Ken Wilber

Kenneth Earl Wilber Jr. (b. January 31, 1949, Oklahoma City, U.S.), is an American integral thinker and author. Working outside the academic mainstream, he has drawn on a variety of disciplines including psychology, sociology, philosophy, mysticism, postmodernism, science and systems theory to formulate what he characterizes as an integral theory of consciousness. He is a leading proponent of the Integral thought movement, and founded the Integral Institute in 1998.^[1] Image File history File links Screenshot of Ken Wilber from Return To Source: Philosophy & The Matrix Screenshot by me, User:Max314 This is a screenshot of a copyrighted website, video game graphic, computer program graphic, television broadcast, or film. ... Image File history File links Screenshot of Ken Wilber from Return To Source: Philosophy & The Matrix Screenshot by me, User:Max314 This is a screenshot of a copyrighted website, video game graphic, computer program graphic, television broadcast, or film. ... is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Downtown Oklahoma City The State Capitol of Oklahoma From The South Motto: Nickname: Capital of the New Century Founded 1889 Incorporated County Oklahoma County Cleveland County Canadian County Borough {{{borough}}} Parrish {{{parrish}}} Mayor Mick Cornett Area  - Total  - Water 1,608. ... For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation) Motto In God We Trust(since 1956) (From Many, One; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Demonym American... This article is about integral theory in philosophy, psychology, and society. ... Psychological science redirects here. ... Sociology (from Latin: socius, companion; and the suffix -ology, the study of, from Greek λόγος, lógos, knowledge [1]) is the systematic and scientific study of society, including patterns of social relationships, social action, and culture[2]. Areas studied in sociology can range from the analysis of brief contacts between anonymous... For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Postmodernism is a term applied to a wide-ranging set of developments in critical theory, philosophy, architecture, art, literature, and culture, which are generally characterized as either emerging from, in reaction to, or superseding, modernism. ... A magnet levitating above a high-temperature superconductor demonstrates the Meissner effect. ... Systems theory is an interdisciplinary field of science. ... This article is about integral theory in philosophy, psychology, and society. ... Consciousness is a quality of the mind generally regarded to comprise qualities such as subjectivity, self-awareness, sentience, sapience, and the ability to perceive the relationship between oneself and ones environment. ... This article is about integral thought in philosophy and psychology. ... The Integral Institute is a think-tank founded in 1998 by American philosopher, psychologist, and mystic Ken Wilber. ...

While Wilber has practiced Buddhist meditation methods, and the beliefs of Madhyamika Buddhism, particularly as articulated in the philosophy of Nagarjuna, underpin his work, ^[2] Wilber does not self-identify as a Buddhist.^[3] A replica of an ancient statue found among the ruins of a temple at Sarnath Buddhism is a philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, a prince of the Shakyas, whose lifetime is traditionally given as 566 to 486 BCE. It had subsequently been accepted by... Madhyamaka (Also known as Śunyavada) is a Buddhist Mahayāna tradition popularized by Nāgārjuna and Aśvaghoṣa. ... For other uses, see Nagarjuna (disambiguation). ...

Biography

Ken Wilber was born on January 31, 1949 in Oklahoma City, OK. In 1967 he enrolled as a pre-med student at Duke University,^[4] and almost immediately experienced a disillusionment with what science had to offer. He became inspired by Eastern literature, particularly the Tao Te Ching, which catalyzed his interest in Buddhism. He left Duke, enrolled in the University of Nebraska, and completed a bachelor's degree with a double major in chemistry and biology. is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Downtown Oklahoma City The State Capitol of Oklahoma From The South Motto: Nickname: Capital of the New Century Founded 1889 Incorporated County Oklahoma County Cleveland County Canadian County Borough {{{borough}}} Parrish {{{parrish}}} Mayor Mick Cornett Area  - Total  - Water 1,608. ... For other uses, see Oklahoma (disambiguation). ... Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ... A pre-medical Degree is one preparing for medical school. ... Duke University is a private coeducational research university located in Durham, North Carolina, USA. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. ... The Tao Te Ching (道德經, Pinyin: D Jīng, thus sometimes rendered in recent works as Dao De Jing; archaic pre-Wade-Giles rendering: Tao Teh Ching; roughly translated as The Book of the Way and its Virtue (see dedicated chapter below on translating the title)) is... A statue of the Sakyamuni Buddha in Tawang Gompa, India. ... Seal of the University of Nebraska The University of Nebraska is one of two public university systems in the state of Nebraska, USA. The system has four universities and a technical college: University of Nebraska-Lincoln University of Nebraska at Omaha University of Nebraska at Kearney University of Nebraska Medical...

In 1973, Wilber completed his first book, The Spectrum of Consciousness, in which he sought to integrate knowledge from disparate fields. After rejections by more than twenty publishers it was finally accepted in 1977 by Quest Books, and he spent a year giving lectures and workshops before going back to writing. He also helped to launch the journal ReVision in 1978. A view of the gardens of the Adyar Theosophical society The Theosophy Society - Adyar is the original Theosophical Society founded by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and others in 1875. ... Look up Revision in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

In 1983, Wilber was married for a second time, this time to Terry (Treya) Killam who was shortly thereafter diagnosed with breast cancer. From the fall of 1984 until 1987, Wilber gave up most of his writing to focus on caring for her. Treya died in January, 1989, and their joint experience was recorded in the book Grace and Grit (1991).

Subsequently, Wilber wrote Sex, Ecology, Spirituality (SES), (1995), the massive first volume of a proposed Kosmos Trilogy. A Brief History of Everything (1996) was the non-footnoted, popularized summary of SES in the form of an imagined, extended interview. 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 Buddhist term for cosmic or unitary consciousness. Over the next two years his publisher, Shambhala Publications, took the unusual step of releasing 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 book, Boomeritis (2002), is a novel which attempts to expose the egotism of his generation. Sex, Ecology, Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution is philosopher Ken Wilbers magnum opus. ... Collective unconscious is a term of analytical psychology, and was originally coined by Carl Jung. ... Shambhala Publications is a publishing company based in Boulder, Colorado. ... Integral Psychology is a book by philosopher Ken Wilber in which he applies his integral model of consciousness to the psychological realm. ... Spiral Dynamics is a theory of human development introduced in the 1996 book Spiral Dynamics by Don Beck and Chris Cowan. ... Boomeritis: A Novel That Will Set You Free is a 2002 novel by the philosopher Ken Wilber. ...

Since 1987, Wilber has lived in Denver, Colorado, where he is working on his Kosmos trilogy and overseeing the work of the Integral Institute. Nickname: Location of Denver in Colorado Location of Colorado in the United States Coordinates: , Country State Founded [1] November 22, 1858 Incorporated November 7, 1861 Government  - Type Strong Mayor/Weak Council  - Mayor John Hickenlooper (D) Area [1]  - City & County  154. ... The Integral Institute is a think-tank founded in 1998 by American philosopher, psychologist, and mystic Ken Wilber. ...

Ideas

Mysticism and the great chain of being

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 philosopher 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.^[5]. 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 Buddhisism, he believes that reality is ultimately a nondual union of emptiness and form, with form being innately subject to development over time. Wilber's writings are ultimately attempts to describe how he conceives that form undergoes change, and how he believes sentient beings in the world of form participate in this change until they finally realize their true identity as emptiness. Aldous Leonard Huxley (July 26, 1894 – November 22, 1963) was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. ... Perennial Philosophy is a term that is often used as a synonym for Sanatana Dharma (Sanskrit for Eternal or Perennial Truth). It was used by Leibniz to designate the common, eternal philosophy that underlies all religious movements, in particular the mystical streams within religions. ... Look up evolution in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Sri Aurobindo (Bangla: শ্রী অরবিন্দ Sri Ôrobindo, Sanskrit: श्री अरविन्द SrÄ« Aravinda) (August 15, 1872–December 5, 1950) was an Indian/Hindu nationalist, scholar, poet, mystic, evolutionary philosopher, yogi and guru [1]. After a short political career in which he became one of the leaders of the early movement for the freedom of India... The Traditionalist School of thought, also known as Integral Traditionalism (in the sense of Integralism) or Perennialism (in the sense of perennial philosophy, or Sophia Perennis) is an esoteric movement inspired by the interwar period writings of French metaphysician René Guénon and developed by authors such as German-Swiss... Yuga (Devnāgari: युग) in Hindu philosophy refers to an epoch or era within a cycle of four ages: the Satya Yuga (or Krita Yuga), the Treta Yuga, the Dvapara Yuga and finally the Kali Yuga. ... Occident redirects here. ... 1579 drawing of the great chain of being from Didacus Valades, Rhetorica Christiana The great chain of being or scala naturæ is a classical and western medieval conception of the order of the universe, whose chief characteristic is a strict hierarchical system. ... Jean Gebser Jean Gebser (August 20, 1905 – May 14, 1973) was a prodigy, a student of the transformations of human consciousness, a linguist, and a poet. ... A nondual philosophical or religious perspective or theory maintains that there is no fundamental distinction between mind and matter. ... Śūnyatā, शून्यता (Sanskrit, Pali: suññatā), or Emptiness, is a term for a concept or set of concepts playing an important role in some versions of the Buddhist metaphysical critique, but also having important implications for Buddhist epistemology and phenomenology. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ...

