which he put his idea of a spectrum of consciousness in a developmental context. He also helped to launch the journal ReVision in 1978.[6]

In 1982, New Science Library published his anthology The Holographic Paradigm and Other Paradoxes,[7] a collection of essays and interviews, including one by David Bohm. The essays, including one of his own, looked at how holography and the holographic paradigm relate to the fields of consciousness, mysticism, and science.

In 1983, Wilber married Terry "Treya" Killam who was shortly thereafter diagnosed with breast cancer. From 1984 until 1987, Wilber gave up most of his writing to care for her. Killam died in January 1989; their joint experience was recorded in the 1991 book Grace and Grit.

In 1987, Wilber moved to Boulder, Colorado, where he worked on his Kosmos trilogy and supervised the work and functioning of the Integral Institute.[8]

Wilber wrote Sex, Ecology, Spirituality (1995), the first volume of his Kosmos Trilogy, presenting his "theory of everything," a four-quadrant grid in which he summarized his reading in psychology and Eastern and Western philosophy up to that time. A Brief History of Everything (1996) was the popularised summary of Sex, Ecology, Spirituality in interview format. The Eye of Spirit (1997) was a compilation of articles he had written for the journal ReVision on the relationship between science and religion. Throughout 1997, he had kept journals of his personal experiences, which were published in 1999 as One Taste, a term for unitary consciousness. Over the next two years his publisher, Shambhala Publications, released eight re-edited volumes of his Collected Works. In 1999, he finished Integral Psychology and wrote A Theory of Everything (2000). In A Theory of Everything Wilber attempts to bridge business, politics, science and spirituality and show how they integrate with theories of developmental psychology, such as Spiral Dynamics. His novel, Boomeritis (2002), attempts to expose what he perceives as the egotism of the baby boom generation. Frank Visser's Ken Wilber: Thought as Passion (2003), a guide to Wilber's thought, was praised by Edward J. Sullivan[9] and Daryl S. Paulson, with the latter calling it "an outstanding synthesis of Wilber's published works through the evolution of his thoughts over time. The book will be of value to any transpersonal humanist or integral philosophy student who does not want to read all of Wilber's works to understand his message."[10]

In 2012, Wilber joined the advisory board of the International Simultaneous Policy Organization which seeks to end the usual deadlock in tackling global issues through an international simultaneous policy.[11][12]

Wilber stated in 2011 that he has long suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome, possibly caused by RNase enzyme deficiency disease.[13][14]

Integral theory edit

Upper-Left (UL)

"I"
Interior Individual
Intentional

e.g. Freud

Upper-Right (UR)

"It"
Exterior Individual
Behavioral

e.g. Skinner

Lower-Left (LL)

"We"
Interior Collective
Cultural

e.g. Gadamer

Lower-Right (LR)

"Its"
Exterior Collective
Social

e.g. Marx

All Quadrants All Levels (AQAL, pron. "ah-qwul") is the basic framework of integral theory. It models human knowledge and experience with a four-quadrant grid, along the axes of "interior-exterior" and "individual-collective". According to Wilber, it is a comprehensive approach to reality, a metatheory that attempts to explain how academic disciplines and every form of knowledge and experience fit together coherently.[2]

AQAL is based on four fundamental concepts and a rest-category: four quadrants, several levels and lines of development, several states of consciousness, and "types", topics which do not fit into these four concepts.[15] "Levels" are the stages of development, from pre-personal through personal to transpersonal. "Lines" of development are various domains which may progress unevenly through different stages .[note 1] "States" are states of consciousness; according to Wilber persons may have a temporal experience of a higher developmental stage.[note 2] "Types" is a rest-category, for phenomena which do not fit in the other four concepts.[16] In order for an account of the Kosmos to be complete, Wilber believes that it must include each of these five categories. For Wilber, only such an account can be accurately called "integral". In the essay, "Excerpt C: The Ways We Are in This Together", Wilber describes AQAL as "one suggested architecture of the Kosmos".[17]

The model's apex is formless awareness, "the simple feeling of being", which is equated with a range of "ultimates" from a variety of eastern traditions. This formless awareness transcends the phenomenal world, which is ultimately only an appearance of some transcendental reality. According to Wilber, the AQAL categories — quadrants, lines, levels, states, and types – describe the relative truth of the two truths doctrine of Buddhism. According to Wilber, none of them are true in an absolute sense. Only formless awareness, "the simple feeling of being",[18] exists absolutely.[citation needed][note 3]

Other ideas edit

Mysticism and the great chain of being edit

One of Wilber's main interests is in mapping what he calls the "neo-perennial philosophy", an integration of some of the views of mysticism typified by Aldous Huxley's The Perennial Philosophy with an account of cosmic evolution akin to that of the Indian mystic Sri Aurobindo. He rejects most of the tenets of Perennialism and the associated anti-evolutionary view of history as a regression from past ages or yugas.[19] Instead, he embraces a more traditionally Western notion of the great chain of being. As in the work of Jean Gebser, this great chain (or "nest") is ever-present while relatively unfolding throughout this material manifestation, although to Wilber "... the 'Great Nest' is actually just a vast morphogenetic field of potentials ..." In agreement with Mahayana Buddhism, and Advaita Vedanta, he believes that reality is ultimately a nondual union of emptiness and form, with form being innately subject to development over time.

Theory of truth edit

  Interior Exterior
Individual Standard: Truthfulness
(1st person)

(sincerity, integrity, trustworthiness)
Standard: Truth
(3rd person)

(correspondence,
representation, propositional)
Collective Standard: Justness
(2nd person)

(cultural fit, rightness,
mutual understanding)
Standard: Functional fit
(3rd person)

(systems theory web,
Structural functionalism,
social systems mesh)

Wilber believes that the mystical traditions of the world provide access to, and knowledge of, a transcendental reality which is perennial, consistent throughout all times and cultures. This proposition underlies the whole of his conceptual edifice, and is an unquestioned assumption.[note 4] Wilber juxtaposes this generalization to plain materialism, presented as the main paradigm of regular science.[21][quote 1]

In his later works, Wilber argues that manifest reality is composed of four domains, and that each domain, or "quadrant", has its own truth-standard, or test for validity:[22]

  • "Interior individual/1st person": the subjective world, the individual subjective sphere;[23]
  • "Interior collective/2nd person": the intersubjective space, the cultural background;[23]
  • "Exterior individual/3rd person": the objective state of affairs;[23]
  • "Exterior collective/3rd person": the functional fit, "how entities fit together in a system".[23]

Pre/trans fallacy edit

Wilber believes that many claims about non-rational states make a mistake he calls the pre/trans fallacy. According to Wilber, the non-rational stages of consciousness (what Wilber calls "pre-rational" and "trans-rational" stages) can be easily confused with one another. In Wilber's view, one can reduce trans-rational spiritual realization to pre-rational regression, or one can elevate pre-rational states to the trans-rational domain.[24] For example, Wilber claims that Freud and Jung commit this fallacy. Freud considered mystical realization to be a regression to infantile oceanic states. Wilber alleges that Freud thus commits a fallacy of reduction. Wilber thinks that Jung commits the converse form of the same mistake by considering pre-rational myths to reflect divine realizations. Likewise, pre-rational states may be misidentified as post-rational states.[25] Wilber characterizes himself as having fallen victim to the pre/trans fallacy in his early work.[26]

Wilber on science edit

Wilber describes the state of the "hard" sciences as limited to "narrow science", which only allows evidence from the lowest realm of consciousness, the sensorimotor (the five senses and their extensions). Wilber sees science in the broad sense as characterized by involving three steps:[27][28]

  • specifying an experiment,
  • performing the experiment and observing the results, and
  • checking the results with others who have competently performed the same experiment.

He has presented these as "three strands of valid knowledge" in Part III of his book The Marriage of Sense and Soul.[29]

What Wilber calls "broad science" would include evidence from logic, mathematics, and from the symbolic, hermeneutical, and other realms of consciousness. Ultimately and ideally, broad science would include the testimony of meditators and spiritual practitioners. Wilber's own conception of science includes both narrow science and broad science, e.g., using electroencephalogram machines and other technologies to test the experiences of meditators and other spiritual practitioners, creating what Wilber calls "integral science".[citation needed]

According to Wilber's theory, narrow science trumps narrow religion, but broad science trumps narrow science. That is, the natural sciences provide a more inclusive, accurate account of reality than any of the particular exoteric religious traditions. But an integral approach that uses intersubjectivity to evaluate both religious claims and scientific claims will give a more complete account of reality than narrow science.[citation needed]

Wilber has referred to Stuart Kauffman, Ilya Prigogine, Alfred North Whitehead, and others who also articulate his vitalistic and teleological understanding of reality, which is deeply at odds with the modern evolutionary synthesis.[30][quote 2]

Later work edit

In 2005, at the launch of the Integral Spiritual Center, a branch of the Integral Institute, Wilber presented a 118-page rough draft summary of his two forthcoming books.[31] The essay is entitled "What is Integral Spirituality?", and contains several new ideas, including Integral post-metaphysics and the Wilber-Combs lattice. In 2006, he published "Integral Spirituality", in which he elaborated on these ideas, as well as others such as Integral Methodological Pluralism and the developmental conveyor belt of religion.

