Full Version: Ken Wilber Is A Phony!
It amazes me that this pseudo-philosopher, Ken Wilber, has filched his philosophy, en toto, from Sri Aurobindo. It's true! And I haven't seen Ken give Aurobindo the credit he deserves, anywhere. How pathetic is that??
| QUOTE (John @ Dec 14, 05:15 PM) |
| It amazes me that this pseudo-philosopher, Ken Wilber, has filched his philosophy, en toto, from Sri Aurobindo. It's true! And I haven't seen Ken give Aurobindo the credit he deserves, anywhere. How pathetic is that?? |
Hi, John. I have recently become interested in the work of Ken Wilber, having received his book _Integral Psychology_. Your post makes a rather defamating claim about the intellectual property rights of Wilber's material, and I was wondering if you could back it up with more than "It's true!". I'm sorry if these seems like an attack on you, but that is not my intention. We all know that everybody stands on everybody else's shoulders in order to achieve things, but if Wilber's work is as blatantly and comprehensively derivitive of Sri Aurobindo's I would certainly like to know so. Perhaps then I would spend my time reading Aurobindo's work, instead of Wilber's. Have you entertained the possiblity that Aurobindo and Wilber independantly reached similar conclusions? This is not an altogether uncommon occurance at the higher levels of any field of inquiry. Looking forward to your response.
I don't know if you should attack Ken Wilber this way. I only know Wilber and Sri Aurobindo from Internet. It seems you have more experience or insights.
Here is book reference:
http://www.hindu.com/br/2003/11/11/stories...11100020200.htm
Quote. THE PERENNIAL QUEST FOR A PSYCHOLOGY WITH A SOUL: Joseph Vrinte; Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 41, U.A. Bungalow Road, Jawahar Nagar, Delhi-110007. Rs. 895.
THE BOOK under review deals with the aspects related to the transpersonal psychological movement and Sri Aurobindo's integral yoga in three parts.
Psychotherapy has been compared with spiritual disciplines, especially with the eastern technique of meditation with special reference to Sri Aurobindo's metaphysical system. The challenges and difficulties in the process of spiritual development are highlighted from the perspective of metaphysical psychology.
Ken Wilber's integral psychology and Sri Aurobindo's metaphysical yoga psychology are the concerns in the study. As a transpersonal theoretical psychologist, Ken Wilber endeavours to synthesise eastern and western thought, which has apparently contradictory outlook.
He depends on the data available from contemporary fields of enquiry such as biology, anthropology, psychology, philosophy, theology and ecology than expounding a metaphysical theory.
The main ambit of this book is to eliminate the boundary lines put up between psyche and body, organism and cosmos by man who unnecessarily limits his sense of identity.
To elucidate his basic tenets he explores the metaphysical foundation of the integral yoga of Sri Aurobindo with reference to the theory and practice of the yoga of works, yoga of knowledge, the yoga of devotion and the yoga of self-perfection. He examines the sadhana of integral yoga by pointing out the difficulties faced while practising.
There is a dialogue between Ken Wilber's integral views and Sri Aurobindo's metaphysical vision. The author contends that Sri Aurobindo's integral yoga aims at a divine perfection where the divine becomes the direct guidance of the sadhana.
Wilber shifts his stand in his integral psychology due to the influence of Sri Aurobindo. The entire spectrum of consciousness is taken into consideration in its ascending and descending orders in the integral sadhana, according to Sri Aurobindo, which was endorsed by Wilber.
However, Wilber points out the shortcomings in the theory of Sri Aurobindo that it lacks interrelations of cultural, social, intentional and behavioural aspects. Sri Aurobindo's analysis did not proceed on the level of inter-subjectivity (lower left) and inter-objectivity (lower right).
The author proceeds to elaborate Sri Aurobindo's views on science, his metaphysical vision, views on the individual and collectivity, sociology, culture, religion, ethics, his future vision and Ken Wilber's world-view.
Both these scholarly writers agree on elevating the human spirit from the empirical realm through the actualisation of the higher human qualities.
The soul, being endowed with divine consciousness initially develops individuality due to its association with matter. Once it realises its true nature through yogic modalities, it is elevated to its original state, called by Sri Aurobindo, the "illumined mind".
Wilber also subscribes to this view with slight variation since his approach is psychological while Sri Aurobindo's is metaphysical.
This book is an objective presentation of two great scholars belonging to two different traditions but having similar thinking especially in spiritual lore. Those who are interested in the pursuit of self-realisation and about the total inner framework can read this book and enrich their knowledge.
R. GOPALAKRISHNAN
end of quote.
Wilber has done good and important work on holons. His approach on heterarchic relations between holons is correct. But he still missed the underlying concept that also David Bohm was looking for. I developed that. You can find that on: http://www.mu6.com/holon_creation.html .
Here is book reference:
http://www.hindu.com/br/2003/11/11/stories...11100020200.htm
Quote. THE PERENNIAL QUEST FOR A PSYCHOLOGY WITH A SOUL: Joseph Vrinte; Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 41, U.A. Bungalow Road, Jawahar Nagar, Delhi-110007. Rs. 895.
THE BOOK under review deals with the aspects related to the transpersonal psychological movement and Sri Aurobindo's integral yoga in three parts.
