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Newsletter Nr. 640	
Amsterdam, February 1st, 2017


THE MISSING NUANCE - Ken Wilber and Integral Politics - A Four-Part Critique, Part One - DAVID LANE

There is much to commend in Ken Wilber's latest e-book, Trump and a Post-Truth World, since it attempts to incorporate a much wider perspective on how and why Donald Trump has been so successful in securing the Presidency of the United States. Wilber clearly has thought deeply about this subject and offers a tantalizing array of observations—historical and otherwise—to enlighten his readers about how Integral thinking can better appraise our current political climate.

However, as much as I appreciate Wilber's efforts here, I find that his argument devolves too often into undocumented generalities and cheap color-coded reductionisms that because they lack the necessary nuance weaken the overall thrust of his presentation.

In the following essay I will underline where I think Wilber's framework needs shoring up. I thought it might be wise to quote Wilber directly and then explain what I find questionable.

Read more:
http://www.integralworld.net/lane115.html


THE GURU TRANSPARENCY - Why Inner Attainment shouldn't be equated with Outer Knowledge - DAVID LANE

I have great admiration for deep meditators, those who have by dint of their tireless practice penetrated into the hidden corridors of their own self-reflective awareness. The interior quest is a noble one and worthy of emulation. However, it is a fundamental mistake to believe that those who have enlightened states of consciousness are, by such awakenings, also able to explain the outer world of astronomy, physics, chemistry and the cosmos at large. As the oft-repeated truism underlines, “Being an expert in one field doesn't automatically translate to being an expert in another one.”

I say this precisely because far too often we have conflated inner knowledge for outer and vice versa, neglecting the too obvious fact that experiencing exalted, internal states is distinct from knowing their ultimate causality. I may know the taste of a sweet apple but such an experience tells me little about how it was made.

Far too often we have projected onto our teachers, gurus, and masters omniscience and omnipotence, falsely believing that because of their great spiritual achievement they have also secured a supreme working knowledge of the physical universe. Spend any time with such sages and you will immediately realize that this is not the case.

Read more:
http://www.integralworld.net/lane114.html