Wilber, Ken - Integral Spirituality
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Integral Spirituality: A Startling New Role for Religion in the Modern and Postmodern World Paperback – 1 February 2008
by Ken Wilber (Author)
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Ken Wilbur's new insights into modern spirituality
INTEGRAL SPIRITUALITY is being widely called the most important book on spirituality in our time.Applying his highly acclaimed integral approach, Ken Wilber formulates a theory of spirituality that honors the truths of modernity and postmodernity - including the revolutions in science and culture - while incorporating the essential insights of the great religions. He shows how spirituality today combines the enlightenment of the East, which excels at cultivating higher states of consciousness, with the enlightenment of the West, which offers developmental and psychodynamic psychology. Each contributes key components to a more integral spirituality.On the basis of this integral framework, a radically new role for the world's religions is proposed. Because these religions have such a tremendous influence on the worldview of the majority of the earth's population, they are in a privileged position to address some of the biggest conflicts we face. By adopting a more integral view, the great religions can act as facilitators of human development- from magic to mythic to rational to pluralistic to integral - and to a global society that honors and includes all the stations of life along the way.
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English
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SHAMBHALA - TRADE
Publication date
1 February 2008
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Review
"Even the timid first-timer can penetrate and be rewarded by Integral Spirituality."--Shambhala Sun
"A satisfying and thought-provoking read."--Elephant
"Ken Wilber's Integral Spirituality is possibly the most important spiritual book in postmodern times. Step by step, with luminous clarity, he unites all spiritual traditions without diluting the potency of any one lineage or tradition. I think this book is an antidote to the religious animosity of our times. Anyone serious about raising the level of consciousness on this planet should read this masterpiece."--Dennis Genpo Merzel, Roshi
"A work of inspired genius. Integral Spirituality is a seminal text for 21st-century spiritual studies."--Jim Marion, author of Putting on the Mind of Christ
"One of the most important books on spirituality written in the postmodern era. The Kabbalah of the future will rest on Ken's work."--Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, coauthor of Jewish with Feeling and Credo of a Modern Kabbalist
"Getting acquainted with Wilber's Integral Approach can be as thrilling as seeing the first photograph of Earthrise over the moon's horizon. A crucial task of our time is reconciliation between the wisdom of the world's religious traditions and the best in contemporary thought. Integral Spirituality offers a new and promising framework for tackling this task and renews my hope." --Brother David Steindl-Rast, cofounder of www.gratefulness.org
"Integral Spirituality is a book that literally shatters spiritual confusion. Eloquent, compassionate, and deeply helpful, it should be read by every practitioner and lover of Spirit."--Sally Kempton, author of The Heart of Meditation
"Vast in scope, profound in depth, and far reaching in its implications, Integral Spirituality is, quite simply, the most encompassing account of religion and spirituality available in our time."--Roger Walsh, PhD, University of California, author of Essential Spirituality
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Ken Wilbur's new insights into modern spirituality
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Product details
Publisher : SHAMBHALA - TRADE; 1st edition (1 February 2008)
Language : English
Paperback : 336 pages
ISBN-10 : 1590305272
ISBN-13 : 978-1590305270
Dimensions : 15.21 x 2.18 x 22.76 cm
Best Sellers Rank: 172,427 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
210 in Religion & Sociology
218 in Sociology of Religion
441 in Science & Religion
Customer Reviews: 4.5 out of 5 stars 88 ratings
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Ken Wilber
Ken Wilber is one of the most widely read and influential American philosophers of our time. His recent books include "A Brief History of Everything", "The Marriage of Sense and Soul" and "Grace and Grit".
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Tom Stuart
5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading
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I've studied theology, practiced spiritual disciplines, studied sociology, psychology, and philosophy. I love the way this book brings so much of the disciplines I've studied together in a cohesive way and gives a place of legitimacy to spirituality. A breath of fresh air.
