Ken Wilber

A new edition of the best-selling work from one of the most forward-thinking and important philosophers of our time. Join one of the greatest contemporary philosophers on a breathtaking tour of time and the Kosmos--from the Big Bang right up to the eve of the twenty-first century. This accessible and entertaining summary of Ken Wilber's great ideas has been expanding minds now for two decades, providing a kind of unified field theory of the universe and, along the way, treating a host of issues related to that universe, from gender roles, to multiculturalism, to environmentalism, and even the meaning of the Internet. This special anniversary edition contains as an afterword a dialogue between the author and Lana Wachowski, the award-winning writer-director of the Matrix film trilogy, in which we're offered an intimate glimpse into the evolution of Ken's thinking and where he stands today. A Brief History of Everything may well be the best introduction to the thought of this man who has been called the -Einstein of Consciousness- (John White).

Here is a deeply moving account of a couple's struggle with cancer and their journey to spiritual healing. Grace and Grit is the compelling story of the five-year journey of Ken Wilber and his wife Treya Killam Wilber through Treya's illness, treatment, and, finally, death.

A concise, comprehensive overview of the “M Theory” and its application in today’s world, by a renowned American philosopher Ken Wilber has long been hailed as one of the most important thinkers of our time, but his work has seemed inaccessible to readers who lack a background in consciousness studies or evolutionary theory—until now. In A Theory of Everything , Wilber uses clear, non-technical language to present complex, cutting-edge theories that integrate the realms of body, mind, soul, and spirit. He then demonstrates how these theories and models can be applied to real world problems and incorporated into readers’ everyday lives. Wilber begins his study by presenting models like “spiral dynamics”—a leading model of human evolution—and his groundbreaking “all-level, all-quadrant” model for integrating science and religion, showing how they are being applied to politics, medicine, business, education, and the environment. He also covers broader models, explaining how they can integrate the various worldviews that have been developed around the world throughout the ages. Finally, Wilber proposes that readers take up an "integral transformative practice"—such as meditation—to help them apply and develop this integral vision in their personal, daily lives. A fascinating and easy-to-follow exploration of the “M Theory,” this book is another tour-de-force from one of America’s most inventive minds.

A simple yet comprehensive guide to the types of psychologies and therapies available from Eastern and Western sources. Each chapter includes a specific exercise designed to help the reader understand the nature and practice of the specific therapies. Wilber presents an easy-to-use map of human consciousness against which the various therapies are introduced and explained. This edition includes a new preface.

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.

A leader in transpersonal psychology presents the first truly integrative model of spiritual consciousness and Western developmental psychologyThe goal of an “integral psychology” is to honor and embrace every legitimate aspect of human consciousness under one roof. Drawing on hundreds of sources—Eastern and Western, ancient and modern—Wilber creates a psychological model that includes waves of development, streams of development, states of consciousness, and the self, and follows the course of each from subconscious to self-conscious to superconscious.Included in the book are charts correlating over a hundred psychological and spiritual schools from around the world, including Kabbalah, Vedanta, Plotinus, Teresa of Ávila, Aurobindo, Theosophy, and modern theorists such as Jean Piaget, Erik Erikson, Jane Loevinger, Lawrence Kohlberg, Carol Gilligan, Erich Neumann, and Jean Gebser. Integral Psychology is Wilber's most ambitious psychological system to date and is already being called a landmark study in human development.

In this tour de force of scholarship and vision, Ken Wilber traces the course of evolution from matter to life to mind and describes the common patterns that evolution takes in all three of these domains. From the emergence of mind, he traces the evolution of human consciousness through its major stages of growth and development. He particularly focuses on modernity and postmodernity: what they mean; how they impact gender issues, psychotherapy, ecological concerns, and various liberation movements; and how the modern and postmodern world conceive of Spirit. This second edition features forty pages of new material, new diagrams, and extensively revised notes.

