Customer Reviews

Chaos, Creativity, and Cosmic Consciousness

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4 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a gripping series of conversations between the three authors discussing various aspects of the psyche, the universe, the role of chaos theory in the dynamics of creation and the rediscovery of ancient wisdom. The authors, all three of whom stood at the cutting edge of their respective disciplines, challenge the reader about our current views of reality, morality and the nature of life. The sometimes breathtaking insights emerging from this will not fail to move the reader. The chapters on creativity, the imagination and chaos are amongst the most compelling, and deal with theories like the cosmic imagination as a higher dimensional magnet that pulls the evolutionary process to itself, the Omega Point, and imagination arising out of the womb of chaos. Other fascinating topics include indeterminism in nature, nature's organising fields as mathematical representations, and the encoding of information in crystals and in written language. The chapter "Light and Vision" is one of the most poetic, dealing as it does with physical light and the light of consciousness, the theory that one's thoughts are a measurable field emanating from the eyes, the similarities between electromagnetic and mental fields, the concept of a world soul, and morphogenetic fields as a medium of divine omniscience. Incorporeal intelligence and non-human entities are discussed - are the latter merely inhabitants of the psyche or do they have an independent existence? Scientists and inventors like Kekule, who received answers in dreams, are referenced here. The book concludes with a glossary, bibliography and biographical information about the authors. It is a stimulating text in which the power of the mythical imagination, scientific observation and innovative speculation combine to create a thought-provoking reading experience.

I read this book while on jury duty. Because I ran out of reading materials, I went back over it and decided to write down some of my favorite quotes. Here is one example, by Ralph Abraham. "I find the whole idea that the world's soul is confined in a space/time continuum of four or ten dimensions extremely claustrophobic." So, you all get the idea. This was not a book to summarize, so I kept writing down quotes and buzz words. What gave me a lot of chuckles were the interspersed references to psychedelic drugs and various qualities of mushrooms, and the use of mushroom examples and so forth. I don't know much about mushrooms, but it helps date these guys, even while they are talking about ten dimensions being claustrophobic. I will say this-- they must have had some good trips.

I don't pretend to understand a lot of their references, mushrooms aside, but it is an easy book to read as long as one doesn't feel the need to follow up every lead and reference. Their approaches seem to be kind of cutting edge, but dated, if there is such a combination. I am particularly interested in Sheldrake's morphogenetic fields, which is what led me to the book. My attention span tends to be a little short, so I wanted a kind of breezy overview. Although I enjoyed the book a lot, I don't think I got much out of the morphic fields discussion. So I will look elsewhere for that.

I lent this book to my daughter, who is enthralled by it, particularly since she just took a bunch of final exams, some having to do with statistics and econometrics, so their discussions of modeling were most interesting to her.

And who wouldn't go for the idea of creativity coming out of chaos? Aren't our lives in chaos most of the time anyway? There must be a purpose for it. That's it. I get more creative after every chaotic event!! The discussions about beginnings, endings, various attractors, etc. were really fun to read. Not sure which ones came from their imaginitive minds (resulting from chaos), or their super intelligent brains, and which ones were from the mushrooms.

Oh, here's another Abraham quote I absolutely loved. "As the waves pass the rock, their shape is changed. There is a hologram of the rock within the wave that comes forward and crashes on the beach, then there's a reflected wave back."

Ok, that was cool!! All things considered, if you have some extra time (either on the beach, or on jury duty) read this book. They weaved in references from all aspects of experience-- mythology, mushrooms, science, waves, psychology, philosophy, history, etc. I love that!! I consider a book a success for me if I get one good idea from it. And I got more than that from this one, although I am not any more inclined to take psychedelics than I was prior to reading the book.

Well I just received my book and come to find out it is the exact same book I already own under a different name + graphics. This book is originally titled "Trialogues at the edge of the west".
I would not have bought this book if I knew I already owned it. I find the publisher, Park Street Press, completely dishonest for not informing the "would be buyer" what this book really is.
I was friend's with one of the authors, Terence mckenna, and I find this to be just another way for corporations and individuals to capitalize on his death-
such a shame.

