Opening the Doors of Perception: The Key to Cosmic Awareness

by Anthony Peake

An eye-opening response to Aldous Huxley’s widely influential work on psychedelics, physical reality, and consciousness What exactly are hallucinations? Are they actually doors to another reality? Anthony Peake thinks so. In this stunning book, he takes Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perception and updates it using the latest information from quantum mechanics, neurochemistry, and consciousness studies. Most human beings perceive the doors of perception as being securely closed. But here, Peake analyzes the concept of ‘the scale of transcendence’ and suggests there is a scale of perceptions whereby the doors are slowly opened, bit by bit, to reveal the true nature of reality. For ‘normal’ people, glimpses of this reality—what the Gnostics called ‘The Pleroma’—are experienced during ‘noetic’ experiences. However, for others, the doors are prized open by certain neurological processes starting with migraine and progressing through various altered states such as temporal lobe epilepsy, bipolar syndrome, autism, and schizophrenia. A pioneering work on the relationship between physical reality and consciousness, Opening the Doors of Perception suggests that man can, indeed, perceive reality in its true glory.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Spirituality

279 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 24, 2016

Reviews

[Yasmeen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even if you decide to take everything mentioned in this book with a grain of salt, it will definitely open your eyes to how our version of a "rational science-driven worldview" is dominated by reductionists and behaviorists. Every anecdote and fact is supported with a reference, so you can dig further into the story and see if the relevance to the topic at hand was forced or natural. A truly life-changing read. I don't say that lightly. I found the exploration of the links between migraine, epilepsy, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's and autism to be incredibly enlightening, and I dare say it even strengthened my empathy towards a lot of (other) illnesses I did not initially understand.

[Hayley Little · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating read, full of unusual cases and findings in the fields of neuroscience and psychology, as well as Anthony Peake’s interpretation of what is really happening.

Firstly I don’t think that you even need to agree with the author’s interpretation to enjoy this book, which he admits it is just speculation on his part, which I appreciate as it draws a clear line between the actual science and speculation. Irrespective of whether or not you agree; the author has clearly well researched and explains a lot of unusual areas of psychology and forces you to ask a new big question. What is consciousness and when did it begin? This, I thought, was a brilliant question right up there with how did the universe begin? And how did life begin?

This book covers a lot of both unusual and often unexplained cases including: a savant with seemingly telepathic powers, rats who can learn things by eating other rats brains, and the fact that Van Goughs famous painting are illustrating a mathematically accurate concept that modern science has not long since being aware of the turbulence and chaotic flow of light around stars.



Could Van Gough see this without the Hubble telescope?

This book asks questions about what it means to be mad? Are they? Why do people have similar hallucinations? Where do they come from? Do they just perceive the world differently to others? Is it in their head?

I found it a fascinating and thought provoking read and you can probably learn some other science along the way too, I never knew that the brain had four lobes and made its own hallucinogens.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant read by a brilliant mind.

[Ionia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really intriguing book. If you have a curiosity about the human psyche and the way we perceive the world around us, then you can't miss the opportunity to read this.

Anthony Peake has clearly done his research and done it well. If you read Huxley and didn't feel that you quite got everything you should have out of it, this book goes on to further his studies and intelligently explain more of the ideas.

I liked that this book was easy to understand and that the author was careful to explain any part that could be confusing to the average reader. This work will likely make you question everything you know about your own mind and the way it works, and increase your desire for further knowledge.

I definitely recommend this book for anyone who is interested in the subject.

This review is based on a complementary copy from the publisher and provided through Netgalley.

[NormaCenva · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book with both speculative and scientific findings, precisely in the field of altered consciousness and psychology. Probably will need a re-read in the near future. Very well put together, and quite in depth.

[Christine Best · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would ideally give this book a 4,5. It’s about how altered states of consciousness can inform our ideas of reality. The author’s ideas of consciousness beyond the brain are too esoteric for me but his writing on neuroscience is fascinating and some of his observations really make you think.

[Kandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peake connects subjects that are obscured in their relations to each other and shows the reader just how intimately they are coupled. While some, or many, have a tendency to compartmentalize areas of study, he shows the bigger picture by bridging the confines of subjects such as consciousness and quantum mechanics and gives the reader a better understanding of their relation and how many areas of knowledge are needed for discerning who we are and where we come from.

What I love the most about his ideas are that fundamentalists and pantheists alike, may embrace other just a tad or wholly while remaining faithful to their chosen or traditional belief system. By connecting the dots, he introduces the reader, with a structured foundation of facts and principles of each area of study discussed, to see the whole, not just the parts- to see a whole man revolving.

My mind was left blown away, and I'm excited to read more of his work. While this is the first book of his I've read, I have been listening to various podcasts and shows on YouTube where he is a guest speaker. I was introduced to Mr. Peake a little over a year ago. His talks are great, but his work as an author, at least this book, is the meat and definitely shouldn't be skipped over.

[Bruce Fenton · Rating 5 out of 5]

How deep down the rabbit hole are you ready to go?

This book deserves six stars, Peake takes us on a ride through some of the strangest psychological, psychic and physics phenomena in the known universe. From people stuck living segments of their lives, again and again, people living with temporal epilepsy experiencing years of life in a single frozen moment and migraine sufferers forced to (painfully) peer through cracks in the fabric of reality.

Everything within is examined with open-minded rigour, useful references are provided and where possible sensible interpretations are given. I found this to be the best book on a subject that may be the most important subject we will ever explore - the fundamental nature of human existence.

[D L · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating book that makes you want seek out more on the subject. I will definitely have to pick The Daemon next.

[Bayansa · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing read ! i totally recommend it for the curious minds and those interested in what is beyond our reality.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing, amazing scientific information!
In this book the author takes up his binary theory of daemon and eidolon from his earlier works, continues with Aldous Huxley's work on altered states of consciousness, and further builds on Huxley's concept of the brain as a "reducing valve" which filters and discards sensory information, censors the perception of a more expanded reality, in order to be more efficient in the immediate survival.
Anthony Peake then part of the premise that a malfunctioning brain could weaken this filter and open the doors of perception, this is where certain conditions can be taken to explain the scale of perceptions of the true reality, which he has named “the Huxleyian Spectrum”. From these premises the book contains a selection and compilation of scientific research, such as the discoveries of the presence of INMT (the enzyme that biosynthes the DMT) can be present in the human brain, the induction of altered states through sound and stroboscopic light. And he continues with neurological and neurochemical documents on conditions such as migraine, epileptic episodes, bipolar disorder, autism, and schizophrenia, ... and he discusses possible connections with his model about the opening the doors of perception.
Being self-conscious is still a mystery to science. It has been discussed for millennia by various philosophies and ancient cultures, and current indigenous cultures have a way of explaining it within their cosmogonies. The issue of consciousness is something that can only be experienced, but it has not yet been possible to define its borders, where it resides or how we process reality as self-aware beings. Peake's binary theory somehow reminds me of the shamanic concepts of the dual nature of consciousness in Mexico and South America, named the Nahual and the Tonal. And the altered states of consciousness studied by Huxley that are induced by the use of sacred plants of American Indian cultures, and which are achieved in conjunction with the temazcal and beat of the drum, which in my opinion also have connection with the discoveries of sound for the induction of these states.
The book is not conclusive, it only addresses a scientific perspective (model of the mind-matter interface) in the search for explanations to understand the transcendent consciousness, there are still pieces of the puzzle to discover, and each one can draw their own conclusions.
My gratitude to the Publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to review the book

[Indrid Cold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic book by Anthony Peake. If you haven’t read any of his other work, however, I would suggest starting with something other than this one. Doors of Perception is further fleshing out some of the other ideas in his previous books, so it’s probably best to have a working knowledge of his basic theories before reading this.

With that being said, Peake manages to really add some great thoughts and additional evidence for his Cheating the Ferryman theory here. If you have read “Is There Life After Death…” and “The Daemon”, the information here explores how the brain is going about producing those effects, for lack of a better term.

If you are still on the fence about whether you believe Peake’s hypothesis, this book (along with Infinite Mindfield) might help you along the path to making up your mind. Even if you decide that you don’t believe the CTF hypothesis, I believe anyone would still benefit from reading this book and considering it’s implications.

[William Chamberlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little heady but the underlying message as to what he thinks reality is and why is pretty comprehensive and mind blowing.