How to put Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory—which synthesizes the teachings of the world’s great wisdom traditions—into practice in all aspects of everyday life, so you can reach your full human potential“A masterpiece guide of grounded, intelligent, self-transforming wisdom integrating the insights of all the great traditions of truth.” —Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit Over the last thirty-five years, Ken Wilber has developed an Integral “theory of everything” that makes sense of how all the world’s knowledge systems—East and West; ancient, modern, and postmodern—fit together and can elevate our awareness. Drawing on science, psychology, human development, spirituality, religion, and dozens of other fields, Integral Theory is a revolutionary framework for understanding ourselves and the world we live in.Now there is a way to not just think Integrally, but to embody an Integral worldview in your everyday life.Integral Life Practice is not just a new approach to self-development and higher awareness, but a way of making sense of—and making best use of—the existing treasure trove of insights, methods, and practices for cultivating a more enlightened life. It offers a uniquely adaptive approach to awakened living that’s suitable for everyone: people with busy careers and families, college students, retirees, even hardcore athletes and yogis. It’s geared for devout—and irreverent—people of any religion, or no religion!This highly flexible system will help you develop your physical health, spiritual awareness, emotional balance, mental clarity, relational joy, and energy level, within a framework that integrates all aspects of your life. Combining original exercises, vivid examples, cutting-edge theory, and illustrative graphics, Integral Life Practice is the ultimate handbook for realizing freedom and fullness in the 21st century.

Wilber's groundbreaking synthesis of religion, philosophy, physics, and psychology started a revolution in transpersonal psychology. He was the first to suggest in a systematic way that the great psychological systems of the West could be integrated with the noble contemplative traditions of the East. Spectrum of Consciousness , first released by Quest in 1977, has been the prominent reference point for all subsequent attempts at integrating psychology and spirituality.

As one who has written extensively about the interior life, meditation, and psychotherapy, Ken Wilber—the leading theorist in the field of integral psychology—naturally arouses the curiosity of his numerous readers. In response to this curiosity, this one-year diary not only offers an unprecedented entrée into his private world, but offers an introduction to his essential thought. "If there is a theme to this journal," Wilber writes, "it is that body, mind, and the luminosities of the soul—all are perfect expressions of the Radiant Spirit that alone inhabits the universe, sublime gestures of that Great Perfection that alone outshines the world."Wilber's personal writings • Details of his own spiritual practice • Advice to spiritual seekers • Reflections on his work and that of other prominent theorists in the field of integral psychology • His day-to-day personal experiences • Dozens of his short theoretical essays on topics from art to feminism to spirituality to psychotherapy

Suppose we took everything that all the various world cultures have to tell us about human potential—about psychological, spiritual, and social growth—and identified the basic patterns that connect these pieces of knowledge. What if we attempted to create an all-inclusive map that touches the most important factors from all of the world's great traditions?Ken Wilber's Integral Vision provides such a map. Using all the known systems and models of human growth—from the ancient sages to the latest breakthroughs in cognitive science—it distills their major components into five simple elements, and, moreover, ones that readers can verify in their own experience right now.In any field of interest, such as business, law, science, psychology, health, art, or everyday living and learning—the Integral Vision ensures that we are utilizing the full range of resources for the situation, leading to a greater likelihood of success and fulfillment. With easily understood explanations, exercises, and familiar examples, The Integral Vision shows how we can accelerate growth and development to higher, wider, deeper ways of being, embodied in self, shared in community, and connected to the planet, which can literally help with everything from spiritual enlightenment to business success to personal relationships.

While science has given humans the methods for discovering truth, religion remains the single greatest force for generating meaning. Yet the two are seen as mutually exclusive. 'In The Marriage of Sense and Soul' Ken Wilber brilliantly shows how we can begin to think about science and religion in ways that allow for their reconciliation and union, on terms acceptable to both camps. He proves that science is compatible with the world's religions, and explains why integration is essential for a balanced life. One of the foremost thinkers in the realm of spirituality and mind, Wilber is uniquely qualified to write such a thesis. 'The author's ongoing quest is to unite science and spirituality. Deeply philosophical but with Wilber's staggering talent for making the profound sound perfectly plain.' Spirit Magazine '...rigorous, profound, original and visionary, a landmark in the science-religion debate.' Network Other books by Ken Wilber Grace and Grit A Theory of Everything A Brief History of Everything.

The election of Donald Trump is an evolutionary self-correction that has been decades in the making — a backlash against the failure of the leading edge of consciousness (postmodernism and pluralism) to acknowledge the lie underlying the progress they’ve pursued: it’s not equal, it’s not consistent, and it doesn’t make room for everyone. But a new integral force is emerging that can move beyond the narcissism and nihilism of political correctness to offer genuine leadership and move towards a developmental-based wisdom of greater wholeness.

