Customer Reviews

Eye of Spirit

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Author Ken Wilber irritates some and amazes others. With his increasing popularity and acclaim has come deeper criticisms. Unfortunately, most of the critics misrepresent Wilber's views. As an academic student of sociology and philosophy, I know that Wilber *generally* covers all the bases. He explains why the mechanistic or reductive views of reality are illogical and false. He calls them "flatland" because they limit reality to the data coming from the physical senses - a surface phenomenon. Wilber argues, with a great many philosophers, sages and gurus, that the realms of the mind are equally as "real" as the physical. He describes with authority the basic agreement among all spiritual traditions about the "Great Chain of Being," or the spectrum of reality (physical-mental-spiritual). And he does so without resorting to what logical positivists (e.g., R.Carnap) used to call "metaphysical construction."

In "The Eye of Spirit," Wilber covers all that and adds a beautiful chapter called "Always Already," in which he lucidly and almost poetically affirms what the great non-dual traditions have always taught: that "spirit" and the totality of "God Realization" is already 100% present in your consciousness right now. Meditation and spiritual practices, then, are just ways to help people realize this "always already" fact - which is good news for the many people whose spirituality is spontaneous and without much if any "discipline."

In his latest effort, Ken Wilber continues his masterful mapping of the dimensions of human consciousness with The Eye of Spirit. Taking a break from his Kosmos Trilogy --the projected three-volume tour of the universe that has already produced the highly controversial Sex, Ecology, and Spirituality-- Wilber addresses the pressing concerns of the modern mind: Who am I? What is my role in this world? What's in store for us humans?

Calling for an "integral" approach to these questions, The Eye of Spirit blends together a series of poignant essays on such varied subjects as art and literary theory, feminism, modern systems theory, and mysticism, demonstrating not only where their strengths and weaknesses lie, but also situating the various disciplines in relation to each other --how they complement or (attempt to) assassinate one another. (Fans of Wilber's other works be warned: some of these essays rely heavily upon previously published works, so you may want to wait for the paperback version)

As usual, Wilber neatly handles a vast range of material --including some virulent criticism (see the recent issues of ReVision magazine for a taste)-- with characteristic aplomb and good sense. If nothing else, The Eye of Spirit is an excellent introduction to the world of transpersonal psychology and to the world at large. Well worth the price.

This book was fairly disappointing as mostly it was a rehash of material found in Ken's earlier books (which is still good stuff if you've never read it): The great chain of being, the pre-trans fallacy, the 4 quadrants, etc...The real value of this book lies in Chapter 12 where Ken gives "pointing out" instructions for the non-dual which are really excellent. I would recommend the book for that chapter alone.

when you're tired of trying to explain why you don't believe in the Star Trek universe anymore. I recently re-read this one after a few years and it's a toss-up whether you need it if you have "A Brief History of Everything". I find Wlber drags after a while although I do admit he has captured a lot of information for further exploration within both books. The question is: do you read the references for yourself or rely on Ken's interpretation?

I've loaned this to a lot of people and it appears to be a good "starter" book to initiate some of de Bono's non-lateral thinking in people. Unfortunately I find some of Ken's views to be...well, a bit in an infant stage still, almost as if he needed to get them on paper just to prove he could. Funny to get the feeling of an ego-trip from someone with such a strong Eastern background; perhaps the tone just comes from the impatience of trying to "translate" ideas and concepts into our rock-solid Aristotelian logical framework. Anyone wondering about the validity of our conceptual framework should really read some of Perlovsky's papers.

All in all, a good book of ideas that could have, in my opinion, used a bit of softer hand on the tone. If you have Brief History then I don't really think you must have this one.

This book contains many very interesting observations about various theories and political movements and how the people involved in them see themselves as in opposition to each other when in fact they are complementary in many ways. The author tries to explain how this fragmentation is caused by a certain type of consciousness that is also at the root of many of our modern environmental and social problems. I think this is a timely book that allows us to expand our consciousness and evolve out of the contemporary rut of the modern age. While the author tries to examine this from a relatively objective and critical view from above, it is also important to be mindful of the fact that the root of this type of thinking is also caused by the type of consciousness so problematic of our times. There is another highly regarded book called "The Ever-Transcending Spirit" by Toru Sato that addresses this in an extremely inspiring and accesible way. These are the types of books that really remind me of the joy of learning.

