Customer Reviews

Code Name God: The Spiritual Odyssey of a Man of Science

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Spiritual autobiographies make for fascinating reading. I cannot think of another genre that I enjoy more.

Having observed that, I always have certain expectations about a spiritual autobiography. The author will have discovered faith from an epiphany. The content will be very revealing about the author and not nearly as revealing about anything else. The person will be someone who chooses a spiritual life that causes a loss of interest in material things.

Dr. Bhaumik's book breaks free of all those expectations to provide much more fascinating material. Anyone who likes good autobiographies should read this book, even if you aren't interested in spiritual matters.

The book's advance publicity doesn't do justice to Dr. Bhaumik's life. Born into the second to lowest caste in colonial India, Dr. Bhaumik's humble beginnings were made more difficult by his father's allegiance to Gandhi's civil disobedience campaign to oust the British. His father was always on the run which cut both into the time they could spend together and the family income. Soldiers even took away the family's cooking and eating utensils as punishment. One of the highlights of his time in India was spending a week in Gandhi's entourage.

While young a great catastrophe occurred and food was scarce. Dr. Bhaumik only survived due to his grandmother's sacrifice of her own portions to keep him going. This event is one of the saddest stories I've ever read.

From such humble beginnings, Dr. Bhaumik soon began to attract attention for his brilliant mind and committed work ethic after moving away from rural Bengal. That intelligence found its highest use in physics. Eventually, he was sponsored to come to the United States and became involved in developing practical applications for lasers. One of those applications is now used to reshape corneas to cure farsightedness and nearsightedness.

From his success, he became quite wealthy. He retired and soon became a regular figure on the Bel-Air celebrity circuit. Eva Gabor was a regular companion, and he rubbed shoulders with many other famous people. Robin Leach once did a show for Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous about Dr. Bhaumik.

But Dr. Bhaumik found that he was missing something. He began connecting with his spiritual roots through meditation.

From there, about half the book goes into Dr. Bhaumik's insights into quantum physics, unified field theories and how this work relates to the experience of meditation.

In this part of the book, you will find eloquent explanations of science that rival Dr. Stephen Hawkings' wonderful books . . . and fascinating insights into the common features of the major religions. He nicely wraps all that up by connecting meditation into his perception of that being a way to contact ultimate reality.

From the second half of the book, you'll find a rare look at how a scientist uses science to deepen his spiritual understanding and to gain spiritual wealth. Dr. Bhaumik is one of those rare individuals who sees science and spirituality as being connected. You'll find it fascinating to read what he has to say.

This is not a sectarian book. So if you only like to think about spirituality in terms of the tenets of your own faith, this book may not appeal to you.

The book is remarkably well written. The language and choice of expressions show both great care and deep understanding.

This book has been exquisitely written. Beginning as a combination of a spiritual autobiography and a rags-to-riches story, it goes on to describe a world view of the universe that combines some of the most esoteric ideas of modern theoretical high energy physics and medicinal sciences with equally esoteric concepts in Eastern philosophy (both Chinese and Indian), blending the observer and the observed together in a precise and logical whole that seeks to quench the emotional thirsting of many seekers on the path of hard core science who yearn to see the 'big picture'. A cogent picture, where they personally fit in, where, to use Kahlil Gibran's famous words:

'Beauty is eternity looking at a mirror,
But you are eternity and you are the mirror'.'

Throughout the narrative, one gets the impression of the author as both a bystander as well as one who experiences fully the pathway life leads him. It begins with the unlikely extremes of a barefoot village boy growing up in rural Bengal, a boy, touched by extreme deprivation who is deeply influenced during his teenage years by Gandhian ideals during India 's independence struggle and goes on to describe how excellence in the mathematical sciences, led him across caste barriers from that very village over to laser research at a university in the USA , finally ending in the posh environs of Bel Air and its glitterati. The pace of narration is measured and unhurried, it does not meander in criticism of any kind, not even of circumstances which were hard to endure, for instance, belonging to the lower level of the Indian caste system. This is cirumvented by the author elaborating on his own preferences and life choices around the relevant issue.

