The great and rare mystics of the past . . . were, in fact, ahead of their time, and are still ahead of ours. In other words, they most definitely are not figures of the past. They are figures of the future.
Ken WilberRead
All the things and events we usually consider as irreconcilable, such as cause and effect, past and future, subject and object, are actually just like the crest and trough of a single wave, a single vibration. For a wave, although itself a single event, only expresses itself through the opposites of crest and trough, high point and low point. For that very reason, the reality is not found in the crest nor the trough alone, but in their unity.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the interconnectedness of opposing forces and the unity that arises from their relationship.
Ken Wilber's quote illustrates the idea that what we often perceive as opposites, like cause and effect or past and future, are actually aspects of a singular experience, much like the crest and trough of a wave. Instead of viewing them as independent entities, he invites us to understand that their true essence lies in their unity, suggesting that reality is a complex interplay of dualities rather than isolated concepts.
Themes
UnityDualityWaveRealityOpposites
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophical discussion on the nature of reality, I might reference this quote to highlight the importance of understanding dualities.
More from Ken Wilber
All quotes →The understanding of "evolutionary consciousness" is perhaps the most important thing lacking in spiritual practices today. Evolution means growth and development. This means that there are aspects of reality that have not yet arisen in our consciousness. But they will arise if we grow.
Ken WilberRead
Perhaps the best place to begin with an integral approach to business is with.. oneself. In the Big Three of self, culture, and world, integral mastery starts with self. How do body and mind and spirit operate in me? How does that necessarily impact my role in the world of business? And how can I become more conscious of these already operating realities in myself and in others?
Ken WilberRead
As you you deeply into your own awareness, and relax the self-contraction, and dissolve into the empty ground of your own primordial experience, the simply feeling of Being-right now, right here-is it not obvious at once?
Ken WilberRead
So it is a good idea to start simple, I think, and be very careful. There is a spiritual opening in the Kosmos. Let us be careful of how we fill it. The simplest is: Spirit or Emptiness is unqualifiable, but it is not inert and unyielding, for it gives rise to manifestation itself: new forms emerge, and that creativity is ultimate. Emptiness, creativity, holons.
Ken WilberRead
It is flat-out strange that something-that anything-is happening at all. There was nothing then a Big Bang, then here we all are. This is extremely weird.
Ken WilberRead
Similar quotes
The word of God hidden in the heart is a stubborn voice to suppress.
Billy GrahamRead
Accuracy of signal and free flow of information define sanity in my epistemology.
Robert Anton WilsonRead
Those who do not think that employment is systemic slavery are either blind or employed.
Nassim Nicholas TalebRead
Never take your obedience as the reason God blesses you; obedience is the outcome of being rightly related to God.
Oswald ChambersRead
Money poisons you when you've got it, and starves you when you haven't.
D. H. LawrenceRead
In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between, there are doors.
William BlakeRead