In thinking about the themes I discuss in this book, I have been greatly helped by my discussions with Father Bede Griffiths, with my wife, Jill Purce, and with many other people. In particular, I had the good fortune to take part in a series of trialogues (three-way dialogues) with my friends Terence McKenna (who, sadly, died in 2000) and Ralph Abraham over a period of seventeen years. We met at least once a year in California, England, or Hawaii and discussed a wide variety of subjects, some closely related to subjects discussed in this book. We also published two books together, The Evolutionary Mind (1998) and Chaos, Creativity and Cosmic Consciousness (2001).1 Recordings of more than thirty of our trialogues are available online.2
I have learned a great deal from dialogues with several spiritual leaders and teachers, including Jiddu Krishnamurti;3 Brother David Steindl-Rast, with whom I led workshops at the Esalen Institute in California and at Hollyhock, on Cortes Island in British Columbia; Matthew Fox, with whom I wrote two books on science and spirituality, Natural Grace (1996) and The Physics of Angels (1996), led workshops at Hollyhock and in Oakland, California,4 and made a series of podcasts;5 Marc Andrus, the bishop of California, with whom I led workshops at Esalen and at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, and with whom I have also made a series of podcasts;6 Mark Vernon, with whom I have made more than thirty podcasts;7 David Abram; Rick Ingrasci; and Stephen Tucker, the vicar of my parish church in Hampstead. I am grateful to them all. I also thank my sons, Merlin and Cosmo, with whom I have led workshops at Hollyhock over the last four years exploring some of the themes discussed in this book. The feedback and responses from participants in these various workshops have been invaluable.
I am thankful for the financial support that has enabled me to write this book, from Addison Fischer and the Planet Heritage Foundation of Naples, Florida; the Gaia Foundation in London; Ian and Victoria Watson and the Watson Family Foundation in Vancouver; and the Institute of Noetic Sciences, in Petaluma, California.
I thank Pam Smart, my research assistant, who has worked with me for twenty-two years; Guy Hayward, my postdoctoral research fellow, who has helped with research for this book; and Sebastian Penraeth, my webmaster.
I much appreciate the encouragement of my editor, Mark Booth, at Hodder & Stoughton in London, who has helped make this book a reality. I also thank all those who have commented on drafts of this book, especially Angelika Cawdor, Lindy Dufferin and Ava, Guy Hayward, Natuschka Lee, Will Parsons, Jill Purce, Anthony Ramsay, Cosmo and Merlin Sheldrake, and Pam Smart.