Ken Wilber's Personal Odyssey, A Critical Appreciation of Ken Wilber'sFinding Radical Wholeness, Part 2, Brad Reynolds (original) (raw)

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From Pandit to Guru: Ken Wilber's Personal Odyssey

Brad Reynolds

“From questing inward in the heart Comes knowledge which destroys all false illusions. Searching books for pure, clear wisdom is like trying _To cook and eat the picture of a gourd.”_[1]

—Sri Ramana Maharishi, 20th century

Since the turn into a new century—into a new millennium—Ken Wilber seems to have abandoned the claim he had used for decades, stating: “I'm a pandit, not a guru.”[2] In a 1995 magazine interview, he continued to repeat his assertion, “I am a pandit, not a guru, and I have made that clear from day one.”[3] I have often supported this claim, but now, in the last phase of his career (Wilber/Phase-5), the pandit acts more like a spiritual authority or Enlightened Teacher who wants to directly influence people's lives and how they feel about spirituality. Wilber writes as if his opinion is the final word, even critiquing the long tradition of Gurus as premodern relics (Wilber, 2006, 2014, 2017, 2024). Consequently, he tries to point out the “Big Wholeness” he says you need to be fully Enlightened. Therefore, the previously qualified pandit says he can take you “through various exercises that will allow you to directly experience… the two highest or ultimate states, turiya (the Witness) and turiyatita (One Taste).”[4] Only a Guru would dare make such a claim. Wilber is not merely acting like a spiritual teacher but a spiritual authority of the highest order with the statements he now proposes, summarized in his recent book, which he claims is his best, Finding Radical Wholeness: The Integral Path to Unity, Growth, and Delight (Wilber, 2024).[5]

Ken Wilber, Finding Radical Wholeness

For example, in his new book, Wilber offers what he calls “Integral Sexual Tantra,” where he suggests, “sexuality can be used as a means of Waking Up—so that every time you have sex, you will be directly plugged into the divine Spirit itself.”[6] That does not sound like the traditional teachings of sexuality set within a spiritual lifestyle, even a tantric one, but more like an enticement for self-indulgence in the name of God. Any genuine Spiritual Master will carefully explain that tantric sexuality must be grounded in a life of sadhana or spiritual disciplines, one that involves transcending the ego (not fulfilling it), a process Wilber seems to pass over or at least underplay in his desire to excite you about God-Realization. Tantra, such as in Kashmir Saivism, claims sexuality can be best mastered after Enlightenment, not as a method to achieve it (Wallis, 2012).

In his recent books, Wilber has gone beyond the confines of simply being a “pandit” or intellectual authority supporting Enlightenment. Therefore, he has no problem boldly claiming: “I will be going over the highest two states of consciousness (turiya and turiyatita) and giving some pointing-out instructions to help you realize the ever-present Presence of both of them.”[7] These are indeed bold claims since they contradict the teachings of the Great Global Wisdom Traditions and the advice of most Spiritual Masters and authentic Gurus who claim that words alone—or mental comprehensions—do not generate Enlightenment. The samples I could provide are countless, so let me offer this one from the all-important Lankavatara Sutra (compiled between 300 to 400 CE), a principal Mahayana text where Gautama Buddha himself, “The Blessed One,” is said to have explained:

Words and sentences are produced by the laws of causation and are mutually conditioning—they cannot express highest Reality. Moreover, in highest Reality there are no differentiations to be discriminated and there is nothing to be predicated in regard to it. Highest Reality is an exalted state of bliss, it is not a state of word-discrimination and it cannot be entered into by mere statements concerning it. The Tathagatas [Buddhas] have a better way of teaching, namely, through self-realization of Noble Wisdom [Enlightenment].[8]

Since people look to Wilber as a guide in spirituality and a holistic understanding of life as well as higher human development, he should not be so careless with his assertions. Wilber might still see himself as merely a pandit (pandita, the Sanskrit root of “pundit”), only offering his educated opinion; however, the pandit's job is to defer to the Guru. Consequently, he is now acting with the authority of a Guru, albeit a “talking guru” or a representative of the “Talking School,” as I have pointed out before (in following Adi Da).[9] Again, the Lankavatara Sutra asserts: “The Truth of Noble Wisdom [Enlightenment] is beyond the reasoning knowledge of the philosophers [or pandits] as well as being beyond the understanding of ordinary disciples and masters; and which is realizable only within the inmost consciousness.”[10] Wilber, apparently, has strayed from this Noble Wisdom and sound advice.

