Cosmic Consciousness: Evolution of Mind

Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind

Cosmic Consciousness

This book has 4.4 out of 5 stars with 515 ratings. It is a 2010 reprint of the 1905 edition.

This is the magnum opus of editor Richard Maurice Bucke's career, a project that he researched and wrote over many years.

In it, Bucke describes his own experience, that of contemporaries (most notably Whitman, but also unknown figures like "C.P."), and the experiences and outlook of historical figures including

• the Buddha,
• Jesus,
• Paul,
• Plotinus,
• Muhammad,
• Dante,
• Francis Bacon, and
• William Blake.

Bucke developed a theory involving three stages in the development of consciousness:

• the simple consciousness of animals;
• the self-consciousness of the mass of humanity (encompassing reason, imagination, etc.); and 
• cosmic consciousness -- an emerging faculty and the next stage of human development.

Among the effects of this progression, Bucke believed he detected a lengthy historical trend in which religious conceptions and theologies had become less and less fearful. It is a classic work. Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind