Table of Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments vii
Foreword Joseph Needham xi
Introduction 1
Part I Unity of Life and Thought
1 A Great Vision of Faith 11
Seeing the World Anew 11
Major Elements of Teilhard's Vision 14
The Discovery of Evolution 17
The Great War: A Crucible of Fire 21
The Maturing of Teilhard's Vision in Asia 24
The Key for Understanding Teilhard's Vision 27
2 Early Contacts with the East 32
Early Family Influences 32
The Formative Experience of Egypt 33
More Eastern Connections and More Reading 36
A Mystical Seer Turns Writer 41
Reflections on Mysticism 44
3 East and West: The Spirit of One Earth 51
First Impressions of China 52
Reflections by a Pilgrim of the Future 55
Complementary Riches of East and West 60
The Decisive Encounter with Peking Man 68
The Yellow Expedition across Central Asia 71
Travels to India, Indonesia, Burma, and Japan 77
Experiences in Peking and Shanghai 86
4 The Ongoing Quest 92
Teilhard's Last Years in the West 92
Further Growth and Disappointments 93
Commitment to the World Congress of Faiths 94
More Reading about the East 98
An Open Religious Quest 102
Part II Eastern and Western Religions in a Converging World
5 The Search for Unity: From Monistic Pantheism to Mysticism 111
Teilhard's Method 111
Monistic Pantheism in His Early Writings 114
Pantheism Prolonged and Transcended 119
The Spiritual Power of Matter 122
The True Meaning of Pantheism 127
6 Two Roads to Unity: "Road of the East" and "Road of the West" 130
Two Fundamental Orientations in Mysticism 131
The Ancient "Road of the East" 133
The New "Road of the West" 137
Early Criticisms of Teilhard's Comparisons 140
Relating the Two "Roads" to Past and Present 147
7 The Convergence of Roads 153
Teilhard's Assessment of Eastern Religions 155
Religions in a State of Crisis 159
Different Types of Eastern Spiritualities 163
Contributions from East and West 167
The Role of Christianity 170
The Meaning of the "Convergence of Roads" 173
8 Religion and Evolution 178
Historical Evolution of Religions in the Past 180
Evolutionary Role of Religion in the Present and Future 184
Further Evolution of Religion 191
Different Understandings of Evolution in Hinduism 198
A New Dynamic: The Evolution of Mysticism 201
9 Toward a New Mysticism 207
The Newness of Teilhard's Mysticism 209
Two Basic Types of Mysticism 211
The New Mysticism as a Third Way 215
Love as Unifying Energy 221
Comparative Reflections on Mysticism 225
A New Mysticism of Evolution and Action 228
Epilogue: Spirituality and Mysticism in an Evolutionary World 235
Appendices 251
Notes 271
Bibliography 329
Index 345
Annotated Study Guide 363
1 Teilhard's Life and Thought 364
2 His China Years, Paleontology, and Peking Man 370
3 Science, Evolution, Biosphere, Noosphere, and Ecosphere 375
4 Religious Pluralism and Interreligious Dialogue 395
5 Spirituality and Mysticism 401
6 Teilhard's Legacy 409
