Customer Reviews

Recovering the Soul: A Scientific and Spiritual Approach

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This is a fine book and it's held up well since its initial publication in 1989. In fact I suspect it's probably Larry Dossey's best, although I haven't read _all_ of his books.

What Dossey sets out to do in this volume is very straightforward: he wants to show the reader that there is reason to believe reality consists at bottom of a single "nonlocal" Mind that deserves to be identified as God. (By "nonlocal" he means "unlimited by ordinary space and time.") That claim probably sounds a little strange to modern ears, but by the time Dossey is through, it will be a very closed-minded reader who still thinks there is nothing to be said for it.

For Dossey is pretty thorough. He takes a largely empirical approach and invokes experimental results from a broad range of specializations --- medicine, psychology, biology, physics. And while his exposition isn't always as complete as I might like (he gets a lot of mileage, for example, out of Bell's theorem, but he never actually explains what it _is_), he still provides a well-rounded overview of all the stuff scientists have said that supports the nonlocality of mind. The reader will get short overviews of (the relevant portions of) the thought of, e.g., Erwin Schrodinger, Kurt Godel, Henry Margenau, David Bohm, and Rupert Sheldrake.

By way of wrapping it all up, Dossey devotes his closing chapters to outlining just what all of this suggests about religion and theology. In some ways this is the real meat of his book and it's probably the strongest portion of his work. There will be few surprises in it for the reader who is already familiar with the philosophical/spiritual literature in this area, but Dossey is as good an introduction to it as any.

What sets Dossey's book apart is not so much its conclusions -- which are properly tentative and at any rate common to pretty much the entire range of mystical/idealistic tradition and "perennial philosophy" -- but its broad overview of the support these conclusions receive from (some) science and scientists. Lots of other books focus in on this or that area (quantum theory, say, or parapsychology); Dossey tries to cover the whole spectrum. As a result his presentation is a little thin in some areas, but after eleven years this is still one of the very few books one can consult to get introductory information on _all_ of them.

Good stuff. And if you've read any of Dossey's other books, this one will give you the theoretical/speculative underpinnings of his other work on e.g. the medical benefits of prayer.

Dr. Dossey explores the research and theory behind the concept of non-local mind, with the intent to illustrate how our minds are non-local -- unconfined to brains and bodies and thus not entirely dependent on the physical organism. As Dossey explains, "If non-local mind is a reality, the world becomes a place of interaction and connection, not one of isolation and disjunction. And if humanity really believed that non-local mind were real, an entirely new foundation for ethical and moral behavior would enter, which would hold at least the possibility of a radical departure from the insane ways human beings and nation-states have chronically behaved toward each other." Dossey delves into ideas put forward by Schrodinger, Godel, Einstein, Margenau, and Bohm -- before moving into the spiritual implications of non-local mind. I highly recommend this book as an excellent starting point for understanding the concept of "one mind", and for considering the implications this has in our lives.

Dr. Larry Dossey explores the mind-body connection and draws very startling conclusions about the mind and human experiences. He steps out on a limb. Amazingly, it does not break nor does he fall off of it. He is one of the few physicians who dares to write about subjects that are considered 'taboo' by 'true' scientists (which MDs consider themselves).

The book begins with a true story about Sarah, a young lady who had a gallbladder operation with unintended consequences: she experienced cardiac arrest which was treated with defibrillation, for the life-threatening arrhythmia, Ventricular Fibrillation. Her experience is unique in that after her recovery, she described events in vivid detail, exactly as they happened, at the time she was essentially 'clinically dead'. One proof of her accuracy was she 'saw' and recalled, the mismatched socks worn by the anesthesiologist. This, in and of itself is highly unusual but what is more astonishing is: Sarah has been *blind* since birth. Therefore she experienced a "different" form of seeing ...

