In his Foreward to the newest edition of this 1983 collection of "nine major essays" (p. xxiii) by Ken Wilber, Frances Vaughan calls Wilber "one of the greatest thinkers of our time" (p. ix), adding "what I value most about his work is the fact that I see it always pointing to liberation and enlightenment" (p. x).

At least for me, following Wilber to the "highest rung aspect of Spirit" (p. 266) in this book was a challenging, 282-page climb. But the eye-opening views were worth the effort. We have "at least three modes of attaining knowledge," Wilber writes, "'three eyes'" . . . the eye of flesh, by which we perceive the external world of space, time and objects; the eye of reason, by which we attain a knowledge of philosophy, logic and the mind itself; and the eye of contemplation, by which we rise to a knowledge of transcendent realities" (p. 3). As the title of his book suggests, Wilber attempts to "integrate and synthesize" (p. 264) these three eyes into a paradigm "that at least attempts to include monological sciences, dialogical sciences, mandalic sciences, and contemplative sciences" (p. 112). But in the book's final pages, Wilber concedes that his paradigm remains fragmented here, "not a final view, but hints on how to reach that view . . . not a way to stop, but a way to carry on" (p. 281).

Wilber's essays progress seamlessly in their exploration of "a full-spectrum model of human growth and development" (p. xxiii), in which "meditation is evolution; it is transformation" (p. 105). Through meditation, "we grow, we don't dig back" (p. 105). While this book takes its reader on an eye-opening quest, for me it just quite didn't measure up to the standards set by most of Wilber's other books.

G. Merritt

This is my favorite Wilber book thus far. I found every chapter containing information I really wanted to read. Ken goes to great lengths in this book to discuss why science is not a tool for explaining transcendence especially the new Holographic Theories given much attention as of late. Ken does a wonderful job explaining his understanding of the conscious and unconscious aspects of the psyche. Includes the classic "Pre-Trans Fallacy" and "Mandalic Map of Consciousness" essays.

Epistemology, the study of what can be known, has been all but abandoned in the modern era of philosophy. Beginning with Kant's revelation of the limits of what can be known by rational consciousness, the (rationally based) project of Western philosophy gave up on its prospects for ultimate knowledge. Since it couldn't see beyond the capacities of the rational mind and the realms of the real that higher levels of consciousness could disclose, it resigned itself to the more limited task of evaluating "empirical" data, that is, data disclosed by the senses. Only that which could be disclosed by the senses was deemed "really real," even though the language, mathematics and logic that were used to process the empirical data are not themselves disclosed by the senses.

In "Eye to Eye," Ken Wilber applies his spectrum of consciousness model to epistemology. Each of the realms in the spectrum (grossly simplified as body, mind, spirit,) according to Wilber, 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 (as Kant pointed out with respect to the eye of mind), 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." Wilber explains why it is critical that the proper "eye," and the corresponding modes of investigation and verification, are used to investigate, and establish validity claims in, the various realms in the spectrum of consciousness. More importantly, he says that all these realms can indeed be known, and that the validity of such knowledge can be tested and verified by the same "scientific" method now applied to the material and rational realms, provided the proper eye, and the proper verification protocols, are used. This consitutes nothing less than a breakthrough in the logjam of modern epistemology.

Wilber builds on this core material by exploring 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 realms with repressed lower ones, etc.)This compounds the likelihood of using the wrong eye to investigate particularly the higher realms of the real.

"Eye to Eye" is probably not the book to begin with if you have not read any of Ken Wilber's work. It is rather technical and does not contain a very good overview of his thought system, which may make it more difficult to fully appreciate this book. I recommend "A Brief History of Everything" as the best Wilber primer, and Wilber himself recommends the new "A Theory of Everything." However, "Eye to Eye" is indispensible to more dedicated students of Wilber's work and, I would argue, to any serious student of epistemology.

deida's stuff is pretty much just adi da's stuff with a slight twist. deida was a one-time devotee of da's organisation, adidam, and if you check through da's books (especially early ones like 'the enlightenment of the whole body', 'the garbage and the goddess', 'love of the two-armed form' and 'the dreaded gom-goo') you have more or less already seen the scope of deida's teaching. also it might help to know that da is considered to be a dangerous, misleading failure by the majority of spiritual teachers world-wide, as well as many noted ex-students, and as deida's work is such a close match to da's then maybe it is better left alone.