Wilber is considered at his most effective when arguing for the value of mystical realization and in opposition to philosophical materialism, as in the following passage:

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?

– Ken Wilber, A Brief History of Everything, 42-3

Wilber's holism

A key idea in Wilber's philosophical approach is the holon, which came from the writings of Arthur Koestler. In considering what might be the basic building blocks of existence, he observed that it seems every entity and concept shares a dual nature: as a whole in itself, and as a part of some other whole. For example, although you are made of parts (your nervous system, your skeletal system, etc.), you are also a part of your society, and of your nation-state. A letter is a self-existing entity and simultaneously an integral part of a word. Everything from quarks to matter to energy to ideas can be looked at in this way — everything in creation except perhaps creation itself is a holon. A holon (Greek: holos, whole) is something that is simultaneously a whole and a part. ... Arthur Koestler (September 5, 1905, Budapest – March 3, 1983, London) was a Hungarian polymath who became a naturalized British subject. ... An entity is something that has a distinct, separate existence, though it need not be a material existence. ... For other uses, see Concept (disambiguation). ... The Human Nervous System. ... Skeleton is also a winter sport: see skeleton (sport). ... For other uses, see Society (disambiguation). ... The term nation-state, while often used interchangeably with the terms unitary state and independent state, refers properly to the parallel occurence of a state and a nation. ... For other uses of this term, see: Quark (disambiguation) 1974 discovery photograph of a possible charmed baryon, now identified as the Σc++ In particle physics, the quarks are subatomic particles thought to be elemental and indivisible. ... This article is about matter in physics and chemistry. ... IDEA may refer to: Electronic Directory of the European Institutions IDEA League Improvement and Development Agency Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Indian Distance Education Association Integrated Data Environments Australia Intelligent Database Environment for Advanced Applications IntelliJ IDEA - a Java IDE Interactive Database for Energy-efficient Architecture International IDEA (International Institute...

In his book Sex, Ecology, Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution, Wilber outlines approximately twenty tenets that characterize all holons.^[6] These tenets form the basis of Wilber's model of manifest reality. Beyond this, Wilber's view is that the totality of manifest reality itself is just a wave on the ocean of the unmanifest, of Emptiness itself, which is not a holon. Sex, Ecology, Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution is philosopher Ken Wilbers magnum opus. ...

AQAL: All Quadrants All Levels

AQAL (pronounced aqual or ah-qwul) represents the core of Wilber's recent work. AQAL stands for "all quadrants all levels", but equally connotes 'all lines', 'all states' and 'all types'. These are the five irreducible categories of Wilber's model of manifest existence. 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".^[7]

All of Wilber's AQAL categories — quadrants, lines, levels, states, and types—relate to relative truth in the two truths doctrine of Buddhism, to which he subscribes. According to Wilber, none of them are true in an absolute sense: only formless awareness, "the simple feeling of being," exists absolutely. This article is about integral theory in philosophy and psychology. ... This article is about integral theory in philosophy and psychology. ... This article is about integral theory in philosophy and psychology. ... This article is about integral theory in philosophy and psychology. ... This article is about integral theory in philosophy and psychology. ... The two truths doctrine in Buddhism differentiates between two levels of truth in Buddhist discourse, a relative, or commonsense truth, and an ultimate truth or highest spiritual truth. ... A statue of the Sakyamuni Buddha in Tawang Gompa, India. ...

AQAL stands for "All quadrants, all levels", and equally connotes "all lines, all states, all types". An account or theory is said to be AQAL, and thus integral (inclusive or comprehensive), if it accounts for or makes reference to all four quadrants and four major levels in Wilber's ontological scheme, described below. The word theory has a number of distinct meanings in different fields of knowledge, depending on their methodologies and the context of discussion. ... This article is about integral thought in philosophy and psychology. ... This article is about ontology in philosophy. ...

Quadrants

Each holon, or unit of reality that is both a whole and a part of a larger whole, has an interior and an exterior. It also exists as an individual and (assuming more than one of these entities exists) as a collective. Observing the holon from the outside constitutes an exterior perspective on that holon. Observing it from the inside is the interior perspective, and so forth. If you map these four perspectives into quadrants, you have four quadrants, or dimensions (these are unrelated to the three spatial dimensions). A holon (Greek: holos, whole) is something that is simultaneously a whole and a part. ... Perspective in theory of cognition is the choice of a context or a reference (or the result of this choice) from which to sense, categorize, measure or codify experience, cohesively forming a coherent belief, typically for comparing with another. ... Dimension (from Latin measured out) is, in essence, the number of degrees of freedom available for movement in a space. ...

To give an example of how this works, consider four schools of social science. Freudian psychoanalysis, which [interprets people's interior experiences, is an account of the interior individual (or, in the diagram, the upper-left) quadrant. B. F. Skinner's behaviorism, which limits itself to the observation of the behavior of organisms, is an exterior individual (upper-right) account. Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics interprets the collective consciousness of a society, and is thus an interior plural (lower-left) perspective. Marxist economic theory examines the external behavior of a society (lower-right). The social sciences are groups of academic disciplines that study the human aspects of the world. ... Sigmund Freud (IPA: ), born Sigismund Schlomo Freud (May 6, 1856 – September 23, 1939), was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who founded the psychoanalytic school of psychology. ... Today psychoanalysis comprises several interlocking theories concerning the functioning of the mind. ... Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 – August 18, 1990), Ph. ... Behaviorism (also called learning perspective) is a philosophy of psychology based on the proposition that all things which organisms do — including acting, thinking and feeling—can and should be regarded as behaviors. ... Hans-Georg Gadamer Hans-Georg Gadamer (February 11, 1900 – March 13, 2002) was a German philosopher best known for his 1960 magnum opus, Truth and Method (Wahrheit und Methode). ... Hermeneutics may be described as the development and study of theories of the interpretation and understanding of texts. ... The French social theorist Émile Durkheim (1858-1917) used the term collective consciousness in his The Rules of Sociological Method (1895), Suicide (1897), and The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912). ... Marxism is both the theory and the political practice (that is, the praxis) derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

Thus all four pursuits – psychoanalysis, behaviorism, philosophical hermeneutics and Marxism – offer complementary, rather than contradictory, perspectives. It is possible for all to be correct and necessary for a complete account of human existence. Wilber has integrated these four areas of knowledge through an acknowledgement of the four fundamental dimensions of existence. Further, these four perspectives are equally valid at all levels of existence.

