It is a common misconception that the development of modern science, technology and quantum physics proves we are more intelligent than the ancients.
     It is equally interesting to note that we extend this error in thinking and imagine that the cost of science is the loss of intuition and inspiration from other realms.
     This absolutely riveting book, Creating the Soul Body by Robert E. Cox, compares the ancient Vedic (Hindu), Egyptian and Hebrew traditions, and then juxtaposes their collective wisdom with modern science, physics and string theory.
     A cursory look at the 21st century reveals that the desire for the infinite, the yearning to know and understand our place in the universe, burns as fiercely as ever.
     This desire, this inner urge, was considered the first step in forming an eternal “Soul Body” by the ancients of Egypt and India, and many other schools of wisdom.
     Of course, those of us with Christian backgrounds have been taught that we already have an eternal soul and that no effort is required other than believe in Jesus, avoid sin and regularly attend church.
     However, the seers of yesteryear taught that whilst we remain unconscious, untested and “sleeping,” our eternal spirit is weak and tends to simply recycle on the wheel of life making little or no progress towards total freedom. Some New Age thinkers refer to this soul freedom as ascension.
     Without exception, the ancient ones tell us we are doomed to reincarnate again and again until we make a conscious effort to become conscious and to therefore create a strong Soul Body.
     The Kabbalists formed a teaching based on the Tree of Life, offering ten sephiroth (spheres of splendour). The wisdom is associated with the spine of the original “Adam” with God standing at the top offering the steps to return into full consciousness.
     The Vedic seers offer the same model through chakras, and the kundalini energy that rises up to the skull.
     The Egyptians had a similar model based on the twin-serpents, which is why the Pharaoh had a cobra on his headdress.
     It is interesting that this ancient wisdom has thirty two layers or levels that the student must rise through, which is also the exact number of vertebrae within the human body.
     As with the Hebrew tradition, the Vedic tradition also gives fundamental importance to the first thirty-two layers that uphold the created appearance of the universe. These are called the path of Shakti, which culminates in the realisation of the thirty-third layer, viewed as the station of God, the Creator, the synthetic whole.
     The similarities and “coincidences” between these ancient wisdoms are too numerous to list, but they are quite breathtaking.
     It is when the author compares this wisdom to quantum physics and modern science that we begin to see that the Gods speak to us in many languages, and ultimately offer us the same message.
     The wise reader already understands that the study of the atomic nucleus appears to be a perfect mirror of what we see when we look out into the heavens at our own sun. We see orbiting electrons and orbiting planets and a bright nucleus and a bright sun. This solar-nuclear correspondence presents a perfect example of the principle “as above, so below.”
     The secret nature of this wisdom precluded it being shared with the common people. It became buried in ancient manuscripts and passed from teacher to student in secret societies. Only now is much of this wisdom being shared.
     And yet, it seems our collective intuitive wisdom, coupled with good old fashioned serendipity, has already given us the answers.
     Robert Cox is clearly a dedicated researcher. He holds a master’s degree in Vedic studies and has lived as a reclusive monk for nine years during which he received intuitive messages that inspired his research. He is also the author of the Pillar of Celestial Fire and lives in Arizona.
     I thoroughly recommend this clearly written fact-filled book. It will satisfy both the mystic and the scientist.
     For those who feel overwhelmed by mystical thought, this book provides sensible scientific facts which are easily verifiable. For those who feel overwhelmed by the scientific mumbo-jumbo, you will discover science is beginning to support ancient wisdom.
     It is indeed heartening to know that after all these years of science vs spirituality, we are now entering a place where we realise that whichever way we view truth, in the end it is the same language, the same message and the same wisdom.