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Deamon
5.0 out of 5 stars open mind
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 December 2015
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A good book does not need advertisement a good book only need you to read a good book bring peace to your inner
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Peter Johnson
2.0 out of 5 stars Hmmmm - a bit heavy
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 August 2013
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Unless you are into Wilber this is a bit heavy going and must say that whilst I like the concepts and models at the start I have yet to complete the reading of this book. The use of one terminology and then renaming it meant I was losing the thread.
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MysticMusician
5.0 out of 5 stars Integral Spirituality
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Integral Spirituality
by Ken Wilber
3.73 · Rating details · 1,957 ratings · 58 reviews
Integral Spirituality: A Startling New Role for Religion in the Modern and Postmodern World is being widely called the most important book on spirituality in our time.
Applying his highly acclaimed integral approach, Ken Wilber formulates a theory of spirituality that honors the truths of modernity and postmodernity—including the revolutions in science and culture—while incorporating the essential insights of the great religions. He shows how spirituality today combines the enlightenment of the East, which excels at cultivating higher states of consciousness, with the enlightenment of the West, which offers developmental and psychodynamic psychology. Each contributes key components to a more integral spirituality.
On the basis of this integral framework, a radically new role for the world’s religions is proposed. Because these religions have such a tremendous influence on the worldview of the majority of the earth’s population, they are in a privileged position to address some of the biggest conflicts we face. By adopting a more integral view, the great religions can act as facilitators of human development: from magic to mythic to rational to pluralistic to integral—and to a global society that honors and includes all the stations of life along the way.
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Published November 1st 2006 by Shambhala Publications (first published 2006)
Original TitleIntegral Spirituality: A Startling New Role for Religion in the Modern and Postmodern World
ISBN1590303466 (ISBN13: 9781590303467)
Edition LanguageEnglish
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Integral Spirituality: A Startling New Role for Religion in the Modern and Postmodern World
Integral Spirituality
ESPIRITUALIDAD INTEGRAL
Интегральная духовность: Новая роль религии в современном и постсовременном мире
Espiritualidad integral: El nuevo papel de la religión en el mundo actual
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Drick
Dec 24, 2011Drick rated it it was amazing
Shelves: personal-growth
I picked this book up after seeing it cited in another book; I was intrigued. When I started reading the book, I was blown away. Space does not allow me to begin to explain all that is here (even if I could). Suffice it to say that Ken Wilber is attempting to integrate psychological theory, spiritual traditions, religious traditions, and science into one integrated framework that speaks to the postmodern perspective of our age. At times I was completely lost, but in the end I was given a new lens or framework at which to consider my life and how I understand Truth and Reality. This was done not in a way that caused me to forsake my Christian tradition, but transform my understanding in a way that integrates a wide variety of other perspectives. Wilber tackles a wide range of developmental and scientific theories and models and yet writes in a way that is very accessible to the uninitiated. The only thing that needs to change is Wilber's picture. He looks like a serial killer or a cult leader in that picture. Other than that this is a book I will and will need to read again and again just to begin to grasp its basic ideas. (less)
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Sky
May 05, 2009Sky rated it did not like it
Shelves: ontoscopy-related, mind-brain-plus
Back in the day, many taoists used to make fun of Confucius. It's about time some folks do the same with Wilber, who's totally lost in way too much -isms and other difficult words, fancy colors and hierarchies... (less)
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Mitzi
Dec 07, 2010Mitzi rated it it was ok
Shelves: spirituality
Sadly, I didn't finish this book - I gave up after the short intro to Wilber's integral theory. By the end of it my head was jumbled up with levels and stages and phases - it wasn't incomprehensible, it just wasn't enjoyable. I think the same ideas presented in a different way would have made me want to keep reading. Maybe trying an older Wilber book before attempting this one might have been a good idea... (less)
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David
Jun 07, 2012David rated it it was amazing
Ken Wilber, Integral Spirituality: A Startling New Role for Religion in the Modern and Postmodern World, Integral Books, Boston, 2007.
