Mark Mansons' Crtique of Ken Wilber has me now disinterested in reading his books

[blessedlion1993]

I was very excited about finally diving into Ken Wilber after devouring Ralstons' books. But i read this article online from Mark Manson about Ken Wilber and it turned me off a bit. If Wilber was such a genius on this stuff why wouldn't he be able to successfully run this program and have such a poor emotional response to his critics?

@Leo Gura any thoughts?

 

https://markmanson.net/ken-wilber

[Leo Gura]

Foolishness. You can nitpick anything to death.

Just read his books.

[RendHeaven]

Mark Manson is not very conscious. He is soaking in the worldview of physicality/materialism continuously, even after reading sources that would point him towards alternate modes of being.

He's a great teacher for basic self-help but not for transcendence.

[Eternity]

@blessedlion1993 Ken Wilber is ill.  He has a chronic disease,.  Perhaps at times he's not able to function fully, even though he's brilliant.

[Godhead]

Mark Manson is nowhere near the level of Ken Wilber. 

[undeather]

2 hours ago, blessedlion1993 said:

I was very excited about finally diving into Ken Wilber after devouring Ralstons' books. But i read this article online from Mark Manson about Ken Wilber and it turned me off a bit. If Wilber was such a genius on this stuff why wouldn't he be able to successfully run this program and have such a poor emotional response to his critics?

@Leo Gura any thoughts?

 

https://markmanson.net/ken-wilber

Wilbers work is profound and way ahead of its time.

There definitely is some valid criticism held against him - but then again, the same goes for Ralston, Leo and basically every other public figure on this planet. If you would base your interest of someones ideas on the extent of criticism they experienced, you would miss out on the best teachings.
 

[Mohammad]

The "Complete Man" exists only in our imagination. Everybody has flaws. Just learn, from everybody and everything, and continue your own journey.

Although Wilber might be more advanced than Manson, but in some areas Manson might teach us something more valuable than Wilber. 

Don't lose interest in him! Just try to learn both from Manson and Wilber, and also Leo, and bugs bunny!

[blessedlion1993]

Thank you for the thought out responses everyone, I can admit I hold the "image" i have of someone quite high as to how seriously I take their work. If there is a great spiritual teacher who ended up abusing his followers or something, I find that i can't read their material with an open mind.

With Wilber it doesn't seem like anything other than massive critque from others, I will begin reading his books as I was very excited to get started on them. 

 

[LordFall]

We have a tendency to make things binary (someone is either good or bad, worth listening to for everything or nothing at all) to make things simpler to understand as complex and nuanced thinking is hard.

My personal version of this is I used to be a raving fanboy of Owen Cook and RSD. As I became more conscious and especially after Leo put the pickup scene down a notch, I went full circle and concluded he wasn't worth listening to at all. 

Everyone is nuanced. If you were perfect, you'd be God, and isn't the whole point of the non-duality teachings that God itself isn't even perfect/has it all figured out?

If infinity hasn't figured itself out fully by now, let's give Mr. Wilber a break  

[SLuxy]

@blessedlion1993

"Wilber’s story is a cautionary tale. His intellectual understanding was immense, as much as I’ve ever come across in a single person. He also tapped into some of the farthest reaches of consciousness, spiritual or not, that humans have self-reported. I do believe that. But ultimately, he was done in by his pride, his need for control and, well, ironically his ego."- Manson, in the linked article.

Separate the art from the artist.

[Vision]

Wilber said it himself, it’s even in the article:

”we should focus on what’s right and leave out the rest.”

So do just that.

This is fundamental to expanding your perspective on life. Don’t close things off because of the person. While Ken definitely teaches much more advanced material, remember that you always need to integrate the basics. Manson does a pretty good job at that in my opinion, despite his flaws (which we all have).