Review of Peter Russell's book From Science to God: A Physicist’s Journey into the Mystery of Consciousness

This is a review of Russell's book that I sent to Arthur Hasting's at the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology at the end of November. So far he has not written back, so he's probably busy like I am. I had another 70 words of space for my review that I did not use--actually ran out of time--and went right to the day of the deadline getting in what you see below. So as of now I do not know the status of this review (i.e, whether or not I may need to revise it, is it clear, etc). Any feedback that any of you would have time to contribute would be most appreciated. I will also say that I took a jab at my relatives in this review, who are Conservative Christian types, not even really serious Christians; they are the kind of people that call themselves Christians because they have no idea what else they would call themself, and they are thus less (most likely) totally unfamiliar with the lives and beliefs of people in other cultures. They are always telling me about the difficulties of trying to resolve their credit card bills. This is why I refer to this in the review below, because so many people in the United States are equally culture bound and insensitive to the trans-cultural relationships with others throughout our planet. So please do not misunderstand my satiric humor, I sometimes say outrageous things because I am outraged and am trying to awaken people to the limits of their own cultural ignorance. Therefore, again, I look foreword to any feedback you can offer on this review. Mark A. Schroll

From Science to God: A Physicist’s Journey into the Mystery of Consciousness. Peter Russell. Novato, CA: New World Library, 2005. 129 pp. $12.95 (paper).

In From Science to God, Peter Russell has achieved something I have been trying to do for years; he’s written a book that my mother and other relatives can understand. I was hungry to read this book, having lectured with Russell at the International Transpersonal Association (ITA) conference (2004) in Palm Springs, CA. This appetite grew as I read Russell’s clarion call in the Preface: “We need more than a new theory of consciousness. We must reconsider some of our fundamental assumptions about the nature of reality” (Russell: 1-2, 2002). This call speaks to what many of us since ITA 2004 have been waiting to hear more about—a call that cried out for deeper inquiry at that meeting.
Man from the audience: I’d like to examine further systems theory, quantum mechanics and string theory, which calls to mind points that Peter Russell has talked about in his books. Mainly the idea of how this discussion we’ve been having can unify science and religion. So that in the future these can be brought together again [and enable us to] transcend [our current discussions of] consciousness; and [in facing this problem,] how does this apply to transpersonal psychology and its relationship to ecopsychology?
Russell: I hope to have a whole new book on this. Thus, I really do not want to start answering this question now. [Still, to say a few words on this,] ultimately I think everything comes back to the question of consciousness. We often give lip service to the idea that everything is consciousness in many metaphysical traditions, and yet we live in a world that is made of real material stuff. I think we are approaching a point—we are not there yet—but all the indications are that science is inevitably moving toward a point where it is going to realize what the mystics have been saying for centuries about the fundamental nature of consciousness. Still at the moment science does not want to consider this problem of consciousness. But when it does, I think there is going to be a natural integration of all of modern physics, with everything the mystics have spoken of. Then [we will] cease to [view science and religion] as conflicting worldviews, [and understand them as] part of a bigger umbrella—and I think [this reconciliation is] going to come from a deeper understanding of the nature of consciousness.
Reading From Science to God twice carefully I now realize this is not the book Russell referred to in his ITA comments. It is therefore The Consciousness Revolution: A Transatlantic Dialogue by Ervin Laszlo, Stan Grof and Peter Russell (2003) that I need to read in my quest to hear Russell’s new theory of consciousness. Still I’m puzzled as to how Russell could have been working on a “new” book in June 2004 that bears a 2003 publication date; stranger still that the “dialogues” are supposed to have taken place by 1999. This is just another indication that there are always mysteries to be figured out.
Despite my self-imposed suffering due to my erroneous expectations that From Science to God was Russell’s “whole new book” on our ITA 2004 conversations, I do believe this book does fill a much needed niche. Tell Your Children and buy this book as a gift to give all of your relatives that think transpersonal navel gazing ended with Woodstock and Haight/Ashbury’s flower power. Especially when bombing the USA’s enemies’ is so much more profitable and necessary to keep the Military Industrial Complex strong.
But what about those of us so-called graduates that grew up listening to Alan Watts and reading The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Really Are—what’s in it for us to read From Science to God? Making our way through this autobiographical account of Russell’s own awakening, we come to realize how far we have come and how brave the pioneers of humanistic and transpersonal psychology were just to suggest that meditation could have physical and psychological benefits; daring to suggest that consciousness could be anything more than a product of behavioral engineering in the service toward greater social harmony by eliminating deviance and increasing prediction and control. These are still today subversive statements in most University classrooms, clinical consultations, and those traditional family members of ours that continue to hope we (the readers of this journal) will one day come to our senses. Bemoaning every time India is mentioned how difficult it was to resolve a mistake on their credit card bill, quickly adding if these people are so enlightened than why is it that they have failed to master speaking English? Onward Christian Soldiers! Meanwhile the rest of us have been running for the hills, only to wake up to the smell of smoke as acres of forest become engulfed in flames.
Hopefully then From Science to God will make our family gatherings and holiday conversations more meaningful. Meanwhile the spiritual hunger of we so-called graduates yearns to be fed. Thus:
Schroll: I agree with Peter, an entirely different panel is needed to answer this question about consciousness. This need to reconcile the divorce between science and spirit is one of the contributions David Bohm made to the transpersonal movement; still more work needs to be done to bring the work of Bohm, transpersonal psychology and ecopsychology together.