This book weaves a magical spell over the reader who is fascinated by both science and mysticism. It covers both in great depth and detail. The essential teachings of Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism and Zen are carefully distilled and the unifying principles of these paths are identified. The one characteristic all these '-isms' share is the awareness of unity of the connectedness of the whole. Capra compares and contrasts classical and modern physics while integrating the mystical truths as discovered in these religions. It is a daunting undertaking but he succeeds with aplomb! The close parallels between Eastern mysticism and modern physics (quantum physics) is amazing - each approaches reality from a different starting point but arrives at the same place. Capra writes about the cosmic dance of particle, energy, and consciousness - highly complex topics, in a very readable manner. He touches upon Geoffrey Chew's S-matrix theory (bootstrap philosophy) and Bohm's theory of Implicate Order. He calls the paradigm shift we are experiencing "a crisis of perception" from which all problems in the world arise. The manner in which scientific ideas are interspersed with mystical concepts is truly astonishing! Fritjof Capra manages to precipitate the essential kernal of truth from apparent divergent viewpoints ...This is a great book for anyone exploring the relationship of the rational scientific view and mysticism, i.e., the spiritual journey. This is a very valuable book for the modern world. Erika Borsos (bakonyvilla)