"Integral post-metaphysics" is the term Wilber has given to his attempts to reconstruct the world's spiritual-religious traditions in a way that accounts for the modern and post-modern criticisms of those traditions.[32]

The Wilber-Combs Lattice is a conceptual model of consciousness developed by Wilber and Allan Combs. It is a grid with sequential states of consciousness on the x axis (from left to right) and with developmental structures, or levels, of consciousness on the y axis (from bottom to top). This lattice illustrates how each structure of consciousness interprets experiences of different states of consciousness, including mystical states, in different ways.[33]

Wilber attracted a lot of controversy from 2011 to the present day by supporting Marc Gafni. Gafni was accused in the media of sexually assaulting a minor.[34] Wilber has in fact publicly supported Gafni on his blog.[35][36] A petition begun by a group of Rabbis has called for Wilber to publicly dissociate from Gafni.

Wilber is on the advisory board of Mariana Bozesan's AQAL Capital GmbH,[37] a Munich-based company specialising in integral Impact Investing using a model based on Wilber's Integral Theory.

Influences edit

Wilber's views have been influenced by Madhyamaka Buddhism, particularly as articulated in the philosophy of Nagarjuna.[38] Wilber has practiced various forms of Buddhist meditation, studying (however briefly) with a number of teachers, including Dainin Katagiri, Taizan Maezumi, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Kalu Rinpoche, Alan Watts, Penor Rinpoche and Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche. Advaita Vedanta, Trika (Kashmir) Shaivism, Tibetan Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, Ramana Maharshi, and Andrew Cohen can be mentioned as further influences. Wilber has on several occasions singled out Adi Da's work for the highest praise while expressing reservations about Adi Da as a teacher.[39][40] In Sex, Ecology, Spirituality, Wilber refers extensively to Plotinus' philosophy, which he sees as nondual. While Wilber has practised Buddhist meditation methods, he does not identify himself as a Buddhist.[41]

According to Frank Visser, Wilber's conception of four quadrants, or dimensions of existence is very similar to E. F. Schumacher's conception of four fields of knowledge.[42] Visser finds Wilber's conception of levels, as well as Wilber's critique of science as one-dimensional, to be very similar to that in Huston Smith's Forgotten Truth.[43] Visser also writes that the esoteric aspects of Wilber's theory are based on the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo as well as other theorists including Adi Da.[44]

Reception edit

Wilber has been categorized by Wouter J. Hanegraaff as New Age due to his emphasis on a transpersonal view.[45] Publishers Weekly has called him "the Hegel of Eastern spirituality".[46]

Wilber is credited with broadening the appeal of a "perennial philosophy" to a much wider audience. Cultural figures as varied as Bill Clinton,[47] Al Gore, Deepak Chopra, Richard Rohr,[48] and musician Billy Corgan have mentioned his influence.[49] Paul M. Helfrich credits him with "precocious understanding that transcendental experience is not solely pathological, and properly developed could greatly inform human development".[50] However, Wilber's approach has been criticized as excessively categorizing and objectifying, masculinist,[51][52] commercializing spirituality,[53] and denigrating of emotion.[54] Critics in multiple fields cite problems with Wilber's interpretations and inaccurate citations of his wide ranging sources, as well as stylistic issues with gratuitous repetition, excessive book length, and hyperbole.[55]

Frank Visser writes that Wilber's 1977 book The Spectrum of Consciousness was praised by transpersonal psychologists, but also that support for him "even in transpersonal circles" had waned by the early 1990s.[9] Edward J. Sullivan argued, in his review of Visser's guide Ken Wilber: Thought as Passion, that in the field of composition studies "Wilber's melding of life’s journeys with abstract theorizing could provide an eclectic and challenging model of 'personal-academic' writing", but that "teachers of writing may be critical of his all-too-frequent totalizing assumptions".[9] Sullivan also said that Visser's book overall gave an impression that Wilber "should think more and publish less."[9]

Steve McIntosh praises Wilber's work but also argues that Wilber fails to distinguish "philosophy" from his own Vedantic and Buddhist religion.[56] Christopher Bache is complimentary of some aspects of Wilber's work, but calls Wilber's writing style glib.[57]

Psychiatrist Stanislav Grof has praised Wilber's knowledge and work in the highest terms;[note 5] however, Grof has criticized the omission of the pre- and peri-natal domains from Wilber's spectrum of consciousness, and Wilber's neglect of the psychological importance of biological birth and death.[59] Grof has described Wilber's writings as having an "often aggressive polemical style that includes strongly worded ad personam attacks and is not conducive to personal dialogue."[60] Wilber's response is that the world religious traditions do not attest to the importance that Grof assigns to the perinatal.[61]

Works edit

Books edit

  • The Spectrum of Consciousness, 1977, anniv. ed. 1993: ISBN 0-8356-0695-3
  • No Boundary: Eastern and Western Approaches to Personal Growth, 1979, reprint ed. 2001: ISBN 1-57062-743-6
  • The Atman Project: A Transpersonal View of Human Development, 1980, 2nd ed. ISBN 0-8356-0730-5
  • Up from Eden: A Transpersonal View of Human Evolution, 1981, new ed. 1996: ISBN 0-8356-0731-3
  • The Holographic Paradigm and Other Paradoxes: Exploring the Leading Edge of Science (editor), 1982, ISBN 0-394-71237-4
  • A Sociable God: A Brief Introduction to a Transcendental Sociology, 1983, new ed. 2005 subtitled Toward a New Understanding of Religion, ISBN 1-59030-224-9
  • Eye to Eye: The Quest for the New Paradigm, 1984, 3rd rev. ed. 2001: ISBN 1-57062-741-X
  • Quantum Questions: Mystical Writings of the World's Great Physicists (editor), 1984, rev. ed. 2001: ISBN 1-57062-768-1
  • Transformations of Consciousness: Conventional and Contemplative Perspectives on Development (co-authors: Jack Engler, Daniel Brown), 1986, ISBN 0-394-74202-8
  • Spiritual Choices: The Problem of Recognizing Authentic Paths to Inner Transformation (co-authors: Dick Anthony, Bruce Ecker), 1987, ISBN 0-913729-19-1
  • Grace and Grit: Spirituality and Healing in the Life of Treya Killam Wilber, 1991, 2nd ed. 2001: ISBN 1-57062-742-8
  • Sex, Ecology, Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution, 1st ed. 1995, 2nd rev. ed. 2001: ISBN 1-57062-744-4
  • A Brief History of Everything, 1st ed. 1996, 2nd ed. 2001: ISBN 1-57062-740-1
  • The Eye of Spirit: An Integral Vision for a World Gone Slightly Mad, 1997, 3rd ed. 2001: ISBN 1-57062-871-8
  • The Essential Ken Wilber: An Introductory Reader, 1998, ISBN 1-57062-379-1
  • The Marriage of Sense and Soul: Integrating Science and Religion, 1998, reprint ed. 1999: ISBN 0-7679-0343-9
  • One Taste: The Journals of Ken Wilber, 1999, rev. ed. 2000: ISBN 1-57062-547-6
  • Integral Psychology: Consciousness, Spirit, Psychology, Therapy, 2000, ISBN 1-57062-554-9
  • A Theory of Everything: An Integral Vision for Business, Politics, Science and Spirituality, 2000, paperback ed.: ISBN 1-57062-855-6
  • Speaking of Everything (2-hour audio interview on CD), 2001
  • Boomeritis: A Novel That Will Set You Free, 2002, paperback ed. 2003: ISBN 1-59030-008-4
  • Kosmic Consciousness (12½ hour audio interview on ten CDs), 2003, ISBN 1-59179-124-3
  • With Cornel West, commentary on The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions and appearance in Return To Source: Philosophy & The Matrix on The Roots Of The Matrix, both in The Ultimate Matrix Collection, 2004
  • The Simple Feeling of Being: Visionary, Spiritual, and Poetic Writings, 2004, ISBN 1-59030-151-X (selected from earlier works)
  • The Integral Operating System (a 69-page primer on AQAL with DVD and 2 audio CDs), 2005, ISBN 1-59179-347-5
  • Executive producer of the Stuart Davis DVDs Between the Music: Volume 1 and Volume 2.
  • Integral Spirituality: A Startling New Role for Religion in the Modern and Postmodern World, 2006, ISBN 1-59030-346-6
  • The One Two Three of God (3 CDs – interview, 4th CD – guided meditation; companion to Integral Spirituality), 2006, ISBN 1-59179-531-1
  • Integral Life Practice Starter Kit (five DVDs, two CDs, three booklets), 2006, ISBN 0-9772275-0-2
  • The Integral Vision: A Very Short Introduction to the Revolutionary Integral Approach to Life, God, the Universe, and Everything, 2007, ISBN 1-59030-475-6
  • The Integral Vision: A Very Short Introduction, 2007, ISBN 9781611806427
  • Integral Life Practice: A 21st-Century Blueprint for Physical Health, Emotional Balance, Mental Clarity, and Spiritual Awakening, 2008, ISBN 1-59030-467-5
  • The Pocket Ken Wilber, 2008, ISBN 1-59030-637-6
  • The Integral Approach: A Short Introduction by Ken Wilber, eBook, 2013, ISBN 9780834829060
  • The Fourth Turning: Imagining the Evolution of an Integral Buddhism, eBook, 2014, ISBN 9780834829572
  • Wicked & Wise: How to Solve the World's Toughest Problems, with Alan Watkins, 2015, ISBN 978-1-909273-64-1
  • Integral Meditation: Mindfulness as a Way to Grow Up, Wake Up, and Show Up in Your Life, 2016, ISBN 9781611802986
  • The Religion of Tomorrow: A Vision For The Future of the Great Traditions, 2017, ISBN 978-1-61180-300-6
  • Trump and a Post-Truth World, 2017, ISBN 9781611805611
  • Integral Buddhism: And the Future of Spirituality, 2018, ISBN 1611805600
  • Integral Politics: Its Essential Ingredients , eBook, 2018
  • Grace and Grit, 2020, Shambala, ISBN 9781611808490

Audiobooks edit

Adaptations edit

Wilber's account of his wife Treya's illness and death, Grace and Grit (1991), was released as a feature film starring Mena Suvari and Stuart Townsend in 2021.[62]

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ This interpretation is at odds with structural stage theory, which posits an overall follow-up of stages, instead of variations over several domains.
  2. ^ This too is at odds with structural stage theory, but in line with Wilber's philosophical idealism, which sees the phenomenal world as a concretisation, or immanation, of a "higher," transcendental reality, which can be "realized" in "religious experience."
  3. ^ The Madhyamaka two truths doctrine discerns two epistemological truths, namely conventional and ultimate. Conventional truth is the truth of phenomenal appearances and causal relations, our daily common-sense world. Ultimate truth is the recognition that no-"thing" exists inherently; every-"thing" is empty, sunyata of an unchanging "essence". It also means that there is no unchanging transcendental reality underlying phenomenal existence. "Formless awareness" belongs to another strand of Indian thinking, namely Advaita and Buddha-nature, which are ontological approaches, and do posit such a transcendental, unchanging reality, namely "awareness" or "consciousness." Wilber seems to be mixing, or confusing, these two different approaches freely, in his attempt to integrate "everything" into one conceptual scheme.
  4. ^ The perennial position is "largely dismissed by scholars",[20] but "has lost none of its popularity".[20] Mainstream academia favor a constructivist approach, which is rejected by Wilber as a dangerous relativism. See also Perennialism versus constructionism.
  5. ^ ... Ken has produced an extraordinary work of highly creative synthesis of data drawn from a vast variety of areas and disciplines ... His knowledge of the literature is truly encyclopedic, his analytical mind systematic and incisive, and the clarity of his logic remarkable. The impressive scope, comprehensive nature, and intellectual rigor of Ken's work have helped to make it a widely acclaimed and highly influential theory of transpersonal psychology.[58]

Quotes edit

  1. ^ Wilber: "Are the mystics and sages insane? Because they all tell variations on the same story, don't they? The story of awakening one morning and discovering you are one with the All, in a timeless and eternal and infinite fashion. Yes, maybe they are crazy, these divine fools. Maybe they are mumbling idiots in the face of the Abyss. Maybe they need a nice, understanding therapist. Yes, I'm sure that would help. But then, I wonder. Maybe the evolutionary sequence really is from matter to body to mind to soul to spirit, each transcending and including, each with a greater depth and greater consciousness and wider embrace. And in the highest reaches of evolution, maybe, just maybe, an individual's consciousness does indeed touch infinity—a total embrace of the entire Kosmos—a Kosmic consciousness that is Spirit awakened to its own true nature. It's at least plausible. And tell me: is that story, sung by mystics and sages the world over, any crazier than the scientific materialism story, which is that the entire sequence is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying absolutely nothing? Listen very carefully: just which of those two stories actually sounds totally insane?"[21]
  2. ^ Wilber: "I am not alone in seeing that chance and natural selection by themselves are not enough to account for the emergence that we see in evolution. Stuart Kaufman [sic] and many others have criticized mere change and natural selection as not adequate to account for this emergence (he sees the necessity of adding self-organization). Of course I understand that natural selection is not acting on mere randomness or chance—because natural selection saves previous selections, and this reduces dramatically the probability that higher, adequate forms will emerge. But even that is not enough, in my opinion, to account for the remarkable emergence of some of the extraordinarily complex forms that nature has produced. After all, from the big bang and dirt to the poems of William Shakespeare is quite a distance, and many philosophers of science agree that mere chance and selection are just not adequate to account for these remarkable emergences. The universe is slightly tilted toward self-organizing processes, and these processes—as Prigogine was the first to elaborate—escape present-level turmoil by jumping to higher levels of self-organization, and I see that "pressure" as operating throughout the physiosphere, the biosphere, and the noosphere. And that is what I metaphorically mean when I use the example of a wing (or elsewhere, the example of an eyeball) to indicate the remarkableness of increasing emergence. But I don't mean that as a specific model or actual example of how biological emergence works! Natural selection carries forth previous individual mutations—but again that just isn't enough to account for creative emergence (or what Whitehead called "the creative advance into novelty," which, according to Whitehead, is the fundamental nature of this manifest universe)."[30]