Lines, streams, or intelligences

According to Wilber, all holons have multiple lines of development, or intelligences—in fact, over two dozen have been observed. They include cognitive, ethical, aesthetic, spiritual, kinesthetic, affective, musical, spatial, logical-mathematical, karmic, etc. One can be highly developed cognitively (cerebrally smart) without being highly morally developed (as in the case of Nazi doctors). However, Wilber acknowledges, you cannot be highly morally developed without the pre-requisite cognitive development. So not all of the developmental lines are ontologically equivalent. Multiple intelligences is educational theory put forth by psychologist Howard Gardner, which suggests that an array of different kinds of intelligence exists in human beings. ... Look up Cognition in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Ethics (disambiguation). ... Aesthetics (or esthetics) (from the Greek word αισθητική) is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty. ... Spirituality, in a narrow sense, concerns itself with matters of the spirit. ... Proprioception (from Latin proprius, meaning ones own) is the sense of the position of parts of the body, relative to other neighbouring parts of the body. ... For the change in vowel and consonant quality in Celtic languages, see Affection (linguistics). ... For other uses, see Music (disambiguation). ... Logic (from Classical Greek λόγος logos; meaning word, thought, idea, argument, account, reason, or principle) is the study of the principles and criteria of valid inference and demonstration. ... For other meanings of mathematics or uses of math and maths, see Mathematics (disambiguation) and Math (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Karma (disambiguation). ... Nazism in history Nazi ideology Nazism and race Outside Germany Related subjects Lists Politics Portal         Nazism or National Socialism (German: Nationalsozialismus), refers primarily to the ideology and practices of the Nazi Party (National Socialist German Workers Party, German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP) under Adolf Hitler. ... This article is about ontology in philosophy. ...

Levels or stages

The concept of levels follows closely on the concept of lines of development. The more highly developed you are in a particular line, the higher level you are at in that line. Wilber's conception of the level is clearly based on several theories of developmental psychology, including: Piaget's theory of cognitive development, Kohlberg's stages of moral development, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Erikson's stages of psychosocial development, and Jane Loevinger's stages of ego development. This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Jean Piaget (August 9, 1896 – September 16, 1980) was a Swiss philosopher, natural scientist and developmental psychologist, well known for his work studying children, his theory of cognitive development and for his epistemological view called genetic epistemology. He created in 1955 the International Centre for Genetic Epistemology in Geneva and... // Although there is no general theory of cognitive development, one of the most historically influential theories was developed by Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist (1896–1980). ... Kohlberg is the name of three municipalities Kohlberg, Baden-Württemberg in the district Esslingen, Germany Kohlberg, Bavaria in the district Neustadt (Waldnaab), Germany Kohlberg, Styria in Styria, Austria Persons named Kohlberg Lawrence Kohlberg, developmental psychologist Jerome Kohlberg, Jr. ... Kohlbergs stages of moral development are planes of moral adequacy conceived by Lawrence Kohlberg to explain the development of moral reasoning. ... Abraham (Harold) Maslow (April 1, 1908 – June 8, 1970) was an American psychologist. ... Maslows Hierarchy of Needs is a theory in psychology that Abraham Maslow proposed in his 1945 paper A Theory of Human Motivation, which he subsequently extended to include his observations of humans innate curiosity. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Eriksons stages of psychosocial development describe eight developmental stages through which a healthily developing human should pass from infancy to late adulthood. ... Jane Loevinger (born 1918) was a developmental psychologist who developed a theory of personality which emphasized the gradual internalization of social rules and the maturing conscience for the origin of personal decisions. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

One such scheme describes the ethical developmental line, for example:

• Egocentric (similar to Carol Gilligan's 'Selfish' stage)
• Ethnocentric or Sociocentric (Gilligan's 'Care' stage)
• Worldcentric (Gilligan's 'Universal Care' stage)
• Being-centric (Gilligan's 'Integrated' stage)

Within each broad stage, there are sub-levels. Spiral Dynamics is one theory that elaborates on these sub-levels. Carol Gilligan (1936– ) is an American feminist, ethicist, and psychologist best known for her work with and against Lawrence Kohlberg on ethical community and ethical relationships, and certain subject-object problems in ethics. ... This box:      Ethnocentrism is the tendency to look at the world primarily from the perspective of ones own culture. ... The American integral philosopher Ken Wilber uses the term worldcentric to describe an advanced stage of ethical development. ... Spiral Dynamics is a theory of human development introduced in the 1996 book Spiral Dynamics by Don Beck and Chris Cowan. ...

Another broad organization of the levels contains three categories:

• pre-personal (subconscious motivations)
• personal (conscious mental processes)
• transpersonal (integrative and mystical structures)

This organization reveals more of Wilber's synthesizing activity. Freudian drives, Jungian archetypes, and myth are pre-personal structures. Empirical and rational processes are at the personal level. Transpersonal entities include, for example, Aurobindo's Overmind, Emerson's Oversoul, Plato's Forms, Plotinus' nous, and the Hindu Atman, or world-soul. The term Transpersonal is often used to refer to psychological categories that transcend the normal features of ordinary ego-functioning. ... Sigmund Freud His famous couch Sigmund Freud (May 6, 1856 - September 23, 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of the psychoanalytic school of psychology, a movement that popularized the theory that unconscious motives control much behavior. ... Jung redirects here. ... Archetype is defined as the first original model of which all other similar persons, objects, or concepts are merely derivative, copied, patterned, or emulated. ... Śrī Aurobindo Śrī Aurobindo (August 15, 1872–December 5, 1950) was an Indian nationalist, scholar, poet, Hindu mystic, Evolutionary philosopher, yogi and guru. ... Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, poet, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early nineteenth century. ... For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation). ... Plotinus (Greek: ) (ca. ... Bhavna says there are 300 million gods in Hinduism. ... The Atman or Atma (IAST: Ä€tmā, sanskrit: आत्म‍ ) is a philosophical term used within Hinduism and Vedanta to identify the soul. ...

The exceptional feature of Wilber's approach is that, under this methodology, all of these mental structures — subconscious, rational, mystical—are considered complementary and legitimate, rather than competing in a zero-sum conceptual space. And that is perhaps Wilber's greatest accomplishment — the opening up of a space wherein more ideas, theories, beliefs, and stories can be considered true, responsible, and acceptable. Zero-sum describes a situation in which a participants gain (or loss) is exactly balanced by the losses (or gains) of the other participant(s). ...

Many criticize the strict hierarchical nature of Wilber's conception of the level. But consider, for example, the hierarchical nature of matter itself. Sub-atomic particles are composed of quarks. Atoms are made of sub-atomic particles. Molecules are made of atoms. Cell organelles are made of molecules, etc. This is similar to how Wilber conceives of levels. One must attain the lower levels before the higher levels because the higher levels are constituted by the lower level components. Thus, when represented graphically[2], the levels should appear as concentric circles, with higher levels transcending but also including lower ones. Wilber also attacks the equating of hierarchy with patriarchy using a similar line of argument. Schematic of typical animal cell, showing subcellular components. ... Look up patriarchy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

As Wilber remarks in the CD interview Speaking of Everything: "This can all be done deductively". In other words: 'I could be wrong about the precise characteristics of some or all of the stages or levels. But nonetheless, it's clear that psychological and cultural development follows a pattern, and that pattern is always from more partial to more whole.'

States

A state is basically a level that is attained only temporarily. Once you have unlimited access to a state of consciousness, then it is a permanent structure, or a developmental level.

States of consciousness include: waking, dreaming, dreamless sleep, and nondual. (In the mystical traditions of which Wilber is a part, these four states correspond to four realms:

• Body (or Gross body; Buddhist Nirmanakaya)
• Mind (or Subtle body; Buddhist Sambhogakaya)
• Soul (or Causal body; Buddhist Jnanadharmakaya stage of the Dharmakaya)
• Spirit (or nondual; Buddhist Svabhavikakaya stage of the Dharmakaya)

Therefore, it is theoretically possible for someone at a low cognitive level to experience an advanced mystical state. List of bones of the human skeleton Human anatomy is primarily the scientific study of the morphology of the adult human body. ... The Trikaya doctrine (Sanskrit, literally Three bodies or personalities; 三身 Chinese: Sānshén, Japanese: sanjin) is an important Buddhist teaching both on the nature of reality, and what a Buddha is. ... The Subtle body is a non-physical energy or psycho-spiritual body or bodies that all beings have, according to various esoteric, occult, and mystical teachings. ... The Trikaya doctrine (Sanskrit, literally Three bodies or personalities; 三身 Chinese: Sānshén, Japanese: sanjin) is an important Buddhist teaching both on the nature of reality, and what a Buddha is. ... The Causal body - originally Karana-Sarira - is a Yogic and Vedantic concept that was adopted and modified by Theosophy and Neo-Theosophy, and from the latter made its way into the general New Age movement and contemporary western esotericism. ... The Trikaya doctrine (Sanskrit, literally Three bodies or personalities; 三身 Chinese: Sānshén, Japanese: sanjin) is an important Buddhist teaching both on the nature of reality, and what a Buddha is. ... A nondual philosophical or religious perspective or theory maintains that there is no fundamental distinction between mind and matter. ... Cognitive The scientific study of how people obtain, retrieve, store and manipulate information. ...

