My Amazon Reviews of Ken Wilber’s Books

August 1, 2015

[I have reviewed three of Ken Wilber’s books at Amazon.com – “The Fourth Turning: Imagining the Evolution of an Integral Buddhism,” “Integral Psychology: Consciousness, Spirit, Psychology, Therapy,” and “Up from Eden.” These reviews, which follow, make clear my thinking on Wilber.]

The Fourth Turning: Imagining the Evolution of an Integral Buddhism

[My two-star Amazon review of this book is entitled “Two Stars with a Caveat.”]

The second I was notified this ebook was available, I immediately downloaded it and read it. This book is right up my alley, and I wouldn't be surprised if Ken Wilber got the idea for this book from my writings, wherein I talk about the need for another Turning of the Wheel--but more on that a little later in my review. I'm going to divide my review into three parts, which will mirror the book's three-part format (Past, Present, and Future).… Read the full article

Cracking the Cosmic Code, Part 1

July 3, 2015
In this informal series I will consider the all-important subject of “Cracking the Cosmic Code” – meaning demystifying and transcending the cosmic domain (multi-dimensional manifest existence) in the context of realizing (or awakening to and coinciding with) the unmanifest Di-“vine” Domain (Infinite Being, or Consciousness-Spirit), wherein Consciousness (or timeless Awareness) is one “vine” of the Divine Domain, or Infinite Being, and Spirit (or spaceless Clear-Light Energy) is the other.

I will consider this subject through the five essential “portals,” or branches, of classical philosophy – metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, politics, and esthetics. In this first Part of the series, my focus will be on metaphysics (including ontical, or radical-spiritual, metaphysics).

Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies existence. Mundane metaphysics limits existence to the universe of manifest existents; transcendental metaphysics, on the other hand, rightly understands that all existents are derivatives of a single transcendental and Divine Existent, or Being, which is hyper-cosmic, or infinite (meaning existing outside of, or beyond, creation and space-time).… Read the full article

Psychological Self-Understanding, Astrology, and Holistic Health

June 29, 2015
[Note: This is an excerpt from my book "Electrical Christianity: A Revolutionary Guide to Jesus' Teachings and Spiritual Enlightenment."]

Ken Wilber acknowledges the enneagram (a ninefold typology of personality types), but not astrology, as a means to psychological self-understanding. Unbeknownst to Wilber, the enneagram is derived from astrology, which subsumes and transcends it as a system of human classification and understanding. The nine enneagram types mirror the “qualities,” “traits,” or “energies” of the first nine astrological planets—Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Pluto is missing because the enneagram originated prior to the discovery of Pluto in 1930. Consequently, even on a superficial level, the enneagram is an incomplete tool for self- and other-understanding. But because Wilber is partially buried in the very zeitgeist “flatland” he heavily criticizes, he buys into the conventionally acceptable enneagram while rejecting the far more complete occult oversystem of astrology, from which it derives.… Read the full article

The Kabbalah, Part 6

June 24, 2015
[Note: Part 1-5 of this Kabbalah series are available at this blog.]

In this, the final Part of my Kabbalah series, I will complete my consideration of the Sephirot in relation to astrology and Tarot. Four Sephirot remain for me to consider: Tiferet, Yesod, Hod, and Malkuth.

The most common keyword associated with Tiferet is “beauty.” Other keywords for this Sephirot include “spirituality” and “integration.” I think “integration” is the best keyword, because this Sephirot is essentially about self-integration/self-actualization, on the highest level – meaning spiritual Self-realization.

It couldn’t be clearer that the Sun is the planet that correlates with Tiferet. The Sun is the integrating planet in astrology, the central body that all the other planets revolve around. The Sun Tarot Card is the obvious card for Tiferet. The common image in this card – two young, naked (meaning Virgin, or unborn) lovers holding hands under the shining Sun – implicitly refers to the union of Keter (Pluto/the Magician/Siva) and Da’at (Neptune/the High Priestess/Shakti) in the spiritual Heart-center (or Sun), the abode of the awakened Self, or Soul, or Son.… Read the full article

The Kabbalah, Part 5

June 24, 2015
[This is the 5th part of a 6-part series. Parts 1-4 have been posted at this blog.]

In Part 4 of this article, I began to consider the Sephirot in relation to astrology and Tarot, and in this Part I will continue my consideration. A key point I want to make is that I reject the 22 (or 32) paths as having any significance (or any reality, for that matter). What I do in my Kabbalah is to correlate each of the Sephirah (except Malkhut) with a planet and a Major Arcana Tarot card. In the case of the remaining Major Arcana, I associate each of cards with one of the twelve Zodiac signs. In short, my Kabbalah is not the Golden Dawn’s or anyone else’s.

In Part 4, I considered Keter (which I correlated with Pluto and the Magician, and Da’at, which I correlated with Neptune and the High Priestess). In this Part, I will first consider Chokmah.

Chokmah, to my mind, is a perfect match for the planet Uranus. Uranus, like Chokmah, represents the “higher mind,” or “Wisdom,” which is the common keyword associated with Chokmah. Uranus, which can be viewed as a higher octave of Mercury, also correlates with the buddhi (the higher discriminating intelligence in Yoga philosophy), and as such is about detaching from the binding mind forms of discursive thinking.… Read the full article

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