Customer Reviews

Up from Eden: A Transpersonal View of Human Evolution

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After the success of his initial works (The Spectrum of Consciousness and No Boundary), Ken Wilber gave his "spectrum" model a serious reappraisal and found it woefully lacking. It seemed that he had made a mistake that he goes on to chide others for in his later books- he confused prerational myths with transcendental truths, and confused the spiritual fall with the scientific fall. He makes up for his previous errors with "Up From Eden: A Transpersonal View of Human Evolution".

In UFE, Wilber covers the historical development of consciousness, from the animalistic/uroboric level to the typhonic, and then to the development of the Solar ego, the disassociation of the mind from the body, and the development of the rational mind. But he takes it a step further as well, discussing the development of transrational consciousness throughout history, and discussing the differences between magical fetishism and psychic Nirmanakaya and between mythic religion and subtle archetype. Drawing upon Freud, Jung, Campbell, and a ream of Anthropoligical and Archaeological data, Wilber paints us a fascinating picture of society, it's history, and it's discontents. Lastly, he finishes the book by discussing his ideas for a politics of the transrational, in a fascinating chapter titled "Republicans, Democrats, and Mystics".

As far as Wilber's older books go, this is one not to be missed. Although some concepts are better elucidated in Wilber's later "Sex, Ecology, Spirituality", nowhere does he draw on more anthropological support for his theories than in "Up From Eden".

Wilber develops in detail his model of consciousness as applied to human evolution from the earliest prehistoric levels to levels beyond those attained by average human beings today. Typical of all his works, he incorporates insights from the anthropological, sociological, biological, physical and psychological sciences for his exposition of evolution in the body/mind realms, and the explanations provided by both Eastern and Western mysticism for the higher levels of consciousness. Unlike Eastern mystic writers, Wilber provides his insights with startling clarity and profound logic that resonate with the current, admittedly rational, Western mentality. This is among the best of his many works we have read.

What a great book. It's the human evolution of consciousness. Ken has shown in his other books how we progress through several, well defined, stages of congnitive growth. In this book he discusses the same stages but with the period in history that they are associated with. He also keeps track of the highest achievers of each period.

The sensitive enough reader may come away form this book with a lot more than a coherent and vivid look back at the evolution of human consciousness, based solely on the amassed evidence of anthropology. That alone might be enough, but for myself, I got something more; a strange and deeply haunting sadness.

It is so painfully clear how much and long and arduously mankind has aspired to discover who he/she is. How many billions an billions and billions of human beings lived and struggled and aspired, got confused, hoped, failed and died to get us to where we are now today . . . and still seemingly so very far away from what has always been with us, pushing us and drawing us onward, even unto this very moment?

This book also clearly demonstrates the complete reversal of the traditional and historical interpretations of the advent of "original sin" and "samsara" laying to rest an improper "romantic" view forever.

We did not arise out of some paradisiacal Eden, nor suddenly "move too much" and find ourselves lost in smasara. Rather, the evidence is clear, there was no such place, and nor does our salvation or liberation lie in our collective past. Mankind, as the result of evolution, AWOKE in consciousness to a world of sin, error, imperfection and suffering; a world which existed as such long before he realized it. And in that moment he/she/we were actually, for the very first time REALIZING Spirit; a Spirit creation "fell" from long, long ago . . .

Combining contemplative inspiration with the work of Erich Neumann, and a good dose of advanced psychoanalysis (Particurally Norman Brown), Wilber delivers to mankind in a single volume answers to most cutting edge questions of life - Who are we? Why are we here? How did we get here? Why are things the way they are? Where are we going?

This is an altogether brilliant synthesis of the concepts from the non-dual schools (Plotinus, Aurobindo, Rig Veda, etc), with the more recent discoveries from emergent evolution, and the evolution of consciousness (Neumann's / The Origins and History of Consciousness).

