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Title: The Way of the Explorer: An Apollo Astronaut's Journey Through the Material and Mystical Worlds by Edgar Mitchell, Dwight Williams ISBN: 0-399-14161-8 Publisher: Putnam Publishing Group Pub. Date: 01 May, 1996 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.78 (9 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A NEW SYNTHESYS FOR AN OLD DILLEMMA
Comment: Dr. Mitchell asks the same questions as all seekers, and rightly connects the search for knowledge about self with the search for an understanding of the universe. He begins his book with a short personal history, bringing the reader up to a description of his incredible journey to the moon. As a US Apollo astronaut, he walked on the lumar surface. During the journey back to earth, he experienced a sudden insight about the nature of reality, an understanding that came from an unknown source. The experience most resembled the reports of mystics, who generally ascribe a religious meaning to it. Mitchell has spent the years since that journey searching for a way to understand the experience, a way to bring together the disparate ways of knowing, the way of science and the way of religion.
While it is fascinating to read his descriptions of the view of earth from space and to know that seeing our beautiful mother earth from that vantage point could trigger such insights, what Mitchell describes is an experience many, many people have, as he later came to realize. It is the experience of "knowing without knowing how you know." Sometimes the knowing concerns the nature of reality, as when you get the sense of the unity of all things, and sometimes it is a psychic insight, as in knowing someone has just died. Sometimes it is the amazing synchronicities that happen when you cease to believe they cannot happen.
This source of knowledge is real, so how does it work? There is no accepted scientific answer. At least there wasn't until Mitchell took on the task and gave us his dyadic theory of reality. It is an interesting explanation. The universe, in this view, evolved not just from energy but always incorporated intention. Consciousness is inherent in the universe and that is why, in the mystical experience, everything seems alive. There is no difference between the consciousness of my aloe plant on the windowsill, my cat who purrs beside me, and me. We use consciousness differently perhaps, but my plant grows better when I love it and want it to grow, I somehow know when my cat is outside the front door and wants to come in, and I use my consciousness to read books and learn more about my world. But the me that is sitting here looking out at everything else is victim of an illusion. It is only through working at techniques to shut out externals that it is possible to gain some realization of the unity, or to put it another way, to access the web that connects everything and that is the actual source of the knowledge that comes to us in these "mystical" experiences.
Dr. Mitchell's book takes us into heavy material, not always easy to grasp, and sometimes possessing its own assumptions. He seems intent on eliminating religious metaphors completely, as if providing an explanation that "works" means there is no longer a use for the concept of God. I have to agree with him that the long-standing practice of representatives of religious organizations of dismissing anything without a scientific explanation as "a miracle of God" (or sometimes as "the work of the devil") has retarded our ability to scrutinize any actual process at work. Likewise, it isn't helpful when scientists simply dismiss anything that doesn't fit their current understanding of reality -- Uri Geller must be a fraud because science can't explain how he bends those spoons. And since Uri is not a saintly person, it must not be "a miracle."
Because "God" is used to cover everything for which there is no scientific explanation does not invalidate the concept of a supreme presence, just as science is not useless even though it is intolerant of alternate explanations. It seems to me Mitchell neglects the idea of "purpose" just as he does not accept reincarnation, suggesting the past lives remembered are the result of accessing the universal web, the holographic record of everything (much like Edgar Cayce's "Akashic Record"). Could this be just a semantic difference, if we are all part of the same consciousness? While Mitchell's concepts "fit" the essentially religious experiences of those who believe in the immortality of the soul, it does not encompass the soul's purpose of perfecting itself through lifetimes of spiritual growth.
As I read this book, I found Mitchell has read the same authors I've read, and he mentions the same cast of characters with whom seekers are familiar, whether they write from a research, mystical or physics point of view. His desire to reconcile science and religion is the same desire many of us share. The journey inward is as worthwhile as the journey to other planets. Our yearning to know who we are can only be satisfied when we truly achieve the synthesis Dr. Mitchell seeks. You'll have to read and decide if Mitchell, as an explorer extraordinaire, has found the answer.
Rating: 5
Summary: Please write more books,Dr. Mitchell about Apollo 14 !
Comment: Apollo 14 was one of the few missions that I know litle about; simply because not enough time and attention has been dedicated to it! Dr. Ed Mitchell,Apollo 14 lunar module pilot, tells us in a very open way his inner-most feelings about the mission to The Moon, and how it altered his life,and inner ways of thinking; regarding life and the universe! Telling the reader that what he felt and saw: during, and mainly after his return to Earth; how our universe couldn't have just happened,but rather, has a special purpose and significance and a meaning to its existence! i believe in God, and have heard many pros and cons said about this book! Well let me say that as a true believer in CHRIST and GOD, I feel that Dr. Mitchell has a very open and well-educated mind as a scientist/explorer; and merely tells us that there is in fact a creator, and a purpose for the creation of the universe, and a reason for its being; relating science/religion together,which, to me, makes a whole lot of good sense.and purpose, to those of us that are real thinkers and have a real open mind to the things around us in the whole universe; not just planet Earth! Dr. Mitchell should know, hes been there (MOON) AND DONE THAT! i'M VERY RELIGIOUS INWARDLY, AND STILL THINK YOUR BOOK IS WELL DONE! Good job Dr. Mitchell! Your one of the few very open-minded/rational good thinkers of the century! If only more would have your intellect, mayby we wouldnt have the world problems we have today, and would have already had a base on Moon, and missions to Mars, already underway!
Rating: 5
Summary: Exploring Invisible Realities
Comment: Edgar Mitchell founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences in 1972, as he began a quest for common ground between science and spirit following his life-altering experience of walking on the surface of the moon. Mitchell's autobiographical book THE WAY OF THE EXPLORER describes in thrilling detail his experiences with the Apollo missions, as well as his subsequent exploration of the fields of consciousness and paranormal phenomenon. Mitchell's heart-warming accounts of his feelings as he walked on the moon, and then traveled back through space to see how "the heavens and earth tumbled alternately in and out of view in the small capsule window" are gracefully combined with his insightful observations of the nature of consciousness and reality. We can all benefit from experiencing the Earth as Mitchell does... as one planet interconnected with each and every one of us. I was so moved by what Mitchell wrote about seeing Uri Geller bend spoons and bring lost objects across space and time that it inspired me to see Geller bend one of my (very SOLID stainless steel spoons) in person in October 1999. I love this book's timeless wisdom, beauty, and depth so much that I return to it again and again. It's a powerful book that touches my heart and greatly inspires me!
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Title: Psychic Exploration : A Challenge for Science by Edgar D. Mitchell ISBN: 0399113428 Publisher: Putnam Pub. Date: 1974 |
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Title: The Field : The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe by Lynne McTaggart ISBN: 0060931175 Publisher: Perennial Currents Pub. Date: 05 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: To Rule the Night by Irwin ISBN: 0345242378 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: September, 1974 List Price(USD): $1.50 |
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Title: From Science to God: A Physicist's Journey into the Mystery of Consciousness by Peter Russell ISBN: 1577314093 Publisher: New World Library Pub. Date: March, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Astral Dynamics: A New Approach to Out-of-Body Experiences by Robert Bruce, Professor C. E. Lindgren ISBN: 1571741437 Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing Company Pub. Date: 01 November, 1999 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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