This book, published in 2000, revisits Amit Goswami's theories of science within consciousness, which he first introduced in 1996 with "The Self-Aware Universe." It reads like a summary of where his thinking stood at that time. Goswami's key idea is that the best resolution to the quantum measurement problem (only an observation manifests particle behavior in quantum objects) is an ontology in which consciousness itself is the ground of being. In other words, consciousness does not emerge out of the complexity of material interactions; rather, it is the one being. There is nothing else. Material reality manifests within conscious awareness, in self-referential quantum measurements in which the experiencing subject and experienced universe arise co-dependently. It's a heady and powerful idea, and Goswami believes that this visionary window unites science with spirituality.
The book is divided into three parts. The first part is a summary of the aforementioned resolution of the quantum measurement problem, and a reiteration of the philosophy of idealist monism, which Goswami covers in his earlier works. The second part outlines a new cosmology based on this ontology, one which makes sense of the anthropic principle (only a universe where life is possible could evolve within consciousness), and attempts to resolve the differences between scientific and religious cosmologies. The apparent purposiveness of evolution, and its direction toward increasing complexity, are explained as consciousness creatively seeking to express higher and higher orders in the Great Chain of Being - from matter to life to thought to ethical principles. Goswami ties his ideas to those of New Age philosopher Ken Wilber, who would have been prominent around the same time as the book came out. There is certainly a lot of commonality between the integral theories of Wilber and Goswami.
The third and final part of "The Visionary Window" covers spirituality and the quest for enlightenment - from whence the book gets its subtitle. The key is inner creativity and overcoming the tendency to conditioned experience and identification with the ego, which is an identity created in memory, but not the true experiencing subject. The true subject of experience is eternal consciousness itself, but accessing this awareness in its pure essence is difficult for us because of the limitations of our embodied forms. Spiritual practices such as ethical living, prayer and meditation, and even vital body techniques such as breathing and physical exercises all help us to overcome egoic conditioning and tap into the power of inner creativity. Goswami leans heavily on concepts from Eastern traditions such as Buddhism and Hinduism to explain the journey to liberation, but emphasizes that the path is accessible to all humans, from all cultures and religions.
This book is a must read for anyone interested in Goswami's theoretical framework of science within consciousness, along with the book which introduced it, "The Self-Aware Universe." He presents a grand vision which reintroduces meaning into human existence while remaining firmly rooted in the findings of experimental physics.