Granted, Wilber has cleverly deflected his “Guru” status in earlier writings by maintaining he only “transmits” via words—aka the Talking School—and does not personally take on the karmas of his students, an essential function of an authentic Guru. And with that, I agree: Wilber is not an authentic Guru. In his book One Taste (1999), he explained his position during an interview:

“I am a pandit, not a guru.” And with that line, which I have used a hundred times in my life, the conversation moved, yet again, to this most difficult topic…. The main difference is that a guru accepts devotees; a pandit does not… For a guru or master to take on a devotee is a very serious affair—almost like a psychotherapist taking on a client [but is a much more serious responsibility since it's not a one-hour-a-week endeavor]. This is nothing that either party should do lightly because it means years, even decades, of the most personal, intimate, and intense work between them. Gurus have to wrestle, often in public, with the karma or conditioning of all those who come to them. This is a severe and demanding task…. I don't want to be a guru because I do not want to enter into a therapist/client relationship with people.
Whatever understanding I have, I try to put into my writing—the transmission is in the written word—and you can use that transmission as you wish, and judge for yourself whether it is true or not… I have no desire to interfere with the course of anybody's life—whereas, if you are a therapist or a guru, you most certainly are going to interfere in the course of people's lives.… If you study any of my books, you are already a student of my work, and that's fine. I accept that particular teacher/student relationship. But because I have no plans to get involved with anybody's personal transformation, it looks like I will never have disciples, let alone devotees.[11]

Apparently, Wilber sees his purpose differently (than in 1999) since he currently claims he can show you, with his pointing-out instructions, the highest states of consciousness evolution. Therefore, by doing so, he now appears to want to “get involved with [somebody's] personal transformation.” Indeed, his entire Phase-5 integral approach (ca. 2006-2024), where he promotes the novelty of “Waking Up, Growing Up, Opening Up, Cleaning Up, and Showing Up” (i.e., the “5 Ups”) as being unique in world history—a “fourth (or fifth) turning”[12] of the Dharma Wheel—proves he is acting more like a Guru than a pandit. According to Wilber, all of the traditional Enlightenment traditions fall short. Only his Integral Approach will bring you the “Big Love,” the “Big Bliss,” or the “Big Wholeness” you desire and need. I would have preferred he had stayed more humble as a pandit.

Consequently, Wilber tells his readers, “There is, today, no system of growth anywhere in the world that includes all 5 of these types of Wholeness [the '5 Ups']. Thus, if you want a real Wholeness, you've come to the right place.”[13] I cannot agree with these aggrandized assessments. Yet, I do agree Ken Wilber offers profound insights into many essential processes in the evolution of consciousness, and that his Integral Metatheory offers a unique view on human development, far beyond most of his contemporaries. But he exaggerates his claims. He is not a Guru, and his “Talking School” method will not generate the actual transformation of consciousness a person must go through to transcend the limits and boundaries of the egoic self-contraction and permanently attain the condition of the Enlightened State. Nor will it generate an authentic revelation of a heart awakened to God or our Divine Condition. That involves spiritual processes that activate subtle energies and channels (or nadis) beyond the thinking mind and mere mental apprehensions. Only an authentic Guru operating in Satsang based on years of devotion and dedicated practice—and, still, only initiated (or fulfilled) by God's Grace—can truly open those gateless gates, not clever pandits with eloquent writing prose. (By the way, I realize that scientists, or scientific materialists, have no clue what I'm talking about since this transformative process is _trans_-rational, yet, ultimately, and paradoxically, includes rationality; therefore, physical correlates can be measured to some degree, such as with brain wave patterns.)

Ever since Wilber became critical of Adi Da during the mid-1990s, and by using his developmental lines theory of multiple intelligences to criticize Gurus in general, he has been increasingly acting as a spiritual authority who's transcended the traditional Guru system. With his multiple-line critique, Wilber suggests someone can be highly evolved in one line, such as spiritual intelligence, but underdeveloped in other lines, such as emotional-sexual intelligence. In some cases, he is correct; but in others, he has distorted the evidence. Many people admire him for that proclamation because the idea of being subordinate to a genuine Guru is abhorrent to them (Reynolds, 2024). Most prefer “self-guruing,” and Wilber's methods—such as Integral Sexual Tantra—provide plenty of opportunities for that lazy (and, ultimately, inadequate) approach. But real Gurus are necessary: Look at the lineages and traditions of true spirituality available on this planet; Gurus, Lamas, and Spiritual Masters (in all religions) are indispensable (Reynolds, 2021). However, it is your responsibility to differentiate the authentic from the fake.

