Changes

Ten years later I discovered [[Ken Wilber]].  I had heard of Wilber long before that but finally decided to read some of his books.  Wilber is something the world hasn’t seen since the ancient Greeks—a full-time self-supporting philosopher who achieved a categorical breakthrough.  Like Fowler, Wilber sees life unfolding in stages but expands stage theory to a cosmic scale.  There is actually a direct connection between the two men as Wilber often cites Fowler in his own work.  Wilber covers a universe of topics in his opus but we will focus here on what he has to say about spiritual growth.  He goes well beyond Fowler in this line of thought.

Ten years later I discovered [[Ken Wilber]].  I had heard of Wilber long before that but finally decided to read some of his books.  Wilber is something the world hasn’t seen since the ancient Greeks—a full-time self-supporting philosopher who achieved a categorical breakthrough.  Like Fowler, Wilber sees life unfolding in stages but expands stage theory to a cosmic scale.  There is actually a direct connection between the two men as Wilber often cites Fowler in his own work.  Wilber covers a universe of topics in his opus but we will focus here on what he has to say about spiritual growth.  He goes well beyond Fowler in this line of thought.

Wilber may copyright his books but not his [[philosophy]].  He works in collaboration with many others.  He acknowledges that his role is that of a compiler of the work and thought of hundreds of others from Tibetan gurus, to German philosophers, to Harvard researchers.  Wilber's 10% contribution has been to provide the glue that pulls together the history of the twin human quests for truth and for meaning into a single unified vision; a “philosophy of everything.”  Yes, I know…we’ve all tried to do that!  But Wilber does seem to have made a major breakthrough in unifying diverse fields of thought.  The scope of his writing is vast and there is much we could say regarding his social and political thought, his philosophy of [[science]], and his taxonomy of the entire [[universe]], but my purpose here will be limited to presenting a brief but clear introduction to Wilber as spiritual guide.  I believe there are three key concepts involved:  quadrants, stages,  and states.

Wilber may copyright his books but not his [[philosophy]].  He works in collaboration with many others.  He acknowledges that his role is that of a compiler of the work and thought of hundreds of others from Tibetan gurus, to German philosophers, to Harvard researchers.  Wilber's 10% contribution has been to provide the glue that pulls together the history of the twin human quests for truth and for meaning into a single unified vision; a “philosophy of everything.”  Yes, I know…we’ve all tried to do that!  But Wilber does seem to have made a major breakthrough in unifying diverse fields of thought.  The scope of his writing is vast and there is much we could say regarding his social and political thought, his philosophy of [[science]], and his taxonomy of the entire [[universe]], but my purpose here will be limited to presenting a brief but clear introduction to Wilber as spiritual guide.  I believe there are three key concepts involved:  '''quadrants, stages,''' and '''states.'''

==QUADRANTS==

==QUADRANTS==

From the beginning Wilber collected hundreds of bits of truth, wisdom, and theory from every imaginable source and struggled to make sense of it all.  Many of the concepts in his collection were mutually contradictory.  Then one day he was struck with a sudden flash of insight.  The result was a map of reality he calls “AQAL“ (all quadrants, all levels) which I will attempt to illustrate below.  Basically, the idea is that all existential reality lies in four coterminous dimensions even though we typically remain unconscious of those dimensions in the same way that a fish remains unaware of water.  For present purposes I will limit this discussion to the quadrants as they relate to human consciousness-events.  These are the quadrants:

From the beginning Wilber collected hundreds of bits of truth, wisdom, and theory from every imaginable source and struggled to make sense of it all.  Many of the concepts in his collection were mutually contradictory.  Then one day he was struck with a sudden flash of insight.  The result was a map of reality he calls “AQAL“ (all quadrants, all levels) which I will attempt to illustrate below.  Basically, the idea is that all existential reality lies in four coterminous dimensions even though we typically remain unconscious of those dimensions in the same way that a fish remains unaware of water.  For present purposes I will limit this discussion to the quadrants as they relate to human consciousness-events.  These are the quadrants:

'''THE FOUR QUADRANTS'''

'''THE FOUR QUADRANTS'''

One way to look at this chart is in terms of the classic subject/object problem.  On the left hand side you see subjectivity.  Individual subjectivity  is on the top left and collective subjectivity on the bottom left.  The right hand side represents objectivity.  Individual objectivity is on top right and collective objectivity on bottom right.  In Wilberian shorthand these are referred to as :

One way to look at this chart is in terms of the classic subject/object problem.  On the left hand side you see subjectivity.  Individual subjectivity  is on the top left and collective subjectivity on the bottom left.  The right hand side represents objectivity.  Individual objectivity is on top right and collective objectivity on bottom right.  In Wilberian shorthand these are referred to as :

I’m sure you get the idea now, but so what?  Well, the important thing to note for the moment is that no subjective state stands alone.  Every subjective state (UL) coexists within three other interdependent dimensions, two of which are quite objective. This has tremendous implications for, say, Christian contemplative prayer or Buddhist meditation which are  typically regarded as involving only interior states of consciousness.  But every inner spiritual state includes an outer "state of body" (UR) as well as a set of guiding concepts (LL) that come largely from the influence of others (LR) including teachers, churches, priests, parents, books, friends, TV, and society at large.

I’m sure you get the idea now, but so what?  Well, the important thing to note for the moment is that no subjective state stands alone.  Every subjective state (UL) coexists within three other interdependent dimensions, two of which are quite ''objective''. This has tremendous implications for, say, Christian contemplative prayer or Buddhist meditation which are  typically regarded as involving only interior states of consciousness.  But every inner spiritual state includes an outer "state of body" (UR) as well as a set of guiding concepts (LL) that come largely from the influence of others (LR) including teachers, churches, priests, parents, books, friends, TV, and society at large.

Now let’s take another tour through AQAL consciousness.  This time we will fill in with more detail than with the examples we used earlier.  Let’s consider a contemplative prayer group at a weekend Catholic retreat as an example.

Now let’s take another tour through AQAL consciousness.  This time we will fill in with more detail than with the examples we used earlier.  Let’s consider a contemplative prayer group at a weekend Catholic retreat as an example.

Here’s the AQAL chart for our Catholic experience:

Here’s the AQAL chart for our Catholic experience:

Now let’s have a number of observers comment on the prayer group:

Now let’s have a number of observers comment on the prayer group:

Obviously we have many different viewpoints here.  The unique position of Wilber is that every one of these people is correct!  But we must understand that each observer in this scenario is looking only at one quadrant and they are doing so from a specific observation point.  Each comment on the given quadrant is correct relative to the perspective of the speaker.  Here’s how we can map these perspectives:

Obviously we have many different viewpoints here.  The unique position of Wilber is that ''every one of these people is correct!''   But we must understand that each observer in this scenario is looking only at one quadrant and they are doing so from a specific observation point.  Each comment on the given quadrant is correct relative to the perspective of the speaker.  Here’s how we can map these perspectives:

Speaker                  Focused on Quadrant                Speaker's Location

Speaker                  Focused on Quadrant                Speaker's Location

The point here is that not one of these observers is spanning all quadrants.  Wilber’s claim is that in order to have full consciousness we must be able to see all these viewpoints simultaneously by transcending them.  In other words, we must move from perspectival consciousness to universal consciousness.  This is what we mean by recognizing and spanning all quadrants.  The move to this level of consciousness is a much greater leap of spiritual growth than any possible result of the contemplative prayer exercise itself!

The point here is that not one of these observers is spanning all quadrants.  Wilber’s claim is that in order to have full consciousness we must be able to see all these viewpoints simultaneously by transcending them.  In other words, we must move from '''perspectival''' consciousness to '''universal''' consciousness.  This is what we mean by recognizing and spanning all quadrants.  The move to this level of consciousness is a much greater leap of spiritual growth than any possible result of the contemplative prayer exercise itself!

==STAGES==

==STAGES==

The second key concept is stages.  A stage is essentially a paradigm.  It is a well established mode of being through which we interpret reality.  The time we spend in a given stage is typically measured in years.  Over time stages eventually collapse into a new stage.  This collapse is a slow process but may appear sudden when the final shift occurs, or it may not be consciously noticed at all.  Two (or more) stages will often overlap for a period of time before the new stage becomes fully established.   

