Studies
Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind is the title of a 1901 book by Richard Maurice Bucke. In it, Bucke developed a theory involving three stages in the development of consciousness: the simple consciousness of animals; the self-consciousness of the mass of humanity (encompassing reason, imagination, etc.); and cosmic consciousness — an emerging faculty and the next stage of human development.
Alexander Zelitchenko in his "Svet Zhizni" (Light of Life, History of Humankind in Psychosphere of Earth) continues this line, joined the directions of thought of Oswald Spengler, Lev Vygotsky, Lev Gumilev, Carl Jung tracing the transformations of human consciousness in course of history.
According to P. D. Ouspensky, as man evolves into higher states of consciousness, e. g. cosmic consciousness, he needs the tools of a higher form of logic, Ouspensky calls Tertium organum given to the title of his 1912 book.
Bucke’s conclusion one hundred years ago was that these individuals were gifted in the direction of cosmic consciousness but then developed this awareness through self-discipline. It now seems that the gift at birth is not as necessary as the self-discipline and the art of loving. Many of today’s psychologist and theologians make specific reference to Bucke’s work. The list includes Carl Jung, Erich Fromm, Robert de Ropp, Abraham Maslow, and Kenneth Wilbur, to name only a few. The numbers of people who make use of the concept of cosmic consciousness introduced by Bucke in 1901 is even lengthier. This list includes Albert Einstein, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and Alan Watts.
Read more about this topic: Cosmic Consciousness
Famous quotes containing the word studies:
“These studies which stimulate the young, divert the old, are an ornament in prosperity and a refuge and comfort in adversity; they delight us at home, are no impediment in public life, keep us company at night, in our travels, and whenever we retire to the country.”
—Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 B.C.)
“[B]y going to the College [William and Mary] I shall get a more universal Acquaintance, which may hereafter be serviceable to me; and I suppose I can pursue my Studies in the Greek and Latin as well there as here, and likewise learn something of the Mathematics.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“You must train the children to their studies in a playful manner, and without any air of constraint, with the further object of discerning more readily the natural bent of their respective characters.”
—Plato (c. 427–347 B.C.)