Wilber, Ken, A Brief History of Everything (1996)

A readable Q&A format introduction to the fully ‘integral’ philosophy and worldview that Wilber has written about since the mid-90s.

This is perhaps the best way to ease yourself in to Wilber’s overall philosophy, and is, in fact, his attempt to create a bite-sized version of his 1995 master-work Sex, Ecology, Spirituality (851 pages) – with a few additional ideas too. Though even A Brief History of Everything still comes in at 339 pages!

Wilber offers us “striking and original views on many topics of current interest and controversy”: gender wars, modern liberation movements, multiculturalism, ecology and environmental ethics, the conflict between this-worldly and other-worldly approaches to spirituality, and flatland’s materialistic reduction of the Kosmos (the terminology makes makes sense once you know Wilber’s lingo!).

(This book is not to be confused with his similarly-titled later book A Theory of Everything).
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Wilber, Ken, A Theory of Everything - An Integral Vision for Business, Politics, Science and Spirituality (2000)

Deepak Chopra: “I read Ken Wilber every day so I can be inspired by the most extraordinary mind of our times.”

Prof Warren Bennis: “Written with astonishing lucidity about human development and spirituality, A Theory of Everything makes plain how these abstract and complicated ideas can be integrated into our everyday lives.”

An excellent primer on the ‘integral’ approach (Ken Wilber's ’All Quadrants, All Levels’ version of it, anyway) – and “its relevance in the ‘real world’” of politics, medicine, business, religion, Third World development etc. This book was on one occasion recommended by the then head of strategy in No. 10 Downing Street, Geoff Mulgan, to the key strategic thinkers from all UK Government departments.

Wilber also here continues to focus attention on the downsides and blockages caused by the ‘noble’ egalitarianism and sensitivity of the Politically Correct approach (dubbed by Spiral Dynamics the ‘Mean Green Meme’). As people with ‘Green’ values have been a significant proportion of his readership, this naming a ‘Mean Green’ problem has had 'interesting' results – which continue to play themselves out in the ‘integral movement’.

For one example of such an incendiary critique, here is a snippet from the book, on the topic of ‘Green value meme’/PC/egalitarian meetings: “Meetings that are run on green principles tend to follow a similar course: everybody is allowed to express his or her feelings, which often takes hours; there is an almost interminable processing of opinions, often reaching no decision or course of action, since a specific course of action would likely exclude somebody. Thus there are often calls for an inclusionary, non-marginalising, compassionate embrace of all views, but exactly how to do this is rarely spelled out, since in reality not all views are of equal merit. The meeting is considered a success, not if a conclusion is reached, but if everybody has a chance to share their feelings. Since no view is supposed to be inherently better than another, no real course of action can be recommended, other than sharing all views. If any statements are made with certainly, it is how oppressive and nasty all the alternative conceptions are. There was a saying common in the sixties: “Freedom is an endless meeting.” Well, the endless part was certainly right.”

Amazon tells us that only 5 per cent of books have a harder ‘Fog Index’ than A Theory of Everything. Also that you receive 4,343 words for your dollar! (303 of them being the word ‘integral’). I find it a great clear read – a great introduction, and overview of areas of application.
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Wilber, Ken, Boomeritis - A Novel that will Set You Free (2002)

For the first time, Wilber uses the novel format – for a hard-hitting assault on the narcissistic world-saving visions of the baby-boom generation, wrapped in a rather thin plot-line about a student, named ‘Ken Wilber’ who’s interested in Artificial Intelligence. Yes, it’s a postmodern hall of mirrors – but probably most successful if you’re interested in plenty of no-holds-barred Spiral Dynamics-inspired analysis of topics like multiculturalism and race relations, Gaia, slavery, victim politics, postmodernism and the Sokal affair, sex and feminism, alternative medicine and the ‘New Paradigm’, Foucault, the Woodstock Nation, the ‘culture wars’, the Mean Green Meme, 1968, tribal romanticism and cannibalism etc.

Is the emerging integral generation all set to precipitate “a major cultural revolution, comparable at least to that of the sixties”?

Much of the novel’s material comes as the young protagonist attends lectures at the ‘Integral Center’ – these extensive section read pretty much like Wilber’s recent non-fiction integral works (indeed this book itself was originally a non-fiction work, apparently until Wilber opted to fictionalise it, if that’s the right word).
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Wilber, Ken, Integral Life Practice Starter Kit (2006)

“The simplest practice you can do to wake up”.

A guidebook, a My ILP handbook, 5 DVDs, two CDs, an AQAL framework booklet and even a poster are all brought together to help you to develop a multifaceted ‘Integral Life Practice’.

The kit guides the viewer/listener through a range of practices, from ‘Tonglen (Compassionate Exchange Meditation)’ and 3-2-1 (Shadow) Process, to the ‘Big Mind’ experience of non-dual states of consciousness with Genpo Dennis Merzel Roshi.

