Recently, BoureeMusique asked me to write about metaphysics. I was asked many moons ago by soul_survivor to compile a list of suggested reading. It makes more sense to me to write about metaphysics in this way than to rehash the work of the writers and thinkers who have influenced my paradigm, or whose writing stimulates me to think or echoes my thinking.
Metaphysics, the word, has come to be associated with the subtle forces and energies that are presumed to operate at a higher level of abstraction than "mere" physical science. I have heard metaphysics called the source of and power behind the laws of physics, which is what theologians would call their field of study as well. It is the realm of philosophy, cosmology, and ontology.
Aristotle's was the first name associated with metaphysics. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Aristotle himself did not use that title
or even describe his field of study as ‘metaphysics’; the
name was evidently coined by the first century C.E. editor who
assembled the treatise we know as Aristotle's Metaphysics out
of various smaller selections of Aristotle's works. The title
‘metaphysics’ — literally, ‘after the
Physics’ — very likely indicated the place the
topics discussed therein were intended to occupy in the philosophical
curriculum. They were to be studied after the treatises dealing with
nature (ta phusika)."
The most frequent criticism I have of metaphysical writings is that they are just the same old same old. I know that a few people have gained massive wealth through rehashing the classics. Deepak Chopra, I think, fits that category. I have found nothing original or new in his work, but there is ample reason for his popularity. His prose is accessible. He writes for everyone, even those who prefer to view spirituality without reference to a god. One of his recent books, Power, Freedom, and Grace: Living from the Source of Lasting Happiness is elegantly simple and short. It would be an appropriate introduction to his work for someone who hasn't read him before, an easy entree into metaphysics for someone new on the Path, or a pleasant evening's read for anyone.
Neale Donald Walsch's work will not appeal to everyone, which I feel is unfortunate because he bridges the gap between theology and spirituality. His work is particularly appropriate for Christians (especially Roman Catholics, for that is his background) who seek relief from guilt and dogma and a deeper communion with Spirit. I received a review copy of Conversations with God: An Uncommon Dialogue in audiobook form when it was newly published. I have since read the entire CWG series, plus What God Wants, Communion with God and Friendship with God. None of the books has for me the pleasure or impact of hearing Neale read his side of the conversations on the audiobook, to be answered alternately by Ed Asner and Ellen Burstyn, reading God's part. (BTW: What God wants is NOTHING. What omnipotent being would want or need anything it does not already have?)
Another writer whose work is not for everyone is Gregg Braden. I'm not sure his writing is for me. He seems to be writing for New Agers without much grounding in science. In the early 1990s, when I was willing to accept being labeled "New Age" largely because I knew I wasn't part of the Archaic Revival, I was impressed by what Braden had to say about earth changes and the paradigm shift, but recently the thing about him that impresses me most is his drive for self-promotion.
I read his book, Awakening to Zero Point: the Collective Initiation years ago, and am currently reading The Divine Matrix: Bridging Time, Space, Miracles and Belief. There is no specific element of his information that I can authoritatively refute, but I find it hard to read without having my eyes glaze over and my attention stray. This is in contrast with Einstein's Relativity & the Quantum Revolution: Modern Physics for Non-Scientists a course on audio cassettes by superstar professor Richard Wolfson that held Doug and me spellbound for hours and days last winter, and left us with a clear understanding of the subject. If Braden turns you on and you dig what he is presenting, then you have lots of company.
Greyfox is currently having a problem with The Law of Attraction: the Basics of the Teachings of Abraham, by Esther and Jerry Hicks, similar to my problem with Gregg Braden. The teachings work for him, but he has a hard time wading through what he calls, "the New Agey channel-speak," and he was already familiar with the law of attraction before he started.
Chopra writes for everyone. I think Walsch would like for everyone to read his work, but his appeal is narrower than that of Chopra because of the Christian bias in it. I frankly don't know what demographics might profit from Braden or Abraham-Hicks. E. J. Gold writes for a range of audiences, but the work of his that I loved best and that made me fall in love with E. J., The Human Biological Machine as a Transformational Apparatus, was written for a very small intellectual elite. In the introduction, he attempts to discourage those of limited vocabulary or lazy mind from reading any further. The book is priceless, and worth every effort it takes to read and comprehend it.
Another priceless work, The Urantia Book, is, in part, as accessible as Chopra, but the first part of it is even more difficult reading than Gold. When I read it, thirty-two years ago, I followed the plan suggested by Clyde Bedell in his Concordex to the Urantia Book, and started with the first, extremely difficult paper -- difficult partially because it uses new words and defines them in their context as it goes along, and partially because it was presenting concepts that were new to me at the time.
Then, as a reward for my work, following Bedell's suggestion, I flipped through the Concordex (concordance + index) to find a subject of interest to me, and read that paper (U. Book has "papers" not chapters) in the back portion of the book, going back next to read the second paper, then rewarding myself for that effort, and so on. It only took 3 or 4 repetitions of that pattern before I got caught up in the text and read on through from beginning to end.
I started as an agnostic leaning toward atheism because the religions I knew were in clear conflict with demonstrable scientific fact. I finished the book in three months. Most days, I read about twelve hours a day, more than that on some days. It was my occupation for those months. For my effort I was rewarded with a number of epiphanies, a new kind of prayer, and ultimately the Spirit of Truth. I ended up as a gnostic, in communion with Spirit. All conflict between science and religion was resolved to my satisfaction. I find the debate between creationists and evolutionists to be foolishly shortsighted on both sides.
I cannot in all honesty say that I believe wholeheartedly in the Urantia Book. I found some things in there that are not supported by my experience and that conflict with the knowings of my soul. I can accept this, however, without discarding everything in the book, because the book itself says that it is limited by the level of human understanding at the time it was written, and it certainly far excels any of the holy books of the many religions I have studied.
Who Wrote the Urantia Book? Plenty of people have disputed what the book says of its own origins, but no one has successfully refuted it.
In the years since I read the book, I have become aware of several archaeological discoveries that might confirm portions of the Urantia Papers. Two are the Foxhall peoples of Britain and a recent fossil find in Spain. A couple more links you might find interesting or informative are Urantology and the Quote of the Day.
Italicized book titles on this page are links to Amazon.com, and I get a kickback from them if you buy. If you want to buy any of those books, I would appreciate your doing it through my links so that I may help my hardworking husband pay my medical bills. If you would like to own a hardcover Urantia Book, they are available. The book is also available in paperback and an indexed version with free audiobook on DVD.
Full-text online editions are also available from:
The Jesusonian Foundation
The Urantia Book Fellowship
The Urantia Foundation
No booklist on metaphysics and personal transformation would be complete without Psychic Warrior by David Morehouse, Cosmic Voyage by Courtney Brown, Dying to Live by Tolly Burkan, and Saved by the Light, At Peace in the Light, and Secrets of the Light by Dannion Brinkley. All are autobiographical works by men whose life experiences lifted them out of the ordinary and into the paranormal.
This is the first of a projected series of "recommended reading" posts. I'm not sure which topic to address next. Serious suggestions will be given due consideration.
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