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Ken Wilber.

Cover of Ken Wilber

Wilber’s philosophy has been influenced by Madhyamaka Buddhism, particularly as articulated in the philosophy of Nagarjuna.[33] Wilber has practiced various forms of Buddhist meditation, studying (however briefly) with a number of teachers, including Dainin Katagiri, Taizan Maezumi, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Kalu Rinpoche, Penor Rinpoche andChagdud Tulku Rinpoche. Advaita Vedanta, Trika (Kashmir) Shaivism, Tibetan Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, Ramana Maharshi, and Andrew Cohen can be mentioned as further influences. Wilber has on several occasions singled out Adi Da‘s work for the highest praise (while expressing reservations about Adi Da as a teacher).[34][35] In Sex, Ecology, Spirituality, Wilber refers extensively to Plotinus‘ philosophy, which he sees as nondual. While Wilber has practised Buddhist meditation methods, he does not identify himself as a Buddhist.[36]

Wilber’s conception of spiritual evolution and psychological development and “the great nest of being” draws on Adi Da, Sri Aurobindo, James Mark Baldwin, Erik Erikson,Howard Gardner, Jean Gebser, German idealism, Clare W. Graves (Spiral Dynamics), Jürgen Habermas, Erich Jantsch, Robert Kegan, Lawrence Kohlberg, Abraham Maslow,Jean Piaget, and Plotinus.

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 evolutionakin to that of the Indian mystic Sri Aurobindo. He rejects most of the tenets of Perennialism and the associated anti-evolutionary view of history as a regression from past ages or yugas.[30] Instead, he embraces a more traditionally Western notion of the great chain of being. As in the work ofJean Gebser, this great chain (or “nest”) is ever-present while “relatively” unfolding throughout this material manifestation, although to Wilber “… the ‘Great Nest’ is actually just a vast morphogenetic field of potentials …” In agreement with Mahayana Buddhism, and Advaita Vedanta, he believes that reality is ultimately a nondual union of emptiness andform, with form being innately subject to development over time.

Wilber argues for the value of mystical realization and in opposition to metaphysical naturalism:

“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

From Wikipedia.

All 8 pages in this section are transcripts of copyrighted material presented in the Core Integral Essentials and Advanced Theory modules, they are posted here for my own personal reference and may not be reproduced elsewhere without permission from Core Integral.