Infinite Players are Everywhere (but hard to spot)

Everything you do in life is a game. 

From war to marriage, education to career, parenting, religion, wealth, birth, ownership, intelligence, violence, sex, entertainment, death, pride, love, crime, Tiddlywinks, etc, etc, etc.

You might agree that Tiddlywinks is a game, but all the others are also games because, like Tiddly Winks, they all have rules. Like Tiddlywinks, to win at war players must follow rules. To win at marriage or love players must also follow rules, just like winning at wealth and parenting require adherence to rules. For instance, a rule of war is that there must be an enemy, while a rule of parenting is that children must obey parents and to play at wealth requires one “accumulate.”

Rules are everywhere and some we are conscious of (taxes, speed limits) while others remain tucked away in the unconscious (love, death). Nevertheless, you can always tell a game by its rules.

Rules exist for one reason only and that is to limit play. Limits are necessary in a physical world. If you didn’t follow the rule of existing in a body, you would not exist. If you weren’t limited by a body, which in turn was limited by gravity, you would have NO centralized coordinates for which to locate and reference a fixed ‘self.’ This would make you some form of floating plasma or gas constantly breaking apart and you’d never actually knowing which part of you was where, at any moment.

Yet, although some rules appear necessary, others can be cause of much suffering. The very fact that the ego-self requires a body for which to locate and reference itself can be very painful, particularly as the reference point (body) begins to deteriorate over time resulting in more rules and limits to what can be done. Yet, we’ve pretty much unconsciously accepted the rules of the “aging” game and, therefore, we accept suffering as a rule of that game. At present, we’re much too fixated on social/cultural rules to pay much attention to the unconscious rules of our physical experience.

However, there is a growing group of people out there who are beginning to question even the rules of physical existence, simply because they have found a way to play WITH, and no longer suffer through, social/cultural rules. These people are referred to as infinite players and they are everywhere. But, although they exist among us, they are hard to spot primarily because they play the same games as finite players.

Nevertheless, there are some clues available from which finite players can detect the presence of an infinite player:

1. Infinite players absolutely love to play because they recognize the nature of life as engaging in an unending series of games. Infinite players are fully engaged with others in playing life’s games. We could say that they “live” for it.
2. Infinite players can be very “engaging” and, although they love to play games, they have NO desire at all for winning…just playing. Like a bad car accident, finite players are both repelled and attracted to infinite players, but are completely baffled as to why that is.
3. Infinite players laugh at themselves frequently and this is primarily because infinite players are not seriously attached to a finite sense of self, which requires games be won in order to better “actualize” the self. Even games like death are not taken seriously (although still played) because an infinite player recognizes that games never end, even though they do realize the rules will change and look forward to such changes. However, this aspect may be the hardest to detect, since finite players are not very likely to discuss this with infinite players, because finite players are very serious about the game of “fear.”
4. Infinite players engage fully and deeply in the game of suffering, but because they do not conform to the world’s ‘seriousness,’ they are NOT restricted to the rules of this game and come from a place of authenticity that finite players rarely access.
5. Infinite players genuinely like and trust people, even though this makes them appear easy prey for those who play “victimization” games. But since infinite players do NOT take rules seriously, they tend NOT to make good players (victims) of that game. However, because infinite players recognize the games are infinite, they seek to bring as many players into the game as possible in order to keep the games in play which, ironically, tends to reduce the number of victims (kinda like “the more, the merrier” I suppose).
6. Infinite players convey an infinite desire to play WITH rules and are never unconscious of the rules they choose to follow. They don’t complain about rules, but tend to reveal and expose rules from all angles, thereby, provoking others to play with rules as well (since the more players the greater the likelihood rules will change so that outcomes are avoided). Throughout centuries, infinite players have provoked rule changes. However, because infinite players have no desire to be known (declared a  “winner”) they tend to influence change anonymously, while allowing finite players to be rewarded in recognition that this is the only reason finite players, play. Infinite players recognize the infinite nature of all games and see achieving outcomes as not rewarding at all, since that tends to bring the game to a conclusion.

Infinite players do acquire rewards, but they are not comparable to the rewards of finite play because they require no special knowledge or preparation in order to be experienced. Infinite players are rewarded through “surprise.” Yet, they do not seek to surprise others by specific finite moves in the game, but to experience surprise WITH others through moves that keep the game in play...infinitely

Everyone plays and even to choose not to play is still a form of play.

Artwork by Mark Ryden - "The Magic Circus"

Compromising with Bullshit

This is a follow-up from my March 4 post “Do You Resonate with Bullshit,” because “bullshit” is a fascinating spiritual concept (except to the spiritually inclined).

That’s because the ego-self (“you”) knows itself by “actualizing” through bullshit. Self-actualization is a process you participate in all the time. From moment to moment, the ego is constantly seeking for ways to engage the world in order to increase and magnify itself in contrast and comparison to its experience of a world.


This requires the ego make compromises in order to continue self-fabrication with what is obviously a fucking absurd world. When you fully examine your conventional beliefs, which serve to normalize the experience of an absurd world, you will no doubt recognize the abject meaningless of everything you do (unless, of course, you'd rather not).

Everybody has had, at one time or another, an experience that the world is not quite right (why else would you be looking for “truth” outside the world or somehow separate from what you currently experience as a 'world'?)

Yet, the reason this is so extremely difficult for an ego to contemplate, for any length of time, is because the ego compromises with insanity in order to know itself. Realizing your experience of a world’s is obviously absurd, is understanding that the ego is obviously absurd (“you” are obviously absurd), and really…

….who wants to admit that? Not me…Hahaa!

Who wants to admit with full acceptance that all the absurd things you do, like going to work, watching TV, talking on the phone, taking Viagra, doing laundry, getting a “suntan,” sitting in a “recliner,” blogging on the internet, masturbating, sending Christmas cards, “grocery shopping,” paying a “mortgage,” washing your car, meditating, getting a “paycheck,” disciplining your children, getting a college degree, going vegan, wearing pajamas, going on “vacation,” praying to God, painting your “living room,” eating potato chips, driving in “traffic,” etcetera, etcetera, etcetera, on and on, ad nauseam…who wants to admit it’s all bullshit?


Hence, it's imperative that the ego-self make compromises with insanity in order to normalize the bullshit. How else would it actualize if NOT through bullshit? How else would you know your ‘self’ if not through bullshit? What would become of “you” if one day you were to realize, with stark immediacy and full apprehension, that every fucking thing you do, have done and will do…is, has been and will always be…

…complete and utter bullshit?(oh wait..did you think some of it was 'meaningful'?)

And all the fanciful meanings you have distilled from what you were taught and thus, project upon the world in order to compromise with absurdity…. is still ludicrously absurd. Exclaiming "isn't life wonderful, weeeee..." or "God this shit sucks!" actually mean the same thing, just not to an ego intent on actualizing itself.


All those teachers of non-duality are completely wasting your time if you have yet to get to this point. All their concepts of luminous, non-conceptuality are as much bullshit as your investment portfolio and the size of your penis (or breasts). All their blathering is useless to you until you get to where it simply makes no difference, because there is NO reason for it.

Did I ever tell you the joke about the guy who had a non-dual experience on his yacht?
He drowned.

As I sit here in my paint-covered Speedo sandals and my ripped up sweats, with a crappy antique Dell laptop (that keeps shuttin’ down on me) and as I contemplate gettin’ up in the morning to go to work to get my paycheck, one thing comes to mind…

I doesn’t matter.

Does this mean you shouldn’t do all those things listed above? Of course not…

…don’t be ridiculous! 

Because the very act of “surrendering” the bullshit affirms that it is more than bullshit, which it's NOT, and never has been.

So go ahead, dive in.... because, when it doesn't matter…


…you can play infinitely!

Until then, bullshit is very serious indeed...

Artwork by DARK VOMIT - "Clown's Last Supper" 

Something to Call Your Own (the fabricated "you")

Is there really anything in your consciousness/mind that you can genuinely call your own?

