Monty Python Meets Ken Wilber
Heere commmes anooother onnnee!!!!!!
Endorsement, that is.
(quote)
[
integral-options.blogspot.com]
What's Up with Ken Wilber?
Over at Headthegong
[
headthegong.com],
Bob posted an interesting observation on a recent blog post from Ken Wilber (or at least attributed to him on his blog). Wilber posted A Narrative on Guruji, a rather rambling, and disturbing endorsement of another guru, in this case a man who claims to be able to alter the molecular structure of matter.
Here is a brief piece of Wilber's post:
What I am claiming—and supporting—is that Guruji's capacity to conduct and transmit universal spiritual energy (or "shakti") is utterly remarkable, as proven by scientific experiments themselves. It is these direct, specific, scientific experiments and their results that I am reporting, and on which I am basing my endorsement. This is a scientific conclusion, not a spiritual one (although, of course, you are free to make those as well—but I am reporting the direct science, which is indeed astonishing).
To put it briefly, Mr. Trivedi has an empirically demonstrated capacity to alter the atomic and molecular structure of phenomena simply through his conscious intentionality. The number of experiments done on this capacity (known in Sanskrit as shaktipat) that have been done in coordination with Mr. Trivedi is quite extraordinary—so far, over 5,000 empirical studies by universities and scientific research organizations all over the world (including the world renowned materials scientist Dr. Rustum Roy at the University of Pennsylvania).
So I took the bait and did some deep searching of the internets to find these studies. But I couldn't find any of the 5,000 scientific studies - aside from Trivedi's own site, there is almost nothing on the web (nothing from a known, peer-reviewed journal), and Dr. Rustum Roy is not exactly a reliable source - he is a very vocal proponent of homeopathy.
So what's up with all of this?
Bob posted an interesting take on Wilber's history of wanting to identify and attach himself to individuals who appear to support his "integral" model of spiritual development.
Has Ken Wilber jumped the shark?
want to make clear right from the start that Ken Wilber has authored several of my all-time favorite nonfiction books. I dig a lot of his work and use his “four quadrants” to frame my own understanding of Integral Health. I remember reading Wilber’s Sex, Ecology, Spirituality and thinking to myself, “This guy is the shit!” Yesterday, however, after reading Wilber’s latest blog post (A Narrative on Guruji), I couldn’t help but think, “This guy has lost his shit!”
The first thing that struck me as odd about Wilber’s post was the style of presentation, which was riddled with rambling redundancies, poor reasoning, and flat-out bad writing. This from a man capable of exquisitely lucid prose. Now, maybe he meant it as an off-the-cuff type of thing and I’m being a bit unfair, but this is a guy who rarely posts on his own blog, so I was surprised he’d go on record with this scattered post. Then there’s the content of the post, which is a strong public endorsement of a spiritual teacher named Mahendra Kumar Trivedi.
And this:
Wilber seems to have a lot of confidence in the conclusions of one researcher in particular, the “world renowned” Dr. Rustum Roy. It should be noted, however, that Roy, like his associate Deepak Chopra, is not exactly lauded by mainstream scientists, as I’ve seen his name (perhaps unfairly) paired with words like “woo” and “pseudoscience” on more than one occasion (for instance here and here). Of course, there are plenty of science-based crusaders out there who would tear me apart, along with many of my intellectual heroes, so that kind of criticism in-and-of-itself doesn’t put Wilber’s endorsement on shaky ground. Rather, it’s Wilber’s credulity and weak justifications that have me scratching my head, and even cringing in embarrassment at times.
Check out the whole post - and be sure to check out the comments section where Julian Walker makes some very clear and compelling points.
It's sad to see this pattern repeating itself with Wilber (think Adi Da, Andrew Cohen, Marc Gafni, and so on).
Tags: Integral, Science, gurus, Ken Wilber, Dr. Rustum Roy, Mahendra Kumar Trivedi, Has Ken Wilber jumped the shark?, Guruji, A Narrative on Guruji, Headthegong (unquote)
Mahendra Kumar Trivedi
[
www.google.com]
a comment from the listserve Fairfield Life
[
webcache.googleusercontent.com]
(quote)[FairfieldLife] Re: FW: Trivedi Lecture - Sondheim Theater - Wednesday Night 7:30 PM
Buck Thu, 18 Mar 2010 05:37:54 -0700
He's a sidha.
The meeting,
a 'yes to excess' tour-de-force performance marketing in to the TM community by
Deb & Fred Poneman along with Janet Atwood. Are movement building around
Trivedi and going to do great things. First stop was the TM movement to
pick-up some volunteers, some capital, endorsements (the mayor and Vicki
Malloy) and build a direct marketing list. You might get in early so you could
be close to the middle along with these shakti people who discovered him. Was
a quick $8 or 10K receipts in one meeting. Most all the slots for personal
healings are full before the public meeting. Only he can do it. It will be
scientific, so no one can say anything against it. Some people are just not
conductors, so mightn't notice anything. That is nature, so it is. Oh, there
might be a few personal sessions available, talk to Debra. Also looking for
some special people to work with him. Some very special people to study with
him.
