What it is: Sex Ecology and Spirituality is the breakthrough book where Ken Wilber first described his All Quadrants, All Levels approach to Integral Thinking. This tour de force of scholarship and spirituality differentiates the pre-rational (magic and mythical) conceptions of spirituality from the rational and the trans-rational (phenomenological and experiential) conceptions of spirituality. He then places the various ideas of spirituality on a developmental spectrum from birth to enlightenment, examining each phase of development through 4 “quadrants” or perspectives that contrast interior and exterior on the one hand, and individual and collective on the other.

Growth Potential: 1) When we confuse magical or mythical forms of spirituality with trans-rational and experiential understandings of consciousness, we will often delude ourselves into thinking we are deepening our spiritual development when we are really deepening our delusion and fooling ourselves. By learning to differentiate between them, we can both recognize truly deep spiritual teaching and let go of pre-rational myths that hamper our spiritual growth. 2) We can learn to work with understand the responses that people at different levels of development will predictably exhibit, giving us greater ease and power in our social relations. 3) We can use these ideas to understand how seemingly disparate ideas and theorists actually compliment one another in describing the whole human condition. This synthesis allows us to integrate all of human knowledge into a coherent whole, even when the various teachers claim that they have the one and only or most important truths.

Pop Potential: Ken Wilber is transforming the academic and cultural landscape, bringing together many of the worlds most prestigious and prodigious teachers to his Integral Institute, including actors, politicians, entertainers, and authors. His work will be a central part of the new foundation for the future social and international organizations of the 21st century.

“Get Real” Potential: Many of the people whose work he both integrates and criticizes find his analysis arrogant and dominating. Ken is a very intellectual guy, and many suggest that he privileges thinking over feeling and intuition. Since his work is conceptual and covers pretty much the whole of the Human knowledge project, it is often so abstract that people accuse him of missing the trees for the forest. He himself admits this, and points out that the map he is creating is not the territory – and that if you remember it is a map, it is an incredibly valuable one.

What I Got out of it: This book gave words and structure to a whole series of experiences around consciousness and mind that had been a source of deep internal conflict. As I learned and applied his distinctions to my experience, the various pieces settled into place and my mind cleared, giving me powerful insights. My work, my relationships, my internal experience became simpler, while my capacity to impact others increased dramatically. Most of all, it made my experiences of consciousness, rationality, and emotions work together as a coherent whole.

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