Dr. Tony Nader is a Medical Doctor (he has an M.D. in internal medicine and psychiatry and also a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the field of Brain and Cognitive Science). He was a Harvard Medical School Fellow at Massachusetts General teaching hospital.

In his book One Unbounded Ocean of Consciousness, he challenges the assumption that human consciousness is merely a function of biology, that our thoughts and emotions are nothing more than the consequences of physiological processes. He has come to believe that consciousness did not arise from the evolution of life on our planet, as is often implicit in any discussion of the subject – but that it is the cause of that life, and, in fact, the cause and essence of everything that exists.

This idea is startling enough, but Nader goes on to make the case that in meditation, we can experience this field of consciousness directly, and, further, that this experience can help us to lead fuller, happier, more productive and more peaceful lives.

I have experienced for myself fleeting moments of the sort of light and clarity that he describes, and was tempted toward some of these same conclusions, but had only an intuitive sense of the truth to lean on. With a precise and detailed analysis based both on science and on the wisdom of the ages, this book is an affirmation that I’m on the right track, and it offers an opportunity to learn more. For those who have yet to explore these vistas of consciousness, or for those who still hold to a strictly materialistic view of our lives and our universe, I would highly recommend this well reasoned and compelling book.