References edit

  1. ^ Mark Der Forman, A guide to integral psychotherapy: complexity, integration, and spirituality in practice, SUNY Press 2010, p. 9. ISBN 978-1-4384-3023-2
  2. ^ a b Rentschler, Matt. "AQAL Glossary," December 28, 2017, at the Wayback Machine "AQAL: Journal of Integral Theory and Practice," Fall 2006, Vol. 1, No. 3. Retrieved on December 28, 2017.
  3. ^ Tony Schwartz, What Really Matters: Searching for Wisdom in America, Bantam, 1996, ISBN 0-553-37492-3, p. 348.
  4. ^ "Ken Wilber – Teachers – Spirituality & Practice". spiritualityandpractice.com. from the original on April 2, 2015.
  5. ^ Wilber, Ken (1993). The Spectrum of Consciousness. Quest Books. ISBN 9780835606950.
  6. ^ Frank Visser, Ken Wilber: Thought as Passion, p. 27.
  7. ^ The Holographic Paradigm and other paradoxes, 1982, ISBN 0-87773-238-8
  8. ^ "About Ken Wilber". Famous Psychologists.
  9. ^ a b c d Sullivan, Edward J. (Winter 2005–06). "REVIEW: Sullivan/Ken Wilber: Thought as Passion". The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning. 11: 97–99.
  10. ^ Paulson, Daryl S. (2004). "Review of Thought as passion". Journal of Transpersonal Psychology. 36: 223–227 – via APA PsycNet.
  11. ^ About Simpol-UK: uk.simpol.org – About Simpol-UK July 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ Endorsements: Simpol.org – Endorsements July 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ Wilber, Ken (December 26, 2006). . New Heaven New Earth. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
  14. ^ Wilber, Ken. "RNase Enzyme Deficiency Disease: Wilber's statement about his health". IntegralWorld.net. October 22, 2002. from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
  15. ^ Fiandt, K.; Forman, J.; Erickson Megel, M.; et al. (2003). "Integral nursing: an emerging framework for engaging the evolution of the profession". Nursing Outlook. 51 (3): 130–137. doi:10.1016/s0029-6554(03)00080-0. PMID 12830106.
  16. ^ "Integral Psychology" In: Weiner, Irving B. & Craighead, W. Edward (ed.), The Corsini encyclopedia of psychology, Vol. 2, 4. ed., Wiley 2010, pp. 830 ff. ISBN 978-0-470-17026-7
  17. ^ . Ken Wilber Online. Archived from the original on December 23, 2005. Retrieved December 26, 2005.
  18. ^ The Simple Feeling of Being. Shambala Publications. 2004. ISBN 9781590301517.
  19. ^ "I have not identified myself with the perennial philosophy in over fifteen years ... Many of the enduring perennial philosophers—such as Nagarjuna—were already using postmetaphysical methods, which is why their insights are still quite valid. But the vast majority of perennial philosophers were caught in metaphysical, not critical, thought, which is why I reject their methods almost entirely, and accept their conclusions only to the extent they can be reconstructed". Archived from the original on March 22, 2006. Retrieved March 14, 2006.
  20. ^ a b McMahan 2008, p. 269, note 9.
  21. ^ a b Ken Wilber, A Brief History of Everything, pp. 42–3
  22. ^ Wilber, Ken (1998). The Eye of Spirit. Boston: Shambhala. pp. 12–18. ISBN 1-57062-345-7.
  23. ^ a b c d Table and quotations from: Ken Wilber, A Brief History of Everything, 2nd edition, ISBN 1-57062-740-1 p. 96–109
  24. ^ Introduction to the third volume of The Collected Works of Ken Wilber June 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  25. ^ Wilber, Ken. Sex, Ecology, Spirituality. Shambhala Publications, 2000, pp 211 f. ISBN 978-1-57062-744-6
  26. ^ . Ken Wilber Online. Archived from the original on March 19, 2009.
  27. ^ Donald Jay Rothberg; Sean M. Kelly; Sean Kelly (February 1, 1998). Ken Wilber in Dialogue: Conversations with Leading Transpersonal Thinkers. Quest Books. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-8356-0766-7.
  28. ^ Lew Howard (May 17, 2005). Introducing Ken Wilber. AuthorHouse. pp. 2–3. ISBN 978-1-4634-8193-3.
  29. ^ Ken Wilber (August 3, 2011). The Marriage of Sense and Soul: Integrating Science and Religion. Random House Publishing Group. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-307-79956-2.
  30. ^ a b Ken Wilber, Re: Some Criticisms of My Understanding of Evolution September 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  31. ^ (PDF). Integral Spiritual Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 25, 2005. Retrieved December 26, 2005. (1.3 MB PDF file)
  32. ^ Integral Spirituality: A Startling New Role for Religion in the Modern and Postmodern World, 2006
  33. ^ Integral Spirituality: A Startling New Role for Religion in the Modern and Postmodern World, 2006
  34. ^ "'I Was 13 When Marc Gafni's Abuse Began'". forward.com. January 13, 2016. from the original on February 4, 2018. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  35. ^ . Archived from the original on February 6, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2016.?
  36. ^ "+kenwilber.com – blog". www.kenwilber.com. from the original on October 28, 2017. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  37. ^ "Ken Wilber – AQAL Capital". aqalcapital.com. Archived from the original on March 31, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  38. ^ "The Kosmos According to Ken Wilber: A Dialogue with Robin Kornman". Shambhala Sun. September 1996. from the original on August 13, 2006. Retrieved June 14, 2006.
  39. ^ . Ken Wilber Online. Archived from the original on February 13, 2008.
  40. ^ "Adi Da and The Case of Ken Wilber". from the original on March 3, 2011. I mention Master Da (along with Christ, Krishna) as being the Divine Person as World Event. – Ken Wilber, Up From Eden, 1981
  41. ^ # Kosmic Consciousness (12-hour audio interview on ten CDs), 2003, ISBN 1-59179-124-3
  42. ^ Frank Visser, Ken Wilber: Thought as Passion, 194
  43. ^ Frank Visser, Ken Wilber: Thought as Passion, 78
  44. ^ Visser, 276
  45. ^ Wouter J. Hanegraaff, New Age Religion and Western Culture, SUNY, 1998, pp. 70 ("Ken Wilber ... defends a transpersonal worldview which qualifies as 'New Age'").
  46. ^ [ April 30, 2014, at the Wayback Machine "The Simple Feeling of Being: Visionary, Spiritual and Poetic Writings"], publishersweekly.com, June 4, 2014.]
  47. ^ Planetary Problem Solver February 12, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Newsweek, January 4, 2010
  48. ^ "The Perennial Tradition – Center for Action and Contemplation". Center for Action and Contemplation. December 20, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  49. ^ Steve Paulson (April 28, 2008). "You are the river: An interview with Ken Wilber". salon.com. from the original on July 3, 2009.
  50. ^ Helfrich, Paul M. (March 2004). "Thought As Passion: Making Ken Wilber Accessible". Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  51. ^ Thompson, Coming into Being: Artifacts and Texts in the Evolution of Consciousness pp. 12–13
  52. ^ Gelfer, J. Chapter 5 (Integral or muscular spirituality?) in Numen, Old Men: Contemporary Masculine Spiritualities and the Problem of Patriarchy, 2009: ISBN 978-1-84553-419-6
  53. ^ Gelfer, J. LOHAS and the Indigo Dollar: Growing the Spiritual Economy January 4, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, New Proposals: Journal of Marxism and Interdisciplinary Inquiry (4.1, 2010: 46–60)
  54. ^ de Quincey, Christian (Winter 2000). . Journal of Consciousness Studies. Vol. 7(11/12). Archived from the original on May 7, 2006. Retrieved June 15, 2006.
  55. ^ Frank Visser, "A Spectrum of Wilber Critics", "A Spectrum of Wilber Critics, essay by Frank Visser". from the original on May 26, 2006. Retrieved April 28, 2006.
  56. ^ Steve McIntosh, Integral Consciousness and the Future of Evolution, Paragon House, St Paul Minnesota, 2007, ISBN 978-1-55778-867-2 pp. 227f.
  57. ^ Notes to Chapter 6 of Dark Night Early Dawn: Steps to a Deep Ecology of Mind SUNY Press, 2000
  58. ^ Stanislav Grof, "Ken Wilber's Spectrum Psychology" December 9, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  59. ^ Grof, Beyond the Brain, 131–137
  60. ^ (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 16, 2011.
  61. ^ Visser, 269
  62. ^ "Grace and Grit (2021) - IMDb" – via www.imdb.com.

Sources edit

  • McMahan, David L. (2008), The Making of Buddhist Modernism, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780195183276

Further reading edit

  • Allan Combs, The Radiance of Being: Understanding the grand integral vision: living the integral life, Paragon House, 2002
  • Geoffrey D Falk, Norman Einstein: the dis-integration of Ken Wilber, Million Monkeys Press, 2009
  • Lew Howard, Introducing Ken Wilber: concepts for an evolving world, Authorhouse, 2005, ISBN 1-4208-2986-6
  • Peter McNab, Towards an Integral Vision: using NLP and Ken Wilber's AQAL model to enhance communication, Trafford, 2005
  • Jeff Meyerhoff, Bald Ambition: a critique of Ken Wilber's theory of everything, Inside the Curtain Press, 2010
  • Sean Esbjörn-Hargens, Jonathan Reams, Olen Gunnlaugson (ed.), Integral education: new directions for higher learning. SUNY Press, 2010. ISBN 978-1-4384-3348-6
  • Raphael Meriden, Entfaltung des Bewusstseins: Ken Wilbers Vision der Evolution, 2002, ISBN 88-87198-05-5
  • Brad Reynolds, Embracing Reality: The Integral Vision of Ken Wilber: A Historical Survey and Chapter-By-Chapter Review of Wilber's Major Works, J. P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2004, ISBN 1-58542-317-3
  • ----- Where's Wilber At?: Ken Wilber's Integral Vision in the New Millennium, Paragone House, 2006, ISBN 1-55778-846-4
  • Donald Jay Rothberg, Sean M Kelly, Ken Wilber and the future of transpersonal inquiry: a spectrum of views 1996
  • ----- Ken Wilber in Dialogue: Conversations With Leading Transpersonal Thinkers, 1998, ISBN 0-8356-0766-6
  • Frank Visser, Ken Wilber: Thought As Passion, SUNY Press, 2003, ISBN 0-7914-5816-4, (first published in Dutch as Ken Wilber: Denken als passie, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2001)
  • Joseph Vrinte, Perennial Quest for a Psychology with a Soul: An inquiry into the relevance of Sri Aurobindo's metaphysical yoga psychology in the context of Ken Wilber's integral psychology, Motilal Banarsidass, 2002, ISBN 81-208-1932-2

