Customer Reviews

Sun of gOd: Discover the Self-Organizing Consciousness That Underlies Everything

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book does a good job of reviving the idea of Sun being a conscious being/spiritual presence in our lives (the author at times critical of limited scientific and spiritual concepts, but also effectively using and expanding those human tools is always coherent, entertaining, and easy to understand), but it quickly goes beyond that scope to embrace Sun's place in our galaxy, and our galaxy in the greater community of galaxies. The result is a unified view of a self-arising, self-creating universe, infused with consciousness, expressed in light, the inconceivable unit of the photon! Sams figures there has to be intelligence in all this (not just in our view of it), and so "intelligent design" is embraced. Yet it is an intelligent design from the ground up, which is an inclusive approach and solution to the polarizing modern debate (I especially like the way he turns the 'Big Bang' on it's head). It also reminds us, that we are not separate from all this. We are conscious (at least to some degree...), and we are composed of star dust. We are a part of the holographic universe...we are part of humanity, of Earth, of Sun, of Life.

This book has helped remind me to be more playful in, thankful and appreciate of Sun. And more expansive in Awareness...

Greg Sams has assembled a large variety of sayings and quotes and references from all over the globe, from literature and mythology and gospel and scripture, either about the Sun, in praise of the Sun, or resonant with the idea that the Sun is a conscious being.

One in particular struck me early on.

It was this, from Sitting Bull, Sioux chief. He said: "Behold my friends, the spring is come; the Earth has gladly received the embraces of the Sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love!"

This is indeed a truth. A poetic truth, but a truth nonetheless. Isn't the relationship between Sun and Earth much like that of lovers? The Earth does indeed seem to delight in the warm embrace of the Sun. The Sun does, indeed, seem to impregnate her with his fire. The Earth does, indeed, give birth in the springtime, when the blossoms come to life and all the creatures are born onto the Earth. It is, indeed, to intents and purposes, a relationship of love.

The problem with modern scientific language is that, while it can be said to be "accurate" it does not always tell the truth. In particular it does not come anywhere near understanding or explaining the meaning of relationship. If I were to describe the act of love-making in scientific terms I would be describing a physical act - as Freud did copiously and with an almost pornographic obsession in his Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality - but I would get no where near describing the essence, the meaning of the act, still less the feeling that accompanies it.

In the case of human love we take it for granted that there is more to it than the mere physical act. This is because, as human beings, conscious of ourselves, we ascribe and allow consciousness to other human beings. So we allow that love-making is more than a mere physical act. This is clear from the terminology we use. We call it "love-making" rather than "baby-making" because we are aware that love is a major component in the act.

When we talk about animals, however, we don't describe the process as "making love". We call it mating. When we talk about plants we call it pollination. And when it comes to inanimate objects, the very notion of love-making on any level seems absurd.

What struck me about Sitting Bull's description of the relationship between the Sun and the Earth at springtime is that it is no less true to the facts than any scientific explanation, but a great deal more true to the meaning.

It does, indeed, describe exactly how the Sun and the Earth behave in relation to each other, but it adds another component too: the notion of the Sun and the Earth as conscious beings. Beings who might know love.

This is the odd and startling basis of Greg Sams' new book, The Sun of gOd.

Well I say "odd" and "startling", but for the vast majority of our time on this planet, this concept has not been in the slightest bit strange. In fact, the idea to which we now subscribe - that the Earth and the Sun and the Universe and everything within it are just accidental lumps of matters bumping around like Dodgems Cars without drivers, which have somehow "accidentally" given rise to the one and only beings, us, who do carry consciousness - this is the new idea on this planet. And if we look at this new idea, and see where it has got us in relationship to our planet and to the living things around us in the last couple of hundred years, and I think we can see that it wasn't such a good idea after all.

Look at our world now. Look at the pollution, the destruction, the devaluation of all life - including human life - and the elevation of an abstract concept - money - into something that controls every aspect of our lives.

So what is "odd"? What is "strange"?

Certainly not Greg's book.

Whenever I mention is to anyone, or attempt to describe it, the reaction is the same. At best it is considered eccentric. At worst, completely insane. It takes reading the book to discover that it is anything but eccentric; and, from the perspective of this book and the ideas which it puts forward, it is our modern philosophical standpoint which is insane.

I have to admit that I was already half-open to this idea before I heard about Greg's book. I guess anyone who has ever taken part in the psychedelic experiment must be open to such thoughts. At the very least you are aware that something is going on; something for which the normal explanations seem inadequate.

