Living in the Mystery – Between Head and Heart

This book recounts a personal quest to integrate head and heart, reason and intuition, scepticism and openness to psychic and mystical experiences. Jan discusses experiences of his own as well as those of other people, and there are some fascinating recollections of Raynor Johnson, an early Network Member and author of a number of classic books on the interface between science, psychic phenomena and mysticism, including The Imprisoned Splendour. An unusual feature of the book is Jan's engagement with prisoners facing execution, who also describe extraordinary experiences of the light (e.g. p. 43). Many of these experiences contain elements unknown to the experiencer but subsequently verified, which should render a totally sceptical position logically invalid. All this points to a wider and deeper understanding of consciousness and indeed life. Jan carefully weighs all this in the balance, also reflecting on the presentations of Bernard Carr from our 2017 meeting in Jamaica. The title aptly reappears in the final chapter where he concludes that we have a longing for the whole and for experience of Love as the energy of connectedness and communion; indeed, science is also moving in the same direction towards subtle interconnection. A reflective read infused with wisdom.