It was only in my second reading of this book that I began to feel that I was coming to grips with its depth and complexity. I have heard Ken Wilber described as the world’s greatest modern philosopher. The pioneer of the Integral Approach, he has come up with a way of thinking that includes every aspect of knowledge. It does not add to them so much as reorganizes them and relates them to other branches of knowledge.
The key to this is the Quadrants. Take a square and divide it into four equal quadrants. The upper two are concerned with the individual, the lower two with the collective. The two left examine the interior, and the two right the exterior. Each quadrant can be further split in two as it is seen from its inside and from its outside. Most people do not distinguish between these approaches, which results in confusion. Does this sound complicated? Ken Wilber’s genius is that he can explain it and apply it to everything.
Another stroke of genius is to distinguish between stages of consciousness, and states of consciousness, which most people do not separate. Stages of consciousness, also called levels of development, are growth stages, for example, as a child grows, the child will pass through different stages of understanding. Many other writers have already observed this and described the stages. Ken Wilber draws them all together and comes up with a synthesis. States of consciousness, however, are quite different. They include waking, dreaming, states of meditation, etc. And they can occur at each of the stages of development.
In all four quadrants there is development or evolution. He sees evolution in the thinking of humanity, for example, how concepts in religion progressed from archaic to magical to premodern to rational (modern) to postmodern, and how this process is continuing and can be observed.
Ken Wilber sees Buddhism as the most highly developed form of religion, but there is value in all religions. In fact, he states that it is necessary for people to progress through states of consciousness, which are taught by religions, to grow to higher stages of consciousness. And every person has to go through this growth individually. So he encourages everyone to become involved with his or her own religion, because to Ken Wilber, it doesn’t matter which one you choose. Every religion can trap its members in a low level of development, and every religion can assist people to grow to a higher level. There are fascinating chapters on the shadow self, and on the great chain of being.
Another key insight is what he calls the pre/trans fallacy. ‘Pre’ refers to the pre-conventional stage, where a person is only concerned with his own needs. People then progress to the conventional stage where they have great respect for institutions and authorities. The next stage is trans-conventional, where a higher sense of morality emerges. The fallacy arises when these stages are confused. For example, at the time of the Vietnam war, many people were protesting against involvement in the war. Some were doing so out of fear of being drafted, they were only concerned for their own comforts. This comes from the Pre stage. Some felt it was their patriotic duty to support the war. This comes from the Conventional stage. Some were objecting to the war on the grounds that it was basically immoral. This comes from the Trans stage. So among the objectors were people in the Pre and Trans stages. But the Conventional stage people assumed all the objections were from the Pre stage, they were confusing the pre and trans stages. And this fallacy extends to many other areas of enquiry.
If you persist with this book, and are prepared to wrestle with its complexity, you cannot fail to be impressed by Ken Wilber’s breadth and depth of vision. My only criticism is that he has not taken seriously the claims of the Christian faith, which, in its most developed stages, is neither triumphalist nor exclusivist. I think the time will come when Ken Wilber will be required reading for anyone who is interested in philosophy, psychology, religion, or just about anything else. You don’t have to agree with everything, but you have to admire his brilliance.
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Ethan
Mar 08, 2016Ethan rated it it was ok
In "Integral Spirituality" Ken Wilber calls himself a mapmaker and sets out to create a sort of universal coordinate system for arguments. In his view, conflict between people often results from confusion about terms, perspectives, and differences in intelligence levels.
To sort things out he divided everything up for discussion into two groups of either singular or collective things, and then divides those into two groups of either interior or exterior. This is his quadrant system, but within each quadrant are two zones, one for objective consideration and the other for subjective consideration for a total of eight zones.
Wilber sets up a mathematical-like referential system for these eight zones. "1-p" means "1st person perspective", but "1p" means the 1st person. So you get sentences like this, "Zone #1 is 1p x 1-p x 1p, which means a first person takes a first-person approach to first person realities (as with phenomenology or hermeneutics). Zone #2 is 1p x 3-p x 1p, which means a first person takes a third-person or objective approach to first person realities (as with structuralism). ..."
