The Dice Game of Shiva: How Consciousness Creates the Universe PDF
Preview The Dice Game of Shiva: How Consciousness Creates the Universe
Praise for Richard Smoley’s The Dice Game of Shiva “The Dice Game of Shiva carries the reader insightfully through metaphor, a breadth of references, and insight into the diaphanous realms of consciousness. Richard Smoley’s fascinating examples and challenging thinking invite readers to explore meaning and applicability to their own spiritual journeys. Exploration of the relationship between consciousness and its experience plays throughout the text and draws the reader to a deeper experience of self. I recommend this text for any student of mind and purpose.” — Betty Bland, president of the Theosophical Society in America “This is an exciting, powerful book on the nature of mind and its relation to the universe. It is hard to put down. It is written largely from an Eastern viewpoint by a man who has, here and elsewhere, demonstrated his comprehensive knowledge of the Western searchings. (See, for example, his book Hidden Wisdom.) The depth and extent of Hindu psychology and philosophy of mind is little known in the West. This book has been long needed. One cannot read it without emerging feeling somehow ‘more,’ an inner stirring and movement in new directions, the same sort of feeling you have when you see Guernica for the first time or really hear the Appassionata. Do not pick it up unless you are prepared for this.” — Lawrence LeShan, PhD, author of A New Science of the Paranormal and How to Meditate “I have a standing rule: I read anything Richard Smoley writes — and The Dice Game of Shiva proves once again that I’m correct to do so. This book is a profoundly wise examination of the nature of consciousness and its place — our place — in the universe. Smoley’s writing is engaging, personal, and elegant. Anyone interested in the origin, nature, and destiny of consciousness should read this important book.” — Larry Dossey, MD, author of The Power of Premonitions and Healing Words “I loved Richard Smoley’s The Dice Game of Shiva, which thoughtfully deals with conundrums from consciousness to causality. He quotes the Indian dharma master Ramana Maharshi, who teaches the nondual view that it is impossible to be separate from an infinite God, or infinite consciousness. He similarly describes the inseparability of consciousness from the contents of consciousness — thereby dismantling the so-called mind-body problem. And he convincingly attacks the illusion of causality with which we try to order our lives, quoting Bertrand Russell, who wrote that causality ‘is a relic of a bygone age … like the monarchy.’” — Russell Targ, physicist and author of Limitless Mind THE DICE GAME OF SHIVA Also by Richard Smoley Conscious Love: Insights from Mystical Christianity Forbidden Faith: The Secret History of Gnosticism The Essential Nostradamus Inner Christianity: A Guide to the Esoteric Tradition Hidden Wisdom: A Guide to the Western Inner Traditions (with Jay Kinney) First Flowering: The Best of the Harvard Advocate, 1866–1976 (editor) THE DICE GAME OF SHIVA HOW CONSCIOUSNESS CREATES THE UNIVERSE RICHARD SMOLEY New World Library Novato, California Copyright © 2009 by Richard Smoley All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, or other — without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. The permissions acknowledgments on page 201 are an extension of the copyright page. Text design by Tona Pearce Myers Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Smoley, Richard. The dice game of Shiva : how consciousness creates the universe / Richard Smoley. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-57731-644-2 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Religion—Philosophy. 2. Consciousness. 3. Experience. I. Title. BL51.S5885 2009 210—dc22 2009033391 First printing, November 2009 ISBN 978-1-57731-644-2 Printed in the United States on 30% postconsumer-waste recycled paper New World Library is a proud member of the Green Press Initiative. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 For Robert Krier Smoley CONTENTS Acknowledgments Prologue: A Kabbalist at Oxford 1. The Light That Governs the Universe 2. The Game of Consciousness 3. Two against One: The Persistence of Dualism 4. Constant Conjunction: The Problem of Causation 5. Patterns in Her Garment: The Chain of Associations 6. A Just Universe? 7. Beyond the Copper Mountain: The Dimensions of Faith 8. The Conscious Civilization Notes Bibliography Permissions Acknowledgments Index About the Author
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