Atlas Evolved-The Life and Loves of Nathaniel Branden – Ken Wilber and Nathaniel Branden

Salepage link: At HERE. Archive:

Nathaniel Branden, Ayn Rand’s former lover and the inspiration for her famous John Galt character, was at ground zero during the rise of the Objectivist movement. In this exclusive six-hour dialogue, Atlas Evolved: The Life and Loves of Nathaniel Branden, Nathaniel offers an intimate insider’s view of the origins, major contributions, and inevitable limitations of Rand’s philosophy and the intellectual movement it sparked. Masterfully hosted by Ken Wilber, this talk offers invaluable insight into Ayn Rand’s legacy, the human potential movement, romantic love, self-esteem, self-transcendence, and the art of conscious living.

From Ayn Rand to the Art of Conscious Living.

The writings and philosophies of Ayn Rand continue to impact and influence the world in many profound ways, seen everywhere from national budget debates to Wall Street ethics to the recent rise of the Tea Party. The Economist and the New York Times have both reported that the sales of Atlas Shrugged have spiked in the wake of the 2000’s recession, and a new film adaptation has just been released in theaters across America. Think whatever you want about Ayn Rand and the Objectivist philosophy she founded, but you shouldn’t underestimate her influence upon contemporary thought and culture.

Nathaniel Branden, Rand’s former lover and the inspiration for her famous John Galt character, was at ground zero during the rise of the Objectivist movement. In this exclusive six-hour dialogue, Nathaniel offers an intimate insider’s view of the origins, major contributions, and inevitable limitations of Rand’s philosophy and the intellectual movement it sparked. Masterfully hosted by renowned Integral philosopher Ken Wilber, this talk offers invaluable insight into Ayn Rand’s legacy, the human potential movement, romantic love, self-esteem, self-transcendence, and the art of conscious living.

An intimate insider’s view of Ayn Rand’s philosophy and legacy.

In a well known joint study conducted by the Library of Congress and the Book-of-the-Month Club, people were asked to identify the book that has made the biggest difference in their lives. Not surprisingly, the Bible came in first—but Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged was listed second, with The Fountainhead in fifth place. Which means that two of the five most influential books reported by the public were both penned by Ayn Rand.

Rand’s legacy is staggering. Her Objectivist philosophy continues to influence modern “greed is good” economic theory (think Alan Greenspan), conservative and libertarian ideologies (think Rep. Paul Ryan), and is even resurfacing in recent years as the rise of Tea Party politics. Even one of the most successful video games of the past decade, BioShock, was based explicitly upon Rand’s philosophy.

Who is John Galt?

Atlas Shrugged, published in 1957, is regarded by many as Rand’s magnum opus. Within you can find all the core tenets of her Objectivist philosophy, expounding upon Rand’s views on reason, individualism, and self-reliance, the concepts of achievement and human progress, the importance of free market economies, and the dangers of socialism and government coercion.

One of the most important characters in Atlas Shrugged is a man named John Galt, a mysterious philosopher and inventor who, in the end, symbolizes all the most admirable qualities described by Rand’s worldview. What many people do not realize, however, is that John Galt was largely based upon Ayn Rand’s real-life partner and lover, Nathaniel Branden, who Rand considered to be the living embodiment of the principles of her Objectivist philosophy.

Okay, so who is Nathaniel Branden?

Psychologist and philosopher Nathaniel Branden, Ph.D. is a founding member of Integral Institute and author of twenty books on the psychology of self-esteem, romantic love, and the life and thought of Ayn Rand. His work has been translated into 18 languages and has sold over 4 million copies, and includes such titles as Taking Responsibility, The Art of Living Consciously, A Woman’s Self-Esteem, and the 1969 classic, The Psychology of Self-Esteem. Branden currently works as both a practicing psychotherapist and a corporate consultant through the Branden Institute, conducting seminars, workshops, and conferences to demonstrate how the principles of self-esteem can be applied to the challenges of the modern business organization.

Nathaniel begins his story at the beginning: a boy of fourteen who stumbled across a copy of The Fountainhead lying on the coffee table. “I disappeared from this earth for the next two days, until the book was finished. It was an electrifying experience.” Little did he know then that as a young man, a shade under twenty, he would actually meet Ayn and soon begin one of the most passionate and turbulent romantic relationships of his life, the effects of which would touch the lives of thousands.

As Nathaniel recalls: “I could hardly believe that this person who I had regarded as a goddess since age fourteen, saw me for all practical purposes as the apotheosis of everything she was writing about.” Ayn and Nathaniel began an intense, romantic (and largely secret) relationship—she in her forties, Nathaniel in his twenties—that has become the stuff of legend (and at least one movie). It is rare that any influential movement begins in such a way; rarer still to have such an intimate eyewitness report.

