THE EPISODE OF LIFE

CONSCIOUSNESS, CREATION, AND THE UNIVERSE

by Amjad Fatemi ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 20, 2011

Fatemi maps out the path to “Sage”-hood—that is, enlightenment—via quantum science and universal consciousness, reflected in patterns of information and existence.

Saying that science and religion have not yet found common ground, Fatemi (Chemistry/London Univ.) offers up a thick, often indigestible Grand Unified cosmology of quasi-quantum physics, Buddhism, famous mathematical formulas and New Age-tinged philosophy that, even with vastly simplified charts and bar graphs, makes Stephen Hawking read like Goodnight Moon. Rationalists and skeptics will find the author too quick to paste subjective, obviously theistic labels on elements of reality, mapping out different layers of thought, ethics, states of being and subatomic structure, mostly in flat, declarative sentences. His reliance on DIY metaphysics jargon (“consciousness atom” equals “soul”) makes the text tough going, though “Event-o-graph”—a snarky euphemism for the conventional view of linear time—is admittedly cute. (Fatemi prefers “Twin time,” which seems to imply multiple universes and different possible outcomes.) Only well into the exegesis does the material become accessible, when the author reels in from a universe-sized view to a human one, presenting intriguing notions of psychology, destiny, fear, war, disease, religious dogma and morality in terms of energy transference. He also uses the movie It’s a Wonderful Life to illustrate parallel or alternate realities. Because Fatemi’s theories posit reincarnation, since the consciousness atom cannot be destroyed, the author advises that present-day turmoil in an individual could be ascribed to disturbances in past incarnations. That God turns out to be love may be a fairly pat conclusion, though nobody can say the narrative doesn’t put forth effort in getting there. Seekers and collectors of works devoted to truth may put this on their karmic reading list, but even the more relatable passages come with non-sequitur zingers, as when Fatemi claims that the highest, most altruistic and peaceable of people share those attributes with “evolved birds.” Thick with metaphysical jargon, idiomatic physics and deep-thought Buddhism, this bulky philosophical/religious treatise gets a bit more comprehensible as it goes along, but it’s still mostly impenetrable.

Only recommended for hardcore truth-seeking matter-energy forms.

Pub Date: April 20, 2011

ISBN: 978-1432769628

Page Count: 550

Publisher: Outskirts

Review Posted Online: Aug. 5, 2011

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION