Brian Swimme's great talent and gift is to rekindle in our awareness an awe and numinous wonder for the cosmos of which we are so deeply a part. This resacralization of the universe is not the product of wishful or romantic thinking, but a vision gained by using the tools and discoveries of science. Swimm as a scientist, philosopher, and poet takes scientific principles and then asks questions of their meaning and significance. But it doing this, he remains grounded in asking questions of the basic principles at work in the universe. The result is that we come to realize how embedded we are in this universe, our true home. This revisioning of the cosmos is a vision of joyful mystery, purpose, and of hope.

The format of the book is that of a dialogue between a teacher named Thomas, named after ecologian Thomas Berry, and youth, named after us, a young humanity striving to understand a world beyond the constraints of unimaginative thinking. At first, I was not sure this type of format would hold my attention. I was wrong. The format works very well, and especially lends itself to use in secondary school classrooms. The book is divided into three sections: (1) Cosmos as Primary Revelation, (2) Epiphanies of the Earth, and (3) The End of the Fireball. The dialogue format nicely ties the three chapters together.

The first section of the book, "Cosmos as Primary Revelation," over and over again makes the point that, "our emergent cosmos is the fundamental context for all discussions of value, meaning, purpose, or ultimacy of any sort (27)." Swimme then contextualizes such statements by returning to scientific basics, "most amazing of all is this realization that everything that exists in the universe came from a common origin. The material of your body and the material of my body are intrinsically related because they emerged from and are caught up in a single energetic event (28)." There are several other points that he makes in this first section that are quite extraordinary. One is the awakening of the earth through the human mind. This is not an anthropocentric vision, but one of much larger scope. "The Earth awakens through the human mind. You have to understand this from two different points of view. We have a humanity that awakens to its planetary dimension, to its planetary responsibility, and thus begins to provide the earth with a heart and mind. From the other perspective, we can see how the planet as a whole awakens through self-reflexive mind, which happens to unfurl through humanity (34-35)." Another major point is the core creativity of emptiness, an emptiness that brought forth the universe and that continues to permeate us. "The Universe erupted, all that has existence erupted out of nothing, all of being erupted into shining existence. What I want you to understand is that this plenary emptiness permeates you. You are more fecund emptiness than you are created particles (37)." The final point, both deeply profound and simple is that our fullest destiny is to become love. "The journey out of emptiness is the creation of love (40)." In the next couple of chapters Swimme goes on to explain exactly what he means by that statement in chapters like "Allurement," and "Our Destiny as Enchantment."

The second part of the book is organized using the four elements and the fifth connecting element (life) to talk about cosmic principles and their application to the human sphere. Once again he so clearly show us that core human experiences are based on and grounded in cosmic realities. He begins by saying that "our task is to create the human form of the central powers of the cosmos (87)." Then he begins to move through the elements looking at both its cosmic and human dimension. Sea or water is the sensitivity or the power of absorption, land or earth is power of linking back, re-connecting, or remembering, life is the gift of mortality and the witness to and articulation of beauty, fire is the organizing activity or the "unseen shaping," and wind or air reveals the cosmic dynamic of expansion outwards, exuberance, or celebration as announcing. These are highly thought provoking and perceptive short dialogues.

The last section is divided into two essays, "Societal Transformation and Geological Activity," and "The Art of Forging Cosmic Fire." In the first essay he likens the geologic change and shift of continents to the social shifts we are presently experiencing. "Out of the creative energy welling up from the diversity of traditions, we fashion a form of society that takes us out of a global reign of terror and into a renewed health, into a new quality of prosperity, and into a more basic delight in being human in the midst of all the life communities (160)." In the final conversation he returns to the central point of our embeddedness in the cosmos. "Our primary teacher is the universe. The universe evokes our being, supplies us with creative energy, insists on a reverent attitude toward everything, and liberates us from our puny definition. The universe gives us fire and teaches us to use it (167)."

Brian Swimme has taken on the task of helping us see the deep sacrality that surrounds and is intrinsic to our existence. His works need to be read and studied in every school in this country. I recommend "The Universe is a Green Dragon," highly for both teachers and students.

 review © 1999 by Tom Collins and RSiSS

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