The Self-Actualizing Cosmos: The Akasha Revolution in Science and Human Consciousness

I have read something like twenty to twenty-five books on quantum mechanics over the last four years (mathematical and non-mathematical). Finally, someone with the courage to make a commitment to a rational and somewhat detailed interpretation and model linking quantum nonlocality with consciousness (and many other unexplained phenomenon in nature); that is why I gave this book five stars. The key is a "field". The majority of traditional deterministic scientist will not stretch their credibility to this extent. Whether you call it the Akasha Field, Quantum Foam, or the Zero Point Energy Field, something is connecting everything with everything else in the universe and Laszlo has possibly nailed it. This "field" is in addition to the already well-known gravitational, electromagnetc field, and the strong and weak forces. It instantly connects all entangled quanta across space and time with impacts ranging from the sub-atomic to macroscopic scales. Experiment after experiment by reputable scientist from around the globe over decades have demonstrated the validity of quantum nonlocality-most scientists have chosen to dodge the evidence. This is changing as more recent books on quantum mechanics have become available discussing similar ideas-some written by mainstream scientist. What Laszlo proposes may not be the final answer, but he makes a lot of sense.If the Akasha Field is close to being the correct concept, there is a whole new mind-blowing paradigm emerging (we are already experiencing it) and waiting for us in the future. Laszlo has explained this new paradigm very clearly and presented evidence for his assertions, although more evidence is needed. It will take time for his ideas (and others who have proposed similar concepts) to absorb what this new reality implies. It is certainly thought provoking. I only wish there was a way to validate or "detect" this field; this would make it easier for the general public to accept. The book is really interesting and worth the read.Rich

I bought this book because of the very high marks other reviewers gave it and because it was supposedly based on recent, cutting-edge scientific theory. I expected to find a mathematical description of how nonlinear systems self organize by employing feedback, and how this principle applies to the Cosmos as a whole. Instead, the book offered a mishmash of pseudoscientific "facts" along with a heavy dose of metaphysics.The book starts out with a more-or-less scientific presentation of quantum mechanics. But then the unsubstantiated claim is made that only quantum mechanics is real and the world of observation is an illusion. This is certainly at odds with the Copenhagen interpretation, which insists that only things that are observed are real. Oddly, Laszlo highlights experiments , such as Alain Aspect's experiments that violated Bell's inequality, Leggett's experiments, the quantum eraser and delayed choice experiments, etc., all of which prove there are no hidden variables, making the universe entirely indeterminate and non-mechanistic. Yet Laszlo proposes that a deterministic mechanism exists within the Akasha field. But if such a mechanism really existed, the experiments he cited surely would have detected it.Laszlo introduces Hugh Everett's many worlds hypothesis and Leonard Susskind's cosmic landscape as connected to the Akasha field, although neither of those theories are supported by one iota of evidence. He also mentions the completely-debunked idea of hydrogen existing in a negative ground state, which is supposed to have something to do with a Grand Unified Theory of Everything described in the appendices, but I could find no connections between any of this and the Akasha field.The remainder of the book delves into metaphysics and philosophical questions concerning goodness, morality, and s forth, which have nothing to do with science.The two appendices at the very end of the book are completely incomprehensible. They are filled with scientific-sounding jargon that makes absolutely no sense, seemingly written by someone tripping on LSD. The gist of the second appendix (revealing the Grand Unified Theory of Everything) is that every physical constant in the universe can be expressed by different combinations of Planck's constant and the elementary charge of the electron. Really?If Laszlo really wants to make a contribution, he should write about the sickness that pervades modern science because of the proliferation of half-baked proposals offered as complete theories and scientific fact. Instead, he just adds to the noise.https://sites.google.com/site/amateuscientistessays/

I have not gotten through all of this, nor do I have the specific education to appreciate the nuances, but I consider this an excellent purchase. I have set myself an all-but-impossible self-education program in the sciences, and this book offers great inspiration and challenges to most of the conventional books I have been reading. If I ever get educated enough to understand everything he was getting at,, I will increase it one star. That star is missing because of my level of comprehension, not his writing.

