The Presence of the Infinite
The Spiritual Experience of Beauty, Truth, and Goodness
The Presence of the Infinite sheds new light on the important subject of spiritual experience. Using the emerging insights of evolutionary spirituality, integral philosopher Steve McIntosh enlarges readers’ capacity to have spiritual experience more abundantly and use it more effectively to improve their lives and the world around them.
The Presence of the Infinite starts by providing a timely cultural analysis and critique of the various forms of spirituality that are vying for influence in contemporary American society. Building on this context, McIntosh shows how evolutionary spirituality overcomes the limitations of religious, secular, and New Age spirituality by better harmonizing science and spirit. Evolutionary spirituality’s transcendent potential is found in its deepening realization of the essentially spiritual qualities of beauty, truth, and goodness.
McIntosh then uses evolutionary spirituality’s enlarged understanding of what spiritual experience is and how it works to consider the question of ultimate reality. This leads to an examination of conflicting ideas that regard spirit as either formless and nondual, or as loving and creative. By working to harmonize and integrate these alternative conceptions of ultimate reality, McIntosh shows how evolutionary spirituality can achieve a synthesis of nondual and theistic teachings of truth that can produce a spiritual renaissance in America and beyond.
The Presence of the Infinite is destined to become a definitive text in the exciting new field of evolutionary spirituality.
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"McIntosh has written another important and groundbreaking book. The Presence of the Infinite helps establish the central significance of the beautiful, the good, and the true as the foundation of human wellbeing. By shining the light of integral philosophy onto the subject of spiritual experience and spiritual leadership, McIntosh convincingly describes the future course of humanity's spiritual evolution. Reading this book is a spiritual experience in its own right." --John Mackey, Co-Founder and CEO of Whole Foods Markets, and Co-Author of Conscious Capitalism
"In the Middle Ages, great Christian theologians developed a range of rational arguments for the existence of God. Many of those arguments have been discredited in the centuries since Galileo, Newton, Darwin, Freud, Einstein, and Hubble. As a result, belief in God or spirit, or any transcendence at all, has been slipping away, often leaving a reduced and empty world in its wake. Steve McIntosh is a leading philosopher seeking to rediscover transcendence--not apart from scientific evidence, but by interpreting it afresh. I find his work--especially The Presence of the Infinite--helpful, stimulating, and inspiring in my own work as a Christian thinker, writer, and activist." --Brian D. McLaren, Author of A New Kind of Christianity, and host of brianmclaren.net
"Steve McIntosh has become our leading voice for making the case that human beings can evolve far beyond the levels we've so far attained. By telling the story of spirituality through the Platonic notions of truth, beauty and goodness, he grounds the evolutionary journey in a specific path we can each walk. More broadly, he defines a new and inspiring method for reconciling the polarization and paralysis that divide us as we try to navigate the future of our imperiled planet." --Tony Schwartz, bestselling author, and founder and CEO of the Energy Project consulting firm
"In The Presence of the Infinite, integral philosopher Steve McIntosh shares his infectious passion for evolutionary spirituality. As McIntosh shows, once we begin to recognize that the science of evolution actually presents a profound spiritual teaching of its own, this can help us reinterpret and reaffirm humanity's deepest religious insights. In this extraordinary book, McIntosh brilliantly lays out a "Higher Synthesis" of Eastern and Western spirituality that is both deeply instructive and profoundly inspiring to anyone whose soul is craving to take the next step. Highly recommended!" --Andrew Cohen, Author of Evolutionary Enlightenment and Founder of What Is Enlightenment? magazine
"As spirituality evolves, it places increasing emphasis on spiritual experience. And now, our understanding of what spiritual experience is and how it works is being expanded and deepened by the work of integral philosopher Steve McIntosh. In his new book The Presence of the Infinite, McIntosh charts a compelling trajectory to a post-postmodern spirituality that can help us have spiritual experience more abundantly, and use it more effectively to empower our work in the world. I'm especially impressed with the way McIntosh integrates the experience of nondual emptiness with the experience of a loving Creator, showing how these alternative conceptions of ultimate reality can actually serve to "true each other up." This book is a historically significant masterpiece that should be read by every serious spiritual practitioner." --Jeff Salzman, host of The Daily Evolver program, and Co-founder of Career Track Training adult education company
"In The Presence of the Infinite, integral philosopher Steve McIntosh shares his infectious passion for evolutionary spirituality. As McIntosh shows, once we begin to recognize that the science of evolution actually presents a profound spiritual teaching of its own, this can help us reinterpret and reaffirm humanity's deepest religious insights. In this extraordinary book, McIntosh brilliantly lays out a "Higher Synthesis" of Eastern and Western spirituality that is both deeply instructive and profoundly inspiring to anyone whose soul is craving to take the next step. Highly recommended!" --Andrew Cohen, Author of Evolutionary Enlightenment and Founder of What Is Enlightenment? magazine
"As spirituality evolves, it places increasing emphasis on spiritual experience. And now, our understanding of what spiritual experience is and how it works is being expanded and deepened by the work of integral philosopher Steve McIntosh. In his new book The Presence of the Infinite, McIntosh charts a compelling trajectory to a post-postmodern spirituality that can help us have spiritual experience more abundantly, and use it more effectively to empower our work in the world. I'm especially impressed with the way McIntosh integrates the experience of nondual emptiness with the experience of a loving Creator, showing how these alternative conceptions of ultimate reality can actually serve to "true each other up." This book is a historically significant masterpiece that should be read by every serious spiritual practitioner." --Jeff Salzman, host of The Daily Evolver program, and Co-founder of Career Track Training adult education company
