6 pointers from Ken Wilber ‘A Revolutionary Spirituality’ Ken Wilber
For me ‘teach because it is the best way to learn ‘— is a maxim for doing and sharing
Together the two, learning & teaching, are the in-breath & out-breath of transformation, maturation and integral-ization toward realizing our ultimate goal is ‘I = Awareness’.
As someone with an inter-spiritual perspective I turn to many great teachers for inspiration and healing, among them a ‘giant’ of our time Ken Wilber.
Supremely successful though he is, tragedy has entered Ken’s life in at least two ways. Soon after he married Treya, the love of his life, Treya and Ken discovered that she had what proved to be incurable cancer.
Ken was serious about physical exercise. In fact he was an adonis, but in 2002 he contracted RNAse T2 a devastating neurological disease.
However the original Ken continues to shine through the disease symptoms.
Pointer 1 — Work with what coming out of the blue hits you
Ken Wilber has written a lot about (new) spirituality
as existing in two ‘dimensions’ — as in X and Y axes. The teaching centres on ‘the experiential and the studious’ which links with Iain McGilchrist’s right and left brain teachings. It is also, of course, the age-old dual and Non-dual teachings of the mystics. As Ken says; “Talk it, or walk it”.
Pointer 2— Strive to keep the apparent opposites in balance.
One of Ken’s essays ends with;
So, the conclusion is clear: what we want from our overall development is to (1) reach-to grow and develop to-both the highest state of Waking Up which, at this time, is that of pure “ultimate Unity consciousness”-
the 7th castle of St. Teresa,
the 10th of the Zen Ox Herding pictures,
the Great Perfection of Dzogchen,
the cloud of unknowing of St. Dionysius,
Ein Sof of Jewish Kabbalah,
the Supreme Identity of the Sufi,
and (2) what none of those traditions yet understand — we also want that nonverbal, nonconceptual, trans-rational state of Waking-Up Awareness to be interpreted by the highest level of Growing-Up consciousness that has evolved so far ………..
……..one or the other alone will not do at all, and, in fact, will perpetuate a fragmented, torn, and broken view of reality-exactly the cause of our major problems, not their cure.
Pure “ultimate Unity consciousness” then requires that the stages in each case, each Tradition, are the way-points on our journey through the dual world toward realization of the non-dual, after which we live in the dual world without the awareness of the non-dual ever leaving us.
Pointer 3 — Realize that at the center of all of the forms of great wisdom teachings there is the same teachings about Reality. They all help by presenting the teachings clothed in various cultural types.
Ken in the list above includes Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Sufism but there is no mention of Baha’i teachings.
Take a look at the seventh of Baha’u’llah’s Seven Valleys
The Valley of True Poverty and Absolute Nothingness
The final valley is the valley of true poverty and absolute nothingness, and it is the furthermost state that the mystic can reach. The seeker is poor of all material things, and is rich in spiritual attributes. It is explained that it is the state of annihilation of self in God, but not an existential union: the essences of God’s self and the mystic’s self remain distinct, in contrast to what appears to be a complete union in other traditions.
or the fourth of Baha’u’llah’s Four Valleys
or Baha’u’llah’s ‘The Hidden Words.’
Pointer 4— Know that there are serious disadvantages if you don’t include all of the outstanding treasure troves of teachings.
A later article will look in detail why I suggest Ken should include these Baha’i teachings.
Wilber introduces a video HERE with;
“We now have compelling evidence, from around the world, that human beings have at least two very different types of spiritual engagement, two very different types of spirituality, if you will — and astonishingly, in all of history, these two types have never been brought together to produce a genuinely unified, comprehensive, whole, and authentic spirituality. (And please note: these types of engagement actually apply across the board to all areas of your own life — your own being and awareness, whether in business, healthcare, relationships, parenting, work, and so on — so even if you’re not particularly spiritual or religious, please stay tuned, because I think you’ll find these absolutely fascinating.)
But as they apply to spirituality, these two major types of engagement are, one, something that might be called spiritual intelligence, which is how we think about and picture or conceive Spirit or an ultimate Reality.
And the other might be called direct spiritual experience, or how we directly and immediately experience ultimate Reality.
Thus, we can think about it, or we can directly experience it. Talk it, or walk it.
And my point is that both of these engagements actually turn out to be equally important, both of them bring something absolutely crucial to the table of what we call religion or spirituality — and in ways that are almost never realized.” -Ken Wilber
Pointer 5— Pay particular attention to the appropriate balance of the ‘walk it and talk it’ balance. Make sure that the ‘walk it’ is the dominant.
In this 6 minute video Ken addresses the purpose I have in all of my writings.That is to realize that ‘I = Awareness’.
Ken Wilber 6-Minute “I Am” Enlightenment Instructions
Pointer 6— Even if you don’t yet deeply realize the ‘I = Awareness’ teaching as humankind’s supreme goal, keep looking for various ways that shine a little more light in your heart-mind. The 6 minute video by ken, above, is an excellent example.
SOURCES:
TRANSCRIPT: The transcript (pdf) is here: Transcript of Ken Wilber’s ‘A Revolutionary Spirituality’
All Ken’s YouTube videos are HERE
Some of Ken’s book are listed HERE
Originally published at http://quotationstreasury.wordpress.com on November 11, 2016.
