Cosmic Consciousness (a Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind) - Softcover

Richard Maurice Bucke, Dr D; Edited By Dr Richard Maurice Bucke

 
9781594626241: Cosmic Consciousness (a Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind)

Synopsis

What is Cosmic Consciousness ? The present volume is an attempt to answer this question ; but notwithstanding it seems well to make a short prefatory statement in as plain language as possible so as to open the door, as it were, for the more elaborate exposition to be attempted in the body of the work. Cosmic Conciousness, then, is a higher form of consciousness than that possessed by the ordinary man...

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Book Description

Bucke's account (1901) of his research and contemplation on the trend towards heightened intellectual awareness in man, through evolution, explaining his theory of the three stages of conscious development that culminate in flashes of understanding of the life and order of the cosmos, illustrated by his own and others' experiences.

About the Author

Richard Maurice Bucke was born March 18, 1837, in Methwold, a village on the edge of the Norfolk fens, in England. When he was one year old, his father moved to Canada and Richard was subsequently educated at London Grammar School. He studied medicine at McGill University, graduating in 1862. He continued his studies in England and France, before returning to Canada in 1864 to take up medical practice. In 1876 he became medical superintendent of the insane asylum in Hamilton, Ontario, and in 1878 was medical superintendent of the insane asylum in London, Ontario. Around 1872 Bucke had what became for him a life-changing mystical experience which he called an "intellectual illumination." He spent the next thirty years seeking out other people who had a similar experience and reflecting upon the significance of such altering of consciousness. The literary result of his study, the book Cosmic Consciousness (1901), became a classic work on the subject. He theorized that a higher consciousness was a natural faculty in man at a certain state of development. Bucke passed away after slipping on a step on February 19, 1902, in London, Ontario.

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