The Search for Universal Consciousness

About the Book "... beyond the complexities of philosophical language and the differences that may exist among the authors we have seen, there are simple truths in which all agree and that the reader must retain in their memory: a life without love, without kindness and without beauty, that is to say without an aspiration that takes us away from its repetitive, tedious, profane and animal side, without a quest and without the practice of meaningful paradigms, is a life of misery and, in the best of cases, a nightmare. This quest is not the task of idle intellectuals, but of sincere seekers of the reasons for our existence. These Ideas, that can be called Unity, Nirvana, Brahman or the Absolute, project us towards the culminating point of our life, towards our plenitude."

Preface In this work I want to show that in human history there has been a constant search of the same objective and the same Reality. Since the realization of this objective is the highest human aspiration, I have deemed my work necessary. My commentaries on these authors have (as is usually the case in my works) sought to delineate the contours of my own thought. This quest is not exclusive to some thinkers, it is humanity's quest, it is the spirit that animates our consciousness, and we are all partners in this search. If the reader is drawn to this work, I will have fulfilled my objective.

Here and in all my work the reader will see the development of two projects: that of fulfillment or personal liberation, which is feasible, and that of the collective liberation, which is an impractical project, ideal and utopian, but as long as it is realized and the external favorable conditions are available, all levels of society will reach a higher level. Hence my parallel preoccupation for social especially cultural matters: the situation of the spirit in time and space, The Evolution of the Spirit and the Origin and Destiny of Man, I am convinced that with this knowledge individuals and societies will be able to follow a process of natural evolution; which has been heretofore unrealizable due to the simple but grave reason that the human being is alienated from his Nature.

Moreover, the limitations of the Philosophy of History, which due to reasons of space is based only on Western thought, are apparent as what is important therein is the perspective or the general vision is applied to history. The philosophies of the Far East take hold of my thought; they are part of my organ of sight and are useful for universal perspective. This means that even if I have not followed Eastern thought in its particular trajectory, it is not lacking in my vision of the unfolding of Western culture. In other words, in my Philosophy of History, only the historical part is Western, as the East is omnipresent in my thought and inserts itself in all the ages of Western civilization. It is thus a universal philosophy applied to the development of a single culture. On the other hand till the XXIst century, and only till then, the West has not received any significant cultural and spiritual influence from the Far East, henceforth our Planet will have only one history; hence the importance of a cosmopolitan philosophy.

I think this is sufficient for the purpose of this book. The objective is not just to explain history, I do not know if this would be of any use to anyone at this point, instead of compiling facts, the objective is philosophical in the original meaning of the term: to make men happier and wiser.

A lot remains to be said, as life has been too short to cover such broad subjects, but I hope that someone will take this up and extend it; as long as he does not believe that he can end it, as the framework of this task is infinity itself. No one must believe that these theories are sufficient, as it would still be necessary to live them in order to experience and understand them.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages