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Science and the Reenchantment of the Cosmos: The Rise of the Integral Vision of Reality
Presents a revolutionary new theory that bridges the divide between science and spirituality• Discloses the ramifications of non-localized consciousness and how the physical world and spiritual experience are two aspects of the same reality• Includes contributions from Jane Goodall, Ed Mitchell, Stanislav Grof, Ralph Abraham, and Christian de Quincy, among othersWhat scientists are now finding at the outermost frontiers of every field is overturning all the basic premises concerning the nature of matter and reality. The universe is not a world of separate things and events but is a cosmos that is connected, coherent, and bears a profound resemblance to the visions held in the earliest spiritual traditions in which the physical world and spiritual experience were both aspects of the same reality and man and the universe were one. The findings that justify this new vision of the underlying logic of the universe come from almost all of the empirical physics, cosmology, the life sciences, and consciousness research. They explain how interactions lead to interconnections that produce instantaneous and multifaceted coherence--what happens to one part also happens to the other parts, and hence to the system as a whole. The sense of sacred oneness experienced by our ancestors that was displaced by the unyielding material presumptions of modern science can be restored, and humanity can once again feel at home in the universe.
264 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2005
17 people are currently reading
166 people want to read
About the author
Ervin Laszlo
229 books224 followersErvin Laszlo is a systems philosopher, integral theorist, and classical pianist. Twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, he has authored more than 70 books, which have been translated into nineteen languages, and has published in excess of four hundred articles and research papers, including six volumes of piano recordings.
Dr. Laszlo is generally recognized as the founder of systems philosophy and general evolution theory, and serves as the founder-director of the General Evolution Research Group and as past president of the International Society for the Systems Sciences. He is also the recipient of the highest degree in philosophy and human sciences from the Sorbonne, the University of Paris, as well as of the coveted Artist Diploma of the Franz Liszt Academy of Budapest. Additional prizes and awards include four honorary doctorates.
His appointments have included research grants at Yale and Princeton Universities, professorships for philosophy, systems sciences, and future sciences at the Universities of Houston, Portland State, and Indiana, as well as Northwestern University and the State University of New York. His career also included guest professorships at various universities in Europe and the Far East. In addition, he worked as program director for the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). In 1999 he was was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Canadian International Institute of Advanced Studies in Systems Research and Cybernetics.
For many years he has served as president of the Club of Budapest, which he founded. He is an advisor to the UNESCO Director General, ambassador of the International Delphic Council, member of both the International Academy of Science, World Academy of Arts and Science, and the International Academy of Philosophy.
Dr. Laszlo is generally recognized as the founder of systems philosophy and general evolution theory, and serves as the founder-director of the General Evolution Research Group and as past president of the International Society for the Systems Sciences. He is also the recipient of the highest degree in philosophy and human sciences from the Sorbonne, the University of Paris, as well as of the coveted Artist Diploma of the Franz Liszt Academy of Budapest. Additional prizes and awards include four honorary doctorates.
His appointments have included research grants at Yale and Princeton Universities, professorships for philosophy, systems sciences, and future sciences at the Universities of Houston, Portland State, and Indiana, as well as Northwestern University and the State University of New York. His career also included guest professorships at various universities in Europe and the Far East. In addition, he worked as program director for the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). In 1999 he was was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Canadian International Institute of Advanced Studies in Systems Research and Cybernetics.
For many years he has served as president of the Club of Budapest, which he founded. He is an advisor to the UNESCO Director General, ambassador of the International Delphic Council, member of both the International Academy of Science, World Academy of Arts and Science, and the International Academy of Philosophy.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 4, 2017
When making maps of the world, the ancients projected their imagination into unknown lands, filling the gaps with all kinds of mythical beasts. So it goes with Laszlo's book: he fills the unknown (and probably unknowable) territory of modern science, namely the quantum vacuum, with all kinds of wild speculation, suggesting that this field retains records of not only everything that has ever happened in this universe but in every universe that has ever or will ever exist. Further, Laszlo speculates that universes can somehow draw on this information to inform their evolution. He takes Sheldrake's outlandish notion of morphic resonance to mindbogglingly in-credible proportions, reasoning by almost pure intuition and near-zero evidence to support his claims.
I don't care how great a child piano prodigy Laszlo is or how many honorary Ph.D.s he has, it doesn't give him a license to claim wild speculations as truth. Yet, that's what he does time after time in this book. The level of scholarship is disappointingly low. Where is the evidence for the claims about twin-pain studies? Where is the evidence for consciousness without brain activity? Evidence for claims about the soul and reincarnation? For the role of the quantum vacuum in the evolution of our universe?
I appreciate this book in spite of its lack of evidence because I believe Laszlo has a good general sense of the direction of cosmology, and he brings attention to some fascinating aspects of existence which the conventional scientific worldview does not adequately address. Some of his speculations may turn out to be true. But when fantastic conjectures aren't recognized as such and accompanied with great modesty, this severely damages credibility.
The second half of the book consists of a "round table discussion" of other "scientists." These are mostly superficial paeans to Laszlo. I do appreciate Jane Goodall's entry, as she supports the flavor of Laszlo's thinking without kowtowing to all the giant leaps.
A fun, provocative read and my introduction to Laszlo. Too head-in-the-clouds and not enough feet-on-the-ground for me.
I don't care how great a child piano prodigy Laszlo is or how many honorary Ph.D.s he has, it doesn't give him a license to claim wild speculations as truth. Yet, that's what he does time after time in this book. The level of scholarship is disappointingly low. Where is the evidence for the claims about twin-pain studies? Where is the evidence for consciousness without brain activity? Evidence for claims about the soul and reincarnation? For the role of the quantum vacuum in the evolution of our universe?
I appreciate this book in spite of its lack of evidence because I believe Laszlo has a good general sense of the direction of cosmology, and he brings attention to some fascinating aspects of existence which the conventional scientific worldview does not adequately address. Some of his speculations may turn out to be true. But when fantastic conjectures aren't recognized as such and accompanied with great modesty, this severely damages credibility.
The second half of the book consists of a "round table discussion" of other "scientists." These are mostly superficial paeans to Laszlo. I do appreciate Jane Goodall's entry, as she supports the flavor of Laszlo's thinking without kowtowing to all the giant leaps.
A fun, provocative read and my introduction to Laszlo. Too head-in-the-clouds and not enough feet-on-the-ground for me.
February 20, 2017
This is a book of contributions by several prominent scientists, psychologists, and mystics explaining the link between science and spirituality. Many of the essays talk about Ervin Laszlo's theory of the A-field or Akashic field the energetic field that connects everything in the universe. Each essay is illuminating, enlightening and fascinating. Very readable even if you don't have a scientific background.
June 3, 2020
Laszlo's books are always worth reading, and this one is a new pinnacle of his thought. If you're interested in a grand understanding of reality, the cosmos, the Divine, and us, this is a terrific book. His thinking always informs my writing, and will continue to do so.
August 5, 2015
The book was hard for me to get through but our book club discussion around it was very good. It is always good to look at the universe in a different way and this book made me do just that.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews