Who is Ken Wilber?

“The twenty-first century literally has three choices: Aristotle, Nietzsche, or Ken Wilber.”
– Jack Crittenden Ph.D., Author of Beyond Individualism

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About Ken

Ken Wilber, a visionary thinker of inspired genius, is the developer of an integral “theory of everything” that embraces the truths of all the world’s great spiritual, scientific, and philosophical traditions. He is the most widely translated academic writer in America, with 25 books translated into some 30 foreign languages. Ken Wilber currently lives in Denver, Colorado, and is still active as a philosopher, author, and teacher, with all of his major publications still in print.

Often referred to as the"Einstein of consciousness studies", Ken Wilber is a preeminent scholar of the Integral stage of human development.


Ken Wilber is also the founder of the Integral Institute, which is the first organization fully dedicated to advancement and application of the Integral Approach in relation to contemporary global issues. It was formed in collaboration with over 200 scholars and experts, specializing in education, politics, business, medicine, psychology, spirituality, as well as, law and criminal justice.



In 2007 Wilber co-founded Integral Life, a social media-hub dedicated to sharing the integral vision with the world wide community, as well as documenting and catalyzing the progress of the integral movement.

Unique Footage: Watch Ken Wilber's Reading Of Grace and Grit

In this unforgettable 2.5-hour video, Ken Wilber reads select passages from his book Grace and Grit: Spirituality and Healing in the Life and Death of Treya Killam Wilber. This was the very first time that he has talked in-depth about her death in public since she passed away in 1989.

We will also send you the only email series in the world introducing you to Ken's remarkable life and legacy.

Watch Ken Wilber's Biography Series

Featuring over 14 hours of stunning high-definition video, this collection is your very best chance to get to know the life and work of Ken Wilber. Experience Ken like you never have before as he shares intimate details about his childhood, his college years, and his personal and spiritual life.

Free With Integral Life Membership

Ken's Integral Theory

Ken is the originator of the world's first truly comprehensive or integrative philosophy, aptly named “Integral Theory”. As Wilber himself puts it: “I'd like to think of it as one of the first believable world philosophies” — something that is becoming increasingly necessary in order to navigate and thrive in today’s world.



Incorporating cultural studies, anthropology, systems theory, developmental psychology, biology, and spirituality, Integral Theory has been applied in fields as diverse as ecology, sustainability, psychotherapy, psychiatry, education, business, medicine, politics, sports, and art.



Wilber explains the need for an Integral Approach in the following way: in our current post-modern world, we possess an abundance of methodologies and practices belonging to a multitude of fields and knowledge traditions. What is utterly lacking however, is a coherent organization, and coordination of all these various practices, as well as their respective data-sets. What is needed is an approach that moves beyond this indiscriminate eclectic-pluralism, to an “Integral Methodological Pluralism” — driving toward a genuine “theory of everything” that helps to enrich and deepen every field through an understanding of exactly how and where each one fits in relation to all the others.



In short, the Integral Approach is the coherent organization, coordination, and harmonization of all of the relevant practices, methodologies, and experiences available to human beings. Through the Integral approach, we reveal the previously unseen possibilities for a better, more compassionate, and more sustainable future for all of us.

What is the Integral Approach?

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Free Email Course: Build Your Integral Life

We created 24 free lessons that can help you learn the Integrative Mindset needed to thrive in the rapidly-evolving world of the 21st century. Enter your email to start the course:

“I have one major rule: Everybody is right. More specifically, everybody — including me — has some important pieces of truth, and all of those pieces need to be honored, cherished, and included in a more gracious, spacious, and compassionate embrace.”

– Ken Wilber

Welcome to The Ken Show

In Zen Buddhism, the word kensho describes a sudden glimpse or insight into the nature of reality. At Integral Life, the “Ken Show” intends to offer you a very similar opportunity.

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Transforming Self, Society, and the Spaces Between Us

Transforming Self, Society, and the Spaces Between Us

In this enlightening episode of The Ken Show, hosts Ken Wilber and Corey deVos embark on a profound journey through the multifaceted realms of systems theory, communication, and social evolution. They dissect the nuanced perspectives of "inside" and "outside" views in systems, delve into the transformative power of communication paradigms throughout history, and critically examine the influence of social media on the overall emergence of integral consciousness.
Putting the “Art” in Artificial Intelligence

Putting the “Art” in Artificial Intelligence

What is art, at its most fundamental level? This is one of those perennial questions that we have been asking and re-asking at every stage of the human journey, from the first cave drawings all the way to the emergence of sophisticated artificial intelligence algorithms like MidJourney that are once again blurring the lines between art, beauty, and perspective and forcing us to find new ways to answer this timeless question. Watch as Ken and Corey take a fun and fascinating look at the intersection between art, semiotics, and technology.
The Momentous Leap to Integral Consciousness

The Momentous Leap to Integral Consciousness

Ken Wilber and Corey deVos explore some of the unique challenges that come with the transition to Integral stages of development — “the momentous leap” as it is often called. Watch as Ken and Corey try to bring a little bit more light to this particular path of transformation, and maybe leave a few signposts for fellow travelers along the way.
No Boundary: Ken Wilber Goes Back to High School