External links edit

  • Official website
  • Interview with Wilber, Salon.com
  • Wilber's books at Shambhala Publications

wilber, kenneth, earl, wilber, born, january, 1949, american, theorist, writer, transpersonal, psychology, integral, theory, four, quadrant, grid, which, purports, encompass, human, knowledge, experience, wilber, 2006, with, bernard, glassman, background, born. Kenneth Earl Wilber II born January 31 1949 is an American theorist and writer on transpersonal psychology and his own integral theory 1 a four quadrant grid which purports to encompass all human knowledge and experience 2 Ken WilberWilber in 2006 with Bernard Glassman background Born 1949 01 31 January 31 1949 age 75 Oklahoma City Oklahoma United StatesEducationDuke University no degree University of Nebraska at Lincoln no degree Notable workThe Spectrum of Consciousness 1977 The Atman Project 1980 Grace and Grit 1991 Sex Ecology Spirituality 1995 2001 EraNew AgeRegionWestern esotericismMain interestsIntegral theory Contents 1 Life and career 2 Integral theory 3 Other ideas 3 1 Mysticism and the great chain of being 3 2 Theory of truth 3 3 Pre trans fallacy 3 4 Wilber on science 3 5 Later work 4 Influences 5 Reception 6 Works 6 1 Books 6 2 Audiobooks 6 3 Adaptations 7 See also 8 Notes 9 Quotes 10 References 11 Sources 12 Further reading 13 External linksLife and career editWilber was born in 1949 in Oklahoma City In 1967 he enrolled as a pre med student at Duke University 3 He became interested in psychology and Eastern spirituality He left Duke and enrolled at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln studying biochemistry but after a few years dropped out of university and began studying his own curriculum and writing 4 In 1973 Wilber completed his first book The Spectrum of Consciousness 5 in which he sought to integrate knowledge from disparate fields After rejections by more than 20 publishers it was accepted in 1977 by Quest Books and he spent a year giving lectures and workshops before going back to writing publishing The Atman Project in which he put his idea of a spectrum of consciousness in a developmental context He also helped to launch the journal ReVision in 1978 6 In 1982 New Science Library published his anthology The Holographic Paradigm and Other Paradoxes 7 a collection of essays and interviews including one by David Bohm The essays including one of his own looked at how holography and the holographic paradigm relate to the fields of consciousness mysticism and science In 1983 Wilber married Terry Treya Killam who was shortly thereafter diagnosed with breast cancer From 1984 until 1987 Wilber gave up most of his writing to care for her Killam died in January 1989 their joint experience was recorded in the 1991 book Grace and Grit In 1987 Wilber moved to Boulder Colorado where he worked on his Kosmos trilogy and supervised the work and functioning of the Integral Institute 8 Wilber wrote Sex Ecology Spirituality 1995 the first volume of his Kosmos Trilogy presenting his theory of everything a four quadrant grid in which he summarized his reading in psychology and Eastern and Western philosophy up to that time A Brief History of Everything 1996 was the popularised summary of Sex Ecology Spirituality in interview format The Eye of Spirit 1997 was a compilation of articles he had written for the journal ReVision on the relationship between science and religion Throughout 1997 he had kept journals of his personal experiences which were published in 1999 as One Taste a term for unitary consciousness Over the next two years his publisher Shambhala Publications released eight re edited volumes of his Collected Works In 1999 he finished Integral Psychology and wrote A Theory of Everything 2000 In A Theory of Everything Wilber attempts to bridge business politics science and spirituality and show how they integrate with theories of developmental psychology such as Spiral Dynamics His novel Boomeritis 2002 attempts to expose what he perceives as the egotism of the baby boom generation Frank Visser s Ken Wilber Thought as Passion 2003 a guide to Wilber s thought was praised by Edward J Sullivan 9 and Daryl S Paulson with the latter calling it an outstanding synthesis of Wilber s published works through the evolution of his thoughts over time The book will be of value to any transpersonal humanist or integral philosophy student who does not want to read all of Wilber s works to understand his message 10 In 2012 Wilber joined the advisory board of the International Simultaneous Policy Organization which seeks to end the usual deadlock in tackling global issues through an international simultaneous policy 11 12 Wilber stated in 2011 that he has long suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome possibly caused by RNase enzyme deficiency disease 13 14 Integral theory editMain article Integral theory Upper Left UL I Interior Individual Intentionale g Freud Upper Right UR It Exterior Individual Behaviorale g Skinner Lower Left LL We Interior Collective Culturale g Gadamer Lower Right LR Its Exterior Collective Sociale g Marx All Quadrants All Levels AQAL pron ah qwul is the basic framework of integral theory It models human knowledge and experience with a four quadrant grid along the axes of interior exterior and individual collective According to Wilber it is a comprehensive approach to reality a metatheory that attempts to explain how academic disciplines and every form of knowledge and experience fit together coherently 2 AQAL is based on four fundamental concepts and a rest category four quadrants several levels and lines of development several states of consciousness and types topics which do not fit into these four concepts 15 Levels are the stages of development from pre personal through personal to transpersonal Lines of development are various domains which may progress unevenly through different stages note 1 States are states of consciousness according to Wilber persons may have a temporal experience of a higher developmental stage note 2 Types is a rest category for phenomena which do not fit in the other four concepts 16 In order for an account of the Kosmos to be complete Wilber believes that it must include each of these five categories For Wilber only such an account can be accurately called integral In the essay Excerpt C The Ways We Are in This Together Wilber describes AQAL as one suggested architecture of the Kosmos 17 The model s apex is formless awareness the simple feeling of being which is equated with a range of ultimates from a variety of eastern traditions This formless awareness transcends the phenomenal world which is ultimately only an appearance of some transcendental reality According to Wilber the AQAL categories quadrants lines levels states and types describe the relative truth of the two truths doctrine of Buddhism According to Wilber none of them are true in an absolute sense Only formless awareness the simple feeling of being 18 exists absolutely citation needed note 3 Other ideas editMysticism and the great chain of being edit One of Wilber s main interests is in mapping what he calls the neo perennial philosophy an integration of some of the views of mysticism typified by Aldous Huxley s The Perennial Philosophy with an account of cosmic evolution akin to that of the Indian mystic Sri Aurobindo He rejects most of the tenets of Perennialism and the associated anti evolutionary view of history as a regression from past ages or yugas 19 Instead he embraces a more traditionally Western notion of the great chain of being As in the work of Jean Gebser this great chain or nest is ever present while relatively unfolding throughout this material manifestation although to Wilber the Great Nest is actually just a vast morphogenetic field of potentials In agreement with Mahayana Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta he believes that reality is ultimately a nondual union of emptiness and form with form being innately subject to development over time Theory of truth edit See also Two truths doctrine Interior Exterior Individual Standard Truthfulness 1st person sincerity integrity trustworthiness Standard Truth 3rd person correspondence representation propositional Collective Standard Justness 2nd person cultural fit rightness mutual understanding Standard Functional fit 3rd person systems theory web Structural functionalism social systems mesh Wilber believes that the mystical traditions of the world provide access to and knowledge of a transcendental reality which is perennial consistent throughout all times and cultures This proposition underlies the whole of his conceptual edifice and is an unquestioned assumption note 4 Wilber juxtaposes this generalization to plain materialism presented as the main paradigm of regular science 21 quote 1 In his later works Wilber argues that manifest reality is composed of four domains and that each domain or quadrant has its own truth standard or test for validity 22 Interior individual 1st person the subjective world the individual subjective sphere 23 Interior collective 2nd person the intersubjective space the cultural background 23 Exterior individual 3rd person the objective state of affairs 