"The waves of deep sex can drench you open as an ocean of sacred loving - but just as likely, you can find yourself stranded in pain and loneliness. Sex can offer an openness that washes your heart wide to God, and yet sex is also where your tightest fears can hold you back." -David Deida

Can you really find God through sex? Is this the creative force, divine energy, love or the God who we find in scriptures? The God David Deida guides us towards seems to be a bright light, a center of love and comfort, a place of fulfillment. In a way, you are discovering yourself and learning to give love as God does.

God loves us unconditionally. He loves us when we are angry, when we hurt and even when we reject him. This book is really more about finding your inner power. Finding the power to do good and to show love. For God is Love.

So, through reading this book, will you "find God?" That depends on who you think God is and what you are looking for. If you are looking for an intellectual explanation of the qualities of God, sex is probably not the way to experience those aspects and you might want to reach for a Bible to guide your soul into an eternal direction.

If you are looking for a deep feeling of fulfillment here on earth and want to experience an all-pervading force of love during sex, then you might be moving in the right direction by reading this book in addition to your chosen scriptures.

This is more about finding a place where you transcend time and space and enter a radiant reality. You become a primal god and goddess experiencing love in its most beautiful forms. Sex becomes sacred and divine and welcomes a full expression of bodily pleasure.

I think you will find a deeper understanding of love, sex and relationships. You will discover your ability to love more fully and become loving in moments when you didn't realize you could. When your partner is upset, you will find new powers within yourself to calm and soothe the troubled seas and enjoy the abilities you have to use your entire being to nurture your lover.

Yehudi Menuhin once said: "Each human being has the eternal duty of transforming the hard and brutal into a subtle and tender offering, what is crude into refinement, what is ugly into beauty, ignorance into knowledge, confrontation into collaboration, thereby rediscovering the child's dream of a creative reality incessantly renewed by death, the servant of life, and by life the servant of love."

David Deida seems to share this creative vision in regards to relationships. This book is about creating more love, educating ourselves so we can adjust to changing patterns in our relationships and transforming situations of conflict into situations of deep beauty and acceptance. It is really about dying to what is negative to be reborn into the positive.

It can be difficult to take feelings of fear and rejection, anger and hate and turn them into love. But with the right techniques and a life purpose focused in the direction of loving other human beings to the fullest degree, this does seem possible.

The rewards in following this path are greater than the pain you will feel when you submit to the accepting and all encompassing feeling of love. Because in reality, it is painful to let go of hate and anger. We are at times comforted by these negative feelings, but David Deida shows how punishing your partner can be very destructive.

David Deida has creative solutions for dealing with these natural desires. Instead of stopping the flow of energy, he encourages a redirecting of energy so it becomes love. He turns anger into love. He turns rejection into acceptance. It is profoundly beautiful, yet difficult to practice.

Can a more spiritual, deep sexual experience make you more fulfilled as a human being?
Is surrender the doorway to the deepest possible sex?
What does this surrender mean?

Throughout this book it seems the author is encouraging women to be more aggressive and men to be more loving. He seems to be seeking a balance. He is also willing to tell you about every deep desire men and women have in its fullest beauty and ugliness.

He will push some of your buttons, shock you with his thoughts and at times present very controversial topics. When reading various passages, read them to the end because you will see how he "shocks to get your attention" then "concludes in a loving way."

You won't agree with all his ideas, you will even find yourself rejecting some of his thoughts. It depends on your religious beliefs. You may be against certain practices in sex or you may have very strong beliefs about staying with one partner for life. Yet this author is willing to present life in its most raw form. He presents what actually occurs, what people actually do think. There is no place to hide from reality.