Psychotherapy has been compared with spiritual disciplines, especially with the eastern technique of meditation with special reference to Sri Aurobindo's metaphysical system. The challenges and difficulties in the process of spiritual development are highlighted from the perspective of metaphysical psychology.
Ken Wilber's integral psychology and Sri Aurobindo's metaphysical yoga psychology are the concerns in the study. As a transpersonal theoretical psychologist, Ken Wilber endeavours to synthesise eastern and western thought, which has apparently contradictory outlook.
He depends on the data available from contemporary fields of enquiry such as biology, anthropology, psychology, philosophy, theology and ecology than expounding a metaphysical theory.
The main ambit of this book is to eliminate the boundary lines put up between psyche and body, organism and cosmos by man who unnecessarily limits his sense of identity.
To elucidate his basic tenets he explores the metaphysical foundation of the integral yoga of Sri Aurobindo with reference to the theory and practice of the yoga of works, yoga of knowledge, the yoga of devotion and the yoga of self-perfection. He examines the sadhana of integral yoga by pointing out the difficulties faced while practising.
There is a dialogue between Ken Wilber's integral views and Sri Aurobindo's metaphysical vision. The author contends that Sri Aurobindo's integral yoga aims at a divine perfection where the divine becomes the direct guidance of the sadhana.
Wilber shifts his stand in his integral psychology due to the influence of Sri Aurobindo. The entire spectrum of consciousness is taken into consideration in its ascending and descending orders in the integral sadhana, according to Sri Aurobindo, which was endorsed by Wilber.
However, Wilber points out the shortcomings in the theory of Sri Aurobindo that it lacks interrelations of cultural, social, intentional and behavioural aspects. Sri Aurobindo's analysis did not proceed on the level of inter-subjectivity (lower left) and inter-objectivity (lower right).
The author proceeds to elaborate Sri Aurobindo's views on science, his metaphysical vision, views on the individual and collectivity, sociology, culture, religion, ethics, his future vision and Ken Wilber's world-view.
Both these scholarly writers agree on elevating the human spirit from the empirical realm through the actualisation of the higher human qualities.
The soul, being endowed with divine consciousness initially develops individuality due to its association with matter. Once it realises its true nature through yogic modalities, it is elevated to its original state, called by Sri Aurobindo, the "illumined mind".
Wilber also subscribes to this view with slight variation since his approach is psychological while Sri Aurobindo's is metaphysical.
This book is an objective presentation of two great scholars belonging to two different traditions but having similar thinking especially in spiritual lore. Those who are interested in the pursuit of self-realisation and about the total inner framework can read this book and enrich their knowledge.
R. GOPALAKRISHNAN
end of quote.
Wilber has done good and important work on holons. His approach on heterarchic relations between holons is correct. But he still missed the underlying concept that also David Bohm was looking for. I developed that. You can find that on: http://www.mu6.com/holon_creation.html .
Can anyone tell me what's different about Ken Wilber's integral psychology? What makes it different or new? What stands out about it? I don't know that much about it, but have a few books of his that I never really got around to reading.
all one has to do is read with an open mind the works of ken wilber to realize that what he has accomplished is nothing short of sheer spiritual genius. i don't think i need to go any farther than that to debunk the claim that he is phony. if you are capableof thinking for yourself and exercising critical thinking skills, then it should be apparent that this initial posting doesn't stand up to scrutiny. sure Ken Wilber's ideology may bear semblance to Aurobindo's , but that is simply because he is addressing (some of the same) central transcendental themes in bridging science and spirit (while using the Eye of spirit, rather than ego). such correspondence between transpersonal psychologies is to be expected, indeed, encouraged, in such metadiscussion...
As far as I know, Aurobindo's psychology didn't have anything about the four quadrants of consciousness, so that is one thing that would KW's philosophy different (and not "filched" en toto). Sri Aurobindo is an influence, no doubt, but he has many other influences and lists them explicity in his books (such as Integral Psychology). His originality is more in his synthesis and, sometimes tedious, details. Concepts like the "pre/trans fallacy" stand out, which he contrasted with Alan Watts' (an earlier influence) Buddha = Baby/animal/back to nature ideas, as well as Charles Tarts' ressurection of goodness model. His work has gone through 5 stages at least, I would encourage people to do more investigate before making misleading generalizations.
QUOTE(John @ Dec 14, 06:15 PM) 
It amazes me that this pseudo-philosopher, Ken Wilber, has filched his philosophy, en toto, from Sri Aurobindo. It's true! And I haven't seen Ken give Aurobindo the credit he deserves, anywhere. How pathetic is that??
Many people borrow from others, sometimes unknowingly. Ken Wilber could be innocent of any intentional filching. Personally, I have never found his works to contain anything significant. I recently read his Atman Project and was not impressed. The only thing of interest was his classification of different types of 'self' that develop throughout life. Everything else was worthless and/or false.
Aurobindo is deeper than Ken Wilber. If this sort of spiritual philosophy is your craving, it's probably safe to skip Ken Wilber and go straight to Aurobindo, who is deeper in my opinion. Ken Wilber writes pop-spirituality for the masses; as a result, it's superficial and oftentimes wrong. Aurobindo, who was not catering to the masses, goes much deeper than Wilber. I suggest Sri Aurobindo's "Integral Yoga".
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