Ken Wilber & Marc Gafni in Dialogue: On the Nature of the Personal

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On the Nature of the Personal
Part 4 of a Dialogue Series with Ken Wilber and Dr. Marc Gafni

In the following dialogue (with transcript) Dr. Gafni and Ken Wilber discuss the nature of the personal. It is a critical conversation. After the dialogue Marc added the following clarification.

The idea of “personal plus” — not “personal minus” – which appears in some of Ken’s earlier writings, importantly indicates that at the level of true self, personal ego is not left behind, but rather, is transcended and included.

Unique Self goes one significant step beyond personal plus, not personal minus. Unique Self indicates that, beyond the level of True Self (which as we just said transcends and includes the level of separate self personal – or what Marc has called Level 1 personal), there is an entirely new level of consciousness. This level of consciousness is the personal beyond true self, or the personal beyond the impersonal. This is what Marc has called Level 2 personal.

The Unique Self teaching recognizes that after clarifying your identity and realizing that you are not merely Separate Self (Level 1 personal), but rather True Self (the awakened impersonal that also includes the Level 1 personal of Separate Self), there is a higher level personal – Level 3 personal – which is the personal quality of essence living in you, as you, and through you — aka Unique Self by any other name.

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