David Deida dives right into spiritual erotica. This book is a wild ride from start to finish. There is nothing tame here. "Finding God Through Sex" is naked honesty. It is a journey into an erotic world of loving deeply, finding your heart's deepest desires and then allowing yourself to become a servant of love.

Before reading this book, you might want to discover:

Naked Buddhism
Living Sacred Intimacy - A 2 CD Set
Dear Lover: A Woman's Guide to Enjoying Love's Deepest Bliss
Spirit Sex Love - A Seminar on Sexual spirituality
The Way of the Superior Man: A Spiritual Guide to Mastering the Challenges
of Women, Work, and Sexual Desire.

I felt that experiencing the selections above helped me to be more accepting of the ideas in this book. I think the ideas in each book build on each other and help you form a complete picture of how to "become love."

A Guide to Experiencing Deep Pleasure in This Life.

-TheRebeccaReview.com

Finding God Through Sex: A Spiritual Guide To Ecstatic Loving And Deep Passion For Men And Women by author, spirituality and human sexuality expert David Deida is an informative, thoughtful, emotional, and quite practical guide to the art and craft of enriching our spiritual life and taking deep pleasures in the love and sexuality that is God's gift to humankind. From learning how to connect and balance lust and love, to learning to open oneself to ecstasy, to lowering barriers to our innermost emotions, Finding God Through Sex is a profoundly insightful, spiritually sensitive, and accessibly written guide which is highly recommended reading in both matters of the physical flesh and the needs of the soul.

This book (as well as other things by this writer) will be a delight for the pseudo intellectual who is impressed with "New Age" writing that is filled with half, or less than half "truths" obscured with excess verbiage and biased assumptions about the natural world, as well as by those who want to feel that they are delving deeply into "spiritual insights." The writer appears to have little understanding of "Quantum Mechanics" and no knowledge of the field of psychology or religion. Apparently, he believes that physics stopped with Einstein, psychology with Freud and Jung (even though the latter two are not considered psychologists), and religion with Luther. Philosophers might wonder if the author had ever heard of Paul Tillich or Frank Tipler -- the latter actually might supply some support to his biases and the former might enlighten him on modern theology. For the serious reader who wants quick reads for enlightenment, one would recommend Carl Sagan's "Demon Haunted World," Stark's and Finke's, "Acts of Faith," and especially Mike Shermer's "Why People Believe Weird Things".

If science and religion split after Pythagoras, this book proves that is really was not so. If you believe that science takes away faith, think again. Ken Wilber gives us essays from the greatest minds that shaped the 20th Century. Starting with Heisenberg and ending with Eddington, Wilbers collection of essays is a wonderful example of how it was the deepest of faiths and ideas in God and religion that drove some of the best minds. In his introduction, Wilber goes the step ahead to actually almost lay such faith and views as a precondition to stellar scientific achievement. What Wilber attempts here in his introduction is a masterly synthesis of human thought, in some bold extrapolations.

Definitely worth reading and keeeping as a precious possession.

Aside from the great collection of writings by the world's great physicists, the introduction by Ken Wilber is worth the price of this book. If the reader can understand this well written 25 pages, he or she will be able to understand the world and our place within it. Not recommended for close-minded, pseudo-scientific persons.

When I was younger and a little less wise (and a lot less knowledgeable), I was one of those who was impressed by Ken Wilber's remarkable range of learning and his confident claims of an objective basis for his religious system. Intrigued, I searched down several of his source documents and, while they did not exactly disprove his model, it became clear that his castle was build on a foundation of shifing sands. Undaunted, I still thought it at least valuable as metaphor. Then, I read this one--his diary--and saw what all these grandiose, self-referential beliefs had done to their author, and I came to understand that in fact, Wilber's works do more harm than good. Wilber, as many have noted, is self-absorbed with his ideas to the point of delusion, and it has made him unreasonably defensive towards his many attackers. His followers do the same, and are showing all the signs of becoming an intellectual cult of the Ayn Rand or Sartre variety. I have read hundreds of spritual biographies, and if there is a pattern, it is that those who say you can only teach yourself are invariably humble, and those who are dedicated to topheavy systems (like Wilber's) always tell you that you need a teacher (the creator of the system, of course), and always degenerate into just this kind of madness. If this peek into Wilber's true nature doesn't make you think twice, you need to examine your own motivations in projecting wisdom onto a man who is merely a fluent writer indulging himself in a single theme, his own genius.

