Beyond Mind

Author: David Christopher Lane
Reviewer: FATE magazine
Publication date: mid-1980s

E-mail David Christopher Lane directly at dlane@weber.ucsd.edu

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Fate Magazine Book Review

Beyond Mind

Beyond Mindby W.E.R. Mons, Samuel Weiser, Inc., York Beach, Maine, 1985, 255 pages, $8.95, paperback.

The problem with W.E.R. Mons' Beyond Mind is not that it lacks interesting information or provocative theories (it abounds with intriguing facts and insights) but that it fails to follow the first rule of good writing: stick to the main thesis. Quite simply, Mons has a tendency to ramble on various points (from a historical survey of the mind to the historical details of Christ's life) without properly connecting his differing thoughts in a persuasive, intelligent way. The result is a poorly constructed book which is long on fascinating vignettes but remarkably short on a compelling and unifying theme.

Although Mons sees an evolutionary force ("God of Psychic Power") which draws man's mind toward a spiritual dimension, his arguments are jumpy and at times dubious. For instance, he writes that "the hallucinations [LSD] produced proved totally useless for science." In fact, LSD has served as a great catalyst for further understanding of the potentials of the mind (see my "Science, Mysticism and Dr. Grof," April 1984 Fate). This is but one example of Mons' unfortunate penchant for quick judgments on subjects he knows little about.

Perhaps the most controversial aspect of Mons' work is his criticism of Christianity which comprises a major section of Part Three. Mons concludes that the evolutionary development of the mind proceeds despite religion, not necessarily because of it. He argues, "There is no need for yet another new religion since the approach of this Spirit is an individual and not a collective effort and is subject to different levels of aptitude and of common sense."

Beyond Mind is a useful work, disjointed as it may be, for its wealth of information. But as a comprehensive outline of the evolution of mind it does not compare, even slightly, with Ken Wilber's Up From Eden (1981), which provides what Mons does not: a well-written, persuasive argument for man's continuing spiritual development.
--David Christopher Lane

E-mail The Neural Surfer directly at dlane@weber.ucsd.edu

I want to go back to the home base now.