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The Way from Science to Soul: Integrating Physics, the Brain, & the Spiritual JourneyBy Casey Blood, PH.D. website: www.quantummechanicsandreality.com genre: spiritual/science/self-help ISBN: 978-0-9797888-8-8
Reviewed by Karen Lawrence
Having meandered my way through a variety of disciplines and practices over the years in search of answers to the universal “meaning of life” questions we all struggle with, Casey Blood’s book The Way from Science to Soul has provided me with a whole new perspective. Not sure I would be able to fathom quantum mechanics or physics as discussed by a scientist of Blood’s caliber, I was willing to try when I saw his approach is to combine an easily digestible explanation of current scientific understanding with the latest brain research, and time-tested metaphysical teachings and practices.
Blood contends quantum mechanics is not just a mathematical scheme for accurately describing nature, but that by implying that particles do not exist, it offers the strongest evidence yet that there are multiple versions of reality. In affirming this nonphysical component to existence, Blood feels quantum mechanics allows science and mysticism to converge in a more integrated exploration of the nature of existence. The author’s journey through physics, the brain and spirituality is a carefully constructed bridge between seen and unseen, real and unreal. He takes the reader step-by-step through these basic, accepted facts: physics is the study of the physical world; metaphysics is the study of nonphysical realms; and the brain is the tool by which we navigate between the two. So is there a way to not only connect the nonphysical aspects of existence with the physical, but to unify our study of reality? Blood believes that quantum mechanics presents the most basic fact of all “Each of us is a nonphysical soul that has a physical body”.
Perhaps my favorite part of the book is Blood’s useful explanation of the different realms of existence and the “how-to” section of spiritual practices and exercises to help us as human beings become conscious of a wider range of reality. His thorough and accessible examination of seemingly disparate approaches to the study of reality and suggestions for experientially delving into its many levels is a must-read for truth seekers of all types.
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Somehow my reaction to all writings along these lines is that they’re premature. I’ve read things as far back as Chardin, who connected theology to evolution, and while it’s all interesting, it all strikes me as extremely conjectural. I have the feeling we need to learn a lot more science and a lot more about the nature of our own nature.
On the other hand, it is what it is; I can easily understand how people with a background in science and strong spiritual leanings would want to connect those dots…