This vague feeling became more crystallised for me during the transit of Venus on June 8th 2004. I don't know what it was like on the rest of the planet, but in the South Eastern corner of England where I live it was burningly hot that day. Fearsomely hot. I could feel the heat on the back of my neck as I went out of the door. It was as if the transit was acting as a lens and focussing the Sun's rays onto the Earth with more intensity than usual.

I wanted to look up at the Sun to see the transit, but knew that it would blind me.

Later my upstairs neighbour set up a binocular lens and a white card through our hall window so we could observe the transit more closely. That's when I saw it: that tiny little black dot passing before the face of the Sun.

How insignificant it appeared in the face of the Solar disc; and how huge, how magnificent, how awe-inspiringly vast seemed the Great Sun in comparison.

Venus is not much smaller than the Earth, and yet, here it was, a mere speck, a mere mote in the eye of the Sun.

How much smaller are we then, who scuttle about on our own, insignificant little planet, all six billion of us, all thinking we amount to something?

And yet, paradoxically, we do. We do amount to something, being, as we are, carriers of intelligence, of consciousness. The question then is: where does this consciousness come from?

It has always struck me as slightly absurd to think that these magnificent brains of ours, so unbelievably complex, so deeply layered and unfathomable, these electromagnetic computers, are mere accidental generators of consciousness. What for, exactly? Is the Universe really so irrational that is would create consciousness as a by-product of matter and then leave it isolated inside our skulls, never to escape? That seems to me to be a fairy tale with as much basis in reality as Hansel and Gretel or the Book of Genesis.

Which is to say that, like Hansel and Gretel and the Book of Genesis (both of which I admire greatly) it contains part of a truth, is a searching for the truth, but there is much, much more.

Why, I always thought, do we always seem to want to look at things from one direction? If these brains of ours are consciousness generators, who is to say that they are not also consciousness receivers?

And if they are consciousness-receivers, where do they receive their consciousness from?

For me that answer to that question came beaming down to me from heaven above on the day of the first transit of Venus. It came down in the form of fierce heat and life-giving radiation. It came to me in the form of light. I was "enlightened" as it were. I could feel the Sun's rays quickening me into life, embracing my body through the atmosphere, sending chemical surges through my brain. I could hear my thoughts stirring in some far-off, hidden womb. Thoughts that arose in my brain, and which I then listened to. Some of them were definitely not my thoughts. They were too interesting to be my thoughts. If I listened carefully enough I could always hear something new.

So that was my answer: we receive our consciousness from the Sun.

The Sun is God, I thought.

How have we ever imagined any different?

Greg Sams' book is a fascinating, deeply-informed, convincing exploration of this idea: that the Sun has consciousness. It is a magnificent romp through a Universe of ideas accompanied by a wise, witty, intelligent companion. Greg manages to make more than sense of this stupendous thought. He makes it believable.

He weaves the concept into a magic-carpet of thoughts and ideas and history and science on which we then travel, across the Universe and back again. From the Big Bang to the Creation of Life. From the stars through all the interstellar vastness of space, on a beam of light. From the Sun, our Father (which art in heaven), to the Earth, our Mother, to us, their children. And it is always a joyous ride, full of interest, full of variety, well-written, easy to understand, a book that - like all great books - should help us to change our view of the world.

I can't recommend this book highly enough.

A really remarkable book that takes hold of your mind and channels your thoughts into a new way of thinking. Very
interesting and satisfying when you come to grips with the new concepts that it opens. I will view the Sun in future in an entirely different way.

"Sun of gOd" is pretty much standard quality when it comes to religious and philosophical texts these days. Lots of statements, an attempt to logically flow from one point to another but ultimately not persuasive enough to convince anyone who isn't inclined to believe the same thing.

Author Gregory Sams claims to dislike both organized religion and science, though he spends far more time attempting to show the foolishness of science than of religion. In both cases he makes a lot of statements of fact which I know he did not discover or study himself and yet there are only 25 "notes" or citations for the entire book; there isn't even a bibliography. This means to put it bluntly that he has stolen many ideas and that I cannot tolerate so I automatically deducted two stars from the review rating. If he'd had no citations he would have gotten one star. Not citing your sources is either simply laziness or at it's worst theft, I'm going to assume he just didn't realize how much he needs to cite but that does not excuse his publisher from their duty.

Aside from a lack of proper citations, he frankly over simplifies many historical, religious, and scientific ideas in an attempt to bend them to support his own beliefs. Again this is a common enough situation in philosophy and religion today but I'm still going it out when it happens so the person reading this review can make a better decision about whether or not to buy.

The book also has an unnecessary and awkward series of eight "Afterwords" that honestly needed to be woven into the general argument. As they stand they seem unconnected and therefore lack any of the proof a reader might feel is in this book.