This extended quote from Adi Da Samraj explains the dilemma that I believe Wilber makes in his later Phase-5 works, which is a common assumption most of us make with the wide availability of esoteric literature in the marketplace leading to the “conceit of Enlightenment”:

Many people imagine that the Realized Spiritual Master and the process of life-obliging practice are either false or unnecessary for them. And they embrace these premonitorily “seventh stage” texts [i.e., “Witness” and “One Taste” literature] with a mind full of the ego of “Liberation”—imagining God, Spiritual Masters, and practice to be anachronisms in this “pure” comprehension. Thus, the adolescent search for independence becomes justified and fulfilled…. The seeker is left with only temporary consolation—not Realization. The immature mind often convinces people that the ego-surrendering disciplines and developmental obligations of “beginner's practice” (or any practices previous to Ultimate Realization) are false and unnecessary. And so they imagine (on the basis of that immature conviction) that they are already free of all of that. It is not so….
Until there is Realization, there is no Realization. The reading of esoteric literature may be a positive discipline, but only if it leads the individual to the conviction that he or she is ego-bound (and, therefore, committed to suffering and limitation). On such a basis, an individual may become sympathetic and available to the real process of right “religious” (and progressively Spiritual, and then Transcendental) practice. But those who presume Ultimate Realization in the mind, without practice or Truly Most Ultimate Divine Awakening, have only become enamored of one of the many idols (or consoling solutions) that distract humanity from the Reality-Way of Most Perfect Divine Self-Realization, which is necessarily the Reality-Way of transcending the conditional (or apparently separate) “self”, to the degree (Most Ultimately) of Self-Existing and Self-Radiant Love-Bliss.[14]

With the convening of the Integral Institute (I-I) around 2002 (supported by wealthy patrons), and with hundreds, if not thousands, of students gathering around Wilber acting like devoted disciples, fascinated with their hero, absorbing every idea and teaching he offered about spirituality, including his critique of most Gurus (which now permeates our culture), Wilber began to take on the mantle of Guru for himself. Perhaps he has not done this intentionally, but for all practical purposes, he claims to know more about Enlightenment than your average pandit, religious philosopher, and even most Enlightened Masters.

Worse, in my opinion, Wilber has deflected people away from authentic Gurus and the viable transformative functions offered in Satsang and Guru Yoga or developing a living relationship with more highly evolved human beings. Instead, he could have better explained this sacred (and esoteric or “hidden”) process to his students. But because Wilber claims to know better, I believe the pandit has inadvertently perpetuated crippling harm to the transpersonal spiritual process in today's world. Now, in his new book, he's trying to provide an easy fix to a complicated situation that, unfortunately, is inadequate to the task.

I suspect Wilber would not claim such an honorific title as “Guru” for himself, as the above quotes indicate, for he doesn't want to work with his students' karma (or habit patterns). Indeed, many of his students have seen his flaws and have backed away, even if they gain wisdom from his partial truths (like I do). Nonetheless, by claiming there is “no system of growth anywhere in the world,” such as his Integral Approach, he is acting more like a Guru than an intellectual philosopher teaching in a scholarly manner. Ironically, this is why his books are currently sold in the New Age or self-help section of bookstores, not academically accepted as qualified scholarship. Since I appreciate much of what Ken Wilber writes about—for he is, after all, “correct but partial” (and quite brilliant at times)—I claim he is, at best, a pseudo-Guru, not a true Guru. In fact, I suggest some of his esoteric assertions are outright wrong or incorrect, such as the way he defines “turiya” and “turiyatita” or the way he (mis)interprets the Buddhist Heart Sutra (which I address in depth elsewhere).

Since I am proposing in my new book a way to distinguish real Gurus from fake ones by using the integral metrics of Dick Anthony's typology (Wilber, Anthony, Ecker, 1987), I encourage you to apply those lessons to Wilber's own teaching (Reynolds, 2024). From what I see, Wilber horizontally translates a verbal doctrine of spiritual interpretations from the level or structure-stage of integral vision-logic (teal-turquoise), nothing higher. He is not teaching you how to engage and enact authentic spiritual practices and yogic lifestyles that will vertically transform your consciousness into the Enlightened State. For example, he never mentions a healthy diet, the study of sacred literature, hours of daily meditation, and, importantly, breathing exercises (or pranayama), or kundalini transformations influencing the chemistry and electromagnetic conductivity of the body, which are the foundation for bodily equanimity and the evolution of consciousness. He only provides mental exercises expressed in words and instructions, thus the Talking School. He does not encourage you to take up the Practicing School to change your life or renounce your egoic suffering, as all genuine Gurus do. In a certain sense, Wilber is even failing to be an adequate pandit.

