Customer Reviews

The Collected Works of Ken Wilber, Vol. 1: The Spctrum of Consciousness / No Boundary / Selected Essays

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In 1973 a young biochemistry student leaves grad school to pursue an area of study that is generally considered the antithesis of intellectual maturity. He wants to study consciousness, not as a Skinnerian phantom byproduct of the brain, but as a multidimensional reality--spanning from id to ego to soul to all-pervading Spirit. Ken Wilber, age 24, begins to write a book about this "spectrum of consciousness," detailing both how Spirit "steps down" into time and space to create an EM-like spectrum of levels of awareness, and how various schools of inquiry are all definitely studying the same basic "consciousness," but from entirely different perspectives. Because each level of the spectrum has its own distinct contours, Wilber explains, disparate disciplines of investigation (e.g., Freudian and Buddhist) might at first seem contradictory, but only if it isn't understood that consciousness manifests in _levels_, with each valid approach simply speaking to a specific level.

Thus, with that insight, Wilber establishes a model that instantly diffuses decades of bickering between researchers of the vague and mysterious "consciousness." It's as though a scientist, a philosopher, and a theologian had been standing around arguing for years about whose interpretation of the phenomenon called "rainbow" was the correct one--whether it's "empirically proved to be red" or "most axiomatically green" or "nothing but violet, as the scripture says," etc.--and then some kid comes along, patiently indicates each color of a rainbow to them, and says, "Look! You're ALL right!" Then the three researchers stare, dumbfounded, and marvel at their stupidity.

Volume One of the _Collected Works_ features that kid's first two books, _The Spectrum of Consciousness_ and _No Boundary_, as well as three essays that cover specific applications of the spectrum model to certain metaphysical concepts. _Spectrum_ begins with an overview of the model, explaining how "Eastern" and "Western" approaches to consciousness can finally be united by plugging their various lines of research into the appropriate levels of the spectrum. The next few chapters explain how reality is a "nonduality"--an ineffable Unity--of subject and object, and how this is crucial to understanding how the various levels of consciousness become manifest in the first place.

The second part of the book is an attempt to integrate actual psychological and spiritual disciplines--both "Eastern" and "Western"--into the spectrum model. From Freud's "id" to Huang-po's "Mind," a worthy attempt is made to cover all aspects of the multidimensional human psyche. The last chapters cover the "transpersonal" levels of soul and Spirit, with the final "Always Already" chapter capturing the most sacred spiritual truth--namely, that if God really is infinite and eternal, then he must be fully present right _here_ and right _now_, awake and aware as the Source of your own present level of consciousness, no matter what level that might be.

The next book, _No Boundary_, begins where the last one ends. Much less scholarly in its style and approach--but ten times more entertaining and lively--it takes the nondual revelation as its starting point and then describes why we don't normally experience this state but instead find ourselves in a world of mind-made dualities. Wilber explains that all dualities are purely illusory, with no actual separation and isolation appearing anywhere in reality. Day and night are not separate, but rather blend into one another seamlessly; life and death are not different, but rather two names for the same thing. To have a death without a life is absurd, as is an up without a down or an object without a subject. Reality itself is an infinite field of "unity consciousness," or nondual Spirit, with no real distinctions at all.

The rest of _No Boundary_ shows how growth through the levels of the spectrum is simply a transcendence of boundaries, culminating in the final growth beyond the "primary dualism"--which is the split between subject and object--whereupon all duality dissolves into the seamless play of our own vast and timeless Consciousness, with neither a seer nor a seen anywhere in sight.

As an introduction to nondual mysticism, _No Boundary_ is simply unsurpassed. _The Spectrum of Consciousness_ is essential reading for anyone intrigued by that peculiar "thing" that is right now comprehending these words, but less than satisfied with the explanations offered by the metaphysical position of scientific materialism. These books, however, are not free of error, as Wilber is the first to admit. One of the most glaring is the infamous "pre/trans fallacy," or the Romantic inclination of viewing egoity as a "fall" from a previous God-unified state into a corrupted state of dualism and ignorance. This view sees the human child immersed in blissful unity with the world, sees the adult ego as a perversion of this "pure" state, and understands mystical enlightenment as a reinstatement of the childhood consciousness. This view--of development progressing from X to Y to X--is expressed in this volume of Wilber's work. But it is a position that is completely untenable, since enlightened sagacity is most definitely _not_ a regression to a pre-egoic, infantile state, but rather a development to a trans-egoic, trans-rational state. It is just that from the viewpoint of rationality (Y), both pre-rationality (X) and trans-rationality (Z), precisely because they are both _non_-rational (non-Y), can at first seem awfully similar. A closer look, however, easily reveals their differences.

But that problem aside, these two books stand as the cornerstones to a philosophical vision that is growing increasingly integral and all-around _useful_ with each subsequent publication. It is his masterful style of putting the most deep and complex subjects into simple and lively wording--to say nothing of his sheer brilliance--that have won Ken Wilber such worldwide adoration. For this philosophically stimulating and spiritually profound introduction to his work--despite the minor system kinks that hadn't yet been worked out--I can only give my fullest recommendation. Read it, learn it, love it, and if you're willing, _live_ it, for the central message of Wilber's work is far from theoretical.

It is hard to believe any person would find this book a bunch of B.S. The two books in this volumn were written in the 1970s and represent the first two books by Wilber. It was the launch of these books that transpersonal psychology had a real focus. Wilber views his writings as being parts of his own spiritual and philosophical developement. This volumn is then Wilber I.
If one is going to read Wilber, this is the place to start.

You've stumbled across this book by mere circumstance? Doubtful. I was given this book for my 24th(?) birthday by my now wife. I spent the next six months reading and taking notes on all of its content. If you're like me, and interested in the "self" and "reality" you will be floored by this book. It's not a definitive book but it leads you down the rabbit hole. Since, I've read his tome of a book Sex, Ecology, and Spirituality and many other smaller books. Ken has a way of connecting a plethora of philosophies. I appreciate his approach. I am a Christian, so I do not align with his initial end, but have learned so much about all things through him. Imagine, a way to look at all things at all levels. Friend, buy this book and be blown away. It will make you doubt, be fearful, and reassure you. God bless.

If you're into psychology and spirituality then No Boundary will just blow your mind (in a good way), so much that you'll need the rest of the volume to munch on while you look for some of the recommended reading.

All the greatest teachers were great because they could grasp high concepts and speak about them in plain everyday terms. Mr. Wilbur can do neither, and he has so many quotes, the book borders on plagarism. This book can only serve to hinder your ability to speak in English (see the other review).