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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 A unique view May 10, 2008
Corrigan is a philosopher who is advocating a nondual understanding of reality. I would say a "conception" of reality, as that is what philosophers tend to deal with, but Corrigan is different. Rather than tell us what reality is, or present a conceptual understanding of it, he pays attention to the world as it appears to us, and to how we reason about the world, and takes the quietly radical step of assuming that these can tell us something about what reality is. His approach in the first and second sections of his book uses reasoned arguments and empirical evidence for that position, rather than just asserting it by relying on a particular spiritual tradition for authority. His arguments exhibit a degree of insight that I have not found in other current authors dealing with this subject regardless of whether they are part of a spiritual tradition or not. Corrigan's stated intention in this book is not to present a mystical doctrine, but to undermine the views of Materialism (the belief that only physical things are real) and Idealism (the belief that only mind is real). He presents a third way, in which only Awareness is real. While this is not a unique position in my opinion, his path to this understanding and his explanation of how this can be is refreshingly clear, to the point, and distinctly different from any other I have come across in my reading. He argues that we are wrong in our interpretations of what consciousness is, either forcing it into a physical understanding of reality, or forcing it into an idealist understanding, and he shows how this error is based on our failure to pay attention to our experiences without the blinders of some conceptual model of what reality should be.
Personally, I found it useful to read the book a number of times because the author's arguments are concise and extremely insightful. Each time I read it I get more out of it. The chapters are short and now that I have read the whole book, I like to go back and read one a day and leave it working in the back of mind.
I have found this book worthwhile. Perhaps you will too. I can understand the frustration of the one negative reviewer. But she seems to be blaming the author for her failure to understand, and it seems, from what she says, that this might be the case because the author is not writing from within her preferred spiritual tradition. But I don't think that is the author's problem. His book isn't masquerading as a Buddhist book, or a Hindu book, or a book from any other spiritual tradition. Yes, it may be the case that they point to the truth also, but I think what is important is for each of us to find what works for us, and leave everyone else in peace, rather than poselytizing. This works for me!
3 of 11 found the following review helpful:
 It's time to come down Feb 24, 2008
I bought the book because a friend whom I respect suggested that it would be an interesting exploration of the issue of consciousness. He thoroughly enjoyed the book, and you also may find it interesting. His basis for an opinion is just as valid as is mine. However, I must say that I find this book inaccessible. For me it is as inaccessible as most writing on this topic from within the traditional philosophical camp, though for a different reason.
When one reads that traditional literature, it is relatively easy to see that their problem arises from a conflation of ontology and epistemology that has produced the traditional philosophical discussion of the mind/body problem, or pseudo-scientific discussions of the problem of how lower levels of organization can influence higher levels of organization (or vice versa). That traditional literature is inaccessible because it so so patently worthless (if evaluated from an experienced practical perspective) that one's mind refuses to go there. One refuses to indulge the authors' misconceptions with one's valuable time.
The present book is inaccessible because one cannot find any point of entry into the conversation. It is supposed to be a useful guide to awareness, but instead it reminds the reader of the vain effort exerted by the farthest reaches of the roots of a potted plant. The thoughts are trying to get somewhere, but they keep wrapping around themselves until they choke themselves off. It is like reading the transcript of an acid trip. The tripper knows there is something grand out there if the mind can only grasp it, because its grandness is being experienced phenomenologically. But when the tripper tries to articulate it, it makes sense only to the tripper (and to fellow trippers), but not to anyone who is not tripping.
For an exploration of consciousness that is likely to be more useful, I would suggest daily meditation, in conjunction with step-by-step training in the Tibetan mind-training techniques (including both the concentration practices aimed at developing focussed awareness and the analytical practices of contemplation on the suggested curricular topics). It is time for the author to finally come down off the self-indulgent acid trip, enjoyable though it might feel. There is no need of his re-inventing a language for writing the travelogue and redrawing the map of a territory that has already been thoroughly explored. The author would do well to move beyond his emulation of the self-absorbed ivory-league model, and grow beyond the self-fertilizing captivity of the potted plant. He would do better instead to plant his mind's roots in the more fertile soil of an actual mind-training lineage. In the long run, that kind of practice would help the author untangle his mind's far-reaching roots and allow their deeper growth, a growth that could support a stronger trunk that in turn could support the weight of a legitimate intellectual lineage that would be worth carrying forward into the minds of future readers.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
A New View of the Perennial Philosophy Jan 27, 2008
Of the many ancient and modern texts written on awareness, James M Corrigan's book is one of the most clearly written, carefully researched, and deeply felt published today. It is a gateway to the tremendous joy experienced in the presence of pure consciousness. This book points the way beyond intellectual reasoning to transcendent knowledge. For example, read his section "Where is mind" or "Contemplation", then close the book, sit quietly, and absorb the essence. .....as the poet Rumi wrote:
"Morning breeze brings news of beauty,
Slowly, please,
let the fresh fragrance stay.''
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Untying the Knot Jan 09, 2008
I have recently completed James M. Corrigan's book, Introduction to Awareness and thoroughly enjoyed his clear and concise arguments. Not only does he make philosophical sense, but the work evidences a level of empirical and experiential insights into the 'ground of being' or as James puts it "the one undeniable truth'(p1).
The book does have a practical message, for example in how the key message can be applied to ground our human propensity for 'system building'.
I intend to immediately re-read this book and I thoroughly recommend it to any that have 'an enquiring mind' and wish to loosen any of the knotty assumptions that prevent one from being truly authentic.
14 of 14 found the following review helpful:
A New Enlightenment Sep 29, 2007
'An Introduction to Awareness' is very convincing as a kind of document of secular enlightenment. The basic simplicity of the notion at its heart is presented somewhat ironically in layers of extremely rigorous and verbose academic battle-gear. I imagine that this is the case because such a tract was written to withstand what is anticipated to be withering criticism/attack from the philosophical/academic community over potentially many decades or even centuries as the tiniest chink is sought that might invalidate the entire idea.
Despite its complex and demanding verbiage, the book is never less that rigorously precise in its descriptions of its many quietly radical insights. You'll find that it sits quite comfortably next to others like Sogyal Rinpoche's 'Tibetan Book of Living and Dying' and one can hop back and forth from the most advanced Buddhist thought to 'An Introduction to Awareness' and detect essentially no delta at all between them. The effect is somewhat strange, as the book feels like the kernel of enlightenment stripped of any and all mystical, mythical or historical context; which one has to concede any sort of genuine enlightenment probably should be!
Highly recommended for students of Buddhist philosophy, those exploring revolutionary systems of thought or for anyone interested in learning to see the world in a different light.
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