Before the birth of the universe, there existed your Original Face, the limitless Self that has been present throughout the unfolding of inert matter into life and that continues to dwell within us at every level of consciousness. Where is this grand evolution taking us, and how can each of us participate in it more fully? On Kosmic Consciousness, Ken Wilber invites you to find out.Since the first publication of his groundbreaking ideas at the age of 23, Ken Wilber has sought to bring together the world's far-ranging spiritual teachings, philosophies, and scientific truths into one coherent and all-embracing vision. This "integral" map of the Kosmos (the universe that includes the physical cosmos as well as the realms of consciousness and Spirit) offers an unprecedented guide to discovering your highest potentials. Now, this legendary author invites you to discover these insights in his first full-length audio learning course. In 10 fascinating sessions, Wilber pursues questions especially relevant to spiritual seekers: What are the most effective tools for "jumping" to the next level in your spiritual, creative, and cognitive development? Does prayer work? How do women and men experience consciousness differently? Is subtle energy real and, if so, how do we harness it? Why is developing "witness consciousness" so crucial for self-realization? Can we cultivate infinite love by loving one, finite person? What, exactly, does "kosmic consciousness" feel like?One of our greatest possibilities, teaches Wilber, is "to balance and harmonize our experiences at whatever stage of growth we are in and to deepen our capacity for compassion, consciousness, and care." For Ken Wilber's many avid readers, and anyone who has been waiting for a highly accessible invitation to his work, here is one of the most significant thinkers of our time spontaneous, passionate, irreverent sharing a feast of ideas to inspire you on your evolution toward Kosmic Consciousness.Kosmic Consciousness Highlights: The "one taste" of the Kosmos Quadrants, lines, states, types, and stages a complete introduction to the Integral Map Assessing your constellation of "multiple intelligences"The Good, the True, and the Beautiful three realms of experience explored How meditation works, and why it is the most reliable tool for personal development Feminine and masculine drives how our biology influences our spiritual evolution The chakra system, a paradigm for the unfolding self Integral insights for artists, businesspeople, and athletes Altered states of consciousness how they can catalyze (or hinder) transformation Sexuality and lovemaking in the gross, subtle, and causal bodies The"pre-trans fallacy," an essential insight for evaluating spiritual tools, traditions, and teachers How fearlessness grows as your sense of self expands Four definitions of spirituality The ego is it a vehicle or an obstacle to awakening? Lucid dreaming, astrology, brain machines, and the Enneagram integral perspectives Mystical experiences in nature a window into spirit How love "re-wires" the self Could your dog be an enlightened master? Basic moral intuition a compass for our actions in the world Cultural "centers of gravity" and how they influence us Reincarnation myth or provable phenomenon? What does an enlightened teacher "transmit"? Ascending, descending, and "nondual" spiritual paths Tantra and the "embrace of heaven and earth"More than 12 hours of insights in a rare series of meetings with Ken Wilber"

Ken Wilber's latest book is a daring departure from his previous writings—a highly original work of fiction that combines brilliant scholarship with tongue-in-cheek storytelling to present the integral approach to human development that he expounded in more conventional terms in his recent A Theory of Everything.The story of a naïve young grad student in computer science and his quest for meaning in a fragmented world provides the setting in which Wilber contrasts the alienated "flatland" of scientific materialism with the integral vision, which embraces body, mind, soul, and spirit in self, culture, and nature. The book especially targets one of the most stubborn obstacles to realizing the integral a disease of egocentrism and narcissism that Wilber calls "boomeritis" because it seems to plague the baby-boomer generation most of all.Through a series of sparkling seminar-lectures skillfully interwoven with the hero's misadventures in the realms of sex, drugs, and popular culture, all of the major tenets of extreme postmodernism are criticized—and exemplified—including the author's having a bad case of boomeritis himself. Parody, intellectual slapstick, and a mind-twisting surprise ending unite to produce a highly entertaining summary of the work of cutting-edge theorists in human development from around the world.