The second key concept is stages.  A '''stage''' is essentially a paradigm.  It is a well established mode of being through which we interpret reality.  The time we spend in a given stage is typically measured in years.  Over time stages eventually collapse into a new stage.  This collapse is a slow process but may appear sudden when the final shift occurs, or it may not be consciously noticed at all.  Two (or more) stages will often overlap for a period of time before the new stage becomes fully established.   

'''THE STAGES OF FAITH'''

'''THE STAGES OF FAITH'''

==STATES==  

==STATES==  

State means “state of consciousness.”  There are ordinary everyday states of consciousness, and special states of consciousness that Wilber calls "transpersonal."  In spite of the mystical sound of the word, there is nothing magical about a transpersonal state.  It simply refers to a temporary suspension of your normal mode of experiencing everything exclusively through the lens of your individual self.  We all have such moments.  For example, a transpersonal state could arise while interacting with an animal, say your cat, and you have a transforming experience in which you realize that you and the cat are co-participants in an identical existence—a common quest for food, sex, companionship, shelter—and suddenly you are sharing consciousness and your normal sense of separate identity seems to dissolve as you are absorbed into the other for a brief moment.  In this case you have transcended the merely personal which is all that “transpersonal” means.   

'''State''' means “state of consciousness.”  There are ordinary everyday states of consciousness, and special states of consciousness that Wilber calls "transpersonal."  In spite of the mystical sound of the word, there is nothing magical about a transpersonal state.  It simply refers to a temporary suspension of your normal mode of experiencing everything exclusively through the lens of your individual self.  We all have such moments.  For example, a transpersonal state could arise while interacting with an animal, say your cat, and you have a transforming experience in which you realize that you and the cat are co-participants in an identical existence—a common quest for food, sex, companionship, shelter—and suddenly you are sharing consciousness and your normal sense of separate identity seems to dissolve as you are absorbed into the other for a brief moment.  In this case you have ''transcended the merely personal'' which is all that “transpersonal” means.   

When Wilber talks about transpersonal states he is usually referring to a conscious attempt to cultivate just such an experience,  typically through meditation, and generally in a context larger than your cat.  A transpersonal state may involve a feeling of bliss, transcendence, closeness to God, or just emptiness.  We easily stereotype meditation as a mystical Eastern path to secret knowledge and power but it’s really little more than an exercise designed to help you practice seeing things from outside the “merely personal” perspective.  Like any exercise, its purpose is to strengthen something.  In this case it strengthens your awareness that you are part of something bigger than yourself.  It thus reinforces your growth from egocentric to world-centric.

When Wilber talks about transpersonal states he is usually referring to a conscious attempt to cultivate just such an experience,  typically through meditation, and generally in a context larger than your cat.  A transpersonal state may involve a feeling of bliss, transcendence, closeness to God, or just emptiness.  We easily stereotype meditation as a mystical Eastern path to secret knowledge and power but it’s really little more than an exercise designed to help you practice seeing things from outside the “merely personal” perspective.  Like any exercise, its purpose is to strengthen something.  In this case it strengthens your awareness that you are part of something bigger than yourself.  It thus reinforces your growth from egocentric to world-centric.

'''PARADIGM, PLEASE (The Real Sixth Stage)'''

'''PARADIGM, PLEASE (The Real Sixth Stage)'''

Wilber’s new breakthrough says that the sixth stage as originally conceived (as four “second tier” stages) is simply missing a paradigm.  People are seeking transpersonal states and because they have no sixth stage paradigm they are bringing with them the only paradigm they have, which is the wrong one, and so their meditation is working only to reinforce their old paradigm; their old stage.  Many meditation teachers including authentic ones from, say, Tibet, would challenge Wilber at this point, saying that the whole point of meditation is to dump paradigms and concepts and seek emptiness instead.  This is a watershed issue, and a point where Wilber departs from much of standard Eastern consciousness training.  He agrees that emptiness is indeed a desirable meditative state to be attained but maintains that it is impossible not to interpret any and all states, including emptiness!  UL may be empty, but LL cannot be.   

