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Ken Wilber As a Spiritual Innovator. Studies in Integral Theory

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ANNALES UNIVERSITATIS TURKUENSIS UNIVERSITATIS ANNALES B 526 JP Jakonen KEN WILBER AS A SPIRITUAL INNOVATOR Studies in Integral Theory JP Jakonen Painosalama Oy, Turku, Finland 2020 Finland Turku, Oy, Painosalama ISBN 978-951-29-8251-6 (PRINT) – ISBN 978-951-29-8252-3 (PDF) TURUN YLIOPISTON JULKAISUJA ANNALES UNIVERSITATIS TURKUENSIS ISSN 0082-6987(Print) SARJA – SER. B OSA – TOM. 526 | HUMANIORA | TURKU 2020 ISSN 2343-3191 (Online) KEN WILBER AS A SPIRITUAL INNOVATOR Studies in Integral Theory JP Jakonen TURUN YLIOPISTON JULKAISUJA – ANNALES UNIVERSITATIS TURKUENSIS SARJA – SER. B OSA – TOM. 526 | HUMANIORA | TURKU 2020 University of Turku Faculty of Humanities School of History, Culture and Arts Studies Department of Study of Religion Doctoral Programme in History, Culture and Arts Studies (Juno) Supervised by Senior Lecturer Matti Kamppinen Adjunct Professor Ruth Illman University of Turku Åbo Akademi Reviewed by Professor Esa Saarinen University Lecturer Teuvo Laitila Aalto University University of Eastern Finland Opponent Professor Esa Saarinen Aalto University The originality of this publication has been checked in accordance with the University of Turku quality assurance system using the Turnitin OriginalityCheck service. Cover photo and carving © Corey deVos Copyright © JP Jakonen, University of Turku ISBN 978-951-29-8251-6 (PRINT) ISBN 978-951-29-8252-3 (PDF) ISSN 0082-6987(Print) ISSN 2343-3191 (Online) Painosalama Oy, Turku, Finland 2020 UNIVERSITY OF TURKU Faculty of Humanities School of History, Culture and Arts Studies Department of Study of Religion JP JAKONEN: Ken Wilber as a spiritual innovator. Studies in Integral Theory. Doctoral Dissertation, 173 pp. Doctoral Programme in History, Culture and Arts Studies (Juno) December 2020 ABSTRACT This dissertation studies the American philosopher Ken Wilber (1949–) through the lens of spiritual innovatorship. Wilber’s innovatorship has two dimensions, a conceptual and a practical dimension. The conceptual dimension impacts the realm of worldviews and belief systems, and the practical dimension effects the ways in which we can act on the basis of these conceptual innovations. The aim of my dissertation is to offer an interpretative analysis of the relationship between these two dimensions in order to understand Wilber as a spiritual innovator. Ken Wilber has been influenced by many traditions, both spiritual and secular, and offers a holistic conceptual system, or a metatheoretical framework, which operates in the emerging field of philosophia perennis, theoretical psychology and systems theory. This system is called Integral Theory, the main purpose of which is to integrate various traditions of understanding reality into a coherent epistemological framework. In this article-based dissertation, I approach Wilber’s spiritual innovatorship from the pragmatist approach, where the connection between his conceptual system and the applications it has generated is analyzed in the fields of organizational development, leadership and coaching. The dissertation is composed of an introductory article and four peer-reviewed articles, which open up the concept of Integral Theory from both the theoretical and practical perspectives. This dissertation contributes to the field of religious studies in explicating and offering a nuanced understanding of Ken Wilber as a spiritual innovator. Despite producing a vast and influential array of original works in the fields of perennial philosophy, transpersonal psychology, and comparative mysticism since 1974, Wilber has not been an object of a dissertation in the Study of Religion. As his work continues to influence future developments in these fields and beyond, it is timely and relevant to present a basic understanding of his approach. KEYWORDS: Integral, spirituality, tradition, innovation, philosophy, perennialism 3 TURUN YLIOPISTO Humanistinen tiedekunta Historian, kulttuurin ja taiteiden tutkimuksen laitos Uskontotiede JP JAKONEN: Ken Wilber as a spiritual innovator. Studies in Integral Theory. Väitöskirja, 173 s. Historian, kulttuurin ja taiteiden tutkimuksen tohtoriohjelma Juno Joulukuu 2020 TIIVISTELMÄ Artikkelipohjainen väitöskirjani tarkastelee yhdysvaltalaisen filosofi Ken Wilberin (1949–) ajattelua henkisen uudistajuuden (innovaattoriuden) näkökulmasta. Wilberin ajattelulla on kaksi ulottuvuutta: käsitteellinen uudistajuus ja käytän- nöllinen uudistajuus. Käsitteellinen uudistajuus vaikuttaa maailmankuvien ja uskomusjärjestelmien alueella, ja käytännöllinen uudistajuus vaikuttaa siihen, miten noiden käsitteellisten uudistusten pohjalta toimitaan. Väitöskirjani tarkoitus on tulkita Wilberia henkisenä innovaattorina tarkastelemalla käsitteellisen ja käytännöllisen