Earth EEs/EHEs; Planetary Consciousness Record Type: Review   ID: 456
The Wholeness Principle: Dynamics of Unity Within Science, Religion & Society Lemkow, Anna F.
The author inquires "into the dynamics of wholeness as an all-pervasive principle" (p. xiii). As a UN economist, she observed "mutually-reinforcing developments" on a global scale that point to the "global interdependency of peoples" (p. xiii) everywhere. This brings home a major tenet of the world’s religious philosophies, "that the different dimensions of existence, including the spiritual and moral, the mental, emotional and physical, are inextricably and dynamically related" (p. xiii). Eventually, if we do not self-destruct, a planetary consciousness will be required. In order to achieve it, we will have to integrate "mystical, religio-philosophical, scientific and aesthetic insights" (p. xv). One of Lemkow’s key insights is that for this to happen goes well beyond the current "value neutrality" and relativism of today’s educators, which leads to "an aberrant idea of reality," as she shows in Chapter 1. She observes that what can turn the tide toward holism is "a dynamic, affective process which goes far beyond mere cognition or knowledge" (p. xv). The first two chapters present a unitive framework, including our several ways of knowing. Part II contains 8 chapters on aspects of science and the evidence for holism, closing with one on "The Psi Faculties, or the Relation Between Inner and Outer." Part III, "The Spiritual Domain," consists of 6 chapters on aspects of spiritual unity. Part IV, Society, consists of three chapters dealing with a planetary overview of society, economics, politics, and education. There is "A Postscript on the Intersection of Religion, Perennial Philosophy, Science and Society." In the final chapter, "Order Amid Chaos," she describes the ideas of three thinkers whose views appear now to have been prophetic: sociologist Pitirim Sorokin, paleontologist/mystic Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and theosophist H.P. Blavatsky. Lemkow concludes that "each of us is both unique and a microcosm of the Whole: each is at once scientist/artist/mystic. Hence, each is equipped both to contribute something of value to the co-creation and to unite and be one with the Whole" (p. 299).
Publisher Information:	Wheaton, IL: Quest, 1990. 322p. Bibl: 301-308; 1 fig; Index: 309-322

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