happy 60th, Ken Wilber

Happy birthday, Ken Wilber, and many joyful returns of the day!

I did a fairly bad job of preaching on the Integral Vision last year; next year, I hope to present its power and beauty in a much more accessible and moving way. In the meantime, check out Ken and his friends at Integral Institute; or experience his quick trip to infinity:

What you have been seeking is literally and exactly
That which is reading this right now.
That Self cannot be found because it was never lost:
you have always known you were you.
That I AMness is a constant condition of all that arises,
is the space in which it all arises,
has nothing outside of it and thus is complete Peace,
and radiates its own beauty in all directions.

(your name) arises in the space of that I AMness,
(your name) arises in this vast spaciousness,
this pure openness.
(your name) is an object, just like a tree or a cloud
that arises in the space of the Self that you are.
I am not talking to (your name) right now,
I am talking to you.
That which is aware of (your name) is this ever-present Self.
This Self is aware of (your name) arising right now.
This Self is God.
God is reading this blog.
(your name) is not reading
God is reading.
The Self is aware of (your name) and aware of reading.
You are not (your name).
You are what is aware of (your name).
What is aware of (your name)
is an I AMness that itself cannot be seen but only felt,
felt as an absolute certainty,
unshakeable is-ness,
I AM that I AM eternally, timelessly, unendingly.
There is only this I AMness in all directions.
Everything arises spontaneously
in the space of this great perfection that is the Self,
which is listening to this meditation right now.

And you, (your name), are that Self …

All that is arising is arising in this unshakeable I AMness,
which is not a thing or an object or a person,
but the openness or clearing
in which all things and all objects and all persons are arising.
This emptiness, this openness, this vast spaciousness is your Self,
is what you have always been,
is what you are before your parents were born,
is what you are before the Big Bang happened.
Before Abraham was, I AM…
(your name) is in the universe;
the universe is in your Self.

Therefore, be this ever-present Self who is reading to this.
I am not talking to (your name),
I am talking to you.
Let (your name) arise and fall like all objects.
Let (your name) come into being, remain a bit, and pass:
what has this to do with your Self?
All objects arise, remain, and pass
in the spaciousness and emptiness that is aware of this moment,
and this moment, and this moment, and this moment.
Yet this moment has no end…

Since you know this Self,
you know Peace.
Because you are already, directly, immediately, and intimately
one and identical with That which is listening to me right now,
you know God right now,
directly and immediately and unmistakably and undeniably.
And because you know God right now,
as the very Self reading these words,
you know you are finally, truly, deeply home,
a home that you have always directly known and always pretended you didn't.

Therefore, pretend no more.
Confess that you are God.
Confess that you are Beauty.
Confess that you are the very Truth the sages have sought for centuries.
Confess that you are Peace beyond understanding.

Confess that you are so ecstatically happy
that you had to manifest this entire world
just to bear witness to a radiant beauty
you could no longer contain only in and for yourself.
Confess that the Witness of these words,
the Self of this and all the worlds,
is the one and only true Spirit that looks through all eyes and hears with all ears
and reaches out in love and compassion
to embrace the very beings that it created itself
in an eternal ecstatic dance that is the secret of all secrets…

copyright Integral Naked (Ken Wilber, et al)