Frank Visser on Ken Wilber

Frank Visser, webmaster of www.integralworld.net, speaks out on Ken Wilber and the value of criticism.

Interview by Randi Cecchine in Amsterdam April 2008

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Ken
• Wilber
• Integral
• Theory
• Conference
• Frank
• Visser
• meetup
• Spirituality
• Criticism

[TheObnubilators]

i think wilber will eventually open up a little bit, transcend and include his addiction to being right, lol

[KayePorter]

Frank Visser hits the nail on the head when he talks about the importance of criticism - if there were no critics we might all wander around still believing the world is flat.

Sometimes critics can be the best feedback around, so we don't wander off into lala land, but continue to hone and refine out best guesses and thoughts.

[guitaristman23]

"doesn't bring your truth" i stop right there thanks considering there is no such thing a truth only individual truths

[cronnin]

"You are not qualified to criticize, because you are of a lower state" Nice :)

Can't you understand that there is no debating here?

There is nothing he is telling you. There is nothing to be heard.

[squamish4244]

Well said Frank Visser. Wilber is an expert at avoiding serious criticism and has a very hard time admitting he may be wrong about anything. I also question the macho approach to spiritual practice that seems to pervade his inner circle, as well as the controversies that surround the most prominent of those people: Genpo Roshi's multiple affairs with students, the serious rumors of abuse concerning Andrew Cohen, and the increasingly erratic (and also allegedly abusive) behavior of David Deida.

[Aurelius27x]

A man's game? I don''t buy that. This ego addressing ego, just doesn't work in any debate. Frank obviously just wants to compare penis size. Ken has started a great dialogue. Most interesting thing Frank says is "It might very well be true." Statements like "Spoil his party" "Integral circus" I have to question the man's intentions. Nice try Frank, shoot the messenger.

[Aurelius27x]

@KayePorter My question is... would such revelations take place without it. I don't believe the great shifts in consciousness occured because of a few critics. Evolution is inevitable.

[twintigtwaalf]

wilber has won. apart from the anthony robbins shit, his winning ball still must land for you empirists. but the ball's in, everyone can see that the ball's in.

[Naturalist1979]

It's incredible how Visser, after all he's been through, still clings to this adolescent piece of pseudo-science. People are always on the lookout for a guru, someone whom they can surrender to, emotionally, socially, intellectually. This tendency to fit in a hierarchical is something we owe to our evolutionary past. (Not that Wilber accepts the theory evolution by natural selection of course; it would disrupt his ideology)

[BKKaye]

People are just too stupid to discern the true from the false on their own, so they get stuck in the belief zone.

[MrCuntyballs2U]

Kinda feels like what it must have been like to be caught in the orbit of Freud a 100 years ago...... Wilber will no doubt share F's fate

[djpj1eight7]

Well stated Frank. Wilber is steadily turning integral into a religious cult, and his religion, like most, is based on beliefs that don't hold up in the 21st century. I have offered a lot of constructive criticism on IL: search for rustin selvey on the IL site (integrallife[dot]com[slash]co­mmunity). It's interesting to note that the members there in general are not open to debate on Wilber. Very cultish kind of feel.