Perhaps his eloquent ecstatic prose—what he calls “pointing out instructions”—will inspire you to feel the possibilities of higher consciousness development, which you may be unfamiliar with. Still, it will only be temporary, i.e., a momentary horizontal translation, not a permanent vertical transformation. Wilber used to say, “The only major purpose of a book on mysticism should be to persuade the reader to engage in mystical practice.”[15] Now, he proposes a direct link to mysticism by simply reading his book, saying it will lead you into tantric erotic feelings of Enlightenment (as one chapter claims).

Consequently, Wilber discourages people from taking up true sadhana with a real Guru. Indeed, by the late 1990s, the integral pandit had concluded, “I honestly do not think Guru Yoga—for some very good reasons, and for some very pathetic reasons—can flourish in this country.”[16] He has confirmed this critique with his twenty-first-century Phase-5 teachings. However, now Wilber is acting like a Guru himself by offering his readers “self-guruing” techniques. Based upon testimonies from thousands of years of spiritual practitioners, the spiritual guide and genuine Guru is a fundamental necessity for transpersonal development, whether your ego wants to accept that plain truth or not. Living in the era of modernity and science does not exempt a person from genuine ego transcendence in order to awaken the esoteric yogic processes lying dormant within. A Guru is here to help with that, not capture you in a cult.

As an alternative, Wilber is now acting like an Enlightened Guru by offering the world “Waking Up exercises” and a new approach—an “Integral” approach—where he is “redefining a genuine spirituality as the discovery of a real Wholeness.”[17] Only someone performing as a Guru—“a weighty one guiding you from darkness to light”—would suggest that he alone can provide “a new form of spirituality—the discovery of a real Wholeness—[which] will be laid out, along with specific exercises and practices that will help you directly and immediately realize a genuine Wholeness permeating your entire life.”[18] Obviously, Wilber hopes to transform people's lives, not merely translate ideas. I claim this is only Talking School bravado, not an authentic way of transformation verified by previous Gurus and Enlightened Masters. Nor is it sanctioned by the Great Tradition of Global Wisdom gathered from across the centuries and cultures of humankind, the time-tested value meter for ascertaining the authenticity of genuine spirituality (Reynolds, 2021). Simply put, Ken Wilber is a fake Guru.

At best, Wilber should point us in their direction, not simply explain “feelings of Enlightenment” (as one chapter attempts) as if words can accomplish what previously took the complete surrender or sacrifice of the separate self-sense or egoic point of view. Let alone how the pandit overlooks the necessity for spiritual or subtle-energy transmissions given by Awakened Adepts or Root Lamas to their students. Only the Practicing School approach provides what is needed. Enlightenment involves an actual transformation of the body-mind-soul complex of the human being, even on a cellular (and energetic) level, not just at the level of mind.[19] Authentic spirituality transforms the habit patterns, mental obscurations, and emotional obstructions (including shadows) gained from a spiritually oriented and devotional lifestyle, not merely from climactic chapters in a book.

Such processes entailing permanent adaptations, not just temporary peak experiences, can take lifetimes (as the traditions say). It is not something that can be gained by reading chapters in a Wilber book, even if our Enlightened Condition is “always already the case”—as Wilber likes to say, lifting from Adi Da without giving the Siddha-Guru proper credit. In fact, I maintain that, in his writings, Ken Wilber has used many phrases that have been appropriated from Adi Da's Enlightened Teaching, but that's a matter for another discussion.

Even a genuine Guru like Adi Da Samraj struggled with his devotees for decades, as did others like Sri Ramana Maharshi and many more, with minimal results in the people surrounding them. It's that difficult! So how will a couple of chapters by an intelligent pandit and astute philosopher truly transform the psycho-physical processes of karmic embodiment that we have all been born to deal with? It takes sadhana and Satsang, a persistent day-to-day relationship with a genuine Guru, to accomplish such a profound undertaking. The evolution of consciousness is not easy; it doesn't happen by chance. Unfortunately, there are no books or seminar shortcuts. It takes a serious life, not a weekend. However, since the Enlightenment traditions suggest this is why we were born in the first place, it's not surprising.

I suggest you go find an authentic Guru and get busy with the Practicing School of real sadhana and self-transcendence. True, this is extremely difficult in the modern era (yet it's always been difficult). Do not look for an alternate time-saver in the printed pages penned by an inflated pandit, as caring and compassionate as his (or her) motivations may be. To turn your attention and spiritual quest to the world's acknowledged Gurus is the best approach today, as it was thousands of years ago and as it will be for thousands of years into the future. However, it's imperative we learn how to distinguish the real from the fake, the authentic from the false prophets and philosophers, the genuine from the cultic. There is no alternative to the actual transformation of consciousness. It involves a lifetime of practice, dedication, and devotion, yet one that is full of joy and peace when done sincerely.

All the great Gurus, from Buddha to Krishna to Jesus to Vivekananda to Paramahansa Yogananda to Adi Da et al., call you to this truth, regardless of what pandits and philosophers may propose. Reading and studying our true Spiritual Heroes—recorded in our “Divine Library” of sacred literature—is the wiser approach (Reynolds, 2021). Turn to them, not philosophers. Although reading the scholars and pandits might offer valuable insights and inspiration, they will not provide the necessary self-transcending Awakening to your Divine Condition—only the Grace of the Guru and God can do that. It takes actual practice, not talking or pointing out instructions. There are no shortcuts—transformative spirituality is a hard school—even if Enlightenment itself is sudden, its permanent adaptation is gradual.

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STAY TUNED FOR MY CONTINUING SERIES OF CRITICAL APPRECIATION REVIEWS

Next (in Part III), I will clarify a critical distinction that must be made in Wilber's oversimplified phrase of “Waking Up.” It is essential to recognize the difference between the unfolding state-stages of Waking Up—or seeing and acknowledging an unfolding spectrum of mysticism or “hierarchy of spiritual experiences”—from the ultimate realization of Divine Awakening or Enlightenment. Wilber used to be a leading-edge voice on this important differentiation, but now his new book offers confusion as much as clarity. No genuine Integral Project can adequately survive such a flattening or reduction of our highest developmental potentials. Divine Enlightenment, or Awakening, goes beyond the various states of Waking Up; it transcends all the stages, states, lines, and quadrants, et al., of the developing self. Therefore, as integral scholars, it is up to us to modify even one of its leading authorities because such confusion, tragically, will prevent true Awakening. We need to Wake Up until Awakening. “Until there is Awakening, there is no Awakening,” precisely as Adi Da says.

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Brief Bibliography

Adi Da Samraj, The Aletheon (2009, Middletown, CA: The Dawn Horse Press).

Adi Da Samraj, The Gnosticon (2010, Middletown, CA: The Dawn Horse Press).

DiPerna, Dustin, editor, H. B. Augustin, editor, The Coming Waves: Evolution, Transformation, and Action in an Integral Age (2016, Occidental, CA: Bright Alliance).

DiPerna, Dustin, Streams of Wisdom: An Advanced Guide to Spiritual Development (2014, 2018, second edition, Occidental, CA: Bright Alliance).

Esbjörn-Hargens, Sean and Nicholas Hedlund, Big Picture Perspectives on Planetary Flourishing (2022, Routledge Studies in Critical Realism).

Freinacht, Hanzi, The Listening Society: A Metamodern Guide to Politics, Book One (2017, Metamoderna).

Goddard, Dwight, editor, _A Buddhist Bible: The Favorite Scriptures of the Zen Sec_t (1938, 1966, 1970, Boston: Beacon Press) with an Introduction by Huston Smith.

Pema, Dragpa, An Integral View of Tibetan Buddhism: Preserving Lineage Wisdom in the 21st Century (2023, Occidental, CA: Bright Alliance).

Ramana Maharshi, The Garland of Guru's Sayings, translated by K. Swaminathan from the original in Tamil by Sri Muruganar (1990, 2020, Tamil Nadu, India: Prism Art Press).

Reynolds, Brad, Embracing Reality: The Integral Vision of Ken Wilber—A Historical Survey and Chapter-By-Chapter Guide to Wilber's Major Works (NY: Tarcher/Putnam, 2004).

Reynolds, Brad, Where's Wilber At? The Vision of Ken Wilber in the Third Millennium (Paragon House, 2006).

Reynolds, Brad, God's Great Tradition of Global Wisdom: Guru Yoga-Satsang in the Integral Age—An Appreciation of Avatar Adi Da Samraj in Illuminating The Great Tradition of Humankind (2021, Occidental, CA: Bright Alliance).