Wilber’s new breakthrough says that the sixth stage as originally conceived (as four “second tier” stages) is simply missing a paradigm.  People are seeking transpersonal states and because they have no sixth stage paradigm they are bringing with them the only paradigm they have, which is the wrong one, and so their meditation is working only to reinforce their old paradigm; their old stage.  Many meditation teachers including authentic ones from, say, Tibet, would challenge Wilber at this point, saying that the whole point of meditation is to dump paradigms and concepts and seek emptiness instead.  This is a watershed issue, and a point where Wilber departs from much of standard Eastern consciousness training.  He agrees that emptiness is indeed a desirable meditative state to be attained but maintains that it is impossible not to interpret any and all states, ''including emptiness!'' UL may be empty, but LL cannot be.   

[Here we have another important perspective on what integral means.  It means we bring a bit of good old western rationalism to the whole process of Eastern wisdom.  So far we have not looked at it from this angle, but Wilber does not let the Eastern sages off the hook any easier than he lets Westerners off.  Wilber asserts that much of indigenous Eastern practice is every bit as non-integral as its Western counterpart.  Without the input of the West, the East faces two weaknesses.  One is that much of its practice is prerational, and the other is that is lacks the psychoanalytical acumen to identify growth blockages in the first tier stages].

[Here we have another important perspective on what integral means.  It means we bring a bit of good old western rationalism to the whole process of Eastern wisdom.  So far we have not looked at it from this angle, but Wilber does not let the Eastern sages off the hook any easier than he lets Westerners off.  Wilber asserts that much of indigenous Eastern practice is every bit as non-integral as its Western counterpart.  Without the input of the West, the East faces two weaknesses.  One is that much of its practice is prerational, and the other is that is lacks the psychoanalytical acumen to identify growth blockages in the first tier stages].

And now Wilber announces the real sixth stage...the Integral Stage.  This is the point where the all-encompassing (quadrant spanning) integral philosophy meets spiritual growth, and integral philosophy itself becomes a stage of faith!  But how do you get to this stage?  By now it should be obvious that you cannot pole vault yourself into this stage with meditation. You get there the old fashioned way, through cognitive, rational paradigm shift, the same way you made it to all the other stages.  An important point about the integral stage is that, yes, it is a stage of mystical union as we always suspected, but it does not come from the effort of invoking mystical feelings.  It’s just an ordinary cognitive paradigm.  It’s a conglomeration of concepts which are readily available to us, and now we finally pull them all together in a pattern.  It involves no magic; it’s just another stage.  And it happens to be the first stage that correctly supports transpersonal states and now allows those states to actually advance your consciousness instead of holding it back.  It is a stage which says that because LL is a construction you are responsible for what you plug into it.  Knowing this, you can plug Buddhism in if you want to—but you don’t have to.  Because you are AQAL you can plug your own native symbols back in, Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, or whatever, and they can no longer block your growth in that old pathological feedback loop because instead of controlling and limiting your inner consciousness, they are now understood as languages in its service.  You are now practicing integral Christianity, integral Judaism, integral Buddhism.  Even integral atheism is a potential language of faith!

And now Wilber announces the real sixth stage...the '''Integral Stage'''.  This is the point where the all-encompassing (quadrant spanning) integral philosophy meets spiritual growth, and integral philosophy itself becomes a stage of faith!  But how do you get to this stage?  By now it should be obvious that you cannot pole vault yourself into this stage with meditation. You get there the old fashioned way, through cognitive, rational paradigm shift, the same way you made it to all the other stages.  An important point about the integral stage is that, yes, it is a stage of mystical union as we always suspected, but it does not come from the effort of invoking mystical feelings.  It’s just an ordinary cognitive paradigm.  It’s a conglomeration of concepts which are readily available to us, and now we finally pull them all together in a pattern.  It involves no magic; it’s just another stage.  And it happens to be the first stage that correctly supports transpersonal states and now allows those states to actually advance your consciousness instead of holding it back.  It is a stage which says that because LL is a construction you are responsible for what you plug into it.  Knowing this, you can plug Buddhism in if you want to—but you don’t have to.  Because you are AQAL you can plug your own native symbols back in, Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, or whatever, and they can no longer block your growth in that old pathological feedback loop because instead of controlling and limiting your inner consciousness, they are now understood as languages in its service.  You are now practicing integral Christianity, integral Judaism, integral Buddhism.  Even integral atheism is a potential language of faith!

