The Flip: Who You Really Are and Why It Matters

Description

A visionary new worldview of the cosmos, human consciousness and their intimate connection, by a prominent Professor of Religion. Why do we know so much more about the cosmos than our own consciousness? Are there limits to the scientific method? Why do we assume that only science, mathematics and technology reveal truth? The Flip shows us what happens when we realise that consciousness is fundamental to the cosmos and not some random evolutionary accident or surface cognitive illusion; that everything is alive, connected, and 'one'. We meet the people who have made this visionary, intuitive leap towards new forms of knowledge- Mark Twain's prophetic dreams, Marie Curie's seances, Einstein's cosmically attuned mind. But these forms of knowledge are not archaic; indeed, they are essential in a universe that has evolved specifically to be understandable by the consciousnesses we inhabit. The Flip peels back the layers of our beliefs about the world to reveal a visionary, new way of understanding ourselves and everything around us, with huge repercussions for how we live our lives. After all, once we have flipped, we understand that the cosmos is not just human. The human is also cosmic.

Jeffrey J. Kripal is the Associate Dean of Humanities and holds the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University and is the associate director of the Center for Theory and Research at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. He has previously taught at Harvard Divinity School and Westminster College and is the author of eight books, including The Flip. He lives in Houston, Texas.

One of the most provocative new books of the year, and, for me, mindblowing -- Michael Pollan Wonderfully rich. . . . Reading this book is an embodied experience; it is yoga for the mind. The Flip is an important book that deserves a broad readership both inside and outside the academy * Reading Religion * [The Flip] will ignite conversations about the limits of science and the potential for dramatic shifts in perspective * Publishers Weekly * [Kripal offers] a genuinely hopeful vision of what we yet could be in the mirror of what we have been -- Deepak Chopra Kripal makes many sympathetic points about the present spiritual state of America. . . . [He] continues to believe that spirituality and science should not contradict each other, and that the Cartesian split between mind and body can be transcended * New York Times Book Review * [His] work will likely become more and more relevant to more and more areas of inquiry as the century unfolds. It may even open up a new space for Americans to reevaluate the personal and cultural narratives they have inherited, and to imagine alternative futures. * Los Angeles Review of Books *