Wilber then cites ten different kinds of intelligence people can have and uses rainbow colors to define twelve different stages of development within each kind of intelligence.
This system is Wilber’s Integral “Operating System”. And up to this point, I can only shrug and say, sure, why not? Everyone is free to organize their garage however they want. Wilber can overlay whatever organization or categorization scheme he wants onto the real world.
But this book is “Integral Spirituality” and includes Wilber’s ordering of different spiritual intelligence levels. My chief objection to the book is that he arbitrarily ranks his preferred enlightenment-style meditation-based spirituality as the most advanced one without giving much justification for doing so. He cherry picks obscure mystics (St. Seraphim of Sarov?) and claims that they corroborate his spirituality (p. 76), and then hijacks well known saints and claims that by “union with God” these saints claimed to be the same as God, something no Christian would agree with. He ranks the major world religions near the bottom (at the “amber” or mythic / ethnocentric level), and says that anyone who disagrees with him is either a Nazi (p. 179) or too stupid to understand (p. 274).
Wilber makes many claims that most people will object to, or simple research will disprove, such as:
· Biological organisms don’t merely perceive the world but bring it forth and co-create it (p. 170)
· 70% of the world are ethnocentric Nazis (p. 179)
· The Inquisition tortured and killed millions of people (p. 186)
· Mass and energy are two names for God (p. 187)
· Popes JP2 and Benedict XVI suppress Vatican 2 and repress their spiritual intelligence (p. 199)
· You are God fully revealed (p. 209)
· You are the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person perspectives of the Trinity (p. 300)
Wilber calls himself a mapmaker and uses eight zones and ten intelligences of twelve stages of development, which equal nearly one trillion combinations of ways for two people to interact. That kind of map will not be useful for most people. But Wilber then takes the directional compass and twists it until True North is pointing towards his particular brand of eastern-style meditation-based enlightenment / spirituality, and all other religions are pointing toward Nazism.
I’ll pass on his map. (less)
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Giorgi Bazerashvili
Apr 07, 2019Giorgi Bazerashvili rated it it was amazing
After "No Boundary", Ken Wilber once again amazed me with his holistic, big-picture and integral understanding and approaches of spirituality and psychology. In this book, he talks about an Integral framework that he calls the AQAL (All Quadrants All Levels) framework, which, basically describes all of life if one thinks about it.
Understanding all quadrants and all levels is required if we want to have a map of human development. This framework integrates individual and collective parts of life, with it's inner and outer zones. There are very important illustrations here, which help us zoom out a little and look at one of the most comprehensive maps clearly, where we can see that intentional, behavioral, social and cultural phenomena are just parts of a whole. They are just a perspective or one aspect of our being in each moment of our lives.
But again, this is just a map, not the territory, and because of that, Ken suggests us the Integral Life Practice (ILP), which unites the practices to train 8 major zones from 4 quadrants. Those are the life-changing stuff if put in practice.
He also talks about structuralism and various models of human psychological and cultural development, including Graves' Spiral Dynamics, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, etc. and asks a very important question, how can we define Enlightenment? and is the Enlightenment from 2000 or 10,000 years ago the same as it is today? He suggests that it isn't, because we not only have to take into account the various mystical states that people can experience in each ages of history, but also the stages, that are being developed as history and evolution unfolds reality. So, some of the stages that are available today, was not available hundreds or thousands of years ago.
We are talking about the stages that Graves defined as different colors: red, blue, orange, green, yellow, turquoise, etc. According to Wilber, Enlightenment means becoming one with all the states and stages that are currently available in the memory of Kosmos today.
Also, he mentions very important issues, like "pre/post fallacy" and "the myth of the given". Those are crucial to consider if we want to understand issues such as religion vs science, science vs spirituality, why science will never answer the question of the ultimate concern, and why failing to do so creates much more evil in the world. Also, it's important to think about a whole new paradigm that comes with post-metaphysics, as Wilber call it, according to which, there is no given reality waiting for us to be discovered, and there are no pre-created structures of the human psyche that the mankind hasn't tapped into yet. No, those are all co-created and have been co-created since the beginning of the universe.
