It is difficult to synthesize Wilber’s work in a few paragraphs, as he seems to cover, throughout the book, almost every possible aspect of consciousness known to man and to mention every theory and thinker that has ever done any work on consciousness. So I will not even try. I must say that so far, I have found this text interesting (some of Wilber’s comments and observation are right on the money), however I feel that, with wanting to incorporate too much, Wilber looses in clarity. After a while I just felt annoyed and overloaded with information that was rarely taken to any depth. I have read the work of some of the thinkers and psychologists that he mentions, but not enough for his quick referencing to make much sense. I would have preferred that he had either written a longer book, that spent a little more time on the theories that he is attempting to elaborate and evolve upon, or that he would leave some of these details out all together and get to the point of what his own model was and why. Instead he takes us all around the houses and I had to reread what he says over and over, as I kept loosing his train of thought. I think Wilber is a very good theorist but definitely not my kind of writer. Having said that, there are a few things I would like to comment upon, as they seem very interesting and different from what we have read so far.
I liked the fact that Wilber states that peak experiences can happen at any age or developmental stage in life. He makes a good and subtle point that the varying levels of consciousness determine how these peak experiences are interpreted and integrated, but not the existence of the peak experience itself, that can happen to anyone at any time: the door to Spirit is always open. One of the reasons that this is so is that Wilber’s view of Spirit is holographic in nature. The larger whole contains the smaller whole and in fact the higher levels of consciousness contain the lower ones and Spirit, the most expanded category within the Great Nest is both immanent and transcendent at the same time, i.e. Spirit transcends all categories, but all categories also contain Spirit.
I would say that what is most distinctive and relevant in his theory/thought, is that he sees evolution as happening expanding concentric zones, each one a stage of development, within which subtler developmental currents are to be found. Growth happens in more than one direction at a time. Vertically, hierarchically, moving from concentric zone to another, but also horizontally, within each concentric zone itself, the Self consolidating and expanding within each level of consciousness, before moving on. He also comments that consciousness expands in different streams, different areas of focus and of life, at different speeds. I would tend to agree with him. . His model of consciousness evolution is complex. It has almost a three-dimensional feeling. He calls this model of consciousness Holoarchic, a word that he creates , that is a mixture of holographic and hierarchical, as both these aspects are contained within his model of growth.
Wilber's Four Quadrant model, just reinforces what he says within other aspects of his theory. Although we can focus on one aspect of growth of the Self, as it navigates the Great Nest, and although we can find within it a linear evolutionary sequences, in reality, all aspects of growth are interconnected, part of a greater whole. And this greater whole is multifaceted in nature and not always that simple to describe in a linear fashion, that I think is also why his book is so confusing, as he is really describing a multidimensional model.
I also liked how he describes the evolutionary path of the Self, although I thought that his division of the Overall Self into two Selves- the proximate Self and the distal self, a little arbitrary. However his idea that the Self would first exist at one level of consciousness and then have to detach from it and, to some extent die, as it leaps to the next level of being, very accurate. I think much more accurate than Washburn’s theory that seemed to suggest just one ego death, even if prolonged.
In closing, I would like to mention that I liked his comment on typology. He comments on how a certain personality type will be different depending on the level of consciousness of the person displaying that particular personality type. This is very true in my opinion and, as an astrologer, I was taught that the chart of an individual is different depending on the level of consciousness of the individual. Different planets and different signs have a different quality depending on the level of evolution of the person to which the chart belongs. I would certainly agree with his observations on this point and I think that it is an important point, especially considering how much psychological type tests are used these days.
©2004 Katie Gallanti. All rights reserved. http://katiespapaers.blogspot.com. This article was an assignment for a class on Theories of Consciousness.
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