An unconventional book for old baldie. Half of this book is very deep writing on the nature of reality and the other half is a description of Ken running around with his new girlfriend. Half the substance of this book has already appeared on the Shambhala website. Ken spills the beans that he does and has for some time experienced the ultimate non-dual state of consciousness.

This is wonderful book that gives us a rare glimpse into Ken Wilber's personal life, he writes this book in a much more relaxed and fun manner. It's a great introduction to his works, there are many brilliant insights and summaries of many concepts. I would recommend this book to anybody interested in a spiritual path. Read everything this man writes, it will change your life!

I'll admit it straight out: I'm a Wilber fan. After thirty years of philosophical study and spiritual practice, I have only begun to read his work in the past year, but I find that it helps me synthesize many of the disparate thought currents I have studied with each other and with my own experience over thirty years of meditative practice. True, you have to be skeptical of anyone's ability to even read, much less thoroughly understand, all of the farflung disciplines that Wilber cites and purports to synthesize in his work. And in the (many) areas he cites of which I have little or no personal knowledge, it's pretty hard to know whether he's doing a complete or accurate job of analyzing them.

But in those areas I do know something about, I have found his work to be as accurate, as luminous and as brilliant as anything I have read. For example, I think he does a better job of summarizing the importance and weaknesses of the work of Immanuel Kant than Arthur Schopenhauer did, and he didn't do such a bad job. His descriptions of meditative states are congruent with my own experiences and with the described experiences of the many writers on that subject with which I am familiar. So he has earned so far a high degree of credibility with me.

The Atman Project attempts to integrate the work of developmental psychology with pre-egoic, pre-rational structures of consciousness with the experience of the mystical traditions with post-egoic, post-rational structures, to form a picture of how the individual evolves from structure to structure "up" the hierarchy, or "holarchy" in Wilber language, of these stages. There is a discussion of how "Spirit" "involves" itself downward through these structures and creates the imperative to evolve back up through them to Self-realization.

This book was an early work of Wilber's, and though seminal to his thinking, in many ways does not accurately (or at least completely) reflect his current thought system. He states as much himself in later works. I therefore do not recommend it as an introduction to Wilber, but would instead recommend a later work, such as "A Brief History of Everything" or perhaps "The Essential Ken Wilber" for that purpose. And that is why I only give it three stars instead of the five stars I would give to the other six Wilber works I have read so far. However, the more committed Wilber student will find this book helpful in understanding Wilber's notion of how the individual negotiates its way along the "spectrum of consciousness" (though I think a better and more complete explanation can be found in "The Eye of Spirit") and, armed with some understanding of Wilber's more recent writings, perhaps will be less likely to mistake this for being a comprehensive treatment of even this part of his thought. I recommend it for that purpose.

This is a book about human evolution and spirit involution. Wilber painstakenly reviews the stages of growth from the Pleromatic stages up through the Subtle, Causal then finally Non-dual. The Atman Project is regarded as one of the core which upon which Wilber's later and more complex books are based. This is an outstanding work and now my second favorite Wilber book after Eye to Eye.

There are some people that suggest that Wilber has been too repetitive in his last few books. That he's simply been repeating the same basic refrain over and over again. I can understand that criticism, but I disagree with it. Wilber's theory of integration is both complex and important, and I find it incredibly useful to have new books in which he expands the examples of his theory. My own feeling is that the integral theory is a very important theory to understand, so the more in depth Wilber goes, and the various diffirent paths of exploration he goes at his thory from, the happier I am, as I feel like I have a greater grasp of what he's speaking about. As an aside, there is a wondeful novel called We All Fall Down by Brian Caldwell which seems to take quite a bit of Wilber's theory, and even mentions him several times in the book. The novel is a great example of a man caught trying to transform his life into something better, but who is able only to translate. It's about the frustration and difficulties in trying to move up to the next level of consciousness. Techinically, it's set in a Christian framework, but it elevates past that small structure and uses it to really bring home quite a few of Wilber's theories. It's a wonderful novel and I'd highly recomend it to any fan of Wilber.

