INTEGRAL WORLD MAILING LIST http://www.integralworld.net Newsletter Nr. 575 Amsterdam, June 30th, 2015 David Lane has reached his 100th essay on Integral World, so I will republish his four pointed critiques of Wilber written about two decades ago. Here are two of them. In the next Newsletter I will post the remaining two critiques and reflect on Lane's contributions to Integral World. KEN WILBER'S ACHILLES' HEEL - The Art of Spiritual Hyperbole - Prefatory Note & Prologue - DAVID LANE First of all, this series is designed to point out the fundamental weaknesses that I see in Ken Wilber's work and, to some degree, in the whole transpersonal psychology movement. However, I should state right from the outset that I have tremendous respect for Ken Wilber and his books. I have used Wilber's ideas since I first started teaching in 1979. In almost all of my philosophy and religious studies classes (from high school to college to graduate studies) Ken Wilber's spectrum psychology has been instrumental. What I accuse Wilber of—gross, or should I say spiritual? exaggeration—is precisely what I have been (perhaps still am at times) guilty of. Quite simply, it is the tendency to "inflate," to "exaggerate," to "hype" those things that are not yet knowable. It is, in sum, the inclination to indulge in spiritual hyperboles that do not (perhaps cannot) convey the precision necessary for the progression of transpersonal psychology as a science. Wilber exaggerates and he exaggerates way too much, especially on matters of ultimate importance. Read more: http://www.integralworld.net/lane97.html KEN WILBER'S CONFUSED HYPE OF DA FREE JOHN - Ken Wilber's Achilles' Heel, Part 1 - DAVID LANE It is strange for me to say this, but Wilber is quite naive. Naive in interpreting a guru's status; naive in thinking that writing is somehow reflective of one's inner attainment; naive in thinking that just because he knows lots of maps, has meditated, and has a good reputation, that he somehow "knows" and is "certain" of Da's ontological status in the grand schema of the universe. It is just plain silly. I don't know, in truth, anybody's ultimate spiritual status. To be sure, I have read lots of books and talked to lots of gurus, but I don't “know.” And, Wilber doesn't either, and if you push him on it (I did when we met), he admits that there are many things about Da that are "funky." So why not just say, "Hey, I really get a lot out of his books." Who knows about the guy, but his books are cool. Or, if you really do like Da and the impression he gives you in public audiences, then say, "yea, I liked his vibe" (whatever that means). Yet, instead we get this not so disguised reprimand, as if we were the Pharisees who didn't recognize Christ as our Lord and Savior when he was alive. Read more: http://www.integralworld.net/lane98.html WILBER AND THE MISUNDERSTANDING OF EVOLUTION - Ken Wilber's Achilles' Heel, Part II - DAVID LANE Having taught Darwinian evolution (and its various manifestations, including punctuated equilibrium) in grammar school, in high school, in community college, in university, and in doctoral programs, for the past seventeen years I must say that Wilber's take on what evolution is about baffles me. Not only is Wilber inaccurate about how evolution is presently viewed among working biologists (remember Wilber says "absolutely nobody believes this anymore"—tell that to the two most popular writers on evolution today) but he is just plain wrong in his understanding of the details of how natural selection operates. One can only wonder how well he has read Darwin, or Gould, or Mayr, or Dawkins, or Wilson, or even Russell. None of these individuals would agree with Wilber's assessment. Read more: http://www.integralworld.net/lane1.html