FTP113, 114: Ken Wilber – Practices for Higher Stages of Development

We are continuing our long interview with philosopher Ken Wilber, the creator of Integral Theory and one of the key figures in the area of consciousness studies of our time.

In these parts of the conversation we talk about useful practices for waking up, growing up, cleaning up, and showing up for life, i.e. for transitioning from the 1st onto the 2nd tier of human development.

We also discuss what “killing Buddha on the road” really means, what are the “pros” and “cons” of going through the waking up process, and how to deal with nihilism and desire for certainty on the path of personal and spiritual development.

Very few people escape childhood without some sort of significant shadow material - @TheKenWilber Click To Tweet

In This Episode of Future Thinkers:

• The practices that individuals can do right now to support their development process
• Why start from cleaning up the unconscious and repressed shadow material
• Taking the role of other and 3-2-1 practice for integrating the shadow
• How you can start practicing waking up with Neti Neti observation
• Growing up process – conventional vs. true self
• Showing up for reality – integrating all 4 quadrants of the Integral framework
• The Good, The True, The Beautiful and how it relates to the development process
• What are the 3 stages of moral development
• Who are the people who are practicing waking up, growing up, cleaning up and showing up best?
• Potentials of technology to mediate growing up and collective intelligence processes
• Overcoming the stumbling blocks on the path to enlightenment
• Waking up – why do it, why not do it?
• How much time it takes to wake up, and why”ego death” is not permanent
• The delusion of quantum physics and the desire for certainty

If we take eternity to mean not infinite temporal duration but timelessness, then eternal life belongs to those who live in the present. - Ludwig Wittgenstein Click To Tweet

Resources and Mentions:

• What is Integral Approach
• Ram Dass, spiritual teacher (1931-2019)
• Jordan Peterson describes his awakening process

If you die before you die, then when you die you won’t die. - @TheKenWilber Click To Tweet

Book Recommendations:

• The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James
• Sex, Ecology, Spirituality by Ken Wilber
• The Philosophy of Moral Development by Lawrence Kohlberg
• Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing by Jed McKenna
• Quantum Questions, edited by Ken Wilber

More From Future Thinkers:

• FTP111,112: Ken Wilber – What’s The Problem With the World Today?
• FTP095: Michael Taft – The Path of Self-Development and Spiritual Awakening
• FTP065: Dean Radin – Real Magic and The Future of Science
• FTP039: Dr. Jordan Peterson – Archetypes, Psychedelics and Enlightenment