No Boundary: Ken Wilber Goes Back to High School

Ken speaks with high school students to discuss his 1979 classic, No Boundary. What follows is a lively and deeply insightful exploration of integral spirituality, Ken’s personal practice, and the path of awakening that leads us to nondual realization.
In Pursuit of Wholeness: Making Room for Everything

In Pursuit of Wholeness: Making Room for Everything

This notion of holons — the idea that the universe is fundamentally made of whole/parts within whole/parts within whole/parts, turtles all the way up and turtles all the way down — this isn’t just important in a theoretical or philosophical sense. Understanding holons also helps us make better sense of the world that we live in, and our inner worlds as well. And it helps guide our own growing up, waking up, and cleaning up process.
Integral Critical Theory: The 8 Zones of Racism

Integral Critical Theory: The 8 Zones of Racism

Ken and Corey continue their discussion of the 8 critical zones of integral metatheory, and apply them to the ongoing cultural conversation taking place around race, racism, and other kinds of bigotry that we continue to see in the world. This discussion is a great opportunity to not only learn more about these 8 primordial perspectives that are available to us, but also to see how they can be applied to social and cultural challenges and “wicked problems” such as these.
From the Big Bang to the Eight Primordial Perspectives

From the Big Bang to the Eight Primordial Perspectives

Ken Wilber offers a stunning introduction to the major components of Integral theory and practice — a guided tour that takes us from the very first forms to emerge in the universe, all the way to the eight primordial perspectives that all of our knowledge is constructed from.
Integrating Power

Integrating Power

Ken and Corey take an in-depth look at the multiple kinds of power we find in all four quadrants — interior and exterior power, individual and collective power — as they are expressed up and down the spiral of development.
The Science of Subtle Energy

The Science of Subtle Energy

In this episode of The Ken Show we take a look at Ken's "Comprehensive Theory of Subtle Energy”, which offers an elegant summary of how these energies might be accounted for by integral metatheory and integrated with our scientific understanding of the universe.

Ken Wilber's Books & Essays

Ken Wilber is the most widely translated academic writer in America, with 25 books translated into some 30 foreign languages. You can find a full list here.

Sex, Ecology, Spirituality (1995)

A Theory Of Everything (2000)

No Boundary (1979)

Revolutionary Social Transformation

Revolutionary Social Transformation

This never-before published essay by Ken Wilber delves into the intricate dynamics of societal evolution, emphasizing the interplay between technological advancements, cultural worldviews, and governance systems.
Toward a Comprehensive Theory of Subtle Energy

Toward a Comprehensive Theory of Subtle Energy

Common to many traditions is the idea that, in addition to a spectrum of consciousness, there is also a spectrum of gross, to subtle, to causal forms of mass-energy. But what exactly is subtle energy? How does it work, where does it come from, and how does it fit into our scientific understanding of the physical universe? This excerpt suggests a coherent and comprehensive theory of the many approaches to subtle energies, their origin, their nature, and their development.
An Integral Age at the Leading Edge

An Integral Age at the Leading Edge

This is the excerpt that started it all — an extraordinary 200-page introduction to Ken Wilber’s updated integral map, kicking off a stunning new evolution in his meta-theoretical work (often refered to as his “post-metaphysical” or “Wilber V” phase). Excerpted from the still-unpublished followup to Sex, Ecology, Spirituality, in this free ebook you will be introduced to some of the key ideas that emerged from this new phase of integral thinking.
Who Ate Captain Cook? Integral Historiography  in a Postmodern Age

Who Ate Captain Cook? Integral Historiography in a Postmodern Age

In this fascinating sidebar to Ken Wilber's book Boomeritis: A Novel That Will Set You Free, Ken offers a summary of integral historiography, revealing a far more comprehensive way to integrate multiple schools of historiography and to deepen our enactment of both the facts and most salient interpretations of the historical record.
Integral Politics: Its Essential Ingredients

Integral Politics: Its Essential Ingredients

Ken Wilber offers a summary of his integral political model, exploring the “major and minor scales” that inform and influence our major political orientations while suggesting a revolutionary path toward a far more integrated approach to politics and governance.
The Deconstruction of the World Trade Center

The Deconstruction of the World Trade Center

Ken Wilber explores the many sorts of reactions people had to the tragedy of 9/11, and offers a theoretical framework within which a genuinely Integral approach to politics and governance might emerge.

Get Full Access to Integral Life Deep Dive Library

This library is a collection of eBooks and essays that help you better understand the biggest, most complex issues of the 21st century.

The collection includes Integral Politics, Who Ate Captain Cook, The Many Ways We Touch by Ken Wilber, The Great Release by Robb Smith, and a dozen more books.

Full Spectrum Mindfulness

Ken Wilber's flagship teaching, Full Spectrum Mindfulness is a groundbreaking new web course that combines Western approaches to Growing Up with Eastern methods of Waking Up, giving you what you need to dramatically deepen your awareness and skill by awakening the eight major levels of evolution alive in you right now.

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Tribute to Ken Wilber

Watch as we honor Ken’s extraordinary life and legacy, paying tribute to all the incredible work Ken has done over the decades to put so many pieces of our human puzzle together into a radically new vision of life, the universe, and everything. Includes appearances by Alex Grey, Lana Wachowski, Tony Robbins, Kermit the Frog, and many others.

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Ken Wilber's Archive