One Cosmos Under God: the Unification of Matter, Life, Mind and Spirit

Rating:
Summary: James Joyce meets Ken Wilber?
Review: One Cosmos Under God:  The Unification of Matter, Life, Mind & Spirit, describes the evolution of the cosmos, from the big bang to the ultimate state of consciousness.  It is a comprehensive, self-consistent account of our universe, thoroughly grounded in the full range of scientific knowledge at its leading edge.  However, it also includes religious and mythological accounts of the universe, and does so in a way which removes the conflict between science and religion.  The book shows the oneness of creation while accounting for the genesis of the cosmos, the meaning of life, and the origin and destiny of human beings.  Its ultimate purpose is to create a total system capable of comprehending both our internal experience and the external world, in a way which does not reduce one to the other. Specifically, the extraordinary mathematical fine-tuning of the universe, the sudden appearance of inconceivably complex life forms, and the sudden emergence of mind--science only pretends to understand these things. Put another way, science can explain everything but the presence of scientists. You might say that the book accepts what science verifies as true or false, but goes on to ask what it all means, what is the significance of the truths discovered.

One Cosmos is divided into four parts dealing with Matter, Life, Mind and Spirit.  Godwin demnonstrates that there was not just one sudden, explosive big bang in the cosmos, but four.  They are Cosmogenesis (the material cosmos), Biogenesis (life), Psychogenesis (mind) and Cosmotheosis (the realization of spirit).  Each of these represented a true genesis, a sudden ontological discontinuity that cannot be reduced to, or explained by, what existed before.  Altogether, One Cosmos is an astonishing statement about the meeting of science and religion, and a synthesis of knowledge which represents a breakthrough in interdisciplinary studies.  Moreover, the book is written in a thoroughly delightful style which makes the argument clear to a popular audience. 

The book actually "begins" before God has created the universe, so there's no language to describe it yet. Therefore, Godwin presents a new "creation myth" assembled from various esoteric traditions (Christian, Kaballistic, Vedantin, etc.), with amusing wordplay, a la James Joyce's Finnegans Wake. He does the same thing at the end of the book, combining various traditions to describe the ascent of the soul beyond the ego, so that the ultra-semantic finale circles around and meets up with the infra-linguistic beginning of the book.

To paraphrase Godwin, this huge mythunderstanding is the ultimate Hedunnit, a New Testavus for the rest of us, a Jehovial mythadventure through the Best of All Possible Bangs, our One Cosmos Under God, Inexplicable, with Liberty and Joyousness for All. If you are prepared to caterpult their buddhafly out of its conceptual cul-de-sac, then by all means you must have the guffah-ha experience of reading this absurcular godsword puzzle and soph-help book. It is an eschatall tale full of black-diamond cognitive trails that will delight extreme seekers and off-road spiritual aspirants of all disorganized religions, adult spiritual entertainment at its best, the most fun I've ever had mutating my neural networks to perceive higher worlds!


Rating:
Summary: A Winner In Many Fields!
Review: The author, a clinical psychologist, has a great writing style and a talented way with words. Not only does he use words insightfully but he also invents them. Godwin believes that there is no reason to dispose of the spirit just because you're a strong believer in scientific methodology. For that reason you will not find science and spirit being incompatible in "One Cosmos under God." He starts with the big bang which created all matter in the universe, then talks about the sticky and difficult problem of life arising from dead matter. I feel he really hits his stride in the section entitled, Psychogensis and loved his telling the story of how we became human and how babies continue to become human. (P. S. It's the same incredible way) Needless to say, this was my favorite part of his book. From there he ties in history, transcendence, religion, the problem of evil and more.
"One Cosmos under God," contains over 500 footnotes and has an extensive bibliography. The one theme which runs throughout this book is "origins" as Godwin delves deeply into understanding and patiently explaing how everything came to be. His use of the concept of "mind parasites" to explain the origins of our individual personalities was brilliant. After a concept is explained, Dr. Godwin does not leave it at that but then explains it over and still once again. But he is such a good wordsmith that you might find yourself rereading a page just to enjoy his writing style. " One Cosmos under God "was not the easiest book I've read but I plan to keep it around as a reference manual. It surely was one of the most genuine learning experiences I've had.