Boomeritis

Ken Wilber's latest book is a daring departure from his previous writings—a highly original work of fiction that combines brilliant scholarship with tongue-in-cheek storytelling to present the integral approach to human development that he expounded in more conventional terms in his recent A Theory of Everything. The story of a naïve young grad student in computer science and his quest for meaning in a fragmented world provides the setting in which Wilber contrasts the alienated "flatland" of scientific materialism with the integral vision, which embraces body, mind, soul, and spirit in self, culture, and nature. The book especially targets one of the most stubborn obstacles to realizing the integral vision: a disease of egocentrism and narcissism that Wilber calls "boomeritis" because it seems to plague the baby-boomer generation most of all. Through a series of sparkling seminar-lectures skillfully interwoven with the hero's misadventures in the realms of sex, drugs, and popular culture, all of the major tenets of extreme postmodernism are criticized—and exemplified—including the author's having a bad case of boomeritis himself. Parody, intellectual slapstick, and a mind-twisting surprise ending unite to produce a highly entertaining summary of the work of cutting-edge theorists in human development from around the world.

Ken Wilber's latest book is a daring departure from his previous writings—a highly original work of fiction that combines brilliant scholarship with tongue-in-cheek storytelling to present the integral approach to human development that he expounded in more conventional terms in his recent A Theory of Everything. The story of a naïve young grad student in computer science and his quest for meaning in a fragmented world provides the setting in which Wilber contrasts the alienated "flatland" of scientific materialism with the integral vision, which embraces body, mind, soul, and spirit in self, culture, and nature. The book especially targets one of the most stubborn obstacles to realizing the integral vision: a disease of egocentrism and narcissism that Wilber calls "boomeritis" because it seems to plague the baby-boomer generation most of all. Through a series of sparkling seminar-lectures skillfully interwoven with the hero's misadventures in the realms of sex, drugs, and popular culture, all of the major tenets of extreme postmodernism are criticized—and exemplified—including the author's having a bad case of boomeritis himself. Parody, intellectual slapstick, and a mind-twisting surprise ending unite to produce a highly entertaining summary of the work of cutting-edge theorists in human development from around the world.

Ken Wilbers revolutionary thinking is beginning to shift the orientation of Western culture. Wilber combines his knowledge as mystic, scientist, psychologist and philosopher to create comprehensive concepts for understanding our world and our place in it. This integral approach is much needed in a world torn by conflicts of religion, culture, and ideology. Lew Howard says, I wrote this book to make the work of Ken Wilber accessible to the average person. Wilbers integral understanding (which is an interlocking whole) is broken down into concepts that can be individually understood. These understandings result in an integral conception of the Kosmos. Wilbers insights revolutionized my spiritual practiceand can do the same for you.

Integral Spirituality is being widely called the most important book on spirituality in our time. Applying his highly acclaimed integral approach, Ken Wilber formulates a theory of spirituality that honors the truths of modernity and postmodernity—including the revolutions in science and culture—while incorporating the essential insights of the great religions. He shows how spirituality today combines 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 integral framework, a radically new role for the world’s religions is proposed. Because these 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, the great religions can act as facilitators of human development: from magic to mythic to rational to pluralistic to integral—and to a global society that honors and includes all the stations of life along the way.

The World's Fearlessness Teachings addresses the human fear problem in a truly unique and insightful way, summarizing the teachings on fearlessness from around the world and throughout history. The author then utilizes critical integral theory (a la Wilber) as an approach to categorize the developmental and evolutionary spectrum of fear management systems known thus far. The author has spent twenty years researching the timely topic of fear and how to best manage and transform it. From this experience, he offers an educational healing vision to address the challenges of a dangerous 21st century. Fear's empire has taken rule. It is time to resist it using the best intelligence from both sacred and secular traditions, as well as the transformational theories humanity has to offer. Fisher maps out ten fear management systems that will benefit future-positive leaders everywhere.

One of the most influential American philosophers of our time presents his vision for a fully integrated world—a world that includes body, mind, soul, and spirit In this groundbreaking book, Ken Wilber uses his widely acknowledged “spectrum of consciousness” model to completely rewrite our approach to such important fields as psychology, spirituality, anthropology, cultural studies, art and literary theory, ecology, feminism, and planetary transformation. What would each of those fields look like if we wholeheartedly accepted the existence of not just body and mind but also soul and spirit? In a stunning display of integrative embrace, Wilber weaves these various fragments together into a coherent and compelling vision for the modern and postmodern world.

Volume Seven of The Collected Works of Ken Wilber includes: • A Brief History of Everything (1996) "Combining spiritual sensitivity with enormous intellectual understanding and a style of elegance and clarity, [this book] is a clarion call for seeing the world as a whole."— San Francisco Chronicle . • The Eye of Spirit: An Integral Vision for a World Gone Slightly Mad (1997) uses the spectrum model to create an integral approach to psychology, spirituality, anthropology, cultural studies, and art. • "An Integral Theory of Consciousness," an essay previously unpublished in book form, presents one of the first theories to integrate first-, second-, and third-person accounts of consciousness.

This is the definitive guide to the life and work of Ken Wilber, widely regarded as the most comprehensive and passionate philosopher of our times. In this long overdue exploration of Wilber's life and work, Frank Visser not only outlines the theories of this profound thinker, but also uncovers his personal life, showing how his experiences influenced and shaped his writing. Wilber's impressive body of work, including nineteen books in more than thirty languages, brings together science and religion, philosophy, art, culture, East and West, and places them within the all-encompassing perspective of evolution. Visser's book follows Wilber's four distinct phases as he reveals not only the story behind Wilber's writing, but also the man behind the ideas. In recounting the course of Wilber's life and the motives that led him to the subjects he has written so much about, Visser uncovers the intricacies of one of the world's most important intellectuals. Included in this indispensable resource is a complete bibliography of Wilber's work.