Imagine you are an island.

But being an island doesn't mean you are insular or isolated. Far from it. Your island is buffeted by storms and tides, is affected by other islands and landmasses near and far, and has an ecology that varies from dense jungles to rocky barrens.

Throughout Navigating the Noosphere you will find yourself returning constantly to this image of the island. But each time your understanding of its nature, its place within the world, will grow and become richer. And the island, as a metaphor for yourself, will consequently become more revealing.

The early chapters, headed "Noomon" (the word comes from the Greek terms of nóos for "mind" and monos for "one"), concentrate on the physical world, which is intricate, dense and complex. Calling on a wealth of concepts drawn from such varied sources as quantum mechanics and phenomenology, these chapters examine the ways we are positioned within the world, how we relate to what is outside the body. Steadily the importance of cognition becomes central to the ideas being explored here, the ways we think about, understand and interpret the world.

The Noosphere is an idea that comes from Teilhard de Chardin. It relates to what is known as the "sphere of reason" and refers to an evolutionary development concentrating on consciousness, the mind and interpersonal relationships. And the book begins by explaining how consciousness emerges from our physical natures and the complexity of the world through which we negotiate our way.

The focus of the Noomon chapters gradually moves away from the physical towards what the author refers to as "a much more translucent, energetic, light, feathery and fantastic" world. It is the world of the Divine from which all of reality emanates, a world which is identified with and accessed by way of our consciousness. The Divine here does not refer to any particular religion, although common ideas are drawn from Christianity, Islam, the Vedic texts and the Kabbalah among others. The Divine is within and around us, it enspirits that which we call reality - it is what you come to understand when you come to understand the island that is yourself.

This identification of the Divine is as intimately connected to the way we each relate to that which we call reality, as it is to the way we relate to "the other", or the way we relate to ourselves. The explorations of the Noomons and the meditations of the book on Methods come together in presenting ideas to help in our healing (whether mental, physical, social or cultural) while also offering a very different way of comprehending reality. Together they enable you to step into your own light.