Opening The Doors of Perception: The Key to Cosmic Awareness Paperback – September 13, 2016

I was introduced to Anthony Peake after his appearance on The Grimerica podcast. I was intrigued by his ideas, so I decided to buy a copy of his latest work, "Opening the Doors of Perception." And wow, am I glad I did.Peake makes an incredibly compelling argument that the greatest mystery of human science--consciousness--exists outside of our own brains. Our brains merely act as receivers of said consciousness. He goes on to explain in great detail how our brains differ from one person to another in regards to what our brains filter out. Through conditions such as autism, temporal lobe epilepsy, savant syndrome, Alzheimer's, we see examples of how, sometimes, our "doors of perception" are opened up more so than they normally would be. The incredible thing here is that all of these conditions actually "overlap" in regards to how much gets thru to our waking consciousness.In addition, he also goes into great detail about how we can synthetically open our "doors of perception" through entheogens like DMT and LSD. Many of the "beings" that people encounter whilst under the influence of these psychedelics bear an incredible resemblance to reports from people who have had near-death experiences.Here's an excerpt where Peake explains the similarities between patients with Alzheimer's and the DMT experience: ***"Pat (an Alzheimer's sufferer) regularly refers to the way in which her brain was being reprogrammed. She states that 'they' have 'taken things out of her mind, and that 'they are very skillful'. Later she describes how she has had 'three or four operations'. This reminds me of the regularly reported incidents in DMT 'dreams' whereby subjects describe how they find themselves in operating theatres having organs surgically removed or implanted. This theme parallels the UFO-abduction scenario where 'aliens' operate on the helpless abductees who are in a state of paralysis. As we have already suggested, endogenous DMT may be the facilitator of such perceptions."***Another excerpt in which he describes the similarity between DMT trips, near-death experiences, and the "visions" experienced by those with temporal-lobe epilepsy while in a seizure state: ***"While in his seizure state, he would visit what he called his 'High Place'. This seems to be an alternative level of reality and is strikingly similar to the place visited by individual during near-death experiences, shamanic travelling and DMT trips. One of the consistent themes of such experiences is flying on the back of a huge winged creature, usually a bird or a butterfly. This is how Myron describes the experience:'I found myself reclining on the black wings of a gigantic crow gracefully gliding through a beautiful patch of clouds. The cool wind delightfully stroked my face as we soared majestically across the tops of black mountains surrounding us on all sides. Below us, the valleys and darkened canyons were covered with a red-tinted fog.'It seems that one of the entities had a particular role, and that was to protect the young Myron. For example, when he was quite young he was about to cross a road but out of nowhere a voice shouted to him, 'Stop!' This was clearly not sufficient. The next thing he knew there was the sense of somebody seizing his shoulder and pulling him back." ****Mr. Peake does an incredibly good job of staying scientific with his findings. He cites reputable sources early and often, which is often something that is overlooked by lesser-minded authors in fields like this.Near the end of the book, he proposes that we may be living in a simulation created by our higher selves. As many of you may know, this is a theory that is gaining some serious traction among the leading scientific minds of today. Oftentimes, we hear a little voice in our head that directs in the right direction or even saves us from danger. Mr. Peake argues that this "voice" actually belongs to our higher selves--what he calls the Pleroma. He likens experiences like these to a video game in which we have played the same level many times. When we reach a particularly difficult point in the game and our avatar "dies", we then go into the next incarnation with subconscious knowledge of the difficulties we will face. The possible reality of living in a simulation may seem far-fetched to many right now, but when we consider Moore's Law, which states that our computing power doubles every two years, we are getting remarkably close to being able to create extremely realistic simulations ourselves.It's extremely fascinating material, and I highly recommend it. And if you're like me, you'll want to use a highlighter!