A radical approach to mindfulness—combining an ancient meditation technique with leading-edge theory, resulting in a powerful new method of self-transformation. With practical teachings and detailed instructions, Ken Wilber introduces Integral Mindfulness, a new way of practicing the widely popular meditation. Integral Mindfulness applies many of the leading-edge insights of Ken Wilber's Integral Theory--the first system to combine Eastern teachings on the five stages of awakening with the eight major Western models of human development, thus portraying the complete path of human evolution. In addition to all the benefits to body, mind, and spirit that standard mindfulness meditation confers, practicing Integral Mindfulness promises a more powerful approach to personal transformation and brings within reach the fullest experience of Enlightenment possible. Beginning with as little as fifteen to thirty minutes of daily sessions, the meditator can gradually expand from there by slowly and easily adding significant aspects of the practice. Meditation instructions and step-by-step guided contemplations are given in detail. Readers learn how to create a graph to track progress and discover natural strengths and potentials. The book also offers recommended readings and resources to facilitate further study.

An introduction to the work of an esteemed American philosopher, whose integral approach to human consciousness blends Western psychology with Eastern spiritualityEver since the publication of his first book, The Spectrum of Consciousness , written when he was twenty-three, Ken Wilber has been identified as the most comprehensive philosophical thinker of our times. This introductory sampler, designed to acquaint newcomers with his work, contains brief passages from his most popular books.Ranging over a variety of topics, concepts include levels of consciousness, mystical experience, meditation practice, death, the perennial philosophy, and Wilber’s integral approach to reality, integrating matter, body, mind, soul, and spirit. Here is Wilber’s writing at its most reader-friendly, discussing essential ideas of the world’s great psychological, philosophical, and spiritual traditions in language that is lucid, engaging, and inspirational.

One of the most influential American philosophers of our time presents his vision for a fully integrated world—a world that includes body, mind, soul, and spirit In this groundbreaking book, Ken Wilber uses his widely acknowledged “spectrum of consciousness” model to completely rewrite our approach to such important fields as psychology, spirituality, anthropology, cultural studies, art and literary theory, ecology, feminism, and planetary transformation. What would each of those fields look like if we wholeheartedly accepted the existence of not just body and mind but also soul and spirit?In a stunning display of integrative embrace, Wilber weaves these various fragments together into a coherent and compelling vision for the modern and postmodern world.

Wilber traces human development from infancy into adulthood and beyond, into those states described by mystics and spiritual adepts. The spiritual evolution of such extraordinary individuals as the Buddha and Jesus hints at the direction human beings will take in their continuing growth toward transcendence.

A provocative examination of how the great religious traditions can remain relevant in modern times by incorporating scientific truths learned about human nature over the last century. A single purpose lies at the heart of all the great religious traditions: awakening to the astonishing reality of the true nature of ourselves and the universe. At the same time, through centuries of cultural accretion and focus on myth and ritual as ends in themselves, this core insight has become obscured. Here Ken Wilber provides a path for reenvisioning a religion of the future that acknowledges the evolution of humanity in every realm while remaining faithful to that original spiritual vision. For the traditions to attract modern men and women, Wilber asserts, they must incorporate the extraordinary number of scientific truths learned about human nature in just the past hundred years--for example, about the mind and brain, emotions, and the growth of consciousness--that the ancients were simply unaware of and thus were unable to include in their meditative systems. Taking Buddhism as an example, Wilber demonstrates how his comprehensive Integral Approach--which is already being applied to several world religions by some of their adherents--can avert a -cultural disaster of unparalleled proportions- the utter neglect of the glorious upper reaches of human potential by the materialistic postmodern worldview. Moreover, he shows how we can apply this approach to our own spiritual practice. This, his most sweeping work since Sex, Ecology, Spirituality, is a thrilling call for wholeness, inclusiveness, and unity in the religions of tomorrow.

Wilber traces humanity's cultural and spiritual evolution. New Foreword by the author.

"As you look deeply into your own awareness, and relax the self-contraction, and dissolve into the empty ground of your own primordial experience, the simple feeling of Being—right now, right here—is it not obvious all at once? Were you not present from the start? Did you not have a hand to play in all that was to follow? Did not the dream itself begin when you got bored with being God? Was it not fun to get lost in the productions of your own wondrous imagination, and pretend it all was other? Did you not write this book, and countless others like it, simply to remind you who you are?"—Ken WilberThe author of nineteen books of philosophy and psychology, Ken Wilber is a pioneering thinker who has developed an integral "theory of everything" that embraces the truths of both Eastern spirituality and Western science. Yet while he is best known for his scholarly research into the world's contemplative traditions, Wilber is also an accomplished spiritual practitioner and mystic in his own right. In order to highlight the personal wisdom of this popular author, the editors of The Simple Feeling of Being have assembled a collection of inspirational, mystical, and instructional passages drawn from his publications. These heartfelt writings, born of Ken's own meditation practice and inner experiences, • Poetic passages of contemplative insights and reflections • Inspired descriptions of Spirit, Nondual Awareness, the Witness, One Taste, and other topics • Commentary on the spiritual contributions of figures such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Saint Teresa of Ávila, Meister Eckhart, and Ramana Maharshi • Anecdotes of personal experience and glimpses into Wilber's inner world • Practical spiritual instructions and guided meditations

