Mine

Can I really claim this mind?
This matted den
I call it mine.
But why?
When deep inside, great tunnels bend
to hide the truth from Ego’s eyes.

Now
A restless cell
divides
It ends, yet multiplies:
Thus the many-mirrored Mother
in disjunction never dies.
I am one and I am many, in an endless string of lives!
And so the chambers deep within me
reconnect and ramify.

…A light?
Yet even here one shines.
Who would have guessed, in waking grayness
That there was another side
to this milky maze of drainage
with which each of us is mined?

There it dances
at the edge,
on the lip of sagging matter
Lighting up a land we’ve left behind.
And our body is the shadow it defines.

These dark waters running,
surging
Passing boulders, cliffs of stone
Through valleys rank with centaurs sunning,
Forests sweetly overgrown
with vines
At last
In moonlight full emerging,
The stream another million finds
In the Dreamtime all converging —
O star-seared sea! O endless Mind!

The Global Myths

Explores the four-poled “mythosphere” of primitive, pagan, sacred, and scientific belief. Poetic and respectful towards its subject matter, with some fun stories thrown in for good measure.

The Lives of a Cell

Short, poignant essays by a biologist who also happened to be a wholist and an optimist. Writing in the shadow of the Cold War, he appeals to us to reorient ourselves to the profound Mystery of the world around us. Elaborating in nontechnical terms the complexity of a single cell, Thomas treads with humility, awe, and hope, inviting us to do the same. [New York: Penguin]

A History of PI

Using the calculation of pi as a yardstick, Beckmann assesses the history of human knowledge and society. Draws a connection between free cultures and intellectual advancement.

Holy Madness

Investigates spiritual acolytes from many times and traditions who have flouted social convention as a means of leading others to enlightenment. Addresses issues of charlatanism in our skeptical times. [New York: Penguin Arkana]