For thousands of years, voyagers of inner space spiritual seekers, shamans and mystics have returned from their inner travels reporting another level of reality that is more real than the one we inhabit in waking life. Others have claimed that under the influence of mysterious substances, known as entheogens, the everyday human mind can be given glimpses of this multidimensional realm of existence. Using information from the cutting edge of modern science, Peake presents a startling new hypothesis that these 'inner worlds' are as real, or possibly even more real, than the 'reality' we experience in waking life. As his starting point, Peake examines the widespread historical belief that the mid-brain's pine-cone shaped pineal gland activates the 'third eye' described by mystics and seers. Through careful analysis of ancient religious texts and artifacts, he gives evidence that the spiritual properties of the pineal gland have been embedded in myths and cultures across the globe. (Why else would the Buddha so often be found wearing a pine cone hat?) Peake then shows that it is through this small organ that we experience lucid dreaming, out-of-body experiences, hypnagogic imagery, near-death experiences, astral travel and the kundalini experience. The book ends with the mind-blowing conclusion that all living beings are one unitary consciousness experiencing itself subjectively.