One topic, conspicuous by its absence, in the world view presented in the book is chaos and fractals. Perhaps, in a later edition...

All in all, a book that would grace any bookshelf, and a stirring testimony of a life lived to its depths.

This book is thoroughly engrossing, an intensely powerful life story and a true joy to read. Its evocative power was gravitational - it floored me. This is one of the most important and meaningful works of non-fiction that I've read. I believe with the right exposure it will become a best seller.

The pace was perfect. No matter how fast I was moving at the time, the pace was like a delicious molasses for my mind, catching me, forcing me to slow down and enjoy the journey. I had to take breaks just to savor and digest. I didn't want the book to end. There were so many juicy nuggets throughout.

Dr. Bhaumik has taken some very complex concepts from both the scientific and spiritual worlds, thrown them into a cosmic pot, stirred them up, seasoned it with delicious nuggets of his own and served it up on a simple, yet profound, elegant and lyrical plate with great insight and inspiration as garnish. This book could conceivably change the way people view the world.

I must admit I approached this book as a wary atheist. After all, Cosmology used to be the ugly stepchild of academia. But Dr. Bhaumik has done his homework. Step by step he takes us from Michael Faraday to Stephen Hawking to lay out a convincing argument for a unified field of consciousness. Along the way he gives a concise summary of how lasers work (he made his fortune developing lasers for LASIK eye surgery) with additional stops along the way to discuss photons, electromagnetism, the Big Bang and quantum mechanics. He loves his work and the scientific method - and it shows. The light Hollywood gossip may distract some readers but the science is solid. Agree with him or not, you will not be able to put the book down without being disturbed - yet oddly soothed. Something's going on out there.

Code Name God explains reconciling science and spirituality in the most simple, beautiful, and scientific manner from a physicist's point of view. God is one and Mani shows us how everything came from one source. He also shows us the common thread behind all religions. Allah, Yahweh, Brahman and Tao are all just names for God and all are made of the same fabric.

I found it interesting that Mani says, "Consciousness is not simply in our heads. It's everywhere we are, and it's everywhere we are not. As we move in spacetime, we move through the potentiality of consciousness." Think about that. Wow!

Mani is also insistent that meditation can transcend. He is living proof of this. When he found himself far away from God, this was his means to bring himself back to what truly is important. Meditation grounded his soul. I will take his advice and use it in my own life. He says, "Meditation and true prayer are both practiced with the intent of dissolving into God."

Thanks for this book. You are such an inspiration.

How often does a book captivate you to the point of altering your schedule, tracking down its author, and spending hours with him in order to engage in dialogue about the subject after you've read the book? This is exactly the effect Dr. Mani Bhaumik's "Code Name God" had on me.
Actually, it was the subtitle, "The spiritual odyessey of a man of science," that first grabbed my attention and made me buy the first of 30 copies. I needed something "smart" to pass on to my intellectual, over-achieving and under-believing agnostic friends and colleagues.
However, the one whose eyes were opened the most were perhaps my own.

Mani Bhaumik was a devestatingly impoverished child from the Indian province of Bengal. His beloved grandmother died before his very eyes when she gave Mani her ration of food so that he may live. The entire village sold what meager belongings they possessed in order to send the unusually gifted youngster to UCLA. As a result, today hundreds of poor children from India are enjoying higher education and radically improved lives not only for themselves but those from their communities as well, thanks to his efforts and numerous scholarships; and, millions of people around the world literally "see" because of his accomplishments. Dr. Bhaumik is best known for being the co-inventor of the excimer laser--the class of laser than made LASIK corrective eye surgery possible. Eventually, the dirt poor Indian boy became a Bel-Air mega-millionaire, found himself featured on "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," and even dated the Paris Hilton of his day, Ava Gabor.