Types

These are valid distinctions that are not covered under Wilber’s other categorizations. Masculine/feminine, the nine Enneagram categories, and Jung's archetypes and typologies, among innumerable others, are all valid types in Wilber's schema. Wilber makes types part of his model in order to point out that these distinctions are different from, and in addition to the already mentioned distinctions: quadrants, lines, levels and states. Enneagram Figure The Enneagram is a nine-pointed geometric figure. ... Jung redirects here. ...

Theory of truth

Wilber argues that there are multiple aspects to existence, and that each has its own truth-standard, or test for validity, as follows:

1. Exterior individual - "We check to see if the proposition corresponds with or fits the facts, if the map accurately reflects the real [exterior] territory... if we cannot disprove it we may assume it is accurate enough. But the essential idea is that... my statement somehow refers to an objective state of affairs, and it fairly accurately somehow corresponds with those objects or processes or affairs. [...] All of which is fair enough and important enough, and I in no way deny the general importance of empirical representation. It's just not the whole story..."
2. Interior individual - if we look at the actual interior of an individual [entity], then we have an entirely different type of validity claim. The question here is not, is it raining outside? The question here is, When I tell you it is raining outside, am I telling you the truth or am I lying? You see, here it is not so much a question of whether the map matches the objective territory, but whether the mapmaker can be trusted.... you can always check and see if it's raining... Interior events are located in states of consciousness, not in objective states of affairs, and so you can't empirically nail them down with simple consensus location. I might lie to you. I might lie to myself. I might misrepresent and not know it."
3. Interior collective - "The subjective world is situated in an intersubjective space, a cultural space... without this cultural background... I wouldn't have the tools to interpret my own thoughts to myself. So here the validity claim is not so much objective propositional truth, or subjective truthfulness, but intersubjective fit. This cultural background provides the common context against which my own interior thoughts and beliefs will have some sort of meaning, and so the validity criteria here involves the "cultural fit" [of a statement] within this background... What is so remarkable about common understanding is not that I can take a simple word like "dog" and point to a real dog and say "I mean that." What is so remarkable is that you know what I mean by that. [So it is] a matter of how we arrange collectively, our ethics, morals, laws, culture, group or collective identities, background contexts..."
4. Exterior collective - "The main validity claim is functional fit, how entities fit together in a system... So in systems theory you will find nothing about ethical standards, values, morals, mutual understanding, truthfulness, sincerity, depth, integrity, aesthetics... It describes the system in purely objective exterior terms, from without. It doesn't want to know how collective values are intersubjectively shared in mutual understanding. Rather, it looks at how their objective correlates functionally fit in the overall system."

"All four of these are valid forms of knowledge, because they are grounded in the realities of the nature of every holon. And therefore all four of these truth claims can be confirmed or rejected by a community of the adequate [those competent in that knowledge]. They each have a different validity claim which carefully guides us, through checks and balances, on our knowledge quest. They are all falsifiable within their own domains, which means false claims can be dislodged by further evidence...."^[8]

The pre/trans fallacy

Main article: Pre/trans fallacy

Wilber purports 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. One can reduce supposed "trans-rational" spiritual realization to pre-rational regression, or one can elevate pre-rational states to the trans-rational domain. For example, Wilber claims that Freud and Jung commit this fallacy. Freud considered mystical realizations to be regressions 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 such as tribal thinking, groupthink, and the occultism of the Nazis or Charles Manson may be misidentified as post-rational states. Interestingly, Wilber characterizes himself as having fallen victim to the pre/trans fallacy in his early work. This article is about integral thought in philosophy and psychology. ... Sri Aurobindo (Bangla: শ্রী অরবিন্দ Sri Ôrobindo, Sanskrit: श्री अरविन्द Srī Aravinda) (August 15, 1872–December 5, 1950) was an Indian/Hindu nationalist, scholar, poet, mystic, evolutionary philosopher, yogi and guru [1]. After a short political career in which he became one of the leaders of the early movement for the freedom of India... Jean Gebser Jean Gebser (August 20, 1905 – May 14, 1973) was a prodigy, a student of the transformations of human consciousness, a linguist, and a poet. ... Haridas Chaudhuri (Bengali: )(May, 1913-1975), Bengali integral philosopher, was a correspondent with Sri Aurobindo and the founder of the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). ... Jorge Ferrer is the author of Revisioning Transpersonal Theory: A Participatory Vision of Human Spirituality (SUNY Press 2002), a landmark book that established the new epistemological requirements needed to develop an open and participative spirituality. ... Ashok Gangadean is Professor of Philosophy at Haverford College (Haverford, PA). ... Ervin László (born 1932 in Budapest, Hungary) is a Hungarian philosopher of science, systems theorist, integral theorist, and classical pianist. ... George Burr Leonard is a former United States Army Air Corps pilot, a former editor of Look Magazine, President of the Esalen Institute, and holds a fifth degree black belt in aikido. ... Michael Murphy is the co-founder of the Esalen Institute, a key figure in the Human Potential Movement and author of both fiction and non-fiction books on topics related to extraordinary human potential. ... Richard Tarnas, author of The Passion of the Western Mind and Cosmos and Psyche, is a cultural historian and professor of philosophy and psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, and founding director of its graduate program in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness. ... William Irwin Thompson (1938- ) is a writer, social critic, and visionary, especially interested in keeping alive the esoteric, most profound, human and spiritual traditions of mankind, as he sees it. ... In philosophy and metaphysics, the development of the universe, and of consciousness through time, is referred to as evolution. ... The term involution refers to different things depending on the writer. ... This article is about integral theory in philosophy, psychology, and society. ... Integral art is can be variously defined as art that reaches across multiple quadrants and levels, that transcends and includes all limited forms, interpretations, or perspectives, as the belief that every human being is creative and that art is integral to all human endeavours, or simply as art that was... Integral yoga or purna yoga (Sanskrit for full or complete yoga) refers in Sri Aurobindos teachings to the union of all the parts of ones being with the Divine, and the transmutation of all of their jarring elements into a harmonious state of higher divine consciousness and existence. ... The Traditionalist School of thought, also known as Integral Traditionalism (in the sense of Integralism) or Perennialism (in the sense of perennial philosophy, or Sophia Perennis) is an esoteric movement inspired by the interwar period writings of French metaphysician René Guénon and developed by authors such as German-Swiss... Integral humanism is the political philosophy practised by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the former Bharatiya Jana Sangh of India. ... The California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) is a private graduate school founded in 1968 and based in San Francisco, California with two main schools—the School of Professional Psychology and the School of Consciousness and Transformation. ... The Integral Institute is a think-tank founded in 1998 by American philosopher, psychologist, and mystic Ken Wilber. ... Ken Wilber posits that psychological development moves from the pre-personal, through the personal levels of development, to the transpersonal - this latter developmental milieu supposedly being the arena of the spiritually advanced and enlightened individuals. ... Ken Wilber posits that psychological development moves from the pre-personal, through the personal levels of development, to the transpersonal - this latter developmental milieu supposedly being the arena of the spiritually advanced and enlightened individuals. ... Sigmund Freud His famous couch Sigmund Freud (May 6, 1856 - September 23, 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of the psychoanalytic school of psychology, a movement that popularized the theory that unconscious motives control much behavior. ... Look up jung in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Groupthink is a type of thought exhibited by group members who try to minimize conflict and reach consensus without critically testing, analyzing, and evaluating ideas. ...

Wilber on science

Wilber describes the current 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). What he 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". Developed first by Jean Piaget, the theory of cognitive development is based on schemas, or schemes of how one perceives the world, in critical periods -- times during which one is particularly susceptible to certain information. ... Logic (from Classical Greek λόγος logos; meaning word, thought, idea, argument, account, reason, or principle) is the study of the principles and criteria of valid inference and demonstration. ... For other meanings of mathematics or uses of math and maths, see Mathematics (disambiguation) and Math (disambiguation). ... Hermeneutics may be described as the development and study of theories of the interpretation and understanding of texts. ... Consciousness is a quality of the mind generally regarded to comprise qualities such as subjectivity, self-awareness, sentience, sapience, and the ability to perceive the relationship between oneself and ones environment. ... For other senses of this word, see Meditation (disambiguation). ... A spiritual practice, spiritual discipline or spiritual exercise (sadhana) includes any activity that one associates with cultivating spirituality. ... Electroencephalography is the neurophysiologic exploration of the electrical activity of the brain by the application of electrodes to the scalp. ...

