Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

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.

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).

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.

While the topic and content of this book seems interesting at
first, the authors have presented the material in such a simple
way that it looks like if human evolution was so obvious and
linear. Most of the examples and works that support the viewpoint
of the authors seem to me quite ok, but the authors probably did
not read them thoroughly because they left much of their depth
untouched. What this book provides is merely inconsistent and
unexplained information about aspects of humanity that are better
discussed elsewhere. So the value of reading this book might be
to get you frustrated and make you go to the references of the
book, to get the original sources of the material of the book in
their full depth. But at least reading it from cover to cover
will not cost you much intellectual effort...

The annotated bibliography in this book is of some value. However, a significant omission in my opinion is "Human Destiny" by Lecomte du Nouy (Longmans, Green and Co., 1947).

It is not at all apparent that the authors have studied carefully all of the writings listed in the bibliography. References on various pages to Alan Watts, G.W.F. Hegel, and others cause one to wonder... The use of footnotes would have added authenticity and credibility to this book.

The authors deal fleetingly with so many themes and ideas that the book takes on the nature of a hodge podge. This is regrettable since the ideas touched on have the potential for logical development into a compelling theme.

Finally, it does not help that so much of the writing is gobble de gook - words and phrases thrown together in relatively meaningless ways. It's as if the authors were trying to dazzle the reader with fancy footwork (or fancy wordwork).

The title for my review is "Disappointing." In retrospect, I believe I should have selected "Highly Disappointing."

This book is an overview of the entire spiritual journey. It is a like a map of human consciousness, covering the evolution of our understanding of God, as well as giving information about every aspect of the spiritual path. It is not a novel (like Celestine Prophecy, etc.), but rather it is a guide to help each person as they increase their awareness of their own spiritual understanding. Redfield and Murhpy present an excellent overview, which I found inspiring, informational, and well-researched.

If you've been involved in consciousness growth for over ten minutes this book is GREATLY DISAPPOINTING. If you've been absent for the last 20 years you might find it useful.

Where's the passion? Where is the new direction? Where's the meat? We are so ready for going ahead in new areas and doing it quickly -- particularly since 9/11 -- that these two giants of metaphysics have left us cold and looking elsewhere.

I'm sorry guys (and lady) this isn't the book we were all expecting from you. It might make a great textbook for a beginning class, but its too long, too detailed, too much history and too dry.

We hope you try again because we still love you!

This book is definitely a leap above the Celestine Prophecy. I like the central theory that peoples are encroching on a awareness of enlightenment. That however is the only misnomer of this book. I believe this is thought due to the intelligent life in the USA, however James is obviously not aware of world mental status. Many nations are in fact moving away from James theory, for example the middle east is reinforcing its traditional religious bonds forsaking evolutionary thought at the spiritual or individual level. I would love to agree with the authors, if I could then this book would be real, but it is not, it is hopeful that the world will wake up, I hope so to, we need more authors like this to enlighten those who are in fact slowing the evolutionary process. Example: September 11th 2001.
I highly recommend a extraordinary book that is real and enlightening, for both world and mental peace, an unpredjudiced write, SB 1 or God by Karl Mark Maddox.

Excellent book overall, but I had to give it only 3 stars because it doesn't read like a good story as his first book (Celestine Prophecy) did. I think he is headed in the right direction with the philosophy here, but the book is not Earth-shaking in it's implications like other books I have read in a similar vein (such as "The Textbook of the Universe: The Genetic Ascent to God" which truly changed my world view forever...). Overall good stuff and interesting to read.

Really enjoyed this book. It's clearly written for a curious, intelligent layperson, not scholars. Contains a great, concise, general overview of evolution, getting more specific as applied to the evolution of spiritual and philosophical schools of thought that have shaped our current ways of thinking, very clear presenations of many examples of ways in which we humans appear to be in the midst of (or quickly approaching) a period of rapid evolution in our awareness and capabilities, a significant number of practical ways a person might explore these ideas for him/herself, and a wonderful bibliography/recommended reading list . I found the book, enjoyable and inspiring, and would recommend it to anyone with a sincere interest in a greater understanding of the implications of individual, societal and global evolution of consciousness, and for people looking for ideas for participation and practice.