The Living Universe - Duane Elgin [0]
Other books by Duane Elgin:
Voluntary Simplicity
Promise Ahead
Awakening Earth
Changing Images of Man (with Joseph Campbell and others)
Living Legacies (with Coleen LeDrew Elgin)
Duane Elgin
THE Living Universe
WHERE ARE WE? WHO ARE WE? WHERE ARE WE GOING?
FOREWORD BY DEEPAK CHOPRA
The Living Universe
Copyright © 2009 by Duane Elgin
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First Edition
Paperback print edition ISBN 978-1-57675-969-1
PDF e-book ISBN 978-1-57675-988-2
IDPF e-book ISBN 978-1-60509-904-0
2010-2
Book design and composition: Detta Penna
Copyeditor: Judith Johnstone
Illustrator: Camilla Coates
Proofreader: Katherine Lee
Indexer: Joan Dickey
Cover design: PemaStudio
Cover photo: Byron Aughenbaugh / Getty Images
Dedicated to the wisdom keepers
across cultures and through history
who guide our exploration
of the living universe.
Contents
Foreword by Deepak Chopra
Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Great Awakening
A Personal Perspective • Living in a Dead
Universe • Cosmophilia: Love of the Universe • Does Aliveness
Make a Difference?
Part One: Where Are We?
Chapter 1: The First Miracle
We Are Giants • The Nearly Invisible Universe • Just Getting
Underway • Our Intuitive Connection with the Cosmos
• Imagine Building a Universe
Chapter 2: The Science of a Living Universe
A Unified Universe • An Ocean of Background Energy •
A Continuously Regenerated Universe • Sentience at Every
Level • Freedom at the Foundations • Able to Reproduce
Itself • An Integrative View from Science
Part Two: Who Are We?
Chapter 3: Spirituality as Intimacy with a Living Universe
Judeo-Christian Views • Islamic Views • Hindu Views •
Buddhist Views • Taoist and Confucian Views • Indigenous Views
• Western Views • Harvesting the Wisdom of Human
Experience
Chapter 4: The Mother Universe
The Meta-Universe in Science • The Mother Universe in
Wisdom Traditions • An Integrative View • Growing in the
Mother Universe
Chapter 5: The Soul’s Body and Our Cosmic Identity
The Size of Our Soul • Qualities of the Soul’s Body • A Body
of Light • A Body of Music • A Body of Love • A Body of
Knowing • Recognizing Ourselves Before We Die
Part Three: Where Are We Going?
Chapter 6: Where Is the Universe Going? 117
Life Within Life Within Life • Growing Self-Organizing Systems
• Humanity’s Central Project • A Garden for Growing Life
Chapter