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 evaluates both religious claims and scientific claims based on intersubjectivity is preferable to narrow science. For other uses, see Reality (disambiguation). ... Exoteric knowledge is knowledge that is publicly available, in contrast with esoteric knowledge, which is kept from everyone except the initiated. ...

Current work

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.^[9] The essay is entitled "What is Integral Spirituality?", and contains several new ideas, including Integral post-metaphysics and the Wilber-Combs lattice. The Integral Institute is a think-tank founded in 1998 by American philosopher, psychologist, and mystic Ken Wilber. ...

"Integral post-metaphysics" is the term Wilber has recently 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. Spirituality, in a narrow sense, concerns itself with matters of the spirit. ... Various Religious symbols, including (first row) Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Bahai, (second row) Islamic, tribal, Taoist, Shinto (third row) Buddhist, Sikh, Hindu, Jain, (fourth row) Ayyavazhi, Triple Goddess, Maltese cross, pre-Christian Slavonic Religion is the adherence to codified beliefs and rituals that generally involve a faith in a spiritual... For Christian theological modernism, see Liberal Christianity and Modernism (Roman Catholicism). ... Postmodernism (sometimes abbreviated pomo) is a term applied to a wide-ranging set of developments in critical theory, philosophy, architecture, art, literature, and culture, which are generally characterized as either emerging from, in reaction to, or superseding, modernism. ...

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. Consciousness is a quality of the mind generally regarded to comprise qualities such as subjectivity, self-awareness, sentience, sapience, and the ability to perceive the relationship between oneself and ones environment. ... Allan Combs is a consciousness researcher, neuropsychologist, and systems theorist. ... The term state may refer to: a sovereign political entity, see state unitary state nation state a non-sovereign political entity, see state (non-sovereign). ... In computer and video games, a level (sometimes called a stage, course, map or landscape) is a separate area in a games virtual world, in modern games typically representing a specific location such as a building or a city. ...

Wilber has high praise for Zen teacher Genpo Roshi's Big Mind technique.

Influences on Wilber

Wilber's conception of the perennial philosophy has been primarily influenced by Madhyamika Buddhism, particularly as articulated in the philosophy of Nagarjuna.^[10] Wilber has been a dedicated practitioner of Buddhist meditation since his college years, and has studied under some widely recognized meditators, such as Dainin Katagiri, Maezumi Roshi, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Kalu Rinpoche, Penor Rinpoche and Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche. The nondual mysticism of Advaita Vedanta, Trika Shaivism, Tibetan Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, Plotinus, Ramana Maharshi, and Andrew Cohen, as well as the teaching and works of Adi Da, which Wilber has on several occasions singled out for the highest praise (while expressing reservations about Adi Da as a teacher),^[11] are also strong influences. These influences have led Wilber to assert that those desiring enlightenment should seek out "the outlaws, the living terrors, the Rude Boys and Nasty Girls of God realization" and that "Every deeply enlightened teacher I have known has been a Rude Boy or Nasty Girl".^[12] Madhyamaka is a Buddhist philosophical tradition that asserts that all phenomena are empty of self-nature or essence (Sanskrit: Svabhāva), that they have no intrinsic, independent reality apart from the causes and conditions from which they arise. ... A statue of the Sakyamuni Buddha in Tawang Gompa, India. ... For other uses, see Nagarjuna (disambiguation). ... Dainin Katagiri (b. ... Chögyam Trungpa (1939 - April 4, 1987) was a Buddhist meditation master, scholar, teacher and artist. ... Rinpoche (Pronunciation: rin-po-shay) is a Tibetan Buddhist religio-/theological title. ... Kyabje Dorje Chang Kalu Rinpoche, usually called Kalu Rinpoche (1905 - May 10, 1989) was a Buddhist meditation master, scholar and teacher. ... His Holiness (Kyabjé) Drubwang Pema Norbu Rinpoche is the 11th throne holder of the Palyul Lineage of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, and is said to be an incarnation of Vimalamitra. ... H.E. Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche (1930-2002) was a renowned teacher of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism. ... Advaita Vedanta (IAST ; Sanskrit ; IPA ) is a sub-school of the Vedānta (literally, end or the goal of the Vedas, Sanskrit) school of Hindu philosophy. ... Tibetan Buddhism is the body of religious Buddhist doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet, the Himalayan region (including northern Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim and Ladakh), Mongolia, Buryatia, Tuva and Kalmykia (Russia), and northeastern China (Manchuria: Heilongjiang, Jilin). ... A woodblock print by Yoshitoshi, (Japan, 1887) depicting Bodhidharma the founder of Chinese Zen. ... Plotinus (Greek: ) (ca. ... Sri Ramana Maharshi (December 30, 1879 – April 14, 1950) was a Hindu[1][2] Sage who lived on the sacred mountain Arunachala in India. ... Andrew Cohen (b. ... Adi Da Samraj, or to his devotees, the Ruchira Avatar Adi Da Samraj, literally meaning the radiant avatar, primordial giver, universal ruler (born Franklin Albert Jones, November 3, 1939, in Jamaica, New York), is a contemporary and controversial guru or spiritual master, artist and writer, and founder of the new...

Wilber's conception of evolution or psychological development draws on Aurobindo, Adi Da, Andrew Cohen, Jean Gebser, the great chain of being, German idealism, Erich Jantsch, Jean Piaget, Abraham Maslow, Erik Erikson, Lawrence Kohlberg, Howard Gardner, Clare W. Graves, Robert Kegan and Spiral Dynamics. This article is about evolution in biology. ... Śrī Aurobindo Śrī Aurobindo (August 15, 1872–December 5, 1950) was an Indian nationalist, scholar, poet, Hindu mystic, Evolutionary philosopher, yogi and guru. ... Adi Da Samraj, or to his devotees, the Ruchira Avatar Adi Da Samraj, literally meaning the radiant avatar, primordial giver, universal ruler (born Franklin Albert Jones, November 3, 1939, in Jamaica, New York), is a contemporary and controversial guru or spiritual master, artist and writer, and founder of the new... Andrew Cohen (b. ... Jean Gebser Jean Gebser (August 20, 1905 – May 14, 1973) was a prodigy, a student of the transformations of human consciousness, a linguist, and a poet. ... 1579 drawing of the great chain of being from Didacus Valades, Rhetorica Christiana The great chain of being or scala naturæ is a classical and western medieval conception of the order of the universe, whose chief characteristic is a strict hierarchical system. ... German idealism was a philosophical movement in Germany in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. ... Erich Jantsch (1929-1980) was an Austrian astrophysicist who wrote the book The Self-organizing Universe: Scientific and Human Implications of the Emerging Paradigm of Evolution (1980). ... Jean Piaget (August 9, 1896 – September 16, 1980) was a Swiss philosopher, natural scientist and developmental psychologist, well known for his work studying children, his theory of cognitive development and for his epistemological view called genetic epistemology. He created in 1955 the International Centre for Genetic Epistemology in Geneva and... Abraham (Harold) Maslow (April 1, 1908 – June 8, 1970) was an American psychologist. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Lawrence Kohlberg (October 25, 1927 – January 19, 1987) was an American psychologist. ... It has been suggested that Naturalist Intelligence be merged into this article or section. ... Clare W. Graves (December 21, 1914–January 3, 1986) was a professor of psychology and originator of the Level Theory of Personality. ... Dr. Robert Kegan is developmental psychologist who is the author of numerous books, including the highly influential The Evolving Self (1982). ... Spiral Dynamics is a theory of human development introduced in the 1996 book Spiral Dynamics by Don Beck and Chris Cowan. ...

