A Secret History of Consciousness

by Gary Lachman, Colin Wilson (Introduction)

For the last four centuries, science has tried to account for everything in terms of atoms and molecules and the physical laws they adhere to. Recently, this effort was extended to try to include the inner world of human beings. Gary Lachman argues that this view of consciousness is misguided and unfounded. He points to another approach to the study and exploration of consciousness that erupted into public awareness in the late 1800s. In this “secret history of consciousness,” consciousness is seen not as a result of neurons and molecules, but as responsible for them; meaning is not imported from the outer world, but rather creates it. In this view, consciousness is a living, evolving presence whose development can be traced through different historical periods, and which evolves along a path to a broader, more expansive state. What that consciousness may be like and how it may be achieved is a major concern of this book. Lachman concentrates on the period since the late 1800s, when Madame Blavatsky first brought the secret history out into the open. As this history unfolds, we encounter the ideas of many modern thinkers, from esotericists like P. D. Ouspensky, Rudolf Steiner, and Colin Wilson to more mainstream philosophers like Henri Bergson, William James, Owen Barfield and the psychologist Andreas Mavromatis. Two little known but important thinkers play a major role in his synthesis―Jurij Moskvitin, who showed how our consciousness relates to the mechanisms of perception and to the external world, and Jean Gebser, who presented perhaps the most impressive case for the evolution of consciousness. An important contribution to the study of consciousness ... a must-read.

Genres: Philosophy, Psychology, Nonfiction, History, Science, Occult, Spirituality

352 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2003

About the author

Gary Lachman is an American writer and musician. Lachman is best known to readers of mysticism and the occult from the numerous articles and books he has published.

Reviews

[Andrei · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really great book with one of the worst covers I've ever seen.

Tells the esoteric history of consciousness, from the badass theories of "cosmic condensation", fallen Lemurian and Atlantean civilizations of Mme Blavatsky (and Plato), to more grounded thinkers such as Rudolf Steiner, Ouspensky, or Jean Gebser, which I found most fascinating (and so, so much more!); the later of which proposed something really not that far off from what in modern science only recently became less taboo, The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes being a great example.

The core idea is that consciousness precedes matter. The current "state of the art" theory is that consciousness arises out of the complexity of matter (in the brain). Ergo we are just thinking meat, and even the most brilliant thought Einstein had could be described by a physical sequence of states in his brain, which, being a Newtonian machine, is a deterministic process. This opens up the path to a such ideas like determinism and the illusion of free will, which are common beliefs in the (neuro)scientific reality tunnel.

The Secret History describes these ideas as aberrations of human thought, along with the likes of post-modernism and modern art. These ideas have been brought along by the present stage in the evolution of consciousness (((Gary Lachman comes across as amusingly conservative at times, for what you would expect from a legendary member of a legendary punk(ish) band))). Human consciousness evolved since mythic time; progressing from a participatory state, in which there was no distinction between self and nature, and communication was very instinctual, somehow telepathic; morphing into an image- and symbol-based perception, similar to the experience of dreams or the hypnagogic state (the moment right between being awake and falling asleep), which was imbued by a sense of meaning, and of which spirituality is a current remnant; to the current ego-consciousness which takes complete rational control over matter, and in its analysis, completely breaks it apart, finding nothing behind it. The caveat is that evolution does not erase previous consciousness versions; everything is enfolded in the unity of universal consciousness, a la David Bohm and his implicate order. At the present moment in time, human consciousness (on average) evolved to its perigee, spirit fully manifested in matter, and the way forward is back. Expanding consciousness from this point involves a re-tread up the path of previous versions, by incorporating the symbolic and image-based capabilities - the hidden functions of the unconscious - alongside the ego, which is as Jungian as it sounds; with the end vision being an ego with a sense of totality.

Very entertaining read, 5 stars for when it is a journalistic stroll through historical ideas, presented with an academic-level research (which is 90% of time), 4 stars for the rest. Also the first book I ever felt the need to review, which I guess says something!

Highly recommended

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is essential reading for anyone who seeks to understand human consciousness. It is astounding to think that we explore the depths of the ocean and the outer reaches of space without putting a similar effort into exploring the true nature of the human mind. Perhaps I am expecting too much of those who have the resources for such exploration.

Machines may assist in identifying left and right brain, the activity of neurons and so forth, but they will never enlighten our understanding of perception, cognition and other facets of consciousness. Gary Lachman clearly explains how consciousness itself can unravel its mystery. He traces the ideas of many great minds and pulls them together in a way that makes it clear that human consciousness evolves and in particular, self-consciousness. Here lies the key; have we developed our own self-consciousness or do we still rely on group consciousness. Perhaps this idea holds a clue for our scientists.