Reynolds, Brad, In God's Company: Transcending the Fear of Guru-Cults In The Integral Age—An Appreciation of Avatar Adi Da Samraj as an Authentic Agent of Divine Enlightenment (2024, Occidental, CA: Bright Alliance).

Reynolds, Brad, “A Critical Appreciation of Ken Wilber's Finding Radical Wholeness—Part 1: Introduction,” https://www.integralworld.net/reynolds55.html.

Visser, Frank, The Search for a "Big Wholeness", Review of Ken Wilber's Finding Radical Wholeness, July 2024 (www.integralworld.net/visser346.html)

Wallis, Christopher D., Tantra Illuminated: The Philosophy, History, and Practice of a Timeless Tradition (2012, 2013, Boulder, CO: Mattamayura Press).

Wilber, Ken, Eye to Eye: The Quest for the New Paradigm (1983, 1990, 2nd edition, 2001, Boston: Shambhala Publications).

Wilber, Ken, Grace and Grit: Spirituality and Healing in the Life of Trey Killam Wilber (1991, Boston: Shambhala Publications).

Wilber, Ken, “Mind and the Heart of Emptiness,” The Quest, Winter 1995.

Wilber, Ken, The Eye of Spirit: An Integral Vision for a World Gone Slightly Mad (1997, 2001, Boston: Shambhala Publications).

Wilber, Ken, One Taste: The Journals of Ken Wilber (1999, Boston: Shambhala Publications).

Wilber, Ken, Integral Psychology: Consciousness, Spirit, Psychology, Therapy (2000, Boston: Shambhala Publications).

Wilber, Ken, Integral Spirituality: A Startling New Role for Religion in the Modern and Postmodern World (2006, Boston: Shambhala Publications).

Wilber, Ken, The Fourth Turning: Imagining the Evolution of an Integral Buddhism (2014, Kindle Edition).

Wilber, Ken, The Religion of Tomorrow: A Vision for the Future of the Great Traditions (2017, Boston: Shambhala Publications).

Wilber, Ken, Integral Buddhism and the Future of Spirituality (2018, Boston: Shambhala Publications).

Wilber, Ken, Finding Radical Wholeness: The Integral Path to Unity, Growth, and Delight (2024, Boston: Shambhala Publications).

NOTES

  1. Ramana Maharshi, The Garland of Guru's Sayings (1990, 2020) translated by K. Swaminathan.
  2. Ken Wilber, Grace and Grit (1991), pp. 156-157.
  3. Ken Wilber, “Mind and the Heart of Emptiness,” The Quest, Winter 1995, p. 21.
  4. Ken Wilber, Finding Radical Wholeness (2024), p. 116.
  5. Neeshee Pandit, communication to the author on June 14, 2024, heard this claim at Ken Wilber's book signing at Boulder Bookstore on June 13, 2024.
  6. Ken Wilber, Finding Radical Wholeness (2024), p. 349.
  7. Ken Wilber, Finding Radical Wholeness (2024), pp. 348-349.
  8. Gautama Buddha, “The Lankavatara Scripture” in A Buddhist Bible (1938, 1970), edited by Dwight Goddard, p. 287.
  9. See: Brad Reynolds, God's Great Tradition of Global Wisdom (2021), Chapter 4: “Integral Interpretations: Talking Schools,” where I review Ken Wilber's work and Adi Da's critique of “pop spirituality” and Talking Schools versus Practicing Schools. Also see: Adi Da Samraj, “God-Talk, Real-God-Realization, Most Perfect Divine Self-Awakening, and The Seven Possible Stages of Life,” in The Gnosticon (2010).
  10. “The Lankavatara Scripture” in A Buddhist Bible (1938, 1970), edited by Dwight Goddard, p. 277.
  11. Ken Wilber, One Taste (1999), pp. 222, 225-226.
  12. See: Ken Wilber, Integral Buddhism and the Future of Spirituality (2018) originally published as an ebook, The Fourth Turning (2014).
  13. Ken Wilber, Finding Radical Wholeness (2024), p. 10.
  14. Adi Da Samraj, The Gnosticon (2010), pp. 504-505.
  15. Ken Wilber, Eye to Eye (1983, 1990), p. 199.
  16. Ken Wilber, One Taste (1999), p. 225.
  17. Ken Wilber, Finding Radical Wholeness (2024), p. 1.
  18. Ken Wilber, Finding Radical Wholeness (2024), p. 2.
  19. See: Adi Da Samraj, “The Super-Physics of Divine Enlightenment” in The Aletheon (2009).