A Sociable God: Toward a New Understanding of Religion - Softcover

Wilber, Ken

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1590302249 ISBN 13: 9781590302248

Publisher: Shambhala, 2005

Synopsis

In one of the first attempts to bring an integral dimension to sociology, Ken Wilber introduces a system of reliable methods by which to make testable judgments of the authenticity of any religious movement. A Sociable God is a concise work based on Wilber's "spectrum of consciousness" theory, which views individual and cultural development as an evolutionary continuum. Here he focuses primarily on worldviews (archaic, magic, mythic, mental, psychic, subtle, causal, nondual) and evaluates various cultural and religious movements on a scale ranging from egocentric to ethnocentric to worldcentric to Kosmic. By using this integral view, Wilber hopes, society would be able to discriminate between dangerous cults and authentic spiritual paths. In addition, he points out why these distinctions are crucial in understanding spiritual experiences and altered states of consciousness.

In a lengthy new introduction, the author brings the reader up to date on his latest integral thinking and concludes that, for the succinct and elegant way it argues for a sociology of depth, A Sociable God remains a clarion call for a greater sociology.

About this title

About the Author:

Ken Wilber is the author of over twenty books. He is the founder of Integral Institute, a think-tank for studying integral theory and practice, with outreach through local and online communities such as Integral Education Network, Integral Training, and Integral Spiritual Center.

Review:

"A Sociable God is a thought-provoking book that has the potential to stimulate intense discussion about Wilber's theory and transpersonal psychology in general."—Contemporary Psychology: American Psychological Association Review of Books

"A concise, scholarly work."—Branches of Light

"I use Ken Wilber's approach all the time. I think it's the best map of reality we have."—Father Thomas Keating, author of Open Mind, Open Heart

About this edition

• Publisher: Shambhala
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1590302249
• ISBN 13: 9781590302248
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 188