You were taught to form words in order to use the language you were taught to convey the concepts you were taught...you were taught what to be angry about and what to be sad about....you were taught what brings pleasure and what brings pain, what to avoid and what to embrace.

Even your creativity is channeled through the world's categories.

You were taught to feel in accordance with categories of thought through which you process data and respond accordingly.

But ALL those categories were learned and everything in consciousness was given to you by the world....everything except, maybe....consciousness itself.

So now you excitingly attempt to develop your ‘self’ through all manner of technique, strategy, ideology and skills. But even that is learned.

You are a 'Master of Mimicry' and you cannot be anything beyond what the world says you can be.

Is all your self-development merely delusional subterfuge? Are you're merely further developing something you were taught to be? Is there really such a thing as an "authentic self" or is that simply an already sculpted self becoming more complexly fabricated, so  as to seem genuine in a world of fabricated mimicry?

Is there really any part of "you" that is NOT a construction fabricated by the world outside your head?

If NOT, then who cares? Why not let it all go and stop defending and preserving it? Stop acting like you're hurt when insulted or angry when annoyed. Why grieve over death, when grief is nothing more than an emotion you experience when accessing learned categories of interpretive thought?

Why care if someone hurts your feelings if, in fact, you were taught HOW to feel? It's not really "you," because essentially, all emotional pain must first be interpreted cognitively (thought) before it is felt. If I insult you, through the categories of thought you've learned, you will apply a conditioned interpretation that will result in an emotion. But if the interpretation comes from learned concepts, how can you report that you genuinely feel hurt, since there was nothing genuine involved?

"You" exist as nothing more than a robotic fabrication of an absurd world (but even that interpretation is a learned construct).

Is there something else deep within or under all the fabricated absurdity? Is there something there that is truly “you”?

Is there really anything in your consciousness/mind that you can genuinely call your own?

Finite players continually develop the self in order to prove ownership, while infinite players realize that not even consciousness itself...

...can be called your own.


Artwork by Thasher317 - Self-Portrait as Escher

Nothing Need Be Done To Play Infinitely

Infinite players are always ‘doing’ something, but with little need to do anything at all and this often makes what they do quite invigorating even when doing nothing. The operative word is “need,” since this significantly minimizes the freedom to play at everything you do.

Because the world teaches the meaning of death as finite, to play infinitely at dying is to live your life free of what death means. Infinite players enjoy playing with all rules. When death is nothing more than an infinite game, death takes on new meaning (contrary to the rules previously followed). Look very closely at your rules of death. Can your rules be changed?

When nothing need be done, everything gets done in a ‘surprisingly’ more effective way. Make no mistake, the infinite player naturally applies this to all actions and activities. Finite players often feel stressed over the things they need to do, because the rule is that what you’re doing in this moment is not what you should be doing, hence, conflict is experienced.

Needing to do many things creates the subsequent belief of competing choices (life vs. death) in which some things are more important than others. This results in a great deal of chronic tension in the finite player who does things from need, rather than play. Suffering is an aspect of competing choices because it creates a tension between what you believe need be done, what you want to do and what you are actually doing in the moment.

The infinite player can be anywhere and do anything and, because there is no investment in a finite (fixed) self-identity for which to reference the need for specific actions, there are NO competing interests and, thus, no internal tension. If the self is identified within infinite parameters (which are really NO parameters at all) what could the self need to have completed or done? Look very closely at the boundaries you’ve applied around your 'self.' Can they be continually expanded by changing the rules?

The finite player references his/her identity (ego-self) as having specific needs that must be fulfilled and this demands specific actions/behaviors be accorded value above other actions. Therefore, doing something not accorded value in fulfilling a need demands you suffer through that action, simply because it does not fulfill a need demanding some other act or behavior is needed. At times, this makes life feel like drudgery, simply because much of what you do has been determined as useless to fulfilling your needs. But it is NOT what you do that drains you, rather, it is your belief that doing something else will bring you closer to salvation, awakening or  “happiness.”