This is not a book about sun worship or about replacing religion nor as I had hoped is it really a book about reconnecting to all of creation in an attempt to improve humanity's choices. Instead it felt rambling and full of unproven assumptions the same thing that Sams complains about for religion and science. The result is that there is not discovery of "conscious" everywhere merely the assumption that such exists and thus only assurance for those who want to believe. For this reason, I have to deduct another star from the rating.

Okay, first things first... I've never taken this long to read a book. However, almost immediately after beginning "Sun of gOd" I realized it was incredibly thought-provoking. And in order to properly respect Gregory's work I would have to take my time and contemplate his assertions and ideas for as long as it took for me to fully grasp them. I found myself taking days and weeks to do so.
I wanted to give a really fantastic, detailed review, but I just can't seem to muster it. That would take way too long and I don't expect anyone to read all of that. So, for brevity's sake I'll keep it simple.
I don't want to seem hyperbolic, but "Sun of gOd" is, by far, the best book I've EVER read. Period.
I can't even begin to describe how much this book has affected me. I read the last couple of chapters with my jaw dropped and my head nodding in agreement practically the entire time. I can't believe how Sams was able to sustain such momentum for the book's entirety. It's truly remarkable.

Mr. Sams is unbelievably hilarious throughout this book. It seems he's realized how incredibly ridiculous the world around us has become and that the only sane thing left to do is make fun of it all. I'm a comedian and have written countless jokes as a result of this book and Gregory's amazing honesty and groundbreaking ideas. I can't tell you how many times this book made me laugh out loud.
I've never purchased a book for friends (other than George Carlin's books for my little brother). But I bought this book 3 times over so others could share my delight. And intend to buy a signed copy from Gregory as soon as I return from an extended vacation.
I don't know that I've ever read a book more than once (even Mark Twain's books), but I'm re-reading "Sun of gOd".

This book and words are something that I will keep with me for the rest of my life. Literally, one day will not pass that I don't think of the ideas and assertions provided in this amazing book. "Sun of gOd" has caused me to look at life in a completely different manner. And for that I will always be thankful and appreciative to Gregory. I've gotten a chance to connect with Gregory via Facebook and I can say that he's as kind as you'd expect. He truly feels like a long lost friend that I've gotten to reconnect with. He's just as cool and caring as you'd imagine.

I cannot recommend this book more highly. It will change your perspective on this magnificent world and unique time we're all sharing together.
I was informed by Mr. Sams that he's in the process of updating his first book, "Uncommon Sense--The State is Out of Date" and I am anxiously awaiting its release. If you enjoy "Sun of gOd" purchase his other book, as well.

PLEASE, READ THIS BOOK!!!!

Sams shows a good grasp and understanding of animism, in conjunction with a deep, solid and scientific explanation throughout the presentation of his "heliocentric" work and thoughts.

As someone who is rather animistic in thought myself, and someone who has practiced solar yoga for a number of years now, I jumped at the chance to review this book.
It was quite refreshing for me through the first half of the book - simply because this is an idea I hold that I do not see very often presented in Western literature.
The author presents a lot of nice science - I could not take issue with them as they were presented, and he layers that with Eastern philosophy & amimism.
The religious seeker who has been hurt by the judgment or close mindedness of some organized religion will probably LOVE his rant against the evils that organized religion has caused, but for those of us trying to get past that, it can seem a bit harsh and judgmental.
Unfortunately, after my initial love affair with the book, I found the end to be plodding and boring. Perhaps that is because I've already came to much the same conclusions and the choir likes the singing and not the preaching. I also had hoped that he would have went more in depth about the actual practices of sun worshipers - yes, they exist, and I appreciate the few sentences about them that I was given, but what, for example, is the practice of the solar gazers, and why do they believe it? Is there a lot of evidence for their belief? I found the level of explanation about actual practice very sparse.
It may be the first book that I have so eagerly & joyously read the first 1/2, only to find myself putting it down for longer and longer intervals between chapters as I neared the end. Don't expect a page turner. I'd like to give it a 3.5. The subject matter is great.

The author says that the original title of this book was "Stuff Is Smarter Than We Think" and, really, that is a better title.

This is not a heavy work, but rather, chapters that read like separate essays, speculating on the general animism of things. I enjoyed reading them, although I have read many of the author's arguments elsewhere.

Title: Sun of gOd: Discover the Self-Organizing Consciousness That Underlies Everything
Author: Hancock, Graham
Gregory Sams
Rating: ***1/2
Tags: animism, sun, religion, science, intelligence

This book is a perfect example of the dilemma between science and religion that so many people have, though it is an unusual form of religion that Sams advocates. He wrote the book to advocate our seeing the Sun as an organized intelligence, a God, worthy of our thanks and respect. In essence, he is an animist, seeing some intelligence in all things, and seems to believe that elementary particles are intelligent and that as particles get together in greater mass they exhibit more organized intelligence.

He actually explains a lot about modern science, particularly astronomy and particle physics, and I don't know enough about these sciences to know if his explanations are accurate. But then he makes the leap beyond science of ascribing intelligence to things science considers inanimate, and berates scientists for not taking the leap with him. And this becomes part of the central religion/science tension... when is something by definition supernatural, and thus not explainable by the scientific method? Are there ways that science could study the concept of intelligence in inanimate objects?

It is an interesting question. Sams' views fit well into modern Paganism so the book resonates in part with me. The modern rationalist in me wants scientific proof. Hence my saying that the book illustrates the modern problem of what science and religion can meaningfully say to each other.

It is an interesting book, and I'm quite taken with the idea of intelligence being particle-level and gradually increasing in complexity. If Sun is sentient, what sort of intelligence is it? What does Sun think about? Fascinating question....

Other authors
Hancock, Graham

Foreword - Hancock, Graham
Publication Weiser Books (2009), Paperback, 256 pages
Publication date 2009
ISBN 1578634547 / 9781578634545

I knew I had to read "Sun of gOd," even though I had misgivings before ordering it. I have a weakness for panpsychist theories--for the idea, in terms expressed by Benedict de Spinoza in the Seventeenth Century, that the basic element of the universe is as much thought as it is substance. Plus, it's fun to find somebody willing to take on a challenging hypothesis and make a good case for it: and what could be more challenging than the idea that our sun itself is a conscious being! My misgivings were that the author might not attempt to prove his case with intellectual rigor, and I think they were borne out by the book.

I'll say this for it: Sun of gOd can does serve to open the discussion about panpsychism, consciousness, and what it means to be intelligent. I just wish the author had engaged with the philosophical resources that are already out there. Spinoza's theory, for example, that every being in the universe (even the rocks) strives to continue in existence is a good starting point. For beings with merely passive existence, like rocks, the nuclear binding forces spin and vibrate and work to hold them together. We can imagine there might be something like a low-level experience of what it is like to be a rock. Moving up the chain of being, to plants and then to animals and finally humans, this passive "experience of being" becomes more and more active and engaged, the level of consciousness higher, and the repertoire of behaviors more complex and sophisticated.

Where does the sun lie within this chain of being? I would have put it down on the passive, uncomplicated end of the spectrum. The sun's existence depends on gravity and nuclear reaction, after all, and these are relatively uncomplex forces that can be understood mathematically. Sams points out that what the sun does (including electromagnetic radiation and sunspot activity) is actually a good deal more complex than that. But his theory that the sun is actively conscious seems to rest mostly on form rather than function. He tells us (I am oversimplifying here) (1) the sun is extraordinarily complex; (2) it emits photons; and (3) photons carry information. Therefore, he posits, it is reasonable to assume that the sun is thinking deep thoughts and conveying vast amounts of information to other solar masses throughout the universe.

Does this conclusion follow from the premises? While Sams' description of photons is extraordinarily beautiful and his summary of how the sun functions is both poetic and full of fascinating scientific detail, I don't think he has made his case for the sun as an active intelligence. Actively intelligent beings use their intelligence to solve problems and pursue goals. They seek to modify their environment to facilitate their own purposes. What purposes could the sun have? What decisions could it reach? What goals could it pursue? What messages could it be conveying? In the end, this book offers nothing more than speculation, and while it is fascinating speculation, it is unlikely to convince anyone who prefers hard evidence or at least rigorous theorizing about the nature of consciousness.

The first seventy-five pages of the book is a tirade against organized religion and science. This might be interesting to people who have not read this sort of attack before, but frankly it has been done better by other authors on many occasions. Things get more interesting after that, and the author provides a cogent summary of how the sun works, what photons are, and why we should reverence both the sun and the earth. He also discusses self-organizing systems and why complex things in the world appear to have been designed from the bottom up rather from the top down. As mentioned, his writing style is quite beautiful and poetic. There are a few eyebrow-raising moments, such as when he talks about paper clips and wires deliberately organizing themselves into chains and tangles in drawers, which I think illustrate a confusion between passive and active experience. He also attacks hyper-Darwinism, which attack seems well deserved, though Lamarck's theories are still unproved.

This book will interest the pagan and the mystic, I think, with its description of the beauty and complexity of the sun and the universe. Just don't expect objective proof or philosophical rigor.