Human Survival and Consciousness Evolution

661 Pages·1988·1.6 MB·English

by  Stanislav Grof

Human Survival and Consciousness
title:
Evolution
author: Grof, Stanislav
publisher: State University of New York Press
isbn10 | asin: 0887065287
print isbn13: 9780887065286
ebook isbn13: 9780585075891
language: English
Human beings, Consciousness, Human
subject evolution, Human evolution--Religious
aspects.
publication date: 1988
lcc: BD450.H865 1988eb
ddc: 128
Human beings, Consciousness, Human
subject: evolution, Human evolution--Religious
aspects.
Page iii
Human Survival and Consciousness Evolution
Edited by Stanislav Grof
with the assistance of Marjorie Livingston Valier
State University of New York Press
Page iv
Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany
© 1988 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
For information, address State University of New York
Press, State University Plaza, Albany, NY 12246
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Human survival and consciousness evolution.
Includes index.
1. Man. 2. Consciousness. 3. Human evolution.
4. Human evolutionReligious aspects. I. Grof,
Stanislav, 1931 . II. Valier, Marjorie
Livingston.
BD450.H865 1987 128 877118
ISBN 0887065279
ISBN 0887065287 (pbk.)
10 9 8 7 6
Page v
Contents
Introduction
Stanislav Grof vii
One
Human Survival: A Psycho-Evolutionary Analysis
Roger Walsh 1
Two
Transpersonal Vision
Frances Vaughan 9
Three
The Transformed Beserk: Unification of Psychic
Opposites
Marie-Louise von Franz 18
Four
On Getting to Know One's Inner Enemy:
Transformational Perspectives on the Conflict of Good
and Evil
Ralph Metzner 36
Five
Modern Consciousness Research and Human Survival
Stanislav Grof 57
Six
Individuality: A Spiritual Task and Societal Hazard
John Weir Perry 80
Seven
Thoughts on Mysticism as Frontier of Consciousness
Evolution
93
Brother David Steindl-Rast
Eight
Jesus, Evolution, and the Future of Humanity
John White 119
Nine
The Buddhist Path and Social Responsibility
Jack Kornfield 135
Page vi
Ten 144
Transition to a New Consciousness
Karan Singh
Eleven 151
The Darkness of God: Theology After Hiroshima
James Garrison
Twelve 177
The Incomplete Myth: Reflections on the "Star Wars"
Dimension of the Arms Race
Michael E. Zimmerman
Thirteen 204
Laying Down A Path in Walking:
A Biologist's Look at a New Biology and Its Ethics
Francisco J. Varela
Fourteen 218
Pacific Shift: The Philosophical and Political Movement
from the Atlantic to the Pacific
William Irwin Thompson
Fifteen 239
Space-Age and Planetary Awareness: A Personal
Experience
Russell L. Schweickart
Sixteen 251
Near Death Experiences: Implications for Human
Evolution and Planetary Transformation
Kenneth Ring
Seventeen 271
The Omega Project
Kenneth Ring and Alise Agar
Eighteen 274
Death, The Final Stage of Growth
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
Contributors 287
Index 293
Page vii
Introduction
Contemporary humanity has the dubious privilege of being in a role
that is unique and unprecedented in the history of our planet. We are
the first species that has developed the potential to commit collective
suicide and to destroy in this catastrophic act all the other species and
life on earth. It is a sad irony that this situation has been made
possible by rapid advances of science and technology, two forces that
Western peoples have long considered to be reliable means of creating
a bright and happy future for the world.
In a certain sense, modern science has fulfilled this promise. It has
made discoveries that have the potential to solve most of the problems
that plague humanity; it can ameliorate diseases, poverty and hunger,
create renewable and inexhaustible supplies of energy, and generate
resources that enable an average person to have a living standard that
in earlier times was reserved only for a privileged few. Within a few
centuries, science has made astonishing breakthroughs and has
radically transformed our everyday life. It has been able to release the
energies of the atom, build jet airplanes faster than sound and
spacecraft that can travel beyond the limits of our solar system,
explore the depths of the oceans, transmit sound and color pictures all
over the globe and across cosmic space, and decipher the genetic
code.
However, all these promising discoveries and inventions have failed
to create the desired sorrow-free future. As a matter of fact, the
shadow side of the rapid advances of science is becoming more
evident every day. The greatest scientific triumphsatomic energy,