The Face of Consciousness: A Guide to Self-Identity and Healing

by Patrick Donovan, Herb Joiner-Bey

In this “brilliantly researched, bold and imaginative work” of “remarkable integration and synthesis,” doctors Donovan and Joiner Bey “weave the fabric of both religion and science” into a new view of consciousness and reality. In this reality of wholeness and integration, the scientist and the theologian, the physicist and the mystic are equal partners in the journey to discover and explain the “why” behind the scientifically quantified phenomena of life and the physical universe. The issues of causation and reason relative to the development of life, consciousness, identity and self-awareness are addressed through a unifying theory of creation, life and the transformational process of healing. In this unifying theory, both the rigorous science of evolution and the theological concept of “intelligent design” find a home under the same roof.This theory is predicated upon the primary theme of self-realized identity arising from historically antagonistic, yet remarkably parallel paths of revelation. “The verified quantifiable properties of living systems, as described by modern physicists and biologists, are conceptually matched by the ancient discoveries and understandings of philosophers and mystics. The fabric of this 'unified theory of life' is woven from these parallel threads and based on; 1) the mystical traditions and scientific evidence pinpointing consciousness as the fundamental phenomenon (the 'Materia Prima') of life and, 2) the conclusion that the primal driving force of life (its 'raison d'etre') is its 'sacred quest,' as consciousness, for a sense of its own identity i.e., a realization of itself through the experience of itself.” In this quest for self-identity, life finds itself faced with the “uncertainty principle” of free will and the “ordered chaos” of choice.In The Face of Consciousness, doctors Donovan and Joiner Bey have formulated a new perspective on consciousness and its manifestation as life through the synthesis of essential principles from the biological and physical sciences, psychology, philosophy, mythology and various traditional schools of mystical thought (e.g., Kabbalah, Sufism, etc.). In addition, their unified theory of life explains the “why” of creation and defines the transformational process of healing in a way in which, when practically applied to one's life, it can enable one to transcend death and transform illness into greater life.

250 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2006

Reviews

[Gary]

Marvelous working through of consciousness and healing, combining perspectives from physics/biology, psychology, myth/depth psychology, and kabbalah. Recommended.