Reception

Wilber is currently associated with a number of spiritual teachers, such as Andrew Cohen, Lama Surya Das, Father Thomas Keating, Brother David Steindl-Rast, and religious scholar Ronald H. Miller, who have, to a greater or lesser degree, expressed assent to his theoretical approach. Andrew Cohen (b. ... Lama Surya Das is one of the foremost American-born lamas in the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism and a popular teacher of Buddhism in the United States. ... Fr. ... Ronald H. Miller is a professor of Religion at Lake Forest College. ...

However, Wilber's work has been largely ignored by academia. He has published just two articles in one peer-reviewed academic journal (the Journal of Consciousness Studies), and he is rarely mentioned in other peer-reviewed academic journals.^[13] The Journal of Consciousness Studies (JCS) is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated entirely to the field of consciousness studies. ...

Criticism of Wilber's work

Technical criticism

One technical criticism of Wilber is contained in Falk's "Norman Einstein"^[14] critique, in which Falk charges that Wilber misrepresents certain high-school level ideas, particularly concerning evolutionary theory and Pythagorean geometry.

The Croatian esoteric philosopher Arvan Harvat has argued that attempting to integrate a thoroughly nondual approach like Zen with an evolutionary view is ultimately impossible: if your model includes absolutely everything, how can it change?^[15] Look up Esotericism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A nondual philosophical or religious perspective or theory maintains that there is no fundamental distinction between mind and matter. ... For other uses, see Zen (disambiguation). ...

Others, including Georg Feuerstein, argue that Wilber's Neo-perennial Philosophy is a confusion between concepts of differentiated nondualist doctrines (such as Plotinus's neo-Platonism and Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita Vedanta) and truly unitary monism of Zen and Advaita Vedanta: the former philosophies distinguish between emanated or manifest reality and the unchangeable source, while for Zen or Advaita the Source and reality are essentially one and the same. This is expressed in a famous Zen saying of which Wilber is quite fond: "Nirvana is Samsara fully realized; Samsara is Nirvana rightly understood." ^{[citation needed]} Dr. Georg Feuerstein (born 1947) is a well-known German-Canadian Indologist, and a Western authority on Yoga. ... A nondual philosophical or religious perspective or theory maintains that there is no fundamental distinction between mind and matter. ... Plotinus (Greek: ) (ca. ... Neoplatonism (also Neo-Platonism) is an ancient school of philosophy beginning in the 3rd century A.D. It was based on the teachings of Plato and Platonists; but it interpreted Plato in many new ways, such that Neoplatonism was quite different from what Plato taught, though not many Neoplatonists would... Ramanuja Tamil: ,  [?] (traditionally 1017–1137) was a theologian, philosopher, and scriptural exegete. ... VishishtAdvaita Vedanta (IAST ;Sanskrit: विशिष्टाद्वैत)) is a sub-school of the Vedānta (literally, end or the goal of the Vedas, Sanskrit) school of Hindu philosophy, the other major sub-schools of Vedānta being Advaita and Dvaita. ... This article is about the Hindu philosophy. ... For other uses, see Monist (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Zen (disambiguation). ... Advaita Vedanta is probably the best known of all Vedanta schools of Hinduism, the others being Dvaita and Vishishtadvaita. ... This article is about the Hindu philosophy. ... Emanationism is a component in the cosmology or cosmogony of certain religious or philosophical systems that argue that a sentient, self-aware Supreme Being, born from an unmanifested The Absolute (Root of Existence) beyond comprehension, emanated lower and lower spiritual modalities and lastly matter (the physical universe) as the resultant... Manifestation refers to a concept of either recurring or transitive phenomena, as instances which become manifest or realised. ... For other uses, see Reality (disambiguation). ... This article is about the Buddhist concept. ... For other uses, see Samsara (disambiguation). ...

Wilber's response to criticisms like this is typified in this quotation from the extended audio interview Speaking of Everything: "...when I lay out the stages of development, I am giving what I explicitly called in SES a ‘rational reconstruction of the trans-rational’.^[16] Thus, differentiated non-dual doctrines and truly unitary monist doctrines are describing (or coming from) different levels of consciousness, the former from a causal perspective that differentiates between emptiness and form (and hence must see form as emanationary), and the latter from a nondual perspective that equates emptiness and form (and hence renders emanation a redundant concept). Sex, Ecology, Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution is philosopher Ken Wilbers magnum opus. ... Śūnyatā, शून्यता (Sanskrit), Suññatā (Pāli), stong pa nyid (Tibetan), Kuu, 空 (Japanese) qoÉ£usun (Mongolian), generally translated into English as Emptiness or Voidness, is a concept of central importance in the teaching of the Buddha, as a direct realization of Sunyata is required to achieve liberation from the cycle of... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ...

Much criticism of Wilber's integral model (for example, some of the "Integral World Reading Room" essays) concerns specific technical matters and ignores the fact that Wilber's paradigm is based essentially on "orienting generalizations", the basic abstract common denominators of specific fields of human knowledge.^[17] However, in an online critique entitled Bald Ambition, Jeff Meyerhoff takes issue with Wilber’s methodology and philosophy, arguing that Wilber does not actually use his own method of "orienting generalizations":

Wilber’s unstated philosophical assumptions are both problematic in themselves and prejudiced against differing philosophical commitments which, because they contradict Wilber’s assumptions, are excluded from his inclusive synthesis.

– Jeff Meyerhoff, ^[18]

Meyerhoff argues that people who are actually working in the fields which Wilber attempts to integrate strongly disagree with the way that Wilber portrays the consensus of those fields. Wilber's overall synthesis, on this view, is thus unreliable.

Criticism of Wilber's interpretations

These are not the only criticisms of various aspects of Wilber's work or his work as a whole. Natasha Todorovic has written a strong rebuttal against Wilber's concept of the so-called "mean green meme" (MGM). She is the business partner of Chris Cowan, who has broken with his former co-worker, Don Beck, over his and Wilber's use of Spiral Dynamics theory, .^[19] So has Bill Moyer, who, in contrast, refers to the "Healthy Green Meme".^[20] (Cowan responds to Wilber's reply to Moyer's positions.^[21]) Both Cowan^[22] and Ray Harris are critical of Wilber and Beck's "Boomeritis" analysis of culture; Harris argues that the critique is actually politically reactionary.^[23] Chris Cowan is a co-author of the book Spiral Dynamics: Mastering Values, Leadership, and Change, which describes a theory of human development and management based on the work of psychologist Clare Graves. ... Don Beck is a American management consultant and a co-author of the book Spiral Dynamics. ... Spiral Dynamics is a theory of human development introduced in the 1996 book Spiral Dynamics by Don Beck and Chris Cowan. ... Bill Moyer (September 17, 1933 _ October 21, 2002) was a United States social change activist, author, and founding member of the Movement for a New Society. ... Boomeritis: A Novel That Will Set You Free is a 2002 novel by the philosopher Ken Wilber. ...

Wilber's arguments against Darwinism in A Brief History of Everything are said – by David Lane,^[24] by a number of skeptics including Robert Todd Carroll,^[25] and even in discussion on Wilber's own Integral Naked forum^[26] – to indicate a lack of scientific understanding on his part. As a result of the Integral Naked discussion, Wilber wrote a strongly worded reply (which appears on the "Vomiting Confetti" blog^[27]) which contains a number of controversial claims, and in which, among other things, he advises his students to read Intelligent Design theorist Michael Behe (a member of the Discovery Institute), rather than Richard Dawkins. This article is about evolution in biology. ... David Christopher Lane (born April 29, 1956 in Burbank, California) is a professor of philosophy and sociology at Mount San Antonio College, USA and lecturer in religious studies at California State University, Long Beach, California. ... This article is about the psychological term. ... Integral Naked is a multimedia doorway to the world of integral awareness. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... For other uses, see Intelligent design (disambiguation). ... Michael J. Behe (born January 18, 1952, in Altoona, Pennsylvania) is an American biochemist and intelligent design advocate. ... The Discovery Institute is a think tank based in Seattle, Washington best known for its advocacy of intelligent design and its Teach the Controversy campaign to teach creationist beliefs in United States public high school science courses. ... Clinton Richard Dawkins, FRS (born March 26, 1941) is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and popular science writer who holds the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford. ...

