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    Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind
    Unavailable
    Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind
    Unavailable
    Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind
    Ebook702 pages13 hours

    Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind

    By Richard Maurice Bucke

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    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Acclaimed by William James as "an addition to psychology of first-rate importance," this pioneering work constitutes a classic modern study of the mystical experience. Author Richard Maurice Bucke, a distinguished progressive psychiatrist, explores the phenomenon of transcendent realization, or illumination. Bucke draws upon his firsthand experience of a life-altering insight to explore the theory of cosmic consciousness, an advance in mental evolution with the potential to raise existence to a higher plane.
    As valuable today as it was upon its 1901 publication, this landmark survey treats illumination from the standpoint of psychology, as a rare but definite and well-documented mental condition. It cites instances of sudden enlightenment experienced by mystics, philosophers, writers, and artists throughout history, noting an increasing frequency of episodes consistent with an evolutionary trend. Numerous case studies offer intriguing, real-life particulars of people and their personal epiphanies — from Buddha, Jesus, and Mohammed, to Dante, William Blake, Walt Whitman, and lesser-known individuals. A work of uplift and promise, this book offers readers a vista of extraordinary possibilities and a renewed capacity for hope and wonder.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDover Publications
    Release dateMar 7, 2012
    ISBN9780486121994
    Unavailable
    Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind

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    Reviews for Cosmic Consciousness

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    • 5/5
      Bucke was a mystical genius who had a direct experience of the transcendent nature of reality. One of a few people who expeerience this, Bucke spent the rest of his life exploring its meaning and wrote his magnum opus, Cosmic Consciousness. It is themost genuine account of mystical experience captured in the West in the form of a book.
    • 5/5
      Interesting proposal that historical religious leaders, and certain individuals such as Whitman and Emerson, experienced "cosmic consciousness", and that their teachings should be understood in that light.
    • 5/5
      A very special book predating much of the work and insights of later psychologists like Maslow and scholars like Aldous Huxley and Huston Smith.