The Art of Conscious Living

Most of us are lucky to collect a handful of truly great stories in our lifetimes. Nathaniel, meanwhile, has dozens. Hundreds, maybe. And boy, does he know how to tell them! (“I’ve never met anyone who speaks in full chapters!” Ken quips toward the end of the dialogue.) Nathaniel’s relationship with Ayn—and the disintegration thereof—is just the very first chapter of Nathaniel’s remarkable life. The rest of his story is truly extraordinary, having unfolded through several of the developmental stages that Ken describes so lucidly in his own work.

Each chapter of his life resulted in a deepening and widening of Nathaniel’s concept of self, ranging from the rational self-interest of Rand’s Objectivism (modern) to themes of self-esteem and self-authorship (postmodern) to the curious relationship between self-identity and self-transcendence (post-postmodern, or integral)—all of which makes Nathaniel’s life one of the most fascinating case-studies of the many territories of integral consciousness that we have ever seen.

“The secret to romantic relationships,” Nathaniel tells us, “is mutual admiration.” Clearly, the same can be said for long and enduring friendships, such as the one shared by Ken and Nathaniel. The affection and respect that exists between these two intellectual giants is unmistakable, resulting in one of the warmest and most emotionally-stirring conversations that Ken has ever recorded. Nathaniel’s stories will make you laugh, they will make you cry, and they will help inspire your own path toward a fully-conscious and fully-lived life.

A Note from Ken Wilber

“Nathaniel Branden is an old friend of mine—ever since he asked to meet with me in 1984 to answer the question, “What does Buddha have that Zorba the Greek doesn’t?” (I replied something like constancy of realization, not just occasional dancing.) But Nathaniel in general, at that time, was wary of the transpersonal position, yet he seemed to find my writing fairly convincing, and so we were always going at it in some sort of very friendly debate.

Nathaniel, of course, had been Ayn Rand’s primary promoter (and lover) for several decades (John Galt, in Atlas Shrugged, was modeled largely after him), although he later came to feel her approach too violently cut off emotions, and so he developed what he called a “biocentric approach,” returning feelings to their appropriate and significant place.

The following interview is typical of our talks together—I think you will find it illuminating, clear, fascinating, and often compelling. I always had a very special place for Nathaniel in my heart, even though we remained in some ways on opposite sides of the transpersonal street. But I admired him enormously—and still do. I hope you find the following as much fun as I did.”

-Ken Wilber

Dialogue Summary

The Early Years

The Early Years. Part 1: Falling in Love with Ayn & the Passion of Objectivism

In this opening conversation, Nathaniel recounts his love affair with the philosophy of Ayn Rand, which later turned into a dramatic love affair with the women herself. Spending his young adulthood in the intellectual and emotional cauldron surrounding Ayn became the home he had been searching for. And yet, the seductive momentum of the times carried Nathaniel off into an intoxicating and constricted period of maturation. Coupled with these intensely conflicting feelings was the attack on Atlas Shrugged by the intellectuals of the times….

The Early Years. Part 2: Falling-Out with Ayn & Rediscovering Emotions

Nathaniel and Ken continue the conversation by exploring several reasons Ayn’s philosophy was attacked so mercilessly after the publication of Atlas Shrugged. Timing is everything, and Ayn offered a persuasive vision of the foundational importance of the individual in a time when collectivism ruled the intellectual day. Thus it came as no surprise when the Objectivist movement received such blazing criticism from the intelligentsia.

It was during this time that Nathaniel met and fell in love with one of his students, Patrecia. This began a wonderfully painful chain of events culminating in Ayn’s discovery of Nathaniel and Patrecia’s relationship, which marked the well-publicized split between Nathaniel and Ayn both personally and professionally. Finally extricated from this world, he began to critically reassess the relationship between emotions and reason. As Nathaniel goes on to explain, this was a difficult period because his inquiry involved not just the philosophical dimensions of his being, but also his psychological being as well. He had thus begun the process of including within his own life the things he had spent the past twenty years disowning.

The Middle Years

The Middle Years. Part 1: Authoring a Life of Love

The second chapter of the conversation begins with Nathaniel and Ken exploring the power of the unconscious to direct life despite outside forces. This shifts to a reflection of the trauma Nathaniel experienced during the falling-out with Ayn. It was during this time that he deliberately began to engage various psychotherapeutic techniques to help flesh out his own practice and heal from the wounds he had experienced.