That is supposed to be the reason why only meditation won't solve your problems because there are things that just can't be seen while sitting on your cushion. Also, shadow work is worth mentioning, which Ken talks about too, and considers crucial for becoming a whole human being.
In short, this was a very interesting read. Anyone interested in holistic understanding of spirituality must read this book (and other works of Ken Wilber) (less)
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Andrea
Dec 23, 2008Andrea rated it really liked it · review of another edition
This book is not an easy read. You have to really want to read it, but it's worth it especially for the chronic seeker such as myself. For me it really made sense and helped me reconcile where I am vs. where a lot of fundamentalist Christians, etc. are; even atheists. Highly recommended - but it's not easy! (less)
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Jake
Aug 03, 2008Jake rated it really liked it
Shelves: religion-spirituality, philosophy, psychology, ken-wilber-books
Ken Wilber is an incredible intellectual and author. He is a great source for those of us who enjoy exploring the crossroads between philosophy, science, and spirituality.
This book is WIlber's latest thinking on spirituality. It has some really mind blowing concepts. (less)
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Meadow Johnson
Dec 13, 2017Meadow Johnson rated it it was ok
Interesting idea, but very poorly written. It would benefit from a good editor for structure, repetition, and to remove the crude analogies and overused idioms.
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Robert Narojek
Feb 05, 2018Robert Narojek rated it really liked it
It is important and good book.
Well-documented scientific approach to spirituality, once you get through the first eight chapters of scientific analysis and hypothesis, then the main point is clearly spelled out in the Chapter 9 – The Conveyor Belt ☺
Over all for me there is too much of a “plug” – for The Institute, however it is worth reading it.
Advancing in spiritual development requires becoming aware of the Integral Spiritual approach – enjoy it if you dare.
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Bookpuppy
Jan 29, 2012Bookpuppy added it
Shelves: 2012-reading-list
DNF I'm adding this to my list of books read in 2012 even though I couldn't finish because it was so painful to read the parts I did get through.
The problems with this book that made it impossible to go on:
* pseudo-intellectual jargon. Wilber creates a whole new language for the whole of reality, then writes a whole book in it, expecting readers who are smart enough and enlightened enough to 'get it and appreciate it'. (This is like taking a crash course in a foreign language then trying to read a novel in it.)I actually AM smart enough to "get" what he's saying, and also smart enough to see through the game he's playing. I refuse to play his game.
* I couldn't escape the "scientology" feel of the book. It came across as a little culty and he doesn't waste any opportunities to pimp the stuff he has to sell and his website. After he's already made it clear he doesn't want to be accessible to the "common person", it isn't a big leap to say he's pushing a new pseudo-intellectual version of "special revelation" on the level of a cult-leader.
* I got the distinct impression Wilber thinks he's more enlightened than Buddha. He felt he had the right to "get rid of the metaphysical trappings" of the world's wisdom traditions. Oh really? What gave him that right? Just because *he* finds something extraneous and useless and unevolved, doesn't mean it empirically is... which leads me to my final point...
* I got a strong impression that Wilber doesn't really understand he, too, is a perceiving being with his own biases and, just like the rest of us, probably has piece of truth but not the whole of it. While he pays lip service to the idea that his map is just one way to view things... I'm pretty sure he thinks his way is superior... not just for him, but for everyone.
In reading this stark, and cold book, the question I was confronted with was... so where's the spirituality? Once we reduce everything to lines and quandrants and holons and whatever other jargon he wants to introduce, aren't we as guilty as a reductionistic materialist? And isn't that, by definition, NOT spiritual?
Wilber might do better to just follow Buddha, at least that guy made sense, AND had some humility. (less)
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Temo Tchanukvadze
Sep 07, 2020Temo Tchanukvadze rated it it was amazing
It's hard to read because the subject itself is really complex and Ken does everything to translate this wisdom in plain words.