I may not always understand Ken Wilber, but I compel myself to read his books. Even though I probably only skim the surface of his deep vision, I think that Wilber knows something that I should know. In the excellent Foreward to this book, Jack Crittenden observes that Ken Wilber provides "a coherent and consistent vision that seamlessly weaves together truth claims from such fields as physics and biology; the ecosciences; chaos theory and the systems sciences; medicine, neurophysiology, biochemistry; art, poetry and aesthetics in general; developmental psychology and a spectrum of psychotherapeutic endeavors, from Freud to Jung to Piaget; the Great Chain theorists from Plato and Plotinus in the West to Shankara and Nagarjuna in the East; the modernists from Descartes and Locke to Kant; the Idealists from Schelling to Hegel, the postmodernists from Foucault and Derrida to Taylor and Habermas; the major hermeneutic tradition, Dilthey to Heidegger to Gadamer; the social systems theorists from Compte and Marx to Parsons and Luhrman; the contemplative and mystical schools of the great meditative tradtions, East and West, in the world's major religious traditions" (pp. viii-ix).

Wilber "reworked" these dozen essays in 1996 into "a new book" (p. xvii), integrating "the best of ancient wisdom with the best of modern knowledge" to give us a "pattern that connects all of life, of the Kosmos, of Spirit. His work amounts to a guide to the secrets of life--biological, social, cultural and spiritual life" (pp. xi-xii). The writing here is heady, and perhaps too deep for most readers to absorb all at once. Although they may not offer the easiest access to Wilber's integral vision, these essays will reward those readers who work their way through their depths.

In his essay, "The Integral Vision," Wilber takes an "all-level, all-quadrant" approach to honor the entire spectrum of consciousness, "integrating art, morals and science; self, ethics, and environment; consciousness, culture and nature; Buddha, Sangha and Dharma; the beautiful and the good and the true" (p. 35). The essay, "In a Modern Light" demonstrates that "both the quality of humanity's spiritual understanding, and the form of its presentation, are deepening and becoming more adequate in modern times, not less" (p. 62). "Let us appreciate the past," Wilber writes, "honor it, be thankful for it successes, upon whose base our present consciousness rests--but let us release its hold on us" (p. 67). In the collection's final essay, "Always Already," Wilber soars.

G. Merritt

I still prefer Sex, Ecology, Spirituality as the best overview of Wilber's thinking. In this book, he takes the integral theory and applies it to the context of contemporary issues such as feminism, art & literary theory, psychology, sociology, and spiritual development. It is very well done and he is very accessible, but this books does repeat a lot of what he wrote in his earlier books. Spectrum of Consciousness covers psychology and human development, Up from Eden covers sociology, SES covers feminism and ecology. The only new thing is the two chapters on art and literature, which I enjoyed very much. The same ideas are also present in his published journal--One Taste, which I think is a more enjoyable version of Eye of Spirit, which is more academic and heavy handed.
Wilber is essential reading for the twenty first century. It is a perspective to heal our fragmented, broken world.

*this book is fantastic! a must-read for anyone interested in growing as a human being spiritually and intellectually...

>>>. check out kenwilber.com & integralnaked.org... and just to update on 'sensei31's pathetically short-sighted critique/review, the author has an *extensive* history involving both presentation & lecture (check the 'integral naked' podcasts on itunes for multiple interdisciplinary perspectives - awesome, intense content [above & beyond simple 'new age' - try 'higher consciousness & the evolution of the human spirit'] - billy corgan, ed kowalczyck, rick rubin, and many other notables share their views within...)

Ken's book was great for the Psych and philosophy part, I don't know enough about the arts and literature to get the arguments he was saying. But I am highly trained in Psychology, and it was on the mark!

Do you think? Do you use your mind? Do you contemplate what is going on when you use your mind? Do you think about thought? Do you think about what you think? Then read this book... humor him with his criticism of other, less integral thinkers, and this book is an incredible view into our own thought patterns. Ken Wilber nails the human condition directly on the head with this book.

Read it, and be happy; you are not alone in your head.