The ILP approach suggests that we shouldeach pick one practice from each of the four core modules: Body (eg weighlifting, yoga, Tai Chi, diet, F.I.T.; Mind (eg reading and study, taking multiple perspectives etc); Spirit (Zen, Big Mind meditation, Centering Prayer, TM, the 1-2-3 of God, Integral Inquiry etc); and Shadow (3-2-1 Process, Gestalt, art & music therapy, psychoanalysis, dream-work etc).

And also add practices from the five auxiliary modules as you wish: Ethics (social & ecological activism, sportsmanship, self-discipline etc); Sex (Tantra, Integral Sexual Yoga, Kama Sutra, Kundalini yoga etc); Work (Right Livelihood, Karma yoga, community service & volunteering etc); Emotions (emotional intelligence training, bhakti yoga, Tonglen, creative expression & art etc); and Relationships (couples therapy, conscious marriage, communication skills, Integral parenting etc).
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Wilber, Ken, Integral Psychology - Consciousness, Spirit, Psychology, Therapy (2000)

Harvard Professor Robert Kegan, author of In Over Our Heads - the mental demands of modern life, writes “Ken Wilber is a national treasure. No one is working at the integration of Eastern and Western wisdom literature with such depth or breadth of mind and heart as he.”

Here we find Wilber’s psychological model explained – along with pages of illuminating charts that correlate his developmental model with dozens of other stage models. It also includes an outline of a number of representative practices from the four quadrants, for creating one’s own ‘integral practice’.

Dr Don Beck, co-author of Spiral Dynamics, writes: “In a single publication Wilber strides over the entire history of psychology to create new and comprehensive strategies for human survival in the next millennium.”
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Wilber, Ken, Integral Spirituality: A Startling New Role for Religion in the Modern and Postmodern World (2006)

A clear overview by Ken Wilber of his current ('Wilber V') Integral model.

He argues also that the great religions are the only institutions likely to be able to support – be the ‘conveyor belt’ for – human development right through the whole spectrum of development – though to do this they will need to change.

Includes chapters on states and stages of consciousness, ‘Boomeritis Buddhism’, the Shadow, Integral Life Practice, post-metaphysics and more.

The book also marks – in print – for the first time a shift in Wilber’s work away from decades in which he viewed Western structural stages of personal development as being capped by a number of higher Eastern, meditative (vertical) stages.

As Wilber describes his previous view: “typically what we did was simply take the highest stage in Western psychological models... and then take the 3 or 4 major stages of meditation (gross, subtle, causal, nondual—or initiation, purification, illumination, unification), and stack those stages on top of the other stages. Thus you would go from Loevinger’s integrated level (centaur) to psychic level to subtle level to causal level to nondual level. Bam bam bam bam. . . . East and West integrated!” (This was the 'Full Spectrum' model of psychological development that made Wilber's name).

This major change does intrigue me greatly. In his earlier integral work ‘A Brief History of Everything’ Wilber wrote that “based on the state of present research, it is fairly safe to say that there are at least four major stages of transpersonal development or evolution.
These four stages I call the psychic, the subtle, the causual and the non-dual”. Has ‘the state of present research’ altered, leading Wilber to his new model? Or is the present research the same, but Wilber’s interpretation has changed? In fact, in Integral Spirituality Wilber states that "problems immediately arose" with his long-held view, and he outlines them; "there it sat stalled for about two decades", he adds. I must say that I personally never realised that Wilber felt that his original ‘Full Spectrum’ model had in fact long been a somewhat problematic, 'stalled', and seemingly inadequate 'solution'.)

Wilber has now concluded that those Eastern stages he wrote so much about (ie Psychic, Subtle, Causual, Non-dual) are best understood instead as – often meditative – (horizontal) states that are accessible to people at any structural stage of growth. This solution is depicted in ‘The Wilber-Combs Lattice’ – a grid of possible states available at every level of development.

To complicate the picture, Wilber explains that meditative states too can emerge in the kind of sequential order that structural stages always do. This change also means that higher development does not arise from temporary ‘peak experiences’ of higher states (eg Psychic, Subtle, Causal, Ultimate) – that are converted, following contemplative practice, into permanent structures. In Wilber’s new approach evolutionary development occurs, instead, because meditation states often cannot be interpreted within one’s present structure and this causes a ‘micro-disidentifcation’ from one's current stage of growth. (Please correct me if I've misunderstood these changes in integral theory!).
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Wilber, Ken, Kosmic Consciousness (The Ken Wilber Sessions - An Unprecendented Audio Learning Experience) (CDs), 2003.

An engaging 10-CD (12 hours+) set featuring Ken Wilber in conversation, outlining his philosophy and experiences. Everything from EEG evidence of brain states associated with satori, when is war justified?, and ‘does prayer accelerate human development?’ to vegetarianism, psychedelics, world federation and guidelines for choosing a spiritual teacher.

Plus more of the personal side of Ken Wilber, eg “Breakthroughs, downturns, and plateaux in Ken Wilber’s process of awakening”.