23 Exterior collective 3rd person the functional fit how entities fit together in a system 23 Pre trans fallacy edit Wilber believes that many claims about non rational states make a mistake he calls the pre trans fallacy According to Wilber the non rational stages of consciousness what Wilber calls pre rational and trans rational stages can be easily confused with one another In Wilber s view one can reduce trans rational spiritual realization to pre rational regression or one can elevate pre rational states to the trans rational domain 24 For example Wilber claims that Freud and Jung commit this fallacy Freud considered mystical realization to be a regression to infantile oceanic states Wilber alleges that Freud thus commits a fallacy of reduction Wilber thinks that Jung commits the converse form of the same mistake by considering pre rational myths to reflect divine realizations Likewise pre rational states may be misidentified as post rational states 25 Wilber characterizes himself as having fallen victim to the pre trans fallacy in his early work 26 Wilber on science edit Wilber describes the state of the hard sciences as limited to narrow science which only allows evidence from the lowest realm of consciousness the sensorimotor the five senses and their extensions Wilber sees science in the broad sense as characterized by involving three steps 27 28 specifying an experiment performing the experiment and observing the results and checking the results with others who have competently performed the same experiment He has presented these as three strands of valid knowledge in Part III of his book The Marriage of Sense and Soul 29 What Wilber calls broad science would include evidence from logic mathematics and from the symbolic hermeneutical and other realms of consciousness Ultimately and ideally broad science would include the testimony of meditators and spiritual practitioners Wilber s own conception of science includes both narrow science and broad science e g using electroencephalogram machines and other technologies to test the experiences of meditators and other spiritual practitioners creating what Wilber calls integral science citation needed According to Wilber s theory narrow science trumps narrow religion but broad science trumps narrow science That is the natural sciences provide a more inclusive accurate account of reality than any of the particular exoteric religious traditions But an integral approach that uses intersubjectivity to evaluate both religious claims and scientific claims will give a more complete account of reality than narrow science citation needed Wilber has referred to Stuart Kauffman Ilya Prigogine Alfred North Whitehead and others who also articulate his vitalistic and teleological understanding of reality which is deeply at odds with the modern evolutionary synthesis 30 quote 2 Later work edit In 2005 at the launch of the Integral Spiritual Center a branch of the Integral Institute Wilber presented a 118 page rough draft summary of his two forthcoming books 31 The essay is entitled What is Integral Spirituality and contains several new ideas including Integral post metaphysics and the Wilber Combs lattice In 2006 he published Integral Spirituality in which he elaborated on these ideas as well as others such as Integral Methodological Pluralism and the developmental conveyor belt of religion Integral post metaphysics is the term Wilber has given to his attempts to reconstruct the world s spiritual religious traditions in a way that accounts for the modern and post modern criticisms of those traditions 32 The Wilber Combs Lattice is a conceptual model of consciousness developed by Wilber and Allan Combs It is a grid with sequential states of consciousness on the x axis from left to right and with developmental structures or levels of consciousness on the y axis from bottom to top This lattice illustrates how each structure of consciousness interprets experiences of different states of consciousness including mystical states in different ways 33 Wilber attracted a lot of controversy from 2011 to the present day by supporting Marc Gafni Gafni was accused in the media of sexually assaulting a minor 34 Wilber has in fact publicly supported Gafni on his blog 35 36 A petition begun by a group of Rabbis has called for Wilber to publicly dissociate from Gafni Wilber is on the advisory board of Mariana Bozesan s AQAL Capital GmbH 37 a Munich based company specialising in integral Impact Investing using a model based on Wilber s Integral Theory Influences editWilber s views have been influenced by Madhyamaka Buddhism particularly as articulated in the philosophy of Nagarjuna 38 Wilber has practiced various forms of Buddhist meditation studying however briefly with a number of teachers including Dainin Katagiri Taizan Maezumi Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche Kalu Rinpoche Alan Watts Penor Rinpoche and Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche Advaita Vedanta Trika Kashmir Shaivism Tibetan Buddhism Zen Buddhism Ramana Maharshi and Andrew Cohen can be mentioned as further influences Wilber has on several occasions singled out Adi Da s work for the highest praise while expressing reservations about Adi Da as a teacher 39 40 In Sex Ecology Spirituality Wilber refers extensively to Plotinus philosophy which he sees as nondual While Wilber has practised Buddhist meditation methods he does not identify himself as a Buddhist 41 According to Frank Visser Wilber s conception of four quadrants or dimensions of existence is very similar to E F Schumacher s conception of four fields of knowledge 42 Visser finds Wilber s conception of levels as well as Wilber s critique of science as one dimensional to be very similar to that in Huston Smith s Forgotten Truth 43 Visser also writes that the esoteric aspects of Wilber s theory are based on the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo as well as other theorists including Adi Da 44 Reception editWilber has been categorized by Wouter J Hanegraaff as New Age due to his emphasis on a transpersonal view 45 Publishers Weekly has called him the Hegel of Eastern spirituality 46 Wilber is credited with broadening the appeal of a perennial philosophy to a much wider audience Cultural figures as varied as Bill Clinton 47 Al Gore Deepak Chopra Richard Rohr 48 and musician Billy Corgan have mentioned his influence 49 Paul M Helfrich credits him with precocious understanding that transcendental experience is not solely pathological and properly developed could greatly inform human development 50 However Wilber s approach has been criticized as excessively categorizing and objectifying masculinist 51 52 commercializing spirituality 53 and denigrating of emotion 54 Critics in multiple fields cite problems with Wilber s interpretations and inaccurate citations of his wide ranging sources as well as stylistic issues with gratuitous repetition excessive book length and hyperbole 55 Frank Visser writes that Wilber s 1977 book The Spectrum of Consciousness was praised by transpersonal psychologists but also that support for him even in transpersonal circles had waned by the early 1990s 9 Edward J Sullivan argued in his review of Visser s guide Ken Wilber Thought as Passion that in the field of composition studies Wilber s melding of life s journeys with abstract theorizing could provide an eclectic and challenging model of personal academic writing but that teachers of writing may be critical of his all too frequent totalizing assumptions 9 Sullivan also said that Visser s book overall gave an impression that Wilber should think more and publish less 9 Steve McIntosh praises Wilber s work but also argues that Wilber fails to distinguish philosophy from his own Vedantic and Buddhist religion 56 Christopher Bache is complimentary of some aspects of Wilber s work but calls Wilber s writing style glib 57 Psychiatrist Stanislav Grof has praised Wilber s knowledge and work in the highest terms note 5 however Grof has criticized the omission of the pre and peri natal domains from Wilber s spectrum of consciousness and Wilber s neglect of the psychological importance of biological birth and death 59 Grof has described Wilber s writings as having an often aggressive polemical style that includes strongly worded ad personam attacks and is not conducive to personal dialogue 60 Wilber s response is that the world religious traditions do not attest to the importance that Grof assigns to the perinatal 61 Works editBooks edit The Spectrum of Consciousness 1977 anniv ed 1993 ISBN 0 8356 0695 3 No Boundary Eastern and Western Approaches to Personal Growth 1979 reprint ed 2001 ISBN 1 57062 743 6 The Atman Project A Transpersonal View of Human Development 1980 2nd ed ISBN 0 8356 0730 5 Up from Eden A Transpersonal View of Human Evolution 1981 new ed 1996 ISBN 0 8356 0731 3 The Holographic Paradigm and Other Paradoxes Exploring the Leading Edge of Science editor 1982 ISBN 0 394 71237 4 A Sociable God A Brief Introduction to a Transcendental Sociology 1983 new ed 2005 subtitled Toward a New Understanding of Religion ISBN 1 59030 224 9 Eye to Eye The Quest for the New Paradigm 1984 3rd rev ed 2001 ISBN 1 57062 741 X