One can't fault Wilber for his simplicity and gift for conveying the subtleties of integral thought. Vastly well-read, he's also a leading systematizer in the field of transpersonal psychology. Of course, depth-psych mavericks like me keep wondering whether, for example, the game of life is less a matter of holarchies, growth, and spiritual ascendance than of a deepening down and enriching of soulful experience (regardless of where you are in someone else's hierarchy)--but Wilber supplies the best overall developmental scheme I know of. If you're new to the integral studies field, definitely start with him.

With emphasis on Wilber's post-1990 works, this reader conveys the flavor of his current position. It lacks structure and background, though, and could have benefited from a biographical sketch. For a systematic treatment of Wilbers intellectual universe, see my forthcoming "Ken Wilber: Thought as Passion", to be published in Dutch Spring 1999 (English translation forthcoming soon afterwards).

This book is misleadingly titled, in that it does not, in my opinion, contain the essential core of Ken Wilber's thought. It's not even a greatest hits collection. What this book is most useful for is to dip one's toe into Wilber's vast and brilliant work in order to see if it's worth one's time to more thoroughly investigate his work. If you want to take the word of many of the most profound thinkers of this time that Ken Wilber is doing some of the most comprehensive and important thinking and writing of anyone alive today, then skip this book and proceed directly to "A Brief History of Everything." That book is more like the essential Ken Wilber in that it is a succinct and accessible, but fairly comprehensive summary of his system of integral theory. "A Theory of Everything," a more recent book, is KW's own choice for the "best" introduction to his work. Both those books, although not as technical and dense as much of his lengthier work (and aimed at a more popular readership), are still reasonably demanding and linear in exposition.

"The Essential Ken Wilber" is a collection of excerpts from his other books. It is organized in bite-sized parcels that can be read and thought about, picking the book up and putting it back down, without your feeling like you have to plow through the whole thing or you'll lose the thread. It will give you a tantalizing taste of his thinking and his writing style without having to work too hard to get it. If you have read any of KW's other work, you don't need this one. Instead, buy and read any of his other books you haven't gotten to yet.

If you have not yet read Ken Wilber, what's all the fuss about? This book will give you some clues. Suffice it to say here (see my reviews of ABHE and ATOE for a more detailed overview) is that if you are interested in philosophy, mysticism, or a scientific, social or political approach to understanding human nature and the deep truths of existence, and wonder how any or all of these (and many other) approaches to those subjects might fit together, KW is the person who is contributing the most of anyone today to anwering that question. Although the title of this book may not accurately describe its contents, it does accurately describe its author.

this was the first book i read by ken wilber. i have seen some comments by readers of other titles saying that they found him egotistical, but i thoroughly enjoyed & savored this book...no one owns the truth and when you see/hear it, you know it, regardless of who presents it, and i don't think that really matters. anyways, it was just right for starters...not too technical but definitely not trivial...enlightening & thought provoking.

Before deifying this author, I suggest you read Luna Tarlo's book
'The Mother of God'.

Too many believe in the concept of 'enlightenment' and submit themselves to the will of another human just as flawed (if not more so) as themselves. For true liberation read 'The Guru Papers'. I also recommend Agahananda Bharati's book 'Context & Pretext of Modern Mysticism'.

After Ken Wilber's powerful forward telling us how Andrew Cohen is a "rude boy" of enlightenment who's just going around and ripping the rug out from under people and smashing all their ego houses built on sand, I expected to be really roughed up by this book. Instead after reading it twice I feel very unchallenged. I have never read Cohen before so maybe his other books have some sting. The whole book is in question and answer format which in itself is not bad, but the questioner is just so squeamish and polite that the book never gets kicking.
Check out this quote from page 19,

Question- For someone qualified to give all these answers about enlightenment, obviously they must believe that they're enlightened. So Andrew, are you enlightened?
Answer- I never answer that kind of question.
Question-Why not?
Answer- It's not the politically correct thing to do!