The first part of the book is a wake-up call to physicists which I believe is extremely well-written - few others could have written this portion of the book. It begs to be responded to by the physics community. The book, in my view, looses just a bit toward the end where others from Dr. Laszlo's community make separate contributions to the cause. In closing, the book is extremely strong on its own and does not need the help of others.

The book is excellent and much easier to read and understand that Laszlo's SCIENCE AND THE ASASHIC FIELD. I read and reread many of Laszlo's books, THE SELF-ACTUALIZING COSMOS is the most recent, the most clearly written and includes essays on health, perception, freedom and the "good." This book is one in a long line of recent works by various writers on the new understandings of ourselves in our world, our place in it, and on what David Bohm would call the implicate order which Laszlo reterms the akasha linking it to field theory thus the akashic field. I would heartily recommend this to anyone who wants to expand their horizons.

The Self-Actualizing Cosmos: The Akasha revolution in science and human consciousness, by Ervin Laszlo; Inner Traditions, Rochester, Vermont, 2014, 208 ffScientists, philosophers and religious adherents alike have long embraced the concept of a unifying non-material energy field, a so-called ‘deep dimension’ to reality – except that scientists have found a rational interpretation for this concept only within the last century while theists have been inspired by such a notion for millennia. Several scientists and philosophers have described this energy in their own individual terms – Bucke by ‘cosmic consciousness’, Jung by ‘collective unconscious’, Sheldrake by ‘morphic field’ and, in philosophy, by Plato with his ‘Forms’ and ‘Ideas’ and Kant’s vision of a world of the ‘phenomenal’ and the ‘noumenal’; it is David Bohm’s ‘implicate order’. ‘The world we observe is illusory, ephemeral, and short-lived, while the deep dimension is real, eternal and eternally unchanging’.I believe Laszlo first introduced his own term, ‘akashic field’, to general readers in his book ‘Science and the Akashic Field’ of a decade ago, though his thoughts had been moving in that direction for at least another decade before that. ‘Akasha’ is a Sanskrit term meaning ‘aether’ or ‘space’ and the concept formed part of ancient Hindu philosophy found in the Upanishads. It is the foundation of the created universe. The akashic record is regarded as the spiritual domain in which all the events of the universe are written through all time. The idea is beautifully summarized on p.2: the akasha is the underlying foundation of the cosmos that creates the conditions for the emergence of life and consciousness; it is complementary to prana – the activating energy.The author states that the more enlightened scientists (especially quantum physicists and biologists) have come to realize that a new paradigm is needed to explain the phenomena of the world at the molecular and organismal level – matter, life and consciousness are all entangled and constantly interactive. Nonlocality or ‘action-at-a-distance’ (two objects influencing one another without any obvious connection between them) is something we are all familiar with in the case of gravity or magnets. But, as Laszlo says, it applies much more widely than that. In the case of consciousness we find it in telepathy and shared death experiences. Furthermore, nonlocality applies across time as well as across space. This cosmic energy field, or akashic field as Laszlo calls it, is like a giant fine web that envelops the whole universe: touch one part, and it all responds – and goes on responding in the holofield through space-time. Matter and minds together form a holistic interactive system; ‘there is no separation between components and their interaction’. Every individual creature is itself an example of coherence within its being.The second part of this book recounts discussions between Laszlo and other proponents of similar ideas, and then spiritually oriented scientists present their take on the akashic field concept in short articles. This book provides a much deeper explanation at a more sophisticated scientific level than Laszlo’s previous book on the akashic field, which could easily be read by non-scientists. I think they would have rather more difficulty understanding the arguments here. In summary, the evolution of this akashic field concept (or whatever other term is used to describe the cosmic spiritual field of the universe) leads to ‘a self-actualizing, self-organizing whole, where each part is in coherence with all others’. As usual, there is a list of References and further reading (somewhat shorter than before) and a useful Index.Howard Jones is the author of The World as Spirit and Evolution of Consciousness

Introduces less well known aspects of the entire Akashic Record concept, touches on the holographic Universe theory too.

Good book, reliable seller!

good read

Another great book by Laszlo.