==CONCLUSION==

==CONCLUSION==

If we could distill this whole discussion into a single principle it would be:  '''The value of states increases in direct proportion to advancement through the stages.'''  A lot of American Buddhism has the cart before the horse—it is seeking the instant gratification of states instead of the long-term investment of stages.  It has often consisted of little more than the idea that meditation leads to mystical experiences that will result in "enlightenment."  But mystical states can be just another yuppie achievement in this context.  Transpersonal states of mind are to be thought of as neither an achievement nor an attainment.  They are a tool that, when combined with right thinking, will help us dump achievement, dump attainment, and dump ego.  The idea that "meditation causes enlightenment" is a classic example of prerational magical thinking.  While Wilber promotes Buddhism, seemingly because of its advantage of having a more straightforward spiritual language than other religious options, he also clearly argues that the mystical states of mind often popularly associated with Buddhism have little value unless they occur in an advanced stage of faith and that is something that can occur within (or without) any religion.  His message to us is simple:  "Grow up!" meaning grow though the stages of faith.  That's where our spirituality should be focused—right thinking; right interpretation; right paradigm.  If "enlightenment" itself has any meaning, then we saw it in the seventh stage:  the right paradigm combined with the right [sustainable] state of mind.

If we could distill this whole discussion into a single principle it would be:  '''The value of states increases in direct proportion to advancement through the stages.'''  A lot of American Buddhism has the cart before the horse—it is seeking the instant gratification of states instead of the long-term investment of stages.  It has often consisted of little more than the idea that meditation leads to mystical experiences that will result in "enlightenment."  But mystical states can be just another yuppie achievement in this context.  Transpersonal states of mind are to be thought of as neither an achievement nor an attainment.  They are a tool that, when combined with right thinking, will help us dump achievement, dump attainment, and dump ego.  The idea that "meditation causes enlightenment" is a classic example of prerational magical thinking.  While Wilber promotes Buddhism, seemingly because of its advantage of having a more straightforward spiritual language than other religious options, he also clearly argues that the mystical states of mind often popularly associated with Buddhism have little value unless they occur in an advanced stage of faith and that is something that can occur within (or without) any religion.  His message to us is simple:  "Grow up!" meaning ''grow though the stages of faith''.  That's where our spirituality should be focused—right thinking; right interpretation; right paradigm.  If "enlightenment" itself has any meaning, then we saw it in the seventh stage:  the right paradigm combined with the right [sustainable] state of mind.

'''A Final Question:  Is Wilber “elitist”?'''

'''A Final Question:  Is Wilber “elitist”?'''

If you have read this far it has likely occurred to you to wonder how some of the great spiritual luminaries from centuries past—St. John-of-the-Cross, for example—could be considered spiritually advanced when they utterly lacked the clarifying power that according to Wilber came only in the wake of modernism and postmodernism.  Is it true that only those of us on this side of history have any hope of being spiritually awakened?  In a sense, yes, Wilber is elitist concerning this question.  He would say that we are indeed at a spiritual advantage today.  Not that St. John, Jesus, or Siddhartha did not represent pinnacles of spiritual genius by any standards, but their spirituality derived primarily from a direct ability to attain and sustain states of mystical union, or non-dual consciousness, as opposed to an ascent through the vertical stages as we have discussed.  Disadvantaged?—yes, but still more enlightened than most people will ever be.   

If you have read this far it has likely occurred to you to wonder how some of the great spiritual luminaries from centuries past—St. John-of-the-Cross, for example—could be considered spiritually advanced when they utterly lacked the clarifying power that according to Wilber came only in the wake of modernism and postmodernism.  Is it true that only those of us on this side of history have any hope of being spiritually awakened?  In a sense, yes, Wilber is elitist concerning this question.  He would say that we are indeed at a spiritual ''advantage'' today.  Not that St. John, Jesus, or Siddhartha did not represent pinnacles of spiritual genius by any standards, but their spirituality derived primarily from a direct ability to attain and sustain states of mystical union, or non-dual consciousness, as opposed to an ascent through the vertical stages as we have discussed.  Disadvantaged?—yes, but still more enlightened than most people will ever be.   