Long story short, he combined multiple models into one integral model - All Quadrants All Levels(AQAL). If you are familiar with Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and Spiral Dynamics then AQAL is something you shouldn't miss.
If you ever wondered why only meditation is not enough probably this book will give you an answer. (less)
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Ruben Mes
May 07, 2022Ruben Mes rated it it was amazing
Shelves: is-in-my-dream-library, integral-theory
Mind-expanding.
What can I say? Ken Wilber helped me put my worldview into perspective.
Where I thought Terence McKenna made a lot of sense, I now realize how there's a lot more nuance to it than I realized, and Wilber helped me see it!
There are a couple of tremendously powerful concepts and ideas introduced in this book, and I can really recommend anyone interested to take the time and study them.
Among them are the Pre/Trans-Fallacy, the Level/Line Fallacy, the Myth of the Given, finding the Kosmic Address and more.
Ken Wilber writes in and articulates in a way that I perceive as incredibly 'heady/brainy/cognitive, and might put off people. However, I found that it was well worth my time to persevere.
And now and again he unexpectedly goes into his 'mystic mode' and attempts to describe the ineffable.
Highly recommended for integral thinkers and seekers of truth. Although Wilber attempts to write in a digestible manner in order to present his ideas in an accessible manner, it still was demanding something of me.
However, his casual style, repetitions and examples after concepts made this book a lot easier for me to go through, and I do appreciate this approach a lot, especially as this was my second Ken Wilber book. (less)
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Ksenia
Dec 23, 2020Ksenia rated it it was ok
I guess it's a good read for those who are already on board with Wilber's ideas. I'm not a stranger to all sorts of weird social science texts and theories, but this was hard to get through. Now I have to admit that his general point is interesting and relevant, but nobody needs a >300 pages book full of weird diagrams and acronyms to get it across.
Like so many writers who came up with A Big Theory of All Stuff, Wilber is over-confident, prone to cherry-picking facts and references. These kind of texts rarely hold up to any scrutiny if you're trained in any of the sciences he uses (or misuse?). I was quickly irritated and didn't get to the very end, to be honest.
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Micke Goteman
May 08, 2018Micke Goteman rated it really liked it
The 10% of the book that I was able to follow was really interesting :)
Wilber had some interesting points but I really struggled to follow what he was talking about, the graphs he kept referring to for various stages and levels, etc. To be honest I was also unsure how to relate to the these theories because I don't have a context for who the author is and how these findings compare to other research or theories in this field. That may not be fair criticism of the book, but it certainly held me back.
If you don't know what this "field" is yet, this may not be the best introductory book. (less)
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Israel Reed
Dec 30, 2020Israel Reed rated it really liked it
Shelves: nonfiction, spirituality, personal-development, psychology, academic, philosophy
I think I'll definitely need to re-read this at a later date; at which point I'm sure I'll give it five stars. As of now though, I have to admit, most of this went way over my head. There are some really compelling and powerful ideas presented here. But this is indeed extremely dense and complex material to try and make sense of in one go. I would probably suggest doing a bit of reading on spirituality, religion, developmental psychology, and metaphysics before trying to tackle this. Although I do look forward to giving it another try when I'm ready. (less)
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Zeb
Oct 07, 2020Zeb added it
Shelves: spirit-religion
Did not really read this, but attempt to read it. Could not get into it in the introduction, tried other chapters, the more I tried the less I succeeded. There might be an interesting message hidden in there, but clearly, it is not for me. Way to complicated, convoluted, constructed. Not giving a ranking, because that would not be fair after my failed attempts at even getting anywhere with this.
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Denise
Jan 15, 2021Denise rated it it was ok · review of another edition
While I am generally on the same page with Ken Wilber, and I believe his theories here are accurate, this book is too heady to be much of a help to those on a Spiritual continuum and lacking in heart to assist Spiritual companions with meeting people where they are. I had to get to the very last chapter in the book to find truly helpful thoughts.