Quantum Questions Mystical Writings of the World s Great Physicists editor 1984 rev ed 2001 ISBN 1 57062 768 1 Transformations of Consciousness Conventional and Contemplative Perspectives on Development co authors Jack Engler Daniel Brown 1986 ISBN 0 394 74202 8 Spiritual Choices The Problem of Recognizing Authentic Paths to Inner Transformation co authors Dick Anthony Bruce Ecker 1987 ISBN 0 913729 19 1 Grace and Grit Spirituality and Healing in the Life of Treya Killam Wilber 1991 2nd ed 2001 ISBN 1 57062 742 8 Sex Ecology Spirituality The Spirit of Evolution 1st ed 1995 2nd rev ed 2001 ISBN 1 57062 744 4 A Brief History of Everything 1st ed 1996 2nd ed 2001 ISBN 1 57062 740 1 The Eye of Spirit An Integral Vision for a World Gone Slightly Mad 1997 3rd ed 2001 ISBN 1 57062 871 8 The Essential Ken Wilber An Introductory Reader 1998 ISBN 1 57062 379 1 The Marriage of Sense and Soul Integrating Science and Religion 1998 reprint ed 1999 ISBN 0 7679 0343 9 One Taste The Journals of Ken Wilber 1999 rev ed 2000 ISBN 1 57062 547 6 Integral Psychology Consciousness Spirit Psychology Therapy 2000 ISBN 1 57062 554 9 A Theory of Everything An Integral Vision for Business Politics Science and Spirituality 2000 paperback ed ISBN 1 57062 855 6 Speaking of Everything 2 hour audio interview on CD 2001 Boomeritis A Novel That Will Set You Free 2002 paperback ed 2003 ISBN 1 59030 008 4 Kosmic Consciousness 12 hour audio interview on ten CDs 2003 ISBN 1 59179 124 3 With Cornel West commentary on The Matrix The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions and appearance in Return To Source Philosophy amp The Matrix on The Roots Of The Matrix both in The Ultimate Matrix Collection 2004 The Simple Feeling of Being Visionary Spiritual and Poetic Writings 2004 ISBN 1 59030 151 X selected from earlier works The Integral Operating System a 69 page primer on AQAL with DVD and 2 audio CDs 2005 ISBN 1 59179 347 5 Executive producer of the Stuart Davis DVDs Between the Music Volume 1 and Volume 2 Integral Spirituality A Startling New Role for Religion in the Modern and Postmodern World 2006 ISBN 1 59030 346 6 The One Two Three of God 3 CDs interview 4th CD guided meditation companion to Integral Spirituality 2006 ISBN 1 59179 531 1 Integral Life Practice Starter Kit five DVDs two CDs three booklets 2006 ISBN 0 9772275 0 2 The Integral Vision A Very Short Introduction to the Revolutionary Integral Approach to Life God the Universe and Everything 2007 ISBN 1 59030 475 6 The Integral Vision A Very Short Introduction 2007 ISBN 9781611806427 Integral Life Practice A 21st Century Blueprint for Physical Health Emotional Balance Mental Clarity and Spiritual Awakening 2008 ISBN 1 59030 467 5 The Pocket Ken Wilber 2008 ISBN 1 59030 637 6 The Integral Approach A Short Introduction by Ken Wilber eBook 2013 ISBN 9780834829060 The Fourth Turning Imagining the Evolution of an Integral Buddhism eBook 2014 ISBN 9780834829572 Wicked amp Wise How to Solve the World s Toughest Problems with Alan Watkins 2015 ISBN 978 1 909273 64 1 Integral Meditation Mindfulness as a Way to Grow Up Wake Up and Show Up in Your Life 2016 ISBN 9781611802986 The Religion of Tomorrow A Vision For The Future of the Great Traditions 2017 ISBN 978 1 61180 300 6 Trump and a Post Truth World 2017 ISBN 9781611805611 Integral Buddhism And the Future of Spirituality 2018 ISBN 1611805600 Integral Politics Its Essential Ingredients eBook 2018 Grace and Grit 2020 Shambala ISBN 9781611808490 Audiobooks edit A Brief History of Everything Shambhala Audio 2008 ISBN 978 1 59030 550 8 Kosmic Consciousness Sounds True Incorporated 2003 ISBN 9781591791249 Adaptations edit Wilber s account of his wife Treya s illness and death Grace and Grit 1991 was released as a feature film starring Mena Suvari and Stuart Townsend in 2021 62 See also edit nbsp Philosophy portal The Cultural Creatives Edward Haskell Higher consciousness Nicolai Hartmann Noosphere Shambhala Publications WorldcentrismNotes edit This interpretation is at odds with structural stage theory which posits an overall follow up of stages instead of variations over several domains This too is at odds with structural stage theory but in line with Wilber s philosophical idealism which sees the phenomenal world as a concretisation or immanation of a higher transcendental reality which can be realized in religious experience The Madhyamaka two truths doctrine discerns two epistemological truths namely conventional and ultimate Conventional truth is the truth of phenomenal appearances and causal relations our daily common sense world Ultimate truth is the recognition that no thing exists inherently every thing is empty sunyata of an unchanging essence It also means that there is no unchanging transcendental reality underlying phenomenal existence Formless awareness belongs to another strand of Indian thinking namely Advaita and Buddha nature which are ontological approaches and do posit such a transcendental unchanging reality namely awareness or consciousness Wilber seems to be mixing or confusing these two different approaches freely in his attempt to integrate everything into one conceptual scheme The perennial position is largely dismissed by scholars 20 but has lost none of its popularity 20 Mainstream academia favor a constructivist approach which is rejected by Wilber as a dangerous relativism See also Perennialism versus constructionism Ken has produced an extraordinary work of highly creative synthesis of data drawn from a vast variety of areas and disciplines His knowledge of the literature is truly encyclopedic his analytical mind systematic and incisive and the clarity of his logic remarkable The impressive scope comprehensive nature and intellectual rigor of Ken s work have helped to make it a widely acclaimed and highly influential theory of transpersonal psychology 58 Quotes edit Wilber Are the mystics and sages insane Because they all tell variations on the same story don t they The story of awakening one morning and discovering you are one with the All in a timeless and eternal and infinite fashion Yes maybe they are crazy these divine fools Maybe they are mumbling idiots in the face of the Abyss Maybe they need a nice understanding therapist Yes I m sure that would help But then I wonder Maybe the evolutionary sequence really is from matter to body to mind to soul to spirit each transcending and including each with a greater depth and greater consciousness and wider embrace And in the highest reaches of evolution maybe just maybe an individual s consciousness does indeed touch infinity a total embrace of the entire Kosmos a Kosmic consciousness that is Spirit awakened to its own true nature It s at least plausible And tell me is that story sung by mystics and sages the world over any crazier than the scientific materialism story which is that the entire sequence is a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying absolutely nothing Listen very carefully just which of those two stories actually sounds totally insane 21 Wilber I am not alone in seeing that chance and natural selection by themselves are not enough to account for the emergence that we see in evolution Stuart Kaufman sic and many others have criticized mere change and natural selection as not adequate to account for this emergence he sees the necessity of adding self organization Of course I understand that natural selection is not acting on mere randomness or chance because natural selection saves previous selections and this reduces dramatically the probability that higher adequate forms will emerge But even that is not enough in my opinion to account for the remarkable emergence of some of the extraordinarily complex forms that nature has produced After all from the big bang and dirt to the poems of William Shakespeare is quite a distance and many philosophers of science agree that mere chance and selection are just not adequate to account for these remarkable emergences The universe is slightly tilted toward self organizing processes and these processes as Prigogine was the first to elaborate escape present level turmoil by jumping to higher levels of self organization and I see that pressure as operating throughout the physiosphere the biosphere and the noosphere And that is what I metaphorically mean when I use the example of a wing or elsewhere the example of an eyeball to indicate the remarkableness of increasing emergence But I don t mean that as a specific model or actual example of how biological emergence works Natural selection carries forth previous individual mutations but again that just isn t enough to account for creative emergence or what Whitehead called the creative advance into novelty which according to Whitehead is the fundamental nature of this manifest universe 30 References edit Mark Der Forman A guide to integral psychotherapy complexity integration and spirituality in practice SUNY Press 2010 p 9 ISBN 978 1 4384 3023 2 a b Rentschler Matt AQAL Glossary Archived December 28 2017 at the Wayback Machine AQAL Journal of Integral Theory and Practice Fall 2006 Vol 1 No 3 Retrieved on December 28 2017 Tony Schwartz What Really Matters Searching for Wisdom in America Bantam 1996 ISBN 0 553 37492 3 p 