Teilhard's Mysticism

This book by physicist Kathleen Duffy is a real gem – subtitled 'seeing the inner face of evolution.' Seeing is the operative word, but including other forms of sensing including listening and the sense of smell, all portals for Teilhard into the light and beauty of the world held within the Divine Presence. The book begins with an outline biography, reminding readers of his trajectory in palaeontology and highlighting the suffering of not being able to share his most profound reflections on the inner face of evolution. The structure of the book uses his scheme of five circles: presence, consistence, energy, spirit and person – each entering a more profound level. Duffy updates the reader on modern developments in the sciences, which she is sure Teilhard would have welcomed. He already understood the importance of self-organisation embodied in his understanding of tangential energy. His other form was radial energy involving novelty and emergence. In the process of complexification, more sophisticated forms of consciousness become possible. We become capable of expressing greater freedom and truth, now in the noosphere of the Internet.

This is critical for our human future and that of the planet. For Teilhard, faith in the future is a moral imperative, however dark the present. He foresaw globalisation, technological advance and the power of reflection as factors that could bring us together. He also specified three conditions for a dynamic human future: sustainable structures, education for the future and love. This entails individuals embodying a zest for living and the 'widest form of the love of God,' a task of universalisation and superpersonalisation in which we can all take part at this time of transition and transformation. For Teilhard this means working with the Cosmic Christ as an energy and force of convergence, overcoming resistance to the 'other' and helping raise the world to a new level of consciousness and love. Readers can get a real glimpse of this powerful vision in this richly informed book.