The Simple Feeling of Being: Embracing Your True Nature

by Ken Wilber, Mark Palmer, Hargen

"As you look deeply into your own awareness, and relax the self-contraction, and dissolve into the empty ground of your own primordial experience, the simple feeling of Being—right now, right here—is it not obvious all at once? Were you not present from the start? Did you not have a hand to play in all that was to follow? Did not the dream itself begin when you got bored with being God? Was it not fun to get lost in the productions of your own wondrous imagination, and pretend it all was other? Did you not write this book, and countless others like it, simply to remind you who you are?"
—Ken Wilber



The author of nineteen books of philosophy and psychology, Ken Wilber is a pioneering thinker who has developed an integral "theory of everything" that embraces the truths of both Eastern spirituality and Western science. Yet while he is best known for his scholarly research into the world's contemplative traditions, Wilber is also an accomplished spiritual practitioner and mystic in his own right. In order to highlight the personal wisdom of this popular author, the editors of The Simple Feeling of Being have assembled a collection of inspirational, mystical, and instructional passages drawn from his publications. These heartfelt writings, born of Ken's own meditation practice and inner experiences,



   •  Poetic passages of contemplative insights and reflections
   •  Inspired descriptions of Spirit, Nondual Awareness, the Witness, One Taste, and other topics
   •  Commentary on the spiritual contributions of figures such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Saint Teresa of Ávila, Meister Eckhart, and Ramana Maharshi
   •  Anecdotes of personal experience and glimpses into Wilber's inner world
   •  Practical spiritual instructions and guided meditations

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Religion

286 pages, Paperback

First published July 13, 2004

About the author

Kenneth Earl Wilber II is an American philosopher and writer on transpersonal psychology and his own integral theory, a systematic philosophy which suggests the synthesis of all human knowledge and experience.

Reviews

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is actually a collection of excerpts from other Wilber writings, put together in a powerful consideration of the nature and pursuit non-dual consciousness. Especially moving is the material taken from True Grace and Grit about the death of his wife Treya from cancer. Wilber is a scholar of both Eastern and Western mysticism and a world-renown philosopher, but this book was very personal in nature. I highly recommend it, especially for those that only know Wilber from A Brief History of Everything or similar formidable intellectual exercises.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ken Wilber is an incredible intellectual and author. He is a great source for those of us who enjoy exploring the crossroads between philosophy, science, and spirituality.

This a a great book if you are most interested in WIlber's ideas around eastern philosophy/spirituality.

[Willa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of various Wilber fragments. Read this as bedtime reading - it looses the rigour that you get from reading entire books but is great for those who either only want a taste, or already know Wilber's work.

[Diane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't care for this book so have put it aside to move on to others.

[Laurie]

The Divine has one ultimate secret, which it will also whisper in your ear if your mind becomes quieter than the fog at sunset.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This text is a curated notebook of Ken Wilber’s life work: the integration of timeless mystic wisdom from countless traditions into a guidebook for awakening. Regardless of your spiritual journey, Wilber’s broad erudition and eloquent prose will flip your world upside down, melt your heart, and lead you to the brink of the Abyss. You will wish you’d read him earlier in your life, but then you’ll understand that your personal history is an illusion, you’ll begin to radically accept the beauty of every single experience precisely as it is, and your regrets will dissolve into the radiant emptiness, infinite release, and unflinching embrace of the All.

”As soon as you see that you are actively pinching yourself, then, and only then, do you spontaneously stop”
”The turning point comes when the person sees that everything he does is nothing but wave-jumping, resisting, moving away from the now in search of wetter waves”
”You do not have an experience, you are every experience.”

Words are a poor tool for teaching enlightenment, and I’m guessing that’s why the simple message in this book is conveyed as a nail hammered with a rock: with staccato repetition, quite a few sideways arguments on both sides of the mystical paradox, a few tangents, and ultimately an exhausting battery home. But Wilber’s words are the signposts I needed, and I will add no further critiques. I imagine the books he designed himself are better suited to reading straight through. This one is probably best read slowly over time.

”you are no longer the victim of life, but its Witness”
”Your true glory lies where you cease to exist”
”Going within me, I am finally free of me”

[Estrella Yamila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible book. I havent finished yet. Its taking so much to read because theres so much info and new things for me. Mind blowing

[⭐️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect

[Frank Pacosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This may be the truth we will all eventually succumb to - or maybe in a few generations -.but for now most of us aren't ready, and those of us who think we need a brilliant star like Wilber to follow and take us to the next level it will take several more generations to disabuse ourselves and find the true path he is speaking of.

[BN · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't found the intellectual stamina for many of Wilbur's books but this is a wonderful collection of pointers to simple presence. It's not one to rush through. Consider it for daily meditation-type reading and allow the wisdom to percolate through.

[Jane]

still flipping through...

[Kinosfronimos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprising excerpts from Ken Wilber's other writings, this is a clear and beautiful book. A timeless reminder that you can only ever simply be.

[Aaron Varela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm quite fond of this simple feeling of being and the book is a fine introduction to a feeling that is "Always Alteady".

[Laura]

good

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best place to get one's feet wet in the Wilberian waters.