As fate would usually have it, success, position, awards, wealth and fame wasn't enough. A void ensued in his soul that required all else to be put into question and in perspective. It is this journey that makes the rest of his extraordinary life experiences pale by comparison. It is a journey that I hope you too will want to read about...one that will alter the course of your destiny as well.

Julie Chrystyn,
author of "Body Transformation"

We live today in a world so divided by disparate religious ideas that there is a very real possibility that we as humans won't survive these differences.

The spectrum of this divde is great and varied. Extreme Christian fundamentalists longing for a biblical Armageddon promote political choices that could bring on an ultimate nuclear holocaust. More moderate Christians eschew science in favor of a literal reading of the Bible and turn a blind eye to scientific "theories" as varied as global warming, the evolution of our species or the age of the universe.

Extreme Islamic fundamentalists scoff at earthly political goals altogether and wish only to live in a world governed entirely by the Koran. Unfortunately, like the Judeo/Christian Bible, interpretation of these sacred scriptures is subject to whoever perceives that he/she has been selected by his or her god to do so. This has resulted, in many instances, in the wide-scale destruction of people by those convinced by these chosen spokesmen that they will achieve heavenly rewards by their own and their victims' deaths.

Obviously, examples like these can be found everywhere in the world and in many other religions as well.

In a fervent desire to get beyond religious misconceptions of basic spiritual concepts, many thoughtful people have followed one of two divergent philosophical paths of inquiry concerning the universe and our place in it.

Science and spirituality (as opposed to religion) both seek the answers to this most fundamental question. While never quite at physical odds with each other, proponents look askance at each other for the others' naive understandings of reality. Yet a few individuals in both camps have been able to take a "quantum leap" of understanding and realize that science and spirituality should not just "agree to disagree".

For some scientists, David Bohm, Rupert Sheldrake, Karl Pribram and others, the deeper science goes towards discovering the most fundamental nature of Matter and Energy, the more the paths of science and spirituality merge into one.

On the spiritual side, a person such as the Dalai Lama honors the discoveries being made by science; to the extent that he says that if science proves a concept that is counter to his own Buddhist tradition, then the Buddhist idea must succumb to science! Truly a remarkable statement in view of most religious orthodoxies.

Mani Bhaumik is one of these "leapers", whose early life happened to be suffused in mystical Hindu traditions. Yet, the talents for science and mathematics he displayed at a young age allowed him to escape the poverty and ignorance epidemic in his community.

Finding his way to the West and his subsequent invention of the Exemer Laser (known commercially as Lasek) culminated in his enjoying a fabled lifestyle of the rich and famous; coincidentally the name of a popular television show of the day in which he displayed his wealth. His Hollywood star-studded life of parties and luxury in Beverly Hills is the stuff of dreams.

But somewhere along the way, the dream ended. Like many others throughout history, he finally had to ask himself, is this all there is?

Even while climbing the ladder of success, however, he never forgot the ground below from where he began. His political and spiritual grounding as an acquaintance of the "living saint" Mahatma Ghandi (in the political struggle for independence by the Indians against Great Britain) demonstrated to him how true spirituality can be manifested in the everyday world.

Throughout his early life in America he used his practice of Hindu meditation as primarily a method of remaining calm and centered in the high-flying academic and business worlds he was increasingly a part of.

But when he began to ask whether "this is all there is", he wanted to explore the deeper realms of reality found through mediation; those spoken of in the Gitas, the sacred writings of his religious tradition.

As a man with one foot in Western science and one foot in mystical Hinduism, he came to realize that it was perhaps his dharma to create a bridge between the two.

The result is the narrative of a wonderful, poetic journey through his own life before he begins the even more fantastic journey into the realms of quantum theory and sublime mystical states.

In the process, he does a truly amazing thing. He makes the underlying scientific field of all physical reality--which is, in fact, non-reality--move so closely towards the highest mystical states that it makes the a non-belief in "god" the most non-rational and least plausible conclusion one could make for a human being.

