The Akashic Experience: Science and the Cosmic Memory Field

Ervin Laszlo has been a pioneer in systems theory and progressive thinking for many decades. In recent years he wrote The Akashic Field, which examined the philosophical and scientific side of the concept. Surely there are few more intriguing and possibly revolutionary ideas than that human consciousness transcends the brain, and that human beings have access to a seemingly infinite source of knowledge. Now, in The Akashic Experience, he brings in the personal level. We all know that empirical science is crucial in understanding these things, but it is the human and emotive side that brings it to life. And this is what Laszlo has done here. In this sense, it may appeal to a broader lay audience than its predecessor. True to his theme, near the end of the book, Laszlo writes of his own experiences of The Akashic Field. It is nice to see an author in this field who is willing to refer to their actual hands-on experience of this often esoteric subject matter. This book will appeal to those who like to see traditional philosophy/spirituality and progressive science given a human touch. It is highly recommended. Marcus T. Anthony, author of Sage of "Synchronicity" and "Integrated Intelligence".

Ervin Laszlo published what he subtitled "An Integral Theory of Everything" in his book: Science and the Akashic Field in 2004. He followed this up with "Quantum Shift in the Global Brain" in 2008 and I have reviewed both of these excellent books. Now he has published "The Akashic Experience" subtitled "Science and the Cosmic Memory Field", which adds to the ideas presented in the earlier volumes by presenting accounts by some twenty individuals of widely forms of what Laszlo has dubbed the Akashic Experience: near-death experiences (NDE); premonition; remote viewing and healing; and many other psi phenomena. "An Akashic experience is a real, lived experience that conveys a thought, an image, or an intuition that was not, and very likely could not have been, transmitted by our senses either at the time it happened or at any time beforehand - at least not in our current lifetime." Laszlo's ideas integrate ideas such as those of Talbot (The Holographic Universe); Dean Radin (Entangled Minds); Russell Targ (Limitless Mind); and concepts from Buddhism, all forms of spirituality and modern research into quantum physics and into the nature of consciousness. What others have called the matrix, the implicate order, tao or the zero point field, Laszlo integrates into the concept of the Akashic Field: "The Akashic Field contains not merely a passive record of a person's consciousness, created during that person's lifetime and then persisting unchanged, but also harbors a dynamic bundle of information based on the experiences accumulated in that lifetime. Under suitable conditions this bundle of information - a quantum hologram - is capable of development even in the absence of the living brain and body that created it." I reject materialism because it trivializes aspects of reality for no better reason than that science cannot currently explain them; but science has served us very well and provides satisfactory answers to most problems in the physical domain. Laszlo is not presenting an alternative to modern science, rather he is illustrating what might be possible if mainstream science were to embrace the knights-move thinking of visionaries such as David Bohm and Laszlo himself. He expresses the relationship between mind and matter rather eloquently: "psyche and physis, mind and matter, are not separate realities, or even separate elements of the same reality. They are the same reality. The difference is in the eye of the beholder: viewed in one way - with one variety of presuppositions - reality appears physical; viewed in another way, it appears mental. In fact, it's both." It is not necessary to read Laszlo's previous works to understand this one; familiarity with concepts of entanglement and psy phenomena would be useful, but this is not a difficult book to read and does not require any prior scientific understanding. It is very thought-provoking; because it enters into such a wide range of fields it is likely to arouse skepticism in all but the

The author of this fine book, the Hungarian philosopher Ervin Laszlo has had a full life: he is a systems theorist and a major figure in the rising integral movement. I believe that he is also a classical pianist. He founded the Club of Budapest that is dedicated to finding a way out of the global crises of polarization, environmental degradation and economic and natural disasters by transforming our global values and priorities. An important aspect of the project is not only to help us to see the world differently, but also to understand that we already have abundant evidence that we are all connected to each other and to the universe by more than our conventional five senses. He proposes that there is a fundamental field of information that is the underlying substance of the universe. He borrows the Sanskrit term "Akasha" to describe this field. He goes on to explain how this information field can explain the way in which our universe appears to be fine-tuned to form conscious life and that evolution is an informed rather than a random process. Though this is not a new idea - I lectured and wrote about it in the early 1980s - the science is now catching up with the theory. In this book he has assembled twenty individuals from scientists to writers who have had personal experiences that cannot be accounted for in terms of sensory perception. If we add these fascinating case reports to the impressive body of research data indicating that non-sensory experiences are real, we are left with an important question: how can these experiences exist and how can they result in conscious experience? Laszlo himself proposes that we live in an ocean of information and that transpersonal communication between conscious beings is the result of information-carrying holograms in a reactive quantum vacuum generated by activity in the brain. Several of the authors have their own hypotheses about how these communications can occur and how they relate to distance healing, intuition and even near death experiences. This is not a "How-to" book, but is one of the most thought-provoking sets of essays that I have read in some time. Very highly recommended. Richard G. Petty, MD, author of Healing, Meaning and Purpose: The Magical Power of the Emerging Laws of Life