Who better than Gary Lachman, the Science Writer, to scope human consciousness in the way he has in this book? The evolution of self-consciousness is in our face every day. How many young people die as they challenge themselves in extreme sports? How many people create unnecessary difficulties for themselves and what about the bizarre practice of self-harm.

Lachman makes this point when he writes: "[Colin] Wilson recognised that the attraction of inconvenience and living dangerously is not in the actual problems or challenges they present, but in the focus and concentration we bring to bear on meeting them. Heidegger and Gurdjieff hit the nail on the head when they said that the thought of one's death can lead to an experience of "being" – the thought, not the actual confrontation."

I will be referring back to this book often as I seek to understand the development of my own consciousness as well as the challenges that we face as a human race living in today's world.

[Francisca · Rating 4 out of 5]

En Una historia secreta sobre la consciencia, Gary Lachman ofrece no solo una larga explicación sobre las concepciones que ha podido tener la consciencia en su ámbito más espiritual y esotérico, sino que también hace una llamada de atención a diversos aspectos procedentes de ella que hemos dejado de lado y no hemos podido ni sabido ver a lo largo de los siglos. Está claro que la consciencia no es sólo algo que ¿debe? ser estudiado científicamente, sino que también debe ser experimentado para hacernos, a su vez, lúcidos y consecuentes con ella. Curiosamente, y en prácticamente todos los casos que nos expone Lachman en este libro, es a través de insights (en todos sus tipos, ya sean estos intelectuales, emocionales y/o estructurales) que tomamos consciencia de ella.

Solemos tomar el mundo real como lo que experimentamos a través de los sentidos, pero ¿es realmente así? Tanto místicos como artistas, filósofos, psicólogos o gente que ha experimentado estados alterados de conciencia -también podemos tomar como ejemplo diversas culturas ancestrales como las egipcias o la gran civilización matriarcal de la Edad de Piedra- nos hablan de otros mundos que están en este; mundos que conocemos como el inconsciente colectivo, como el de los arquetipos, los sueños, el de la antroposfera o el mundus imaginalis del que nos hablan los sufíes. Todos estos mundos nos dan atisbos de otras esferas en las que la consciencia aún puede desarrollarse y que a su vez nos hacen avanzar en el entendimiento del mundo en el que vivimos. Desgraciadamente, no logramos comprender cómo funciona para así llevarla a cabo de una manera consciente y creativa.

Tal como nos exponen Rudolf Steiner o Jean Gebser, no es idóneo que el estudio de la consciencia se base solo desde un punto de vista científico, pues así se pierde la capacidad de percibir significados, los cuales hallamos cuando leemos poesía, a través de sus metáforas, cuando observamos y experimentamos una obra de arte e incluso cuando soñamos. Con ello nos damos cuenta de la importancia que tiene la simbología en ella. Debemos ser conscientes de que si las estructuras mentales nos dan un concepto del mundo, la estructura mágica-sensible nos lo vitaliza, y es la estructura integral de ambas la que las convierte en verdad. Una y otra deben ir unidas, y es un error que visualicemos la consciencia como un proceso puramente cerebral; la mente, tal como nos exponen aquí, no existe aislada del mundo, sino que está vinculada a él de maneras que muy pocos conocen, ya sea a través de visiones (como nos señalaban Mavromatis o Emmanuel Swedenborg), percepciones o intuiciones. Según Gebser, para apreciar la estructura mágica debemos realizar ciertos sacrificios, como pueden ser una reacción a la masa/sociedad, la soledad o un proceso tanto interno como externo de autorrealización.

Prácticamente todos los autores que nos muestra Lachman nos hacen ver cómo la humanidad va encaminándose cada vez más hacia un enorme cambio de consciencia, una gran transformación que bien podría destruir la civilización tal como la conocemos. A lo largo de los siglos se han ido implementando ideas, concebidas por algunos pocos, que se han trasladado hacia la masa, que nos han permitido concienciarnos de cosas a las que antes no podíamos llegar. Tenemos que darnos cuenta de hasta qué punto nuestra mente y nuestros actos son responsables del mundo que hacemos y de todo lo que nos rodea. Así se ve cómo cada vez hay más gente consciente del sufrimiento, tanto animal como el que se percibe de otras personas y uno mismo, y cómo la ética, la ecología y el humanismo han ganado terreno, por nombrar algunas de las cosas que podemos observar objetivamente en nuestro día a día.

¿No es quizás lo que realmente necesitamos? Ser conscientes de lo que hacemos, de cómo lo hacemos, de por qué lo hacemos… Una ve y siente que la consciencia está ahí para que nos demos cuenta de ella, para que la usemos de manera constructiva y creativa. Cada vez que somos conscientes de algo, y cada vez que lo cambiamos, podemos hacer de las cosas y del mundo algo mejor. Pero tenemos que darnos cuenta de que para que la consciencia sea realmente viable, algo de lo que podemos ir aprendiendo, debe de ser internalizada, sentida tanto con la lógica como con el corazón, pues de lo contrario la consciencia no puede crecer. Así, observamos que la consciencia crece y se expande si aprendemos a ser flexibles, si aprendemos a abrirnos a otras concepciones, miradas y percepciones. Y es eso, a fin de cuentas, lo que Lachman pretende transmitirnos.

