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Radical Prince: The Practical Vision Of The Prince Of Wales

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This is in outstanding piece of work! It has become one of my books of the year.

Radical Prince is an exploration of an array of exceedingly important ideas, seen through the lens of the life and work of the Prince of Wales. Misunderstood by many, the Prince has already made major contributions in a number of different fields. From an early age, he has dedicated his life to the betterment of humanity.

Many outstanding teachers have gravitated towards him. Not so much because he is a Prince, but because of his inner spiritual Being.

It is difficult to imagine anyone other than David Lorimer - the former director of the Scientific and Medical Network - being able to write this book, which needed forays into so many different areas of our existence: health, ecology, architecture, education and several others.

For anyone with even a passing interest in a broader view of our lives and our place in the Universe, this is a "Must read."

He is a prince of the new paradigm. Reactions to Britain's Prince Charles are often extreme, representing a profound division not only about social and cultural values, or even about the relationship between humans and the rest of the natural world-but also about our deepest worldviews, about the very nature of reality itself.

Charles is not merely a radical prince, he is also a radical philosopher, and he uses his role and status to address a wide range of issues-including ecological, agricultural, architectural, medical, economic, educational, and religious. He has made it his business to stay abreast of the key challenges in each of these domains, and he is not shy about speaking out to support worthwhile causes in the face of overwhelming social and corporate pressures.

For many years, I've been aware of Charles' outspoken views on architecture and the environment, and sensed his passion for beauty and balance in our lives and how we fit into the rest of nature. However, until I read David Lorimer's Radical Prince, I was not aware just how deeply committed the Prince of Wales is to what is nothing less than a multi-faceted challenge to the dominant paradigm. Like any insightful and "radical" philosopher who questions worldviews, Charles sees that the root cause of the malaise is ultimately metaphysical.

What is needed now, perhaps more than ever, is a radical revisioning of what it means to be human, inextricably rooted in an ecological matrix of physical and spiritual processes. In short, Charles challenges the currently dominant metaphysical notion, which underlies most of modern science and society, that the ultimate nature of reality is purely physical stuff-nothing but purposeless "atoms in the void." This materialist assumption is not only philosophically meaningless, it is also extremely dangerous socially, psychologically, and spiritually. And, paradoxically, materialism also poses a severe threat to matter itself-to our bodies-not just to mind, soul, and spirit.

Why is materialism "meaningless"? The short answer: If it were true, there would be no possibility for any meaning whatsoever. A slightly longer answer is that materialism harbors a self-destructive contradiction. The only reason materialism exists as a worldview is because beings with consciousness invented it. However, the indisputable fact of consciousness is precisely what materialism is utterly at a loss to explain. In the absence of an explanation for consciousness, materialism must insert a miracle to account for mind emerging from wholly mindless matter. But miracles are precisely what materialism denies are possible. In a nutshell, the problem is this: In order to be true, materialism must be false! Philosophically, that's a real problem.

This is what I explore in Radical Nature and Radical Knowing. And whereas I show how the philosophy of "radical naturalism" offers an alternative that includes and honors both matter and spirit, Lorimer's Radical Prince (and Charles' own writing) spells out in clear detail the dangerous and even disastrous consequences of a paradigmatic denial of a more-than-physical world. But beyond that: We see a prince ceaselessly enacting a radically different worldview.

Lorimer skillfully takes us into the heart and soul of this controversial prince, and shows us why Charles is "radical" in three important ways. "First, he insists that we need to rediscover our roots in a living tradition in order to retain a sense of meaning and direction" [as a society and as a species]. "Second, the Prince identifies the root cause of many of our current problems in the one-sided philosophy of modernism" [i.e., materialism]. Third, Charles sees that in order to redress these profound and widespread problems, "the kind of action required is that which addresses the level of causes rather than tinkering with symptoms, and that one of the best ways of demonstrating that is through example."

"Through example . . ." Therein lies the potency of this book and Charles' lifework. Reading Radical Prince, we realize that Lorimer's words ring true: "The Prince is no armchair philosopher, but a man of action with a passion." We learn that he is not just a profoundly caring philosopher who has contributed new-paradigm visions and ideas to a wide spectrum of social and ecological issues, but that he is also a tireless and pragmatic "man of action," who walks his talk. The second half of the book offers readers deep insight into the motivations and actions behind the long list of charities, trusts, and foundations set up and managed by the Prince of Wales and his team.

Anyone interested in the practical implications of realigning the worlds of science and spirit (in holistic medicine and food production, in integral ecology and education, in enlightened business and urban planning, not to mention consciousness studies) will benefit greatly from reading this book. If you are someone who is aware of Charles mainly as the problematic prince in the life of Princess Dianna, Lorimer's book should open your mind and heart to the depth and passion of a visionary who far transcends the superficial soundbytes and paparazzi images portrayed in the popular press.

As Lorimer notes: Radical Prince Charles is a visionary monarch "ahead of his time"-a shining example of someone using the power of tradition and privilege to light the way to a brighter future for all.