Sheldon Stoff The Western Book of Crossing Over: Conversations with the Other Side The Akashic Experience: Science and the Cosmic Memory Field is a remarkable book of Ervin Laszlo's own commentary combined with lengthy statements by individuals who have had insightful "Akashic experiences." Laszlo has succeeded in accomplishing two objectives. He has provided a basic definition of what the Akashic experience is by bringing to the fore the latest scientific information on the subject. And he has provided us with many detailed personal stories of the experience by skilled individuals, thus bringing theory, science and daily life together. The book is a wonderful package which includes recognition of the Akashic, whose existence was recognized by Hindu sages 5,000 years ago and by the Kabbalah, also thousands of years ago. Science finally turns to authenticate what has been a major part of our lives since before the dawn of the universe. Laszlo has done even more. He has shown us conclusively that the Akashic is the originator of all that is and the source of information of all that has occurred. If humankind can utilize this information positively and productively, a new age of enlightenment will follow. --Sheldon Stoff Barbara's Comment: Opening the Akashic door into what Jonas Salk called "The Anatomy of Reality," twenty distinguished writers offer their own perspectives on living the akashic experience, on working with the experience, on researching the experience, and on reviewing and assessing the experience--all this eloquently bracketed front and back with the integrative thinking of Laszlo himself, who is often referred to as the father of systems theory science. I find that reading this book brings to me deep personal validation. It nourishes my lifelong need to find the deeper meaning in everyday life. A validation still needed, although I am seventy-six years old and have, during more than fifty of those years, read deeply in the fields of ancient, as well as modern, esoterica, have taught literature and the arts--especially poetry--and I have had some akashic, or mystical experiences of my own. Yet, always there has been the need to find vocabularies that bridge between the deep psyche, or what might be called the deep within--a way of being and working in the world while balancing the intuitive with the intellectual--and somehow to render to the outer world a glimpse of the consummate beauty and design of the inner world, indeed to be brave enough to persevere in this endeavor. This book gives me great joy. Bring the book to your table and read with an open mind. Read for what a shaman might call "soul retrieval." Read this book for insight. Read this book for joy. Like pebbles in water the words settle through layers of selves to deep center and silence... then Self says: Love is the ground of being. --Barbara Smith Stoff

Ervin Laszlo, author of The Akashic Field, follows up that excellent book with "The Akashic Experience," which consists of 4 parts - Living the Experience, Working With the Experience, Researching the Experience, and Reviewing and Assessing the Experience. This offers a wide overview of psi phenomena and research, including shared insights and experiences from luminaries in related fields - including visionary artist Alex Grey, healer Eric Pearl, Stan Grof, Marilyn Schlitz, Edgar Mitchell, Larry Dossey, Stanley Krippner, Swami Kriyananda, and others. This book is engaging to read and is valuable for anyone exploring the fields of consciousness research, transpersonal psychology, parapsychology, metaphysics, and spiritual healing. If you are interested in past-life regression, remote viewing, near death and out-of-body experiences, psychics and mediums, distance healing, and other subjects that challenge paradigms of material-minded science, there is a lot of thought-provoking material here... though you might wish to allow your thinking mind to rest and allow you to access the Akashic Experiences yourself! Laszlo continues to provide a medium in which science and spirituality merge, as genuine seekers from all disciplines explore the nature of the Universe and the field of awareness that connects us all. If his books were made essential reading for all those entering studies in college in the arts and sciences then we would have a more en-light-ened society. Until that happens, I encourage people to obtain Laszlo's books at their own initiative and reap the benefits of being aware of this greater understanding of Creation and the Universe.