Una historia secreta de la conciencia, Gary Lachman (Ediciones Atalanta, 2013)
Reseña publicada en Diarios-Détour (diarios.detour.es/?p=5366)

[Jonatan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Estoy maravillado con la editorial Atalanta. Ya durante la realización de la carrera en filosofía sentía que los contenidos que se me enseñaban distaban mucho de alimentar lo que yo intuía sobre la realidad. Traté de perseguir mis intuiciones con las herramientas que se me daban. La escuela de Frankfurt o la deconstrucción de Derrida me fascinaron, pero el tiempo ha demostrado que no son lo que mi corazón y mi intuición anhelaban. Con Heidegger y la Escuela de Kyoto (esta última ya fuera del currículum oficial) me acerqué un poco más a lo que buscaba, abrían algo de camino. Pero aquellos lugares que Heidegger o Nishitani tan sólo llegan a intuir, son profusamente iluminados por autores como Jung, Jean Gebser o Rudolf Steiner. Y estos son los autores que nos trae Atalanta, muchos de los cuales son presentados en esta obra de Gary Lachman. En ella se nos explica la visión de la realidad de varios filósofos, pensadores y hasta esoteristas que partían de la premisa de que el mundo de los sentidos y la materia son un epifenómeno de la mente y no a la inversa. Y eso es lo que les falta a Heidegger, Nishitani o Panikkar, que con sus "entre" no terminan nunca de afirmar lo que subyace a sus filosofías: el idealismo místico ("místico" para diferenciarlo del racionalista de la escuela de Platón). Pues el no-dualismo es, en el fondo, idealismo. Una vez se ha explicitado esto, el poder explicativo de la filosofía es mucho mayor y se llega a profundizar mucho más a fondo en el misterio de la realidad. Y son ese tipo de autores los que nos trae Atalanta: desde presocráticos como Empédocles pasando por el gnosticismo, la alquimia, etc. hasta llegar a Jung, Bernardo Kastrup o Jean Gebser. Aunque por supuesto existe una tradición asiática que apunta a lo mismo.

Gary Lachman articula las explicaciones de los pensadores que cubre en su libro en torno a sus teorías de la evolución de la consciencia: desde lo puramente espiritual-mental, pasando por la materia y la autoconciencia, hasta un supuesto estado posterior al ego racional que recopilaría todos los estados anteriores en un estado "integral". Este último estado es aquel hacia el que nos dirigimos, aunque quizá sólo lleguemos a él después de pasar por el infierno de una catástrofe.

En definitiva una muy buena introducción a lo que yo llamo idealismo místico, contemporáneo, que me habría gustado descubrir hace diez años, en vez de andar dando palos de ciego por culpa de la estrechez del currículum oficial de las facultades de filosofía.

[Steve Greenleaf]

I enjoy reading Gary Lachman. There are several reasons that I think explain this. First, were born only a few years apart so we grew up in the same general cultural milieu of the United States in the 60’s and 70’s, although he grew up in New Jersey as opposed my more culturally conservative small-town Iowa. He was brought up as a Catholic, although he walked away from the Church as a teenager. Finally, despite a very successful career as a Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame member of the band Blondie, he became interested in spiritual, esoteric, and metaphysical writings. Finally, after a lucky browse at a used bookstore in Berkley when I had some extra time there after a deposition, I, too, discovered Colin Wilson (Religion & the Rebel), whom Lachman admires. Since developing his interest in these topics, Lachman has transformed himself from a rocker into a formidable author on the subject of human consciousness and culture. I believe that he wears the mantel of successor to Colin Wilson, with whom he developed a friendship and from whom he received a forward to his book, A Secret History of Consciousness.

In this work, Lachman details the history of mystical, esoteric, and occult thought from the beginning of the 20th-century up to the near present. Not all of it the figures he discusses are by any means fringe. Early in the book, he addresses the works of Henri Bergson and William James, to name the most prominent philosophers in France and the US respectively at the beginning of the 20th century. In addition, Alfred North Whitehead, although not receiving a full separate treatment, receives consideration.

But he mostly addresses those persons who remain on the fringe of accepted intellectual discourse and that provide the most interesting and perplexing examples. Among these characters are Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, Rudolf Steiner, Owen Barfield, and Jean Gebser, to name the most prominent. In addition, Lachman examines the work of various psychologists and lesser-known philosophers who delve into the farther reaches of the human mind and the more speculative aspects of reality. The common thread running through Lachman's work is his concern with consciousness. What is it? And how does it relate to matter? Perhaps the biggest distinction between those thinkers that Lachman discusses and those who are considered more mainstream is that Lachman's group maintains that consciousness receives primacy over matter.