By his own admission Wilber is somewhat of an elitist where consciousness is concerned.  But he explains that this simply means that some things have more value than others.  Looking at an example of cultural values, we could say that it’s probably better to allow every citizen to vote in elections than to throw citizens into volcanoes to appease the gods.  For those who are still in the pluralistic/green stage, that is a politically incorrect position because one of the paramount principles of that stage is that  “all cultural values are equally valid.”  For Wilber, this pluralistic lack of discernment is simply wrong-headed.  Many green-stage people will tout Native American spirituality as being superior because it calls for "honoring the land" in contradistinction to the exploitation of the land perpetrated by the modern rationalist paradigm.  Wilber would dispute this position, arguing that Native American spirituality is a low level form of consciousness being prerational as well as magical/mythic.  According to Wilber we should indeed honor the land, but do so from a [post-postmodern] integral perspective.  Why unnecessarily set your spirituality back two or three hundred years just to be ecologically responsible?  While this approach makes Wlber sound like a 1950’s conservative and a Sierra Club liberal all rolled into one, the fact is that he is post-conservative and post-liberal.  Wilber has no interest in anything but truth and in that pursuit he often takes positions that appear in turn regressively conservative and boldly liberal from our contemporary perspective.  

By his own admission Wilber is somewhat of an elitist where consciousness is concerned.  But he explains that this simply means that some things have more value than others.  Looking at an example of cultural values, we could say that it’s probably better to allow every citizen to vote in elections than to throw citizens into volcanoes to appease the gods.  For those who are still in the pluralistic/green stage, that is a politically incorrect position because one of the paramount principles of that stage is that  “all cultural values are equally valid.”  For Wilber, this pluralistic lack of discernment is simply wrong-headed.  Many green-stage people will tout Native American spirituality as being superior because it calls for "honoring the land" in contradistinction to the exploitation of the land perpetrated by the modern rationalist paradigm.  Wilber would dispute this position, arguing that Native American spirituality is a low level form of consciousness being prerational as well as magical/mythic.  According to Wilber we should indeed honor the land, but do so from a [post-postmodern] integral perspective.  Why unnecessarily set your spirituality back two or three hundred years just to be ecologically responsible?  While this approach makes Wlber sound like a 1950’s conservative and a Sierra Club liberal all rolled into one, the fact is that he is post-conservative and post-liberal.  Wilber has no interest in anything but truth and in that pursuit he often takes positions that appear in turn regressively conservative and boldly liberal from our contemporary perspective.  

Wilber’s tendency to place cultures, ideas, and consciousness stages in a hierarchy of importance and value is rooted not so much in pure elitism as in his strong connection to German Idealism as represented by philosophers such as Hegel, and especially Schelling, who hold that evolution is driving history toward a cosmic goal .  This idealism sees history as an upward evolutionary spiral in which Spirit, as the underpinning of nature, is animating all of Being toward the goal of complete Self-Consciousness.  Assuming the correctness of the metaphysics of idealism, it logically follows that the further along in history we are the more advanced we are in consciousness growth, collectively speaking, and thus we have greater potential overall for spiritual enlightenment than those from past centuries.  If this philosophy constitutes “elitism” then Wilber is guilty as charged.

Wilber’s tendency to place cultures, ideas, and consciousness stages in a hierarchy of importance and value is rooted not so much in pure elitism as in his strong connection to German Idealism as represented by philosophers such as Hegel, and especially Schelling, who hold that evolution is driving history toward a cosmic goal .  This idealism sees history as an upward evolutionary spiral in which '''Spirit''', as the underpinning of nature, is animating all of '''Being''' toward the goal of complete '''Self-Consciousness'''.  Assuming the correctness of the metaphysics of idealism, it logically follows that the further along in history we are the more advanced we are in consciousness growth, collectively speaking, and thus we have greater potential overall for spiritual enlightenment than those from past centuries.  If this philosophy constitutes “elitism” then Wilber is guilty as charged.

----

----