Wilber, Ken, Sex, Ecology, Spirituality - The Spirit of Evolution (1995, 2000)

Wilber’s magnum opus. Over 850+ pages he introduces us to his quadrants and the rest of the integral approach. A hugely wide-ranging work – featuring everyone from Plotinus, Rousseau, Schelling and Emerson to Piaget, Ramana Maharshi and Heidegger.

Wilber spent 3 years in near-total seclusion in order to research and write this book – and to discern the ‘All Quadrants, All Levels’ Integral model that would hold it all together. Wilber candidly calls this challenging work “a book of 1000 hypotheses” (which fans of integral as 'The Truth' often seem to forget).

For the first time Wilber also holds up today’s dogma (in certain progressive circles) of regressive romanticism to scrutiny. So Teddy Goldsmith’s The Way: An Ecological World-View, Theodore Roszak’s The Voice of the Earth and Morris Berman’s The Re-Enchantment of the World and Coming to Our Senses are critically dissected (and Wilber would continue to lose friends by carrying on this important vein of critique in books like Boomeritis and A Theory of Everything.)

A warning for the unwary: Amazon tells us that this book has a (gloriously-named) ‘Fog Index’ higher than 98 per cent of other books and that only 1 per cent of books have more words per sentence (Wilber hits 35 words per sentence). Lesson being, only start with this brilliant book if you think you can handle a relatively heavy, complex read. (Although it’s still far easier to read than most of the obtuse academics I’ve come across, IMHO).
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Wilber, Ken and Rinpoche, Traleg Kyabgon, Spirituality in the Modern World: A dialogue with Ken Wilber and Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche (DVD, Region 1, 2006)

Ken Wilber in dialogue with Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche, the 9th Throne Holder of the Traleg lineage within the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism, who fled his homeland in 1959.

In front of an audience of 400 at New York’s Society for Ethical Culture this 220-minute DVD offers a profound discussion of Buddhism and spirituality in the modern world.

"This unique documentary film captures the essence of their dialogue and presents a wonderful learning and meditative experience for any viewer seeking answers to the deeper spiritual questions in modern life."

Chapters include ‘Increased consciousness, decreased suffering – rules of thumb for the integral age’, ‘Reading ancient scriptures with a modern mind’, ‘Seeking enlightenment in the modern age’ and ‘the Bodhisattva path’.

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Wilber, Ken, The Eye of Spirit - An Integral Vision for a World Gone Slightly Mad (1997/2001)

Another important book from Wilber’s current ‘integral’ phase of writing which began with Sex, Ecology, Spirituality. In a series of essays, he looks at the application of his (‘Wilber IV’) model to cultural studies, feminism, art, science and spirituality. Includes a discussion of how a “Psychograph assessment” of the levels of each of the major lines of development (eg moral stage, self-needs, cognitive level, aesthetic stage, defence mechanisms etc) could form the basis for an integral therapy.

A favourite with leading UK transpersonalist, and Integral Institute founder member, John Rowan, author of The Transpersonal: Spirituality in Psychotherapy and Counselling.
Revised edition.
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Wilber, Ken, The Integral Operating System: Version 1.0 (DVD, CDs, booklet) (2005)

Ken Wilber teaches the core of his integral model, on DVD and CDs, along with a 40-page primer for becoming fluent in his ‘AQAL’ (All Quadrants, All Levels) approach, and an accordion fold-out chart of the model.

Includes ideas for how to put integral ideas into practice and ‘live the model’.
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Wilber, Ken, The Integral Vision – A Very Short Introduction to the Revolutionary Integral Approach to Life, God, the Universe and Everything (2007)

"Philosopher, psychologist, and mystic Wilber delivers on the subtitle's far-reaching promise. . . . Chock full of handsome illustrations and spare, Zen-like diagrams and tables, Wilber's work here is still accessible and at times surprisingly practical. Some language spirals up majestically, recalling great Eastern texts. Reminiscent in spirit and watershed import of Ram Dass's Be Here Now, Wilber may well have created a popular classic for explorers on the frontiers of humanity." - Publisher's Weekly

This new introductory work promises...“At last, an accessible book for anyone who wants an easy introduction to Ken Wilber’s thought and its practical applications, both personal and global.”

Wilber, Ken, The Marriage of Sense and Soul – Integrating Science and Religion (1998)

The book that Bill Clinton gave Al Gore, who, in a long piece in The New Yorker magazine, called it “one of my favorite new books.”

Wilber shows a route to reconciling science and religion, that overcomes previous failed attempts at integration, such as reenchantment, Romanticism, Idealism and postmodernism.
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Wilber, Ken, The One Two Three of God (audiobook/CD, 2006)

Ken Wilber shows how the “innumerable ways humans conceptualize God can actually be broken down into three basic perspectives” and guides us through the "I, We, and It" views of God.

This CD set also explains how different religions and spiritual paths tend to focus on only one of these three fundamental ways of relating to the divine.

Also guided sessions “for deeply experiencing each of the three aspects of God—mystical, devotional, and objective”.

This 4 CD set totals 4.5 hours of listening.

Copyright © 2007 Matthew Kalman