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.
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Evolutionary consciousness refers to the growth and development of awareness in spirituality, indicating that there are higher levels of understanding yet to be achieved.
In this quote, Ken Wilber emphasizes the importance of recognizing 'evolutionary consciousness' within spiritual practices, suggesting that many current approaches to spirituality overlook the potential for further development in human awareness. He points out that as we evolve and grow, new aspects of reality will become apparent to us, highlighting a dynamic aspect of consciousness that is essential for spiritual advancement.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a workshop on personal development, one might share this quote to discuss the importance of evolving one's consciousness.
More from Ken Wilber
All quotes →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?
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?
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.
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.
Bad Gardens copy, good gardens create, great gardens transcend. What all great gardens have in common are their ability to pull the sensitive viewer out of him or herself and into the garden, so completely that the separate self-sense disappears entirely, and at least for a brief moment one is ushered into a nondual and timeless awareness. A great garden, in other words, is mystical no matter what its actual content.
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I'll tell you what it is... just why 'Wonder Woman' worked. Or 'Bionic Woman,' or any of those, really. It was because it wasn't about brawn... it was about brains. And yes, she happened to be beautiful, she happened to be kind of extraordinary in some way, but she wasn't a guy.
It is not easy to convey a sense of wonder, let alone resurrection wonder, to another. It’s the very nature of wonder to catch us off guard, to circumvent expectations and assumptions. Wonder can’t be packaged, and it can’t be worked up. It requires some sense of being there and some sense of engagement.
People must not be forced to adopt me as their favourite author, even for their own good.
I consider the official Catholic attitude on divorce, birth control, and censorship exceedingly dangerous to mankind.