Recovering the Soul: A Scientific and Spiritual Search

by Larry Dossey

A lecture worth hearing, Dr. Dossey's ideas are as new as the uncertainty principle of quantum physics and as old as the ancient sages who proclaimed the surprising unity that underlies all our diversity.

Genres: Spirituality, Science

Audio Cassette

First published November 1, 1989

About the author

Larry Dossey is a physician and author who propounds the importance for healing of prayer and spirituality. He combines science and prayer to advance the cause of healing the sick.

Larry Dossey studied medicine, graduating from University of Texas at Austin & the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas in 1967. While attending medical school, he became interested in Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Taoism. Severe, recurring migraines prompted him to study biofeedback and meditation in hopes of finding a means of controlling the headaches. He began to practice meditation regularly, while remaining skeptical about the type of praying he had learned in his youth. After graduation, Dossey went on to a distinguished medical career, which included service in Vietnam as a battalion surgeon and residencies at the Veterans Administration Hospital and Parkland Hospital in Dallas. Dossey's curiosity about the connections between science and religion prompted him to begin researching medical studies focused on the power of prayer to aid healing. In the 1980s, Dossey began writing books to document and explain his findings.

Dossey's 1993 book, Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine, made it to the New York Times bestseller list and sold close to 150,000 copies in the first three years after its publication.

Reviews

[Rodeweeks · Rating 4 out of 5]

First part point out some things conventional science cannot explain. Second part show how science (the heretics) try to explain these things. And the third part show how science and religion (especially mysticism) can and should work together to solve the mysteries of life. Physics already reached that stage and medicine are slowly catching up. One Mind, interconnection of all beings. Enjoyed reading it.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE AUTHOR OF "HEALING WORDS" EXPANDS HIS FOCUS

Dr. Larry Dossey (born 1940) is a medical doctor who helped establish the Dallas Diagnostic Association, and was Chief of Staff of Medical City Dallas Hospital in 1982, and is the former Executive Editor of the journal "Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine." He is also the author of books such as 'Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine,' 'The Extraordinary Healing Power of Ordinary Things: Fourteen Natural Steps to Health and Happiness,' 'Reinventing Medicine: Beyond Mind-Body to a New Era of Healing,' 'Prayer Is Good Medicine: How to Reap the Healing Benefits of Prayer,' etc.

He wrote in the Preface to this 1989 book, "The main reason to establish the nonlocal nature of the mind is, then, spiritual. Local theories of the mind are not only incomplete, they are destructive. They create the illusion of death and aloneness, altogether local concepts... This book tries to show why this is a false view. If it is false, as we are NONlocal instead of local creatures, then the world changes for us in the most glorious ways."

Here are some additional quotations from the book:

"There are many possible kinds of observables... Thus one may apologetically choose among many sets of observables." (Pg. 5)
"The antipathy most persons feel toward physics is directed toward the physics of the past two centuries, not of this one. In our century something new has happened." (Pg. 136)
"Orthodox Christianity is overwhelmingly local in its perspective... It assumes a person estranged and distant from God (the 'lost' soul) and who must return to Him at some point in the future." (Pg. 220)
"But the nonlocal approach to the world is NOT passive. It does NOT preclude taking active measures to prevent illness, nor does it outlaw any particular form of therapy once one is sick." (Pg. 250)
"(I)f minds cannot be bounded in space and time, we must be prepared to admit---whether we feel squeamish about it or not---that we are endowed with the godlike characteristics of immortality, omniscience, and unity." (Pg. 286)

[Grayson Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A slap in the face of the current common sense perspective of consciousness but an undeniable call to action especially toward the end. I enjoyed reading about the evidence to back up a biblical mind but I especially enjoyed the tie between the western local religions and the nonlocal eastern religions, and what adopting the latter can do for society at large.
It was hard to wrap my head around many of the ideas but one thing stands true, our current perception of reality is not working toward our benefit and a reevaluation of who we are may help.

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

New age gibberish. Avoid it at all costs, your time is valuable. I really should have known by the title alone that I was getting into pseudo scientific territory, and indeed that's what it is.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recommended (and lent) by a friend, this isn't the kind of book I would usually read. It's written by a scientist, and categorised as 'New Age'. However, it's quite a fascinating read. The author attempts to look beyond the early materialism of science, through quantum physics, and into unexplored realms that unite the spiritual and the scientific.

His theory is, primarily, that our minds are not the local entities we perceive them as, but 'non-local', and in a sense 'God'. He demonstrates this in the early part of the book using several documented experiments. The second part of the book explores (in a low-key way) some quantum physics and other scientific concepts, and the last section looks at religion as a whole, and God in particular.

It's not written at all from a Christian perspective, yet several Christian mystics and scientists from the past are quoted. The author seems to see the Christian faith as rather narrow-minded; whereas I could see much of what he discussed as fitting in quite well with my belief in God and eternity, he seemed to think that his theories were not compatible with any particular belief system.

I'd perhaps rate this three and a half stars if I could - it was an interesting read, if a little heavy and long-winded in places. But it's now twenty years out of date, and I have no idea if some of his science is now considered obsolete. Worth reading, anyway, for an attempt at setting religion alongside scientific thinking, although strongly denominational or structured Christians (or indeed those of other faiths) might find some of it disturbing. Could give some atheists a few points for debate, however!

[Anj]

I am re-reading this book. It is not the Audio Cassette. This book is dynamite!! When I first read it five years ago, it was a great read, but I read it through quickly. This time around I am finding it to be just as dynamic. I am only on page 44 and already have dog-eared almost every other page. This is a book best enjoyed a little at a time, because it is packed with some very heavy duty mind food.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

still waiting for him to write about animals...