Approbations for Radical Kabbalah

By Ken Wilber

“This is a great work of inspired and audacious scholarship. Professor Moshe Idel’s letter of recommendation to Oxford University, and Professor Richard Mann’s words (comparing Marc’s work on Kabbalah to Elaine Pagels’ work on the Gnostic gospels), which introduce these volumes, speak for themselves. Similarly, the statements by Michael Zimmerman from the perspective of a chief justice of an American supreme court and by Sally Kempton, Dr. Gabriel Cousens, and Rabbi Winkler as scholars and teachers of enlightenment show something of the broad relevance of the volumes, as do the remarks by Sean Esbjörn-Hargens and Zachary Stein.

I read Dr. Gafni’s masterwork on Radical Kabbalah in its first drafts almost seven years ago. It was then over a thousand pages long, and I read it over two or three days with great excitement. I sent Marc a series delighted emails, after reading every few chapters. The breadth, depth and the sheer importance of the work moved me. I immediately recognized it as a semi- nal work, identifying a critical lineage of enlightenment from the tradition of Kabbalah, which needed to be incorporated into the Integral model.

We have done this work of integration in a special issue of the Journal of Integral Theory and Practice, under the leadership of Sean Esbjörn- Hargens, dedicated to this new chapter in Integral Theory, Unique Self. (JITP 6:1) This issue was guest edited by Dr. Gafni. Marc has further elaborated on this work in his book entitled, Your Unique Self: The Radical Path to Personal Enlightenment, published by Integral Publishers.

All this writing and discussion on Unique Self, including our first Integral Spiritual Experience Retreat on the same topic, was to a significant extent informed and catalyzed by Marc’s scholarly work, teaching and leadership. This is the kind of work that the Center for World Spirituality, of which I am an active member, exists to bring forth, drawing on every great tradi- tion, pre-modern, modern and post-modern. All this will inform the emer- gence of a genuine framework for a world spirituality based on Integral principles, which is one of the critical needs of this moment in time.”

Ken Wilber

Integral Philosopher and Author

Ken Wilber is the most influential figure in defining the terms of discussion on what constitutes the “Integral” perspective today. His corpus of 25 widely translated books has erected an intellectual framework for understanding the nature of converging trends in philosophy, psychology, sociology, and other disciplines. His books have often been bestsellers, and his scholarly books have been the basis for numerous academic programs, master’s and doctoral dissertations. He is a leading voice in support of World Spirituality based on Integral principles and has been one of the founding members of the Wisdom Council of the Center for World Spirituality.