Weiser Books, 9781578634545, 232 pp., 2009
“The proposition is that Sun is a living, conscious being with an intelligence that dwarfs our own. […] it is a living being, aware of its self and its place in the Universe; that it is fully conscious and communicates with other conscious beings at its own level, and other levels; that its consciousness is so far beyond what we enjoy that it could be accorded deity status of a high order, and be recognized as a conscious being by atheists and agnostics, whatever spin they put on it.”1
The above paragraph captures the essence of what Sams tries to explore in this book. The sun (or simply Sun as Sams prefers) is not simply a mass of burning gas randomly ignited billions of years ago, but is a conscious being, that provides for and influences humanity. Sams explores the notion of an intelligent and self-organizing Universe, under the consciousness of gOd, called gOd to differentiate this Source from any singular or multiplicity of Gods2.
While I may not disagree with his theories, some of his presentations of the theories I can’t really get behind. I may believe in a similar intelligent Universe, including a conscious Sun and world around me, but Sams seems to believe that consciousness operates the same way for humans as it does for all entities. “For all we know, the tree might be tickled by the ripple of a breeze; the volcano excited by its own eruption; the thundercloud proud of its lightning; the mountain sublime in its majesty”3 I feel this is too much anthropomorphizing, with not enough reasoning behind it. Why would a consciousness so much vaster than us, like a volcano, have to experience excitement in the way we would?
Another issue I had with his theories, is that much of it was dependant upon scope. Sams didn’t draw on scientific theories or anomalies, religious or spiritual traditions, or personal experiences, instead he relies on the scope of the universe to serve as proof. Basically he repeats and expands the question of “How could something as big as Sun not be part of an intelligence? How could something as vast as a galaxy not have consciousness?” and he continues up that scale. Again, I find it puts me in a weird position, as it is something I have some belief it, but I can’t see justifying my beliefs simply because I cannot (or will not) accept a materialistic scientific explanation. It is not just on larger scopes, Sams can’t believe that the Northern Lights are just an interaction of the Earth’s magnetic fields and Solar winds, that something that beautiful has to have a meaning behind it.4
While the emotion and wonder of a man experiencing what he calls gOd may be there, the thought and reason behind this belief are lacking in this book. It is unforunate to see a view I entertain portrayed so poorly, sadly there are not many people I feel that I can recommend this book for. Sams may have his heart in the right place, but it wasn’t enough with this book.