He goes on to say that he doesn't want to give the wrong impression and that people might misunderstand. Now compare Cohen's response to a truly awakened Stephen Jourdain's response to essentially the same question.

Jourdain- If one were to ask me point blank, "Are you God?" I am not going to dodge the question. I'll answer, "Yes, I'm God, that's obvious."

Cohen as many other spiritual writers talk about the compassion that naturally descends upon a person as they begin to contact that Higher Self or begin to Awake. People talk about love and mercy. My own experiences with Awakening did not reflect this and I was shaking my head in knowing agreement as I read this passage from Stephen Jourdain's book Radical Awakening,

"In what people term "fact," I see the face of Satan and I run him through with my sword! I have no respect for my organs(body), no respect for the five billion mortal and vulnerable humans, the little Chinese and all the rest. I have no respect for the cosmos. As far as I'm concerned, it can go to [heck]! The only thing that strikes me as legitimate is the earthly landscape in which I find myself in this very instant. All the rest is mere nothingness, a trumped up fable produced by the wrong source."

Now those are the words of a "rude boy!" If you want to learn about being Awakened buy Stephen Jourdain's Radical Awaking, it is literally the most shocking and incredible book I have ever read. He is truly awakened. But if you don't like the feel of a bamboo rod across your shoulders then forget about Enlightenment and stick to some New Age crystal meditation books.

... Andrew Cohen has been guiding spiritual seekers to the Answer to life's biggest questions for over 16 years, ever since he attained a permanent realization of such enlightenment through his relationship with an Indian guru when he was 30 years old. ... This book, his latest (and more widely accessible volume than his thoroughly detailed manual of enlightenment, "Embracing Heaven & Earth"), is simultaneously a refined, cohesive summary of his previous writings and also something quite new: for the first time, Andrew's full presence seems to seep through the pages with both the passionate urgency of his God-engendered message and the passionate _humor_ of his very human self. This is likely a result of the book being written in conversational Q & A format, transcribed from actual dialogues, and similar to his most popular book, the transcendent "Enlightenment Is a Secret," but it's been done in a way that is, in every sense of the expression, more "fleshed out."

And it covers _everything_, just about everything one could imagine oneself asking an enlightened master if given the opportunity. Over 100 questions are asked, and fully answered, in 20 chapters, with topics ranging from the perennial classics of surrender, humility, and karma, to less familiar ones such as the role of gender differences in the pursuit of enlightenment, or the question of awakening to "the consciousness of absolute zero" beyond time and how that relates to the evolution of manifest consciousness in time. Throughout it all, though, Andrew is insistent on one point above all others: the ego--which is the "emotional and psychological knot in consciousness that is the fundamental cause of the sense of separation from all of life"--must be killed or unraveled, transgressed or transcended, if true Freedom is to be attained. In fact, even though this is something most teachers of enlightenment comment on in some way or another (and historically always have), Andrew takes it deadly seriously, like a classic Zen master, taking an absolute stand against all the games of Narcissus in a way that few teachers in the modern spiritual marketplace--especially those of the Neo-Advaitin brand--seem to approve of. He likens the ego's persistent obsession with its personal melodrama, for example, to constantly sticking one's head in a garbage can and marveling at all the putrid junk inside. "How harsh and cruel, with such an unpleasant tone!" the offended cry. "Just let the ego be, perfect as it is--including everything it does, since it's all pure consciousness anyway--and be free!" they implore. Yet Andrew has been around too long and worked too closely with too many human beings to buy into such shallow, nontransformative nonsense. "Anybody who says the ego isn't a big deal," he has said, "doesn't know what they're talking about." It is this, in part, that has earned him his "rude boy" status, as eloquently described in Ken Wilber's vigorous foreword to the book.

So if you're looking for a candy-coated, sweetness-and-light handbook to spiritual awakening, this definitely ain't it. It is impossible to take what Andrew says in this book seriously--deeply seriously, to the depths of your very soul--and not feel your ego climbing up the walls of your skull, clawing to get away from the overwhelming implications of his message. But if you're genuinely interested in a radical transformation that will shake you to the core, bring to light the heinous nature of the devil inside us all, and ultimately liberate you into an ecstatically alive infinity of Love that is one with the cosmic force of evolution itself--and grounded in the awesome depth of ever-present Mystery--then, as Mr. Wilber concurs, "you have come to the right place."

All the greatest teachers were great because they could grasp high concepts and speak about them in plain everyday terms. Mr. Wilbur can do neither, and he has so many quotes, the book borders on plagarism. This book can only serve to hinder your ability to speak in English (see the other review).

In 1973 a young biochemistry student leaves grad school to pursue an area of study that is generally considered the antithesis of intellectual maturity. He wants to study consciousness, not as a Skinnerian phantom byproduct of the brain, but as a multidimensional reality--spanning from id to ego to soul to all-pervading Spirit. Ken Wilber, age 24, begins to write a book about this "spectrum of consciousness," detailing both how Spirit "steps down" into time and space to create an EM-like spectrum of levels of awareness, and how various schools of inquiry are all definitely studying the same basic "consciousness," but from entirely different perspectives. Because each level of the spectrum has its own distinct contours, Wilber explains, disparate disciplines of investigation (e.g., Freudian and Buddhist) might at first seem contradictory, but only if it isn't understood that consciousness manifests in _levels_, with each valid approach simply speaking to a specific level.

Thus, with that insight, Wilber establishes a model that instantly diffuses decades of bickering between researchers of the vague and mysterious "consciousness." It's as though a scientist, a philosopher, and a theologian had been standing around arguing for years about whose interpretation of the phenomenon called "rainbow" was the correct one--whether it's "empirically proved to be red" or "most axiomatically green" or "nothing but violet, as the scripture says," etc.--and then some kid comes along, patiently indicates each color of a rainbow to them, and says, "Look! You're ALL right!" Then the three researchers stare, dumbfounded, and marvel at their stupidity.

Volume One of the _Collected Works_ features that kid's first two books, _The Spectrum of Consciousness_ and _No Boundary_, as well as three essays that cover specific applications of the spectrum model to certain metaphysical concepts. _Spectrum_ begins with an overview of the model, explaining how "Eastern" and "Western" approaches to consciousness can finally be united by plugging their various lines of research into the appropriate levels of the spectrum. The next few chapters explain how reality is a "nonduality"--an ineffable Unity--of subject and object, and how this is crucial to understanding how the various levels of consciousness become manifest in the first place.

The second part of the book is an attempt to integrate actual psychological and spiritual disciplines--both "Eastern" and "Western"--into the spectrum model. From Freud's "id" to Huang-po's "Mind," a worthy attempt is made to cover all aspects of the multidimensional human psyche. The last chapters cover the "transpersonal" levels of soul and Spirit, with the final "Always Already" chapter capturing the most sacred spiritual truth--namely, that if God really is infinite and eternal, then he must be fully present right _here_ and right _now_, awake and aware as the Source of your own present level of consciousness, no matter what level that might be.

The next book, _No Boundary_, begins where the last one ends. Much less scholarly in its style and approach--but ten times more entertaining and lively--it takes the nondual revelation as its starting point and then describes why we don't normally experience this state but instead find ourselves in a world of mind-made dualities. Wilber explains that all dualities are purely illusory, with no actual separation and isolation appearing anywhere in reality. Day and night are not separate, but rather blend into one another seamlessly; life and death are not different, but rather two names for the same thing. To have a death without a life is absurd, as is an up without a down or an object without a subject. Reality itself is an infinite field of "unity consciousness," or nondual Spirit, with no real distinctions at all.

The rest of _No Boundary_ shows how growth through the levels of the spectrum is simply a transcendence of boundaries, culminating in the final growth beyond the "primary dualism"--which is the split between subject and object--whereupon all duality dissolves into the seamless play of our own vast and timeless Consciousness, with neither a seer nor a seen anywhere in sight.