As a formerly agnostic seeker of knowledge, I've spent the past few years, trying to reconcile the remarkable scientific discoveries of DNA, quantum theory and consciousness with the fantastic realms of mind explored and written about by mystics, shamans, artists, users of entheogenic plants and others throughout the ages.

Mani Bhaumik's journey is a wonderful stepping stone on our own journey through a life that offers so many unanswerable questions. I've found that the most wonderful thing about our journey is that once a stepping stone is reached, another one appears almost magically.

And it's only one step away.

From rags to riches to spirituality, all in one fascinating story of survival in the face of overwhelming odds. As a child in India, Mani miraculously emerged from a massive catastrophe and, against all odds, went on to qualify for an advanced education in physics.

After moving to Los Angeles, he became a co-inventor of the type of laser which, today, is widely used in eye surgery. This led to a windfall of wealth, a merry-go-round of parties in high society, mansions in the best neighborhoods, and Hollywood movie stars for girl friends! Life was a fantasy-like whirl of glamour and excitement until, one day, he recalled his love of spirituality. Suddenly, he felt terribly alone.

This spiritual odyssey is intense in its drama and deeply revealing in its insight. Mani has a gift for explaining philosophy, cosmology and quantum physics in terms that anyone can understand. He weaves science and spirituality together to show their common thread - that a unified field of consciousness underlies all of Creation.

Among the very positive reviews of CODE NAME GOD elsewhere on this page, there is one self-described "well-read person" who contends that this little gem of a book taught him "not much about science, and not much about God." Even allowing for differences in opinion, you have to wonder if he's read the same book everyone else has. CODE NAME GOD is a revelation, not because Dr. Mani Bhaumik's observation of the hidden God in modern physics is unique (he graciously credits the influence of seminal thinkers like David Bohm, Roger Penrose, and Karl Pribram), but because he allows us to make the observation with him in the most timeless of ways: by spinning a good yarn. At well under 300 pages, CODE NAME doesn't pretend to be encyclopedic in its search for the roots of either science or spirituality, and thank God for that. Instead, it magically interweaves one man's journey with all journeys, extends an invitation to make the trek on our own, and offers tantalizing glimpses of a horizon both infinitely distant and intimately near. Dr. Bhaumik is a Sherlock Holmes of the spirit, using scientific and Socratic methods as his tools of detection and accomplishing the rarest and most generous of feats, that of making every life that is touched by the desire for truth seem extraordinary. The bookstore shelves are spilling over with treatises on quantum this and quantum that, penned both by eminent scientists and would-be prophets, but most of them stop short of genuine self-discovery. CODE NAME GOD's cosmological quest takes us to the threshold of creation, and then steps boldly over it, culminating in the startling assertion that the center of the universe is right here where we live. Things can never be quite the same after that "quantum leap." You don't have to be "well-read" to enjoy Dr. Bhaumik's book; you simply have to read well.

Dr. Bhaumik nails this most difficult task of wedding his personal story as a beautiful metaphor, to the greatest story ever told - the unfurling of our universe. He pursues the question that his father refused to answer and aren't we lucky for it. His formidable intellect and acquired rags-to-riches wealth gives way to a humility and innocent passion that can only reflect what he is and always will be: pure unadulterated spirit. I flat out love the way he presents meditation as the sacred portal of entry to our birthing ground, the unified field. The description of our holograhic universe by using the analogy of the human genome replicating whole humans brought tears to my eyes. The implication that we ARE the united field brings me to my knees because it resonates with every fiber of my being. By celebrating the similarities rather than the differences, Dr. Bhaumik honors what we all know at some level: What we're looking for is looking for us. His is an invitation to step up to and behold an idea of God that we can all live and die with. What a wonderful additional gift for more of us to get and live the Big Idea. Thank you Dr. Bhaumik for your remarkable contributions to our little parenthesis in eternity. - Dr. Herby Bell