Linking the realm of the mind to the concept of a universal soul and the ancient yet still provocative notion that consciousness itself is something of the Prime Move of existence, Hauck’s impassioned treatise draws deeply on the histories of philosophy, religion, and physics to argue “The focused awareness you feel right now reading this page—that spark of consciousness you take for granted—is more mysterious and powerful than anything you will ever read in any book.” That’s the first chapter’s grabber of a first line, an arresting introduction to concepts that are quite literally heady—Hauck links, with passion and some persuasive power, the elusive truth of what happens in our minds to the Pythagorean concept of the “monad,” the “single, indivisible source” that creates reality—or, as Ibn Sina posited a millenium ago, “the infinite mind” that creates “intellect and self-awareness in individuals.”

Call it God, the Big Bang, the universal soul, or whatever else. The Monad Manifesto argues not that it’s any one thing that we can comprehend, but that it’s something we can sense, and feel an intimate connection with, especially as we come to understand “the fundamental role consciousness plays in the creation of cosmic reality”—that consciousness is more fundamental even “than matter, energy, space, or time.”

Hauck grounds these searching, complex arguments in the cogent examinations of the Monad-related thought from Ancient Greece and Egypt, in Gnostic teachings, the Tao Te Ching, Jainist spiritualism, Buddhism, and the work of philosophers and scientists up to the age of relativity and beyond. But his message, for all that, is practical, a call for humanity to shine “with inner light.” He pleads, “Stop ignoring the subtleties of existence because they are beyond your comprehension!” Chapters on mediation and Monadic experiences are richly detailed and inviting.

Takeaway: A call to embrace the cosmic consciousness, steeped in philosophy, science, and literature.

Great for fans of: Mark Solms’s The Hidden Spring, Charles Webster Leadbeater’s The Monad.

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