11 Jan Transpersonal Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy
In the early days of transpersonal psychology the works of Ken Wilbur, in particular The Spectrum of Consciousness (1977) and No Boundary (1979), were considered basic texts, and the concepts they offered were novel and inspiring. Wilber is a genius at synthetization, and these books made that apparent right from the start as he brought together disparate psychologies and spiritual systems from around the world. The work was based on the concepts popularized by Aldous Huxley in The Perennial Philosophy (1945/2009), which stated in most basic terms that all the great religions and traditions of the world were saying the same thing at their core. The reader of these early works of Wilber’s might not help but become enthusiastic when being presented with such a road map to enlightenment. This was a unifying and satisfying worldview, and it coincided nicely with the similar perspective of a middle-class white person growing up in the suburbs believing that everyone shares the same viewpoint because everyone is the same underneath.
Postmodernism challenged these naïve beliefs, of course. Suddenly voices from everywhere began pointing out that the white, educated, middle-class view was not paramount, and scholars and the world at large began hearing from women, LGBTQ, and BIPOC perspectives. The perennial philosophy appeared to be a worldview created by men, particularly white, educated, upper-class men incorporating the views of educated Asian men.
Huxley, A. (1949/2009). The Perennial Philosophy. Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Wilber, K. (1977). The Spectrum of Consciousness. Quest Books
Wilber, K. (1979). No Boundary. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
© 2023 Catherine Auman
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