By Fritjof Capra

PDF | 332 pages | English

From Publishers Weekly

In trying to exhibit how encounters with a number of humans fueled the writing of his bestsellers The Tao of Physics and The Turning element, Capra's new publication is alternately superficial and meaty. That he as soon as sat subsequent to Alan Watts at a cocktail party, heard Krishnamurti lecture and exchanged observations with Indira Gandhi is revealing of not anything; nor is the exact synopsis of the author's studying behavior. extra fascinating are conversations recorded right here with physicists Werner Heisenberg and Geoffrey chunk, psychotherapists Stanislav Grof and R. D. Laing, economists Hazel Henderson and E. F. Schumacher, and with figures similar to structures theorist Gregory Bateson, holistic melanoma therapist Carl Simonton and feminist Charlene Spretnak. How Capra got here to understand parallels among sleek physics and jap mysticism, then went past this to a platforms point of view embracing ecology and non secular knowledge, is the heady subject of this self-preoccupied yet frequently stimulating set of talks.

From Library Journal

Capra, writer of The Tao of Physics , is known for his certain combination of physics and mysticism. right here he lines the improvement of his notion through proposing a sequence of conversations with many influential thinkers, together with Werner Heisenberg, R. D. Laing, Alan Watts, and Margaret Lock. those conversations happened among 1969 and the "Big Sur Dialogues" symposium in 1979 and diversity in topic from technology to politics, anthropology to holistic drugs. Capra feels that his contribution has been in simple terms to set up hyperlinks among the guidelines of those hugely unique thinkers, all of whom figured principally in his evolution from a standard physicist to the spokesman for a brand new imaginative and prescient of reality.

About the Author

Fritjof Capra bought his PhD in theoretical physics from the college of Vienna and has performed examine in high-energy physics at numerous ecu and American universities. Capra has written and lectured broadly in regards to the philosophical implications of recent technological know-how and is writer of 'The Tao of Physics', 'The Turning Point' and 'Uncommon Wisdom'. at the moment Director of the Centre for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, California, he lives in Berkeley along with his spouse and daughter.

Show description

Read or Download Uncommon Wisdom: Conversations With Remarkable People PDF

Best mysticism books

The Measure of Things: Humanism, Humility, and Mystery

David Cooper explores and defends the view truth self reliant of human views is unavoidably indescribable, a "mystery. " different perspectives are proven to be hubristic. Humanists, for whom "man is the degree" of truth, exaggerate our capability to dwell with out the experience of an autonomous degree.

Alone with the Alone

"Henry Corbin's works are the easiest advisor to the visionary culture. .. . Corbin, like Scholem and Jonas, is remembered as a student of genius. He used to be uniquely built not just to recuperate Iranian Sufism for the West, but additionally to shield the relevant Western traditions of esoteric spirituality. "--From the creation by means of Harold BloomIbn 'Arabi (1165-1240) was once one of many nice mystics of all time.

Teachings of the Hindu Mystics

This anthology collects the main lyrical, passionate, illuminating writings of the Hindu mystical culture. Andrew Harvey, the preferred religious student and author, has chosen excerpts from historic and modern resources, together with extracts from the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, and different classical Hindu texts; the phrases of such venerable religious lecturers as Ramakrishna and Ramana Maharshi; and the devotional poetry of Mirabai, Ramprasad, and so forth.

Additional info for Uncommon Wisdom: Conversations With Remarkable People

Sample text

When I arrived in Berkeley in April 1975, Veneziano was visiting LBL (the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory) and Chew and his collaborators were extremely excited about the new topological approach. For me, too, this was a very fortunate turn of events, as it gave me the opportunity to reenter active research in physics with relative ease after a lapse of three ' years. Nobody in Chew's research group knew anything about topology, and when I joined the group I had no research project NO FOUNDATION 57 on my hands; so I threw myself wholeheartedly into the study of topology and soon acquired some expertise in it, which made me a valuable member of the group.

Over the years I got to know Geoff, as Chew is commonly called by his friends and colleagues, so well, and my thinking was so much influenced by his, that our inter­ changes would often generate a state of excitement and mental resonance that is very conducive to creative work. For me, these discussions will always belong among the high points of my sci­ entific life. Anybody who meets Geoff Chew will immediately find him a very kind and gentle person, and anybody who engages him in a serious discussion is bound to be impressed by the depth of his thinking.

I was stunned, and there was a sense of embarrassment in discovering that my research had, somehow, become based on ideas that sounded terribly unscientific when they are associated with Buddhist teachings. Now, of course, other particle physicists, since they are working with quantum theory and relativity, are in the same position. However, most of them are reluctant to admit, even to themselves, what is happening to their dis­ cipline, which is, of course, beloved for its dedication to ob­ j ectivity.

Download PDF sample

Rated 4.37 of 5 – based on 9 votes