Nathaniel then tells the tragic story of his wife, Patrecia’s death, which became the “defining emotional moment” of his life. From that point on, everything changed. Being cracked open by the intense love and loss, the book The Psychology of Romantic Love was penned.

The Middle Years. Part 2: Tales From a Life of Love

Nathaniel shares several stories from his time with Patrecia, including their experience of Baba Muktananda, a story which serves as a reminder of the complexity of spiritual development.

The Middle Years. Part 3: Worlds Beyond the Rational

Nathaniel speaks of the transition from rationality to transrationality marked by the loss of Patrecia and the formation of a new relationship with the woman, Devers, who would soon become his wife. He and Ken explore the nature of reason as it moves into vision-logic and then beyond. Nathaniel then tells the story of how he learned of Dever’s psychic capacities and his budding enthusiasm for this phenomenon. Both he and Ken reflect on the nature of paranormal abilities and their dismissal despite evidence of their existence.

The Middle Years. Part 4: Judgement Day

This chapter of Nathaniel’s life ends with Devers meeting Ayn and finally the death of Ayn. Ken comments on the integrity with which Nathaniel handled the entire relationship with Ayn as indicated by the memoirs Nathaniel published of their time together.

Into the Present

Into the Present. Part 1: The Higher Reaches of Self-Esteem (From ego to Ego)

Nathaniel begins part three with a reflection on the importance of effective communication. The result of this discovery was a kinder, more gentle self as observed by his friends and a deepening of the capacity to witness reality as experienced subjectively. As Nathaniel admits, so much of what this period involved was the development of a richer understanding of his own concept of ego. He and Ken then discuss the terrible misunderstandings surrounding the notion of the empirical ego and the transcendental Ego that is so common.

Into the Present. Part 2: Nathaniel Branden Glows in the Dark!

Circling back to the ways the transcendent Ego was permeating Nathaniel’s life, he expresses his own drive toward “improving the relationship of [one’s own] consciousness to reality.” As a teacher this guided much of his writing either implicitly or explicitly. As an individual this has resulted in a progressive openness to all of the phases of his life, an integration of the many threads that had been woven. Nathaniel then shares one welcome side-effect of all of this: he glows in the dark. The radiance of the Self is shining through and people simply notice it.

Into the Present. Part 3: The Literature of a Conscious Life

The conversation turns to Nathaniel’s relationship to writing and the sense that if he had only one book left to write it would be fictional. He recounts the pains and joys of his current project including the spiritual implications of this roller-coaster ride. The story, while not autobiographical, resonates with Nathaniel’s own life experience and has thus been an adrenaline charged experience. As he sums it up, it is a story of redemption, of the struggle between good and good.

Postscript

Postscript. Part 1: Reflections on the Development of Self-Esteem

In this final conversation Nathaniel and Ken turn to more theoretical matters. Nathaniel explains the advantage of adding a developmental perspective to his own work, including self-esteem. He shares the insights into how self-esteem unfolds in the self that were not entirely apparent when he first began writing on these issues. He and Ken discuss the assumptions made by Ayn Rand that were both her great strength and her fundamental blindspot. Ken offers his own interpretation of Nathaniel’s idea of self-esteem, which includes both developmental structures and fundamental components of the self, irregardless of the stage the individual is at. In the end, Nathaniel has come to feel that the six pillars of self-esteem are the greatest indicators of whether he has an affinity toward another person or not.

Postscript. Part 2: A Rational Reconstruction of Mysticism

Nathaniel asks Ken for clarification on the concept of vision-logic. Ken then teases apart the different forms of reason, explaining that Nathaniel’s concept of reason actually fits well with the idea of vision-logic. The conversation then turns to the three forms of knowing as described in Eye to Eye: sensory, mental, and spiritual experience. This argument, they note, is able to accommodate both transrational experience and a rational reconstruction of those experiences in a “rational mysticism”.

The question comes up about why Buddhism refuses to talk about God. Ken offers the distinction between cataphatic and apophatic approaches to God and the historical significance of these two ways of describing the Divine. The conversation then turns to what the nondual actually means. Ken explains common misunderstandings of this topic.

Postscript. Part 3: Tying Up Loose Ends

As a final question, Ken asks how Nathaniel’s novel is going. They share the experience of writing as a spiritual practice. Nathaniel expresses the importance of surrender in the writing process. He also speaks to the use of writing for psychological purposes: “to play chess against another aspect of myself”. Finally, Nathaniel ties it all together by sharing how he has used this story to heal the final wound from his time with Ayn.