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Ietrio
Apr 10, 2019Ietrio rated it did not like it
Shelves: junk
Never mind the Dark Ages! Wilber is here with a message of happiness.
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Peter Levenstrong
Jul 20, 2019Peter Levenstrong rated it it was amazing
Gives religion a purpose in our present day world
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Matt Richards
Oct 08, 2019Matt Richards rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Profoundly influenced my worldview and path
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Ozifer Eris
Apr 06, 2020Ozifer Eris rated it it was amazing
Love it! I re-listen to this in audio format, very often. Ken Wilber is very concise here.
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Kevin
Mar 20, 2021Kevin rated it liked it
Wilber's book is incredibly thorough. It was more academic than what I was hoping for. Even so, I can see how useful this book will be for others. (less)
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Michael Wolf
Oct 09, 2021Michael Wolf rated it really liked it
Solid perspectives of the challenges facing our society's movement toward integral/transpersonal leadership. (less)
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Esther
Apr 15, 2022Esther rated it really liked it
Shelves: spirituality, non-fiction
Thought provoking, balancing and pompous.
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Willa
Jul 03, 2009Willa rated it it was amazing
this is the clearest analysis of the different aspects of Spirituality and what it could or should be in the Integral Age. It gives a very clear understanding of the complexity of the different views and perspectives that make up our relationship to Spirit, and how, as our consciousness developed, traditional religions, while being timeless in certain aspects, couldn't fully serve us anymore in other aspects. So now the big task for humanity is to find the way forward, without throwing out the baby with the bathwater, but recognising the shortcomings of traditional spirituality, and seeking new ways (without falling in the trap of post-modern 'pick and choose').
It's very well-written although I sometimes crinch a bit at Ken's attempt to lighten up serious matters - personally I feel I'm mature enough to stomach some seriousness without his jokes... but then maybe I'm just a very boring person... (less)
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Naum
Apr 11, 2011Naum rated it liked it
I must confess, I was totally bogged down in the author's jargon and schematics.
Truly, am interested in theories of levels of consciousness and how people (and cultures, in the aggregate) move up the continuum, but this was difficult sailing as I had to reread sections and then, still, some parts left me glazed over.
The source material is fascinating, but I am not certain that the author (Ken Wilber) has the authoritative take on the matter and I need to explore further (which I have already to some extent, via references in works from other authors) the levels and stages in systems Wilber compares and contrasts. (less)
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Scottsdale Public Library
Aug 30, 2011Scottsdale Public Library added it · review of another edition
Shelves: nonfiction, religion-spirituality, self-help
Wilber fits spirituality into a multiperspective framework that allows a person to understand it's relationship with science and art, and its meaning for both the individual and the collective us. He presents here a developmental model that explains where consciousness has been and where it might be headed.
Wilber's forte is integrating knowledge from across the board, never excluding knowledge. His motto is "no one is dumb enough to be wrong about everything." A brilliant thinker with an encyclopedic knowledge, Wilber is an engaging writer who knows how to present heady ideas in an accessible way. --Brandon C. (less)
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Johann
Jul 23, 2013Johann rated it really liked it
I will never be able to overstate the role of Ken Wilber's writing in my life.
He can loom a thread that spans hundreds, sometimes thousands of years and hold together a spectacular image of human knowledge and meaning, all within a chapter. Sometimes within a paragraph.
He can do so in a way that is elegant and shuns technicality only when absolutely necessary. For the task of his writing, the levity and accessibility of his prose is simply inspiring.
This is the second time I have read this book. I plan on reading it a third time. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to understand and orient themselves to the fullest form of their curiosity.
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Doug Allen
Jan 27, 2011Doug Allen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Another almost impossibly dense book by Wilber that is absolutely rewarding if you can get through it. If you've read books like The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason, then you should absolutely read this, because Wilber takes Sam Harris' argument a step further, and finds a place for spirituality in an often overly rational world. (less)
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