In this fascinating book, Dr. Dossey explores metaphysical forms of reality and spiritual concepts associated with health and well-being. He weaves together the discoveries of quantum physics, the theories of Rupert Sheldrake, and experiences of mystics from various religious traditions. The main theme is "nonlocal mind" and a "unifying consciousness". Essentially, he asserts that individuals are co-creators with the divine. This book is riveting and hard to put down. The author is well-read and provides a solid foundation to support his controversial conclusions. It is a 'must read' for anyone who asks the questions, "who am I" and "what am I doing here?" Erika Borsos (pepper flower)

Larry Dossey has bridged the imagined gap between science and spirit in a simple, yet profound way. His willingness to address an issue which tends to polarize many people is courageous and commendable. As a seminary student who is fascinated by the convergence of quantum physics and theology, I highly recommend this book to anyone who is experiencing a science/spirit dilemma.

Larry Dossey has the ability to break right through all the head-tripoping about our spiritual selves, and talk about the real thing. As a doctor, he's concise, not wishy-washy - a genuine link between New Age and scientific. The book gives us new conceptual models that enable us to think more clearly about our own deep identity - and also inspires us to open up directly to our spiritual core - wonderful book!

Dossey, who is an accomplished scientist and knowledgable expert on this topic, melds spirituality and science like no other. Although there are many books that attempt to integrate modern science and spirituality, this book is one of the most well-written and most convincing. The only other book that is just as good as this on this topic is Toru Sato's absolutely amazing book called "Ever-Transcending Spirit". These are books that positively transform your understanding of life!

Another great book by Dossey. This book is on my top tep list. Dossey does a great job of offering evidence for the non-locality of consciousness. Much like the Holographic Universe (above).

Dossey goes way out of his way to bring home an urgent point. Thoroughly researched and thought out, this book leaves little doubt to the existance of a nonlocal unity of the One Mind. Given that it will take a scientist hundreds of years to figure out what a true spiritualist knows nearly from birth, it's great to finally see that science is catching up to the truth and that someone cares to document these findings for all the world to see. Two thumbs up for Dr. Dossey.

ONE OF THOSE RARE ONES......EASY TO UNDERSTAND, INFORMATIVE AND I BET

ONCE YOU START, YOU CAN'T PUT IT DOWN. CHOCK FULL OF INFORMATION AND

A BONUS........GOOD RECOMENDATIONS FOR OTHER BOOKS. GET IT !

GENE ADDINGTON

Dr. Larry Dossey (born 1940) is a medical doctor who helped establish the Dallas Diagnostic Association, and was Chief of Staff of Medical City Dallas Hospital in 1982, and is the former Executive Editor of the journal "Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine." He is also the author of books such as Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine, The Extraordinary Healing Power of Ordinary Things: Fourteen Natural Steps to Health and Happiness, Reinventing Medicine: Beyond Mind-Body to a New Era of Healing, Prayer Is Good Medicine: How to Reap the Healing Benefits of Prayer, etc.

He wrote in the Preface to this 1989 book, "The main reason to establish the nonlocal nature of the mind is, then, spiritual. Local theories of the mind are not only incomplete, they are destructive. They create the illusion of death and aloneness, altogether local concepts... This book tries to show why this is a false view. If it is false, as we are NONlocal instead of local creatures, then the world changes for us in the most glorious ways."

Here are some additional quotations from the book:

"There are many possible kinds of observables... Thus one may apologetically choose among many sets of observables." (Pg. 5)
"The antipathy most persons feel toward physics is directed toward the physics of the past two centuries, not of this one. In our century something new has happened." (Pg. 136)
"Orthodox Christianity is overwhelmingly local in its perspective... It assumes a person estranged and distant from God (the 'lost' soul) and who must return to Him at some point in the future." (Pg. 220)
"But the nonlocal approach to the world is NOT passive. It does NOT preclude taking active measures to prevent illness, nor does it outlaw any particular form of therapy once one is sick." (Pg. 250)
"(I)f minds cannot be bounded in space and time, we must be prepared to admit---whether we feel squeamish about it or not---that we are endowed with the godlike characteristics of immortality, omniscience, and unity." (Pg. 286)