As an introduction to nondual mysticism, _No Boundary_ is simply unsurpassed. _The Spectrum of Consciousness_ is essential reading for anyone intrigued by that peculiar "thing" that is right now comprehending these words, but less than satisfied with the explanations offered by the metaphysical position of scientific materialism. These books, however, are not free of error, as Wilber is the first to admit. One of the most glaring is the infamous "pre/trans fallacy," or the Romantic inclination of viewing egoity as a "fall" from a previous God-unified state into a corrupted state of dualism and ignorance. This view sees the human child immersed in blissful unity with the world, sees the adult ego as a perversion of this "pure" state, and understands mystical enlightenment as a reinstatement of the childhood consciousness. This view--of development progressing from X to Y to X--is expressed in this volume of Wilber's work. But it is a position that is completely untenable, since enlightened sagacity is most definitely _not_ a regression to a pre-egoic, infantile state, but rather a development to a trans-egoic, trans-rational state. It is just that from the viewpoint of rationality (Y), both pre-rationality (X) and trans-rationality (Z), precisely because they are both _non_-rational (non-Y), can at first seem awfully similar. A closer look, however, easily reveals their differences.

But that problem aside, these two books stand as the cornerstones to a philosophical vision that is growing increasingly integral and all-around _useful_ with each subsequent publication. It is his masterful style of putting the most deep and complex subjects into simple and lively wording--to say nothing of his sheer brilliance--that have won Ken Wilber such worldwide adoration. For this philosophically stimulating and spiritually profound introduction to his work--despite the minor system kinks that hadn't yet been worked out--I can only give my fullest recommendation. Read it, learn it, love it, and if you're willing, _live_ it, for the central message of Wilber's work is far from theoretical.

This book is a reprint of the November/December 2000 issue of the Journal of Consciousness Studies. I read it looking for something that I will continue to wait for, a science that goes beyond descriptions and speculation regarding the nature of religious experience. Are those who say cognitive psychology and atheistic assumptions are enough to explain religion correct in that? I don't believe so. Religious experience is data waiting for a way of analysis that would convince a skeptic of that. Maybe the wait will be beyond what anyone can wait. This book does not provide anything new along these lines, but it is a good summary of some areas.

The difficulty is not for lack of effort. Jensine Andresen does a good job summarizing 50 years of research on physical effects of meditation. The autonomic effects are well documented, including how different meditation styles and different degrees of experience can induce relaxation or activation. Brain imaging studies are described, though it remains to be seen if findings noted there are actually adding anything to the meaning of autonomic effects measured peripherally. The greatest obstacle to doing more with this is not anything subjective about the experience. It's a matter of how limited neuroscience remains to answering certain questions. The simplest theory of how meditation lowers blood pressure is easy to state in terms of reducing input to the sympathetic nervous system, but what are the details? What inputs are there as we go about our lives in an ordinary state of consciousness? What aspect of meditation is necessary to change that? What aspects make the effect optimal? How might the benefit of lower blood pressure be extended further into states of normal consciousness? What is actually going on here? This book describes how crude studies relevant to such questions have been done across many types of meditation, but it is neuroscience itself that is still lacking techniques to connect cause and effect in a way that such studies can say anything more than, "There's something there." Maybe more experience with functional brain imaging will change that, but it remains to be seen.

Much of what else is described in this book suffers from the same problem, only more so, because the effects being addressed by other authors include perception, cognition, and motivation, transcendent or otherwise, where it's even harder to talk about brain mechanisms in a detailed way. Other authors are also less systematic than Andresen and prone to speculative models of experience and consciousness that don't necessarily have anything to do with natural or spiritual principles.

This book may be useful to those who are interested in learning more about the phenomenology of religious experience. It does provide multiple approaches to choose from. Other authors who are notably conscientious about their subjects include Phillip H. Wiebe writing on Christic visions and James H. Austin on the neuroanatomy and neurophysiology of consciousness. Don't expect any useful conclusions. Until neuroscience becomes even more detailed or experiments such as those regarding the power of prayer in medicine become more impressive, this sort of thing is still going to be a matter of preaching to the choir.