| Title | : | An Unknown World: Notes on the Meaning of the Earth |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1585429015 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781585429011 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 219 |
| Publication | : | First published September 27, 2012 |
In some of his most deeply affecting writing, Needleman draws on his childhood experiences with a terminally ill friend whose impending death forces the young boys to face questions of the meaning of existence at an early age—questions that Needleman carried with him in his explorations of science and philosophy throughout his career as a scholar of religions. The conclusions that he reaches will give all of us a new sense of the purpose of our lives and the planet we live on.
An Unknown World: Notes on the Meaning of the Earth Reviews
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When you don't have much to say, you can't hide the fact by cramming a book with an overabundance of annoying rhetorical questions.
"How could I have taken so long to see this?"
"And isn't our body our own private, personal "Earth"? It is so, isn't it?"
"Where will I put all these books? And are there any of my books that aren't relevant?"
"Why had I never heard this before in the teachings of India? Why did I hear the doctrine of the great Self only as dreamy metaphysical idealism?"
"But now, what are these even more than hundred books? Must I really find room for them as well?"
This isn't even scratching the surface. But after pages and pages of question after question, I had to ask: "Who cares?"
I stuck it out, though, and the author finally got around his point: To truly understand Man's purpose on Earth, one can't rely on the scientific method alone; one has to also rely on methods that allow a deeper understanding of one's inner self. There you have it, now you can avoid reading this book. -
A friend recommended this book very strongly so I took a chance. I admire the way philosophers need to invent a new narrative form simply to communicate their philosophy, which hints at the immense difficulty in communicating their type of truths. Needleman's narrative is structured around a vivid, recurring dream about visitations from a childhood companion who had died young from leukemia. These dreams are the spark and sustenance of Needleman's furious reading of scientific and philosophical texts, in order to answer the question: What is the Earth's purpose? He eventually concludes that man's consciousness is a vital component to the earth's purpose. But man cannot achieve full consciousness because "scientism," the outwardly focused belief in measurable reality, has obscured the importance of turning inward.
I found it interesting that he introduces new terminology. He says "Earth" instead of body, materiality, or physical world which are some terms used by other philosophers to describe the same thing. This choice of words links his thinking with environmentalism. Needleman also says "concentrated attention" instead of what others have called mind or spirit. He spends some time reframing Descartes' skepticism of the material world as being a positive affirmation of the reality of Mind.
I gave the book only two stars because I didn't buy into Needleman's narrative strategy. I was irritated by the way he fills entire pages with rhetorical questions. The dreams with Elias are what movie buffs might call a McGuffin or a "device that serves no purpose except to advance the plot." -
For those concerned about the state of our planet and the lack of a concerted effort to help restore it, here is an exceptional solution―one that suggests a more compassionate population is the route to restoring our home. A win-win.
An Unknown World, Notes on the Meaning of the Earth
by Jacob Needleman
Reviewed by Jan Stone
Jacob Needleman opens “An Unknown World: Notes on the Meaning of Earth” recalling a dream on his 75th birthday; a meeting with childhood friend Elias who together wonder about topics like “god and the stars and the planets, about life and death and the mind” as they sit atop a low stone wall separating neighborhoods. Elias dies of leukemia at only 13. Near death, he dreads the loss of learning, and Needleman promises to continue for them both―a commitment to a duality significant in context throughout the book.
A passion for astronomy has always fueled Needleman’s focus on the the “vastness of of the universe and the wholeness and the livingness of reality.” In the 1970s he was one of a team interpreting “The Biosphere,” Russian geochemist Vladimir Vernadsky’s seminal paper on the earth as a living, dynamic and integral part of the universe, controlled by life itself―not an accident existing without purpose.
Elias’ recurring dream visits are the muse prompting Needleman to explore new concepts of earth as a living organism and the role of humanity in allowing it to continue evolving if our planet is to remain viable. Most dreams are clear, but in some Elias’ words or silence are vague, and Needleman’s quest to understand those ambiguities weave throughout his work. Thus, after 75 years, Elias’ return in Needleman’s life steers the philosopher toward new discoveries including, significantly, an understanding that human consciousness is essential in the service of saving the earth.