348 Ken Wilber Teachers Spirituality amp Practice spiritualityandpractice com Archived from the original on April 2 2015 Wilber Ken 1993 The Spectrum of Consciousness Quest Books ISBN 9780835606950 Frank Visser Ken Wilber Thought as Passion p 27 The Holographic Paradigm and other paradoxes 1982 ISBN 0 87773 238 8 About Ken Wilber Famous Psychologists a b c d Sullivan Edward J Winter 2005 06 REVIEW Sullivan Ken Wilber Thought as Passion The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning 11 97 99 Paulson Daryl S 2004 Review of Thought as passion Journal of Transpersonal Psychology 36 223 227 via APA PsycNet About Simpol UK uk simpol org About Simpol UK Archived July 29 2013 at the Wayback Machine Endorsements Simpol org Endorsements Archived July 29 2013 at the Wayback Machine Wilber Ken December 26 2006 Ken Wilber Writes About His Horrific Near Fatal Illness New Heaven New Earth Archived from the original on July 24 2011 Retrieved May 26 2011 Wilber Ken RNase Enzyme Deficiency Disease Wilber s statement about his health IntegralWorld net October 22 2002 Archived from the original on June 5 2011 Retrieved May 26 2011 Fiandt K Forman J Erickson Megel M et al 2003 Integral nursing an emerging framework for engaging the evolution of the profession Nursing Outlook 51 3 130 137 doi 10 1016 s0029 6554 03 00080 0 PMID 12830106 Integral Psychology In Weiner Irving B amp Craighead W Edward ed The Corsini encyclopedia of psychology Vol 2 4 ed Wiley 2010 pp 830 ff ISBN 978 0 470 17026 7 Excerpt C The Ways We Are In This Together Ken Wilber Online Archived from the original on December 23 2005 Retrieved December 26 2005 The Simple Feeling of Being Shambala Publications 2004 ISBN 9781590301517 I have not identified myself with the perennial philosophy in over fifteen years Many of the enduring perennial philosophers such as Nagarjuna were already using postmetaphysical methods which is why their insights are still quite valid But the vast majority of perennial philosophers were caught in metaphysical not critical thought which is why I reject their methods almost entirely and accept their conclusions only to the extent they can be reconstructed On the Nature of a Post Metaphysical Spirituality Response to Habermas and Weis Archived from the original on March 22 2006 Retrieved March 14 2006 a b McMahan 2008 p 269 note 9 a b Ken Wilber A Brief History of Everything pp 42 3 Wilber Ken 1998 The Eye of Spirit Boston Shambhala pp 12 18 ISBN 1 57062 345 7 a b c d Table and quotations from Ken Wilber A Brief History of Everything 2nd edition ISBN 1 57062 740 1 p 96 109 Introduction to the third volume of The Collected Works of Ken Wilber Archived June 15 2009 at the Wayback Machine Wilber Ken Sex Ecology Spirituality Shambhala Publications 2000 pp 211 f ISBN 978 1 57062 744 6 The introduction to Volume 1 of The Collected Works of Ken Wilber Ken Wilber Online Archived from the original on March 19 2009 Donald Jay Rothberg Sean M Kelly Sean Kelly February 1 1998 Ken Wilber in Dialogue Conversations with Leading Transpersonal Thinkers Quest Books p 12 ISBN 978 0 8356 0766 7 Lew Howard May 17 2005 Introducing Ken Wilber AuthorHouse pp 2 3 ISBN 978 1 4634 8193 3 Ken Wilber August 3 2011 The Marriage of Sense and Soul Integrating Science and Religion Random House Publishing Group p 187 ISBN 978 0 307 79956 2 a b Ken Wilber Re Some Criticisms of My Understanding of Evolution Archived September 7 2011 at the Wayback Machine What is Integral Spirituality PDF Integral Spiritual Center Archived from the original PDF on November 25 2005 Retrieved December 26 2005 1 3 MB PDF file Integral Spirituality A Startling New Role for Religion in the Modern and Postmodern World 2006 Integral Spirituality A Startling New Role for Religion in the Modern and Postmodern World 2006 I Was 13 When Marc Gafni s Abuse Began forward com January 13 2016 Archived from the original on February 4 2018 Retrieved May 3 2018 Ken Wilber s Response to the Marc Gafni Debacle Integral Life Archived from the original on February 6 2016 Retrieved February 18 2016 kenwilber com blog www kenwilber com Archived from the original on October 28 2017 Retrieved May 3 2018 Ken Wilber AQAL Capital aqalcapital com Archived from the original on March 31 2016 Retrieved March 30 2016 The Kosmos According to Ken Wilber A Dialogue with Robin Kornman Shambhala Sun September 1996 Archived from the original on August 13 2006 Retrieved June 14 2006 The Case of Adi Da Ken Wilber Online Archived from the original on February 13 2008 Adi Da and The Case of Ken Wilber Archived from the original on March 3 2011 I mention Master Da along with Christ Krishna as being the Divine Person as World Event Ken Wilber Up From Eden 1981 Kosmic Consciousness 12 hour audio interview on ten CDs 2003 ISBN 1 59179 124 3 Frank Visser Ken Wilber Thought as Passion 194 Frank Visser Ken Wilber Thought as Passion 78 Visser 276 Wouter J Hanegraaff New Age Religion and Western Culture SUNY 1998 pp 70 Ken Wilber defends a transpersonal worldview which qualifies as New Age Archived April 30 2014 at the Wayback Machine The Simple Feeling of Being Visionary Spiritual and Poetic Writings publishersweekly com June 4 2014 Planetary Problem Solver Archived February 12 2010 at the Wayback Machine Newsweek January 4 2010 The Perennial Tradition Center for Action and Contemplation Center for Action and Contemplation December 20 2015 Retrieved August 17 2018 Steve Paulson April 28 2008 You are the river An interview with Ken Wilber salon com Archived from the original on July 3 2009 Helfrich Paul M March 2004 Thought As Passion Making Ken Wilber Accessible Retrieved October 10 2020 Thompson Coming into Being Artifacts and Texts in the Evolution of Consciousness pp 12 13 Gelfer J Chapter 5 Integral or muscular spirituality in Numen Old Men Contemporary Masculine Spiritualities and the Problem of Patriarchy 2009 ISBN 978 1 84553 419 6 Gelfer J LOHAS and the Indigo Dollar Growing the Spiritual Economy Archived January 4 2011 at the Wayback Machine New Proposals Journal of Marxism and Interdisciplinary Inquiry 4 1 2010 46 60 de Quincey Christian Winter 2000 The Promise of Integralism A Critical Appreciation of Ken Wilber s Integral Psychology Journal of Consciousness Studies Vol 7 11 12 Archived from the original on May 7 2006 Retrieved June 15 2006 Frank Visser A Spectrum of Wilber Critics A Spectrum of Wilber Critics essay by Frank Visser Archived from the original on May 26 2006 Retrieved April 28 2006 Steve McIntosh Integral Consciousness and the Future of Evolution Paragon House St Paul Minnesota 2007 ISBN 978 1 55778 867 2 pp 227f Notes to Chapter 6 of Dark Night Early Dawn Steps to a Deep Ecology of Mind SUNY Press 2000 Stanislav Grof Ken Wilber s Spectrum Psychology Archived December 9 2009 at the Wayback Machine Grof Beyond the Brain 131 137 Grof A Brief History of Transpersonal Psychology PDF Archived from the original PDF on July 16 2011 Visser 269 Grace and Grit 2021 IMDb via www imdb com Sources editMcMahan David L 2008 The Making of Buddhist Modernism Oxford Oxford University Press ISBN 9780195183276Further reading editAllan Combs The Radiance of Being Understanding the grand integral vision living the integral life Paragon House 2002 Geoffrey D Falk Norman Einstein the dis integration of Ken Wilber Million Monkeys Press 2009 Lew Howard Introducing Ken Wilber concepts for an evolving world Authorhouse 2005 ISBN 1 4208 2986 6 Peter McNab Towards an Integral Vision using NLP and Ken Wilber s AQAL model to enhance communication Trafford 2005 Jeff Meyerhoff Bald Ambition a critique of Ken Wilber s theory of everything Inside the Curtain Press 2010 Sean Esbjorn Hargens Jonathan Reams Olen Gunnlaugson ed Integral education new directions for higher learning SUNY Press 2010 ISBN 978 1 4384 3348 6 Raphael Meriden Entfaltung des Bewusstseins Ken Wilbers Vision der Evolution 2002 ISBN 88 87198 05 5 Brad Reynolds Embracing Reality The Integral Vision of Ken Wilber A Historical Survey and Chapter By Chapter Review of Wilber s Major Works J P Tarcher Penguin 2004 ISBN 1 58542 317 3 Where s Wilber At Ken Wilber s Integral Vision in the New Millennium Paragone House 2006 ISBN 1 55778 846 4 Donald Jay Rothberg Sean M Kelly Ken Wilber and the future of transpersonal inquiry a spectrum of views 1996 Ken Wilber in Dialogue Conversations With Leading Transpersonal Thinkers 1998 ISBN 0 8356 0766 6 Frank Visser Ken Wilber Thought As Passion SUNY Press 2003 ISBN 0 7914 5816 4 first published in Dutch as Ken Wilber Denken als passie Rotterdam Netherlands 2001 Joseph Vrinte Perennial Quest for a Psychology with a Soul An inquiry into the relevance of Sri Aurobindo s metaphysical yoga psychology in the context of Ken Wilber s integral psychology Motilal Banarsidass 2002 ISBN 81 208 1932 2External links edit nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to Ken Wilber nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ken Wilber Official website Interview with Wilber Salon com Wilber s books at Shambhala Publications Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ken Wilber amp oldid 1221931936, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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