Wilber has also been taken to task regarding his interpretations of Shabd Yoga (by David Lane^[28]), Mahayana Buddhism (by Arvan Harvat^[29]), and Sri Aurobindo (by Rod Hemsell^[30] and others). Matthew Dallman^[31] and Michel Bauwens^[32] have pointed out certain cultic elements associated with Wilber and some aspects of the current integral movement. They point to the lack of openness to criticism, the lack of analysis of Wilber's assumptions, and to the use of the Spiral Dynamics-based colour coding to dismiss arguments from critics. The emphasis on Wilber and his Integral Institute as the central focus of integral thought is seen as stifling to the development of integral as a diverse, participative process or, ultimately, as a dialectical worldview. Surat Shabd Yoga or Surat Shabda Yoga is a form of spiritual practice that is followed in the Sant Mat and many other related spiritual traditions. ... Rod Hemsell is an educator and author who lived in Auroville and at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram from 1968 to 1983. ... Michel Bauwens (b. ... This article does not discuss cult in its original meaning. ... This article is about the radio show. ...

Criticism by transpersonal and integral theorists

William Irwin Thompson, who shares Wilber's admiration for Sri Aurobindo, Jean Gebser, and Eastern philosophy, has harshly criticized Wilber's theoretical approach and scholarly achievements. In his 1996 book Coming into Being: Texts and Artifacts in the Evolution of Consciousness, Thompson characterized Wilber's approach as "compulsive mappings and textbook categorizations" and as excessively objectifying and "masculinist".^[33] In a subsequent interview, Wilber characterized his own work as that of "a storyteller" and "a mapmaker", rather than that of a philosopher or a theoretician. William Irwin Thompson (1938- ) is a writer, social critic, and visionary, especially interested in keeping alive the esoteric, most profound, human and spiritual traditions of mankind, as he sees it. ... Sri Aurobindo (Bangla: শ্রী অরবিন্দ Sri Ôrobindo, Sanskrit: श्री अरविन्द Srī Aravinda) (August 15, 1872–December 5, 1950) was an Indian/Hindu nationalist, scholar, poet, mystic, evolutionary philosopher, yogi and guru [1]. After a short political career in which he became one of the leaders of the early movement for the freedom of India... Jean Gebser Jean Gebser (August 20, 1905 – May 14, 1973) was a prodigy, a student of the transformations of human consciousness, a linguist, and a poet. ... Eastern philosophy refers very broadly to the various philosophies of Asia, including Indian philosophy, Chinese philosophy, Persian philosophy, Japanese philosophy, and Korean philosophy. ... Objectification refers to the way in which one person treats another person as an object and not as a human being. ... Masculism (also referred to as masculinism) is a number of ideologies found in the streams of the mens movement. ...

A number of critics, such as integral theorist and developmental psychologist Mark Edwards^[34] (who, incidentally, is very critical of Meyerhoff's critique^[35]), also complain that it is frustrating to try to debate Wilber, not because his arguments are difficult, but because of his manner of arguing. For example, Wilber often charges that his critics are distorting or misreading his ideas, or that what they are criticizing is not what he himself is saying and that it is necessary to read and understand all of his books, but that even his own books do not communicate the complexity of his ideas, so that the critics must be in personal dialogue with him in order to understand the complex development of his philosophy. Compounding the issue, Wilber is very selective regarding whom he communicates with and rarely engages those who are critical of his theory. This article is about integral theory in philosophy, psychology, and society. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ...

Jorge Ferrer criticizes the Wilberian approach from the point of view of a relational and participative spirituality and proposes non-authoritarian forms of spirituality. To him, Wilber's system is inherently authoritarian in intent and effect, forcing a synthesis from above on what should be the result of an open dialogue. His book Revisioning Transpersonal Theory critiques and deconstructs Transpersonal psychology, perennialism, and Wilber's own theories, in favour of a more participatory approach to spirituality. Jorge Ferrer is the author of Revisioning Transpersonal Theory: A Participatory Vision of Human Spirituality (SUNY Press 2002), a landmark book that established the new epistemological requirements needed to develop an open and participative spirituality. ... Deconstruction is a term in contemporary philosophy, literary criticism, and the social sciences, denoting a process by which the texts and languages of Western philosophy (in particular) appear to shift and complicate in meaning when read in light of the assumptions and absences they reveal within themselves. ... Transpersonal psychology is a school of psychology that studies the transpersonal, the transcendent or spiritual aspects of the human mind. ... The Perennial Philosophy (Latin philosophia perennis) is the idea that a universal set of truths common to all people and cultures exists. ... Spirituality, in a narrow sense, concerns itself with matters of the spirit. ...

John Heron^[36] finds that Wilber's account of integral psychology in terms of lines and levels of development is fundamentally incoherent because of an untenable status afforded to nondual individualism and a failure to acknowledge the centrality of relational spirituality. John Heron is a pioneer in the development of a participatory research method in the social sciences, called Co-operative Inquiry, which is being widely applied in many fields, including personal and spiritual development. ... A nondual philosophical or religious perspective or theory maintains that there is no fundamental distinction between mind and matter. ...

Christian de Quincey considers Wilber's integral theory to be an intellectual edifice that denigrates emotion. This statement (made in 2000 in "The Promise of Integralism: A Critical Appreciation of Ken Wilber's Integral Psychology" in the Journal of Consciousness Studies^[37]) and others in the same essay led to a bitter exchange of replies and counter-replies between Wilber and de Quincey, which can be found on de Quincey's and the Shambhala websites. Categories: Possible copyright violations ... The Journal of Consciousness Studies (JCS) is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated entirely to the field of consciousness studies. ...

In June 2006 Wilber wrote a controversial series of blog posts in which he used profanity, attacked critics, compared himself humourously to Wyatt Earp, and said that those offended by his postings were in the "lower tier" levels in the development of consciousness.^[38] His actions in this regard have been variously condemned as cultic, misleading, puerile, and not in the spirit of mature academic dialogue by Matthew Dallman,^[39] Geoff Falk,^[40] Michel Bauwens,^[41] Jim Chamberlain,^[42] Frank Visser,^[43] by some posts on Wilber Watch,^[44] and by others. Wilber's supporters have been more positive, responding, for example, that this type of discourse is appropriate for the blog medium.^[45] Wilber stated that he chose such a form of blog post to engage people in "shadow work"; in other words, most of the critics were criticizing their own shadow projections, not his arguments, and that it is important to complete shadow-work self-therapy in order to further advance in one's own development.^[46] June 2006 : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Extraordinary renditions. ... Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848–January 13, 1929) was an American farmer, teamster, sometime buffalo hunter, officer of the law in various Western frontier towns, gambler, saloon-keeper, and miner. ... Spiral Dynamics is a theory of human development introduced in the 1996 book Spiral Dynamics by Don Beck and Chris Cowan. ... This article does not discuss cult in its original meaning. ... Michel Bauwens (b. ... Frank Visser is a Dutch author, theosophist, and psychologist of religion. ... This article or section includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ...

Steve McIntosh argues that Wilber fails to distinguish philosophy from his own Vedantic and Buddhist religion ^[47], that his theory of lines of development misrepresents Howard Gardner's position and are in any case don't take into account Daniel Goleman's distinction between rational and emotional intelligence^[48], and that his AQAL system does not take into account the fact that beginning at the human level (complex neocortex) there has been no change in the biological structure of the brain, this role being taken instead by human-made artifacts ^[49]. It has been suggested that Naturalist Intelligence be merged into this article or section. ... Daniel Goleman (born March 7, 1946) is an internationally renouned author, psychologist, science journalist and corporate consultant. ... For other uses, see Reason (disambiguation). ... Emotional Intelligence (EI), often measured as an Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ), describes an ability, capacity, or skill to perceive, assess, and manage the emotions of ones self, of others, and of groups. ...

Wilber's response to criticism

It's important to note that Wilber has answered most of the criticism in the endnotes of his books. With regards to the complaint -- it's frustrating to argue with Wilber because Wilber keeps on charging the critics of misrepresenting Wilber's idea -- Wilber has maintained that critics do tend to attack mostly Wilber1/2/3 phase of his work, which he himself had considerably revised. Readers are advised to look up his response to criticsm to get an objective perspective.

