Digital Dharma: A User’s Guide to Expanding Consciousness in the Infosphere Steven Vedro 220 pages 6 x 9 $16.95 paper 978-0-8356-0859-6

"Steven Vedro has broken new ground in his astute analysis of our technological development as a psycho-spiritual process. He is the first to put it in such fascinating and elegant terms that gives new meaning to our awakening as a species."

There is an Infosphere, an electronic web produced by our multiple telecommunications technologies, pulsating all around us. These technologies, as many human inventions, can be viewed as a product of the creative collective mind and therefore encoded with core lessons of human evolution and transformation. Laptops, cell phones, PDAs, GPS locators, HDTV, and wireless Internet offer new ways of communicating with our inner selves and with others.

Techno-aficionado Steven Vedro says putting this newfound wisdom into spiritual practice as a collective society is our Digital Dharma, our path toward greater self-awareness and enlightenment. Practicing this path helps us recognize the impact of technology on our inner life and teaches us to overcome the challenges presented by modern media.

Vedro uses the seven chakras—the basic energy centers in the body that spiral upward along the spinal column used by many ancient yogic traditions to link our physical selves to higher levels of consciousness and developmental stages of life—as a model for achieving Digital Dharma. Vedro further explains that practicing this new spiritual awareness, what he also terms "Yoga of Teleconsciousness," allows us to see both the universal light and shadow side of technology and then apply that knowledge to our communication with one another and to our own personal work of spiritual evolution and understanding.

Digital Dharma has something for everyone. It is for technology experts and yoga fanatics alike. Whether you’re simply seeking the spiritual, already practicing a spiritual tradition, or a Body-Mind-Spirit reader with ambivalent feelings about your computer and cell phone, this book will guide you on the path toward a new consciousness. Similarly, novices of the digital world, media junkies, and technology "utopians" who understand at some level there is much yet to be learned from the Infosphere, will all find intriguing, useful material here.

Reviews

It’s a juicy read…and needed.
—Howard Rheingold, author, Smart Mobs

Steven Vedro has broken new ground in his astute analysis of our technological development as a psycho-spiritual process. He is the first to put it in such fascinating and elegant terms that gives new meaning to our awakening as a species.
—Anodea Judith, Ph.D., author, Eastern Body, Western Mind; Waking the Global Heart

Vedro’s work and insights are too important to go unnoticed, especially in these times when most trends in mass media are away from humanistic and spiritual values. We need visionaries like Vedro to draw our attention to the difference between information and wisdom, and to the relationship between the digital and the divine. Bravo!
—Christian de Quincey, Ph.D., co-founder, The Visionary Edge; Professor of Philosophy and Conscious Studies, John F. Kennedy University; author, Radical Nature and Radical Knowing

Steven Vedro has written a fascinating book that intertwines the ancient wisdom of India with his consummate knowledge of the modern technology of information transfer. Comparing the various Chakras with the history of human communication, he presents the reader with startling fresh insights into the connection between the world of technological advances and a more fundamental ground of being. A compelling read.
—Leonard Shlain, author, The Alphabet Versus the Goddess

(i>Digital Dharma) is an excellent portrayal of the history and near future of telecommunications.
—Peter Russell, author, From Science to God and The Global Brain Awakens

Well done! Very engaging! You've pioneered a new aspect of noetic science.
—John Warren White, author, The Meeting of Science and Spirit

I'd compare this book with Capra's Tao of Physics. Capra showed that there are parallels between the metaphors of modern science and those of spiritual traditions. Vedro shows parallels between the metaphors of communication technology and those of spirituality. I am impressed. Yes, it is possible to get an intro into spiritual thinking using the Internet and Infosphere, especially, if you have the help of Digital Dharma.
—Amit Goswami, author, The Visionary Window and The Self-Aware Universe

The Infosphere, the Chakras, and the Energy Body

Television and the Heart Chakra

Steven R. Vedro, MA, AEH, is a writer, lecturer, and nationally recognized telecommunications consultant who has been at the interface of new telecommunications technology and public service for the last twenty years. In the 1980’s he produced the nation's first television series on new consumer electronics for PBS, “The New Tech Times,” which aired on over 200 TV stations. He also developed the nation's first statewide teletext service and directed the Telecommunications Division's Communications Development Lab.

Quest Books publishes nonfiction works to facilitate spiritual growth and healing; to encourage the study of religion, philosophy, and science; and to promote fellowship among all peoples of the world. In addition to a comprehensive selection of Theosophy titles by noteworthy authors like H.P. Blavatsky, Annie Besant, C.W. Leadbeater, and others, Quest offers books on a variety of topics including alternative healing, development of creativity, transpersonal psychology, deep ecology, mythology, comparative religion, consciousness, spiritual evolution, ancient wisdom, mysticism, esoteric studies, and perennial philosophy. This website is made possible by generous grants from the Kern Foundation This page and its contents are copyright ©2010 by the Theosophical Society in America. Quest Books ® The Theosophical Publishing House The Theosophical Society in America International Headquarters, Adyar, India