The Simple Feeling of Being

June 14, 2004
The Hegel of Eastern spirituality, philosopher-psychologist-spiritual practitioner Wilber is made accessible in this single-volume anthology drawn from his 19 works. The man who wrote A Brief History of Everything
can be a formidable read given his strong theoretical bent, as selections illustrate ("the referents of the transcendental signifiers exist in a worldspace that is disclosed to those with the appropriate developmental signifieds"). But Wilber is essentially a mystic and interpreter of the mystic traditions of both the East and the West, as his wide-ranging references to spiritual masters make clear. He differs from many mystics, however, in ambitiously seeking the understanding as well as the experience of the non-dual consciousness of mysticism—the most suitable words as well as what the words signify. Selections can be lyrical and downright simple ("The directions to finding God, which are printed on the box in which your heart came, are simple"). Especially concrete is the unsparing, loving witness he offers of the death of his wife, the subject of Grace and Grit: Spirituality and Healing in the Life and Death of Treya Killam Wilber.
This taste of his work should earn new appreciation for the prolific author, offering a useful shortcut for those who have never been able to finish any of his frequently daunting volumes.