Twenty-NINE influential thinkers present their own 'vital messages' about the changes that are happening and the changes that must happen as we move fully into a new world consciousness. Symbolic of the changes is the year 2012, the year the ancient Mayan Calendar simply ends. It is probably best to think of it, though, as the great symbol of a new beginning. THE VIEW adds greatly to our understanding about this watershed, beginning from the simple question, 'How do we take charge of the change?'.THE VIEW also offers a look forward and back at what has led us to the brink of a new spirituality in life -'heart over mind': the movement that was once called simply 'the New Age'. It begins with one of the world's great pioneers. In 1919 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published a call to the world to take up the challenges death and the afterlife offered, and acknowledge a spiritual framework wider than any church then offered. He called his book THE VITAL MESSAGE, and from the start he made at changing people's consciousness much of the inspiration of other writers has unfolded. This book celebrates the 150th anniversary of his birth, on 22nd May 1859. The 'Aquarian Age', another term for our evolving consciousness, is radical in its ideas: distrustful of large organizations, thriving when it works in small groups, respectful of diversity and counter-cultures. It is also faced with dramatic new problems - sustainability in a threatened world, for instance - and huge intellectual opportunities, such as the new physics. THE VIEW makes it plain that while we may harness science, science cannot do without the simple human understanding that comes from the heart. The new spirituality is thus personal, but it is authentic.In different ways the contributors to THE VIEW take up today's opportunities and challenges with great insight. They suggest ways in which humankind may now move forward, and describe some of the discoveries and innovations which may reshape our lives in years still to come. Chapters cover Conan Doyle, Spirituality, Health, Community, Future-thinking and Business.Contributors include Neale Donald Walsch, Ervin Laszlo, Peter Russell, Owen Dudley Edwards, Gaye Mack, Roger Straughan, Drew Pryde, Colum Hayward, Darrell Mann, James Baltzell, Errol Weiner, A&K Laszlo and Hunter Lovins.

commemorating Sir Francis Bacon's 450th birth anniversary, the 20 and more contributors to THE VIEW BEYOND see a connection between Bacon's attempt to write the master plan of science, his esoteric interests, his supposed connection with Rosicrucianism, and the development of science and spirituality today.Division of the book is into four main sections. The first is about Bacon himself: John Henry on Bacon the scientist, Bacon the alchemist; Peter Dawkins on his 'Great Instauration' or programme for human advancement, Simon Bentley on his horoscope and Colum Hayward on his posthumous reputation.Section 2 develops the esoteric connection is represented by a diversity of authors including Tim Wyatt, who puts the main debate in a Theosophical context; Sylvia Francke on the role of Rudolf Steiner as a synthesizer and Nick Lambert on alchemy, The New Atlantis, and the esoteric. In section 3, Frank Perry writes on the seventh ray in art, seeing Bacon as standing at the head of this influence, and Richard Merrick writes on interference patterns in music and how they are building blocks of the universe itself. Section 4 is about science today, and breakthroughs in neuroscience as well as physics which bring into question the traditional model of materialism; it also examines the social responsibility of the scientist, which is inherent in Bacon's view of science as an activity of the state. In a final section, Kathleen Pepper writes on the Golden Age, Colum Hayward on the topic 'Beyond Materialism' and Steve Nation concludes with a review from the United Nations in New York of esotericism, science and spirituality today.