A Sociable God : Eye to Eye (The Collected Works of Ken Wilber Series)

Rating:
Summary: Two lesser-known Wilber classics
Review: This volume contains two different, but related, works by Ken Wilber. The first, "A Sociable God," proposes a methodology by which the discipline of sociology can compare and categorize religions. Religion and spirituality are making something of a comeback in modern society from their previously purged status under the rationalist paradigm. This has taken many forms, ranging from fundamentalism to contemplative and mystical approaches, to Eastern traditions, to the rise of cults. Wilber says that the traditional studies of psychology and sociology have tended to view religion as an immature or even regressive approach to resolving inadequacies at the social level and immaturities at the psychological level. He poses the question whether this is really all there is to say about religion, or whether something very important and fundamental is being left out of this view. It is Wilber's view that there is very much more to be said about the contributions religion and spirituality can make to the development of humankind, while at the same time recognizing that there is, indeed, ample evidence of religions that seem to deserve the charges of "immature," "inadequate," and even "pathological," Jonestown and Charles Manson being two extreme examples of the latter.

Wilber bases his methodology on the spectrum of consciousness model about which he has written so extensively in numerous other works. His methodology distinguishes between "legitimate" religions, which feed the worldview of the self on a given level of the spectrum, fleshing out the content of that level, and "authentic" religion, which validates transformation to a higher level on the spectrum and delivers practices for doing so. Wilber asserts that this method can be employed to hierarchically evaluate religions according to how successfully they deliver what they claim to deliver, from Maoism to Moonies, from Buddhism to fundamentalism. Wilber then shows how religions can be examined in light of their contributions to the current developmental phases of humans worldwide. All this is done with Wilber's laser beam clarity in just 134 pages. Even talking about religion is rare in intellectual circles today, but proposing a methodolgy for crtically evaluating them? You have to read this just for his straight away courage for treading in such politically incorrect waters.

In Wilber's system, he describes the various "realms" in the spectrum of consciousness, any one of which can be experienced temporarily by individuals as a "state,' or attained enduringly through evolutionary development by individuals or cultures as "structures." Each of the realms in the spectrum (grossly simplified as body, mind, spirit) can be investigated in accordance with its own nature, or with the appropriate "eye;" that is, the "eye of flesh," the "eye of mind," and the "eye of contemplation." Investigation of one realm with the eye of another produces, at best, a limited, or representational, understanding, and at worst, what Wilber calls "category error." Attempting to investigate the realm of spirit, for example, with the "eye of flesh," that is, the eye that perceives only sensory phenomena, will not yield real knowledge of the realm of spirit, which is not disclosed to sensory perception. This results in errors like "empirical" science, which purports to recognize only sensory phenomena, declaring the realm of spirit to be nonexistent or at least non-verifiable, because it can't be "seen." Well, it can't be seen unless you look with the right "eye." In "Eye to Eye," Wilber explains why it is critical that the proper "eye," and the corresponding modes of investigation, are used to investigate, and establish validity claims in, the various realms in the spectrum of consciousness.

He builds on this core material by investigating some of the promises and failures of the "New Age" movement and presents an outline of his concept of structure, stage and self, the mechanics of the evolutionary development of self. This volume also presents seminal material on what may be Wilber's most original and influential contribution to thought, the "pre/trans fallacy." Wilber says that many thinkers confuse pre-rational stages with trans-rational stages because both are non-rational. This results in either elevating the lower stages (babies are enlightened, hunter/gatherers were more "at one" with the universe, etc.) or diminishing the higher realms (enlightened sages are schizophrenic, confusion of higher with repressed lower ones, etc.)

These works are quite technical and demanding, and do not provide an overview of Wilber's system of thought. Therefore,I do not recommend them to the beginning Wilber reader. They are, however, indispensible to more serious students of his work. "Eye to Eye," I would argue is indispensible to any serious student of epitemology.

Rating:
Summary: Two lesser-known Wilber classics
Review: This volume contains two different, but related, works by Ken Wilber. The first, "A Sociable God," proposes a methodology by which the discipline of sociology can compare and categorize religions. Religion and spirituality are making something of a comeback in modern society from their previously purged status under the rationalist paradigm. This has taken many forms, ranging from fundamentalism to contemplative and mystical approaches, to Eastern traditions, to the rise of cults. Wilber says that the traditional studies of psychology and sociology have tended to view religion as an immature or even regressive approach to resolving inadequacies at the social level and immaturities at the psychological level. He poses the question whether this is really all there is to say about religion, or whether something very important and fundamental is being left out of this view. It is Wilber's view that there is very much more to be said about the contributions religion and spirituality can make to the development of humankind, while at the same time recognizing that there is, indeed, ample evidence of religions that seem to deserve the charges of "immature," "inadequate," and even "pathological," Jonestown and Charles Manson being two extreme examples of the latter.

Wilber bases his methodology on the spectrum of consciousness model about which he has written so extensively in numerous other works. His methodology distinguishes between "legitimate" religions, which feed the worldview of the self on a given level of the spectrum, fleshing out the content of that level, and "authentic" religion, which validates transformation to a higher level on the spectrum and delivers practices for doing so. Wilber asserts that this method can be employed to hierarchically evaluate religions according to how successfully they deliver what they claim to deliver, from Maoism to Moonies, from Buddhism to fundamentalism. Wilber then shows how religions can be examined in light of their contributions to the current developmental phases of humans worldwide. All this is done with Wilber's laser beam clarity in just 134 pages. Even talking about religion is rare in intellectual circles today, but proposing a methodolgy for crtically evaluating them? You have to read this just for his straight away courage for treading in such politically incorrect waters.

In Wilber's system, he describes the various "realms" in the spectrum of consciousness, any one of which can be experienced temporarily by individuals as a "state,' or attained enduringly through evolutionary development by individuals or cultures as "structures." Each of the realms in the spectrum (grossly simplified as body, mind, spirit) can be investigated in accordance with its own nature, or with the appropriate "eye;" that is, the "eye of flesh," the "eye of mind," and the "eye of contemplation." Investigation of one realm with the eye of another produces, at best, a limited, or representational, understanding, and at worst, what Wilber calls "category error." Attempting to investigate the realm of spirit, for example, with the "eye of flesh," that is, the eye that perceives only sensory phenomena, will not yield real knowledge of the realm of spirit, which is not disclosed to sensory perception. This results in errors like "empirical" science, which purports to recognize only sensory phenomena, declaring the realm of spirit to be nonexistent or at least non-verifiable, because it can't be "seen." Well, it can't be seen unless you look with the right "eye." In "Eye to Eye," Wilber explains why it is critical that the proper "eye," and the corresponding modes of investigation, are used to investigate, and establish validity claims in, the various realms in the spectrum of consciousness.

He builds on this core material by investigating some of the promises and failures of the "New Age" movement and presents an outline of his concept of structure, stage and self, the mechanics of the evolutionary development of self. This volume also presents seminal material on what may be Wilber's most original and influential contribution to thought, the "pre/trans fallacy." Wilber says that many thinkers confuse pre-rational stages with trans-rational stages because both are non-rational. This results in either elevating the lower stages (babies are enlightened, hunter/gatherers were more "at one" with the universe, etc.) or diminishing the higher realms (enlightened sages are schizophrenic, confusion of higher with repressed lower ones, etc.)

These works are quite technical and demanding, and do not provide an overview of Wilber's system of thought. Therefore,I do not recommend them to the beginning Wilber reader. They are, however, indispensible to more serious students of his work. "Eye to Eye," I would argue is indispensible to any serious student of epitemology.