I discovered Anthony Peake’s book “The Hidden Universe” in my research on paranormal topics. Do our dreams portend the future? Do dreams allow us to pierce the veil of time and space? Why do we have precognitions, or as they are more commonly known, hunches? And why does mainstream science simply ignore what it cannot explain? “The Hidden Universe” provides a brief, but informative history on the fascinating work of John Dee, WY Evan-Wentz, Jacque Valle, and other esoteric writers. Extending from this historical context, Peake investigates the many kinds of neurotypical “illnesses” people experience, such as migraines, autism, and Alzheimer’s, which can expand their spectrum of reality. Peake coined the term “Huxleyian spectrum” to describe the often-hidden realm of reality that some people gain access to, sometimes through illnesses, sometimes through visions, near death experiences or dreams. What makes this book even more compelling is Peake’s discovery of the work of Myron Dyal. As a child, Dyal fell into a deep coma. After that coma, Dyal experienced intense hallucinations. These hallucinations became the raw materials from which Dyal then began to paint. Having no previous experience in painting, Dyal was able to raise the level of his skill to paint the visions he saw in his mind. Peake explores how Dyal’s visions allow him access to a larger spectrum of reality. As I read further into “The Hidden Universe” I kept discovering topics and elements in my own book “Falling from Trees.” It seemed as if I’d read Peak’s book in the future so I could write “Falling from Trees” in the past. Sounds crazy? The synchronicities were so uncanny I wrote to Peake, asking him which book to read next. A huge fan of Philip K. Dick (PKD), Peake suggested I read “A Life of Philip K. Dick.” Reading Peake’s excellent PKD book, I shared stories with him about living in Berkeley, California, walking on the same streets as PKD. Again, it seemed like I’d had those experiences in the future. Reading Peake’s work opened my spectrum of reality, helping me to dispense with strict demarcations of past and future. To consider time as being more of a lake then a river. Continuing my reading of Peake’s work, I then picked up “Opening the Doors of Perception.” Exploring the notion of “the scale of transcendence” Peake shows in this book how esoteric teachings and mystic traditions have attempted to enlarge our potential perception of reality. Peake’s writings are essential to anyone interested in the nexus between the philosophy of mind, quantum science, the science of the mind, Indigenous wisdom, and esotericism. His work is highly recommended.

Un libro ben al di sotto di altri dell'autore, che qui non fa altro che citare con dettagli minuziosi e pedanti una moltitudine esorbitante di esperimenti nell'area medico-psicologica senza trarre conclusioni realmente illuminanti o di qualche utilità. Il testo si trascina stancamente avanti senza mai una zampata di genio, di freschezza, di interesse, con una noiosa prolissità e un'aridità di tipo accademico. Si fatica ad arrivare alla fine, aspettandocisi sempre un'impennata che non arriva mai, anche perchè il pensiero dell'autore si trincera dietro le opinioni degli sperimentatori, senza mai venire ad aggiungere nulla ad essi.

Finished this one quickly. Incredible insight. Also there are numerous interviews and lectures online done by Mr. Peake and it is recommended to watch those as well. Fantastic.

I cannot get enough of Anthony Peake ~ whatever he writes. Supported with solid scientific evidence, ground breaking inroads into the nature of our perceptions and reality. Dej a vu, dopplegangers, time anomalies all explored without crass sensationalism, but actual case studies and historical records. Science meets spirituality. Thoroughly evidenced but accessible narrative, he includes many other film and book references from Jung to Huxley to Vanilla Sky and Groundhog Day for further research. Can't wait for his book about UFOs and ETs out this Xmas. He is the only writer out there I think who can claim to have instigated his own unique field of "edge of consciousness" literature, giving credence to those things we don't fully understand. A non fiction version of "The Matrix". Much underrated writer. A sensible voice of the sensational.

it's about time Western science took thousands of years of indigenous shamanism at more than token value. this book takes to the exploration of inner space of our minds which is as vital to our progress as technology. very easy to appreciate the significance of this with some understanding of both science and the religious experience. brilliant.

Who are we? Where do we come from? What is reality? What is consciousness? What forms the basis of our perception? Does anything really exist or is everything just information, ones and zeros on a hard drive? These questions will become clearer if you read the latest book from Anthony Peake who has now fully entered the arena of Tom Campbell, Nick Bostrom and quite a few others. With each passing day more people, and not just quantum physicists, are realising that we may well be living in a computer simulation and that in around 200 years time we will have the computer power to simulate a universe exactly like the one we are now in which feels in every way real to the avatars (us) inside it; so has a future generation, maybe our descendants created the one we are in? If you have arrived at this hypothesis or are on the way there then this book demands a place on your bookshelf.