Ken Wilber is the developer of an integral "theory of everything" that embraces the truths of all the world's great psychological, scientific, philosophical, and spiritual traditions. He founded the Integral Institute, a think-tank for studying issues of science and society, in 2000. Wilber is the author of twenty books.
Integral Spirituality —Ken Wilber's most
cutting-edge work on religion since The Marriage
of Sense and Soul (1998)—answers the question:
how can we validate the existence of spiritual
realities—specifically, the higher levels of
mystical experience claimed by the world's wisdom
traditions—in the face of modern and postmodern
attacks that deny those realities as unscientific or
reduce them to social constructions? Applying his
highly acclaimed integral approach, Wilber
formulates a theory of spirituality that honors the
truths of modernity and postmodernity—including the
revolutions in science and culture—while
incorporating the legacy of the great religions. He
shows why full enlightenment is not possible without
combining the enlightenment of the East, which
excels at cultivating higher states of
consciousness, with the enlightenment of the West,
which offers developmental and psychodynamic
psychology. Each contributes key components to a
more integral spirituality. On the basis of this
theoretical framework, Wilber is able to make some
timely suggestions. Because the world's religions
have such a tremendous influence on the worldview of
the majority of the earth's population, they are in
a privileged position to address some of the biggest
conflicts we face. By adopting a more integral view,
and thus effectively responding to modern and
postmodern critiques, the great religions can act as
facilitators of human development, from mythic
belief to rational science to postmodern
pluralism—all the way up to enlightenment, and to a
global society that honors and includes all the
stations of life along the way.