See also

• Higher consciousness
• Nicolai Hartmann

Higher consciousness, also called super consciousness (Yoga), objective consciousness (Gurdjieff), Buddhic consciousness (Theosophy), cosmic consciousness, God-consciousness (Sufism and Hinduism) and Christ consciousness (New Thought) -to name but a few--are expressions used in various spiritual traditions to denote the consciousness of a human being who has reached a higher... Nicolai Hartmann (February 20, 1882 – October 9, 1950) was a German philosopher. ...

References

is the 165th day of the year (166th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Nagarjuna (disambiguation). ... “PDF” redirects here. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 165th day of the year (166th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 165th day of the year (166th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 4th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 165th day of the year (166th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... is the 41st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 165th day of the year (166th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 165th day of the year (166th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... is the 236th day of the year (237th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 165th day of the year (166th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 165th day of the year (166th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 165th day of the year (166th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 165th day of the year (166th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 142nd day of the year (143rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 165th day of the year (166th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 147th day of the year (148th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 165th day of the year (166th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 166th day of the year (167th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 166th day of the year (167th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 166th day of the year (167th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 166th day of the year (167th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 166th day of the year (167th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 187th day of the year (188th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 166th day of the year (167th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Journal of Consciousness Studies (JCS) is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated entirely to the field of consciousness studies. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 166th day of the year (167th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Bibliography

Works by Wilber

• 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 & 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 Integral Vision: A Very Short Introduction to the Revolutionary Integral Approach to Life, God, the Universe, and Everything, 2007, ISBN 1-59030-475-6

Sex, Ecology, Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution is philosopher Ken Wilbers magnum opus. ... Integral Psychology is a book by philosopher Ken Wilber in which he applies his integral model of consciousness to the psychological realm. ... In philosophy, a theory of everything or TOE is an ultimate, all-encompassing explanation of nature or reality. ... Boomeritis: A Novel That Will Set You Free is a 2002 novel by the philosopher Ken Wilber. ... Cornell West redirects here. ... This article is about the 1999 film. ... The Matrix Reloaded is the second installment of The Matrix series, written and directed by the Wachowski Brothers. ... The Matrix Revolutions is the third and final film in The Matrix trilogy. ... The Ultimate Matrix Collection The Ultimate Matrix Collection is a DVD release featuring all the titles in the Matrix Series, as well as several hours of special features, spread over 10 discs. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Stuart Davis performing (with Chad Phillips on bass guitar) at the 2005 Boulder Creek Festival in Boulder, Colorado Stuart Davis (born on January 11, 1971 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA) is a contemporary American musician and songwriter from Minnesota. ...

Books about Wilber

• Lew Howard, Introducing Ken Wilber, May 2005, ISBN 1-4208-2986-6
• 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, 2004, ISBN 1-58542-317-3
• ----- Where's Wilber At?: Ken Wilber's Integral Vision in the New Millennium, 2006, ISBN 1-55778-846-4
• Donald Jay Rothberg and Sean Kelly, 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

Frank Visser is a Dutch author, theosophist, and psychologist of religion. ... Motilal Banarsidass is a leading Indian publishing house on Sanskrit and Indology since 1903 located in Delhi, India. ...

External links

Primary Links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Ken Wilber

• Ken Wilber's Official Website and Blog
• Shambhala Publications' Ken Wilber site
• Belief.com - Articles By Ken Wilber
• "An Integral Theory of Consciousness", 1997 essay by Wilber
• Ken Wilber's Integral Institute
• Integral Naked pay site billed as: "Behind the Scenes with the Most Provocative Thinkers in Today's World"
• "What Is Integral Spirituality?" (1.3 MB PDF file) 118 page rough draft summary of Wilber's two forthcoming books

Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Wikiquote is one of a family of wiki-based projects run by the Wikimedia Foundation, running on MediaWiki software. ...

Introductions to Wilber's Work

• A Brief History of Everything (Shambhala, 2000) Wilber's most accessible book
• The Integral Vision at the Millenium Wilber's concise introduction to Spiral Dynamics and the evolution of consciousness
• The Kosmos According to Ken Wilber 1996 Shambhala Sun Interview in which Wilber explains and contextualizes his work
• Reading Ken Wilber: A beginner's guide to his works

Interviews & Dialogues

• Interview by Otto Scharner by Dialogue on Leadership (September 2003)
• The Evolution of Enlightenment Dialogue with Andrew Cohen
• Shambhala Interview conducted shortly before the release of Boomeritis

Audio and Video Resources

• Video of Wilber discussing "How to Stage a 2nd-Tier Protest" on YouTube
• Ken Wilber audio from the Do It Yourself Dharma website

YouTube is a popular video sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips. ...

Sites of Wilber's Friends and Fans

• Who Is Ken Wilber?, by Jack Crittenden
• What Is Enlightenment? magazine, founded by guru Andrew Cohen, and heavily influenced by Wilber's work
• The Integral Encyclopedia Wiki A separate Wiki based on the Integral Theory of Wilber and others
• "Ken Wilber" by Alex Burns on disinformation.com
• "Extended Glossary" for Speaking of Everything on enlightenment.com

Andrew Cohen (b. ...

Critiques

• IntegralWorld.net - Critics of Ken Wilber - a collection of critiques of Wilber's work
  • The Wild West Wilber Report - Frank Visser's summing up of the Wyatt Earp episode, including links to all relevant Wilber posts, as well as to comments and responses by others.
  • A Spectrum of Critics organises Wilber critics in a spectrum from "strong positive" to "strong negative"
  • Wilber Watch - a blog by Frank Visser that provides a forum for both supporters and critics of Wilber to discuss integral ideas outside official forums like Integral Naked and the Integral Institute.
• Bald Ambition; A Critique of Ken Wilber's Theory of Everything by Jeff Meyerhoff
  • Six Criticisms of Wilber's Integral Theory Synopsis of Meyerhoff's arguments
• "Adi Da and The Case of Ken Wilber" Collection of Ken Wilber's writings on Adi Da, with critical commentary from Adi Da's devotees
• A Critical Look at Ken Wilber’s Four Quadrant Model - essay by Thomas J. McFarlane
• A Critique of Ken Wilber's Account of Deep Ecology & Nature Religions by Gus DiZerega
• Critiques of Ken Wilber by Geoffrey D. Falk and others
  • "Norman Einstein": The Dis-Integration of Ken Wilber - online book by Geoffrey D. Falk
• Wilber's misrepresentations of Spiral Dynamics®, Part I - Part II - according to SD co-founder Chris Cowan
• On Ken Wilber - Hopelessly New Age, Hopeless for the Humanities - critical essay by integral artist Matthew Dallman, some of which is based on his experience as art director at Integral University
• Ken Wilber's Philosophy, and some critical appraisals overview and collected criticisms of Wilber and Sri Aurobindo by M. Alan Kazlev, Arvan Harvat, Michel Bauwens and others
• "Ken Wilber and Sri Aurobindo: A Critical Perspective" by Rod Hemsell - argues that Wilber misinterprets Aurobindo's teachings.
• Response to Ken Wilber's, "Integral Theory of Consciousness" by Garry Jacobs. Criticises Wilber's position from an Aurobindonian perspective.

To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... This article is about integral thought in philosophy and psychology. ... Spiral Dynamics is a theory of human development introduced in the 1996 book Spiral Dynamics by Don Beck and Chris Cowan. ... Chris Cowan is a co-author of the book Spiral Dynamics: Mastering Values, Leadership, and Change, which describes a theory of human development and management based on the work of psychologist Clare Graves. ... Integral art is can be variously defined as art that reaches across multiple quadrants and levels, that transcends and includes all limited forms, interpretations, or perspectives, as the belief that every human being is creative and that art is integral to all human endeavours, or simply as art that was... The Integral Institute is a think-tank founded in 1998 by American philosopher, psychologist, and mystic Ken Wilber. ... Sri Aurobindo (Bangla: শ্রী অরবিন্দ Sri Ôrobindo, Sanskrit: श्री अरविन्द Srī Aravinda) (August 15, 1872–December 5, 1950) was an Indian/Hindu nationalist, scholar, poet, mystic, evolutionary philosopher, yogi and guru [1]. After a short political career in which he became one of the leaders of the early movement for the freedom of India... Michel Bauwens (b. ... Rod Hemsell is an educator and author who lived in Auroville and at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram from 1968 to 1983. ...

Citations

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