Don Ray

The Reassuring Universe: a World of Personal Relevance, Potential, and Purpose Don Ray

(soft cover edition) The Universe is big, cold, violent, and doomed. What could be reassuring about this?! Welcome on a voyage through a universe of personal relevance, potential, and purpose. Your voyage will cross the blank space on the map between science and spirit. Can these words even appear at peace together? Surely our intellect and our heart must remain locked in combat for our loyalty; surely intelligence precludes faith and education exorcises belief. Entering the temple, church, or mosque you have to check your brain at the door; entering the laboratory or university you have to check your soul at the door. Invoking quantum mechanics, the holographic universe, relativity, string theory, M theory, multiple dimensions, alternative universes, dark matter, dark energy, and virtual particles, Part I of The Reassuring Universe unveils the surprising spiritual potential and personal relevance of modern science. Does modern science make room for spirit and soul, even God and eternal life? Part II examines repeating patterns in evolution of the universe, life, and humanity. Is humanity, and are we as individuals, still subject to these evolving patterns? Do our most personal joys and grief reflect the role of our life within those universal patterns? Can we even find hints of the meaning of life and purpose of life in the weaving together of the universal patterns of science and the deepest experiences of heart? Part III reveals a seamless Oneness and nonduality in the structure of the universe as described by science. That science-based nonduality is then rendered deeply and personally relevant for your daily life. Your tour of The Reassuring Universe unfolds in full color through photographs of the cosmos and images of the human condition. The Reassuring Universe invokes quotes from a broad spectrum of traditions, with Brian Greene (author of The Elegant Universe) and the Bhagavad-Gita sharing space with Buddhist, Muslim, and Christian sources.