ulottuvuuden suhdetta hänen ajattelussaan ja sen sovelluksissa. Ken Wilber on ottanut vaikutteita sekä henkisistä että sekulaareista traditioista. Näiden pohjalta hän rakentaa kokonaisvaltaista käsitejärjestelmää, metateoreettista viitekehystä, joka operoi perenniaalisen filosofian, teoreettisen psykologian ja systeemiteorian välimaastossa. Tämä järjestelmä tunnetaan integraalisen teorian nimellä. Sen tarkoitus on muodostaa erilaisista käsitejärjestelmistä yhtenäinen malli maailman ymmärtämiseen. Väitöskirjani johdannossa ja artikkeleissa lähestyn Wilberin henkistä inno- vaattoriutta pragmatismin ja soveltavan hermeneutiikan näkökulmasta. Tarkastelen Wilberin käsitejärjestelmän ja sen käytännön sovellusten välistä yhteyttä muun muassa organisaatioiden ja johtajuuden kehittämiseen rakennetun coaching- metodologian kautta. Kokonaisuudessaan väitöskirjani koostuu johdantoartikkelista ja neljästä aiemmin julkaistusta vertaisarvioidusta artikkelista, jotka avaavat näkökulmia integraalisen mallin käsitteelliseen ja käytännölliseen ulottuvuuteen. Väitökseni tarjoaa näkökulman Ken Wilberistä henkisenä innovaattorina. Wilber on vaikuttanut perenniallisen filosofian, transpersoonallisen psykologian ja vertailevan mystiikan kentällä vuodesta 1974. Laajasta tuotannostaan huolimatta hänestä ei ole aiemmin tehty tutkimusta uskontotieteessä. Tämä väitöskirja auttaa paikkaamaan tuon aukon. ASIASANAT: integraalinen, henkisyys, perinne, innovaatio, filosofia, perennia- lismi 4 Acknowledgements As a young student in the University of Turku I embarked on a search for wisdom and stupidity in mankind. I chose the Study of Religion as my main entryway into the topic, but soon branched out into the realms of philosophy and psychology to broaden my quest. Contrary to foreboding advice from older students, I actually felt I got answers to my questions. This dissertation is one step in the direction towards those answers. My search was kept going by the dynamic tension I observed in my fellow humans of academia who were approaching religion, wisdom, and such matters from vastly different corners of reality, with differing perspectives and truth claims. Integral Theory appeared to address this tension by releasing it in a counterpoint of independent melodies in the interdependent Kosmic scale. This music engulfed my intellectual and practical sensibilities, and it did not lose its appeal over the ensuing years, for which I am happy and thankful. I would also like to thank my supervisors Dr. Matti Kamppinen and Dr. Ruth Illman for providing invaluable insights and comforting words throughout the process of writing this dissertation. Without their support I would have felt like a captain of a ghost ship, alone at sea. Now I just felt like a captain of a ghost ship, but not alone. I also would like to thank Matti Kamppinen for proposing that I write a dissertation in the first place. His systemic and balanced approach – both as a scholar and as a human being – has been an ongoing inspiration. I would like to thank Professor Terhi Utriainen, who supported my work patiently and offered extensive suggestions for improving the manuscript. I wish to thank reviewers Esa Saarinen and Teuvo Laitila (and also Ulla Härkonen) for the constructive criticism which made this work much better. I also thank my fellow students who provided questions and detailed commentary during the earlier phases of writing. I thank my family for huge emotional support, a grant from The School of History, Culture and Arts Studies for financial assistance, and Joakim and Björn for all the books. I dedicate this step to Ken Wilber, who gave me a theory worth throwing my academic cautions into the wind for; Huineng, who got it early on; and to my clients, who got my advice, went with it, and paid me as a result. November 2020 Reposaari, Finland JP Jakonen 5 Table of Contents List of Original Publications ........................................................... 8 Author’s contributions .................................................................... 9 1 Introduction to the topic ........................................................ 11 1.1 Ken Wilber as an object of study ............................................ 11 1.2 Tradition and innovation ......................................................... 15 1.3 Perennial philosophy as tradition ............................................ 17 1.4 Ken Wilber as an innovator of the perennialist tradition .......... 21 1.5 A biographical sketch of Ken Wilber ....................................... 25 1.6 Spirituality as a concept ......................................................... 29 1.7 Previous studies ..................................................................... 32 1.8 The aim and structure of the dissertation ............................... 34 2 Methodology
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