One of the challenges in addressing a topic of this sort is to distinguish what appears to be delusional, fantastic, or absurd and what is deeply insightful. For instance, Gurdjieff (whom I've read a bit of and about) can at times seem deeply insightful. On the other hand, he has a theory of planetary influences that leaves me and many others baffled, if not disdainful. Similarly, Rudolf Steiner was, among other things, a Goethe scholar and a scientist, but he, too, promoted a theory of planetary influences and the existence of spiritual beings and records. Whether to consider these reports as the rantings of a madman or the symbols of the deeply creative artist, is hard to discern. But throughout the book, Lachman displays a wonderfully practical common sense and open-mindedness. In this work, Lachman serves as an accurate guide and reporter, and he sets aside some of these perplexing issues to report on what is most vital in these thinkers.

In addition to those I've already mentioned, Lachman reports at length on the work of Owen Barfield and Jean Gebser. I'm currently reading and thinking a lot about Barfield's work in and how it relates to (somewhat) more mainstream thinkers like philosopher R.G. Colllingwood and historian John Lukacs. I therefore appreciate Lachman’s concise and lucid exposition of Barfield’s main ideas. Gebser is a future project, but I know already that he has received accolades from the likes of William Irwin Thompson and Ken Wilber (as Lachman mentions). Both of these thinkers have incorporated Gebser’s insights into their groundbreaking works. Again, Lachman serves as a reliable reporter on what is to be mined and valued in these works.

Lachman explores these thinkers as a man on a mission, attempting to develop his intuition that human consciousness is of the greatest importance in the universe and that we need to better understand it and use it for the benefit of all creation. Again, I keep coming back how impressed I am with his down-to-earth attitude in addressing these often ethereal topics. He doesn't go easily of for trendiness. For instance, I found myself in a complete agreement in his rather dim view of much of contemporary visual art. He also recognizes where people are likely to get hung up when delving into these thinkers.

I mentioned earlier, he is probably the rightful successor to the late Colin Wilson. Lachman devotes a couple of chapters in his book to Wilson's intellectual projects. Wilson was a chronicler of the fringe of acceptable thought and of bizarre (and often evil) human behavior, but he also formed theories and a philosophy that gave shape to these fringe ideas and events, which Lachman appreciates. In many ways, Lachman's works further that enterprise.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd been looking for "Secret History" for a while--it's been out of print and used copies go for more than you'd expect. So I was pretty excited to discover a Kindle version had been released.

Lachman is a challenging writer, assuming the reader is willing to keep up as he mixes metaphysics with anthropology, psychology, and philosophy. Stick with "Secret History" and you'll be rewarded with a kaleidoscope that offers colorful new ways of looking at humanity and its history. It almost certainly will change the way you thought we got here and it provides an interesting preview of where we might be headed.

[Jonathan Hockey · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting to find out more about some eclectic figures with interesting ideas about consciousness, but I would have liked to seen more attempt to connect it up to the mainstream views about consciousness and engage with that debate. By not doing this, at times it feels like giving too much credence to thinkers who are only one side of the story and not putting it into the larger context of philosophy and thought in general. For instance, more recent insights are ignored, as is phenomenology and other areas. While figures who I think don't deserve much credit like Blavatsky are lavishly praised and their failings are underplayed.

[Raúl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una obra magnífica acerca de como ha evolucionado el pensamiento sobre el fenómeno de la Consciencia a lo largo de la historia. Imprescindible. Si os gustó "Breve historia de todas las cosas" de Ken Wilber esta obra es lectura una obligada.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gary Lachman!!!!! crying out in the empty canyon of my mind!

[Patricia Rosa-mendes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Traveling with deep enough insight into the works of RM Bucke, Rudolph Steiner, Colin Wilson, Jean Gebser and many others this book presents us with the progression of Consciousness since the early hours of humanity to our days. Deep, revealing and humourous enough to make it a must-read for any one interested in the mistery of Being.

[Wendy 'windmill' · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant!

A thorough & excellent read! Gary Lachman is a Great thinker of our time. Along with Colin Wilson, anyone who wants to understand consciousness & the mind, these are the people\books to read!

[Adam Koebel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant. Lachman is becoming my absolute favourite modern occult / esoterica writer. I think I probably understood and absorbed about 2/3rds of this weighty thing, and I'll definitely need to revisit it to fully digest it. Good stuff

[Celia Bedelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably need to re-read this one, the passion for the subject matter - the expansive evolution of consciousness - is ...exciting!

[Kingsley L. Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful, clear and concise overview....one of Lachman's best, in my opinion - although more for the concerned and interested reader interested in the evolution of human consciousness.

[Greg Sudmeier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating.