Gratitude for This Dialogue Being Made Available

(FYI, via Facebook, I did also post the first paragraph of what follows on the audio purchase page. The rest elaborates.)

I'm grateful beyond measure that this dialogue is being made available in full. A much shorter series of excerpts - which omitted major intervals of Nathaniel Branden's life and personal evolution, and which was first made available, some years ago - was instrumental in first drawing me deeply into exploration of Ken Wilber's Integral work. I'm delighted that I was ready for such stunning discovery, engagement and enriching Integral Theory and Practice!

Whatever her limitations, starting in my early teens, Ayn Rand really turned me on to philosophy. And over the years, whatever else has changed in my perspective, the philosophical enthusiasm that Ayn Rand's work initially inspired in me never diminished.

In addition, certain less-well-known aspects of Ayn Rand's thought proved for me to serve as seeds of future interest, understanding and resonance with Ken Wilber's Integral Theory and Practice. It might be fun to more fully explore such connections, some time.

Over the course of my pre-Integral years, I also enjoyed and learned much from Nathaniel Branden's work. On a few occasions, at conferences centered on interest in Ayn Rand, I've had the pleasure of talking with him and asking him questions about philosophy, psychology and his learning with his controversial mentor.

Given such background, my first listening to the previously offered excerpts from this Branden-Wilber dialogue marked a critical turning point. I've revisited those excerpts, multiple times, both as a check on my learning progress and as a way to compare how the dialogue initially sounded, to me - and how it has sounded, since.

I eagerly look forward to digesting the whole dialogue. Thank you, Integral Life, for offering it!