…when in fact, that moment is abundant with ‘surprising’ possibility if you were only open to 'surprise' and NOT fixated on filling a need.

Artwork by Vladimir Kush - "Sunset by the Ocean" 

Enjoy Your Suffering...Because It Defines “You”

Every day you wake up...the suffering begins. This is because the ego-self (package of beliefs you call “me”) is defined by all the things it does in order NOT to suffer and this is contingent on the need TO suffer as the chief defining attribute of an ego-self.

Let’s face it, if you weren’t continually seeking a means to avoid suffering (by pursuing" happiness”) what else would you be doing? All your grand plans, and subsequent day to day activities, are devised to escape suffering.

However, ironically, the ego often demands you suffer more in order to eventually achieve the reward of NO suffering and this is the theme of all religion and spirituality.

You say, “I’m not trying to avoid suffering. I just want to be happy.” Problem is your seeking “happiness” assumes its absence and if “happiness” is absent, suffering must fill that void (because nature abhors a vacuum). Therefore, it is crucial that the ego-self continually devise new suffering strategies for which to escape, because the ego-self is a master of suffering (and it can never escape that)

The moment suffering is entirely erased from your life is the moment “you” cease to exist, simply because the chief defining factor of “you” is obliterated, taking "you" with it.

Suffering merely signifies unfilled needs that are lacking, lost or denied. Every action and behavior is entirely motivated to fill a need. Certainly, the body has needs, but an ego-self has NO real needs, simply because IT isn’t real (like a rock is real) and is nothing more than an experience you interpret as ‘real.’ There is no such thing as a ‘self,’ in any tangible sense, because it’s an ‘experience’ you made up (with a little help from your friends). You didn’t make it up in your “mind” either, since there is no such thing as “mind,” only the interpretation of experiences through ideological labels like mind, consciousness, thought, etc.

Therefore, all your experiences are completely malleable and you can shape it anyway you like. 

If only you were taught that in childhood. Yet, what you were taught was “rules” and you apply the rules you learned to all your experiences so that there are only certain things that CAN be experienced. You sculpt your ‘self’ based on the rules of what a self is and what it can do and anything outside those rules is simply NOT ‘real.’

So where did you get your rules as to how your ‘life’ should be experienced? 

From the scripts the world provides to escape suffering. 

Do you feel fulfilled in your job and career? Is your education filling a lack? Do the things you’ve collected give you a sense of satisfaction? Do you pride yourself on your intellect? Does having lots of money give you pleasure? Does your ‘family’ fulfill a need? Are you uplifted by your status and prestige? Does your “spirituality” or religion provide you with a sense of heightened importance? Do you perform actions and behaviors that make you happy? Does having thousands read your blog give you a sense of pride? Have you chosen people who make you happy, only to discard them when they no longer meet that requirement? Do you demand a certain frequency of sex to feel satisfied? Is it crucially important that your kids get good grades? Do you look forward to ‘retirement’? Do you demand you always get your “moneys worth” for the things you buy?

If none of these things aid you in the escape from suffering... not to worry. Just project it outward, away from the "mind" and blame the world from which you extracted your “happiness scripts.” The ego demands experiences be projected outward so that you can deny responsibility as Maker-of-All-Experience and, thus, blame the ‘world’ for your suffering, because the most crucial rule you learned was that you MUST always be victim OF the world. All experiences are entirely contingent upon what the world teaches CAN be experienced and that simply reinforces your victimization.

However, you could deny the world the power to define “you.” 

You could end your victimization now, if you only knew how to stop it….

Got to get some food
I'm so hungry all the time
I don't know how to stop
I don't know how to stop

Got to get some sleep
I'm so nervous in the night
I don't know how to stop
No, I don't know how to stop

Got to pick up the phone
I will call any number
I will talk to anyone

I know I've gone too far
Much too far I gone this time
Don't want to think what I've done
I don't know how to stop
I don't know how to stop

There are always hidden silences
Waiting behind the chair
They come out when the coast is clear
They eat anything that moves
I go shaky at the knees
Lights go out, stars come down
Like a swarm of bees

You know I hate to hurt you
I hate to see your pain
But I don't know how to stop
No, I don't know how to stop

Street after street
Night after night
I walk on through the rain
I walk on through the rain 

(Peter Gabriel)


Artwork by magicshadow - "Suffering"

Is Ken Wilber Really A Finite Player? (or just in drag)

Extracts from “Integral Life’s” presentation of a portion of Ken Wilber’s “Eye of Spirit”

"There is nothing but God, nothing but the Goddess, nothing but Spirit in all directions, and not a grain of sand, not a speck of dust, is more or less Spirit than any other…. The Great Search simply reinforces the mistaken assumption that there is some' place that Spirit is not…But there is no space lacking, and there is no space more full. There is only Spirit."

Yep, it’s an infinite game “in all directions.” There’s nowhere you need go…nobody you need be…nothing need be done. Yet, beyond that, you have a lot to do. But what you do is done infinitely and so there are NO rules to how that game is played, but it MUST be played and no one plays alone.

"You are somehow looking right at the answer. One hundred percent of Spirit is in your perception right now. Not 20 percent, not 50 percent, not 99 percent, but literally 100 percent of Spirit is in your awareness right now—and the trick, as it were, is to recognize this ever-present state of affairs, and not to engineer a future state in which Spirit will announce itself. And this simple recognition of an already present Spirit is the task, as it were, of the great Nondual traditions."

Ahaa! There’s the operative concept…”task.” Make no mistake, whenever you come in contact with terms like this, you can be sure “rules” are about to be presented.What's interesting, however, is that the "task" involves no one but you, even though "engineering" the future has always been a joint venture. Did you think that your experience of a 'world' was constructed entirely alone?

"Many people have stern objections to "mysticism" or "transcendentalism" of any sort, because they think it somehow denies this world, or hates this earth, or despises the body…sages universally maintain that absolute reality and the relative world are "not-two" (which is the meaning of "nondual"), much as a mirror and its reflections are not separate, or an ocean is one with its many waves. So the "other world" of Spirit and "this world" of separate phenomena are deeply and profoundly "not-two," and this nonduality is a direct and immediate realization which occurs in certain meditative states—in other words, seen with the eye of contemplation—although it then becomes a very simple, very ordinary perception, whether you are meditating or not."

The non-duality concept is a modern interpretation of ancient wisdom teachings. Unfortunately, the “not-two” concept negates multiplicity for some ‘higher’ experience of singularity. “Non-dual” actually points to an absence of conflict in duality, thereby, creating an infinite equality between multiple realities or experiences.

Non-duality does not require that our individuality be dissolved or negated. Rather it simply points to an absence of opposition or competition between experiences. It's all relevant to the infinite game.

Your individuality is not opposed to mine nor mine yours and, indeed, the lion lies down with the lamb. This is often referred to as Christ Consciousness, because it deeply and fully engages a world of others in order to dissolve fear completely and experience the absence of all opposition and conflict. The non-dual experience is nothing more than an experience of absolute equality with the world and others. This is because it’s not the world that you fear, but those who participate in the construct of your experience as you participate with them.

Yet, Ken Wilber, the founder of “Integral Theory,” claims that “…this nonduality is a direct and immediate realization which occurs in CERTAIN meditative states…” Therefore, the game is finite and require rules leading to the reward of a certain “realization" and only CERTAIN individuals can win. Certain individuals can never win an infinite game, because an infinite game has no outcome through which to declare a winner.

"Every single thing you perceive is the radiance of Spirit itself, so much so that Spirit is not seen apart from that thing: the robin sings, and just that is it, nothing else. This becomes your constant realization, through all changes of state, very naturally, just so. And this releases you from the basic insanity of hiding from the Real."

Of course, spirit is apart, but it is also ONE. Spirit inhabits and plays any game it chooses.Yet, Spirit engages without opposition and this is the infinite game. Unfortunately, Wilber’s grand opus “Integral Theory” requires complex rules which include (and transcend) various levels, degrees, states, lines, etc, in order for the coveted reward to be achieved. Rewards denote finite conclusions and finite conclusions demand a series of rules (or “map”) to get there.

"But why is it, then, that we ordinarily don't have that perception?"

Now we must begin to define the winners and losers of this game and we are restricted to the parameters of a finite game, demanding specific conclusions to represent achieved rewards that can be ‘perceived.’ Ken Wilber will begin setting the rules, since he is a ‘winner’ of this game, and the first rule of this game is “non-dual meditation.” He has played by those rules, which have been devised by other "ancient" winners, and he expects you will concur.

Whenever you approach a conclusion…best to go the other way.

"In nondual meditation or contemplation, the agitation of the separate-self sense profoundly relaxes, and the self uncoils in the vast expanse of all space. At that point, it becomes obvious that you are not "in here" looking at the world "out there," because that duality has simply collapsed into pure Presence and spontaneous luminosity."

There is no collapsing of experiences. Multiplicity doesn’t magically disappear. It merely no longer opposes or competes.

"This realization may take many forms. A simple one is something like this: You might be looking at a mountain, and you have relaxed into the effortlessness of your own present awareness, and then suddenly the mountain is all, you are nothing. Your separate-self sense is suddenly and totally gone, and there is simply everything that is arising moment to moment. You are perfectly aware, perfectly conscious, everything seems completely normal, except you are nowhere to be found. You are not on this side of your face looking at the mountain out there; you simply are the mountain, you are the sky, you are the clouds, you are everything that is arising moment to moment, very simply, very clearly, just so."

This experience is not of merging with the mountains and you do not become the clouds or the sky, but you no longer feel in any way inferior, unequal or disengaged from your experience of a world. You and the world have no opposing tendencies or competing aspects. There is always difference, since Spirit manifests in many ways, yet all manifestations of Spirit are equal, non-opposing and joined (although egocentricity demands competition between levels as "reality"). Unfortunately for KW, his path is merely more of the same egocentricity believing it must become what it perceives in order to transcend or be free of itself and this alone results in what Wilber calls “the Great Search.”

"William Blake said that "a fool who persists in his folly will become wise." So nondual meditation simply speeds up the folly. If you really think you lack Spirit, then try this folly: try to become Spirit, try to discover Spirit, try to contact Spirit, try to reach Spirit: meditate and meditate and meditate in order to get Spirit!"

Now we have the rules of this game and the conclusive evidence of your winning is “realization of spirit.” Keep in mind that the chief rule of this game is that you cannot be enlightened in order to play the game of enlightenment. But notice Wilber’s ruse in asserting rules, while still denying rules are necessary, “If you really think you lack Spirit, then try this folly…meditate and meditate and meditate.” Ken is a master at the game of spiritual persuasion.

"It's not that these nondual traditions deny higher states; they don't. They have many, many practices that help individuals reach specific states of postformal consciousness…The real aim is the stateless, not a perpetual fascination with changes of state. And that stateless condition is the true nature of this and every conceivable state of consciousness, so any state you have will do just fine. Change of state is not the ultimate point; recognizing the Changeless is the point, recognizing primordial Emptiness is the point, recognizing unqualifiable Godhead is the point, recognizing pure Spirit is the point, and if you are breathing and vaguely awake, that state of consciousness will do just fine."

You could experience higher or altered states of consciousness by dropping some good acid. Therefore, such states can only be stepping stones signifying status (even though you’ve done it ‘naturally’) along the way to the ultimate reward of “recognizing the Changeless is the point.” So, of course, “higher states” cannot be the reward or outcome you must ultimately seek as reward for playing. The "changeless" is what you seek and non-dual meditation is the rule you must follow. One wonders is there another way for the harried mother of four, the overworked truck driver, the chronically ill, the intellectually impaired? How about the postman or the grocery store clerk…we can’t expect these folks to follow such austere rules? As we will see, Ken Wilber's 'truth' must leave some behind.

Spirit desires engagement with your world to be known and no parts are excluded.

"Nonetheless, traditionally, in order to demonstrate your sincerity, you must complete a good number of preliminary practices, including a mastery of various states of meditative consciousness, summating in a stable post-postconventional adaptation, all of which is well and good….Rather, it is precisely by entering and leaving these various meditative states that you begin to understand that none of them constitute enlightenment. All of them have a beginning in time, and thus none of them are the timeless. The point is to realize that change of state is not the point, and that realization can occur in any state of consciousness whatsoever."

"Demonstrate sincerity"? Wilber then presents a series of sincere “preliminary practices” to be performed individually with no involvement with others or the world. In the final page of this essay KW then reverts to delineating numerous Hindu-Buddhist states of consciousness that could be experienced as you press ever onward toward the ultimate reward of the game (note that these are rewards too, just 'preliminary' rewards and not the big kahuna). Ken’s an excellent writer of the new age genre and he will certainly dazzle you with his luminous terminology. But, of course, that’s the point, since how else will he persuade you to follow his rules of “enlightenment” and join in his game. You are told that his interpretation is based on centuries of ancient wisdom, because he knows you will think, “how can that be wrong." But what if his interpretation is wrong?

"It is simply that, as embodied being, you also arise in the world of form that is your own manifestation. And the intrinsic potentials of the enlightened mind (the intrinsic potentials of your ever-present awareness)—such as equanimity, discriminating wisdom, mirrorlike wisdom, ground consciousness, and all-accomplishing awareness—various of these potentials combine with the native dispositions and particular talents of your own individual bodymind."

Whoops! I’ll bet you thought you’d finally be free of the body and become One with everything. Well, not exactly. However, you will now attach to the egocentric aspects such as “equanimity,” “discriminating wisdom,” “all-accomplishing awareness,” etc, etc. You get the Ph.D in egocentricity (ego assuming it's no longer ego). That’s really what we want and Ken gives it to us. Rewards, baby! Get me to the end product. Just gimme the game plan and let me run a touchdown. Unfortunately, what Ken fails to realize, in his “discriminating wisdom,” is that this game never ends. But then you can’t sell books, DVD’s and week long seminars on Maui without a reward, since who’d buy your rulebook if the were no reason to follow the rules?

"We do this gently, randomly, and spontaneously, through the day and into the night. Soon enough, through all three states of waking, dreaming, and sleeping, this recognition will grow of its own accord and by its own intrinsic power, outshining the obstacles that pretend to hide its nature…"

Forget that others count on your being there. Forget that the world counts on your full engagement in order to change the world. The world is nothing more than an “obstacle,” hiding your “true nature,” that you must “outshine” and so you disengage and the 'higher consciousness ' resulting from any  loving depth or intimacy, experienced with those that make up your world experience (that which changes the world), must wait while you “meditate and meditate and meditate.”

"And somewhere on a cold crystal night the moon will shine on a silently waiting Earth, just to remind those left behind that it is all a game."

What??? “those left behind”? Truth leaves some behind? What kinda truth is that?

Ah yes, Ken realizes this is all just a game. Problem is, for him,it's a finite game and there is a reward. He must convince you that he’s achieved it and he does so by teaching you HOW you too, can be a winner (which reinforces his win). But achievement is limited in his “awakening” game to a select few willing to make the 'sincere' sacrifices necessary to achieve what Ken has achieved. The rest are simply “left behind.”

Problem is…if Truth doesn’t conform to Ken’s rules…we might all get left behind.

Awakening is very simple:
Fully engage the people who populate your experience of a world, because it is your fear of them that you seek to escape. However, the Truth is…there is no escape, because WITHOUT THEM THERE IS NO "YOU." Therefore, when you transcend that fear they will still be there….but more beautifully than you could have ever imagined and you will engage with them equally.

The only rule of this infinite game is to bring on as many players as possible, because the more players, playing infinitely, the less need for rules and without rules, as even ken proclaims, we’re “nothing but spirit in all directions.”

So why does Ken Wilber teach a finite game?


Artwork by Paul N Grech - "The Green Room"