God and the Evolving Universe: The Next Step in Personal Evolution [Hardcover]

James Redfield (Author), Michael Murphy (Author), Sylvia Timbers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 7, 2002

It is no accident, argue James Redfield and Michael Murphy-the leading co-creators of today's spiritual boom-that the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have witnessed an explosion in human capacities. Daily we hear and read about supernormal athletic feats, clairvoyant perception, lives transformed by meditative practices, healing through prayer-and we ourselves experience these things. Many people's lives nowadays are marked by improved communication, a will to go beyond ego, synchronistic flow, and a sense of transcendent oneness and identity.

Indeed, the authors contend that thousands of years of human progress have delivered us to this very moment, in which each act of self-development is creating a new stage in planetary evolution-and the emergence of a human species possessed of vastly expanded personal abilities.

Written with the grace and ease of The Celestine Prophecy, God and the Evolving Universe features a broad range of exercises that readers can use to participate in everything they are reading about. Redfield's first major new work since 1999, God and the Evolving Universe is the only book to unite the personal and the planetary, and explain-like the proverbial butterfly that flaps its wings in China and causes a hurricane in New York-how each act of individual improvement and consciousness-raising, even as simple as lunchtime yoga, is part of a new evolutionary scheme.

This bold work heightens readers' awareness of their place in personal/planetary evolution and sets the stage for the new level in spiritual development.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In God and the Evolving Universe three spiritual visionaries--authors James Redfield and Michael Murphy, and filmmaker Sylvia Timbers--join together to offer a hopeful prophecy. Their basic premise is that we have reached an exciting point in history where human evolution and planetary evolution are about to collide, creating an entirely new and spiritually enlightened world. On the human track, the authors claim we have been working toward this era of enlightenment for some time. They point to the emergence of extraordinary human capabilities, such as clairvoyants and even amazing athletic feats that incorporate an altered state of consciousness. (They site baseball slugger Mark McGwire's mind-altering visualization techniques before a game.) The authors also offer stories and events that suggest an increase in love and spiritual growth around the world. Redfield gave us The Celestine Prophecy, a bestseller that was faulted for being too simplistic. While the writing in God and the Evolving Universe is not simplistic, it sometimes falters into metaphysical black holes and psycho-spiritual labyrinths. Yet the message is inspirational: We're on the right path and good things are ahead. And God knows, the world could use more of these positive visions. --Gail Hudson

From Publishers Weekly

When is perennial wisdom more perennial than wise? Perhaps when it follows this commonplace opener: "Today we stand poised at a threshold in human history." Popular and prolific author Redfield (The Celestine Prophecy) is teamed here with Esalen Institute cofounder Murphy and documentary filmmaker Timbers. This trio of writers presents the history of human consciousness as an unfolding map of human potential, extrapolating from empirically documented peak human experiences a future norm of sensation and sensibility. An emphasis on empiricism and an 80-plus page annotated bibliography (almost one-quarter of the book) anchor the text; a chapter of exercises provides application. Perhaps the historic framework dwarfs the picture of what is new: it's difficult to discern progress in the argument for forthcoming human advancement in this latest work from writers who have already persuasively or profitably ploughed the ground. It's also difficult to find the God of the title, except as the Divine One who primed the evolutionary pump at its outset and inspired many of the visionaries the authors cite. The text is accessible but dry; Redfield's visionary fiction and Murphy's genre-bending books (e.g., Golf in the Kingdom) offer more fun. The book may be most valuable to those not familiar with the work of Redfield or Murphy; as a synergistic addition to their work, there's not much new. (Jan.) Forecast: The Celestine Prophecy spent more than three years on the New York Times bestseller list, making it one of the hottest spiritual books of the late 20th century. A 13-city author tour should help Redfield (who has an outstanding history in promoting his books directly to readers) and his colleagues sell through their 75,000-copy initial print run.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 321 pages
• Publisher: Tarcher; 1st edition (January 7, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585421375
• ISBN-13: 978-1585421374
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #422,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Rehashed Ken Wilber and a Huge Reading List, May 6, 2002

By 

Nicq MacDonald (Sioux Falls, SD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: God and the Evolving Universe: The Next Step in Personal Evolution (Hardcover)

When I saw Michael Murphy's name on the book, I knew that I had to pick it up (he's a giant in the Transpersonal field). I wilfully overlooked James Redfield's name, however. (Purveyor of new-age Schlock)

The book was a waste of money. All that the authors manage to do is give a brief survey of the perennial philosophy (done far more masterfully in Aldous Huxley's famous anthology), talk about exceptional capabilities manifesting in human beings (accomplished with far more documentation and flair in Murphy's own "Future of the Body"), and tie it together with evolutionary rhetoric pulled straight out of Ken Wilber's "Sex, Ecology, Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution" (one of the best books I have ever read). Then they go on to list a few basic, debatable
"spiritual practices", and one of the biggest reading lists I have ever seen.

Bottom line: Skip it. Get the three other books listed above instead- they're all very worthwhile reads, unlike this tired summary.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good Overview, with Lack of Awareness of Current Practices, May 2, 2002

By 

Steven Reiser (Westminster, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: God and the Evolving Universe: The Next Step in Personal Evolution (Hardcover)

The book begins with a beautifully written insightful overview concerning the impact of worlds major religions and philosophies on human consciousness, realizations of our oneness with all, as well as the beauty of the individual's uniqueness and that more of us are will to step back and appreciate our spiritual consciousness from a much broader perspective. That section of the book is easily worth 5 stars. Part IV covers most of man's major transformative practices developed over the course of recorded history and blatantly misleads the reader concerning the effort transformation requires. It is not intentional, but it does indicate a lack of first hand experience on the part of the authors concerning the studies and developments by numerous organizations over the latter half of the 20th Century, much of which overshadows all previous history in effectiveness of the experiential transformative technologies available today. Look up in search engines and experience first hand the leading edge transformative practices available through the Monroe Institute, Star's Edge International, and other consciousness technologies where you can experience powers of consciousness that are more rapid than a thought and very effective. (Example: In January 1999, I healed a 9 year long painful skin rash on myself that doctors couldn't and also woke up with the flu one day, with teeth chattering chills, weak and sweating profusely and completely eliminated it in 5 minutes using modern practices of consciousness. After years of using the familiar practices discussed in this book, it took me about a week to learn the newer practices which have been developed in the last two decades. Asian monks say they achieved more enlightenment in a week with these newer practices than 20 years of meditating in a monastery).

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Distortedly Simplistic...Good Intentions...But Nothing New, May 6, 2002

By 

"gam2saints" (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: God and the Evolving Universe: The Next Step in Personal Evolution (Hardcover)

It is Redfield's genuine sense of optimism that makes me pick up his books and read them. There is something contagious about a positive outlook on life and spirituality. But I have never read a book by him that did not go miles beyond naive in its treatment of religion/spirituality.

Redfield and his associates have loaded a plate for us at the salad bar of religious and philosophical syncretism. They have put some good things there. But the nutritional balance is suspect. Moreover, like mixing chemicals pulled randomly from under the kitchen sink, the resulting combination may be volatile.

My biggest complaint against this book is its willingness to 'spin' religious and philosophical 'developments' so that they fit neatly into their spiritual evolution paradigm. No matter that their notions run cross-currents with the larger context within which many of these religious and philosophical ideas have developed. It reminds me of a kind of inter-religious proof-texting, whereby religious leaders of the ages are all pointing in the direction in which the authors want us to go. But this is NOT where many of the thinkers and religious leaders of the past suggested we go.

Also disturbing is the book's over-simplification of ideas concerning evolution. While the authors deny that they do so, the book is built on the assumption of a linear trajectory that is not well attested by history or science. While I normally spend a lot of time criticizing Post-Modern thinkers, it might be wise for Redfield and company to take some of their critiques seriously and realize that the universe is not a 'just add water and stir' kind of place.

In truth, this is a digested cut and paste book glued together with wishful thinking.

Honestly, though, I think it is done with the best of intentions. And I will undoubtedly pick up Redfield's next book and read it, too.

Lastly, I would caution the reader that there is basically nothing new here. If you have read New Age books before, you have read this one. The strongest part of the book is the annotated bibliography (for which I commend the authors). Again, I don't agree with their interpretation of what they have read, but they are reading a lot of interesting things. To repeat...I can't help but feel good feelings for the authors. But this book leaves a lot to be desired.