A real nice group meditation with an auditorium full of the FF meditating
community.
The meditation technique was sanyama with a prayer.
-FF
--- In
FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "pranamoocher" <bh...@...> wrote:
>
> When will they ever learn?
> --- In
FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Duveyoung <no_reply@> wrote:
> >
> > This marketing piece -- this advertisement to FFLers -- is close to
> 100% bullshit in that the host of links to Web pages giving detailed
> proofs that would be necessary to back up these outlandish claims are
> not offered.
> >
> > I once paid a psychic nurse to diagnose my family and she missed
> cancer in one of my kids that had to have an emergency operation the
> very next week, but this nurse had half the FF community eating her,
> well, her shit is what was. At $125 a pop.
> >
> > Shame on you Debby for espousing yet another miraculous foreigner --
> let's see you post a youtube video of the Great Randi having at this
> charlatan. Let's see some of this vaunted scientific research in actual
> published papers -- not a mere listing of vile bragging such as this
> page contains:
> >
> > [
www.trivedifoundation.org]
> >
> > This guy'll get maybe 200 people to come to the lecture -- that's
> $3,000 -- how much of that are you getting Debby for being the
> mouthpiece for yet another draining influence on FF?
> >
> > Tell us again how wonderful his personality is so we can all have an
> experience of Unity in Puking.
> >
> > Edg
> >
> > --- In
FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Rick Archer" rick@ wrote:
> > >
> > > Dear Friends,
> > >
> > > Another interesting healer has been brought to my attention and I
> wanted to
> > > share him with you. This one sounds really unbelievable, like the
> others
> > > that have come before him, just different.
> > >
> > > His name is Mahendra Kumar Trivedi and he is from India. He worked
> as a
> > > mechanical engineer until the voice of the divine called him to
> begin living
> > > his dharma. It appears he has the ability to change the molecular
> structure
> > > of cancer cells, radioactive water, virus, bacteria, fungus etc.. He
> returns
> > > cells to their original structure before they were polluted. He has
> had
> > > success with advanced cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia,
> chronic
> > > headaches and many other health challenges.
> > >
> > > Mr. Trivedi will be giving a public lecture on Wednesday, March
> 17th, at
> > > 7:30 PM in the Sondheim Theater, where he will give some of the
> results of
> > > scientific studies on his abilities. At the end of the evening he
> will give
> > > a group energy transmission for the health and well being of
> everyone in
> > > attendance. Tickets can be purchased online at
> www.TrivediFoundation.org or
> > > at the door.
> > >
> > > Mr. Trivedi has worked with top research scientists in the world and
> more
> > > than 4,000 scientific studies have been done to verify his gift to
> heal. The
> > > studies have measured his thought transmission ability and how it
> affects
> > > large numbers of samples from micro-organisms, metals, human cells,
> and
> > > more. Seeds that he has blessed produced healthier, stronger plants
> and had
> > > 400 times the vitamin C than the control group, without the bacteria
> and
> > > fungus that attacks plants. He also does blessings on people's
> > > relationships, homes and businesses and has had huge success with
> this as
> > > well.
> > >
> > > I was contacted to organize a group of doctors, scientists, and
> other key
> > > people to meet with him when he comes to Fairfield in March. Fred
> Travis has
> > > already been contacted. Mr. Trivedi will be giving a public lecture
> on
> > > Wednesday, March 17th. I will host him on March 18th for the more
> private
> > > sessions. It will not be publicly announced so I can also have some
> control
> > > who shows up at my house given the high profile position Ed and I
> are in. So
> > > this email is a personal invitation to you and if you have friends
> or family
> > > you want to have see him they must contact me.
> > >
> > > Hopefully you will be in town to meet Trivedi and perhaps have a
> private
> > > session with him. I am just giving an early heads up to you all so
> that you
> > > will have the opportunity to at least see him at the Civic Center.
> The fee
> > > for one of his sessions is $150.
> > >
> > > I truly believe these wonderful healers are divine blessings of
> light sent
> > > as protection against the dark energies of GMO'S, pesticides and the
> general
> > > pollution of our food, air and water and can also transform any
> inherent
> > > weaknesses we may have in our DNA. I also believe we are moving into
> > > developing our own subtle healing abilities and we can learn a lot
> from all
> > > these wonderful healers that are being drawn to our beautiful fair
> fields.
> > >
> > > To learn more about Trivedi, go to his website:
> trivedifoundation.org He
> > > has a very sweet face and I immediately felt good when I saw it. I
> will be
> > > in touch as the time gets closer to his visit, but, if you don't
> hear from
> > > me send me an email.
> > >
> > > Yours in perfect health,
> > > Vicki (Malloy)
> > >
(unquote)