In an orderly fashion, Needleman’s inquiry into the nature of our planet and our role as humans in its guardianship has him revisiting many of the great thinkers of science, theory, philosophy, theology and spiritualism and whose universal revelations remain relevant. Along with Vernadsky are Plato, Kierkegaard, Harding, Fechner, Ouspensky and others who spent lifetimes deliberating humanity in both conscious and unconscious states as well as explicitly and symbolically. Needleman weaves their impact through his explorations, and their findings become threads that tie his new discoveries together into a mosaic of greater understanding.
Needleman’s journey is at once a spiritual, scientific and metaphysical exploration of how we presently treat humanity and our home. He articulates the beauty, mystery, contradictions and possibilities of this epic topic with poetic clarity while acknowledging his unconventional approach to the serious issue of a decaying earth and our lack of a commitment to do something about it.
This is not a hard book to read; it is a hard book to put down if you share concern about our deteriorating planet and its many seemingly unconcerned inhabitants.
Ultimately, Needleman speaks of an obligation to begin a new stage of exploration to save the planet. He stresses an intentionally inward effort to learn what the earth needs from us. It is an effort mirrored by how Needleman uncovers his revelations: both by the implicit learning derived from his dreams of Elias as well as what we know explicitly.
Any manner of reviewing this book risks scaring away readers by the subject’s intensity, but put aside fear because chapter after chapter Needleman walks us with clarity through his journey of understanding mankind and earth as incomplete works that require looking inward as much as outward, using intuition and unconscious routes to reveal the needs of the unknown world within and about us in order to survive.
He talks of dualities in science and religion, understanding and consciousness, knowledge and intuition. He speaks deeply and thoughtfully about why man inhabits earth. And he stresses an urgency to allow us to “wonder” as we did as children, to use science and religion to not limit but expand our perceptions and liberate the possibilities of our transforming this unknown but evolving planet, to rise above our ego. It is our ego, he believes, that dangerously limits our ability to consciously grasp concepts greater than our current knowledge because it stops us from searching further:
“If our planet is in crisis, as it surely is, it is because we ourselves are in crisis,
because we ourselves have lost our way in the world...to find a real and not
self-deceptive understanding of the crisis of the Earth, we are going to have to find a real
understanding of the crisis of our human life, both our inner life of the mind and the life of action
and relationship.” pgs. 51-52.
Needleman’s book is a fascinating pilgrimage toward understanding our role as humans in guardianship of our planet. It deserves all your attention; the payback being never looking at our planet and our beliefs the same way again and in so doing saving Earth through our own redemption.
An Unknown World: Notes on the Meaning of the Earth
by Jacob Needleman
Tarcher/Penguin
ISBN: 9780399169011
Hardcover, $23.95 USA
$26.50 Canada
Available October 2012
210 pages (including Book Notes) -
a reminder of the Gurdjieff work - I wonder if I understood this when I was younger.
"a sense of wonder and joy together with the heartbreaking feeling of remorse fro my life".
"The invisible element of feeling we are speaking of involves a certain personal struggle with oneself, a certain level of inner sacrifice, suffering of a kind that is also largely unknown, invisible, in our general culture. ...
"an individual has to be willing to undergo intentionally and willingly, and usually for a considerable period of time, the kind of suffering and inner sacrifice that opens the heart in order to approach, and experience as one's own, something of the vast reaches of the unknown levels of the human mind, unknown levels of self-knowledge and knowledge of the Earth and the universal world." -
I appreciated this sincere investigation into the meaning and future of the Earth.
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Excellent book. Like most of Needleman's books I have read, it leaves me with the sense that there is way more there than I got in a single reading. I suspect I will return to this book again at some point. Needleman is one of my favorite authors.
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Yuuuccchhh!!!!