The story is all at once fascinating and compelling, as Wilber takes us on a detailed tour of mankind's journey from pre-self awareness, to self-awareness, and the concomiant implications for Spirit, as it strives to fully manifest itself through the awakening soul of mankind.

Without question, one of the greatest, and most significant books ever written.

Up From Eden is a brilliant account of the evolution of human consciousness. It is scholarly yet easy to read and understand.

"Up from Eden" is a book by Ken Wilber, first published in 1981. The current edition was published in 2004 by a Theosophical group in India, and carries the following statement: "For sale in the Indian subcontinent only". So how come I own a copy? How large is the Indian subcontinent, exactly? ;-)

It's not clear how much of the Indian version is original, and how much is re-written. It seems to be based on a "New Edition" from 1996. Some of the footnotes seem to be new. Still, I must say that I prefer this (perhaps slightly edited) "early Wilber" to the scholasticism of his middle period, with all the quadrants, levels, lines and what not. As for Ken's post-metaphysical turn...please come on.

Although I tend to disagree with Wilber's Advaita-Mahayana metaphysics, "Up from Eden" is very interesting and illuminating. Of special interest is the section entitled "The Context", where Wilber discusses the two falls, the theological fall and the scientific fall. Interestingly, he doesn't claim that creation is *necessarily* fallen, and even holds out the prospect of a "non-dual realization" that doesn't negate the material world or the lower spiritual realms, but somehow purges them of their sinfulness and limitations. Is this taken from Aurobindo, who came close to seeing the realization of the Supermind on Earth as a kind of "millennium" in which matter would be divinized? Nor does Wilber believe that Heaven is just around the corner. Instead, the next step in evolution is a "normal", material humanity that somehow manages to integrate spirituality in its day-to-day existence. Wilber's distinction between pre-personal and trans-personal is also very interesting, as is the idea that the personal stage (which includes the development of an ego) is a neccesary precondition for the transpersonal.

I admit that I prefer this perspective to the usual teachings of people inspired by Advaita or Vajrayana, which sounds more nihilistic.

Wilber seems to have changed his main philosophical heroes several times - in "Up from Eden" it's Hegel, in SES it's Plotinus and Schelling, and in both SES and the post-metaphysical works it's Jürgen Habermas (!). On this point, SES seems more logical than "Up from Eden", but its nevertheless fascinating how Wilber uses Hegel to bolster his spiritual case. My guess is that he was deeply moved by Copleston's description of Hegel's philosophy in "History of Philosophy". So was I. Copleston somehow manages to make Hegel sound interesting, relevant and even somewhat spiritual. More problematic are Wilber's references to Da Free John (Adi Da Samraj), the leader of a Tantric sex cult in California, with which Wilber had some kind of association at the time of writing this book.

Weirdly, "Up from Eden" in many ways resemble my own subconscious thinking on metaphysics and the human predicament. And no, I won't and I can't vouch for every detail in Wilber's mythological interpretations. However, the last three chapters did articulate some of my own speculative thoughts concerning the meaning of evolution and existence. But yes, there are some differences between me and Mr. Wilber as well, which lay outside the scope of this review.

It's also intriguing that the Theosophists still reprint this particular work by Wilber (who never was a Theosophist, although Adyar published some of his early works), while paying no particular attention to the author's later AQAL scholasticism. Perhaps Adyar see "Up from Eden" as, in some sense, Theosophical?

Be that as it may, I give this work five stars. I somehow like Wilbie without the quadrant/post-quadrant mumbo-jumbo-jimbo.

SES = "Sex,Ecology,Spirituality", Ken Wilber's main work.

This is an excellant text to give one an overview of the development and evolution of humanity from the transpersonal point of view. Wilber draws heavily on existentialist Becker as well as the master of myth, J. Campbell. He presents his thesis in a comprehensive and far reaching flavor, bringing some sense into the evolution of the mystical as well as the concrete. I highly recommend this text for anyone interested in placing life in an inclusive theory