Critiques traditional religion, modern materialistic philosophy, and popular new age theories; examines the concepts of senses, mind, and spirit; and offers a broader understanding of reality

From integral philosopher Ken Wilber, a practical guide to finding a radical and complete Wholeness through a path that blends integral theory, psychology, spiritual practice, and shadow work.According to Ken Wilber, the perpetual human search for growth and fulfillment is often incomplete. In this book, Wilber integrates the wisdom of spirituality, psychology, shadow work, science, and integral theory to offer us a path to a radical and complete Wholeness of Waking Up, Growing Up, Opening Up, Cleaning Up, and Showing Up. Wilber shows readers how to apply integral theory to their everyday lives for transformation. For example, he shows how the theory of the Four Quadrants—the four perspectives through which we view the world—relates to our lives and allows us to show up and be more present. He also discusses how to evolve our multiple intelligences, how to increase our spiritual awareness, how to process what’s hidden in the depths of our consciousness, and how to enhance, deepen, and widen the feelings of bliss and love through the practice of integral tantric sex. Wilber introduces several practices—on topics such as the Witness, One Taste, and shadow work—to lead us to direct experiences that we can integrate into our lives. In this way, we truly understand Wholeness and can make room for everything life brings our way.No other path of growth includes these five categories—each of which is a unique path to wholeness. By combining them and integrating them, one comes to a realization of what Wilber calls Big Wholeness—a completeness in which everything in our experience comes together to pull us into this deep meaning, where we feel in touch not only with all of the important aspects of ourselves but also with everything in our world.

What might the Buddhism of the future look like? With all that we have learned in the modern and postmodern world, how can Buddhists be true to the central teachings of the tradition while also including them in a new framework that is inclusive of ongoing discoveries? Ken Wilber here explores these key questions facing Buddhism and indeed all of the world’s great religions today, showing how traditional Buddhist teachings themselves suggest an ongoing evolution leading toward a more unified, holistic, and interconnected spirituality. Touching on all of the key turning points in the history of Buddhism, Wilber describes the unique way in which the tradition has been open to the continuing unfolding and expansion of its own teachings, and he suggests possible paths toward an ever more Integral approach.

Essays discuss the holographic model of the brain and the intersection of scientific and religious explanations of the world

The most persistent form of alienation in human beings is the fragmentation of their identities into separate and distinct parts, such as subject and object, mind and body, reason and instinct, and life and death. Plumbing the depths of this diagnosis, this book analyzes the spectrum of human consciousness and the similarities between therapies that attempt to reintegrate such artificial dualities. The therapies examined range from Eastern to Occidental, from Zen to psychoanalysis, from transcendental meditation to Gestalt, from tantra to existentialism. Practical exercises and a thorough bibliography accompany each chapter. La más persistente alienación del ser humano es la fractura de su identidad en diferentes partes separadas, por ejemplo sujeto y objeto, mente y cuerpo, razón e instinto, vida y muerte, organismo y medio. Arrancando de este diagnóstico, este libro examina el espectro de la conciencia humana y el conjunto de terapias encaminadas a reintegrar estas dualidades artificiales. Estas terapias se inspiran tanto en Occidente como en Oriente, y van del psicoanálisis al zen, de la Gestalt a la meditación trascendental, del existencialismo al tantra. Ejercicios prácticos y bibliografía fundamental acompañan a cada capítulo.

Is it possible to develop an all-inclusive embrace of God, one that can satisfy scientists, philosophers, and priests at the same time? It is, teaches best-selling author Ken Wilber, if you are able to understand The 1-2-3 of God. According to this premier modern philosopher, the seemingly innumerable ways humans conceptualize God can actually be broken down into three basic perspectives.