Customer Reviews

Consciousness, Intent, and the Structure of the Universe

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Scientists have been reluctant to accept that consciousness involves more than just your brain and actually depends on the fabric of the Universe, notwithstanding that for many years the secret services of America, the United Kingdom and Russia have used allied techniques for spying purposes.

Jeffrey Keen, a successful businessman and a physicist has been researching this phenomena for over 20 years, and has now written a book Consciousness, Intent, and the Structure of the Universe providing the missing link that some scientists have dismissed. He has identified, observed and measured universal energy fields that have not previously been detected either by the usual five senses or by existing scientific instruments. Jeffrey Keen's book, through his pioneering discoveries, unquestionably demonstrates and explains the ancient mystery of dowsing, its connection to the cosmos and its use, and ultimate acceptance, in the world of science.

To mark its 125th anniversary, the prestigious journal Science, (article in The Times 1 July 2005) compiled a list of the major unanswered questions regarding the universe, which man struggles to understand. Pride of place goes to the nature of the universe, closely followed by the subject of consciousness. Keen's book not only addresses both subjects, but it also shows in a convincing way that both of these are linked. It also lays down the foundations for further research, including techniques to adopt, and avenues worth pursuing. Keen's book is packed with the results of carefully executed experiments with meaningful graphs and diagrams. The book is well indexed, the chapters are kept short and there are summaries at the end of every chapter. This is just as well, as this book is not for the faint hearted! A general school level knowledge of science and mathematics is an asset. Some of the concepts are profound and occasionally mind-boggling!

Keen's book does not discuss the esoteric, but is firmly "fixed to the ground". This is serious scientific research, with the presented evidence referring to concepts such as mass, wavelength, field strength, distances, Fibonacchi series, and geometry.

To reflect this unique scientific research, and numerous published papers, Jeffrey Keen has been awarded the prestigious Bell Essay Award by the British Society of Dowsers. The last time this award was made was 7 years' ago.

It is up to the world of science to accept that this research is cutting edge. It is a great step forward in our scientific knowledge, which, once accepted, will benefit so much of the current scientific research being undertaken throughout the world.

I came across Keen's book as I looked in the Trafford catalog online, as I myself have just published a book on consciousness and metaphysics with this publisher. My own writing is more spiritually-focused than science focused relative to Keen's text, and I like to see a balance between those perspectives; this will be reflected in my comments on Keen's writing. Keen's book is very much geared toward those engaged in scientific inquiry, as he has a background as a physicist and engineer. It is structured almost like a college textbook, which makes it a studious read more than a leisure read. This book explores consciousness and energy fields via research in dowsing. As a dowser and holistic healer/energy worker, I found this book to offer much interesting research and conceptualization of how the universe that we perceive and consciousness are interrelated. The idea of a universal cosmic information field underlying all phenomena is presented (similar to McTaggart's "The Field" and Laszlo's "Akashic Field"). Laszlo writes the introduction for Keen's book, and I found Laszlo's writing style in his own books to be more suited to the layperson than Keen's more technical oriented work. This book by Keen is full of diagrams and graphs, though he doesn't explain much about the actual research methods used in creating empirical data about the phenomena dowsed. Since Keen's methods aren't made clear I have doubts about whether other dowsers would reproduce his findings on everything. Dowsing involves a communication between the dowser's conscious mind and some other level of consciousness, mediated by the response coming through the subconscious movement or shift in the body or the body's electrical state. The dowser's conceptualization and beliefs combined with clarity of questioning and intent are factors guiding what response is received. Kinesiology can be used as a form of dowsing, despite Keen's comment which limits kinesiology to only measuring whether something weakens or strengthens the body's energy field.
This book is a great resource for those who want an in-depth understanding of dowsing and ideas on how to apply dowsing in consciousness and energy research. Its basic ideas offer important realizations about the nature of the universe and consciousness. However, there are some flaws and questionable assumptions made by the author and the presentation of the subject matter is more academic-oriented than layperson oriented. Thus, I would recommend this book more for serious dowsers and students/explorers of the related subjects (physics, consciousness, dowsing, subtle energies, auras, etc.) and would encourage those looking for a more readable, engaging overview of the universal information field concept to read books by the likes of McTaggart, Laszlo, Gary Schwartz (Living Energy Universe), and Dean Radin (Entangled Minds).

Jeffrey Keen has an Honors degree in Physics and Mathematics from Imperial College, London University and is Chairman and Managing Director of Swisher Hygiene UK Ltd. Keen's book is written for educated dowsers, researchers in psychic phenomena, and scientists interested to know whether there are any systematic, lawful observations about dowsing. With Keen's book, the answer is a resounding `Yes!' Keen has meticulously studied dowsed impressions of various objects such as crystals and ordinary rocks, plants and humans. He reports fascinating notes on the energy fields around single objects, paired objects, and groups of similar objects. Having explored dowsing for several decades, this reviewer was both delighted and dismayed at some of these notes.

With meticulous detail, Keen catalogues and classifies various dowsable fields and lines around objects, noting how they vary under different circumstances, such as when pairs or circles of objects are present.

Keen acknowledges that people may identify these energies through tactile sensations, as a visual aura, or through kinesiology, but feels that a dowsing pendulum offers the most reliable means for assessing these.

Keen acknowledges that the person is actually the instrument, but writes as though anyone can sense these fields and reproduce his findings. Generally accepted observations of my own and of other dowsers I've spoken with indicate that the instrument is not nearly as important in distinguishing dowsable fields as the sensitivity of the person holding the instrument.

Keen believes that kinesiology only reflects negative energies. This is totally untrue. In fact, kinesiology can be used as another form of dowsing.

Keen's strengths in this book are in his meticulous measurements of dowsable phenomena and his start at categorizing their regular and lawful nature. His weaknesses appear to be in limited awareness of healing and intuitive perceptions outside of dowsing.

This book has a seriously scary title. Hopefully those who buy it will do a little research first up, so that they realise that the book is about Energy, the sort that moves and regulates the planet rather than the one we pump so wastefully into our cars. I have an interest in dowsing, crop circles and Ley Lines and this book is dovetailing into those interests. It's good to read something that is written using scientific knowledge to suport a thesis that up to now has mostly been in the realm of New Age Hokus Pokus. You never know perhaps some institution will start taking crop circles, auras or Gaia Theory seriously enough to do some valid scientifically based research. God knows the planet would thank them.

This book is a big disappointment. Although I did use Amazon's `Search Inside' feature I would never have bought this book had I had a chance to look through it first. I bought it on the strength of its title - which are all subjects I'm interested in - and because it was about dowsing.

Once I began to read it though it didn't take me long to start uttering comments such as "NO WAY" and "NOT!"

The book certainly does not prove "with scientific precision, that consciousness involves more than just your brain and actually depends on the very fabric of the Universe" as the Editorial Comments on Amazon.com would have us believe. In fact I learnt nothing new in this regard at all.

I am always leery of people who attempt to explain dowsing through `scientific methods' - it simply cannot be done. But don't get me wrong - dowsing does work. I know because of my own experience as a dowser. Once consciousness is thoroughly understood then we can determine how dowsing works. But we are a long way from understanding just what the term "consciousness" means and what it encompasses.

But back to the book... Jeffrey Keen may be an experienced dowser but he has bought into many of the current (and in my humble opinion - incorrect) beliefs concerning dowsing. A few that I noticed are:
1. One MUST ask permission before dowsing. (This belief has only been around for 20 years or so, whereas dowsing has been known for at least 5000 years so how did dowsers in the past get accurate readings if they didn't ask for permission first?)
2. The necessity to continually check the calibration of the `yes' signal. (Your initial programming of your "yes" signal can do away with this problem.)
3. "Asking the right question is by far the hardest part of dowsing." he states in his book. (It is more of a concern to be clear in your intent, then the actual wording of the question.)

If the author buys into these beliefs so readily then what else that he presents to us as "fact" is incorrect or at best inaccurate?

I would expect the book to cite the dowsers from whose work he draws. For example on page 174 he refers to the "Tree of Life" pattern being "found around beds". No mention that dowser Joey Korn first discovered this. He also states on page 168 that "It is well know that megaliths consist of 7 horizontal dowsable bands..." No mention of dowser Tom Graves who discovered this. On page 173 he states "It is well known that the size of a plant's aura expands significantly if, say, a glass of water is brought close to, but not touching the plant." Says who? And I personally dispute this "fact". He goes on in the next sentence to state "A similar effect is that a plant's aura reacts to a human intent to damage the plant with say secateuse." Is he referring to the work of dowser Clive Backster, perhaps? And just what does `secatuese' mean? Perhaps he meant the word "secateurs", i.e., shears used for pruning. There are innumerable examples where he starts a sentence with "It is well known..." but he presents no citation, no explanation. I could go on and on.

I have a layman's interest in mathematics and quantum theory but the numerous charts and formulae in this book boggle the mind. They are incomprehensible. Even his diagrams are hard to understand. And in one case - the Vesica Piscus on page 50 - is incorrectly drawn. It is clear to the naked eye that each circle's centre is NOT on the circumference of the other.

And last but not least, just who did all the dowsing measurements in his book? Was it just him? Did other knowledgeable dowsers replicate his findings? If so, who were they?