Ken Wilber and the 3 Faces of God

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earl

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The current edition of the magazine "What is Enlightenment?" caught my eye due to an article in it re Ken Wilber's newest book re integral spirituality. Wilber is well known for his many books exploring the spiritual among other topics and he has always primarily focused upon the strictly nondual. This article caught my eye as for the first time I see him speaking of a form of spiritual trinity he calls the 3 faces of God: one face is the aspect of God the imminent-our innermost being and the position of pure non-dual witnessing we may experience, associated with the God of "I AM." Another face he has long spoken of : the Kosmos-as web of life, the intuition of connectedness with all. But for first time I've seen him admit the third face: he speaks of how "God," the Divine is also an Other, with the need for us to recognize an aspect that is greater than us/our possible perspectives, God the Mystery. How in fact, without an individual being willing to acknowledge that face and express a devotional relationship to it, the vesitges of ego can probably remain entrenched since the path of "I AM" can so subtly reinforce the ego-ego mistakes itself for God. This makes more sense to me than a strictly nondual perspective and would accord with a panentheistic perspective as both an immanence to the Divine and a transcendent aspect. Well time for bed. Have a good one, earl
 
I debated where to post this link as it equally applied to something I'd contributed in the knowledge vs. belief thread in the Belief & Spirituality forum, but will put it here as it perhaps illustrates what Wilber was alluding to in reference to the 2nd face of God and the subtle ways we can reinforce the very self we seek to see through with "self power" paths, (though utlimately when far enough down an awarenss path presumably notion of "self" and "other" become quite meaningless). This link takes one to a very nice discussion of the place of surrender to "grace" of an other and how it can be a very necessary counter-point to someone who is on a path of gnosis. It is a discussion of this dynamic as it applies to Zen and Pure Land Buddhism by Kyogen Carlson a modern day American Zen roshi, which I think as broader implications than just for Buddhist practitioners:

http://www.dharma-rain.org/StillPoint/archives/SPnov_dec04.shtml

Take care, earl
 
dawgonnit Earl, now there's another book I can't live without!:D

Thanks for the link, the story hits me where I'm at right now

Peace

Mark
 
Earl...every time that you post another link that interests me I feel like the white rabbit who pulls out his watch, twitches his nose, shakes his head, and then plunges into another hole...but thanks !

flow...:)
 
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