For those new to the works of Sheldrake, this could be the perfect buy.

Yes, it's a repackaged version of what the authorities would consider "Old School." So if you want a book with a cool title, cool cover, and probably one of the more digestible texts of Sheldrake's ideas, (and you don't have any Sheldrake on your shelf) then this would work.

As for complaints by Sheldrake fanatics, hey, at least this is getting those marvelous ideas by McKenna and Sheldrake out to newer and newer audiences!

I have read McKenna's other books, The Archaic Revival and The Invisible Landscape, True Hallucinations, and to me, this seems even better! Perhaps McKenna's best book! By page 10 I was flipping out, and it only got better. If you like McKenna, hallucinogens, metaphysics, forward type thinking, if you have ever pondered the mysteries of the universe, you will love this book. Dont mess around! Buy it now! Thank cosmos later.

I have always respected the open mindedness of all three thinkers and found the material in this book consistent with that as it was far from dogmatic. It inspired me to consider new ways of looking at the old concepts. On the negative side. I think some of the ideas showed a little lack of critical thought. Some of the topics were philosophically based notions and, as that is my field, I felt that it was a little lack of awareness of the problems that have been worked out by some other thinkers(I wish that they would have at least mentioned those ideas then debated the point). Specifically I wish they would have acknowledged the issues that have come up in transpersonal psychology. Overall, I feel most interested in these issues (the evolution of consciousness and mind and critique of the modern post modern views) will enjoy the creative thinking they share. C.J.

Three of the most intriguing and revolutionary minds of our time together at last. If you can find the video in which this book is transcribed,it's definitely worth watching as well. it's called Metamorphasis.

I must agree with those reviewers who concluded that these three "thinkers" were more like a bunch of college sophomores in a beer-drenched brain-storming session than serious scholars. (Or stoned out of their heads? This was at Esalen twenty years ago, after all!) But then, this was a refreshing break from reading all the reductionist neurobiologists claiming that mind is brain and brain is chemical reaction and subconscious chemical or electrical mechanisms control our conscious minds and that is all there is. (See my review of Antonio Damasio's Self Comes to MInd, for example.) After reading such "serious" scientists, discussions of "morphic fields," "resonant wave phenomena," and "cosmic consciousness" were a welcome break from "doom and gloom" views of humans as robotic zombies under the delusion that they are in control of... anything. I did appreciate Sheldrake's notice in the Preface, "I hope that this book will encourage others to explore with their friends some of the questions we discuss here and will serve as a reminder of the importance of dialogue as a means of discovery." Unfortunately, what my friends and I discover is our own complete lack of mental discipline. But then we laugh, fall down on the floor, and generally have a great time. If you don't take them too seriously, you, too, can have lots of laughs with my drunken buddies, Sheldrake, McKenna, and Abraham.

The chapters in this book are transcripts of three academics rambling on and on as they speculate about "cosmic consciousness" and how it touches upon existence, science, history, religion, etc.

An example of their fare:
"The chaos revolution now taking place throughout the sciences is a major setback for the forces of law and order, control and dominance. Scientists, the high priests of Marduk, must now accept chaos and replace Tiamat on her rightful throne. This is why I say that chaos is the biggest thing since the wheel. Imagination, creativity and inspiration are all on the upswing. Chaos, Gaia, Eros-arise!"

If you find meaning in statements like this, you will probably love this book. This material reminds me of listening to late-night frat house bull sessions, or someone who's stoned and thinks that his random navel-gazing is actually providing profound insights. It's reminiscient of the psychedelic froth of the 1960's.

I didn't find this worth the time spent reading it.

A more appropriate title for this book would be "Three Pretentious Fools Talking About Things They Know Nothing About." The book is composed entirely of vacuous but lofty-sounding rhetoric and New-Age style cosmic speculations, and is remarkable for its almost complete lack of intellectual content. It reminds me of the kind of pseudo-intellectual discussions I used to have in the dorm with my college buddies after we'd each had several beers.