Ep. 115 (Part 1 of 3) | Brad Reynolds, author of Embracing Reality: The Integral Vision of Ken Wilber and Where’s Wilber At? Ken Wilber’s Integral Vision in the New Millennium, gives us a beautiful distillation of Ken Wilber’s work, starting from the beginning and spanning decades. Not only does Brad elegantly relate the major themes of Ken’s work, he also makes clear the value of Ken’s contributions—the way this knowledge can be understood and applied to literally expand our notion of reality and evolve our consciousness. Brad deftly leads us through the subjects that Ken has developed: the spectrum of consciousness, the integration of science and religion, transcending and including what has come before, the importance of the transpersonal, and much more. We learn why Ken’s teachings are timeless and also so relevant and important today.

Brad’s scholarship, his own spiritual practice and insight, his engaging, easygoing style, and the close working relationship he had with Ken for many years make this podcast a goldmine for learning the essence of Ken’s theories, for deepening our appreciation of the magnitude of Ken’s understanding, and above all, the topics covered here point the way for us to evolve as human beings. We come to understand that integral is much more than a theory: it’s a practice, a call to grow and transcend, to become more inclusive, more responsive—to live our true potential. Brad eloquently brings it home just how much we need integral thinkers and leaders right now, with regressive developmental trends on the rise. Especially pertinent in our polarized society, integral shows us how to take all that is valuable within ostensibly conflicting worldviews and integrate it for the benefit of all. Recorded January 3, 2024.

“Ken’s theory is based upon the reality of his transpersonal awareness—in other words, it’s based upon practice.”

(For Apple Podcast users, click here to view the complete show notes on the episode page.)

Topics & Time Stamps – Part 1

• Introducing author Brad Reynolds, who has synthesized Ken Wilber’s life work in his book Embracing Reality (01:01)
• What led to getting involved with Ken Wilber? How Ken treated the subject of human evolution with extraordinary depth to include stages of development and the contributions of mystical traditions (03:16)
• Ken’s teachings are timeless partly because he encourages people to take up spiritual practice—something that will always be very important (10:57) 
• What are Ken’s main contributions? Evolution and development of consciousness using a spectrum model (12:55)
• Using psychedelics as an entheogen in the 70s: trying to understand the manifold secrets of spirituality (13:32)
• Ken’s pre-trans fallacy is an excellent critique of scientific materialism, modernity & postmodernity, exploring the development of mysticism and having it transcend and include rational, magical & mythical thinking (17:57)
• The beauty of using the spectrum model (21:56)
• How our center of gravity influences us and the attractor aspect of higher levels of development that awaken us to new possibilities (23:28)
• Ken’s Phase 1: The spectrum of consciousness, how different psychologies and contemplative traditions address different levels of the spectrum (25:01)
• Ken’s Phase 2: The evolution revolution and Ken’s satori experience that the entire spectrum itself is grounded in divine consciousness (27:09)
• How did Ken address the stages of development, or fulcrums, to new and higher worldviews? (31:48)
• Ken subdivided even the transpersonal stages and identified their place on the developmental arc in a way no one had ever done before (34:46)
• Ken not only outlined stage-specific pathologies but the therapies that would work best for each (35:58)

Resources & References – Part 1

• Brad Reynolds’ website: https://integralartandstudies.com
• Brad Reynolds, Embracing Reality: The Integral Vision of Ken Wilber*
• Brad Reynolds, Where’s Wilber At?: Ken Wilber’s Integral Vision in the New Millennium*
• Brad Reynolds, God’s Great Tradition of Global Wisdom: Guru Yoga-Satsang in the Integral Age*
• Ken Wilber, Up From Eden: A Transpersonal View of Human Evolution*
• Louise Leakey, paleontologist & anthropologist with National Graphic Explorations
• Institute of Human Origins
• Adi Da, spiritual teacher
• Ken Wilber, A Sociable God: Toward a New Understanding of Religion*
• California Institute of Integral Studies
• Ken Wilber, Sex, Ecology, Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution*
• Aldous Huxley, The Perennial Philosophy*
• Ken Wilber, The Spectrum of Consciousness*
• Huston Smith, The World’s Religions*
• Ken Wilber, The Atman Project: A Transpersonal View of Human Development*
• Ken Wilber, Odyssey: A Personal Inquiry into Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychology, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Winter 1982, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 57-90, see also Brad’s introduction to Embracing Reality, section titled “Ken Wilber’s Personal Odyssey“
• Ken Wilber, Eye to Eye: The Quest for the New Paradigm*
• Piaget’s 4 Stages of Cognitive Development & Theory
• Ken Wilber, Jack Engler & Daniel Brown, Transformations of Consciousness: Conventional and Contemplative Perspectives On Development*

* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.

---

Brad Reynolds did graduate work at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) before leaving to study under Ken Wilber for nearly a decade (1995-2004), and published two books reviewing Wilber’s work: Embracing Reality: The Integral Vision of Ken Wilber (Tarcher, 2004) and Where’s Wilber At?: Ken Wilber’s Integral Vision in the New Millennium (Paragon House, 2006). He recently published a book reviewing the world’s wisdom traditions called God’s Great Tradition of Global Wisdom: Guru Yoga-Satsang in the Integral Age (Bright Alliance, 2021). Brad is also a graphic artist, laying out books and designing a wide variety of graphics for publication as well as continuing his work in Integral Philosophy and the study of world religions.

---

Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell