Ep356: Awakening to Wholeness - Ken Wilber
Ken Wilber is a contemporary philosopher, author, and founder of Integral Theory.
Available on Youtube, iTunes, SoundCloud & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.
Ken recounts his biography and intellectual development including prodigious early reading, major spiritual experiences, and his models of spiritual and psychological development.
Ken reflects on his rise to fame, his deeper motivations for writing, and whether or not his Integral Institute made the impact he had hoped for.
Ken also gives a detailed account of his association with controversial American spiritual teacher Adi Da, weighs the good and bad of Da Free John’s career, considers the source of Adi Da’s shaktipat power, and reveals why he almost joined the guru’s inner circle.
00:00 - Intro
00:51 - Steve’s favourite Ken Wilber book
02:01 - Difficulties writing “One Taste”
05:39 - Adolescent interest in developmental psychology
08:53 - Major spiritual experience at 13 years old
09:55 - Comparing stage models
12:24 - Zen Buddhist practice
13:47 - Ken’s first theoretical discovery
15:57 - Different types of wholeness
17:19 - Waking up
17:55 - Growing up
19:00 - Opening up
21:15 - Cleaning up
23:47 - Showing up
24:43 - 4 perspectives of person
28:51 - Ken’s fiction reading and the types of truth
31:11 - Marquis de Sade
32:45 - Why Ken wrote
39:39 - Why participate in the Great Conversation?
41:29 - Who you really are
43:32 - Universal mysticism
45:00 - Two types of religion
53:15 - Dealing with the audience response
56:22 - Being noticed in public
57:50 - Did Ken have collaborators?
01:00:05 - Integral group gatherings and conferences
01:04:22 - Ken’s assessment of the overall impact of Integral theory and the Integral gatherings
01:07:58 - No regrets
01:09:39 - Ken’s opinion of Steve’s work
01:12:23 - Ken’s history with Adi Da
01:17:10 - Invited to be part of Adi Da’s inner circle
01:19:57 - Meeting Adi Da
01:20:59 - When Ken decided not to join Adidam
01:21:57 - Sadness at Adi Da’s death
01:23:53 - William Tsiknas
01:25:22 - Falling in love with Adi Da
01:28:35 - Source of Adi Da’s power
01:28:41 - Ken on Adi Da’s relationship with his teachers
01:32:59 - Adi Da’s pranic transmission
01:35:38 - Muktananda + why Adi Da was drawn to Rudi
01:40:16 - What is shaktipat?
01:43:15 - Post-death contact and ethical controversies
01:45:04 - Feeling the heart transmission of Adi Da
01:47:17 - Ken’s disappointment in Adi Da’s controversial conduct
01:50:54 - Good vs bad of Adi Da